Page 81 of Escape Velocity

“Probably they can do it anyway,” Rafe muttered as he kept moving.

“Are we going toward the ship?” she asked.

“I hope so,” Max answered.

She wanted to say they could easily get lost in the vast wilderness surrounding the Inheritors’ camp, but there was no use in pointing out the obvious to the two macho men who oversaw this escape. Instead, she followed, alert for the dangers around them. It was hard not to imagine the worst. What if a snake was hanging from a branch above? What if it dropped onto one of them? That thought made her shudder. There was nothing she could do about animals in the tree branches. But she kept her ears tuned for any change in the constant night sounds around them.

Their progress was slow, and despite their best efforts to move quietly, she kept hearing the swish of vegetation as they passed or the crack of dried branches that they didn’t see on the ground. Each sound made her cringe. And she thought she might be hearing something else—leaves and branches moving behind them. She strained her ears, sure it wasn’t just the three of them disturbing the night. Something or someone was tracking them.

Had someone from the search party found them? Did he have communications equipment, and had he already called in the rest of the searchers?

As the stalker edged closer behind them, she grabbed Max’s arm.

“What?”

“There’s something behind us. Maybe one of the dogs.”

Rafe had heard her warning, too, and they all stopped and strained to see into the darkness. Once they turned, it wasn’t hard to spot a pair of glowing green eyes not too many meters to their rear.

Max dragged in a quick breath. “A wild animal. Not one of the dogs.”

“It thinks we’re going to be dinner,” Rafe added.

Max cupped his hands around his mouth to magnify the sound and roared like a savage beast.

In response, the animal leaped back, but it didn’t fade into the darkness of the swamp and disappear.

“Slat,” Max whispered. “I can’t keep making noises. Too bad we don’t have a beamer.”

As if the thing understood his words, it closed the distance between itself and them again.

Amber saw Max take a threatening pose. Then before she could stop him, he raised the homemade spear and charged toward the only part of the animal they could see clearly—the eyes.

Amber fought to stop herself from screaming at him to come back. Instead she went rigid, every muscle in her body taut as she waited for a clawed paw to streak out and cut a swath across Max’s shoulder—or face.

Max’s body blocked her view of the animal, but she heard the beast give a warning growl—which failed to stop the human’s charge. The next sound she heard was a yelp, then a scuffle of clawed feet as the beast made a hasty retreat.

“Max?” As she tried to rush forward, Rafe stopped her.

“Let me go.”

“I’m okay,” Max called out.”

When he appeared on the narrow trail carrying his spear, Amber leaped toward him, and he caught her in his arms. “I’m okay,” he said again.

“You cut him?” Rafe asked.

“Yeah. I’m not sure what part of him I hit, but I think he’ll stay away from us.”

“What was it?”

“Some kind of big cat, I think. I can’t be sure.” He held Amber for another moment, then eased away, “Come on. We’ve made a lot of noise. We have to put some distance between us and this spot.”

He cupped his hands on Amber’s shoulders and moved her forward. “I want you between us.”

She didn’t object as they started forward again, with Rafe continuing to test the ground before every step.

Every nerve in her body was now screaming danger warnings. What was going to spring at them next? Another animal? A search party from the camp?

---