Free Three Lives Of Mary by David M. Kelly

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Mary gasped as her legs were ripped from under her and she slammed face down into the ground. Several tendril-like vines wrapped around her arms and legs and she instinctively pulled against them. Thorn-like bristles clawed at her burnished skin as the vines coiled tighter around her, despite her struggles.
    She rotated her head one hundred and eighty degrees and simultaneously reversed the movement restrictions on her joints. She was now effectively lying on her back, which she hoped would give her a better idea of what was happening.
    She was only forty-three minutes into her ground survey of ST2398-5 and had seen nothing unexpected—just the ever-present vegetation they'd detected from orbit. Plant life wasn't unusual on planets inside a star's habitable zone and was typically a minor threat to her armored body. Toxicity might be a cause of concern for humans, but not Mary.
    She flexed her limbs, but the leathery tendrils tightened further. Her enhanced strength meant she should have been able to break free easily, but the net of vines resisted like titanium ropes. An oily liquid dripped from the barbs onto her skin, its alloy surface hissing as it turned to powder, allowing the claws to dig deeper. Mary cursed at the damage signals she registered as pain. If she didn't free herself, she realized, it was possible the animated vegetation might actually damage her, despite how absurd that should have been.
    "Ben. I'm in trouble."
    Even over the SLink, there were a few seconds before he responded and Mary fought to keep the tendrils from immobilizing her further. It was impossible though. The plants swarmed around her forming a vermilion carpet and more thick vines wrapped around her chest and midsection, the acid secretions burning their way towards her vital areas.
    Her skin sensors incongruously popped up a diagnostic of the liquid eating away at it. A mixture of hydrofluoric and nitric acids along with several other compounds that were logged, but would need further analysis.
    "On my way." Ben sounded calm. The way he used to before they'd joined the CySap program and become an explorer team. Since then he was given to emotional outbursts on occasion, something she'd never had to deal with when they were simply an ordinary married couple.
    Mary electrified her skin hoping the charge might deter the vines and it did momentarily, but after a few seconds the plants gripped her even tighter. It was enough so that she could raise herself to one knee, but couldn't lift any further, and the tendrils threatened to pull her flat again in a few seconds.
    She scanned the sky looking for Ben and relaxed a little when she spotted the fast moving point in the sky. As he approached, his hull caught the feeble sun and his engines provided a dramatic halo of flickering light. He'd always been an impressive sight, she thought, even when human. It was one of the things that originally attracted her to him and right now it was especially welcome.
    Mary froze the image so she could share it with him later, her confidence returning with his arrival. It will be okay now Ben's here, she thought.
    "Head down, Munchkin. Step One. Save the lady."
    His words were accompanied by a sliding whistle and Mary smiled. She stopped fighting the vines and curled into a tight ball, closing her optical feeds and sealing her external ports.
    Ben swooped low. Flame units fanning in a wide arc that seared a broad section of the vegetation, leaving Mary in a clear charred area thirty meters across.
    "And Step Two. The perfect pickup line."
    Ben wolf whistled and Mary glanced around. He'd banked and turned hard, rocketing back in her direction as soon as he lined up. The plants weren't about to give in so easily though and as Ben closed they slithered across the blackened earth towards her once more. She knew there was no way he'd be able to land, pick her up, and still get away. They'd both end up trapped.
    Ben throttled back until