Nikhil(6)
Her grandpa, her father's dad, had come for her after her father's death and taken her home with him when her mother had been unable to care for her. He'd taken her to the place he had raised her dad. A place she had only visited before on summer breaks.
Her mother never returned.
Mac knew it had been hard on her grandpa, raising a girl. He was still grieving over the loss of his only son, but he did the best he could. He taught her about what he knew and loved, his mountain. She loved that mountain. Loved knowing she was walking where her dad had once walked. It made her feel close to him as if he hadn't willingly abandoned her, not like her mother had.
Her father had been a firefighter, part of a search and rescue team that specialized in swift water rescue. He'd gone into a flooded river when he saw a child being swept away. The child had lived; he hadn't.
She knew she should be proud of him, knew she should hold no animosity for the child or his parents, but she did. She didn't want her father to be a hero; she wanted him to hug her and tuck her into her little bed at night. But he never would because of those people.
It had taken her years to get over it, to finally forgive not just the strangers that had destroyed her family, but her father for putting others before her. The one person she'd never been able to forgive was her mother. Her dad hadn't chosen to leave her; her mother had. It was something Mac knew she would never do. She would never abandon someone she loved.
The mountain had become her refuge. She had found peace there and a sense of belonging that she'd never found anywhere else. It's one of the reasons she'd gone to college and studied forestry. She wanted to be able to care for the mountain her grandpa so loved, making sure the impact from her grandpa's guide business didn’t adversely affect the plants and wildlife.
Her grandpa had been a large, somewhat gruff man. At least that’s the way others saw him, some were even afraid of him. Not Mac, because she'd seen his heart. He was a kind and gentle man with those he loved and what he protected. He only ever used his size and power against those who threatened that.
His last request was to be cremated, and for his ashes to be released from the highest point on his mountain. Mac had scaled that shear rock wall alone and done as her grandpa had requested. Then she'd sat there and watched the wind carry him away so he would forever be a part of his mountain.
She watched as time seemed to fast forward and saw how she always seemed to be alone. Even when she was in a relationship, even when the people, mostly men, she was guiding surrounded her. Maybe that's why she'd stayed with the group she'd led up the mountain because there was a woman with them. A woman that didn't want to be there. She was obviously out of her element and uncomfortable being in the great outdoors, at least until she started to cook.
Mac had been camping, hiking, and living in the outdoors most of her life. She was used to making meals from nothing, from using what she could find in the forest. But she had never had one of her meals taste as amazing as the one Jen had produced that night.
Mac loved her mountain. Loved and understood every creature on it. It was her home, and she felt safe there. Until that day when a creature had appeared she'd never seen before, pointing a strange device at her, and had taken away everything.
She'd woken up in a cage like she was an animal, when the real animals were outside the cage. They were large, hair-covered creatures, like bears, but they walked on two legs, like humans. They spoke with hisses and clicks, like insects, and stunk like rotten eggs. What the fuck were they?!! And what were those things in the other cage?
They reminded her of small kangaroos, but they obviously weren't, not with the way they were chattering to one another and looking around the room. She wasn't sure what had them so worried but quickly discovered it when one of the large, smelly creatures wearing a white collar walked into the room. He'd unlocked the other creatures’ cage, and walking in swatted away any that got in his way. He grabbed one of them and dragged it out.
It was then that they all realized the other creature was female, and what was about to happen to her. It hadn't been long before her high-pitched squeals could be heard, and those left behind huddled together trying to comfort one another.
Mac had wondered how long it would be before they dragged her away, but then something unexpected happened. The men that she had led up the mountain, the ones she was supposed to be taking care of, pulled her deeper into their group placing her next to Jen.
That protection had continued even after the Ganglians had sold them to the Zaludians. They'd learned who the creatures were, and how to speak both their languages when the Ganglians had forced a device on Craig that they called an educator. They wanted them to be able to follow orders because they were now slaves, slaves to the Zaludians, and if they didn't do the work demanded of them, they would be killed.