Star Cruise: Marooned (10 page)

She told him a brief version of her escape, omitting the utter terror.

When she was finished with her bare bones recitation, he was silent for a moment, rubbing his thumb across her hand, before asking a new question. “What made you think of taking to the trees?”

“I grew up on a frontier planet in Sector Forty, with four older brothers. Climbing trees is one of the ways we spent our time when we weren’t in school. Or in detention.” She chuckled at the memories, keeping her mirth quiet, mindful of their sleeping passengers. Since he seemed to be in the mood to talk, she decided to probe a bit at his personal history. “What about you, any brothers or sisters?”

Stretching to unkink his back and then settling against the tree trunk, pulling her close, he grinned. “Yeah, I’m the youngest of six brothers. We homesteaded on the frontier as well. Most of us guys on my homeworld joined the military when we were old enough. The war with the Mawreg is a lot more real out there than it is to the Inner Sectors, I think.”

“It was real to us on my planet. We had shelters and drills and a lot of military presence.” She considered for a moment. “I rarely hear anything about the war nowadays, at least not while on a cruise. Of course, our passengers are trying to escape reality or they wouldn’t be sailing with us. What made you decide to join the Special Forces?”

“Some of the more specialized branches of the military recruit for frontier kids. Our kind of survival skills are at a premium, and difficult to teach to soft Inner Sectors cadets.” He nudged her gently in the ribs. “If you’re not going to sleep, turnabout is fair play tonight—how did you follow a career path that brought you to a staff position on a luxury charter in the mid Sectors?”

“I should ask you how you became crew on the same boat,” she said. “Not much to tell about me, you know as well as I do there aren’t too many ways off a frontier world other than the military. I didn’t want to live and die on one planet. I didn’t see myself as a soldier, present circumstances excepted. One of my mother’s cousins was pretty high in the Guild and she pulled strings to get me into training. I flew the outer runs, then immigrant ships, then cryo passenger vessels with a few cabins, and finally worked my way into charter.”

“You ever think of signing on with one of the big lines, or an intermediate like CLC?”

She bit her lip. Now he was talking about her impossible dream. “Who hasn’t? I’ve heard CLC’s about the best for crew, since the SMT line went bankrupt. CLC pays a fair salary; you’re not just living on tips. And the working conditions would be so much better. Our captain on the
Far Horizons
is—was—a pretty decent man, but you’re at the mercy of the draw who you ship out with on these short charters. Can’t refuse a berth, not more than once or twice. Guild frowns on exercising your options, no matter what the fine print says about crew rights. But the competition for the big liner slots is fierce.”

“I have a berth waiting for me, working Security on a top of the line CLC cruiser, the
Nebula Princess
. We survive this dilemma, we’re in; I can get you hired on.”

She craned her neck to stare at him. “If you have a position with CLC, why are you wasting time crewing for this small outfit?”

She thought he wasn’t going to answer because he was silent for so long. She turned to watch a pair of nocturnal winged insects wafting by on the breeze, wishing he would say more, explain himself.

Red took a deep breath. “Well, I met a girl and she works for this charter company. And I can’t get her out of my mind, you see.”
 

Meg turned to him and found him staring at her in the moonlight, eyes gleaming. She couldn’t look away as he lowered his head, closing her eyes only as their lips met. His tongue swept the seam of her lips, and she parted them to grant him entry. But when Meg adjusted to make the embrace less awkward, looping her arm around Red’s neck, Callina murmured in her sleep, stretching a bit.

Red broke off the kiss reluctantly, but continued to hold her close against him. She could hear his heart beating—a steady, reassuring sound in this tropical forest full of noisy night creatures. “Just tell me you don’t hate the idea,” he whispered, lips close to her ear. “Please.”

“Idea?” Caught in the emotion of the moment, she wasn’t sure if he was talking about working together for the CLC Line or referring to the attraction blossoming between them in this unlikely time and place.

“Us. Us together, anywhere you want to be,” he said, as if reading her confusion.

