Birthright: After Earth by Peter David Read Free Book Online

was gone.
    The Ursa couldn’t fathom how that was possible. It sensed that the room was an enclosure, and there had been a human there. Yet now there wasn’t.
    It reached out with all the senses it had at its disposal.
    And it was still straining to find its target when the blade of the cutlass was driven straight through the top of its head by a woman who was standing no more than six inches from it and yet was undetectable.
    Mallory McGuiness resisted the temptation to cry out in triumph. Instead, with ruthless efficiency, she yanked out the cutlass and then stabbed downward once more. She was holding one of the staves. The blade punched through with a sound like a knife being driven into a melon. Even as that happened, she slid the edge of the other blade under the Ursa’s chin, opening up the veins in its throat. It bled all over the inside of the shuttle, so much so that within seconds a pool of liquid ran an inch deep around her boots.
    The Ursa trembled violently, and the entire shuttle shook as if it were in the throes of an earthquake.
    And then it fell silent.
    Dead.
    Mallory’s baby kicked. Again.

vii
    The alarm sounded through Nova Prime City. Children walking home from school froze upon hearing its shriek. They knew it all too well: An Ursa had been spotted within the confines of the city.
    And then they saw it, barreling toward them. It had shimmered into existence a short distance away, and the children cried out in terror.
    It noticed them, but before it could lock on, a woman hurtled in from the side.
“Found you!”
She was holding a bladed weapon, and she lashed out with confidence. The Ursa danced away, the children forgotten.
    Other Rangers were coming up from behind. The woman called out with authority, “Left and right flanks! Surround it and drive it out of the city! Then we’ll dispatch it!”
    The Rangers moved with practiced efficiency. It took them only seconds to send the Ursa running on the path that would take it away from any civilians.
    And then the woman, who was clearly in charge, paused just long enough to toss off a quick salute to the kids before she led her fellow Rangers in pursuit of the Ursa.
    “She saluted at us!” one of the boys said.
    A little girl said proudly, “Nuh-unh. She was saluting at me. That was my mom.”
    “Get out!” said one child, and another said, “Janny, are you kidding?”
    “Nope. She’s one of the seven Ghosts.”
    There were impressed murmurs from the other kids. “How’d she learn not to be afraid of anything?”
    “I asked her that once.”
    “What’d she say?”
    “She said I taught her,” said Janny. And she smiled her father’s smile.