Free Athel by E. E. Giorgi

I left in the middle of the noose. Droid
sets off the trap and the noose snatches around its legs. Droid runs, pulling
the wire all the way to the trees until the sapling snaps. Droid recoils and
slams forward, losing one leg.
    Droid
escapes on its remaining five limbs.
    Darn
Gaijins, they had to make droids with so many legs.
    Lukas
raises his data feeder and takes a panoramic shot. “I told you to wait, Athel.
You didn’t listen.”
    “He never
does,” Dottie chimes in.
    “Will you
all shut up?” I snap. “It was the first experiment. The trap will be better
next time.”
    Wes scuffs
one of the tracks with the tip of his blade. “The droids will get better too,
though. Once the Gaijins realize their scavenger bots are under attack, they’ll
send the sniper droids.”
    I exhale
in frustration. Wes is right, but I refuse to acknowledge it. I walk over to
the snapped sapling, step over it, and climb up to check the claw leg the droid
left behind. The metal frame has crinkled at the edge as though it were made of
fabric. It’s still warm to the touch and reeks of burnt plastic wires. A torn
piece of the cable I used to make the trap hangs stuck between the plates of
one of the joints. I pull it off and stare at the loose threads.
    I need to find stronger material .
    Lukas
joins me and points the lens of his data feeder at the long droid leg. “You
know, we can use this thing.”
    “Of course
we can. You think I’d leave it here to waste? It’s better than nothing.”
    He takes
more pictures, then crouches and prods one of the joints, smiling. “Yeah. A lot
of cool stuff in here. Look at this ball-and-socket mechanism.”
    I grab one
end and try to move it. “Stop drooling and help me carry it down. We’ll have to
figure out a way to tie it over Taeh’s saddle.”
    We lift
the long piece of metal and haul it down to the bottom of the ravine. Kael
watches from his perch up on the wall of rock.
    “Athel!”
Dottie calls me. “Come see!” She’s standing by the big boulder where I hinged
the trap yesterday and points a finger to the ground.  
    We settle
the droid leg on the ground and run over. A crimson stain sprawls at the base
of the boulder, forming a small, dried pool.
    “What do
you think it is?” Akaela asks.
    “Well,” I
start, not sure what to say. “It could be some kind of—”
    “No,”
Lukas interjects. “It’s blood.”
    Wes nods.
“Yeah. I’ve seen enough of mine flowing to the ground to know.”
    “Interesting,”
Akaela says. “Because, you know, droids don’t bleed.”
    She
squints and looks all snappish at me.
    “Really?”
I retort. “Well, animals do. Could’ve been an animal caught in the fight with
the droid.”
    Wes taps
on my shoulder. “Er. Maybe not,” he says, quietly pointing to Kael.
    The bird
hops off his perch and dives down to the bottom of the gorge, something
flapping from his beak.
    I whistle
and stretch out my arm. Kael perches on my shoulder and drops his find on my
hand. Everyone rings around me to see.
    It’s a
piece of blue fabric soaked in red.
    The same red that’s at the foot of the boulder .
    “Animals
don’t wear clothes,” Lukas observes with his usual lucidity.
    Akaela
scoffs. “Great job, big bro. You got us in trouble again.”

 
    Chapter Six

 
    Akaela

 
    I sit on the ledge of the sixtieth
floor and look away to the forest sprawling beyond the river. Kael sweeps in
and out of view as he circles the sky hunting for pigeons. Hot air blows in and
makes the long vines draping the walls sway. I grip the mysterious Astraca
cylinder in my hands and squeeze it.  
    The boys
are all in Lukas’s quarters, taking apart the droid’s leg. They’re so enthused
with their find they refuse to ponder the consequences of what we’ve done.
Somebody got hurt. There was so much blood by the boulder that I wouldn’t be
surprised if they lost a limb or even died.
    Riding
back to the Tower the only happy thought I could entertain was the hope