Chapter 226: (Hesstla) (2/2)
”Why are they doing this?” Truba'an cried out, still holding tight around Dambree's neck.
”I don't know,” Dambree coughed, pulling her sister's arms free. ”Get in the front seat with your brother and stay down.”
Her brother, Elurta, nodded, sliding down with the baby and hiding in the foot well. Her sister moved next to him, hugging him. All three of their faces were tight with fear, their triangular noses and whiskers twitching with fear, their ears pressed to the back of their heads, their mouths closed as they gritted their flat teeth.
She went around a corner, the edge of the car slipping into the grain, which lashed at her through the missing door, and saw steady lights in front of her.
CHARGE AND CARRY the sign said, blinking slowly. The price was blinking as Dambree pressed on the pedal as hard as she could, the little car thumping and bumping over the potholes and the bumps in the road.
It was in a gap in the grain, two other roads connecting to it that vanished into the grain, only one of the paved and glimmering with the induction fields for electric cars. The sign was still on, the interior of the shop lit up, and the charging stations sitting bright and shiny.
She pulled in slowly, coming to a slow stop next to the pump. She reached out and picked up the heavy Terran pistol, feeling the grip shift slightly in her hand as if to mold itself to her fingers.
”Can I have some nibbles?” Truba'an asked.
”Not yet. Let me look inside,” Dambree said.
”There might be bad machines inside,” her brother Elurta warned.
”I know,” she said softly. She got out and moved to the back of the car, grabbing one of the quikcharge plugs as she passed it. She looked around and saw nothing but waving grain, although off in the distance several of the areas of lights from fliers sweeping the grain and streaks of light coming up from the ground in return.
The pump checked the cars onboard chip, not noticing it was cloned, and began pushing power through the cable an into the cars depleted batteries as Dambree ran up and ducked down next to one of the big cryplas windows. She peeked up and saw nothing, not even a shop-bot, then ducked down again. She counted to five, looking down at the pistol in her hand.
She wished she knew how to shoot beyond what she had seen on TV.
Push it against the temple, came up unbidden in her mind. She nodded and looked up again scanning. The rows looked clear, she could kind of see the coolers, and the counter looked empty. She stood up and rushed the door, her bare feet slapping on the plascrete. She busted through, her shoulder flaring with pain and making her cry out, but she was through and into the interior.
The little sensor went 'bing-bong' as she stumbled through the door.
She hurried, looking around the Carry-Out Shop, finding nothing and nobody inside. She checked the aisles twice, wondering where the teller or the shop-bot had gone to. Finally she moved back out and waved to her siblings to come in.
”Can I have some nibbles?” her little sister asked again.
”Yes, Tru, you can,” Dambree said. ”Both of you can pick up nibbles and sippers. Give me Pulngee.”
Her little brother handed her the baby, who squirmed and tried to bite. Dambree pinched her nose to help her learn to curb her biting instinct as she headed over to the rack she had seen.
There. Disposable infant swaddling, artificial milk, a sucky, some stuffies, and a shirt that said ”I
She quickly changed her sister's diaper, throwing the dirty one in the garbage.
”Tru, you watch Punee,” Dambree said.
”You don't have a shirt on. Momma's gonna be mad,” Tru said, a candy-bar in each hand.
”I know,” Dambree said. She began moving stuff over to the back seat and the trunk of the car, hurrying as fast as she could. The car hadn't finished quikcharging and Dambree wondered if Alkree ever kept it fully charged.
The reminder of her boyfriend made her start to snuffle as she kept moving boxes of milky, nibbles, sippers, diapers, and anything else that caught her eyes. She packed the trunk then started putting it in the back seat.
She was behind the counter when she heard it.
The horrible sound of a floater.
”Here! Come here!” she snapped. She was glad that her siblings didn't argue, just ran around the counter and joined her. She slapped a sucky in Punee's mouth.
”Stay quiet,” she hissed.
The floater was circling the store slowly. She could hear it making a weird fluttering, spluttering noise as it moved. She looked down at the pistol, seeing the light was red. She pushed it and it went green. The grip seemed suddenly more alive somehow and the pistol felt warmer even it did suddenly feel heavier.
The flitter moved around past the car. She peeked at it and saw it was damaged. Two of the tentacles were hanging down, sparking and trembling, the grasping ends missing. Two of the crysteel globes were damaged, shattered, the thick armor was divoted and cratered, missing in two spots and showing complex machinery and tubes inside. Several of the glass tubes were broken, sparks jumping from the base. It kept tipping on one side and having to fire its rockets to level out again.
It turned, the searchlight sweeping the inside and she ducked back down.
It moved in, Dambree could hear it, and there was a sudden crackling noise. Lightning played around the roof, arcs of electricity flowing to outside, and there was a high pitched squealing noise. She could hear the rockets sputter as it pushed its way into the suddenly dark convience store, the lights exploding in showers of sparks.
Her sister whimpered.
Grids of red light suddenly appeared on the walls, sweeping slowly across, and she knew that it was searching for her. The grid just like the cost-stamp detector in the stores.
There was a quiet hiss of liquid as her little brother wet himself when the grid passed over the counter, shining on the wall.
The sputtering got louder as the flitter roared forward, grabbing the counter with its tentacles and throwing it to the side.
All three screamed, turning around and throwing themselves against the wall. The flitter reared back, as if it was startled, bringing its tentacles up in a defensive movement, knocking the shelves behind it down.
Then it started moving forward, several tentacles with graspers on the end sliding out of the body. It moved forward slowly, clicking the graspers.
YOU BELONG TO ME it whispered.
”EAT A DICK!” Dambree screamed.
It flinched back slightly, holding its tentacles up, then rocked back level, orienting to stare at her with wide lenses. There was a sense of glee as it started moving forward.
Dambree curled over her little sister, looking at her other two siblings. ”Close your eyes,” she whispered.
They both did.
Glass shattered at the front of the store and Dambree looked up in time to see something crash through the window. Its back was as high as Dambree's armpit, it had four legs ending in huge razor sharp claws, it had a tail, a long narrow head with huge heavy jaws full of spiked teeth, including tusks.
”SIMBA IS HERE!” the newcomer roared.