Cynetic Wolf

Excited, I got to the Council meeting early and read the Mandela biography Lars had given me. He was fascinating. If only I could be more like him...

The door opened, and Zedda entered. She looked beautiful.

“You’re early.” I minimized the book from view, nervous. Why was it always like this with girls?

She smiled, running her hand through her hair. “Needed some time to think. You?”

“Same. Had a few books to read.”

“How you doing with everything? Being the chosen one and all?” She laughed but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Ugh. “To be honest, it’s weird.”

“Well, I for one, am glad you’re back. We all are.” She turned to the door as her cheeks brightened. “Was pretty hopeless for a while.”

“What will you do when this is all over?” I asked, to change the subject. Was I trying to get to know her better? Why?

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Never thought about it.”

“Think about it.” A flirty smile tickled my lips. What was I doing? “What would you do?”

“I’d like to do something, I don’t know, something meaningful. Something I loved that also helped others.”

“Like what?” She was pretty. But there was no future for us, her, chimpish and me, wolfish...

She smiled, cheeks reddening further. “I’ve always loved animals, being outdoors too. As a girl, I’d bring critters home all the time. Mom hated it, but Dad found it fun. I’d make little homes for them: mice and crickets and ants, everything in a little glass globe in our room.”

“Sounds fun.”

“It was, until one day they were gone. I asked Dad what happened. Apparently Reggie—that’s what I called my mouse, a gray little guy with chalky whiskers and the cutest smile—had eaten all of them. They were all dead. The next day, Mom left the door open to air out. When I came home from school, a cat had knocked over the container and was dragging Reggie out the window. Reggie’s screams were horrible. I never wanted pets after that.”

Jeez. What do you say to that? “How old were you?” I asked after an uncomfortable silence, wanting to put my arm around her but not sure if I should.

“Nine,” she answered. “I learned that day, some species don’t belong together, they don’t play nice. I also learned I should be the cat. Life’s better as a hunter.”

Stunned, I opened my mouth to say something—anything—but the door opened. Obowe and Ganla shuffled in, and Mico followed seconds later. Before long, everyone was seated around the table.

Shaken from Zedda’s story, I stood, taking charge, highlighting progress since last night and the new plan to capture Thorn as thoughts of Zedda clouded my clarity. Paer thought it was doable, if our guys knew who to look for, but there were no pictures of Thorn anywhere.

She had a point.

“I’ll go,” I said. “I’m the only one who can identify him, and besides, it’s me he’s after. Plus, I know the area.”

“I’m coming with you!” Zedda blurted out, concern filling her eyes for the briefest of seconds. “You’ll need backup.” Damn it, she was stubborn.

“Bring Henk and Ashlo too,” Paer added. “They both fly so you can take a VTOL.”

I threw up my hands. “We have to keep things small. Too many people will attract attention.” And flying… Oh, crap… flying? “Won’t we be detected?”

“Not if we stay low,” Lars remarked. “The Earth’s magnetic fields block out anything below twenty meters. And you’ll have to make room for one more because I’m coming too,” he added with a grin. “I’ve come too far to let you die on me now.”

“It’s settled,” Paer said. “You’ll meet our team on site. They’ll help with logistics and firepower. You have three days. We can’t wait any longer.”

Zedda went to find Henk and Ashlo, and in no time, things were set. We grabbed our gear, a few goodies from storage, and set off.

Someone had sent for a VTOL, and it had been delivered from the underground bunker a few kilometers away. It was a work of art despite its age. Flying... My stomach was in knots.

It’s only twenty meters, it’s only twenty meters.

The five of us scrunched through small hatch-like doors and took our seats. Inside, it was bigger than it seemed. Bucket seating for eight, black pods bolted to the floor and ceiling, extra harnesses.

Up front, Henk and Ashlo sat in the miniature cockpit which seemed too basic. A couple knobs and gauges, a single joystick and a few screens. Was that all? Did Henk know what he was doing?

Engines revved and we lifted off, shooting up. My stomach flipped. After five seconds, we were level with the roof. A lot higher than I’d expected. What had I gotten myself into?

Henk laughed. “Here we go, kids.”

I clenched the armrest as we accelerated, and something touched my hand. I jumped.

“Raek, it’s okay. It’s me.” Zedda took my hand. I was glad it was dark. “We’ll be fine. First time?” she asked in a hushed voice.

“Yeah. I like having my feet on the ground,” I said as coolly as I could.

She squeezed my hand.

“We’ll get there around one a.m.,” Lars announced after we’d been flying a while. “Raek, spoof a server somewhere you know well. We need Thorn to know where to find us.”

I knew the perfect place, where I’d found Elly’s body. The Black Forest.

The rest of the journey went without a hitch. As we got closer, I got butterflies. I was going home... but it’d been wiped off the map. And it was my fault.

“We should land there.” I pointed. “Gives us plenty of time and it should be safe.”

We landed, piled out of the aircraft, grabbed our gear, and suited up.

As we were getting ready to leave, the moment I’d been dreading. “Henk, you should stay here with the VTOL. We might need backup or a quick getaway.”

He adjusted his vest and gave me a dismissive look. “Not happening. I’m coming with you!”

“We need you here, Henk,” Lars added. “If something happens or we catch Thorn we’ll need you to save our asses.”

I knew which levers to pull, but would it work? “If anything, this is more dangerous. You’re alone, you won’t have backup.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “We need you, buddy, we need you.”

He gritted his teeth, glaring at me. “Fine,” he growled after a long pause. “I’ll do it. But you call if anything happens, anything! Got it?”

I nodded.

“Now that’s sorted, let’s get a move on, boys, before the sun’s up,” Zedda grumbled.

I gave her a smile, glad to have her along, as we took off into the night.