The Book of Apex: Volume 1 of Apex Magazine (11 page)

But his ship was only nine
paces away. He could find his way without holding onto Cody, so enabling him to
carry Madison.

It wasn’t that far.

Penn inhaled to steady his
nerve and almost choked as the wind shifted to blow from his front. Something
rank and wet with blood and urine lay along the wind’s path. Penn squeezed
Madison’s hand again. “We’ll take care of you.”

He let go of Cody’s harness.

Using Madison’s arm as a guide,
he slid his hand up to her shoulder. Raw wet meat filled the top of her sleeve,
then nothing. Penn jerked his hands away.

He fell back on his rump,
retching. Something warm and moist touched his face. Penn screamed and slapped
out, slamming into familiar fur. Cody yelped.

“Oh God. Cody, I’m sorry. Sweet
lady, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He reached for her, sobbing with relief when she
came to him. Penn folded his arms around her and buried his face in her soft
coat. Clinging to her, he rocked back and forth.

Madison’s hand had still been
warm, which meant it hadn’t been removed long ago, which meant she might be
alive and needing him. His mind shied away from the likelihood that Madison had
already bled to death. It hadn’t been more than five minutes since the boarding
chime had rung and—“Bloody hell.”

He was on an open plain. Even
if Madison hadn’t described the place when they landed, the strong breeze and
unfiltered sunlight should have told him.

Whatever had killed her was
probably still in line of sight. Penn grabbed for Cody’s harness. They had to
get inside.

Halfway to his feet, Penn
stopped. What if the thing hadn’t spotted him because he was kneeling? He
listened, trying to hear anything past the sound of his own heart and the wind.
It carried nothing but scent: moist, verdant moss; the heavy under notes of
loam and stone; when the wind shifted and flicked to come from in front of him,
it brought the harsh sharp smell of urine mixed with blood.

The thing would be there.

Or perhaps not. Cody had not
shied away. Maybe Madison lay ahead and Penn was about to abandon her.

He rubbed his thumb over the
leather grip on Cody’s harness. He would trust his dog. If she hesitated, even
a little, they would go back to the ship.

“Cody, forward,” he whispered,
still half-crouched. His good dog led him smoothly ahead. Through her harness
he felt no hesitation.

He sniffed, searching for where
the scent was strongest. “Left,” he whispered.

What could have done this? Not
a musk lion—despite the ruff that gave them their name, they were no bigger
than a capuchin monkey. The survey reports had said that there weren’t any
larger predators on this planet.

They had gone eleven paces when
Cody slowed, then stopped. No matter in which direction the wind blew, the hard
ammonia smell of urine stayed in Penn’s nostrils. He crouched again, braced
this time for what his hands might find.

He patted across the soft moss
until he touched cloth, coarse twill, Madison’s trousers. Her leg beneath was
warm. Penn followed the line of her thigh up. The material was soaked. Blood?
His hands followed the topography of her body, sinking into valleys of
savagery. Gashes carved out of her hip. When his hand touched the broken end of
a rib, it moved.

A shallow gasp.

“Praise the saints. Hold on,
Madison.” Penn pulled his shirt off and wrapped it around her. The wind moved
over his bare torso like dozens of tiny cold fingers.

He tied the sleeves around her
chest and slid both hands under her. He fixed the location of the ship in his
mind. All he had to do was retrace his steps.

Eleven paces, then turn
slightly and take nine more. He could do this.

Penn pushed to his feet.
Clutching Madison to his chest, he turned to his right. That was far enough.
Wasn’t it?

He slid his foot forward over
the spongy ground. One. Setting his weight, he stepped again. Two. Wait. He had
been crouching when he came this way, so his stride had been shorter. He wanted
Cody’s grip in his hand. She would take him back to the ship. Penn licked his lips.
It was a decent-sized ship and he hadn’t gone that far. Worst case scenario,
he’d run into the side of it and have to follow it around to the ramp.

