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  The Earth girl brushed a mass of hair from in front of her face. “Try not to be so bossy all the time. We’re doing the best we can. None of us wants to go back to the tunnels again.” Before Janai could respond, Sarah made her way to the rear of the group, took Penny’s crutches, and helped the little girl onto her brother’s back.

  Janai’s tired eyes scanned the group of children. She rubbed at a fading bruise on her arm. “Let’s go.” She led her group into the night.

  4 ~ Need to Rest

  She kept an eye on the skies as they traveled in the semi-darkness. From the positions of the large moons, she determined they’d traveled almost two hours. The third and smallest moon was just above the eastern horizon, against the glittering stars. Still no sign of a storm, despite the occasional rumbling sounds they could all hear now. That left about two more hours before Janai would feel comfortable enough to stop and rest. A small webbed hand slipped into hers and she looked down to see a weary Krav’n grinning up at her. She smiled back and gripped his hand firmly in her own.

  A rustling from the bushes startled the group. Then a slithering body as long as Janai’s arm darted from the brush.

  “Crawler,” Sarah half-whispered.

  Vala extended her earflaps. “Nobody move.” She pushed herself between the younger children and the crawler.

  “Careful, Vala,” Janai said. “It might be poisonous.”

  The Aknidean girl moved slowly, reaching for her bow and arrow, and took aim at the creature. Blal’k placed a stone in his slingshot. The crawler turned sharply in Sarah’s direction, mouth gaping to reveal sharp teeth.

  The Earth girl tripped over some branches trying to get out of its way. “Kill it!” she cried as she landed on her rump and half-scooted, half-crawled in the other direction. The crawler slithered across Sarah’s foot, flashing its bright, blue tongue between its long teeth. She screamed and kicked the creature into the air.

  Janai jerked away as it rebounded against her left leg and landed in the dirt with a soft thud. The creature seemed stunned for a moment, and almost as though through some silent communication, both hunters released their weapons at their target. Vala’s arrow pierced the head of the creature and Blal’k’s rock slammed into its middle. One last flash of a blue tongue and then death.

  Sighs of relief caught Janai’s ears and she let out a breath she’d been holding. “Nice shot.”

  “I’ll say,” Lance said. The Earth boy, on his second turn carrying Penny, lowered his sister to the ground as Ash supported her, then he joined the two hunters. “Is it the poisonous kind?”

  “No,” Blal’k said, as Janai watched Vala pull her arrow from the creature and wipe it on her torn pant leg. “Poisonous crawlers have green blood.” Janai couldn’t distinguish the coloring in this dim light but she trusted Blal’k. His liquid eyes widened slightly. “And this one’s edible.”

  “Yuck.” Sarah grimaced. She was on her feet now and visibly shaking as she dusted off the seat of her pants. In the camps, any creature was fair game as a meal if the slaves were lucky enough to have one intrude, which didn’t happen very often. The camps were surprisingly void of them. Mostly they got tiny insects not large enough for anyone to eat. In fact, in the three years since she’d been a slave, Janai only remembered two creatures invading her camp, and both were jumpers. She didn’t want to ask how Blal’k knew this crawler was edible.

  “Blal’k?” Vala said to the Ronarian boy. “Have you ever cooked one of these?” The little, silent girl made her way to Vala and the Aknidean took her hand.

  “You betcha.” Blal’k picked up the creature from its back end. “This one looks very tasty.” He gave Sarah a smile and blinked his vertical eyelids several times.

  “That’s disgusting.” Sarah made a face and stepped back from him.

  Janai hid a smile. “Don’t say that until you’ve tried it.” She looked at the creature that dangled from the boy’s webbed fingers and swallowed hard. She’d never eaten crawler, either, and the thing didn’t look appetizing, but it was probably a good source of energy. “May as well bring it along, Blal’k. We’ll be hungry when we stop.”

  The three and a half months she’d been free from the camps had given her the opportunity to eat better. And eat her fill on most days. The newly rescued ones hadn’t had such luxuries. Any protein they could get would be welcome, but she silently hoped the crawler tasted good. This is no time to get finicky.

