by Jaleta Clegg
It landed near them, kicking up dust. It was a sleek model, expensive and luxurious.
“You expecting anyone?” he asked Lowell.
Lowell swore under his breath at the sight of the man climbing from the flitter. The man was followed by a woman in a pink dress, her brown hair clipped back in a bow. The two of them picked their way across the rocky bank towards Lowell. The woman hung on the man’s arm.
“Who is she?” Tayvis asked, his voice flat and hard.
Lowell shot a sideways glance at Tayvis. “Remarkable, isn’t it? Hard to tell her from Dace.”
“No, it isn’t. Who is she?”
“Arramiya Daviessbrowun, the one that Luke mistook Dace for, and her father, Hom Brun Daviessbrowun, the richest man for three sectors.” Lowell pasted a smile to his face. “He’s turning out to be a big pain in the… Hom Daviessbrowun,” he said, his voice changing in mid thought to a lighter, more welcoming tone. “And this must be your daughter.”
“Arramiya,” Hom Daviessbrowun said.
Lowell nodded to the woman. “Just what are you doing here, Hom? You were asked to wait at the spaceport. It isn’t safe out here right now.”
Tayvis stepped away, slinging the rifle over his shoulder. Arramiya’s eyes went wide.
“I’m spending my time playing the fool for you,” Hom Daviessbrowun said. “I wanted to see for myself what was happening. I hadn’t heard from you.”
“I’m sorry,” Lowell said. “There have been some complications.”
“Is that a real gun?” Arramiya asked Tayvis. She let go of her father’s arm to stand very close to Tayvis. Tayvis shifted away from her. She leaned closer and batted her eyes at him.
“Complications? How much more is it going to cost me?” Daviessbrowun turned a deep purple. “I’m billing the Patrol for the money you’ve already cost me.”
“Then since we’re paying you, you won’t mind helping us shuttle some people back,” Lowell said, his smile deceptively sincere.
Daviessbrowun opened and shut his mouth a few times. It was obvious that few people ever stood up to him, or even dared disagree with him.
“Have you shot many things?” Arramiya brushed against Tayvis.
He stepped away from her. “I’m rather busy right now.”
“No, you’re not,” she said. “Show me how to shoot it.”
“Your father would object.”
“No, he won’t. He lets me do whatever I want.” Arramiya snuggled up to Tayvis’ arm. “How do I hold it?”
“You don’t.” Tayvis used his free hand to move her away.
Arramiya smiled slyly. “So you don’t buy the stupid act. Would you prefer a more sophisticated approach?”
“No.”
“I heard you were the one who found that girl who looks like me. What is she like?”
The question caught Tayvis off guard. He turned away, pretending to check the firing pin on his rifle.
“I’d like to meet her, to see if she really looks like me. She isn’t as pretty, is she?” Arramiya stepped around Tayvis, facing him again. “Look at me and tell me.”
“Don’t you have somewhere else you should be?” Tayvis couldn’t keep the irritation from his voice.
The flitter lifted, leaving Tayvis, Lowell, Paltronis, and Arramiya on the stream bank.
“Not now,” Arramiya said. “I’ll just stay here with you until my father comes back. You can show me how to shoot. I’ve never handled a gun like that before.”
Tayvis was sorely tempted to shoot Arramiya. Putting her to sleep for a while would be highly satisfying, but not very smart. He resisted.
“I see Ensign Tayvis is keeping you occupied,” Lowell said, joining them.
“Ensign?” Arramiya’s eyes swept over his insignia, then took in her other choices. Lowell was much older and Paltronis was female. Arramiya turned back to Tayvis with a predatory gleam. “He was just about to show me how to shoot.”
“It’s a tranquilizer gun, used in doing population surveys,” Tayvis said. Maybe he could bore her into going away. Lowell’s look warned him not to antagonize her. Lowell would owe him for this.
“Population surveys?” she repeated blankly.
“We spend weeks out hiking through wilderness, looking for certain animals. The tranquilizer puts them to sleep so we can collect data on them.” Tayvis launched into the spiel he’d heard far too many times in the last few weeks. “We measure them, tail to nose, check their health, figure out how old they are, that kind of thing.”
