Daylight
“We need to find shelter,” Kelly said. It was hard to keep the panic out of her voice, and by her partner's face she hadn't entirely fooled him with what on the surface was a calm tone. Jacan knew her well enough to understand just how much she was afraid.
“Yes,” he replied. “Don't worry, pard – we'll be fine.”
The use of the nickname was supposed to calm her down, Kelly was sure, but it only made her concerns more real. The quiver in Jacan's own voice told her that he was also not as confident as he seemed.
“Here!” He said, breaking her line of thought, and she glanced at the massive jinoo tree he'd found. At least twenty feet across, the tree had pushed out most of the surrounding flora and still had the blue bark that marked it as young and growing. Its bottom edge was almost perfectly smooth except for a single deformation that led to its root structure. Animals across the southern forests used jinoo trees to hibernate or if they suddenly needed to take shelter.
Jacan pulled an audioslicer from his belt and knelt down beside the root entry, then pressed the activation button. There was no sound Kelly could hear, but creatures began slipping out of the hole and she turned her back. Not all of them fell into the “furry and cute” category like oppens or paldors.
“It's clear,” her partner said finally, dropping to his belly and wiggling his way into the opening. Within moments he was gone; Kelly was sure she could hear a mocking whisper on the wind, a realization that she was alone. Jacan's hand shot out a moment later and she dove for it, not caring about dirt stains on her clothes or the line of slime one of the tree's previous occupants had left behind. Their new shelter might be dirty and disgusting but at least they would be safe.
The tree's inside was better than she had expected; a number of small animal corpses were obvious by their smell, but Jacan was already neutralizing them with his h-pistol. Kelly unslung her pack to access three mag-lights, which stuck well enough on their hideout's inside thanks to the veins of pseudo-steel that ran though each jinoo tree. Though the thinkers back at base camp couldn't figure out how the trees had developed to a point where they needed metal to grow, or even what the metal was, it was magnetic and strong – two things that Kelly found particularly comforting under the circumstances.
“Not perfect,” Jacan said, finishing up with the last of the corpses, “but it should keep us safe.”
Kelly smiled, though her heart wasn't in it. Neither one of them had spent a night away from the base in their time on the surface, and had never wanted to experience one. A late meeting and a broken speeder had conspired to put them on the road back to camp far later than they should have been. Even ensconced in the relative security of the tree, she didn't exactly feel safe.
“Have you ever seen one of them, Jacan?”
“What?” He looked up from deploying their gel-stove. “What are you on about, Kelly?”
She frowned. He had heard what she said – there was no question about it. He just didn't want to answer.
“I said,” she crossed her arms and glared down at him. “Have you ever seen one of the things that roam the planet at night? We've both heard the stories, but do you know the truth?”
Jacan shrugged. “Not really. I haven't stayed alive this long by ignoring my instincts, and those instincts told me to stay the hell in at night as soon as I arrived on this rock. Thankfully, I was smart enough to listen.”
“I hear they feast on flesh while their food is still alive,” the most virulent of the rumors came to her lips, “and that they make sure it suffers for as long as possible.”
“Kelly!” Her partner said sharply. He'd started the fire, and rose to move across the small space. “You can't think like that. The people at the base don't know any more than we do – and in most cases, considerably less. Right now, we've got a safe haven and a warm fire; don't ruin it until there's a need, alright?” He smiled down at her, the same smile that had gotten her in trouble with a Gammrian merchant all those years ago and started what had been the most lucrative partnership of her life. She didn't want it to end in a tree.
“Alright,” she said, taking a deep breath. Panic still sat low in her stomach, but at least it wasn't trying to claw its way out. “Let's get something cooking. I'm starved.”
Jacan smiled and reached into his pack. “Let's see,” he said as he rummaged through, “we've got creamed corn, creamed chicken – well, it's all creamed just take your pick.”
“Chicken is fine,” she tried to keep her tone light, but it was difficult. Beyond the root entrance she could hear the wind start to pick up, mingled with the cries of the things that roamed the night. They were out there; they were searching. Hopefully Jacan was right.
- D
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