as she could.
Cole dived into the tunnel.
“One more try!” Helma reached toward the
screen.
The camera showed a bouncy image of tun-
“Hang on. I bet the camera will show the
nel walls careening side to side as the collie,
tunnel’s narrowed or something.” Jadey
slightly taller than the height of the tunnel,
leaned past Helma and brought up the view at
scrunched down and wriggled in. At the fork,
the nozzle end. Shiny tunnel walls speckled
he stopped for a moment, sniffed and then
with little brown lumps. Caterpillars crawling
turned right, wading downstream through the
steadily forward down the slope. Ahead, the
influx of caterpillars.
tunnel forked, the nose of the hose jammed
Helma peered over her shoulder. “Such a
into the vee where it split in two. The cater-
tough little guy. It’ll be all right.” She grinned
pillars flowed to the right, an abrupt turn, im-
and punched Jadey’s shoulder.
possible for the hose to navigate.
Jadey scrubbed at her eyes. “We should
“We could attach the air compressor hose
have attached a rope to him so we could pull
to the suction hose? Shoot the suction hose
him out. We should have tightened his collar
forward a few feet? I think there’s a compres-
so it won’t snag. We should have cleaned the
sor hose extension in the truck.” Helma
camera lens.”
yanked open the cab door.
“Details, details.” Helma said. “Oh, look, a
“Helma, stop. That’d shoot the hose back-
big room!” Cole was entering a large cavity,
ward. You know there’s only one answer.” Jadey
round and f lat-ceilinged. Tree roots dangled
looked sadly at Cole who lay panting in the af-
overhead. The walls were pebbled thickly
ternoon sun. He was as much a grunt as she
with the tiny brown seedlike cases, and the
was. “Every tool has its purpose, like you said.”
floor was a writhing mess of blue. Scratchers
“Are you sure? Jadey?” Helma stopped, com-
lay bristly cheek by fuzzy jowl, glazed eyes
pressor hose dangling from her hands. Her ex-
blinking slowly but otherwise looking unhurt.
pression gradually changed from concern to de-
Fernie raised her head and weakly flipped her
light. “Awesome!” She dropped the hose at her
ears at Cole’s entrance. Jadey counted quick-
feet and knelt down beside him. “Good boy,
ly—the remaining eight were there, thank the
Cole, good boy! You’ll go fetch, right, boy?
gods.
Right?”
Cole faced the sole talpid. It stood, legs taut,
114
HOLLY SCHOFIELD
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
blocking the chamber entrance, f lexing its
and slashed at Cole. He retreated, and the
claws. Cole’s head jerked several times and a
camera blurred when his rump must have hit
faint bark came out of the hole.
the wall. Then the picture became a view of
“Don’t f ight it! Just fetch the scratchers!”
the same patch of ceiling, jerking every so of-
Jadey said then felt foolish. There was no au-
ten.
dio feed, and the dirt was a good sound insula-
“He’s caught on something!” Helma gasped.
tor. “Fetch,” she whispered. The room must
Cole struggled, twisting and turning, finally
be squarely located under the dentwillow tree
sending slime and dirt over the camera lens,
on the top of the hill. A tree that was protect-
clouding it.
ed by Section Six. Even if she was willing to vi-
Jadey stripped off her jacket. “Make sure
olate the laws to dig Cole out, it would mean
the compressor hose doesn’t kink.”
removing several dozen meters of hard-
“Say what?”
packed dirt. Cole was on his own.
She sat down and swung her feet into the
“Good boy!” Helma shouted, making Jadey
dark hole. “Time to send in the next tool.”
jump.
The collie wiggled forward, trying to place
The air in the tunnel held the oily reek of
himself between the talpids and the scratch-
caterpillar guts, talpid musk, and her own
ers.
sweat. She gripped the air compressor hose
The talpid shifted uneasily and moved a
nozzle tightly, her only weapon. Who knew
half-meter to the left. Cole turned away, giving
what an irate talpid could do? The faint
them another view of the huddled scratchers,
sounds of Helma’s encouraging voice gradual-
and then a blur of fur as he nudged them and
ly faded behind her and were replaced by thin
nipped at them. First Fernie and a couple of
scuff ling sounds ahead and the thud of her
others walked the few paces toward the
heartbeat.
chamber exit, then the others followed suit.
