Page 36 of Kryxis

A few times, she thought she was going to break down, seeing them fall into the dark again and again in her mind. But she kept her focus on getting the samples and preparing to leave once the storm was through. She had to keep it together until she found them.

She sat alone now in the hoarder’s den, listening to the wind and every so often the sound of something banging against the building, some debris from the storm. Kryxis had gone topretorisas he put it. She wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but he made her understand he would be close by and be back shortly.

While he was gone, she used the gel from the medikit on her knees to soothe them. After, she found a healing compressor for her ankle, wrapping it firmly. By the time the storm was through, she should be able to walk better. At least she hoped.

“Come on…Come on,” she whispered. Sitting on a set of crates with her bad leg resting across, she messed with the communicator on her helmet. She was uncertain how likely it was yet that the ship’s power would be restored, but she had to try getting a hold of someone regardless. So far, there was nothing but static. She messed with the settings again, trying to put the signal out farther than it could usually handle. Someone had to have survived. Or Saul would have wondered why they weren’t back by now and would have tried to reestablish communication. Unfortunately for her, the storm made it even more difficult.

Trying the different channels, she got more of the same, static upon static. She scanned again for another channel, one that went farther out.

There was nothing again at first, until she heard a soft hiss followed by a low groaning sound. Heart fluttering, she adjusted the settings to refine the signal.

“He—are you—in…”

Dani tensed. It was so soft, barely audible, but she was certain she heard those words. She sharpened the signal once more.

“Hello—anyone—here.”

She hissed through her teeth. That sounded like…

Tapping on the communicator, she spoke as clearly as she could. “Hello! Can you hear me?”

Silence, then. “Hello—any—here.”

She repeated her words over, but each time, they never answered, just said the same thing followed by static.

Damn. The signal wasn’t strong enough. Still, she tried for several minutes, but eventually she heard nothing at all. They were gone.

She set the helmet beside her, rubbing at her temples. She couldn’t get a hold of them. But she was certain she recognized Myrell’s voice.

She remembered that she and Garret had made it to the other side of the bridge before the spider mantis had attacked. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure of Garret’s fate, but she knew now Myrell was definitely alive.

And she had to be in the research sector, close to the labs, since that was where they were headed.

She might be stuck there. And who knew what other horrors might be inside.

Setting her hands in her lap, she clenched them into fists. She had to do something.

There was a soft scraping sound coming from beyond one of the doors, like something was lumbering close by. Dani slid off the crate, hand at her stunner, staring at the door.

She jumped as the door was kicked open, finding Kryxis, who dragged something behind them. He halted where she stood and dropped the lower half of some furry creature that looked like a small bear with tusks and a long blue tail at her feet.

She wasn’t sure how to react. Yet, Kryxis seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction from her. “What is…”

“Seesh,” he stated. “Xi pretoris var rikas, Dani.”

It took her a moment to understand. “You…hunted this for me?”

“Xa.” He crouched over the beast, and with little to no hesitation, stabbed it in the gut with his tail and ripped it open. Gripping its throat, he tore the skin clean off with one pull, throwing the bloody fur to one side.

Dani smacked her hand over her mouth, trying not to gag. “Oh, my god.”

Bones crunching, he ripped off a thigh leg and offered it to her. “Seesh.”

This time, she did gag. “Oh, no thank you.” She turned her head away.

He looked disappointed. Dare she say, even dejected.

“Dani, makari sheesh.” Dani must eat, he was saying.

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