The airlock filled with water and Calen did her best to avoid needlessly bumping into others. The airlock was crowded but she wanted to take no chances. The room filled quickly, however, and most of the workers seemed to be distracted with getting home. All creatures have habits, the elders had told her. We assume things will go a certain way. It makes life simpler. When tracking prey the best disguise is to work your way in to the creatures habits. If you are part of what they assume, they will not be looking for you.
Calen watched how the workers reacted to the change of environment. They stood there relaxed and patient. As the water made it impossible to stand, they allowed the currents to dictate their movements. Calen did the same. To accidentally bump into someone this way would be expected.
The pressure equalized and the doors swooshed open. Her target walked over to the landing pads where the employees kept their vehicles. Calen had guessed that she might be in such a position so she had parked her Oboi close by but out of view.
Flipping on the submarine's engines she peeled away in the direction of the landing pads, hoping she had missed the suspect. The zelenca could move much faster through the water than she could so there was a chance he had already reached his own vehicle and left.
Dozens of ships were leaving the landing pad area all at once. Calen cursed under her breath. Even if he was still here, it would be easy to miss him in all this chaos. No wonder the poorly organized resistance never got beyond this point.
Not knowing what else to do, she followed the swarm of ships as they all headed toward the more residential portions of the city. Calen noted with interest that the ships seemed to move together as one, not too unlike some of the schools of fish she had seen swimming around. Not connected to whatever sense they used to do this, Calen did her best to mimic their driving style.
After traveling for a few minutes a few of the vehicles began to break off in different directions, presumably to go to their respective homes. Calen slammed her fist against a control panel in frustration. She felt so helpless so... out of control... in this environment. It was not a feeling she was accustomed to when hunting prey.
Suddenly one of the ships veered off and began to head in the opposite direction.
That's strange. Why would the pilot head back to where he just came from?
It was possible that he had just changed his mind about his destination. But worth checking out nonetheless since she had nothing else to go on right now. The vehicle increased speed and Calen punched her own throttle to match, staying back just far enough to be inconspicuous.
The tiny sub wove its way through rock formations and structures for quite some time before suddenly shooting toward the surface. Calen smiled grimly. The Spirits had favored her hunt. This had to be her suspect. From what she gathered, the zelenca almost never traveled to their planet's surface. But if one were trying to hide from the planetary authorities, the islands would be the perfect place to do so....
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