Arramiya’s eyes glazed over, but she persisted. “What animals are you counting?”
“We call them bushies, although their scientific name is Garrandianda Stovulus Meridicia,” he said, making it up as he went. Arramiya stepped back half a step. “They average seventy inches in length and usually weigh about two hundred pounds. They nest in trees, about halfway up, using the leaves to line a hollow where the branches meet the trunk. Except for the breeding females who dig dens. Their litters average three to four kittens, each weighing… I’m sorry, am I boring you?” He gave her a blank smile.
She pasted a smile on her face. “No, not at all.”
“The kittens are small, very small, and born completely hairless.”
She stepped back.
“Don’t you want to hear more?” he asked her.
“I think I’ll wait over here.” She pointed to a large rock near the stream.
“I can tell you about the aquatic life,” Tayvis said, beaming at her.
“I’ll just listen to the water,” she said, backing away. “You must be very busy.”
Tayvis turned from her. Lowell watched her as she walked quickly to her rock and perched on top.
“Nice to see you haven’t lost your touch,” Lowell said. “Would you consider coming back?”
“At what price, Lowell? I’d rather count bushies.” Tayvis hefted the rifle, slinging it over his shoulder. “It’s been an hour. I’m leaving.”
“Take Paltronis and mark the trail,” Lowell said quietly.
“And leave you alone with Arramiya Daviessbrowun? Will your reputation survive?”
“Which one?” Lowell grinned. “I have quite a reputation as a lady charmer.”
“Be my guest,” Tayvis said. His face turned serious. “Rinth, is it? Any idea where he would take Dace?”
Lowell shook his head. “Somewhere he considers safe. Good luck, Tayvis. Bring her back. The Empire would be too quiet without her.”
Tayvis signaled Paltronis. The two of them waded the stream to the far bank. Tayvis led the way down the steep slope to the base of the waterfall. Rinth’s passage into the brush was plain. Broken branches littered the slope.
“You take point, I’ll mark,” Paltronis said.
Tayvis nodded and headed up the hillside, following the path Rinth had crushed. The smell of the plants was strong. Sap leaked from the branches, leaving sticky trails on anything they touched. By the time they reached the crest of the ridge, they were covered with smears. Tayvis ignored the sap. As long as it didn’t cause a reaction, it could be dealt with later.
Tayvis paused at the crest, peering down the far side. The undergrowth was much thinner. The trees towered over them, branches shading out any plant trying to grow beneath. The wind gusted, smelling of rain. Tayvis glanced up, the trees blocked what light the thick clouds allowed through.
“You got a lantern?” Tayvis asked Paltronis.
“Hand torch, and a rain sheet,” she answered.
“We may need both.” Tayvis waited while Paltronis dabbed fluorescent paint on a prominent tree trunk. He paced, circling the area.
A flitter passed by, almost directly overhead. They couldn’t see it through the thick trees.
“Chief Querran,” Paltronis said. “We should wait.”
“We are going to have to,” Tayvis answered. “I can’t find the trail.”
He found no trace of the footsteps that had stirred up the ground on the downslope. Paltronis
flipped her com on, trying to raise the troops just the other side of the ridge. The interference was too great. They waited in silence, until the sound of Querran’s men moving down the marked trail reached them.
Querran herself was at the front. She stopped, breathing a bit hard, when she saw Tayvis and Paltronis. Her men drew up behind her. She eyed Tayvis.
“Lowell said you’d started searching,” she said. “We’ve got maybe an hour before the storm breaks.”
“Then we’d better move,” he said.
Her eyes flicked over his rank insignia. She said nothing, her eyes narrowed as she watched him take charge.
“Are any of your men trained in tracking?” he asked.
She glanced behind, at her men.
One man stepped forward. “I’ve got a biomass sensor.”
“Better than nothing,” Tayvis answered. “Scan the area while I look for any trace.” He moved up the far slope, working his way back and forth.
