Everything was ready to go. Tara tested her landlink, and the travel plan for the day appeared on the small screen. They were scheduled to arrive at the Blood Circle Clan that evening! This was perfect. Arriving in the dark could only be to her advantage.
She shut down the landlink and quietly entered Male’s trailer. Tara already knew the young girl was not there. She’d taken off earlier to help some of the mamas organize their children for the day. It was a job that had often been assigned to Tara when she was that age. Male would be gone for a while.
She sat down at the landlink and took a deep breath. This would either work or it wouldn’t. She held up her fingers, hesitated for a second, and then typed in her login number. The landlink buzzed quietly, and the proper lights lit up accordingly. She waited for what seemed like an eternity. Come on…come on. Male wouldn’t be gone forever. Tara wanted to submit the answers to the written test before she was discovered. She couldn’t remember the last time a landlink moved so slowly.
At last, the picture on the monitor flashed and the selection screen appeared. It worked! Her logon number hadn’t been deleted. She realized that meant she’d not yet officially been determined dead. Why then, were they conducting the Test of Wills? She had no time to ponder this mystery but instead selected a blank page and began answering the questions that Male had printed.
She was familiar with the test but still read over each question carefully. Because the leader of the clans would have to know all the laws of the Runners very well, each test question asked about a particular one. Also required was the origination of laws, which one best suited a particular situation, and how she would interpret several selected laws. Tara typed quickly yet answered each question thoroughly.
After Patha reviewed the tests, he would name those who could compete in the Confrontation. This part of the Test was no longer a fight to the death. That law had been changed over one hundred winters ago because too many good warriors had been killed. The fight would last until the surrender of one of the competitors. Nevertheless, this still resulted in a fight to the death all too often, at least according to the stories. There’d never been a Test of Wills called as long as Tara had been alive.
Her fingers ached, and her back was sore. Over an hour passed. Tara clicked on submit and leaned back in the chair.
It was done.
Whether this would cut her throat or lead her to victory was undetermined. Tara knew if the test with her logon number was identified before she got to Gothman, Runners she didn’t know would arrest her, and she would be delayed. But if she could get into Gothman before her test submission was discovered, she could speak to Patha, convince him of her need for the test to continue, even though, strictly speaking, it was unnecessary. Indeed, she could imagine Patha’s outrage that she’d enter the Test of Wills instead of simply acknowledging she’d returned.
She stared at the blank monitor for a minute, wondering who would first notice a written test had been submitted on her logon number. Would they assume it was fraud, or would they suspect it was her?
Tara smiled to herself. Could she actually win the Test of Wills and be heir to Patha twice over? If so, she would rule the clans completely. Her authority would be unquestioned. And then there was Darius. She wanted him to see her earn her way to victory, conquering each hurdle every step of the way.
The winner of the Test of Wills wore the title of Head Warrior. It was the highest honor a Runner could receive and always fell upon the ruler of a clan. Not as many women won as men did, but Tara knew she hadn’t lost a competition in—winters. She could not think of any warrior she couldn’t defeat. And if Darius could witness her taking the title of Head Warrior, he, as well as all of Gothman, would see that a person’s sex had nothing to do with what skills they possessed. Taking the title would be one more step toward earning the respect Tara needed from Darius, and from his people.
Her heart ached and her blood warmed as she thought of battle. Her pregnancy might have stopped her from participating in the last war, but nothing would stop her from using her warrior skills for the test. She was free to soar to her highest potential.
Who would the other contenders be? Would they be allowed to use weapons on a field, or would it be in an arena with hand-to-hand combat? How many finalists would there be? Tara had studied a few Tests of Wills during her childhood, and knew the leader of Runners had complete control over how the test would be conducted. Tara couldn’t help but hope for an arena. More people could witness the victory.
Questions continued to swarm as Tara stared into the screen. The sounds of starting motors brought her back to the moment, and she jumped up. Turning off the landlink, she hurried outside to her bike.
By the middle of the afternoon, Tara began to recognize the countryside.
They were coming up on the southern tip of the Gothman nation. The ground was hard, and the dark gray clouds hung very low. Her eyelids burned from the cold wind that had slapped her face for the past few hours, and she guessed snow would fall before they arrived on the western side of Gothman where the clansite was located.
She suspected her logon number had been discovered by now. It wouldn’t be difficult for the authorities to determine its source. It was quite possible Rolko would be notified that one of his landlinks had transmitted using her logon number. Then, they would search for the one who had used the number.
Tara wondered how much information Patha would give the clan leader. Would Patha tell Rolko that an illegal number had been used? Or would he specifically say that Tara’s number had been used? She could only hope they arrived at their destination before Rolko was contacted.
Over the next hour, snow began to fall, drastically limiting visibility. Tara was forced to slow down, as was the rest of the clan. She strained to see the passing countryside, trying to determine how far into Gothman territory they’d come.
The wind picked up. For a brief minute, she thought she saw something in the distance, but then it was gone. She focused on the ground immediately in front of her. Several riders ahead yelled, and she looked up. One of the Runners was pointing to something, and Rolko pulled up alongside him.
