Hunter and Hunted
Chapter Fourteen
They were both climbing up ladders when they noticed that more and more lights were on, so Rick decided to risk it and went over to the center transit pod and found that it was working. It beat continuing to climb ladders so they took it.
It was as they traveled that they noticed that the gravity was slowly returning. Their feet were actually on the ground by the time it had stopped.
Rick stepped out to find Johanna on her knees in front of a crying Alexis. "PUMPKIN!" His prayers had been answered. He wasted no time in rushing over to her and wrapping his arms around her.
All three Becketts watched as two souls that couldn't touch and couldn't be touched each did their best to hug each other. All three heard a lot of sniffling as they both cried. Rick finally pulled back and looked at her. "You're sure you're all right?" They'd both whispered to each other about how much they loved the other.
"It was scary, Dad, everything went black. There was nothing!" Alexis wiped away her tears that didn't actually exist as did Rick whose tears were real. "Can we not do that again?" She didn't want to have to go through that again, ever.
"Definitely. No more firing the McKenzie Beam. We do, however, need to figure out what went wrong." It should have worked. Alexis had done any number of simulations and hadn't said anything about them going black.
Alexis had been with him about wanting a weapon. It was just that now that they had it, she wasn't a fan of it any longer. But he was right. If firing the weapon had done this, what else could do this?
"You're sure you're all right?" Kate stepped up next to Rick and looked Alexis over who, save for a lot of tears, didn't look any different.
"She popped into existence and was crying. She only got better after she found you," Johanna explained. She had tried to hug her but had found that that was impossible.
"I'm so sorry, pumpkin." This was all his fault. He had gotten them this ship. Had designs for this weapon and had designs for shield emitters. Now he wasn't sure if all of this wasn't his biggest mistake yet.
"It was a good idea, Dad, it's just too big for us." Alexis meant the McKenzie Beam.
"Yeah." He had almost killed her with his grand plans. Rick went back to hugging her even if he couldn't feel anything.
Kate wiped at her tears as she heard her mother sniffle and turned to see her parents softly crying. These two had managed to touch all of their hearts. She was glad they had found them.
"The artificial gravity is back on." Rick comments about the obvious.
Rick pulled away and saw tears on his daughter's face. "I think I have a solution to our problem…maybe." He had only just thought of it.
Alexis wasn't sure she wanted to hear his idea. She liked this ship, only this ship really was just a private yacht, not a military vessel.
"Hear me out." Rick stood up and started pacing in a tight circle. "These shield emitters are each going to come with their own series of anti-ion generators, little ones similar to the ones we now have, right?" He stopped to look at Alexis who just nodded.
"What if we come up with a way to combine all of our power? All of our power goes to the shield emitters, provided they can handle the increase and not just blow up on us. Or send all of our power to the McKenzie Beam." Rick thought that might solve the problem. They were lacking in overall power so this just might work.
"If I follow you, we could either shoot someone or prevent them from shooting us. Not both." Kate thought she was keeping up.
"There are more powerful power generators than ours." Rick proceeded to argue for his idea. "It's just that we would be in a ship dock for months trying to change out for a bigger one, and that's IF it would even fit."
"Why didn't that guy who installed it say something?" Johanna was starting to get mad at him. He might be the cause of this, not Rick.
Rick shrugged. "He sold it and installed it as part of our deal. I wanted it and he provided it." If he'd known his ship's power was far too weak for this thing, Rick would've liked him to have said something. Still in his mind, this was all his fault.
"Gets his money and keeps his mouth shut!" Kate was way past mad at him. "And that jerk thought I was going to have sex with him. ARGH!" She punched the air. She started to wonder if he would be so full of himself if she cut his cock off for him.
"What do we do next?" Jim queried, wishing he had his gun and that guy was standing right there. He was almost convinced that he would shoot him for this.
Alexis answered his question. "We sit here. Power is only at 28% and slowly rising. It's going to take hours until we have enough power to jump anywhere or even move, really." They were still hurting.
