· · · · · · ·
Lasers were strictly forbidden due to that inconvenient fact that all laser weaponry in Ghilsaer City had belonged to the cops, and one couldn't get rid of the beacon in the trigger mechanism. Still, there were times when being arrested was preferable. This was one of those times, so Carly was glad she'd handwaved her orders. Scattered throughout her coat were the pieces of a disassembled laser. Biting her lip against the pain, she quietly set together the parts. The pipe she was cramped in made it difficult to move, but it was her best position to shoot from, since right below was the entrance to the hall.
The pipe wasn't the only tight spot she was in. There was no way she could get back to her bosses and just tell them the rest of her team had been killed by a blade wielding ghosty assassin. She had run away only to realize she was being followed. It was quiet, if not was the dog following her suddenly turning quiet she wouldn't have realized those slight splashes might be footsteps.
The hall she had taken refuge in was on the outskirts of the south-west city and had a skylight that gave just enough light for her to see. This had been one of the water cleaning centers, before it was abandoned. Moss covered the walls and the basins and canals were still filled, making this unfamiliar terrain for her.
Opposite of the entrance she resided above was another, but that one was blocked entirely by a collapsed wall. There was no other way out. She knew it was a horrid place for confrontation, but there was one advantage. This place blocked a number of scanning methods by default, a security measure against water thievery back during the supply disaster. They might still work now and work against her technologically advanced enemy — she didn't believe in ghosts.
She finished assembling her gun and closed her eyes for a moment, listening. Survival first, worry about the rest later. Her enemy was quiet, transparent but not without outline, could climb really well and was huge. She probably was dealing with a very advanced android, though it was mystery what that would be doing in the underground.
Nothing of the sort appeared.
Given how fast that thing was, it should have caught up with her already. She leaned a little out of the pipe, he weapon finished and aimed downward.
Save for a few rats, absolutely nothing moved.
Then she saw it.
On the other end of the hall was lay a strange mask, its sockets facing the very entrance she was above. It lacked a nose or mouth and had a huge forehead that sloped backward, useless for a human.
Her heartbeat accelerated. That had not been there before, she had looked that way right when she entered.
It was already inside ... could she see an outline if it moved slow, or had it entered before her? Was there an entrance she didn't know about?
If it already knew she was here, she didn't want to be caught with no way no escape. She took a deep breath and slipped out of the pipe, quietly lowering her feet on the ridge below it. She lost her balance of the slippery stone and that saved her life. A spear bore into the wall, missing her back and only cutting open her shoulder. Instinctively she tore loose her clothing and looked up.
Somehow balancing on the narrow space above the pipes was the outline, crouched right above her. It tore loose the spear and Carly slipped over the ledge, hanging by her fingers and narrowly avoiding another stab from the spear. There were some water draining ledge covered by moss, some diagonal. Setting her feet on these she slipped down the mossy wall.
Her enemy just jumped down all the way, landing on its feet. It would have a great aim from down there. Only one way to go. It was a long fall, her heels seemed to splinter on impact, but she pushed herself off the ground and rolled to lose the impact's energy.
She didn't look for the monster, and didn't dive into the exit. In the darkness, she would be able to see even less. She wasn't exactly the best aim either, she needed distance and light if she was going to shoot anything.
As she tried to stand, she noticed the distortion in the light from above. Instinctively she flattened against the ground, but the blades still cut across her back. She rolled away from it, farther from the sound of the spear hitting the ground as it missed twice. When it missed the third time, she grabbed the spear and was pulled up as it withdraw its weapon. For a moment it seemed confused, just long enough for her to dart right past it.
It turned right away, but she already had the three seconds she needed to aim. Android wouldn't function without the head, so that was where she aimed. She hit it, but the head was very broad and something fanned out aside of it, maybe elaborate clothing. Whatever she had hit didn't seemed to damage it. It just roared.
Right there, Carly realized she wasn't dealing with an android. Irrationally she thought that maybe she couldn't harm it at all, and before she could shoot again, it charged for her. She spun around and jumped in the nearest canal. The water was stinging cold and the gun in her hand didn't help her to swim. Coupled with her soaking clothing, she was pulled under.
There was a slight steam that carried her along, pushing her against a fence where the water entered the hall. With her one free hand, she pulled out of the water and took a deep breath.
The outline stood where she had jumped in, its head whipping towards her only now. The water was illuminated fairly by the skylight. It had no trouble seeing her before, so why had it not spotted her as she moved in the water?
