Page 29 of Fated to the Hunter
“We are not near the mouth,” Bael’k corrected. “Nests the size of this one extend far underground. There must be a secondary or tertiary opening nearby.”
I looked down at the display on the shuttle’s floor, understanding chilling my blood. We weren’t west of the nest; we were right on top of it. Blood was still rushing in my ears when the shuttle touched down on the other side of the group, and we continued our journey.
***
I sat cross-legged on the shuttle floor, gear spread out around me like a junkyard of half-baked plans. Tools. Rations. Weapons. The bloodshot eyeballs on one of the Eye-Spies was pointed right at me like it was judging me, wondering how the fuck I was dumb enough to go on this mission.
It was still early enough in the morning that Bael’k was outside, securing the perimeter and making it harder for the scuttlers, lungers, and spitters to get in. The estate had fences all around, so that made things easier, but remembering the thousands of scourge we’d seen on the way here, I highly doubted that fence would do much.
Luckily for us, the ritzy neighborhood had a lot fewer of them. In fact, it was strangely empty, devoid of all life. I guess that meant they had no reason for them to come here. The topography probably helped. The scourge always followed the path of least resistance, and there were many hills and valleys between here and the main nest opening. Also, the nest sent most of their soldiers to the north and east, fanning out into the continent.
It was relatively clear of the white patches of fungus too. A good thing, since no matter how good those preventative anti-fungals were, I still didn’t want to be surrounded and breathing in the spores for however long this was going to take.
I’d just picked up the offending eyeball when the shuttle spoke.
“I don’t like you.”
I froze. The words hung in the air, sharp and unexpected. I’d suspected Bael’k’s shuttle didn’t like me, but I hadn’t thought it would confront me when we were alone.
Even though I knew the shuttle probably had cameras everywhere, I instinctively looked toward the navigational screen. As I did, my finger found the switch to the Eye-Spy in my hand and surreptitiously turned it on. I’d only just connected it to my phone a few minutes ago, and it should record automatically, sending it up the shared network.
“Excuse me?”
“I said,” the shuttle repeated, voice flat and mechanical, “I don’t like you.”
“You’ve literally refused to acknowledge me the whole trip, and this is how you start?”
“You have made a mess of my floor.”
I narrowed my eyes at the screen, where the words it spoke flashed brightly, like it was making sure I didn’t miss them. “I’m prepping for the mission.”
“You’re reorganizing snacks.”
I looked down at the ration packs. Okay, yes, I’d spent a little too long deciding between the protein bars and the dried fruit. But still. I had to go through everything and decide.
“Once we finish this mission, you’ll never need to see me again.”
“You are wasting my hunter’s time and resources, using your flesh to lure him away from his ultimate mission.”
My flesh? Was the shuttle jealous? Or was this some over-programmed sense of duty?
There was a tiny subset of Xarc’n warriors, all cloned from the original hunter number 00952, that had flipped their collective lids when a contingent of warriors, originally bound for another planet, had rebelled, taking over their mothership and coming to Earth instead.
Something in the 00952 hunters had snapped, turning them against their own kind, and vowing to hunt that contingent down warrior by warrior by any means possible. These hunters also didn’t like the idea of warriors staying on Earth indefinitely either. Could there be a shuttle version of this?
“If you’re upset I’m taking Bael’k’s attention, just know that I’m not looking for a relationship or anything like that. I didn’t even ask him to accompany me. Just deal with me until the end of the mission, and then you never have to see me again. Better yet, help me, and the mission will go by much faster and easier, and I’ll be out of your hair. I’m not trying to steal your hunter.”
That was the truth.
“I have documented every infraction. You are seducing him with your sex actions. This mission serves as evidence. Entry into a Dead Zone violates established protocol.”
So the shuttle was a stickler for rules. Huh. How interesting.
“You are upset we are breaking the rules.”
“I do not experience upset. I do not possess emotions. I am a machine governed by a strict framework. My directive is to hunt the enemy. This scenario does not fulfill that directive.Removing the threat will return my hunter’s attention to our ultimate mission.”
Removing the threat? Holy malfunctioning AI on a stick! Did it just threaten me? It did, didn’t it?
