Trailblazer

by Michelle Diener

  She carefully eased herself up into a crouch and tried to work out which way they were going.

  They seemed to be coming toward her fountain bush, and then they passed her by, but the movement was sneaky, moving quickly and then stopping, then moving again.

  Ben would call softly out to her, wouldn't he? Or he'd have found her, because he had the heat sensor on his wrist unit.

  So, if it wasn't Ben, who was it?

  She lay on the ground and crawled forward through the curtain of leaves, just poking out enough of her head to see what she could.

  She froze.

  Irwin was right in front of her, his back to her as he looked north.

  She eased back, mind spinning.

  He was with the Caruso. She didn't doubt that for a moment. So was he looking for her? Had they caught Ben, and they thought they could lure her out using Irwin?

  Her stomach dropped and her hand closed over the small laz Ben had left with her.

  Either Ben was in trouble, or, if he was coming back to find her, he could run right into Irwin; think Irwin was her on his heat sensor and not have his guard up.

  She crawled carefully forward again, and just caught the flash of Irwin moving again, heading north.

  The wind kicked up another notch, and she used the sound to wriggle free of her hiding place and start to follow him.

  It was relatively easy to track him as he moved down the gentle slope, because she was always above him, but when she reached the valley floor, where the trees seemed to be a little closer together, and she lost the advantage of height, she began to panic when she lost sight of him.

  Her panic triggered the prickle through her blood of the unwelcome guests inside her, but right now, unwelcome was too strong a word, because she needed to follow Irwin, and she didn't know what she was doing on her own.

  She blew out a breath and relaxed her body, and clearly thought the words: “Go ahead.”

  She didn't experience any sudden sharpening of her eyesight or her hearing, and confused, she pushed away from the tree she was leaning against, and concentrated.

  She heard the frightened shriek of a bird to her left. Her heart beat a little faster and she went in that direction. She caught sight of Irwin almost immediately, his quick, furtive movements drawing her eye.

  The way he was creeping helped her. It slowed him down, made him easier to find.

  Her worry that he was looking for her, or trying to draw her out, had all but evaporated. His focus seemed to be on moving forward as silently and carefully as he could.

  He seemed to know where he was going, which made her wonder why he was sneaking. If he knew where the Caruson camp was, why didn't he simply walk to it openly?

  Unless he was trying to keep out of sight in case she and the rest of the Trail team were around.

  That made sense to her, and she kept well back, calmer and more sure of her ability to work out which way he'd go.

  She made no sound as she followed him, something she only realized after the second time a twig snapped under Irwin's boot.

  She sent a silent thank you to her invaders, as she realized they were helping her place her feet with exquisite care.

  She heard the sound of conversation before Irwin seemed to.

  It stopped her in her tracks, and she eased behind a tree, but Irwin carried on a little way, until she was convinced he wasn't worried about it. But then he froze, cocked his head as if he were listening, and slid behind a tree himself.

  It jolted her.

  Earlier, she'd waited for a heightened sense of hearing, but maybe . . . maybe she already had it.

  She just hadn't noticed.

  When Irwin moved again, it was even more cautiously.

  He approached the sound of a camp incrementally, and when a low, humming buzz rose up, he froze and then began to move a little faster.

  Tally looked up, too nervous to break cover when she didn't know what was making the sound. It seemed to be getting louder, and she guessed it was a hover of some kind.

  She felt a lurch of fear for Ben. If he was caught in the open, he'd be exposed.

  She'd pushed him from her thoughts while she'd been following Irwin, her concentration on staying hidden, but where was he?

  The sun was sinking in the sky, and while darkness came more quickly among the trees, he had been gone a long time.

  She hoped, with a sick, cold lurch of her stomach, that he wasn't wandering around where he'd left her, worried out of his mind.

  Although she'd rather that than find him a prisoner, or dead, in the Caruson camp.

  Irwin had fetched up against a tree, and as the buzzing noise increased, he climbed it, pulling himself up amongst the branches, where he disappeared from sight.

  She gritted her teeth in frustration.

  There was no way she could get closer. Either Irwin would spot her, or whatever was flying their way would.

  Maybe she'd have to climb, too.

  She looked up and worked out if it was a viable option.

  Her blood sang with relish at the challenge, and she tried to remember if this is how she'd been before the ghost ship.

  She hadn't been planet-side enough to know for sure.

  She'd enjoyed challenging herself, but had she seen things in terms of obstacles to overcome?

  She forced the thought away, blew out a breath and tried to switch off her thoughts and simply let her hands and feet find what they could.

  She half-closed her eyes, working by feel, and was startled when she found herself already at the first big branch.

  She scrambled up a few more, and then tried to see Irwin and the camp.

  Irwin was still invisible, but she knew the tree he was in, and she thought she could detect an unnatural shiver of the leaves every now and then.

  She couldn't see the whole camp, but she could see a slice of it.

  While she'd been climbing, the buzzing had gotten louder, and then cut off. It started up again, and she caught sight of a large drone rising up above the treeline, an empty sling beneath it. It banked and flew off to the north east.

