Rhea swore she wasn’t going to allow her own portrait to be added to these walls.
“A missile launcher or nuke, huh?” Miles taunted Brinks.
“Hey, it seemed plausible at the time,” Brinks said.
“Are those paintings supposed to be bounty kills?” Miles asked.
“I think so,” Brinks said.
“I wonder if there’s anything on the augmented reality band,” Miles said.
Rhea didn’t care. She’d seen enough.
“Recall the technical,” Rhea said. “And have Gizmo return to its previous pursuit altitude.”
“Should we change course, head directly toward the target?” Will asked.
“No,” Rhea said. “I think it’s safer to take this roundabout path until we’re clear of the trailer.”
The SUVs continued on the path she had plotted and then finally swerved back onto a direct pursuit course. The technical she’d dispatched to the trailer rejoined the convoy momentarily.
“The semi is turning westward,” Will announced. “Doubling back toward the highlands.”
Rhea tapped her chin. “What game is she playing?” She paused. “Follow.”
The convoy pursued.
After several moments, Rhea could see the outermost hills of the highlands on the horizon ahead.
“Target is swerving again,” Will said.
“Look,” Miles said.
Rhea followed his gaze. Miles was looking due south. Lurking on the horizon, directly in the path of the semi, were several small, greenish smears.
“Bioweapons,” Horatio said.
Rhea zoomed in. She observed large, avian bodies, covered in green feathers and at rest upon the plains. Their large, tusked heads were vaguely anvil-like, with long, drooping antennae, and insectile eyes gazing out upon the world from underneath thick plates. They had toothless suckers for mouths.
Tasins.
The creatures were beginning to perk up as the semi approached. Their antennae straightened, and one by one they turned their heads toward the incoming vehicle. When they spotted it, their sucker mouths dripped acid eagerly. Some stood up, revealing the four thin, bony feet that supported them: the toes were tipped with half-moon talons bigger than scythes.
“Veil is insane,” Will said.
“Either that, or ingenious,” Miles said. “She’s knows we’re not going to follow.” He glanced at Rhea nervously. “We’re not, right?”
She glanced at the overhead map. Gizmo had mapped out the whole herd. They were spread out across the plains over an area of one square kilometer.
“I have no intention of traveling into the pod,” Rhea said. “Veil wants to be stupid, it’s up to her. I’m plotting a course around the pod. We’ll intercept her somewhere on the other side. Assuming she survives.”
She laid out the course on her HUD, and the vehicles altered course to give the pod ample breathing room.
Meanwhile, Veil’s semi headed directly for the creatures.
All of the Tasins were standing by then. They jockeyed amongst themselves for position, eager to accept the obvious challenge posed by the incoming vehicle and vying to be among the first to take it on. Three bulls outcompeted all the others, shoving the smaller pod members aside so that they stood in the forefront.
Rhea watched as the semi approached the three without slowing.
The Tasins were shivering in anticipation of what they evidently thought was going to be an easy kill. After all, the semi was so much smaller than most of them, especially the bulls, who towered over it like dinosaurs.
And then, when the semi was almost a hundred meters out from the foremost members of the pod, the lead bull lunged forward. The sucker slammed downward, but the semi managed to swerve out of the way.
The bull swiped at it with a foot, raking those talons into the metal exterior and flipping the vehicle onto its side. Before the semi struck the ground, several harpoons shot out from the vehicle’s left flank, and stabbed the huge bull in the upper back.
The Tasin roared in pain, a stentorian sound that carried across the plains. The semi rapidly reeled in the cords connected to the harpoons, which caused the vehicle to be carried into the air. In seconds it plunged into the feathers of the bull’s upper back, causing the Tasin to bellow once more. The semi remained glued there, attached firmly to the Tasin’s upper back.
The huge creature kept fidgeting, trying to slough away the parasite: it couldn’t quite reach the semi with its acid-dripping maw, so it resorted to repeatedly clawing at the vehicle and smashing its body into the ground, all to no avail. Other Tasins tried to rip the semi away as well, but Veil was apparently wary of those acid-dripping suckers, because whenever another Tasin’s mouth got too close, the offending bioweapon was met with a faceful of plasma fire from the passenger or driver sides. Eventually the other Tasins got the hint and left the semi alone.
The bull continued to occasionally molest the unwanted passenger with its claws but appeared resigned to the fact that it would be carrying a stowaway, at least for a while.
“Well,” Brinks said. “This is interesting.”
“I’ve seen vehicles like these before,” Miles said. “They’re designed for hunting the smaller bioweapons, and meant to take down prey without inflicting too much bodily damage—you know, so they have more parts to sell on the exotics markets in the Far East. Anyway, the vehicles can shoot harpoons from the fore and flanks, which embed in their prey. The stricken bioweapon usually flees, dragging the vehicle with it, and eventually the prey run themselves to death. Never quite heard of the harpoons used in this way, though.”
“Like I said, insane,” Will commented.
“She’s taunting us,” Rhea said. “Telling us: if we want her, to come get her.”
“We’re going to wait her out, of course,” Brinks said. “We’re not crazy enough to approach the pod, are we?”
Rhea didn’t answer.
“Crap,” Brinks said.
“The plasma turrets on the technicals are more than enough to keep them at bay,” Rhea said.
“Yeah, except there are so damn many of them,” Will complained.
“If you don’t want to come, I’ll understand,” Rhea said. She transmitted over the main
