McKee ran a wide circle around the bodies and felt a sense of relief as she spotted the empty space below a wedge of upthrust rock. She didn’t have the time or the tools required to dig conventional graves. But after pushing the bodies in under the rock formation, she could wall them in. Not perfect, perhaps, but it could work given a bit of luck. Savas was a big planet after all—most of which remained unsettled.
McKee grabbed Ophelia by the ankles and dragged her a hundred feet over to the rock. The empress wasn’t all that heavy, but it was hot work nevertheless, and McKee was gasping for breath by the time the job was done.
Then it was time to go back for Daska. The robot weighed at least twenty pounds more than the Human had. It took every bit of McKee’s strength to drag the machine over and push it into the shady crevice. Now both bodies were invisible from above. McKee allowed herself a swig of water before going out to kick dirt over Ophelia’s blood and retrieve the machine pistol.
That was when she heard a distant roar and felt a stab of fear. An aircraft! Headed her way! McKee scooped the machine pistol off the ground and ran for the rock. As she dived under the overhang, McKee scrabbled forward so that her boots wouldn’t be visible from above.
The boxy shuttle arrived thirty seconds later. It was low, very low, and riding its repellers. That would use a lot of fuel but allowed the aircraft to creep along. And it didn’t take a genius to guess who the crew was looking for.
But they couldn’t see Ophelia since she was only inches away from McKee. So close that McKee could see that the woman’s left ear had been pierced twice.
The repellers stirred up a miniature dust storm as they jabbed the desert floor and erased the footprints that crisscrossed the area. A mercy for which McKee was extremely grateful. Sand continued to fly as two aerospace fighters roared overhead, and the shuttle continued on its way.
It was tempting to exit her hiding place, but McKee knew that would be a mistake. There were bound to be eyes in the sky. Powerful eyes looking down on that part of the planet’s surface. No, difficult though it might be, the smart thing was to remain where she was until darkness fell.
So McKee lay next to the woman who had killed so many, wondered what would become of Nicolai and whether he would make a better ruler. Eventually, she fell asleep. And when she awoke, it was to a loud boom! A bomb? No. There was a flash of light and another clap of thunder. Then it began to rain.
McKee could hardly believe it. She wiggled out into the open and stood. Then, with head tilted back, she let the rain pelt her face, fill her mouth, and soak her filthy clothes. The feel of it was so good that she decided to strip down and take her first shower in weeks.
The rain helped to cleanse her body and clear her mind. Rain meant clouds, and clouds would prevent people from seeing her from above. So she freed the helmet from the pack and put it on. Could she risk using the light? Yes, she thought so, since it was separate from the rest of the electronics. And, thanks to the rain, the glow would be impossible to see from more than a hundred feet away.
So, dressed only in the helmet and her combat boots, McKee went about the laborious process of finding suitable rocks and carrying them over to what she thought of as the royal mausoleum. Stone by stone, she constructed a wall around Ophelia and Daska until the bodies were completely hidden. More than that, she tried to make the enclosure look natural—although it would take the passage of time to complete the task.
The rain had tapered off by the time she was done, and McKee could see stars through breaks in the clouds. McKee put her clothes back on, collected all of her belongings, and began the trek north.
All of the normally dry watercourses were running full, so it was slow going. And by the time the sun peeked over the eastern horizon, McKee still had something like fifteen miles to go. She couldn’t travel during the day, though. Not without running the risk of being spotted by the people who were searching for Ophelia. So she filled her canteens, took shelter in a jumble of rocks, and ate a trail bar.
After that, it was a matter of napping through the heat of the day and worrying about Avery. Was he still alive? More than once she considered putting the helmet on her head and pushing the power button. But the longer she waited, the safer it would be. Because after days of searching, and with no clues to go by, the navy would be forced to conclude that Ophelia was dead. Killed by the Paguumis? Executed by the Hudathans? Dead of exposure? All were believable possibilities, and if the navy was still fighting it out in space, they wouldn’t have the resources to conduct an extensive ground search.
That was a comforting thought, and McKee clung to it as time passed and darkness fell. As soon as she thought it was safe to do so, she left her hiding place and began to walk. It would have been easy to miss the sled in the darkness, but thanks to occasional blips of light from her helmet, she managed to find the wreck without too much difficulty.
The vehicle looked the same, but something was missing. What was it? Then it came to her. Robot number four had been taken away. By the people who were searching for Ophelia? Yes. That made sense.
Eventually, someone would perform a forensic examination of the synth’s injuries and conclude that the machine had been “killed” with a shotgun. Were some of its memories intact? That was possible. If so, they would be able to watch her shoot the robot. If not, they might conclude that the android had been killed by a Paguumi armed with a Human weapon. There was no way to know—so it was best to assume the worst.
