Trinity

The Hunt

AN: your time to read might be fucky on this one, we get some weird text so it messes with the time tracker. 

SeaWasps swarm around the Tulkun pod, flying around until they locate their target and fire a tracker into the Tulkun's thick hide.

"You got my mother?" Scoresby asks, walking around the hologram showing live imaging of the pod.

"Mother and calf. Strong signal. Range 4,000." Miles leans in and stares at the now zoomed in hologram of their targets. He tries to ignore the slight twist in his gut.

"Bring it down on the hull." Scoresby orders with a dramatic drop of his arms.

"Comin' down, aye." The SeaDragon's First Mate responds. "Foils deployed."

The engines power down, and the ship begins to glide into the water until it rests on the surface. Even from inside the bridge, the roar of the ship unfolding is loud and foreboding. The crew begins donning robotic suits and setting up various other machinery as the ship's roof splits apart and fully opens.

Lyle and Ten walk in as Miles prepares to follow Scoresby. His stomach twists when her eyes lock onto the hologram of the mother and calf, but there's nothing he can do to ease her rapidly rising dread. He made an effort to convince her to remain inside their quarters and stay away from all of this, but it was unsuccessful.

With Prager retrieving the exopack system for Spider, she pointed out that Mansk needed to be visible on deck. Two missing Recombinants would be far too noticeable, and she very begrudgingly admitted she didn't want to be alone. The mere fact that she admitted to that made him worry. Tenera never asked for help, and as far as he could tell, neither did Ten'etirey. If she was confessing to needing help, even if it wasn't those words exactly, it had to be bad.

He gave a quick glance to his Lieutenant, and received a knowing nod. Lyle would keep an eye on her. Miles dons his Bastard Colonel demeanor and leisurely follows Scoresby as he barks out orders.

"Subteams, 2 minutes. Let's get in there!" Calling for them to hustle as they neared his boat. Quaritch curiously touched the point of the harpoon as they passed it, and Scoresby continued giving orders while they boarded his vessel.

"All boats in! Boats in!" The boats begin to careen backward into the water off the ramp. Quaritch watches the bustling with minorly feigned interest. He could appreciate the planning and precision happening here, even if he didn't want to be a part of it.

"We're rollin!" The operator of Scoresby's ship radios. The engines immediately roar to life as they start bouncing over the water. Quaritch braces himself and sees the crew of the boat in front of them clinging to their weapons and whatever railing is available to find stability as their vessel skips across the water.

The pod of Tulkun dives away from the surface and the incoming boats. "Stand by depth charges, and fire, fire, fire!"

Depth charges are launched above the water and quickly sink. The explosions force the Tulkun to resurface with wails and shrieks of pain.

Minutes into the hunt, Ten was already struggling. The idea of hunting Tulkun wasn't pleasant to start with, but hunting a mother and her calf?

It was vile.

Lyle lightly nudged her as he took a supplemental breath, forcing her to unclutch her arms and do the same with a trembling hand. He offers her a knowing look, and they return their attention to the screen.

"What's that?" Spider points to the Tulkun sticking parts of their bodies out of the water. "What are they doin'?"

"Those are echolocation sensors. How they navigate. They have to hold them out of the water, or they'll go deaf." Dr. Garvin answers solemnly, his conflict with the situation unhidden.