  Looked like the Caruso had just had a delivery of supplies.

  She wondered if that had been pre-planned, because the Caruson surely didn't have their own satellite in the atmosphere. Unless the warship that had shot down the runner was circling Veltos and they were using it for comms.

  She caught sight of a Caruson soldier moving around, but he disappeared, and then the sounds of conversation drift over on the breeze. She could smell the aroma of meat cooking over an open fire, and guessed they were roasting the kuyer they'd shot.

  The sun had almost completely set, and the sky was ablaze with color. The Caruson were obviously done for the day.

  She shuffled on her branch, looking for a better view of the camp. If Ben was a prisoner there, she couldn't see any sign of him.

  Eventually, Irwin dropped out of the tree, landing in a crouch and then moving off in the deep shadows.

  She waited for the sound of him to fade, and then swung down herself, moving carefully away from the camp.

  Should she try to follow Irwin?

  Ben was probably looking for her by now, but it was surely worth trying to see where Irwin was going.

  She was aware of how much time had passed since he'd climbed down and disappeared. Picking up his trail would be difficult.

  She tried anyway, heading in the direction she'd seen him go, and wondering what he was up to.

  Things were a little more complicated than she'd thought on that front. He was obviously not as tightly aligned with the Caruso as it first appeared.

  When she reached the gentle slope up to her camp, she had already admitted defeat. She had no idea which way Irwin had gone, and perhaps her heart wasn't in it, anyway.

  She wanted to see if Ben was waiting for her.

  She was crouched up against a tree, watching the low hill in front of her for any sign of movement before she risked breaking cover, when
the back of her neck prickled with nerves, and she checked over her shoulder.

  There was someone close by.

  Every part of her sang in a symphony of anticipation and nerves. The invaders in her blood making her skin hyper-sensitive and heightening her every sense.

  She caught the faintest sound of fabric on bark, someone moving around the trunk toward her, and whatever had taken up residence inside her took control.

  She dropped to a crouch and swung out a leg. A soft curse alerted something deep in her brain, so when Ben fell, grabbing her as he went down and rolling to pin her under him, she let him do it.

  They stared at each other in the near darkness.

  She said nothing, and while she could see he had things to say, he kept his mouth in a thin, tight line as well.

  She was so pleased to see him, though, she lifted up a little and kissed him.

  It shocked him into stillness, and leeched some of the mad out of him.

  “Quick question,” she whispered. “Do you want to go back to the camp I set up, or do you want to try to follow Irwin?” She nibbled on her lower lip. “In fairness, I think he's long gone by now, so we might not pick up his trail.”

  His expression told her he was thrown by her question.

  “Which way did he go?”

  “West.”

  He though about it, seemingly content to be crushing her into the leaves of the forest floor.

  She didn't mind it, either.

  “It's almost dark. Let's regroup and we can make some decisions.”

  She nodded, and he lifted off her, pulled her up after him when she raised her hand.

  For a moment she was flush up against his body and his arms came around her in a single, tight squeeze, then he stepped back, his arms dropping to his sides.

  She turned and took the lead up the hill, unable to keep a smile from her lips.

  Chapter 17

  Ben ducked through the curtain of leaves after Tally, and found himself cocooned in a space that was high enough for him to stand without bending.

  It was absolutely dark, and he flicked on his light for long enough to see the sleeping mats set up side by side, the sleeping bags laid out.

  Tally glanced at him, then went down on her knees and crawled to the bags, quickly pulling out a selection of instant food, and once she was settled, sitting cross-legged, with two plates in her hand, he switched off the light and crawled next to her.

  “You were gone a long time.” She said it quietly.

  “I made a trail for them to follow. I could see they were searching for us, and I didn't want them to decide to work their way back toward the supply station.”

  “No.” Her tone was stark. “Soo and Lenny can only go so fast with the hover. We need to lead them away.”

  He accepted that, but he didn't like the thought of Tally being with him while he did it. They'd be putting themselves in the Caruson's sights if they deliberately gave them a trail to follow.

  “Did you see the drone?” she asked after a while.

  He swallowed the last of what was a really delicious mousse down the wrong way. She had to have been right next to the Caruson camp to have seen the drone. He hadn't realized that.

  “How did you see it?” He said it around a cough.

  “I was waiting for you here, and I heard someone walking past.”

  He went cold. “Irwin?”

  “Yes. I didn't know what he was doing. He seemed to be moving so cautiously. I'm not sure if he was scared of bumping into us, or the Caruson. He knew where their camp was, though, and he snuck up to it, watched them for about half an hour and then left.”

  “He was watching them?” Ben hadn't been expecting that.

  “I'm sure he's not on our side, but it looks like he's wary of the Caruson, as well.”

  Ben thought about it. There were plenty of reasons for Irwin's behavior, none of which made him someone to trust, but it was interesting that he was keeping his distance from the Caruson and checking up on them.

