When Darkness Comes

Chapter 3

Jax didn’t know what exactly he was supposed to do now that he had her. At least, he hoped it was her – she certainly looked exactly like Zena the day she…got taken. It had been stupid to chase her, now she was just scared and probably wouldn’t cooperate, at least not until he explained. He just couldn’t keep his mouth shut, could he? When he had seen her, walking along the path with the sun disappearing behind her looking exactly the way she had when he last saw her…only one thought had crossed his mind – Zena. Somehow that thought had turned into words and left his mouth. When she started running…he had run after her, but only out of habit. He was supposed to protect her, and she was running around in the dark on some foreign planet far away from home. Now here he was, pinning her to the ground and covering her mouth, not exactly the reunion he had been hoping for. So what was he supposed to do now? Should he call in Carth and tell him to beam them up and lock her in a room until they had lost the Mittilions, then explain to her? Or should he explain here, before they boarded the ship? He had better call in Carth, he thought. The Mittilions weren’t known for their patience. They had, after all, told the people of his home planet, Juit, that they had one month to leave before they destroyed the entire planet and anyone left on it. He shifted his weight, awkwardly pinning her down with his legs so he could remove the arm around her waist – the arm with his transponder bracelet on it. As soon as he opened his mouth to turn the device on, Zena jerked her arm back as hard as she could, connecting her elbow with his cheek, effectively knocking him off long enough to get up. As soon as she was on her own feet she started moving, giving Jax a millisecond to react. Fortunately that was long enough – his hand snaked out and latched onto her ankle, tripping her and knocking the breath out of her. She, in turn, rolled onto her back and used her other foot to kick him across the face. He let go out of respect, not because she made him. It just wasn’t right to let a blow like that go unrewarded, especially since she was going to have to be re-trained. Rubbing his chin, he got up, his eyes glistening. He sure hoped she was the one. With that, he started after her before she completely disappeared.

 

 

Limping slightly, Lisa ran in the direction she thought was home. Even with her shoes, that had hurt, that last kick she had planted across his face. She almost slowed down, thinking that perhaps the last blow had knocked him out of the race, when she heard him crashing through the brush behind her. Damn! What is he, a tank? She thought as she picked up the pace. She was just starting to think home shouldn’t be much farther when suddenly the ground disappeared ahead, a twenty to thirty foot drop giving way to a raging river, full from the melting snow. She stopped, nearly tripping over her own feet – she had never learned how to swim. The water in Montana was usually too cold. She managed to stop just in time, but didn’t get around to moving out of the way – that person was following too close too fast. He smacked into her back, sending them both flying over the edge. Holy shit! Was her last thought before she blacked out.