Page 49

Cavos and Trusk had turned everything on before the rest of their party arrived. Cavos wanted to show the home of the Stone Folk to an advantage, and Trusk just wanted the light and water.

When Niika came out of the cavern entrance with Morro far too close to her, Cavos realised that he might have made a tactical error in regards to the female he wanted.

He walked toward her, watching the stilted pace she was walking with. Concern filled him, and he reached out to take her hand, helping her down the final four stairs.

The contact electrified him, just as it had the first time she touched him. “Welcome to the city of Trasidil, the home of the Stone Folk.”

“Thank you.”

She smiled, but he could see the fatigue in her features.

Morro was looking at him, and challenge was flaring in his eyes. Cavos would deal with that later.

“Come this way. We started the water pumps and the potable water should be ready by now. If we can get the rest of the systems working, you should be able to take a hot bath before we eat.”

She smiled wryly. “Who is in charge here?”

“I am. This is my home city, and the object of my studies for the last twenty years. I know every inch of this city in theory, and I look forward to proving the product of my imaginations.”

Niika was exhausted. The moment that she found what she was hunting for, her mind drained her body of all energy. It was not a great effect when hunting living prey, but it usually was fine when looking for plants and medicinals.

Cavos was full of energy. He seemed more substantial here underground, as if this was what he needed to come into his own.

Nik moved carefully. Her supports were cutting into her back as they did when she moved too quickly. They were designed to pull and keep the subject contained, so she had worked hard to develop a gait that wouldn’t trigger it. Hiking through tunnels had caused a tension in her thighs and that tension was now hobbling her.

“A hot bath sounds wonderful. Where can I procure such a rare creation?”

He straightened and kissed the back of her hand. “I shall make it my first priority.”

She blushed at how silly it made her sound. “Don’t. We need to find a place to stay the night, first.”

Trusk walked up and grinned. “I have taken care of it. One of the city halls is still habitable. It has living quarters in it.”

Niika paused and looked around her, taking in the vista that expanded as far as the eye could see. The city was arranged in a wheel and spoke pattern. The centre was filled with a fountain that splashed water thirty feet into the sky.

The arch of stone above them left two hundred feet between roof and ground.

“How is all of this supported?”

Cavos offered her his arm, and she took it, ignoring the shudder that passed through his body.

He walked with her toward the city, pointing out the buttresses that had been formed in the rock above in a web so tight, nothing could fall.

She heard a noise that was very familiar coming from half a kilometre away. She turned her head and asked, “Morro, Tidae, are either of you up for a bit of hunting?”

“I haven’t hunted in so long that I am afraid I have forgotten how.”

Morro’s voice was amused.

“I teach an excellent five-minute course in catching Zaphlings. They are usually the tastiest of the easy prey.”

She smiled at the thought of getting the Wilders to chase down the small creatures. Tiny hooves, pudgy bodies and faster than thought, one Zaphling would feed them for two days.

There was no way she could catch one with her braces acting up, but there was no sense in having two strong predators with her if she wasn’t going to use them to provide a meal.

“Why are you creaking?”

Cavos’s whisper brought her out of her thoughts.

“Ah, that. Well, let’s just say a lady needs her secrets, and as I am one helluva lady, I need more than most.”

She chuckled softly.

His skin shifted for a moment, and she swore that she could see it turn to stone for an instant. “As you like.”

She wished she could tell him, tell anyone, but being mobile via Tokkel tech was not something that most women on Gaia would admit to.

The Tokkel had been most curious to seek out and examine the newest inhabitants of the same world that twisted them but elevated the Nine. The Gaians—most recently of Earth—had been shocked to be under alien attack and even more perturbed when citizens went missing. Everything Tokkel was to be despised and that meant her braces were in danger.

A few days without mobility had been more than enough for her lifetime.

A fire via firestones was crackling merrily. The rocks that Trusk and Cavos had gathered were brightly glowing once they cracked them with a fire poker and exposed their interiors to oxygen.

Niika sat near the fire and extended her legs, moving slowly and stretching them back to full mobility. The men watched her curiously, but they did not ask what she was doing. Once her legs were completely under her control once again, she got to her feet and reached into her pack. “Gentlemen, it is time to learn the fine art of Zaphling hunting.”

She wore her knives, held a small folded pack in her hand and led the way out to the field where the deliberate smacking of skull against skull told her that this herd was in the middle of mating season.

Perfect.

Cavos and Trusk were following, their curiosity bristling out of them.

She stopped and turned. “Gentlemen. We are about to go into battle against Zaphlings. They are fast, sturdy and exceptionally tasty. They are peculiar in that they can turn very aggressive when confronted. When I am saying aggressive, they can cause deep bites and nasty bruising.”

Trusk asked, “Why don’t you grow your protein?”

“You mean in a lab?”

“Yes.”

“With an eye to survival, we tried a lot of local offerings and saved our tech for medical and practical applications. We are still settling in as colonists. The Tokkel didn’t help matters, we lost a lot of good people.”

She cleared her throat at their silence. “Now, to hunt the Zaphling, you need a chaser who is hopefully scarier than the Zaphlings are and someone with a net and a knife.”

Niika turned and walked toward the edge of the city, looking out over the field that was holding court to a herd of over a hundred of the little creatures with several parts of the field divided for the males to have their competitions for their supremacy.

The men drew even with her, and they all stared out at the collection of possibilities. “So, gentlemen. Who will do what to which beast?”

Morro looked at her with a calculating gaze. “Which is the most dangerous, the males or the females?”

“Good question. The females. The males only notice two things, other males and females. The females watch out for everything else. Can you see anything else from here?”

Tidae looked and squinted at the small, pudgy creatures in the field. “They are crushing rocks with their teeth.”

She chuckled. “Yes, they are. They use them for digestion just like some birds do on the surface. Their jaws can be exceptionally dangerous. Don’t get bit.”

Morro gave her a narrow-eyed look. “I thought you said they were easy to catch.”

“Compared to most of the wildlife on Gaia, they are. Now, who wants to use the net?”

Cavos stepped forward. “I will. Do you have a spare knife?”

Blinking, she handed him one of her folding blades. “This should do it. Lift the head with your less dominant hand and slice back as hard as you can. The blood will scatter the herd. They won’t be around the smell of their own wounded. Basically, cut fast or they will be gnawing on your limbs before you know it.”

Morro asked, “You won’t be joining us in the hunt?”

“I don’t hunt with other people around. For me, the kill is solitary.”

She shrugged. There was no way she could manage it today. Her damned straps were acting up.

She looked around and found a wall that would allow Trusk and herself to remain on higher ground. They boosted themselves into position and watched the proceedings.

She looked at her companion and grinned. “This is going to be fun.”

The Wilders straightened and made a run for the Zaphlings. The hunt was on.