She waited until they were within a hand’s reach of each other. Slowly, the two men looked up into the branches of the tree above them.
Wait. Wait. She mouthed the words, bracing herself.
Tara’s muscles tightened, her adrenaline spiked. A breeze brushed against her neck. Icy fingers crawled down her spine. The excitement of the hunt sent chills rushing through her. Her body and mind had been deprived of this for too long. She inhaled the cool air deeply.
Wait. Wait. She watched two heads tilt back, and two sets of dark eyes look up until they spotted her.
Now!
She leapt off the branch. The comforter acted like a net that she used to try and drape over both men. One of the men aimed his large laser at her. She grabbed the front of it as she fell. With the force of gravity to assist her, she shoved the butt of the gun into his face as she landed on the ground.
“Do you plan to kill me?” she hissed.
The butt hit square on his nose, and he howled as Tara spoke. His own blood blinded him. Grabbing the gun from his hand, she turned and shot the other in the face.
“You broke my nose,” the man howled, as he covered his face with his hands.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t like it when people point lasers at me.” Tara tugged her blanket free from under the dead man and seized his laser as well.
Turning, she hardly had time to aim as a third Neurian, this time a large woman, lunged at her. The target was close, and Tara took her down easily. Two more Neurian women were right behind her. They, too, proved easy targets.
An incredible blow from behind sent Tara flying forward.
She hit the ground with excruciating force. Tara endured the pain from the rough ground tearing into her flesh. She scurried to her knees and crawled to the Neuriam laser that had flown out of her grasp when she fell.
“Hold it right there.” Tara aimed straight into the mouth of a young Neurian man. His eyes doubled in size as her finger tightened on the trigger.
“That’s enough!” A voice boomed through the air, jerking every muscle in Tara’s body as she jumped in surprise.
She turned to look at the man who’d shouted the command. “You steal six cycles from my life, and then tell me this is enough?” Tara pulled the trigger and shot the Neurian in the mouth. She then fired on the man who had issued the command.
The sound of him falling to the ground, with half of his face missing, echoed through the surrounding trees. Then, all was silent.
Tara turned, arms outstretched, aiming the Neurian lasers and at anybody fool enough to make their presence known. Seven dead bodies lay on the ground around her. The smell of blood and burnt flesh drifted as the breeze increased. Breathing hard, her body tensed. She listened to the silence and continued glancing in all directions.
There were more. She heard the occasional leaf crumple, or a small twig snap. Gowsky walked slowly out from behind a nearby tree. His hands were outstretched, his movements slow and deliberate. She aimed one of the large lasers at him.
“Do all Runners fight like you?” He raised his hands higher, letting her know he was not armed.
“If they’re good, they do.” Tara aimed at his face.
“We definitely have a problem on our hands.” He smiled at her. “Do you shoot someone who isn’t armed?”
Gowsky must have believed she wouldn’t shoot him, since he appeared before her with outstretched arms. But she knew he didn’t trust her when four Neurians appeared from behind the trees. They aimed their lasers at her.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“I ONLY shoot if necessary.” Tara dropped her lasers to
the ground. The breeze whipped through the trees. This time, her sweat-soaked body felt the chill. Gowsky noticed how seductive she looked in spite of her dirty clothes hanging on her thin body. Tara had many sides to her personality, he noted. Those who didn’t know her well would think she was simply a happy mama with two small children, looking for a new life. He’d seen what he wanted to see, however. She was the most incredible warrior he’d ever witnessed seeing. Gowsky was more than a bit put out that Kuro hadn’t given him better warning of her unbelievable fighting skills.
Tara watched Gowsky aware that he was summing up her abilities. Had he set her up simply to see what she could do? If so the man had sent seven of his warriors on a suicide mission to test her. Tara had no problem showing the Neurians her skills, or letting them know she would fight for her freedom. Now, she was curious what Gowsky planned to do with this knowledge.
There was no movement beyond the surrounding group of trees. Tara shifted her attention and looked through the trees. Something moved again. It was the old woman from the desert! She stood partially visible behind one of the farthest trees, returning Tara’s stare. Had she walked all the way here by herself?
The woman was definitely very old. Her wrinkled skin was leathery and her watery eyes almost glassy. It Tara didn’t know better she’d say the age had stolen the old woman’s sight. Her dress and boots were made of animal skin. Thick, white, straw-like hair was wrapped loosely around her head in a twisted bun. For an old woman who had obviously walked so far she was relatively clean, probably a lot cleaner looking than Tara looked at the moment.
There was another thing Tara noticed about the old lady. She was out here on the edge of Gowsky’s property. Possibly she’d just witnessed Tara kill Neurians. The old woman didn’t look stressed, though. If anything, she seemed relaxed, content with her surroundings and at peace.
Gowsky glanced in the direction Tara was looking. He didn’t see anything, yet she was alerted by something. He stared harder. Still nothing. What was she doing?
Tara narrowed her eyes and scrutinized the old woman, who had finally stepped out from behind the tree and had begun walking toward her. There was obviously a break in the force field for the old woman to get on Gowsky’s land. Tara had to figure out where it was.
