The trees pulsed above her, syncing to the throbbing ache in her temples. Hunger shot threads of pain through her. On the thin side at the best of times, two weeks without adequate nourishment leached away her body fat, and began to eat away at her muscles. Her skin clung to her bones, stretched like dry parchment.

Daphne stared at the distant sky through her wavering vision, laying on a patch of moss, arms flat at her sides. She wasn't going to make it out of the forest.

Her food ran out after four days no matter how carefully she rationed it. After that, she monitored her water closely, keeping her filtration canteen filled. She ate what she could find or catch; small game, fish, even insects. Plants were dangerous. Too many poisonous species mimicked safe ones. Their primary food source on the forest ground floor was carrion, their poison's killed quickly, and she would be dead before recognizing the difference. At least animals wore their poison in flashy colors and prominent stingers.

The animals left her alone; anything that flew veered from her fiery hair like it was real flame. This was to her advantage. Since entering the forest, she saw no one, no travelers, no transports, or merchant caravans along the poorly kept route. Forced to traverse the woods on foot, she belatedly realized how vast it was, how isolated Jamestown truly was.

The last human settlement of New Earth 6.

Bloody, wretched, feckwits, the whole lot of them.

They believed they were so superior for their Purist traditions, their disdain of tech, isolated from the corrupting influence of the other territories. Fools! Their human purity hadn't saved them. They fought starvation, and would nearly freeze to death every winter because their tech was so outdated, surviving the odds only to be picked off by Barlok and Nisseri raiding parties. The other territories would not help them; they did not even know Jamestown suffered. They wouldn't know of this attack either, though it was greater than any before. Probably just the beginning, the Nisseri knew Jamestown was an easy target.

She knew how her people operated, they would dig out the survivors, deny any foreigners entrance while they rebuilt, including merchants with vital supplies, all for the sake of their purist code. Now her brother was gone, likely long disassembled in a flesh shop, while she slowly starved to death in the wilderness. Walking stoked her rage rather than ease it. Daphne was certain her anger kept her going far longer than her body would have on its own. It sure wasn't fueled by the tree bark she chewed on this morning.

That afternoon, she took a rest; fell over really, her legs too wobbly to carry her further. Now she was too weak to stand, could do nothing but lie there, simmering over her stupidity. How could she have underestimated the size of the forest? If she hadn't been in such a rush to leave Jamestown, she could have prepared herself better. Here she was waiting to be picked off by scavengers before the plants absorbed her. She was surprised none of the larger animals tried to come after her yet. Come to think of it, she never saw any larger animals since entering the forest.

On cue, twigs snapped. Something crept toward her prone form. Controlling her breath, Daphne peaked at her surroundings through her peripherals, her fingers easing to the makeshift holster at her hip. The animal crept closer, its huffing breath kicking up debris in small clouds as it followed a scent along the ground. She caught sight of it as it rounded a clump of fallen trees.

Damn.

A Tibear, one of the legendary monsters of New Tokyo's bio labs, a species bred to cull the overly aggressive native predators preying on humans during the first years of settlement. From stored strains of DNA gathered from original Earth carnivores, they engineered an animal assassin, which shredded through the predator population in the space of a decade. Thanks to their inbred highly territorial nature, the species required vast hunting grounds to sustain them, killing any contenders, effectively culling themselves. Any specimens caught near the territories were euthanized. Few wild Tibears remained, but there was no mistaking one for anything else. Every child in Jamestown learned about the species, because they lived too close to the wilds to ignore such a dangerous creature, no matter the rarity.

It was her luck one stumbled upon her. No wonder there were no large game in the area. Daphne bet the beastie tracked her for days, maybe since she first entered the forest. Rotating her head very slowly, she got her first clear look at it.

The Tibear was beautiful, its mottled tan hide covered in black whorls moving with the shadows. The thick slabs of muscle through its shoulders contrasted with the lithe hindquarters, producing an uneven gait as it stalked toward her. Its mouth hung open, tasting the air, fangs as long as her hand starkly visible against its black lips. Eyes, deep set in its face, squinted in the dim filtered light. The Tibear were nocturnal, not much of an advantage since it followed her scent, nostrils flaring downwind of her. It would pinpoint her in a moment, the wind was shifting.

Beautiful and deadly, Daphne almost regretted what she had to do. It would be easy to let it take her, even with her hand on her gun she wondered if she had the strength to draw it.

The Tibear snarled.

I am Not going to die like this. The shot echoed through the trees, an explosion of sound sending every bird for fifty miles to flight. The Tibear slumped over, the back of its head gone; smoke still wafting from its maw. Daphne let her gun sink to the ground, trying not to gag at the stink of fresh death. She had to get out of here, this carcass would draw the carrion eaters, and some were mean enough to finish her off. The task was daunting. She wanted to close her eyes and rest, just for a moment.

"Hello?"

Her eyes snapped open. The voice sounded nearby, difficult to tell when noise was muffled at the ground and echoed in the air. She tried to answer, her throat constricting from disuse. Swallowing, she forced herself to speak.

