Smugglers’ Paradise? Part IV of V

Posted on 25 Jul 2016 @ 9:06pm by Commander Luke Wyatt & Ensign Miraj Derani
Edited on on 28 Jul 2016 @ 4:05pm

2,268 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 11 - Divinum Mundi
Location: Celes IV
Timeline: MD 22 0400 local time

Previously, on Smugglers’ Paradise?

She shifted over so she was closer to him and the fire and closed her eyes, not sure she could sleep knowing that there were men out there. By her estimate there were still eight or nine hours before they'd be overdue. Allow for three hours to reach here and an hour of faffing beforehand and there was a minimum of twelve hours before they could expect rescue. They just had to hold out till then.

Luke drifted off after Miraj, lying flat on his back so that he didn't aggravate his healing wound and also to allow Miraj more room next to the fire, though cold and wet he kept a comfortable distance away from her as to not invade privacy but close enough they could share each other’s warmth.

And Now, the continuation...


She was lying in the dirt, dazed and confused. The forest was dim and steamy and stole her breath. She wanted to run, but couldn't move. Her body wouldn't respond. Her head span. She could hear men grappling, grunting and gasping as they fought.

And then there was the snap. it was gunshot sharp and silenced everything, and then the body thudded down next to her. Luke's green eyes were wide open and staring at nothing. She screamed. Or she tried. She wanted to scream but nothing came out.

And then the Farian grabbed her by the ankle, and dragged her underneath him, and she finally managed to scream.


Miraj woke, slick with sweat and her heart pounding so hard her chest hurt.

Luke's eyes shot open as the sudden jerk from Miraj warned him to a danger "What the matter!?" He asked eyes darting around the cave looking for a foreign object but not seeing any and his eyes now lingered on Miraj "Bad dream?" He asked.

She jumped at the sound of his voice, then realised he was there and that he was still alive. The adrenalin surge that had come from the nightmare drained away and she started to shake, but she put a brave face on it. "Just a dream. Nothing major. I'll be fine." But she shuffled even closer to him, needing the reassurance of his presence.

Luke allows her to shuffle closer and once again closed his eyes, he didn't want to push the matter. If she didn't want to tell him about it, then he was happy to leave it at that. "We have only a few more hours, try and make the most of it" he said eyes still closed as sleep once again took him.


________________________________________


The split beams of sun crept in through the very well concealed cave and the sound of birds singing could be heard which was always a good sign as it meant there was no intruders nearby. The fire burnt well into the night and now only red and black embers burnt creating short curly wisps of smoke which licked the roof of the cave. The cave was warm, and Luke clothes were dry. Though in a lot less pain than yesterday the small amount of healing from the dermal regenerator did its job and the night’s rest though broken and uncomfortable felt good.

Miraj had shifted in the night to get as close to the Luke as possible and had managed to get herself tucked in neatly between Luke and the stones of the edge of the fire. After the nightmare of the hours before, she was finally sleeping soundly.

"Morning sleepy head" Luke said noticing the closeness of the woman. During the night, most likely after her night terror, Miraj had slotted herself neatly against him, and though she blocked most of the heat from the fire he didn't mind. "Hey. Wake up" He teased poking her somewhat in the cheek.

She made a semi-conscious grunting noise, and rolled over, throwing an arm around him. Then she woke up more fully, realised what she was doing and jumped back from him like she'd been burnt. "err. Sorry. I'm awake now."

A deep rumbling chuckle followed as Luke backed away further increasing the gap between them and rolled to his knees before finally standing up "That I can see" he teased

She blushed, and got to her feet, stiff all over, and hauled the day sack open, looking for the ration bars she had there. She needed to eat.

"We should make best effort to get to the shuttle," Luke said, "We're running out of time and since we didn't get found in the night of heat anything best bet is they think we drowned or got washed so far down river it wasn't worth the hassle to look for us"

Miraj offered a bar to Luke, and opened her own. "That's going to be a long walk." she got to her feet, chewing. She found the scanner pack they had brought with them to analyse the energy signatures the long range scanners had picked up. It too was malfunctioning from the jump from the waterfall, but at least it could show her where north and west were. "We came at least ten kilometres, maybe more. But we were climbing up when we found that landing pad. Now we're down again, so maybe if we go round to the south west from here for a bit, we'll be looping around the bottom of this place, and it won't be as long."

Taking the bar and opening the foil wrapper "I know, but it has to be done otherwise we'll never leave this place" Luke said before biting the bar which tasted both bland and felt like rubber. "I never get used to these emergency rations" He moaned before setting his mind and thinking about her suggestion "We should flank round, that’ll also put us more out of harm’s way if they are still looking for us too"

"Beats rakh blood pie." Miraj told him, chewing her own bar with slightly more relish than he was.

Plan in place they set out. At this early hour the jungle was still cool and the early birds tweeted happily. If they weren't running for their lives it would have been idyllic.

Two hours pushing hard and they had got far enough round the base of the hill that Miraj shifted their course north west to put them on a direct line with Marina. Another hour and Miraj was recognising landmarks she'd seen when coming into land. Marina was close. Easily less than a kilometre, probably no more than half.

