The past
Year: 1623
The jungle was different, humid, but the arrogant oomans liked to think their idea of humid was the only example. He had experienced worse.
It had been nearly a day, he and his partner had yet to see the Chiva prospects. The students were given strict instruction to not engage with the locals, yet P'sy felt conflicted.
The old stories spoke of a time when the natives revered his people as gods. Fanatics… with their sacrificing of human subjects. But now the once powerful empires were gone its people scattered what little remained after the waves of disease killed thousands, all that was left were the temples. It seemed almost cruel to kill off any more of the fragile creatures, though he wondered why he even cared. He had to be careful a conscience seemed to be growing.
"Think it'll be as bad as the last time?" G'ogal was lounging in the throne chair, surprisingly still located at the top of the former Aztec priests' temple.
"Comfortable?" P'sy asked sarcastic, not at all caring about the answer.
"Very, thank you." G'ogal matched his tone.
It was the beginning of their third year working together, their relationship a lot smoother than most. He remembered his friend Kainde bitching about the idiot he was saddled with. A nice trade off… P'sy thought. He always gets the good students.
"I hope not." He stopped at the edge of the temple, from their vantage point he could see far, a small Spaniard settlement sat to his far right.
A slap in the face, an insult to the oomans who once lived here.
He didn't know why the way the ooman history turned out bothered him. Every great civilization eventually fell. He wondered how long it would be before Yautja followed. We won't, we have our shit together.
Movement caught his eye below in the center of the city. Black, metallic and jerky.
"Did you tell them to bring back bodies?"
"What?" G'ogal sat up. "No." He was by P'sy's side in an instant. His biomask pointed to the Spanish settlement, he grumbled under his breath. "We're too close, we should have objected."
"It wouldn't have done any good." P'sy murmured. "Remember the Great Wall, the Ancients told those teachers to shut up and deal."
Static fizzed on the steps of the temple. Two students returning, Jea'ah and Foeh, their stance uncharacteristically frantic.
"We tried to stay away from them, we didn't realize oomans were in the temple."
"Which temple?" P'sy demanded. She pointed to one across the way shadowed. He rounded on his partner. "Did you put an egg in there?"
G'ogal stood, frozen. "No… I didn't."
"There were several eggs." Foeh said. "They're still in there, we didn't have time-"
"Forget it." P'sy snapped. "Where are the others, V'in and Doj'ah?"
The kids' lack of answer concerned him. The teachings mandated missing predators were left behind, but guilt crushed his insides at the idea of ditching two kids, barely sixteen seasons. And it was clear what had happened. The Europeans were not as oblivious as they let on. The Aztecs, Incas and once the Mayas revered them, the Yautja, as gods, the conquistadors did not.
"What are you thinking?" G'ogal asked softly.
P'sy took a breath. "You two get to the ship, don't leave it and keep it cloaked." He tapped commands into his gauntlet. "Let's go. If we aren't back by the time the sun sets, you leave, got that?"
Foeh made a surprised noise. "Wha-what?"
"You heard me. Go!"
The two stumbled down the steps, camouflage activating.
"Let's go." He followed after them, G'ogal by his side.
…
The pyramid was cool, the air dank with a slight breeze. Slowly P'sy inched in, his combi-stick at the ready. He hoped they weren't about to find a massacre. The hall opened into a large room, stone slabs held oomans, natives by the looks of them, on their faces six-legged facehuggers.
"What the fuck." G'ogal breathed, not a question a statement of disbelief. "How do we get rid of them without attracting attention?"
P'sy inhaled deeply. "Set explosives and level this place from the ship." He growled. "Fucking oomans."
G'ogal stepped closer, watching the freak quiver, its legs tightening around its victim almost instinctively despite not having eyes to see him. "Shit happens."
"Not this kind of shit." P'sy sighed. "Mark my words, the oomans are going to advance, some day it won't be pointy sticks and rocks or steel for that matter." He gestured. "Get the explosives out."
Running feet quickened P'sy adrenaline as he spun, caster rising automatically, red dots targeting one of the two; but it was only V'in and Doj'ah. He breathed a sigh of relief. Now they could get the hell out of there before the Spaniards caught up to them.
