Free Deep Space Endeavor by Ron Francis Page A

asked as they entered the maze.
    “Collin is marking a trail with an iridescent pen; we can check it using the black light setting on my blaster.” Kimi responded as she rounded the next corner.
    “Good idea.” His crewmates were the best he had ever seen in their areas of expertise. Somehow, Jesse always seemed to attract those types of people. He could hear the pirate’s bikes whizzing around the boulders. He heard one of the pirates call out, “Singo, I think I saw something over here.”
    After walking in the maze for several minutes, he rounded another corner and he noticed an iridescent mark on the rock, but something seemed off to him. “Collin, are we going in circles?” he asked.
    “I don’t think so, why?” Collin questioned as he came up beside him.
    “I just came upon one of your marks.”
    Collin looked around and the setting became more familiar to him. “We have been this way; I must have weaved a figure eight, which means we are near the entrance.”
    “Yes,” Kimi concurred, “And the pirates are right outside.” As she looked at her surroundings, her expression quickly changed from one of mild concern to puzzlement to fear. “Collin?” she asked. “If we have been this way before, where are the footprints?" They looked at the ground and began to wonder what happened to their tracks. "I believe something might be stalking us, something big.” She was a natural born predator, and Josiah trusted her instincts. They had to get out of the boulders immediately, even if it meant giving away their position to the pirates.
    While he was still considering the implications of Kimi’s words, a pirate appeared around the corner of one of the boulders. Before he could even look in their direction, his eyes widened in fear and he turned and ran. “Borragg!’” he shouted. “Run!” Josiah heard the other pirate repeat the word Borragg with fear in his voice, and a moment later Josiah understood why. A large snakelike creature with bulbous eyes and razor teeth slithered past at the speed of a thoroughbred. Josiah, Kimi and Collin ran for the entrance, not wanting to be in an enclosed space if the creature decided to turn around and come back for them. As they made it to the entrance of the boulders, the Borragg was already making a meal of the first pirate. Meanwhile the second pirate was pouring laser fire into the creature from a heavy blaster mounted on his speeder. Eventually the creature went down, but it was too late for the first pirate. The second pirate hadn’t seen them yet; he had been too preoccupied with the Borragg. They stood motionless, hoping their black battle suits would hide them in the darkness, but ready to move instantly if necessary.  Josiah heard the pirate calling the encounter in to his captain as he drove back toward the settlement.
    When the pirate left, Josiah, Kimi and Collin let out a collective exhale. “We need to move; they’ll be coming back for their speeder,” Josiah informed. As they were getting ready to make the three minute run to their speeder, the Borragg raised up behind Kimi to strike. Before Josiah could even open his mout h in warning, Kimi was already a blur. In one fluid motion she had unsheathed her sword, spun around and sliced through the Borragg’s throat. As the Borragg’s head toppled from its body, she sheathed her sword, shot a puzzled look at her motionless companions and said: “Let’s go.”
    Collin and Josiah looked at each other, looked back at the headless Borragg, and then looked at Kimi as she was running for the speeder. “I am soooo glad she’s on our side,” Collin said with a smile as he and Josiah took off at a run to catch up to her.
    They reached the speeder in just u nder three minutes. They knew they had to hurry and put as much distance as possible between themselves and the pirates. It was only a matter of time before the pirates returned for their speeder and saw the headless Borragg. Once they did, they would