Chapter 28- Endgame

"It's not possible," said Nick.

They were sitting in their hotel room once again. Liu had given them more details, which had corroborated his story.

Liu's criminal background went much further back than his cooperation with Prometheus. In addition to the promise of immortality- which he hadn't been able to keep, presumably because Lucas had been stopped- he had provided other things.

Knowledge, mostly. Medicines. Improvements to nanites. Technological advances for weapons, manufacturing, communications, software improvements to artificial intelligences. Nothing game-changing- but all enough to make Liu a lot of money both legally and illegally. Enough to get one of the most powerful men on Alphacen in Prometheus's pocket.

And Liu had strongly implied that he was not the only one.

"It's not possible," repeated Nick. He was sitting on the recliner, frowning as he went through a copy of Liu's statement. "No mammal on Terra has access to this sort of technology. It's ahead of what the humans have- let alone what we have."

"I don't think he's lying, Nick," said Judy. She was re-reading the documents herself. "All these patents that he said came through Prometheus happened after the wormhole was opened and contact established with the humans."

Nick tossed the documents to one side and hopped out of the recliner. He began to pace. "Then what does it mean?"

"It means-" Judy hesitated. "It means we need to go back to Terra. To Zootopia."

The door opened and Barker, looking very grim, walked in. She stopped when she saw them. "You two don't look happy," she commented. "I take it you heard?"

"Heard what?" asked Nick.

"It's official- we've been recalled. Our old friend the Nike is coming to take us back to Terra, and then take the human delegation away." She shook her head. "Taking down Liu may have been a mistake. The human politicians are falling over themselves in public to heap praise on us, but in private they're all afraid they'll be next. They want us out of here as soon as possible."

"How long have we got?" asked Judy.

"Let me put it this way," said Barker. "You better get packed right now."

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Nick watched the shuttle slowly, gingerly move towards the landing pad, then pause, then move up a bit. It shifted slightly to the right, yawed, and finally started to settle- before settling hard enough to shake the ground beneath their feet slightly.

"That was not a good landing," said Wu, who was watching with them. He was studiously ignoring Barker, who kept shooting him glares. Nick had been watching the interplay between them curiously- he'd walked out of the hotel room to find them like that. Whatever was going on, neither seemed prepared to let it go.

"Must have let the rookie pilot take the shuttle today," suggested Judy.

"How reassuring," murmured Nick. "We're someone's training mission."

The shuttle bay door opened and a familiar figure stepped out. Bonaire's eyes lit up when she saw the group. "Hustler! Judy! Good to see you guys again!" She smiled and waved as she approached. "Did the lasers I gave you come in handy?"

"Surprisingly, not very much," said Judy, smiling up at the human. "But we appreciated it anyway."

"Saw on the news that you arrested a politician," said Bonaire approvingly. "It's too bad you aren't staying longer." She gave them a shrewd look. "Or is that why you're not staying longer?"

"No," said Nick with a straight face. "We just hit our bag limit for crooked politicians. We'll be back next season."

Bonaire grinned. "Well, come on. The captain's in a suprisingly good mood, but that won't last if we linger too long."

They followed her onto the shuttle. "I won't be your pilot today," said Bonaire. "That honor belongs to Midshipman Ulrich. Say hello, Ulrich."

"Hello!" shouted a voice from the flight desk.

"Use the cabin address, midshipman!" shouted Bonaire.

There was a pause, then a chime from the cabin's intercom. "Hello," said Ulrich.

"Good job," said Bonaire. "That proves you know what at least one of those buttons do up there." She leaned towards Nick. "He's not a very good pilot," she confided.

Nick frowned. "You realize we're the passengers, right?"

"Oh, don't worry, he'll probably get better. Maybe before he crashes. Space is big, there's not that much to hit up there." She started to walk towards the flight deck, then paused, frowning. "Hang on a sec. Sergeant, aren't you leaving?"

Nick and Judy turned to see Wu sitting down next to Barker, who had her arms crossed. "Yes," said Wu, settling into his seat. "I am leaving." He smiled at Bonaire. "We all are."

"What?" said Judy, surprised.

"So I talked to the chief, and he said that after our little joint operation went so well, we should have more than one liaison officer with ZPD. Especially since that one is Zacharias Hunter." He put his arm around Barker's shoulders, who gave him an irritated glance. "So I'm going with you guys. Bogo's on board- he seems to think I'll be able to help keep Hunter under control."

