Page 23 of A Monster's Light
It started to fly away, but the edge of my club made contact, turning it around, and instead of flying up, it crashed right into the dirt. I ran to it and brought the bone down as hard as I could. According to the PSAs put out by the colony, these drones were supposed to be indestructible. It was a way to dissuade colonists from shooting them down with homemade projectiles. Sure enough, no amount of bashing was going to break this one open. It did, however, shut down.
I planned to hold it hostage. Maybe the rebels at Ellaston would want one. It was always nice to bring a gift.
I took out one of the blankets and quickly wrapped the sphere up, making sure it was nice and tight and several layers thick. Remembering how the transport had blown up, I looked around for a way to drag it behind me. But when I heard sounds from where the robohound still lay in the gully, my stomach dropped, and I rushed back to Gnnar’s side.
“Gnnar?” I tapped his shoulder nervously, worried that some unseen broken bones were the reason he was passed out. I didn’t want to do more damage. But also, I doubted I could move him even if I wanted to. “Gnnar! Please, it’s time to go. Get up!”
There was no response.
Next to me, the drone was trying to boot up again. It played a little ditty that made it sound more like a washing machine than a surveillance drone for a power-hungry colony.
Okay. So it ends here.
I stood between the robohound and my downed warrior, club at the ready, secure in the knowledge that I’d tried my very best and that I’d die fighting.
Suddenly, two small explosions sent the robohound flying backward. I threw myself over Gnnar’s body, trying to protect him.
What the—
A vessel blinked into existence in the sky above us. Cloaking? I didn’t know we had such effective cloaking technology. At first glance, it looked like a shuttle from Nova Vita. As it landed, I saw that some of the parts looked off. And while the back of the shuttle was shiny and new, the front half looked bashed up like they smashed two halves of a shuttle together.
This must be the rebels! The self-destruct sequence made sense now. Maybe the cloaking technology belonged to the Kadrixans. The only cloaking I’d seen from Exotech Robotics wasn’t nearly this good.
The blanket-wrapped drone was trying to fly now, but I grabbed it, securing my gift and praying to the stars that it wouldn’t explode on me. But I figured it didn’t know about therebels’ appearance yet since the vessel didn’t uncloak until the robohound was decommissioned.
The door opened, and a man stepped out. He had dark hair cropped short on the sides and left long down the center of his head. Behind him was a woman with blonde hair in a no-nonsense low ponytail with a kind face. They both wore strange clothes. He wore leather pants like Gnnar did. And she wore an iridescent top that looked completely out of place. She waved and smiled.
Relief flooded me. Rescue was here!
But safety first. “There’s a drone in the blanket,” I yelled. “Not sure if it’s going to self-destruct. Thought the rebels might want it. I guess that’s you guys.”
The woman grinned. “Sure are.” She pointed to a rock some way away where she directed me to place the drone, which was vibrating now as it attempted ineffectively to lift off on the ground. I did and quickly returned to Gnnar’s side.
“You must be Dana.” She stuck out a hand, and I took it. “I’m Macey. I came along since I thought you might want to see a friendly face instead of two sourpusses.”
“Hey! I resent that.” The man knelt next to Gnnar and sighed dramatically. “He’s lost a lot of weight, but he’s still a heavy mofo. I’m going to need help rolling him onto the stretcher.” He looked up at me. “I’m Sami.”
I shook his hand, and as I did, I noticed another man standing by the vessel’s door.
“I’m Sergio, the other sourpuss.” Sergio was definitely giving off a Viking-on-Earth vibe. Instead of shaking my hand, he offered a curt nod.
“Is it safe to move him?” I asked. “What if Gnnar hurt his neck? Or his back?”
The second man chuckled. “He’s fine. These warriors are tough as nails.” He bent and plucked a dart out of Gnnar’s thigh. “This is the culprit right here.”
“I kind of expected a Kadrixan rescue,” I said when we were safe onboard the shuttle. “No offense.”
“None taken,” Sami said, sitting down across from me. “The Kadrixans are about to hit their rut, so we volunteered. And besides, Gnnar’s done his share protecting our little village. It wouldn’t be the same without him.”
Macey had gone up front with Sergio since he’d promised her a lesson in flying the shuttle as long as there were no enemies on their tail. We hauled the drone and the robohound Gnnar had disabled behind us.
Sami pulled out something from under his seat. “Is this yours?”
My backpack! “Yes. Thank you.” I hugged my pack to my chest before opening it and bringing out my phone.
“It was smart to connect it to the Kadrixans’ network. We were tracking your location through your phone and found it in a dryer. We were worried we’d missed the opportunity to find you. I’m glad you’re alright.”
“Howdidyou guys find us?
