The Hunt

Flash story I submitted for a Gene Wolfe inspired flash fiction contest a few years ago, ended up being a finalist believe it or not.

She floats imperceptibly through space. She is hungry but she waits patiently for her prey. When it comes she must move quickly. She must not hesitate.

                As with any good hunter, she is aware of her limitations. Her food and oxygen holds are small, her engines constructed for speed over economy. A Wolf-Class cruiser like her isn't built for deep space,  she must feed regularly to maintain her strength..

                She senses the arrival of her quarry.

                Then, from nothingness, her prey appears. The name Cervus is visible along it’s side. It hesitates, almost as if sensing danger. Finally it lowers it’s shields, confident of it’s isolation.

                She strikes.

                She is on the Cervus before it can react. She targets the neck of the ship where the oxygen line is most accessible. Using her vice-like clamps she latches on and begins to gorge herself on the precious gas.

                It’s  opportunity to flee gone, the Cervus desperately attempts to shake her off but her jaw-like clamps are powerful and she easily maintains her hold.

                Her prey finally grows silent as she saps the last of it’s oxygen. It is over , she has won, she will survive to hunt another day.

                And she must hunt, that is her nature, that is the nature of all predators. It is her one inescapable instinct and she will act on it until she finds her self unable to go on, and then she will die.

                But for now the hunt continues.