Chapter 23

Up a train, through a forest, nothing but Yautja

Of all the luck.

Vai'dqouulth had finally caught up to the Little Doe, only to find she had gotten herself trapped in one of the snares he had previously set. It wasn't one that would cause lasting damage, but it was not the best way to begin their negotiations.

Not only that, but she was being hunted by an enormous, toothy Earth creature – large enough to rival even him, if it stood on its hind legs.

Thankfully, it was easily frightened away by a simple roar (even if he was more than capable of killing it).

The female did not seem especially grateful, though; and when Vai'dqouulth brought out his knife to cut her down, she began thrashing wildly, like an aquatic animal suffocating out of water.

Her struggles would not make the task easy. He would have to use care – not something to which he was accustomed.

He was closing in on her when a loud screech interrupted his thoughts, and he was knocked to the ground by a hard meat. Enraged, he struggled to rise; but the creature had him pinned just behind the knees. He could not twist around, either, which made his weapons useless. He made some embarrassing backwards flails with his arms, trying to hit his attacker, but he was simply at the wrong angle.

He felt the creature's drool at his neck, and knew what was coming. As he was trying to roll, the loud noise of a human weapon burst through the air, and the weight atop Vai'dqouulth was suddenly gone.

Its body was off to the side, dead. An expert shot directly through the skull. She sure seemed to enjoy ruining trophies.

Tilting his head back from his prone position, he saw Katja, her face hard, staring at him from behind her weapon. She seemed to be waiting. Waiting for him to do something.

Getting up, he realized he was now covered in snow, Vai'dqouulth gave himself a brisk shake, then made his way to the human.

She set her weapon aside and sat still, allowing him to approach her. It was a start, anyway. When he was close, Vai'dqouulth crouched a bit, hoping to appear less intimidating. He shouldn't have bothered. She didn't look the least bit frightened. More fatigued and resigned to him. He was somewhat concerned about her blood-streaked face, but he'd get to that later.

The next step was crucial. He needed to communicate he meant her no harm for now, fast and with clarity. Remembering the special pieces of metal, he dug out the one belonging to her dead drone and handed it to her. He hoped this would be enough.

" 'Yahontov'?" she read the inscription, taking the item. His computer had no translation for that word. "You saved these?" she added; interestingly enough, in English. This was excellent progress either way, she was at least speaking to him in a non-hostile manner.

He retrieved her head covering and offered it while beginning to speak.

"A warrior's head protection can be just as important as their weapon, little huntress." Of course, Katja would not know what he said. But he hoped the clear attempt at communication was enough. She just looked at him…with curiosity, if he had to guess. Better than fear or aggression.

"Greetings once more, human female. My gratitude for your assistance. Your skills are to be commended. I request the computer belonging to your omega drone. If you can provide me with it, or direct me to him, I can end this threat against your planet."

She blinked at him a few times – uncomprehending, as he knew she would be. "So, you're not killing me. That's nice. Thanks for that. Umm, I'm just not sure why. What do you want?"

He patted at his broken wrist computer as she watched while slipping her pack on once more.

"Your blades? Okay, you want… to fight? The serpents?"

She didn't understand, and Vai'dqouulth had no idea how to make her. Perhaps a different tactic was needed.

"Well, so do– hey, hey! What are you–"

Reaching out, Vai'dqouulth spun her around and began digging through her pack. Damn. No computer. It really was still with that weakling, then.

"What are you, airport security? Lay off, pal!" Katja exclaimed, turning and pushed at his hands. He recoiled and cocked his head. "Manners! On Earth, you never go through a lady's bag, okay? Big no."

He recoiled a bit more in confusion. Apparently, he made a cultural transgression. Well, just like his culture, she hadn't been afraid to let him know it. Lowering his head in submission, he waited for her to speak again. To be fair, he'd be upset if someone went rifling through his gear. It seemed like a universal transgression.

"That's better," she said, brushing her battle braid over her shoulder to her back. "Now, look. My men… they were killed. By the train crash. But I want to stop the serpents. You know, those," she said, pointing to the hard meat corpse.

"But I can't do it alone. Now, the humans in yellow, I think they are trying to take the Queen. They're called Weyland, and they're looking for the nest. That would be a very, very bad thing, okay? They don't want to kill the serpents, see. They want to use them for profit. Money. Do you know what that is? It's… Never mind, the point is, I can't let that happen. It would destroy the world. Okay?"

