Chapter Five: Weighty Decisions
Courtney plodded along the street, not seeing the faces in the crowd around her. Where her day had started with pent up energy, it ended with her feeling spent. She was tired, driving a tractor in the heat had taken her spirit. Her mind was working overtime on what Paul might have in mind for the alien she had spared.
She dodged a few people and made for the entrance of the subway. She descended heavily into the station, marveling in the back of her mind at the worn marble steps that had been new only seven years ago. The landing was positively noxious, smelling of urine, old beer, and the sweat of hundreds of bodies. This place fit right in with her mood, down right depressing.
The landing was empty, as it usually was this time of night, which was good and bad, the people wandering around this time of night were not exactly the types you wanted to run into. Courtney leaned on a nearby pillar, and waited impatiently for the next train. The sooner she got a shower the better she would feel. She tried to shut out the noise from the street above, which echoed off the subterranean walls making it nearly unbearable.
Gui'Yata made his way toward the tunnel's entrance. He had heard the human enter the station, and peering out from his hiding place, he sized up the possibilities.
One human, standing against a pillar, but there was something...the glow that filled his vision. He slumped disappointed, it was the female Courtney. The metal of the band she wore was unique in the way it registered in Soua vision. It was not that it generated heat, it was just a property of the metal that made it register as a bright yellow. They were sometimes used to mark special quarry, or in this case, to identify one to be spared from the hunt. The purpose of the marker was differentiated by where the marker was worn. Special prey was tagged in the neck.
He sank back into the shadows, frustrated, he had been hoping for some sport. But Yanah was her protector, and it protected her from the hunt. Shortly he heard more voices, approaching from the levels above. He slinked back toward the light of the subway.
Courtney looked up, not caring, at the group of kids coming onto the landing, as long as they left her alone...
The group was talking excitedly, if rudely, but fell into silence when they noticed the good-looking woman standing by herself. Their leader swaggered up to Courtney, looking her over. His buddies giggling like schoolgirls in the background.
"Hey! Hey! Get a load of this!" He smirked, elbowing his nearest companion, "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this? Alone? Don'cha know the subway ain't safe?" He ran a hand suggestively up her arm. She tried not to shiver, looking contemptuous, disinterested.
"Well...why don't we, UH...just escort her home?" his buddy said, a malicious smile on his face.
"Yeah, our home!" Another crowed.
"Yeah," The leader said flicking a switchblade, "Why don't we?"
He rushed Courtney, knocking her to the floor, and straddled her prone body, a gargoyle's smile twisting his face.
Courtney struggled, hitting, kicking, anything in an attempt to get out of his grip, she tried to use her street fighting skills, but was sorely out of practice. Her struggles made the boy angry, and he began to beat her. She held back her screams, not about to give him any more satisfaction.
Gui'Yata growled, appalled at the scene before him. Why were humans so bent on hurting each other? He watched as the punk put the knife to Courtney's throat, to put a stop to her struggles. Gui'Yata knew he was going to have to move quickly before they actually hurt her.
Normally he would not have cared, but Yanah bound him to keep her out of danger. But it went beyond duty, he felt a sort of affection for her, his brave little savior. The only human to face him in all his fury and not back away. It was strange for a Soua to feel that way, but he did not dwell on it as he prepared to help her.
He silently released his raspa from its storage. Then shifted it to his left hand, and protracted the blades of the sraha. This was going to have to be excellent timing. There was no room for carelessness, he had no cloak to hide his presence. Missing could mean Courtney's death, and that was unforgivable.
With lightning speed he burst from the shadows. In a blur he slashed the throat of the man straddling Courtney, and with the remaining momentum impaled two of the closest hoods, all before he was ever seen. Shock value had its advantage.
Then he was in the thick of the group, and Gui'Yata was at his best infighting. He quickly dispatched two more, using the close quarters to good advantage.
Another turned and ran, frightened by the ferocity of the creature's attack, but did not get far, Gui'Yata let the raspa fly. It accelerated to 120mph before it struck, and both it and the body were carried into the far wall.
Gui'yata found himself relishing the sport, becoming caught up in his blood lust.
