by Jim Laughter
“What about using the responder to signal for help? Even the Preserve would understand the seriousness of Red-tails being here on Sharpton.”
“They might,” Leatha agreed grudgingly. “But the Red-tails will triangulate our position and find us before help can get here. By the time you get through to the bureaucracy of the Preserve, we’ll be guests of honor at a Red-tail picnic.”
∞∞∞
A hint of sunrise shone over the horizon. Anna knew that real dawn was still over an hour away but she was heartened by the light.
“So you figure we’re at least four days hard hike from the Camp?” Leatha asked. Anna was startled out of her musings. They had been discussing how to get help when the predawn grayness distracted her.
“That’s about right.”
“Does that take into account our finding another crossing on the river?”
“I think we’ll find a possible crossing west of here,” Anna said. “Further upstream are areas with windfalls and logjams this time of year.”
“So say another half day there,” Leatha said, thinking aloud in the dark. “That means four and a half days to make it to camp.”
“No, I already added it to the total estimate,” Anna corrected her. “But it will be a hard hike. And that assumes we don’t have any problems.”
“Two other factors need to be figured in,” Leatha said. “The first is fatigue. Neither of us has had any real food for two days. It’ll start to affect us soon.”
“I can go several days without food in a pinch.”
“Yes, but can you keep your wits about you? Even if you can push your body that hard, it still takes a serious toll on your cognitive abilities.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Anna admitted. “Knowing my luck, I’ll get rummy and stumble right into them.”
“There’s something else to consider,” Leatha continued. Anna was sure she would not like Leatha’s next words. “Even if we make it to camp, what will we do then? I didn’t see any place we can hide that will slow them much. And I didn’t see any real weapons around.”
“There’s a hunting rifle in the main office.”
“No good,” Leatha said with a shake of her head. “Unless they’re on par with service weapons, it won’t stop them. I’ve seen a Red-tail take a percussion armored slug weighing over an ounce and still keep coming.”
“But you said that one was killed by a knife back there,” Anna protested. “A good hunting rifle should do the trick.”
“Only if you know exactly where to strike,” Leatha said. “That knife was used by a Red-tail against another of its kind. He knew where to strike, and their long knives are a fearsome piece of metal.”
“If you could show me where to shoot...” Anna started to say.
“Not good enough,” Leatha replied. “Besides the fact of there being many of them at once, you have to take into account their body armor. That blood fight was fought without their battle tunics. Those are designed to protect their very few vulnerable spots.”
“Then we don’t have much of a chance,” Anna said sadly. Her discouragement was palatable. “I guess we could barricade ourselves in the underground cooler. It has thick walls and door.”
“As long as there is life, there is hope,” Leatha said in that singsong voice again. Anna stared at her. A couple moments passed before either spoke again.
“We could make it,” Leatha offered. “It’d be a long shot but it’s the best we’ve come up with.”
“Then we better get some sleep,” Anna said, deeply concerned for her friend. “We can still catch a couple hours before there’s enough light to travel.”
“It’s best if we leave it as early as possible.”
“Why is that?” Anna asked. “I don’t relish going over a cliff in the dark.”
“Because they will be out as soon as it’s warm enough,” Leatha said. “They don’t like the cold. To them this climate is nearly arctic.”
“When do you think that’ll be?”
Anna mentally tried to figure the distance to a possible river crossing in relation to where they suspected the Red-tails to be.
“A couple hours after sunrise,” Leatha answered. “They need the warmth, and their eyes aren’t well adjusted to our light spectrum.”
“What?” Anna asked, surprise at this new revelation. “You mean they’re blind here?”
“Far from it,” Leatha retorted. “It’s just that the yellow tint of our light makes it hard for them to judge distances. Their home planet has three red suns.”
“How do you know that?” Anna asked. “I thought no one has ever gone to their home worlds and returned.”
“I just know,” Leatha said to herself as much as to her friend. “I don’t know how I know. I just do.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The commander hated the weak yellow star peeking over the distant horizon. Only minimal warmth streamed through the alien vegetation. He ordered his soldiers to draw up in their ranks. Steeling himself against the frigid cold, he turned and glared at his shivering underlings. It was colder than they preferred but their minds were on something more compelling - humans.
“Form three ranks!” he growled at his soldiers. Although he did not show it, their uncoordinated shuffling trying to gather in coordinated groups amused him. The soldiers growled and snapped at each other, occasionally drawing blood. Since it might actually help in their search for the two humans, the commander pretended not to notice their breech of discipline.
The underlings divided into three separate and roughly equal groups. The first lined up behind the remaining one original hunter. The commander noted that it was pretty much the same group that had searched unsuccessfully the day before. The second fell in behind its newly appointed leader, the winner of the blood fight. The third and final group would be under his direct leadership.
“You!” he barked at a soldier in his own group. “Stay behind and operate the relay equipment. Keep the separate hunting parties coordinated over the low range tight beam. I don’t want us wasting time following each other around in this accursed vegetation.”
