Hunted, Page 4

  * * *

  Stephanie didn’t wake Knutsen at the appointed time. Instead, she took a walk, making her way to a high point of jutting stone a short distance from the camp. She climbed it, then settled in, wedged between two twisting spires. From her position she could see the sleeping men, the heat rock still glowing a faint red. But she could also see the wider plain, and even though it was night, there was sufficient light to make out the nearby rocks and dunes.

  She snapped open the sight-port on the multigun and lifted it to her eye. Scanning the horizon, focusing on the east, she searched for any sign of movement. Nothing. Switching to infrared, she tried again.

  The desert was an even tone of yellow with patches here and there of darker umber, indicating warmer sand. But there was nothing ‘hot’ out there. Stephanie let out her breath, unaware she had been holding it. Whatever had been trying to track them was gone.

  She grinned and was about to jump down when some instinct made her look again. This time she scanned the area much closer to their camp, less than a klick distant. And there it was, something moving, registering as a brilliant red blob in her gun sights. Then another and another. Three high heat sources slowly converging on the location of the overhang under which Knutsen and Jensen lay sleeping.

  Her stomach clenched, and without thought she thumbed the safety off the multigun, aiming at the nearest of the heat sources. Whatever it was, it was only 300 meters away. She fired.

  The shot missed, impacting a dune, creating a spectacular heat rose in the infrared spectrum. She switched to night vision, and what she saw almost made her freeze rigid with shock. A mutant, much like the ones she had seen on the Argoss and Heimdal, with the strangely articulating limbs and smaller head. But this one was still recognizably human. It crouched low, turning to look towards the other creatures it travelled with. They scuttled away, as if aware they were suddenly visible and in danger. In a moment they were all gone, hidden behind rocks or dunes.

  But now they would be more careful. She mentally berated herself for missing her target. With a snarl of rage, she hopped down and hurried back to the camp. She kicked hard at Knutsen’s foot, then Jensen’s. Knutsen was on his feet in a second, but Jensen merely moaned.

  “What is it? What happened?” Knutsen checked his wrist display. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

  “Never mind. They found us,” Stephanie replied. She had her back to them, the multigun raised high, scanning the area in case the enemy returned. “I saw three mutants coming directly towards the camp. I don’t know how, but they can track us. We need to keep moving.”

  Knutsen nodded curtly, then knelt beside the comatose Jensen, checking his vitals.

  “He’s not looking good.” He gently peeled back an eyelid, using a light from his wrist display to check Jensen’s pupil response.

  “He’s unconscious, not sleeping.”

  “Then you’ll have to carry him,” Stephanie replied. “I’ll take point.” She grabbed up the second multigun, slinging it across her back, then a medkit. Knutsen donned the remaining emergency kits, then with a grunt, bent and lifted Jensen across his shoulders. He staggered to his feet.

  Stephanie gave him a sympathetic look. “We need to circle back to the crash site. That’s the first place any rescue team would look to find us.”

  Knutsen gave the merest of grunts. He took a step, then another. His face was locked into a determined grimace. Stephanie led the way, switching between infrared and night vision while sweeping the area ahead and behind. Now they knew for sure what they were facing, their only hope of survival was to hide. Superior firepower would only work for so long, and the Ancestors alone knew how many of the damned creatures were on the surface.

  As they made their way, Knutsen occasionally stumbled so Stephanie had to catch him. It was obvious that he was growing tired. Attempting to distract him, she described what she had seen.

  “It’s as though there were two species,” she said. “The one I saw appeared almost human. It had a larger head and I’m sure it had normal feet. It was definitely different to the ones on the Argoss.”

  Knutsen did not answer. It was all he could do to move in the heavier gravity with Jensen’s weight and his own. Stephanie continued.

  “Also, they reacted immediately to the fact that I could hit them with a charge. The mutants on the arc did not seem to care. They attacked with a ferocity that seemed . . . well, I think it bordered on madness. But these others, they displayed caution. Which makes me think they’re smarter. Or simply not insane. Either way, it makes them more dangerous.”

  Knutsen grunted. Each step he took was a deliberate action, requiring focus and concentration. After only a short while, he was sweating. Slowly he lowered Jensen to the sand.

  “Need to rest,” he gasped out.

  Stephanie kept up her scanning, switching between modes on the sights. There had been no other sign of the creatures since she had fired on them, but they were still out there. She could feel it in her gut.

  “We’re not more than 3 klicks from the wreckage of the shuttle. We can take 10 minute breaks in every 30. Think you can manage that, Pål?”

  He looked up at her and she was shocked at the exhaustion written into every line on his face. She put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a squeeze.