"Will you?" asked Nick curiously.

Wu snorted. "No."

"Ruth," said Judy hesitantly. "Um, shouldn't you be, well, happier about this?"

"Louis is an idiot," she said crisply.

"She thinks it will be dangerous for me," said Wu.

"It will," said Barker.

"Because of the Drex?" asked Bonaire. "They're not too bad. You just have to shoot them in the head. Twice if they keep twitching."

Barker winced and stood up. "Humans," she announced. "Are crazy." She stood up and walked into the small restroom in the back of the shuttle.

Bonaire shrugged. "Yep," she said. "We are. Speaking of which-" she turned to face the flight deck. "You ready to fly, Midshipman?"

"Yes, ma'am!" shouted Ulrich.

"Then get to it!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

There was a long pause. "Well?" demanded Bonaire. "Did you forget where the throttle was again?"

There was a longer pause. "No," said Ulrich unconvincingly.

Bonaire sighed. "Make sure to fasten the seat-belts," she told Nick and Judy as she made her way to the flight deck.

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Hunter was sitting in his cramped office at the impound lot, feet up on his desk, idly watching the slowly spinning fan.

Pawsley poked his head into the room. "Did you finish filling out the SR-926 forms?"

"Nope," said Hunter.

"I told you to get those done by today," said the cougar angrily.

"Uh-huh." Hunter yawned. "I've been busy."

"Busy?" Pawsley stalked into the room and glared at him. "You haven't done any work since you got here!"

"Hey, Pawsley, you want to see something interesting?" Hunter pulled out his phone and started tapping at it, loading up Zootube.

"Mr. Hunter, if you think you can just come in here and take up this office without doing a lick of work, then you- stop playing on your phone and pay attention to-" Pawsley stopped as Hunter turned the phone to face him.

On the screen, Hunter was astride Octavius, fist pounding his face over and over, blood spattering. Pawsley's eyes grew wider with each blow.

"That's why I'm here," said Hunter conversationally. "And that's why I'm not going to be here for much longer. So you can take your SR-926 forms and shove them up-"

There was a tentative knock at the door. As both mammals looked up, there was- eventually- a second knock.

"Flash?" said Pawsley, gratitude at the interruption clearly evident in his voice. "What is it?"

"I've...finished," said the sloth. He held up a stack of forms.

"You have?" said Pawsley, shocked. "Well, Mr. Hunter can help you-"

Hunter raised the volume. There was a sizzling sound and a scream from the phone.

"On second thought," said Pawsley, his ears twitching nervously, "I'll just help you with that-" He ushered Flash out and slammed the door behind them.

Hunter sighed and closed the video app on his phone. After hesitating a long moment, he dialed a number.

The phone rang repeatedly, then- "Hello, you've reached Anila's phone! Please leave a message-"

Hunter hung up. He drummed his fingers on the desk. Dialed again.

"Hello, you've reached-"

He swore and hung up again.

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This time round, Nick and Judy's trip was much less eventful.

Bonaire seemed overjoyed to spend more time with them- the energetic blonde seemed to have really taken a shine to the two policemammals. She took Nick on two quick flights- thankfully without any combat, though Judy had to hide her nervousness both times- and showed him how to work the flight simulator. The fox seemed to have a natural talent for flying, and spent hours in the simulator bay, to the point that Bonaire complimented him on his progress. "Maybe when this whole Drex nonsense gets sorted out we can make a real pilot out of you," she told him.

Barker and Wu spent most of their time arguing- at least, Judy thought so, until she realized that when they weren't arguing, they tended to be in their quarters- that is to say, both of them in the same room. Her ears were natural for eavesdropping, and she was slightly surprised to find that most of the ship's crew was fairly open-minded about the whole thing. Perhaps it was a Fleet thing, she supposed.

Or perhaps they had more important things on their mind. The ship was full of speculation- the consensus was that the Human Stars would be back at a full-fledged war with the Drex in the near future, though the timeframe and reason were up for grabs. Most tended towards "soon" and "Terra" as the answer to those two questions. It tended to put Judy on edge- she'd never imagined herself in the middle of a war. It just didn't seem possible.

Her own time was spent mostly on reading up on the promotional exam, or- strangely enough- spending time with the Marines of Foxtrot Company. They seemed almost pathetically pleased to have her visit- they seemed to have adopted her as a sort of mascot, or something. Which ordinarily would have annoyed her- it was one step away from being called "cute"- but she just didn't have the heart to challenge them on it. And since she had shot a Karathi in the brief battle from the previous voyage, she was given a fair amount of respect, as well.