Speech concluded, she stared at him with what seemed like frustration. "Do you have any idea what I'm saying?"

He gave her a nod, and this seemed to please her. He was a little insulted she was speaking to him like a suckling, but he supposed she didn't know any better. So, the other humans were part of a rival clan called 'Weyland', and they wanted the hard meats for financial gain. The only thing they could be used for, however, was weapons, their original purpose. That would surely be the end of life on Earth.

"Good. Good. Listen, I know it's a lot to ask. But I could really use your help. If we don't do something, the serpents win. If you want to kill me later, fine. But right now, we need to work together. Please."

The rest of her drones had died in the wreck of that long snake machine? That meant the frail human computer was, doubtless, destroyed as well. Not surprising; he had watched the destruction from afar, regretting having fled before grabbing the computer.

Vai'dqouulth tried to think. She wanted to stop the 'humans in yellow'. Clan Weyland. For the two of them, that was actually a feasible goal. They were only humans, after all. And this Weyland clan might even have another computer he could use. From there, he could call his ship, bring Yautja backup, and begin the containment of the hard meats. And now Weyland, as well.

Yes, for now, he would align himself with her rather than wastefully kill her. Their goals were compatible and, in his position, it was better to form alliances with those willing. She wanted the hard meats destroyed as much as he did, and she seemed very eager as well as cooperative to coordinate with him.

He nodded again and trilled, "Your terms are acceptable. But first, we should seek shelter from this storm."

"Ok, we should hunker down and wait until morning, though," Katja unknowingly repeated him. This was going to be difficult with the language barrier.

Regardless, he began to walk away, but quickly noticed there wasn't a second set of footsteps behind him. Turning, he found her still sitting under the tree.

"My leg… uhh, the feeling hasn't returned. I– can't stand or walk just yet," Katja told him. Her tone sounded… off. Uncomfortable, maybe? Ignoring it, he focused on the problem. She couldn't walk. "Can you give me a few minutes?" she requested.

The simplest solution was to carry her. Though if he had to guess, that would be yet another cultural transgression. If she didn't move soon, however, the cold would kill her.

Mentally shrugging, he bent down and scooped her up. No surprise that she began protesting and struggling, but she never struck him. That would be an immediate challenge that he couldn't back down from, no matter her intentions. He was surprised to find out how light she was – and at least some of that weight was probably her gear. The thought of her gear made him remember to grab her weapon, as well.

He maneuvered her to the side of his hip with legs askew his own hips and put a hand under her hindquarters to support her weight. She clung to his netting much like the Earth Koala bear. With her in this position, he could at least defend the both of them if needed.

There was much… he wouldn't say growling, but for lack of a better term, growling from her, but eventually she settled down and just accepted her fate.

Retracing his steps, he found the cave he passed when trying to catch up to the snake vehicle. Carefully, he set the female down and handed over her preferred weapon.

"Stay," he ordered, pointing at her. She just looked up at him, likely wondering what he wanted now. Hopefully her temporary paralysis would keep her still. It had been a grand undertaking capturing her, after all. She was an evasive little creature.

Going inside, he took a check of the cave for anything hostile. When no such threat presented itself, he looked around, making sure their accommodations were adequate – which they would be. It was a small circular cavern chamber that was a dead end. Exactly what he wanted, one way in and out and no possibility of an ambush from something deeper inside the rock formation.

He returned, scooped her up once more, and brought her into the cave. "Your kind enjoys caves, do they not? Can you occupy yourself with drawings until I return?" he asked as he set her down in a deep corner of the cave.

"Are you speaking to me in your language?" she finally asked. Reluctantly, he nodded. Not because she shouldn't know, just because this was… frustrating.

"I'm really sorry, I don't understand you," Katja apologized. "I wish I could. Maybe we could have avoided all the fighting."

Vai'dqouulth tapped the front of his face mask with a claw as he paced in front of her. He needed to communicate his intentions to gather supplies clearly to her or she might get the wrong impression of abandonment or the like. Then, it came to him.

He grabbed a rock and began etching on the wall. One simple English word. 'Stay'. He pointed at it, then her.

"You want me to stay?" Katja clarified. He nodded again, ready to rake his own claws through his crest.