  Blal’k grinned broadly at Sarah and stuffed the creature in a skin pouch. Sarah, who had only been on this world a few months before Janai rescued her, turned away in disgust and sprinted to help Penny onto Vala’s back.

  ****

  When Janai halted the group again, Vala handed the injured Earth girl over to Ash. “What is it?” Vala said as she stepped up to the front. The little silent girl stuck close by her.

  “I’m not sure,” Janai said. “We’ve been hearing that rumbling for a while. It sounds like it’s getting closer, but I still don’t see any clouds. It should be pouring by now.”

  “Maybe it’s not thunder.” The Aknidean girl scanned the skies.

  Janai gave her a worried look. “What’re you saying? What else could it be?”

  Vala shrugged her broad shoulders. “I’ve heard that sound before. I just can’t place it.”

  When the others nodded in agreement, the hairs on Janai’s skin rose and she rubbed at her arm. She’d been trying to push that same thought from her mind. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I think it’d be a good idea to look for a shelter.” She would’ve felt better if they could travel farther, but the strange rumbling made her very nervous. She realized that in all this time she’d been gripping Krav’n’s small, webbed hand in her own. He looked exhausted and his head ridges were dull with sweaty dirt.

  She and Vala went over the map to find the location of a small cavern. Vala took the map and volunteered to search, while Blal’k went to look for food. Janai still wasn’t thrilled at the thought of stopping but she kept her feelings to herself. No need to frighten the little ones. The others sat quietly behind the shrubbery. She scanned her little group of runaways. Lance whittled splinters from Penny’s crutches with a knife Blal’k had given him. The younger girl leaned against her brother and dozed with her rock cradled in her hand. She’d named it Katherine, a substitute for some doll she’d lost in the invasion. Krav’n put his weary head on Janai’s lap and she stroked his head ridges.

  The silent, Earth girl sat hugging herself and chewed on her braid. Even when the crawler had startled them, the girl hadn’t made a sound. Sarah rummaged through her pack, and Ash returned from relieving himself. He’d been very quiet lately, and Janai wondered just how close he was to receiving his mind gift. Although he was skinny, he was as tall as Janai. Once his body got enough decent food, he’d probably outgrow her in no time.

  If we make it.

  Could she get everyone safely to the free-zone? Or would she be delivering them right back into the enemies’ hands? She shook her head and reminded herself of the suffering that went on in the camps. Anything was better than that way of life. And what of the runners who’d died helping send others to freedom? Others had made their way—she’d heard the stories. She had to believe they were true. Her lungs filled with the damp, night air and she breathed deeper, clearing her mind of negative thoughts. She silently wished Vala luck in finding shelter. Weariness sank into her bones and she closed her eyes for a moment.

  She jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder and looked up to see her Aknidean friend. She hadn’t even heard her return.

  “I found shelter,” Vala said. The sweat on her golden skin made her look iridescent in the moonslight. “It’s not far from here and it’s well hidden, but it’s blocked by dirt and branches from the last rains. We’ll have to dig through some rubble, but it looks safe enough.” She held the skin map out to Janai. “I don’t think I would’ve found it without this.”

  “Good work.” Janai stuffe
d the map into her hidden pocket. “Gather your belongings and follow Vala.” She looked around and noticed the Ronarian hunter was still missing.

  “Blal’k killed a jumper and took it to the cavern to skin it,” Vala said before she could ask the question. Then the Aknidean girl glanced at Sarah. “We’ll have crawler for dessert.”

  Sarah grimaced, and Janai smiled at Vala’s straight face.

  The small cave was damp, smelled of stagnant water, but was well hidden and would serve its purpose. Once they cleared the rubble away and got inside, they replaced the original shrubbery that was in front of the entrance. Janai was sure the Morgee could come within a few feet and not notice anything unusual.

