Hunting (The Nine) by Grace Viola

Author:Grace, Viola [Grace, Viola]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781771115193
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Published: 2013-04-03T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Niika looked out the archway toward the fountain in the centre of the square. “It was a plain, ordinary day. Em and I were foraging along the coastline when we saw a strange streak of light, and being curious idiots, we ran to see what impacted the ground with enough force to shake us.

“Now, remember, we hadn’t seen a Tokkel ship before. The attacks hadn’t started, and this was the first alien craft that any Gaian had seen since before the colony began. I headed for the silver hulk while Em ran back to the habitat to alert her parents and call the authorities. The ship opened, and a gross, green, lumpy hulk of a man stepped forward, shouting at me in a language I did not understand. He fired and missed me by inches, so I turned to run. That is when I was struck in the back.

“Pain burned outward from the strike point, and I blacked out.”

She shuddered at the memory of what happened next. “When I woke up, I was in a full-control harness. I could move my body slowly, but whenever I shifted quickly, I locked in place and fell over.”

Cavos nodded. “That is the tricky bit of those harnesses. The moment you are in one, you are a slow, plodding worker for the Tokkel. It is a very effective restraint.”

“It was three days with that creature shouting at me until I understood his language. Once I knew that he was a scout and he wanted my help repairing his ship, I knew that I was being faced with a choice. Live my life in that damned harness or die trying to escape. I managed to liberate a shard of steel from the inside of the ship, and slowly and carefully, I slit his throat from behind.”

Cavos took her hand to encourage her to continue. “What happened next?”

“I left the ship and found my family. He had shifted us down the coastline, and their search party was on their way to find me. The first thing Em did was get me out of the harness and that is when we found out about my little problem. My legs didn’t work. I had feeling but no muscle control. Ula was there to see the ship, and she immediately altered the harness into something that could be worn under my clothing and that I could live with. That was six months before the first warship attack on Gaia. We warned the government about what was coming, but the violence of the attacks still caught everyone by surprise.”

The men in the room nodded, and Tidae grimaced. “And then, we arrived and the Tokkel were driven off.”

Cavos tilted his head. “What happened to the ship?”

“With Ula’s guidance, we gutted the AI and turned the ship into the Nitdka. Em’s sea skimmer. It took months of work, but it was easier to tell folks that we salvaged a severely damaged ship. The AI was pulled apart, and Ula integrated it into her personal defenses when she went off for her privacy.

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