"Do you two know how to play Poker?" They needed something to do to pass the time.
"Katie!?" Just when had her daughter learned Poker?
"I know lots of card games, Mom. I suppose you want us to play Gin, or maybe Hearts." She was betting these two didn't so she could take them to the cleaners.
Her mother glared at her. "Fine, we'll play Hearts. I'll go get the cards." Kate worked on a way to get Rick to play one-on-one Strip Poker with her. He would be naked in no time, she was sure of it.
+x+ [-O-] +x+
The card game had actually turned out to be fun. Rick had never played before so Kate had done all she could to try and get him to bet correctly. She'd used every word she could think of that had a second meaning to it. All you had to do was ignore the present circumstances. It had her parents glaring at her for her obvious bending of the rules.
Then there had been Alexis. Since she couldn't actually hold the cards they played without her. That didn't mean she wasn't involved, though. "Stand over there, young lady." Johanna had had enough of Alexis spying on her cards.
"I haven't said a word. …I promise." Alexis held up her hand and then mimicked doing what Kate showed her. She crossed her heart with her hand.
"You're using hand signals or something. Just stand behind your father and don't move." Johanna had glared at Alexis through most of the last game. Still she never caught on that Alexis never actually had to move to see everyone's cards. Now getting all this information to her dad without Eagle Eye Johanna seeing her do it was another matter.
"What's our power up to now?" Rick sat back and watched as Kate collected all of the cards, putting them back in their box.
"It's up to 82%, more than enough for a jump. I just need to know where," Alexis replied. She was happy that they now had power and she didn't have to go back into the black again. That had been down right scary.
"Shield emitters and the power generators that go with them. Braynard Station, if you please," Rick asked his beloved daughter. "Let's find out what the want for them so we can go get it. You three are going to love this." He knew something they didn't.
+x+ [-O-] +x+
It only took a moment, though both Alexis and Rick noticed a dip in their overall power output. "We may need to have this looked at," he whispered and watched Alexis nod slightly. Yes, each jump used up power, but it wasn't supposed to be this apparent. Something wasn't working correctly.
"And here we are." Rick pointed to the windows while the Becketts moved to look.
"What's that?" Johanna turned to look at Rick when she asked her question and then turned back to look at it again.
"It kind of looks like a giant spider web in space," Jim commented; it actually glistened so they could see the innumerable lines that formed it.
"Rick!?" Just looking at it made Kate shudder. She hated spiders and had shrieked more than once when caught off guard by seeing one. It usually ended with her stomping her foot on the thing, squishing it flat.
"Pretty amazing, isn't it!" Rick saw the beauty of it. "Each tube is hollow and the walls are so thin you can actually see through it, yet it's very strong. Connected like this, the entire structure is incredibly strong." He joined them to gaze at it.
"I'm not going, Dad," Alexis said firmly. She hated spiders. Just being this close made her skin crawl.
"Oh, don't be such a baby. They can't even touch you." Alexis was a hologram after all.
"I'm still not going." Alexis retreated into her computer and disappeared.
"Coward," Rick called after her. "Do you three want to join me? It's a sight you may never see again. A once in a lifetime opportunity." Rick played it up since he really did want to see it one last time.
"Kate?" He wondered what it would take to convince her to come with him. Kate looked at him like he had lost his mind. He had cracked and gone off the deep end.
Rick dangled some bait to get her to come. "You wanted a suit just like mine. These people are the best. You might even get to watch them make it right in front of you. Provided we can afford it." He had no idea what they would want for it or the shield emitters. "These people make the best stuff."
Kate opened her eyes wide. "A power suit just like yours? Maybe even better?" She looked out at the spider web again and swallowed hard. "Are they going to eat me?" Spiders, after all, cocooned what they caught and then sucked it dry, killing whatever was inside.
"That depends. If you manage to insult their queen then you're lunch." Save for that Rick had no fears. He decided to push her a little and began walking toward the transit pod. "You coming, Kate?" He got into the pod and waited a moment.
