Page 18 of Stranded with the Alien

The random thought was chased from her head when she realized she was about to tread on a tentacle.

It was curled on the ground next to him like a python. She had one foot right next to it and the other was suspended above the sleeping alien’s legs. She caught her breath as she fought for balance.

Pirouetting clumsily, she managed to put her foot down on the other side of the coiled limb. With a final step, she was clear.

Letting out a shaky breath, she set off in the direction of the hills. They were at least a two-day march but for now, she justwanted to put as much distance as possible between her and her captor before dawn.

It was harder than she anticipated. One, because the ground was rocky and uneven. Even with the unnaturally bright stars above, she didn’t want to risk breaking an ankle. And two, she was missing a boot. Her military socks were pretty sturdy but having one shoeless foot was slowing her down.

She covered the first thirty minutes at a fairly good clip, only once stepping on a sharp rock that stabbed at her heel. She didn’t have time to deal with it, merely adjusted her sock and carried on.

But then it got harder. A lot harder. Clouds gathered overhead, obscuring some of the stars and cutting down the available light. It became tough to see where she was going.

Her flight jacket had a small torch clipped to the shoulder and she switched it on. It helped, but not much. The circle of light extended just a few feet ahead. Twice she ran into thorny bushes that left painful welts on her face and hands.

“Goddammit,” she cursed, wiping a trickle of blood from her lip. “This planet’s a fucking nightmare.”

She took a breather, wishing heartily she had some water to sip. It was maybe ninety minutes since she’d left the cave and she hadn’t got as far as she’d hoped.

At a normal jog in daylight, she could run at least fifteen kilometers in that time, maybe twenty. But here, in the dark, stumbling across uneven terrain, she’d probably only covered half that.

She lurched on, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and hoping like hell the torch battery wouldn’t run out. When she heard the first growl, she thought it was her stomach.

“The minute I get back to the Idaho I’m eating a big juicy cheeseburger,” she muttered. “Maybe two.”

The growl came again, louder this time. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck.

She stopped and swung round. Beyond the torch light it was impossible to see anything. Just a darkness that played havoc with the imagination. She tried to calm her nerves.

“Get a grip, Singh.”

She took another couple of steps. Something growled again, directly behind her. And it wasn’t alone.

A second snarl came from her left. A third from her right. Kara halted, paralyzed with fear. Whatever was out there, it was in a pack and it was stalking her.

She unholstered her gun, painfully aware she couldn’t shoot what she couldn’t see. And if she fired a warning shot to scare off whatever was out there, how long before the alien found her?

She turned in a slow circle, trying to gauge what kind of creatures were hunting her. A set of eyes gleamed and she pointed the torch.

Something padded into the light.

Hellhound.That was the first thought that came into her mind. A beast created by Satan himself. The creature had a canine look about it but any semblance to a domestic pet was wiped out by the brutality of its features.

Standing chest-high, it had sleek grey skin perforated by boney spurs jutting from its spine all the way to the base of its slender, reptilian tail. Huge paws balanced out the lean, muscular body. Powerful jaws dripped with yellow fangs, and black eyes stared at her mercilessly.

Kara licked her bloodless lips.

“Hey there,” she whispered. “Good dog.”

The animal cocked one leathery ear towards her, a snarl rising in its throat. Three almost identical companions appeared silently beside it.

There was no longer any choice, she knew that now. She was going to have to use her gun. She aimed at the biggest hound, the one she thought of as the pack-leader.

One of the smaller beasts leapt towards her. Without missing a beat, she changed her angle and shot it. It fell limply to the ground and its pack-mates melted into the night.

She knew they hadn’t gone. But they would be more wary now.

She doubled her pace, wincing as sharp stones pierced her unprotected foot. Her heel throbbed painfully and she was fairly sure the skin was torn. The feral beasts didn’t even need to keep her in their line of sight. They could just follow the smell of blood.

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