Hunting (The Nine) (2 page)

The Wilders looked disappointed, but Morro nodded in agreement after he and Tidae shared heated looks. It was all that Niika needed to get things going.

In ten minutes, the flight was registered, the gear was stowed and Niika was ready to give her companions the final word. “Gentlemen. We are going into the wild areas of Gaia. Only one word matters there. Mine. If you do not like to take orders, stay here. I will get you in and out alive and in one piece. This is your final chance.”

The men looked at each other and filed into the skimmer, taking seats and strapping in.

Grinning, Nik jumped in and took the pilot station. “Let’s get this party started.”

She fired up the engines, checked the backup power cells and lifted off, taking them to the area that glowed red in her mind. There was nothing else for it, she had begun a hunt, and she had to see it through.

It was a three-hour flight that landed them right in the centre of the pulsing red zone. She set the skimmer down near a stand of trees and a fall of water from the nearby rock face. They would have what they needed close at hand, and Nik knew from experience that that water was icy cold.

Without a word, she left the skimmer and started to pull her supply packs and bedroll from the hatches. The men followed her, and when they had cleared the skimmer, she activated the seal. “That will only loosen when we are on our way out. It will keep the skimmer safe, dry and charged. There is a code to open it under duress, but it is rare that it gets used.”

Cavos shrugged and looked longingly at the cliff face. “Can Trusk and I go for a climb? It has been too long since we have been on a world with gravity that matches our needs.”

Morro and Tidae smiled hopefully. “Can we go for a run?”

She held up her hands. “Set up camp, and then, you can go running and climbing.”

She had to stifle her amusement at the events that turned fierce warriors into little boys wanting to go out and play.

The camp was set in record time. She set up her own tent, bedroll and then she hoisted her supplies up into the trees, but she kept them on the thinnest branch that would support the weight. Kilash were tree dwellers with an intense curiosity. They would ruin anything they touched with the bacteria they carried on their little hands.

To her amusement, the Wilders and Stone Folk followed suit. They copied her placement exactly, and as they worked together on the fire pit, one of the little scavengers tiptoed down a branch and squawked as it was tipped to the ground by its own bodyweight.

Morro reached out and caught the Kilash by the scruff, holding the little shrieking creature at arm’s length. “Okay, so that makes sense now.”

Nik laughed. “They are notorious for digging into foodstuffs and leaving their digestive bacteria behind. It rots what it touches. Don’t leave any food out, and if you do, burn it. They can only eat what they have corrupted.”

The men were staring at her in horror. Morro walked to the edge of the forest and let the Kilash run back to the trees.

When he returned and they resumed work on the fire pit, Nik paused, “Welcome to Gaia.”

The slow laughter around the pit made her smile. It might just be an okay trip after all.

Chapter Three

This trip was pure hell. Getting the men of the Nine together for one event was like herding cats, Hakkik cats. The kind with the acid fangs and eight legs.

The Stone Folk wanted to do two things, the first was climbing the rocks and simply enjoy being outside, the second habit was Cavos’s alone. He enjoyed staring at Nik no matter what she was doing. After two days of it, she confronted him.

“What are you looking at?”

“A woman as lovely as a dark sunset over a granite cliff. You have a lithe grace that I find quite attractive.”

The Wilders were busy analysing a bunch of leaf samples from that morning, so they were no help in distracting Cavos. Trusk was trying to interpret the lay of the land from ancient symbols supposedly in the cliff face.

Niika sighed. “How about, I show you to your hidden city, you find what you are looking for and, then, we help the Wilders with their digestion problems.”

Cavos blinked. “You know where it is?”

“Of course. I knew the day we landed, but it was a little soon to show you what you wanted to see. I needed to see how you managed in the wilds of Gaia. Frankly, you would do fine for about three months. As soon as the seasons turned, you would be history.”

Cavos smiled and stepped close to her. He had been bathing in the waterfall, because she could find nothing in his scent but male and the lightest hint of dust. “History is my speciality. Please, show us what we have been missing.”

