Hunted

Chapter 1 - The Great Escape

Blood rushes to my head. My eyes open abruptly. Everything was so blurry. A sudden realization crossed my mind. I'm alive! "Oh looky. He's awake. That's a good sign." A voice said. Oh gosh, please no. I groan. "Cheer up fella. You're safe with us." The two men beside him chuckle loudly. "It's supper time now little fishy." The men continue to laugh. My sight comes back to me. I can see now why that comment was so funny. The position of my body was upside down and hanging form one leg by a cable attached to a tree. Huff.

Bounty hunters, and by the looks of them, they're from a more tropical planet than this dusty wasteland. The classic trio. An old-ish man, probably an engineer and equipment specialist. A black muscular man with a lot of razor sharp blades, probably good with close combat and excellent with throwing knives. The last man, quite young, is a great sharp shooter and the leader of the group.

Just peachy. The men sit around the fire and pick pieces off an inhabitant animal they caught. It didn't look that appetizing but at this stage I was starving and would eat anything. "Aww look, he's got a little worry in his eye. Come on Jacob. Give him some food." The old man says to the black one. "Fine." He gets up and pulls a piece of meat off the carcass. He walks up to me and puts it in my hand. "Try pulling yourself up to eat." He walks back to his seat. "That is if you can." He chuckles. I manage to lifts myself up with difficulty. I take a small bite of the meat. Mmm, not bad. Tastes like Kaduca. I devour the rest of the meat. "That's it men. Bedtime. John you take the first watch. Goodnight everyone." He looks at me. "Nighty little fishy." The men laugh. An unimpressed look crosses my face. "Don't worry. You'll stay warm during the night. Don't get colder than this. You might as well get some shut eye. I'll let you down a little so that you and at least get a little sleep. Wouldn't want to damage the merchandise." He chuckles and walks over to me and lowers my body enough for me to lie down. He walks into the starship with the black man. "Goodnight, your highness." He takes a bow mocking me.

The night was colder than I expected; full of terrifying howls from animals too. The men always kept a good eye on me and I kept a good eye on my storage bag. Wouldn't want then to get any of their grubby hands on the items that I had tucked away in there. They'd make a big profit off my belongings. Morning came, I woke up to the men packing everything up into the starship. "Oh, you're awake sleepy head." I groaned as the black man walked over to me. "Enjoy your sleep, princess." "In a matter of fact I did. A bit chilly though." He laughed as he picked up the crate with my belongings in. "Glad you did." I looked up at the sand dune. "Uh, buddy?" There looked to be figures rising up from the sand. "What is it, pup?" He looked in the same direction I did. He dropped the crate cracking it open and running towards the ship, yelling. "Striker! We got company!" Striker and John looked up from whatever they were doing. "Oh hell on Tardia, not now." The men raced to the armoury to fetch their weapons. "Um, forgetting something!?" "Stay put you little rascal! We'll handle this!" The figures began to take shape. It was the natives, the Dradarians. They were known for their long and short ranged combat. If you saw them, you knew that you had to fight for your life to stay alive.

I looked up at the cable keeping me up. I started to wriggle from side to side. I could hear the cable starting to tear and suddenly a snap, I fall to the ground. Ouch. That hurt. The crate with my belongings was lying there in the sand half open. I start slithering towards my bags and I spy my energy knife. I probe my back up against the crate and reach for the knife. I shudder back in shock as a laser flies passed my ear. The Dradarians were getting closer, lasers were starting fly closer and closer, more and more frequently. My fingers extend and fumble the knife. I eventually grab it and cut myself loose. My bag slides onto my back. My hands grab all of my items and tools. Where is it? Come on. Yes. There it is. I throw a rectangular prism onto the sand and before it touches the ground it expands and transports into a hoverboard. My ticket out of here. The hunters gaze upon me as I speed away from the skirmish.