Despite his weariness, Kitai left the water, pulling himself up on a jagged piece of rock, which cut into exposed parts of his flesh now that the lifesuit was compromised. He took several deep breaths to center himself and then positioned his feet on either side of the shaft to brace himself. He reached out with his arms, pulled himself up, and then began the slow, steady climb to the surface.
Before he went several meters, though, the Ursa burst from the water and reached for its prey. One claw snagged Kitai’s leg, but once more its bulk prevented it from succeeding. It could not fit into the shaft and follow Kitai. In fury the beast tried to pull the human toward its gaping mouth. Kitai looked into the maw with its sharp teeth, moist tongue, and dark innards. He screamed. Two claws had gotten purchase and begun dragging him backward. His legs scissored to break free as his arms pulled his body upward. Both efforts worked, and with a sudden rush forward, he was free. As he clambered up, the Ursa bound out of the water in a final attempt to grab him and bring him down. Fortunately, the effort failed and the Ursa fell back to the underground lake.
Kitai was in pain. The tiny cuts were not deep, but there were enough larger cuts to be felt with every muscle movement. He was tired. He was hungry. There was no one around to help him; there was no rescue on its way. All this roiled within him, and he finally let it all out in a yell of pain and fear.
Without looking down at the Ursa, Kitai climbed. He had little choice, and so he continued to the surface, focusing on the next handhold. The next step. As he rose, the beast’s roars diminished until they finally faded away and he could put it out of his mind for now. The meters vanished beneath him and he lost track of time, but the light grew brighter and he felt the beginnings of a breeze. The surface was beckoning.
The timeless void ended as his head rose above the shaft, and he once more saw clouds and sky and black mountain. He pulled himself to the surface and stood, panting. His lifesuit was still damp, and drops of water fell from the obsidian surface, which was glistening in the waning sunlight. To his surprise, it was snowing. The air around him was filling with flakes, but as they adhered to his skin and lifesuit, he noticed they were not crystalline water droplets but something ashy. Then he remembered. This was a volcano, and it was still very much awake. From where he stood, there really were no safe places to climb. He was standing essentially on the edge of a cliff, and it was a long way down.
ii
On the Hesper, Cypher Raige was waging war with himself, forcing the fever-induced flashbacks away. He remained frantic as he feared the worst for his son. There had been no communications for some time now, and Kitai’s signal appeared to be lost. So did the Ursa’s avatar, making him go mad with worry and concern. If the Ursa had killed Kitai and lived, it would continue to hunt and eventually find its way to him. Somehow, he knew, it would locate the sole remaining human on Earth and kill him. Or he would bleed out, leaving behind a somewhat rancid corpse for the Ursa.
A beeping sound caught his wavering attention, and he saw that Kitai’s vital signs were registering. He’s alive! The screen representing Kitai’s lifesuit camera winked back on, and Cypher saw the dark mountain. His son was alive and above the ionic interference. All he had to do was activate the beacon. But what was he waiting for?
Kitai steadied himself, having ascertained his current whereabouts and situation. His breathing was once more under control, but his stomach was demanding attention. He was out of MREs and would have to tough it out. He began to reach for the backpack and the homing beacon when he was distracted by the sounds of an avalanche. Or so it seemed to him. He turned toward the sound and saw the shaft being torn apart. Rocks fell into the entrance, and there was an unmistakable sound of claw against rock. The Ursa was forcing its way up to continue its hunt for Kitai.
The security chief had been right. Once the beast imprinted on Kitai, it would not stop until it or Kitai was dead.
It was beginning to occur to Kitai that it might be him.
But first he had to save his father.
He reached for the beacon, but before he could activate the signal, a claw grabbed his legs and pulled. The teen fell face-first into the hard rock. Both hands flew open with the impact, and the beacon flew one way and the cutlass another.
Kitai tried to scramble to his feet, but the Ursa, still trying to emerge from the shaft, smacked him into another rock and then hefted him into the air, tossing him away like a rag doll. As he hit the ground, he felt blood gush from his nose and pain in his neck. He wanted to get up, run away, but he couldn’t. He hurt too much. This was it.
The Ursa, once it reached the surface, was going to claim its prey.
995 AE
Nova Prime City
Senshi was most certainly her father’s daughter, preferring things to be just so. She rose every day at the same time whether she was on or off duty. There were the calisthenics to stay in shape, followed by a light breakfast, and then a run before cleaning up and dressing for the day. She invariably tied her long black hair behind her in a fashionable bun, barely pausing to notice her brown skin and bright eyes. Most days, dressing meant putting on her uniform.
She loved the Rangers, their sense of camaraderie and community. Although she could have applied to join at thirteen, she wanted to make sure she could ace the rigorous mental and physical testing, and so she worked hard for another two years. On one of his rare visits home, she made her father, the general, watch her practice portions of the test on a deserted field. She scaled rock walls, traveled by a zip line, and demonstrated hand-to-hand combat skills. She was so proud of how well she was doing that the final component, the mock cutlass battle, was going to be no problem.
Instead, she was black and blue for days. Her father was one with his weapon, athletic and graceful as he put on a one-man demonstration of forms until he used the cutlass to sweep her off her feet, letting her fall ass-first onto the hard ground.
He reached down to help her up and finally gave her a smile of approval, something withheld the last few hours.
“I think you’ll do,” he told her.
His rare praise gave her the confidence to apply to the Rangers the next morning.
After completing the two-part training period, she was thrilled as she crossed the stage and received her badge while her father watched. He looked taller than ever in his crisp white uniform. Nothing compared with that feeling of elation, of accomplishment. Their eyes met, and she saw all his love and pride revealed as if for the first time. She couldn’t help but steal a glance at her mother, Faia, and younger brother, Kitai, as they cheered from the second row.
A week later she moved out of the family’s tidy, tiny apartment, preferring to bunk with her fellow Rangers until the time came for a place of her own. She visited the family for meals, and the first time she arrived, she brought her cutlass with her to show Kitai.
After dinner, she put on a demonstration for him, with both parents watching intently. She showed him several of the many configurations of the C-10 model, pirouetting and explaining several of the attack forms she had been taught. He watched with saucer eyes and clapped in delight.
Faia was full of praise, but Cypher pointed out things she was doing wrong, taking her outside to spend the next two hours working with her. She did not take offense at his criticisms or argue but worked intently. This, after all, was how he showed he cared, and she loved him for it.