South - into the territory of the wolfking

South. It was a good a direction as any other.

Already the pistol felt heavy at her hip and the laser rifle seemed to catch on every other vine she pushed past. Experience and instinct told her to keep the weapons. Although she hadn't seen anything larger than the scorpions the size of her head, it was still daylight and Alice feared that some of the bigger animals came out at night.

Alice pushed on, pressing deeper into the dangerous jungle. It was important to put some distance between her and the crashed Galileo 12. If the bounty hunters had backup then they would almost certainly go after her. She had a sizable bounty on her head.

After hours of trekking Alice began to notice a difference. The ground was ever so slightly sloping upwards. The trees, vines and thickly tangled undergrowth was as thick as ever but the pirate was sure she was heading upwards.

The ground vanished without warning.

Alice threw herself backwards and landed sorely in the middle of one of the many thorn bushes that blighted the landscape... but she hadn't fallen over the cliff.

The view in front of her was spectacular. The mighty jungle stretched on in all directions in front of her. The cliff face must have been some hundred feet above the the jungle covered plateau. Alice knew she must be looking at hundreds of miles of super dense jungle and there wasn't a sign of civilization in sight.

If she was on the edge of a cliff, though, then there may be hope of finding a cave. A cave would be a much better place to spend the night than out in the jungle.

Alice's body ached. The march through the jungle had been tough. Throwing herself back onto the thorn bush had saved her from falling to her **** but she had torn deep cuts on her knees.

... and then she noticed the scorpion. One of the many large and inky black scorpions was in the bush with her. It was just beside her left flank and it's tail was arched and ready. One wrong move and it would strike.