"Ok," she agreed. Thank the gods she didn't ask why. It wasn't her, or interacting with a human that was the issue. It was just trying to get a concept as simple as 'stay' across to her. Questions would just make him more irritated and frustrated.

He'd never had a pet before, never even considered one. Hell, he didn't even have hunting hounds, and they were bred to be low-maintenance beasts. It was the opposite with humans, sometimes they couldn't even care for themselves.

To his knowledge, a human had never been taken as a pet. Probably because of their sentience and all the problems that came with that. This ought to be quite the learning experience.

Katja was starting to realize what Mishka had to put up with, living as a pet. It was a complete guessing game as to what her new 'friend' wanted. Turned out, he just wanted her to stay put. Where he ran off to (invisibly), Katja hadn't a clue; nor did he feel the need to divulge the information to her. Apparently, he was the strong silent type. Emphasis on strong since he had carried her at least a kilometer like she weighed nothing.

At least he had left her weapons. That spoke volumes of the trust he was giving her, even if the armaments would be fairly ineffective against him.

While he was gone, she absently fiddled with Yahontov's dogtags. It meant the world to her that he had retrieved them and given them to her. She just wished she could get the other ones that were likely in the train wreck.

"Oh, Maksim. Zaitsev… Adrien. I'm sorry."

The hunter suddenly materialized from his cloak at the entrance of the cave, an assorted bundle of rocks and flora in hand. Reflexively, she smiled at him. It didn't have the reaction she had hoped for however, as he growled lowly. Definitely threatening. Her smile dropped into a frown.

"What did I do?" she asked. He dropped his gatherings and grabbed the rock. On the wall, he wrote 'teeth' and 'challenge'.

It took her a moment, but she managed to piece it together. "Showing teeth means a challenge."

He nodded.

"I apologize. That was a smile. It was a positive reaction to your return," Katja explained. "Not a challenge. Mouth position is more important than teeth visibility with human body language. I was showing that I was glad you were back–" She stopped as she realized he was all she had out here now. That was why she had been happy to see him return. Because she didn't want to be alone.

"Look, going forward, let's both assume the other meant no offense for anything. If you feel offended, there's no need to growl. Just do your best to explain, and I'll try to take it to heart," Katja tried to soothe.

He came over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Is that positive? Is it an agreement?" Katja questioned, and he dipped his head in confirmation.

"Ok. Glad that's settled." She returned the gesture. Since she couldn't move quite yet, she watched him move around the cave in a busy manner.

First, he made a circle of stones in the middle of the cave. It didn't take an Alexei to figure out he was making a fire pit. This was confirmed when he carefully laid out the kindling, big logs, and medium sticks in the perfect blueprint. Maybe they even taught humans how to make fire.

With the fire going, he next began to take leaves and pine needle-filled branches and laid them out on opposite sides of the fire. Close to it, but not so close they'd catch fire. "Oh! Beds?" Katja asked. She certainly hoped so. Cold cave floor, even with a fire, sounded unpleasant.

He looked at her, but paused before nodding. He seemed to be thinking. "Sei-i," he finally trilled. It was rough, slow, and he might as well have been garbling marbles. But he said a word she could make out.

"Is that yes?" Katja asked. He nodded. Well, at least they could do half of the yes or no questions now. "What's the word for, no?"

"M-di," he answered. It was still tough to tell that it was a word, but he drawled it enough for her to pick up on.

"Well, it's a start." She smiled – this time, lip only. No teeth. After all, he had tried, so she could, too.

Her leg circulation was coming back, so she began limping around to try and get the blood moving better. Plus, she felt useless with the alien doing all the work.

Going to her bag, she pulled a few of the remaining MREs she had. He was distracted with his task, so she carefully heated them over the fire before he decided to make her his next meal.

If she had to guess, he ate way more than the average human male. A thirteen hundred calorie MRE was probably not enough, but at least he'd eat. She'd never finish hers, either, and would give him that as well.

"Here," Katja offered him the bag of cooked food as she limped over. Looking up, he glanced at her offering. She watched him for a moment, then it dawned on her. He was sniffing the food, trying to determine what it was.

"It's food. Sort of. They don't taste as good as the American ones, but it's still calories," Katja explained. He tentatively reached out and took it.

