Hunting (The Nine) Read online

  He grinned and stroked her cheek. “No, it was much more recent.”

  “Was it because I touched you when we were looking over the maps?” She had been told not to touch the Nine, but she forgot when it came to hunting a target.

  “No. It started then, but it would not have bloomed if the ground hadn’t been right. Speaking of ground, how is there so much light in the city? I haven’t been able to find the source.” He winked.

  She sighed. “You know very well that there are strategic crystals angled to catch the sun and direct it down here in various tubes. It is the only way that the Zaphlings could have survived as long as they did.”

  “How did they get in here?”

  Niika smiled. “There were great upheavals in the land before we got here. I am guessing that they made their way through a previously non-existent crack. They are very resourceful and quite small. This must have seen like heaven to them.”

  “And then, we came in and ruined it.”

  She chuckled. “Reducing their numbers is a boon. The normal size of a herd is around thirty, so this many will soon break into another herd, and then, the territory disputes will occur and they will kill each other. There is a finite amount of grazing available here.”

  Cavos smiled. “Do you have any questions about my people?”

  “You can walk through stone, but what else can you do?”

  “Well, it varies from person to person. Trusk is a carver. He can use his hands to turn ordinary blocks of stone into the most detailed statuary you could imagine. He is here to research some of his family’s works.”

  The braces on her legs gave her a few more inches of play, and she leaned back in the hot water. “What about you specifically? You already know my secrets.”

  He turned off the tap and then rummaged through her bag until he found a soft cloth that he soaked in water before cleaning her face. “I can move through stone, find minerals and shatter rock if necessary. Far more force than delicacy, I am afraid.”

  Cavos seemed very attentive and careful of her skin as he finished cleaning the streaks of Zaphling blood from her cheek. The scent of roasting meat started to reach them, and he chuckled. “Did you need to soak more? I can bring you something to eat.”

  She laughed. “No. Give me a moment to wash my hair and I will be right out.”

  “I will help you.”

  Niika wanted to fight but having someone help her was far too tempting with her body still exhausted from the agony of the braces locking. She nodded and reached an arm out of the tub, next to his thigh, until she grabbed her bath pack and pulled out a swatch of dry shampoo. “Get this wet and work it through my hair. The gel will swell quickly.”

  With his hands on the paper-thin sheet of shampoo, she quickly untied her braid and then dunked her head to wet her hair. He worked his hands through her hair with the ease of previous practice.

  “You have done this before.”

  He grinned. “I have four little sisters. Bath time was always hectic, but at least you are not trying to splash me.”

  She chuckled. “I could if you like.”

  Cavos snickered, “I can even braid your hair into a bow if you like.”

  He carefully kept the soap out of her eyes while they bantered. He eased her into the water and her hair was sluiced clear.

  When her hair was clean and the water was pink again, she wrinkled her nose at how much blood must have been on her head.

  He helped her to her feet, draining the tub with a flick of his wrist.

  She blushed, but he seemed more interested in checking on the functioning of the braces than he was her nude body. It would have been insulting in any other circumstances.

  She had to wipe off with the tiny towel she kept for that purpose but when she eased into her coveralls, relief went through her. If Cavos wasn’t just flirting, she might be free of the braces. It was a possibility she had never considered from the moment Ularica had put them in place.

  Cavos held her arm while they walked slowly back into the main room where the rest of their party had commenced roasting a meal without them. She grinned, “Well, I am guessing I have nothing to teach you.”

  Morro cocked his head, and his ferocious expression grew contemplative. “I believe you could explain to us why a person of Gaia is wearing a Tokkel torture device as the means to mobility.”

  Niika sat on her bedroll, and she stretched out her legs, massaging the muscles out of habit. “Well, since you already know, you may as well know the whole thing.”

  Chapter Six

  Niika looked out the archway toward the fountain in the centre of the square. “It was a plain, ordinary day. Em and I were foraging along the coastline when we saw a strange streak of light, and being curious idiots, we ran to see what impacted the ground with enough force to shake us.

  “Now, remember, we hadn’t seen a Tokkel ship before. The attacks hadn’t started, and this was the first alien craft that any Gaian had seen since before the colony began. I headed for the silver hulk while Em ran back to the habitat to alert her parents and call the authorities. The ship opened, and a gross, green, lumpy hulk of a man stepped forward, shouting at me in a language I did not understand. He fired and missed me by inches, so I turned to run. That is when I was struck in the back.

  “Pain burned outward from the strike point, and I blacked out.”

  She shuddered at the memory of what happened next. “When I woke up, I was in a full-control harness. I could move my body slowly, but whenever I shifted quickly, I locked in place and fell over.”

  Cavos nodded. “That is the tricky bit of those harnesses. The moment you are in one, you are a slow, plodding worker for the Tokkel. It is a very effective restraint.”

  “It was three days with that creature shouting at me until I understood his language. Once I knew that he was a scout and he wanted my help repairing his ship, I knew that I was being faced with a choice. Live my life in that damned harness or die trying to escape. I managed to liberate a shard of steel from the inside of the ship, and slowly and carefully, I slit his throat from behind.”