Courtney painfully pushed herself off the ground, she was going to be black and blue for quite a while. She became aware slowly of the clamor and tried to focus on what was happening. She looked next to her and jumped, the punk who had beat her lay there lifeless, blood creating a bright spot on the drab cement.
She wondered a moment about what had just happened, then looked up at the knot of bodies just a few feet away from her. The creature stood head and shoulders above those he was fighting. "Gui'!" she exclaimed, but he did not hear her. He had saved her life, solidifying her next decision, "This is your chance," she thought, "You've got to get him to stop the hunt, before they catch up with him. But...How?"
She looked around, noticing a gun on the ground next to one of the lifeless men. She picked it up and inserted herself between the few remaining gang members and the enraged alien.
In his frenzy, Gui'Yata did not recognize the diminutive woman pointing a pistol at him, as the woman he had just saved. She aimed without flinching, and Gui'Yata swung for her, but the rings glow cut through his blood lust and snapped him back. He realized that it was Courtney, and took great pains to avert the knives arch. The knives clanged ominously off the wall, leaving a two inch deep scar. Courtney tried not to jump at the sound, breathing a sigh of relief that he had missed.
Gui'Yata stood to his full height, as Courtney lowered the gun.
Someone yelled from behind, "Are you crazy? He'll kill you!" and "Kill it", these the same people who had no compassion for her plight.
She stepped closer to the creature, "Gui'Yata," She said quietly, "you must stop, there are people after you! Your trophy room is full, you have no more need to hunt." there was a steady rumble coming from the alien.
There was a sense of urgency in her tone, as if there was going to be trouble. Gui'Yata sheathed his claws, to the shock of the cringing men behind Courtney. He was frustrated, despite the nervous tone of her voice. He was not at all appreciative of this interruption of his hunt.
In a swift movement, he grabbed Courtney by the collar. Lifting her up to his eye level, level with that disconcerting mask. The people behind the two screamed, and Courtney's eyes were wide with terror.
"Courtney," He growled quietly, almost hissing, "You're crazy."
He set her down gently and turned away. "Was that a 'yes' or 'no'?" she asked loudly, giving release to her anxiety. He retrieved the raspa and kicked the impaled corpse in disgust as it fell to the floor. He leaned down grabbing the lifeless gang leader by the ankle, and dragged him off into the darkness of the tunnel. He was not giving up this kill, his last trophy.
Paul peered down from the top of the stairwell, watching the Predator retreat into darkness. He had followed the girl from the demolition site on a hunch, and it seemed it had paid off. When he was sure that he could move unnoticed, he slipped past the shocked teens and Courtney.
Courtney shuddered, trying to calm her heaving stomach. She was not sure whether it was the thought of what he did to those he chose as trophies or for the fact that, for a split second, she thought that Gui'Yata would actually kill her. She had been so sure in the knowledge that he had not hurt her before. For a moment, seeming suspended in time, she had thought she had guessed wrong. She was so caught up in her emotions, Courtney did not notice the shadow that crept by her, headed the same direction as the predator.
She turned and glanced at the huddling teens that had once been a gang. They stared at her with a mix of confusion and awe.
She shrugged, "My bodyguard." she stated as she turned and left the subway. She had decided she would walk home, suddenly taking the subway was much less appealing than it had been. She was not to get far, however.
Paul crept up on the creature, his stomach knotted with excitement and fear. This is what he had been trained for, but he could not help feeling small and under powered against the creature. He paused a moment, letting the Predator get a little further ahead with its prize. No use in letting him within arms reach able to reach him. Paul raised the gun and fired, the dart hit its intended target, the leg just above the knee. The Predator spun screaming in rage, a sound made worse by the echo of the tunnel. The noise stopped and the creature pulled the dart out of his leg, as Paul shook out his ringing ears. The creature started toward him. Pauls eyes went wide in fear, what had he done? He fired again and again, hitting the creature twice in the chest and missing the third shot. As the tranquilizer started to take effect, the creature sank to his knees. It reached toward him, sharp claws outstretched, but seemed to change its mind, twisting to face the other direction, attempting to escape the human and his gun.
As Courtney topped the stairs she heard the shot, it was flat, like a shotgun. She bound back down the stairs, fearing the worst. She ran past the teens that in their panic tripped over each other trying to get out of the station. She heard a faint and familiar roar and three more shots reach her from the darkness, hastening her trip.
