Rescue from the Planet of the Amartos

by Dale Olausen

  *****

  It turned out that they were lucky.

  The circle that Steph found was indeed the ring of mountains that the Witch Alta had described to Coryn. The northernmost peak was easy to locate; it was considerably taller than the others. Then, as the Camin traced a giant spiral down the mountain in its search for the Beth 117, the Explorer ship saved them the trouble of more detailed hunt.

  It contacted them.

  An open channel on the Camin's communicator suddenly crackled into life. "Identify yourself, please," a crisp, female voice demanded.

  Coryn and Steph exchanged glances. Steph set the scoutship's controls to home in on the source of the message before responding.

  "This is the scoutship Camin 001 of the Experimental Craft Division of the Terra Confederation Armed Forces," he reported in a monotone. "Pilot Steph Clennan speaking. With whom do I have the pleasure of being in contact?"

  "The Explorer ship Beth 117; Navigator Ginette Maas on base duty," came the dry reply. "Your business on this world?"

  Steph raised a questioning eyebrow towards Coryn. Coryn nodded.

  "We're looking for you," the pilot answered, "and I think - yes - we have located you."

  He stared at the viso-screen as he spoke and Coryn, standing behind him, saw it, too. A saucer-shaped ship on a rock ledge. Beneath the ledge was a slope covered with vegetation. It angled gently into the central plateau inside the ring of mountains. The Explorer ship had chosen to quarter itself fairly low on the mountain.

  "Looking for us?" asked the woman at the other end. She sounded genuinely bewildered. "Why?"

  Steph’s eyes questioned Coryn again. Coryn shrugged. "Agency business," he whispered almost inaudibly. Steph repeated the words in normal tones into the communicator.

  "Agency business! What is going on?"

  "We'll talk about it when we get to the ground," Steph replied curtly and switched the channel off. "I'm taking her down," he added to Coryn who only nodded.

  A woman and man from the Beth 117 stood waiting by the Explorer ship when Coryn and Steph descended from the scoutship. They introduced themselves as Ginette Maas, the navigator and Jaff Gale, the ship medic. As Coryn introduced himself and Steph he watched the Explorers' eyebrows shoot up at the word "Agent".

  "What kind of Agency business might bring you to this portion of the galaxy?" the Navigator queried, her eyes taking Coryn's measure.

  Coryn decided that it was best to confront the issue head on.

  "You people have found amartos on this world," he said directly. "Surely you realize that The Organization is after them."

  Ginette Maas stared at him.

  "Look, Mr. Leigh," she snapped, "I don't know where you get your information from, but we have found nothing. And it's not very likely that we'll find anything very soon. Not with our ship’s mechanic, Sarah Mackenzie, having disappeared without so much as a trace. We haven't had the opportunity to search for much else besides her for the last few days."

  "What?" Coryn's face turned pale with shock. "Are you saying that Sarah Mackenzie has disappeared?"

  "That's exactly what I'm saying," the Navigator declared.

  Coryn looked at Steph whose face had turned grey, too.

  "This is much worse than we expected," Steph muttered.

  Coryn turned to the Explorers.

  "Look, Ms. Maas - "

  "Ginette."

  "Look, Ginette. This is bigger than you realize. We're going to have to have a conference. We'll have to pool all the information that we have, and hope that it will amount to something we can use!"

  *****

  "He said that she just walked into the forest and never came back," Jaff explained to Coryn and Steph inside the Beth's lounge. He was talking about Roger. The Government biologist had been the last person to have seen Sarah before she disappeared.

  Ginette had hurried off to the Control Room immediately after Coryn had finished his story about the amarto-blaze on the planet and how it just so happened that the mechanic that the Explorers had picked up on Space Station XER was an amarto-sensitive, although she herself had not known it.

  "I better go and recall all the flyers," she had said. "We'll need everybody here. Jaff, you know the details of our half of the story just as well as I do. Please tell our guests everything."

  Jaff had begun by explaining how the Explorers had picked up Sarah at XER.