"I love you, both of you," Kate reminded her parents and ran to join Rick.
"This better not be a mistake," Kate whispered to herself on the ride down and heard Rick chuckle softly.
Rick didn't bother with his suit. Besides it would only insult them. He was actually grinning because Kate had latched onto his back to hide behind him as they walked through the tube to reach the airlock so they could enter.
Kate poked her head out from behind him and looked at the door. It was see-through and she could see what was on the other side. "OH, SHIT!" She held onto Rick a little tighter and pressed her head into his back. If they didn't see her they wouldn't eat her.
She heard the door slide open with a soft hiss. That was followed by clacking sounds, like bone against bone or something. This was followed by a mechanical-sounding voice. "Richard Castle. You got a new ship." They hadn't seen one like it so didn't know who was coming.
"Hi, Gina." Rick was all smiles. "Like it? I got it cheap. It's a little used, but it's big and plush inside. I'll give you a tour." He was more than willing to show it off.
"How's your husband? What's his name." Rick had forgotten.
"Josh did his duty and provided what I needed after our children were born. I do miss him, though," Gina sighed. "…What do you have attached to your back? Have you picked up a parasite?" She would arrange to have it removed for him – for a small price.
Rick spun a little, pried Kate off of him, and presented her to Gina. "Gina, this is Kate. Kate this is one of my best friends, Gina. Kate is my mate and she's a little shy."
"Mate?" Kate squeaked and turned to look at Rick.
"Say hi, before she eats you," Rick whispered softly to her.
Hearing that had Kate spinning back to look at the massive spider that was standing in front of her. "Mate, yes… Rick is my mate. It's, it's a pleasure to meet you." Kate began to reach out her hand to shake and quickly snatched it back.
"She's as ugly as you are, maybe even more so. I'm sure you're perfect for each other." Rick's mate didn't look like she had any meat on her at all. She barely rated even being a snack.
Gina turned a little. "You can go." Gina didn't fear either of them. Rick and especially Kate watched as three other spiders they hadn't seen scurry away quickly.
"Our Queen will want to see you." Gina started walking and felt Rick and Kate follow closely behind her. It was a spider web after all. Everyone felt everything inside it. "So what brings you to our humble home? Zombies, I'm guessing." Word had gotten around, not that she nor her people feared them.
"In a manner of speaking. I want to barter for three of your best shield emitters with separate anti-ion generators, have them installed and interconnected with my main ship's power as well as a combat suit for Kate."
That stopped Gina in her tracks. "You must have gotten rich since last time I saw you" She was impressed. "I am sorry to hear about your child. That was a sad day." Gina knew exactly where Alexis was now located. To her and her people being trapped in a computer was worse than death.
Rick defended both his daughter and his actions. "Alexis has learned to adapt." When Gina started walking again, and so not to piss her off, he asked, "How is Queen Evelyn? Which husband is she on now?"
Gina smiled internally. This ugly human knew them well. "Our Queen is on her eighth husband. She will be laying eggs soon." It also meant the workers would be busy expanding their station to hold all the young.
"Eighth?" Kate whispered into Rick's back since she was plastered up against his back yet again as they walked.
"The Queen selects a male to be her husband and effectively get her pregnant. Once she finishes laying her eggs she eats him to regain her strength, then repeats the process for as long as she is queen," Rick explained as they walked.
"Eww, gross!" It sounded disgusting to her. Gina was just about ready to turn on Kate for being so disgusting herself. "Maybe I should eat you after our first child," Kate teased Rick which had Gina snorting out a laugh. Perhaps his mate wasn't all that bad.
Kate missed seeing most of it since she had her head buried in Rick's back. However, the hair on her entire body was standing on end since she just knew there were spiders surrounding her. She could almost feel them crawling all over her.
"Wait here." Gina went through an opening. It was enough that Kate twisted her head around to see where she was going. What she saw was spiders. Spiders, followed by more spiders, accompanied by yet more spiders.
Kate tightened her hold on him. "Rick," she breathed in a trembling voice.
