Runalli-4

could obtain.

  I was on the Kuthgar-9 expedition when I saw her again.

  The Suenarians discovered Kuthgar-9 less than 50 years ago. This was their first full expedition. But still, they laid claim to the planet.

  Like a giant steam room, Kuthgar-9’s atmosphere was saturated with moisture. Mists that surged and billowed like living fog, crawled through her jungles and rainforests. Trees, many with branches that lived among clouds, marched endlessly across her surface. Their roots, some 5m in diameter, intertwined to form a rolling latticework as they wove through each other, above and below ground.

  Colonizing worlds inhabited by self-aware beings is prohibited by the Galactic Scartanian Treaty. And after the mess created when the Bunixians tried to colonize Scartania, who can blame them? The Scartanian war lasted 70 years and nearly destroyed the planet.

  Kuthgar-9 teemed with life. But according to Suenarian funded studies, none of the indigenous life was above level 3 on Hogith’s Scale of Awareness. The low ranking was the main reason the Galactic Council allowed Suenarian exploration of the planet.

  The Suenarians wanted to colonize Kuthgar-9. I was there to determine how the Suenarian’s staple food source, the Fiblox root, would affect the biosphere. I was also tasked with discovering if any local plants were toxic to Suenarian physiology.

  The Suenarians believed if the Fiblox root would grow and there were edible indigenous plants, they could easily conquer Kuthgar-9.

  I never shared their optimism.

  Uneasiness plagued me in the jungles of Kuthgar-9. I felt like I was under surveillance. Working among the massive, moss covered roots that twined through the jungle floor, I developed the habit of watching from the corners of my eyes. I split my mind between tests I ran and the world around me.

  This made my tests take longer. But as I sat alone with my work, I felt in the depths of my soul that something was watching, waiting…

  At times I stopped working and sat, watching Kuthgar-9’s inhabitants. Rodents large as cats, flying mammals—some smaller than a moth, some larger than a horse, insects bigger than my fist or mere specks on the ground; the creatures scurried, hopped, flew, hunted or died as they danced their lives before me.

  With such numerous and diverse life on Kuthgar-9, it isn’t surprising the Suenarians missed one species when they first surveyed the planet.

  The beasts they missed are forever etched in my mind.

  But had they truly gone unnoticed? Or were they ignored by the Suenarians because their existence would stop colonization efforts?

  I’ve no answer.

  Yet the first time I looked in the eyes of these beasts, I saw intelligence, vast and deep as an ocean. They were aware. They knew what the interlopers intended for their home. As I peered into the soul of the beast, I understood; it would not be tolerated.

  I sat, working and watching as usual. A black shadow blurred across my peripheral vision. I spun and looked.

  Nothing.

  Only the cacophony of vegetation greeted my eyes. I stood. Shaking from adrenaline, I looked around, searching the jungle. All was green, filtered motes of daylight and shadow. Nothing explained the motion I’d seen.

  After several tense moments, I told myself the motion was a trick of my mind. I started to relax and sit, to resume my work.

  Another shadow flew past.

  I shot to my feet. Determined, this time, to discover the source of my vision. As I spun, seeking, the jungle erupted with an explosion of dark shadows. I was caught in a web of chaotic motion.

  I froze.

  The world tilted madly. A whirlwind of dark creatures blurred around me. Then, as if sharing one mind the blurring shapes stopped in perfect synchronicity.

  Ebony statues, nearly four meters tall with prehensile tails twice that, clung to trees like great primates, watching me.

  Time seemed to stop.

  At least fifteen creatures hung motionless around me. Each had six arms and six legs, ending in perfectly shaped hands, tipped with claws, like daggers.

  Bright eyes, shinning silver disks, locked on mine. I involuntarily sat. Tendrils of fear snaked around my heart, squeezed.

  Were these an accident of nature…or evolutionary genius? I’d never seen creatures better adapted to their environment.

  My pulse throbbed in my hands and face. The sound of someone hyperventilating assaulted my ears. It was me. All other noises had ceased.

  To avoid startling them, I stood inch by inch. I hoped to slowly make my way from the site, to escape. My hopes were dashed when the largest male exploded off his perch. He landed a meter before me, beat his chest, and roared. He leaned close and sniffed me. Fangs bared, rumbling resonated deep within his chest. He growled. With silent grace, he moved in a circle, sniffing, touching, poking me.

