by Beth Reason
**
Tire changes had to happen. No matter how much searching Hark did, no matter how many prototypes he made, he never found that secret blend of materials that would make a tire that could get them through a whole night. It was a dangerous time, having to stop in the middle of nowhere, wraiths, raptors and those that hunted them out there hungry. In a normal Summer, it was bad enough. But in a Summer that simply made no sense at all, the task became an absolute nightmare.
When they stopped, Hark changed from a rambling old man to a seasoned general. He barked orders at everyone, including Enna, and no one took offense.
“Tenet, get yer gloves and mask on. You help me outside.” Tenet nodded and donned his gear. “Scarab, you get the gun. Just aim and shoot.” Scarab shifted to Enna's seat, and Enna slid over to the driver's. She already knew what to do. If things got too hot, gun it. She hated the idea, and in all reality would never, ever abandon Hark. Chances were good that Hark knew full well how it would truly play out, but they were both more comfortable with the lie.
“It's good to have some help,” said Enna. “You two be careful out there.”
Hark gave a nod, then said to Tenet, “I can do this myself in five minutes. Never been under that. Let's break a record tonight.”
Tenet nodded and followed him out into the night.
“First thing to do is listen.” Hark held up a finger in the general area of his mouth behind his mask and Tenet listened to the night. A wraith group, way off. He heard a snorting, then rememberd the noises the coonskunk had made. It wasn't close enough to be a worry. Then he heard the buzz of a bot, and his eyes went wide.
Hark shook his head and whispered, “Far off, and a lotta other targets by the sounds. Don't wanna end up one of em, so let's get to it.” He walked around the vehicle, quickly pressing on all the tires. He came back to Tenet and told him two needed replacing, and one needed a patch. He motioned to the back of the vehicle, and Tenet followed.
There was a small compartment that held deflated rubber tubes. Hark pulled two of them out, then grabbed a small kit. He handed the items to Tenet and they walked to the front. Pulling a unitool out of his suit, Hark quickly encircled the front tire. The tire's side opened, and Tenet could see the failing tube by the light of the unitool. With a speed born of both necessity and practice, Hark removed the floppy tube and took a new one from Tenet. Once around the rim, he pulled a small cord and the tube inflated in seconds. A wave of the unitool was all it took to get the side back on, and they were off to the next. When that was done, Hark took the patch job and instructed Tenet to get the supplies and the repair kit back into the compartment.
They climbed back in the vehicle and Hark checked the time. “Hot damn! Three minutes and seventeen seconds flat! And that was work on three tires. You want a job, kid?”
Tenet smiled and took off his mask and gloves. “Sure! But I want benefits.” The old man cackled and kicked the rig into gear, lurching them into the night.
“You sound like you enjoyed it,” said Scarab, settling back into her seat.
Tenet thought about it for a second. “You know what? I think I did.”
Enna rolled her eyes. “Oh, no. Not another one.”
“Hell yes he enjoyed it! Feels good gettin' yer hands dirty, don't it, boy?”
Tenet grinned. “Yes, sir. Yes it does.”
The group pushed on through the night, filling the small vehicle with a light banter that belied the serious situation they were in. Anyone privy to the conversation, which ranged from idle chat chat to downright raunchy jokes told by Hark to the secret delight of everybody, would have thought the group was on a vacation, rather than a bounty in the hell of Summer. The rig bounced and jostled across the barren land, all inside enjoying the rarity of company in such a place.
The relaxation was short-lived, as they all half expected. A pod of bots picked up on their movement. Enna spotted them first, uttering an string of swears that sobered the crowd when coming out of her mouth. Without discussion, she dropped the scope on their weapons system and Hark slowed.
“Can't you gun it?” asked Tenet, picking up on the situation.
“No,” answered Scarab, donning her gear just in case things didn't happen as planned. “Trying to outrun the bots is useless. Get your gear on.”
Tenet fumbled with his gear, thrown for a loop by just how quickly everything changed. One minute, laughing with friends, the next in mortal danger. He snapped the locks of his mask into place and glanced at the trio of pros around him. Scarab peered into the night, scanning around them for signs of a multi-directional attack. Enna sat on the edge of her seat, the soft and gentle person replaced by a cold, hard hunter. Tenet felt fortunate that he wasn't her bounty after all. Hark pulled on his gloves while trying to maintain the vehicle. They bumped and jostled, but never stopped.
“Do they just detect movement? Can't we just stop and...”
“What, hide?” Scarab scoffed, the condescending tone back in her voice. “They'll detect us. This thing can't be fortified enough to hide our print.”
