There were three humans at three different tables. They all had a small tube of what smelled like blood in their hands, the blood the pack leader had collected from Wolf. Wires were connected from their temples to a screen and the screen showed images of places, streets, houses, cars, trucks and warehouses. This is how they were intending on finding Wolf’s daughter. The pack leader had heard the humans call it remote viewing. Just by harnessing the psychic energy from the blood the humans were able to find the general location of their intended target.
These instructions were relayed to the Esperanzi by image projection via the visual thought chip lodged in the Esperanzi brain. Once they reach their destination, the beasts would use their DNA trackers and literally follow this girls DNA trail until they found her. Of course it was her father’s DNA, hers would have been better but the pack leader was a very experienced hunter. He knew how to read signs and look for the right clues to get him to where he needed to be. He hated the humans for doing this to him yet this is what he was born to do and once the hunt began he would enjoy every second of it climaxing with the girls capture.
They were downloading the images into the pack leaders chip now, he would remotely share this with his pack once they were on the road. He felt like this was going to be one of the biggest chases of his life. The download now complete the humans dismissed him, he couldn’t wait to get started. With a growl of satisfaction he ran to find his pack.
The Palace
Gordon couldn’t believe what he was reading. His first thought was that the results were incorrect, inconclusive at best however it was also undeniable, the test was repeated five times and all results came back exactly the same.
“How long have you known about this Curator”. He felt like crushing this man with every might of strength contained within him.
“Since the child was left at our doorstep. I have been trying to harvest and grow the live nanites. I wanted to bring you something you could use, that’s why I never reported this earlier.”
This wasn’t going as the Curator had spent all these years hoping for. No one cheered, no one congratulated him, and no one hailed the returned hero. He felt the underlying current of intrigue in the room but it was laced with something more menacing. The Curator was beginning to fear for himself.
“You should have brought us these samples as soon as you discovered the nanites. I am not pleased Curator”. Gordon had this oratory way of speaking calmly yet theatrically. What he was in fact doing was threatening the Curator without actually causing him any physical harm.
“You’re right of course Gordon, I’m sorry, Director. I had hoped through further studies to deduce the origin of the DNA so that I could bring you not only this sample but its source too.” Gordon just stared at him, insolent, stupid man.
“It might interest you to know that we have one of the parents here at the Palace. Really Curator you should leave the science and detective work to the people who know how to conduct it. Your job was simply to run the archives. I see now that that simple task was too hard for you.” The Curator felt the old man’s stare boring into his very soul. He knew he needed to be very afraid.
“So tell me Curator. Is the girl still at the archives? Does anyone suspect the reason for your absence?”
“No director. They are none the wiser, they are not a very bright group of people. Lily thinks she is in trouble for breaking into the sealed section and I’m sure Axel is continuing to keep his quiet self away from any type of confrontation, if anything life is simply just going on”
Incredulous is the word used to describe Gordon’s present mood. This man truly is an imbecile he thought to himself.
“Right” said Gordon, “time to get to the Library. I understand Curator that you believe your people are simpletons however simpletons do not break into sealed sections of a library, ask questions about creatures that have the same colour eyes as them and then go back to playing in the garden. For your sake Curator, they had all better be there when we arrive”. And with that Gordon stormed out of the room.
There was a flurry of activity from the Palace guards, two of which escorted the Curator out into the foyer, sat him down on the lounges and told him to wait. The rest of the guards were collecting their gear. Orders had been given that they depart for the Library in half an hour.
The Curator sat waiting, thankful that he was not imprisoned or worse, yet. He knew the old man was interested in seeing the work he had done, he also knew that had he brought the samples years earlier to the Palace, the work the Curator was trying to do would be complete by now. Who knows what that would have meant for his people. As he sat there in the centre of the organised chaos around him he silently prayed that Lily would still be at the Library when they arrived.
Chapter 15
The Beast
The pack leader was standing outside of the warehouse. He knew it was cloaked, his bracelet alerted him to that. He didn’t however know what to expect inside, so he was considering his options when he caught a clear scent that partially reflected the DNA in his tracker. He and his pack were after all hunters and it wasn’t just DNA he needed. The remote viewers were still continuing to work back at the Gentech labs and they were constantly feeding the pack leader images. He was on the right track, he wasn’t surprised, well maybe surprised that the humans hadn’t figured out yet how good he was at his job.
Storm it. That’s what he decided and projected his orders to the pack. They were all in agreement. Pack leader didn’t need their consent but he liked it all the same, it meant they moved as a coherent group and he didn’t have to worry about dissent amongst the pack. He was a betting beast and he was betting that no-one knew they were coming so the element of surprise was all theirs.