Even though she’d been able to find the wreck with relative ease, it took McKee fifteen minutes to locate the crevice where the body armor and weapons were hidden. Then, with the machine pistol stowed in her pack and the long guns slung across her back, she continued north.
Eventually, once the mesa’s bulk loomed to the right, she knew the time had finally arrived. There was a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach as the helmet powered up. Would Kambi respond? The answer was no. Repeated calls went unanswered. And after sixty seconds of trying, she was forced to turn the helmet off without making contact.
McKee looked at her chrono. The time was 2236. Was Avery dead? Probably. But what if he wasn’t? What if his helmet was off for the same reason hers had been? To avoid detection. He would know about her plan to contact him, however. Kambi would tell him. So, being a military officer, what would Avery do? He would check every hour on the hour . . . And trust her to think of that.
It wasn’t much, but some hope was better than none. So McKee kept walking, checked her chrono more frequently than was necessary, and stopped when 2300 appeared on the dial. As soon as the helmet was up and running, she made the call. It seemed unlikely that anyone would be close enough to hear her—but she was careful to avoid using her call sign just in case. “Do you read me?”
There was no reply. Just static. She tried again. “Do you read me? Over.”
Avery’s voice was loud and clear. “I copy you . . . And we can see you. Power down and wait. Over.”
Avery was alive! McKee felt a surge of joy. “Roger, that. Over.”
She turned the helmet off and sat on a rock. Thanks to the map projected on Avery’s HUD, he’d been able to get a fix on her position. Kambi would come out to get her. She looked at the stars. Could she find peace among them? It was too early to know.
More than twenty minutes passed before Kambi arrived. They embraced Human style. Then, as McKee took a step back, their eyes met. “How is he?”
“Better . . . Much better. He wanted to come. I said ‘no.’”
McKee nodded. “Thank you.”
“Come,” Kambi said. “There have been drones. It is best to take cover.”
McKee followed Kambi through broken ground toward the mesa. Eventually, when it towered above them, the Jithi led her down into a riverbed. Most of the water from the recent rainstorm had drained away, but pools remained. They splashed through them. It seemed safe to turn t
he helmet light on, so she did.
As the main watercourse continued east, Kambi led McKee into a side channel. The ground sloped upwards before coming to an end in front of a large slab of water-smoothed rock. It had clearly been the site of a waterfall during the rainstorm because rivulets of water were still running down the front of it.
McKee was about to ask “What now,” when Kambi put a shoulder against the right side of the rock and pushed it open. Upon closer examination McKee saw that a pair of iron pivots allowed the slab to open and close. “It’s hundreds of years old,” Kambi said proudly. “Jungle covered this area back then, and our ancestors were very clever.”
“They certainly were,” McKee said admiringly, as they entered a large antechamber. McKee examined her surroundings as Kambi pushed the door closed. A Hudathan sled was parked off to one side, and iron rings marked the places where animals might have been tethered a long time ago.
From there, McKee followed Kambi down a tunnel into a circular chamber, where oil-burning clay lanterns gave off a soft glow. A pool of water occupied the center of the room. “The level drops lower,” Kambi said, “but the water never goes away.”
McKee wasn’t listening. Her eyes were on Avery. He was sitting on a stone bench and rose to greet her. “Cat . . . My precious Cat.”
McKee entered the circle of his arms carefully, fearful that she might hurt him, and tipped her head back to accept his kiss. All of it was there. Everything she wanted and had hoped for. Then, conscious of the fact that Kambi was present, they parted, which was just as well, because Avery needed to sit down again. The next hour was spent catching up. McKee told Avery about the chase, the final confrontation with Ophelia, and the trip back. He told her about waking up in the cave—and how Kambi had cared for him.
That was followed by a celebratory meal consisting of three MREs, and McKee ate all of hers. Fortunately, their food, extra ammo, and other supplies had been aboard Kambi’s sled. That meant they’d be okay for a while. But what then? Avery had given the matter some thought. “We need supplies,” he said. “So, if Kambi is willing, we’ll send him north to buy some.”
“I am,” the Jithi said solemnly. “The Paguumis know me.”
“Yes, they do,” McKee agreed. “And they know you were working for the Legion. You’ll have to be very careful.”
“I will be,” Kambi assured her.
“He can buy Human ammo if any is available,” Avery continued. “Plus food, Paguumi clothes, and a couple of pack animals.”
McKee frowned. “Paguumi clothes? What for?”
“So we’ll look like Paguumis from a distance,” Avery answered. “It’s a long way from here to Savas Prime. We won’t be able to get there without being seen.”
The mention of the only Human settlement on Savas caused McKee to frown. “And then?”