Tara returned her attention to Gowsky. The four Neurians still held their weapons on her, and Gowsky was giving her a hard look. None gave any indication they noticed the old woman approaching. Tara looked down at the ground and slowly lifted her eyes in the direction of the old woman once again.
She walked into the open, allowing herself to be seen by the small group. Yet they didn’t appear to notice her.
Were they testing her again? Tara tried to give no indication that she noticed the old woman approaching. The woman stopped next to Tara. She looked up and met Tara’s eyes. It was definitely the same woman she’d seen in the desert.
“Why are you here?” the old woman asked. Her deeply creased dark brown face appeared healthy.
Tara didn’t respond. Instead, she looked at Gowsky, who was giving her an odd look.
The old woman continued. “You have a lot of work to do. Tonight, you need to go home.” She turned and walked back through the trees.
Tara made mental note where the old woman left, then looked at the four men, still aiming their guns at her, before focusing on Gowsky.
“Take her inside,” Gowsky instructed the four armed men.
Tara was escorted past the damaged barn to the house. She wondered what Gowsky normally used the small wooden structure for since she didn’t notice any animals on his property.
Her thoughts returned to the old woman. Who was she? Tara remembered Fleeders’ explanation about guardians roaming in the desert, but this woman had been flesh and blood, not a hallucination devised from the imagination.
Gowsky led Tara inside his home, dismissing the guards before they entered. She found herself surrounded by warmth for the first time in days. As she entered a large room, Gowsky didn’t seem to mind her self-guided tour, so she studied the room’s contents.
Tara glanced behind her at Gowsky, who stood just inside the door pushing buttons on a wall-mounted pad. Tara wished she had her landlink with her; she could then determine if force fields surrounded the house.
Tara stood in a long, narrow room. She noted a closed d
oor at the other end of the room and a hallway to her left, which was shrouded in darkness. The room was possibly used for brainstorming political tactics, judging by the number of chairs and sofas arranged in it. The floors were covered with thick, braided carpet, and the walls made of clay.
A door opposite her opened, and a woman appeared. She stared at Tara but made no move to enter the living area.
“You can show our guest to her room, Saysil,” Gowsky said.
The woman walked across the room, heading for the dark hallway. Tara guessed she should follow and did so.
“These clothes should fit you.” The woman, who was about the same age as Tara, opened the door at the end of the hallway.
Tara entered the room, noticing Saysil backed to the doorway. She gestured silently to clothes draped over a chair, before closing the door and locking it.
The dark khaki pants and wool sweater she’d been given to wear were actually comfortable. The small room where she’d changed had a large bureau and a small bed. Possibly it was a spare room for guests—or for prisoners.
The room she’d been given in Gothman, when she’d first come to live with Darius, had been much nicer. Darius had also considered her a prisoner of sorts, although at the time Tara hadn’t known it. Gothman were obviously a lot more skilled in their tactics than Neurians.
Clay-plastered walls slowly closed in around her. Pacing the length of the room agitated her further. The walls had no pictures hanging on them, and only one thin blanket spread over the bed—certainly not enough cover for the new winter.
Left alone, Tara explored the room’s contents. The bureau only had a few items in it, possibly forgotten by a previous guest. She found a pouch-like bag with straps that she tied around her stomach and hid under her sweater. She also discovered long underwear in the bureau and pulled off the khaki pants to put them on before donning the pants again. It would be wise to dress warmly if she took the old lady’s advice and headed home that night. Even though she had no idea how this plan was to be executed, she decided to prepare just in case. It would be colder the further north she traveled.
The only window in the room looked out over the backyard. A large pane of glass was enclosed in a wooden frame that slid up and down on ropes. It easily unlocked, and she slid it up. The screen on the other side of the window would pop out easily, she determined after studying the manner in which it attached to the window frame.
She looked out the window at the side yard. Not too far away was another, much larger barn. The barn door was open but it was impossible to tell if anyone was inside. Four guards had accompanied them to the house, but she didn’t see any of them at the moment. She didn’t see the small barn that had been her prison, but knew it was on the other side.
Carefully, she removed the screen and held on to it until the bottom touched the ground, then let go. Gowsky obviously didn’t use his house to hold prisoners. Possibly he relied on a landlink system to protect his home and decided there was only one way to find out. For the second time that day, Tara planned her escape. She slid out the window, landing easily onto the ground.
Tara walked several feet away from the house and froze. At the corner of the building, Gowsky stood talking to another man. They hadn’t been noticeable from the window. The other man faced her, but Gowsky had his back to her. If she made a move toward the trees she would be noticed.
The man talking to Gowsky pointed a finger in her direction, and Gowsky turned.
Tara saw him throw up his hands as if exasperated and steer the man in the other direction. That’s when Tara realized the other man was Fleeders!
Fleeders looked hard at her, saying something to Gowsky.
Tara seized the opportunity and bolted toward the barn. She heard Gowsky yell her name. He was running after her.
Tara got to the barn in plenty of time to shut the door and lower the wooden lock. She moved away from the door as Gowsky lunged against it.
“Open the door, Tara.”
