Page 16 of Argurma Monster

“Beverly,” he rumbled in a faintly slurred voice, a tiny sigh escaping from between his lips as if he too were relieved that she was there. His arms tightened, crushing her to him as his purr kicked up and vibrated through him.

“Yes, it’s me,” she whispered as she dropped her cheek against his chest. “Thank fuck we survived. I don’t even know how. The ship is destroyed, Talech. Zoreth—” Her voice broke, unable to speak of the worry gripping her.

“Must be found,” Talech finished with a decisive click of his mandibles.

She blinked up at him and pressed her lips together as she nodded. The male grunted, lowering his head to runhis mandibles gently through her hair briefly as his vibrissae dropped to brush against her cheeks. He unwound an arm from around her, his clawed fingers reaching for the spidery metal limbs holding her in place. Whatever he had done to lock them in place he undid with clever flicks of his fingers, moving from one limb to the next. They gradually eased from around her, pillows falling away as Talech hissed softly, pain racing briefly across his face before his features settled once more to a stoic firmness as he too peered around them.

Beverly ran her hands along his shoulders, as close to his spine as she could reach, her lips twisting with concern. “Are you okay?”

His eyes dropped to her, and the corner of his mouth hitched as the blue glow of his eyes warmed. “I am well, anastha. The torn flesh will heal.” His smile fell as he studied their surroundings, his mandibles parting as he scented the air. “The wreckage is spread far,” he grumbled as he heaved himself—and Beverly as she was still clasped firmly in his arms—from the chair.

Held tightly in his arms, Beverly eyed the wreckage of their cabin as Talech’s spinal limbs reached high to the torn edges of the ceiling and the claws split to grasp the metal. They shifted, adjusting like a spider walking on the threads of its web as he pushed off from the wall and limberly climbed out. He growled unhappily at the light patter of rain on them, but Beverly gaped at the sight stretched out before as she blinked the water from her eyes. Steaming parts of the ship were littered across the remains of what appeared to have once been a city. Several small structures were flattened and had caught fire from the parts of the broken ship falling through the atmosphere, the flames sputtering in the drizzle. She shivered as the wind rose, causing scraps and loose wire to slap and metal to clang lightly against the structures to which they were attached.

Everything appeared quiet, as if death had long settled over the city, and she had to wonder if this was what the cities of Earth looked like. How was it that she had escaped one dying world only to crash on another? Surely the gods had to hate her.

Worse, the wreckage itself seemed to span for miles. How were they ever going to find Zoreth in all of that?

Chapter 14

Zoreth growled as pain shocked his systems, and he pushed away the sheet of metal that had fallen over him. It creaked and squealed as it gave way before falling back with a loud crash. Extricating himself from his seat, Zoreth stood and surveyed his surroundings. Everywhere he looked was a mess of broken panels and control stations. The flight deck was whole but dark except for where dim sunlight poured in through various gashes and cracks along the hull and the large navigation port that stretched across the front of the flight deck. The viewscreens that hung from the ceiling were also dark, most of them cracked and a few of them hanging with their wires exposed. He processed that if there was power at all, the entire flight deck would have been hazardous to navigate through. The lack of it, however, sent a wave of concern through his systems.

He hissed softly. The lack of power meant one thing: the flight deck had been severed completely from the central core of the ship. Even sustaining damage from the crash, the core would have still sent power through functional systems until the fuel cells died. The silence of the deck only informed him that the deck was separated, not how far it was from the rest of the ship. He would not be able to make any further calculations until he was free of it.

It could not be soon enough. A frantic urgency was flooding his systems demanding that he locate Beverly immediately. He did not know her condition or even where she was. Unacceptable. His vibrissae whipped and hissed with the vibration of the small rattles that tipped each one as he stalked toward the back of the flight deck. It would be useless to try and break through the frontal navigation port when it was tempered and made to withstand high impacts—such as asteroids hittingor the ship crashing on a planet. Although the flight deck door was practically buried, it presented the only viable option.

Zoreth pushed and kicked the large pieces of fallen metal out of his way. Much of it was parts of various system panels, but scattered in the debris among them were also large segments of collapsed data and air filtration towers that ran up the sides of the wall throughout the rear half of the flight deck. He cursed their position now as he made his way through the mess. What was considered out of the way in an operational ship was now an obstacle—and a dangerous one should the power still be active in some segments—as he made his way to the flight deck’s only exit.

There was only one tower among them that held any interest for him, and Zoreth was able to locate it easily due to the pinprick of glow emanating from the tower that housedGaranga’sAI module. Lining himself up with the collapsed tower, he grabbed ahold of its front panel and wrenched the metal free, exposing the module for the first time since it was installed in his ship. It was of no use to the vessel now, but its ability to utilize his scanning systems and provide information on their surroundings outside of his own rudimentary capabilities would be useful. It was in anticipation of that probability arising that the AI modules were made small enough to be easily portable. The module itself was small enough that it could have easily fit within Beverly’s little human palm if she had been present. The glowing light of its emergency power cell was no larger than her smallest fingernail.

