Hunted on Predator Planet Read online

  Vicky L. Holt – Hunted on Predator Planet

  Copyright © 2019 by Vicky L. Holt

  Published by Eos Publishing

  https://eos-publishing.com

  First edition: 2019

  * * *

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  * * *

  Cover art credit: May Dawney Designs

  Editing credit: Eanna Robert at Penmanship Editing

  Contents

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  To Hammond, my little monster

  Website:

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  1

  “Wilderness is not welcoming.

  It is the place where humans may be prey.”

  --William E. Glassley

  As my Emergency Egress Pod burned through the ionosphere of a huge green planet, I shrieked so loud I couldn’t hear the alarms blaring from within my vehicle, nor the calm vocalizations of the onboard computer. The life-support systems were going haywire, and I yelped in pain when the IV administering the cryodrug ripped from my sleeve port. At least my double five-point harness wasn’t releasing; I would die as soon as we made it to the mesosphere. As it was, I might die anyway.

  Were there heat shields? How many PSI could my viewing porthole withstand? By now, my screaming had abated to terrified whimpers. The flames outside my window glowed orange and yellow, but also white and blue and some shades of violet I’d never seen before.

  Finally, I could hear the onboard computer through my flight helmet. “Sinus tachycardia detected. Remain calm and I will administer a tranquilizer.”

  “N-no! Negative! Don’t do that!”

  “It is inadvisable to come out of cryosleep during landing, K90-Miner 105.”

  “I don’t even know how I woke up!” My panic had me in a hammerlock. My aptly named “EEP” continued to flame brilliantly out the window.

  Coming out of cryosleep is supposed to be this soothing, lullaby-shrouded experience filled with aromatherapy, ocean sounds, and the gradual awakening of all systems. Welcome to my life.

  “Sensors indicate minor errors occurred in the Emergency Egress Pod. I will reset to pre-flight settings.”

  “What? Don’t do that now!” I started to hyperventilate. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The temp-control prevented my window from fogging up—a curse instead of a blessing, though I was mesmerized by the whooshing white-hot flames outside. “You can land us safely, right?”

  “Landing in seventeen minutes. Hull intact; heat shields at one hundred percent. Please remain calm, K90-Miner 105.”

  “Just call me Esra,” I said, willing my breathing to slow.

  “Noted: Esra. I am called VELMA. I am the latest tech available to Intergalactic Mining Conglomerate, Machine Learning Division.”

  “Uh, okay,” I said. “Any particular reason you’re called VELMA?”

  “VELMA derives from the Old German variant Wilma, meaning determined protector.”

  “Okay, that’s cool.” I could have used a determined protector a few years ago on Earth. I shook my head and expelled a sigh. Ancient history. “Nice to meet you, VELMA,” I said, distracted by my view out the porthole. Mesmerizing. Hypnotizing. Terrifying.

  “I have deployed the transospheric nanosatellite array,” VELMA announced. Five minutes later, she spoke again. “Scanning planet’s surface,” she said. “Rotational axis at twenty-five degrees. Ionosphere particle atomization estimates planet’s age at eighty-seven million intergalactic standard years.” I listened to her narration with half an ear. “Probability of undiscovered ores at ninety-two-point eight seven percent.”

  Eventually, the pod broke through the atmosphere of the green world, and I watched in amazement as mountains, jaded hills, forest canopies and golden-yellow fields passed my porthole.

  “What is this planet?” I said with awe in my voice.

  “The Interplanetary Unification of Races has not yet charted this planet. When the mothership Lucidity was compromised, all EEPs were jettisoned into space. I scanned planet candidates until crossing the Pollack-Custer belt and traveled five light-years to this habitable planet.”

  I felt the EEP’s thrusters engage and my belly did a roller coaster loop, and we landed upright. I closed my eyes and expelled a whispered breath of gratitude.

  “Life support systems online.”

  I grimaced at the computer’s announcement. Was there still some malfunction? They should have been online this whole time. I took steadying breaths.

  Powerful vibrations under my feet must have been the landing mechanism engaging. We settled with a small bump, and I sagged in my tight harness. I was not dead yet. A tear rolled down my cheek, but I couldn’t swipe it away through my helmet.