There was one strange incident, however. One night, as Nick was collapsing into bed after having spent a truly heroic amount of time in the simulator, she was interrupted in her study of ZPD's regulations (a complete knowledge of which was required for the promotional exam) by the room's AI.

"Message for Ms. Hopps," said the AI.

She glanced up, expecting it to be from Gunny Sadowski, or perhaps Bonaire. "Go ahead."

"Message from Captain Oakes. Ms. Hopps. I apologize for the lateness of the hour, but if you are not otherwise engaged I would like the pleasure of your company on the bridge for a few moments if convenient. Message ends."

Her eyebrows climbed her forehead. Captain Oakes? Wanting to see her? He hadn't even welcomed them aboard, leaving that to the Executive Officer, Tosetti. She half-considered ignoring the "invitation", but reluctantly decided that tact required her to answer. "Please tell the captain that I shall be there directly."

"Acknowledged."

She decided that, as she was going to the bridge, a certain formality would be required. She quickly dressed in her uniform and, stopping only to kiss her now-sleeping fox on the cheek, made her way to the bridge.

The marines- two of them, she noted- guarding the bridge nodded respectfully at her. They weren't Foxtrot Company, but the ship's marines in general appeared to share that unit's good opinion of her. The door slid open and she stepped onto the bridge of the Nike.

Oakes was sitting in the command chair. Hearing the door slide open, he looked up, his expression unreadable. "Ms. Hopps. Thank you for accepting my invitation- again, I do apologize for the lateness of the hour. I fear I have been quite busy these past few days."

Trying not to let her nervousness show- she was a bit overawed by the obvious technological sophistication on display in the monitors and control panels she could see- she walked up to him. "No apology necessary, Captain. I am happy to be of service." She kept her tone polite, but noncommittal.

He swiveled the chair to face her. "Would you like to have a seat, Ms. Hopps?" He gestured to a chair set into the wall across from him.

"No, thank you." She kept watching him carefully- he'd been curt with them at best, and belligerent at worst. She wasn't about to relax in his presence so easily.

But for once, he seemed ill at ease. "Ms. Hopps, I read about your operation on Alphacen. Arresting Chamberman Liu."

"He was a criminal. I'm a cop." She shrugged. "It's what I do."

"Yes," he said. He looked up at the ceiling, avoiding her eyes. "A number of my fellow officers were executed as a result of the Terran operation." He hesitated. "Not all of them deserved it." His voice was still calm, collected, nothing to show he was talking about the deaths of innocent men and women.

Judy wasn't sure how to respond. "I'm sorry," she finally said. "Maybe there will be some justice for their families, at least, now that the true mastermind of that operation has been arrested."

"Yes," said Oakes. "Maybe there will. And I've you- and your partner, Mr. Wilde- to thank for it, it seems." He stood up, clasping his hands together behind his back, and turned away, studying the bridge crew as they worked quietly at their stations. "It is no secret that I was nearly one of those officers who were made into examples."

Judy just watched him curiously. What was he getting at, exactly?

"I think a great many humans underestimate the Terrans," he said finally, turning back to face her. "Think of you as a joke. A pet that has learned to talk, almost. But I've seen you make friends with my crew, gain the respect of Marines- which is no small matter- and comport yourselves both professionally and ethically. I fear I may have done you a disservice."

Judy blinked. "Are you apologizing? Is that what this is?"

The captain looked thoughtful, then nodded. "I suppose it is. I'm sorry, Ms. Hopps. I regret most extremely any disrespect I may have shown to you."

She stood up and walked closer to him, craning her neck to look up at the much taller human. "You realize that there is every chance that in the near future we will be at war?" she said, keeping her voice level.

He nodded seriously. "As much as I regret that, it is to be expected if your people ally themselves with the Drex."

"Why?" she asked pointedly. "Why, if humans are so willing to be our friends- and from what I've seen, most are- should we have to go to war?"

"Because of your choice of friends, Ms. Hopps," he said, as if it were obvious. "The Drex are, well, evil."

"I don't believe any sentient being- any truly sapient being- is automatically evil," said Judy. "They may have an evil government, they may be doing evil things- but any mammal can be anything they want to be. It's free will."