"Relax, you're about to meet their queen. Not everyone gets to see her. Especially outsiders like us." He'd only seen her once and hadn't known what a privilege it was at the time.
Kate groaned in response.
Gina came back. "Follow me." And waited until both of them started walking.
To Rick it looked the same as ever. It was large, open, and filled with spiders. The walls, ceiling, and even floor glistened. He still didn't understand how the place was lit, but there was light everywhere. Now it had him wondering what they used for power. "It's beautiful." It wasn't to his taste, but for a short visit it was amazing. It was enough that it had Kate turning her head to look. Right up until all she saw was spiders. The sight had her burying her head back into Rick.
"Your Majesty." Rick bowed just a touch and showed her that his hands were empty. He reached and used his strength to bring Kate around to stand next to him. "Greet her as Your Majesty. …Or end up a snack." He whispered the latter into her ear very softly.
Kate whimpered since the sight of the spider in front of her was way beyond intimidating. "Your Majesty," Kate managed to get out softly and then curtsied a little.
"Show her that your hands are empty, that you're not a threat," Rick whispered to her. That had Kate raising her hands in front of her. "This is my mate, Kate. This is her very first visit." And likely her last, Rick added to himself.
Kate whimpered a little louder as the Queen quickly strode right for them. This was it, she was going to die inside some spider's stomach. Kate closed her eyes and missed most of it. Then she cracked one eye open and saw legs brushing over her and Rick. She slammed them closed again.
"Have you put on weight, Richard Castle?" A new voice Kate hadn't heard before spoke, though it still sounded mechanical to her after hearing a lot of clacking.
Rick put his hand on his stomach. "It has been a few years, Your Majesty. I may have gained a couple of pounds." He vowed to add a weight room to his ship so he could lose those same pounds.
"It looks good on you." He almost looked good enough to eat now. "Do you not feed your mate?" His mate, though, was nothing but skin and bones.
Kate opened her eyes. "I eat!" She saw just how close the spider was and began shaking from head to toe, though she kept her eyes open this time.
"Have you provided her with children yet?" As far as the queen was concerned, getting a female pregnant was his only use.
"We're working on it, Your Majesty. It's not that easy for our kind. It takes some time. But I'm sure she will eventually." Rick was finally starting to have some fun but it was at Kate's expense.
"Make sure you gain some weight, Richard Castle, or your children will starve and your mate will die." She retreated back to her space that was above everyone else. It was time to get down to business. "What brings you here?"
"We come to barter. We require shield emitters with anti-ion generators. Three of them, installed and interconnected with our main power source. My mate here wants a battle suit so she can fight Zombies. We would like to know what you want for that."
Rick just stood there and waited, however, Kate was starting to worry since she wasn't talking. Plus being here was really getting to her. She could feel sweat beading on her upper lip and rolling down her spine.
The Spider Queen didn't know what she wanted in return, though. Not many aliens dared come to them to ask for anything. "Return tomorrow and you shall have my answer." She needed time to think and consult with her advisors.
"Of course, Your Majesty. We will both be back at this same time tomorrow. Thank you for considering our request. We look forward to your reply." Rick bowed a little more and showed her his hands. "Kate!" Rick whispered at her. Kate quickly bowed even deeper, holding out her hands. She was ready to run when Rick started walking backwards a number of steps before turning around.
Kate found Gina walking with them. "What do you think, Gina?" Rick knew her better than any of the others. Asking her wasn't violating any of their laws.
Gina was silent for a time as they walked. "I'm not one of her advisors, but if I was, I would ask for food. Zombies do not scare us, however, they're depleting our pool of food." They weren't hurting yet, but they were starting to feel the pinch.
"My mate and I will discuss it and come up with plans on how to get what you need. Thanks, Gina, you're a good friend."
"Until tomorrow, Richard Castle and his mate." Gina watched them until they were back in their ship and then webbed the opening closed so they couldn't sneak back in. It wasn't that she didn't trust Rick, it was just that she didn't want to get into trouble or the Queen would eat her.