“No, I-I don’t hate the idea.” Hand on the back of his head, threaded in the incredible softness of his hair, she guided him to an angle where their lips met in a quick kiss. Regretting this wasn’t the time or place to explore the intriguing possibilities flooding through her mind, Meg ended the embrace all too soon. Survival was the top priority. “You get me the interview, and I’ll do the rest on my own merits, though,” she said, poking him in the chest with one finger.

He laughed. “I’ve no doubts.”

CHAPTER FIVE

When she woke in the morning, Red was nowhere to be seen, but there were two huge, bowl-shaped green leaves filled with water sitting a short distance away on the branch. Yawning and stretching, she eyed her companions. “Did anyone see where Mr. Thomsill went?”

The others shook their heads or gazed at her in sleepy confusion. As she was becoming concerned about him, Red climbed onto the branch from below, her pack, now full of berries, looped over one of his broad shoulders.

“You took the risk of going down there?” she asked, pointing at the forest floor so far below.

He nodded. “Gathered dew for you first, before I descended to check for enemy activity. As long as I was on the ground reconnoitering anyway, decided I’d pick some berries. We’re about out of food, right?”

“How do we know these are safe to eat?” Leaning over her husband’s shoulder to see the offering better as Red set the bulging pack on the branch, Callina was dubious.

“All kinds of small mammals were eating them and one large bearlike creature. I had to find my own patch, wasn’t going to fight him for breakfast. Must have outweighed me by two hundred pounds.” Red popped several of the sapphire blue berries in his mouth, chewed and swallowed with enthusiasm. “I’ve already had quite a few and you don’t see me keeling over.”

Callina helped herself with no further hesitation, making a pouch with the skirt of her sundress and pouring several handfuls into the makeshift bowl.
 

Meg said, “Generally, most things on the planet are edible for humans. It’s the wildlife that tends to be poisonous here.” The berries had a delightful tang to them and the fiber of the seeds and skins was filling. “Any sign of pursuit?” Meg asked, going for her third helping after a refreshing swallow of the cold morning condensation he’d collected.

Tossing a berry high into the air and catching between his teeth, Red shook his head. “But we need to remain on high alert. It’s fortunate the forest grows in the direction we want to go.”

“I think the trees cover pretty much all of this continent,” Meg said.

“If we stay marooned forever, maybe we can start a tree-dwelling civilization.” Callina’s voice held undeniable sarcasm.

A few minutes later, the group resumed hiking along the branches like veterans, traveling as directly west as possible. At times, a detour was required, climbing or descending to reach main branches growing in the correct heading, but overall progress was steady. Despite Red’s warning earlier, Meg was relaxed and concentrating on the uneven bark under her feet when something large, making no sound other than a low hum, soared overhead. Above the treetops, the craft blocked the sun.

“Get to the nearest trunk and stay down,” Red ordered.

Meg grabbed Callina and hustled to do as he wanted. Red joined them a moment later. Mr. Bettis huddled close to the tree that Meg and his wife had just traveled from. Trever put his back to a tree trunk and closed his eyes, hands clenched on protuberances in the bark, as if he was afraid a tractor beam was going to sweep the area and pull him into captivity.

“A Shemdylann ship?” Meg whispered, as the flyer lazily passed from view to the east. “Will they find us?”

“I hope not.” Red kept scanning the sky. “I hope he’s merely doing a few sweeps to say he made an effort.”

The five humans stayed motionless for a good ten minutes by Meg’s chrono, and when the enemy ship didn’t return, continued on their journey.

At times, Meg thought this would have made a superb nature tour, worth as many credits as a visit to the Falls. The route took them through gorgeous areas of flowering vines, with jewel-like insects flitting in and out of the blooms. From a distance, Meg saw several small troops of the monkeylike climbers, grooming, eating, and sleeping. A few sentinel animals bared fangs at them, but apparently the humans were far enough away—or Red was imposing enough—preventing the creatures from initiating a territorial fight. Red hustled them through those areas as fast as he dared. Here and there a tree snake was coiled, the gorgeously tinted menace hugging its chosen branch. Meg insisted on sidetracking far out of their way to avoid any proximity to the snakes.

