Vintor grunted and continued wading through the muck, toward the location programmed into his handheld. Ashtoret kept watch for any indication they’d been discovered. As he panned the dim bank, several yards away, he spotted a pair of glowing, yellow eyes. The wet hair on the back of his neck stood up.
I knew it.
“There,” Ashtoret whispered as he paused his watery trek.
Swift movement followed by a splash sounded, and Ashtoret braced himself. He snarled in anger, when a large set of jaws clamped on his arm. Ashtoret was aggravated with himself more than anything. He’d known the attack was coming. The warrior resisted the tug on his forearm, instead yanking his assailant out of the water. His first instinct, from years of training, was to pull one of the blades strapped to his chest. But he didn’t want to fatally injure any of the planet’s inhabitants if he didn’t have to.
“Son of a metcor,” Vintor cursed low. “That thing is ugly. And it looks like it has a nasty bite.”
Ashtoret looked at the creature attempting to wrench his arm out of the socket. It had a row of sharp teeth, currently embedded in his flesh, yellow beady eyes, a long snout, and scales from head to tail.
“Let go,” Ashtoret growled a feral sound, letting the beast know who the bigger predator was.
He smiled when the creature released his arm, then wisely swam off, with a parting defiant lash of its scaly tail.
“I think you found the mother of all Jurou Biljana,” Vintor chuckled.
“You might be right,” Ashtoret agreed with a grin.
“How’s the arm?”
“Eh, it’ll heal.”
“We’re close enough to get out of this stream. It probably wouldn’t be wise to attract more of those things with you bleeding in the water,” Vintor suggested as he waded ashore.
The two warriors paused when they reached dry land. Ashtoret pulled a watertight pack off his back and removed the clothes that would help them blend in.
“I’m not fond of these breeches,” Ashtoret groused, holding up the pants and eyeing them critically.
“They’re constricting,” Vintor complained, after removing his vestment and stepping into the breeches.
Ashtoret tugged a hooded long sleeve top over his head, then dealt with the dreaded pants. He had to coil his tail around his waist, like a belt, for them to fit properly.
“I think they’re strangling my shaft,” Ashtoret groaned as he shifted in discomfort.
“I hope to Kali we don’t have to run in these things.”
Ashtoret and Vintor moved toward a series of artificial lights lining a black road, illuminating the dwellings. He studied the two-story homes decorated in a range of vibrant colors. The warriors kept to the shadows as they wove between the clustered buildings. The lights inside showed that many of the inhabitants were still awake.
“The dwelling we’re looking for is over there. We need to cross this picket barrier.” Vintor pointed to the third house.
Ashtoret nodded and vaulted over the knee-high wooden wall. He almost stumbled when his breeches cut him up the middle.
Damn restrictive clothing.
They were nearly to the other side of the grassy enclosure, when a small, four-legged, furry creature came charging up. A light flicked on in the nearby residence, and Ashtoret knew the yapping beastie had betrayed their presence.
“I guess we’re going to test how well we can run,” Ashtoret hissed as they both took off, leaving the annoying creature behind.
“Great,” Vintor huffed.
The warriors slowed when they reached the rear of their destination. Vintor looked around, gauging if they’d been sighted.
“It appears our contact isn’t here yet.”
“We’ll enter and wait. That will be safer than standing out in the open. I just hope the male doesn’t have one of those beasties,” Vintor smirked.
“We’re supposed to look for a tiny metal key beneath a potted plant. If it’s not there we’ll have to find another way in.”
Ashtoret quickly reviewed what he knew about the male they would soon encounter. He hoped their liaison wasn’t too shocked or put up a fight, before they could deliver their message.
Abby
“I know an unknown vessel was sighted the same time Providence went down. I want answers. And don’t give me any of that bullshit about foreign training exercises in international waters, Frank. You and I both know it wasn’t the Russians or Chinese,” her father barked into the cell phone.
Abby’s heart ached as she stared out the car window, watching as they crossed the causeway, heading toward her parent’s home.
Maybe I should’ve stayed in my apartment on campus.
It was going to be rough spending the next few weeks at home. Providence had been missing for almost a year, and her father still searched tirelessly for what happened. He refused to believe Providence went down with the plane, or got tangled in her parachute. At first Abby had also been hopeful. If anyone could find her sister, it was their dad. Nothing occupied the skies around Cocoa Beach without him knowing about it. But as the months passed, Abby’s hope had waned, leaving behind a dull ache.