It also had the advantage in reach with longer than normal arms and possessed an ape-like strength that a human and most Tuann couldn’t hope to match.
This war drone wore a cuirass with breastplate and backplate to protect his torso and vital organs, designating him as some sort of leader.A low-level officer, perhaps.The average grunt would never have been given armor, and the top line officers owned equipment of much better quality.
That didn’t make the war drone any less intimidating.In fact, it was quite the contrary.Gus would have struggled with a common class two.Let alone a class one who was intelligent enough to secure a spot in the Tsavitee’s hierarchy.No easy feat considering their culture heavily favored survival of the fittest and believed the best way to earn a promotion was by slaughtering your competition.
The most concerning thing about the class one was the semi-melted state of the amber resin wall keeping it in suspended animation.That’s what Gus had stepped in a second ago.Its hibernation goo.
Half of one arm and part of its head had already been freed.The resin dripped toward the floor like wax placed under a warm lamp for too long.
The Tsavitee blinked.Its eyes shifted to focus on her.
Gus squeaked and jumped, nearly falling on her ass for the second time in as many minutes.Her legs tried to slip out from under her.She saved herself by putting one hand down on the floor.At the slightly warm, sticky sensation under her palm, she jerked her hand back up almost instantly.
The Tsavitee’s fingers twitched.Its hand opening and closing.
This time Gus managed to stifle her squeak, maintaining an outward calm despite the way her heart was pounding in her chest.
No need to panic.You have time.It can’t move yet.It’s still trapped.
For the next few minutes anyway.
The Tsavitee’s gaze reminded Gus of a ravenous monster as she examined its stasis pod for an explanation as to why the honeycomb was suddenly showing signs of life.It felt awfully convenient that this was happening just as she was passing through.
Why now?Why this moment?
Gus studied the blinking symbols to the right of the Tsavitee’s stasis chamber.
Thaw protocol initiated,Gus read.
Well, that answered that.Someone woke him up.
Gus swallowed hard, feeling slightly sick to her stomach.Only one person had come this way before her.The Tuann she was following.
There was no way.He couldn’t have known he was being followed.She’d been so careful.Not even someone of Caius’s skills would have picked up on her presence.There had to be another explanation.
She was still lost in thought as something moved across her peripheral vision.Gus jolted as shapes elongated on the wall to her right, reaching distorted proportions before stabilizing into something familiar.
People, Gus realized.The resin of the walls in this section must be thinner than others.She was seeing their shadows through the walls.
Could they also see her?
She didn’t think so.From the way they were moving, quickly and without delay, as if they were on a mission, it was obvious that they hadn’t noticed her presence.And probably wouldn’t as long as she maintained her distance from the wall separating them.
There was a low murmur, but Gus couldn’t make out what was being said.The words were too indistinct and garbled.They moved out of sight a second later.
Gus thought she understood a little better why this Tsavitee had been woken up.
A quarter hour ago, the Tuann she was following had undergone an abrupt course correction.The tactical strike team on the other side of that wall must have been the reason for his detour.He must have stumbled across their presence and decided to wake the Tsavitee as a means of dealing with them.Gus just had the bad luck to stumble across it before it could complete its task.
The class one pushed against the walls of its prison.They stretched outward like sticky taffy.
Gus probably needed to do something about that.
“One of these days, I really need to stop sticking my nose into things that don’t involve me,” Gus grumbled, grabbing a vial from one of the pockets lining the interior of her cloak.She dumped the powdery substance into the palm of her hand and waited for the Tsavitee to stick its head out of its prison.
It didn’t take long.
His ravenous eyes on her, the Tsavitee opened its mouth on a triumphant roar and promptly choked on the powder she blew into its face.
