Page 4 of Fated to the Hunter
“Wait!” Kiera called as I turned to follow Roger. “Here’s the map of the market. The paper it’s printed on is hyper-compostable, and the ink is too, so make sure to get it into one of the compost piles when you’re done.” She grabbed a writing utensil and used it to mark a five-pointed shape on the map in one of the boxes. “This one’s the information booth. So you are here.”
Map and tokens in hand, I followed Roger to the food booths, eager for a taste of whatever they had available. Food was one thing I’d miss when we finally cleared Earth of the scourge and followed the abominations to the next planet they wished to infest. It would be hard to go back to eating plain food bars after tasting the cuisine this planet had to offer.
The smell of roasted meat reached my nose, and my stomach made a loud, demanding growl.
Stalls stretched out before me, each one bursting with mouthwatering scents that begged me to take a bite. I froze. I’d never had so many choices before. Before Earth, I only had the choice of normal food bars or high-protein food bars. And at the hunters’ camp where I currently stayed, the choice was simple as well: yes, I’d like a portion, or no. I usually said yes.
Roger took pity on me and guided me to a stall with simple roasted meat on skewers. “Chicken, beef, and lamb,” he said. “This narrows it down to three choices.”
I frowned. “What is lamb? I have not heard of this animal.”
Our Xarc’n food production facility, located on heavily defensible islands on the planet, used their tasty bovine, cows, to make our food bars. They called it beef. Human languages were strange like that. Beef and cows were different states of the same thing; I didn’t understand why they didn’t just use one word.
We also had chickens at the hunters’ camp that provided us with tasty eggs. The “ladies,” as the human survivors at the camp called them, were also excellent hunters, keeping the camp free of the native arthropods and insectoids that reminded me so much of the scourge. These critters were so similar that the humans called them both bugs.
I even knew what “tel-lap-piyah” was, since the humans living with us had an aquaponics system. I still found fish unpalatable to my taste buds, since I was used to protein from land animals.
But what was lamb? I was not familiar with this meat, but it smelled tasty.
Roger turned and pointed at a row of covered stalls at the far side of the market. “They’re the fluffy guys. Usually grown for their wool. Try it, and if you like it, you can convince your group to raise some. They’ll do well out in the plains as long as they are protected from the flyers and double-fenced.”
Oh. Those. They hadn’t smelled particularly appetizing when I walked by them, but the aroma that drifted to my nose now was very good indeed.
Chapter 3: Kiera
“I think he likes you!” Holly squealed when Roger and Bael’k were out of earshot, or at least I hoped they were out of earshot. Those Xarc’n hunters had amazing hearing.
“Think?” Garrett responded. “More like I’msurehe likes you.”
“You’re right!” Holly agreed. “That was a purr if I ever heard one! You lucky bitch!”
“Uh, well, I’m not really interested,” I said.
“Really? Not even with that body.”
“Well, the body, sure,” I admitted. “But just to look.”
“Ugh! Girl talk,” Garrett made a face, reminding me that he was technically just a kid. “I’m outta here. I need to disinfect the scrapes on my knees anyway. I didn’t notice them at first, but now they really sting.”
“Lemme see?” I peered down at his knees, and sure enough, they were bleeding. “Yeah, get that looked after. See if you can get a decontaminator on that for a few minutes too, just in case.”
The space bugs themselves weren’t the only thing that could kill you. The fungus they carried was just as scary. That shit was super contagious, and if it took hold, it turned you into a sore-covered zombie, good for nothing but being bug chow. And thescariest thing? By the time the sores started showing up, you were as good as dead. It was like Rabies 2.0, but minus the fear of water.
“I’ll hold up the fort until Mel gets here,” I said. Melissa was my replacement.
Since I’d helped with the actual setup of the booths and stalls, making sure everyone got to their right area, I was only scheduled at the information booth until midmorning. Then I got to check out the market myself before the midday sun and flyers forced us all indoors.
Despite not having a nest in the immediate area, New Franklin still got a few flyers now and then. Today was far from normal, and considering this gathering had attracted so many flyers from the surrounding nests already this early in the day, I’d bet lunchtime would be a doozy.
That was why we’d planned several lunchtime presentations inside the community center. The auditorium was more than big enough for everyone attending.
Some vendors were worried about theft while everyone was indoors, so we installed cameras and streamed the footage to screens in the community center. Still, a few had insisted on staying at their stalls. After a heated forum debate, we’d reached a compromise: meetings became optional, but those who stayed outside, vendor or thief, would have no security. Hunter shuttles would be grounded during peak flyer hours, leaving them exposed.
If their presence attracted the scourge and caused damage, their group would be responsible for repairs and compensation. Failure to comply meant removal and a ban from future markets. I doubted the ones insisting they’d stay out wouldactually follow through, especially since a flyer had already breached the shuttle barrier, and it wasn’t even midmorning yet.
“So, you’re still not gung-ho about dating a hunky hunter?” Holly asked.
“I’m not gung-ho about dating at all. Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re super hot. Queen of the alien romance novels, remember?”
