Page 31 of Monstrous Hunt
I couldn’t help but snort. “So what you’re saying is you need a human driver file? No wonder I can’t hear anything you say on the grid.”
The tiny filament touched my forearm and then slipped back beneath his coils. I didn’t even feel a hint of cold or metallic sensations.
“More like a detailed application programming interface, but yeah, that’s the general idea,” Rizan said. “I could try to write one but defining all the different ways the human brain takes in stimuli and translates it would take either a hundred years or a hundred COM dyni working together. Maybe more.”
“Sirian cells could act as the interface?”
“Yes,” Rizan replied. “They interface with just about everything, even Myrm.”
Snryx closed his eyes, though I had the impression he was staring at me very intently behind his eyelids. I focused on my body, trying to sense anything weird. Movement, sensation, anything at all. But whatever device he implanted had been microscopic.
“That’s probably why Axxol saw Sirian cells at the crash site,” Lohr said. “They were either interfacing with the biologic to control its destination, or with the mrions directly, which was also controlling the route. Once they reached Earth, the cells were programmed to immediately disintegrate so we wouldn’t find the evidence.”
There was a thread of something in Lohr’s voice. Distrust, maybe. Doubt. Axxol could be mistaken about the cells. Or maybe he’d lied about the whole thing. I wouldn’t put it past him. Though lying about the cells gave him a reason to rebel against his orders that the squad might support.
Not me. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to trust a single word out of his mouth. Let alone his intentions.
14
SNRYX
Apiece of me was inside her body. Tiny, yes, but a part of me just the same.
The medbot glided effortlessly through her bloodstream, making its way toward her uterus. Data flooded my system, the same as when I physically touched her. Only now I could easily read the chemical composition of her blood. The level of oxygen saturation. Heart rate and blood pressure. Even the density of her bones as the medbot streamed toward its destination.
:She needs more calcium,:I noted on the grid.:The embryo’s needs exceed her current dietary intake, and her teeth and bones will suffer as a result.:
:Noted,:Lohr replied.:Adjusting for the next meal.:
:Order made,:Rizan said almost as quickly.:Additional supplies will be delivered tomorrow morning.:
“Any sign of the other squad tracking us?” Kroktl asked.
“Not yet,” Rizan replied. “I’m monitoring all local media and security cameras in a ten-mile radius. The only way they’ll be able to surprise us again is by jumping straight to our location or attacking through the ocean.”
Kroktl’s raptor hissed on the grid, tail twitching back and forth restlessly. He wanted to run and scout the area himself—exactly what he was bred to do—but he didn’t dare leave his mate unattended. And no, Lohr, Rizan, and I didn’t count. Not outside a secure nest with DSC actively hunting us. Especially with an alpha who’d proved himself untrustworthy twice already.
“I’ve been doing your job,” Axxol said in a flippant tone meant to prod the raptor’s pride. “I’ve covered every inch of land for miles around and mapped everything that might provide a potential hiding spot for stealth attack. They’ve tried to jump us before and failed. I don’t think they’ll try that again, even if they somehow managed to track us. Which is fucking impossible after the loop I took us through.”
Rage flickered through me, hot and cold at the same time. I had no idea how Kroktl managed to keep his raptor leashed. My implements stiffened, sharp points ready to decapitate and maim at the first chance I got.:You mean when you nearly killed Natalie.:
Lohr glared at Axxol, his thick shoulders and arms corded with strain.:I fucking swear I’m gutting you if you so much as twitch in her direction.:
:Same,:Rizan retorted.:I’m tearing up what he doesn’t shred.:
I’d never heard our mild-mannered xenobiologist ever use such a tone of voice. The dynos who used his intellect to help us interpret and predict alien lifeforms behaviors was more than ready to attack the alpha.
The blue flames in Axxol’s eyes burned hotter, slipping toward ultraviolet.:Are you sure about that, Nodo? Your shell is barely held together with a few strands of fresh keratin and the medic’s spit.:
“What’s happening?” Natalie’s voice sharpened and she sat up, pulling away slightly from Kroktl. “What am I missing?”
Axxol’s energy cranked up another notch. “I’m reminding Lohr that he doesn’t want to lose another limb.”
“Stop it,” she retorted, briskly rubbing her arms. “I don’t like it.”
“You heard her,” Kroktl said in a deceptively calm, measured tone, even as raptor claws shot out of his fingers and toes.
“Yes, my lady.” Shaking his head, Axxol huffed out a sardonic laugh but pulled back some of the power blazing in the air. “We mustn’t upset the little human.”
