Alpha Siege (Omega Mates #1) - Pearl Tate Page 0,4
wasn’t for the promised extra provisions and medications, we wouldn’t even be attempting it.
I’d like to think that other encampments will be put off because of it, but if they’re anything like us, they’ll be sending a party out to search for him too. Or four groups of males like I did.
What else can we do? We need the provisions. It’s hard enough to survive without their help. When they offer incentives like this, our options are limited. The low dwellers certainly haven’t provided provisions the way they made it sound during our training to leave for the surface.
Looking at Pascel, limping around the fire until he reaches the handle to turn the spit he’s erected, I wonder how long he’ll live without the suppressant drugs we’ve all come to rely on. As a permanently disabled male in our group, it’s not uncommon for him to go without. Without suppressants, without food, and without female companionship.
That makes me sad... and angry. I know it’s because I’ve started to think of him as a surrogate son. Something I know I shouldn’t do, despite the fact that we’ll never have children. I was taught to identify and avoid this weakness in my Alpha studies. I have to be unbiased and fair. And firm.
A strange hissing noise above the trees has me looking up from the message board in my lap. This is new. Passing the device to Pascel as I walk by him, I use my retracted claws to scale the large tree as quickly as possible. Circling the trunk as I travel up its length, I keep my eyes open for the source of the strange sound. Could this be something that the low dweller is utilizing? Has he been able to get one of the old traveling devices into a workable condition?
If so, it makes me want to catch him first all the more. What a boon it’d be to have something like that! Even though Alta is littered with all kinds of technology and equipment from before the Great Explosion, none of it has been usable due to our lack of energy sources. Our world has broken down, decaying slowly over time after the initial explosion of all our power producing plants.
Stopping on a branch three times wider than my foot, I walk out on the limb to survey the source of the noise, trying to locate it quickly. When I do, my eyes widen at the strange oblong-shaped vessel flying through the air. Based on the way that it’s moving, I’m not positive who it could belong to. We have nothing like this that I’m aware of anywhere on the surface.
Although there are plenty of flying machines in our past with remnants of them lying around almost everywhere you go, actively utilizing the technology has never happened in my lifetime. Sure, we all know it’s possible, but we also know the warnings we’ve been given. The Word is clear. Flying crafts are an abomination and should not be trusted.
Of course, I’ve seen the Sacred Words ignored. There’s always someone out there who has to try. Clearly, this is one of those cases.
Great. Just what I don’t need. I’m actually surprised that we haven’t been contacted by the low dwellers about this yet. I can’t imagine it’s possible they’re not aware of it.
Tracking the craft that’s practically blending with the sky, I’m relieved to see that it’s descending. “What is it?” Pascel’s voice calls from the ground.
Instead of climbing down, I reach above my head for a higher branch, trying to keep the craft in sight. If I have to descend and then climb another tree, I’m sure to lose it. “It’s just another bullshit craft we’re going to have to chase after. Sak balls!”
Shielding my eyes with my hand from our lesser sun’s rays, I watch the reflection off the hull. The flying craft just dropped below the tree line, and if its rate of slowing is any indication, we should be able to catch up with it. It just figures, though. Especially since we’re already under assignment.
But maybe this is the assignment? Maybe the acquisition is in the craft? There’s no time to waste.
Dropping to the ground, I stir up the dry dust and debris at the base of the tree. “Put out the fire and follow me.” I command, taking off in the last direction I saw the craft heading.
CHAPTER THREE
- Sunny
I CAN’T BELIEVE my good luck when the top of the craft pops off like