Taming the Queen of Beasts

GAR

They had to leave the cave to eat dinner with the others because now that they had space from the others, Tarkyn wanted to better understand what Rika would be doing in the human camp, just in case their actions from outside could improve her chances.

However, the closer they got to the humans, the more Gar was determined to find a way to defeat them without letting her leave.

"Whatever story you give them has to be as close to the truth as possible," Tarkyn said around a mouthful of dried beef. "You can't be searching for details. I know they aren't as perceptive as Anima, but they will still smell you for suspicion. You've been gone too long and show up at too crucial a time for them not to. Not if they're intelligent."

"They're very intelligent," Rika replied, nodding. "I thought I can follow the story of my capture almost exactly as it happened—especially since Elreth did put me in the prison tree. I know what it's like and where it is. And I can acknowledge that I was pressured to give information about them. But I think the key will be, what information I give them."

Gar looked at her sharply, but her attention was on Tarkyn.

The Captain nodded but he was frowning. "This is why we needed more guards. We could have formed a dual front and had you point them in the wrong direction."

"I still can," she said, watching him closely. "If the Protectors are moving around and working to get in through the back and sides, pointing them at…. at you all is the right thing to do. They'll know I'm telling the truth. But what I need is some kind of warning that will make them hesitant to simply run in and start shooting. You won't survive that."

She finally looked at Gar then, swallowing hard.

He took her hand and held it as she turned back to Tarkyn. "I'll… I'll tell them you've set traps. Explosives. Like landmines. Something that will stop them moving for a time until they can get some technology out there to look for it."

"But won't that be a matter of hours?" Tarkyn said skeptically.

"Any hours is a help, right? That much more time your fighters can rest. But no, I was thinking… all it would take would be a few buried tree stumps or some kind of… I don't know, something that will show up in a scan on the ground. If I tell them that you've perfected organic matter explosive, you can stuff a trunk with dead leaves and bury it, and they'll be reluctant to approach," she chuckled, but the smile faded quickly.

"That would work?" Tarkyn asked, surprised.

She nodded. "Their scans work best on synthetics and metals. But there's very little of that here. So they use heat transfer and heat signatures to identify living beings, and some kind of sound wave technology to identify other things—they'll see the form of it, but not be able to identify what it's made of.

"When we stop, if you have some chunks of trees or something buried in the grasses, they'll find them and need to explore to make sure they're safe to pass over."

Tarkyn was nodding. "We can do that. Even with just a few of us, we can do that. But explain to me what will be happening on your side."

As Rika outlined for both of them that she would approach the humans as if she'd broken free—bringing Reece with her—that they were coming to warn the humans against the approaching Anima attack, Gar's blood ran colder and colder as he imagined the many and varied ways that she would be suspected, restrained, or punished if they had somehow learned the truth.

"All I need," she said as she went on, "Is to get my hands on a command device. The leaders will have them—in fact, I should draw a picture of them for the Protectors. They should target anyone who carries one. They're the most powerful devices the humans hold. With one of those, I can control or shut down the others."

Tarkyn was making notes.

"Even if they suspect me, they'll need to interview me and hold me. And whoever's given responsibility for that will likely have a command device. As soon as I can, I'll get my hands on one. If I can activate the kill switch, they will be far less dangerous to you, even in their greater numbers. Then it will be finding ways to remove their guns. But without their technology to find and target Anima, you all will have an advantage in taking them out by stealth. If it comes to that, you take a few key people, steal their guns, and even the playing field…"

Gar's stomach twisted.

He'd seen the destruction guns wreaked on flesh. The idea of wielding one turned his stomach. He caught eyes with Tarkyn who also looked uneasy, but the Captain was far more used to using weapons than Gar, who'd lean into fighting in beast form before he'd take a weapon with human hands.

"The scouts believe the humans are likely going to have 200 or so people. If that number is accurate, how many would-be warriors?"

Rika snorted. "It depends how you define warriors. I know they were planning to bring in a group of mercenaries when they moved, but I doubt that was more than forty or fifty of your 200. I could be wrong, but you saw that we had a team of five just for observation. I believe they're coming to capture and study you, to take you back to our world… The staff needed for that task alone, let alone their sample gathering and…" Rika ran a hand through her hair. "Look, I can't be sure, okay? But I believe their real strength is in their technology and if we can cut that out from under them you can win this easily."

Tarkyn nodded. "I hope you're right."

Gar hoped so too, but that didn't change the fact that to achieve this, the initial risk was all hers.

As she continued to explain the details of how the human teams worked and what she'd be trying to do, Gar put a hand to her thigh and gripped, praying, praying, praying that somehow they could do this together.

*****

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