Chapter 13 Gnnar
“Stay behind me,” I yelled as I widened my stance, ready to fight.
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard the robohound coming until it was too late, and it was already at the entrance to our hideout. I had no one else but myself to blame. I’d tired myself out bringing my mate again and again to her pleasure so thoroughly that I’d passed out, letting my guard down.
Dana was the first to notice the hound outside. She shook me awake, but it was already too late.
Right after waking me, the first thing Dana did was grab several large handfuls of the plants and chuck them into the fire. Then she’d fanned it, encouraging the flames to grow. Did she think the repellent plants would work on the robohound? I doubted it.
Remembering how the Harbinger had targeted Dana, I’d immediately put her behind me. This cavern was a bad place to fight, but I’d do anything to protect my mate.
“No!” Dana grabbed my arm and pulled me behind the fire just as I was about to engage. “Staybehindthefire theyusethermalimaging.”
When I didn’t immediately move, she gestured wildly to the fire, then the bionic weapon. “Hot. See.”
Oh. She meant the fire would mess with its heat sensors. I wondered if it would be enough to prevent it from attacking, considering it probably still had visual capabilities. But with the extra vegetation on the fire, some of it still green, smoke started rising from the flames. Yes. It just might help hide us from the biomechanical hound.
I circled the fire, keeping Dana behind me as she gathered our pack and shoved everything she could reach into it.
“We go,” she said urgently.
She was right; it was time to go. They knew now for a fact that we were hiding here. We might have tricked the robohound this time, but they’d try again. As it were, I didn’t know if there were more robohounds or Harbingers nearby. And as much as I wanted to fight the abomination, I knew that running was the better option. What if a Harbinger arrived while I was still fighting the hound?
Once outside, I looked around for the drone from the other day, but it was nowhere to be found. Had the avian predators finally taken it out? I couldn’t be sure. I almost expected the annoying metal sphere to appear over the top of every ridge. That was the thing with the drones; they were hard to eliminate if they refused to get close. They might not have any weapons, but they were fast, and I could only throw so far.
Deciding to use the landscape to our advantage for as long as I could, I set off on foot, guiding Dana through the narrow gullies and rocky ravines. If there were any eyes in the sky, the landscape would hide us. From what I understood, the drones often communicated with the robohounds, serving as an extra set of eyes. I had my credits on the fact that a drone was being sent to this location at this very moment.
I took the pack from Dana so she could move faster, but even so, it wasn’t long before I could tell she was tiring. The narrow crevice we were traveling along had a bit of an overhang up ahead, so I urged her forward to it. We could stop there to rest. The crack we were traveling along was craggy enough that if the robohound found us, it would take it some time to navigate, and the overhang meant we wouldn’t be spotted from the air.
My biggest worry was another Harbinger. One or two robohounds I could handle. Dozens of exploding murder bots all aimed at Dana’s head? I felt sick just thinking about it. That was another reason why we were traveling on foot and staying hidden instead of flying. Once again, I lamented that I had none of my usual arsenal at my disposal.
She stayed in the cocoon of my arms as we waited, and I listened to her heartbeat and breathing to make sure she was truly rested by the time she insisted that we keep moving. We soldiered on, navigating quickly through more exposed areas and stopping to rest in protected sections until we were at the edge, where the jagged rock pillars faded out into a flat expanse.
These coastal plains were our last challenge before the strip of shallow sea that separated the Kadrixans’ continent from Nova Vita’s. There would be little place for us to hide out there if the drone spotted us, and they would surely call in reinforcements.
“Whatarewegoingtodo?” Dana looked out over the field of springtime vegetation.
If it were the end of summer the grass and brush would be high enough to offer some protection, especially for Dana, who with her size and lack of wings, could stay below the billowing seed stalks. But currently the plants were low, barely waist-height on me, and not tall enough to protect her.
There would be no shelter from now until the coast. Stepping foot out of our refuge now would mean it would be a matter of time before their drone located us. But if we stayed here, we would be no closer to safety. Also, Vostak had a team searching for us. Or at least I hoped he still did. They’d failed to find us while we’d been in our hideout. What protected us from danger also kept us from rescue, especially since the two things they could trace with, my communication device and my blaster, were probably back at Nova Vita.
