by Robin Roseau
“Of course,” she replied.
“Is everyone in one of these?”
She looked at her sister, and then they spoke Hobble for a minute before Cinder said, “No. We were all offered between a variety of choices. This is what we picked when it was our turn. It was tricky learning to drive, but we’ve been having fun.”
“Good.”
“She’s fallen down six times,” May said.
“You fell over first.”
“Twice is one third of six.”
I laughed.
“You’re coming up on your two minutes, Taisha,” Cinder warned me.
I turned to her. “Are you really that impatient?”
“I’m anxious to finish capturing our prize,” she replied. “My heart is still pounding.”
“Your heart is pounding?” Priya asked. “We’re the ones out here being hunted by aliens in alien fighting suits, and I’ve been caught by two space aliens. Your heart is pounding? You better be kind to the people you capture. I’ll be far more pleasant if a shower is involved.”
“Are you all right?” I asked her.
“I’m fine. You better get going, though. Win this thing.”
“Any recommendations?” I asked.
“That depends upon your goal,” Cinder replied.
“What goal do you think I have?”
“I can envision three. You may wish to be caught soon. You may wish to be caught by a specific person. Or you may hope to remain free as long as possible.”
“It doesn’t seem like coincidence that it was the two of you to catch us.”
The two spoke Hobble again, back and forth for a minute. I waited for a pause and said, “I hope you aren’t running down my two-minute timer.”
“I’m pretty sure that timer expired,” Priya pointed out.
“Taisha, we’ll answer one question, then you will walk away and not look back.”
“Two.”
She paused. “Ask, and we’ll see.”
“Is it coincidence that it was the two of you to find us, and what sort of technology is being used to find us?”
“Good questions,” May declared. “By the first one, what you’re really asking is whether someone in particular may now be looking for you.”
“I didn’t want to be specific, but I’ll take an answer in whatever form you choose.”
“This was coincidence,” May said. “Although that is due in part to our unfamiliarity with these devices.”
“You were slower to get started.”
“And you’ll understand more when we tell you about the technology. You understand that Violet Beamer’s staff is tracking your location exactly.”
“Via the visor.”
“Yes, but removing it won’t prevent them from tracking you, and it would be a bad idea, for your own safety.”
“So, they told you where we were?”
“No. All of us know the distance to the nearest uncaptured prey.”
“Oh, shit.”
“When we began, it was accurate to ten kilometers.”
I laughed. “That doesn’t seem helpful.”
“It becomes increasingly accurate.”
“What’s it down to now?” Taisha asked.
“Just over one hundred meters,” Cinder replied. “It will reach one meter in another four hours.”
“Giving everyone a pretty accurate location for at least four more hours,” I said. “And you each have one of these and can triangulate?”
“Yes.”
“Which is worthless when the range is ten kilometers.”
“We were late to the party,” May said. “We know where the other teams are.”
“And they know you just caught Priya.”
“No, they don’t,” she said. “No one has any particular reason to know you’re here, Taisha. About two hours ago, the range suddenly jumped, however. It went from eight kilometers to twelve.”
“Why would it do that?” I asked.
“Because whoever was at eight kilometers was captured,” Priya said. “And we were the next closest that weren’t captured.”
“And with you captured, they lost the range to you, but it wouldn’t show as a jump, because I’m right here, well under the current tolerance.”
“You have had two good answers, Taisha,” May said. “You will now walk away or we will announce your location.”
“Be gentle with her,” I said. I gave Priya’s cheek a pat. She clasped my hand, and then I turned west and began walking.
* * * *
Ten minutes later, I heard loud stomping. I didn’t try running. Instead, I turned, and then I saw two of the fighting suits appear behind me. It was May and Cinder, and they ambled past me, going perhaps as fast as I could jog. Cinder was cradling a severely-trussed Priya. It looked as if they had used several more of the things they’d used to catch her in the first place. Cinder continued past me, but May came to a stop five feet in front of me.
She didn’t say anything, so finally I said, “If you give her a chance, you may find she’s more charming than she was yesterday at dinner.”
“I lied to you.”
“You really did tell people where I am?”
“No. I wasn’t aiming at whoever was first. I was aiming specifically at you.”
“Ah. Well, as I said, if you give her a chance, you might be surprised.”
“You may want to know: the Kitsune and Komodo caught your boss’s wife. They aren’t hunting you.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
“If Cinder and I invite you to another event, would you join us?”
“If you can honestly tell me you gave Priya a decent chance, then yes, if it fits around my other duties. But I’m here for work, May.”
“You seek to repair Muriel’s device.”
“Which I can’t talk about,” I said.
“I would like to get to know you better, Taisha.”
“Is this why you’re here, to meet human women?”