"Thought maybe I'd feed you before you make a meal out of me," Katja joked, but immediately regretted it. "I'm really sorry, that was rude. But I probably should ask, do you eat humans?" He was a hunter, after all. Surely, he took sustenance from kills.

In response, she heard a rapid clicking noise from him. Something completely new. He shook his head, but there seemed to be some difficulty with the action this time. Then it hit her. He was laughing. Laughing at her. Uproariously, if she had to guess.

"Are you… laughing at me?" she finally mustered to ask for confirmation of her suspicion. He cocked his head in thought first, probably processing the key word, but ultimately, nodded. "I guess humoring you is better than the alternative," Katja chuckled herself. It was strange to think these ferocious beings could have any sense of humor, though it certainly made it easier to try to befriend him.

Getting back to the original matter, Katja found, despite the face mask, he seemed surprised about something with regards to the food. "Here's some water too. If you drink that," she picked up where she left off, and offered a bottle of water, which he took as well.

She also offered him an eating utensil, but he declined and instead turned his back to her. Strange. She jumped at a hissing noise, but realized it was coming from his mask. Curiously, she watched as he removed it. Because his back was to her and the cave was dark, it was impossible to make out his face, or even features.

When she tried to approach and get a better look at him, he growled warningly.

"Ok, ok I get it," Katja acknowledged before going back to her bed to eat quietly. When she had enough to sustain her, she walked up to him again, which elicited another warning from him.

"I just wanted to give you the rest of mine. I'm full," Katja soothed. Not completely true, but he was probably starving, if his last meal had been the deer carcass. She watched his back muscles visibly relax. Not wanting to provoke him, she left what remained of hers by his side and went back to her nest.

The female had surprised him. Yautja were extremely protective of their resources, so sharing was a big gesture to begin with in his society. She had been correct, though; the food was not very good, but it was better than no sustenance at all.

What was really a cultural shock, however, was when she came over and gave him about a third of her remaining portion of food, claiming she was satiated – which he suspected wasn't true. So, she had not only shared resources, but had prioritized his well-being by giving her own allotted portion to him.

No Yautja, especially a female Yautja, would do that. They had pups to feed, after all.

In addition, she was striving very hard, albeit in a clumsy manner, to show respect to him and his culture. It was rather astounding, because from his limited knowledge, humans didn't always even make an effort to do the same for different clans of their fellow humans, let alone different species. It was charming, in a ridiculous little human way.

As a matter of fact, interacting with her, while at times frustrating with the language barrier, wasn't as tedious as he had assumed it would be. She seemed eager to please, quick to be helpful, and tried to be as low maintenance as possible. Especially given her condition. Truth was, he was even beginning to take a certain enjoyment from interacting with her.

He hadn't been able to contain himself when she asked if he consumed human meat, either. He wasn't even sure why he found it humorous. Maybe it was just the outlandishness of the entire situation.

Yes, he could consume human meat, but just because one can do something, doesn't mean one should. Besides, he wouldn't get much sustenance off her tiny form even if he did. She was much more useful to him alive and unconsumed. For now.

He wasn't surprised she was curious about what his face looked like, but he thought it best not to show it. For one, there was no need to reveal any more about his species than he already had, in the unlikely event she escaped at the end of this and relayed the information to others. And two, humans were vain little creatures; the last thing he needed was distrust just because he looked different. Even though attractiveness didn't really play any part in his society, he was considered very attractive appearance-wise, but she probably wouldn't think so.

Stupid, really; he actually found humans to be on the beautiful side of the things the Yautja hunted. Both the males and the females, in their own unique ways.

At least now she could pick up on 'yes' and 'no' in his language, as long as he spoke it slowly enough.

Now it was his turn to learn something about them. Granted, he had learned a lot already. But nothing from his pre-Chiva studies had even come close to this, and it was fascinating. But there was the one thing that had been nagging him since their first encounter.

With his mask reattached, he went over to her nest and sat down in front of her. She smiled; no teeth bared. Her show of respect to him only increased his respect back to her.

"Hi," Katja greeted him. Trying to communicate this with words would be impossible, so instead, he carefully reached forward where her neck and chest met. She didn't seem keen on the action but allowed him to continue. After all, she was the one that had said 'assume no offense'.

