by Minton, Toby
"Hunt's not over, boy," Cole grated. Then he turned and ran toward the cabin, moving faster and making less sound than Padre would have thought possible for a man his size.
Padre snatched his rifle from the hide and followed toward the shouts and the spatter of automatic fire ripping into the falling night.
Hounds to Hunter
Chapter 34
Elias
"Only half?" Elias asked, keeping his gaze on Cole's.
Unsettling as the man's hard green eyes were, they were easier to look at than the rest of him. Cole's clothes hung in blood-soaked tatters around gruesome wounds. Most were no longer bleeding, some already healed over, but overall he looked like he'd just waded through a slaughterhouse. He'd gotten up close and personal with the creatures, fighting with only his bare hands.
"Less than half," the big man grated. "The rest kept to course." He rolled one corded shoulder, eliciting a series of pops loud enough to cause Padre to look up briefly from tending to Impact's wounds on the other side of the living room.
"Thought the smaller group was coming around to flank me," Cole went on. "They did that from time to time, so I ignored them and followed the pack. By the time I figured out they were headed here, I had a lot of catching up to do."
He must have registered the look in Elias's eyes because he growled wordlessly around a brutal smile and said, "Com died that morning, soldier boy. Couldn't have warned you if I'd wanted to."
"What about the backup?"
"That was the backup," Cole growled. "Machines and I don't get along." He threw a glance at Padre. "Ran the boy's bike out of juice catching up to this lot. Left it at the base of the mountain. Had to run them down on foot from there."
Elias nodded. "It's good you caught up when you did."
He glanced from Padre sealing the gash on Impact's back to Nikki tending a cut over Corso's eye. Both injuries were superficial. They'd been lucky.
"I wouldn't have caught them if they hadn't slowed," Cole said.
Elias looked back at Cole but didn't need to voice the question.
"They learned from the island," Cole said more softly, his voice the growl of an average dog this time instead of a mastiff. "Took their time here. Scouted it out. Came up the south face—the hardest way—to throw you off."
The implications of that statement added a new level of chill to the cold pit Elias had been carrying in his stomach for days, a pit that was sure to form an ulcer before long, if it hadn't already.
"Heard enough?" Cole asked.
Elias answered with a tight nod, and Cole headed for the kitchen. Through the entertainment system, Ace's voice said, "Kate, can you look—"
"Already looking," Kate mumbled over her absently.
Elias glanced at the display. Gideon's shadowed face filled a third of the wide screen. He was leaning on the console under the camera, staring at something before him instead of the display. Over his shoulder, Kate's head was bowed over the virtual console on the tac table. Mos and Coop sat on either side of the table, engaged in whispered conversation. Ace stood in the background watching Kate work.
Elias's second in command was concerned, as were they all, but not about Kate. He could read the relief in Ace's expression as she watched Kate work. Elias shared the sentiment.
Having Kate back in play changed the landscape for the better. They'd been blind without her, which indicated a weakness, one they would have to address. Coop's skills weren't where they needed to be for him to step in when Kate was out of commission. No one's were. She had a gift, a talent they relied on too heavily. Nikki's struggle to adapt to life without her power was all the illustration they needed of the dangers of such a practice.
Elias glanced over at Nikki, a breath of pride expanding his chest. She'd handled the attack like a seasoned vet, shaking off her shock and following orders without question or hesitation. Then she'd stepped in to help treat the wounded without being asked.
Elias had no right to be proud though, God knew. Nikki's strength and perseverance were her own, her determination and courage self-nurtured. He couldn't claim responsibility for any of her positive traits. He hadn't been there to instill or encourage them as she grew up. He could, however, make an argument for his contributing to her distrusting nature and abandonment issues.
"Quit whining, you big baby," Nikki laughed as Corso flinched. "I cut myself worse than this when I shaved my legs."
Corso's answering laugh started a twitch in Elias's cheek, one he had to clear his throat and take a breath to ease.
"Maybe what you needed was a steady hand to guide you," Corso said in an oily tone. "Someone willing to take the time to do it right."
Elias had a sudden desire to drag the man outside, but he put a lid on it and screwed the lid tight, much like he saw Padre do across the room. Elias and Nikki weren't at a place in their relationship where she'd appreciate the intrusion, if such a place existed. Maybe one day she'd tolerate it, at best.
Nikki barked a laugh and pushed the gauze against Corso's head hard enough to earn a curse. "I was eleven, perv. Is that your thing? You like shaving kids?"
The pride swelled again and Elias looked away from them, concealing his amusement. Padre didn't bother to hide his smile, but he did keep his laugh silent.
"Are you telling me you haven't shaved your legs since you were eleven?" Corso asked.
"Why would I?" Nikki scoffed. "Do I look like a competitive swimmer to you? Or a gorilla? How hairy do you think I am?"
"Love, you do need my help," Corso persisted.
"Not making it better, shaver."
Elias glanced back to see the thief smiling like he'd gotten the better end of the exchange, but Corso's eyes tightened as he looked Nikki over.
"What about you, love?" Corso asked, reaching out to brush the hair back from Nikki's face as she worked. "You sure you didn't take a knock?"
