Page 23 of Fated to the Hunter (Xarc’n Warriors #13)

“Go, go, go!” I shouted, realizing Bael’k was slowing himself down to wait for me.

I knew that what he really wanted was to carry me, but that wasn’t happening, not with his injured leg.

That single flyer had somehow multiplied into a full dozen, and they were circling above us, eager for their snack. One of them swooped down, its mouth open in a cry, but Bael’k threw something at the creature with his good arm. It was one of the grenades!

They were totally better with him than with me.

The creature, dumb as ever, snatched it up midair, then started flying off. By the time it realized it had caught something inedible in its mouth, it was already exploding into a million pieces, spraying everywhere.

Gross. I guess flyers couldn’t have pineapples.

The explosion drew the attention of the other flyers, and they all veered toward the sound.

That was the thing about the scourge, if there were guts on the ground, they were going for it regardless of who or what it had belonged to.

But the bits and pieces would only keep them busy for so long, and it gave us time to get to the shuttle.

I could barely make out the shuttle's shape against the overgrown lawn. But as we neared, it showed itself, and the door slid open for us.

Safety!

Eyes still on our enemies, I urged Bael’k inside.

We’d made it!

Bang!

“Oww!” I howled, my head ringing from smashing hard into a solid brick wall. “What the fuck?” I brought my hand to my face. “My nose!”

But it wasn’t just my nose. I bashed my hand really hard too. And my knees. And my shoulder. I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.

Then I realized it wasn’t a wall in front of me, but the shuttle’s door. The malfunctioning asshat had closed it on me!

I pounded on it even though my fist felt bruised.

Aggressive knocking answered me on the other side, and I could faintly hear Bael’k calling my name.

That hadn’t been an accident. The shuttle had locked me out.

But my howling, and possibly combined with my bleeding nose, had called the attention of every scourge in the area. The flyers started toward me on foot, deciding I was too close for flight.

Fuck!

I couldn’t wait here for Bael’k to convince the shuttle to open up for me, so I turned back toward the house and ran.

Why the hell had we parked so far from the house? The flyers were going to reach me before I reached the door. And my chest was hurting, my lungs felt like they were going to burst, and my vision was starting to blur.

Please, if there’s anyone out there listening, let me survive this, and I promise, promise, that I will never skip cardio again. Ever.

Suddenly, the loud zing of a Xarc’n ship-mounted energy cannon split the sky.

I dove behind one of the ornate stone columns by the door, narrowly avoiding a spray of flyer innards.

I covered my still-bleeding nose with my hand, trying to filter out the stench.

I wasn’t sure how much I trusted the precautionary dose of antifungal medication and didn’t want to test it.

Peeking around the column, I saw the remaining flyers chasing Bael’k’s shuttle. Not only was he flying in a Dead Zone, but the shuttle was uncloaked. Then it cloaked again. It flickered in and out like a glitch. Was he fighting the AI? Had he uncloaked to draw them away from me?

The shuttle veered wildly, blinking in and out of sight. All the flyers turned to follow except one. It locked onto me. I scrambled to the door as it charged, then slammed the heavy portal in its face.

“And stay out!”

The heavy-duty bolt slammed into place with a satisfying thunk. But just because I was inside didn’t mean that I was safe. The creature started to charge at the door, landing with a loud thud.

I ran up the grand staircase, occasionally turning to look out of the many windows that lined the front of the house.

This house was most definitely not safe.

But the library could be. The scholar who had lived here had clearly valued the many old books he owned.

As a result, there was only one single window in the library, the one next to the desk, and it was stained glass to protect his collection from the sun’s bombardment.

The sound of shattering glass sent new frissons of fear down to my fingers and toes.

The flyer had smashed a window with its spiked tail.

I used the renewed burst of energy to run down the hall to the library and lock myself in.

I went to the only window. There was a ball of flyers in the distance, all tangled up in wings and limbs.

I watched in horror, unable to do anything, as it plunged out of the sky.

Bael’k was crashing!

No. No. No, no, no. This wasn’t happening. It was less than an hour ago when I was right here, celebrating our potential victory. And now everything was all FUBAR.

The hallway erupted in clangs and crashes as the flyer squeezed itself into a passage not designed for its wings, reminding me that I was still prey.

It sounded like it was heading down the opposite hallway, so I took the opportunity to carefully, and as silently as possible, shove the heavy hardwood desk against the locked door.

Now what? Think, Kiera. Think.

I still had my pack on me, which had all the goodies and gadgets the Tech Wizards had given me. I dug my phone out of the bag and dialed Bael’k’s number.

