“Interesting. Bring it back here. We’ll get Sam to look at it. She just got into New Franklin with her hunter. I’m sure Jask’l would like to see it too.”
He would. Jask’l might be an overseer in name, but he really was happiest working with devices and machines. He was one of the few hunters who naturally understood how our technology worked. Anomalies like him were the reason we’d survived as long as we had now that the Xarc’n military was long gone and, along with it, any new orders or provisions.
So we did what we could, obeying our last orders and following the scourge throughout the galaxy. And as the scourge multiplied, so did we, building new motherships using existing blueprints and instructions and cloning more hunters to occupy them.
We ended our call and I checked with my shuttle on the status of the centicreep outside. It had lost interest and had slithered off. But the flyers were denser in the sky than usual, probably due to being called into the area twice today, first to New Franklin and then here.
They didn’t notice my shuttle on the ground, and I planned to keep it that way. Normally, I’d enjoy the challenge of evading them, but not today.
I pulled up the local map on my screen, an idea forming in my head. It might not be safe to evade flyers with Dottie in the shuttle with no way to strap in and not even a proper seat, but we could travel on the ground.
Dottie crowded in, curious, and I pulled her into my lap.
“What’s the plan?”
“We are going to find a replacement for your jacket.”
While the decontaminator had deactivated most of the fungal spores and killed any microorganisms on it, it had not actually removed the dirt and centicreep brains. Usually, when we were this soiled from the scourge, we rinsed off outside of the shuttle first. But with the centicreep on our tail, that hadn’t been an option.
Also, it was still cold outside. While I could withstand a cold rinse with the water hose, I doubted Dottie could. She’d already gone through so much; she didn’t need to be freezing too.
“Oh, a new jacket is a great idea. Thank you.”
“It will be our first date.”
I knew about the human ritual of dating before forming long-term unions. Considering I wasn’t even sure I was young enough to form a mate bond to her, it was all I could offer for now. I’d expected her to be excited, but she looked hesitant.
Was it because she was disappointed by our recent encounter? Surely that couldn’t be, not with the joined scent of our sex still heavy in the air. I could still feel the way her hands had clutched at me and hear the echoes of her ecstatic cries. There was no wayshe’d been disappointed in that, unless she was a consummate actor.
It must be because she preferred a younger hunter, one who was still in his prime and could protect her better. She was older than many of the other female survivors living at New Franklin, but I still had many decades on her. I’d had almost a hundred of their Earth years to live. Compared to her, I was ancient.
Designed to be the Xarc’n military’s reusable soldiers, hunters were created to survive the worst environments and live a long time. Most, however, perished long before age caught up with them. And even those given responsibilities in production labs and motherships were expected to fight their final fight and die in glory and battle before they weakened too noticeably with time.
I could still fight. I could still protect her. Did she think I wouldn’t be able to?
I turned to her and slid off the pilot’s chair, dropping down to my knees in front of her. “I assure you that you will be safe with me. I may not be a younger hunter in my prime, but I can still protect you, and this is a simple trip. You will be safe. I will protect you with my life.”
Dottie looked up from her device, a frown creasing her brows. “I know you will.”
Unable to stop myself, I reached over to smooth the lines from her forehead. “You enjoyed your time in my sleeping nook. I know this. So why do I sense your hesitation if you trust me to protect you?”
She looked over my head for a moment, and I thought maybe she wouldn’t reply. But then she said, “I did enjoy it. Best time I’ve had in years. But I don’t want to lead you on.”
“What do you mean?” This wasn’t the answer I’d expected.
“I’m just going to come out and say it. This has nothing to do with your abilities as a warrior. I am certain you are more than capable of protecting me. And we have a lot of chemistry. But I’m not relationship material. To put it into words you understand, I don’t want a mating bond. I’m too old for that. And plus, I’ve been through all that before. I had a husband. I don’t need another one.”
I did not know how to react. I’d known that Dottie must have had a life before meeting me, but it still hurt to know that she did not want anyone to replace the memory of her last husband. Had she lost him to the scourge? I could not compete with the golden memories of a dead mate.
Dottie reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m not the best at reading Xarc’n faces, but I’m going to stop you right there. Don’t continue that train of thought. I’m not yearning for my ex or anything like that. I divorced him before the scourge arrived. He wasn’t a good partner. I left when our kid was grown.
“I already failed at the whole marriage thing once, and I’m not sure I want to try again. I know how easily you hunters bond to the right woman, and I’m too old to play games. I don’t want to lead you on if I can’t give you what you’re looking for.”
I sat with her words, letting them sink in. I didn’t like the way she said she had failed, like it had been her fault. She had ended what was the equivalent of a mating with a male that she’d found lacking. That was his failure, not hers. If I were her mate, I would never leave her wanting for anything. But I wasn’t even sure that was possible for a hunter as old as I; so far, only young hunters formed mate bonds with young females.
The only exception had been Tarv’k. But while his hair had started to gray like mine, I was still older. And his mate was young.
“I do not even know what I am looking for.” I stood, then paced as I spoke. “Until I came to New Franklin, I had thought I was ready for my final mission. An overseer is an esteemed role, and I’d thought I’d die as one. I am the first overseer to lose the mothership. Without it, I do not know what to do, or even who I am.”
