Snorts and squeals. Definitely the wild boar was up ahead and on the run again. Boomer gave chase. The ground was moist and her steps were slowed by the wet sucking of her boots. She kept as low to the ground as possible, below wide leaf and fern foliage. She wondered if spiders were falling onto her back. Boomer hated spiders—she scratched at her neck, feeling something bug-like. She held back a scream as she looked at her fingers and saw blood. Is that mine or the bug’s?

  Boomer ran on and saw a small clearing coming into view ahead. There it was! The little, black, pig-looking thing had yellowed tusks protruding from its snout. She slowed and again did her best to control her rapid breathing. She replayed Woodrow’s words in her head: You must kill it and bring its carcass back with you. She watched as the small boar rooted around in the dirt. Boomer knew it was dangerous, could probably even kill her. But right now, it looked anything but feral. In fact, it was kinda cute. Boomer continued to watch the animal as it used its two front hooves to dig into the soil. Then it lay on its back, wiggling in apparent ecstasy. You must kill it and bring its carcass back with you.

  Boomer’s eyes filled with tears. She looked back the way she’d come. Woodrow could be watching her this very moment and she’d never know it. How important was passing this test, anyway? Boomer thought about that as she continued to watch the boar wiggle-wiggle-wiggle up ahead. The tears stopped. Resolve replaced fear and guilt. Without looking down, Boomer pulled the first of her throwing knives from her belt. She felt the cool hardness of the blade between her fingers. She felt the weight of it and its familiar feel in her hand. Staying low, she entered the clearing. The boar had ceased rolling about, its head now turned sideways, listening. Boomer paused—she stopped breathing. She was twenty feet away. She’d hit targets farther than this, but not every time. She’d get only one throw … miss, and the boar would dart away into the jungle for good. Slowly, Boomer brought her arm back, the hilt of the knife pointing backwards over her shoulder. Her arm was taut and coiled back, like a spring. She took one step, then another, and then another. The wild boar snorted and quickly regained its feet. It was running for the jungle. Boomer threw the knife, anticipating the distance and the fleeting second it would take to fly across the clearing. The knife struck the boar with a resounding thunk; caught right behind its neck, the blade was buried to the hilt.

  Both the boar and Boomer stood motionless for several beats. She watched as the animal slowly wavered and dropped halfway to the ground. It was suffering. You must kill it and bring its carcass back with you. Boomer quickly moved in behind the boar, straddled it, and pulled another knife from her belt. In one fluid motion she cut the boar’s throat, slicing it ear to ear.

  * * *

  Carrying the animal was out of the question—far too heavy. It took a little trial and error, but in the end Boomer simply dragged the beast behind her—holding on to the boar’s hind legs. That worked best. After first cleaning and then replacing the two knives back into their hilts, she wasted no time heading back the way she’d come. Her own tracks were deep and easy to follow. Coming to terms with what she’d done had been surprisingly easy for Boomer. At one level, sure, she felt sad about it, but it was necessary. Woodrow had made a good point: If you can’t kill a wild boar, how, then, will you kill a man, or take on something else intent on killing you? Kill or be killed.

  Boomer’s pace was brought to an immediate halt. The carcass was caught on something. She tugged with both hands and yanked, but it wouldn’t budge. She dropped the legs and walked around it to see what was the problem. She made a face when she saw the boar’s head caught between a Y-shaped tree root protruding up from the ground. The thought of touching the boar’s head made her hesitate. Instead, she used the toe of her boot to dislodge it, and that seemed to work. Then she heard a low, deep, growl.

  Boomer kicked at the boar’s head until it came free and, in a rush, re-grabbed its hind legs. She quickened her pace. Looking back over her shoulder she saw the red swath of blood from the dead boar’s cut throat trailing back the way she’d just come.

  The growling was louder now—a deep rumble from a large animal. She knew that sound—had heard it on TV and at the wild animal park she’d visited with her mother. Her hands were wet and slippery with sweat and the boar’s hooves slipped from her grasp. Frantic now, she wiped her hands on her pants and reached again for the two hooves. It was then she spied the splash of orange and black.

