Cleon Moon (17 page)

“We should, but—”

Abelardus spun toward the dark passage ahead and dropped the core.

“Get back.” He snatched his staff. “More dinosaurs. Two of them.”

Alisa cursed and drew her Etcher. She debated on whether to stay aboard the bike or to park it in the tunnel ahead of them to get in the way of attackers. With the passage wider now, it wouldn’t be much of an obstacle, but the passage still wasn’t wide enough that she would be able to maneuver well on a bike.

“I knew it,” Mica growled and hopped off her bike. She dug into her satchel. “I knew we’d encounter hells down here, of one kind or another.”

Yumi, who did not have a weapon save for the laser knife she had been using to cut mushrooms, backed her bike out of the way. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Alisa parked her bike in front of Yumi and Mica, and crouched behind it, her weapon ready.

“Don’t get eaten by a monster,” Alisa said.

“Just stay back there,” Abelardus called over his shoulder. He had abandoned his bike and waited in front of it in a fighting stance, his staff gripped in both hands as he faced the passage ahead of them.

A roar came from the depths, and Alisa imagined the T-rexes. Could they fit down here? She eyed the ceiling. Maybe they would get stuck.

The first one came into view—her guess had been correct—as the rumbling from above increased in intensity again. The creature’s head nearly brushed the ceiling, but that did not keep it from advancing.

The walls shivered, more dirt and pebbles pelting down.

Alisa pointed her Etcher above Abelardus, toward the shadowy head of the dinosaur. She hoped the noise and the rain of rocks might scare it away, but it kept coming, its beady black eyes seeming to light with pleasure—or hunger—when it spotted Abelardus. It roared, drowning out the rumbles from above, and picked up speed, running on its two powerful hind legs. A second identical dinosaur stomped into view behind it.

Taking careful aim, Alisa fired at the lead creature’s left eye. Her bullet hit, but before she could tell if it had found its target, the massive dinosaur stumbled backward, as if hit by a battering ram—or Abelardus's power. He was pointing the tip of his staff toward it, and the runes glowed, shedding silvery light on the passage.

Even though the first dinosaur stumbled, the blow did nothing to affect the second one. It lunged past the leader, springing for Abelardus. Alisa fired again, trying to find one of those eyes with a bullet.

Mica came up behind Alisa and threw something. One of her grenades.

“Careful, Abelardus,” Alisa shouted.

What she meant to say was that he should lower his barrier, if he had erected one, so the grenade could go through. But there wasn’t time. The first dinosaur had not paused at all when Alisa shot. It reached Abelardus, and its head dove down, a maw full of long fangs snapping toward him.

He leaped to the side, but twisted in the air, thwacking his scaled attacker in the head with his staff. The dinosaur’s head was massive, and it seemed like it should have shaken off the blow from the slender weapon, but lightning crackled from the tip and danced over its scales. It reared back before reaching Abelardus and bellowed in pain.

Mica’s grenade toppled end over end, soaring past the first dinosaur and exploding near the shoulder of the second. That one had recovered from Abelardus's first attack, but the power of the explosion hurled it against the side of the tunnel so hard that more dirt rained down in clumps. The tiny projectiles pelted the dinosaurs in the head—and Abelardus too. He backed up, readying his staff for another attack.

But the dinosaur that he’d struck with lightning was shaking its head wildly instead of lunging for him. It paused, catching its breath and surveying the humans. Abruptly, it roared and sprang.

Abelardus crouched, ready to dodge, but he wasn’t the target. The dinosaur crashed through the parked bikes. At first, it seemed like it wanted to run down the tunnel away from Abelardus and his staff, and Alisa backed to the side, happy to let it go by. But it stopped when it knocked her bike over. It roared as it landed between Alisa and Mica.

Alisa fired at the side of its head as she scooted back until her shoulder blades bumped the side of the tunnel, and she could go no further.

Even though she pegged the creature in its small ear hole, it did not turn toward her. That head lunged downward and forward—right at Yumi.

Yumi yelped in surprise—and terror—and sprang backward as those huge jaws snapped, inches from her face. As she scrambled away, she bumped her parked bike and went down, flat on her back.

Mica screamed and leaped for the dinosaur as it lunged again for Yumi. Alisa fired again, but the bullet bounced off the scaled neck, doing no damage.