He was right. There were ten Esperanzi in his new pack and they tore at the cloaked doors and broke them down. They spread out in teams of two and searched the Library. There weren’t many people present in the Library. Maisy in the kitchen, Melody in the library and the grounds keeper, nobody had alerted the Curator yet as to Axel and Lily’s disappearance. No one knew what it meant, there were no notes, no clues and quite frankly they were too afraid. They knew the Curator would be back any day so he’d know soon enough.
The first team of Esperanzi ran into the actual library where poor, unsuspecting Melody was working on Axels personal lap top looking for clues as to his whereabouts. She heard the crash outside and quietly, carefully rose from her chair and walked towards the door.
The two Esperanzi had already entered the library and moved towards her, menacingly baring their very long, very sharp canines warning her to stand very still. She did of course. Meldoy wasn’t the type of person to do anything that she considered might be called braved. She knew what these creatures were, was smart enough to understand the danger they posed and her survival instincts were acute enough to do exactly what the Esperanzi wanted her to do.
The lead beast moved toward Melody slowly sniffing the air around her. The hairs on her arms were standing on end, her knees trembling moments from buckling beneath her. The beasts nose was moving up and down her bare arm, smelling her, Melody was as still as a statue, completely paralysed into submission. The Esperanzi snorted loudly and used its bracelet to scrape her arm. She recognised the DNA tracker, it was assessing the DNA from her skin cells she thought as she noticed the red light flashing on the bracelet. The beast backed off a little, it seems she was off the hook however her relief was short lived, the beasts weren’t leaving. The Esperanzi tilted its head up, snorted and stayed where it was just staring at her. The second beast was standing near the doorway cutting off her escape which was quite laughable really because Melody’s legs were in no condition to run, instead they gave out and she collapsed onto the floor. Apart from a very loud growl, the Esperanzi didn’t approach her it just stood and waited.
The pack leader had picked up the girl’s scent, i
t was off putting for a while because he could smell her everywhere, eventually he tracked her scent to the backyard. On his way out he noticed the woman in the kitchen being held back by two of his pack. She held something metal and heavy in her hands, shouting obscenities at his pack but was no real threat he noticed, just very loud. His pack had her under control. He knew his members had found two people and told them to keep them at their posts while the rest of the pack continued searching the Library.
He eventually tracked the girl’s scent to a cottage outside the main building. His excitement was mounting, hoping he had found the girl. He noticed the man standing in front of the cottage, holding a long metal pipe in his hand. She had to be in there, why else would he be defending that building. He ordered his team mate to run at the grounds keeper and take him down, using any force necessary. After all, this man was ready for a fight so why not give him one.
The beast however was quite young and it was his first assignment out. He underestimated the human, he leapt at the man and noticed only too late that the metal pipe had been brought up and the beast came down sharply on the pipe piercing his chest. He died immediately, the pipe severing his spinal cord.
The pack leader used the distraction while the ground keeper had tumbled to the ground with the fallen beast and leapt on the man catching his head between his paws twisting his neck snapping it. Obstacle taken care of the pack leader proceeded to tear down the cottage door and sauntered inside expecting to find the girl cowering in the corner.
A thorough search of the cottage revealed no humans. No-one had reported them in any other part of the Library, in fact there were no reports of any other humans in the Library. She wasn’t there and he wasn’t happy. He continued sniffing and noticed another scent in the cottage, very distinctive. He walked out to the ground keeper but the scents didn’t match. There was another person, another absent person. This was not good.
The pack leader re-entered the cottage and rummaged through all the belongings until he had DNA particles from two distinct scents. He added these samples to his tracker. This original DNA would make his search easier but this did very little to appease him. He wanted to destroy something and destroy it now. He alerted his pack, growling at the fallen Esperanzi as he left the cottage. He hated when Gentech gave him novices on important missions. There would be no love lost here thought the leader as he ran for the front of the Library. He also wanted to leave the library inhabitants a memento, just enough to scare them into cowering in the Library instead of coming after his team.
He stood outside the warehouse and just stared trying to decide his next move. It would be a while before he could download his images to Gentech and receive more intel about the girl’s whereabouts. He could make out his two favourite scents on the curb, he sniffed around the cars hoping he would come up with more. He guessed that they were in a car. Great he thought they’re not on foot. So a decision had to be made there were two ways in and out of town, he briefly relayed this information to the pack and told them they would be heading east.
With very little information to go on, there were no arguments amongst the other pack members so they followed their leader. In two hours the satellite would be in position and they would find out if they were heading in the right direction. The pack split in half and each team took a different side of the road, sniffing, tracking, hoping to find some evidence that the girl and her companion had come this way.
Lily
Axel had been at the wheel for two hours. He kept evading my offer to drive but then again I was not officially allowed to drive nor did I technically know how. I just needed a distraction. Soon after we left the observatory I found a spark of courage somewhere deep inside me and asked Axel about the beast I had dreamt about, like ripping off a band aid. I hadn’t spoken after that, neither of us had until now as I made my driving offer. Just when I thought I couldn’t hear anything more horrifying, I heard something more horrifying. Axel said that he knew the dream was significant, he didn’t know who the man was or why the beast attacked him. He just knew the dream was a message and he knew that these beasts would at some point make an appearance. That’s why he had brought the weapons. That little piece of knowledge did not make me feel any better.
