Chapter 26 Grtirr
Our time in the aerie was paradise. I didn’t want to leave it, but that thought was irrational. We had responsibilities. We’d been hiding in our nest for days, solidifying our bond, and it was time to go back to civilization.
Julie had sighed and pouted that our honeymoon was over.
And I in turn asked what the strange word meant.
A honeymoon was not about sweets, or a trip to a moon at all, but a vacation couples took when they first joined together in legal union—a very unromantic term they used in Nova Vita.
Like the engagement and wedding rings, it had gone out of style for anyone other than the affluent.
My mate’s laugh had been bitter. “Vacations were for the rich. Where would people go? Nova Vita outlawed all forms of camping. And only the rich had extra credits to visit their resorts. And besides, most people on Nova Vita couldn’t afford to take any time off work anyway. Not even to stay home and relax.”
I was glad to be able to give her what I could. I wanted to spend more time here, but tomorrow was the hand-off of the ore to Vossell Industries, and Julie wanted to be there.
Julie’s fingers dug into my neck as we descended the slope by wing, her breath warm against my shoulder. Tatertot was tucked up inside a pouch we’d made by sewing up some fur.
The hoverbike waited below, but something else caught my eye.
A drone, sleek and metallic, skimmed low over a field of swaying grasses.
It was early in the day, and the morning mist still clung to the ground.
I wouldn’t have seen it if the light from the morning sun hadn’t caught the metal in just the right way.
There was only one reason for it to be flying so low to the ground, and it was that it didn’t want to be discovered. I landed on a ledge at the side of the mountain and carefully set my mate down.
“What—”
I hushed her. “We’ve got trouble.”
She spotted the drone the moment it approached the edge of the forest, where the land was higher and the fog dissipated.
“Those are containers for transporting dangerous chemicals,” Julie said.
“Look at the symbols on the side. That one means whatever’s inside is poisonous, and the other means it’s corrosive. ”
The drone carefully dropped off the cargo and turned around, heading back the way it came. It disappeared into the heavy morning mist of the valley like a ghost.
“Should we go check it out?”
“I will go.”
But before I could move, another drone appeared out from the fog.
My hands free from having to carry her, I brought out my communicator and filmed the action.
It carried the same package and dropped it off next to the first. When that one left, another came, and another, and another. It stopped after the fifth drone.
I sent the footage to Krxare. His response was immediate. "Investigate. But don’t touch anything. I’ll alert Ellaston."
Picking my mate up again, I took to the air. Minutes later, we were landing by the hoverbike. I helped her on silently; her mood had changed since seeing the drones, and I wanted to wipe the worry from her brow. We rode through the forest, and I stopped a little way from the packages, just in case.
Julie was already arguing even as I helped her down from the vehicle. "I’m coming with you."
"No." My voice was final. "You stay here. If something goes wrong, you warn the others."
She pressed her lips into a thin line but nodded.
Up close, the containers were a lot larger than I’d expected.
That meant those drones must be larger than I’d thought, and powerful too.
It was smart to use the morning mist to hide their movements.
There was a label on the side with words my translator couldn’t decipher.
I had my communicator out, ready to record an image when I got the video communication from Krxare and Chris. I joined it immediately.
“I do not recognize the name of that chemical,” Chris admitted. He was looking better every day. “But I know someone who might.”
I stayed by the shipment as the leader of Ellaston called for someone.
My eyes strayed to the trees, but the forest was too dense for me to see my mate. Dread settled in my chest every moment I spent away from her.
After much too long, a human female I’d never met before appeared on screen next to Chris. “This is Renee. Nova Vita had her work in waste management, which was a complete waste of her talent. She’s our chemical whiz extraordinaire.”
I showed Renee the containers, making sure she had a good, long look at the labels.
“This isn’t good. Nova Vita uses that to process the Vokirite, but only ever in small quantities.”
“Vokirite?” I asked.
“It’s the word we use for the ore we are trading,” Chris explained.
“Nova Vita encountered the first sample after trading with the local Vokirens. That was right before they betrayed the Vokirens’ trust and attacked them.
The question is, why are there five barrels of this chem at the edge of our woods one day before the trade? ”
“They’re going to try to destroy the shipment before Vossell gets here,” Renee said, her voice cold. “We need to move the ore. It’s too exposed right now.”
“We can’t.” Chris sounded grim. “Town hall is the only building with large enough doors for them to back their transports into and pick up the shipment; everywhere else is even more exposed.”
“We have discovered this plan,” I said, eyeing the chemicals. “But there might be others. And this shipment was meant for someone. There is treachery afoot.”
“We’ll lock the building down,” Chris said decisively. “No one in and no one out.”
“Guard it with our males,” Krxare offered. “The ones with mates.”
“It seems we have some snakes in our grass. I’ll root them out.” Chris looked like he was ready to strangle the traitors personally. “Do you mind staying there, Grtirr, just out of sight, and see who shows to pick it up?”
“I can.”
“Keep at least one alive, would ya? For questioning.”
“Done.”
And with that, I ended the call. I was already stepping back toward the woods when I scented it. A group of humans was approaching from the woods.
Julie!