by C. Litka
03
'Once more, my dear!' I said, as we came alongside the fringe of the woods without a challenge from the guards hidden within. I pulled her towards me and the woods.
'But the Assembly,' she protested, holding back and playing her part.
'The old Assembly can wait. They'll be talking for hours,' I replied, eagerly tugging her towards the woods. 'We've plenty of time - and not enough! Please?' The part I was playing was written just for me, I found.
I half dragged her into the shaded underbrush - several meters - before we bumped up against three large fellows, armed with springer rifles. I let go of Naylea's hand.
'Get along to the Assembly, you two,' one of them said gruffly. 'Get along, I say. You should be at the Assembly.'
'Yes, of course. Sorry,' stammered Naylea, blushing, and looking up at the hulking Temtre.
Seeing that she had his full attention and that I had clear shots at the two behind him, I took them, with two little flickers of blue light, and searched the underbrush for the remaining two. She put a dart into the fellow before her. With no gravity, they just stood stock still.
'Come along, Max, my dear. We must go,' she said loudly, adding in a whisper, 'Make noise going out.' And crouching down, quickly scampered deeper into the underbrush.
I slashed my way out and then crouched down and waited no more than half a minute until Naylea called out. 'Signal LinPy. Let's get moving.'
Py came loping, like only a true small islander can. There was no one in sight, so we quickly moved to our positions. I stayed behind as the two Laezans crept through the tall grass to the edge of the amphitheater where Py held back, while Naylea crawled on to the edge. And then we waited. The worst part.
Finally, Naylea signaled Py, and I could see a bit of a blue flash as she set the stage for Py's speech. Between the fireworks and Py's speech, they kept the Temtre's at bay for more than ten minutes by my com link, though Naylea had to silence a fearless DinDay with a dart, who, along with the other clan-chiefs, lined the second terrace. And then, the two Laezans appeared alongside of me.
'Go, Litang,' said Naylea, darter in hand, 'I'll cover you.
I rose and raced alongside Py past the trees, telling Py to keep going on - I stopped to wait for Naylea. She was following closely behind, and seeing no pursuit, we reached the edge of the island, and began our well-rehearsed retreat in good order.
Chapter 34 An Unfortunate Escape