It didn't see in color. Either it navigated by sound, scent or something else, but in the water it couldn't see her. She dove under again.
· · · · · · ·
Oihana scaled the walls with relative ease; going by collapsed catwalks would take too long. She weighed least, so it was her job to climb and turn any mechanism on. Jormungandr had virtually hijacked the water plant's systems a few days ago, but physically didn't have the option to really use it and it lacked access even for that in most regions. Right now, they were trying to turn on a generator of an abandoned sector, so Jormungandr could use the computer to exert control. Oihana just followed what instructions Frank gave her, for now. Without her mother, she couldn't get any more than a rough feeling in what direction they had to go, so they'd have to rely on Jormungandr.
"What if this section is blank too?" she heard Melanie ask in an effort to drive away the silence.
"It's our best guess," said Mahad said. "The tank may-" Melanie turned on some music in her wristband and started humming along, effectively communicating disinterest in the explanation.
Oihana was in the middle of wrenching with a stuck when Zhib's voice came from all three wristbands, plus Mahad's laptop. Oihana startled and nearly lost her footing, at the same time receiving a flash vision of a similar thing having happened not too long ago, not too far away.
"Jor's gonna reroute some energy, kay? Should be in a minute," the boy's voice said.
"Okay," Oihana whispered. Zhib always had a knack of calling at the wrong times. Frank and him were still up in the car, Frank having been too nervous to join them, and Zhib being just too small and caffeinated.
Oihana finished up and she waited till she heard the machine on, then she climbed down. After the whole operated, she was covered in moss smudges.
Lights flickered on, illuminating the central hall of the water system of this district. Pumps started working and Mahad set his laptop down on a rock, whispering voice commands that the computer obeyed quickly. A map of the entire aquatic network appeared, tunnels and canals turning blue as Jormungandr scanned them. The AI reported that some of the distorters still worked, which might enhance the survival chances of the target, though it made it more difficult to track them.
Oihana was pretty sure the hunter's prey still lived; she had a weapon and was smart. She'd gone into the water, though ...
"Got it. They're most likely in the cleansing facilities, some scanners detected a human passing by and later an unknown entity. The cleansing halls have distorter, Jor can't see inside," Mahad said.
"Oihana?" Melanie asked.
"She's still alive, but she's not okay."
"They are heat dependent, right?" Melanie asked. "What of Jor lowers the temperature?"
"It might slow the hunter down," Oihana said. "But also her. She's cold, I think she's in the water."
"Well, she'll need to get out of that anyway."
"Can't we warm the water, so she can stay in?" Frank asked.
"Eh, we're on a desert planet. Nobody in their right minds installs a system to warm water. There's only a cooling system."
"And then what?"
"He doesn't have a gun, we have some time. This one's more honorable," Oihana said. "If we can get there in time ... do we know anything about their language, Jor?"
"Totally!" Zhib happily said. "Gonna download soon, Mahad."
Mahad nodded. "Good ... so ... let's make contact and negotiate," Mahad said, excitement not half as obvious on his face as he actually felt. Oihana leeched a little off it, it was preferable to Frank's anxiety or Melanie's skeptic caution. Too bad Zhib's next message ruined it.
"Jor says that if the alien has a sufficiently advanced system, it is offline right now. He can't contact it. You just gonna have to go look." Inbetween the child's voice, they heard Frank in the background, muttering something about suicidal people.
"Why would we? They consider us lowlife...why would we take a chance at all?" said Melanie.
"Ah, come on, we've discussed this before, Mel. If it's no so called badblood, nothing can happen when we are unarmed, right? And-"
"Somebody's about to die. Could we go now?" said Oihana, feeling irritation of her own. She turned around and ran.
Mahad sighed. "Always running without waiting. Come on, Mel. Jor, lower the temperature in all unseen areas."
· · · · · · ·
Nra'tex-ne sorely wished for a plasma caster. He had not carried any since his tribe was absolutely not fond of shooting things unless the prey was something where speed was its only strength. They had not expected any such prey here, so he had not come equipped with any ranged weaponry beyond his spear. He sorely regretted that now.
The human had figured out how he saw and was staying below the surface. He had retrieved his mask, previously left to even out the field a little. It helped him nothing. Something was jamming his controls and he couldn't shift to other vision modes.
Well, then this would be more of a challenge, so be it. Irritated, he tossed the mask.