Nikki shook her head. "I'm right as night," she said with ease. "Only thing bugging me is all my self-inflicted…" She trailed off as she looked at the palm of her hand. She flexed her left hand for a few seconds, then her right, staring at them like she'd never seen them before. Then she looked over at Impact, who was lying on the dining table staring off through the wall as Padre worked.
Whatever that was about, Elias didn't get a chance to dwell on it.
"Gotcha!" Kate shouted through the system.
Elias looked back to see the image from the tactical table fill the display screen.
"I'm patching it through now," Kate said.
Elias crossed his arms and squinted at the image coalescing out of blue lines. "What am I looking at, Kate?"
"The only power-hungry structure within twenty klicks of the area Cole described," she replied.
Padre made his way over to join Elias as a two-story structure solidified and rotated to give them a surface-level view.
"Are you sure about this?" Ace asked from the other side, taking the words from Elias's mouth. The building fleshing out before them was in no way a secure facility. It had too many windows, for one. No recognizable sentry posts or perimeter security that he could see, for another. And as far as covered avenues of approach went, there were no bad options.
"Positive," Kate answered. "I had to work for it. I'm building this from satellite images. As in one of Generation's satellites. As in the only one permitted to cover this strip of forest."
Elias studied the image in silence, too caught up in his analysis to notice Nikki's approach until she spoke.
"Is this where they're coming from?" she asked, stepping up beside him with her arms wrapped around her chest.
"It could be," Elias answered softly. "That's why Cole was tracking them from the base. We were counting on them leading him to the source."
He saw concern wrinkling Nikki's brow, but he checked his urge to comfort.
"Kate, can you show us the original sat images?" Padre asked.
"I can," Kate's voice replied. "But you'll only get overhead for the m
ost part. You still want them?"
"Please." Padre stepped closer to the screen as the first sat image came up, his eyes tightening as he studied the area around the building.
"What do you see?" Elias asked.
Padre shook his head and opened his mouth to answer, but the third image stopped him. He spoke to Kate instead. "Can you enhance the lower right quadrant?"
The indicated corner expanded to fill the screen, and Elias saw what had given Padre pause. The area around the main entrance had recently been turned into a killing field. The ground was furrowed, torn, and blackened from fire or blood, or both.
"Maybe they lost control of some of the little shits and had to put 'em down," Coop offered.
Padre shook his head, even though Coop couldn't see it. "They weren't trying to keep something in. They were defending themselves. This area was cleared recently. And the staining, it's concentrated on the far end, near the tree line."
"Padre's right," Ace said. "This looks to me like a wave of attackers hitting a wall of sustained fire."
Elias nodded and heard sounds of agreement from the base. "How old is this image?" he asked.
"Almost two hours," Kate answered.
"Wait, so those things attacked this place?" Nikki asked.
"So it would seem," Gideon's voice answered.
"Which means this isn't the source," Elias agreed. "This was another target."
The image shifted back to the view of the command center, which meant Elias wasn't the only target for Nikki's incredulous look.
"Square one again? Are you serious?" she said.
Elias was inclined to affirm until Gideon spoke.
"No," Gideon said. "This may not be what we were seeking, but we must not ignore it. Something in this facility is generating enough genesis energy to draw the alien predators nearly a thousand kilometers. Enough to draw them away from both you and Impact."
"You're not talking some kind of machine, are you?" Mos said.
"He means one of us," Impact said from the dining room as he pulled on his shirt despite obvious pain. "One of Savior's experiments."
Elias watched Nikki process that information. It didn't take long.
"When do we leave?" she asked with an intensity she barely kept in check.
"You're sitting this one out, Nikki," he replied.
She was shaking her head before he finished, but he turned his attention to the display. He didn't know what was causing Nikki's sudden volunteering spirit, but he didn't have time to sort it out. Despite its apparent security holes, this new facility was too hot for Nikki. The risk tied to walking into the unknown was simply too high.
"Kate, find a rendezvous point south of the target and send it to the transport," he began. "Ace, meet us there as soon as you can."
"Yes, sir," Ace replied, already motioning to Coop to follow her out of the command center. Gideon gave Elias a single nod and closed the connection.
Elias turned to look at Nikki, whose intensity hadn't ebbed a notch while his eyes had been elsewhere. She was facing him, back straight as a rod, expression suspiciously neutral, three fingers raised in the air between them.
"Three things," she started calmly. "One—I'm safer with you and the rest of the big guns than anywhere else." Her ring finger curled down. "Two—I'll follow every order you give me. No back-talk." Her middle finger followed.
She paused and took a breath while she blinked back some emotion she didn't want him to see. "And three—Michael says we have to be there. He says it's important for some reason."
Elias regarded Nikki in silence, giving her neutral mask time to slip, but it didn't budge. She kept her emotional gears disengaged as the silence stretched. Instead, it was his resolve that wavered.
He didn't believe point number two for a second. No poker face could convince him Nikki would honor that pledge. As for her third point, even though she clearly thought it was the strongest, it was an obvious tug. She was right about point one though. Clearly the alien creatures could find her regardless of how far she fled or how well she hid. She'd be safer surrounded by all the firepower they had at their disposal, even if that meant accompanying them into the unknown.
