Page 32 of Cozy Prisons (Human Pets of Talin: Origins #4)

Nataly

Waking up with a gasp, Nataly jumped out of bed with only one thought screaming through her mind and body: run!

“Nataly?” Daxus hurried out of bed to stand next to her. “What’s wrong?”

“We have to leave,” she said. Grabbing a bag, she started shoving items into it.

“Let’s wait until morning,” Daxus said, sounding a worried rumble. “It’s the middle of the rest period. You should sleep for at least four more marks.”

She shook her head. “No more sleeping, only moving.”

Closing the bag, she grabbed another. Two bags were all she could carry, so she needed to be more picky about what went into the second bag.

“We need to wake everyone up, too,” she said as she dumped her collection of data crystals into the second bag. “We have to leave!”

Daxus grabbed her hands, forcing her to stop moving. “Nataly, calm yourself. You’re being illogical.”

It was hard, but she kept herself from screaming at him that he was wasting time.

“I’m not being illogical,” she gritted out. “I can’t explain it, but we’re in danger. The entire village is in danger. Everyone needs to leave, and we don’t have much time.”

“You think we’re all in danger?” he questioned. His tone was completely neutral, so she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“I don’t think, I know,” she answered. “It’s the same way I knew about Grace’s baby, or when Riff was going to collapse at work and fall into a processor unit.

I don’t know how I know these things, but I’m right.

I saved Grace and Riff back then. I can save everyone here right now! I need you to believe me.”

“Are you sure you didn’t have a nightmare and you’re mistaking it for reality?” Daxus asked.

“No,” she said with a violent shake of her head. “I wasn’t dreaming. I woke up and knew. I don’t care if you don’t believe me, but I’m leaving and I’m taking the humans with me. I know they’ll believe me. You can stay here, but anyone still here by daybreak will be dead.”

Daxus sounded a loud startled rattle. “Dead! How?”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, but it’ll happen.”

The moment the words left her mouth, she realized she was being selfish. She’d focused on packing her important things and not giving everyone else time to do the same thing.

Dropping the bag, she jerked her hands out of Daxus’s hold and rushed to her workbench. Grabbing one of the orbs, she sent out a quick emergency warning.

“ Something bad is about to happen. Everyone needs to pack only essentials and go to the pond beyond the landing area. That is a minimum safe distance. Go now!”

She found an information square integrated with the village’s system and wrote out the message and designated it to flash on every screen.

“What have you done?” Daxus said as her Ident screeched with the emergency warning.

“Saved everyone’s life,” she answered, tossing the information square down and going to grab her bag again. Daxus moved in front of her, sounding a worried rumble.

“You’re not acting rationally,” he said.

“I’m acting rationally based on information I can’t explain,” she countered.

He didn’t move, and she realized she was going to give him more than I have a feeling .

“This is important to me. If I’m wrong, then the only damage is some lost sleep.

We make our own schedules anyway. We can all simply sleep in tomorrow or take naps.

But what if I’m right? Remember when you said my gift was simply an excellent ability to see patterns no one else noticed? ”

“Yes,” he said. “But—”

She held up a hand, cutting him off. “What if I’m seeing a pattern I can’t consciously explain, but my driving need to leave is my subconscious trying to keep us all alive?

If we ignore it, everyone could die. Doing as I ask has a small degree of consequences.

Not listening to me could lead to the end of us all. Are you willing to risk that?”

Daxus was silent for a moment, then sounded a rumble of agreement. “Very well, I’ll go along with this if you agree to one thing.”

“Sure,” she said. It didn’t matter what he asked for; she was right.

“If nothing happens, then you’ll talk to Falkilm and explain everything that’s going on. You’ll explain all the things you’ve been feeling and experiencing."

She had to admire his maneuvering. In the middle of what he probably thought was a psychotic break, he was bargaining for her to get help. She could see how good he must’ve been at his job as a mediator mavin.

“I agree,” she said. “Now, can we start moving?”

He seemed to relax a little and started purring again.

“Yes, we can do as you wish. Let me—” his words were interrupted when his Ident sounded an immediate request for conversation that only Palathum could send out.

If he didn’t answer promptly, the Ident would start the meeting anyway, even though he hadn’t “answered” the request.

He grabbed his Ident from beside the bed, and she went back to packing. Her information square chirped as she finished closing the second bag. She grabbed it and wasn’t surprised to see Grace’s face.

