Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

can’t really see much down here in the trees,” I said, once again looking east. “There’s a mountain range over there, but I don’t think we need to go that far. Maybe we can find some high ground, even a tree to climb up and see where we’re going. We need to find other survivors.”

“Right, we can’t be the only ones…” Ricky’s voice trailed off as if it were a question. “Can we?”

“No way,” I said, shrugging against the straps of my pack. “I saw dozens of ships getting away before and during our escape. They’re out here; we just have to find them.”

“Right,” Ricky said, building up his courage. “I could really use a drink or twenty right now. Maybe a game of dice to relax.”

“You and me both, brother,” I said as we headed east, back toward our downed escape pod and the tree line beyond. After I spoke, I remembered all of Ricky’s promises to every deity he could think of about stopping his gambling ways. “Wait a minute. Didn’t you swear to give up gambling if we landed safely?”

“What?” Ricky looked at me like I was crazy. “I don’t remember that at all.”

“Yeah, that was you,” I said.

“Well, I can’t be held accountable for whatever I did or didn’t say when I thought I was going to die,” Ricky said, then shrugged. “That would never hold up in a court of law.”

The dark green grass crunched under my boots just like the grass on Earth. The only noticeable difference was the color, so dark it was almost black.

I took a better look at the trees as we passed our pod and entered the forest area. The trunks were much wider than anything I had seen on Earth. The bark was also a deep dark brown, and the leaves were vibrant, nearly neon green.

It was like they gave a kid a set of crayons and told him or her to go to town on the landscape.

“Is it weird that we don’t hear anything?” Ricky asked.

He had his knife out in his right hand. He held it close to his body as if he were ready to strike out at any moment.

“If you accidentally stab me with that thing, I’m going to be pissed,” I said, fighting the urge to unsheathe my own knife, which sat in a carrier on the right side of my hip. I held the holo pad in my hands instead, hoping to pick up a signal from someone. “And yeah. It is weird. There are no animals, insects, or anything.”

We traveled through the dense forest, always listening for movement, but there was still nothing. We went on the same even ground, looking for a place where we could get a better view of the landscape. I was beginning to think we should abandon the search for a decent vantage point and just try to climb one of the trees, when we heard movement in the forest in front of us.

Ricky and I both slammed ourselves against the closest tree on our right. The wide trunk offered more than enough room for us to conceal ourselves. I grabbed the handle of my knife, sliding it free from its sheath.

The sounds grew closer.

I kneeled low and looked around the base of the trunk Ricky and I were using for cover. I felt hot as a line of sweat crossed my brow. It was difficult to see through the massive line of trees, and I relied on my sense of hearing to point my eyes in the right direction.

“I don’t—I don’t see anything,” Ricky whispered. “Can you?”

“Not yet,” I answered.

The sound came closer; someone walking on the grass in the forest. I caught movement. Something white. Whatever it was crossed our hiding space thirty yards to my left.

It was hard to tell for sure, but it had to be someone from our ship. Nothing else existed on alien planets. At least that was what I was telling myself.

“What if it’s an alien?” Ricky whispered in my ear. “Remember the transmission we received?”

“No such thing as aliens,” I said. “I think it’s another survivor.”

I decided to take a chance.

“Hello?” I called out into the distance. “Hello, can you hear me?”

The steady noise of plodding stopped. Once again, the entire forest was quiet.

The noise came again, but this time, it was the sound of running. Not just running, but the clear sound of galloping as something raced toward us. I was wrong. This wasn’t a person at all.

I rose to my feet as a surge of adrenaline quickened my heart rate. I clenched my knife tightly in my hand, preparing to see something crazy burst from between the trees.

“I knew aliens were real!” Ricky exclaimed, gritting his teeth.

A whitish-grey creature sprinted from the forest. I had just enough time to register what I was seeing before it was on top of us. It was the same massive dog that I had seen in the cargo hold during my first run-in with the assassin Disciple known as Maksim.

It headed right for me, nearly grinning as its pink tongue lolled out the side of its mouth. I lowered my knife as it skidded to a stop in front of me. It sniffed at my pants, wagging its tail like a maniac, then went over to Ricky to do the same.

“What the hell?” Ricky asked as he sheathed his knife and went down to a knee to pet the mutt. “Is this one of the animals you said was in the cargo hold?”

“That’s right,” I said as my heart transitioned back to beating normally once more. “He must have survived the crash somehow, or maybe someone let them out.”

“Doesn’t look like he escaped unscathed,” Ricky said, eyeing blood splatter on the left side of the dog’s face. “He doesn’t seem to be limping, so that’s good.”

The dog whined again and nuzzled Ricky, then came over to me and sat down at my feet.

“I think you have an admirer.” Ricky grinned. “Maybe