Mitchell's Revenge
Wilderness Reserve, ten days trek from Covington, on EQ2

While Tim and Sibil sat watching the lights of Covington, Lou Pejic sat on a large boulder overlooking a ravine. A river ran through it wearing its way into the recently terraformed landscape. She watched the sun sinking below the horizon and reflected on what a good idea it had been to get out of the city and into the wilderness.

She had gone to Covington without a clear idea of what she would do when she got there. Talking with a few of the locals had helped her to make up her mind. Lou needed nature to feel whole. Space challenged every fibre of her being. She was glad to be here, out in the fresh air.

The landmasses were geologically very new. EQ2 had been settled for around fifty years since it was confirmed stable enough for human habitation. The planet’s breathable atmosphere had made it the perfect candidate for terraforming. Universal Starship Enterprises had been one of the original investors in the project on the planet which now provided them with their home base.

Covington was built in the centre of the most stable land mass. The land stretched out around it for thousands of kilometres. From the air it looked like a huge fried egg, with the city being the yolk in the middle. The landmass sat towards the middle of the Covington plate, one of the larger tectonic plates on the planet. Icy seas separated the continent from its nearest neighbours, none of which were inhabited by humans.

EQ2 was rich with minerals and other naturally occurring substances that were commonly used in spaceship building. When Tim and Erik inherited the business from their father, they decided that it was more sensible to bring their shipyard to the minerals than to do it the other way around.

The start-up cost was enormous, but it paid dividends quickly. A mining complex on the southern edge of the continent drew minerals through the newly formed crust for processing prior to transportation to the shipyard, or export elsewhere.

The edges of the continent consisted of bays and inlets with rough stone beaches. Lou had made her way from Covington towards a low lying mountain range roughly ten days hike away. Strut Village lay at one end of the range. She could replenish some of her supplies there.

There were low scrubby plants and thick sedge grass underfoot. She hadn’t seen any wildlife to speak of, but she could sense that some kind of animals were out there. As she approached the mountains she saw stunted trees growing part way up their sides. They were struggling to grow in the newly formed soils.

It was a very open landscape, which Lou found quite strange. She came from a heavily forested planet and had spent most of her young life amongst the trees.

As Lou watched the evening grow darker she became aware of a presence nearby. She turned carefully and looked straight into the eyes of a large cat like creature which was observing her from some distance away.

It had golden eyes and a tawny coat that allowed it to blend into the background. Its ears seemed oversized on its head. Brown tufts with knobs on the ends stood up from them. The knobs swivelled rapidly as if sniffing the air. The animal began to move towards her.

Lou sat completely still. She dared not move. She could sense curiosity rather than hostility, but she didn’t want to frighten it. It came closer. The knobs on its ears continued to swivel. It had large paws and a stumpy tail that stuck straight up from its rump.

She could see the animal’s claws gripping the ground as it walked. She decided she had seen weirder and more dangerous things in the forest on her home planet. She waited.

Now it was standing directly in front of her. It was as tall as she was sitting down. It came nose to nose with her and regarded her curiously. She sat perfectly still, breathing slowly. It touched her nose with its’ own.

Lou gasped. She felt as if an electric shock was coursing through her body. She struggled to stay seated. The animal observed her for a moment longer, then turned and loped off towards the river. A few moments later it had disappeared.

Lou stood up. Her whole body was tingling. She shook her hands and stomped her feet trying to get the sensation back into them. She was not afraid. She felt a sense of connection to the animal, a bit like the feeling she had when she heard Em speak to Lucy for the first time. She decided she really did have an affinity with cats.

She walked around until the feeling returned properly to her body. Then she began to make camp for the night. It was too dark to get down to the river now and she would have to make do with the water she had in her handipak. She settled into her sleeping roll and quickly fell asleep.

While Lou slept, Flex McElroy sat in a booth in the reading room at the Covington library staring at a vid link history of the Intergalactic Mafia.

He knew that he was in a terrible bind. Natasha Orlov had indebted him to the IGM, even if she had not fully understood what she was doing at the time. He now owed Yuri Orlov several thousand credits. They would have to be repaid, one way or another.

Flex rubbed his eyes. He sat contemplating how he could disappear. Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

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