Hunted Read Free

way they had come.
Already their footprints had been erased and the shuttle was no
longer in sight. She felt a pang of regret for its loss. She and
Pål Knutsen had been assigned to the Heimdal as cadets and
it had practically been home to them. Like many co-workers, they
had taken their relationship to another level, becoming lovers. It
was common for those who worked in close proximity to marry and
have children. Any stigma that had once existed had long since
disappeared within their insular culture where perpetuating the
species was more important than outmoded social mores. Of course,
this did not mean that there was not a chain of command. Stephanie
was First Officer on the Heimdal, but it was Pål who had made
Captain. That meant his word was law, even here, on the planet’s
surface.
    “Orders, Captain?”
    “Our first priority is to get out of the blast zone,
which I believe we have done. Next is shelter. I think these sand
storms might get rough.”
    Jensen smiled grimly at that. “Not much shelter
here, by the looks of things.”
    “No,” Knutsen conceded. “We’ll just have to keep
moving and hope we get lucky.”
    From her vantage point, Stephanie could see further
than the others. Her brows furrowed. “I can see something.” She
pointed to the east. The others turned to look. “Something glinted.
Like a reflection off glass.”
    “Must be wreckage from the Heimdal ,” Knutsen
asserted.
    “No,” she replied. “Not that far east. It doesn’t
match our approach vector. There’s no way there could be anything
from the wreck there.”
    Stephanie continued to peer into the distance, but
there was nothing except endless sand. Then suddenly she saw it
again. A glint, and it was gone. Could it be a reflection from
binoculars? She hopped down from the mound, landing in a crouch,
and opened her mouth to speak.
    They felt the explosion before they heard it. The
ground heaved, throwing them down, Jensen’s face contorting in
pain. The horizon behind them flared into white. Then it darkened
as a huge cloud of sand rose into the sky, consuming it, clouding
out the sun. Then came the wind, howling, tearing at them, ripping
their clothes with wave after wave of jagged sand.
    Stephanie covered her head with her hands and
screwed her eyes tightly closed. Then as suddenly as it had begun,
it was over.
     
    They climbed to their feet, dusting themselves off,
shaking sand from hair and clothes. Jensen spat, saliva and blood
instantly absorbed by the desert. For a moment, no one spoke.
    “I’m sorry,” said Knutsen. It was not clear if he
was addressing the shuttle, his crew or their passenger. Stephanie
laid a hand on his arm.
    “Pål, before the explosion . . .” she paused to
formulate the right words in her head. “I saw something. It looked
to me like someone was using binoculars out there.”
    Captain Knutsen twisted his mouth in a wry grimace
and shook his head. “Couldn’t be. There’s no way a rescue party
would be here so soon.”
    Stephanie held his gaze, her brown eyes holding his
blue. “I know. That’s what worries me.”
    He turned to look in the direction where she had
seen the flash of light. “You don’t think . . .”
    “I don’t know what to think. But something is coming
this way.”
    Jensen looked at them, his gaze alternating from one
to the other. He seemed to be having problems breathing but he
managed to spit out a single word.
    “What?”
    Stephanie bit her bottom lip. “If it’s not a rescue,
then either they’re indigenous, or it’s them . From the Argoss . The mutants.”
    Jensen laughed nervously, until he realized she
wasn’t joking. “You can’t be serious!”
    Knutsen nodded. “Makes sense. There were shuttles
missing from the hull of the Argoss . We just assumed they
were destroyed or lost during the journey. Maybe those things used them to make landfall.”
    Stephanie unslung her multigun, holding it in combat
ready position. “If that’s true, then we need