Truehearts & The Escape From Pirate Moon Jake Macklem (classic romance novels TXT) 📖

outstretched hands. “Don’t forget about me, Ace!” Her blond hair burned away, Smith’s bright blue eyes stood stark against the blackened and cracked skin.

Sitting up too fast, Ace tipped the parachute hammock and plummeted to the ground. It’s not my fault! Pushing off the ground she raced to the hut door and yanked it open, the metal plate falling to the ground as she jumped through the opening. The light pierced her vision, driving sharp pain behind her eyes and into her brain. It doesn’t matter, they’re behind me. They’re all so mad at me. “I’m sorry!” She screamed. Stumbling through the woods, Ace fell, but she would not stop; red dirt clung to naked skin as she crawled across the ground. Why’s it so hot? Canada is cold. We’re in the arctic circle.

“What are you running from?” Mick’s voice rumbled through light and shadow.

“Things I can’t escape.”

Shadows washed over her.

  9: Cam

Walking down the swath of cut ground, Cam could see the layers of the stratum. The ground was a meter or two of soil composite, but under that a rough, patchy layer of iron. Surface was liquid iron before it quickly cooled. Closing the distance to the strange tree grove, he saw a glint of light reflecting off something shiny. Another deposit of platinum, maybe. With renewed interest, he continued forward.

Grunts and snorting stopped Cam. Dropping prone, he looked through the scope of his rifle toward the noise. Past the empty space between the branches, he saw a strange mammal-like vertebrate species tearing at the ground with its tusks, sorting through the dirt with its trunk and eating six-legged insects that were nearly half a foot long.

Slowly, without making a sound, Cam pulled his personal recorder up and tapped the record button. “Would you look at that Calvin,” he whispered. “It looks like an elephant the size of a pig. It's foragin’ for those bugs.” He zoomed in. “See how thick that insect’s exoskeleton is? It protects the bugs from rivals and predators. Most critters here will have sharp teeth and claws, due to the ferrous nature of life here. But those… uh—” he grinned, “—those Susaderms, probably developed those crushing maws to be able to eat them. That’s pretty cool, huh? Alright, let's get a closer look.” Setting the recorder up facing the creature, Cam quietly ejected the magazine and cleared the chamber. Slipping the bullet into the magazine, he traded it for another from his belt. He adeptly loaded the rifle with tranquilizer darts.

Looking at the Susaderm, Cam squeezed the trigger without a thought. Whizzing through the air, the dart struck the animal in the neck. The creature squealed a trilling sound, and took a single step, then fell to the ground. Cam waited a moment, studying the area for any sign of more creatures. Reassured, he stood up and picked up the recorder. “Let’s go see what we got,” he said as he walked toward the Susaderm. Please let it still be alive; the techs said the darts were tailored for oxygen breathers.

The deep breaths of the creature made a slight whistling sound through its trunk as its midsection rose and fell. Each breath was long and slow. The powerful legs hinted that it could run, but the squat build indicated that it did not like to. It reminded Cam of herd animals on Earth. He focused the recorder on different features of the beast while he spoke about them. “Look at that, it doesn’t have any eyes. It’ll have to rely on its other senses to know what’s going on around it. Like its sense of smell… I mean, with a nose like that it probably smells pretty good, right?” Zooming in on the skin protrusions on its legs and trunk he continued, “I’m guessing those little appendages are very sensitive to the movement of other creatures, and it's probably how it tracks those insects in the ground. But see these teeth? It’s got both cutters and crushers, and that red paste in its gums looks like pulp from the grass. It eats the plants and the crawlies. And its body can handle chewing on this grass, which grows sharp like knives. Strange little thing isn’t it?”

Cam quickly went about taking a blood and tissue sample, though he made sure not to harm the beast. He marked it in his log as Life Form Class B. He scooped up the remains of one of the dead insects and marked it in his log as Life Form Class C. After returning everything to its proper place in his backpack, he spoke to the camera. “I think it would be real fun exploring our new home together, learning about all the new alien life forms that live around us. I miss you lots, Calvin. If I come across any other animals, I’ll be sure to bring you along with the camera. I love you.”

Now to find that platinum deposit.

Picking up his rifle, he swapped his tranq magazine out for real bullets and ventured deeper into the strange grove. He paused just before he lost sight of the waking Susaderm. It slowly stood, groggy and clumsy. It should be safe until it recovers, and that shouldn’t be too long.

Nothing else in the valley was like this mound. It shouldn’t be here, not with the regular flooding I think goes on. Following the scarred ground, Cam came to what he feared he would find.

Damn it.

Overgrown with trees that wrapped around it was a crashed combat vehicle. He could see from here that it had been grounded for a while. Rifle at the ready, he walked toward to cockpit and examined the fighter. Modified Warthog. No marking or insignias. It’s been in a fight, though. He scanned the area for any sign of life. Settler or Pirates. Damn it. He took a few steps up the side of the craft. Please