  The jumper was enough for two stewed meals plus some jerky for their travels. And Janai had to admit the crawler was quite tasty. Everyone ate some. Everyone that is, except for Sarah. The nervous, Earth girl had said something to the effect of it being a cold day somewhere before she’d eat a slimy creature like that. Blal’k immediately came to the crawler’s defense and informed her that the creature wasn’t slimy but quite smooth and firm. Their bantering went on while Janai caught sight of Penny nursing her foot. She got Sarah’s attention long enough to request some pain tea.

  Penny scratched at the mender-leaf covering her wound. “It itches.”

  “Good.” Janai took off the bandage and inspected the wound. “That means you’re healing.” She gave a stern look to the girl. “Don’t scratch it.”

  “But it itches.”

  “The wound’s finally closing up. Do you want to reopen it and have me clean it out again?” Penny’s eyes widened and she shook her head. Janai had gotten her point across, and after the girl downed the tea, she cleaned around the cut. “I think we’ll let the air get to your foot while you sleep. I’ll bandage it again before we travel.” She smiled and ruffled Penny’s hair.

  Penny gave her a freckled grin, followed by a yawn, and lay down on the sleeping skin Sarah had put out for her.

  “We should all get some rest,” Ash said, scratching near the dark pattern-spots on his neck. “I’ll take first watch.”

  “All right.” Janai stifled a yawn. “But only for a couple of hours, then we rotate.” When he didn’t respond, she raised her eyebrows.

  The Kritine boy finally nodded, and they settled down as they decided on watch shifts. Janai rubbed at her dusty arms. She hated being dirty, something she didn’t think she’d ever get used to, even after three years. As the thin, gray light of morning approached, she lay on her sleep skin and envisioned a pool of clean water to bathe in. She drifted off to those thoughts.

  Nightmare images filled her dreams. The Morgee had found them and she awoke with a silent scream on her lips.

  5 ~ Sharing Leadership

  Janai awoke to a hand shaking her. Her turn for watch duty. Groggily, she sat up and motioned to Vala that she was awake. She accepted the cup of water and nudged the Aknidean girl toward her bedding. Sleep was such a luxury on this planet, as were many things.

  As she rubbed the back of her neck, she got up, stretched, and made her way near the cavern opening. She squinted at the bright sunlight and shielded her eyes for a moment. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she checked the positions of the twin suns to calculate the next shift change. They learned this type of calculation in the camps, the children’s only way of determining time. Trilling and whistling fliers were the only things making noise in the daylight outside, except for that sporadic rumbling sound they had all heard the night before. What was it? And why did it sound so familiar? She tried to remember but with no luck.

  Quietly, she pulled the map from the hidden pocket in her jumpsuit. Another two moon cycles of traveling should get them where they were going. Of course, the map wasn’t to scale, so she had no way of knowing the exact travel time. The runner had told her the trek to the free-zone would take at least two full cycles of the smallest moon. That was before he died of his wounds, soon after Janai had volunteered to free others and before she knew anyone in her current little band of refugees.

  The runner had fallen and seriously injured himself. Janai didn’t know how he’d made it to them with the injuries as bad as they were and the amount of blood he’d lost. She had seen him crawling toward their hiding place. He died soon after he gave them the roughly drawn maps that illustrated escape routes for four nearby slave camps. Janai had only received her mind gift a few weeks prior and wasn’t able to focus her thoughts enough to help him. Even if she could have focused her mind, she wasn’t sure what she could have done for him. She had observed her parents perform surgery and had held instruments for them, but Janai had never actually done anything except stitch up the patient when the surgery was over. And neither parent ever left her side.

  She wished she could have done something for the runner but she suspected internal injuries. Another child lost to them by the actions of the Morgee. Her pulse quickened at the thought of those huge unfeeling aliens. The tall and clumsy-looking beings with small glowing, gold eyes and a tentacle mouth. Gold metallic uniforms with helmets covered their faces and boots clinked when they walked, a sound that made her skin crawl. She just wanted to be free of them and back on her own planet. Back with her parents.

  She pictured her mother’s confident smile and her father’s bright lavender eyes that looked on her with pride. “Mother. Father,” she whispered, and her eyes welled up. “I miss you.” She swallowed hard and pushed them from her mind. She couldn’t afford the distraction just now. There were duties to perform and she had volunteered for this mission. She was determined to her group safely to the free-zone, whatever the price.