  The tiger stood motionless, only its big head visible through the dense foliage. Boomer backed away. Dragging the boar was no longer an option. “You can have it,” Boomer said aloud. For every step she now took backward, the tiger took a small pounce forward. Coming into full view, it was immense. Boomer looked from side to side, hoping to find some place to escape to. The beast growled so loud Boomer screamed. The large cat’s mouth opened into a wide snarl; its teeth and tongue glistened red and wet where it had licked the trail of blood. The tiger, no longer hesitant, moved faster and with purpose.

  “Take the boar! Just take it!” Boomer screamed, moving with all the speed she could muster while continuing to run backward.

  The tiger paused at the boar, sniffed it, and then looked toward Boomer. It left the boar and pursued Boomer, who began to scream at the top of her lungs, “Help! Help!”

  She turned and ran forward, all out, as fast and far as her young legs could take her. The tiger’s menacing presence—its breath, the thumping of its large paws hitting the ground, was so close Boomer no longer believed she could survive this. She kept running by sheer instinct. She thought of her mother and father and then of Mollie. At least they’d still have Mollie.

  Chapter 15

  Jason was amazed by what was happening within the MediPod. The captain, Chromite, had become more than a singular brain residing in a clear vessel. His vessel was dissolving and all about the brain, a head, with a face, was taking shape, and the elements of a body were forming.

  Jason backed away to let Silicate take his place at the observation window. He wondered what she was thinking. How the procedure was going to change their lives. Then he heard her speak.

  “I’ve almost forgotten what he looked like. He was so handsome. Far more handsome than I was pretty.” Her orbs turned toward Jason. “If I could cry, I’d be crying. Crying and smiling. It will be nice to do those things again, Captain.”

  “I’m very happy for you. I’m happy we are able to help,” he said. Startled by a noise, he looked toward the entrance.

  Petty Officer Priscilla Miller stormed into Medical, her face pinched and flushed red. Jason involuntarily grimaced when he saw her storming toward him.

  “Petty Officer, how can I help you?”

  She barreled in closer to Jason than he liked. “Did you authorize an off-ship training for Boomer?”

  Others in Medical looked startled by her outburst and then looked nervously away.

  “Take one full step backward, take a breath, and remember who you are addressing,” Jason said in a stern voice that made no attempt to hide his annoyance.

  The petty officer stayed put for several seconds before moving back one step. That alone was insubordination, as far as Jason was concerned.

  “Boomer is not on this ship. Did you know that? I have clear, definitive orders from the secr—”

  “Yes.”

  The petty officer’s expression turned to a look of confusion. “Yes?”

  “Yes, I authorized my daughter’s real-world training exam. But she is not off-ship.”

  Face flushing red, she retorted, “I asked the on board artificial intelligence … Boomer is currently off the ship! You are in direct violation—”

  “AI, is Boomer currently in HAB 4, on board The Lilly?”

  “Yes, Captain Reynolds, Boomer is located approximately one mile from the Zoo portal entrance. Would you like me to contact her?”

  “No, not at this moment, thank you.”

  The petty officer did not look in the least placated. “I demand you tell me where she is and exactly how to find her.”

  “You demand this, huh?” Jason said.

  “I don’t think you understand the seriousness—”

  Jason held a pointed finger between them. Then, holding two fingers on his other hand up to his ear, he said, “Security? Yes, I need two men to escort a hostile to the brig.”

  Her eyes widened. Anger gave way to disbelief. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  Jason held his temper and looked away from the woman glowering up at him. Ten feet away, Dira leaned against the MediPod behind her and shook her head. She traced an extended finger across her own throat, letting him know the obstinate petty officer deserved exactly what was coming to her. For some reason Jason found that particularly funny and had to fight to keep his face expressionless.