Little did the pair know that they had been watched by unknown eyes that lurked in the shadow waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce. The panther like creature stalked its prey silently through the dense undergrowth using the shadows as its camouflage stalking patiently.

Luke put down his pack "We should eat and drink the last of what we have, and leave the packs here. This has to be the last ditch attempt to get to the shuttle and were running low on supplies anyways" He said biting into the last ration bar and swigging at his drink.

Miraj chugged down the last of her water and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I will be so glad to get out of here." There had been no sign of a search party all morning. Whoever the men had been, they must have assumed they drowned.

Luke about to reply heard a crack as the bush next to them exploded as a panther like creature burst from its cover claws out towards them and its teeth showing. It was a mixture of dark green and browns and its skin looked slick as if covered in oil. "RUN!" Luke said turning to run but making sure Miraj was on his trail.

The feline bounded after them, effortlessly pushing off from the forest floor to trunks of trees and back again. Obstacles for Luke and Miraj were only stepping stones. Its jaws stretched open and it bunched its muscles for a massive spring that sent it soaring right over their heads, canon of a tree in front, and land on Luke's chest, pounding him down into the dirt. Needle sharp teeth, dripping ichor snapped at his head

The ichor fell to his face the spell of the felines earlier meals blinding Luke as he held his arms crossed at the felines throat pushing it away as it dug its claws into his side and tried to clampdown its sharp teeth into his jugular. Being so close to getting of the ship he kicked and bowed his back pushing with his hips as he launched the feline of and rolling away "Straight to the Shuttle" he ordered taking of once again.

The feline rolled, tail flicking and jumped forward, claws raking at his back, tips just managing to catch in his jacket, the fabric tearing away leaving it tangled for a moment in the shreds of fabric before shredding it, letting out a screech of spitting anger and pounced again.
As they ran Luke turned, throwing a stone he had picked up of the floor, hitting the feline in the face. They must have only been a few hundred meters away now as trees rushed passed them and the sounds of gnashing teeth came once again from behind.

The cat creature shook off the blow and raced towards them, quickly drawing level with them, then accelerating hard aiming to get in front of them again

"I can see Marina!" Miraj pointed. The dark red line of the runabouts nacelles, sharply contrasted against the silver of the hull could be glimpsed through the trees. The sight of a ship spurred her forward and she crashed through the treeline onto open ground at the same time as the huge oily skinned beast.

"Keep going!" He shouted from somewhere behind Miraj as he too burst into the clearing where they had left the marina. "Don’t stop for me just start her up and get ready to leave" Luke had armed himself with a large stick that looked sturdy and had used some of the vines to attach a sharp stone making a crude but effective spear. Putting himself between the shuttle and the beast he roared displaying he spear and ready to once again protect Miraj.

The cat-thing swatted at him try to claw him and dodge the spear at the same time, sharp claws slick with venom slicing out.

Luke twisted and dodged the onslaught of attacks whilst also jabbing and slashing his spear at the cat, more than once he managed to catch the cat like creature with the pointed sharp end of his spear. This only angered the attacking feline creature as it continued to attack. The cat-thing leapt, jaws closing on the spear, and with a shake of its slick-skinned head threw Luke ten meters across the ground.

Bouncing ungracefully across the floor Luke came to a sudden stop as he hit a tree away from the cat, his spear clattered across the floor in two separate pieces and the feline attacker approached him licking its lips. Foul saliva fell out of its grinning mouth as it goes closer.

Reaching the door of Marina Miraj turned and saw Luke struggling with the beast and then see it grab the spear and send him flying. It crunched down and the spear splintered into two. The creature flung the remains aside and gathered itself to go for Luke's throat.

Then she remembered the phaser in her pocket and cursed herself for not remembering it sooner. She pulled it out. The thing was so close to Luke she didn't trust herself not to shoot him. "Luke! Catch!"

She lobbed the little phaser across the open ground. It clattered down a few feet from his hand just as the thing leapt.

As if noticing the finale coming the cat leapt at Luke as he dived for the phaser. In a quick and sudden explosion of sound and light, the smell of burnt flesh was noticeable in the air as the feline creature lay lifelessly over Luke. The tiny phaser was a wreck. The damage it had sustained from the waterfall must have caused it to overload.

Miraj jogged back to him, and helped heave the thing off of him. It must have weighed at least a hundred kilos. With the corpse rolled aside, she could see the damage the creature had wrought; abrasions covered his back and chest, and bright red burns from the exploding phaser had turned his left hand and arm blotchy, but they didn't look severe. They had to hurt like hell though.

"Thanks." Miraj helped him up. "Again."

"Let’s get out of here. There's got to be another med kit in Marina. Come on." Miraj hurried back to the runabout's door to open it for Luke. The door shot up into its housing and Miraj jumped in.

Straight into the blast of a disruptor set to Heavy Stun.

Luke barely had time to react as he watched Miraj fall back out of the door of the shuttle, before finding himself being shot at. However, despite the warning Luke didn't even have time to turn before he too felt the hit of a phaser on stun.

To Be Continued...

A JP by

LT Luke Wyatt
Strategic Operations Officer
USS Galileo

&

Ensign Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

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