Slowly, using his claw, he brought up the metal pieces that hung around her neck and gestured to it.

"My dogtags? What about them?" Katja asked him. Canine tags? What was this nonsense? He could put together unrelated words, too.

"What are these?" he asked in his language, and quickly realized that was fruitless, giving a slight head toss in frustration. Instead, he settled for gesturing again.

She seemed to be trying to interpret what he wanted. Finally, she spoke. "You're wondering what they are?"

"Sei-i!" he exclaimed. Even he was ashamed at how excited that sounded. Hopefully he hadn't said it too fast for her to understand.

"Those in the military have identification tags. In case of death, if a body is too unrecognizable, they help identify an individual for their next of kin. See here, this is my name, Jekaterina Zhabin Mikhailov. I go by Katja for short. Sorry I didn't tell you that sooner. My rank, which is Captain. And my serial number, which is a randomly assigned identification number," Katja explained to him. She honored him by sharing her name personally, even if he already knew it.

Now he rather wanted her identification tags as a form of trophy. The good news was, if he wanted her as a pet or living trophy, she came with her own 'papers'.

A humorous thought, of course. Even if he wanted that, it was extremely difficult to take a human off-planet for any purpose. As a matter of fact, he wasn't sure if any Yautja had actually done it, or if it had ever been considered at all; not including for the hunting preserves or as hard meat hosts. Of course, he hadn't ever thought to look into it beyond those purposes either.

If he was being open with himself, he had developed a sort of fondness of her at… some point earlier out here… perhaps because she was his longest tracked prey, and he had learned so much about her in that time. Because of that and her respectful treatment of him, he was trying to find a way not to kill her at the end of this. But it would come down to the clan leader, and by extension, the monarchy of Yautja Prime itself.

Decidedly finished with their individual one-sided discussion, he went back to his spot and broke open his medicomp. He had human projectiles to dig out of his body.

It was for their own benefit. Humanity was not technologically advanced enough to stand up to the other species in the universe, and they needed to advance at their own pace, without interference, as it might result in them destroying themselves. One of many reasons why their existence and technology needed to remain a secret.

He took a pause in his thoughts as he began the painful process of extracting the kinetic projectiles from his leg and hip.

Going back to his original thought, they – humanity – could still destroy themselves. It wasn't uncommon for a species to do so. But the Yautja would rather keep as many prey species around for hunting as possible - though they weren't going to interfere with their affairs too deeply, either. Sometimes it was best to let a species extinct themselves. Time would tell with humanity.

Finished with the wounds he could easily reach; he now had the grueling task of removing the two in his back.

"Oh, let me help!" Katja suddenly cut in, just as he was about to start. A bit… intimate of her, but he supposed that she didn't mean anything by it other than to keep him in optimal health for her benefit.

He felt her gingerly try to extract the first projectile.

"Human, you need to use more muscle or it will not come out," he instructed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure this hurts. I'll try to speed this along," Katja wrongly interpreted his language as protests of pain. He was not so weak as to whine! And he would prove it!

As she worked, he went back to his contemplations.

Revealing that they weren't alone in the universe would also make humanity more determined to become spacefaring, likely to their own detriment. Not to mention, it would become impossibly hazardous for even the most skilled Yautja to visit Earth; as they would be, at minimum, hunted for technology with overwhelming forces.

"Do you have a name?" Katja cut into his musings once more as she pulled the first projectile out. He looked back at her. "I apologize, of course you have a name. Is it anything I can pronounce?" she clarified, moving to the second wound.

"M-di," Vai'dqouulth shook his head.

"I'll have to think of something to call you, then," Katja exhaled. "Something you're okay with." It sounded like disappointment to him. Maybe frustration at her inability to understand him.

The second projectile came out more easily than the first, and she tossed it aside.

"Done." she announced. "Sorry again for shooting you. But you were acting kinda hostile."

Apologizing for defending herself? Humanity was ludicrous. To finish off the work, he used a medical biofoam to seal the wounds up.

A moment passed and she spoke again. "I have to, erm, relieve myself."

Vai'dqouulth looked at her and cocked his head in confusion. She huffed and tried again.

"I have to urinate."

Uninterested, Vai'dqouulth waved her to go outside. She was like a damn suckling announcing bodily functions. And humans, with their embarrassment over natural things like that, as well as nudity. That he did learn from his stalking them.

