Auribus teneo lupum
It could taste the acidic mist of spilled kainde amedha blood in the back of its throat before it reached the doorway, and braced itself ready to engage in the mortal combat that was inevitable should the two species meet. A quiet electronic whine sounded as the weapon mounted on the left shoulder of the hunter's armor swung up to a ready position, gaping muzzle ready to spit electromagnetic death.
The hunter rounded the doorway, senses and sensors straining to catalog possible prey, potential threats. Immediately it noticed the fallen kainde amedha, and after a second it saw the remains of the first stage lifeforms. It took in the scene – a gaping hole in the wall, the fallen hard meat and their progenitors, two unconscious humans, a dead human and ...
It remained cloaked as it moved towards the motionless form of the female hunter. She seemed badly wounded, but the wounds were coated in the blue healing compound of the hunter's race. A medical kit lay beside her prone body, but it seemed to be closed, raising the question of who had used the compound. It looked around for a moment, allowing the scents in the air to fill its mask, and nodded to itself as it detected an unknown musk. It was obvious that it was Yautja spoor, but if it had been that of one of its fellows, the hunter would have recognized it.
It checked her life signs through the sensors built into its amour, at the same time it carefully scanned her chest cavity to ensure she hadn't been infected with a kainde amedha embryo. It was relieved to discover the scan was negative, but it paused as it noticed a strange device on the human's chest. It was unsure of it's purpose, the technology was definitely neither human nor Yautja, but it seemed to be regulating her body functions somehow. Her metabolism was lower than even sleeping pyode amedha reached, so it assumed that logically this was some form of medical device that was preserving her life.
With that thought it bent down to examine her wounds more closely, trying to determine their severity, when it was distracted by a noise coming from the wall, or more properly the hole that someone, presumably the unknown hunter, had made in it. It caught a glimpse of two nervous looking humans, a male and a female, and it hesitated, unsure what to do. The human hunter was in need of attention, more than its medical supplies could supply, but the two humans were unarmed as far as it could detect – just killing them wasn't an acceptable option.
It discounted the two unconscious humans; Their proximity to weapons, and the chemical stench of the discharge of those weapons was all over them - they had obviously been prey of the human female, although since they still lived, and she had not taken her peculiar trophies from them, it assumed that her hunt had been interrupted by the arrival of the kainde amedha.
Then there was the question of the kainde amedha remains, and cleaning up signs of the hunt so as to not upset later prey, the latter being drilled into all Yautja from an early stage in their training. It looked around, still cloaked from view, as the two humans entered through the hole, peering at the hard meat corpses with shock evident on their faces. It made its decision, and toggled the weapon over its shoulder to its heat mode.
Picking up the medical kit beside the human, it uncloaked, and let out a roar of challenge to the two humans. After a moment's stunned silence, both humans looking at the hunter, their faces terrified, they bolted, as it had wanted them to do. Once they had left through the hole, it looked around one last time, scanning the structure as best it could until it found the best place. From the side of its mark, three pinpoints of red light shone forth, a trio of dots appearing on the wall, and it unleashed the barely constrained fury of the weapon.
In rapid sequence, four scarlet balls of lightning shot from the muzzle, casting an eerie red glow over the room before they slammed into the wall. As they hit, the wall burst into flames, the area directly impacted vaporising into atomic dust. The hunter watched with satisfaction as the inside of the wall rapidly began to glow to its heat sensitive vision, the superheated and compressed plasma the shoulder cannon had spat out causing a chain reaction of fire. It knew the fire would burn faster and hotter than any naturally caused blaze, and would reduce a good portion of the building to ashes before any hope could be had of controlling it.
Satisfied at its efforts to conceal what had happened here, and heedless of the two humans still alive, the hunter reached down and gently hoisted the female hunter up, and rested her over its right shoulder. It reactivated its cloaking mechanism, knowing that it would not be totally effective at concealing her but would make her harder to see, counting on the approaching darkness of night to complete the concealment, then stepped through the hole in the wall. The two humans it had scared from the room were cowering behind a transport of some kind on the other side of the roadway such vehicles traveled on, but it ignored them, instead launching into an easy ground-eating jog, reaching speeds an Olympic sprinter would have never been able to maintain.
-
"What. The fuck. Was that?"
"I don't know, and I don't want to know. Kylie, we shouldn't stay here." The cameraman was rattled, he hadn't signed up for this! They both began to stand but ducked down again as a wall of fire flashed through the large hole in the side of the building. Tentatively, they peeked over the hood of the van, but they could see nothing except flames. There was no way anything was still alive in there.
" ... the gunfight, then those black things ... that woman in black ... the thing that appeared out of nowhere, the other one ..." She was babbling incoherently, all trace of the logical, calm, rational reporter's mind submerged behind the shock her psyche had just suffered. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her, more forcefully than he had intended, until she looked at him, her eyes blank and crazed.