  "It never even occurred to us to have her tested for Stone-sensitivity," he had said with a shake of his head. "We needed a mechanic badly, she was an excellent one, and she fit right in with the crew. How many Terrans are amarto-sensitive, anyway? Not very many, so why suppose that she might be? All the rest of us, including Roger, had gone through the test on Kordea and nobody had shown the least trace of sensitivity."

  "Roger?" Coryn had inferred from Jaff's wording that this person had some sort of special status within the ship's hierarchy.

  "Oh he's from the Central Government," Jaff had explained. "A biologist, looking for colonizable planets, I believe. A most obnoxious character, to be sure, a Malloran by birth. Daily we curse our foolishness in agreeing to take him aboard. He, it so happens, was the last person to see Sarah before she disappeared."

  Coryn had pounced on that fact. How did it happen that he was the last person to have seen Sarah? What exactly were the circumstances of her disappearance?

  Jaff had told him about the soil-testing kit that had been taken apart overnight and how Sarah had gone off with Roger to fix it for him.

  "Dav, the Captain, can tell you more about how that happened when he gets back to the ship," Jaff had said. "He shared base duty with Sarah that day and gave her permission to go with Roger. I was here, of course, when she didn't come back. Roger was late that evening - didn't get to the ship until it was nearly dark. He said nothing about Sarah until someone noticed that she wasn't around and started to ask questions. Then he just said that she had walked into the forest and hadn't come back and he hadn't been able to find her.

  "Jodi and Jasson, the planeting crew leaders, kicked his ass till he took them to where he said he had last seen her but by then it was dark, and searching was impossible."

  "Is Roger telling the truth, do you think?" Coryn asked.

  "About Sarah walking into the forest?"

  Jaff laughed.

  "Are you kidding? Of course he's not. Sarah's not an idiot; she understands about safety. Roger's lying all right, I just don't understand why."

  "How did Sarah and Roger get along? Were they friendly with one another before this fix-it business?"

  "How did anyone get along with Roger? As far as I could tell she was determined to keep her mouth zipped no matter how much he irked her. She didn't get into any of the Roger-baiting that was a favourite sport among some crew members. However, I don't think that she went with him to fix his machine because she was fond of him. I think she was bored on base duty - there's not much to do. I had her doing some sample-testing for me but it was pretty elementary stuff, and wouldn't have challenged her considerable abilities."

  Jaff paused, looking thoughtful. "You know," he then added, "Kary did mention something to me once that might or might not be relevant. She said that Sarah had complained a couple of times that Roger gave her the creeps when she was on base duty. It seems that he followed her around in the mornings before he took off in his flyer to do his tests. I didn't think too much of it, I just figured that he'd noticed, like all of us males aboard the Beth had, that Sarah has a nice ass. It would have been like Roger to lurk around for a peek, instead of admiring openly."

  Coryn flashed a quick, understanding grin. Several months ago, on RES, he, too, had noted the shapeliness of Sarah's backside. Spacers were seldom indifferent to the attractions of the opposite sex.

  "Put me down for wanting to have a little tete-a-tete with this Roger," Coryn requested.

  "Sure, talk to him all you want, as soon as the units get back. Dav insisted that Roger join the search for Sar
ah, so he's out there with the rest of them right now. Two flyers are looking for her; one is still trying to find a way into the tunnel network. I don't think you'll get much out of Roger, though. Dav's been at him several times, his story has more holes in it than a fishnet but still he grimly sticks by it. Why, I don't know."

  *****

  Coryn tackled the biologist as soon as he came on board. Jaff fetched the Malloran, introduced the two men and directed them to an empty room where their conversation would not be overheard.

  As Jaff had predicted the interview was unsatisfying. Roger seemed nervous in the presence of an Agent but stubbornly stuck to the story that he had told to the Explorers. It was a simple story; Coryn had to give him credit for avoiding the trap of elaborate lies that never hold up under persistent inquiry. Possibly it was even partially true; yet it was painfully evident that the Malloran was hiding something. His eyes darted about the room continually while Coryn questioned him. Droplets of sweat beaded on his forehead, and his tongue flicked in and out of his mouth nervously whenever he was not speaking. Yet he kept on repeating the same story over and over again.