The spreading dampness in the
shirt wrapped around Madison reminded him that there were other far worse scenarios.
He had to take the shortest path back the ship.

Cody pressed against his left
leg and Penn staggered a half-step to the right. He cursed and tried to correct
for the misstep, but Cody was in his way. Fool dog was so used to working
position that she wouldn’t—

No. Fool man couldn’t realize
that she was herding him. His throat tightened. He would have cried if he’d
owned a working set of tear ducts. “Good dog.”

Her tail beat against the back
of his leg.

“Take me home, Cody.”

With her warm body pressed
against his leg, Penn felt his way over the uneven ground. His arms burned
under the strain of holding Madison. She had not made a sound and only that
single gasped breath had told him that she was still alive.

His ankle twisted under him and
Penn went down. His hip caught against Cody. As his knees jarred against the
ground, Penn lost his grip on Madison. Pitching forward, one hand slammed into
the moss, the other against Madison’s leg.

She did not make a sound.

Holding his breath, Penn laid
his head on her chest. Praying for a heartbeat he stayed bent over her,
counting senselessly in his head as if the numbers might help. She lay under
his ear without stirring. At one hundred and twenty-seven Penn sat up.

He pressed his hands against
his face, digging his fingernails into his forehead. Madison was dead and he
had no idea what had killed her. But, by God, he would have it found and shot.
And as for the survey team that had somehow managed to miss a giant predator,
every credit in his account would go to suing them to penury.

Cody put a paw on his knee and
whined. Penn dropped his hands to reach for his dog. He gathered her to him,
burying his fingers in her warm fur. She licked his face.

“Thanks, lady.” Fondling her
ears, Penn said, “Let’s get back to the ship.”

Gritting his teeth, he picked
Madison up again. His right ankle sent a stab of pain up his leg, but he’d be
damned if he was going to leave Madison’s body out here for the thing. Cody
took her place by his side and herded him back to the ship.

Every step jammed an ice pick
into his ankle, but Penn Would Not Leave Madison. When his foot hit the bottom
of the ramp, he almost fell again but caught himself with his good leg.

The ramp
had never seemed so steep. At any moment Penn expected the thing to come
charging out of nowhere and clamp its jaws around him. Or mandibles. Or
whatever it had. Someone would pay for this.

The floor flattened out as Penn
entered the airlock, and then he crossed the threshold into the ship. The altar
bell chimed as if it were a prayer for Madison’s soul. He had brought the stink
of blood and shit into the boarding area with him, almost obliterating the
scent of the musk lions. At least they had stopped yipping so he could hear the
cleansing chime.

Without asking, his mind replayed
the boarding chimes. Once: Madison had come in to set down the cage. Twice: She
had gone back outside. Thrice…. She had never come back inside.

Cold sweat suddenly coated his
bare torso. Penn swallowed. “Cody, go to my lab.”

The scent of dead skunk, vomit
and blood swept down the corridor from the bridge. With it, a sound like sand
blowing across steel.

By his side, Cody growled.

They’d have to pass that
corridor to get to his lab. No time. “Cody. Outside!”

She pressed harder against his
side. Penn kicked her, desperate for her to flee. “Outside!”

The hissing came faster. Penn
turned back the way he had come. Two steps and he tripped over Cody. He and
Madison landed in a spatter of oily fur scented with sweet musk. The hissing
became the sound of a thousand nails scraping across a blackboard.

Penn rolled over, pulling
Madison’s body on top of him. He screamed wordlessly. Moist, hot and rank with
death, the thing’s breath blasted him.

Madison’s body was yanked out
of his grasp. Cody snarled then barreled past him.

“Cody! No.” Flailing, searching
for anything he could use as a weapon, Penn got to his feet.

Everything in the boarding area
was permanently bolted down. Except—

The fire extinguisher. Where
was that?

