Free Justice by S.J. Bryant

seconds later by Jack.
    She pulled out
her knife and twisted around to look at what was holding her. A
massive vine wrapped around her ankles.
    Blood rushed
into Nova’s head, making it throb.
    She pulled in
her stomach muscles and lunged up with her knife, grabbing hold of
the vine and slicing through it.
    The vine was
almost the size of her waist and made of a tough green covering.
The waxy surface made it difficult to hold on to. The vine lifted
her higher into the air until she hung twenty metres from the
planet surface. From the corner of her eye she saw Jack similarly
dangling. He too had his knife out, but he couldn’t reach up to
attack.
    She ignored
her companion for the moment and put her full strength into cutting
the vine. Inch by inch the plant gave way beneath her blade. The
green flesh opened up and sap leaked out of the wound. She curled
her body away from the white liquid as it bubbled out of the plant
and dripped to the ground below.
    The last
stringy fibre of the plant broke and Nova’s body dropped. She
curled up and landed on the ground with a solid thud, rolling as
best she could. The severed vine slammed into the ground a few
inches to her right while the rest of the green limb retreated and
disappeared into the jungle undergrowth.
    “ Nova!” Jack cried, his voice strained.
    She looked up
to see him swinging back and forth, trying to reach his attacker
with his small knife.
    Nova ran to
the base of the vine where it touched the ground and led off into
the trees. She went to work with her dagger, sawing away at the
tree-flesh. Just as before, white sap appeared in the wound and
dripped over the sides. The liquid smoked before it hit the ground
hissing, and burnt the dead leaves. She was doubly glad she hadn’t
touched it.
    She was
halfway through the vine when Jack cried out a warning. She turned
with her knife in hand but was too slow. From three different
directions new vines shot out. They appeared from the surrounding
trees and whipped through the air.
    Nova’s stomach
clenched as she cut one with her knife, but it left only a tiny
graze. She fumbled for her gun but the bulky suit made her slow.
The three vines wrapped themselves around different areas of her
body, constraining every inch of her. It yanked her up, level with
Jack.
    “ Good try,” Jack said, voice wavering.
    “ I really don’t think now is a good time to be kidding
around,” said Nova through gritted teeth.
    “ It could be worse,” said Jack. “At least you still have your
knife.”
    As soon as
Jack finished his sentence, it got worse. The forest erupted with
rustling leaves and creaking branches. The origin of the vines
revealed itself to be a large motile plant.
    It stepped out
of the jungle beneath Nova and Jack and was terrifying to behold.
Multiple vines snaked out from its body like a flurry of tentacles,
some of them holding Jack and Nova aloft. The body of the plant was
dominated by a bright orange jug-like structure. It was like a
large cup lumbering out of the trees. The orange portion was taller
than Nova and at least four times as wide.
    Motion sensors
in the form of tiny hairs ran across the whole creature and it
moved on millions of tiny sticks that waved back and forth, almost
rowing the creature across the ground.
    “ Look at that thing!” said Jack.
    “ Shh,” said Nova.
    “ I’m pretty sure it already knows we’re here!”
    Nova frowned,
but said nothing more. She struggled against the vines pinning her
arms to her sides, to no avail. Her knife floundered in her
restrained hand, useless. She imagined unclipping her helmet to
bite into the vine, but had a feeling that would result in a very
painful death.
    “ What if—”
    The vines
around her body loosened and let go. She hurtled through the air
towards the bright orange lid. She readied her dagger and her legs,
prepared to roll and attack as soon as she landed. However, as she
got closer, the top lifted to reveal a gaping hole.
    She