“Abelardus,” she cried, though she could see him fighting with the other creature.

Mica wrapped an arm around the dinosaur’s neck, and when it opened its slavering maw to snap at Yumi again, she jammed one of her grenades into its mouth. No, right down its
throat
. The fanged jaw clacked shut, and Mica yelled. Had her arm been caught?

Shouting to try and draw the monster’s attention—and get one of those vulnerable eyes to turn in her direction—Alisa rammed a side kick into the side of its leg. She doubted the blow would do anything to the sturdy joint, but her bullets weren’t doing anything either.

A masculine yell came from behind the dinosaur, and Alisa spun away in time to see Abelardus straddling the creature’s thick tail, his staff raised over his head. He slammed it down onto the dinosaur’s back, lightning coursing from the weapon again.

Abelardus did not seem to be aware of the second dinosaur behind him—or maybe he had deliberately turned his back on it to help the women. It had recovered from Mica’s explosive, and it was charging at him. Its jaw opened wide, long sharp fangs diving toward Abelardus's back.

Thanks to the illumination cast from the lightning, Alisa finally had a good target—and the light needed to hit it. She fired, the bullet striking one of those black beady eyes. She prepared to shoot again, but the second of Mica’s grenades went off, the one she had shoved down the closer dinosaur’s throat.

Moist, rubbery flesh spattered against the side of Alisa’s face as the creature’s tail lurched to the side. It flung Abelardus backward and slammed into her waist, sending her into the wall. She stumbled, catching herself before she went down. More gunk splattered onto her head. Heaving aside thoughts of disgust, Alisa forced herself to brace her shoulder against the wall and prepare to fire again.

But stillness had come to the passage, broken only by the sickly sound of moist pieces of dinosaur falling from the ceiling, where it had spattered when the grenade went off. A piece dropped squarely onto Alisa’s nose. Her stomach twisted, threatening to heave its contents. Remembering the mask still affixed to her mouth and nose, she forced herself to take deep breaths. She did not want to risk dislodging it—or having to hold her air while she tried to clean it out.

While she breathed, trying to squash her queasiness, she looked from dinosaur to dinosaur to make sure the threat truly was gone. Both of the creatures had tumbled to the ground. One was obviously no longer a threat, its head blown halfway off from the inside—the grenade must have gone off just before it could gag that canister up.

The second dinosaur had fallen behind the first, landing with its chin on the tail of its cohort. Abelardus had regained his feet and had his staff pointed at the creature, but it was not moving. Blood trickled from one shattered eyeball. The other eye was frozen open, staring straight ahead.

That was your bullet that killed it
, Abelardus spoke into Alisa’s mind, looking away from the dinosaur and lowering his staff.
Thank you.

Does that mean I have to carry the head back on my bike?

If you want the prize. There’s not any room left on mine.

Alisa moved toward the front of the other dinosaur to check on the others.

“Yumi?” Mica asked, doing the same thing. She stepped over the remains of the head to where Yumi sat, one hand clutching her chest. “Are you all right?”

“Are
you
all right, Mica?” Alisa asked. “I saw you stick your arm in that thing’s mouth. I thought you were going to lose it.”

“Me too. I yanked it out in time. Just nicked a tooth.” Mica held up her arm, the sleeve shredded, revealing a bloody gouge in the skin underneath.

“That’s a nick?”

“Considering I thought I might lose the whole limb, it’s an impressively small wound.”

“You always imagine the worst, don’t you?”

“As I’m sticking my arm in a Tyrannosaurus rex’s mouth? Yes, I do.”

Mica lowered her uninjured arm to Yumi, her hand extended. Yumi stared at it for a moment, as if she did not understand what it was for. Maybe she was in shock. Yumi wasn’t their most experienced combatant.

Finally, Yumi clasped it and let Mica haul her to her feet. She wobbled, and Mica offered her shoulder for support.

“Thank you, Mica,” Yumi said, still appearing stunned as she looked at her. “I didn’t think… I mean, I wasn’t expecting you to…”

“Be stupid enough to stick my hand down a dinosaur’s throat?” Mica asked. “I wasn’t expecting that either. I had to run risk-benefit analyses at the university, you know. That one didn’t look to come out in my favor.”