I silently wondered if I would ever get any rest ever again. I thought the Palace was our main worry and now to find that I had two groups of aliens after me was terrifying. How does the world at large not know about this? Oh but they do, Axel informed me. The people, correction, the humans that need to know do know about us, they’re for the most part trying to stay out of our way because we are more terrifying to them than they are to themselves, and I’ve studied history I know how terrifying humans can be and still we are supposed to be scarier. That’s why I asked my next question, I couldn’t help it.
“Why are you helping me Axel”? It sounded strange my voice in amongst that silence and I wasn’t even totally sure that Axel heard me. He just stared straight ahead gripping that steering wheel tightly.
“I mean there are the so called good guys at the Palace, which for the record I am not convinced are good, the bad guys at Gentech and then me. Why haven’t you chosen a side, why are you risking your life to protect me?”
Axel didn’t answer straight away and when he did I was surprised to hear anger in his voice. “What do you mean why have I chosen to protect you rather than any other side. You’re my daughter Lily my place is with you”.
“Yes” I said, except I really didn’t know what I was trying to say. “You could just give me over the Palace, what’s the worse they could do to me. Right now we’re on the run and you will never get a chance to go back to the Library, that you love, and you probably will never be safe while you are with me”.
“Lily stop it”. His knuckles, wrapped around the steering wheel were white, his voice angry once again.
“I chose you when I held you in my arms all those years ago. The Palace and Gentech will want to use you like a lab mouse, you and I deserve a life, a happy life and I’m willing to protect wanting that, let alone having it.” He sighed then.
“Lily, you came from somewhere. You didn’t come from Gentech or from the Palace. That’s where the two populations of Travellers come from. You being here means there’s another population out there, a population that’s evolving differently from us, one that’s very well hidden. I’ve been searching for them since you arrived, I haven’t had much luck finding them but I know they’re out there. My plan was always to take you back to them as soon as I found them, to give you some sort of a normal life.”, again another sigh. “Face it Lily, you’re stuck with me. I’m not going to leave your side. Now, enough of this talk”.
After a short while Axel spoke again, jarring me out of my mind numbing nothingness. “I know you’re scared, the truth is I’m a little scared myself because I’m not sure what it is exactly that we’re facing, but whatever it is we will do it together. Now we will drive for another hour and then stop for something to eat”.
And with that the conversation was closed. We didn’t speak again even as we pulled into the road side diner. It took every bit of will power I had to get out of that car and walk. I keep looking at people wondering are they human or not. I have no idea how I could tell humans and Travellers apart when the Travellers can conceal their true faces so easily.
I guess I was so preoccupied with my thoughts, that’s why I didn’t notice the car pull in straight after us, it probably wouldn’t have mattered if I did. As it turns out the driver would save my life the very next day.
Chapter 16
The Beast
The pack leader’s team followed the girl’s scent into the forest. Earlier communication from Gentech had them searching in the right area. He didn’t know how far behind the girl and her companion his pack were but the scents were strong so he was guessing a day, maybe less. He was curious about this cave he tracke
d the scents to. He had never seen anything like it. It was obvious the two people he was following had stayed here. They hadn’t bothered to cover their tracks, it looked very much like they had left in a hurry. Curious. It’s not how he would have played it, but then again he always thought the humans made strange and wrong decisions all the time.
He ordered his pack out to continue tracking on the road. He had been told to capture images of this observatory before re-joining his pack, special orders for him and him alone. He wondered if the humans were trying to hide something, he had very clear orders to share this information with no-one except his lead human partner.
The pack leader also knew that this little secret assignment would put him half a day if not more behind his team and this made him very angry. He didn’t like leaving anyone else in charge of his assignments, his very untrusting nature always expected something to go wrong when he was not there. He didn’t exactly have very clever lieutenants either, all very new, all very wet around the gills. Instead he would have to cross his proverbial fingers and hope they hadn’t lost the girl when he caught up with them.
Lily
Axel had decided we needed to rest for the night. He was exhausted, emotionally as well as physically as was I, so there were no arguments coming from me. Luckily we didn’t have to travel far, there was a motel right behind the diner. Very convenient I thought, I wasn’t hungry exactly, I just found the notion of food so close at hand comforting. And these days, I take comfort where I can.
We shared the same room, Axel didn’t want to let me out of his sight. I thought the motel manager had figured out that something wasn’t quite right as he was looked at us curiously. Axel had managed to dye his hair black when we were at the observatory and we were both wearing blue contact lenses. I caught a glimpse of us in the mirror behind the manager and was startled to see how much we resembled each other in our disguises.