SNAFU: Hunters

“People? Wildlife? Or an OH?” he asked.

“Something she hasn’t smelled before.”

The answer made Harris nervous, too. “Can she pinpoint where?”

“Upwind.” Kai pointed south-west, which was closer to their position than the Cobalt’s.

“Is the rift open again?” he asked, glancing into the meadow. He’d been unable to see it before, until Vida worked her tech-magic to close it. It could be open now, and he wouldn’t know.

Kai pulled a cellphone from a clip at her waist. For a moment Harris had the idea she was going to try and call the camp, but instead she held it toward the clearing and watched the screen. Expressionless, she whispered, “I can’t tell if it’s open, but it’s still there. That means it can be opened from the other side at any time. Vida didn’t seal it.”

“Or, maybe they opened it again after we left. Shit.”

“It’s moving,” Kai said, putting the phone away.

“The rift?”

“No.” She cocked her head, apparently listening to Faina. “The OH – it’s coming this way.”

It had been bad waiting in the dark for something monstrous to appear. Harris had figured good light would make it better, but it didn’t. He still didn’t know what was coming, and found himself wishing the rest of the crew was here. He could hold his own with a man, hell, several men! But he didn’t like going up against an unknown, even with Kai there.

“Can she help?” he asked, searching for any movement in the woods. At least there was no wind today; any movement would be easily spotted.

Kai smiled, and there was something of the predator in her dark eyes. “Yes.”

Harris took her at her word, and proceeded south along the edge of the meadow, alert for any sign of what they hunted.

* * *

“Vida! Damn it, Calder–”

“Tighe,” Aio warned. “You’re not helping.”

“Sa ki lanfè a…” Vida whispered, brows drawn together as she rolled her head to the side. What the hell…

“Vida, don’t move,” Aio soothed. With gentle hands she examined the techtatts, wincing when the prostrate woman hissed in pain. “I’m sorry, hun. I’m trying not to hurt you.”

Vida opened her eyes, grimacing as bright sunlight stung. “What happened?”

Aio shook her head, worry clearly etched on the woman’s features. “Overload. I didn’t think it was even possible, the way you’re grounded.”

“The belos’?”

“Dead,” Tighe said flatly. “And I don’t give a shit, as long as you’re okay.” He paused. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She was disoriented and in pain, but otherwise… “Did you kill it?”

Tighe exchanged a glance with Aio. “You did.”

Vida closed her eyes, and let her head fall back again while she tried to remember. She had been linked to the belos’, minds and nervous systems aligned with the help of her implants. She’d been fishing through its alien thoughts, trying to read its mind when she didn’t even understand its language. Perfectly still and apparently tranquil, it had fought her all the way. When she’d finally found a way through the labyrinth of its synapses, there had been one moment of clarity – and then agonizing backlash. “When it overloaded me, I did the same thing to it, didn’t I?”

“It’s completely burned out, Vida. Still smoking.”

At Tighe’s comment, she sat up, ignoring Aio’s admonishments, and looked over at the table where the OH still lay strapped to the surface. Tighe had been literal; smoke was wafting from the edges of the belos’ chitin armor.

“Did you get anything?” he asked, and she followed his gaze to the burns on her arms from where her implants had fried.

Exhausted, she nodded and pulled away from Aio’s ministrations. “We have to go back to the clearing. Something else came through.” As she accepted Tighe’s hand to get to her feet, Tchaz arrived at a lope.

“It’s Faina,” she said, wearing the porcelain doll mask that she and her sister had so perfected. But there was a note of worry in her light voice. “They’re hunting something at the rift-site. It’s not like the bugs, it’s worse. They need help.”

“Bronze!” Tighe yelled. “Sig! Rakehall! We’re rolling out!”

Esfir limped out from the tent where she’d been resting and leapt into the nearest truck where Tchaz joined her. The look on the girl’s face brooked no argument. Bronze rode shotgun while Sig took the driver’s seat and followed Tighe’s truck out of camp. While Tighe drove and Rakehall smoothed antibacterial salve over Vida’s burns, she told them what she’d seen.

“It’s not random,” she said, gritting her teeth as the medic worked on her burns. “There’s a plan behind where and when the rifts are opened. They’re looking for kids specifically, so they can take them back and raise them.”

“For what?” Tighe asked, slamming around a corner and skidding across the narrow blacktop lane before straightening out.

“I don’t know,” she growled. “I didn’t get enough time, just flashes. As soon as I hit pay dirt the damn thing blasted me! All I do know,” she said, her voice as set and angry as she felt. “Is that they have someone like me. That’s how they’re getting so good at opening the rifts.”

“Someone like you?” Rakehall asked.