Oakes smiled sadly at her. "Would that it were so. You haven't had our experience, though, Ms. Hopps." He held up a hand, forestalling her objection. "I know, I know, I just apologized for my condescenscion. But you must admit we have more experience. We've been out here for millenia, alone against the black. We know our enemies- we know them like we know ourselves. The Drex are irredeemable."

"Once, long ago," said Judy, "The same was said about the predatory species. In fact, not so long ago some mammals were still saying it. It doesn't make it so." She cocked her head, thinking. "I suspect many might say it about humans. But you do want friends, don't you? I've never thought about what it must be like, being the only ones of your species in the galaxy- at least, the only ones you haven't been at war with."

Oakes barked a laugh. "Is that what you think our problem is, Ms. Hopps? We're lonely?" For a moment, his old superior tone was back, and Judy stiffened.

He saw her reaction. "Ms. Hopps, I think that you might-"

"Perhaps I had better go," she said stiffly. "It's late." She turned to walk off the bridge, having no interest in hearing another long lecture on the naivety of mammals-

As the door slid open, he spoke again.

He was regarding her thoughtfully. "I was going to say, Ms. Hopps, that you might be absolutely right."

She turned in surprise, but the door closed before she could say anything else.

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It was official. Tavi was avoiding Hunter. Over the next week- his last on Terra, it seemed- he tried to catch her on patrol, at the station, at the garage- but somehow, she was never where he expected her to be.

He'd tried to enlist help from the other ZPD officers, but so far it seemed that not only did they all know about Tavi's anger at him, but they also all took her side.

"Come on, Clawhauser," he said to the cheetah. "I've got half a dozen donuts for you if you just have her come to the station."

The usually friendly cheetah just sniffed and continued tapping away at his computer.

"I know you're not working, Benjamin, so stop ignoring me."

The cheetah looked up, the frown he wore contrasting strangely with his open face. "Why should I, Hunter? You're leaving in a day or two anyway, aren't you?"

"It's for my own safety, Benjamin, the Drex are going to be after me and now that they're being invited onto the planet-"

"And whose fault is that?" asked the cheetah. He turned back to the computer with an air of finality. As he did, his eyes fell on a book. "Wait a minute, there was one thing Tavi wanted you to have before you left."

"There is?" said Hunter. "What?"

Clawhauser handed him the book. "Here. Tavi told me to give it to you the next time I see you."

As Hunter, puzzled, took the book, Clawhauser deftly snagged the box of donuts he had set down on the desk. Hunter didn't seem to notice. "Frankenstein?" He looked up at the cheetah. His eyes narrowed as he saw Clawhauser taking a donut out of the box. "Hey! You were only supposed to take those if you accepted my bribe!"

"Bribing a law enforcement officer is a serious offense," said Clawhauser through a mouthful of donut. "So I figured it must be a gift."

Hunter frowned, but let it go. "Look, did she say why she wanted me to have this book?"

Clawhauser shrugged. "I think she said she highlighted something in it. Don't ask me why."

With a sigh, Hunter flipped open the book. Almost immediately, he saw the title page had a section highlighted. "Frankenstein," he read. "Or, the Modern Prometheus..." He trailed off.

"Prometheus?" asked Clawhauser, interested despite himself. "Isn't that something to do with that case-" He looked up from the computer. "Hey, where'd you go?"

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Tavi poked her head around the corner, seeing Hunter had left without seeing her.

She felt a large presence behind her, and turned to see Francine crouched down, also peering around the corner. The elephant noticed her gaze. "What are we hiding from?" whispered Francine. "Is Bogo on a rampage again?"

"No, it's Hunter," said Tavi. "I'm avoiding him."

"You are?" said Francine, surprised. "Why?"

"Because-" the mongoose stopped. "It's complicated."

Francine straightened up, looking down at her smaller colleague. "It usually is. Is this about what happened on the roof with the Drex?"

"Yes," said Tavi. She looked down. "And no," she said, more softly.

"Oh, well, glad that's cleared up." The elephant started to walk off, then paused. She looked back at Tavi. "He did what he felt he had to, Tavi. I mean, I'll grant you that it was pretty vicious- but he's been dealing with some pretty vicious mammals recently."

"Yeah, but-"

"He lost his family, Tavi," said Francine. "And I don't think anyone doesn't know that he considers you- and Nick, and Judy- his second family. He's afraid of losing you again."