Zoreth turned his left arm so that the inside of his forearm with its implanted data relay attachment points was visible, and he pressed the module firmly onto the uplink. A shiver ran through him as he felt the nodes on the module sink into the ports, followed by the electric pulse of the uplink drawing from his internal systems. The light went dark. So long as Zoreth’s biological functions were sustained, the AI would continue tohave power. He would simply need to compensate by increasing his caloric intake.

“Garanga, status report.”

“AI Status: online,” the AI replied through the comm system attached to the same implant. “Vessel status: unknown. I do not detect the vessel systems.”

“We crashed,” he informed the AI as he approached the rear door and peered at it speculatively. He flexed his claws. It would take time to clear away the collapsed metal in front of it, and then there was the problem of the door itself. Without power, it would not be easy to pry open. “Initiate planetary survey protocol.”

“Do you wish to activate the distress beacon?”

“Affirmative.”

“Be advised that it will consume additional energy output.”

“Acknowledged,” he replied, barely glancing at the tiny red light of the beacon switching on and pulsing as he gripped a crumpled mass of metal blocking the door and flung it out of his way.

Zoreth worked tirelessly until his muscles began to burn from the effort and fatigue gradually began to prick at him. He shook his head, rallying his efforts until a triumphant snarl left him when at last, he was able to wedge the tips of his claws under the edge of the door and pull. His muscles strained from the effort, but the door gave way little by little until he finally had just enough room to squeeze through and step out into a wet gray world.

His mouth tightened in a grimace, and he scanned his surroundings as the lightly falling rain slickened his skin. It was unpleasant but bearable. The gray shadows of a crumbling city lay stretched ahead offering shelter from the rain, but he was more interested in the trail of sputtering fire that revealed the path ofGaranga’swreckage. Therein also was the route tofinding Beverly. By his calculations, the crew cabins would have been far enough away from any combustible areas that she was within no current risk of the dying flames, but the wreckage extended far enough that he calculated that it would take him hours before he arrived at the location where the cabins should be.

Expanding his mandibles wide, he drew in the air along his receptors and ran a quick chemical analysis. Air quality and rainwater were within a safe range for both Argurma and human life forms. He would have to conduct an analysis on running water and anything that they wished to eat, but for now it appeared that the planet would safely support them until someone from the mother house was sent out after him. As he struck out through the ruined city, he silently prayed to the gods that they refrained from sending Larth. His cousin would find far too much amusement with his current situation. The more Zoreth thought about it, however, the more he hoped that it was Kaylar or one of his other mated kin. He was not certain if he could bear to have yet another unmated—and potentially compatible if the gods had a sense of humor as he suspected they did—male sniffing around his Beverly.

The corner of his mouth inched upward. There was a ninety-nine-point-two percent probability that Talech would outright attempt to kill another male. Of course, there was still a high probability that the male would attempt to kill Zoreth if given the opportunity—except that the AI’s beacon was dependent on Zoreth remaining alive, and he did not even need to calculate the odds of Talech doing everything in his power to keep Beverly safe. In this they were of the same mind. However, with the outdated and damaged state of his tech, there was a low probability that Talech would even be able to host the AI. The male’s sensors could also be offline, making him useless to adequately care for something as fragile as a human whocould sicken far too easily from things that they ate and other environmental factors.

For all that he had to suffer with the presence of the overbearing male, Zoreth was the male upon whom Beverly’s welfare would depend. She would process then which male was the suitable mate between them. Afterward, Zoreth would see to it personally that Talech was well cared for. It was the least he could do for the male as he could no longer stomach the thought of terminating him. Truthfully, he had reluctantly come to enjoy his company, and he had processed that it would please his mate.

He purred softly to himself as he imagined the gratitude lighting her dark blue eyes and the way her soft body would lean into his, taking refuge within the comfort and safety he provided. He kept this crafted image firmly in his mind as he made his way along the empty streets. At times he was forced to climb over debris and wreckage—whether from abandoned machines or parts ofGaranga—but for the most part the way was surprisingly clear and empty. Most of the obstacles appeared more like calculated and intentional barriers, which he filed away. All the while, he scanned his surroundings for signs of anything approaching. His scans briefly picked up small animals as they scurried away, but more pervasively he was aware of large populations of local insects that lingered, humming above the overgrown plants and skittering between buildings. He found it odd that there were no predators or larger animals coming to investigate an intruder within their territory. Wildlife always took over ruined cities and yet here the presence of animals was minimal.

Instead, the city appeared to be nothing more than a yawning emptiness. It was too quiet, and that unsettled his systems. A low growl rattled out of him, his vibrissae moving more frantically as he tried to pull more data from his surroundingsthat simply was not there other than a lingering imprint of death, though he saw no remains, and something else he could not define. Even the flames from the crash were dying, casting the city further back into gloom. Without the flames to direct his path, he found himself having to stop frequently and reorient himself with his calculations. His lips pressed together, and he frowned as he peered down at the largest chunk ofGaranga’swreckage. According to his calculations, the cabins should have been here.

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