Tigra by R.J. Leahy

Tigra (tēg-rä): Common name for a feline-like animal native to the planet Ararat. The name has apparently derived from the species’ zoological classification, tigerius rabidus araratus, or as it was usually abbreviated in scientific papers, tig. ra.

Jeena Garza, an elite soldier in an ages-old galactic civil war, escapes the horror of a POW camp only to crash-land on Ararat, a desert planet far from home. It is a desolate world, long lost to the rest of humanity and home to only a few scattered primitive cultures. For Jenna, the isolation is a blessing. After years of fighting and months as a prisoner, she wants only to be left alone; to forget and to be forgotten.

But fate has other plans. After killing its mother in self-defense, she reluctantly adopts a tigra cub, a tiger-like carnivore native to the planet. Tigras are known to be ferocious killing machines, unable to be tamed or domesticated. Yet this reputation flies in the face of the gentle creature she has named Samson, who seems not only docile, but intelligent.

Jeena’s adoption of Samson sets in motion a series of events that will shake the very foundations of life on Ararat. For his sake, she will lead a people into battle, decimate an army of half a million, and fulfill a prophesy five thousand years in the making. For Samson is no ordinary tigra. In him lies the secret to his race, a secret that will change not only Ararat, but the galaxy forever.

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Excerpt from Tigra © Copyright 2025 R.J. Leahy

According to the map Vicki had provided, there was a stream about one mile to the north. She’d soon need a source of fresh water, so this seemed like a logical place to begin her recon of the planet. Hopping off the crate, the cigar between her teeth, she reached for the shotgun. There was a rustling sound behind her, and she turned her head slowly, the cigar smoke curling up into her eyes. A lurking figure lay crouched under the shadow of the ship’s wing. Two golden circles reflected back at her.

Jeena glanced at the gun, trying not to move as beads of sweat suddenly appeared on her brow. She looked back at the animal—just as it sprang. Leaping at the weapon, she grabbed it and rolled in a single fluid motion, firing blindly into the onrushing shadow. A huge weight slammed into her, knocking her down and pinning her under it. Cursing, she clawed at the animal, fighting out from under it. Her body was covered in blood as she finally pushed it off and struggled to her feet, panting hard and shaking. Holding her ribs in pain, she examined the dead animal at her feet.

The tigra looked just like the one in the holo or would have if not for the gaping hole running through its chest. The luxurious coat was a radiant yellow, slowly turning to a snow white at its paws. It was slightly smaller than an Earth tiger but appeared more heavily muscled. The paws were different too, being longer and thinner. Delicate she might have called them, if not for the five-inch claws at their terminus.

She knelt and ran her hand through the fur. It was as soft as the Chimenian mink she had once felt on Tycho, but up close she saw that the animal was not as healthy as it first appeared. The fur had scattered bare spots, and the animal’s skin was loose over its bones. It was sick, starving probably, and may have explained why it was not as silent as it might have been in its attack.

Jeena kept a wary eye out for others, but neither saw nor heard anything else and remembered Vicki mentioning something about them being solitary hunters. Still shaking, she picked up the burning cigar and brushed it off before sticking it back between her teeth. Taking one last look at the animal, she limped painfully back toward the tent. The recon could wait. It was time to open the liquor.

***

Jeena awoke the next morning kicking out at dark dreams. She opened her eyes to the sun blazing through the flap of the tent, the whiskey bottle empty on the ground.

She groaned. She was nauseous, and her tongue felt thick and sticky. Her chest and arms were caked in dried blood. Through the tent flap, she could see the dead form of the tigra still lying there, a swarm of flies gathering around the carcass.

She felt her bile rise and turned away, picking up a canteen of water. She drank it down quickly, feeling a little better. Rummaging through the tent, she found a carbo-bar and chewed it slowly, considering the animal outside her door. It’ll take a good–size hole, she thought miserably, but the flies were getting thick. Sighing, her stomach still queasy, she made her way out, making a mental note to never again kill anything bigger than a shovel near her tent.

She dug the grave under the shadow of the ship’s wing, then slowly and painfully dragged the corpse to it and dumped it in. It was late afternoon by the time she threw the last shovel-full of dirt over the grave, and her hangover had dissolved into a minor headache. She lit up another cigar and wiped herself down with the t-shirt. She had stopped wearing it altogether as it had no practical use and only became wet and heavy with sweat.

After a lunch of canned meat and water, she grabbed a few synlamps and motion detectors from the ship and set up a perimeter. She wanted no more uninvited guests dropping by, particularly at night. Once the area was secured, she re-armed and headed north toward the stream, taking along a canteen equipped with a sterilization unit.

She found it as shown on the map and silently thanked AL for his good choice in picking this place to ditch. Walking upstream, she came to an abrupt rise in the terrain that resulted in a small waterfall. Placing her weapon carefully on the bank she ran under it, washing the dried blood and grime from her body and enjoying the feel of the cool water cascading over her. Afterward, she lay on the grass near the bank, letting the hot sun dry her and feeling clean in a way she had not felt in a long time. She closed her eyes and listened to the gurgling stream as it flowed by.

Jeena yawned and opened her eyes, then suddenly bolted upright. She had fallen asleep! The sun was low and setting fast. Grabbing her weapon and the now-filled canteen, she hurried back to her camp, cursing herself the entire way.

It was fully nightfall when she finally arrived back at her camp, triggering the perimeter lights as she did. Well, at least they work, she thought. She searched the area carefully, assuring herself that it was unmolested, then set about building a fire. She had dug a shallow pit earlier in the day and now filled it with kindling and dead wood she found lying around. Soon she had a blazing fire and feeling more secure, killed the lamps.

It was a warm, clear night with the sky an explosion of stars and wispy streaks of color. Although Vicki had mentioned Ararat’s borealis in her summary of the planet’s characteristics, Jeena was amazed at the brilliance and rapidly changing patterns of the nocturnal light show. All she had seen on other worlds, including Earth’s, paled in comparison. Keeping the shotgun close, she lay back near the fire, its heat warming her body. Staring out at the stars and lights, she examined her situation.

Through fate or dumb luck, she had escaped a hellish prison only to end up marooned on a distant and virtually uninhabited planet—a planet, that except for the tigra, was beginning to resemble a Garden of Eden. The thought made her smile. Does that make me Eve? She looked down at her naked body. I certainly have the right wardrobe for the part. Come to think of it, an apple would taste pretty good right now.

She didn’t find any apples among the smuggler’s foodstuffs, but there were tins of sardines and Tychorian truffles she placed on crackers and ate with gusto. She had tossed the tins aside and was picking up a fiery brand to light a cigar when the perimeter lights suddenly burst on.

Dropping the stick, Jeena grabbed the shotgun, pumping the slide in the same motion. Moving with her back to the fire, she scanned the circle of light, peering into the darkness beyond. She could hear her heart pounding in her chest as she waited and listened.

There was a faint sound to her right, and she whirled toward it, aiming the gun into the shadows. She could make out two golden rings reflecting from just beyond the circle of light. Her finger tensed around the trigger just as the figure stepped out into the light.

Jeena lowered the weapon. There, standing and blinking in the harsh artificial glare, was a tiny tigra cub.