by Alyx X
The strange creature the woman was fighting seemed to get the upper hand as I watched, and I felt my future slip. Flicking my ship out of stealth mode, I revved the engine, gaining the attention of the creature but not of the woman. Then I swooped as low as I dared between the buildings of the ruined city she’d chosen for her hunt. I had to save this warrior woman. Taking my ship lower was a dangerous move, but it was a gamble I needed to try. Entering the city’s airspace could have triggered any number of monitoring alarms across the planet, but I had to save my target from being eaten by her own prey.
She was my prey.
She was perfect. I didn’t need to look any further.
My mind snagged on how I’d gotten so lucky, but chose not to think about it too hard, not wanting to mess with my good fortune.
As the animal ran away, I watched the woman screw her face up and shook her fist after my departing ship, shouting words I couldn’t hear. I pulled the nose up, returning myself to a higher altitude. She had spirit. I liked that. She left, dragging two of the animals with her on some kind of rustic vehicle, and I noticed she was nursing an injury on one of her arms. Sympathy and a desire to help rushed through me, but I squashed it. Now was no time for those emotions. She’d overstretched herself and been greedy by attempting to kill a third animal, and she’d sustained her injury because of that lapse in judgement. I had to be hard and heartless when I thought of her.
I lurked above the city’s airspace, but my control board didn’t ping with notifications or intercepts for breaking the law. They’d probably stopped monitoring here. I glanced around trying to guess how long it had been since anyone bothered with this place. Decades, probably. Centuries, possibly. And if they weren’t monitoring for trespassers here, that was certainly useful intel for this trip and trips in the future.
Surely, no future Satyan had in store for the human female could be worse than this life she currently led. A life where she clearly fought to even survive.
She dragged her creature corpses down a mountain path and across to some sort of stone fortress. I watched through my scope, spotting other humans milling around on the roof and edges of the building. Clearly, I’d have to separate her from them before I could take her.
I flicked the switch back into stealth mode and shoved the ship into a hovering pattern before setting the computer to monitor the airspace around me. I also set it to track the movement on the ground—I wanted to be alerted if anyone left the human’s home.
Then I stood up from the chair I’d sat in for so long it probably had a perfect mold of my ass in the padded seat, and headed down to the cargo hold to check on my new claw and tractor beam. I didn’t want my sudden dive into the ruined city to have dislodged or damaged them, and they needed to be readied for the next phase of my mission—retrieval.
I stroked my hand over one of the smooth, cold prongs on the claw. This and the beam were the newest pieces of equipment down here—in a space that looked vast and empty without the scrap metal we used to salvage from stranded and deserted ships. There was always so much space junk to be claimed, and we’d been the clean-up crew, squeezing a living from other people’s trash.
I inhaled the familiar smell of rust and death in the room, drawing it deep into my chest where it evoked memories of hiding away between sheets of metal with secret treasure. I tightened my fingers around the claw. This new enterprise made my whole future possible. Without it, I probably wouldn’t eat again after the food supplies on my ship ran out. I heaved in another breath, trying to chase out my doubts about my mission. Surely, I couldn’t attempt to rise above trashman of the galaxy only to fall even lower?
Only… I paused checking the equipment, my hand drifting above the claw. Was this really me? Could I bring myself to take a living thing, a sentient being, against their will? The claw made it all seem so easy. I could just pluck her out of the tractor beam, like so much space garbage.
Images of Satyan’s face crowded my mind. He’d looked so pleased, so smug, at the thought of owning a human. And the humans commanded a high price—far higher than I could have dreamed of. It was something I desperately needed right now. I realized that I should have found out what he planned to do with the female. My parents never would have approved of me being some sort of slave runner.
I tightened my jaw at the unwanted thought of my parents. They no longer got a say in what I did or didn’t do. They’d left.
3
Piper
I gazed at the rack of weaponry we’d amassed in the smallest cell. The wall was covered with longbows, short bows, crossbows, spears, knives, and daggers. All for communal use. Of course, I carried the knife Dad had gifted me at my hip, but anything in this room was fair use for any one of us who was headed out to hunt.
I hadn’t been prepared enough before, and that chidder had nearly taken me out—not that I’d told anyone at camp that. They’d all celebrated over the two chidders I’d brought home, and I didn’t want to distract them with the one that had nearly ended my life. Pride played a part, sure, but so did responsibility. The moment my people lost faith in me, I became less effective in my role, and they had to continue to believe I could protect them.
I glanced down at my arm and flexed it a few times. The claw marks had run deep, and cleaning the grit and sand out had hurt like a bitch. They were now covered with paste and bound with a length of clean cloth from the closest thing we had to an infirmary. I hoped the rough bandages would slowly heal my skin and knit the wounds back together. I’d have a couple of badass, crazy looking scars at the end of it, too, so maybe the moment of pain was worth it. I was still riding high on my escape—not that I’d ever tell anyone how close it had been to failing—but I was still pleased with myself.
The light in the room dimmed and I spun to see Father in the doorway, his wide frame filling it.
“Don’t go, Piper,” he said, his voice quiet and measured—the voice he was used to people listening to.