Tara ignored him and moved farther from the door, looking around her. Farming equipment surrounded her. Irrigation supplies lined the wall. She saw several horse stalls and started examining each in turn. They appeared empty. She passed a pitchfork and picked it up as she continued investigating the stalls.
“Tara!” Gowsky yelled loudly this time, his frustration apparent.
“Where are all your animals?” Tara decided to feed his anger.
“Dead. Now open the door!”
“Dead? That’s odd. How’d they die?”
“All the animals died, Tara.” It was Fleeders’ voice.
Tara reached the fourth and last stall. “Perfect.”
She stared at her motorcycle parked in the space. It was covered with dust and straw. She brushed off the seat as she pulled it out. The landlink was missing from the dash. Would it run? Not far without fresh gas and oil.
Several laser shots hit the door, Gowsky yelled from the other side. “Aim at the lock.”
A final shot broke the metal piece holding the wooden lock, and it slid across the hard dirt floor. The door swung open.
“Where do you expect to go on that?” Gowsky stood at the door, focusing on Tara who’d mounted the bike. “The force field surrounds the yard.”
Tara smiled. She pushed the necessary buttons, and the bike started easily. “I guess I will have to have faith in your Crator.”
She wouldn’t know how hard her words hit Gowsky. He looked at her with complete bafflement. Gowsky snapped his attention at Fleeders, then back to Tara. “You don’t believe in Crator.”
“Well, it seems your Crator believes in me.” Tara raced her engine, allowing the gas to flow through it.
“You have no right to speak about Crator. You know nothing about Him,” Gowsky sneered. “Crator would have anything to do with a Runner.”
“If you say so.” Tara shrugged indifferently. Her expression didn’t change as she looked up and saw that he pointed laser gun at her. “You know I saw her again today, don’t you, Gowsky?”
“You saw her?” Gowsky inched closer, maintaining his aim on her.
“I saw an old woman.” Tara had no doubts that Gowsky would shoot her. But if he got just a bit closer, she’d disarm him. “She told me to go home.”
“How convenient,” Gowsky snapped.
Tara lunged the bike forward with no warning. Straight at Gowsky. He jumped to the side and fired the laser. Tara reached out and smacked Gowsky’s wrist, causing the it to fire into the rafters. A blizzard of hay descended on them.
Tara maintained her grip as Gowsky yanked back.
Her hand moved with him as he yanked, offering no resistance.
He was prepared for her to pull back, assuming she’d try to take the laser from him. He used too much force and lost his balance. Which is exactly what she wanted.
As he hesitated, trying to regain balance, she stole the laser, pulled the handlebar of her bike hard in the other direction and sped out of the barn.
Tara was amazed. She was properly clothed, armed, and had her bike. She knew her skills exceeded those of the Neurians, but the accomplishments she’d just achieved almost appeared to be handed to her. Maybe that old woman wasn’t as delusional as she looked.
Gowsky was right, she knew nothing about Crator. She’d never been asked to have faith in something she knew nothing about or had never met. She’d had faith in other Runners before, during battle. She knew they would do their part and if she did her part, they would be victorious. She’d had faith in Patha all her life. He provided for her and taught her everything he knew. That was the faith she would use now.
Still if Gowsky and his people believed in something they’d never seen, what would it hurt if she tried to do the same? Someone or something had just helped her escape.
She skidded the bike around the barn and headed to the point in the force field where the old woman had left. Tara didn’t slow down or hesitate in any way. This Crator-being, or the old woman…someone…had
faith in her. She would reciprocate. She rode at high speed straight into the force field.
Gowsky dove at Tara’s bike but missed. He tore at the ground with his shoes as he broke into a full run toward his house.
“Turn off the force field!” he screamed, running through the house, knocking over an end table, heading for the small room off his living room. He screamed again, “Turn the force field off now!”
Fleeders was right behind him as the two stormed into the small room, startling the young woman sitting at a landlink.
“What?” She turned in her chair, looking surprised and bewildered at the unusual request.
“She’ll electrocute herself.” Gowsky almost knocked over the confused woman as he reached for the console in front of her. A beeping sound began, and a red light flashed next to one of several monitors. “She thinks she has some gift from Crator and can just drive straight through that thing.”
The trio watched the monitor and saw Tara riding at full speed through the backyard toward the trees. Another light began flashing, indicating the force field had been dismantled. Tara drove around the trees and disappeared from the screen’s view. Gowsky raced out of the small room.
“You let her go!” Fleeders followed him.
“You heard her. She said she saw Crator. She was going to run right into that force field. Her bike is completely electronic—she’d have been fried to a crisp.”
“She told me an old lady talked to her in the desert one night, and she just said she saw an old lady again. Maybe Crator is talking to her,” Fleeders whispered, afraid of being overheard. He looked around the empty living room. “She told me the woman disappeared into the darkness and then she saw a large dog. Gowsky, she knows nothing about the Guardians. She wanted to research Crator through our network but I told her…” Fleeders’ cut himself off. He made eye contact with Gowsky and shuffled from one foot to the other, suddenly very uncomfortable.
Nuworld: Claiming Tara Page 36