It was so cold that it cut to the bone.  Her left arm hurt and was numb.  Curling into a knot, she awakened enough to realize that she'd kicked the covers off of her and the chill of a badlands morning was eating into her body.  Lecia groaned and fumbled for the thin blanket pulled it over her head, breathing into the space to warm it.  Her shivering slowly diminished and she rolled onto her back to try to get some circulation back into her left arm.  Between the misery of the chill and the pins and needles sensation of her arm, getting up was going to be soon.

She sipped some hot coffee and considered the day.  There was actually electricity this morning so she'd been able to brew coffee in the drip pot, rather than just boil it in the dented aluminum percolator over an open fire.  It was summer and the long days of free solar power did help offset the discomfort of the sometimes 110 degree heat.  "You win some, you lose some," she thought.

Her shelter was built into a east facing bluff.  That provided morning warmth in the winter but avoided the heat of the day in the summer.  It had probably been the summer cabin of some eccentric, but it served her needs well, now.  She'd considered moving to the city.  Life would certainly be easier there, but there was the concern that she might attract too much unwelcome attention.  Even the slightest sign of genetic abnormality could be an excuse for a trip to the reclamation center.  That was not on her list of things to do!

She slid into her hiking shorts and slipped on a leather vest.  She stepped into calf high leather boots and buckled on her web belt.  Her web belt contained her standard gear for outside survival.  A knife, a canteen of water, a compact but very powerful energy pistol, stones for her sling, and a honker.  If she triggered the honker, it would transmit on a help signal on the universal emergency frequency, but that would possibly be a death sentence, so she'd have to be in real deep before she'd consider that.  It's presence did lend her some credibility, though, and the was the main reason she carried it.  On the way out, she picked up her crossbow pistol and the quiver of bolts.  Her food stores were getting low, so a little hunting was in order for this day.  She could always buy food, but her life style was not conducive to making a lot of money so she avoided cash commerce whenever possible.  Besides, it was a long trip and day of hunting was rather enjoyable.

She stepped into the heat of the day.  The sun was rising, and it was getting hot already.  She loved the dry heat and relished a day in it.  Her skin was sun darkened to a deep chocolate brown, almost black, and her hair was sun bleached to almost white with hints of yellow.  She was tall for a female, about five foot ten and a half inches.  Tall, but not so tall as to elicit mutie comments.  Her skin color and hair did make people whisper, though.  Her lavender eyes were a problem, but if she was going to have to associate with people, she'd normally wear contacts or if only casual contact, dark glasses.  It was a lot better to be over cautious and alive than careless and dead!

Putting down her crossbow, she turned her face to the sun and spread her arms.  She could almost feel the energy flood her body.  It did feel good.  She did not feel the focus of the binoculars on her body and she did not feel the curiosity and lust of the mutie hunter stalking her.  She was striking woman and mutie hunters were not exactly at the top of the social ladder.  Lecia was a good looking woman and her life style alone was a risk.  The fact she'd survived to 23 years of age in the badlands was testimony to her skills, but the man staring at her through the powerful binoculars was trying to glimpse her breasts as she lifted her arms to the sun and her unfastened vest gaped open.

She looked down at the sheer 200 foot drop.  That as made her dizzy at first, but now she was able to enjoy the view.  The height gave her a sense of security and made it very difficult to approach her with ill intent.  She picked up her crossbow and walked over to the gravshaft and stepped in.  The initial drop was sudden but touchdown, two hundred feet later, was very gentle.  Over the years, she'd gotten used to that drop but it had taken three days, the first time, to take that step and that had been hunger desperation driven.  Now, it was second nature.

Squinting, she stepped into the sunlight and turned south, proceeding with a easy, long stride.  She was in the mood for some meat and she knew where some sun lizards liked to bake themselves.  One of the three foot long creatures was all she needed.  It would be a tasty addition to her normally bland diet of insects, local vegetation and free concentrated rations from the city.  Lecia lengthened her stride just thinking about it.

She stopped and felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck.  The sun was hot on her body but she felt the chill of knowing that she was being hunted.  She covered stopping by taking a casual sip of water from the canteen.  She felt a thrill of excitement.  She figured it was a mutie hunter tracking her.  Who else would be out here and tracking her?  Ok, it could be any pervert trying to find some innocent young thing to play with but, please!  The badlands, outside of town, is not where you find cute young things.  She replaced the canteen in it holder and resumed her stride.

The powerful binoculars made it seem like he could reach out and toucher her.  "Damn she looks good," he muttered to himself.  He wondered if she were a mutie.  That would be really sweet if he could get some of that and get paid for it.  Many people never made the mutie bounty of 500 credits in a single month, let alone in a day.  He licked his lips and fondled the stock of the 30.06.  The lead tipped copper clads could take her out at over 500 yards but he really wanted her alive.  She'd be a lot more fun alive.  He watched as she resumed her walk.  Oh, this was going to be fun.

