Page 10 of Hunter’s Harvest

“Tell me about it,” I grumbled. “They shot us down.”

He nodded like he could guess what I’d said by the tone itself. “The front of the shuttle was burning and fell to the north. The hostile humans went after it. If we go there, we may run into them. If your friends survived the crash, there is a large chance that they have been taken hostage.”

“But there’s a chance they haven’t,” I said. “We go north. But first, we go back to where I landed and look for my laptop.” Then, because that was a lot of words, I picked up the notebook again and pointed to the rear of the shuttle. “First go here. Find communicator. Then go north.” I pointed to the front of the shuttle.

Var’n looked at me for a long moment, like he was weighing the pros and cons of this trip. I hoped that meant he understood what I said.

“We go. Find friends. I give more kisses.” Surely, he understood that.

Did I feel bad dangling kisses in front of him? Nope, not one bit. I needed to find my friends. Besides, it usually took several more kisses to form a relationship, and by then, I planned to be at New Franklin with this whole ordeal far, far behind me.

He looked at me for a long moment. “I will try, but I may not be successful.”

Because they might not be alive. I understood.

“I get it. You can’t guarantee anything. I just want you to try. I have to try. And it’s not just to find them either. I have to go to New Franklin. My sister is waiting for me.”

He frowned at the mention of New Franklin. “I do not wish you to go at all.”

“Why don’t you come to New Franklin with me?” Then slower. “You come to New Franklin.”

I really needed to speak slower and use fewer words the first time around so I didn’t have to repeat myself.

He just grunted, crossed the cabin and started sorting through his supplies. He had a stack of gear against the wall. I guess that was as close to a yes as I was going to get.

As he went through his supplies, I explored the cabin, looking for a bathroom. All that vitamin water was making its way through my body. I gasped when I opened the door to it and found a Xarc’n-style bathroom in there, complete with a decontamination unit.

“How are these still working?” I asked. “What about the power?”

He snarled, showing sharp teeth, and if I wasn’t so used to dealing with snarling hunters, I’d have recoiled. “The flyers took down my shuttle. Hostiles tried to strip the wreck but didn’t send enough firepower. I burned their bodies. Hess’n and I salvaged what we could, including the power source, the entire rear of the shuttle, and all my weapons and devices. But without my communicator, I cannot use many of the devices.”

I looked around the cabin with new eyes. This place probably contained it all. He’d gone from a nomadic lifestyle to a settled one.

“So you had your shuttle? In the beginning? You didn’t ditch them?”

“We had our shuttles. We removed their connections to the network.”

“What happened to Hess’n’s? He said they destroyed his shuttle too.” Then, because I was speaking in full sentences again and it looked like he couldn’t follow, I repeated, “Hess’n shuttle gone.”

“Not gone. Broken. It doesn’t fly anymore. We moved it to his cave.”

“I see.”

Hess’n had been certain that it was hostile humans who’d done it. Obviously, this branch of the NEM had been targeting hunters in the area. Maybe they’d thought that shuttle was an actual Xarc’n delivery. Were they expecting food bars and weapons?

Welp, they were getting oranges and sugar.

I stepped into the facilities to do my business and cringed at the sight in the mirror he’d left up from the old owners of the home. I looked like I had gotten into a fight with a gator and lost. Most of my hair had come out of the ponytail I’d put it in this morning. My clothes had seen better days, and there was a smudge of dirt on my cheek.

The water didn’t work of course, but I wondered if the towel steamer thingy was functioning. Unlike the hand decontaminator, which used light and ozone to do its business, the towel device actually required water.

I found the small cabinet inset into the wall, and sure enough, it produced a steamy wet cloth that smelled clean and fresh. Var’n must be collecting rainwater. He might not have the mobility of his shuttle, but he’d kept some creature comforts.

I freshened up, and by the time I put the cloth back into the small cabinet, closed the door, and pressed the button to disinfect and clean it for the next use, I felt nearly human again.

I raked my fingers through my hair and put it up again. It wasn’t perfect, and I wasn’t nearly as hot as the Xarc’n warrior waiting outside—with his chiseled jawline and massive muscles—but at least I didn’t look like hell warmed over anymore.

I did a pit check and grimaced. I’d stress-sweated through my clothes. But Var’n seemed to enjoy my scent as-is, so I ignored it. No point in jumping into the decontaminator if I was going right out into the fray and getting dirty again anyway.