Her coveralls grew slippery as she inched
Finally the last one grew smaller in the cam-
forward, crushing more caterpillars in her
era’s screen as they trotted away up the tun-
path, moving scarcely faster than their looping
nel. Cole glanced over at the talpid then fol-
gait. One elbow after the other. Pods and dead
lowed behind them.
caterpillars down her collar, between her
Jadey let out a breath she hadn’t known she
breasts. A beetle scuttled away into a f inger-
was holding. “Good boy, Cole!”
sized hole, waving thick antennae. The walls
As soon as all the scratchers had taken the
narrowed as the headlamp gave a dim view of
turn at the fork, Cole immediately did a one-
dangling roots and more muck. Why hadn’t
eighty and crawled back toward the chamber.
she gotten a stronger light? Almost to the fork.
“No, Cole!” Jadey ran from the screen to the
As the tunnel split in two, a moist breeze waft-
hole and yelled as loud as she could. “Here,
ed from the left-hand fork. The burrow net-
boy, come back!”
work must be a huge labyrinth of tunnels be-
“He must think he has to fetch the talpid
low the hill.
too.” Helma said. “Brave little guy!”
She turned right, scraping a hipbone in the
As the stained and dirty scratchers stumbled
process. Pods stuck to the walls like bizarre
from the tunnel, Jadey led them one by one
decorations. The trouble with the slow
into the remaining cages squatting in the
progress was that it gave her too much time to
shade cast by the truck. Wordlessly, she
think. She tried to observe the pods as her
shoved a handful of brillo through the bars of
headlamp swept side to side with her move-
each, and picked a few sticky pods off their
ments, anythi
ng to avoid thinking about what
flanks. Fernie raised sad eyes to her, unable to
lay ahead. She could use the compressor hose
even turn around. They’d be okay there for a
to drag out Cole’s body—no, think about the
few hours, then what? Above the barn, the
pods. What were they? Why did caterpillars
sun began its descent.
want in the warren? Why had the talpids
In the chamber, Cole continued to circle
dragged the scratchers underground if it
and the angry talpid maintained an even dis-
wasn’t for food?
tance, like two prizefighters testing each oth-
For once, the full weight of Skale’s air pres-
er. On the second circuit, the talpid lunged
sure pulled at her lungs. She sucked in a long
HOME ON THE FREE RANGE
115
ANALOG
breath. One hand was bleeding freely and her
was probably a buildup of carbon dioxide in
hair was pasted to her scalp with blue gore.
the chamber—Terran moles had a high toler-
She thrust herself ahead, knees digging into
ance for it, spending their lives underground.
the slick floor, hose nozzle like a lance in front
Maybe, she thought, she could get some oxy-
of her, tr ying not to think of death, and
gen by sucking on the compressor hose, real-
flames, and her mother.
ized how silly that was, and realized that
As she approached the chamber, the light
meant she was in deep trouble. But adding
from the headlamp appeared to dim as it dif-
oxygen to the mix in the chamber might revive
fused across the room. Sure enough, Cole’s
her. A few gentle puffs right in front of her and
collar was caught on a gnarled root that hung
she felt a bit better. “Let’s go, boy.”
from the ceiling. He rolled his eyes at her, the
The talpid continued to pace against the far
whites showing. Poor baby. The talpid, eyes
wall as if deciding whether to charge. She
darting, danced in place on her left.
didn’t dare turn her back on it. And Cole was
She mimicked Cole’s earlier actions, block-
refusing to leave before she did. He licked her
ing the talpid from its quarry. Maybe she could
arms and twisted around her, making her
herd the creature out the exit. It crouched and
dizzy.
hissed at her, bushy eyebrows furrowed. Then
Finally, she wound a loop of the hose
it charged. She fumbled the nozzle handle and
through Cole’s collar and backed out, drag-
it was upon her, slashing, kicking, and claw-
ging him behind her, the whites of his rolling
ing. Her hands and forearms took the brunt,
eyes staring into hers for the endless journey.
instinctively protecting her face. She karate-
Thankfully, the talpid didn’t follow.
chopped the beast’s thick neck, and it with-
Her world shrank to the dog, the tunnel,
drew slightly, hissing softly.
and the darkness. Occasional puffs from the
“I’ll show you who can do that louder,” she
hose gave her enough energy to keep extend-
muttered and squeezed the air compressor
ing one leg backward after the other.
handle once. The sudden hiss made her jump
Even after her scraped knees stung like fire.
almost as much as the talpid. It squealed as fur
Even after her headlamp went out.
blew back exposing pale skin, then attacked.
At the fork, she managed to straighten out,
She held her fire as long as she dared, before
draw her feet to her chest, and release Cole
letting go a big stream of air. The talpid’s
ahead of her. He whined but scooted toward
mouth opened and its tendrils slapped back
the fresh air, slipping on the incoming cater-
against its fur. Crazily, one of the Terran mole
pillars.
facts she’d read came to mind. Their short
Head spinning, she squirted air clumsily.
pelts had no direction to the nap and couldn’t
The blast hit the roof full-force and loosened
get brushed the wrong way, allowing them to
the thin coating, sending dirt cascading down
move with ease backward down a tunnel.
on her face. She coughed, silt filling her nose.
