Chapter Nine Katniss vs. Engineering

When Katniss Everdeen was five years of age, a boy at her school named Frank told her that girls were stinky, had cooties, and could not build things like boys could. Apparently his older brother (who had been with one too many easy ladies) had the ego to tell him, "Chicks, man, cannot do math, pee standing up, or lead a country." He sipped his beer, and then added, "And they can't engineer worth a crap."

Katniss had stuck out her tongue, pushed Frank over, and gave him a cootie shot in a very painful place. She now had a severe change of heart. It was a sad thought that she had been more comfortable outside the ship.

Watching Peeta plummet had been horrifying. She actually shed a tear. The world would be watching she knew this. The fight was brutal even from a distance. Once she had a clear shot, she took it figuring the rope would help Peeta again. And then he fell again. A beam of pure white light hit him and the device on the creature exploded. Whatever plan they had for saving the day in the airship was now gone. Peeta was gone. Rue was gone. The monster was gone.

Katniss thought it was ironic she would escape the field to be trapped in an airship. She whacked the door futilely. The body of Cato was already starting to stink. Well, it started to stink in her mind. The door opened with compliance. The ship happened to be equipped with 'smart' machines that knew what the people using them wanted. And the security had been disabled. The creature must have needed that…

Katniss found the bridge. Under the body of a large man was a screen with a list.

1) Force-field-on/off

2) Position- Top of Cornucopia/home

3) Environment- Friendly/active

4) Screen- On/off

Katniss laughed. The systems set up to slaughter children were surprisingly user friendly. The higher systems had been gutted. Apparently only old, decommissioned ships were used for Hunger Games. She hit 'off' for the force-field, and hit 'home' for position.

The rest was too complicated to deal with. There were gauges and levers she did not understand. Even the coffee bar was too difficult to use. Who knew what this 'frappe' thing was anyway? A cup of coffee ought to be a cup of coffee! She sat in the captain's chair as the ship made its way back to its berth. Forever, or rather three hours and twenty-two minutes later, Katniss landed in the Capital. She was so gone physically and mentally she did not resist being carried out.

There was a great deal of damage to repair. Every tribute was scarred, but this was new. Society had become complacent, allowing the Capital to slaughter its children because that is how society was; but now there was serious doubt. The Capital made all the rules because it was in charge, if it was no longer in charge, it no longer made the rules.

Truthfully Herald had assembled what he considered enough troops to capture the predator; but he and his men were too late. There had not been enough time to act. The Capital looked foolish. Someone, or something, had snuck into the games and took total control. President Snow demanded somebody die.

The airship was taken to a yard where Herald ripped it apart looking for clues. The creature must have wired itself in somehow.

Katniss was spared. She went on the after-show. The questions were mostly about Peeta, and how she felt about him, how she felt when she lost him, how she felt when she got him back only to lose him again. In her opinion, it was stupid that everyone cared so much about her dating life. The time was cut short. She was escorted to an abandoned factory where Herald strapped her down.

"I told you I would get you, Girl on Fire," He started, "Now tell me everything that happened…"

And she told her story, the first time out of seventy-three totals times she would be forced to tell it for the government. Katniss figured out quickly that it was no mutt in there. This was a foreign player that had joined the games.

Katniss was sent home. On the ride home, she found that they were replaying the games. Peeta kept falling and disappearing. Over and over he left her. Then she realized why Herald was so interested in her story. A split second before the explosion, a beam of light hit Peeta. Perhaps it was nothing, but it appears as though he becomes… transparent. It almost, almost looks like he's disappearing. Maybe he was not dead, maybe he did what he wanted from the beginning with her. Maybe he was free.

Katniss shook her head. She was no freedom fighter; she was a hunter. If Peeta was still out there, he was either a predator, or prey.

She hoped he was a predator. Katniss was a predator too. She went to bed that night, dreaming that Peeta was sleeping with the gods….

A.N. Well… that was fun! I blew the ending. Originally, the stories end with Arnold going home, and Katniss goes home, so I had to do that. On the other hand, I had no real way of ending this story. The true ending is when I wrote 'the end'.

I hope you enjoyed this story. I have plans for three others. That is, in my mind anyways, the first in the trilogy. And there's one spin off. So, here's the deal I typically make; I get a bunch of reviews, I make a sequel. You say nothing, it stays as-is. Alright, I'm signing off now. If you want to chat, let me know.

-Clever