The soldier, although unhappy with the order, took off back into the cave complex. He knew better than question the commander’s orders, especially after seeing him kill one of their number after the blood fight. To expedite matters, the commander growled a threat at the two other group leaders who dispatched one from each of their groups to help move the gear. Its awkwardness demanded the effort and he did not want the precious transceiver damaged in the haste of one clumsy low-caste drone soldier.
When he first heard about the two humans in the area, the commander feared their hidden location on this isolated planet had been discovered. However, since they were female humans and apparently not part of the military branch of the human mass, he knew he had time to hunt them down. His main concern now was the growing discontent of his soldiers. They hated serving on this accursed planet as much as he did.
All of them had shown a mixture of fear and excitement. Those higher in the caste ranks were more aware of the dangers of discovery. Those at the bottom didn’t have the intelligence for strategic thought. Nevertheless, they all lusted for the taste of fresh human meat.
Using fear to improve discipline, along with their blood lust as a motivational tool, it was simple for one of his rank and experience to manipulate them. Overall, he had a much more dedicated detachment under him now that they’d seen him kill one of their number. He hoped it would improve the chances of his audacious plan working.
The three soldiers finally reappeared lugging the heavy equipment. After placing it at the mouth of the cave complex, the two extra soldiers returned to their groups. Left to finish setting it up and then monitoring the tight beam transceiver, the unhappy soldier continued his task.
The three groups formed ranks again and the commander faced them in the cold morning light. “Listen up!” he barked at them in general. “I want this to be a careful, and let me
stress, successful search. Each group has their own search area. We know from the group that worked yesterday that the two human females are somewhere on this side of that river. You will report regularly, which will be relayed directly to me.”
This last was directed at the soldier designated to operate the tight beam equipment.
“There will be order maintained throughout this maneuver,” he growled. “Any soldier disobeying my orders will be dealt with.”
Taking another moment’s pause during which he glared at them one final time, he gave his next order. “Now move out! And I want these human females alive and intact. No missing limbs!”
∞∞∞
“Leatha?” Anna stammered as she shook herself to wakefulness. A quick glance around the dimly lit cave showed only an empty space. Touching the spot where Anna had last seen the younger woman sleeping, she found only cold ground. The early dawn shifted from the narrow opening back deep into the cave. As she stumbled forward around the bend, the morning light hit her full in the face and began warming the chill out of her bones. Anna discerned that it was an hour or so after dawn. Looking around for signs of her friend, she saw nothing.
“Leatha!” she called out, a little louder than she’d intended. A small shower of dirt and stone dropped right in front of her at the cave entrance.
Anna jumped back and then stepped out more carefully and craned her neck to look up higher on the cliff face. She saw Leatha perched on a rock ledge looking down on her with a deadly serious expression. Beside Leatha was a carefully built-up stack of heavy rocks. They were stacked in layers and balanced against two dead tree limbs. Leatha motioned for her to be quiet and then turned her attention back to her construction.
After double-checking her rock fall, Leatha scrambled down from her perch high above the cave entrance. Anna stepped back as with amazing lightness Leatha landed in a squat at the front of the cave. Without a word, the young woman scampered back around the bend into the cave. Anna followed.
When she caught up with Leatha, she was taking a sip from her water bottle. “How long have you been awake? I thought we were going to hike out early this morning.”
Leatha did not answer immediately but sipped her water like it was the most precious nectar. She stayed in a crouched position as if hiding behind a bush or fallen tree. Anna noticed new cuts and scrapes on her friend but did not mention anything. They were both looking more disheveled from their ordeal.
“Been building a trap,” she said. She glanced around the cave. Anna thought it looked like she was sizing it up for a combat headquarters. It was high enough on the cliff face to be defensible, but was there a ready escape route in case they had to abandon their position.
“They’re coming,” Leatha added after a couple more seconds of strained silence.
“But what about hiking out?” Anna asked. “We’re losing time if we’re going to make that river crossing before they find us.”
“River?” asked Leatha in a puzzled voice. Once again, Anna got the impression she wasn’t speaking to Leatha, but to that other person that stepped into her psyche during times of stress and danger.
“We need to leave now if we hope to have a chance of making the crossing,” Anna declared, renewing her assertions.
Leatha appeared to shake herself and then stood to her full height. Noticing that she was holding her water bottle, she absently capped it and restored it to her pack.
“Time is running out,” Leatha said as if broaching the subject for the first time. “We’re way behind schedule if I read the daylight right.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” Anna exploded. Leatha seemed a bit taken back by her outburst but said nothing. “Why didn’t you wake me earlier?” Anna said. “And why did you spend time building a rock fall trap above the cave? We should have been long gone by now!”
“Rock fall trap?” Leatha asked innocently. “That would be a good idea if we needed to defend this spot.”
