Eden, Dawn

Chapter 27

  We made the trip to Scott’s dwelling, the first camp north of main camp, in unbelievable speed. Zikalic express.

  Sailing through the tree tops high above the thick bush that we, as humans, had to sludge through; we covered the seven treks, in my estimation, in less than half an hour. Travelling in silence, Miltredic used all his concentration to grip branches solid enough to hold our combined weight; his hands and dexterous feet working deftly to swing us from tree to tree. Teeth gritted; the muscles in my neck coiled tight—I used all my wits to stay saddled on his back, hanging on for dear life, my arms locked diagonally around his neck and chest. In the dark, I could see very little as branch and vine and leaf whipped past my head. He didn’t share any of my limitations. During the entire journey, I never heard him short of breath. He was the supreme athlete.

  How could we ever defeat an army of these?

  We stopped about fifty strides from Scott’s camp. Miltredic positioned me halfway up a tower of a tree, making sure I was steady. He removed his visor, which I now realised was not just a sunscreen, but also shielded his face from loose foliage that might puncture the eyes at high speed. Turning on the luminous purple light on his chest, he seemed to peer straight into me. Somehow, I was already familiar with his abnormally large features.

  “You must stay here,” he said, as he fiddled with a dial on a device strapped to his wrist. My blood went cold.

  Rumbala! The device that launches the dart!

  “No! Please don’t hurt him!” The words spilled out in a sudden torrent of panic and paranoia.

  “Rist, I will not harm him.” Miltredic’s calm tone and reposed aura put me at ease. Somewhat. “I need to put him to sleep and bring him to you. If I wake him as I woke you, he might have a heart attack.”

  “But…”—still confused by Zika-weaponry, and only now conscious that he didn’t seem to have a gun, I had to ask—“…but your weapon, the dart?”

  “We can set the required dose. The dose I have set is simply to stun him. He will feel no pain. You have nothing to fear.”

  I had no choice either, but I knew better than to argue with him. He turned off the light; darkness enclosed us, and he was gone. Realising how absolutely at his mercy we were, I felt such contrasting emotions writhe and wriggle in the pit of my stomach. In one breath, complete hopelessness, totally dependent on the will of this killing machine. In the next, I felt hopeful; because of Miltredic’s kindness, perhaps we had a chance.