Lecia grimaced.  Now that she knew she was being tracked, she could focus and track his movements and intent.  She focused and shivered as she sensed the presence of the gun in his mind.  Her stomach churned and anger washed through as she read his intent towards her.  This was no simple mutie hunter, hunting her for the bounty.  He had no idea whether she was a mutant or not.  His intent was to torture, rape and kill her.  If she was a mutie, and he was hoping she was, then he'd sell her carcass for what he could get.  The bounty was good, but there were some collectors that would pay more.

The area she was walking through had low scrub brush and stunted trees.  There were large boulders and rather rugged foot hills in the distance.  She started a slow and easy trot.  It was already around 90 degrees but the humidity was under 12%.  She had and easy stride and covered distance effortlessly.  She was hoping that he'd not try to "wing" her to stop her from outdistancing him.  She focused on him and tried to keep from falling over something at the same time.

The mutie hunter had several problems.  He had to keep up with her and he had to remain hidden.  He was carrying a badlands kit the weight at least 20 pounds and was carrying a heavy rife and ammunition.  He cursed and stopped.  He watched her through the binoculars.  The scrub brush and boulders caused him to lose sight of her several times but he got the direction she was traveling.  The way she was moving, she would not be hard to track.  He grinned and confidently began following her.

Lecia realized she'd accomplished her goal when she sensed his relaxation.  She'd figured it right.  He could have turned around and waited for her to return.  Her obviously knew where she lived and that would have been the smart thing to do.  She grimaced.  The sleazy content of his mind made her shudder.  How did such creatures survive to reach adulthood, she wondered.  How could a society that killed it's members, without question or recourse, because their genetic content make them a little different, allow such creatures to mature and prey on the helpless.

Lecia was not a polished telepath.  Her abilities were rudimentary, untrained and unused, for the most part.  Normally used for hunting, her contact with other humans was limited and a mind touch with a fellow being felt strange and vaguely unpleasant to her.  She could sense that her hunter lost sight of her and took that opportunity to alter her course by 90 degrees and double her speed.  She veered at an angle that would take her out of his sight and bring her around where she could approach him from the rear.  It was a simple ploy that any hunter should be alert for, but she hoped he wouldn't consider himself to be the hunted.  Even if he did, he still had to outsmart her and her daily life depended on her hunting skills.

She slowed to a walk and started concentrating on silent movement.  During her burst of speed, she'd been unable to focus on him.  Now, moving slower, she could focus on him and realized that he was intent on where she had been, not where she was.

"Damn," he thought.  "She is looking good." Moving a little faster, he was approaching the point where he'd lost sight of her.  Her track was not all that easy to follow on the rocky ground but she seemed to be traveling in a straight line so he confidently increased his speed.  He felt a spike of fear course through his body.  The track of her ninety degree turn was clear and spoke volumes to his hunter instincts.  He dropped to his belly and rolled to the cover of a boulder.  He'd just realized that she was now hunting him.  He brought his rifle to the ready position and wondered where she was.  Maybe she wasn't hunting him.  Maybe she'd just realized he was there and was trying to escape.  If that was the case, the longer he stayed here, the more distance she'd put between them.  "Damn!" he hissed.  He scanned the area, using his peripheral vision to try to locate any movement, anything out of line.  Nothing.  Sweat dripped into his eyes.  The tension and the increasing heat were having an effect on him, but his confidence was building as his impatience was increasing.

Time passed and there was no sign of her.  He stood and brushed the dirt from his clothes.  Sand was sticking to the damp sweat spots and he itched.  His anger was rising and he was considering the ways he'd make the bitch suffer when he heard a stone click.  He spun and saw her standing less than ten feet from him.  She was standing to the side, pointing a crossbow pistol at him.  The view of her bare breast showing beneath her leather vest caused a moments of hesitation.  As he swung his rifle towards her there as a strange crunching sound and he felt a blow to his chest.  Looking down, his fading vision focused on a short crossbow bolt protruding from his sternum.

Lecia smiled, a rifle, ammunition, condensed rations, a really good knife, and various useful items.  It was a fortuitous find.  She'd not kill for these items, but once she had killed, nothing was going to waste.  She'd quickly stripped him, leaving the carcass for the scavengers pleasure.  A use would be found for everything he'd been carrying.  She grinned at the crisp blue universal credits.  Not many people carried cash these days and she could always use that!

As she walked away, the ants were already gathering at the small pool of blood and already seeking his blind, staring eyes.