"I was hoping you'd come out with me and watch my back," Katja continued.

What good would it do for him to look at her back while she urinated? Again, he cocked his head, requesting explanation.

"Sorry, I mean guard me. Watch for threats. I can do the same for you if needed," she clarified for him.

Figures of speech. How inefficient. Though that wasn't a flawed idea. There were plenty of threats still out there, and traveling in pairs was wise. He nodded his agreement. Now, she really was his pet. He'd put a collar and leash on her, but it wasn't like she was in any condition to run away. And even if she was, he suspected she wouldn't as her current predicament stood.

Still, at least she was housebroken.

"Can I have another blanket?" Alexei whined.

Petrov felt his lip curl in disgust. Now that he was the only one left with whom Alexei could communicate, all of his demands landed directly on the Lieutenant.

"Fine." Digging in his pack, Petrov dragged out his blanket and tossed it at the scientist.

"Hey, you're giving that to him? He has his own. What are you gonna use to stay warm?" asked Pierce.

"Freezing is preferable to listening to him," answered Petrov shortly.

"Yeah, but if he freezes, then neither of us has to listen to him, and you live. Win-win."

Petrov didn't bother smiling at the joke. Katja was out there somewhere, possibly hurt or dying. Besides, though he had learned to work with the American, he still didn't like him very well or even trust him all that much.

From nowhere, Pierce suddenly said, "Can I ask about your family?"

Petrov stared at the insides of the train car. Terrific. He wanted to converse. Unenthusiastically, Petrov asked, "Why?"

"Well, you know about mine. And what the Slater guy said back by the depot kinda made me curious. Besides, if you don't talk, Alexei will, and I'd rather listen to you."

This, Petrov realized with reluctance, was true. Nobody in their right mind wanted to listen to Alexei.

He spoke quickly, though, not wanting to linger on the story. "We had a family farm. When I was sixteen, a piece of equipment malfunctioned while my parents were working. It injured them both and left them disabled. They took out loans from a Weyland owned creditor, tried to keep the place running… I dropped out of school to help, but it wasn't enough. And soon, Weyland demanded their payments. Between that and the other ongoing bills, it was impossible to keep up. We have universal healthcare in this country, but it's severely underfunded, so a lot of expenses – their wheelchairs, for example – had to be either paid privately, or gone without. Eventually, Weyland took the farm."

Pierce was now looking at him with… pity. How pathetic was his life that someone like this American felt bad for him? "Did your parents try suing the company that made the farm equipment? I mean, if it malfunctioned–"

"Yes, of course. But they had millions to spend on their lawyers. We had nothing."

"So, you enlisted?"

"I was qualified for nothing better," he admitted. "My parents live with me now. It saves on bills. And in any case, I don't trust those care facilities."

"That's a… lot for one guy to take on," said Pierce carefully.

"It is what it is, as you Americans like to say. And my parents are worth it."

Their care really wasn't as difficult to endure as the shame and guilt both of his parents felt about the situation. His father would plead daily, "Just move us to assisted living, son, and live your life." And every time a girl he was dating would grow impatient with the situation and dump him, his mother would look at him with sad eyes and say, "She was such a nice girl. I hope it wasn't because of us. I'm so sorry, my darling."

"So where did you learn English?" Pierce asked curiously, changing subjects and dragging Petrov from his thoughts. "School?"

"No. I went to a very small, rural school that didn't offer courses like that. And like I said, I dropped out."

"Then…"

Petrov pursed his mouth. "Ka– Captain Mikhailov, she encouraged each of her men to take a class to learn it. There was an affordable place in Moscow, not far from the base. That is why most of us speak – could speak it." He knew his accent was quite strong, and it had taken a few conversations to bring it all back; but over the past days the language was feeling more and more natural.

"Really? Why?"

"She believed – believes our countries will be at war at some point. It also never hurts to know the languages of the top world powers."

"Huh," said Pierce, looking thoughtful. "She really focused on training, didn't she?"

"Yes. She would speak and listen to us individually, as well. I didn't have any other commanders like that. But it worked. Take Zaitsev, for example. He was… not an ideal soldier, to put it lightly. From what I hear, he was actively trying to get discharged. Bad attitude, not a team player, wouldn't listen to anybody. Not a good fit for the military. They transferred him to her unit, and within a few months, he had completely turned around."