  After an uneventful shift, she nudged Lance awake and gave him a cup of water, then went back to her skins and immediately fell asleep.

  Janai stirred, unconsciously adjusting her back away from an uncomfortable rock.

  “What’s your name?” she asked the young runner as she held him in her arms.

  “Matt Wong. From Earth.” The large scar on his forehead moved slightly as he talked.

  “I’m Janai of Kritine.” She stroked his dark hair. She had given him some pain tea, set his broken leg and stitched his wounds, but that was all she could do for him. Her mind gift was new and she wasn’t experienced enough to use it.

  “Janai?” He coughed and blood trickled from his mouth. His lungs were weakened from the rains he endured.

  “Yes.” She supported his head.

  “Remember me.”

  “Always.” He died in her arms and she began to cry.

  The smell of food brought her out of her slumber. She blinked several times, brushed a tear from her cheek, and looked around the cavern, noting there was no longer sunlight filtering in. Someone had placed heat rocks in the cracks and ledges of the cavern walls. She couldn’t believe she’d slept through all of that movement.

  A very dangerous thing to do, she chastised herself silently. She realized Blal’k was talking to her. “What?”

  “Ready for your stew? Vala says we should leave soon. Everyone seems to be pretty rested.” He smirked at her, his green skin shimmering in the light of the heat rocks. “Especially you.”

  “Guess I was tired.”

  “It’s no wonder, Janai. You’ve been doing more than your share what with leading the other escapes and now this one.” He shook a crude wooden spoon at her. “You can’t do it all yourself, you know,” he said in a paternal voice as he filled another bowl. “You needed that sleep. That’s why I wouldn’t let anyone wake you right away. We can’t afford for anything to happen to you.”

  Her mouth dropped and she couldn’t think of what to say. “You’re right. You’re right,” she finally sputtered as she threw up her hands in defeat. Blal’k was still staring down at her. He seemed very adult at that moment. “I’ll try to pay more attention to myself from now on. Happy?”

  “Yes.” He gave her a sideways glance. “But I’ve got my eye on you.” He gave her the bowl of stew and a spoon.
“Now, eat.” Black, liquid eyes narrowed on her and the partially closed, vertical lids emphasized his words. Then he smiled and turned back to his work.

  Penny hobbled her way up to Janai just as she was starting her meal. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  They’d been relieving themselves in a hole near the farthest wall of the cavern. There were too many dangers to venture outside.

  “She’s afraid to go by herself,” Lance said, standing next to his sister.

  Janai smiled at Penny. “I’ll take you.”

  “No, you don’t.” Sarah walked up and took Penny by the hand. “I’ll take her.” She scooped the younger girl up and headed for the dim light that marked the so-called bathroom.”

  Janai shot a look at Blal’k. “What have you been up to?”

  “We just had a little talk,” Vala said. Her yellow eyes glimmered with mischief. “While you were sleeping. Blal’k is right. You work yourself too hard. We must watch out for each other if we’re going to survive the trip to the free-zone. You seem to be taking care of everyone but yourself, so the rest of us have decided to look out for you.” The sturdy Aknidean girl held her broad hand out and beckoned with her fingers. “I can read a map too, you know. We take turns on watch. We can take turns leading.”

  There was no way Janai could talk Vala out of leading them this night. The girl would tackle her if it came to that, so she reluctantly retrieved the map from her pocket and handed it over to her friend.

  “Finish your stew and wrap Penny’s foot so we can get going.” Vala had a smug look in her eyes. “I don’t want any time wasted.”

  She’s enjoying this being in charge thing a little too much.

  6 ~ Rumble in the Distance

  The rumbling continued but no storm showed itself. Not a drop of rain or a hint of cloud in the sky. The night air was cool. The children continued on their route with Vala in the lead. Janai still had trouble relinquishing leadership, but it was the right thing to do. Vala conferred with her willingly and would make a good leader when she grew up.