“You risked your life to save mine,” Yumi said. “I thought I was dead.”

“Did you? That’s called being a pessimist. It means being able to be delighted when things turn out better than you expected. Are you delighted?”

“I—yes.”

“Good.” Mica squeezed her arm and released her, heading toward her bike.

Yumi wore a bemused expression as she watched her go.

“Who’s going to help me cut off that dinosaur head?” Alisa asked, looking toward Abelardus, wondering if he had a tool that might be up to the task. She had a laser knife on her multitool, but imagined it would take forever to slice through that thick neck—and she imagined herself throwing up as she tried to do it. Growing up on a spaceship hadn’t involved a lot of hunting—or beheading of giant monsters.

Abelardus held up his staff. “The cyborg did the other ones. He doesn’t mind getting blood on his armor. My robe is somewhat less impervious.”

“I’ll help you,” Yumi said, surprising Alisa. She picked her way past the mutilated dinosaur, her hand shaking only slightly as she pulled out her own laser knife.

That tool wasn’t much more powerful than the one Alisa had, but at least the task should go more quickly with two of them working on it.

“Abelardus, will you stand guard and let us know if more trouble comes?” Alisa asked, glancing toward the dark tunnel.

She doubted it was wise to stay here, especially since she could still hear that rumbling, though faint now. But she remembered Leonidas’s words, that another head might be enough to buy her that combat armor. She could hack into some dino guts for a chance to be safer, especially given how dangerous her life had become. She grimaced and flicked some of the bloody spatters off her jacket.

“I will gladly accede to your wishes, my captain,” Abelardus said.

“Thanks.” Alisa kept from rolling her eyes. After all, he had leaped back to help her and the others.

Alisa and Yumi knelt on either side of the dinosaur’s neck, laser blades extended, each debating how to go about the task. Yumi was the first one to dig in. Maybe she imagined it like a giant mushroom stalk.

“Thanks for the help,” Alisa said as she cut from the other side.

“You’re welcome.” Yumi glanced at Mica a few times as she worked.

Mica had righted the rest of the bikes and was fiddling with one of them that had a fresh dent in the engine casing. Alisa hoped the insurance that Abelardus had been forced to take out covered dinosaurs.

“I owe her my life,” Yumi whispered.

“Just give her a kiss,” Alisa said, concentrating on her task. “She’ll be tickled.”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

If Mica hadn’t explained her interests, Alisa wasn’t going to do it for her. Maybe Mica had figured out Yumi was more interested in men and had shied away from mentioning anything. Though Alisa hadn’t seen Yumi show any blatant leanings one way or another, at least not with anyone onboard the
Nomad
. An admittedly small sample size.

“I wouldn’t have expected her to,” Yumi said. “She seems very…”

“Grumpy?”

“Self-centered. She’s always talking about leaving and finding a better job. She doesn’t seem to realize what an amazing life experience this is.”

Alisa raised an eyebrow, more at the idea that riding along on her ship was an amazing life experience than at the notion that Mica was self-centered. She wasn’t sure if she had room to talk in regard to the latter. She kept resenting all of the diversions that kept her from catching up with Jelena. That damned staff—and all that could be done with it—was surely more important on the grand scale than she and her daughter were, but she couldn’t bring herself to care about it as much.

“She’s also grumpy,” Yumi added with a smile.

“It’s hard being an engineer. You’re stuck down in your box, not knowing what interesting and exciting things your pilot is doing.”

Yumi smiled as she sawed through her half of the neck, the laser blade making short work of the vertebrae. Alisa hurried to catch up—that rumbling noise was increasing again, and the floor vibrated beneath her knees.

“Also, she’s like me,” Alisa added. “Not always good at expressing her feelings. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have them, or that she doesn’t care.”

“Is there a bounty on half-exploded dinosaur heads?” Mica asked, nudging the other creature with her boot.

“I don’t think so,” Abelardus said.

“Damn.”

Yumi raised her eyebrows.

“It’s deep down that she cares,” Alisa whispered. “You might have to take a crowbar and pry it out from under the bitter, jaded surface.”

“I see,” Yumi said, smiling.

They finished with the head and loaded it onto Abelardus's bike. Despite his earlier protest, it did, indeed, fit with the others.