Niika whistled sharply, and Morro and Tidae walked over. “You called, mistress?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes. We are going to find the ancient Stone City today, and the day after tomorrow, we can tag some herds. Is that acceptable?”

The Wilders looked at each other and nodded. “Can we still take a run before dinner?”

She sighed. “We will see. You will need knives, rope and one meal pack.”

Everybody prepared, leaving Niika to look around the campsite to check for possible dangers. The camp appeared secure, so as they walked out, she activated her favourite item designed by the Nine, the dome. It covered their meal packs, their bedding and the fire pit.

It should be safe enough if they ended up being gone longer than she anticipated. One day’s rations was a test. If they couldn’t feed themselves in case of danger, they could go hungry.

She settled her water and blades in place and set off to show the Stone Folk how to get into their own city.

They didn’t have a problem letting her lead, but as she walked down the hall created by the base of the crevice beginning into two towering cliffs that just jutted from the landscape in a growing swell, she could feel them getting close in their eagerness to see what was ahead.

She could hear Cavos and Trusk murmuring back and forth as they recognised the environment, but she kept walking until she stood in front of the entrance to the hidden city. “It’s behind there.”

A tumble of rock fifteen feet high spoke to something being hidden beneath. Cavos asked, “You are sure?”

“I am. The door glows red hot, but it glows through those rocks. I can find a few keystones in there as well, if you like.”

Trusk raised his dark grey brows. “Keystones?”

Niika nodded. “Keystones. Stones that you pull to bring the others down.”

Cavos smiled, “Not necessary. Just a moment.” He stepped into the fallen stones and disappeared.

Niika looked at the Wilders, and they simply looked resigned to the Stone Folk showing off.

The rocks shifted, so they stepped back a moment before the landslide erupted outward in a shower of stone chips.

Nik turned and looked at Trusk. He shrugged with his hands open. “Blowing rubble is best left to the high families.”

She checked her arms and face for cuts, but none of the bits had broken the skin. She checked her companions and shouldered her pack once again. Cavos was standing in the now-open cavern, smiling and dusting his hands together.

He stepped aside as she moved forward. “Miss Baker, we are loyal followers.”

She gave him an evil look and moved across the stone, following the burning red that pulsed and flared as she got closer to the source. “Nice trick, by the way.”

Cavos shrugged. “We all have our skills. The Wilders can shift into a more deadly form of their already formidable selves, the Stone Folk can manipulate rock. It is what we are born to do in our different ways. This world shaped us, changed us just as it is changing your people.”

Nik tilted her head in acknowledgement and kept walking toward the heart of the tracking pattern. “Why do you want to find your city?”

Cavos chuckled and drew even with her. “Wouldn’t you?”

The laughter that came out of her did it with a rush. “I suppose I would.”

The scent of water rushed at them when they turned a corner. The suddenness caught Nik by surprise. She turned back and walked through the restriction and then returned to her party. “That is rather neat.”

With the turn of the corner, the light was gone. “Does anyone mind if I use a light source? We have a way to go.”

Morro and Tidae shrugged in the dimness, and since Cavos and Trusk were ahead, she had to assume they didn’t mind.

She removed her lamp from her pack and fired it up. The path they were on was no longer rough rock. The walls were smooth and the floor under their feet was tiled. “Wow.”

Morro and Tidae looked around nervously. Morro said, “We don’t like being confined like this.”

“Do you have a preferred method for being confined?”

She could swear that Morro blushed. “Never mind.”

Nik put her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. We can feel fresh air on both sides, and this is a fairly clear path with no side tunnels. We can get out. I can always find a way out.”

He cocked his head and looked at the hand on his shoulder, reaching up to touch her but missing her when she pulled her hand away. “How do you find it?”

“I hunt it. I hunt what I need. When I need to locate a specific thing, I can locate it without hesitation. Right now, I need to hunt Cavos and Trusk. Those bastards have gone on without us.”