“Why not? A few more shields on the outside...”
“Dammit Tenet! This is not the time for you to flex your new mechanical muscles! If it was possible, don't you think Hark would have done it already?”
Hark felt a little bad for the dejected boy. “Takes too much juice to run them things, son. Can't stop and recharge enough. Transport grid's out, remember?”
Tenet gave a small nod and looked out his side. With one stupid comment, he was right back to being the incompetent idiot again. He decided the best way to help would be to stay out of the way. He was just a bounty, after all. He looked into the darkness, brooding to himself about opening his mouth when he saw a shadow in the sky getting closer at an alarming rate. “Bot!” he screamed.
“Calm down before you give us all a heart attack,” said Enna, swiveling around in her seat and targeting the bot. Almost as an afterthought, she added, “Dear.”
“See it?” asked Hark, trying to look over her shoulder.
“You worry about the steering, I'll worry about the shooting.” Enna looked at the horizon and could see it just out of range. She sat there and calmly watched the machine of death close in.
“Shoot,” urged Tenet, unable to help himself.
“Not yet. Just wait.”
Tenet's muscles tensed in his suit. He could clearly make out the bot, now, right down to the painted-on sneer. He shot a quick glance around and noticed that no one was panicking. In fact, no one even seemed the least bit nervous. He looked back out the window and felt his heart begin to race. He leaned to the edge of his seat, ready to bolt out the door. Shoot, Enna, he silently begged. Why aren't you shooting? His brain screamed for him to run, to scream, to kick the others into action. The bot was close. Any moment it would open up and they'd all be fried in their mobile casket. His breathing quickened, and he was about to jump in the front and take over the weapon controls when Enna calmly said, “Close your eyes.”
He squeezed them tight, but that did little to stop the flash of brilliance from cutting right through and punching his eyes. He turned away a second too late, blinking to try and clear the explosive image from view.
“Turn away beforehand next time,” said Scarab, still searching for more bots on her side.
Tenet reeled from the pain of the light and shook his head, desperately trying to regain his senses. “Is it over?” he asked weakly.
“Left!” yelled Scarab. Hark yanked the wheel and Enna turned the machine to follow. “Right in front.”
“I got it,” said Enna. “Fire in the hole.”
This time, Tenet put his head down and covered his mask with his hands. He waited for the sound of the blast to die down before he picked his head back up. He glanced frantically around, looking for any more, still seeing the image of the laser burned into his eyes.
“This don't feel right,” said Hark, shaking his head.
“We'll get phi
losophical later,” said Enna in a commanding tone. To Tenet's surprise, Hark only nodded. “Right turn.” Hark yanked the wheel, and Enna told them to duck. Everyone looked away just before she fired. Flash, crash, look for more.
After the third, Hark slowed, and peered out. “Anyone got anythin'?”
“No.”
“Looks clear.”
“Not this way.”
“Good.” He pulled the vehicle back around and shined the lights in front across the cloud of ash they just kicked up. “Wait till it settles, then get out there and get em.”
It took a couple agonizing minutes for the ash plume to settle to earth. When it did, only two bots could be seen. “Shit,” said Hark, flipping a switch that illuminated a wider section. “Where in the hell'd it go?”
Enna flipped the scope back down and used the magnification to search into the night. “Can't see it.”
“Shit,” said Scarab softly.
Tenet didn't want to say something stupid, but he wanted to help. In matters of hunting, he was in way over his head. In issues of basic survival in the horrible Summer it was the same. But the bots, that was a matter of money, and he had it covered. “Leave them. I'll pay whatever the cost.”
Hark shook his head. “I'm still gonna try an' get 'em.”
“Why?”
Hark thought for a second before answering. “I said it ain't right, and it ain't. You just don't get this many bots in one sector this early in the offer. What's on them bots...well, they can do a whole lotta question answerin' and might just keep a few of us kickin'.”
“I still only see the two,” said Enna, snapping the scope back in place. “Let's get those and forget about the other one.”
“Two's better than none,” Scarab pointed out, hopping out of the vehicle. “I'll get them.”
“Careful, missy!” called Hark. “Damn girl's gonna get herself killed runnin' off like that.”
Tenet watched Scarab drag the first bot over, but she just left it in the ash and darted out for the next. She was almost to it when a gilla snarled into view...and this one was no baby.
“Shoot it!” called Tenet.
“She got it, boy,” said Hark with a calmness that Tenet knew he didn't feel. He was gripping the steering wheel, his body tense and ready for flight.
