Free Transmission Lost by Stefan Mazzara

any more, could barely hear anything except the sound of his own breath.
    “Okay, I...,” Jack gasped, gradually coming to a stop, bending over with exertion. “I can't run anymore...” He leaned back against a tall tree, fighting to catch his breath.
    For several long minutes, Jack just stood there breathing and listening to the thudding of his heartbeat. He was shaking with terror. Fighting in a ship up in space was one thing, but Jack had no idea how to fight hand-to-hand. He could shoot a gun alright, but against creatures that could tear him to shreds in a flash, he wasn't sure what he could do.
    He wasn't like Aria. Last night, when she'd come looking for him and had pulled that animal off of him, she'd demonstrated much better fighting skills than Jack had ever dreamed of having. It had taken her only seconds to put that predator down. Now she was fighting an entire pack of them by herself. Jack knew she was tough, but he had no idea if she could...
    Standing up straight, Jack blinked, looking around at where he was. “What the hell am I doing?” he asked aloud. “I just abandoned her!”
    Jack wasn't all that fond of Aria, but at the very least he felt some sense of gratitude to her. After experiencing what the planet had to offer for a few days, he was certain that he would not have survived this long if it hadn't been for her help. In fact, just the night before she had literally saved his life, when he'd been attacked by one of those creatures. Sure, she had really let him have it for going off alone so far into the woods, but the Ailian had patched up his wounds afterward. Obviously she cared enough to want to keep him alive, even if she did have self-serving reasons for it.
    Which was more care than he'd showed, just running off like a coward, just like Aria had thought he was from the beginning. He was proving her right. Jack would be goddamned if he'd let her be right about one more thing.
    Jack turned back around, running right back in the direction he'd just come from. She saved my life, and I ran off and left her there. I don't give a damn what she told me to do, I'm going back there.
    The human wasn't sure what he'd do once he got back, but he had time to think while he ran.
     
    ******
     
    Back at the campsite, Aria was in serious trouble. Three of the demon-like creatures lay dead at her feet, oozing dark blood from claw wounds and bullet holes in their bodies. Jack's sidearm lay cast aside on the ground, slide locked back on an empty chamber. Aria cursed at herself for having forgotten to take the spare magazines from his belt. She desperately wished to be holding her own rifle in her hands, but it was at the tent along with the human rifle she'd taken from Jack, and four of the ravenous beasts stood guard between it and her. They'd been there ever since the first time she'd tried to make a break for her weapon. They may have looked like dumb animals, but it seemed they possessed more intelligence than she'd previously thought.
    Aria growled, wiping blood from a cut above her eyes. Five more creatures were circled around her, whipping their twin tails against the ground, anxious for their turn to get at her. She slowly turned herself around, looking among them, evaluating which one was the weakest link, the easiest to take out before setting in on the others. Aria drew her knife from her belt, fitting it in a backhanded grip, blade facing out.
    “Sus kal-fe a'lash...,” she hissed, trying to goad the animals into making their move. She flicked her tail, the fur on the back of her neck raised and her teeth exposed.
    In a flash, the predator in front of her launched itself through the air towards her. Aria drew her arm back and then thrust it forward, plunging the knife deep into its chest. The demon howled in agony, its tails hanging limply. Aria withdrew her knife, ready to stab again, and then another beast jumped on her back from behind. With a howl, it reared its head back and then clamped