  “What's the plan?” Tally slid down on her mat, and he could just make out her pillowing her hands behind her head.

  “We need to get some sleep, then when it gets light enough, we need to extend the false trail I started yesterday, then disappear into the forest and head to Rainerville.”

  “They're going to be looking for us.”

  He tidied up his plate and then lay down beside her. “Yes.”

  “And Irwin is definitely not working for our side?”

  He shook his head. “No. I researched him before I arrived at the supply station. There is no way he's part of some VSC surveillance I somehow wasn't told about.” He thought about the detailed file he'd read on the trail guide. “I can only assume he was gotten to on Situ.”

  “What could they possibly be offering him?”

  Ben couldn't imagine. “Now that the breakaways are back in the Verdant String fold, wealth can't be the reason. But he is originally from Faldine, although his parents moved away before the war started. The only thing I can think of is he resents the Verdant String because of the war.”

  Tally was quiet, and the sound of her breathing soothed him.

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and drew her close, and she turned into him with a murmur of contentment, and rested a hand on his chest.

  “So, what was that move you pulled when I tried to get next to you without making any noise?” He'd seen her a moment before she'd crouched behind the tree, and he'd had to suppress the shock and fear he'd had at her being so close to the Caruso camp. He'd had the clear sense she was either hiding from someone or following them. He hadn't wanted to do anything to give away her position, but when he'd tried to slide in next to her, she'd taken him by surprise.

  “That wasn't me.” The words were spoken without inflection, and he could feel she was tense now, no longer warm and pliant against him.

  “Your little helpers?” he asked.

  “Helpers?” She thought about it for a beat. “I suppose they are, in a way. If you'd been someone else, that move might have saved me.”

  “Tell me what it's like.” He couldn't understand how something could take full control of her. It didn't seem possible.

  “It feels like tingles in my blood.” She paused. “I find myself reacting without conscious thought, as if I was taking a breath, or sneezing. It has some way to override my brain and take the controls.”

  He felt a surge of protectiveness.

  “But always in your favor?”

  She hesitated. “Yes. Always in my favor. They're more symbiotic than parasitical. Their wellbeing is tied to my own.”

  “I'm glad about that.” Ben rubbed his thumb over the curve of her shoulder.

  She huffed out a breath. “I'd rather they not be there at all. The hardest part is sometimes I can't remember what I was like before the ghost ship. I'm fighting myself so much, I feel like I blunder from situation to situation, never really in control.”

  He didn't know how to respond to that, so he simply rubbed her arm with his hand, and after a while, he felt her relax into sleep.

  As he felt the tug of sleep himself, he set a silent alarm on his wrist unit to alert him if a big enough heat signature was detected. They would have warning if someone snuck up on them, which meant he didn't need to be hyper vigilant. If he wanted to he could lean over, wake her with a kiss, and explore the attraction that had flared between them from the moment they met.

  He held himself back, though.

  He'd already decided he was not the man she needed. She'd be whisked off of Veltos the moment help arrived, whereas he'd be cleaning up this mess for months.

  The thought of her being taken off was both reassuring and depressing. He wanted her safe. He'd have to get her out of this alive, first, though.

  And he intended to do so. No matter who got in his way.

  * * *

  He came awake fully, even though Tally made almost no sound as she rose up and stepped over h
im.

  He sat up, and she looked back, but it was too dark for him to see any expression on her face.

  After a momentary pause, she simply stepped through the curtain of foliage and disappeared, and he surged to his feet and followed her.

  They were both barefoot.

  Now he was outside, he could see better in the moonlight, and she was walking delicately, picking her way across the forest floor in a way that said she was avoiding sharp objects.

  “Tally.”

  His whisper received no response, and he felt a chill wash through him as he came to the conclusion that Tally wasn't in control right now.

  But what would have woken her little invaders?

  She stopped between two trees, her head cocked to one side, and at last he heard what must have roused her.

  The sound of a hover in the distance.

  She jumped, catching onto the lowest branch of the tree she stood under, and swinging up with an ease that staggered him. She disappeared and he jogged to where she had been standing and jumped himself.

  He pulled himself up with considerably less grace, and began to climb.

  She was lighter than he was, and when he couldn't go any higher, he looked up and saw her two branches above him, standing with one hand resting on the trunk, looking out toward the Caruson camp.

  He said nothing, afraid asking her a question might jerk her back to herself while she was balancing on a slender branch.

  The sound of the hover seemed to pass very close to them and then moved off into the distance. When it cut off altogether, Tally waited another moment or two before she jumped down onto the branch below her, and then swung down to his.

  She made a hand signal to him that he'd never seen before, but which he thought meant talk at the bottom, and he followed her back down.

  “What did you see?” he asked, as soon as he'd dropped to the ground.

  She was sitting at the foot of the tree, leaning back against the trunk and he saw her shoulders tense.

  He sat down beside her, close enough for their shoulders to rub.

  “What did I do?” she asked, and there was so much pain in her voice he lifted her up and set her across his lap and held her close.