Pierce appeared confused rather than impressed. "How? She's a good leader and all, but how? That doesn't seem… normal. Did she take a bunch of psychology classes or something?"

"Not that I'm aware of. She didn't go to college, if that's what you're asking."

Alexei, snuggled under his blankets, spoke up. "Can we stop talking about Jekaterina for two seconds?"

"Well, what would you prefer to talk about?" Petrov asked coldly. Helpless civilian or not, the kid had started wearing thin several days ago. As in, minutes after meeting him.

"Anything but this; even more of your sob stories! That's all my documents on this mission talked about. 'Mikhailov this', 'Mikhailov that'. 'Make sure to monitor how she reacts and interacts with the aliens'."

Wait, what?

"Excuse me?" Petrov asked.

"I want a bedtime snack."

"Whoa, no no no. Back up," ordered Petrov.

Adrien leaned forward, scowling. "What's going on?"

"He said that his orders included documenting Katja's interactions with the aliens," Petrov said, alarmed.

Alexei rubbed at his nose nervously, as if comprehending that he'd revealed too much. "That's not what I said, Petrov. I said I want a bedtime snack. Not a whole meal; I don't want to get nightmares. If you're gonna translate for me, do it correctly."

"Really? Why would they ask you to do that?" Pierce asked the kid with a barking laugh. "What did they think was going to happen for an interaction, besides a battle? Did they really believe the serpents would stop and try to talk to her?"

Snorting, Alexei drew his blankets up to his chin. "Obviously they didn't know, stupid, or they wouldn't have asked me to watch her, would they?"

As Petrov translated for Pierce, something occurred to him. "Alexei, did they say, specifically, 'her interactions with the serpents' ?"

"No, they said 'aliens'," Alexei said. His stomach gurgled, and he sighed forlornly. "My memory is perfect. I assumed they meant the serpents, though. After all, that is what we research in my lab."

Repeating the words to Pierce, he could tell the American was also thinking on the matter. Petrov, meanwhile, searched his pack and found Alexei's tablet. "Where is this document?"

"You won't find it in there," Alexei said with a yawn. "All that stuff was on a paper copy that I tore up and threw out the train window. Per orders."

"How about Pierce and I look through this, anyway?" Petrov asked.

"Whatever. If you find her alive, just don't tell her about it."

"Why?"

"Because if she knows, it might alter the results, ugh. Do I have to explain everything to you cretins? Anyway, about that snack…"

Adrien suddenly got up and cracked the car door.

"What are you doing?" Petrov asked.

"Storm has died down enough to see some distance. The sky is still dark, so I'm gonna use my last flare round and hope she sees it," Adrien explained. Petrov noted his captured weapon did have a compatible grenade launcher.

"Do you think it's wise? Won't that bring Weyland, the serpents, the hunter, or all three down on us?" Petrov posed. He did want to find Katja, by any means necessary; but they wouldn't be any help or use to her if they were killed in a firefight.

"It's a risk. But as a commander, you have to make calls and live with them. So, Lieutenant, if you were in charge, what would you have me do?" Adrien asked.

To Petrov, it felt a little like a challenge, but he realized the American Captain was testing him.

"I don't care which choice you make. But you have to make a decision here, Lieutenant," Adrien pushed.

He pictured Katja, the girl he'd nicknamed Katyusha in his mind after the first time he'd seen her knock a full-grown man on his ass in the early days of basic training, out there putting up the fight of her life while looking for them.

"Do it."

The human was agitated and in turn, agitating him. While he was taking his turn to empty his bladder, there had been sudden illumination in the sky, a bright orange ball. The same one the veteran had shot him with earlier, shortly before their confrontation.

His new female companion had gotten very excited. Apparently, this somehow meant at least one of her drones was still alive. He was less than convinced. This could be a deceitful trap by clan Weyland.

Either way, she was urging him to go towards the ball of light. And while the storm had lessened in intensity, he was not keen on investigating in the dark when the hard meats were most active. Not to mention, her injured leg would be a liability in any ambush scenario, whether that was clan Weyland, the hard meats, or otherwise.

Vai'dqouulth was forced to physically drag her back to the cave. On the wall, he wrote, 'tomorrow' and 'light'. She was able to make the correct conclusions from there.

