Chapter 210: If The Dark Lord Permits
I watched my four Saalistaja mates pace around the ship as if they were getting ready for war. I would have to admit it wasn’t the most comforting of feelings.
Midnight wrapped his arms around me as Da’kea continued to sharpen all of his weapons, and I would have to admit, it was an impressive amount of them. Ye’tab was constantly on his wrist unit while GA and Tha’juen were sparring in the newly finished gym.
But what made it worse was that no one was talking. Like, at all.
"Okay," I said over dinner one night. I had had more than enough of the silent treatment, and since we were going to be meeting up with Sha Shou in just over 20 hours, I needed to know what I was walking into. "Can someone please tell me what is going on while I am still asking nicely?"
There was a strained smile on my face that might have clued the guys into the fact that they were approaching the top of my shit list.
"For millions of years, the Saalistaja have preferred one species of prey," started Da’kea slowly, pushing his plate of raw meat away from him. "We have always considered them the hardest to kill, and only the most skilled hunters could hunt them down and take their trophy."
"But things got out of hand," continued Ye’tab as he, too, sat back in his chair to look at me. "They were prolific breeders in which one queen could have hundreds of offspring in a little under two planetary rotations. They laid eggs non-stop and would then place them in a highly dense population so that the newly hatched offspring could have a food source nearby."
"And their food source?" I asked, my spaghetti no longer settling as well in my stomach as it was.
"Anything that moved?" suggested Tha’juen.
"Not quite," answered GA, rolling his eyes. "They prefer warm environments and a food source that is several times their size. In fact, they are one of the main reasons why there is such a large decline in populations all over the universe."
"But you said that they have been gone for a while. Surely, that would have allowed the population to rebound," I pointed out.
"And trust me, it did. However, the original populations were reduced to only a handful of each species, and the majority of them were children. Since most of us tend to live a long life, our reproductive systems don’t normally start until we are at least a hundred years old. Even then, we might only have one child every few years or so," said Da’kea. "But I digress. Some of those on the Saalistaja Elder council have said that they want to bring back the traditional hunts and the traditional prey."
"Which, I am assuming, is this thing you are so desperate not to name?" I asked. When will people learn that just because something was a tradition, there was probably a reason why it was no longer being practiced?
"It is. I can only assume that someone on the council gave a queen to my offspring to place on a planet so that the hunts could resume," sighed Da’kea.
"Okay," I responded with a shrug. "Then how do we kill them and make sure that there are none left?"
"Their skin is notoriously hard to pierce through," stated Ye’tab. "They bleed red acid, so you need to make sure that none of it touches you. It could penetrate our armor in a matter of seconds, and the only way to save yourself would be to cut off whatever it touched."
"They have exceptional hearing and can blend in with any surrounding, but they prefer warm, dry climates. Like dwellings or structures of some kind," added GA, his expression serious as he looked at me. "Only our best hunters have ever been able to take them down, and even then, it normally took the cooperation of at least three of them to do it."
"I have heard that they are fast and agile, leaping large distances without even trying. They can be on you without warning, and then you are done," said Tha’juen. "But I have never hunted one before."
"Neither have I. The practice was long dead by the time I was old enough to be bloodied on my first hunt," grunted GA. "But I look forward to this challenge."
"May I point out that you are talking a ratio of three on one, where you guys have the benefit of the larger numbers. However, according to Sha Shou, there were hundreds of eggs on board, and almost all of them have hatched..." I didn’t want to finish my sentence. The sheer numbers seemed overwhelming.
"We have no choice," said Da’kea. "If we don’t, it could be the end of the universe as we know it."
Oh, sure, why not add some extra pressure on top of everything else.
"And throwing them out into space isn’t the answer?"
"They can and will survive that, floating around until they either find a planet or ship they can get to," said Ye’tab, pulling up something on his wrist unit. "Their skins are so thick that they could survive re-entry onto a planet."
"I somehow doubt that," I grumbled. They might be the Saalistaja version of the boogeyman, but that didn’t make them gods. "If it really has been that long since you guys have encountered them, I am sure the stories are greatly exaggerated."
"I can assure you, they are not. As hunters, we maintain very detailed records of our prey, down to the last detail. The only way to ensure a successful hunt is to know everything about your prey," said Ye’tab, and I could tell that he was really not impressed with me doubting his information.
"Then how do you suggest I kill them?"
"You don’t, you can’t. You will stay here on Jun Li, where it is safe, and if the Dark Lord permits, we will come back to you," said Da’kea in a tone that allowed no argument. Too bad for him; I was horrible at obeying.
"Do you at least have a picture of this terrible creature?" I asked, turning to look at Ye’tab. If anyone had a picture, it would be him.
Ye’tab nodded, and all of a sudden, his wrist unit displayed a 3-D image on the table.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I demanded, looking around at the four men. They had to be joking. "Your invincible prey is the fucking Easter bunny?"