The epiphany struck her like a lightning bolt. Hunter had put himself on the line to fight that Drex. He must have known that he could have been seriously injured, even killed, but had gone out with a plan that may or may not have worked. He'd lost control, to some extent, but everything he'd done was in order to protect those who were close to him. After being unable to protect his family once, he was determined not to do it again.

And she'd abandoned him. Left him when he needed her most.

She stared at Francine, then her eyes slowly widened. "Oh, no. What have I done?"

Francine stared after her as she ran out the door, calling for Hunter.

"Rookies," she said to herself. "Never do quite understand them."

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He didn't know where Tavi was, but he knew where someone else who he could talk to- the only person who seemed willing to hear him out- would be.

Hunter still decided to call her. Before he did, he noticed the email he had gotten from Judy.

"Prometheus is on Terra," he read. "No kidding. I had sort of figured that out, now."

Frankenstein's monster. The Modern Prometheus's monster. Pandora hadn't been designed by the Drex- she was designed by the same person who had made the Drex. It made much more sense in one respect- if the Drex had that sort of capability for genetic engineering, why hadn't they shown it before? Why start with a Terran mammal?

What didn't make sense was that the man who genetically engineered the Drex would be tens of thousands of years old. But if he could modify genetic code to make a new species of human, why couldn't he make himself immortal?

Though- Lucas had said he was searching for a means to create immortality. Why search for something you already had?

It didn't quite fit. But it was close enough.

He dialed Khabat. "Khabat," she answered.

"Amna," he said with relief. "I think I just figured something out. Where are you?"

There was a pause. "At the spaceport, getting things ready to leave. Why? What have you figured out?" There was a noticeable sense of urgency in her tone.

"Something about Prometheus," he said. "I'll meet you there."

As he drove he started to dial Tavi, but then stopped. She hadn't been answering- but perhaps a voicemail- no.

Leaving the number dialed, he shoved the cell phone back in his pocket.

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Tavi was just about to call Hunter on his cell phone- he had already disappeared- when she felt a paw on her shoulder.

"What?" she snapped, spinning around on the paw's owner.

Scruggs backed up when he saw her fangs exposed. "Whoa, easy, rookie. Look, there's an emergency."

"Yes, I know- I can't find Hunter-"

The ocelot blinked. "Hunter? I'm talking about Shepherd."

"What about Shepherd?" asked Tavi distractedly, still scanning the crowd outside the police station.

"He's gone missing."

Tavi turned to stare at Scruggs. "Missing? A twenty-eight ton tank?"

Scruggs winced. "Don't remind me. I keep imagining the phrase 'lost a flying robotic tank' on my next performance evaluation."

Tavi shook her head as if clearing it. "I don't have time for this," she said.

"You don't have time for this? What's more important than a missing battle tank?"

She paused as she was walking off, looked back at Scruggs. "Family."

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There were only humans at the spaceport when he arrived. They were loading up the shuttle that would take them to the Nike when she arrived, which should be within the day. Hunter jumped out of the cab and dashed to the spaceport's capacious lobby.

Amna was already there, tapping her foot anxiously. He glanced around, noting embassy staff hurrying to and fro. There was a sense of anticipation, of anxiety. "Amna?"

"Zach," she said with relief. "I've got a lot going on. Let's walk and talk." He hurried to match her pace as she led him towards one of the gates.

"Prometheus," he explained. "Nick and Judy got Liu. He said Prometheus contacted him from Terra."

"So Prometheus is a mammal? A Terran?" asked Khabat.

"No, I don't think so. Think about it- how did the wormhole reopen? We've assumed it was someone from our side, but no one has that technology anymore, right? Otherwise we'd be opening wormholes left and right." Hunter held up the book Tavi had left with Clawhauser.

Khabat gave it a cursory look. "Frankenstein?"

"The modern Prometheus. Amna, Prometheus is a human. He's not only a human, he's the human who created the Drex. And- oh, my God." Hunter stopped. Khabat did, too, looking at him curiously.

"The Drex have been around for how long?" asked Hunter.

She shrugged. "Millenia. No one really knows."

"Since the collapse of United Terra, right?"

"Sure, it was probably one of the factors that led to the collapse? So?" She started walking again.

Hunter followed her. They walked through the departure gate, onto the broad, open tarmac of the spaceport. "So? That's the same sort of timeframe- vague, I know- as when the Terran mammals were created. And if you have one evil genius who created a new human sub-species, than why postulate another that uplifted mammals? Why couldn't it have been the same one?"

"That's far-fetched," noted Khabat.

