Ki Book One (9 page)

And hunt they would.

Tomorrow they would be safe, tonight would
be another matter.

He heard a growl from his left, up in the
dense scrub by the side of the cabin. The small hut was built into
a slope, the terrain rough and rocky, but pine trees and scraggly
undergrowth still clung to the cabin on the upper side.

He tensed his legs, ensuring his body was
balanced and centered.

If he could have afforded the ammo, he would
have shot at the wolves. He could not though; who knew when those
soldiers would return. Instead he swung the oil lamp forward again,
thankful the glass protected the flame from the buffeting gale.

This high up wind rushed off the peaks
above, bringing down the frosty bite of snow and ice.

Moving forward, he heard yet another growl
from his other side. If he had to use the gun, he would, he assured
himself.

Locking his jaw in
anticipation
, he headed
around the slope. It was high and steep, and thankfully a river ran
by it to the west, continually feeding the ground water. The well
never ran dry. Though usually you didn’t have to pull from it with
a pack of wolves watching your every move.

Feeling his forehead slick with sweat, he
kept as close to the side of the hut as he could, using the wall to
protect his flank. It was when he darted out from the shadow of the
building that the growling got louder.

By the sounds of it, there was a whole pack
around him. He could catch the silvery glints of their sleek backs
in the dim light of his lamp. Here and there the flash of a tail,
even the glimmer of moonlight against wide open eyes.

The well was barely three meters from the
back of the hut, but it felt like it was kilometers away.
Continually swinging the torch he made it though.

The p
ack circled in from behind. With a distinct, sharp scrabble
of claw on rock, he heard one jump. Springing off a high boulder at
the back of the cabin, it landed right in front of him. Body all
but convulsing back in shock, Jackson managed to hold onto his gun
somehow.

It was a huge wolf, probably the alpha of
the pack, and as it bared its teeth and growled, the others moved
in from the sides.

Jackson was pinned, but he had not lost.
Baring his own teeth at the thought of wasting a bullet, he aimed
at the creature before him.

He did not get a chance to shoot.

The wolf doubled back with a sudden lurch,
its ears pricking up as it sniffed the air in panic. The move was
picked up and repeated by the rest of the pack until they all began
to whine with worry. Seconds later they scurried as a group down
the slope and into the shadows of the large and ancient pines.

They hardly made a sound. Not even a
whimper or a yelp, just the scrabbling of quick and frantic claws
over rock.

The sight of them fleeing so suddenly and
with such speed saw Jackson almost drop his gun.

Then he heard it. From up above a faint
humming that was getting louder. At first it sounded like nothing
more than an insect, but as it neared, he recognized it.

The same sound of swarming locusts that he’d
heard before those soldiers had attacked the farmhouse.

Dread drawing over him, he bolted for the
cabin. Before he could reach it, he saw a shape fall down from the
sky above. It landed with the softest of thumps on the gently
sloped roof of the hut. With the sound of its fall, it could have
been no heavier than a house cat, but as he saw it pull up, he
recognized the form of a man. He even saw the white glint of that
distinctive armor.

Jackson had no time to react. Half a second
later, something landed in front of the cabin door. There was the
sound of wood splitting as something was kicked in and then a
punctuated short scream.

Ki.

He rushed forward but the soldier on the
roof somersaulted off and landed less than a centimeter in front of
him, lashing forward with the butt of his rifle.

Slamming backwards into the wooden beams
of the hut, Jackson brought up his hands and managed to deflect the
rifle off. That was all he could do. He couldn’t catch it or yank
it from the soldier’s grasp; the force of the blow was
unstoppable.

“
Ki,” he used up precious breath to shout
her name. It was a pointless move; no doubt she was already out
cold. These soldiers were the most efficient and well-equipped he
had ever seen.

Still, her name bubbled up from somewhere
within and was impossible to stifle.

The soldier brought his gun around again,
this time slamming it right into Jackson’s stomach.

It crippled him. Stumbling to his knees,
he watched in still horror as the soldier lurched forward, grabbing
Jackson by the neck and slamming him against the wall. The cabin
shook so hard something dislodged from the roof.

Beginning to black out, Jackson saw one of
the large wooden logs of the roof slide off and slam against the
soldier. Too sudden to move back, it struck the guy right on the
head. Crumpling, his fancy armor obviously unable to withstand such
a direct and heavy hit, the soldier’s hand was ripped off Jackson’s
throat.

Gasping for air, ready to black out, somehow
he held on. Stumbling to one knee, he leaned forward. Mind a haze
from his near asphyxiation, his hand acted of its own accord,
snaking out and grabbing at the soldier’s gun.

It was light, impossibly light. It felt
like holding air. For such a big-barreled weapon, it should have
been heavy and solid. Yet as he toted it, pushing the butt into his
shoulder and locking his body around it, it felt like it was
floating.

Not wasting any time, he pushed to the side
of the soldier by his feet, stumbling over the massive log that
still pinned the man down. Shoving all his fatigue and pain to the
side, he ignored his throbbing throat and pounding stomach.

He could hear someone coming from the side
of the house.

The footsteps were light, barely audible,
but he knew it couldn’t be Ki.

He shot first, but not towards the
skulking soldier as he came into view. At the rock scree behind the
cabin. Running to the side and finally coming out of the safety of
the shadow of the house, he aimed at the stone-covered slope above.
As he fired, there was no recoil from the gun. Yet each blast did
far more damage than any other rifle he’d ever used. Searing blue
blasts slammed into the rocks, their energy leaching out into the
surrounding ground and causing whole boulders to crumble and
pop.

The effect was immediate. The once-stable
cliff face slipped. Like an avalanche, stone rained down from
above.

He jumped forward, diving against the side
of the house, bringing his arms up and over his head.