“And then we’ll wait for a tramp freighter and go where it goes.”
“That’s it then? We’re going AWOL?”
“Of course,” Avery said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “How would we explain where we’ve been? And what we’ve been up to? Plus, who knows what Daska told the navy—or what synth number three might have recorded. But if we disappear, chances are the command types will conclude that we were killed. Especially since it would suit their purposes to do so.”
McKee nodded. “Okay, I’m in. There’s a problem though . . . How are we going to pay for the supplies?”
“That’s easy,” Avery assured her. “Just think what Kambi will be able to buy with a Hudathan sled!”
“But it’s damaged, and it’s going to run out of fuel.”
Avery grinned. “They don’t know that. Besides, the metal is valuable in and of itself. Trust me . . . Someone will go for it.”
“Okay, but what about passage on a tramp freighter? How will we pay for that?”
Avery opened a pocket and produced a leather pouch. “With one or two of these. A group of Paguumi warriors gave them to me while Nicolai and I were hiding in an oasis.”
McKee made a face. There was no way that a group of Paguumis were about to give Avery anything. She accepted the purse and was impressed by how much it weighed. It was filled with what looked like gemstones although none were cut or polished. She passed the pouch to Kambi. “How ’bout it?” she inquired. “Are they worth anything?”
Kambi’s eyes grew wider. “Yes. These stones are worth a fortune!”
“You see?” Avery said proudly. “We can pay Kambi for his help—and go where we choose. You’re rich again.”
McKee was rich again . . . But in a more important way. One that the previous her would never have been able to understand. She went to sit by Avery’s side. For the first time since that horrible day on Esparto, she was happy. And it felt very, very good.
EPILOGUE
If there is such a thing as a godforsaken place, Savas Prime would qualify.
REV. NATHANIEL JENKINS
A Thousand Days in the Wilderness
Standard year 2732
PLANET SAVAS
It took weeks for Avery to recover fully, and for Kambi to travel north, where he hoped to buy supplies. During his absence, McKee noticed that the contrails that had once been so common had all but disappeared. Had the battle in space been resolved somehow? There was no way to be sure.
But when Kambi returned, he brought news as well as two zurnas loaded with food, ammo, and camping gear. According to the Paguumis, the change skins had been forced to flee. And, for reasons the locals couldn’t understand, most of the round heads had left as well.
Even though it might seem strange to the Paguumis the news made sense to McKee and Avery. Having rescued Nicolai and taken heavy casualties, the navy had every reason to pull out. Especially after the Hudathans left the system. Had a ship or two been left in orbit? Probably. Which meant the deserters would have to be careful lest they draw attention to themselves.
The trip from their hiding place to the town of Savas Prime took more than half a year to complete and was marked by three run-ins with bandits, a nearly disastrous river crossing, and a perilous journey through thick jungle. But it was a wonderful trip as well. A honeymoon of sorts, during which McKee and Avery fell in love all over again and made memories that would last a lifetime. So that by the time they arrived on the outskirts of Savas Prime, they were bonded in ways that most couples couldn’t imagine.
McKee and Avery watched the community from the surrounding hills for three days, looking for any signs of military activity, but there were none. So they walked into town, entered the local bar, and ordered a celebratory meal. The owner was understandably curious about them, and clearly skeptical regarding their claim to have crash-landed their yacht a thousand miles away and walked to Savas Prime.
But he was friendly enough, and it didn’t take much questioning to discover that once the Hudathans failed to return, robotic sentinels had been seeded into the Savas system. That allowed all of the Human ships to withdraw. The owner didn’t know who was in charge on Earth, nor did he care. Like most of the locals, the only thing he wanted from the empire was to be left alone.
Two lazy months passed while McKee and Avery waited for a tramp freighter to arrive. Once it did, Avery reserved a tiny cabin and paid half the fare in advance. That was followed by an emotional parting with Kambi, who, having been paid with gemstones, was in the process of setting up an import-export business.
The ship carried McKee and Avery to Weller’s World, and from there to Long Jump, a planet way out on the rim. A place where imperial law was more theoretical than real. And it was there, fifty miles outside the frontier town of Fortuna, where they started a farm. Their solidly built house resembled a small fort, sat atop a hill, and possessed a sweeping view of the surrounding countryside. In the fields directly below the house, a crew of patched-together robots were hard at work harvesting a crop of
nu-wheat.
McKee was standing on the veranda, looking down on them, when John arrived with a cup of caf. “It looks like the weather is going to hold,” he observed.
“That’s good,” McKee replied. “We need two days to get the crop in.”
“Yes,” John answered. “And I love you.”
McKee smiled. “Finish your caf. We have work to do.”
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