Scarab looked at the gilla and assessed quickly in her head. A gilla this large meant no wraiths in the immediate area. That was a good thing. The only good thing. A wraith was nothing compared to this beast. And boy, was he a big one! More mouth and fangs than body, it stood nearly as tall as herself. They must have stumbled into its new territory, because the gilla was definitely in defense mode. Scarab swallowed hard. If she ran, it would eat her. If she got closer, her movement would help the nearly sightless creature find her better. But it wouldn't be long before it really picked up her scent and charged anyway.
The seconds ticked by. Tenet watched helplessly from the window, wondering why no one was helping her. “Enna, do something!”
Enna shook her head. “I can't. This thing's too powerful. It would kill them both.”
Tenet swore under his breath and grabbed his sack. If they wouldn't do anything, he would. He rummaged through until he found the gun Scarab had given him. He checked it, still loaded.
“Wait!” called Enna, a second too late.
Tenet was out of the car and running before he knew what he was doing. “Hey!” he screamed as loud as he could, trying to get the gilla's attention. The ploy worked. The gilla and Scarab both whipped around. “Run!” he called to Scarab while the gilla was distracted.
But Scarab didn't run. Instead, she took the moment of inattention to leap ahead and grab the remains of the bot.
“Forget the fricken bot! Get in the car now!”
The gilla reared up on its back legs, easily taller than both of them combined. In the lights from the transport, its teeth glinted with saliva, and it let out a piercing hiss, the sign it was about to attack. Tenet kept running, leaping in front of Scarab. “Go!”
She ran as fast as she could, dragging the broken bot behind her. Hark jumped out of the car and met her halfway, swearing a blue streak at her while he helped throw the hunks of metal into the back.
“Get back here!” Scarab shouted.
Tenet couldn't move. The monster's attention was completely focused on him, now, and it was hungry. But Tenet wasn't afraid. Part of him knew he should be. Part of him knew he should be wetting his pants and saying his last prayers. But, he didn't. He stood there with the gun trained on the savage animal and felt nothing but calm. He would kill it if he had to, and the thought wasn't at all appalling to him. In that moment, he understood. Sometimes it really was kill or be killed, and he didn't plan on losing.
Tenet took a large step backwards, keeping the gun trained on the beast. The gilla got back down on all fours and took a prowling step forward, readying itself for the attack. Tenet took a deep breath, slowly, carefully. Another step back, and the gilla crouched. Another step back. A few more, and he'd be safe. “Open the door,” he called over his shoulder.
Scarab and Hark scrambled back into their seats, and Scarab leaned out, ready to grab Tenet as soon as he got close. “Start the engine,” she said to Hark.
“Already on it.”
One step. One step. Just think about the one step. Tenet was almost to the car now. He heard Scarab tell him he was almost there, and then the gilla pounced. Tenet fired a shot, leaped backwards, and was nearly overwhelmed with relief when he felt strong hands grab him and pull him in to safety.
“Floor it!”
Hark lurched forward just as one of the gilla's mighty claws swiped the side of the vehicle.
“Shit! There goes a tire!”
“Don't worry about it now, just hit it,” ordered Enna.
“Yes ma'am. Hold on, everyone.” The rig bounced and jostled back and forth across the sands, making all inside try to grab hold of anything stable. The downed tire made steering next to impossible, jerking them constantly to the left. Hark yanked the wheel sharply to the right, spinning them in the ash. Cursing for all he was worth, he battled the nearly uncontrollable vehicle until he had a pattern going, turn, jerk, slide, turn. It wasn't the best mode of travel, and it couldn't last for long.
“We gotta get inside,” he said.
Enna punched the buttons on a tracking unit mounted in the transport. It was an older model, and showed mostly structures and landmarks, as far as Tenet could tell. “Slide us left,” she said.
“How far?”
“Few hundred yards. Alla Ranch.”
“Alla?” Scarab swore under her breath. “How did we get that far off course?”
“I'm doin' the best I can, missy!” yelled Hark, cutting sharply to the left. “You wanna come up an' try it?”
“What, and take away all your fun?”
Hark cackled. As nerve-wracking and terrifying as it was, a large part of him was enjoying the turn of events. Made him feel young again.
“Keep left,” Enna instructed, bracing herself in her seat with her foot planted on the dash.
“I ain't got a choice.” The transport slid and jumped, twisted and turned until the barn was in sight. “I see it,” he said, batting Enna's hand out of the way when she went to point it out. “Open 'er up.” He stopped the vehicle and Enna jumped out, racing to the barn door with her unitool already in hand. Faster than Tenet would have thought possible, the large hangar door opened and Hark limped the vehicle in. Tenet and Scarab sat there, both breathing hard, while Hark got out to inspect the vehicle.
