Predator: The Scavenger

ch 4

It took him three days of stalking his prey to finally catch the prince alone. With the head and dripping bloody spine, Akur made it back to his ship just as the palace alarms were sounded and shot back into orbit undetected. During the last day, he had to cease communication with the female—with Ember. Clicking on the red flashing notification on his screen he noted her last message came in hours ago.

(Hey, I am not spending another night with this busted heating coil. I nearly froze to death last night. I am setting this hunk of junk down on a nearby abandoned planet.)

Scanning the area, he found that there were eight planets nearby. Out of the eight, four could support human life, three were abandoned of any sentient life, and only one had a tropical environment whereas the other was covered in snow. He knew without a doubt which one she was on.

Looking back at the message he stared at the time it was sent unseeingly. Something bothered him about it. It had been nearly five hours since that message. For weeks now, since their shared dialogue there had never been more than a few hours that went by without her accounting for each gap in time. When she woke up, she informed him. When she prepared for sleep, she informed him. Even when she showered, she announced it via message. This lone message was unusual. No update that she landed, no random useless chatter about what she found, nothing at all.

Letting out a displeased growl, Akur set his ship's course for the planet, following the trajectory of the last break in the planet's dense atmosphere. When he did find her, he was going to do as he promised and permanently end this odd connection between them.

The planet was small and indeed tropical. Condensation formed on the outside of the viewing window of his ship as he brought it to a land. Opening the hatch, he kept his helmet on as he walked through the thick forest. As he landed he spied some stone ruins ahead and the familiar blue gleam of Ember's ship sitting nearby. Scans confirmed there were no other lifeforms on the planet save for one. The odd feeling of something be wrong increased as he stared at her life marker on his readout. Normally, her armor kept her untraceable to his scans. On previous bounties, he only sensed her presence by listening and observing closely for any traces that may suggest her presence was nearby, or just simply checking the cargo hold. So, why could he see her now?

Stepping quietly over the overgrown vines, Akur entered what looked to be an ancient abandoned city. Houses made out of clay and stone were crumbled shells of their former selves as the forest took over and swallowed the city whole with its creeping vines. Silently, he made his way to the center of the city, following his map of her life marker. As he got closer he could hear the soft drone of human music. In the middle of the city was a large square pit with numerous sets of stairs leading down to small landings before starting again to another set of stairs going down further into the pit. On all four sides dozens of stair cases zig zagged deeper and deeper into the pit passing through the depths of the clear turquoise water. This was an ancient stepwell.

Looking around, Akur confirmed the city was abandoned before walking down the steps towards a landing in the stairs just above the water's level. Laying across the landing stretched out on a bright piece of fabric was his target. The black suit which he was used to seeing her in was gone. The sleek black domed helmet lay above her on the steps. Wearing nothing but a few thin pieces of fabric as her underwear Ember, was revealed to him fully. Long soft brown legs lay slightly apart while one arm hung limply into the blue lapping water at her right. Her dark brown hair gleamed in the sun as it lay partially over her face and fanned out on the stone beyond. Small puffs of air pulsed through the hair over her face as she breathed evenly in her sleep.