  Sarah Mackenzie had very simply just walked into the forest. Yes, he had seen her go. No, he hadn't questioned it - he had assumed that she wanted a moment of privacy. Yes, she had finished putting his kit together before she had left.

  It had been late in the afternoon. When she had not come back he had looked for her for a while - that was why he had been so late in returning to the Beth. Why had he not called for help when he realized that he could not find her himself?

  He had not thought of that. Why had he not reported her disappearance as soon as he had reached the ship? Instead of giving an answer to that he began his story again from the beginning, his eyes staring at a blank wall and his fingers nervously twiddling with the fabric of his jumpsuit.

  Coryn fought down an impatient urge to swing an angry fist into the pudgy face. Tersely he dismissed the Malloran, and stalked out of the room. The Captain, the Navigator and some others were waiting in the Control Room, he knew. Most likely he could accomplish more in there.

  He found a group of six tense people in the Control Room. Captain Castilo and Ginette were there, Jaff and Steph also. Jaff introduced him to the two others, the planeting unit leaders, Jodi and Jasson. It was clear that everyone had been briefed as to what had brought the Camin to the planet; all the faces looked grim.

  "Did you get anything new out of that fool?" Castilo asked as soon as Coryn had flopped into a chair.

  "No way," the Agent replied, shaking his head. "He'd stick to his story inside a torture chamber by the look of things. He's hiding something, there's no question about that.

  "But, I did satisfy myself on one point. Since he was the last person to have seen Sarah, I was a little worried that maybe this whole thing was even more elaborate and crazy than common sense would suggest. I thought that maybe Roger was an Organization plant and perhaps Sarah's amarto-sensitivity had somehow become known. Maybe he had engineered her disappearance for some very sinister purpose.

  “But, no, having seen and talked with Roger, I'm prepared to give that theory a rest. I can't imagine that excuse for a man working for The Organization. I know enough about them to know that they wouldn't want him."

  "Quite honestly, we don't either," said Castilo, shaking his head. "Next civilized stop he goes, contract or no contract."

  "Clennan here tells us that we've only a few hours before we can expect The Organization ships to start arriving," broke in the fellow named Jasson. "Is that true?"

  "I'm afraid so," Coryn answered drily. "I think the Camin has a slight edge over their ships when it comes to speed."

  "You're serious?" This was Ginette.

  "Dead serious." Coryn sent her a hard stare. "You're a Navigator; you know that omega-space-wise this corner of the galaxy is not really remote. We came here from RES in two omega-jumps. I don't know how the coordinates are when it comes to travelling here from The Organization planets but it's not likely to be all that different."

  "I ran the query through the Camin's computer," Steph interrupted. "There's several routes they could take that involve only two or three jumps. I'm sure that they're not far behind us."

  "So," said Jodi, "what are we going to do?"

  "I had kind of hoped," sighed Coryn, "that you people would have had some information that would have helped to decide that."

  "But, instead, we're just as much in the dark as to where Sarah and the Stones are as you are," Jodi muttered, scratching her chin. "Not a pretty picture."

  "We've been looking for an entrance into those cursed tunnels for how long now?" Jasson spat out. "Not much chance that we'll find a way in on this short notice. Can't be done, no matter what. Never mind the problem of finding Sarah and the amartos, when we can’t even find our way into the tunnels."

  "But won't The Organization Hounds be up against the exact same problem when they do get here?" asked Ginette.

  "They know even less about the tunnels and the entrances than we do."

  Coryn made a face.

  "I wish," he said. "Unfortunately I have been told by impeccable if unnameable sources that The Organization scientists have succeeded in developing a handy gadget that can be used to home in on a Witches' Stone, if it's giving off fire. The Witches tell me that the big blaze has been damped but that it cannot be put out altogether. That makes the Hounds' task of zeroing in, more difficult, but by no means impossible."

  "You mean to say that the amartos themselves will lead the Hounds to them?" Jodi looked incredulous.