I shrugged. “There are other animals out there. We can eat well again.”
“Piper.” His voice took on a note of pleading. “You are my only daughter, my only child. Remain here this day. The tribe needs their wise leader far more than another chidder over the fire this evening.”
I glanced at him, “I’m coming back. Not running off into the sunset.” I laid my hand on his forearm. “I’ll be back with another feast. You don’t need to worry.”
His face creased and his mouth tugged down at the corners. “The wise council of elders senses only danger this day. You should heed their warnings.”
I didn’t roll my eyes, but I wanted to. Father and his wise council of elders. They were just a bunch of the eldest tribe members sitting around and indulging themselves in their belief they could sense the future.
I rose to my tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “Well, I sense no such danger,” I said as I squeezed past him. “This is my calling as tribe leader, Father. Providing for everyone.”
“Piper…” This time, my name was a warning.
“What, Father?” I fought to keep my irritation under control.
He rarely left our camps anymore, venturing out only to lead our way to the next one, and he led as a symbol only. I scouted ahead, I commanded the men, I kept us safe.
Father followed me as I made my way down the narrow stone corridor, passing cells that had become bedrooms. Tattered strips of fabric hung in front of the old metal bars, giving the illusion of privacy.
However, those pieces of cloth weren’t soundproof, and night after night I lay awake, listening to the muffled sounds of the passions of others, my pussy aching and wet. Men my age were scarce out here in the desert, and I often dreamed of what it would be like to feel a man. To experience love in that way.
“Piper.” He interrupted my thoughts, this time speaking my name as a command.
I stopped and faced him.
“You’re not even healed yet.” He gestured to my arm, and I instinctively cove
red the fabric with my other hand, hiding my weakness. “Maybe it’s time you learn to respect the elders, hmm?” He crossed his arms over his wide chest.
Many years ago, he must have been formidable. These days, his breath wheezed and he walked slowly, shoulders beginning to slump.
“Leave the others to hunt,” He begged. “There are already ten of our best men out there today. Let them bring home the feast.”
I flicked him a quick glare and resumed stalking away, my movements stiff. “Yes, they are good hunters,” I agreed, waving my hands as I spoke. “Very good. And don’t you think, Father,” I glanced over my shoulder, “that as your heir I need to get out there and lead? I’m not the leader of this tribe yet, and any one of those ‘good men’ you’ve just mentioned could challenge me.”
He sighed. “Heed the warnings of the elders, Piper. Their advice has never been wrong.”
I withheld my eyeroll again. Father’s dependence on his council wasn’t wrong or even bad. It was simply tradition and old ways. I couldn’t fault him for wanting to keep me safe, no matter how silly I felt it was.
“Please don’t worry, Father.” I kissed his cheek a second time, then checked for the dagger at my hip. I wriggled my shoulder blades to find the most comfortable position for my quiver, letting it slide into position, the weight a comforting one. I’d been tempted to take a spear as well, but I didn’t want to overload myself, or worse, appear afraid.
He sighed loudly behind me as I jogged away, slipping through the guarded entrance of the prison our tribe had sequestered for personal use and out onto the rock. I shielded my eyes from the sun with my hand and squinted at the ruins in the distance. That was my best hunting ground, and that was where I was headed again today.
I reached for my pouch of water as I hurried along. There weren’t any shadows here, but it was too early to start drinking the water. The sun was fucking hot today; the kind of heat we usually got right before a solar flare storm, and shit those things were deadly.
The elders. I paused at the thought, then picked up my pace. They were familiar with this kind of heat. Their other-worldly senses that Father seemed determined to believe in were nothing more than I could do myself. Except—I breathed in harsh pants—that meant they might have been right.
Well, shit. This kind of heat was alright for those fuckers out there under their shiny glass dome, all protected and shit, but way too many from my own tribe had been burned by an unlucky flare strike. Disintegrated on contact, more or less. I never investigated their remains too closely to be sure.
We mostly hunted at dusk and dawn to avoid them, though the sun wasn’t weaker, necessarily. It was just aimed somewhere else at those times.
I pulled the loose scarf around my neck up over my mouth and nose and readjusted my grip on my sled. The air hung thick with dust today, and it scratched at my throat and hurt my eyes. I was one of the few in my tribe brave enough to hunt during the day, so any men my father had managed to send out here were attempting to prove themselves. To show they were as capable as me. I couldn’t let anyone beat me at my own game.
Besides, I’d always found a place to hide from a flare before. Today would be no different.
I reached the city and slowed my steps, edging from crumbling concrete blocks sitting haphazardly between buildings, to building edges, where I could finally gain shelter from an unforgiving sun. Finally gain a purpose in sight. I scanned the buildings above me, their missing walls giving me a direct view inside. No chidders up there today. I dropped to a crouch, scanning the dust on the ground, looking for evidence of the animals, and I spotted a broken tile a short way ahead. I crept forward toward a paw print and held my hand above it. Well, shit. If the pawprint was any indicator, this one was a monster. I glanced again at my surroundings, narrowing my eyes.
