Waiting Shapeless

Chapter 8. Orbiting Lertrel

Hud: Pardos

Hud walked quietly out of the Hangar.

The hour was up. It was time to meet up with Gaunth.

Hud and Gaunth had talked privately before, but this time it seemed much more secretive. He had been pondering in the past hour over what this meeting could possibly be about. He had some ideas, though he really couldn't make any definite conclusions. Gaunth had never done anything like this before.

Hud crept quietly down the empty hallway. The inside of the Rhaa carrier was lit by thin lights that lined the edges of the room where the floor met the wall, providing the hallway with a dim, upward shining light. That's the way that the Rhaas liked it; dark. And that's the way Hud liked it too, especially now. It was much easier to sneak around with.

Don't be seen, those were Gaunth's instructions.

He stopped at a corner and quickly glanced around it. It was empty. The dim corridor was long and twisted around with the ship's design. It was a less used passage that would take Hud through the carriers large engine room and then eventually to the small room where he would meet with Gaunth.

Hud had used this hallway many times before as a way through the ship with minimal Rhaa confrontation. If there were Rhaa that used this passage, it was very infrequent.

He slid around the corner and continued his quiet pace down the deserted hallway. Hud had never been all that good at sneaking around. He always felt like he was the kind of guy who would prefer to break through something rather than try to go around it. But he tried the best he could to make his footsteps light and to pay attention to his surroundings.

There was a sound of heavy footsteps around a bend up ahead and Hud quickly pushed into a dark room next to him.

A large Rhaa, its pale white skin seemingly glowing in the dim light, leisurely walked past. Hud didn't recognize this one, though there were many Rhaa in the fleet who he had never seen before, and would never really want to meet. This one was very large, one of the larger Rhaa's he had seen on the fleet. His thick horns were filed down flat against his head, a sign that he was a soldier in the Rhaa military.

The being slowly walked past Hud with as much silence as his large feet could muster, his head held high like he was royalty.

The Rhaa passed by without any recognition that Hud was there. After the soft padding of the monster's feet had faded to silence, Hud took a glance out into the hallway. It was empty.

He stepped out of the dark room and continued down the corridor, moving swiftly but carefully. Natilliea vibrated ever so slightly against his bare chest and he grabbed her gently. She would hum softly when she was calm, but she must have sensed how tense Hud was as he snuck around. She had now softened her vibrations to a noiseless quiver.

Finally, he reached the engine room.

He approached the entryway with caution, feeling more at ease as the heavy sounds of machinery covered up the sound of his movements. He took a glance through the doorway, flattening himself against the wall the best he could.

The large room was filled with the rows of thick engines, each of them taller than Hud was and providing deep shadows to hind behind.

Hud couldn't see any Rhaa, but he could faintly hear the controlled mumbling of a conversation off in the distance. It seemed to be coming from the corner of the room that Hud had planned on sneaking through, which was a setback but nothing he couldn't handle.

Hud took another quick glance around.

Again, he could see no Rhaa. He rushed through the entryway and tucked himself behind the shadows of the nearest engine.