I doubled back, falling in panic. Shadows flickered as the arachnid swiveled and launched after me. Dread sent adrenaline through my limbs, and I scrambled up. My hand shot to my laser and my fingers fumbled with the holster. Even if I had time for a shot, chances were the laser fire would ricochet off its carapace. Unless I could pick off an eye.
I wasn’t that good a marksman. I was better off running for my life.
I turned the corner on a crystal just as a spire shot by my head. Another hit the smooth quartz, clanging on the floor at my feet. I could feel the long legs gaining on me as I threaded my way between the pedestals.
I zigzagged and hid behind a quartz outcropping. Holding my breath, I listened for movement and whipped out my laser. The pincer jaws made a soft clicking sound to my left. I turned and fired at nothing, realizing I’d just given away my position.
My leg yanked back as a net clamped around my thigh, and I flew backward. My stomach hit the floor hard, knocking the air out of me. My wrist felt like it shattered to pieces and I lost hold of my laser. The gun ricocheted between the pedestals.
I turned onto my back as the arachnid scrambled around me. Kicking at the underside of the carapace, I tried to squirm away. A dagger-sharp leg shot out, scraping my knee and pinning my uniform to the floor. I reached up to punch its ugly face, and another leg sliced through my upper arm. Searing pain exploded under the pressure and I cried out, my voice echoing off the crystals.
I dared not move again. Its four eyes stared. My horrified reflection shone back at me within their depths. The long suction tube lowered from the flap of skin. Mucus from the tip dripped on my stomach and chest as the tube traveled to my neck. My body turned to ice and I shivered all over.
Checkmate. I’d failed.
The violet light from the crystals glimmered, growing blindingly bright. I squinted, thinking I must have already died. The creature screeched in a high-pitched wail, like a baby not getting what he wanted. It cowered from the light and retreated, freeing my arm and my leg. I rolled over and crawled on all fours to the last place my laser had skidded. The barrel lay wedged underneath a crystal shard. I yanked the gun out and scrambled up.
I couldn’t let the creature get away. It would alert the others, and the crystal chamber would swarm with the horde. I’d have no chance of finding Sirius in time. Launching forward, I chased the arachnid to the mouth of the tunnel, shooting as I ran.
Most of the shots bounced off the carapace, but as I grew closer, my aim improved. I fired at the white sack of brains like Sirius said.
The membrane exploded, and bluish liquid sprayed onto the walls and down the front of my uniform. The alien’s legs curled, and the large, oozing brain mass plopped to the floor. One leg twitched, making me jump with each movement. I blasted it away and the arachnid stilled. Relief weakened my knees, and I collapsed to the floor, holding my aching arm.
The light flickered behind me as if trying to get my attention. I didn’t want to go back. Something strange happened with the crystals. The timing was too perfect to deny someone or something had intervened, perhaps even saved my life.
Sirius was in there and I couldn’t leave without him. Crawling forward, I dragged myself along the metal floor.
An impossibly tall and lithe figure shimmered in the light between two crystals. I shielded my eyes from the glare, taking hesitant steps forward. The glow danced off its image like a screen with several missing pixels. It was there and not there at the same time, like a flickering holograph.
As I drew closer, a tall, winged presence with pearly eyes and long, slender limbs came into view. It extended a hand with elongated fingers, beckoning me closer. A beak-like nose curved down to round, thick lips that moved with no sound.
I recognized the curve of the wings from the fossils in the dig site.
Andromeda’s alien ghosts.
I almost died from shock. She hadn’t been fibbing after all.
The being bent its lengthy fingers into an oval shape. The fingers of one hand curled in, then spread open quickly.
What does it mean? They’d helped Andromeda find the pods to save the colony. Now they were trying to help me.
I shook my head and my voice came out weak, pleading. I felt unworthy, an inadequate recipient. “I don’t understand.”
The being performed the same gestures again with practiced patience. Its lips continued to move, but no sound came. It wouldn’t matter anyway. Judging by their hieroglyphs, their language was totally different than ours and our linguist was gone. So what would we have in common? Only images from Paradise 21.
The hand closing and flicking open reminded me of an explosion. We’d learned from old videos preserved from one of their scout ships their civilization had to leave their home world because their sun was dying. Was it referring to their past?
I blurted out, “Supernova? A dying star?”
The gestures continued; an oval-shaped object, followed by fingers closing and flying open.
There was only one thing shaped like that on Paradise 21—the pods. Of course. The microbes embedded in Ray Simmons’ brain, a member of our scout team, eating his flesh until his brain swelled and he died. Only after Andromeda’s mom found an antibiotic they weren’t resistant to, were we able to stave off the infection. These creatures had brains fifteen times as big as ours. The microbes would have a feast.
I studied the shimmering light, trying to find an expression in the birdlike face. Why were these ghosts helping me? They’d had their chance at establishing a new colony and failed. Was this some attempt at redemption? Or were they predisposed to help others? After my experiences with alien life, it was hard to believe such a peaceful, gentle race existed.
