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The jury was still out on whether that was the case. You’d think it couldn’t be easier to tell with the guy having been in the nude almost from the very start of their time together, but… It was hard. Because Therak was constantly hard. To read, that was.
Miya choked down a giggle.
He moved to exit the shuttle first. “Stay behind me.”
“But you said it’s safe here?”
He checked the interior from the top of the ramp. “I haven’t completely secured the perimeter. I’ve yet to go into that hole.”
“The well? That’s where fuel tanks and power cells are stored. You think someone’s hiding in there?”
“If you need more time to get the shuttle operational, I need to have the perimeter secured.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
Once under the hull, Therak guarding her back, she slid aside the metal panel over the cell compartment. “Hey there, babies,” she crooned at the cylinders pulsing in pale blue over her head.
“How much time, Miya?”
“Judging by the color of the cells… several hours? But let’s find the charger first, to make sure everything is working.”
Some feeling up of the dirt floor later, she located a metal hatch in the ground and opened it with a slight press. The charging cable was right there.
“Come to mama… Yes!” She fist-pumped under Therak’s watchful eye once she linked the cable to the energy cells’ central panel. “They’re charging! In several hours we’ll be getting off of here, Therak.”
His reaction to the news was a firm, “Stay here.” Then he ran toward the well and disappeared inside with a jaw-dropping jump.
“Super-duper,” Miya muttered, once again alone in a place perfect for the set of an apocalyptic movie.
One of those where only a handful of people survived an extinction event. Only to discover they were about to face something more horrifying than the apocalypse itself…
Oh, goodie. She was scaring herself all on her own now. No more classic horror movies for her, nuh-uh.
She would be totally fine here under the comforting light of the energy cells. She just had to stay calm and not think about bad stuff. Therak would return to her in no time once he made sure the fuel tanks were not out to get them. Easy-peasy–
A shrill, blood-chilling cry rose from inside the well.
17
Eat Someone Your Own Size
Miya had barely scrambled out from underneath the shuttle when a second animalistic cry tore the silence. Followed by ear-splitting shrieks and vibrations right under her feet.
Something was coming.
Her first idea was to get onto the shuttle, but the thought of being trapped in the complete darkness while not knowing what was happening with Therak had her running for the exit instead. From there she was safely going to see what they were dealing with.
She made it to the threshold before a louder shrill cry split the air. Accompanied by the sound of flapping wings. Huge wings.
Miya turned around in what felt like slow motion.
Something enormous and dark-red was hovering over the well. It had the leathery wings of a bat, the head of a bulldog but with a seagull-like beak instead of a muzzle, and the body of a plucked bird of prey. In its monstrous clawed feet something shimmery was wriggling.
Therak! Galaxies, the creature had him in its claws!
He was trying to set himself free with the use of his own claws, slashing furiously, but it was like using a needle where a blaster might not do the trick. The size of thatthing…
The creature flew higher, nearly to the ceiling, before it descended rapidly and landed heavily in the darkest corner. There, it continued to produce those blood-chilling cries and shrieks while trying to tear into Therak with its black beak.
