Chapter 74: Another’s Prey
I saw a bar on my wrist unit that was bright red from one end to the other. I put my finger on the far right of the line and slid it all the way down to the left, not too sure what that would do.
When I dropped out of the air like a rock, I understood that that bar controlled how much power went into my anti-gravity setting.
Trying not to panic at how quickly the ground was coming up to meet me, I slid my finger to the right about halfway up. Thinking that this was the ’middle’ setting, I was extremely disappointed when I, once again, shot back up into the air.
Feeling more like a yoyo than a human, I moved the bright red bar down less than a millimeter. This time I fell toward the ground, but in a slower manner. Thinking that this setting would bring me back down into the jungle, I didn’t touch the setting again.
Unfortunately for me, that meant that once my suit had adjusted to the power input, I just sort of hovered up in the air somewhere around the cloud level. I really wished that I had that manual right about now, but I was not willing to contact Sha Shou and deal with her, so I moved my finger down the control bar about a centimeter.
Right now, the setting was no longer in the middle but instead 3/8 from the far left.
Once again, I dropped like a rock toward the ground until my suit leveled itself out and now hovered just over the upper canopy. The umbrella-like trees completely blocked my view of the forest floor, so I had no idea what was happening just under my feet.
Realizing just how sensitive the anti-gravity settings were, I didn’t know if I readjusted them again if I would be plunging through the trees again and landing in another net. I wanted to avoid the nets and the vines if I could. Oh, and the poisonous insects, poisonous snakes, animals that wanted to eat me, and whatever that hunter was trying to catch in the first place. In fact, I really just wanted to avoid the planet as a whole.
"We still need three of the Agkistrodon rhodostoma and five of the Bothrops lanceolatus," said Jun Li, and I could have sworn that he was reading my mind.
"What?" I asked, confused. "What’s with the new numbers?"
"The client is now asking for a minimum of three of the Agkistrodon rhodostoma and five of the Bothrops lanceolatus. I told them that it wouldn’t be a problem." Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem for Jun Li! He wasn’t the one down on the planet trying to find fucking snakes so poisonous that they were classified as a weapon!
"Then, may I suggest that you get your ass down here and help me?" I growled at the AI, not at all impressed with his statement.
"Why would I do that?" he replied, stunned. "You are doing well enough on your own. Just keep up the good work; we should have everything we need in a few days."
I took in a deep breath and ignored the asshole. I needed to think, and I needed silence to do that. "I need radio communication cut off for a while," I said, having no idea how to actually go about doing it.
"Are you sure? I won’t be able to help you if you need it," came Jun Li, his voice sounding concerned. Well, his concern was all well and good when he was up on the ship, safe and sound. It was like sending ’thoughts and prayers’ when there was an emergency or disaster. Yes, thank you, we appreciate the sentiment, but some help would also go a long way.
"Yes," I gritted out. "I need quiet to figure a few things out."
"Then how would I be able to get in contact with you in an emergency?"
"Oh, now you think there is going to be an emergency? I don’t know. But as of this moment, I don’t want any more voices in my head."
"Fine," sniffed Jun Li sounding like I had just insulted him and about a thousand generations of his ancestors. "But I won’t be able to help you if you need it."
"Yes, yes," I said, still hovering invisibly over top of the tress. "Now, quiet, please."
"Fine, turning off communications. I can only hope that you won’t come to regret it. I will turn it back on in three rotations." As soon as he finished his sentence, there was blessed silence. I think I could do three rotations on my own. If nothing else, I could just come up here where there was nothing trying to kill me.
Wait... when he said rotations, did he mean rotations as in days or years?
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An alarm sounded on Au’dtair’s wrist unit, alerting him. Sitting around an open fire with Vraev’ox, Cruz’uts, and Tha’juen, he quickly silenced the alarm. "It appears that one of my nets has been activated. Might be a pantroglodytes," he said, standing up.
"Want one of us to go with you?" asked Vraev’ox from where he was roasting the meat of his own kill over the fire.
"I should be fine," replied Au’dtair. "The things might be fast and deadly, but they still can’t penetrate the armor."
"Understood. Happy hunting," grunted Vraev’ox. It was rare that males in their species spent this much time together, even while hunting. There was no reason to go with Au’dtair to check one of his traps.
Au’dtair simply turned around and walked quietly along the almost invisible trail. His wrist unit could lead him to the specific net if he needed it to, but he was a seasoned enough hunter not to need the technology. He knew exactly where he was going. Activating his camouflage, he strolled confidently through the jungle floor, unconsciously taking in the damaged trees and leaves of some prey being dragged through the forest.
Ignoring it, he continued along his path. Another’s prey was not his concern.
