Casey Lockhart's Arc

Chapter 3 of 5

The suns cleared the ridge. Casey shoved the hatch open and dragged the crate outside. The canisters glowed green through the metal. Yuri grabbed the far handle and they hauled it across the rock toward the shuttle. Its side doors hung open, lit yellow inside. A hundred steps. Maybe less. Casey counted them under her breath. "Faster," she said. Her boots slipped on wet stone. The last creatures had left slime trails everywhere. Yuri didn't answer. He just leaned into the weight and pushed. Then an engine roared behind them. Casey turned. A grey rover tore across the ridge, kicking up red dust. She had never seen it before, but she knew what it meant. Someone else wanted the goo. Someone had known she was out here. The rover's gun swung toward them. A laser bolt cracked past her ear and burned a black line in the rock. The driver stood in the open hatch as the rover slowed. He was huge, dark green, his face hidden behind a black gas mask. He held his rifle steady and fired again. "Down!" Casey dropped behind the crate. Yuri hit the ground beside her. A bolt struck the crate and left a scorch mark. The canisters held. Casey pressed her back to the metal and pulled her scanner. It was no weapon. She had nothing that was. The green giant climbed out. "The shipment," he said. His voice was flat. "Leave it. Walk." "Who sent you?" Casey called. "No." He raised the rifle. He wanted them gone, or dead. She could hear which one he preferred. Casey looked at the crevices in the rock. Dark. Deep. The creatures were sleeping inside, waiting out the light. An idea landed hard and cold. She grabbed one canister from the crate and cracked its seal. "Yuri. Run for the doors on three." She hurled the canister at the giant's boots. It smashed. Green goo splashed across the stone and into the nearest crevice. The mercenary looked down. For a second he didn't understand. Then the slime began to move. Tentacles rose from the crack. A slick body pulled itself over his boot, then another, drawn to their stolen colony. The giant fired into them, but more came, wrapping his legs, his rifle arm. He roared behind the mask and stumbled back. "Three," Casey said. She and Yuri lifted the crate and ran. They shoved it through the shuttle doors and dove in after. Casey slammed the controls. The engines whined. Through the window she saw the mercenary tear free and drag himself to his rover. He didn't chase. He held his arm and watched them lift off. His mask turned to track the shuttle the whole way up. Seven canisters left, and a fortune still aboard. But he had seen her face. And he knew where the goo came from.