"Hello!" Her shout cracked halfway, ending in a dry scream. They must have heard her, crashing through the low growth in her direction. Feet skidded to a stop a few yards from her.

"Great Grillna!" A male's voice breathed. Daphne flopped her head to the side, huffing her hair out of her face. Two men stood before her, the older one bracing an arm across the younger man's chest, holding him back. Their clothing suggested merchants, their close resemblance suggested family, and their close age suggested brothers.

The merchant brothers stared at Daphne like she had six heads, their expressions comical. She might have laughed if those black spots would stop dancing in front of her eyes.

She cleared her throat. "Gentlemen, I would be grateful for your assistance," she rasped.

The younger brother shoved off the older to rush to her side. Producing a filtration canteen from one of his numerous pockets, he lifted her head to tip water down her throat.

"Miss, can you focus on me?" The younger brother spoke, looking her over with dark brown eyes, his swarthy face paled at the sight of her. "My name is Balthar. That is my brother Cass. Can you tell us your name?" Balthar propped her head on his knee, pulling another device he smoothed across her forehead. A vitals scan? Her rescuer possessed some decent medical tech. Her mother saved for one for months.

"Daphne." Her voice was still hoarse, but the water was electric, sparking through her system. Just a few sips banished the black spots from her vision. "What's in that water?"

Balthar smiled. "Electrolytes, carbohydrates, absorbable proteins and nutrients, everything the body needs, Miss Daphne. Do you think you can sit up?"

Revive water. They must be very respectable merchants. The medicinal fluid hijacked her system, flooding her with enough energy to lift off the ground, Balthar's arm bracing her shoulders. Cass circled around them, appraising the fallen Tibear.

"How did you bring this monster down?" He murmured, crouching to peel up the animal's lips.

"Oi," Daphne grunted, catching his attention. She waved her firearm at him. Both brothers blinked at her in surprise.

"Where did you get this? May I?" Cass came closer, gesturing for her permission to see the gun. She handed it over with a frown.

"I made it."

The man nearly dropped it. "You made this? How?"

She rolled her shoulders. "Just tinkered with it until it felt right."

"I've seen the occasional collector's piece here and there, but never anything functional. It's an amazing construction." He examined the hole in the Tibear's skull, his expression contemplative. "They do an awful lot of damage."

"They're supposed to." Daphne said evenly, glancing at Balthar who wasn't looking at her gun. He was looking at her hair. "What?"

"Is this natural?" he blurted out, a blush sending color back in his face.

Daphne grinned. Here was her ticket off this rock. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

They zeroed in on her now, a predatory gleam in their eyes, but it was tempered by intelligence. Men she could barter with. Daphne slapped a hand down on Balthar's knee.

"Gentlemen, may I inquire to your direction of travel?"

She caught the glance between them, thrown by the direction of conversation. "We came from Jamestown, had to stop to repair our navigation drive when we heard the shot." Cass answered. "A waste of our time, they wouldn't let us through the wall." He scanned her clothes, no doubt seeing her as a ticket in. Jamestown might be poverty stricken, but their trade goods sold high in other territories.

"It still is a bust; the Nisseri razed the other burrough to the ground." Daphne took a long swig of revive water, gauging their reactions. Both men looked stunned and sickened. She sighed. Of course those idiots kept the raid under wraps.

"I take it your path leads away from there, Miss Daphne?" Balthar rubbed a hand over his jaw. "We will not leave you here, but we are headed to the port at New Amsterdam. Is there somewhere safe we can bring you?"

"No need." Daphne clambered unsteadily to her feet, a fire in her eyes. "I would like to hire you." She wondered if Balthar had the tools she needed for this, no doubt he would; merchant pockets were bottomless.

"What for?" Cass's face held a spark of interest.

"Passage on your transport to New Amsterdam and you merchant's eye. I seek to purchase a ship for long distance space travel, one man operational, and I don't want to be taken for a virgin buyer."

Balthar's expression glazed over, flummoxed by her, but Cass laughed.

"For the gun, I can take you to the port, and we shall improve the condition of your health before we get there. But what will you barter with for a ship?"

Daphne smirked, twisting a red curl around her finger. Balthar gasped. "It is real!"

"Yes. I will give you a sampling of strands and," with a flourish she lifted her shirt enough for them to see her belt of weapons, "two guns."

"We have a deal." Cass offered his hand to shake. "Our transport is this way, we have a few more repairs to make but Balthar can settle you in and replicate you a meal."

Daphne shook her head. "Balthar do you have a lasic sheer in those pockets?"

Cass snorted, gesturing at the dead Tibear. "You sure? The revive water got you on your feet but you look half dead, Miss Daphne."

"I'm sure. These beasts are rare. I'll need every scrap I can salvage to acquire a ship."

Balthar nodded at her, a spark of admiration in his eyes. "You would make an excellent merchant." He turned to his brother, withdrawing a sleek metal tube from his waist pocket. "We shall be along shortly; I shall ensure she doesn't over exert herself."

Cass peeled away to make final repairs, while Balthar and Daphne acquired the Tibear's hide.