“-so their autopilot has put them in orbit, but no one is responding to the hails. The scanners aren’t finding any life signs. I did send up two teams, but they came up empty, which usually means one thing...” The port master was talking with Taureen as they walked.

Taureen frowned. “Most likely sicora, then, since our scanners won’t pick them up and the crew is missing. What are you suggesting?”

The port master gestured to a group of a dozen heavily-armed Kymari waiting beside a shuttle. “Accompany these fighters so we can figure out where that infernal creature is hiding. I don’t expect you to join the fight, though; the Elders will have my hide if any harm comes to your companion.”

Taureen nodded. “How large is the ship?”

“It’s a medium-sized cargo ship. At least twenty decks in the living quarters, although most of the vessel is a series of storage bays, which is why we are having trouble figuring out which section the sicora is in. I already have permission from Elder Dairno for you to go up with this group.”

I watched the port master alertly. Finally. I was beginning to wonder if my voluntary return had jinxed my luck at finding sicora. Our patrols and inspections had turned up empty every day, even though I had returned eleven days ago.

We got on the shuttle with the fighters; Tran and Vick accompanied us as well. I gazed out of a window as the shuttle gained height and speed. Intrigued, I watched the city shrunk below us as we gained altitude. I could now see the shape of the land like the maps depicted.

Taureen seemed amused by my fascination with the shrinking city. Soon, I couldn’t even pinpoint the city in the forest. His amusement faded as everyone stood up. The door opened, and we passed through the access door as we entered the cargo ship.

I lifted my head and took a deep breath. I narrowed my eyes and let out a rattling exhale while shifting my weight. It wasn’t near, but there was definitely a sicora on this spaceship. Tran and Vick walked on either side of Taureen while most of the fighters ranged in front of us as they ensured that the path was clear. The last few followed behind us as a rearguard.

We walked for almost an hour through various hallways and levels, although the scent never noticeably increased. The constant slight scent had me slightly out of sorts though, and Taureen and his two wingmen had undoubtedly noticed.

The scent was finally growing stronger. We entered a large four-way junction, and the group continued walking straight. I lifted my nose to air and snorted before jumping off Taureen’s shoulders. My actions surprised Taureen, although he didn’t recall me immediately. The group instantly stopped as they watched me.

I swiftly circled the room while testing the air. There. I came to a hover in front of the side entrance, growling at the open doorway.

“Tasha, shoulder.” With a glance back, I reluctantly turned and flew back to Taureen’s shoulder pad. Once I landed, I stared intently at the doorway.

The group changed their direction, and the scent quickly started getting more potent. I restlessly shifted my weight, but remained on Taureen’s shoulder. Taureen pulled out the short leash and clipped it onto my harness.

He murmured to Tran. “I don’t want her going after the sicora when the fighters have their energy weapons out.”

That was probably a good idea since the sight of a sicora tended to toss most of my rational thoughts right out the window. It wasn’t long before we came to another junction, and the group paused while Taureen unclipped my leash. I flew past all of the three doors before landing on Taureen’s shoulder, staring at one doorway with an unwavering gaze.

He re-clipped my leash, and the group continued down the hallway that I had refused to look away from.

Vick quietly asked, “How did you train her to circle like that?”

Taureen’s answer was short. “I didn’t. It must be something they do in the wild.”

We entered a packed loading bay, and the scent was almost gaggingly strong. I had no idea how the others couldn’t smell it. I half-spread my wings and snarled, looking around anxiously. It had to be nearby.

Vick and Tran immediately extended their spears and readied their energy weapons as they gazed around the area. One of the fighters gestured in the direction of a second door to the side. “Let’s see how she reacts to the next room.”

The group closed the door behind us as we headed towards the next cargo bay. I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye and whipped my head around to scrutinize the bay we were about to leave. It took me only a second to spot it.

I reared up with a shriek of rage as I faced a stack of shipping crates behind the group. Heat built up in the back of my throat, and I spat a fireball at the black creature that bared its teeth at my challenging scream. It barely dodged in time and darted between the shipping crates as it disappeared from sight.

Taureen held my leash firmly as the fighters quickly flowed around us after the sicora. Vick remained beside Taureen as he glanced at me.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Vick told Taureen, “We know which room it’s in now, and we have sealed all of the exits. Let’s move her to safety while they search the crates. We don’t want to risk her.”

Taureen nodded as he promptly headed towards the door. I snarled and shook my head, digging my claws into the shoulder pad at the frustration of leaving while the foul thing still lived. They closed the door behind them and waited in the next room while I chittered and grumbled my frustration.

After a few minutes, Vick glanced at his wrist comm. “It’s dead. Do you think she may calm down if she knows it isn’t alive?”

Taureen considered it for a moment and nodded. Vick spoke into his wrist comm too quietly for me to hear as Taureen went back to the door. I leaned forward on his shoulder pad; I would have to see the dead creature for my heart to truly believe it.

The door opened, and I saw one of the fighters dragging the creature by its long tail before leaving it in the open space between the two doors. I growled at the sight of it as I flattened my ear tufts at the deadly menace.