It still did not stop her from trying to go out. He was forced to block the entrance with a giant boulder – which he would've done for protection anyway – but now to also block her escape attempts.

Now, here they were. He was resting on his makeshift sleeping pallet and she was pacing around the cave, keeping him awake. No doubt trying to figure out how to get out. Knowing her determination and cunning, she'd probably concoct a way out, too.

Having had enough, he finally got up and went after her, taking aim with his wrist launcher. Perhaps being wrapped up in one of his nets overnight would do her some good.

On second thought, she trusted him somewhat now. Maybe it was not the best idea to use his net launcher on her.

What irritated him was she would slow/stop to protest or reason with him, but then trot away as soon as he got close, with a backward glance at him occasionally. And she stayed just barely out of arm's reach, which made this game even more infuriating.

They did this routine several times before his patience finally went away. He snarled, and he snarled loudly. At last, she stopped and looked at him. He pointed at her, and then pointed at the spot in front of him.

"Human, come here," he ordered, knowing she couldn't understand him.

" 'Ooman' is not coming to you. I need to find my team," she stated defiantly, also guessing correctly what he wanted. Clever girl.

He huffed with annoyance. A part of him wanted to oblige her, but wisdom was overriding it. How did her drones get her to sleep? She was clearly overly tired. Maybe they didn't, and she kept them awake.

He seemed to recall the veteran saying something that hinted at this back in their high-rise dwelling.

They were having a standoff now, and it was clear she wasn't going to yield in this regard. He could respect that, but the matter still stood. Now, how to calm her down?

A thought suddenly came to him on how to get her to relax. He began projecting a tonal fluttering from his throat, and the results were instant. Her muscles visibly relaxed, her heart rate, per mask settings, slowed, her face flushed, and her eyes dilated.

The same symptoms she'd had in their fight earlier. So, this did work on the human species. But to what degree?

He slowly approached, ready to snatch her if she tried to dart away, but she didn't or more accurately, couldn't, move. His purr was keeping her sedate. And it was relaxing for him, too. Vai'dqouulth put his hands under her arms and lifted her up. She looked extremely intoxicated, her body completely limp, and she didn't fight him. This was much more effective on humans, or at least this human, than any Yautja female. Fascinating.

Going back to his sleeping spot, he took her with him and laid her on top of him. Not ideal, but at least he could hold her down and keep her from irritating him further if she began struggling again. Plus, his thermal netting was damaged, lowering his body temperature. If he was moving, he didn't really notice it, but being immobile made it more prominent.

In simple terms, he was cold, and she was body heat. Not a lot, but some.

When she started to struggle again, he put his face mask right up to her ear to maximize the effects of his purr and began raking a hand through her hair, mindful of the claws. Petting had worked in the communal dwelling; and as her fight slowed and died, he was grateful it still worked. Apparently, humans did like to be petted. Or at least this one did.

She looked like she was falling asleep. Finally. He could never share to other Yautja that this feature of their anatomy worked on humans. Some hunters may use it as an advantage to a species that was already at a disadvantage, possibly plunging the value of human trophies. Though he couldn't be sure if it worked only on human females, or the males too. Generally, males were the ones hunted, after all. Maybe he'd test it later if the opportunity arose, if only to confirm one way or another.

Reason number two, there would be… hard to answer questions as to why he did this. It was meant to be used on females, yes; specifically, his own species' females, just for a… different purpose. He wasn't sure he'd be believed, even though lying was not the honorable Yautja way.

Regardless, he was relieved he turned off his mask's recording feature before his sleep cycle.

A change to her breathing brought him back from his thoughts. It had evened out. She was asleep. Finally. What a hyper little thing.

Settling in, he shifted himself and her around until he was comfortable. Since she was asleep, he removed his mask and took a deep inhale of her hair. He had followed that scent all around this forsaken land and never stopped to actually dissect and appreciate it.

The males were more of an earthy smell. Not unpleasant in the least, but she smelled like plants that flowered. Sweet, even.

Many animals and sentients he had hunted by smell in the past unpleasantly reeked by comparison.

Putting his mask back on, Vai'dqouulth shut his eyes and ceased his heavy musings. That, coupled with the warmth of the fire and little human body had him drifting off to a sleep he had craved for some time.