Cathie was painfully aware of the tight grip of the Yautja holding her so she didn't struggle as she was led down the ramp of their ship. Ali, on the other hand, was being dragged by two Yautja, struggling and kicking ferociously. They were taken to a small building close to the ship's landing point where they were led down a long hallway full of cells. The Yautja stopped outside two empty cells and tossed each girl into separate cells with Ali in the cell to the right of Cathie's. The moment Ali was thrown into the cell, she was at the door in a heartbeat, her hands reaching out with inhuman speed as she attempted to claw the Yautja closest to her. But the Yautja needed only to take one step backwards in order to stay out of reach from Ali's thrashing fingers. It was only then that Cathie noticed Ali had long, black and sharp nails.
"Welcome to your new home," the man in the cell to the left of Cathie said as the Yautja disappeared down the rows. "I'm Rick."
"My name's Cathie and this is Ali," Cathie said, "Where are we?"
Cathie looked the man up and down as he moved closer to their shared wall of bars. His head was shaven, exposing the slightly pink colored skin, but Cathie could see that his hair color was very light. His dull red eyes meet hers and it took her by surprise to discover that he was albino. His clothing was matted and dirty, torn in multiple places. Long scars covered his arms and legs.
"This is a gaming facility," Rick answered, his voice scratchy, yet gentle.
"What does that mean?"
"This is where the different species are kept so that Yautja can hunt them without having to leave the comforts of their home planet."
"What does that mean for the ones in the cage?"
"You'll be released onto the gaming field, which is basically a large reserve of land with trees, a mountain, rivers, and plains to allow the Yautja to enjoy hunting us. They usually track you for the first couple of days and then they start hunting, the longer you last, the more fun it is for them—"
"I bet there's something special about you that makes you fun to hunt," Ali interrupted.
Looking over her shoulder, Cathie saw that Ali had moved close to the bars, her intense gaze not on Rick, but on Cathie.
"I was an assassin for hire for eighteen years before I was snatched."
"That'll do it," Ali said, "What about you, Cathie, what makes you special?"
Swallowing, Cathie tore her gaze away from Ali, unable to answer her.
"What about you?" Rick retorted back, "What makes you special?"
"I'm pretty sure it's because I'm valuable to them and that I make the ultimate hunt," Ali answered, saying the exact thing she had told Cathie on the ship.
Cathie risked a peek at Ali and saw that she was now staring Rick down, and smiling.
"That's impossible," Rick said, "The Hard Meats are the greatest hunt for Yautja. Besides, you just got here, how'd you know if you make a good hunt?"
"So, that's what they're calling them? 'Hard Meats'?" Ali questioned.
"Yeah, they call them that because they've got a thick exoskeleton. They're pretty creepy too; they don't have any eyes, I think, so you don't know if they're looking at you or not—"
"I know what they look like," Ali interrupted, "They're my family."
"Your what?" Rick almost screamed, his eyes widening in shock.
"Yeah, I know, shocker right," Ali said, "I told you I'm very valuable; I'm part alien."
"But how is that possible?" Rick said, "How can that be?"
"Long story," Ali said, "My mother was impregnated while pregnant with me and I was born instead."
"Are you dangerous?" Cathie asked.
To her surprise, Ali tilted her head back and burst out laughing. "It depends on who you are. You are not in any danger, but Na'sval and any other kind of misguided soul are in a lot of danger."
"What do you have against Na'sval?" Rick asked, "He's always been nice to me."
"He brought me here," Ali said, "He knew where I was and took me back, even though he had helped me in the past."
"And what do you mean by 'misguided souls'?" Cathie ventured.
"People who hurt others for fun or take advantage of people weaker than them," Ali said, "Basically, I protect the innocent."
"Why?"
"To make up for being a monster," Ali answered.
Before Cathie could ask her why she thought of herself as a monster, Ali's head shot up and she went rigid. "Na'sval," she growled.
She bolted to the front of her cell and Cathie was again shocked at how fast she moved. A second later Na'sval walked into the room. He walked past Cathie's cell and stopped in front of Ali's. It was hard to tell, because of his mask, but he looked uncomfortable. Ali glared back up at him, her hands clenched into fists.
