And green vines were wrapping around his limbs and chest like snakes.
Some of the vines were lying in the pool of blood, vibrating gently. It was then she realized they were feeding on the blood.
“Get off him!” Without thinking, Nissa grabbed up a length of pipe. She eyed where the vines were coming in through the breach in the hull and swung.
Metal hit vegetation with a meaty squelch.
Some of the vines retracted, slithering away. Others stubbornly stayed, too interested in their meal. The skitter of several small…things clicked against the metal floor, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bunch of tiny, black…creatures scramble away.
Wild-eyed, she scanned the space and spied a laser cutter on the floor. She snatched it up and flicked it on. The golden flame burned brightly.
She went after the nearest vine.
This time, it let go of Justyn so fast the tentacle-vine whipped past Nissa, knocking her off her feet. Crawling across the floor on her hands and knees, she slashed at the others. She heard a high-pitched squeal from outside, then they all suddenly let go and retreated out of the engine room, disappearing back into the jungle.
Swallowing the bile in her throat, she turned the laser cutter off and stared out into the jungle. She sensed the damn blood-sucking vines were still out there, watching and waiting. Goddess only knew what else was hiding out there. They had to get somewhere safer.
But first, she needed to heal Justyn up enough to move him.
“Justyn?”
No response. His head hung heavily, his shaggy hair covering his face.
She went to work on his side, wrenching out the wicked shard of metal. He groaned, but then went silent. She flicked on the medscope, waving the blue light over the open wound.
Don’t let me be too late. She kept the medscope over the large gash. She knew it would be healing the broken blood vessels under the skin. She saw the skin knitting. The device would also be eradicating anything that could cause infection.
The small silver cylinder gave a quiet beep and she turned it off. Except for the tear in his shirt and the sticky pool of blood, there was no sign that he’d been injured.
When she looked up, he was watching her. He smiled. This time it was his trademark grin.
“Thanks, Nissa.” He grabbed her hand.
She tangled her fingers with his and just held on for a second. All the fear she’d kept hidden bubbled inside her, soothed by the obvious fact he was okay.
She released a long breath. “Thanks for getting us down here in one piece.” She eyed the tear in the hull. “Your ship is not in one piece, though.”
“Nope, the ol’ girl isn’t going to make it out of this one.” Suddenly his brow creased, his body stiffening.
“What’s wrong?” Had the medscope missed something?
He let out a groan. “Fuck, it’s like acid in my veins.” His back arched, the tendons in his neck straining.
What was going on?Nissa looked over him, and spotted a dark patch on the inside of his left forearm. She grabbed his arm, turning it over for a better look.
“What the fuck is that?” he said between gritted teeth.
It looked like a splotch of old-fashioned ink. It covered half his forearm. “I’m not sure—” She gasped. Something was moving under his skin!
“Jesus!” Justyn writhed. “It hurts like hell.”
She watched whatever had burrowed into him wriggling its way up his arm. She swallowed against the nausea churning in her gut and looked again at the black mark.
Something had definitely gotten in.
“I’ve got to get it out.” She tried the medscope, but it didn’t register anything. Next, she probed the black wound.
The entire splotch moved!