“No, but as long as I am here, I am as curious about humans as you may be about us. We’ll take care of your friend. If you head northwest, you will remain further from the other teams than anyone else, but if someone comes in this direction, you will be the only one to find. If you head directly south, your distance will muddle with that of the others still free.”
“And be closer to the other hunters.”
“Yes.”
“This event isn’t designed for any humans to remain free by dinner tonight.”
“No, it’s not,” she said. “Does that surprise you?”
“If only half the teams caught someone, that might be okay, but I’d feel bad if there were only two or three teams that caught no one.”
“But yet, you do not walk willingly to the next nearest team.”
“I can’t intentionally make it easy.”
She turned. “We’ll take care of Priya.” She looked over her shoulder. “I think I might enjoy owning a human for a few hours.”
I laughed. “Have fun with her, then.”
“I believe we will.” Then she was walking, and she quickly left me behind.
As best I could, I turned northwest.
Herded
Two hours later, I sat down. I’d climbed to the top of a hill, and I had a good view. I could see the ocean, far to the west. Following the directions, I had filled the water supply a half hour ago and slaked my thirst then, but I drank heavily now then pulled out one of the energy bars. Three more remained to me.
I checked the scores. Three of us remained free. I had done far better than I expected. Felicia had been free the last time I checked, but it showed her as captured a half hour ago, just after I’d gotten more water. Danette Browning, the woman who had done the flip into the goo, was free, as was Princeton. Everyone else was marked as captured.
“Well, well,” said a voice into my ears. “Look who is surprising everyone.”
“Luck,” I said. “That’s all.”
“F
ar too many of you went to ground last night,” Violet said.
“Priya and I did, too.”
“Yes, but you got up.”
“Ah. Some tried to remain hidden?”
“Yes.”
“Amanda?”
“She sacrificed herself for the boy.”
“How much longer do you give me?”
“A while,” she said.
“Very informative.”
“I know.”
“Are you alone?”
“No, but no else is listening.”
“I’m confused about something. This is a department event. It’s not a prelude to a mating ritual.”
“Well.”
“Please be honest, Violet.”
“It’s a department event, but things are never simple. Humans can be alluring, Taisha. Some of us don’t realize that until they spend time with you, especially as we’re particularly good at dangling you.”
I laughed. “In skimpy clothing?”
“Things would have been quite different, I imagine, if you had been in orange prison fatigues.”
“I can’t imagine human standards of beauty match that of aliens.”
“Beauty is beauty,” she replied. “Everyone likes looking at a sunset. Most species enjoy a chair on the beach.”
“Is that what this is really about, Violet?”
“No. It’s a department event. But when we do events, we do them a certain way, and it is inevitable some of you will draw attention with greater duration. Do you want me to discourage it?”
“Is it really my choice?”
“It’s your choice to ask me to discourage it, but if someone decides she wants you, she’ll be getting her chance.” She gave a little snuffle. “Once you fix Muriel’s avatar.”
I laughed. “So, Felicia and I should drag that out until they get tired of waiting.”
“If you want me to discourage the attention, Taisha, I can.”
“I don’t know what I want,” I replied. “That part doesn’t seem real. No, don’t discourage any attention. If nothing else, I’d enjoy getting to know people. Carolina asked if she could see Felicia and me at work. I don’t know what’s allowed. We’re under that agreement.”
“I will talk to anyone who shows interest in you or Felicia, be it personal or business. You may use your own judgment, but Finley may have a different answer for you.”
“I think Finley would love if the entire world knew you were using our tech. Our stock price would double.”
She snuffled again. “I imagine it might.”
“Are you trying to distract me while someone sneaks up on me?”
“No one is in immediate likelihood to surprise you,” she replied. “That will change well before you’re in any danger of remaining uncaught.”
“I’m a little surprised I’m still free.”
“One of the other prey was particularly clever and has stymied the remaining teams. Until one moves far enough away, you do not appear first on anyone’s tracker.”
“Care to tell me how?”
“Only if you promise not to duplicate it.”
“How likely is that to happen accidentally?”
“Unlikely.”
“Then I promise.”
“She is thirty feet down a rather steep cliff face, and hidden from view. Would you like to see?”
“Sure.”
“Just a moment. Feeding your visor… now.” My vision faded and then brightened again, and I was in the air, facing a cliff. The view panned left and right.
“How are you doing this.”
“Drone.”
“Ah.”
I could see Danette. She was inside a little depression in the face of the cliff.
“Where are the hunters?”
“One group at the top of the cliff and the other two at the bottom.”
“All chasing one human?”
“Well, they’re cooperating now, but I imagine if this goes on much longer, one or two will depart.”
“The tolerance is down to a meter, isn’t it?”
“They have a pretty good idea where she is, especially as our drone has probably given it away as well. But they can’t actually see her, so they can’t capture her. I’ve forbidden a badly-aimed attempt, as it could startle her.”
