Makra-cylces=hours

  Mina-cycles=minutes

  Deka-cycle=weeks

  Cycle=year

  Once the meeting was over, the residents shuffled out. Some headed back to their warm homes. Others, with dead loved ones, were helped as they brought the bodies back to prepare for burial. Zurii and a few of the others stayed in the meeting hall.

  “Thank you for stepping in like you did, Governor Mash,” Zurii quietly said as the last of the stragglers shuffled out of the room.

  He reached up, wiping the grime and sleep from his face, and nodded.

  “It’s all perks of the job. You’re more than aware of that, I’m sure.”

  Zurii met his eyes, her expression settling into something solemn.

  “Indeed I do, Governor Mash…”

  Mash held a hand up, politely waving to interject.

  “Look—even though nobody else said it, thank you. Really. We’d be dead next deka?cycle if your people hadn’t come.”

  Zurii placed a reassuring hand on Mash's shoulder as she looked up at the Governor.

  “That… that right there is why I get up in the morning and do my job every day. And it was my pleasure."

  "I just wish we could’ve—”

  Mash looked down at Zurii sternly holding hand up to stop her mid sentence.

  “Ma’am, you showed up. Unlike that other guy. That’s what matters.”

  Zurii smiled at this as Rodcheck came into the room.

  “Ma’am, the party is gathered at the front gate. I took the liberty of borrowing a couple of trackers and parking them right outside the wall.”

  Zurii nodded, then turned to Mash with one outstretched hand.

  “Take care of the colony. We’ll track down the Grizmonger and see if we can’t find those missing children.”

  With a steely gaze, Mash accepted Zurii’s outstretched hand and gave it a single, firm shake and nod.

  ***

  When Zurii and the crew made it to the gates, her team already had gear loaded up in the trackers.

  “Rodcheck, keep the fire going and some hot meals waiting. We’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  Rodcheck nodded at Zurii’s request and saw them off as they climbed into the trackers.

  Hans led the group in the same direction he had come when the Grizmonger was pursuing him. Even with the heavy snow, the path cleared by the beast was easy enough to follow once they reached the treeline.

  Makra?cycles passed as the trackers rolled slowly over the freshly plowed path.

  The rookie looked over the cab once they entered the forest. Trees were uprooted and boulders strewn aside, clearing a path wide enough for the trackers to pass through like a crude road. He tapped the side of his visor, the display magnifying the terrain. His thoughts began to connect: the creature from the picture Zurii had shown him, the face imprint in the door, and the corridor carved through the woods that was not made by hand nor machine.

  He tapped the side of his helmet, activating an open channel.

  “Ma’am, is this normal for this creature? I’ve never seen anything outside heavy machinery clear a path like this…”

  Zurii tapped the comm device in her pointed grey ear.

  “I don’t believe so. This creature is either crazed or extremely upset, given the damage that was done, I'm going with the later.”

  Hans glanced back at Zurii while steering.

  “What makes you so sure about that?”

  The crook of her thin blue lips could almost be mistaken for a smirk.

  “Because if the creature was crazed, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”

  Hans’s face went blank for a brief moment before he turned back around, guiding the tracker through the tapering snow as the twin suns dipped lower and the sky steadily darkened.

  “Okay, everyone. Now’s a good time to stop and set up camp. We’ll be more effective in the daylight.”

  The order echoed over the radios.

  The trackers slowed and parked in a semi?circle. The team began setting up equipment and tents inside the ring of steel, creating a small fortified pocket against the wilderness.

  ***

  Zurii was setting up her tent with the rookie. He took a CinderBlock heater from his pack and placed it in the center of the tent, activating it. A cool amber light washed over the fabric walls, comforting warmth spreading through the small space.

  He finished helping set up her cot and went to leave, parting the tent flap.

  “Thanks for the assistance, rookie. Care for some tea and a chat before we turn in?”

  He nodded and sat down beside the heater as Zurii placed a portable kettle atop the block. The water inside began to warm, boiling in just a few mina?cycles.

  She pulled out two dented metal mugs, poured, and handed one to him.

  He accepted it and set it briefly in the snow; steam melted a shallow ring before the mug settled against the frozen ground.

  He unclasped his helmet and set it aside. Two sand?colored, fluffy satellite?dish ears sprang free from a mess of flattened helmet hair.

  He lifted the mug and took a careful sip as Zurii did the same.

  “So… what’s your name, cadet?” she asked, eyeing the young Crocuta.

  He lulled his tongue out, licking tea from his dark brown muzzle as he met her gaze.

  “Merc, ma’am—Merc Stanz.”

  “M?hm. So, Merc, why did you join?”

  “It’s… personal, ma’am. Plus, I didn’t feel like I had a choice. I’m sure it’s all in my records.”

  “Indeed they are, young one,” she replied calmly. “But we all have choices, even if they feel like no?win ones. So—why?”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  He stared into his mug, swirling the grey liquid and watching the leaves dance.

  “If I wanted to help my family, prison wasn’t an option. The Corps gave me a chance to work off my crimes. The GSA gave me benefits and pay.”

