Page 23 of Fresh Flesh

Mlarx

I stretchmy legs out in a dead run as I race through the valley. The sun has already set, leaving only a purple vestige of its majesty. Soon the first stars will wink into view, and I will grow even more desperate.

I reach the house and spot Lurg standing on the porch, looking worried. I start shouting at him before I even draw near.

“Lurg!”

I race up to him and stop, panting heavily from my hard run.

“Have you seen her?” I ask.

“No,” he says, looking miserable. “Joras hasn’t returned from the other end of the valley, but I have to assume that if he’d found her—”

“He would have communicated with us and told us that he did,” I finish for him. “Damn it all, Lurg, where is she? I thought she would be smart enough not to wander around outside this of all days.”

“I would have thought so too, but then again, she is a bold one.”

“I wish I could admire her for that, but right now I’m frustrated and angry that she has gone off on her own again.” I heave a long sigh. “Where could she be, Lurg?”

As if on cue, Joras arrives, racing up to us on a zoomer. The little platform is a fast transport, if you don’t mind bugs smacking you in the face and getting caught in your teeth…and if you don’t mind that it has limited armament.

I can tell from his expression that he has not found her. He is not without some news, however.

“Lurg, Mlarx,” he says, partly out of breath. Why is he out of breath? I’m the one who ran across the fucking valley looking for our lost woman. “I have news.”

“What news?” Lurg and I demand in unison.

“One of the guards saw a bounty hunter carrying a hooded, bound human to the train cars. It looks like Maisie may have been mistaken for an escapee.”

“Oh no,” I cry. “They’re going to send her back up north! The tribe will turn her into food as soon as she arrives.”

“We don't know that, Mlarx,” Lurg says, but I’m not sticking around to listen. I run to the abandoned zoomer and leap onto the platform.

I twist the throttle and shoot out toward the train tracks. I will follow it to the ends of the earth if I must.

Unfortunately, the train was one of the faster models we have. Not to mention it has one hell of a head start on me.

Still, I’m not going to wait to get Maisie back.

I race along the track, pushing the zoomer to its maximum capacity. The red line goes over the overheated mark several times, and I curse each time I have to ease off the throttle so it can cool off again.

At one point, I take the zoomer over a lake, and allow the spray of freshwater kicked up by the hover jets to help cool the fuselage.

Then I’m back on the pursuit, determined to find Maisie.

My comm unit flashes, and I let go of the handlebars with one hand to answer it.

“Mlarx here,” I snap.

“Mlarx, it’s Lurg,” he replies. “Where are you?”

“I’m in pursuit of the train. But it’s a damn fast one, and has a huge head start.”

“I know. We’re talking about radioing ahead and telling the train to stop.”

“You fool,” I growl. “You will as much as put our heads on the chopping block. We are NOT supposed to keep a human servant.”

“I know, but…”

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