Page 98 of On a Rogue Planet
He went first down the ladder. Malin followed, and once he set foot on top of the scrap, he reached up, nabbed her around the waist and lifted her down.
He sensed her racing heartbeat, the light sheen of perspiration on her skin. But her face was set with a quiet determination that made him want to smile.
They set off.
Xander moved quickly but as silently as possible. Malin followed a little behind. He was worried about her bare feet and when she gasped, he glanced down.
She waved him on. “Don’t worry about it, tough guy. You can’t carry me, the ground’s too unstable.”
She was right. But when she cried out again, he thought he might try carrying her.
She was cradling one bleeding foot. When he started back toward her, she held up a hand. “The quicker we get across, the quicker we can deal with this.”
Jaw tight, he kept moving. Every muscle in his body was strained, his attention tuned for any movement beneath them.
As they neared the halfway point, he was tempted to relax a fraction. There had been no sign of the monster.
Malin stepped up closer to him and overbalanced. He grabbed her arm before she tumbled, but a clump of metal was knocked loose. It rolled down the hill of junk, clunking and clattering as it went.
She stood there, frozen, eyes wide.
He held his breath.
Nothing happened.
He breathed out. “Come on.” He took another step.
Something moved ahead of them. That eerie vibration. The scrap undulated in a circle around them.
The creature was circling them.
“Malin. Run!”
She ran ahead, and Xander followed closely behind. They moved as fast as they could, not caring now how much noise they made. But it was hard, the uneven surface making them slip, fall and sink into the junk up to their knees.
Suddenly, a hump of the monster rose up beside Malin, knocking her over. She let out a small cry, tumbling down onto her side.
Xander changed course and headed for her.
She clambered to her feet, panicked. The vibration came again from somewhere in front of her.
He leaped forward, landing in front of her.
Just as the giant mouth of the metal monster breached the surface right in front of them.
Without thinking, Xander grabbed its huge jaws, holding them open.
“Xander!”
The monster bellowed a metallic-sounding roar that echoed around them. It fought to close its jaws, but Xander held tight, straining against the massive force.
With his mechanical elbow, he thrust inside. Something knocked loose. Maybe one of the jagged metal teeth.
The monster roared again, and in a violent move, sank back into the scrap.
Xander let go just in time to avoid being sucked under. He fell forward onto his hands and knees, lungs burning.
“Malin.Go. Fast as you can. I’ll be right behind you.”