It sometimes surfaced at a random spot to try and shoot him. It clearly could see, but its aim was off. The cold seemed to affect it in a similar way as it did Nra'tex-ne. His own movements turned sluggish, and he could swear the temperature was actually dropping.
It didn't take much longer before a loud splash drew his attention. Apparently the cold was finally too much and the human fled from the water. It was right ahead and turning to fire at him, just the right distance to use his netting gun. He took a small sprint and jumped across the canal.
It shot first.
The laser didn't hit him as much as it his one of the cores of his cloaking, causing an unpleasant jolt across his kin. It off-balanced him just enough to upset his land, when his foot landed on the other end, he stumbled and that second was enough for another clear shot, this one burning off a thin strip of skin in his arm. At the same moment, his stiff muscles got stuck between 'keep balance' and 'clutch injury', causing him to lose that last bit of balance to kept him on the edge. He toppled into the water.
Oh, this was so not going to be mentioned in the stories to his children.
He could not let the freezing water have a chance at him and quickly climbed out again. His cloaking was now entirely malfunctioning. Wonderful, highly advanced technology much?
The human was scrambling up the rubble pile, an easy target. This time he did not hesitate to use the netting gun. His aim was on, and the only reason the human didn't die yet was the embarrassing little fact he had forgotten how to alter the settings. He really should have gotten more acquainted with all this new tech.
· · · · · · ·
What emerged from the water was humanoid, but certainly not human. The monster was yellowish running out to light brown on the outer side of its arms and legs, striped with brown patches, and the edge of a huge, crested head with thick hair coming from it. Its mouth was some wrinkly flaps around four single toothed mandibles.
That was a face that mask could fit on, and all she could do was looking at it. The net didn't leave much of a choice to escape the wristblades coming her way.
Its wires strapped around her limbs and pinned her to the rubble, anchoring itself with hooks and digging her back into the sharp rock.
She set all her strength against the net in an attempt to get her arms free. The material sure wasn't normal rope, it cut like metal into her flesh, but she had no intention of just dying like a paralyzed animal.
The monster approached cautiously at first, but when it noticed she couldn't fire anything, its step increased. When it towered above her, she got the absurd idea to ask what it wanted by killing random people. Nah, just better to shoot it. Casting a glance aside, she noticed the rubble couldn't be too stead. As the monster partially knelt to get a more solid stance and drew the blades back, she braced against a steady rock. The upward motion helped her jerk free her gun arm.
It predicted her movement, her shot missed its ugly face by an inch. A clawed hand grabbed for the gun, but she shot it in the arm this time. The movement had it lose balance again, and it stumbled back. The loosening rocks upset the anchors of the net and Carly could twist aside just before the blades came down.
"Hey, uhm...you there!"
Both her and the monster looked back into the hall.
There by the canal stood a young girl, of all things.
The monster made an almost whiny sound and Carly called, "Get outta here!"
"It's going to be okay! Don't kill her!" the girl called as she started running to a small bridge. In response, the monster stood up and tilted its head as the girl approached them. It kept a hesitant eye on Carly, but didn't try to impale her again. In fact, it sheathed the blades. What the hell?
Not that she wanted the killing but to happen, but this just about topped the absurdity of today.
The girl stopped at the edge of the rubble and the monster jumped down, coming to a halt before her. She was maybe ten or so and absolutely dwarfed by the monster, who growled angrily at her but did not strike.
She finally showed some healthy fear, but only took a step back and looked over at Carly. "Give him your gun, now!"
"Are you crazy?" was all her baffled self could bring out.
At that moment, two more people emerged into the hall. The monster's head whipped towards them and he roared. While the two stopped, Carly started again. She continued kicking the rubble and got her other leg free at the cost of more cuts. As quickly as she could, she slipped from below the net and started climbing out of gut instinct and the hope she might create an opening there.
"Give him your gun! He won't harm you then! Do it!" another someone from further down the hall.
Looked back, she saw the monster hesitate between them and her. Maybe it just didn't know what to do first, but there was an overpowering feeling that they were right.
It seemed so utterly ridiculous, all she had to do was surrender?
Her fingers loosened around her gun and she tossed it down the rubble.
· · · · · · ·
Nra'tex-ne was at total loss with this turn of events. By all means, the Nirevé Tribe code allowed him to execute any witnesses would such witnesses endanger the general safety of the clan and pose the risk of their technology falling in the wrong hands. Especially in a case such as this, with an entire ship crashlanded near a human city.