  Two armed security officers rushed into Medical. Both brandished multi-guns and looked poised to kill, if necessary. Jason held up a palm. “Hold there, please.” He looked down at the petty officer, hoping to see some level of regret for her actions, but saw none. “Take Petty Officer Priscilla Miller into custody. She is to remain in the brig until further notice.”

  “I’m sorry, Captain. I was out of line,” she said at the last moment.

  Jason stared at her for several seconds before waving the security officers off. “You and I need to come to an understanding, Petty Officer. You’re walking a thin line and I won’t tolerate insubordination.”

  “Yes, sir. I understand. It won’t happen again.”

  No sooner had the two security officers and Petty Officer Miller left Medical than Jason received a frantic hail.

  “Dad! Oh God, Dad! Help me …”

  “Mollie! Boomer! What is it? What’s wrong?” Jason yelled into his NanoCom.

  She sounded out of breath and he heard what sounded to him like running feet. Boomer was shrieking now: something was chasing her … something about a tiger.

  * * *

  Within two minutes Jason made it to the Zoo and was running into HAB 4. Raja was right where she usually was, her long trunk pulling foliage from trees. She stopped chewing as Jason flew by her. He had Boomer on his NanoCom: “Just try to stay calm.”

  “He’s so close. He’s going to eat me, Dad. Help me!”

  Then Jason heard the low, unmistakable growl of a nearby tiger through his NanoCom. Jason ran into the jungle, bowling over leaves larger than himself. “Where is Woodrow, Boomer?” She was either too out of breath to answer or she didn’t hear him. Jason repeatedly tried to contact Woodrow and got no response. The AI indicated he was alive, but injured.

  “Dad!” She was crying and so out of breath her words came out in choppy bursts. “He’s … here … next … to me.”

  Jason ran until his own chest was on fire. There! Up ahead he saw her—his little girl—so small and vulnerable. The tiger was the biggest one he’d ever seen. It was circling Boomer, with blood on its face. Is that Boomer’s blood? Boomer turned to see her father approach and screamed out, “Dad! I don’t know what to do …”

  Jason noticed the tiger had the handle of a knife protruding from its chest. The knife looked small and insignificant compared to the overall mass of the big cat. Boomer held two more knives, one in each hand.

  Jason had no weapon, no way to fight the tiger. He slowed to a walk and approached them both. At thirty feet, the tiger moved in even closer to Boomer, snarling in Jason’s direction and swiping the air with a claw the size of a baseball mitt. The tiger was conveying its message clearly: the small human was its dinner and it wasn’t sharing the meal. Jason stood and looked for something he could use as a weapon. A stick, a rock … anything! There was nothing.

  “Dad, please help me … please-please-please.”

  “I will. I’ll help you, sweetie.” Right then Jason decided he’d take her place. He’d willingly let his little girl escape into the jungle while the tiger took him instead. Others would step up, if required, to take his place leading the mission ... he had an amazing crew. Nothing was more important than saving his little girl.

  He took several steps closer, then crouched down to the ground and crawled forward. “Come on, tiger … here I am, easy prey.”

  The tiger snarled again and then moved toward him, low to the ground; its muscles tightened as it made ready to spring.

  Boomer cried uncontrollably as the tiger left her—her arms tightly wrapped around her knees.

  “Get ready to run, okay? Don’t look back, sweetie … Just keep running.”

  The tiger was less than eight feet from him. They stared at one another for a long moment. This was it. Jason only hoped death would come fast.

  A rustling sound came from his left. It wasn’t Boomer. Had Woodrow found them? In a blur something black moved into Jason’s peripheral vision and in a split second Jason recognized something familiar about the creature’s running, awkward, gait.

  Alice sprang at the tiger from ten feet out. Teeth bared, it landed on the cat’s back and ripped at the tiger’s neck with amazing ferocity. The tiger reared back, nearly bucking the six-legged drog from its back and hindquarters. Alice held tight and continued her onslaught. First one ear, and then the other, was ripped from the tiger’s head. The tiger’s head and neck soon looked like bloodied ground beef. It was making a high-pitched yowl that made Jason almost feel sorry for the beast … almost.

