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With a swipe on his comm he located her tracking signal and his panic doubled.

Seventeen

What the Flock!

Nadzia

Jostling awoke her. She was hanging, like a ragdoll, with a vice clamped around her middle. She tried to get free, but something wet inside the vice tapped her stomach. Stunned, she stopped moving.

What the fuck is going on?

She tried to piece together what happened as her head throbbed. The light from her comm bounced off the rocky walls and she caught a glimpse of two of the little ostriches weaving around a much bigger set of feet.

Shit!She panicked as the memory of the enraged bird barreling toward her like a freight train flooded her mind. Momma bird had come to the chicks’ rescue and now that very angry momma had its beak firmly locked around her gut.Fuck, fuck, fuck.And it was taking her to god knows where, to do god knows what.To become bird food, that’s what!

She struggled to get free, but the edges of Momma’s beak ground into her hips and ribs making her wince. Again the massive ostrich’s tongue tapped her, silently demanding she be still.

Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Wait, where’s Tarsus?

Frantically she looked around then caught a glimpse of the mini panther plodding beside two of the baby ostriches as if nothing was wrong.

“Go find Aculus,” she grunted while bouncing in Momma’s beak, but the request fell on deaf ears. Not that she really thought he’d listen.

The descending passage widened and so did her eyes when she saw a horde of glowing white bodies nesting around an underground spring. There were so many enormous alien birds that their bioluminescent feathers practically lit up the cavern. Momma waded into the middle and plopped her on the ground. Dozens of blinking eyes turned toward her.

Oh shit!She cringed, eyeing their large beaks and sharp claws with growing trepidation.

Momma hunkered down, wiggling to make a spot amidst the gravel and downy feathers littering the ground. The chick that had been injured hopped off the overgrown bird’s back and snuggled into the nest. Nadzia stood stock still the entire time. There was no way she could run back to the passage they’d come from. She’d have to hurdle over at least nine full-grown birds.

Run!She wanted to laugh at the thought and the hysterical sound nearly burst from her throat.

How could she possibly run? She couldn’t even move, fearing a single muscle twitch would set the feathered mass in motion. Her heart sped up when Momma again snared her in her beak.

“Oh God,” she cried, as the gigantic ostrich pulled her close.

But instead of chomping down on her, the overgrown raptor tugged her to the ground and lowered one wing over her. Stunned, Nadzia peered through the feathers, still expecting the sharp beak to shred her to pieces. She was surprised to see Momma collect one chick after another then tuck them in beside her. An incredulous snort broke free as Tarsus wormed his way into the soft embrace of the giant bird wing and snuggle up with her and the chicks.

I’ve been adopted by alien ostriches.She didn’t know whether to be relieved or not.

As she considered the ridiculous situation, she noticed what she was wearing. The white shorts and t-shirt she chose to stay cool looked a little like their feathered bodies.

I bet the scent of the chick rubbed off on me when I removed the rocks.

Despite knowing she wasn’t in immediate danger, it was still hard to relax.

And I really need to relax and figure out how to get out of here.

She took calm breaths while inching out from beneath the large wing. Big Momma made a grunting squawk and she froze. When the bird settled again, she continued forward until she managed to get free of the feathered appendage. Another thought occurred to her as she stared at the passage out. Even if she could climb over the dozen birds between her and the exit, she’d still have no clue where she was going. Who knew how many twists and turns the ostrich took to get here?

What the fuck am I going to do?She slumped against the bird. All she wanted was to get back to Aculus.

Aculus

Somehow, Nadzia was no longer at the Sanctuary. Swiftly he ran back up the garden stairs, into the Sanctuary and directly to the hangar. He jumped into one of the cruisers and took off.

How in torment did she get in the middle of the fauna refuge?Granted, the plot of land set aside to protect wild animals was behind the Sanctuary, she would’ve had to scale a steep drop to get down to the rugged terrain. There was no way Nadzia did that.Someone must have abducted her.

He pushed the cruiser to its limit, aiming for her signal. It didn’t take long to reach the location and he set the cruiser down, near some rocky outcroppings. He didn’t see any vehicles, people or animals as he landed but grabbed a disrupter on the way out of the vessel anyway. It was a good thing he did, because there was evidence of Horned Gocke everywhere. The reptiles’ broken egg shells were littered here and there. The scaly beast didn’t pose him harm, but Nadzia was a different story. Aculus sprinted to the exact spot on his comm, praying she was okay.