There was a familiar and nostalgic chime, followed by a woman’s voice. “We're sorry. The number you have dialed is not in service. Please check your number and try your call again.”

What the actual fuck? First of all, I hadn’t heard that in years. And I mean years. And second, I was calling a Xarc’n device.

His shuttle! If his shuttle was actively preventing me from contacting him, then that must mean he was alive.

These alien warriors were tough. He should be able to survive one crash, right?

I had to believe it was true because thinking that it might not be, that he was injured, or worse, dead, made it nearly impossible to breathe.

If I couldn’t call Bael’k, then I was gonna call the next best thing, Sam. The four rings it took for her to pick up felt like a lifetime. I launched into our story the moment I heard the click.

“Whoa, slow down. What’s this about a jealous shuttle?”

“I just told you that his shuttle got swarmed by a bunch of flyers and crashed, and that’s what you picked up?

“I’m already connecting to the mothership now,” she said.

“You do know that all the hunters have their biosignatures monitored by the mothership, right? When we lost Bael’k’s mothership, we contacted all the shuttles and had them transmit the feed to the one parked in New Franklin.

” The loud clacking of a mechanical keyboard filled the silence.

“Ah, there! Bael’k is alive. Heartrate slightly elevated. ”

“He was injured before the crash.”

“Yes, yes, you mentioned a fight with a flyer, and a crushed leg. But he’s alive. Let me try to contact him.”

More keyboard sounds, followed by that annoying chime again.

“We're sorry. The number you have dialed is not in—”

“Fuck you too,” Sam grumbled. Then after a second, “Not you, Kiera. Clearly, the shuttle is blocking communications.”

I quickly recapped what had been happening with the shuttle and sent her the recording from earlier. “I should’ve sent this to you or Lenny earlier. Oh, by the way, don’t tell Lenny why the shuttle called him. He thinks it was just acting up.”

“Okay, so his shuttle is no longer on our side, and we can’t rely on it to get him to you or to safety. The shuttle went straight west and crashed just past the country club. If you’re here and he’s here, hmm… Not now, Pip.”

The mention of Pip suddenly gave me an idea. “Oh! I know,” I said a little too loudly, judging from the sudden movement outside in the hall. “Shit,” I whispered.

“What?” Sam whispered back.

“There’s a flyer outside my door.” Also whispered. “But I was saying, what if we put a copy of Pip into his shuttle? Like, can’t I download him onto my phone or something?”

There was a disgusted sound from Pip. “Eww! I’m offended you think I can fit into one of those wimpy devices.”

It always amused me that a centuries-old sentient AI entity like Pip sounded like an eight-year-old.

“And even if we could,” Sam said, “it would take forever for us to transfer the file. But I think you’ve got the right idea.

We can replace the AI in the shuttle. A simple program, just enough to get his shuttle running.

But you’ll still have to remove the hostile one and install the new one.

And right now, we can’t contact either him or his shuttle. It’s all blocked.”

“Ooh! I can write it!” Pip offered.

Oh boy. An AI writing an AI program? This could go very wrong.

“You can work on it with Lenny,” Sam said.

That was probably a good idea. Lenny was a programming genius.

“Oh Leeeennnnnny!” Pip’s voice faded out like he was moving farther away, even though he was technically just a voice on my screen.

I moved to the window and peered outside.

More flyers had joined the party, and they were all circling a spot in the distance, which I assumed was Bael’k’s shuttle.

Even if we could get the new AI to him, he’d never be able to lift with all of them there.

And, what if he decided to do something stupid like leave the shuttle or something? They’d eat him alive.

“I need to get those flyers off him.”

“Yes. We also need to know what condition the shuttle is in. It might not even be able to fly after that impact.”

That too.

“Do you still have the drones?” she asked.

“Yeah. And the Eye-Spies too.”

All I had to do was eliminate the flyer outside in the hall, make my way up to the observatory, send out the drones, then get the Eye-Spies attached to a pair of flyers… all without dying.

Impossible. I wasn’t good enough, fast enough, or brave enough.

But Bael’k was out there, injured, and with an unreliable… no scratch that… murderous shuttle. I had to ditch the self-doubt and get my act together.

“Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to do it. I still have the blaster. It’s a hallway. It can’t get away. I can do it.”

“Damn right, you can. Just remember. Safety, power, brace, and shoot. I have faith in you.”

Then Pip spoke again. “Kiera?”

“Yes, Pip?”

“You'd better be alive to receive this program, or I’ll never forgive you.”

I couldn’t stop the corner of my lips from lifting despite my grim position. He’d totally learned that from Sam.

“You got it, Pip.”