"Elder." V'in stopped in his tracks, winded. "I'm sorry-"
"Doesn't matter." P'sy cut him off. "It's not your fault. Get to the ship, we'll deal with this."
The two teens didn't waste time obeying.
"Camouflage!" G'ogal yelled after them. "Idiots."
"If they were any older I'd call them idiots." P'sy took in the scene once more, frustration hitting him at the callous nature of the Spaniards using the natives in such a demeaning way. We oughta pull the fuckers off and let them latch onto those arrogant pricks.
G'ogal set his pack down and reached in for the explosives just as a white hot blast lit up the room, barely missing him.
P'sy caster immediately aimed, programmed to sense conflict and retaliate. He didn't miss, blowing the ooman back into the hall he came from. There were shouts of alarm, gibberish as his translator tried to keep up.
"What the hell!"
"Get the monsters!"
"Move!"
Several men comically armed with swords ran as one into the room. P'sy blocked the first swipe, the metal weapon sliding off the underside of his gauntlet. The man was quick to parry, the sharp blade slicing against his biomask, cutting the tiny hoses. He growled and easily knocked the sword out of the ooman's hand. Punching out open-handed, the ooman head cracked fatally across the opposite wall. Irate, P'sy pulled his mask off, rendered almost useless with the hoses damaged. Nearby G'ogal had held his own well, incapacitating the three trying to kill him.
For a second P'sy allowed a moment of admiration. The predator was significantly younger than him, only just blooded, bright and wise for his age. There wasn't anyone else he'd want to have his back, besides Kainde.
Another blast lit the room, the aim off.
"C'jit!" He hissed.
The shooter, a burly man in metal armor, froze. The modified caster in his hands, an object barely understood.
"Put it down!" G'ogal aimed his caster at the man, his translator spitting out the command harshly.
The ooman visibly sweating began muttering a prayer. G'ogal growled and slowly advanced. "Your pathetic gods are not going to answer your babbling. Shut up."
The man's hands shook, eyes darting. He knew he was a dead man. The last man standing.
He squeezed the trigger, plasma shooting out, exploding a facehugger.
G'ogal snarled, ending the ooman in seconds. The man hit the wall with a crack, if the blast didn't kill him the shattering of his spine certainly did.
"What are those?!" P'sy stumbled away, the ill aim having caused the acidic blood to arc like paint across the room in a heavy spray, hitting his unprotected face. The burning was almost unbearable and he had had his fair share of injuries.
G'ogal extended his wrist blade, slicing off the head of one human, the facehugger pulsing violently in agitation. "Figure it out later." He halted upon seeing the damage. "Pauk, can you see?"
"Barely." P'sy could feel his skin searing and ripping around his left upper mandible.
"Stop moving your mouth!" G'ogal snapped, and forced the older predator into a sitting position. "Sit. I'll right back." He returned quickly enough with a sack of water.
"What are you doing?" P'sy tried to open his eyes. "That's going to spread it."
"Not if its mixed with the healing gel." G'ogal was quick, smoothing the paste over the deep burns. "Let it sit for a minute."
"We need to-"
"Stop talking." G'ogal shook his shoulder to emphasize his point. "There's damage P'sy….pauk."
He attempted to speak, but the scene around him froze and then unfroze, fizzing and distorting. "-the hell?"
An ooman woman appeared behind G'ogal, her gaze intense as she stared at him. Not friendly. What is this? Slowly she advanced towards them. This isn't what happened. A dark haired woman who seemed so familiar yet he couldn't think of her name or where he knew her from. Why is she here? This isn't what happened.
A rifle lifted in her hands as she took aim at G'ogal's head. "What are you doing?" His mask was off, the translator useless without being connected to his gauntlet. If she heard him, heard anything, she didn't act like it.
With less confliction than the Spaniard wielding the handheld caster, she pulled the trigger.
…..
