Commander

by Mel Todd

  "That sounds great. What do you need?"

  "Vines? Young, flexible, as much as you can get as long as you can manage?"

  "Got it. JD will you and Perc get that hard drive out and I’ll go find some vines. Without ants?"

  Cass cracked a half smile, without much humor. "Ants here have nasty bites and I don’t feel like adding that to the abuse I’ve been through today."

  "Valid point." McKenna paused looking at her bare feet. Even on the relatively smooth floor of the hut, her feet hurt with the small rocks, but she didn’t want to shift fully to warrior, just to have to go to animal.

  ~Wefor can you help? Can you make the soles of my feet tougher or help me to just shift my feet to paws? I noticed they don’t react to the stones and twigs like my human feet do.~

  The AI hummed in her mind for a minute, the oddest feeling like a vibration she heard but didn’t feel.

  [The easiest option is to add layers of skin to your feet and deaden the sensations unless there is actual damage.]

  ~And the energy costs?~

  [Minimal if I can use your toenails and shift them to the bottom of your feet.]

  ~Sure, do it.~

  McKenna didn’t know if she was sure, but at this point having toenails didn’t strike her as very important. Her feet started to tingle, then the discomfort of standing on rocky ground faded as her toenails disappeared millimeter by millimeter. It qualified as the creepiest and coolest thing she’d seen in a while.

  "That is extremely creepy and fascinating." She glanced up to see Cass staring at her feet also. "What and why is that happening?"

  "Trying to protect my feet so I can go get some vines."

  "Huh, makes sense." She still stared at McKenna’s feet until the nails had disappeared and her feet felt fine.

  "Lots and long right?" McKenna asked holding up her still clawed hand.

  "Please, and flexible. The more you get me the bigger and tighter of a bag I can make and we might need it for other stuff."

  "Got it. Anyone need me?"

  There were negative remarks through her links, though no one verbally responded. Charley’s dark link, along with the twins, caused a pang, but she pushed it aside. She would get back to him; if she had to cross the continent to do it she would but she needed to make sure he’d be alive to come back to.

  ~We ready, Wefor?~

  A flash of odd confusion hit her, but then the AI responded.

  [Your extremities are ready to bear your weight and prevent injury.]

  ~I'll take that as a yes.~

  She rolled her eyes to herself and stepped out into the jungle. Filtered light hit her skin like warm kisses in the holes through the canopy. Sweat beaded around the base of her hair line. Apparently even the minimal shade offered by the hut made a difference. Animals fell silent as she moved, and scents she'd never smelled before eddied around her. In the hut she'd smelled them but they weren't anything she'd paid attention, too much other drama going on. Now she did.

  Hunger rapped at the back of her mind but she pushed it away, though as she moved she kept an eye out for food. She saw various plants with fruits and seeds, but she had no idea what country they were in much less what qualified as edible. Meat you could always eat. Even skunk. Snakes.

  There should be snakes around here; they might be the easiest. Maybe?

  ~Dammit, what I don't know! And lack of food is going to get me killed faster than this damn drug. Wefor? If I tasted something could you tell me if it would kill me or if we could eat it?~

  [Maybe. Sensing any negative changes to your tissues should be possible and prevent any negative reactions to your digestive system. If the amount remained small, it should be able to be contained. However, resources are tight right now as the damage caused by the poison is stretching responses. Without the correct information fighting, this poison is regulated to repair damaged cells only and the amount of bots in your body is already maxed out.]

  ~Okay. We'll see what we can do. ~

  Looking around she spied trees with long vines and approached carefully, assuming plant and wildlife booby traps everywhere. The skunk incident proved a memorable learning experience. It took careful stepping and she lifted the vine. The width of two fingers it seemed like what she looked for, but she needed it long. Wrapping it around her hand she yanked hard and it groaned but pulled down a little. Three more hard yanks, and she had about ten feet. Slicing through with her claws ended up being harder than she thought. Repeating it at another tree, and another.

