“No, I wasn’t.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Okay. I was.”
I watched him ducking under a low-hanging vine and his long hair fell over his shoulder. “You like him.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “I… Uh… maybe. I don’t know.”
“Well, you’ll have plenty of time to find out since you’ll be working together.” Janssen had also majored in Botany.
Her eyes never left him as he bent down to look at a lavender flower. “Is he unattached, do you know?”
“It has taken you two weeks to even ask that?” I asked. Her cheeks flushed even more. “I heard him telling Mosuti he doesn’t have a girl. Or boy,” I added.
She looked relieved. I chuckled, thinking they’d make a great couple. They had a shared interest in botany and they even came from the same planet: Shakira.
I looked at her long hair again and wished mine was longer. I came to the conclusion that even if mine was as long, it wouldn’t look the same because it was a light brown colour.
Mosuti, our telepathic crew member, wandered over to where we were. “Hey, girls.”
“Hey,” we both said together.
“Found your specimens yet?”
We both said “no” at the same time and laughed.
From the corner of my eye, I saw movement. It was Kami again, staring at us with a furrowed brow and his mouth set in a thin line.
“Mosuti. Kami doesn’t like you, does he?” I whispered.
“I’m afraid not, Zhenna. Says he doesn’t like my ‘kind.’”
I narrowed my eyes as I kept watching Kami. “Don’t let it worry you. He’s a douchebag.”
“He doesn’t worry me.”
Kami called me again. “Zhenna, dear, why are you talking to him?”
“Uh, because he’s my friend.”
“His kind can’t be trusted. He’s probably reading our minds right now.”
Mosuti stood up straighter. “I would never do that. It is against the Talents’ Code of Conduct to read a being’s mind without consent.”
The Code had been created years ago to protect people’s privacy and to protect Talents all over the Known Universe.
Larissa took a step forward. “You’re a jerk! What would you know about Talents? You’re so narrow-minded!”
He waved his hand in the air dismissively. “They are nothing but freaks. Mutated beings that taint our genetics.”
I clenched my fists, trying to keep my temper in check. “What do you suggest we do with these ‘mutants’?” I asked him.
“We need to keep them under control. They shouldn’t be allowed to wander free where they can manipulate our minds and wreak havoc across the universe.”
“So, we should enslave them?”
“I… wouldn’t use that exact term… but what else can we do? They’re freaks of nature and they are a danger to us all.”
My fingernails were digging into my palms and my face felt like it was on fire. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
I heard Mosuti’s voice in my mind. “It’s okay. I’m not worried about him. Don’t let him get to you. Don’t cause yourself unnecessary worry.”
It always gave me a thrill to hear his voice in my head. We’d messed around with it a couple of times on the trip out here. All I had to do was think my answer and Mosuti could read it. And, of course, he had my permission.
I know, I replied. But he’s such an ignoramus!
I turned back to Kami. “I’m glad I won’t be working with you when we get to Jannali. You’re such an arrogant, narrow-minded, backwards hick!”
Before he could answer, there was a loud zapping noise like an electrical current arcing. I looked around. “What was that?”
Instead of answering, Mosuti grabbed Larissa and I by the arm and practically threw us to the ground. “Stay down!” he ordered.
I heard more zapping sounds and people screaming. I looked at Mosuti’s rugged face and wide eyes from my position in the leaf litter and he whispered, “Laser fire.”
I froze and could feel the warmth drain from my face. Laser fire? In the middle of a prehistoric jungle? How? … Who?
I heard another scream and looked up to see Bazeelia fall screaming to the ground with her hair on fire. I quickly put my head back down on the soft earth, trying to somehow block out the sound. There was nothing I could do to help her. We were all unarmed.
From where I lay on the ground, I heard more laser fire as it struck targets all around us. I was too afraid to move and it took all my willpower to keep from screaming. I knew that no race native to this planet possessed laser weapons, so my brain tried to figure out who could be attacking us.
The only answer I could think of was that the attackers were the Varekai. They were basically space pirates and had a reputation for being totally brutal. My heart constricted in my chest. Were we all about to die?
Our shuttle must have been followed somehow. But why would they bother? It’s not like we had anything valuable on the ship.
In the chaos, I noticed that the soil and leaves around me seemed to be moving. There were ants and a half a dozen other crawling insects moving about on the forest floor, some of which were starting to crawl up over my hands and arms. Again I had to resist the urge to cry out. I had to let them crawl. If I made any sudden move, the lasers might target me.
I could see the fear churning in Mosuti’s eyes as we lay on the ground side-by-side. Larissa was on his other side, but I couldn’t lift my head to see if she was okay. There was a weird beetle crawling on Mosuti’s arm, but he didn’t move.
The laser fire and the screaming stopped, and I froze where I lay. I heard footsteps all around me. I closed my eyes. I couldn’t bring myself to look, but I knew they were there, looking down at me. The left side of my face lay in the soft earth and I hoped that the position I was in made it appear as though I’d fallen that way and was either unconscious or dead. If they thought I was dead, they might leave me and return to their ship.
I knew I wouldn’t be so lucky.
I could feel their presence, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Fear was creeping up my spine, eating into my flesh.
I tried to keep my breathing as shallow as possible, hoping they wouldn’t see my ribs expand and contract. They were right behind me. I imagined their piercing eyes, staring down from above. My lungs desperately needed more air, but I didn’t dare suck in enough to satisfy their hunger.
Someone said, “These ones are good...”
Something was crawling on my neck. Another ‘something’ was climbing along the length of my right leg. But I had to stay there. Had to let them crawl.
“Don’t damage them,” said another. What were they talking about?
I couldn’t just lie there. I desperately wanted to turn around and face my foes, to see who they were, but I couldn’t do it. Something was starting to bite my leg, but before I could give myself away by swatting at it, I felt burning pain surge through my whole body. Every muscle convulsed and the darkness closed in quickly around me.
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Author's Note: If you’re loving this story, please comment and let me know what you thought of it. Also, you can read a few chapters for free to see if you like it, and if you follow me on my Ream site, you’ll get a few more chapters to dig your teeth into. Subscribers on any level on Ream get the whole book – which is 88 chapters – and other special bonuses and goodies related to my stories. Here’s the link to Chapter 3 on Ream: https://reamstories.com/page/lh4daspnyl/story/lkzm4svsyy/chapter/90fb302d-0468-4748-bc5e-28becbeb71b756Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlx98WBByUv
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