aHunter4Rescue (aHunter4Hire) (8 page)

“It
is not much different from soldiering.” Ardal started walking toward the
helicopter. The man fell in step with him.

“Is
she going to be all right?” He jerked his head toward the house.

Ardal
clenched his jaw. “She is no longer safe here.”

“I’m
sorry about that, but you know how it is. Orders are orders.”

Ardal
stopped a few feet away from the helicopter. “Yes, I know.”

He
stood back and watched the men board the machine. He remained standing tall
until the vehicle lifted off the ground. The machine flew toward the back
field, staying a few feet from the ground. These men were very thorough.

Ardal
crossed his arms and waited until the machine had swung back across the field
and then headed past him. He turned and made certain that it left Fiona’s
property before walking to the barn.

Firbin
and Jehon were there ahead of him.
“Any problems?”

Jehon
shook his head. “I managed to look inside the machine. It would have been easy
to fly. It was quite rudimentary.”

“What
weapons do they have?”

“Primitive.
They have guns that shoot bullets and missiles. No lasers, no interrupters, no
disintegrators.”

Ardal’s
eyes narrowed. “What about their searching capabilities?”

“They
have thermal equipment and they can see at night.”

Ardal
nodded. “The men are scattered. That should not raise any suspicions. What
about the Captain?”

“Still
sleeping,” Firbin voice was full of disgust. “I cannot believe that he must
live.”

“It
is so ordered.”

“True.”
Firbin glanced toward the house. “She should be safe to stay here now.”

“She
comes with us.” Ardal almost winced at the harshness of his own voice. “She has
more to fear than the search parties.”

Jehon
cleared his throat. “Will we not be in more danger if she accompanies us?”

“Perhaps,
but I promised to protect her. A Hunter does not betray his word.”

Ardal
looked toward the house and sighed. He did not need to justify his actions to
his men, but it would be best if they understood. He would not tell them that
she had already found a place in his heart. They would never understand that
their leader could forget his training and breeding to such a degree.

“She
is hiding from a man who abuses her.” Ardal’s voice shook with the horror of
his words. “We have made it unsafe for her. He may be able to track her to this
place now.”

Jehon
frowned. “Men do not honor women here?”

Ardal
shook his head. “It seems not. They do not live by the same code as we do.”

“So
women do not rule on this planet?” Firbin moved closer. “What kind of a place
have we crashed on?”

“One
that requires us to protect Fiona.”
Ardal’s voice was
firm. “I will not forget that I am a Hunter. I have vowed to follow the Sacred
Code, no matter what the rules are on this planet.”

“As
we all have.” Jehon’s voice was firm. “None of us would dishonor our beliefs.
We will protect Fiona also.”

Ardal
looked at Firbin who nodded his agreement. “Then we must disappear from this
place. The soldiers will keep returning to this area until they find what they
are seeking.”

They
walked to the house. Jehon and Firbin veered off to the truck while Ardal went
to get Fiona. She had already packed, so there should be no problem leaving
right away. He opened the door and she almost fell out in her rush to meet him.

Ardal
took the bag from her hand. “The men are waiting in the truck.”

“I
can’t go.”

“We
leave now.” Ardal’s voice was low, but the cold look in his eyes sent shivers
down Fiona’s spine. The man could be menacing when he wanted to be.

Fiona
shook her head and straightened her shoulders. “I’ve had a message from the
group that is protecting me. They’ve told me not to leave.”

“What
message?”

“It
was on my voicemail.”

“You
mail your voice?”

Fiona
rolled her eyes. “It’s like a recorder. When you don’t pick up your phone people
can still talk into it. They must have called when we were with the soldiers.”

Fiona
went back into the house. She had her orders and she wasn’t budging from this
place until someone from the group came to get her. She owed them too much to
just ignore their advice.

“Why
would they send this message?” Ardal left the door open behind him.

“I
asked them for advice.”

“What
did you tell them?” Ardal turned her to face him.

Fiona
shrugged off his hands. “I didn’t mention you or your men. I just said that the
military was looking around the area for someone.”

“They
do not have all the facts. It is not possible for them to make an informed
decision.” Ardal shook his head. “You will only be protected with us. We leave
now.”

“I
have to stay. I promised.” Fiona bit her lower lip. “You don’t understand. If
it wasn’t for these people I wouldn’t have survived this long. They know what
they’re doing. They’ve helped hundreds of other women.”

“There
are more women who need protection?” Ardal threw his head back and sighed.
“What kind of world is this?”

“Not
very good sometimes,” Fiona whispered.

“Why
would these people want you to live here on your own?”

“They
think it’s unlikely that David will hear about the possible crash. Even if he
does, he won’t connect it with me.”

Ardal
looked out the window, his brow furrowed in thought. Fiona held her breath as
she waited for his decision. He was a man used to being obeyed. She had to be
safe, though. That meant staying here.

Ardal
turned with a swift movement. “No. We leave now.”

A
flicker of disappointment tugged at Fiona’s heart. “I understand. You must
leave the area before anyone discovers the truth.”

“Yes,
but you come with us.”

“Look
I panicked earlier. There’s no possible way people will learn about the crash.
If they do, it’s not headline news.”

“What
about Marshall and Clyde? I do not trust those men. They looked at you with
lust in their eyes.”

Fiona
gave a choked laugh. “They won’t harm me.”

“They
will call other people to investigate.” Ardal motioned around the house. “Then
how secure will you be?”