“You’re saying I can kill the arachnids with the pods?”
The being waved its hands in the air in a flourish. Prismatic light radiated off the wings as it turned, gliding between the crystals.
“Wait!” Clutching the wound in my arm, I trailed after it. The feathered wings sparkled in front of me, and I reached out with bloody fingers. My hand cut through the light, dispersing the image in swirls, and my fingers closed on thin air. I stopped in shock, watching the pixels blink back in place to form the silvery shape of the wing once again.
The being turned behind a crystal, and the light faded.
“Hold on! How do I get out of here? How do I bring the pods?” I turned the corner, stopping before I ran head-first into the opposite wall of the chamber. The being had disappeared.
I stared, frustration and loneliness brewing inside. Why couldn’t it have stayed one minute longer? What good was the information if I couldn’t make it out of the ship alive?
A distant flicker drew my attention. A crystal, larger than the others, with slabs jutting in all directions, sat in the corner like a prized gem stashed away. A human hand thrust between the lowest outcropping and the pedestal.
My heart pumped wildly. I rushed to the hand and wrapped my fingers around his palm. “Sirius!”
He lay unconscious. He must have crawled from the water and hid before the blackness took him. Taking one look around, I made sure no other arachnids had entered the chamber. I grabbed his arm and heaved, pulling him out in the open. Sirius fell in a limp heap to the floor. His wet hair covered half his face. I wiped the hair away from his eyes. His skin was ice cold and pale.
I leaned down and his light breath tickled my cheek. I probed his arms and legs for broken bones, but everything seemed in place. His pulse was steady. I cupped his head in my palm. A red welt protruded from his hair in the back. Although it swelled big as a grape, at least it wasn’t bleeding like my arm.
If he had a concussion, he needed to rest. Helplessness made my skin crawl. I couldn’t leave him here, and I wasn’t able to carry him. I’d have to find the others first and come back for him. Providing the others were healthy enough to walk. Neither thought encouraged me to leave.
Red drops dripped onto his chest, and I remembered I was still bleeding. I wouldn’t be able to help him if I passed out from loss of blood. I tore a piece of my shirt and tied it around my arm. Next, I dabbed at the gash on my knee. Although a streak of blood ran down my leg, making my stomach twist, the cut was superficial. I was lucky. The arachnid’s dagger leg could have sliced through the muscle.
Beside us, the flickering crystal dimmed to match the others. Deep down, I knew the alien presence had left. The glimmering crystal was no coincidence. The alien ghosts had saved my life—and led me to Sirius.
How could I see them? Andromeda had psychic powers passed down from her great-grandmother. I had as much psychic power as I had talent for cooking. I scanned the glimmering crystals. Had the pedestals increased their power in order to heighten the psychosomatic talents of the average person?
“Man, do I have a headache,” Sirius muttered, turning over on his side. His eyes fluttered open for a second, then he winced at the flickering light and squeezed them shut.
“Easy.” I placed my hands on his shoulders, a wave of relief washing over me. “You’ve hit your head. Don’t move.”
He opened his eyes at the sound of my voice and his face brightened. He lifted a finger and brushed my cheek, sending tingles down my neck. “Nova. How did you find me?”
I didn’t think this was the best time to tell him about seeing alien ghosts. “That doesn’t matter now.”
Sirius shook his head and regarded me in stunned awe. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
I took his hand in mine and held it to my heart. “Here I am.” I wanted to bend down and press my lips against his, but he’d just woken up. He needed air.
He clutched my hand as if it was his lifeline. “Are we safe?”
I glanced around. “For now.” Would the aliens return to help us if another arachnid showed up? I wished I understood their strange logic.
Sirius rubbed the back of his head. “When I fell, I thought I was dead. Then the water rushed up around me. I splashed and sank down to the bottom, where I hit my head. Somehow I managed to climb out, but there was an alien bug in here with me. I knew I was going to lose consciousness, so I crawled under there. I didn’t think you’d ever find me.” He pointed to the large crystal that had flickered, drawing me to him.
I wanted to ask about what he’d said before he fell. Those words—I would have picked you—echoed in my head, but we had to rescue the others and save the colony first. “Can you walk?”
He sat up gingerly, stretching his back. “I think so.”
“Good.”
I offered my hand and helped him up.
Sirius creased his brow. “You were supposed to go after the others.”
“I know.” I lifted his arm around my shoulders. “No one else can fly that corsair out of here.”
Come on, Nova. Tell him the truth. Tell him you couldn’t live without him. I clamped my mouth shut, disappointed in myself.
Sirius laughed. “You’re smart enough. You’d have figured it out.”
“I’d crash us into the jungle and kill everyone on board.”
He met my eyes in a steady stare, sending a lightning bolt of confidence through me. “No, Nova. You’re going to save us all.”