"So," Ali said , "How long are they going to wait before they start hunting me? By the way, how'd those samples hold up?"
"We were unable to sustain them," Na'sval said.
"Well here," Ali said, exposing the underside of her arm to Na'sval, "Take all the damn samples you want!"
"You don't understanding, I never wanted you to come back here," Na'sval said, a desperate note in his voice, "But I can't do anything because I have no status."
"But now that I'm stuck in a cell, I guess things are going to turn around for you."
"Yes, but don't think you'll find help in me anymore; I already risked everything for you once, I will never do it again."
"Good," Ali replied, "That'll make it easier for me to kill you."
Na'sval growled, mumbling under his breath again before turning and making to storm away.
"Wait!" Ali demanded.
Na'sval paused. Ali glanced over at Cathie who felt her insides grow cold with dread. Ali was up to something.
"What is she?" Ali asked.
Na'sval glanced toward Cathie. He hesitated then said, "Thwei Kv'var-de," before storming away.
Once he was gone Cathie turned back to Rick only to find him staring at her with an odd look on his face.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Na'sval had been teaching me a little of the Yautja's language," Rick answered.
Cathie's blood ran cold. The look in Rick's eyes made sense now, he knew what she was. Hoping Ali couldn't see, or didn't notice, Cathie gave him a small gesture, silently begging him to not tell. Rick shook his head, as if to clear it, but he didn't say anything.
"What are the other Yautja like?" Ali asked, giving no indication that she knew what had just happened.
"Pretty ruthless."
Cathie's eyes moved over the scars on Rick's body. They were some of the nastiest scars she had ever seen. "Is that where you got those?"
Rick looked down and ran a finger over one of the scars. "Yeah."
Looking up, Cathie saw that Ali had moved from the front of the cell to the bars that divided her cell from Cathie's. Her hands gripped the bars tightly, her knuckles turning white, she was still furious.
"Ali, why don't you sit down?" Cathie asked.
Ali's head snapped down to where Cathie was kneeling and she shrank under her harsh gaze. "Don't tell me what to do!"
"Sorry," Cathie murmured, freaking out.
"Give the girl a break," Rick defended Cathie, "She was just trying to help."
Ali released the bars and sat down, her eyes moving over to Cathie. Cathie quickly looked away. "I'm sorry." Cathie glanced back in surprise. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."
Cathie's mouth gaped open as she tried to process Ali's apology. Ali didn't seem like the girl who was sorry for anything. "It's alright," Cathie finally managed to say.
"So Rick, you seem to know what's going on around here, tell me more about it."
"What do you want to know?" Rick asked.
"Well, first of all, how come I haven't heard of people going missing every other week, besides the ones caused by me?" Ali asked.
"Because they have no need to snatch people often; they're not allowed to kill us here."
"Really?" Cathie asked, relieved.
Rick shook his head. "No, in fact, they get punished if they do."
"So can we kill them?" Ali asked.
What little color there was in Rick's face drained as his red eyes widened in surprise. "Why would you even think that? Do you know how hard it is to kill them?"
Ali just shrugged, as if it is no big deal. "No, but I probably could get the job done."
"If the hunted kills the Hunter, than the hunted is killed on the spot," Rick answered.
"Good to know, then," Ali said.
Obviously satisfied with what she has learned, Ali moved away from the cage and curled up in a corner. Cathie watched her, surprised at how fascinated she had become by her. Ali was the strangest person she had ever met; she was part alien and thought that made her a monster, and she helped people to make up for it. Cathie blinked and turned away, Ali was fascinating, yes, because Cathie had never met anyone like her, but the reminder that she was dangerous continued to ring in Cathie's head. She moved into the back corner of her cage too, pulling her legs up close to her body and laying her head on the hard ground. After all that had happened to her today, she was convinced that she wouldn't be able to get to sleep. But even as she thought that, her eyes started to droop and she eventually fell into a deep sleep.