I was still trying to make the decision when the sound of pebbles tumbling down a rock face had me suddenly on high alert. Dana hadn’t heard it yet, and I didn’t want to frighten her, so I kept listening. Sure enough, there was another sound, this time a soft scuffling of rocks. I put my hand on her arm to get her attention, then motioned her to be quiet. She caught on immediately.
The robohound had found us. My first thought was to grab her and leap into the air, but there was no room for my wings to fully extend. The narrow crack had slowed the robohound down and made it difficult for it to travel quietly, hence giving itself away, but it also hindered my ability to fly.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!”
I didn’t need a translator to understand her as we scrambled out of the narrow passageway. I already had her in my arms and was leaping into the air when a second robohound appeared, pouncing from the ledge above us.
Fuck!
It was an ambush!
The four-legged hybrid soldier landed on my back, and there was a sharp pain as Dana and I tumbled to the ground. I twisted to protect her from the rocky landing, then quickly rolled again to cover her with my body. I felt the brush of sharp teeth on my calf and kicked hard before the beast could clamp its biomechanically enhanced jaws around me. The sharp teeth dragged across my skin, drawing blood, but the beast was flung away.
It crashed into a rock wall with a bang that shook down a hail of stones and shale. But despite the impact, the creature showed no outward signs of pain. I knew why. The creatures only had the appearance of a living animal. Whatever was done to them in Exotech’s labs had taken the life from them, removing the ability to feel pain or make their own decisions. They all had only one function: to obey orders.
The humans at Ellaston had reprogrammed several to use as guard dogs. They also programmed canine-like behaviors into their converted guards to make people feel more at ease. They’d explained to us that the base animal was something they called a dog , a companion animal from Earth. But they were only used as companion animals now for the ultra-rich. More commonly, they were used as guard dogs for the colony’s elected counselors and large corporations.
That was until Exotech started selling hybrid hounds that were more durable, easier to keep, and completely obedient. It had begun with simple modifications, replacing one eye with a special camera and adding Bionicle features to make them faster and stronger, but slowly, more changes were made until we had what I was facing now: an amalgam of flesh and steel with none of its natural instincts left.
But after meeting Fido and Kong, converted robohounds that guarded the human settlement, I couldn’t help but see the animal underneath. This one looked like the same model as Fido. Just a few days ago, I’d given it head scratches before leaving on my ill-fated trip. As this hound lunged for me, I sidestepped it, then grabbed it by the haunches, hauling it back toward me hand over hand. My target was right under its chin.
That was where Exotech placed the off button since any enemies coming close enough to the robohound’s chin would usually be seconds away from death’s door.
Dana’s panicked words alerted me to the fact that the other robohound, the one that had been weaving its way through the narrow, winding passage, was almost on us. Above us, the drone whirred into view. I pulled harder, racing against the clock to disable the one I grappled with. The robot hound fought against me, kicking with his hind legs and catching me with its steel-enhanced claws. My legs gave way, but I held on, moving up its body. I smashed the heel of my hand hard against the underside of its chin, and as was expected, the creature stopped struggling.
I was battered and bruised, with slashes on my legs and a burned back, but there was no time to rest. Dana had climbed one of the slopes and was shoving hard on a boulder perched over the exit of the narrow passageway. The boulder teetered on the edge.
The robohound had spotted her and was repeatedly trying to scramble up the vertical wall toward her, not knowing about the easy route up on the side. Locked onto its target, it didn’t see me sneaking around to help her. This was when I noticed the drone whizzing toward us.
Fuck! The drone would act as the hound’s eyes.
I grabbed a stone and aimed for it even though it was still quite far away. It was flying low, and from its vantage point, it couldn’t see this hidden path, or else it would have relayed the information already.
My first stone missed, but it was enough to catch the drone’s attention. It zig-zagged, zooming toward me. Surprising, as I’d expected it to fly away. I threw several more stones until one of them hit. But distracted by this drone, I didn’t see the second one coming toward me until it was too late. The second drone fired. Another surprise, since Nova Vita’s drones were usually unarmed and surveillance only.
I dove, trying to evade the shots. Something landed on the ground next to me. A dart? Poison?
I rolled to my feet and readied myself for another volley, but the world spun around me. I could barely make out Dana’s form as she struggled against the boulder. I reached for her.
Dana!
But the ground rose up to meet me, and all I saw was darkness.