Paltronis moved after him. The man with the scanner followed, eyes glued to his screen. Thunder rumbled overhead. Querran sent her men after them, fanning out in a search pattern, looking for any trace. Tayvis reached the top of the ridge and paused, looking down the far side.
The trees were, if anything, even thicker. They crowded close, thick trunks and interwoven branches keeping any plants from growing underneath. He saw little in the gloom under them. The scan tech came up beside him, instrument glowing.
“Traces that way,” he said, pointing to one side down the slope. “Disturbed ground that might be a track.”
“Probably a bushy,” Tayvis said. “Sweep the whole hill, if you can see through the trees.”
They found at least a dozen tracks, crisscrossing the hill in a dozen different directions. Paltronis stood behind Tayvis, waiting for him to decide which way to go. Querran and her men came up to the crest.
“Fan out and search the hillside for any trace,” Tayvis said. “The three most likely paths are there, there, and there.” He pointed in three very different directions. “Watch out for bushies. There’s a female breeding group that live in this valley. I tracked them a week ago.”
The men dispersed, traveling in pairs, one looking at the ground, the other keeping a sharp eye on the trees and surrounding area. Paltronis brought up the rear with the scan tech. Tayvis watched them as they disappeared in the trees. Querran stood behind him.
“What did Hom Daviessbrowun really want?” Tayvis asked her. “I assume you met him.”
“Give me one reason I should answer you, Ensign,” she said, stressing his rank. “Whatever history you may have with Commander Lowell, it makes no difference to me. You shouldn’t even be here. You should be back at the camp with the other Survey people.”
“And I should let the bushies eat you,” Tayvis answered. “Don’t pull rank on me, Chief Querran. It won’t work. Your men aren’t trained for this.”
“My men are very well trained.”
“In wilderness searches where their equipment won’t work? I doubt it.”
“Do you want me to put you on report? Lowell may tolerate such sloppiness and insubordination but I won’t. Don’t forget your place, Ensign.” She stepped past him, heading down the hill. All of the men were now out of sight.
“Before Lowell and I had a difference of opinion, I was a Sector Commander, Chief. Don’t push me.”
She turned to look at Tayvis in surprise. “Must have been quite a difference of opinion.”
“Watch your step around Lowell. Have you ever asked him what rank he really holds?”
She shook her head.
“He won’t tell you.”
They were interrupted by a shout from down the hill. Tayvis brushed past Querran at a fast trot.
A stream ran along the bottom of the slope, a thin trickle of dirty water. The man stood over it, straddling the narrow flow. The trees were even thicker along the bank, the gloom growing deeper as day faded into a stormy night. Thunder rumbled overhead.
Tayvis jogged up to the man. The man pointed at the side of the stream, outlining a footprint in the mud with the yellow glow of his handlight. It wasn’t human and it wasn’t bushy. It was wide, flat, with three distinct toes.
“There are several more leading that way,” the man pointed across the stream, at a spot where it flowed shallow and wide, leaving a deposit of mud exposed.
“Tayvis,” Paltronis called from the other side of the stream. She waved a thin strip of filmy green material.
“Call your men,” Tayvis said to Querran. “We’ve found her trail.” He loped up the hillside after Paltronis.
Querran tapped her com, realized it probably wasn’t working here, and put her fingers in her mouth. She blew a sharp whistle, the signal to regroup.
“Good work,” she told the man who had found the tracks. “Send the others after us, and bring up the rear.”
The man nodded. She headed across the stream after Tayvis.
Rinth had left long scrapes in the loose soil. His path twisted and turned across the ridge, taking the easier way where possible. Tayvis moved as fast as he could through the gathering darkness. Thunder crackled overhead, louder and more insistent.
He lost the trail again over a stretch of exposed rock halfway up the next hill. Wind whipped past, blowing leaves and grit in his face. He ignored it, concentrating on finding Dace’s trail. He crossed the rock face, casting across the far side, looking for any traces.
Querran and her men caught up, gathering on the exposed rock. The trees above them shook in the gusty wind. Thick clouds boiled overhead, smelling of rain. Lightning flashed nearby, lighting the scene for a split second. Thunder boomed and rattled.
