Boundless

Grey Zone

Sleeping by Lance's side, Sila was clearly unwell. 

Stress and previous and some malnutrition (forced to keep a figure to appease her previous owner's tastes), the slave was down with a cold.

Lance arranged another room for them, the one she had placed Sila last time the Yautjas left, willingly babysitting that beautiful girl.

But truth to be told, the (now former) slave deserved some comfort: life had not been kind to the slave, who still fought the cravings of addiction (without the physical symptoms, thank God), and was now facing a chasm of uncertainty as a Predator's prisoner.

Would the slave jump? Would anyone push her into the abyss?

***

Lance, who still had a heart and could be kind, found out that she needed the company as much as Sila, as a way to keep herself from acting on impulse.

The Girl was used to solitude, enduring weeks (months even) of radio silence. Only to be caught by offguard by how anxious she felt only 60 hours after the Yautjas left for their hunt.

Being cupped up in the aliens' vessel was also boring Lance out of her mind. Yes, Ah'kaedh was ok with the Girl snooping on the black market business, but you know what? Remote work was eating at her field agent's nerves. Conducting a whole-ass investigation from afar was tons of repetitive and tedious work. Sure, working infiltrated still entailed a lot of monotonous tasks, but she was still there, on-site, living it, you know?

Remote work gave Lance less flexibility, fewer shortcuts, and fewer chances to easily foolproof information, which in turn meant more research. More hours analyze lots of data in minute detail.

Breacher had been an invaluable asset for this very reason: he was the best among them working remotely. Originally an Investigation specialist, he was then trained to be an intel magician of sorts. Once hooked into a network, there was non stopping the guy. He was also able to decide which sources of information - or even which type of data - would be helpful, and was involved with all-things investigation.

(Which is why Breacher went personally to talk with Lance when she called the police about Cecily. Asher was there only as support).

The (once) Derrick worked quite close to the field agents, who would, at times, work as his extensions in the real world.

Lance knew how to conduct investigations for this very reason, but she was no Breacher. A bright mind is nothing if you don't have the skills to compliment it.

The Girl burned half a brain trying to find a way to fuck with Thedus black market, but she could only draw blank after blank, unable to... well, to even start.

Obviously, lacking the proper skills to work on her current situation wasn't her only blocker, no. Far from that. Personal matters were also taking considerable RAM memory from her brain.

(Also know as 'interspecies situationship').

"Fucking Christ, why the fuck I can't focus ", she said outloud, shaking her head, as if that would kick her brain into gear. 

***

The hunting party was composed of 18 Yautjas, and somehow none of them was able to pick up any signs of the ambush that had trapped 13 of them. Plus 1 Hunter most certainly dead.

Ah'kaedh was able to escape at the cost of yet another prosthetic. His BioWare was intact, which was a relief.

The Enforcer chose to sacrifice the bionic arm in order to save the Hunter right behind in front of him. Ho'kan was ok too, he and the other Yautja at the tail end of the group.