Tara looked in the direction the pointing finger indicated and could just make out several brown figures ahead. She squinted and refocused, watching through the snow as the figures drew nearer.
Four Gothman approached. Rolko, with the surrounding Runners, slowed to a stop. Her heart pounded through her leather coat as she watched the men talk to Rolko. She couldn’t tell if she knew the Gothman or not.
The one speaking to Rolko was long-legged and broad-shouldered. Through the blowing snow, she couldn’t determine his hair color. He turned his head to scan the Runners scattered across the meadow. Rolko gestured for the Gothman to follow him. They drove slowly through the hundreds of parked Runners.
Tara watched carefully as the four Gothman approached. One of them was Darius!
He passed within a few feet of her motorcycle, head held high in the blowing wind. Blond curls stuck out from underneath a black hat.
His hair is longer. Everything inside her reached to him like a magnet, yet he never glanced her way as he slowly drove by.
The Gothman and Rolko drove back to where the trailers were parked with the Runners congregating in their wake. Tara was near three Runners, and several others joined them to discuss the possible reasons for the Gothman’s arrival.
“They said something about a wrong logon number being used.”
“That doesn’t seem like a reason to stop us in this bitter cold.”
“The Gothman are looking for an excuse to search our clan.”
“Why would Lord Darius come himself?”
And so the chatter continued.
Tara’s mind was far from their conversation. Rolko would figure out what landlink transmitted the illegal number, and when the transmission had occurred. Once he had that information, he would know either his daughter, or she, had sent the transmission using the i
llegal number.
She couldn’t conveniently disappear—she was surrounded by clan members. Even if she could slip away, the snow was blowing hard enough to become lost. Not to mention the fact that they could easily track her with the landlink they’d assembled on her bike.
Tara was trapped.
She waited for the inevitable to happen. Within a short amount of time, it did. A motorcycle approached their group, and one of the Runners who’d been with Rolko gestured to her.
“Come with me.” He said nothing else.
She followed him through the snow silently. Some of the Runners watched her pass, but for the most part they huddled together in small groups, preoccupied in conversation. More than likely, they were discussing the anticipated test.
* * * * *
Torgo sat in the corner of the living room sorting through incoming tests. They’d been arriving by the thousands, and earlier in the week the program designed to receive and grade them had overloaded and crashed. Patha was impressed by Torgo’s ability to save the information and rewrite the program. Now it moved twice as fast and sorted the tests, eliminating those with more than one mistake. This made the job of reviewing the tests much easier, and Patha praised Torgo’s landlink abilities.
“He’s a natural,” he told Darius in Torgo’s presence. “What he can’t do on the battlefield, he makes up for on the landlink.”
That comment stung at Torgo’s pride, but he’d kept a straight face.
“I want an hourly report from you on all written tests,” Patha ordered. “Assign any assistants you may need to help you.”
Torgo had immediately called upon Syra. The perfect tests, and those with one mistake, automatically printed out with the logon number at the top. For the first few days, only one or two tests met this criterion. But as the day of the Test of Wills approached, several more tests printed out. Torgo had Syra manually check the answers before they were turned over to Patha.
“Here’s Kuro’s test,” Syra said as she leaned back in her chair. Torgo came up from behind her and rubbed his hands down the front of her shirt as he leaned over.
“Not now, silly,” she giggled and pushed him away.
“Perfectly answered, I assume.” Torgo didn’t like Kuro. He seemed fake and the way he’d buddied up to Darius annoyed Torgo for some reason.
“Of course,” Syra shrugged. “Looks like he’ll win the Test of Wills. I don’t know about the rest of these people, but Kuro’s quite the warrior.”
“Well, I guess I’ll take these reports to Patha for review. One of the clans reported a Runner who’s admitted coming up from Southland. She’s from the Blood Circle Clan. Her name’s Leetha.” Torgo grabbed the reports and stacked them. “I can take those tests to him while I’m at it.”
* * * * *
“Uh-huh.” Syra wasn’t listening to Torgo. She was busy looking at a test that had just printed. “Torgo, look at this.”
He studied it, then looked at her, confused.
She grabbed back the test. “Look! It’s Tara’s logon number. We forgot to delete it. Didn’t Darius ask you to do that a while back?”
“Shit! Yeah, he did. But, the program crashed and I forgot all about it. I don’t get it though. How come it’s on this test?” Torgo reached around Syra and began pushing several buttons on her keypad. He pulled up the instructions for the program and then switched screens and typed frantically.
The screens on her monitor flashed. She tried to follow what he was doing, but his landlink skills outclassed hers. “It was submitted from a landlink in the Four Circle clan.” He continued to type. “They’re just south of us.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Report it to Patha and Darius, I guess. Those are my orders.” Torgo took the tests from Syra and walked to the door.
Syra jumped up and followed him.
Patha and Darius weren’t in the house. After minutes of whispered discussion, the youths decided to drive to the clansite and look for the two leaders. They rode together on Torgo’s bike, believing their information vital enough for it to be overlooked that they were together on the bike.