  Cavos took her hand to encourage her to continue. “What happened next?”

  “I left the ship and found my family. He had shifted us down the coastline, and their search party was on their way to find me. The first thing Em did was get me out of the harness and that is when we found out about my little problem. My legs didn’t work. I had feeling but no muscle control. Ula was there to see the ship, and she immediately altered the harness into something that could be worn under my clothing and that I could live with. That was six months before the first warship attack on Gaia. We warned the government about what was coming, but the violence of the attacks still caught everyone by surprise.”

  The men in the room nodded, and Tidae grimaced. “And then, we arrived and the Tokkel were driven off.”

  Cavos tilted his head. “What happened to the ship?”

  “With Ula’s guidance, we gutted the AI and turned the ship into the Nitdka. Em’s sea skimmer. It took months of work, but it was easier to tell folks that we salvaged a severely damaged ship. The AI was pulled apart, and Ula integrated it into her personal defenses when she went off for her privacy.”

  Tidae cocked his head, “Who is Ula?”

  “She is a designer par excellence, but she gives each piece a part of her soul, and when that item is misused, it becomes a point of pain for her. She is bleeding psychically, and with the Nine here to offer their assistance, she is no longer required to work for the defense of Gaia around the clock. There is no tech she can’t unravel and piece together using only the most basic of tools.” She smiled with pride.

  “The Bakers are my family. They took me in after my parents died during a localized epidemic. Em and I managed to find herbs to effect a treatment, but it was too late for my parents. They died with fifty other colonists in a matter of days.”

  Cavos blinked. “How did you find a cure?”

  “I
found a treatment in a plant called Garish. Em found the cure in a very ugly fish named Eric.”

  Morro laughed. “The fish had a name?”

  “It did when Emharo was done with it. You have met her. Am I wrong to say that she would name the sun and stars if it suited her?”

  Morro wrinkled his nose. “No, if something needs to be told what it is, I am sure that your cousin is the one to do it.”

  “Anyway, so we diluted Eric’s liver, and the enzymes released were just the thing to stop the virus in its tracks and reverse a great deal of damage.” She sighed. “And then, we had a nice memorial service for the fallen hero. It didn’t seem right to eat him after that.”

  The men laughed, but she was serious. There was still a stone marker for Eric, saviour of Gaia. Only the Bakers knew that it referred to a fish.

  “So, my parents died and were buried, the Bakers legally took me in, and my name was changed for simplicity. I am their daughter as much as Em, but to her, I am and have always been the beloved cousin that was as close as a sister.”

  Morro asked, “What about Ularica?”

  “She is the weird cousin that gets invited to everything but rarely comes.”

  Tidae got up and turned the meat.

  Silence fell over the gathering, and Cavos reached out to caress her ankle. “I know what it’s like to be in the harness. They put us in it while we are training for battle so that we know how to fight against those being held without injuring them. If we know their limits, we can take them down without injury.”

  Niika smiled. “How did you find it?”

  He shuddered. “I fought so hard, I dislocated my right arm within hours.”

  Tidae muttered, “I was trapped in the foetal position for three hours before they let me loose.”

  Trusk said, “I panicked and fell down a set of stairs, stiff as a board.”

  Morro shrugged. “I got along fine until I had to walk across the training ground and go through the obstacle course. I ended up dangling from one of the climbing frames, locked in place.”

  Their travails made her feel like a professional dancer in comparison. “It took me a few minutes to move and a few hours to learn my limits.”

  She shivered, it had been so frightfully cold without her clothing and the Tokkel’s hands had gotten more aggressive with time. It was that aggression that had cost him his life. In the case between death and honour, it was his death so she could keep her honour.

  “You just went dark.” Cavos’s words came through her thoughts.

  “Yes, I suppose I did.” Niika focussed again. “I apologize. So, gentlemen, what did you think about the most benign prey on Gaia?”

  The room burst into astonished laughter at the effort it had taken to down the small creature.

  She grinned. “Gaians are very focussed on survival, no matter the species. As you know since your folk developed here as well.”

  The Wilders puffed up with pride, and the Stone Folk merely looked at each other ruefully.

  Dinner was ready in another hour and conversation shifted from evolution to why Zaphlings had to be so elusive. It was as delicious as promised.

  “So, where do the fire stones come from?” Niika leaned against the wall and sighed as she enjoyed the sensation of a full belly.

  Trusk winked as he tossed the bones into the flames. “We make them. It is something that all Stone Folk are taught when they are children.”

  Nik laughed. “Like snowballs but not.”

  “Definitely not. Manipulating the properties of stone does not usually go any further unless a child has a particular focus for the art of molecular alteration.” Trusk nodded toward Cavos.

  “Why are your heights so different if you are the same branch of the Nine?” It was blurted out on a yawn.

  Cavos blushed and looked down. “I am an aberration. My species was born to run through caves. This height is a distinct disadvantage.”

  Trusk grimaced. “The giants amongst us usually try to find administrative work, but no, this galumphing idiot wants to travel the stars.”

  Niika laughed. “I am guessing that you have been around each other for a while.”

