Steel Trap

By Summer Renna

When exobiologist Alix Daring and her robot sidekick, Figaro, are sent on a mission to capture an alien rat in exchange for a hefty reward, neither expect much trouble. After all, the adorable critters are barely knee-high and have brains the size of walnuts. All that's needed is a steel trap and a little patience, right?

But the wild, red planet Alix and Figaro find themselves on is full of hidden dangers and secrets. The alien rats, thought to be mindless beasts, are much more than they seem. And they have been hard at work setting their own traps. Soon Alix and Figaro are themselves the prey, lost in the underground labyrinth of caverns that the aliens call home. The two must use all their strength and wits to best their rodent adversaries, or risk never seeing sunlight again . . .

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Summer Renna
• Release date: Oct 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215743874

Book preview

Summer Renna

Steel Trap: An Adventure in the Alien Wild

Copyright © 2022 by Summer Renna

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

1. Chapter 1

2. Chapter 2

3. Chapter 3

4. Chapter 4

5. Chapter 5

6. Chapter 6

7. Chapter 7

8. Chapter 8

About the Author

Also by Summer Renna

1

Chapter 1

Any second now, Figaro. Any second.

Alix rested her head against the tree trunk, eyes trained on the steel trap on the forest floor. A breeze blew through, sending a shiver through the blood-red leaves of the canopy. The forests of this planet were all like this, all choked up with twisted trees and shades of red, from the scraggy grass to the snaking vines that climbed to the treetops, to the flowers that bloomed between them. Everywhere you looked you saw endless miles of crimson below a gold-tinted sky. Even after months on Deimos X, it all still stood out like a siren to Alix. The meanings that Earth had engrained in her continued to ring in the back of Alix’s head every time she left the research station to do fieldwork in the surrounding forest. Danger, danger, get away.

Figaro scurried up from a branch to her shoulder. The little bot’s spider-like limbs tickled even through her jumpsuit. His was a simple design. Eight limbs, a smooth oval body, and a pair of extendable lenses for eyes. Figaro was just small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, and his silver exterior stood out like a beacon against the black fabric of her suit.

Would you care to know how much time has passed since the last time you said it would be ‘any second now’? Figaro asked, his tinny voice crackling.

Nope.

Two hundred minutes. Two hundred minutes of sitting in this tree.

Oh, my apologies, did you have somewhere else to be?

Anywhere but here.

Alix flicked Figaro lightly, nearly knocking him off her shoulder. You saw the memo, same as me. The suits are offering a thousand credit bonus for a live Aexon. Unless you’ve got that much to pony up, you can shut your trap.

The only trap that needs shutting is down there. Figaro batted at her cheek. Are you sure you set the bait correctly?

Yes! Lord almighty, Figaro, I’m not a simpleton. Alix turned her gaze back to the forest floor with a scowl. The nerve of that robot. She didn’t get assigned to Deimos X’s first research station on dumb luck. After the station’s founding, Asteria Inc. sought only the best scientists and explorers to come to study the newly discovered planet. Then, when the best refused their offer, they sought out the second-best. And then the third. And the fourth.

Fast-forward a year and here was Alix, squatting in the trees of Kabir’s Crimson Forest, waiting for a six-legged alien rodent to wander into her trap.

Maybe we should have tried the Samuels Scarlet Wood, suggested Figaro.

There was a huge warren sighted near here, according to the memo, Alix countered. She brushed her fingers across the length of her utility belt, checking that she hadn’t forgotten to strap in any of the tools of her trade. Raygun, tranq pistol, energy bar, a flask of water, a flask of a lil’ something else, smart tablet. Everything was where it should be.

Alix took a nice swig of the lil’ something else, then slipped the flask back onto her belt.

I don’t get it. At least a few should have passed by to forage by now, she said.

Maybe they’re avoiding us on purpose, then. Figaro dropped his voice to a dramatic whisper. "Maybe they know it’s a trap."

"Has the sun fried your circuits? They’re rats. With a couple of extra eyes, limbs, and tails, sure, but rats all the same. They don’t know anything besides ‘food’, ‘fuck’, and ‘sleep’."

Oh, so you perfectly understand the inner psychological workings of this alien species?

Yep, sure do. Alix put a hand on her chest and grinned. I’m not Earth’s greatest exobiologist for nothing.

You’re not Earth’s greatest exobiologist at all.

Fine then, I’m not Deimos X’s greatest exobiologist for nothing.

I’d still call that a reach.

"I am an exobiologist, is the point, Alix snapped, flicking Figaro again. I know how to extrapolate information about a species based on observation. I’ve seen so much hidden cam footage of these things scurrying around the forest floor that I dream in squeaks now, and I’m telling you, they exhibit the same sorts of anatomical and behavioral adaptations as any other rodent-type animals. Like those tiny, kangaroo-type mammals we studied on Erato IV, remember? This ain’t my first rodeo, Figaro. I know what I’m talking about."

"Typical