“And she’d fall.”
“We’d catch her.”
“Catch her.”
“Quite gently, but I want them to figure this out or let her win.”
“You aren’t letting me see them.”
“No, and I’m not going to.” The view faded, and then I was looking out from my hill again.
“Are they even able to catch her?”
“Posey and I would have had her twenty minutes ago,” she said. “It wasn’t hard to identify her location in three dimensions, and each team has already asked if they’re chasing a ghost of some sort.”
“How would you have caught her?”
“One of us would swing down and grab her. The problem is that no individual team is prepared to do that, and they haven’t reached the level of cooperation required between two teams.”
“I don’t understand.”
“If you were, oh, a Wookie, would you trust a Loris to support your weight?”
“I didn’t see any Wookies last night.”
“You saw Luxans and a Niecor.”
“So lower the Loris.”
“The Loris isn’t strong enough to capture a human without mechanical assistance of some sort, and none of the teams has any handheld devices they can use. One team could shoot her.”
“What?”
“Temporary tranquilizer,” she said. “That won’t exactly help.”
“So they’re in a pickle.”
“They’re going to have to cooperate or convince her to surrender.”
“Have they been calling to her?”
“Yes.”
“Is she answering?”
“Not yet.”
“Could I talk to her?”
There was a pause. “All right. One moment. Go ahead.”
“Ms. Browning, this is Taisha Saint-heart. I was one of the humans seated with the Catseye yesterday when you did your wonderful dive into the goo.”
“I’m a little busy,” she whispered back.
“You’re just hanging out on that wall,” I replied. “Please don’t fall.”
“I’m not going to fall.”
“They know exactly where you are.”
“They’ve been up there for nearly an hour.”
“There are more at the bottom,” I said.
“Yes, well. They’re there, and I’m here.”
“Have you thought about negotiating?”
“Why would I confirm what they suspect?”
“Oh, please.”
“Fine. What would I negotiate for?”
“They’ll cooperate and catch you eventually.”
“If they were going to do that, they’d have done it by now,” she countered.
“Maybe you’re right. How did you even get there?”
“If you don’t know, I’m not sure I should tell you.”
“I’m a dozen kilometers away, and I’m fairly sure the Catseye already knows.”
“I watched,” Violet said. “You’re a daring woman, Ms. Browning.”
“You’re that Catseye on the beach yesterday.”
“Yes. Do you hate me?”
“No. Thank you for allowing me to choose a graceful capture.”
“You’re welcome. You were quite gracious, Ms. Browning.”
“I think I could wait out the clock, but I’m not sure I can climb back up the way I got down.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Violet said. “We can retrieve you when you’re ready.”
“There’s a chimney to the east,” Danette said.
“A chimney?” I asked.
“It’s a rock-climbing term,” she said. “It’s like a chimney, open on one side, wide enough to mo
ve down but narrow enough you can press against opposing sides. They’re about the easiest thing to climb up and down. I would have stayed there, but I got bored, so I went looking. I think this is a better spot to sit, but I don’t think I can make it back to the chimney.”
“I don’t want you to try,” Violet said. “Promise me, Ms. Browning.”
“I’ll stay right here. Does a rescue cost me?”
“Not one thing,” Violet replied. “They know where you are.”
“I think they’re guessing.”
“They have our distance to the nearest meter,” I said. “Triangulation does the rest.”
“Oh shit,” she said. “Seriously?”
“Or so I was told, but maybe the Hobbles lied to me.”
“They didn’t lie,” Violet said.
“Then why hasn’t one swung down on a rope or something?” Danette asked.
“We were just discussing that,” I replied. “It has to do with the composition of the teams. One member too big for the other to support, and one too small to reliably catch you in that particular location. But from what I’m told, if two teams cooperate, you’re as good as caught.”
“Well, they haven’t done that yet.”
“They will, eventually,” Violet said. “May and Cinder didn’t tell you everything, Taisha.”
“Oh?”
“They’re about to receive distances to all remaining prey.”
“Is that a new rule?”
“Yes.”
“Changing the rules after the start of the game is poor play, Violet.”
“I’ll change my mind if Ms. Browning enters into negotiations.”
“I don’t see why I need to do anything you want,” Danette said.
“Think it through. As soon as they have a good idea of where the other prey remain, there is reduced incentive to try to catch you, but that will be the impetus for fresh agreement. You will rapidly lose any leverage you have. It will take no more than one minute from when they agree to cooperate to when you are captured.”
She sighed. “I don’t know what to even ask for.” She paused. “Anything I can think of is too big to ask.”
“Such as?”
“A trip to Saturn.”
“Ah,” Violet replied.
“This visor thing is pretty cool.”
“Also too big,” Violet said.
“Yeah, I know. I can’t tell who is here.”