Chapter 37
Mother Jaguar had spent most of the night searching the forest and finding next to nothing. Now that the sun was up, she tried to hide her disappointment as she continued on, her land rider moving through the trees more quickly than the Mothers that were on foot, which was what had allowed her to reach the front line in a matter of hours. Not that it had made any difference. The only rebels that had escaped the initial battle had been located hours ago, on the other side of the town, headed toward Aricornia.
Despite Lightning’s confessions and all of the information White had gotten from her when she’d shot Hurricane, the forest was expansive, and these rebels had tools the Motherhood couldn’t combat. Tablets that told them where the Mothers were located, so long as they had their monitors on, which they had to keep on in order to communicate with one another. Shields that hid fire and smoke. Another device that would keep the hounds from scenting them. How they had managed to create all of these tools and keep them a secret from the Military Mothers was beyond Jaguar.
The Motherhood had some new weapons as well, though, ones those that had rebelled were not ready for. Drones were on their way from the capital city that moment, the sort that could glide between trees and detect heat signatures of any creature weighing over a predetermined amount. They had transporters like the one Jaguar was riding now that would allow them to move at up to twenty miles per hour over rough terrain. They might not be able to track by scent, but hopefully, they’d be able to get a heat reading from the drones and follow them that way. Even if the rebels shot their drones down, they should be able to get there quickly enough to find them and destroy them before they could get away.
All of them were to be shot on sight except for the red haired girl--Rain--and 24C. Jaguar knew exactly who he was, even though she’d had to hide her surprise when she’d learned that he was a leader of the rebellion. In her time leading the Military Mothers of Gretchintown, before White had been sent in by President Violet, she never would’ve guessed the mild-mannered 24C would’ve been a problem. Sure, he’d been a little bit of a troublemaker when he was younger, but that was the case with a lot of the men, especially the more vital ones, like 24C. He had an energy about him, something that might be described as charismatic in a woman, which seemed to draw the other men to him. But Jaguar would’ve never thought he’d use that strength to go against the Motherhood. She thought he’d learned his lesson a few years ago when a group of Military women had been attempting to put a wild animal of a Dick into his place, and 24C had tried to intervene. He’d ended up being punished severely, though Jaguar had to admit she hadn’t minded doing her duty to teach him a lesson. If she came across him in these woods, she might have to remind him of the last punishment he’d received before she brought him back to White.
“Jaguar, report,” White barked in her ear. Since Jaguar had arrived on the field five hours ago, the requests had come every thirty minutes. She’d had little to report the previous times and still had nothing. At least, with the rising sun, they might be able to speed up the rate of their pursuit.
“We are approximately fifteen miles due north of Gretchintown, spread out over twenty miles, nearly shoulder to shoulder,” she said, altering what she’d said the last time she’d reported only slightly, although they had picked up almost two miles in the last thirty minutes. The other women were jogging or running to keep up with her. She wished they had more transporters so they could pick up the speed, but there were only a hundred working units in Gretchintown. White had sent for more.
“Spread your line thinner. I want you stretching out to the northeast,” White said. “Also, the drones are ready to be deployed and should be in the air over your head in the next fifteen minutes. You will be able to follow their progress on your info tab. If they get a hit, you’ll see their location immediately.”
“Yes, Mother White,” she said, aware of what her info tab would allow her to do. She also knew all of her commanders would be able to control the drones within their regions as well.
“Find them, Jaguar. The Motherhood is counting on you.”
“I will find them,” Jaguar said, feeling beads of perspiration beginning to dot her hairline. She knew that White wasn’t just giving her an order--she was reminding her that if she failed, Jaguar would have to pay for her failure. If it meant the rebels or her, failure was certainly not an option.
As soon as White disconnected the call, Jaguar began to bark her orders. “Emerald, Duck, take your two units and spread out further to the east and then cut north, on the double time. Don’t worry about staying shoulder to shoulder. The drones will be here soon.”
“Yes, Mother,” both of the women said as they began to do as they’d been ordered. The drones could cover fifteen miles in a matter of minutes if they were functioning at full speed. With their ability to cover more ground, the women could spread out, and those that had land riders or who could move faster wouldn’t need to continue at such a slow pace either.
Calling out to a few of the other women nearby who were using transporters, she gave them orders to move ahead in groups of three. It seemed as if the rebels had broken into smaller bands. Chances were, most of them had no idea how to use the weapons they had, especially the Dicks. The Mothers would have the element of surprise, speed, accuracy, and a thirst for blood. She’d put her money on her fellow Military Mothers against these ragtag rebels any day.
“Let’s go, women!” she shouted, cranking up the speed on her own land riderteleporter. “Let’s find these rebels and make them wish they’d never raised a hand against the Motherhood!”
A cheer reverberated through the forest, one she hoped the rebels would hear, one she hoped would leave them quaking in their boots, especially that Dick 24C. When she found him, she had something for him--something he wouldn’t forget.
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