The Hawaiian Special Forces

Chapter 16

Aoloa held Hokulani tight against him as they lay hidden under the trailer tarp. Getting into a semi trailer had proven impractical, but there'd been a covered flatbed trailer they could sneak into. "They'll smell us," she observed, yet again.

He nodded slightly before breathing, "Yes, but this will take us through Georgia into Russia. The politics of the region means they'll have to be more careful, and won't get any cooperation using their assets."

"It'll also be colder with fall coming," she whined.

"I know. We'll have to get some warmer protection. I'm sure we can get some hides together. We'll research how to cure them before we go deep into the forest."

Hokulani nodded against his chest, then settled in for the long ride.

In Tbilisi, switched vehicles, managing to slip into the back of an enclosed semi trailer, rather than risk a delay in their travels. There were a couple of rest stops where they repeated the process of switching vehicles in an effort to speed their travel and make it harder to deduce their location.

It took them the better part of three days to get from there to Ufa, Russia, where they finally ditched rides and began forging deep into the woods, away from civilization. At Syzran they'd put their clothes on another trailer heading for Moscow. It probably wouldn't make a difference, but any little distraction was a help.

"Goodbye, wifi," Hokulani mournfully cried as they turned their back on civilization.

"Hello, freedom," Aoloa replied.

They were cautious, catching standard prey and eating it in place. They spent a couple weeks working on turning some deerskin into clothing before heading north, deeper into woods and away from civilization.

Finally, they found an isolated area that seemed promising. There were no humans within ten miles.

"Do you really think this is going to work?"

Aoloa glanced at her. "I hope so. We need it to. Detection is what got us in trouble before, and I don't think they'll really care if we just disappear from the world, entirely." Hokulani scowled in thought, not looking convinced. "It's also time we get territorial. No more trying to live with humans. They're a danger to us."

She nodded a bit. "I wish we were home. Hunting down a few bad guys was fun every now and then, but being hunted, that's not so fun."

"I know. I never wanted this. There are times when I want to strike back at them for betraying us, but I don't know how. I mean, it's freaking HAWAII. We don't even have a way to get at them if we wanted to. Any pod could take us out long before that could happen."

"I know, but... It's not right!"

"Look at all the space we've found. They have plenty of space. There's no need to fight over that. I know there's other resources, but we're doing fairly well in the wilds. Granted, we aren't human, and it's only been a few weeks, but still..."

"I want to visit for wifi, though. I want to know the colony's okay." She scowled. "I want to go home."

"Do you believe that's really an option?" She shook her head, sadly. "Neither do I. We'll survive together. Maybe we can even figure out how to hack our comms units and get better control over the nanites in our systems."

"Okay. Let's do it."

With their goal set, they started working on truly understanding what was in them. They fairly quickly discovered their comms units were powered by their muscular activity. Breathing was enough to generate the power needed for most of the systems. Increased activity, such as hunting, made up the difference.

It was Hokulani who figured out the nanites' primary purpose: regulating the balance between their human and feline genomes. They'd been set to "near human" on purpose, with just enough feline bleeding through to give the weaponry and strength that was deemed valuable. With that figured out, she was able to adjust their balance to give them a fur coat fairly easily, removing the need for them to wear the skins of dead herbivores.

"You look lovely," he said, appreciatively, as he took in her black-spotted orange fur. "I can see the jaguar in you, now."

She appraised him in return, taking in his black, mottled fur. Their nails had gotten larger, as well, making killing their prey easier. "You, as well, love." She'd gotten more affectionate, which he didn't mind.

"Do you think our minds have changed?"

"No, I don't think so. I mean, we're still us, right?"

"Yeah, we are," he smiled. But you don't complain about wifi any more. You seem happier with being what we are, rather than being back in Hawaii. And for myself, I don't feel as interested in human affairs. They've become something dangerous, best avoided or quickly eliminated. I don't think that's how I used to think.

Hokulani rubbed her face against his own, and his thoughts splintered into the passion they would soon embrace.