Gui'Yata crawled away from the human, every inch of his body on fire. He had let his frustration blind him, he had not heard the human come up behind him, did not even know he was there until the dart was in his leg. He felt sluggish, a tranquilizer, he growled feeling betrayed. He turned back toward the man, who was grinning with assumed victory. Paul raised the gun again.
"Paul!!", Courtney yelled her filched gun trained unwavering on him, "Get away from him." Gui'Yata looked sluggishly at her, then continued to crawl away, while their attention was elsewhere.
Paul, spinning around, laughed disbelieving, "You? Your protecting that...that thing?" he paused, sneering with black humor, "I suppose it fits though. You're one of those who never could resist an animal in pain."
Courtney wanted to refute his comment but firmly bit it back. "Back away from him!"
"He's a killer Court', born, bred, and raised for the hunt. It's killed over twenty people, for trophies!" he went on trying to distract her.
"From the looks of the people he's taken I wouldn't say it's a bad thing." She squinted at him, she wanted to confirm her suspicions, "You seem to know a lot about this. Too much for a construction worker. You are after him aren't you? I knew there was someone after him!"
"You know, these creatures have a spectacular technology. This is the third try for us, over seventeen years of research. I'm not going to let some little piss-ant assistant manager of a demolition team stop me this time. We let Harrigan get in the way last time, it cost us six men and the alien. You've been in my way since this started, taking my prize away just after I had pinned him down. If it hadn't been for you, I'd have had him at the beginning. A lot of lives could have been spared. He would have been pliant, injured as he was. He would have sooner or later helped us. Now I've got him, and I mean to keep him. We're going to start a whole new science revolution." he paused squinting at her, "Do you know what we could do with some of this stuff?"
"Yeah, do more of what we're doing now...commit Genocide. You don't give a shit about those people he killed, as far as your concerned that makes the police's job easier, besides you aren't really so vain as to believe he'll cooperate! So why take him alive?"
She saw the fury in Paul melt away his preachers veneer. He brought the gun to bear on her, and she just barely had time to pull the trigger. Paul's body lurched back several feet, tumbling into a pile of dust, Courtney could not tell for sure, but he looked as if he was dead. She was not about to get near him.
Courtney stashed the gun in her belt, shuddered and moved to Gui'Yata's side. Somehow he had made it to, and propped himself up against the far wall. His movements were sluggish, feeble. The tranquilizer must have been powerful, she brushed away the darts that were still stuck in his skin. He was trying to remove his mask, but was too lethargic to get the hoses loose. Courtney finished disconnecting the lines and carefully lifted the scarred mask from his face.
He stared at her through half closed lids, that tranquilizer...Damn Paul, those shots were going to attract attention. She had to get him out of here, but how? She stood pacing the floor trying to think of a solution. She did not have a crane at her disposal this time, and she sure could not enlist any help. Frustrated, she gave up, she went to sit down next to the drowsy alien, hoping that he would recover enough to leave on his own, when she was pushed from behind. She fell hard, she recovered trying to come up with the gun, but it was gone.
She gaped, Paul, he was still alive. His left arm hung limply at his side, a gaping hole where his shoulder had been. She never said she was a crack shot. He had her gun, pointing it at Gui'Yata. He shot the motionless creature once, then twice.
"NO!!" Courtney screamed, but Paul ignored her.
"Gotta make sure," he raved, his glazed eyes burning with fanaticism, "We need him...yes, we need him"
In a quick motion Courtney rushed Paul, trying to get the gun away from him. Gui'Yata winced as he heard the shot, and watched as Courtney slowly sank to the ground. Her surprise was evident even in Gui'Yatas vision.
The man, Paul had a crazed grin on his face as he turned back toward the alien and began to empty the rounds into its chest. When the clip was spent Paul cautiously walked to where the still alien lay to make sure it was dead.
Gui'Yata was in pain. The tranquilizer kept it dull, but it was making it harder to concentrate. He made sure to lie very still, even as he felt the bullets rip into him. He wanted this human to think him dead, because he wanted him close. The human was going to pay with his life, for tonight's events.