"But it fits. And the things he said- I think that he created mammals to be a, a slave species or something like that, for humans. Natural allies, he said. He says he wants what's best for humanity, after all."

Khabat stopped and looked at him. "Then why create the Drex?"

"Trying to improve the human race. This guy wants to make humans superior in every way- and he started with the Drex." Hunter shook his head. "I'm speculating wildly, here, Amna, but at least one thing is certain. Prometheus is here on Terra."

"Then all the more reason for you to be off Terra," said Khabat. "As soon as possible."

He hesitated, then slowly shook his head. "I can't, Amna. If Prometheus is here- then my friends are in danger when they come back. I've got to stay here and help them."

"Zach-"

"I'm sorry, Amna. You could stay if you want, though." He smiled at her. "I could use the help."

She stood, giving him a strange, searching look. "You're right, Zach. This is all very speculative."

"Yeah, but-" For the first time, he looked around. "Hey, there's no one else out here. What are you doing here?" Other than a large pile of crates covered with a tarp, the tarmac was empty.

"Very speculative." She shook her head, almost sadly. "It's a shame you're so nearly correct." She raised her voice. "Shepherd? Take custody of Officer Hunter."

He took a step back. "What?"

"Order acknowledged," said a familiar, robotic voice. He turned to see the pile of "crates" he had seen rise, shaking off the tarp, revealing a King Cobra Light Battle Tank. "Engaging."

"Shepherd?" said Hunter. He looked at Khabat. "What is this?"

"I'm keeping you safe, Zach," she said. "The only way I know how."

His expression hardened. "I can take care of myself."

"No, you can't." She looked at the tank. "Carry out your orders."

The tank rushed towards Hunter, and before he could move he felt the cold metal of Shepherd's manipulator arms pin his arms against his side. He struggled uselessly. One hand was near the pocket of his pants, where his cell phone was. He brushed the phone, felt it vibrate as it turned on. Working by memory, he hit the "Send" button- or, at least, where he thought the "Send" button would be. Damned touchscreen phones-

When he looked at her again, she had a syringe at the ready. "I love you, Zach. I'm not going to let you throw your life away for some damned animals. Besides, we've got bigger plans for you."

"We? Amna, this doesn't make any sense. Where are you taking me?"

She plunged the syringe into his arm, and his vision swam, tilted, faded to black.

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Tavi's phone rang, and she snatched it from the clip on her belt with lightning speed. She hit "Accept Call" as soon as she saw Hunter's unsmiling face appear on the screen.

"Zach! Where are-"

"-love you, Zach." She stiffened as she heard Khabat's voice, somewhat muffled as if from a distance. "I'm not going to let you throw your life away for some damned animals."

Tavi scowled. What were they talking about? Had Hunter accidentally dialed her? The anger she had felt before started to simmer again, until she heard the next words.

"We've got bigger plans for you."

"We?" Hunter's voice was strained, and higher in pitch than normal. She narrowed his eyes- he sounded as if he were being restrained. "Amna, this doesn't make any sense. Where are you taking me?"

She heard him grunt, then- "You lured me to the spaceport," he said, his voice slowly becoming sluggish. "You-" there was silence.

Her heart beating fast, she listened intently, but Hunter didn't speak again.

Khabat made a satisfied noise. She sounded closer, though still muffled- the phone must still be on Hunter's person, thought Tavi. Probably in his pocket. "Let him go, Shepherd."

Shepherd?

There was a thump, and she heard Khabat talking, apparently to herself. "Love these knockout nanites," she said. "If we'd only had those on Tejias-"

The voice suddenly became clearer, then- "Ah, I see Hunter is as resourceful as ever." The words were clear and easy to understand, as if-

As if Khabat had found the phone and was talking into it now.

Tavi winced. She should have hung up- "What have you done to him, Khabat?"

"Little Officer Tavi, isn't it? Don't worry about him- he'll be fine. In fact, he'll soon be in better health than anyone." Her voice sharpened. "Don't try to find us."

"Do you think that's going to work?" said Tavi, fighting to keep her voice level. "Do you think you can scare me off?"

"For your sake, I hope it does," said Khabat somberly. "Because what's coming to your planet is more dangerous than you can possibly imagine. You'll be in quite enough danger without adding me to your enemies."

"Khabat- if he's hurt-"

"He won't be, Tavi." Khabat's voice became wistful. "But he's not leaving me again."

There was a click as Khabat hung up.