It was a risky move. If he’d done enough
damage to the scree, it could crumple the hut beneath it as it slid
down the hill. He just hoped the cabin was as sturdy as it looked.
Made out of huge rounds of pine trunk, it had been built to
last.

He felt the hut rock against him as the
slope surged against it like a wave.

He also heard the shouts. Heavily distorted,
he knew they came from the soldiers. He also recognized the fear
and desperation.

Riding out the rockslide, he pressed his
eyes closed in a quick prayer.

He hoped she would be fine. It had been a
last-ditch move to shoot the scree, but against such sophisticated
enemies, it was that or die.

With one final bone-shaking crash, the
house stopped shuddering.

It was now or never. He needed the element
of surprise. Leaping up he rushed to the front of the cabin, gun at
the ready. The moon gave him sporadic illumination as it peaked out
from behind the rushing clouds. It was all he needed.

As soon as he rounded the house he rolled.
Though his back crunched into the sharp, dislodged stones that
scattered the small path before the door, he snapped to his feet
easily.

Expecting a volley of fire, no one fired a
single shot. Twisting on the spot, he realized the door was
closed.

He didn’t hesitate, he shot at the base,
darting to the side to avoid the hail of wood and sparks. He didn’t
dart in over the still smoking wood. He wasn’t crazy. Instead he
climbed up the side of the house, over the piles of rock that had
lodged there, aiming for one of the windows. When he reached it, he
flattened himself as quickly and silently as he could.

The rocks had built up so high on this side
of the cabin that he could see in through the window while lying on
his stomach. As he peered in, the still crackling fire within lit
up the room.

One of those soldiers had his arm around Ki,
her body limp and bent over, arms and hair brushing against her
legs. The man’s gun was at the ready, aimed at the door, stance
stiff and poised.

That was two of them. If it was the same
group from the farmhouse, there would be two more.

He couldn’t take for granted that they’d
fallen down the hill along with the rockslide.

With the lightest crunch behind him, his
body tensed, head pounding with alarm.

Rolling on his stomach, he moved just in
time. Something jumped down from the scree behind him, landing
where he’d been a second ago.

Jackson flung himself into a desperate roll,
scrabbling as fast as he could until he got to his feet.

He heard the soldier hot on his heels. The
crunch of rock under the man’s boots, the swish of air past that
sleek armored form.

Letting out a desperate cry, Jackson rolled
onto his back, bringing the gun up to fire as he did. He held his
finger on the trigger, hand locking down in terror.

The blasts that came out of the gun ceased,
instead a powerful and continuous beam replaced them. It cut
through the landscape and, out of pure luck, slammed into the
soldier as he leapt towards Jackson.

The blast sent the man reeling back several
meters. Unlike a shot from Jackson’s regular gun, this one did
leave a mark on that pristine armor. A massive blast mark that
smoked at the edges.

The soldier twitched, but did not get
up.

Jackson pressed himself to his knees,
getting ready to stand and check the man was down.

He didn’t get the chance. Something slammed
into his back, knocking him forward.

As stars swum through his vision and blood
splattered over his lips, he saw a dark shadow loom from
behind.

Rolling, Jackson kicked blindly at the
ground behind him. His feet struck out wildly, but they glanced off
the soldier’s legs. It was like kicking a wall.

He saw the man draw up his knee, getting
ready to stomp. In the slices of moonlight penetrating the clouds,
it was like flashes of a dream.

Jackson lashed out one final time, his foot
connecting with a rock beneath the soldier’s feet.

It dislodged, and the soldier stumbled to
the side. Overbalanced, he fell to his knees, sliding down the
slope.

Jackson immediately clutched at his gun,
shooting the soldier before he could right himself.

The blast from his gun sent the man flying
back, smashing into the slope, causing yet another rockslide to
drag him even further along the incline.

Three down, one to go. This one had Ki
though.

Bringing a hand down, he checked his
pocket as he stumbled to his feet. Gasping against the pain that
seemed to fill his entire form, he felt the device.

It was the only reason they weren’t shooting
at him. How they still knew it was on him, he didn’t know. It
probably had something to do with those scanners Ki had talked
of.

Scanners. Machines that could read and
measure the natural world, picking up impossible details from great
distances. Technology like that did not exist.

Letting his hand fall from the device, he
pushed forward. Forcing his bucking and pain-riddled knees to walk,
he stumbled over the loose scree, heading back for the
house.

The soldier inside would have the advantage.
If he had one of those scanners, no doubt he would be able to see
Jackson’s approach.

With an enemy that could watch your every
move, how were you meant to fight? The element of surprise was the
only weapon he had against them.

No, not the only weapon. He still had the
crystal. He’d seen what had happened before when he’d broken one.
He could do it again, though he hoped he wouldn’t have to; it was
the only evidence he had. Its properties needed to be analyzed, its
abilities ascertained. The whole future of his people could depend
on it.

With national survival weighing on his
shoulders, he searched for an advantage.

The moon handed him one.

As the clouds parted above, he saw something
glint by his foot. Leaning down, he plucked something out of the
rocks.

It was one of those devices the soldiers
kept in their armor. He’d seen the lead soldier pluck one out and
use it to scan Ki back in the farmhouse.

Bringing it closer, he watched in
amazement as the screen lit up. Images, like movies, were
flickering over it. They were not real footage, but approximations
of scenes made up of moving outlines.

He’d never seen anything like it.

He did not have time to stand in wonderment
though. If this was one of their scanners, he had to find a way to
use it.

Trying not to touch any buttons, lest he
accidentally turn it off, he waved the device up. As he shifted it,
the image on the small screen changed. At once he saw the outline
of the incline below and every tree, despite the fact they were all
hooded by shadow. As he moved it towards the cabin, it blipped, a
white form appearing. The form was human shaped.