In a speechless rage, Anna grabbed her own pack and stormed back to the front of the cave. She was slinging it up onto her shoulders when Leatha appeared beside her, doing the same. There was a strained silence for a couple seconds and then it was gone. Anna felt drained.
Leatha looked out over the forests below. What’s the fastest way to the river crossing you mentioned last night?”
Even though they were peering around the tops of the trees that screened the cave, a good stretch of land was clear from this vantage point.
“Toward that rise on your left,” Anna said, pointing. Leatha looked at the rise as if to fix it in her mind.
“How are you planning to get from here to there?” Leatha asked. “You’re the expert on this area.”
Anna was confused by the comment. After all their discussion in the middle of the night, she figured Leatha would leading them with her only providing occasional navigational suggestions. Realizing it was in her hands, she said, “I thought we’d follow that cut line curving along that shallow ridge. But with the time we’ve lost, we’d best head in as straight a line as possible.”
“Why were you going to follow that curve?”
“Because it would be easier and faster going than the direct route,” Anna answered. “There are the possibility of hidden escarpments and drop-off’s through this area. If we run across one, we’ll have to backtrack around it, losing precious time.”
“Sounds like you’re balancing one risk against another,” Leatha observed after a moment’s consideration. “You know the lay of the land. You lead.”
Anna pondered the situation. Besides the possible obstacles in their proposed path, something else weighed on her mind - Leatha. Several times now her friend acted strange and without explanation. To Anna, this added even more risk to what was becoming a difficult situation.
“I still say we take the curve route,” Anna finally said. “We can always cut more direct if we need to later.”
“Let’s get moving,” Leatha agreed and shifted her pack. “We’ve had enough delays already.”
In a silent and confused rage, Anna said nothing as she took the lead on the trail to the forest.
∞∞∞
The power indicator on the equipment signaled it was ready. The soldier left behind to monitor it activated the standby mode with just a flick of his claw. A coded signal appeared on the screen and he knew everything was operating within parameters.
He was not the usual operator of the tight beam equipment. Although they’d all been instructed in its setup and operation, the lack of practice made him nervous. At least with the transceiver working properly, the commander would not have another reason to fault him. Now all he had to do was stay warm and wait.
Coordinating signals should start coming in from each group soon. After that, the reports would come in every quarter cycle. As if it would help warm him on this cold planet, the soldier hunkered down next to the power supply. But the move proved unnecessary. He was more than warmed by resentment and a growing sense of frustration.
Out among the thick alien vegetation, the others were having their own frustrations. Fanning out from their starting point, each group tried to make headway through and over countless obstacles blocking their way. The commander’s requirement dictated they search in straight lines and not make use of game trails or other ways to ease their passage.
To add to their difficulties, the search protocol required the entire line maintain regular spacing. This might work fine on a normally hot planet that lacked vegetation, but here on this alien world, the plant life made movement frustrating. More often than not, the entire line had to shift to one side or the other to allow one of the soldiers in the search line to go around impassable stands of an alien plants, slowing them down, causing tempers to flare.
The commander on the other hand, had the best section to search. Not only was it crisscrossed with game trails running in the right direction, it was more open as well. That his group should have it so easy was only norm
al to him. This was one of the privileges of his rank that he exercised fully.
As a result, his search group out-paced the other two. Reaching the edge of the river (such a strange thing to see liquid flowing in such abundance) the commander ordered his group to stop. Using his small transmitter set for short-range, he checked in with the soldier back at the cave. He listened for a moment while his group milled around. They saw a frown cross his face and knew things were not going well. At least, not well enough to please the commander.
Growling orders into his transmitter, the commander demanded to know what was keeping the other groups from meeting his schedule. Back at the cave, the soldier monitoring the transceiver was also having a difficult time trying to coordinate their movement. Between irregular checks from the two other groups, and increasing threats from an angry commander, his frustration grew. Add a few random mistakes by him and others and it made things a real mess.
In a fit of frustrated rage, the commander ordered everyone to stop. His signal being relayed by the transceiver, he was able to establish a link with the other two search groups. He ordered them to tune to his transmitter and cut the transceiver back at the cave out of the circuit. Satisfied that he now had better control over his soldiers, the commander ordered the other two groups to change to a loose rank pattern so they could move easier.
Unfettered by protocol, both of the other search groups made their way through the forest. The group leaders soon reported to the commander that they had achieved the far edge of their search grids. Not a moment too soon, he thought. He pushed his long knife back into its sheath. I won’t have to kill one of the incompetent fools after all.
∞∞∞
At that moment, two others were taking a rest break, albeit far from the Red-tail commander and his soldiers. Anna and Leatha had been hiking hard and fast for the last hour and were feeling the effects of exertion and unsatisfied hunger. Stopping at the edge of a small clearing, they found a fall of logs padded with moss. The decision to take a break was instantaneous as well as unanimous. Each found a soft log to sit on while they dropped their light packs.