"We didn't see shit, girl. The camera's gone." Indeed it was, even if the hunter hadn't speared it and wiped the recording on its way past, the remains were a mess of bubbling black plastic now, they'd left it by the wall when they went inside, and the fire was destroying what was left of it. "We can call it quits. We just walk away, it never happened." She wrenched herself away from him and stood, trembling.
"No! We both saw the same thing. There's aliens out there killing people! We have to tell someone, the world needs to know!" He shook his head slowly, the look in her face frightening him. He ignored the rapid fire sounds of gunfire from inside the building, the ammunition stored there was beginning to cook off, the intense heat causing the bullets to explode.
"Kylie, we have no proof. No-one will believe us." She looked at him incredulously for a long minute.
"Then we get the proof! We find those things and ... and ... we capture one! Then we have the proof!" He laughed, ignoring the warning flash of her eyes.
"Girl, the damned thing ran through a wall! How the hell do you think we can capture one?" As if on cue, there was a crash from inside the building as part of the ceiling to the drug room collapsed in on itself, sending a whoosh of superheated air and dust through the opening.
"The woman." He stared at her, and she continued. "That ... thing did something to her, it was trying to stop the bleeding, remember?" He nodded, trying to figure out where she was going with this.
"I'm betting that she's connected with those things somehow. If we find her, we'll find them. If it was trying to patch her up, it probably has feelings for her, and if we have her I'll bet it will come running to save her and will do what we tell it to do and if it doesn't we'll kill the bitch and it won't want ..." He broke her off in mid rant, her voice had been getting more shrill as it had gone on.
"And it might just decide to kill us instead. Let's forget it. Come on, I'll take you home." He stood and put his arms around her shoulders gently, guiding her back into the van. She was limp, as if her rambling had wound her down like a broken clockwork doll. He assumed the fire in her eyes was a reflection of the blaze across the street.
-
All of the hunters were clustered around the entryway to the medical chamber, debating amongst themselves in low growls and clicks about the wisdom of the Elder in allowing the human female to be brought on board the ship, as well as wondering about her and her origins. Inside the chamber, the Elder, the hunter that had brought the human to the ship, and one of the older hunters stood in a group looking down at the unconscious human female.
The older hunter, healer for the hunting party, and the ship, also had the most extensive knowledge of the anatomy of human prey, but it sounded frustrated, its mandibles flaring as it pointing to the flattened cube on her sternum. That its knowledge was more oriented towards determining the best manner in which to hunt pyode amedha, rather than heal them, didn't help.
"Elder, I have no idea what the device is. We have no device like it, and it is certainly beyond the ability of pyode amedha to create, the elements it is constructed from are not found in this planetary system." The Elder nodded, then turned to the hunter who had brought her back.
"You were unable to identify the Yautja that had been there?" The hunter shook its head.
"No Elder, I could not, it was not a member of this party however." The Elder tilted its head to one side as it considered this. After a few minutes, it reached to a side table, picking up the medical kit that had been found beside her, turning it over and examining it closely. It was similar to the medical kits each hunter wore on their armor during the hunt, but there were subtle differences. For one, each hunter's kit was usually marked with a symbol, identifying the hunter, the ship, or the clan which owned the kit, but the casing of this one bore no markings at all. It was shaped differently, more concave on the side where the amour clips were attached. And it refused to open when the Elder pressed the correct spot.
"Someone obviously assisted her by administering at least the compound. Yet the injuries are severe, and would require more treatment than she received after the fight. Only the bare minimum to sustain her life was done, and then that", the Elder pointed one long claw at the device on her chest lazily, "was applied to preserve her until she could be treated properly?" The healer nodded in agreement.
"And you state that the compound that was applied is not the same as our own?" the Elder asked.
"No Elder, it is chemically and bacterially different in many respects. I believe that it is a version of the healing compound that was engineered, optimized, for use on pyode amedha."
"Then it is likely this case contains other equipment designed for use on her species?"
"Yes Elder. We have no way of determining the effects of our medical technology on humans, it may be beneficial, it may be terminal."
-
Blood sprayed in a fine mist as the meaty fist connected with the kid's face again. Tied to a plastic chair, he had no chance of defending himself against the brutal beating he was receiving. His attacker stepped back, raising his fist once more to hit the teenager, but a voice from the shadows stopped him mid swing.
"I think that's enough for the moment." Wen stepped forwards into the pool of light created by the bare lightbulb on the ceiling. Immaculately dressed, his presence was a strange and ominous contrast in the concrete basement room. "I'm sure our young friend here wants to give us the truth this time."
"I keep telling you, that's the truth!" The teenager was terrified. All they'd done was go to score some dope. He looked over at the bloody remains of his friend in one corner of the room.