  The tiger lay dead on the ground in less than a minute. Alice was quickly at Boomer’s side, licking her face and wagging her tail like the playful animal Jason remembered. He rushed to his daughter’s side and put his arms around her. Boomer cried into his chest until Alice started running around the two of them. Boomer scolded her but reluctantly was made to laugh. Jason, relieved, started to laugh as well. They both watched as the funny-looking animal continued to run in and out of the jungle.

  Chapter 16

  Woodrow would live. He spent the next day in Medical, much of that in a MediPod, recovering from his injuries. Jason stood at his bedside. Woodrow’s eyes fluttered open. When realization hit him where he was, he frantically tried to sit up. “Boomer!”

  “She’s fine,” Jason said, not doing a very good job keeping the contempt from his voice.

  Woodrow looked up at Jason. “I didn’t know. She was never supposed to be in any real danger. I was never far away.”

  “Apparently, HAB 4 isn’t the docile jungle habitat everyone thought it was,” Jason said.

  Woodrow rubbed his eyes, now coming fully awake. “There were three tigers, each bigger than any I’d ever seen. Maybe they’d moved closer to the portal, in search of game … I don’t know. One was upon me before I realized what was happening—it nearly took my arm off. I managed to put a plasma bolt into its head. I no sooner killed that one when another tiger was right there, moving in for the kill. I got a shot off, but it was already on me. Before I passed out I felt his claws ripping at my face.”

  Jason watched Woodrow relive the events and saw the fear on his usually confident, even cocky, face.

  Dira had mentioned Woodrow was mauled beyond recognition. When they’d found him he was seconds away from completely bleeding out.

  “Captain, I am sorry. I deserve any punishment you deem appropriate. Just know I would never do anything to harm Boomer. She’s an amazing little girl.”

  Jason continued to look stone-faced at Woodrow. When he spoke, his words were measured and soft. “What happened was nearly catastrophic. You’ve taken this training too far. You placed my daughter in a life-threatening situation.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “But you may have inadvertently saved her life, as well.”

  Woodrow looked perplexed. “I’m not following, sir.”

  “Both Boomer and Mollie have played in HAB 4 on a daily basis for nearly a year now. We’ve gotten so used to her hanging around in there she seldom has any supervision.”

  Realization crossed Woodrow’s face and he slowly nodded. “Three tigers running loose, looking for game. It would only be a matter of time before …”

  “So, as furious as I am today about your conduct, I’m surprisingly also in your debt.”

  Woodrow eased somewhat, a weight lifted from his shoulders.

  “We’ll talk more. Recover so I can properly kick your ass later,” Jason said. He left the hospital section of Medical and joined Dira near the MediPods. She was speaking to the Allarian captain. He indeed looked human and healthy. Medium height and middle-aged, his blond hair fell to his shoulders. He was wearing spacer overalls.

  When the Allarian captain saw Jason, he smiled broadly. “What you have done … for me, our people, will not be forgotten, Captain. I am, and will always be, in your debt.” He looked over at the largest of the MediPods and his eyes welled up. “She is almost restored back to her original self. I never thought …” His words got caught in his throat.

  Jason put a comforting hand on the Allarian captain’s shoulder. “Look, once things settle down I’m hoping we’ll be able to help the rest of your people as well. When Ricket, our science and technology officer, returns. I’ll have him construct for you a MediPod of your own.”

  Jason was being hailed.

  “Go for Captain.”

  “Captain, we have a situation on the bridge,” Orion said.

  “On my way.”

  * * *

  Entering the bridge, Jason was startled to see a disturbing, gaping, open-mouthed face staring back at him from the wrap-around display. He recognized the Mau female officer he’d learned to admire over the last few months.

  “Admiral Ti,” Jason said, taking a seat in the command chair.

  “Captain Reynolds. I have important information.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “From what I understand from your tactical officer, you are unaware of events currently taking place within the Allied worlds.”