“What the hell were you thinking?” asked Scarab, breaking the silence.
“What?” Tenet couldn't believe she just said that. He ripped off his mask and stared at her. “What the hell was I thinking?”
“Yes,” she said, grabbing the gun out of his hand and dumping out the ammo. “I want to know just what in the hell possessed you to get out of the car and faced down a gilla? You could have b
een killed!”
Tenet threw his hands in the air. “I don't believe it. You run out on your own, no protection, no thought...and I'm the one in the wrong for saving you?”
Scarab scoffed. “I didn't need your help.”
“Oh, really?” said Tenet, his voice squeaking. “Really. So I suppose I was just imagining that two ton gilla with its sights on you, huh?”
Scarab sighed. “I had it under control. I've faced a gilla or two in my day...”
“Unarmed?”
Scarab frowned, not liking the turn the conversation was taking. “Well...”
“There you go.” Tenet crossed his arms over his chest and shot her a look of triumph.
Scarab huffed with indignation. “I had it under control. I had plenty of time to get back to the transport.”
“No, you didn't.”
Scarab gritted her teeth. “Yes, I did.”
“What was your plan then, huh? Were you going to bat your eyelashes? Woo him with a little song?” He shook his head. “Face it, you were toast.”
Scarab's stubborn streak and injured pride kicked in. “I don't know what I was going to do, but I would have thought of something. I always do.”
“Is that a fact?”
“Yes.”
“And you don't need any help?”
“That's right!”
“From anybody.”
“Ever.”
“Especially not from me.”
Scarab opened her mouth and slammed it shut again. She unlocked her gloves and yanked them off with her teeth, not sure of what to say.
“Scarab,” said Tenet in a soft but firm tone. “Everybody needs help. Everybody. If I can admit that, you can, too.”
“I don't need help from you,” she spat, wishing to god he hadn't hit the nail on the head with such accuracy.
“No one else was jumping to your defense.”
It didn't hurt her that the others, people she called friends, her only ones, hadn't come to her aid. “They had faith in me.”
Tenet laughed. “One minute you yell because I have faith in you, the next you yell because you think I don't. It's not a matter of faith, Scarab. That beast was about to have you for dinner, and I couldn't sit back and let that happen.”
Scarab scoffed. “Sure you could have. Hell, you probably should have. I'm taking you in, remember? Stop trying to save me all the time.” She pushed the door open and jumped out of the car slamming it tight behind her. But Tenet couldn't let it go at that.
He got out and walked around to her. “Why?”
Scarab sighed. “Why what?”
“Why should I stop trying to help you?”
“Because it's not natural!” she shouted, causing Enna and Hark to whip around.
“Not natural? It's not natural to want to help you?”
“No, Tenet. It's not. I'm your hunter. I caught you. You should be trying to get away from me, or at least let me fail where I will.”
“You want me to run?”
“Yes!” Scarab stopped fiddling with the supplies in her sack and looked up at him. “No. I don't want you to run, but I want you to...to...”
“Kick and scream?” He tried to hide the smile, but failed.
“Something,” she said, throwing her hands in the air. “Scream, yell, kick. Tell me what an unfair bastard I am and how the system let you down. Go back to whining. That would be fine. Do something normal for someone in your position. Anything!”
“You caught me fair and square. It is what it is. Why should I kick and scream and make an ass of myself?”
Scarab was frustrated almost beyond words. Why didn't he get it? “Because it would make it a helluva lot easier when I have to...” She snapped her mouth shut. Damn him!
Tenet's breath hitched in his chest. So that's what this was about? Guilt? Was she actually feeling guilty for having to turn him in? Scarab, who was cold as ice. Scarab, coolheaded in any situation. Scarab, who never wasted a chance to remind him that he was only a paycheck. He ran a hand through his hair and released a shaky breath. “I...I'm not trying to make anything harder.”
Scarab sighed, going back to rifling through her supplies as an excuse not to look at him. “I know.”
“It's my own fault, and I'll freely face the consequences.”
“Even if the consequences are unjustified?” She looked up at him then, trying to judge his reaction.
He nodded. “Yes. Even then.”
She shook her head, a bubble of frustration building, this time at the injustice of it all. “Why? This is absolutely insane. The bounty on you...the meaning behind it...it's downright barbaric! Why is it that you'll give up so easily?” Her voice cracked as a wave of helplessness took over her.
