For the Last Time

Fight or flight? Was I predator or prey? We could both dodge gunshots, but he was larger and stronger. The fact that he arrived late probably meant he couldn’t keep up with the humans. Like Apollo, he probably didn’t have much stamina. If I could get away, he wouldn't be able to catch up.

But if he was announcing himself like this, he was confident he could catch me before I escaped, and if I tried to fight, well, the result would be obvious. Perhaps so obvious that he hadn’t thought about it at all. If I had any chance, I needed to exploit his overconfidence.

I pointed the spear at him. “What are you playin’ at?”

“Same deal I offered Apollo. Give me the briefcase and come with me. We’ll need nekomimi like you to rebuild after the next war. I could tell the first time that you’ve got good reflexes, and this proves you’re a cut above.” He gestured at the bodies lying all around us.

“If they get the nuke, no one will survive the next war, not even you. They’ll irradiate the entire planet.”

“I don’t believe that. I’m a survivor; so are you. Next to me, you’re the most powerful nekomimi I’ve ever met. Just think of how powerful our kittens will be. They’ll be strong enough to rule over the world that comes after.”

He took a step toward me, and I thrust the spear at him. In slow motion, he leaned to the side to avoid my strike and grabbed the shaft with one hand, but I was prepared for that. With both hands, I twisted the butt of the spear into his side, breaking his grip. I swung the spear around, aiming for his neck, but he backed just outside my range.

“That’s a nasty weapon,” he said, “and you clearly know how to use it, but if you think that changes anything—”

“I won’t be your mate. If you want the suitcase, you’ll have to kill me.”

“You’re brave. I like that, but did you know that pain changes people? Before I’m done with you, you’ll be begging to join me.”

I unleashed an unrelenting flurry of jabs at him, but he danced around my strikes, a calm smile on his face. He didn’t try to grab the spear again, but it was clear to both of us that he was toying with me, just as Apollo had taught me to toy with my prey. Then I overextended, leaving my side exposed.

“Wait,” I yelled, pulling back as fast as I could. “Apollo told me that disputes between our kind should be fought with tooth and claw.” I powered down the spear, threw it aside, and crouched down. “Loser obeys the winner.”

He mimicked my pose and bared his teeth. “Come at me!”

But I didn’t rush in this time. I circled him slowly, claws out, looking for an opening but finding none. Then, I stumbled on an exposed tree root, and that’s when he attacked.

Just as I planned.

With his legs coiled to strike, I knew his instincts would cause him to pounce on me at the first sign of weakness. I ducked under him, and his claws sank into the tree behind me. Even if he could see that he was going to miss me mid-pounce, he had committed himself entirely, and he was moving too quickly to stop himself.

Sap bled from the tree, sticking to his fingers and trapping his claws in the wet wood. I wasted no time grabbing the pistol tucked behind me and pressing it to his chest. Even he couldn’t dodge what was coming at point-blank. I fired, the beam of light piercing his body through his heart.

His last words as his body slumped were, “That’s not how cats fight.”

I crawled out from under him and stood tall over his corpse. “How many times do I have to say it? I’m not a cat: I’m a human.”

⁂

The only enemy that remained was the miasma. Even if I was engineered to resist it, I wasn’t immune. Wind patterns usually kept the miasma thin near the Federation, but I was lucky that it was an especially clear day.

Even so, I had no choice but to march for the next day and a half without rest until I reached the miasma-free zone surrounding the Federation. By the time I arrived, I could feel the miasma settling into my lungs and my skin beginning to peel away.

And you know what the Federation guards did when they first sighted me? They opened fire. Luckily, they were using Federation rifles, so I was able to dodge with plenty of warning.

Suppose I can’t blame them. I must have looked like a wild animal: blood smeared on my face, hair wild, skin blistering.

“I’m a Federation citizen!” I yelled, diving behind a hill for cover.

“Hold your fire,” I heard a woman’s voice yell. “Federation citizen, come out slowly with your hands in the air.”

I placed the suitcase on the ground, releasing it for the last time, and as I did, it felt like a much heavier weight had been lifted from me. “I’m coming out,” I shouted, “but there’s a nuclear warhead in the suitcase. Whatever you do to me, you have to dispose of it.” Leaving the pistol next to the suitcase, I emerged with my hands above my head.

Half a dozen guards ran toward me, but thankfully, they didn’t shoot. When they reached me, the woman leading the group pointed at the suitcase and then the surrounding hills. “Secure the area. Get reinforcements and a bomb squad out here on the double.” She then turned to me. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

She walked me back to a guardhouse built into the side of the Federation’s crystalline dome. It wasn’t as large as the Futarchy’s big domes, but no other city in the world had technology so advanced. If we’d tried to crash a skyship into this dome, it wouldn’t have left a scratch.

After a long scrub in a decontamination shower, I spent an even longer time in a nice, hot bath. It felt so nice that I dozed off a couple times, which I knew was rude, but I was beyond caring. I’d just gone through hell to save the world. They could deal with a bit of bad behavior.

I found a change of clothes waiting for me when I got out, just a simple white tank top and tan cargo shorts. Not too different from the guard uniforms from the village, but I wasn’t going to complain. A lot better than the schoolgirl uniform I’d been wearing.

There was also a warm meal waiting for me on a small table. It was something I’d only ever seen in photos: curry rice. I sat down at the table and started eagerly shoveling spoonfuls into my mouth, blowing on them first to cool them down. It was the most delicious thing I’d ever eaten in my life, but more than that, it felt like my first real taste of Federation life.

“You clean up nicely.” The woman from before placed a cup of tea in front of me and sat down in an empty chair. I was able to get a good look at her for the first time. She had a well-chiseled face with rugged features and dark black hair tied back in a ponytail. “Bomb squad confirmed you weren’t lying, so can you tell me what happened out there? Where did the nuke come from?”

Despite her more intimidating features, her eyes seemed genuinely friendly. She came off as someone who understood hardship but had a good heart, so I told her everything, starting from the beginning. She took careful notes as I spoke.

It wasn’t that I trusted her completely—I didn’t dare touch the tea—but I had nothing to gain from holding anything back. Besides, a few dozen of those militants were still out there. Maybe something I knew could help track them down.

“That must have been tough.” She placed her pen down on the table when I finished speaking. “Do you know anyone in the city? Do you have a place to stay?”

“No, actually, Oliver was supposed to introduce me to some friends, but…”

She smiled. “There’s a spare room here in the guardhouse. Why not stay here for the night? You look beat. We can try to track down Oliver’s friends starting tomorrow.”

If I hadn’t been so tired, I might have paused to ask myself why there was a spare room in a guardhouse. I followed her to the room, and when I laid my eyes on the bed, I was so eager for a good sleep that I had already taken three steps into the room by the time I realized the windows had bars over them. But by then it was too late. The door slammed shut behind me.

I was locked in.