LEARNING CURVE
By Jackie Kramer
Beyond the Mundane: Flights of Mind
An Anthology of Science Fiction & Fantasy
Edited by Daniel J. Reitz
ISBN: 1-59426-023-0
Also Available in eBook format
Other authors:
C.J. Winters
Linda Bleser
Michelle L. Levigne
Jane Toombs
Nick Aires
A soft chittering sound penetrated Jaycee’s exhaustion and she slowly awakened. A thin fog glittered in the rising sun. Jaycee rubbed her dry, gritty eyes, then cautiously sat up, every muscle in her body stiff and sore. She saw a small bird-like creature on a nearby branch, watching her. A pale, blue fuzz covered the tiny avian and, it stared at Jaycee with large, multi-faceted golden eyes.
“At last,” she murmured. “One animal on this god-forsaken mudball that is cute and furry.” She extended a forefinger to stroke its soft coat, but the winged beast pounced on a lizard scampering through the thick growth and savagely demolished it with a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. Jaycee shuddered as she snatched back her hand. “Yuck!”
She looked around, wondering if Markeet had seen her careless action. Ten feet away, she spotted him, still sitting under the giant fern, his head bent and his eyes closed. Jaycee grinned. She couldn’t believe it. The mighty Dan Markeet had fallen asleep while on guard duty. She cautiously rose and slipped closer. She couldn’t wait to see his face when she awoke him with a shout.As she approached, a sliver of dread cascaded down her spine. He was too silent, too unmoving. She reached his side, then noticed a trickle of dark liquid seeping from his left ear. A hard fist seemed to form inside her chest.
“Markeet?” Her voice came out in a thin whisper. She swallowed the hard lump in her throat, kneeled, and tried again. “Mr. Markeet. Wake up, sir.”
She touched his shoulder as she spoke and he toppled to his side. She squealed, then terror surged through her. The back of his head writhed as if alive. An eight-inch gray slug crawled out Markeet’s ear, trailing blood and gray matter.
Jaycee jerked away from the sight and landed on her butt. “Ohgod, ohgod,” she sobbed as she pushed with her feet, scooting backwards on her rear.
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