  "Precisely. That's exactly what I'm saying."

  "I hadn't realized that their amarto-science was so far developed," said the Captain, shaking his head. "Although we had heard rumours while on Kordea, of course. This does put us at a disadvantage."

  "I've got an idea." Steph's eyes glittered, and he had a wicked grin on his face. "If the Hounds really have a machine that points them in the direction of the Stones why don't we use it to advantage? We'll let the mongrels find the Stones - and hopefully the girl - for us. We'll follow the bastards, and as soon as they reach the goodies we'll pounce and grab!"

  Everybody stared at him. Coryn let out a low whistle. The plan was crazy - and probably workable! He turned to look at the Beth's Captain.

  "What do you think?" he asked.

  Castilo grinned. "It might just work. Any idea of how big a force we'll be up against?"

  Coryn pulled out his wrist-communicator. "I think I'll risk an omega-space call to my associate on RES. As far as we know the channel we use has not been intercepted. She'll have all the info that's been coming in from the Agency sources. Somebody should have tabs on what sort of an Organization force is heading this way."

  Fiana's response was crisp, clear and immediate. "So far I've word of only one Organization ship heading in your direction. It's a medium-sized Wanderer, armed, but no battleship. The Hounds must be figuring this one for a piece of cake. Makes sense; the Witches are keeping a low profile. Mere Terrans barely count."

  "Thanks, Fiana. I'll keep in touch."

  Coryn switched the communicator off and turned to those present. "She's right, I think. The Hounds are coming here for a quick scoop, which is very lucky for us."

  "A medium-sized Wanderer can't have more than a dozen personnel on board," commented Castilo thoughtfully. "It's no bigger than the Beth."

  "We can have that many ready for them," said Jasson, his eyes brightening. "That's counting you two in - " he nodded at Coryn and Steph, " - Roger out, and somebody to care for Cherrie."

  "This means that you're willing to go for it?" Coryn looked around the group questioningly.

  Curt nods answered the query. Some faces looked a little grim. One or two shone with excitement.

  "You realize, of course that we may have to fight?"

  "We're not trained soldiers by any means," Castilo commented, looking at his crewmembers. "But we're used to difficulties. We
're tough. We can do it."

  "Pack your stunners. You'll need them." Coryn's face darkened as he contemplated the possibility of face to face combat with the Hounds.

  "We can do better than that," Steph contradicted. His face was one of those that appeared to welcome the possibility of a fight. "The Camin is an Armed Forces ship. There's a regular little arsenal in the storage compartment. Carovan didn't say anything about it, so I left everything there."

  "I expect that I'd be a pretty good shot with a ray gun," Jasson announced cheerily. "Got any of those, Steph?"

  "Sure. Enough for everybody - if everybody wants one." The pilot sounded delighted and looked around for more volunteers.

  Jaff's face had turned greenish.

  "I'll stick with a stunner," he said. "I'm a healer, not a killer. I couldn't bring myself to blast anybody."

  Steph shrugged.

  "Suit yourself. But remember this: fire that stunner before your opponent fires at you. He won't be holding a stunner; it'll be a ray gun at least."

  "What about the rest of the crew?" Coryn asked suddenly. "I've always understood that you Explorers run on democratic principles. Will the ones not here agree to this plan?"

  "I expect that they will once they've been told how serious the situation is," Ginette said quietly.

  “I volunteer myself and Steph to go to the lounge to explain the situation and the plan. Have we your permission to do so, Dav?" Jasson was up on his feet, waiting for the Captain's nod.

  It came immediately.

  "Go ahead. We'll give you two a chance to fire them up, then we'll come and add a cautionary note or two." Castilo managed a small smile.

  Coryn watched as the unit leader and Camin's pilot hurried out.

  "It's a good thing that we've got the odd firebrand among us," he muttered.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Looking at the world through the greencat's eyes had its difficulties. Everything, Sarah quickly discovered, and that included her own body, felt out of place. It made sense. The cat's eyes were to the right of, and lower than her own. It was disorienting.