  Cavos sighed, “He’s my cousin.”

  Nik yawned and chuckled. “Cousins. Can’t stand them and can’t enjoy life without them.”

  Trusk chortled and glared, “Define enjoy.”

  “They keep life interesting and help you find your way into trouble.”

  Trusk lifted his water cup. “Enjoy it is.”

  Cavos covered his eyes and shook his head with a grin on his face.

  Nik could tell that there were dozens of stories behind that gesture, and she looked forward to hearing a few.

  She slumped into her bedroll and yawned again. “Are you sure that you are all all right with my seeking medical intervention on this matter?”

  Murmurs of agreement rang around the room, and she slipped into exhausted sleep with the feel of a hand stroking her forehead.

  Chapter Seven

  Nik was humiliated. Cavos carried her instead of allowing her to walk, and she had to admit that they were moving far faster than any pace she could manage.

  Out in the sunlight, she felt markedly better, but instead of letting her walk, Cavos handed her off to Trusk while he caused a landslide that once more closed the entrance to the city.

  Eye to eye with Trusk, she had to face his surprised grin. “You are very light, Miss Baker.”

  “Um. Thank you for the observation, Trusk. You can call me Nik, by the way.”

  Cavos grabbed her and continued to hike to the skimmer site while the Wilders ranged ahead, enjoying their run.

  “Stop flirting with my cousin.” Cavos whispered it in her ear.

  “Um, I wasn’t flirting. My name is Niika and my friends call me Nik. You are welcome to use it as well.”

  He grumbled. “You smiled at him.”

  “I smile at a lot of people. After what I told you all last night, telling him he can use my nickname is the least of my intimacies.”

  They reached the skimmer, and Niika scowled. “I hate cancelling a trip early. There was so much to show you.”

  Morro grinned. “You can show us all when you are under your own power. It will be entertaining to watch your recovery.”

  “Well, as long as I can provide entertainment.” She dissolved the skin on the skimmer with a series of taps set to resonate and cause a dissolution of the shield into a fine dust.

  She headed into the skimmer, but Cavos stopped her. He nodded to Morro, and the Wilder picked up the com unit, keying in a code.

  “We need an emergency evac, Madame Leoraki. Medical emergency to the Mother ship.”

  “Who is it?” the voice came out of the speakers.

  “Niika Baker.”

  “Shuttle is on the way, clearances have been provided. The local shuttle will be with you in thirty minutes. Keep me posted.” Daphne disconnected the line, and they were stuck waiting.

  “Really? You are calling a medevac for me? I am so embarrassed.” Niika hid her face in her hands.

  She kept her face hidden when the shuttle arrived, but she couldn’t keep her eyes closed when they left Gaia and headed for space.

  The stars glowed so brightly that she almost didn’t see the Nine Mother ship until it was right in front of her, and then, she couldn’t stare at anything else.

  The medical staff seemed surprised to see her walking. They had come with a stretcher and were a little dismayed at her upright status.

  Cavos whispered, “Get on the stretcher.”

  “No.”

  “Get on. Things will move faster if you do.”

  “No.”

  “Fine. I am sorry.” He gently put his leg behind hers and bent his knee into the back of hers. The shift in balance caused her to collapse, and as her body went down, she screamed when it was held in place.

  The medical team moved quickly and lifted her onto the stretcher, whisking her through the halls
while she tried to force her body to relax.

  She was stripped in moments, and the entire medical team paused in horror at the sight of the bands digging into her skin and pulling at her limbs.

  A no-nonsense female physician stepped forward and said, “Haven’t you seen Tokkel bindings before?”

  She unclipped the harness and the braces went limp. She unclasped them from thighs, knees and ankles and helped to ease Niika to her stomach. “I apologize for the indignity, Miss, but we need to see what we are dealing with. Oh!”

  “Please call me Niika, Doctor.” She settled her upper body as comfortably as she could, shifting until her breasts no longer felt crushed.

  Scanners were hoisted into position and warmth began to run across her back. Niika looked around, and everyone was staring at her ass as if fascinated.

  “Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on?”

  The doctor came around and said with all seriousness. “You have been shot with a Tokkel blaster.”

  “I am aware of that.”

  “You should not have survived it. Your body has compensated by going around the injury as much as it can. We can help you regenerate the damage, but it will take a few days given the extensive nature of the injury. Do you have plans?”

  Niika laughed. “No. May I have your name?”

  “I am Dr. Meevin, one of the giants of the Stone Folk. Also, Cavos’s mother.”

  That almost brought Niika right off the table. “What?”

  Dr. Meevin extended her hand. “Meevin vor Whyaner, pleased to meet you.”

  “Niika Baker. Glad to be in capable hands.” There was no way that Cavos could have told her about their interaction. She would be recognised only as a Gaian hunter with an accidental injury.

  The doctor smiled and stroked Nik’s hair. “Sleep now, we will talk when you wake up about why my son was holding you like a baby the whole way here when medical attendants were waiting to take over on Gaia.”

  Blushing, she heard a hiss, a coolness to her spine and then nothing.