Survivor by Saffron Bryant Page A

confidence and
convince them to be peaceful. She had nothing to bargain with. It
was a wonder the Ancients hadn't detected her already and shot her
into a cosmic crap hole.
    "I think this further supports my hunch,"
Cal said.
    "Yep," she whispered.
    "Crusader," Cal said, "Try to leave
again."
    The engines rumbled underneath their feet
but nothing happened. "I'm afraid we're still constrained here,"
Crusader said.
    "I have to go out there," Nova said.
    "I don't think so," Cal said. "They'll take
one look at you and squash you like a bug."
    "What else can I do? It would be pointless
for me to go in waving my gun around."
    "There are no viable simulations."
    "Right, so you've got no ideas either."
    "They're doing something else," Cal
said.
    Nova returned her attention to the front
screen. All hunger had fled from her stomach. Her bowl of porridge
looked like congealed sludge.
    She looked back at the creatures with a
furrowed brow. A new level of fear and respect coursed through her
veins. Her legs and back tingled; all she wanted to do was run away
from the new beings and their powerful weapons. Maybe if she ran
hard enough she could make it. Somehow, Crusader could break free
of the force-field and she could be free.
    She chided herself; that line of thought was
foolish. Creatures with the power to create black-holes could
outrun anything.
    Nova took a deep breath. Her heart beat
erratically in her chest. Every muscle in her body was tensed,
ready to spring.
    She knew that her weapon would be useless
against the creatures without having to fire it. Perhaps if they
were without armour, then maybe her puny plasma pistol could do
something. As it was, they were all covered from head to foot,
unstoppable.
    The only weapon she could be sure was strong
enough was one of theirs.
    As if in response, loud voices signalled
another demonstration. The Ancients gathered in an armoured
semi-circle. One wielded a long black gun, the same length but much
thicker than the rifles Nova was used to.
    Nova forced herself to watch every second of
the display. She had to know exactly how to use that gun. There
wouldn't be any time for practice shots.
    The bigger creature, the leader, pointed at
the nearest tree. The Ancient lifted the weapon to its shoulder,
aimed, then fired. The gun kicked, sending the armoured beast three
paces back. There was no evidence of a gun blast or plasma bullet;
no bright spark or streak of lightning.
    The tree collapsed on itself like a
cardboard box. Every limb, branch and leaf took a mighty heave and
fell inwards.
    The impossibility of it all hit Nova like a
slap to the face.
    The lead Ancient marched to where the tree
had been and bent down to something in the dirt. He heaved it up
and held it aloft. His arm shook. To Nova, it looked like he
clutched a tiny cube.
    The creature tossed the cube towards the
other aliens. It didn't soar, as Nova would have expected, and fell
far short.
    When the cube hit the ground, vibrations
shook the area. A wave of sand shot up leaving a car-sized crater
with the cube nestled at the very bottom.
    "What the-" Nova's mind boggled.
    "It's some kind of compression device," Cal
said. "It compacted every atom of that tree into a tiny cube. No
wonder it weighs so much."
    Nova clenched her teeth and stared at the
static-filled screen. Her stomach rolled, bile rising to the back
of her throat. Cold gripped her heart and spread through her
body.
    She had to get hold of the gun. With a
weapon like that, maybe she could protect the universe.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     
    The aliens soon lost interest in the cube and the gun which
had created it. The weapon was laid against the large cannon. The
shiny rifle glimmered in the light from the remaining moon. It was
polished to a sharp sheen, despite being stored in the core of the
planet for who knew how many centuries.
    Nova licked her lips; she wouldn't have
long. There was only once chance. She had to grab hold of the gun,
and