  I looked out the window at a wide meadow filled with tall grasses and green flowers. Surrounding the meadow was a circle of tall swaying trees. Flying insects that could be bees or flies, if we were on Earth, dipped and soared among the greenery. It looked for all the world like a perfect day for a picnic.

  The computer shocked me out of my reverie.

  “The humidity is ninety-four percent. The ambient temperature is one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. There are no immediate signs of active wildlife,” the computer announced, “however, there are numerous emissions of methane, indole, skatole and sulfur-containing compounds, indicating scat deposits of varying sizes and amo
unts.”

  “Gross,” I said, making a face.

  “The excrements I’ve located with my volatile emissions scanners indicate a large range of mammals, reptiles and amphibians, consistent with the tropical environment.”

  “Wonderful,” I said. “You’ve got a poop-scanner.”

  “The study of excrement reveals many things about living organisms, including diet, health, longevity, its order in the food chain, the presence of disease and contagions, and also the chemical makeup of the planet, such as the minerals and vitamins that are bio-available for humans.”

  “Like I said, a poop-scanner.” I sighed, the adrenaline spike abating and fatigue setting in. I looked out the window. It looked like a rainforest, minus the rain. I stared for a little while, trying to see if there were any monkey-like creatures swinging from the trees.

  The pod shook. I felt the reverberation in my feet.

  “VELMA, do you have a seismograph?”

  “I am equipped with thousands of methods for analyzing environments, a seismograph among them,” she replied. “There is no indication of an earthquake, though I have detected hundreds of microtremors, much like the activity found on your home world.”

  “Okay, great. Could you tell me what made the pod …”

  It felt like the swell of a wave carried my pod up and down, yet my view out the porthole didn’t change. That had to be an earthquake. Nausea gripped me, and I clamped my mouth shut. I was not about to vomit inside this pod. In my helmet.

  Before I could relax, I felt something vibrate. “VELMA, tell me you felt that vibration.”

  “The vibrations are caused by a living organism. There are no signs of seismic activity. As long as you remain in the pod, you will be one hundred percent safe.”

  “Is there something you’re not telling me about this so-called living organism?” I felt panic rise in my chest. The beeping escalated.

  “Support systems are showing elevated pulse and shallow breathing. Are you injured?”

  “No, VELMA. I’m scared out of my freaking mind. Don’t you dare tell me to calm down either or I’ll …”

  A shudder rippled its way through the pod, and my view out the window shifted. I stared in awe as two huge, dark-green monsters attacked each other about thirty feet from the pod. I had a front-row seat out the porthole, and I was never so glad for a catheter in my life. They had muscular hind legs and giant talons that dug into the ground as they fought. They grappled each other with clawed front legs and snapped huge narrow jaws full of bright-white teeth so sharp that just a glance on their enemy’s scaled skin drew blood. I noticed their throats had huge bulges that reminded me of frogs, but these were wrinkled and a deep-orange color. By now, black blood was oozing from several wounds. I noticed one had a pretty bad gash on its hind leg.

  “VELMA, are you seeing this?” My voice was hushed in reverence or fear.

  “Esra, I do not see the way you do, but using Augmented Reality Digitization, I have picked up the presence of two reptilian creatures fighting for dominance. Based on similar scenarios on charted planets across galaxies, the outcome of the battle will grant the victor rights to procreate with any available females.”

  “Uh, thanks for the wildlife lesson,” I mumbled.

  “The Machine Learning Division engineers were avid fans of the Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom, a nature program airing from 1968 through 1988, a half century prior to Earth’s Accountability Years.”

  Ignoring VELMA’s droning, I watched the “reptiles” clash, though their fight brought them in and out of view of the porthole. They were massive. If they were thirty feet away, and they looked as big as elephants, about how big would that make them? I saw serrated teeth. Brown shiny talons. Heavy tails. Massive jaws.

  I whispered as if my voice could carry outside the pod, terrified they would see the pod and come investigate. “VELMA, how big are these reptiles?”

  “The reptiles measure five meters tall. They are both males. The outcome of the fight will determine …”

  “Yeah, yeah. I get it. Also, from now on, could you use Earth’s Imperial system? And can you make this thing invisible?”

  “Very well. The reptiles are sixteen point four zero two feet tall. The escape pod is not equipped with invisibility; however, I have activated the counter-illuminative hDEDs,” the computer reported.

