Page 18 of Argurma Monster

Beverly gaped in horror. She felt sick. Leaning into Talech, Beverly pressed her nose against his neck, blocking out everything but his presence. This had to be some kind of hell. She wished they had never even left the cabin, though the structure had been useless in terms of keeping anything out. Even being back on Earth and facing a dwindling food supply was preferable to a planet full of... of.... zombie-making parasites. The scientist in her wanted to laugh, recalling decadesupon decades of references to a “zombie apocalypse,” and yet what had seemed unlikely fiction had happened. They were on a planet filled with an incalculable number of potential zombies that had no thoughts and nothing but a desire to feed and sustain the parasitic host colonizing them.

“Fuck. We’re all going to die, aren’t we?”

“No.” Zoreth’s voice drew her attention, and she looked over at him as he stalked over to Talech. Ignoring the possessive Argurma’s growl, he gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger and turned her head so that she was meeting his eyes. The burning blue light filling his eyes focused fully on her. “Someone is coming.Garangahas been running the beacon. We will find a high spot away from habitable areas to wait for rescue, even better if it is a transmission location where I can boost the signal for the beacon. We will not die here. We will get off this planet,” he vowed.

She wished she were as confident.

Chapter 16

Zoreth covertly watched as Beverly stumbled over debris, her gaze intermittently flicking over the ruins, searching for even a hint of an alien silhouette among the buildings and scraps. Despite her attempt at bravado, she was malfunctioning from the increased level of fear afflicting her, and it frustrated him that there was nothing he could do to alleviate it. Every so often, she wiped her hands on her pant legs in a manner that he processed was entirely reactive to previous proximity to the Kaze corpse. She was suffering from psychosomatic distress. It was illogical to let her continue operating independently.

“This terrain is difficult to maneuver,” he pointed out as he sidled up to her left. “It may be more advantageous to allow one of us to assist you over this point.”

Talech glanced over, his vibrissae puffing out hopefully. Good. He was certain that if Talech got her into his arms that the male would refuse to relinquish her while they were out in the open and most vulnerable.

Her gaze drifted from the buildings back to him, and she frowned. “Why do you say that? I’m not falling behind.”

“You are afraid,” he tactfully began but was interrupted by her snort of amusement.

“I am far more than afraid. I’m fucking terrified. This place is made from the stuff of nightmares. But being on my own two feet gives me a sense of control over the situation—or at least in how I’m able to react to it at my own discretion.”

He frowned in confusion, his vibrissae brushing the air with their quick movements. “I do not understand. You are small and vulnerable. Why would you not seek safety?”

She shook her head, her mouth flattening to a grim line. “It’s not that easy. There’s nothing safe about this world. It’s not likewhere humanity is slowly dying off because of our own stupidity. This is complete annihilation.” She hesitated as she squinted at a structure. “Do you think the Kaze were native to this planet?”

Zoreth clicked his mandibles thoughtfully and his hand shot out, catching her when she suddenly stumbled. “Kaze are not naturally from this sector, but because of the proclivity within their culture toward a peaceful, nonviolent ethos, their colonies are widely welcome to settle on uninhabited planets within most sectors. Not within the Argurma Empire,” he corrected in a rush. “The Kaze would be regarded as weak and as an ineffectual species to dwell within our sector as a provider colony. But in most others, they would be welcome.”

Beverly’s lips twitched, but she nodded. “That’s what I thought. In most cases when a foreign element is introduced into an established system, the element must learn to quickly adapt and take control of the system, or it is systematically rooted out and destroyed as something invasive. In this case there is a parasite that I would categorize as native to this planet, which attacked the Kaze as a food source but in doing it has likely disrupted the natural role of the parasites on this planet given the way they are using their hosts to hunt. The introduction of the Kaze, therefore, has likely created an unnatural and unpredictable system.”

He clicked softly. “How does this calculate into your safety?”

She shrugged. “With the unpredictable, I need to be prepared for anything. I need to be able to gauge from moment to moment how I should react to a presented situation.”

“You do not trust me to keep you safe?” There was such a forlorn note in Talech’s voice that Zoreth felt a measure of pity for him.

He also processed that it was entirely possible that the male was manufacturing that response to play upon the female’s emotions. Despite his damage, Talech was observant, especiallywhen it came to Beverly, and far too calculating. In this particular situation, however, Zoreth did not mind.

Predictably, Beverly stopped and reached for the male, taking his big hand in her much smaller one. “Above all, I trust you to keep me safe. There is no one I trust more for that.”

Zoreth winced at the sting of her words. He processed that she was not inferring that he was incapable of protecting nor that he was untrustworthy, but he disliked the reminder that Talech was the one she had grown to depend upon on Earth, long before he arrived, and the odds were favorable for their inseparability. He did not process what that would mean for him but he kept silent and waited to see if Talech’s tactic would work.

“Then let me carry you, anastha,” the male rumbled in a gruff plea.

Her hand slipped from his, and she stubbornly shook her head. “Not right now. I can walk for a while still. It’s better for us if everyone is alert and watching for any potential threat. I can’t really do my part if I’m being carried around like a baby. Honestly, you’re so big that I can’t even see when you are carrying me,” she added with a chuckle. “If I get too tired to keep walking, I’ll let you know. In any case, to understand what we are up against, it is best to gather data... and it just so happens that’s what I do best.”

Giving the male’s arm a pat, she stepped away and proceeded to follow along the broken road extending ahead of them. Zoreth glanced over sympathetically at the other male as he balanced the weight of his weapon in his arms.

“I do not like it either,” he assured the male, “but there is logic to her reasoning. We all need to be aware.”

“I am aware enough for both of us,” Talech growled, all traces of the male’s vulnerability vanishing as he stalked after their female.

Zoreth blinked but refrained from smiling despite his rising amusement as he quickened his stride to catch up with Beverly. Although Talech’s bond with the human was genuine and deep, it seemed that he was indeed not above performing. The male was a more worthy rival than he had previously calculated.

Chapter 17

Talech did not wish to allow Beverly to walk. Not when there were infected Kaze within the city that would try to eat her or parasites searching for a host. The entire city sprawled in all directions, and any part of it could have “zombies,” as Beverly called them. The female was stubborn, however, and he was forced to prowl closely behind her, his vibrissae churning in the air and his mandibles gaping every so often in an attempt to detect the presence of anything nearby. A short distance away, Zoreth was doing the same as he walked holding his weapon at the ready.

Despite the gravity of their situation, there was a kind of dark humor in that all the technology and sensors that Zoreth, and other Argurma, depended on were useless in detecting the Kaze. In consequence, everything that the male believed made him superior to Talech now meant nothing. Zoreth was no better than Talech now. The male had nothing that he did not also have, and their survival, and Beverly’s survival, was now dependent entirely on instinct, strength, and cunning. It was for the better as far as he was concerned. The tech could be tricked but they both knew that Argurma senses were keen enough that they would still locate scent signatures if they proceeded with extraordinary caution.

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