The Streisand Effect [Spectra Fanfiction, book 2/3]

16 - Ambush

Septico was far from the warm and sunny desert they had all left behind. Instead of a pristine blue sky and oceans of red dunes, black clouds hung in the air as rain thundered down like a curtain of water. Lightning crackled through the sky followed shortly by the deafening boom of thunder. 

Jäga couldn't help but feel like it was a bad omen for things to come as he gently lowered the ship down to the earth. They'd decided to touch down on the outskirts of the city, next to an old warehouse. The less attention they attracted the better, and it would allow them to skip any fees. Money certainly wasn't in abundance at the moment.  

The Stinger touched down on the soft grass and the doors all opened up. Jäga activated the ship's local jamming equipment so nobody would be able to pick it up on any sort of RADAR or thermal imaging systems. The patter of rain atop the vessel only grew louder as the ramps dropped and cold air rushed in.

The group all promptly exited the ship out into the soaking weather. Jäga seized a small umbrella from the cockpit. Before Ava could leave he quickly tapped her on the shoulder, offering her the device but she simply sneered and wiped him away with a wave of her hand, darting after the others.

Seeing this, Duria quickly piped up, "Oh, um... I take it you won't be needing that then?" He motioned to the umbrella. 

Jäga said nothing, simply tossing the device his way. 

"Many thanks."

The mowlin's heart felt like it had been twisted into a vice, slowly being constricted with each passing second. His shoulders sagged and eventually, he too followed after the others. When everyone was outside, the sip's doors were sealed once more.

"So where's this meeting point?" Jupiter asked through the rain.

"There's an old water station to the east. That's where I said to meet up. We've got two hours before she'll be there," Ava explained.

"How far is it?"

"Around half an hour. Didn't count on it to be raining this hard though. Fun."

"A little rain never hurt anyone, at least we'll be clean for the meeting!" Duria piped up.

"Yea. And waterlogged. Just be thankful you're not covered in fur," Ava groaned.

"I'll consider myself lucky on that front."

As they began walking, Duria quickly walked up to Erica, pulling out the umbrella. He opened it up and offered her the handle.

The dahmak look surprised, not sure what to do.

"O-Oh... Um... I-I..."

Ava and Rix giggled to each other as they watched Erica's morph lights brighten slightly. Even in the dark of the storm, they could still see her cheeks turning red once more. 

"Please, I insist." The kugraw smiled. 

"W-well we could share it. I don't want it all to myself," Erica whimpered.

"Good idea!" Duria grinned and held the umbrella high, making sure the doctor was shielded from the worst of the rain. The glow from her eyes lit up the bottom of the umbrella a dull red and the drops all around her face refracted the light, making it look like she was covered in hundreds of tiny red crystals. 

Duria couldn't help but marvel at her as they walked, though he did his best to hide it. Erica however was a little less confident. Her eyes were firmly planted either on the floor or in front of her the entire time.  

Jäga had to fight every urge inside him not to walk alongside Ava. The thought of holding her hand all of a sudden seemed more like a death wish. At first he had been so eager to go off on another adventure, but now all he wanted was to curl up in bed and never wake up.