Prisoner Alice Mayne

Alice was sure that no one else had survived the crash. The team of bounty hunters which had so expertly tracked and then captured her had all perished. She hadn't deserved to be caught. They hadn't deserved to die. Now she was stranded in an off-the-charts jungle world and everyone was a looser.

The Galileo 12's emergency exit hatch hit the ground and Alice leapt after it. She was an experienced acrobat and landed easily. Alice attacked. A snap-kick, downward sweep of a chunky black boot and the lurking spider-like creature at the base of the wrecked spaceship was dead. The laser rifle strapped to her back and the pistol at her hip had come from the bodies of the dead bounty hunters.

The jungle was too hot. Alice paused to rearrange her clothes, stripping off her top and down to her bra. This was not a time for modesty. There was no one around. Alice kept her combat trousers on. This was not a time to expose too much flesh to the insect life that seemed to swarm in this forsaken jungle. Already a deadly looking scorpion like critter had climbed onto the smoking rear of the Galileo 12.

At 5'5" Alice knew that she did not look like the dangerous criminal her record said she was. Dark hair, a slim body and a large and firm bust had helped Alice pass herself off as a bimbo many times. It was ironic that her IQ put her safely in the realm of genius. It was Alice's genius which had helped plan and conclude over eight pirate raids on Merchant Company vessels.

It would not be safe to stay by the wreckage. The chances of more bounty hunters arriving were too high. It was better to risk the jungle and find a different way off the planet. Alice looked around; each direction looked as good as the other as the sweltering jungle presented a wall of green on all sides. Only the sky was a different colour, a deep red which suggested to Alice that there were probably two suns low in the sky and a reflection off a nearby red planet or moon.