The Present
P'sy woke with a start unsure of where he was. Waves of chills swept over his body as he laid, trying to reclaim some feeling of normalcy. Where the fuck was he? Gunnison. U'darahje. Colorado. Oomans. KELLY. The name came to him as natural as anything, the name he hadn't been able to think of in the dream.
"You okay?"
The voice startled him, A'luet was sitting up from his spot on the floor. Earlier Ricky and Dallas removed the third row seating from the SUV, situating it by the futon in P'sy's room, a makeshift bed for the younger predator when he didn't give in to taking the couch out in the front room. That became Ricky's spot and a day into their occupation of the cabin, Jessie's too.
"I'm fine." P'sy tried to hide the shivers, hoping it wasn't the result of infection setting in. The bruising around his injuries was spectacular according to the oomans.
A'luet sighed, getting up and grabbing a thick blanket off a chair. "They said we might get cold… if it wasn't so awkward I'd suggest sharing body heat."
"Why is that awkward, I had to do it once. The motherfucker I was saddled with crash landed in the Arctic."
A'luet snorted in amusement. "Your colorful language is back so you must be getting better."
P'sy grumbled. "No, I'm just fucking cold.
A'luet laid the third blanket over the elder with a grin, though the amusement died quickly enough. Three blankets was a lot, but he hid his apprehension as he sat back down on his bedding, pulling his own blanket around himself his thermal netting only doing so much. "Was it a dream?"
Sometimes P'sy wondered if A'luet's exceptional empathic connection to the world was a curse. At one time the kid thought so. Yautja didn't give two shits about one another unless alliances could be forged for a common purpose. Not him. The kid was only twenty seasons and had created an emotional network of family who without him, wouldn't have tripped over each other.
His gaze travelled to the closed door. Is that comradery going to extend to these oomans? He didn't even know why he thought of that, though that didn't explain his nightmare involving the female shooting his once-upon-a-time partner.
"Yeah… what time is it?"
"Three-thirty in human measurement."
P'sy shifted, wishing he didn't. "The humans asleep?"
"Yes…?" A'luet glanced at the closed door. "The kids are asleep on the couch by the door."
P'sy snorted. "Oomans are deaf, I'm not worried." He pushed the blankets back.
"What are you doing?" A'luet demanded.
"Making myself useful."
"P'sy, you're still healing for god's sake."
"What's your point?" The predator slowly stood and groaned in pain. "I'm not laying in that bed any longer than I need to."
"If you rip your stitches laying in that bed is going to be the least of your worries." A'luet argued furiously. "Where are you going?"
P'sy picked up his combi-stick and sheath. "Guess you'll have to follow me to find out."
A'luet started to argue, even threaten to stun the elder's ass if he didn't return to bed but P'sy's retreating back stopped him before their mini argument woke the teenagers.
Quickly but quietly, he followed the elder, passing the teenagers; shifting froze him in his tracks but it was only Ricky moving in his sleep.
P'sy glanced at him, amused, before exiting the cabin.
The early morning air was cool, personally A'luet would have liked to return to bed but he didn't feel right letting P'sy go off on his own.
"Where are we going?"
P'sy didn't stop walking, only turning halfway to look at him. "Right here." He came to a halt at the river's edge.
A'luet waited. "Night stroll by the river?"
"No." P'sy pulled his combi-stick loose and extended it. "I can't imagine living on that noodle crap for another day. The female means well but I could feel my insides liquifying from all the chemical shit in it." He stepped into the water. "And the male is useless with hunting so it falls to us to provide for all of them apparently."
A'luet laughed in spite of wanting to be irritated with the elder's stubbornness, though he was correct with the observation. A DIY snare comically failed when Dallas forgot he set it earlier in the day; a conscientious hunter wouldn't have forgotten.
"They've been demoted to respective gender pronouns again?" He thought P'sy would find amusement in his question but the predator remained quiet, staring out across the river. A'luet tilted his head. "What's wrong P'sy?"
The elder shifted, though he kept his back to him. "I dreamt of the past and-" He paused. "-the woman was incorporated into it." He straightened abruptly, A'luet could feel him walling himself off, an act P'sy was very good at. "Doesn't matter. I'm going to catch fish."
