Battle in the Cave

In the now-bright light, Belinda could see just what had been attacking her. It was a large twisted creature that made even her shudder to look at it. It looked like a huge insect, except for its sharp claws. In the center of the light she could see a group of soldiers carrying pistols of some sort, although they didn't look like the ones typical of this period. An odd sound whined from them, and that was what was driving the creatures away. The creatures howled in pain and sneaked off into the darkness.

Belinda looked at the center of the light. There were a group of human-looking soldiers in black armor holding the weapons. She sighed. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Rather than dealing with the insect monsters, she and her allies would have to deal with the Interplanetary Mining Corporation. The IMC's greed was legendary, and would take any step to get what they wanted, just like the merchant guilds of Walants in her own world. Human nature changed rather depressingly little across the universes. On the other hand, their pistols seemed odd, and their armors seemed to have small trinkets hanging from them, which was not typical at all of the IMC.

She pulled out her laser pistol with her arm, still bleeding, and charged it. She wouldn't take any chances. The man stepped up to her and made a strange ritualistic gesture. She instantly realized that this is not an IMC soldier, and wondered whether he had gotten the IMC armor by making a deal with IMC soldiers or by killing them. As the light became less overwhelmingly bright and Belinda could see more clearly, she could see that the armors were more individualistic than she'd thought. "What business do you have here?" he asked.

She motioned for the others to come near her. The other Astra entered the cave, carrying Gareth in her arms. "I'm Belinda Thessamar, a journalist from the Arcadia. I'm doing a story on the IMC, and managed to sneak on to this planet without the IMC knowing it, but my ship crashed in the desert and my friend and partner was injured. These are my clone servants." Fred was about to say something, but Belinda glared at him in a way that made it clear that he should be quiet..

"What is a journalist?" said the soldier.

"Well," said Belinda, "a journalist is someone who reports on the truth throughout the universe whether the people they're reporting on want it or not. Or at least, that's how it's supposed to be."

"Like a Truthsayer?" said the guard.

"Probably, yes," said Belinda. "What were those creatures? And why didn't you kill them."

"I see you are not from around here," said the guard, as if that hadn't been obvious enough. "Those are Grimclaws. They kill many of our people, but we cannot kill them, because as adults they become the Sun-Beetles which give our caves their light. I am Ranu of Tenar Hold. We will take you to our leader." Belinda couldn't resist groaning inside, and reminded herself that these beings came from a less media-staturated society than Terra, and that line wouldn't sound as hokey to them.

1. She followed the guards.

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