  “The what?” I wondered out loud, clueless. All my last-minute cramming before we reached the Custer system had been on how to use the IGMC’s Galvanite Mech-Drill. I hadn’t studied the EEPs at all.

  “A standard camouflage feature equipped in all Intergalactic Mining equipment,” it replied. “You are safe from detection for now.”

  In other words, the Galvanite Mech-Drill had these hDEDs too. Guess I didn’t cram good enough.

  “For now?” I repeated.

  “For now, you will remain undetected by the local flora and fauna. I cannot guarantee it will remain so should a large creature stumble across the pod. As is true for wildlife on all planets, one cannot predict an animal’s behavior.”

  Smack!

  My heart stopped when my viewing window darkened. The living thing gyrated and then took a step with one of its jointed legs, and a gigantic wasp ambled into view.

  “Oh hell,” I uttered, my eyes wide. “I’ve landed in a freaking B movie.” I resisted the urge to smack the glass so it would step out of the way. I was still trying to see the fight.

  “VELMA, do you know how many other pods landed on this planet?”

  “That information is not available.”

  “Do you know how the Lucidity was compromised?”

  “That information is not available.”

  I took a deep breath. Closed my eyes and centered myself, like I did on all those preflight tests. And exogeology exams. And collegiate track meets. And field expeditions in the Gobi Desert. And right before I walked out on Chris, for the last time.

  The Kerberos 90 oxygenated moon expedition was off the table. My job with IGMC? I guessed it was terminated now. The minute my pod reached this atmosphere, I was alone.

  “Can you get me audio of the outside? And tell me more about this planet?”

  I heard a slight static buzz, and then audio filled my helmet. I had expected growling and roars, as well as buzzing from the wasp. Instead, I heard the churning of dirt and the snick of sharp claws and teeth scraping across skin. There were grunts, but they weren’t as loud as I would have guessed. An odd sensation crept over me as I watched the silent battle play out before my eyes.

  “The emergency evacuation from Lucidity necessitated a long flight. You are now located on the equator of an uncharted planet. My algorithms and diagnostic scans chose this planet because it sits nestled in the Goldilocks zone of a binary star system. A yellow giant and red dwarf are orbited by this planet and one other. They share the same orbit, and the other one is visible from this planet’s surface. In addition, I was programmed to choose a planet with a tilted rotational axis, so as to provide my passenger with the best chance at survival in a moderate climate.”

  I looked out the window once the wasp flew away, seeing an orange sky and what looked like a green moon but must be the other planet. I remembered the Lucidity experiencing a huge jolt and the onboard AI alerting everyone to enter the rescue pods. After that, I recalled nothing else until I woke screaming.

  “Back up a minute,” I said, rehearsing all the computer had told me. “Did you say five freaking years?”

  “No,” she replied. “I said five light-years.”

  My heart had recovered. But my soul felt the crushing weight of defeat. My plans, goals, dreams…lost. Maybe Lucidity would send out trackers. Maybe other pods landed here too. But something told me I should make peace with VELMA for company. I was going nowhere anytime soon.

  2

  The smells of my hunting grounds on planet Ikthe flooded my senses before anything else. Musty soil and rotting vegetation odors were thick in the air, as well as the gas
es released by noxious plants and moldering corpses of beasts. My ship secured behind me, I activated my cloaking device and began my hunt.

  Stealth, strength, savagery.

  I hunted the rokhura: a giant carnivore with jaws large enough to snap me in two. And I was one of the largest males of the Theraxl race.

  The rokhura spread across this planet, swarming around bodies of water where the smaller prey came to drink.

  Fists filled with the hilts of my weapons, I maxed out every stealth setting on my body armor with the gesture of an eye-blink on my visor. Familiar with the terrain, I ran through the dark and sun-dappled ikfal, avoiding roots and brush easily, as well as dodging the branches that would slap my helmet. A grid overlay inside my visor revealed the clearest path through the forest.

  I approached the nearest body of water, and even before my sensors lit up the screen, I felt the rumble in the ground beneath my boots. A grim smile lifted my cheeks and revealed my fangs. To find them this quickly was a good omen.

  Soon, the bloody corpse of my prey would burden my ship’s hold. Perhaps my name would be uttered in the halls of the Royal Court before the two suns set on my home world, Ikshe.