"You really expect us to believe that monsters destroyed one of our establishments?" Wen sneered. The kid nodded as best he could.
"They did! We were trying to make the buy, and there was shooting inside, and then the guys inside started shooting, and we booked! This TV news van showed up, and they went over to the window and looked inside, then the wall exploded and this monster came out, tried to kill the TV people, then vanished!" Wen nodded, not believing a word the petrified teenager was saying, but allowing the charade to continue.
"Do you happen to recall who the TV people were?"
"Yeah, it was that McCullough bird, the one that's been covering all the murders!" Wen raised one eyebrow doubtfully. The story about monsters was unbelievable, but the presence of the reporter might be more of a clue. Could the reporter have decided to begin to make the news? In any event, perhaps she was a more ... pliant ... witness to events.
"How interesting. Are you sure it was Miss McCullough?"
"Yes, I'm sure! Please, let me go? We didn't do anything!" The kid was crying now, he knew the chances of his getting out of there were pretty much non-existent. All they'd wanted was to party, how did it ever get to this?
"I know, but I'm afraid I can't let you go just yet. I have more questions for you about what you saw."
Wen got answers to all of his questions by morning, before turning to the other man present who was wiping the blood off with a damp rag.
"Dispose of the bodies in the normal manner."
-
The Elder looked at the case again, noting the placement of the discolored area that was the standard indicator of the latching mechanism on medical kits. Its eyes opened slightly as an idea came to it, and it reached across to take one of the human female's hands in its own. It raised her hand, and laid it gently on the discolored area, before a click signaled the unlocking of the case, and it opened out, a small light coming on inside.
"Blue/White light, not very effective for Yautja eyes but more than adequate for human needs. It seems the designer thought it through well."
The healer examined the contents of the kit, placing each one gently on the top of the side table as it withdrew each item. Eventually, the case was empty, and the healer looked up at the Elder.
"Some of this equipment is the same as our own, some of it is slightly modified, and some of it I have never seen before, Elder."
"Can you determine the best course of treatment to heal her from what you've seen?"
"Yes Elder, I believe so. The cauterizing equipment is the same as our own, and there is a supply of regeneration gel present. Without analysis I can't be certain, but I believe it is similarly optimized for humans."
"Proceed and apply it."
"Yes Elder, we will need a supply of material from this world to complete the mixture. I do not wish to risk using off world material for fear it might contaminate the process, we have no way of knowing how her system would react compared to ours." The Elder nodded in agreement, pleased with the healer's observation, since it wouldn't have considered such a minor detail itself. Before the Elder could gesture to one of the hunters waiting outside the chamber, the hunter that had brought the female to the ship was already on its way through the doorway to fulfill the requirement. Yautja physiology was adaptive enough that the hunters could safely introduce different elements without harm, but everything known was for Yautja. The human was an unknown, and they needed to proceed with care.
The healer removed a cone shaped object from the items it had removed from the kit, placing it on to one side and before pressing the top. A fan of metal sprung out around the cone to create a flat shallow bowl, while the top of the cone extended upwards, a tube projecting out and down towards the dish as it formed. It selected several more items from the equipment removed from the kit, and set those to one side just as the hunter returned, his hands full of broken pieces of wood. The healer looked at the pieces, selected several and waved the rest away, and as the hunter dropped the rejected pieces into a waste chute, the healer powdered the selected pieces in its powerful hands, the fragments and dust falling into the bowl the cone had created.
"The material was well selected, Elder. The process should render it down to carbon and trace elements, which will work with the gel to aid in healing."
The hunter inclined its head at the compliment, especially given before the Elder itself, but made no remark, instead observing as the healer picked up a vial, appearing to contain the same blue liquid as had been used to seal her wounds. The healer opened the vial, and the difference between the two fluids was obvious, as the much thicker blue gel flowed slowly out of the vial, the healer spreading it around and over the wood remains and powder, before sealing the vial shut and placing it back to one side.
The healer then pressed against the top of the cone again, and a flash of flame came from the end of the small tube, igniting the fluid and the powdered wood in a flash of yellow/blue flame. The flames went out after a few minutes, and it scooped up a large amount of the resulting blue paste with a spatula, before holding her down with one hand and smearing the paste into the wounds on her chest. Even in her unconscious state, induced by the device on her chest, the pain was more than enough to reach her, and she began to flail her arms, her back arched high, a cry escaping her lips. The Elder and hunter watched her reaction with concern, but the healer repeated the grim process twice more, filling the chest wounds then smoothing the paste flush with the skin of her chest, before moving to her leg to finish applying the remains of the paste to the wound there.
It stepped back to admire it's efforts, then gave a rattle of surprise.