Balbo disapproved of the time Torgo and Syra spent together, considering his daughter too young for the physical relationship he felt sure the Gothman lad would instigate.
* * * * *
Torgo drove straight to Patha’s trailer, which was parked next to Balbo’s. Snow started to fall, and no one noticed the two disembark from the bike. Darius and Patha’s bikes were parked outside the trailer. Torgo knocked on the door.
“Come,” Patha’s voice barked.
The two entered quickly, shutting the door behind them to prevent snow from blowing into the trailer.
Patha looked up at the young people questioningly.
Torgo handed him the two separate stacks of tests.
Darius sat at the landlink with his back to the two of them, not acknowledging their presence.
“You drove out here to give these to me?” Patha glanced at the papers. “I could have picked these up from you later today.”
“There’s something I wanted to bring to your attention,” Torgo spoke calmly. He was working on mastering the coolness of voice his brother possessed.
Patha leaned back in his chair. “Go ahead.”
“One of the written tests used Tara’s logon number.”
Lord Darius spun in his chair. “I told you to delete that number,” he barked loudly.
Torgo cowered in his presence. “When the scoring program crashed, I spent so much time working on it; I forgot to delete the number.”
“Let me see the test,” Patha said.
“The answers are almost identical to the answers you gave us for the program,” Syra pointed out.
“There’s something else.” Torgo wished Syra would let him do the talking. “It’s probably just coincidence but I thought I’d—”
“What is it?” Darius snapped impatiently.
Torgo didn’t like how mean his brother had become since Tara had left. “The Four Circle clan reports a Runner has joined them from Southland.” Torgo held out the report to Patha. “Her name is Leetha, and she’s a member of the Blood Circle Clan.”
“There’s no Leetha in my clan.” Patha rubbed his head, then looked up at Syra. “Is there?”
“No, there isn’t.” Syra came out from behind Torgo. “I checked before we came.”
Patha handed the papers to Darius so he could study them.
Darius looked up at the two young people and frowned. “So what are you saying?” He handed the papers back to Patha.
“We’re saying it’s a mighty strange coincidence,” Syra spoke up quickly. Lord Darius annoyed her with his continual grouchiness. Once, she’d thought he was cute, but not anymore. He was the one that fucked up, and she wished he’d just get over his self-pity.
She continued, “A Runner joins the Four Circle clan from Southland. The report shows she didn’t have a landlink on her bike so they weren’t able to verify her identity, but she says she’s Leetha with the Blood Circle Clan. The leader of the clan reports she’s staying with his daughter. The next day, a written test is submitted from that clan on the daughter’s landlink, using Tara’s logon number. And the test answers match your answers almost perfectly. It just seems odd, and we thought you should know.”
Syra glared at Lord Darius and then gave the same look to Patha. “Come on, Torgo, let’s get back to work.” She turned to leave.
“Wait a minute.” Lord Darius growled.
Syra turned and crossed her arms, waiting for him to speak.
“Are you saying this is Tara?”
“If it’s her, then why is she trying to sneak back up here?” Patha thought out loud and all three people turned their heads to look at him. Patha looked at the test answers more thoroughly and all three stood quietly, watching him.
The answers were almost verbatim to his. He could almost hear her vocal inflection in the writing style. It was a mighty
odd coincidence. He looked up at Darius, nearly forgetting the others in the room. “It’s always bothered me that the Neurians were never able to produce a body.” He stood. “I want you to check this out.”
Darius quickly grabbed his coat.
“Find out who used that number. If it’s Tara—” but Darius was already out the door.
* * * * *
“Did you submit a written test for the Test of Wills after I forbid it?” Rolko barked at Tara as she got off her bike.
“Identify yourself, Runner,” Darius spoke with authority and a coolness that had her heart pounding.
Her wide eyes stared, and she began breathing hard. Even though snow fell steadily, Tara no longer felt cold. In fact, she could feel her gloved palms grow damp from sweat. For a moment, she couldn’t remember the name she had created to conceal her identity.
Darius stood in front of her, and in spite of his apparent intentions to look intimidating, all Tara could see was how incredibly sexy he looked. Six cycles had passed since Tara had been sexually active, and her body screamed for relief. But more than that, she wanted to cuddle into him. She wanted to hear how he had missed her. She wanted to hear how sorry he was that he made her leave. Tara wanted, more than anything, for everyone around them to disappear and leave her alone with the man she loved.
His presence almost overpowered her. Why did he make her feel like this? He had committed the ultimate of crimes and needed to beg for her forgiveness. She fought for words. “My name’s Leetha.”
* * * * *
Her voice hit him. There was no way he could react quickly enough to conceal his reaction to the sound of her. He stood staring, completely shocked.
His guards gave him a questioning look.
“I’ll speak to her inside the trailer.” His scratchy whisper sounded cruel, even to him. Darius made certain his expression appeared as harsh as he sounded. In no way could he betray his true feelings in front of his men and these Runners.
Nuworld: The Saga Begins Page 35