The Edenian

The Pack

Jon disliked two things in life: when someone messed with his family and when someone peeked at his plate.

And since he had no family, the only thing that could irritate him was Ka nibbling on his canned food. He aimed at her, a short bang sounded, and the bowl shot out of the thief's hands, hitting the asphalt with a loud clink.

"Jon, you idiot! That's the third time this week you've tried to kill me," Ka, furious as a wasp in a jar, turned instantly red in the face, though Jon didn't miss that her clenched fists were trembling almost imperceptibly.

"I told you, like everyone else, you should call me Boss."

"I won't speak at all if the next time the bullet slips slightly."

"That won't happen. Did the idiots return from the hunt?"

Jon knew one thing: if he showed weakness even once, if they doubted his infallible shots for even a moment, the next night he would end up in fountains of his own blood, flowing from numerous stab wounds. Jackals would always be jackals.

"You're wasting bullets," the Elder's voice was as irritating as ever, but Jon knew there was no point in getting into a two-front fight. Besides, the Elder had no power anymore and was at Jon's mercy. The day he died, the jackals would tear the Elder apart for fun.

"If the warehouse you pointed us to is a bust, you'll be hanging by tonight, so don't worry about the bullets."

"You try to hang me at least once a week... Boss," even if there was a bit of mockery in the last word, its level was acceptable.

Although it was scorching, the skyscrapers gave a bit of coolness, and the tree root-split asphalt didn't evaporate as much as where no plant had yet managed to break through.

And then the sky was cut by something that looked like a red-hot ball, getting closer and closer, making a louder and louder noise until it disappeared among the buildings, followed by a terrifying, dull thud. The trio fell silent.

"Was that a bomb?"

"If it was, it hasn't exploded yet," the Elder's voice was reminiscent of the one he used to tell them in the camps about the old war with Eden.

"It flew in the direction where you sent the team, Jon," Ka might not have felt like a full-fledged member of the Jackals, but they had taken her in.

"Now we have to wait for them anyway," Jon's voice was completely flat, and he looked as if all the blood had drained from his face. Only his hand was gripping too tightly the belt that held the revolver's holster.

Another excruciatingly long half hour passed, and then they came running.

"Boss, boss... A capsule. That thing that flew in the sky. It's a capsule. Here," as they got closer, their shouts made less and less sense. "A bunch of guards are lying around. Someone's walking there."

"Who's walking?"

"Well... someone. In a suit. Someone who came from Eden."

Jon instinctively looked up. Eden. That space station was not talked about. It was like a distant fairy tale. Characters from fairy tales don't appear in real life. But if a character from a fairy tale really came to Earth, he hoped it wouldn't be the big bad wolf.