Hunter No More

Chapter Sixteen

As he descended the staircase, Alpha used his biotech's less than conventional sensory apparatus to track the two girls as they leapt from the observatory balcony onto the adjacent slope. A normal set of eyes would have been of little use in the darkness of Ochre caves, instead the biotech employed an advanced sensor web assembled from every exposed facial pore and hair follicle. It was a far more efficient arrangement than the limited observation employed by humanity, or even by the biotech grown by the Earth Hierarchy. What it lacked was the ability to blend in with the human population, but that was not an issue for a being who had no ambition to do so. The sensor web would give him an advantage over Kristof, of that he had no doubt. Even from his position on the staircase he could perceive that Kristof had lost one of his eyes.

The real problem was Anna Marriot. Just around the wall by the front door, Kristof stood with his fingers fastened around her throat and a restraining arm around her waist. Alpha could hear her heart beating far faster than it should have been. She was struggling, fighting against her captor even though Kristof could have snapped her neck in two at any moment. She was brave, just like her daughter, not that it would do her any good.

"Stop!" Kristof yelled. "Who are you?"

Apparently the young Hunter's senses were not as dulled as Alpha would have hoped.

"It's me, Samantha," he said, switching his voice module to emulate Samantha Marriot. "Let my mother go and I'll come out."

"Nice try," Kristof said. "But judging by the stress on the stairs, I would say you weigh more than two hundred and fifty pounds. Samantha would be considerably lighter."

A redundant stratagem, but Alpha had already calculated that it was unlikely to succeed. He was simply playing out all the variables.

"Show yourself," Kristof ordered. "Or the woman dies."

"Very well," Alpha answered with his normal voice. "Please do not harm her." With three final steps he walked into Kristof's line of sight.

"Stay there," the giant instructed.

Alpha opened his hands and raised them for Kristof's perusal. "As you can see, I am unarmed."

"You don't have a face," Kristof said.

"Obviously."

Kristof opened his mouth wide and frowned. "You're one of the Ochre."

"I am," Alpha replied. "Please, let the woman go."

Kristof's single eye narrowed. "What sort of biotech is that?"

"Just something I grew quickly," Alpha said. "I'm sure yours is far more sophisticated."

Kristof snorted. "Oh, I doubt that."

"It is irrelevant," Alpha said and took two steps forward. "Please, let Anna go."

Kristof looked down at the woman he held, his finger stroking the skin beneath her chin. "You're Alpha aren't you? Josella remembers you."

"Correct," Alpha answered, "but insignificant. Release Anna. Now."

"She's Kanton's wife."

Alpha took another step. "And that matters?"

"Does it matter to you?" Kristof asked. "You've never even met her. Why are you even here?"

"To protect her from you."

Kristof looked up. "But she's just a human female, nothing more. Her only value was her relationship to Kanton; Kanton, not you."