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Knowing it'll be faster if I comb through toward the other side, I step into my vehicle, turn the power on and fire up the thrusters, waiting for them to heat up.
I tap the on-screen dash and download the map of the region. It takes a second, but the image finally comes onto the display. I try my best to memorize it.
Just when I thought the night couldn't get any better, my battery dies.
"Oh, come on."
I spin the charge wheel and watch as a red skull symbol shines like a beacon of disappointment. The bastard died on me.
I smack the dash and feel the darkness creep around me. The sounds of the forest mesh together. And I just don't know if I can do it.
"Shit."
I can call Clara. She can send someone to come pick me up in about fifteen minutes. But then every soldier in the barracks would rag on me for months. I'd have to suffer through their snide jokes, and I'd feel even crappier about being stationed in the worst jungle on the planet.
I jump out of the Tera and dig in the back for a charge-stick or a spare battery. I find one, but I hear something that sends a chill through my spine.
A scream echoes through the trees. Clicking noises and strange rattles shake the entire forest. Right after, there are whispers that pull me inside the shadowy realm of the jungle.
It's a woman's scream that breaks through my trance, forcing me to react.
I step inside the darkness. I walk into the damp and misty zone that soon swallows me whole. Creatures of all kinds watch in wonder. The hum and hiss of insects torments me.
There's another scream, followed by low guttural noises. A scuffle and the sound of chains.
Three green lights flash in the distance, and all of my systems go haywire. My radio shifts in frequency. My shock prod’s battery goes dim. Despite my fear, I follow the lights, venturing where the trail turns into thick leaves and deep layers of mud.
The mysterious green glow calls to me. It grows brighter, and it feels as if the light might drown out the entire planet. I know that I’m in danger, but I allow it to sink around my flesh, to hug the bones it wishes to crack and toss aside.
I blink, and I am suddenly lost in the center of the jungle. I spin and run toward the green lights. It starts to rain. Thunder cracks in the sky as the horizon lights up with lightning.
I run toward the light until I hit a clearing near the Kalyx river. A large boat rests along the water. Its metal body is bordered with defense spikes. The green lights emanate from the top of it.
Rows of women line up to board through the stern. At first, it doesn't register, but I’m staring at a slave ship.
The sight is incomprehensible. They can't be slaves.
My gut tells me to reach for my EF-1 shock gun. I don't even have time to try and radio my findings back to Clara. If my hardware is still working, she’ll be able to see it on her display.
Instinct just kicks in. I need to save those women.
There are no alpha traders in sight. Have the slavers abandoned them? I take one solid breath and step out to alert them of my presence.
I reach the first woman, a blue alien of elaborate beauty. Her scales shine against the green lights, casting a shade of turquoise onto my skin. She’s pregnant.
"It’s going to be okay,” I whisper. “Where are your captors?"
She turns away. Doesn't say a thing.
"Where are they?" I repeat.
Still, I get nothing. The other women shun me, too. They back away as if I were a leper.
They're in chains. Some are injured. Most are malnourished and scared. Their owners must have abandoned them when they realized we were out on patrol. I'll have to take them back to the base to get them ready for processing.
I grab my bolt cutters and snap the chains.
"You are free," I say. "Come with me. We will process you for integration."
