Page 30 of Monstrous Baby
My teeth chattered with dread, my stomach roiling with nausea. :What can we do?:
:You are Mother.:
Desperation sharpened my tone.:But what does thatmean? How does that?—:
A buzzing static filled my mind, rising to a shrieking metal-on-metal screech that made me shudder.
:They’re jamming the signal,:Rizan said grimly.:Counteracting with a different frequency, cycling….:
:Mother,:the Myrm whispered, their voices faint and stretched out as if they were calling me from galaxies away rather than rushing toward us.:Use us. Beware. Close.:The signal garbled, words skipping, syllables stretched out oddly. I couldn’t be sure what they were saying. Maybe “game?” A close game?
Something zapped through the grid, killing the connection entirely. My ears throbbed, my vision blurry. It took me a moment to realize it was tears. Not blood. Why would I be worried about blood…?
I whirled around, pushing up out of my chair toward Rizan. Blood dripped from his eyes and the tiny nostrils in his triangular beak. Wavering back and forth drunkenly, he gave me a tired grin. “I bought you a little time.”
“Oh, Riz.” I caught him as his knees folded, though Kroktl and Snryx were right there with me, the medic already pumping him with medication.
“Okay,” Rizan mumbled, his eyes fluttering. “Grid intact.”
“You should have protected yourself from the blast and let the grid fall,” Snryx said sternly. “Then your inner membranes would still be intact.”
“Important. Had to get it all.”
I cradled his head in my lap, stroking the delicate feathers over his skull. “I didn’t even understand the last part. Did they say something about a game?”
Rizan opened his bloodshot eyes. “I’ll analyze?—”
“Later,” I cut in gently. “You need to rest and heal first. Lohr, could you estimate how long until the pod reaches us?”
“Based on the data before we lost their signal, I would estimate eighteen to twenty hours.”
I was used to the slow, measured way he spoke—but there was something else in his tone. Not hesitation or concern, exactly, just… reservation. “But?”
He let out a long, slow breath before answering. “Their signal was detected—and blocked—by HQ.”
I was getting sick and tired of this sinking feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. “So they know where the pod is and what it carries.”
“Exactly.” Kroktl lifted his head, breathing deeply, his nostrils flaring. Very much the wild predator on the hunt, sniffing for his prey. “Which means they could have detected where our signal originated.”
“Negative.” Rizan tried to lift his head, but I pressed lightly on his chest, keeping his shoulders down, his head on my lap. “Our grid is secure and safely wrapped up in so much interference they can only determine we’re in the general vicinity of this solar system. I’ve even got some chatter from Mars’ Rover and NASA’s Deep Space Network to muddy our location.”
Lohr snorted. “Deep Space Network. Nice name when humans can barely reach the next planet over.”
A loud clash of teeth made me jerk my head up. Axxol snarled at Snyder, warning him back away from me. He and Holly had both left their seats and hovered nearby.
“What’s going on?” Holly asked, her voice low but steady.
Bewareechoed in my head.Close.
I had no reason not to trust her, but I chose my words carefully. “We made contact with someone who might help, but DSC detected the connection and shut it down. Riz got hurt as a result.”
She paled and swallowed hard. “Do they know where you are? Can you jump to a new place?”
“When we go, we’re not taking you two with us,” Axxol said. “It’s too risky.”
I fought to keep my face smooth, though on the grid, I gave him the equivalent of a narrowed stare. Along with a pinch on his ass just because I could. He didn’t get to decide what happened with my friend.
His eyes flashed cobalt and he bared his teeth in the closest thing I’ve seen to a grin on his arrogant, harsh face.
