“Aee’na dō setaela!” Kal spits, falling to his knees and kicking wildly. I realize with cold horror that the vines nearest him are snaking out, curling around his ankles and rifle and dragging it and him away from the beast. I cry out, and Scarlett steps up beside me, rapidly blasting at the plants with her disruptor.
Not wanting to risk hitting Fin with his pistol, Tyler aims a kick at the chimp’s back instead. It’s sent flying, screeching, and Cat gets off a blast. There’s a bright flash of light, another unearthly screech, but the hit doesn’t seem to stop it. Instead, the thing rolls to its feet and jumps on top of Fin again, screaming as Zila takes two quick steps in, raising her disruptor and looking for a clear shot.
Scarlett is still blasting at the vines that have grabbed Kal, and I’m trying to pull his legs free of the snarl, his eyes locking on mine for one long, intense moment. After his confession in sickbay, we have so many things left to say, and I’m suddenly terrified we won’t get the chance. I hear a shout, turning as Fin’s thrown clear of the brawl. He lands with a crash, something in his suit snapping sharply, and I run forward to hook my hands under his arms and drag him clear.
The thing barrels into Ty and sends him flying—my dad always used to remind me that a chimp was four times as strong as a human, that you could never let your guard down around them. Cat shouts Ty’s name as he’s sent sprawling. She blasts the thing with her disruptor again and it turns on her, lashing out with its moss-covered hands and yellowed teeth. With a cry, she’s sent tumbling away, rolling to a stop and laying still on her side.
“Maker’s breath, shoot it!” Ty’s bellowing as Zila circles them, twisting this way and that to try and get a shot that won’t take out one of her teammates.
I throw my hands up, desperately trying to summon whatever it is that’s helped me so far. The air around me shivers. A low hum building behind my eyes. But my mind’s a wild thing, wheeling away from the sights before me, screaming out to run, to abandon my friends and get away, get away, save myself from this place.
The creature turns on me, and despite the greenery in its eyes, I know it’s looking at me, I know it’s seeing me, lips peeling back from its teeth as it shrieks and launches itself right at my throat.
And then Kal’s roaring, almost unrecognizable behind his helmet’s faceplate. Abandoning his trapped rifle and ripping free of the plants to crash into the beast, coming to my aid with nothing but his bare hands.
He knocks the chimp away from me, both of them tumbling over in a tangle of limbs. Rolling with the impact, curling himself into a ball, Kal plants both boots in the thing’s chest and kicks it hard, launching it up into the air as he cries out to Zila.
And Zila doesn’t miss her shot.
BAMF.
The thing’s head is just … gone. And a thousand tiny spores are floating through the air, carried around us in a quick swirl by the breeze as its body crashes to the ground in ruins.
Cat whimpers where she’s still curled up on her side, and Ty scrambles over to her. But Zila’s already skidding in on her knees, as quick as I’ve ever seen her move, pulling her med kit from her back.
Kal crouches over the remains of the beast, gasping for breath. I help a groaning Fin up to his hands and knees, my heart thumping in my chest. Scarlett has finished blasting the animated vines to ashes. Her hands are shaking, and she keeps her weapon trained on the landscape around us in case any other part of it starts moving when it shouldn’t.
“On three,” Zila’s saying softly, and with infinitely gentle hands, she and Tyler roll Cat onto her back so they can get a look at her injuries.
Oh no. No.
“Maker’s bits,” Fin breathes, and though he’s in obvious discomfort, he’s reaching for Zila’s bag already.
All down Cat’s left side, her suit has been torn open. I can see blood and skin and bone, I can see her ribs, I can …
The air’s reaching her skin.
Even as I stare in paralyzed horror, a miniscule spore