She looked up at the healer, and in a quiet, exhausted voice, whispered "Thank you."
-
The Elder and the hunter made the same surprised rattle as the healer, the hunter forgetting itself for a moment and deploying its wrist blades. The Elder gave the hunter a reproachful look, and it retracted the blades in embarrassment. The Elder stepped forwards and looked down at the human, and its respect for her went up a notch as she returned its gaze with calm eyes.
"Do you know where you are?" The Elder asked. The human shook her head slightly from side to side, wincing as she did so. She knew she was on dangerous ground right now. She had to stay focused, and choose her words with care.
"Honored Elder, I apologize, but I do not know enough of the language of Yautja to understand you." It nodded and considered how it might communicate with this human. It had many questions that required answers, the problem would be how to get them. Many Yautja learned the language of prey species, it helped them in the hunt, allowing them to listen to the conversations of prey, but with the exception of the languages of a select few species, their mouths were not capable of producing the same sounds in return. They could understand the language, they just couldn't speak it.
This human seemed to be in a similar predicament, she had said she did not know enough of the Yautja language to understand, implying that she did know some. That explained how she had heard what the unblooded hunter had said the night before to reply to it. The Elder was trying to determine how to get around this communications barrier as the human raised a hand to get its attention.
"It might be easier if you use the loop recordings, Elder. You can select ones that contain the words you're looking for and play those." The Elder's eyes widened in surprise, that was a very good idea. "It's how it's been able to work in the past." The Elder let the implications of that comment go for a minute, and began searching the recordings on its loop device. It was designed to record the words of prey, and hunters used those recordings later to lure and entice other prey to them, an effective tool for any hunter.
"Jack, where are you?" it tried. She smiled at the Elder's selection of recording, a female voice, and looked around at the chamber she was in, the light giving everything a rusted red appearance.
"I am on a Yautja hunting ship, Elder. And this appears to be the healer's chamber?" The Elder nodded, pleased with itself. This might be working after all.
"How's it going?" She tried not to laugh, she knew it would take a while before the Elder would be able to splice together enough recordings to have "proper" conversations.
"Pain, Elder, but I think my injuries will heal." She inclined her head as best she could lying flat towards the healer. "Again my thanks, healer. You have honored me with your skills." The healer's eyes opened wide, mandibles twitching in a mixture of surprise and humor. It hadn't expected praise from a human, but it inclined its head to acknowledge the compliment. The Elder let out a rattle of laughter, and looked to the human, trying to find the right loop for its questions, but it saw her eyes drooping. It remembered then that this was pyode amedha, prey, without the same stamina and endurance as Yautja, and she must be exhausted after her battle and injuries. It had the perfect recording for this.
"You look like you could use some sleep." Her eyes blinked open, and she smiled in response. She felt like she could sleep for a week, but she got the impression that this Elder wouldn't appreciate such a delay. She knew it had to be curious about her, and would want answers, and she'd better provide them. Her injuries and weakness right now might protect her from harm, honor would prevent them from killing her while she was in this state, but Yautja weren't renowned for patience.
"It's been a long day, Elder, yes, but a good night's sleep and some food, and I'll feel much better." The Elder nodded, cursing inwardly. It turned to the hunter and rapidly gave in instructions in its own language. She waited, looking on impassively, she'd find out what the Elder was talking about one way or the other. After a few minutes of back and forth between the Elder and the hunter, with the occasional comment by the healer, the Elder turned back to her, as the healer repacked the medical kit on the side table.
"You can't stay here." "Get some sleep, love" "See you tomorrow!" She blinked a few times at the compound loop, three different recordings in sequence. This was the problem with using the loop to talk, there was no context. Eventually she pieced together the meaning, it seemed the Elder had decided she was going to go home and sleep. The interrogation would come tomorrow. The hunter stepped forwards, and manipulated the computer on its wrist, bringing up an image that hovered in the air, an image of the city from space. It leaned towards her, took her hand, and raised it until it was within the holographic projection, then looked at her, clicking a question.
She wasn't sure what it had said, but she had a pretty good idea of what it wanted. It took a little while, but eventually after many attempts to point to sections of the hologram, then waiting for the hunter to magnify the view of the area she had indicated, she was able to give it the location of her apartment. The hunter looked to the Elder, who briefly gave it more instructions in their language, before it turned off the projection.
The hunter bent over her, and lifted her easily, carrying her cradled in its arms, the medical kit hooked to its waist. The healer gave it more instructions in the Yautja language, but she was fast falling asleep, the pain of her wounds receding to a numb ache, the scent of the hunter surrounding her. Her last view before finally succumbing to her exhaustion was of being carried past a gauntlet of curious hunters, but the eyes of one seared themselves into her memory – behind the eyes of that hunter festered raw, unadulterated hatred. Of her.
