The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy by Greta van Der Rol

on it, and hoped against hope that the creature, whatever it was, was as disturbed and frightened as him. It was a little shorter and broader than him, its hide well camouflaged in the jungle. But the eyes glowed and teeth glinted in a slightly opened jaw. He tensed. A kartek. And all he had was a pistol. He raised his gun and fired. The predator howled and disappeared. There would be others; they hunted in packs.
    “Quickly, Allysha, we have to get out of here.”
    She nodded “If we can get to the mountain we might be able to hide in the ptorix workings.”
    A second howl reverberated behind him. He whirled and sensed rather than saw the beast advancing at a clumsy run, thudding toward him between the trees. The Emson’s energy beam carved a bright red trace through the darkness and splattered on the beast’s hide. It stopped, shook its head. Holding tight to Allysha he backed away toward the nearest tree trunk. He fired two more shots. The kartek retreated.
    He dodged behind the tree, grabbed her arm and ran for the jungle’s edge, ears straining for sounds of pursuit. Another howl split the air. She stumbled over a tree root and staggered. He slowed to steady her. He sensed the predator before he saw it, advancing from his left. He grabbed Allysha and ran. The beast’s howl gave him the additional adrenaline spurt he needed to surge free, out from under the trees into the perimeter between the jungle and the solid wall of the mountain, towing her in his wake. Rain sheeted down, trickling into his eyes.
    A jumble of rocks lay at the base of the cliff. They might at least offer them some protection. He ran, dragging her with him. The rhythmic pounding of the beast’s two great hind legs thumped dully in his ears.
    A few meters more; at least they could hide among the rocks. Closer now, closer. A hole, a cave beyond the rubble. The beast’s footsteps thudded. Allysha lagged, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The thing was going to catch her. He stopped, dragged her in front of him and shoved her up the rocks. She disappeared. He leapt after her. Fetid breath cloyed his nostrils. The pain in his side made him gasp but he pushed on, as the talon scored his flesh just above the hip. Blotting out the agony he dragged himself free, scrambled up the rocks to the hole and slid down rough rock into dry darkness.

Chapter Sixteen
    Allysha leant against the cave wall, her chest heaving. She hadn’t done so much running for a long time and never with a murderous predator at her heels. Brad staggered down the rock slide, clutching at his hip, the gun still in his other hand, a kartek howl as an accompaniment. He slipped, stumbled and pitched forward off the rocks. He hit the ground with a thud and lay still.
    Oh fuck. Her heart jolting, she scrambled to his side.Oh, please don’t be dead .
    Claws scrabbled on rocks. Stone grated on stone and a few pebbles clattered. A kartek head blocked
    the entrance, its eyes red lamps. Allysha snatched Brad’s gun from where it had fallen and fired into its face. The kartek reared back howling but it didn’t withdraw. More howls chorused. Oh fuck, there were more of them. Even before the reverberations in the tunnel had died away the head was back in the
    opening, eyes on her as it strained at the rocks. Its claws scraped again. One of the boulders started to slip, then another one. The thing grunted, pushed forward. Her nerves jangling, she edged backwards.
    Another claw appeared where a second beast began to help.
    If they got through, Brad would be finished. She rose to her feet. That attracted its attention. Two eyes like lamps fixed on her, red and resentful. The scrabbling stopped. She could smell its breath, like rotting meat. The stink caught in her throat. It growled and thrust forward, half its body through the gap. Fear gripped her throat. She stood with her feet apart, raised the pistol to eye level in both trembling hands, and squeezed the trigger. A red bolt of energy caught