Red offered to kill one and cook it for lunch and she shuddered, clutching her stomach. “I’m not that desperate yet, thank you.”

A flight of red and yellow song birds with long tails swooped over the branch, startling them so much Callina slipped and nearly fell before Red grabbed her arm.

The deeper Meg traveled into the forest, the more astounded she was by the quantity and beauty of the winged residents. All sizes and types of birds appeared to inhabit the area, from tiny jeweled sap drinkers to giant birds of prey with twelve foot wingspans, drifting on the air currents among the trees.

When Red called a halt for a midmorning break, he picked a spot close to a spectacular blanket of purple flowers growing on a nearby tree, cascading toward the ground, anchored by stout roots dug deep into the living tree. There were all types of birds drinking the nectar or hunting the lacy-winged insects hovering amid the blooms. The volume of bird songs was amazing. One of the red and yellow songsters flew to a small branch above them and trilled a crystalline run of notes.

Callina cleared her throat, stood and launched into a song in her bell-like soprano, more beautiful than Meg had ever heard from a human, not even on opera trideos of famous Inner Sector singers. Although Meg was far from being an expert on music, Mrs. Bettis had a range of at least three octaves. The song soared so high Meg’s pulse pounded, and then there was an astonishing run of phrases, the pitch constantly changing to delight the ear, but sung at full volume. She glanced at Red, worried he might object to the unnecessary sound, but he gave every sign of enjoying the unusual performance. By the time their fellow refugee had finished her aria, with lingering notes, the closest branches were filled with songbirds of all colors and descriptions, heads tilted as the flock absorbed the concert. The humans applauded and Mr. Bettis gave his wife a kiss.

She curtseyed to the birds, who rose in a wave of noisy, kaleidoscopic colors, swirling through the nearby branches and going about their normal business.

“Amazing,” Meg said. “Where did you learn to sing so beautifully?”

The passenger blushed. “I was in training at the Sector Fine Arts Academy because my stepfather had finally agreed that my voice was good enough to merit professional training.” She had a rueful smile. “I was an asset, you understand? I entertained at some of his charity galas—he supported the school with scholarships. And paid my tuition, of course. I met Peter while we were making the arrangements for the various charity events and the concerts, and well, one thing led to another. This cruise was supposed to be our delayed honeymoon.”

“I’m a lucky man.” Mr. Bettis straightened his back and raised his chin.
 

“Not to dampen the mood—because I enjoyed the song as much as the birds did,” said Red. “A rare treat. But we need to move out. Save your breath, Ma’am, and perhaps you can sing us a concert once we’re safe at the research facility.”

“Of course.” Basking in their praise, Callina was as happy as Meg had ever seen her.

Twice more that morning, however, the sky darkened overhead and the Shemdylann shuttle made another pass in their area.

“This isn’t good,” Red said. “I think they’re reading something on their scanners here, despite interference from the vegetation. We’re probably lucky Crxtahl is sailing under direct orders from the Mawreg overlords. His bosses won’t want him to linger on this planet, and won’t appreciate him scorching the forest to ash, wasting armament trying to swat flies with a flame thrower.”

Meg stared at him. “Would the Shemdylann destroy the rain forest? Just to keep the five of us from escaping?”

“In a heartbeat.” Eyebrows raised, Red seemed surprised at her astonishment. “Intergalactic war isn’t a game. It’s played for keeps on a grand scale. We’ve burned off entire planets and so has the other side. And I’m afraid the commander’s considerable ego is involved, since he’s got a ship searching for us. Shemdylann attain and keep rank through ruthless success, and defeating constant challenges from ambitious subordinates. He can’t afford to be seen as weak. I was hoping he’d be smart enough to deflect criticism from his troops for losing us, but when were the Shemdylann ever big thinkers?”

Wondering if she’d ever find out more about the experiences he’d endured in his years of service, she said nothing. He seemed so well versed on the enemy.