  I stood, paralyzed by fear and fascination. The creature moved, like water over a streambed, as one with its surroundings.

  Afraid to breathe, I waited for death as he circled. He studied me with burning eyes. For an unknown time only his measured gait and my terror existed. Like an immutable law of nature, each needed the other to endure.

  One of the other males barked something—a challenge perhaps. My judge stopped, splayed his arms, threw back his head, and roared.

  Run! Flee! Disappear! I screamed in my mind. My legs rebelled, refused to obey the simple commands. I waited, a prisoner of fear, neck stretched before the falling axe.

  His roar faded. Echoes replied, diminished as it disappeared into the depths of the forest. When he saw me standing there, a puzzled look flashed across his countenance.

  Had he expected me to flee?

  Four of his arms shot out. He grasped my arms and waist and lifted me as if I were an infant. I dangled a meter above the ground, helpless.

  Leaning close, he sniffed at me again and scowled. A clawed hand came up and grasped my face. He turned my head from side to side. He lifted my chin, twisted my head as far as it would move in every direction. Always releasing pressure just when I thought my neck would snap.

  It was then, as he examined me, I saw the true nature of his intelligence. It shone in his eyes with calculating fury.

  The Suenarians had made a terrible mistake.

  Another male grunted something. A smile split the face of the creature holding me. It stopped before reaching his eyes. Eyes, cold, hard, and cunning locked with mine as his mouth opened wide. Razor sharp teeth glistened with saliva. He tilted his head and pulled my neck toward his gaping maw.

  So this is it, I thought. I’ll never see her again.

  Stabbing pain encircled my throat as his razor teeth pierced my flesh. Blood flowed down my chest.

  I closed my eyes. For the first time in years I prayed.

  Then a sound, a voice like singing birds and waterfalls, broke the silence. I didn’t understand the words but they inexplicably calmed me. The pain and pressure ceased. The creature carefully removed my neck from his mouth and held me at arm’s length. He looked at me, eyes scrunched in puzzlement, then looked to the side.

  He grunted, shaking his head violently.

  The musical voice replied.

  He responded with a guttural mix of growls, barks, and grunts while motioning to me with a free hand.

  The musical voice said something back and he shrugged. Shaking his head, as if bewildered, he set me on the ground and backed away.

  After a few steps, head slightly bowed, he stopped and stood almost reverently. As if that were a cue, his companions dropped from their perches and formed two lines behind him, heads bowed also.

  In shock, stunned I was alive, my hand strayed to my neck to inspect the damage. My fingertips brushed the punctures. I winced and pulled my hand away. It was coated with the dull sheen of blood.

  At that moment the musical voice laughed and said, “Looks like I arrived in the nick of time.” The tones were unmistakably feminine. She continued, the laughter gone, “Two seconds more…and you wouldn’t have a throat.”


  Her voice touched me like sunlight and a warm breeze after a ferocious storm. It calmed me, warmed me, reminded me of hope. The paralysis of fear faded, released its grasp. With shaking legs I turned toward her.

  Time stopped and with it my heart.

  I opened my mouth to speak. But nothing came out. After so long, years seeking, wondering at my sanity, she stood before me.

  She seemed to exist outside of time. She was unchanged, untouched, exactly as I’d seen her on Runalli-4. Her emerald eyes gleamed in the diffused forest light. The corners of her mouth were turned upward in a stunning smile. Her skin suit reflected the surrounding colors flawlessly and camouflaged the shape of her body.

  She looked past me and gently said another strange phrase. After she spoke I turned to look, the creatures were gone. They’d vanished without a sound.

  Tingling energy filled me as she placed her hand on my shoulder. The pain in my throat diminished. Though it still throbbed where his teeth cut my flesh, it was manageable now.

  “We must go.” She whispered.

  “Wait..!” I found my voice long enough to ask, “What is your name? How did you control them? Where have you b—” As if shushing a curious child, she touched her fingertips to my lips.

  “In time, Robert, your questions will be answered. You must follow me now.” She quickly surveyed our surroundings. “There are things on this world even I cannot control.” Then she turned, beckoned me to follow, and started picking her way through the giant mass of roots blanketing the forest floor.

  Well into the night, we wove our way deeper into the nether regions of the