He laughed, Tidae looked relieved, and together, they moved forward.

Chapter Four

Cavos and Trusk had turned everything on before the rest of their party arrived. Cavos wanted to show the home of the Stone Folk to an advantage, and Trusk just wanted the light and water.

When Niika came out of the cavern entrance with Morro far too close to her, Cavos realized that he might have made a tactical error in regards to the female he wanted.

He walked toward her, watching the stilted pace she was walking with. Concern filled him, and he reached out to take her hand, helping her down the final four stairs.

The contact electrified him, just as it had the first time she touched him. “Welcome to the city of Trasidil, the home of the Stone Folk.”

“Thank you.” She smiled, but he could see the fatigue in her features.

Morro was looking at him, and challenge was flaring in his eyes. Cavos would deal with that later.

“Come this way. We started the water pumps and the potable water should be ready by now. If we can get the rest of the systems working, you should be able to take a hot bath before we eat.”

She smiled wryly. “Who is in charge here?”

“I am. This is my home city, and the object of my studies for the last twenty years. I know every inch of this city in theory, and I look forward to proving the product of my imaginations.”

* * * *

Niika was exhausted. The moment that she found what she was hunting for, her mind drained her body of all energy. It was not a great effect when hunting living prey, but it usually was fine when looking for plants and medicinals.

Cavos was full of energy. He seemed more substantial here underground, as if this was what he needed to come into his own.

Nik moved carefully. Her supports were cutting into her back as they did when she moved too quickly. They were designed to pull and keep the subject contained, so she had worked hard to develop a gait that wouldn’t trigger it. Hiking through tunnels had caused a tension in her thighs and that tension was now hobbling her.

“A hot bath sounds wonderful. Where can I procure such a rare creation?”

He straightened and kissed the back of her hand. “I shall make it my first priority.”

She blushed at how silly it made her sound. “Don’t. We need to find a place to stay the night, first.”

Trusk walked up and grinned. “I have taken care of it. One of the city halls is still habitable. It has living quarters in it.”

Niika paused and looked around her, taking in the vista that expanded as far as the eye could see. The city was arranged in a wheel and spoke pattern. The centre was filled with a fountain that splashed water thirty feet into the sky.

The arch of stone above them left two hundred feet between roof and ground.

“How is all of this supported?”

Cavos offered her his arm, and she took it, ignoring the shudder that passed through his body.

He walked with her toward the city, pointing out the buttresses that had been formed in the rock above in a web so tight, nothing could fall.

She heard a noise that was very familiar coming from half a kilometre away. She turned her head and asked, “Morro, Tidae, are either of you up for a bit of hunting?”

“I haven’t hunted in so long that I am afraid I have forgotten how.” Morro’s voice was amused.

“I teach an excellent five-minute course in catching Zaphlings. They are usually the tastiest of the easy prey.” She smiled at the thought of getting the Wilders to chase down the small creatures. Tiny hooves, pudgy bodies and faster than thought, one Zaphling would feed them for two days.

There was no way she could catch one with her braces acting up, but there was no sense in having two strong predators with her if she wasn’t going to use them to provide a meal.

“Why are you creaking?” Cavos’s whisper brought her out of her thoughts.

“Ah, that. Well, let’s just say a lady needs her secrets, and as I am one helluva lady, I need more than most.” She chuckled softly.

His skin shifted for a moment, and she swore that she could see it turn to stone for an instant. “As you like.”

She wished she could tell him, tell anyone, but being mobile via Tokkel tech was not something that most women on Gaia would admit to.

The Tokkel had been most curious to seek out and examine the newest inhabitants of the same world that twisted them but elevated the Nine. The Gaians—most recently of Earth—had been shocked to be under alien attack and even more perturbed when citizens went missing. Everything Tokkel was to be despised and that meant her braces were in danger.

A few days without mobility had been more than enough for her lifetime.