  By the fourth tree she'd gotten into a rhythm and reached out to wrap a vine her hand to give it a sharp yank, when every place the vine touched felt like fire scorched it.

  "Yeow," McKenna screeched, letting go and looking at her hand and wrist. Three large blackish brown ants graced her hand, their abdomens slamming down into her, each impact feeling like a tracer of fire hand lashed through her. "Fuck." She flicked each of them off of her hands and stared as the pain continued to radiate.

  ~Wefor?~

  [Ant sting, will try to compensate but the pain can not be stopped completely.]

  McKenna wanted to cry, to scream, and to know why all this was happening to her. The pain from the stings pushed her right to the limit.

  Breathe in, breathe out. It is just pain. You're becoming very familiar with pain.

  The taser, getting shot, shifting, whipping, this just qualified as pain. She closed her eyes concentrating on dealing. She had the AI, if she lost her marbles, all of them were dead. Them in the jungle and all the people they loved.

  Breathe.

  It took a good five minutes, between breathing, Wefor dulling the pain, and reminding herself that a breakdown would take up energy she didn't have before she went back to collecting vines. This time she remembered to check each vine for ants. After this, fur would be nice, at least then she didn't think she could get bit or stung, or at least not as easily.

  The vines were heavy and unwieldy. By the time she got back, sweat ran down her body and she had added water as another concern. They were likely to have diarrhea from the microbes in the water. All the things they were going to face, and probably still die, hammered at her and she fought to seem calm and controlled. In a way it made her feel better when she walked in and saw tear stains on Toni and Cass's faces. They were in a corner leaning against each other, fear and strain etched on their faces.

  The two men had destroyed the laptop, it lay in tiny pieces and she saw drops of blood on parts of the laptop, its coppery scent rich in the air. Her stomach grumbled.

  "Hey," her voice soft as she walked in. "Just so you know those ants Cass warned me about are vicious." She held out her hand, the line of bright red swollen spots.

  Perc hissed as Toni moved over to look at her hand closely. "Does it hurt?"

  McKenna snorted. "I honestly think getting shot hurt less. At least that was only once. Wefor made the pain less, but yes, it still hurts like hell."

  Cass had wide eyes as she looked at that. "Well, I can tell you it was probably a bullet ant. Which means were in South America not Africa. If that helps?"

  McKenna took the information in and shrugged. "South America is a big place. At least I won't have to swim an ocean, so there's that. This what you needed?"

  Cass took the vines and nodded. "Yep. Give me a few." She started to go into a cross legged poise, glanced around and switched to a side kneeling position. McKenna couldn't blame her, sitting naked like that exposed everything.

  With interest, McKenna watched her hands move twist, tie, and pull. With occasional creative cussing, in ten minutes give or take she had a net bag big enough for any of them to carry around their neck with a double net to prevent the small drive from slipping out easily.

  "I'm impressed."

  "Me too. The next question is who carries it." Perc said. "Vague memories are telling me carrying it our teeth would not be the best option."

  "Ooh, no." Cass shook her head. "It isn't poisonous or anything, but the
sap could have weird effects and probably tastes awful."

  From the looks on their faces she figured they had the same reaction she had, ick.

  "JD, you're probably the largest animal of all of us, you'd probably be the best."

  He nodded and shrugged.

  "If he changes first, I can make sure it fits without getting in his way." Cass' voice had a hesitant quality keeping her eyes on her hands but darting up to look at JD under her lashes. McKenna honestly didn't know if she wanted to slap the girl or coo over her cuteness.

  McKenna arched a brow at JD. She doubted anyone would be bigger than him, but then she didn't remember what Perc turned into. A cat? Maybe. And the girl? She had no idea.

  "Toni, I'll need to lead the way since I've got the GPS. If you can bring up the rear to make sure we don't drop it or something. I think your coloring is going to be the best here and maybe the climate won't bug you as much. "

  At this point McKenna would consider trading sexual favors for a shower. Every bit of dust, sap, pollen and other— better off unknown items—clung to her damp skin.