He glanced up to share a look with Padre, who'd heard all.
"OK," Elias said to Nikki. "You're in."
Nikki's look of surprise quickly gave way to a wide smile.
"On one condition," he went on. "You stick to Padre and do what he says, when he says it. Copy?"
Nikki didn't hesitate. "Donesies. Or copy, I guess. Major." She smiled again, but Elias could see the tremor poorly hidden behind it. He hoped his instinct was right that whatever was bothering her wouldn't become an issue. If he was wrong, he hoped Padre could keep Nikki out of trouble, and in one piece.
Chapter 35
Nikki
If this were any other night Nikki would have fallen asleep long ago.
She was stretched out on the cool grass under a clear night sky filled with stars. The crest of the gently sloping hill under her belly felt better than a cushy bed, especially after the stress of the day. A chilly breeze brushed through the pine needles overhead, making a soft rustling backdrop for the chirping chorus of Canada's more outgoing insects, composing a rhythmic drone that could put anyone to sleep. An occasional low whisper into the com from Sam nearby and the distant hum of the facility's power generators were the only unnatural sounds she could hear, and even those were soothing in their own ways.
Not enough to quiet Nikki's mind though. Not tonight.
She shifted her chin on her doubled-up knuckle pillow and lowered her gaze back to the building, or what she could see of it through the trees on the downslope before her. Something in that place was generating more than just electricity. Somewhere in that quiet office building, something or someone was cranking out genesis energy by the buttload. Or so Gideon said.
If he was wrong, they'd wasted half the night creeping around and watching the place, missing out on rest and recovery they all needed. If he was right…
Nikki felt a tremor in her chest and clenched her jaw with the effort of keeping her gaze from going to her hands again. She couldn't help taking note of how the rest of her felt though.
She was tired from a long day of seemingly pointless chores followed by the short but terrifying fight. She should have been more than just tired though. She should have been exhausted and aching from the morning's workout alone, not to mention the countless bangs and bumps she'd taken over the past few weeks.
But she wasn't. She was pain free for the first time in months. In fact, she didn't have a scratch on her. The bone bruise on her knuckles—the one she'd aggravated nearly every day in training—was gone. The skin on her palm where some idiot had stabbed her with a fork was smooth and perfect, like it had never happened.
A disappearing injury was nothing new to Nikki. She'd lived with the phenomenon her whole life. More than lived with it, actually. When she felt her skin sealing, her muscles knitting back together, her bones realigning, her pain melting away—she felt powerful. It thrilled her in a way she couldn't fully explain to anybody, not even Michael.
He described the sensation as a relief, a reset that undid the mistakes of the past few minutes. For Michael, instant healing was a reminder that he'd done something wrong in a fight. For her, it was a reminder that everything was right in the world, a reminder that she was doing what she was made to do. For Nikki, it was a reminder that she was unstoppable.
Except she wasn't, not anymore. She couldn't heal on the fly like she used to. Without Michael, the slightest tweak lingered for hours. A strain could hang around for days. A broken bone could lay her up for weeks. Without Michael, she was always in pain, or so she'd thought. But she couldn't remember feeling any of her injuries since her morning PT session. Not a single twinge. Not since her run with Impact.
That's when everything changed, she was sure of it.
At the time, she'd thought the tingle she'd felt as Impact carried her d
own the trail had just been adrenaline, the rush of abandon at unbelievable speed. It was something more. She hadn't just imagined being able to sense the genesis energy building around him. She'd felt it—more than felt it. She'd reached out and touched it, and then she'd pulled it into her, as impossible as that seemed.
That's why she'd insisted on coming tonight. If something was pumping out genesis energy in this place, Nikki wanted to be there when they found it. She wanted to know whether her imagination was just playing tricks on her. She wanted to know if there was a chance her power was coming back.
She needed to know.
"Time to move," Sam whispered next to Nikki's ear.
A different kind of tingle rippled through Nikki, mostly from being startled. Sam had been a half dozen paces away the last time she looked over. How did he get so close without her noticing?
She recovered and nodded, sliding her hands back to push herself up and back onto the balls of her feet.
"Head straight in," Sam said, shifting his eyes toward the trees she'd been staring through for the past hour. "Remember what I taught you—move slowly, keep your steps small and roll your feet from the outside in, move with the wind when you can. And move slowly."
"You said that part already," she said, reaching out to poke him in the shoulder.
"I know. I don't want you to forget it," he countered. "If it takes you less than twenty minutes to reach the building, you're going too fast."
"Twenty!" she choked. "The building is right there. That's less than a hundred meters!" Expressing the full depth of her outrage in a soft whisper was a challenge, but she thought she pulled it off. It was all about the eyes.
"Um-hm," Sam nodded, his eyes looking more amused than cowed by her stare. "Like I said, move—"
"Slowly," she cut him off. "I got it the first two times."
He nodded again and started to slip away. Nikki grabbed his sleeve to stop him.