Page 3 of Bound to the Bounty Hunter

The distant boom echoed through the jungle, followed by the distinctive whine of energy weapons.

I froze, my heart rate spiking. Those weren’t the sounds of local wildlife or even the occasional skirmish between the guards and intruders. This was serious firepower.

Shit.

They were either coming for me or fighting amongst themselves as to who would be the one capturing me.

Part of me screamed to retreat to the relative safety of my cave hideout. But another part, the scientist in me that had survived a Krelaxian labor camp and clawed its way to academic recognition, burned with curiosity.

“Stupid Samira,” I muttered to myself. “You should have never tried to access that comm system”

I knew that it might give away my location, but I had to take the risk. Besides, there was always the possibility that people wouldn’t believe I was on this planet of all the planets in the galaxy.

Who was fighting out there? And more importantly, what did it mean for my precarious position on this remote world?

My heart was beating at a thousand beats per minute.

I chewed my lower lip, weighing the risks. Information could be the difference between life and death out here. And if there was a new player on Kervant-9, I needed to know about it.

Decision made, I carefully picked my way through the underbrush, moving as silently as I could manage. The sounds of combat grew louder, punctuated by shouts and the crack of breaking vegetation.

I paused at the edge of a small clearing, concealing myself behind the gnarled trunk of a massive tree. My eyes widened as I took it all in.

The clearing looked like a war zone. Scorched earth and splintered trees surrounded me, the acrid smell of ozone from energy weapons hanging heavy in the air. Smoke curled from smoldering vegetation, and debris littered the ground.

My gaze landed on a lone figure sprawled amidst the devastation. Gray skin. Black markings down his cheek. Small horns protruding from the temples. Even unconscious, the man radiated danger.

Vinduthi.

I took a hesitant step forward, ready to bolt at the slightest sign of danger. That’s when I saw it - the barest twitch of his fingers against the charred soil.

Despite my better judgment, I crept closer. The Vinduthi male was clearly wounded, dark fluid seeping from multiple lacerations across his muscular form.

As I neared, my scientific mind kicked into overdrive. The pattern of those wounds... I’d seen something similar before.

My fingers hovered above a particularly nasty gash on his arm. The edges of the wound were discolored, with thin tendrils of angry red spreading outward.

“Toxicodendron kervantii,” I muttered, recognizing the telltale signs of the local carnivorous vine’s neurotoxin. “But how did you manage to...”

My voice trailed off as the Vinduthi’s eyes snapped open, burning red and locked directly on me.

The Vinduthi’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed once more. The rational part of my brain screamed at me to run, to get as far away from this dangerous man as possible. But another voice, one that sounded suspiciously like my old mentor Dr. Zhen’la, whispered that I couldn’t leave a sentient being to die.

I bit my lip, weighing my options. The Vinduthi were feared across the galaxy for good reason. If I helped him and he turned on me... But if I left him, could I live with that choice?

“Damn it,” I muttered, making my decision.

Still, wherever he might be, at least Dr. Zhen’la would be proud that I was living up to his ideals. He had taken me in when I was looking for a way out of the camps and had recognized something inside me. He’s the one that had given me the chance to get educated.

He was probably the reason I was everything I was. I was grateful to him. The least I could do was live the ideals he wanted to impart to me.

I scanned the surrounding jungle, my mind racing through the catalog of native flora. The Megalophyllum giganteus should work - its massive leaves were sturdy enough to support the Vinduthi’s weight.

Sweat trickled down my back as I hacked through the dense undergrowth. The humid air clung to my skin, making every movement a struggle. Finally, I spotted the telltale purple-veined foliage towering above the canopy.

With trembling hands, I severed several of the enormous leaves from their stems. Each one was easily twice my size, their waxy surface cool against my palms. I dragged them back to the clearing, my muscles protesting every step of the way.

The Vinduthi lay motionless, his chest barely rising with shallow breaths. Up close, the extent of his injuries became evenmore apparent. Angry red welts criss-crossed his gray skin, and a nasty gash on his temple oozed dark fluid.

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