  "Okay." Toni's voice still held echoes of tears and she wanted to hug her. But she knew, all the way down to her soul, if she did that she would fall apart. Right now she couldn't do that, wouldn't do that. She had promises to keep and a man to track down and kill. Breaking down didn't appear on that schedule.

  A sound brought her out of her musing and she looked to see JD shifting, that strange not quite painful morphing the body did to move into their animal shape.

  Something niggled at the back of her mind but she couldn't pull it out, so she let it sit. Eventually it would come to her.

  "Wow." The words slipped out of both Perc and Cass, staring at JD with wide eyes.

  "You knew he turned into a bear, right?"

  Perc half shrugged, not taking his eyes from JD. "Knowing and seeing it are two completely different things."

  Looking at JD again she tried to see it from their point of view and had to admit he looked impressive and intimidating. Standing at four feet at the shoulders, light brown fur, he yawned exposing teeth as long as her normal fingers, and she knew how sharp his claws were.

  ~Damn, I'm glad you're on my side.~

  ~Please, we're pack. Where else would I be? ~

  His tone teased her and made her feel better at the same time.

  He moved his huge frame over to Cass and she spent the next bit getting the net bag to hang around his neck. McKenna frowned, looking at him and then at her sweat slicked skin.

  "There. If it gets snagged we'll have to undo it carefully or it might break. And the drier the vines get, the more fragile but we have about two weeks. They are hardy plants." McKenna added that information as Cass stood. "I'm not as impressive, but hopefully I can be useful."

  With a look of relief, McKenna realized she had gained a certain comfort level with nudity, she started to shift. It seemed slower than JD's shift, like she didn't do it often.

  Huh, that's a new one.

  A huge wolverine, well huge by wolverine standards, stood on all fours in the hut, and McKenna felt the sigh of relief from the girl, who had to be her age if not older.

  ~When did I get so jaded?~

  ~Probably after the whipping and rape? ~

  JD's dry voice made her snort. And glad only he had heard that. She'd forgotten to mute him or it seemed weird to not have them in her head all the time. She felt bitter sorrow from Toni and sent her a thought filled with promise, and ironclad certainty.

  ~We will protect them and keep them safe. Wefor and I are working on beating the poison. We'll figure something out. ~

  Toni turned dark eyes to her, nodded once and shifted. McKenna knew she ran from her emotions and understood the turmoil. If the man behind all of this stood in front of them right now, Toni would have killed him and eaten his liver with relish. But this waiting, praying, and hoping they were making the right choices, tore her apart.

  The black jaguar rolled her shoulders and Perc blinked. "Wow. She's stunning." Then he jumped and turned red.

  "She talk to you in your mind?"

  "Yeah. Reminded me she wasn't an animal and said thank you. Sorry, still mental disconnect sometimes."

  "You just need to change more. Okay, Mr. NFL. Your turn."

  "Yeah, guess so." He swallowed and began to shift. McKenna worked hard on not enjoying the show, since the men had been so good about not ogling them, but she couldn't help but notice the level of male attractiveness.

  When it was over her jaw dropped with a whispered "Holy fuck." Most of the other animals had stepped back too, looking at Perc with the animal variant of astonishment.

  Chapter 34 - Jungle Life

  Breaking news out of London. In a scene eerily reminiscent of a cult horror movie, a man shifted into wolf form and started attacking people. The police corralled him in an alley, but even after being tranquilized he hasn’t come back to sanity. Backtracking his movements police discovered the horrible remains of his family in the apartment. No one has any idea and all scans for drugs have turned up negative. At this time he is being held at the local zoo and watched around the clock, hoping he will snap out of it. ~ TNN News Anchor

  Standing in front of her was an animal that hadn’t roamed the Earth since man could build cities.

  "What are you again?"

  ~Homotherium.~

  All the channels were open so they could all hear him.