Paul played right into it, leaning over Gui'Yatas prone form. Gui'Yata felt the mans breath, and moving more swiftly than he thought he could, grabbed Paul by the lapel, pulling him even closer to his face. In his fright Paul dropped the weapon, falling to his knees.
"You are one hell of a pain in the ass!" Gui'Yata stated, commanding the Sraha blades extended.
Paul screamed as the super sharp blades pierced his chest, and came out behind the collarbone. The knives cut into his cheeks, holding his head so he was forced to look at the enraged face of the alien. Gui'Yata yanked quickly growling satisfaction as both of the bones splintered with a loud crack.
He let Paul go who attempted to regain his feet. He instead lost his footing, spun on his heels, and landed across the already bloody torso of the predator.
Gui'Yata grabbed a handful of the humans hair and yanked his head back, looking down into frightened eyes.
"Good-bye!" Gui'Yata said with finality, laying Pauls exposed throat open, listening to him gurgle, as the blood filled his lungs.
He pushed the bloody body away from him, so disgusted that he did not even want the trophy. Courtney had been right, this hunt had gone on too long, his trophy room was full, and it was time to leave. Leave before he was no longer able too.
He looked groggily over to where Courtney lay, she was very still, and her body temperature was off. Then memory came back, the man had shot her. He berated himself for not realizing it right off.
With a grunt, Gui'Yata pushed himself off the ground. Will power and the solid support of the subway wall were the only things that kept Gui'Yata from falling over. He was groggy still, his head was clearing, but slowly, so slowly. The tranquilizer had been strong, but seemed to have no lasting effect on his metabolism.
Gui'Yata stumbled over to Courtney, clumsily kneeling beside her. Gently he rolled her over, she was still alive, her body temperature told him that, but the color was cooler than it should be. With the exception of the area around the wound. Pauls shot had caught her in the hip, and the temperature around it was brilliant red. The bone was shattered, he was sure. Gently he touched the flesh, it was very hot, and it brought a moan of pain from the woman.
She stirred, and started bolt upright, screaming at the agony in her hip. Gui'Yata gently pushed her down. Her fever-glazed eyes looked at him. She reached out and touched his chest, he jumped, as light as it was, it hurt.
"Y...You're bleeding again." she whispered. He encircled her hand in his.
"OK" he said quietly but firmly. He lay her hand on her chest, his gaze lingering on the band still on her finger. His promise of Yanah, some Yaner he was, not even able to protect her from her own. He felt helpless, for this was something that he was not knowlegable about. He pushed himself up, and went to retrieve the mask that still lay against the wall. He fought down a sudden racking cough, and spit the blood he found in his throat. He was bad, he thought as he wiped away the blood that had splashed on the inside of his mask, worse than he wished to admit. One of the slugs had found its way to a lung. Slowly he hooked the mask up to his face, regretting what he must do, but unable to think of any other course of action.
He would have to take her to Quarta, because Courtney was in shock, and she would die otherwise. Human doctors could not help her in time. His worry was how the others would react to his decision, whether they would allow him to help her. They did not take too kindly to Soua who took in hurt animals. Humans were animals.
He leaned down and slipped his hands under her body and gently lifted. She grimaced as her weight shifted.
"God Gui', it hurts!" She stated in a ragged whisper.
He looked down into her pain clouded eyes, "I know", was his reply. He was in pain himself, but could not let that stop him. The trip to the ship was not going to be easy for either of them.
He walked on through the darkness of the tunnel, this particular tunnel led to a place near Quarta, near enough to get them out of the city at least, and would cloak his route.
The trip seemed to take an unreasonable amount of time. Courtney faded in and out of consciousness, and her body temperature was getting steadily cooler. It goaded Gui'Yata into an unreasonable speed for his condition and he stumbled several times, almost dropping the precious cargo in his arms. When he finally came to the clearing he was impatient to get access to the med-facilities, before he could no longer make himself move. The Quarta materialized and opened a hatch to welcome him back. He rushed up the ramp, met halfway by the Quona and Koratan, their expressions clearly relaying their confusion. He stopped abruptly before them, asking brusquely to pass, too much in pain to bother with pleasantries. They did not move and Gui'Yata pushed past them, rushing to the soyara. He set her gently down inside the soyan, which immediately set to analyzing the humans make up. It was a medical pod, designed for use by many different forms of life. As was the Quarta, and its race.