…..
Bird songs drifted in through the window by Kelly's ear, slowly waking her, peacefully she thought. It had been a long time since she had multiple days of peaceful night's sleep. The first two nights she laid awake, her or Dallas barely sleeping, as she expected government agents to come barreling through the cabin doors. But then she remembered the agent who threatened them after crash landing the helicopter.
He thought the predators were dead until P'sy revealed himself, more than likely he relayed that exact belief to his superiors before he was killed. For all the higher-ups, whoever was that man's boss, knew the "threats" were incinerated in the blast that obliterated Gunnison. They were safe for now.
Slowly she disentangled herself from Molly, asleep between her and Dallas. "Only sharing the bed, limited options." She told herself for the millionth time.
Slowly leaving the room, wincing at every creaking floorboard she made it into the small living room where Ricky and Jessie laid.
Into the kitchenette, she grabbed a tea bag and a cup of filtered water, hoping the filtration system wasn't too outdated; she didn't need to suffer a bad case of diarrhea from contaminated river water or any of them for that matter.
She drifted towards the room the predators were in, funny the bed seemed awfully flat, no sign of legs under the blanket. She narrowed her eyes and pushed the door open to see an empty room.
"Oh my god."
Where did they go? Had agents come in?
No, she scolded herself. There was no way anyone could have broken in and no one hear them.
She turned. "Ricky. Jessie. Hey-" She shook his shoulder. A hitched snore spewed from his open mouth breathing before he jerked up, disoriented.
"Wha-what?"
"Where did they go?"
"Who?"
"P'sy and A'luet."
Jessie focused on the half open bedroom door, more with the program than him. "They aren't in there?"
Kelly grumbled to herself. "Why would I be interrupting your open mouth snoring if they were there?"
"Do you think they left?"
"They wouldn't do that." Jessie.
"How do you know that?" Ricky asked. "They-they're not human, they have zero connection to us."
Jessie sat up straighter. "Zero connection to us? What planet are you on Ricky, they came back to us when that government agent tried to shoot your brother."
"No." Ricky stood. "They came back for that gun thing, it just so happen we were there."
Jessie rose from the couch. "If that was true they would have killed that one guy, took the gun and left us. P'sy shot him, killed him, to save your brother. You can't make me believe otherwise." She stormed to the door, stopping with her hand on the knob. Slowly she turned back to the two, her eyes sweeping to Dallas leaning in the second bedroom doorway. "You still have an issue with them, don't you?"
"And you don't?" Ricky countered. "I mean sure, did they get us to that helicopter in one piece, yeah, they did and I'm grateful. But we all know that's where our alliance was supposed to end, on that roof."
"Well, it didn't." She snapped. "So you would have been content with us burying P'sy? In the backyard, leave him to fertilize the trees?"
"I wouldn't have been content, but they're not human. We're a convenience to them right now."
Jessie tsked. "Well, you can continue believing that and I'd hope the rest of us will live in the real world and know what's true." She jerked the door open and left.
"Jessie." Kelly called out, but didn't pursue her as the door slammed.
So frustrated Jessie startled when she rounded the back of the cabin and nearly walked into A'luet's back as he and P'sy sat on opposite stump seats around a fire pit.
She glanced down, between them laid six medium sized river fish in a bowl.
"You got all those from there?"
P'sy shrugged. "Had to go downstream a ways…no offense that noodle shit I could feel it burning up my insides."
Her bad mood lightened a little. "The ramen noodles? Some of them kind of suck. The ones you had were the better ones."
"Told you." A'luet turned back to his carving of the fish.
She could feel a weird vibe wafting off the older predator. Timidly, she took a seat next to A'luet, feeling a sense of comfortableness like she had known him forever. She wasn't sure why she felt that way.
"You heard that, inside, didn't you?"
P'sy's biomask was off, laying close enough for the translator to still work. Silently, he raised his eyes to her without stopping his fileting. "I'm used to it."
"That's not something to be used to."