  He shrugged inside the heavy armor.

  “And… the people are good. It feels like a real family.”

  Zurii nodded slowly.

  “Do you know why you were selected?”

  “Is it because I have a particular set of skills, ma’am?”

  She tried to stifle a laugh and failed.

  “That helps… but no.”

  She studied him carefully.

  “You remind me of an old friend. Someone the organization would’ve discarded. I saw potential in you. I believe in second chances.”

  Merc blinked.

  “You had me transferred?”

  She nodded.

  “I’m not going to regret this, am I?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Good. Dismissed.”

  Merc handed back the mug to Zurii as he gave his thanks, then grabbed his helmet and stepped into the night.

  ***

  Zurii finished preparing for the next day before crawling beneath the thermal blanket laid across her cot, her thoughts drifting toward morning.

  In the darkness beyond the ring of trackers, a pair of globular golden eyes watched from the treeline—not with malice, but with curiosity.

  The Grizmonger sat, tilting its massive head. A hind paw reached back to scratch behind the scruff of its neck. Its two nubbed tusks, set in the lower jaw, caught the moonlight as it yawned—silent, cavernous—rows of short, pointed teeth glinting briefly in the cold glow.

  It paced three slow circles in the snow, then lowered itself into the drift and closed its eyes.

  The calm night settled in as soft flurries of snow began to fall, slowly coating the camp and the Grizmonger alike while they drifted off to sleep.

  A gentle wisp of wind was all that stirred the darkness of the forest that night.

  ***

  Merc got up before daybreak to get a few reps in to warm up. The armor he slept in stabilized body temperature, so the cold wasn’t an issue. It was just a routine he picked up and enjoyed in basic and wanted to stick with.

  He finished his sets and grabbed two drink pouches before heading outside his tent. The day was just starting to break, casting a sliver of light over the rocky horizon. The twin sunrise was a sight to behold.

  Merc climbed into the bed of one of the trackers. He tore open a packet of insta?coffee and sipped it, watching the sunrises. He sat on the tailgate, fiddling with the screen and reading more of the briefing, finding out what else he could about the creature they were looking for.

  “Ah, diligent so early, are we? Bravo.” A cheerful voice called from behind startling him.

  Merc froze mid?sip, trying not to choke or spit his coffee out as he turned to see the captain in the tracker bed, squatting behind him, clearly reading the wrist display over his shoulder.

  “Cap! Hey—yes, ma’am… uh, coffee, ma’am?”

  She smiled curtly, dropping down beside him on the tailgate and accepting the outstretched drink. She tore open the packet and sipped the bitter brew.

  “Ah—nothing like insta?coffee to perk one up in the morning, aye cadet?” she asked, offering the pack toward Merc.

  He did a double take, then tapped his pack to hers as they toasted to the morning hunt. They both took a swig in unison.

  She pulled out her data slate and brought up the creature’s biology chart.

  “So, what’s the first rule in basic?” Zurii asked, taking another sip.

  “Don’t drop the cleansing chunk?”

  Zurii almost spit out her coffee but managed not to.

  “Phf—no! Wrong basic… care to try again?” She eyed him over her packet of coffee as he fiddled with his.

  “Always have a plan B, ma’am?” Merc asked nervously.

  Zurii smiled as she leaned her slate toward him.

  “Correct, cadet. Always—at minimum—have a plan B. Now, find the weak point on the subject.”

  Merc pointed at the screen, at a slight bulge on the creature’s outer body that circled in red as he touched it, a red line with details written beside it scrolled and dropped down with info.

  Zurii nodded satisfactorily.

  “That, cadet, is the core. It moves and shifts around as the creature feels threatened. Hitting this mark is the only way to put it down.”

  Merc looked at the image skeptically.

  “All due respect, Cap, couldn’t you use an explosive or maybe a chunk of serious putty?”

  Zurii shook her head.

  “All that will do is slow it down. Whatever chunks are left will just regenerate.”

  She took a slow sip.

  “Now, do you know why I’m asking you this?” she added, her tone carrying almost casual sternness.

  Merc didn’t answer right away. He looked out toward the horizon, watching the suns rise higher, casting a warm ray of light through the bottom of the forest. They both took another sip as the sound of others packing up and loading equipment drifted through camp.

  “So I don’t make a mistake?” Merc asked, unsure.

  Zurii closed her eyes with a sigh and shook her head.

  “No, Merc. Mistakes happen—sometimes very costly ones…”

  His chocolate?brown eyes gave her his full attention.

  “Then what are you saying, ma’am?”

  “I’m saying we rely on one another to cover the cracks. We work together as a team. That way, the job succeeds and casualties are mitigated. I want everyone to make it home safe.”

  Zurii finished off the packet and stood, heading back toward her tent to pack up. She paused without turning around.

  “Everyone has a part, cadet. Never forget that.” Zurii finished as she ducked into her tent.

  Merc sat there for a moment, gazing at his palm as he flexed the armored glove repeatedly. Then he hopped down and disposed of his packet.

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