Yet this was so obviously surrender. Killing a sapient creature that surrendered, acknowledging its weakness, that just did not set well with his idea of how the code of honor worked.
More baffling yet was how these new humans had understood this. The one he had hunted sure needed to be told. Throughout his years of hunting humans, he had never encountered any that seemed so certain in the presence of a yautja, or who could guess what would make him personally cease to attack. Under normal circumstances, he would have left.
A strange, creeping feeling overcame him that yes, these humans were very much aware of the yautja as more than a vague legend of the past.
If they knew he was here and understood what hunters were, this could endanger his clan even more than a random sighting. Certain human factions, he had been told, were aware of the yautja and hunted them in return.
But these were children, not trained warriors.
It really was biting his sense of honor, kill them and keep his people safe from discovery, or leave and save his honor? Was life something worth without real honor?
The taller of the two humans at the center of the hall stepped forward and reached down. Nra'tex-ne didn't realized until it stood straight that it had picked up his mask, now clearly outlined against its warm form.
He snarled a warning, and the human quickly stepped to the edge of the canal and tossed him the helmet. He had trouble seeing it and the stiffness was still there, so he failed to catch it and it clattered somewhere to the left of him ... far to the left. The human had horrible aim, or it was mocking him.
Small steps aside of him caught his attention. The human child ran forward and picked up the helmet, handing it to him. She pointed at it right aside of the eyes, where he knew the scanner hardware to be. How could it even know that?
He placed on the helmet and tried turning on the scanner.
It worked as it should, in all modes.
Not only that, it had stopped getting colder.
Nra'tex-ne got the distinct feeling he wasn't the only one who'd been playing. Since when did the prey have control of the environment on which the hunter pursued? Meidache had been right, the Nirevé Tribe was far behind when it came to technology. Maybe a more tech savvy hunter would have known this; how often had he hunted humans without noticing this kind of thing?
In fact, why was his helmet uploading and downloading?
He wanted to stop it, but was miserably behind the times and had no idea how. There was a first hint of real panic. Ohtremnek had explained him some out cyberspace, whatever it got out of his helmet could be on the other side of the planet by now. These humans were somehow doing this, it had to be. The tallest one carried a flat piece of equipment that emitted heat, probably some sort of computer.
Extending his wrist blades again, he jumped across the canal. The human backed off clumsily and he stepped right after, rumbling deeply.
An absurd sense of danger entered him right then. There was nothing remotely threatening about the cowering human, but something silently screamed that he shouldn't kill it, because it would cause problems.
Nra'tex-ne spun around, but there was nothing to be found in the hall. The laser weapon was still on the floor, and the scanner revealed no new arrivals.
- leave -
The word flashed in bright yautjan letters across his visor.
- silence -
- we silence -
That they couldn't have just learned from his helmet. They really did know about the yautja.
That meant there was no point in killing any of them, who knew how much others were aware of this event?
If they knew yet had come without weapons or any attempt to capture him, despite being able to mess with the temperature to a deliberating degree, perhaps they really meant it. They would remain silent about what they had seen.
Perhaps he really just wanted to believe that because killing any creature that was unworthy did not set well with him, especially if it concerned children. At least one of these three was still not mature.
He was moving aware before he'd really made a conscious decision.
The humans didn't move to follow or say anything else, but when he left the hall, he could hear them breath out in relief.
· · · · · · ·
Carly skeptically looked at her saviors. Two teenagers and a girl of nine or ten. They were subtly situated around the tall black teen boy, apparently their leader. A middle class kid with an interest in technology and science fiction, if the t-shirt print was anything to go by. That laptop wasn't going to close anytime soon.
He took a deep breath and laughed nervously. "I thought he'd attack me there."
"If he wanted that, he'd have done it more efficiently than poking you," the redhead said as she rolled her eyes. She had neatly cut shoulder length hair and fine clothing, Carly knew the class when she saw it. This was someone she'd rob if she had the chance.
"Hey, he was hunting people who hadn't harmed him just before. You never know."
"He wasn't hunting. He was silencing. They'd seen his brother and that could betray them," said the brown girl, who wore clothing randomly thrown and who was too calm and knew too much.
None of them looked like they would normally hang out together, let alone could they possibly be anything like a secret task force experienced in dealing with aliens. They looked downright comical, standing there being all grinning and airy about the fact there were murderous aliens in the city.
