Predator: The Scavenger

ch 3

(So have you forgiven me yet?)

Setting down the blue gelatin severed head of the Cindaria bounty he just collected, Akur took his seat at his ship's controls and stared at the message on his screen. Red symbols that should only be sent from another member of his clan were hovering as a notification on his screen. For the last three bounties there had been a similar message waiting for him each time he returned to his ship.

Each time he ignored it.

Deleting the message from his screen, he guided his ship away from the adrift Cindarian ship. Looking at his scanner he suppressed a growl of frustration at its empty results. Scans of space around him reported that it was clear for thousands of leagues and that his ship was the only active ship with lifeforce in the area. That was a lie. He knew she was out there, waiting for him to leave so she could come behind him and snatch up the miscellaneous items she would find on the Cindarian ship.

Annoyed, he whipped around in his seat towards the navigation panel and set his ship for the next course. He shouldn't be giving that little scavenger a second thought unless it was the thought on killing her. Clenching his fist against the dash of his controls, Akur involuntarily remembered the surprise he felt as his body flew in the air and he landed on his back in the dirt. Her husky sounding taunt still haunted him!

"...I really hate to put you on your ass like this."

Disgraceful!! He had to refrain from denting the metal edge of the control panel with his fist. The last time he had been thrown on his back he was but a hatchling, sparring with the others his age barely reaching to his father's knee. The fact that one tiny human female had just done it, blinded him with fury.

He was going to kill her, he was sure of that now.

There still was no understanding as to why he saved her from the Corverian that had her pinned down back on that planet. Killing the animal had been pure instinct, a reactionary move, though now looking back on it he should have let the creature maul her to death. Maybe it would have ripped her out of that shiny black suit and helmet and Akur could have seen her face for the first time as she died. The idea of that type of death for her was unfitting though, her death would be by his hand alone.

A satisfied noise rumbled from his chest as a sense of elation hit him at the prospect of the new hunt. Pulling up a picture of her in her black suit, a picture his own mask recorded of her on their last encounter, he stared at it on the large screen above. Technically he should have killed her the moment he found out she possessed his species' information and technology but he let his curiosity of the woman interfere with his good judgement.

That would not happen again.

#

(So, I take it you're still mad, since you nearly tried to kill me the other day when you set off the explosive fuel tanks on that planet. And though I should really be the one angry at you, for screwing me over initially, I just want you to know I forgive you. By the way, do you like eggs? For some reason you look like you would like eggs.)

Blowing the fuel tanks was not an attempt to kill the scavenger, it was merely a tactic Akur played since he knew she was following him. If he wanted her dead she would have been, he was simply toying with her and biding his time. It was entertaining to watch the human female change her plans in a hurry once she realized the ship was about to blow. Ever since the Corvarian base, she had been giving him a wide berth coming in after he had left to collect her items, last time he decided to double back to wait and watch her reaction to the impending explosion.