Free ExtremeCircumstances by Chandra Ryan Page A

hearing the scouting report. “So? What did you discover,
Jules?” He cleared his throat in an attempt to get rid of some of the desire
making his voice husky but he doubted the action would help.
    “When your bleeding wouldn’t stop, I had Homer check the
arrowhead again. It was laced with an anticoagulant.”
    “Which would help bring an animal down if it were used for
hunting.”
    “If an animal were the intended victim the compound wouldn’t
have been very effective on you. Your modifications would’ve given you some
measure of immunity. But this one was highly effective.” Julian shuddered and
his face paled slightly in the orange glow of the firelight.
    It was true. As strong as they were, sometimes they got
hurt. Occasionally they even needed to have heart valves replaced. Traditional
anticoagulants hadn’t been enough when they went into surgery so the government
chemists had come up with something designed for their physiology. “I take it
Homer confirmed the findings?”
    “He did.”
    Gates’ stomach cramped. Only this time it was with fear.
Still, he couldn’t let even a trace of it show on his face. “Whoever set this
trap could be hunting the reptile men. They have to have manipulated genetics
as well.”
    “They could be. But everything we’ve encountered so far has
been put here to stop us—to stop super-soldiers. There’s no reason for the
scientist to design a poison for one of his lines of defense.”
    He had a point. Gates lay down on the tent floor. This
entire planet was one huge trap for modified soldiers. Not that he could tell
his men that. Hell, they probably didn’t need him to. They were smart. They’d
probably already figured it out for themselves.
    Julian ran his fingers down the side of Gates’ face in a
feather-soft caress. “If this mission were easy they wouldn’t have given it to
us.”
    He smiled weakly. But for the first time he began to wonder
if those words were a lie. It was starting to feel as though they weren’t meant
to survive this mission. As if sensing his dark mood Julian lay down next to
him and wrapped an arm around his waist. “Two days and we’ll be at the goal. We
are going to show this damn planet who’s boss.”
    “Damn straight we are.” It felt good to have Julian’s warm
body pressed up against his. To be surrounded by his strength. He might not
have told Julian what he was thinking. But he had no doubt that Julian knew
anyway.
    They were two days from the goal and they were down to
fifteen men.

Chapter Five
     
    Julian’s heart raced and his stomach felt like a ball of
knots. He should leave. Go back to his tent. But every time he closed his eyes
he pictured the blood streaming down Gates’ arm. At first Homer had thought the
arrow had only nicked Gates’ palm but after getting him back to camp and
cleaning him up they’d discovered that a vein in his wrist had been cut. And it
wouldn’t stop bleeding.
    A shiver of dread crept up his spine and he had to focus on
Gates’ steady heartbeat for a second to relax. Julian took a deep breath and
then exhaled slowly. “I should go. Tomorrow’s going to be a rough day. You need
your sleep.”
    Gates sighed and then nodded. “Yeah. Homer tells me I’m
going to be ready to hike again.”
    Julian heard the irritation in Gates’ voice and laughed.
“You wouldn’t want to be stuck in this tent all day with your men waiting on
you and we both know it.”
    “Yeah. But I don’t really want to put anyone at risk by not
being one hundred percent either.”
    It was a valid concern. One Julian hadn’t thought about when
he’d teased Gates. “Homer knows what he’s doing. If he says you’ll be okay to
hike, you’ll be okay.” Julian braced himself on one elbow next to Gates.
    “You’re right. Still, if you find out where he keeps the
really good pain meds you’d help a brother out, right?”
    Julian laughed and then shook his head. “You know it. In the
meantime, get some sleep.”