Before she could assure her friend that the warning wasn’t a mistake, Grace spoke up.

“Will the pond be far enough, or should we keep going until we get to that old crater?”

It was a relief to deal with someone who wasn’t questioning her sanity. “I know the pond is safe, but I don’t know why we need to go that far. Pack as much as you can quickly that will keep Maeve warm and comfortable in case this lasts several days.”

“Understood,” Grace said. “I’ve already got three bags ready. If I pack more, we’ll need to use a mover bot. You know ours can’t make the uneven terrain past the pond.”

“Pack the bot,” Nataly said. “But do it quickly.”

“On it,” Grace said, then ended the communication. Because the information square was in her hand, she shoved it into the bag before closing it. Both bags were bulging, but she should be able to carry them, especially with the amount of adrenaline coursing through her system.

Hefting a bag on each shoulder, she turned to face Daxus. He must’ve just finished his conversation with Palathum because he was tapping the Ident.

“I’m ready. Do we need to go to your place to get some of your stuff?”

He sounded a negative rattle as he grabbed his belt and secured it around his waist before clipping his Ident to it.

“The only thing I can’t leave behind is my Ident. Everything else I own is for comfort or convenience, not necessity.” He took both the bags from her. “Let me carry those.”

“Let me grab a few more things,” she said, once he’d taken the bags from her. Running over to one of the food storage units, she pulled out half a dozen canisters and clipped them together. She liked the way Talins had clips on everything.

“Those can go on my belt,” Daxus ordered, turning a little to indicate the spot he wanted her to clip them to.

She did it and then tugged on some boots and grabbed an omni to pull over her pajamas.

She should’ve probably put on clothes, but the need to leave was driving her hard.

Besides, her pajamas were almost as durable as her day clothes.

Despite the Talins constantly urging her to wear soft, finer fabrics, she couldn’t break the habit of a lifetime.

Now she was thankful she hadn’t given up her old style of sleepwear.

“Let’s go,” she urged, hurrying to the door. Despite being burdened with two bags and a mass of clinking canisters, Daxus was right behind her. They left her domicile to find the village lit up and alive with activity as if it were the middle of the day.

“Palathum is allowing the evacuation," Daxus said as they headed down the most direct path. “She’s set an end time for the evening meal tomorrow. If nothing happens by then, she’s going to require that everyone return home.”

“That’s fine,” Nataly said, waving at Grace and Merrick. Merrick was holding a sleeping Maeve in his arms, and Grace had the remote for the mover bot trundling behind them. “It’s only important that no one comes back tonight.”

They got to the intersection of three paths at the same time as Grace and Merrick. Riff, Sima, Dalia, Cassius, Decard, and most of the humans all rushed up to join them. Everyone except for Grace bombarded Nataly with questions she couldn’t answer.

Grace let out a shrill whistle that shut everyone up. “You’re all wasting time,” Grace yelled. “We can talk and talk and talk once we all get to the pond. Right now it’s about moving, not discussing.”

There were grumbles, but no one argued with her. Grace might not be very tall or physically intimidating, but she wasn’t one to mess with.

“Do you want to put your bags on the mover?” Grace asked Daxus. He looked at Nataly, and she nodded. He tossed them onto the mover and reached for the canisters on his belt when a wave of dizziness almost knocked Nataly off her feet.

With a gasp, she grabbed hold of Daxus. He managed to get his hands around her before she fell flat on her face.

“Nataly?”

“Shush,” she whispered, trying to focus on what her intuition was trying to tell her. The dizziness passed, and her eyes snapped open. “Where’s Hale?”

Everyone looked at each other, shrugging. Their reactions weren’t a surprise. She already knew Hale wasn’t where they needed to be.

“Go, go, go!” she yelled at them, pulling out of Daxus’s hold and running in the direction of Hale’s domicile.

A rumbling under her sounded just before the earth started to shake.

Crying out, she stumbled and almost fell. Daxus grabbed hold of her, hefted her high against his chest, and kept running.

“Earthquake,” he declared.

“It’s only the beginning," she warned him.

As they ran back into the center of the village, everyone else was rushing to leave. The Talins who had been dawdling, probably thinking of this as nothing more than a readiness exercise, were now rushing around.

Ha! They’d never doubt her again.