Snarling
and a roar like a steam train came from behind him. He had to get Cody away
from that thing. Penn slid his hand across the wall to the right of the door
until he found the cylinder bolted to the wall. Panting, he yanked the
extinguisher free of its holder and fumbled for the nozzle.

Thumps sounded against the
corridor’s sides and Cody barked and snarled.

Staggering forward, Penn shoved
the nozzle against the thing and squeezed, blasting it with freezing CO2. The
cold air billowed around his hands. With a cry like a bandsaw, the thing jerked
back.

“Cody! Let’s go. Go!”

The blast of cold air stopped
as the canister emptied. Penn swung the extinguisher wildly, praying that he
wouldn’t hit his dog.

With a thud, it connected with
something. Cody was still growling, so Penn hit the thing again. Bashing it
with one hand, he waved the other, searching for Cody where her growling was
loudest. He touched a tuft of bristles so sharp they stung. Penn jerked his
hand away.

“C’mon, lady. Leave it!” He had
to get her away. Again he reached and his fingers sank into a wet, viscous
mass. The creature screamed in rage and yanked back.

Then, soft familiar fur. He
didn’t know what part of Cody he’d grabbed. “On duty! On duty!”

He hauled backwards, falling as
she suddenly moved to his side. Pushing back, he slid toward the boarding door
and slammed into the wall.

“No!” He’d gotten turned
around. Which way was the door? Cody would know. “Outside! Cody, outside.”

The extinguisher shuddered in
his hand and twisted away. Half crawling, he followed his dog.

His right calf went hot with
pain. A flash of anguish painted his brain and a detached part thought, This
must be what ‘white’ means.

Yelling, Penn kicked with his
free leg. He struck something unyielding. He kicked again.

The thing loosened its grip on
his leg. Penn jerked free, feeling his flesh rend on the thing’s teeth.
Falling, he felt the airlock threshold under his knees. The altar bell chimed
as he crossed. Penn let go of Cody’s harness to push himself up.

Cody barked. Her voice was hard
and savage.

Penn slapped the door sensor.
An eternity passed before it hissed shut. With a dull thud, it impacted on the
thing. And then the damn safety made the door slide open. Cody’s claws scraped
the floor as she lunged toward the opening.

“Cody, stay!”

Penn threw himself on her and
tried to get between Cody and the door. He slapped again at the control. She
squirmed to get past him, snapping at the thing. “No! Fool dog!” He scrabbled
to grab her by the scruff and threw her away from the door.

Teeth scraped his shoulder as he
turned with the throw. Penn spun, shoving with both arms against a surface that
was covered in bone and bristle.

Behind him, Cody yelped as she
struck the far side of the airlock’s wall. With strength he didn’t know he had,
Penn yelled, “On duty. Stay! STAY!”

The inner door of the airlock
hissed shut, sealing off the smell of corpses, musk lion and the salty tang of
Madison.

Penn swayed for a moment,
expecting the thing to still be in front of him. He heard nothing but the wind
from outside. He reached for the airlock door and slid his hand down the
unyielding surface.

“My God.” With a trembling
hand, Penn wiped the sweat and blood from his face. “Cody. Cody, we’re safe.”

Penn steadied himself against
the wall and sank to a crouch. “Come here you wonderful dog.”

He waited for the tick, tick,
tick of her claws to come to him. The wind dried the sweat on his back,
chilling him. “Cody?”

He swallowed, remembering the
yelp she had made when she’d hit the wall. “Cody, come here lady.” Penn crawled
forward, patting the floor with his hand.

Her claws ticked on the steel,
moving away from him.

“Cody? Where you going?” Penn
held his hand out, beckoning her.

She backed away again, leather
harness creaking. Maybe she wanted him to get out of the airlock. Penn pushed
to his feet and stepped forward, reaching for her harness.

Cody ran.

Outside, her claws scraped
against the boarding ramp as she almost slid down it. Careening forward, Penn
chased her. He didn’t know what was behind them but, if it was enough to scare
Cody, he would be dead if he stayed.