Whatever had made this pawprint was a really big creature. Like a chidder, only bigger. I hadn’t seen many of the really big cats around here, but maybe today was actually going to be a lucky one, despite the dire warnings the elders had given Father.
I scooted softly to another pawprint. Then another, and froze. Lions? I glanced around again. The lions that roamed the desert were massive, truly fearsome—even for a skilled hunter—and worse, they travelled in packs. I had no way of knowing how many of them would be in this pack until I saw them, and by that time they’d also likely be aware of me. I stopped trying to work out which way the hot breeze was drifting.
A loud rumble bounced between the building shells, and I pressed my back against an iron column. I’d never heard a growl so fucking loud. I looked above my head and swung my arm up high, grasping for the piece of metal framework that crossed to another column. I started scrambling up, trying to stay quiet.
“Shit.” I hissed the word through gritted teeth. My fucking arm still wasn’t as strong as I needed it to be.
It shook with the effort as I pulled myself upward, but if I just got a good enough perch, maybe I could take out one or two of the lions before they scattered—or realized I’d make a nice snack. Taking even one animal this size back to the camp would be harder than moving the chidders, but I had to try. It was that or be eaten.
I hoisted myself up onto the final metal crosspiece, pain shooting down my arm, and the growl came again, echoing along the lonely road. Except... it wasn’t a growl. Not a fucking growl at all. It was too mechanical to belong to an animal. It sounded more like a ship. I froze, eyes darting everywhere in my search for the intruder.
Listening, I realized it sounded like the ship that had scared the chidders away on my previous hunting session. It had been bullet-shaped and gray. Narrow enough to fit along this road, and speedy. The sun had glinted off it, making it shine, but it had still looked old, kind of grungy, and a little dented.
The whine of an engine grew louder, and I turned. There the fucker was again, but he didn’t speed past me this time. He stopped right opposite me, and a loud whir sounded as a small door slid open. A little gray nozzle poked out of the door, and a blinding flash of light forced my eyes closed. Pulsing started in my ears, and I forced my fingers to unclench from the metal girder I was sitting on.
I had to leave! I had to go, but the ground was too far to jump to, so I turned and began to climb, feeling with my feet for the next beam I could stand on. My eyes were still closed, screwed up tightly against something I didn’t properly understand, while the sound in my head didn’t lessen.
I glanced down, daring to look at the floor. I could make that. I let go, and flung myself backwards, crouching into the kind of roll that had never failed me. Pain screamed through my arm, and fresh blood spilled on the floor in splatters of red as I tumbled sideways across the hard ground. I pushed myself into a side-street, one too narrow for the ship to follow me, but almost like he wasn’t aware of his size—or just really didn’t care—he turned and rammed into the building I was closest to. A shower of dust and debris rained down on me.
“Hey!” I shook my fist and flipped him the bird. “Hey! I’m down here, asshole. You’re going to get me killed!”
A groaning sound came from behind me, and I turned as a crack appeared at the base of the building, snaking its slow way upward. I scooted away, preparing to run, unsure what to watch—the building behind me or the ship in the sky above me. Shit. The ship moved, and the blinding light came from it again. I turned my head and ran as the pulsing started back up in my ears. The beam of light hit the ground around my feet, and I reached to my shoulder to secure my quiver in place on my back.
Thank fuck he was such a bad shot. I didn’t look over my shoulder as I weaved my way across the street, darting behind anything that should conceal me from his view, even if only for a moment.
But he was definitely aiming for me. Confusion muddled my thoughts, and I reacted on instinct as I dodged away from his beam again and again. The hunting I did here wasn’t illegal. No one had ever tracked me before. My tribe didn’t bother anyone at all—government or otherwise. So what did thi
s fucker want with me?
I realized that the ship up there definitely looked too dinked and dented to be government run, now that I’d gotten another look at it. It also didn’t belong to Terran. It wasn’t big enough or black enough to be one of theirs. According to Father, the blackness of their corporate soul could be seen on every one of their ships. Maybe the elders had told him that. I huffed a sudden laugh as I dodged my way forward.
I spared him a quick glance over my shoulder as I continued my pell-mell escape. What the fuck was he doing here?
He probably hadn’t factored in how quick I could be, but after months of chasing chidders and sometimes running from them, I’d learned to be speedy and flexible. I darted down an even narrower street, so narrow I could touch each side if I reached out. Father had told me stories of roads and streets in cities that had been used for vehicles of some kind, but the people who used these very little streets must have been a tiny race indeed.
The ship couldn’t follow me down these, so I was pretty sure I’d lost him, or at least given myself enough of a head start. I slowed to a walk, listening as I stepped softly forward.
I needed to cool down. The thought popped into my head on some sort of half remembered directive from the elders. They’d said for years that ships used to be dispatched to the deserts to pick up nomads in the early days of TerraLink, and that those ships had used heat sensors to locate people to transport without arousing too much scrutiny from the government.
I stopped as I peered around a corner. I was all alone, out in the desert, with a ship tailing me. I wasn’t hunting chidders today, and they weren’t hunting me, but I was still prey. I silently cursed my arrogance in coming out alone.