Taureen walked closer, and I narrowed my eyes as I got a better look at its extensive injuries – it was obviously dead with wounds like that. The fact that they had cut its head off was another hint.

I took a deep breath and shook myself hard as my scales tinkled. I rearranged my wings with a few flicks as I finally relaxed. Taureen had been watching my reaction, and tilted my head at him, trilling an inquiry, as if there wasn’t a dead creature at our feet.

He turned to leave and most of the group surrounded us once more. Two of the fighters remained to dispose of the creature and clean up. The walk back was faster now that we didn’t have to wander into every room.

“Tasha, where are you?” I blinked in surprise as I heard Drake’s confused voice in my mind for the first time since I had left the park.

I sent him a mental image of the dead sicora. “Hunting sicora.”

His shock echoed down the link, torn between rate at the sicora and concern for me. “They caught you again? When?”

I lay down on the shoulder pad before replying, “How long did it take people to notice my absence?”

He was silent for a long time before responding in a guilty voice, “I tried calling on the general mindlink a few times, and you never responded. I figured you were elsewhere in the park. I started asking around a few hours ago, but no one recalled seeing or hearing from you lately.”

I kept my voice calm despite the betrayal and hurt I felt beneath. “Drake, I have been gone for eleven days.”

Drake was speechless. It took him some time to muster up his voice, and even then, it was quiet. “How did we not notice?”

I mentally sighed, letting some of the hurt show through the mindlink. “People wanted to avoid me, and they did.”

“What are the odds of you escaping again so I can apologize in person?”

I sent amusement down the link, which seriously confused him. “I highly doubt that is going to happen again,” I informed him. “They have truly fixed that back gate. Not to mention that they put another tracker on me. This one sends alerts if I go past a certain distance.”

I felt him gather up his courage before he said, “If you can get loose, I will even travel across the city during the day to cut that thing out of you.”

“You won’t find it. This one is almost microscopic.”

I felt his disappointment and shame; he truly felt bad for both somewhat avoiding me and not noticing my absence.

I sent reassurance through the link. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. They would have spotted me sooner or later.”

I sniffed the air; we were almost to back to the shuttle, and I distinctly remembered that the sicora’s scent had been very faint here. All scents had been weak. I don’t recall that scent being there. What is that smell?

I slowly stood up. “Drake, I have another scent here. I’ll talk with you later.”

I looked back to where we had passed the scent trail and pulled lightly against the short leash keeping me on Taureen’s shoulder. Taureen stopped as he turned his attention to me. Everyone else paused as well, watching us. Taureen unclipped my leash, and I flew back to the middle of the room as I tested the air.

I found it again and landed on the floor while sniffing. The fighters backed up to give me space. I walked on the floor along the weak trail. It wasn’t a sicora or a crawler, but the faintly sour smell still caused heat to build at the back of my throat. I thought that nothing living was supposed to be on this ship…

I lifted my head and looked around in confusion. The scent was fresh, but it was very faint and patchy. The scent went down a hallway, and I followed it. It was too weak to track from the air, so I kept pursuing it on the ground while most of the fighters went ahead of me.

We came to a junction and the scent scattered as if the creature had wandered in circles. I spread my wings to fly a circle around the small room where several hallways connected, trying to figure out which passageway it had gone down. The scent trail was terribly confused but didn’t seem to leave the junction. This makes no sense…

I looked around the area more closely. There was a small shipping crate in the one corner, but it was tight against the wall, and the crate itself was only about the size of a dishwasher. Other than that, the junction was completely empty.

I tilted my head; the crate was raised up slightly on some sort of small blocks. The gap was so small that I wasn’t sure I could possibly squeeze under it, so I had no clue if whatever I was tracking might manage it.

I landed beside it and peered into the darkness under it. I pinned my ears at the odd reptile in the back corner. It hissed at me, and I returned the greeting. My hiss turned into a squawk as Taureen scooped me off of the floor and backed up with a firm grip on my harness.

I snorted as the fighters started pulling the container away from the wall. My head turned to track the six-legged brown lizard as it bolted across the room with startling speed. Several energy weapons shot blue and green blasts of energy. Not much was left of the creature after they struck.

Vick put his energy weapon away. “Well, I guess we know that she can also track ktari. We will have to fumigate the rest of the ship before we release it from quarantine.”

Taureen commented, “She acted differently when tracking it, so we’ll have a better idea as to what she is tracking the next time she behaves like that.”

I was still confused. What exactly was a ktari? My Blood Memories weren’t giving me any clues this time. I wasn’t even sure if they wanted me to track them in the future. I wonder how observant Taureen really is…

I stared at the creature and spoke aloud in the dragonet language, “Ktari.” As I figured, the spoken dragonet language butchered the pronunciation of this alien word something terrible. It sounded like a cross between a sneeze and a derogatory chirp.

I rustled my wings as I dismissed the dead creature. If I smelled it in the future, I would use the same word and see if they could connect the dots. It must not have been something that they were overly worried about since we headed straight for the shuttle.