"Sure, betray them to the authorities. You'd sooner have those believe in the sewer alligators," the black teen said. He then looked up at Carly. "Hey, you, come down, we can check on your wounds if you want!"
She waited a second longer, still unsure of the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Oh well. She slid down the rubble and grabbed her weapon, clutching it at she stared at the exit.
"I'm fine," she muttered, not looking at them anymore. "So, you geeks obviously knew what that thing was. Enlighten me."
"Come with us first, we have a car upstairs. We'll explain while we treat your wounds."
"I am in no hurry. You can talk here, enjoy the aesthetics, give me a better idea what happens if that monster changes its mind."
"First come with us," he said, then raised his wristband and spoke to it, "Hey, Frank, can you drop Zhib off at your home? It should be between the nearest exit in this area and where you are."
"I don't think so," Carly snapped. "Something turned the water cold, yet this plant has been abandoned for years. You had more help than just the psychic freak over there." She pointed a thumb at the brown girl.
"Jormungandr helped us," said the redhead, frowning. "You may have heard of him.
Carly couldn't help with grin in disbelief. "Like in, that lovely little A.I. System that's been terrorizing cyberspace for decades? Heck yeah, that explains it all. Government can't catch the freaking thing, but it does chores for a bunch of geeks. Off course."
The teens started grinning smugly. "Jormungandr isn't interested in social expectations or status, he picks his friends on a different account."
"Oh really?" She would have said more if not for the content of her stomach coming up. Cold and nerves finally caught up with her and she barely managed to clasp a hand before her mouth. Hunching down, she vomited.
A small hand touched her shoulder. "You should come now," the girl gently said.
"Aliens, physics...why not Jormungandr?" muttered Carly, before shrugging the girl's hand away and wiping her mouth. "Tell your snake buddy that the next time he cools down this place, he should check first whether someone's in the water. Crap, the only reason I get away with moving is that I can't feel my wounds."
"He did that to save you. Cold slows those creatures down," the redhead said. "Speaking of cold, why don't we go up to our warm car?"
Carly stood up. Well, there was only one exit.
She noticed the redhead holding up a wide bracelet around her arm to her for a moment, with a tiny square in it. Fancy equipment there.
"What is your name?" asked the redhead, staring at a larger panel on the inside of her wrist.
"My name is None of Your Business."
"According to the picture of you I just gave to our 'snake buddy', your name is Carly Markens and the last time you've been registered is six years ago. I suppose it is safe to assume you will not go to the authorities about this incident?"
"Authorities? Hell no! I can't even return to my gang. Morons," she said with a dismissive hand wave.
"You cannot go back? Why not?" asked Mahad, actually sounding concerned.
Carly raised an eyebrow. "For geeks you can't figure out much. Let me spell it out : my squad dead. Me not dead. Me no plausible explanation for them dead. Me not have good reputation anyway. Me go back, me in lotsa trouble. Does that compute? "
With that, she marched past them, but tripped when her foot got stuck in one of the mini-canals. She fell on her arms, but quickly pushed herself on her knees when she heard Mahad approach to give her a hand.
"Look, we've got a car. If you won't come along for treatment, can we at least bring you anywhere?"
Carly had to admit she wasn't going anywhere quickly, not like this.
"My granma's place. My troop doesn't know of her. Granpa lost it completely by now and she won't tell."
Mahad nodded, then his wristband beeped. Carly noted they all had one of these things.
"You don't have a living grandmother," Mahad said suspiciously.
"Not my blood grandma, I'm from a tube ..." Now she was turned to face them, she saw she had left a trail of blood. Dammit. "Does that offer to help me with my wounds still count?"
· · · · · · ·
"Something alerts the dogs, we find all scouts dead save for Carly. Sounds like someone was spying, got smelled, and had the fortune to have an ally amongst the scouts." Connor's voice was cold and Jarrod could clearly hear the threat in it. Connor did not like it when anyone messed with his people.
"Carly can't use bladed weapons like that," was all Jarrod said.
"Someone else might. Multiple someone elses. We'll examine the corpses to see what exactly happened. Jarrod, I can't say anything to where your allegiance lies, but I hope we find out soon. If you meet your cousin anywhere, bring her here."
Those words held the silent promise that Connor did give Carly the benefit of doubt, in whatever slight way. He reached for his phone and turned it open.
There was one new message.
· · · · · · ·