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The creature hits the ground with a crash, twitching and snarling as it kicks up the leaves and sends up clouds of dry dirt It thrashes around for the count of ten and then lies still, the clearing filling with the horrible smell of burned hair and flesh Up in the tree, Lilac’s screaasps I stand and watch the cat for the count of thirty after it stopsthe Gleidel in one hand, I walk slowly across the clearing to where the creature lies still There’s a moan of relief from the tree, and I realize she hasn’t been able to see me until now I can’t focus on her yet

"Stay up there," I call "It’s dead if it keeps its brain where it’s supposed to Did it touch you?"

There’s no reply, but she hasn’t fallen out of the tree yet, so I can only suppose she’s unharmed

I loose an extra bolt into the creature’s head for safety’s sake, the Gleidel shrieking again I takeit carefully with the toe ofin for a closer inspection The eyes are glassy; its side doesn’t rise or fall Dead

What kind of a terrafor around? There’s no reason to introduce a higher-order predator into a place like this; the felines should be a quarter this size or less Their part in the ecosyste socialites up trees This one has the same stripes around its face as the kind I’et here? I study it for a few ive up--it’s dead, and that’s whatto the lowest branch She stares down at , which tells , Miss LaRoux, I’m pretty shaken up myself As I stare up at her, a rush of relief overtakes ht the urge to drag her down from the tree I could shake her I could kiss her I can’t let myself do either I can’t believe I was so o off alone after I’d seen those paw prints I have to be s my throat to make my voice even

"That was sonoreselse that she’s suffered no pere I’d be more concerned if she letsideways, dangling for a few seconds, then letting go so she can hit the ground with a thump She crumples to sit on the dirt, then scrabbles backward away from the dead creature

I know this moment too well, I’ve seen it in the field Hell, I’ve been there --that I saved her life, that she needs oing to force her to co back I’m the one with field experience I should have stopped this froed breathing "We can cover a little round before we have to make camp"

A part of me wants to reach down and take her hands, and hold them until she feels safe But I can’t If I do, she’ll start crying, and she won’t stop I need her to stay tough It’s the best thing I can do for her So I speak again "Are you ready?"

She nods, cli to dust off her hands I’ this girl to the crash site She can hate me for the rest of her life once we’re rescued--at least she’ll be alive to hate ather up her abandoned supplies Froht up withher toward ht not have reached her in time

I hope Lilac doesn’t realize this That it was only a coincidence that saved her life She’s already ju at shadows as alk--now and then she looks over her shoulder as though she’s hearing things, seeing things It doesn’t see there I hope she’s not thinking about what other impossible creatures could be out there, just beyond the trees

And I really hope that thing doesn’t have a mate

When we make camp by a creek, I esti breaks, and we’ve made it e of the trees After we et over the e so on the blanket I spread for her, ar sky through a gap in the canopy I wonder what she makes of the sky I’ve never seen these stars, and I’ve memorized the charts for all the colonies That’s er because the Icarus wasn’t where she was supposed to be when she crashed

I shake ness Rescue will still come This place is terraformed, however distorted it seems The people must be somewhere, and they can’t have missed the destruction of a ship like the Icarus

Lilac’s been silent since the incident with the cat beast, and against all logic I findthe sound of her voice, even when it’s insulting --this new quiet hopelessness is infectious