More blasts, holding it at bay. Her mind
Suddenly, she was a child again, screaming at
went sideways. The reference material had
the caustic smoke billowing into the grunts’
also said moles’ saliva contains a toxin that
quarters, running blindly toward the engine
paralyzes earthworms so they could store
room, sirens blaring, hands grabbing her shirt.
their still-living prey for later consumption in
Voices shouting her mother’s name, shouting
special underground “larders.” Could the
that her mother lay trapped in the narrow ser-
talpids’ hind spurs serve a similar function, al-
viceway. The smell of charred flesh.
lowing them to capture the scratchers?
Her head spun and the tunnel shrank to
The talpid charged again. She squirted more
black.
air at it, driving right back against the chamber
wall. She tasted blood—she’d bitten her own
“Thought you were a goner. ” Helma’s
lip.
breath tickled her face.
She reached behind her and, after a fum-
Jadey lay outdoors f lat on her back, an
bling minute, released Cole’s collar from the
evening breeze cooling her sweat. She tried to
root. His wet tongue warmed her neck.
raise her head and it stuck to the brillo.
Time to get out of here. She drew in a breath
“Cole?”
and felt like her lungs were still empty. There
“He’s f ine. Here.” Gently, Helma placed
116
HOLLY SCHOFIELD
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
Jadey’s hand on the soft fur of Cole’s paw. A
“You’re welcome. You really are, Jadey. I
lick of his soft tongue and Jadey relaxed.
couldn’t have gotten this far without you.
“Jade, I was so worried. I was almost ready
Here, something else.”
to steal an excavator.”
Jadey took the tablet with blue-stained fin-
“The herd?”
gers. “H-bar-J Partnership Agreement,” she
“All safe and sound. But it was you I was
read aloud, squinting at the fine print. “H-bar-
worried about. Honest.”
Jay?”
Jadey sat up, the back of her head and her
“We’re not going to make the ranch work
coveralls ripping off the grass like Velcro.
unless we’re both fully committed.” It was the
“Thanks. But grunts are expendable, aren’t—”
most mature statement Jadey had ever heard
She broke off at the sight of Helma. No
Helma make.
more puff of hair, no more pristine coverall.
> Jadey waved the tablet. “What does this say,
Caterpillar guts coated her entire head,
exactly?” It wasn’t an offer she was going to
enough blue gunk to grease an old-style star-
leap at. The ranch would bleed money until
ship engine. Dirt and more blue crap caked
the prof its from selling the scratchers came
her shirt and pants, and she was missing one
in. And Helma’s debts weren’t something to
boot.
take on lightly.
“Well, somebody had to go in there and
“Full 50-percent prof it-sharing. No liability
drag you out, didn’t they?” Helma grinned
on your part for loans or debts. A f ive-year
with blue lips.
commitment. I . . . need you on board, Jadey.”
“It looks good on you,” Jadey said. Her lip
“Did a lawyer look at this?” She knew she
stung as she smiled back.
sounded ungrateful and surly.
“Let’s get you home.”
“I used boilerplate. Plus Dad made me learn
Home. The word felt good. Jadey rolled to
about all that stuff last year. Time I put it to
her knees.
use.”
The caged scratchers all had their heads
“But . . . when did you do all this?”
down, looking miserable. She blew out a
“Just now while you were lollygagging.”
breath. Leaving them in the cages meant
Helma’s teeth shone. “I also smoothed things
they’d soon die. Letting them out to pasture
over with Maxxco—taking the truck was just
meant they’d be taken by the talpids all over
a big misunderstanding as far as they’re con-
again.
cerned.”
She looked up at Helma.
Jadey raised an eyebrow and sipped the
“Yeah,” said Helma. “We haven’t solved any-
beer, considering. A partnership with naïve,
thing yet.”
over-enthusiastic, immature Helma? No ranch
of her own? “Think we can make it work?”
Slumped in the cheap plastic chair on the
“With my great attitude and your sweat eq-
porch, Jadey daubed on antiseptic. The last
uity, I know we can.”
warmth of the setting sun soaked into her tired
Suddenly it seemed appealing. Together,
muscles. Her head smarted where she’d had to
they could beat whatever Skale threw at them.
yank out chunks of hair to remove the brown
Jadey pressed her thumb on the signature line
pods. Beside her, Cole stretched in the sun-
and lifted the beer. “Cheers. I’m a ranch own-
light, his fur equally tattered, his tail wagging
er! Well, half of one.”
Analog Science Fiction and Fact Page 32