Horror
seeped through every nerve in her body. Television cameras and UFO fanatics
would be swarming the place. She hugged her arms to her chest. Even if she
refused to speak, they would be on the property. Nothing stopped fanatics. How
soon would it be before her face was plastered on a tabloid with some
outrageous comment below her name?

“I
see you understand.” Ardal took her arm and led her to the door. “These
messages you send and receive, do they have to come from just one device?”

Fiona’s
mind went blank for a second; barely registering that she was outside the
house. “Why do you want to know about telephones?”

“Can
you leave a message from any telephone?” Ardal picked up her bag and started
leading her to the truck.

“Of
course.
It doesn’t matter where you call from, you’ll reach
the person you dialed.”

“Then
you can message these underground friends of yours from another place and they
won’t know the difference?”

Fiona
let herself be helped into the truck. “You could tell I was calling from a
different phone, but they’d get the message.”

Ardal
motioned to Jehon to start the vehicle.  “So we can travel and still
contact them.”

“But
will it be safe?”

“We
have all vowed to protect you.” Ardal’s words were low.

Fiona
shivered with the intensity of his look. The man wasn’t kidding when he said it
was a vow. She glanced at Jehon, who was driving, his hands tight on the wheel,
his focus unwavering. Behind was Firbin, sprawled out on the extra seat of the
extended cab. His arms were crossed but he looked at her with the same
intensity as Ardal.

“Won’t
I hinder your escape?” Fiona wanted to accept their help, but a part of her
knew that was selfish. These men, whether they were aliens or not, needed to
find a refuge.

“Your
life comes before ours.”

Fiona
felt tears start in her eyes. This was crazy. “No, it doesn’t. You need to
hide.”

“So
do you.” Ardal brushed a tear from her cheek. “We are the same.”

“I
suppose.” Fiona sniffed. “What if I hold you up?”

“We
will wait.” Ardal eased her back against the seat. “You need to sleep.”

“I
suppose I could explain things to you.” Fiona covered her yawn with her hand.
“Earth’s people probably seem strange.”

“You
will be a help.”

Fiona
thought she caught a hint of sarcasm in Ardal’s voice, but when she glanced up,
he was looking at her with sincerity. Oh well, she didn’t have much choice now.
They were already on the road heading toward Wawa.

“I’d
take the northern route if I were you.” Sleep seemed to skirt around her
senses. “They haven’t found the other part of your vehicle so it’s probably in
Lake Superior. The further you get away from it, the better.”

“Jehon
has already considered that.” Ardal rubbed her arm.
“Sleep.”

Fiona
was too tired to argue. Her eyelids were heavy and before she could think of a
response, she had drifted off. She woke with a start. Her head was cushioned
against Ardal’s chest. With a start she sat up. The vehicle wasn’t moving and
Ardal was looking down at her expectantly.

“What?”
Fiona stretched. They were stopped at the side of the road. She glanced out and
saw a mileage sign for Chapleau in 10 kilometres. So they’d taken her advice
and gone north.

“The
vehicle is flashing a light at us.” Jehon pointed to the dashboard.

Fiona
leaned over his arm and spotted the low fuel sign. “We need gas.”

“What
do we do?” Ardal shifted beside her.

“We’re
almost at a town. There will be a gas station there.”

Less
than five minutes later they made the circular entry into the small town of
Chapleau. Fiona spotted the gas station and motioned Jehon to drive to it. Once
there, she pointed to the pumps.

“Pull
up there and then turn the vehicle off.” Fiona twisted around and spoke to
Firbin. “Hand me my bag.”

Fiona
rummaged in her bag until her fingers touched the cloth pouch that contained
her emergency kit. She had been taught to always take this with her, no matter
how ridiculous it might seem. You never knew when you might have to make a run
for it unexpectedly. Now was definitely one of those times. She opened the
pouch and pulled out a wad of money.

“This
is what you use to buy things.”

“How
do you get this?”

Fiona
shrugged. “Usually people work and get paid money. Sometimes they save it in a
bank and then they use an ATM machine to get the money.”

“What
is an ATM machine?”

Fiona
pointed to one of the machines inside the convenience store doors. “You have a
card that you put in to access your money. The machine will give you money from
your bank account.”

“We
will let the others know.”

Fiona
frowned. “Do your scanners work as telephones?”

“The
frequency is not right for that.” Ardal opened the door and stepped out of the
vehicle.

“I
used to have a cell phone, but I had to get rid of it.” Fiona jumped out of the
truck and went to the pump. “They make it easy to stay in touch with people
anywhere, but not if you’re hiding. They all have GPS in them so that you can
be found.”

“This
is an electronic device?” Ardal watched as she unscrewed the gas cap and then
took the nozzle from the pump.

“Sort
of.”
Fiona pushed the button on the pump and then
started to fill the tank. “They have cell towers all around the country so that
you can call from anywhere. The problem is that in remote areas like this,
there are no towers.”

“We
will not need to use this way to communicate.”

Fiona
tilted her head. The man gave nothing away. She felt in her bones he was hiding
something; some alien technology or way of communicating. But did it really
matter?

“I
can see you have no intention of telling me.” Fiona shrugged.

“I
have to protect my men.”

The
pump stopped. Fiona tapped the last drops of gas from the nozzle and then put
it back into its slot before screwing the cap back on. “Come, I’ll show you how
to buy something. A word of warning; keep your head low. There are security
cameras everywhere, especially in gas stations.”