The scan tech crossed the rock, his instrument clutched in one hand. He got to the far side and tried his instrument. He shook his head, twiddling dials.
“I can’t get any readings,” he shouted over the wind. He put the scanner away.
Tayvis looped back above the rock, frustration showing plain on his face. Downhill was a steep dropoff, uphill was a very thick stand of trees. To either side of the curve of rock were more trees. Thick undergrowth clutched at the rock wherever it found any soil to grow in. There were no signs of a forced passage. He stopped, weighing options, and decided that Rinth must have taken a path above the cliff, the one way that wasn’t choked with bushes. He headed up. Querran’s men followed across the rock.
He came around the side of the hill and stopped. Boulders of all sizes scattered the hillside. The way was almost impassable. He turned and pushed up the hill, breaking through bushes as he went. He fought his way to the top of the ridge, standing under trees that creaked as the wind tossed them back and forth. The far side of the narrow hill was a wide flat, thickly covered with shorter trees and brush. He waved the scan tech next to him. The man still couldn’t get a reading.
Tayvis started across the flat. Screams, faint with distance, carried on the wind. He didn’t hesitate. He ran towards them. Querran’s men pounded behind him.
Chapter Thirty-One
Rinth’s arms closed over me like steel covered with rubber and fur. I hung limp and dripping, not sure if I was alive or dead and dreaming. The pain of bouncing against his hard body finally convinced me I was still alive. Every step he took jolted me, sending bolts of red fire shooting through me. I’d broken more than just a rib when I went over the waterfall.
Rinth shifted me to his shoulder, cradling me against his thick body. I could tell when he went uphill or down by the change in his rhythm. I would just get used to the pain when he would change and jar me in new ways.
He ran for an eternity of burning pain. I wanted to pass out, I reached for black oblivion, but the red fire kept burning, kept jerking me back to awareness. I smelled trees, broken branches as Rinth shoved his way through. New scratches added their own level of agony.
He slowed. His breath came heavy. He smelled of something animal, of sweat and fear. His thick feet pounded harder and harder as he slow
ed.
He stopped, bending down with me tucked against his chest like a baby. I heard him drinking, sucking liquid up from the ground. I tried to move. My face was full of fur and my side was on fire. I twisted my head. He tucked me into the crook of his arm.
“Find Miya,” he crooned. He got to his feet and loped away with me. Each step jarred my broken body.
His steps began to stumble as he tired. His breath came in loud gasps. We broke into an open space. The wind gusted past my face, thick with the promise of rain. Rinth shifted me again, holding me carefully over one shoulder. He picked his way across a rough field of rocks, moving with surprising agility.
We reached the far side. He set me down, standing over me protectively. I shivered with cold, wet, and shock. My side burned with every gasping breath. I turned to my side and coughed up what felt like half the stream. Each cough ripped through me. Rinth shook himself, his fur rippling. He picked me up again. His walk was slower, but less painful.
I drifted in and out of coherence. The pain was a distant thing, a constant that I could ignore until I started shivering or coughing. Rinth moved slower and slower, panting heavily as he carried me over the hills. Thunder cracked overhead. The wind howled through the trees. It sounded like words. I tried to listen until the pain drowned it out.
Rinth stumbled, clutching me tightly to keep from dropping me. The pain flared white hot, through my ribs. I screamed. His grip loosened and I tumbled to the ground.
Time slowed. I saw the ground clearly, a mix of leaves and needles drifted thickly under trees that swayed and danced in the wind. Berry plants grew in the mulch, tiny spots of red in the brown. I watched an insect skitter past my nose. And then the pain came back. I curled up, breathing shallowly to try to ease the burning in my chest.
Rinth patted me, his fingers feeling like tiny feet. “Find Miya find Miya find Miya,” he repeated over and over in a high pitched monotone.
I groaned and shivered. My dress, still damp, clung to me in ragged tatters. I coughed again; patters of red, blood not berries, dotted the ground.