P'sy's gaze fell on her. "You asked me what we were, I gave a vague answer." He inhaled slowly. "We call ourselves yautja, your species calls us Predators… we've been here since about the dawn of mankind. Choose the most worthy of oomans to challenge. Some fail, some prove their worth to us and we respect them for it. The developed countries, North America, the United Kingdom, some African nations, Asia, their governments all know of our existence."
"Challenge how?" She looked at A'luet., who was quick to retract his eyes to his mentor.
"I don't think I need to answer that." P'sy murmured.
"So you kill us?"
"Not just you, but you can take comfort in knowing your species is pretty far down the list of worthy adversaries."
"Why?"
"You're fragile." P'sy dropped his last fileted fish and picked up a lighter as he kicked kindling and sticks into the fire pit. "Only the most ruthless are pursued." He paused in his work, orange irises sliding to her. "Assassins mostly, snipers, guerrilla soldiers, violent convicts."
"Was it just coincidence?"
P'sy slowed in lighting the fire. "Why does it matter?"
"I have to know."
"Why?"
She looked to A'luet for help though she wasn't sure why. What was he going to do or say?
"Because it would make me feel better knowing two people in my very small group did come back for me, for us. My parents are gone, my sister gone. My fucking house is gone. The only town on the face of planet I ever knew is gone. All I have now is Kelly, Dallas, Ricky….and you two."
P'sy turned away. "I won't lie. You started out as pawns to me but maybe I'm getting old, sappier." He shot A'luet a glowering look. "Maybe he's rubbing off a little too much. I honestly thought you all were out of the blast range, obviously you weren't. A'luet and I tree hopped until we lost the soldiers and settled for a bit until we saw smoke in the distance; that's when we came upon you and your welcoming committee." He sat down again, tossing more kindling into the infant fire. "I didn't kill those men for shits and giggles. He was about to blow off Dallas's head; would have been a dick move to stand there like morons and watch it happen, especially since the odds weren't even."
"Weren't even?"
"The agent had an unfair advantage." A'luet finally spoke.
"Is everyone as fair as you?"
"No." A'luet's quick answer was short and different, his tone a stranger to her. He sighed. "I'm the only survivor of a clan of eighty, not including children, you count them it was a hundred. An individual who thrived on unfair odds set us up to be attacked, I only survived because my mother sacrificed herself for me."
"My only priority is getting our ship back, and then we'll be out of your way." P'sy changed the subject.
"You aren't in my way. I haven't camped in a long time, you gave me an excuse."
"You're here…" Kelly appeared. "-and you gathered food..?"
"I heard the ill result of the-" P'sy paused. "-hunting attempt."
"The snare you mean?" Kelly snorted. "I told him it was a bad idea." She came closer. "We thought you left."
"No, you'd miss us." P'sy picked up a flat rock, putting it amid the fire and then laying a fish slice down. "Someone more competent in catching food needs to stick around for a bit."
Kelly laughed before catching herself.
"Can't argue with that." Kelly turned to Jessie. "Ricky wants to apologize."
"He wants to or you're making him."
"More like a volun-told. He is feeling guilt."
Jessie shrugged. "Whatever. Doesn't matter."
"Yeah, it does."
Behind her, lurking near the side of the cabin Ricky stood, shifting from one foot to the other.
"Do you want to eat something before you go?"
Jessie shook her head. "No, I'll be fine until we come back." She stood, dusting off the spare pair of pants found in an airtight storage bin.
Next to her A'luet noted P'sy attentiveness to across the river and the surrounding brush. He was going to question his change in behavior but P'sy spoke first.
"Go with them A'luet."
"Why?"
Jessie paused by Kelly, listening.
P'sy gave the forest one last searching gaze before turning back to him. "Internal human navigation sucks. I don't feel like having to head a search party later if they don't return."
A'luet reached for his biomask, reconnecting it. "You know they probably want alone time, right?"
"They'll get over it, besides your presence will ensure teenage hormones don't override their rational thinking."
Kelly snorted, managing to turn it into a cough as Ricky's face reddened. Embarrassed he turned away from them, staunchly avoiding Jessie's persistent looks his way.
A'luet rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay."