Not that Hess and Volkov cared. The pair of them took anything that looked interesting and did so without a care for the damage they did. I winced as Volkov snapped a branch off a tree, and Hess used a laser cutter to sever a length of vine.
Doing my best to do as little damage as possible, I pushed past the branches of a pitch-black miniature tree and stretched up for a glowing fruit. As I closed my fingers on it, a strange sensation washed over me. Like curiosity, but notmycuriosity. Which made no sense.
I looked around, shining my light into the darkness, and saw nothing. But I didn’t know what I was looking for, and the weird shadows of the jungle could have hidden anything.
There wasn’t time to worry about it. I plucked the fruit and dropped it into a sample bag. Behind me, the mobsters talked in Russian as they cut their own samples.
If I had something to worry about, I told myself, it was them.
Chapter 6
Monster
The intruders spoke crudely, forming sounds to carry meaning rather thanthinkingto each other. The noises were meaningless to me, of course, but I was not so limited. Spreading my frills, I listened to the patterns of their minds rather than the words they spoke.
The two males radiated anger, suspicion,hunger.Not hunger for food, water, or oxygen. Those I would have understood and sympathized with. Their hungers were never-ending pits they would shovel resources into, no matter the cost to anyone else.
They didn’t even trust each other. Whatever alliance bound them was nothing like the connection I had shared with Home and the rest of my kin. Suspicion went both ways, and eventually they’d end up hunting each other. Even in this den of plenty, I caught each of them wondering whether they’d profit more if the other died here.
The female was different. Her strongest feelings were wonder and fear and guilt. As I watched, she plucked a fruit with great care. Doing her best not to damage anything else, she tucked it into a pouch for safekeeping. Awe filled her mindsong, drowning out all other emotions and leaving her defenseless while the other two watched for danger with paranoid intensity.
There was something beautiful about the shape of her mind. Something quite unlike her companions, a warmth and openness which they lacked. These were not members of thesame Hive, as difficult as that was for me to grasp, and the female didn’t fit with the males even slightly.
I couldn’t afford to wait until I understood. Home was suffering, and the damage got worse with every passing moment. The males carved pieces out of everything they passed, uncaring about the harm they did.
An attack without knowing more would be foolish, but I dared not wait. Learning about my foes would require me to take a risk.
I spread my frills fully, a dangerous move in the presence of strangers. It left me vulnerable to both psychic and physical attacks, the delicate frills thin and vulnerable.
But it let me peer deeper into the strange, closed-off minds of my prey.Feelingsresolved intothoughtsand I lost myself in the alien minds.
… rich, I’m going to be so fucking rich… do I need to share?
… this is so beautiful… what were the people who built it like?
… kill the bitch, take her ship, Volkov can fly it… keep all this for ourselves…
The female didn’t think about the males at all, lost in wonder at the garden’s beauty. But the males thought about her, and it wasn’t pleasant. Unexpected anger blossomed in me as they considered killing her. It made no sense. They were all intruders. Why would I care if they murdered each other?
Home’s quiet, fading mindsong gave me no answers, but neither did she condemn my feelings. I had to make my decision here, and the smaller male prompted me. He drew something from his belt, a tool I didn’t recognize. I didn’t need to. His thoughts betrayed him—it was a weapon, and he raised it toward the female with a smug rush of superiority, as though murdering one of his companions was a moment of pride for him.
Chapter 7
Myra
The creature came out of nowhere. One second, we were alone in the creepy garden of wonders. The next, a monster rushed down the trunk of the tree, four long limbs gripping the bark and two more reaching out with razor-sharp claws extended to tear and slice.
I squeaked in alarm and leaped backward, tripping over a tangled vine and falling on my ass. A bolt of light shot overhead, scorching into a black tree as Hess tracked his laser pistol towards the black carapace of the attacker.
That’s a fast draw,I thought, a facade of calm over the raging torrent of panic that filled my mind. The creature tore past me, moving faster than anything that size had a right to, dodging to the side as Hess tried to bring the laser to bear.
With reflexes as impressive as its speed, the Tyradyn creature ducked under the blinding laser beam and crashed into Hess. The mobster screamed as he bounced off a tree and landed in an ungainly tumble, dropping his pistol. The creature followed close behind him, claws out, and I thought that was the end of Hess.
I hadn’t taken Volkov into account, though. The giant smashed into the Tyradyn’s side with enough force to drive it away from Hess, and the two of them slammed into a tree with bone-cracking force.
Volkov rebounded, just avoiding a slashing claw that would have opened his stomach. Ducking under a second claw, hedrove a punch into the creature’s belly. With his augmented strength and speed, I wondered if he had a chance.
Not the time to take bets,I told myself, scrambling to my feet and looking for a way out. Volkov and Hess were welcome to fight this monster, but I wanted to put a door between me and it. Preferably a door and several light years.