“It's not giving up," he explained quietly. "It's owning up. I did this, I deserve whatever punishment I get.”
“Even death?”
He paused for a second, then nodded. “What other choice have I got? I skip out on the bounty, they'll look for you.”
“So? I've been on the chopping block before.”
“But you won't be because of me.”
She was about to tell him to screw himself and his grand gestures, that she could take care of herself. But the intensity of his gaze stopped the words before they formed. He meant it. For whatever stupid reason floating around that pea sized brain of his, the idiot meant it. He'd see it through to protect her.
It was a weight of responsibility Scarab never had placed on her shoulders before, and the burden of it should have felt crushing. His life was completely in her hands, far more than any other bounty she'd ever taken under her control. This man was handing himself to her in a way he probably didn't even understand. He chose her life over his own. The poor, misguided, naïve boy.
She cleared her throat and spoke slowly. “Tenet. I appreciate the gesture. But my life was placed on the chopping block by me and me alone. I knew when I took this assignment that there would be no way out for me.”
Tenet squatted next to her, taking her hands in his. “No. Look at me. My father wants me, not you.”
She looked at him sadly. “Think about it for a minute. If your father wants to erase your mistakes badly enough to order your death, what makes you think he's going to let me live? To his knowledge, I'm the only other human on the earth that knows.”
Tenet shook his head fiercely. “No. My family, my friends...”
“Could easily be convinced that you were simply forgotten. They probably already have. There's probably a public search for you, the poor, selfless boy who went back one last time to check the seals or grab the family pet or make sure little Jinny down the way made it in time.” Tenet kept shaking his head, willing it not to be true. No matter how hard he denied it, though, he knew there was probably a lot of truth in the words. They tasted bitter, but that didn't make them any less true. “I knew it when I signed it, Tenet. I'm not getting out of this one. Not without a miracle.”
Tenet sat back, leaning against the car for support. “You..you really think...”
Scarab nodded. “It's the way the world works, Tenet.”
“I wish you weren't so jaded,” he said softly.
She laughed. “Then we'd both be naive!”
He thought about their options. If she brought him in, they were toast. “What if I gave you the slip?”
She shook her head. “Then someone else would steal the bounty. We haven't seen many yet, because we're in so deep. In a day or two, we'll start running into others. Most of them work alone, but there are several teams and unions, like Hark and Enna used to be before they started rescues.”
“And you're sure they'd find me?”
She nodded. “Trust me, they'd find you. They're better equipped. The temperatures don't get nearly as high, and the more sensitive equipment won't melt down. Plus, most in the upper zones have transports of their own.”
“Oh.”
“Trust me, you wouldn't last long.” She shook her head.
&nbs
p; Tenet sighed and rolled his eyes. “So, what if I just head back?”
“What? Have you not been paying attention? I won't even go back, and I'm a pro. Things are too hot too fast this year, and nothing's running like it should. No way there should have been that many bots out there tonight, and no way a gilla of that size made it this far south so soon. Do I need to remind you about wraiths?” Tenet shook his head. “Can't give me the slip. You wouldn't make it, and I'd be caught anyway along with whatever hunter took up the consignment.”
“Shit.” She'd be damned if he did, damned if he didn't. An idea occurred to him. “Hey,” he said, sitting up. “I've got it!”
“What?”
“I turn myself in. We get close to a station, and I turn myself in. They have no idea you have me, right? As far as they know, you're still out there looking.”
“I don't know. I sent the message from a beacon, and they're governmentally monitored...”
“Right, but think about it. You didn't mention...” Tenet's voice trailed off, and his smacked himself in the forehead. “Shit! Shit shit shit!”
“What?”
He sighed heavily. “I screwed us over once again.”
Scarab quirked an eyebrow. “Mind filling me in?”
He waved a hand. “When you were knocked out. After the wraiths. I got to the next beacon and sent another message for help. If they have yours, they have mine.”
“You figured out how to send a message?”
“There was a help menu.”
“What? A help menu?" She slapped her thigh and swore. "All these years of randomly pushing buttons and there's a friggin' help menu!”
Tenet didn't laugh. He couldn't help but feel responsible for this entire mess. “What are we going to do?” Scarab rocked her head back and forth slowly, then shifted around to lean against the car beside him. They sat there in silence, searching for the answer they knew they wouldn't find.
Hark took the pause in conversation to hobble over. “If you two gloomy gusses are all done bemoanin' yer fate, I think we got a plan that just might work.”