Life forms such as Quarta did not originally belong to the Soua, nor were they the only race utilizing and being utilized by the large space going creatures. Quartas kind lived a symbiotic life with adopted races, which were allowed to use it as a craft, and home. In return they processed waste materials, as sustenance, they also enjoyed the companionship of other races, as well as making their own studies of the race. None knew the standard by which a race was chosen by the Taya, but they had been the flagships of the Soua for hundreds of years. Yet there were only four of them in the Soua's considerable fleet. They were able to create atmospheres, temperature, anything that made its adopted race comfortable. It would even go so far as to change its outer form, for either practicality or just for looks. They lived a millennium, Quarta alone had seen hundreds of generations of Soua come and go.
"You should not have brought her here!" her voice boomed inside his head. He flinched slightly as he opened his reception to her.
"I know this...", he said slowly, distantly, as if it did not matter what was thought of his action. In truth it mattered very little that he had broken taboo.
"You do not understand!" she emphasized, reading that thought, "The atmosphere here will poison her!"
He looked up at her nearest receptor startled, "But... you must do something! I cannot take her back, she would die before I return her... Do something!"
There was a pregnant silence and Gui'Yata could feel Quarta's soft mind touch, as she searched for a reason... any reason to constitute such a strong reaction to this human. Gui'Yata did nothing to resist, laying his mind open for her entry.
Soua as a people had a heightened sense of mental telepathy. Some able to receive only simple messages or warnings but unable to actively send messages or search out thoughts. At the other end of the spectrum, were those like Guy'Yata who could carry whole conversations without ever uttering a sound. He could speak both with the ship, and those of his kind who were near or surpassing his talent. A majority of the Soua floated in between those extremes, able to understand mental instructions of very complicated natures, but unable to hold a conversation wholly on the mental level.
Those with the highest ability were also the most well defended in thought and were able to hide what they wished from casual mind scans. A deep probe would reveal most but not all of what a Soua would hide. Those were reserved only for those suspected of wrongdoing.
Gui'Yata knew of several Soua who were of equal or greater talent than he, and he knew full well what a mind shield felt like, especially from his sibling. Korotan, since his Taurana, had been as guarded in thought as he had been in action.
"I see..." she hissed out in his mind, "I will do what I can." she felt his soul brighten, "But do not get your hopes up. Her injury is grave, and her physiology is new to me. I cannot be certain that my diagnosis will be accurate."
Gui'Yata watched as a tentacle slithered out of the wall nearest the young human, and made a small incision at the base of her throat. Another tendril inserted a small disc where the incision had been made, and sealed it in one motion.
"What is that?" he questioned ignorantly.
"It will filter the air of what is poisonous to her. The very gas which allows your kind to live."
As the time went on, Gui'Yata watched the tentacles slide over Courtney's gaping wound, in tired silence. He realized that it would not be long before he would be in need of a soyan. He had lost too much blood and expended too much of his remaining energy to recover on his own. He heard his brother slip into the room behind him, his motion and smell identified him. He turned slowly to face his sibling. Koratan looked disdainfully past his brother at the skinny little human female. He asked Gui'Yata if he was collecting pets now. If so he had picked an ill looking specimen. Gui'Yata chose to ignore him, turning back to the soyan, Koratan was trying to goad him into a confrontation. He vaguely wondered why.
Koratan crossed his arms leaning against the near wall. He told Gui'Yata that he would be doing it a favor to let it die. Gui'Yata leaned heavily on the soyan, anchoring himself, lest he do something rash. He heard the knives of Koratans sraha extend, as he commented that he would kill it himself, to put it out of its misery. Before Koratan knew what happened, he was pinned against the wall, his own sraha poised at his neck. A look of total rage crossed over Gui'Yatas face, warning his brother against such an act, before letting Koratan out of his grip.
Koratan watched in shocked silence as Gui'Yata returned to staring at the soyan's work. He slipped back out the door.
Gui'Yata sighed as the door shut, a throaty clicking sound, slumping to the ground next to the Pod. He just wanted to rest.
