had pierced the back of the seat. The end of that narrow strip of debris was painted crimson.
“Ouch.” She winced. The being sitting there had been impaled. “You can’t be human. A human couldn’t survive a wound like that.”
Yet there was no being inside the escape pod.
She looked over her shoulder, saw no one behind her. “Unless there are two of you and the second being carried you out.”
The blood on the palm print could have belonged to the wounded being.
“I may have two beings needing help.” The situation was growing more complicated by the moment. “Hold on while I get what I came for.” She hefted herself over the edge of the side panel.
And tumbled headfirst into the escape pod.
Her hands slid on the bloody seat. The left side of her chest coverings became damp.
“Ugh.” She righted herself. “This garment will have to be discarded.”
She gazed around her. The control pad had been torn off the wall. She followed the cables attached to it. The homing device had been disconnected.
“That looks like it was done deliberately.” It wasn’t a product of the crash.
Trepidation skittered over her skin.
“You don’t want to be tracked.” That was the only reason she could think for a being to remove a homing device from an escape pod.
What did that mean?
“Nothing. That means nothing.” She reassured herself. “I don’t want to be tracked, and I’m not a violent being.”
The beings from the escape pod might not be violent either.
She studied her surroundings. “I’m guessing the control pad is situated close to the power converter.” She pried off a wall panel. “Shit. It isn’t there.”
She removed another one.
“Success.” Lea grinned “And the power converter looks to be intact.”
She extracted a dagger from a sheath and carefully disconnected the delicate piece of technology. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she worked.
“Work quickly, Lea.” The escape pod’s one or two former occupants were missing and could be hurt or hostile.
Daisun and his band of thugs would also have noticed the crash, would be headed toward the site. A tremor of fear ran down her spine.
“If he captures you, you’ll wish you were dead.” Her tone was bleak.
He’d torture her in all the ways a being could be tortured. Her lifespan would consist of pain and humiliation and hunger.
Lea’s jaw jutted. “You’ve survived this long. You’ll avoid that fate.”
The power converter was heavy and unwieldly.
“I need something to convey it in.” She felt under the seats, located an ugly medic pack. “This could be useful.”
She might have one or two beings who required care. Lea slung it over one of her shoulders and continued her search.
There was an equally hideous-looking pack filled with nourishment bars stored under the seats also. “I don’t need these.” Chamele 4 provided all the nourishment she required.
She dumped the tasteless rations on the floor, placed the power converter in the pack.
“More water could be needed.” She had some drinkable liquid. Only a fool would venture outside in Chamele 4’s heat without that.
But she doubted she had enough to clean wounds and hydrate three beings.
She located a container of beverage. It had been damaged in the crash. Water seeped through the cracks.
“That’s useless.” She tossed it aside, reached under the seats again.
A rock vulture screeched, the sound barely audible.
“Oh fuck.” Lea stiffened. “It must be hunting something or someone.”
That someone was approaching the site. She glanced upward. The creature wasn’t yet visible. She had time to flee.
Hefting the power converter pack over her other shoulder, she turned toward the exterior wall. “It’s time to go.” She grabbed onto the top of it and flung herself out of the escape pod.
As soon as she did that, she realized she’d made a mistake, misjudging the severity of the drop and the impact of the packs’ additional weight on her fall.
“Fuck.”
She plummeted toward the ground, mentally bracing for the pain she’d soon experience.
“This landing is going to hurt.”
Chapter Two
Tolui should run as far and as fast as he was able, away from the crash site. Always being in motion had saved him and his clone brothers in the past.
Lightheaded from blood loss and pain, he leaned against a stone spire. Berke, one of the Chamele Warlords and his most hated enemy, would be searching for the escape pod.
If he found the wreckage, Tolui would die.
He prodded the wound on his shoulder with his finger. Agony radiated from that point. Debris from the crash, a thin shard of metal, had sliced through his body.
The injury was deep and severe,