  The cat from prehistoric times stood a bit taller at the shoulder than JD, while his hips sloped down a good four inches. His dappled coat and tufted ears reminded her of bobcat or lynx. Pretty didn’t describe him, but the fangs that implied he could sever limbs with a single bite definitely rated as striking, deadly, and fascinating.

  "I’m really feeling out classed. But it’s time to get this show on the road. Keep an eye out for anything that looks edible. Bugs, fruit, snakes. We need to eat. And we’ll have to trust our nanobots to make drinking the water survivable. We don’t have much choice. And no, the idea of eating snakes doesn’t excite me but I suspect soon the damn ant that stung me might look edible." McKenna made sure her voice both verbal and mental had sarcastic humor in it.

  She felt the agreement through the links. One last glance at the GPS, making sure she had positioned it so she could see it in cat form, then with a sense of relief slipped into her cougar. The form felt easy and comfortable and not being nude in front of people removed a portion of that stress.

  The binds society puts on us.

  Her thought had bitter amusement as she finished shifting and stretched. The jungle had more moisture than her home but the heat didn't bug her as much as she expected.

  ~We need to find water first, so everyone listen and use your noses. I suspect while we might not make as much noise as humans, we are going to be noisy as all get out to the other animals. Let's get this show on the road. ~

  She could feel Toni taking up the back position, but her jaguar body disappeared into the shadows with grace. Perc's dappled marking helped, but she, JD, and Cass all stood out in the alien landscape.

  Shaking her head mentally she started at a fast walk with no idea how far they were from where they needed to be.

  The sounds, smells, even the way the soil felt under her paws all combined to create a weird disorientation. Being hungry and thirsty didn't help. She tried to focus and see if she could smell water, or food. Food would be good.

  ~Wefor, can you help with any of this?~

  Her question was quiet, meant only for the AI, not wanting to get anyone's hopes up.

  [At this time, no. The scents aren't anything recorded in databases. Hunting will have to be on your end but discomfort from the water should not be an issue.]

  ~Small blessings, I guess. Thanks~

  They made a lot of noise, but as they progressed it got quieter as everyone learned to move through this landscape with more grace.

  ~Everyone okay?~

  She turned her head as she
asked, noting that JD moved slower already, Cass stayed near him, but all of their steps were huge compared to her stride in that body. Perc and Toni looked fine, they had their heads raised, paying attention to everything.

  Assent filtered through the link and she sighed to herself. JD wouldn't say anything until he'd gotten to half dead. They needed water. She paused and listened. Lately with the drugs she'd been so focused on her nose, she'd ignored most of her other senses, but water should have a sound. The barest trickle of sound to the right.

  ~Wait here, I want to check something.~

  ~You sure? Want company?~

  Perc's tone had no arrogance, simple curiosity and a touch of concern. She almost said no, but going alone into anyplace you didn't know qualified as stupid.

  ~Yes. The rest of you wait for a minute.~

  From the way JD and Cass sagged to the ground under the shade, she knew she'd made the right decision. Perc moved up and walked next to her as she tried to figure out where that water sound came from.

  ~You hear that? That rushing sound? Is that water? Towards the right, I think.~

  Perc paused tilting his head. It seemed odd to her, powerful jaws with long fangs. She wouldn't want to fight him.

  ~You might be right. Head that way and see if it gets louder? ~

  She nodded, an odd gesture in cat form, and walked that direction, still wary about the landscape here. She didn't want any ant stings on her paws, but she also started to think about what else she could eat. Scanning as she walked, she could hear life all around her, but couldn't see any to pounce on or snap at. Her cat taste buds didn't like fruits and vegetables but she could eat them just fine.

  The sound got a bit louder, and she almost stumbled as they stepped out from under the shade of a tree and a river ran by her paws. It barely qualified as a river, she probably could have leapt across if it she tried. Looking both ways she didn't see anything and the smell of it wrapped around her urging her to drink.

  ~Keep a look out while I get a drink?~

  Even as she asked it felt stupid but then this entire situation felt surreal.