Warden 1 by Isaac Hooke

Author:Isaac Hooke [Hooke, Isaac]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-03T16:00:00+00:00

17

Rhea blinked. The forest around her was lit by the murk of predawn.

Her pistol lay in front of her. She scooped it up and sat up to scan her surroundings. She kept the weapon pointed at the ground, as Bardain had taught.

While Will reposed not far from her, there was no sign of Horatio, nor Sebastian. A glance at her overhead map told her Gizmo yet circled overhead, dutifully standing guard. The blue dots of Horatio and Sebastian were frozen about a kilometer to the north, where the pair had last been in contact.

“Will,” she said urgently.

Her companion blinked, brushed the dreadlocks out of his eyes and sat up. He retrieved the AR visor from the ground in front of him and slid it in place between his brows and eyes. He grabbed the pistol next, which had been lying on the rocky soil beside it. Then he glanced about the camp. Realizing that Horatio and Sebastian were gone, his eyes defocused—he was obviously navigating his HUD.

“Horatio left a message with Gizmo,” Will said. “Sebastian took off twenty minutes ago, when the predawn began. Horatio followed. I guess we head north to their last known position.”

Will sent Gizmo forward to scout but found no sign of the pair within those dead trees. The drone halted above their last known position and assumed a holding pattern.

When Rhea and Will arrived at the site, Will knelt to examine the terrain, obviously hoping to pick up the trail.

“Got footprints,” Will said. “Of the kind might expect from a pair as heavy as a robot and a cyborg. I’m sending the tracking data.”

The footprints lit up on the ground, becoming highlighted in blue, courtesy of the tracking algorithms Will had built into his AR visor.

The two of them proceeded forward, keeping their pistols in hand. Meanwhile Gizmo scouted the forward and aft regions.

The sun rose, and the light of dawn purpled the sky.

“So beautiful,” Rhea said. “You’d think nothing of beauty could still exist out here. But you’d be wrong.”

“There’s beauty, all right,” Will said. “But only so long as the source is external to this place.”

“That’s a bit of a dour outlook,” she told him.

“But it’s true, though,” Will said.

In only a few minutes, the blue dots representing both Horatio and Sebastian appeared on their overhead map, a kilometer away.

“Horatio,” Will sent. “What’s going on?”

“Sebastian decided to scout ahead,” Horatio replied. “I followed him. You did tell me to keep an eye on him…”

“I didn’t mean to the point of abandoning us,” Will clarified.

“I know,” Horatio transmitted. “And I meant to turn back soon after leaving comm range. But then we spotted a herd of Tasins and had to take cover. We kept a low profile until they left the area.”

“They’re gone, now,” Sebastian sent. “Tracking to the east. I suggest we head northwest, if only to avoid them.”

“I agree,” Horatio transmitted.

“All right, we head northwest,” Will said. “Wait there for us.”

Will and Rhea arrived to find Sebastian and Horatio deployed behind a large, fallen tree strewn across the path.

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