The Marine's Queen by Susan Kelley

Wariness, surprise and comprehension.
    He shook his head. “It would be too dangerous to help us. Escaped convicts can be killed on sight.”
    “ They wouldn’t dare if you were with me.” Callie watched his eyes widen. Had she shocked him so much?
    He leaped back from her and shouted loud enough to stop her heart. “To arms!”
    The other marines spilled out of various buildings while Joe raced back to the main barracks. He was inside for only the space of a few breaths before running back outside fully outfitted with numerous weapons.
    “ White defense!” Joe ordered the others. He called over his shoulder as he sprinted toward the path leading to the west. “Callie, get everyone in the main building.”
    Callie watched him go and noticed for the first time a slowly falling flare from that direction.
    “ Let’s get inside,” Yalo said from behind her.
    Callie nodded, her heart thumping wildly.
    Vin and Mak flew after Joe. Kam and Roz herded Callie’s people toward the sturdy building.
    Callie walked backward, watching the marines running up the slope. Just before Joe reached the top, he slid to a stop and pulled one of the weapons he’d slung over his back.
    A wave of black rolled over the hill like a tide of oil on the white sand. Joe opened fire, lighting the darkening sky with colorful bursts of orange and red light. The black inundation broke around him, faltering and splitting in spots.
    Vin and Mak started firing before they reached Joe, helping turn the wave. To Callie’s horror, Joe’s weapon sputtered and failed. He tossed it down and pulled a smaller gun from his belt.
    A small creature from the black wave leaped at Joe’s chest. Vin fired at it, his laser igniting the beast so close to Joe, Callie thought the flames would engulf him also.
    “ Callie, please get inside.” Roz tugged on her elbow. “Now.”
    Yalo took her other arm and pulled her toward the door.
    Callie resisted until she assured herself Joe was still firing at the mass. Then she turned and ran with others, daring a look over her shoulder. “What are they, Roz?”
    “ We don’t have a name for it.” Roz pushed her in the door. “They’re some kind of giant rodent, and they’ll eat anything in their path.”
    He closed the door and joined Kam somewhere outside. Webb urged the women to climb up into the small loft. They tossed the things stored there to the floor and crowded around the small lookouts cut into the lumber.
    Glory cried softly against her mother’s shoulder. Callie fought her own tears. The deepening twilight gave the scene outside a surreal quality, like a light show at a carnival.
    “ Spirit Father, protect them,” Riba prayed. Sally fussed and mewled as if feeling the fear swirling in the loft.
    “ Pray for Tar,” Webb whispered.
    The barracks vibrated as the black death neared. They could hear Kam and Roz firing from their positions outside. Callie could discern individual animals now. They looked like thigh-high rats. Their tails were short and hairless, their snouts long and pointed. Sharp fangs overlapped each other in front and their eyes reflected red in the flash of laser-powered weapons.
    Hellish squeaks and squeals came from the wounded and dying rodents. The boarks roared, but whether in fright or challenge, Callie couldn’t tell.
    The stench of blood and burning flesh and hair drifted in the peep holes, but none of the women pulled away.
    “ I can’t see Mak,” Acacia said, her voice quivering with fear as it hadn’t done even when they’d thought themselves doomed in their crashed ship.
    “ They’re attacking the rear of the herd,” Yalo said.
    Callie strained to see through the wisps of smoke rising from smoldering carcasses. A few of the rats tried to break away, but the marines shot them as they did. The men pushed them into an ever tightening circle of slaughter.
    “ Ladies,” Webb said. “I think it’s safe to go down. The bites of these animals are foul. We’ll need to