The "butterfly" backed off, hovering over the swampy ground at about chest height.
"Let me," said Garras, stepping forward and pulling out a small pistol. A faint beam of energy hit the creature, incinerating it in a burst of flame.
"Handy toy," said Skai, eyeing the smoking remains thoughtfully. "You don't happen to have any spares, do you? We could do with a few ourselves." He reached into his pack, fumbling about for a moment or two, then drew out what appeared to be a broad metal bracelet with a raised circular device set in the center.
"It might be arranged," replied the Captain, watching Skai curiously as he returned the gun to his weapons' belt. "What does the leech do?"
"Burrows into your skin. It has to be cut out, not a pleasant experience for anyone. Stay clear of the water and anything that moves on the dry areas, and we might just make it to this pod of yours in one piece."
"I've still got my sonic bug screen with me, but there isn't much charge left in it, only a few hours. It's good for up to a ten-meter radius, so stay close."
"Let's get moving. It isn't even safe to stay in one place for long."
"Are you all right?" Kusac asked Carrie.
She shuddered. "I'm fine," she replied, forcing herself to jump over the gap of water to the next dry islet.
The next couple of hours passed uneventfully until Carrie called a halt.
"We have to go west from here," she said. "Would it be safe to stop for a few minutes?" she asked Skai. "I think we could all do with a rest and a drink."
"Make it quick," he replied. "I could do with one myself, but our presence in one spot for any length of time tends to attract the carnivores, not to mention Valtegan air patrols."
They were strung out over three patches of ground, about as safe as they could be given the circumstances.
Vanna and Mito were carrying homemade water packs, which they passed out down the line.
"Leave some for later," warned Vanna. "We can't be sure there is a working water purifier in the pod."
"I'll test the swamp ahead and tell you when to follow," said Skai, probing the ground in front of him with his stick.
"I wondered what that was for," murmured Carrie, taking a long swig of water.
The air in the swamp was warm and humid. She had been feeling hot and sticky since they'd left. On top of that, she had the Mother and Father of all headaches. Squinting her eyes against the sunlight, she handed the water back.
"Let's go," said Skai.
Ahead of them grew several of the multi-trunked trees that were specific to the wetter swampy areas of Keiss. They grew fairly tall, with broad branching limbs that dipped toward the water, sending down myriads of rootlets from which sprang new trees. It created a network of spreading branches, almost a pathway, above the treacherous waters of the swamp. Unfortunately, the trees were fairly well spaced out, making it impossible to rely on them alone for a safe passage to the area they wanted.
Skai took two or three moves before he signaled the others to follow. The strain of this section of the journey was intense. Twice Mito slipped into the water and had to be pulled out quickly.
Garras stopped on a piece of sandy ground for a breather. The Captain was the oldest of the Sholans, and the trip was beginning to tell on him. He tried to move and found his feet stuck in the wet sand. He pulled harder but found himself sinking even lower. Yowling in protest, he drew the others' attention to him.
Kusac leapt back to where Garras was sinking deeper and deeper into the quicksand. Grabbing him by the arm, he tried to haul him free.
"Leave him for me!" shouted Skai, racing back to where the two males were struggling. "That isn't the way to free him!" He shouldered Kusac out of the way and took hold of both of the Captain's arms, pulling him slowly toward the dry ground. Garras was now up to his knees in the treacherous ground.
Skai transferred his grip to the Sholan's back and forced him to lie flat on his stomach.
"Not you, you're injured," he said to Kusac. "Guynor, over here." The two of them moved round to where Garras' legs had begun to emerge from the sand. "Pull," ordered Skai, hauling sideways on one limb. Guynor grabbed the other leg and began to haul, wincing a little at the pain in his forearm. Slowly they pulled him forward until, with a last sucking sound, he was free. Garras lay shaking convulsively for several minutes while they all recovered from the shock of his sudden brush with death.
Skai looked around to make sure the others were safe and noticed the water beginning to swirl beside them.
"Come on, let's get out of here. The vultures are gathering," he said, getting to his feet. "We'll stop when we get to the tree. At least we'll be safe there."
"What is it?" asked Mito, fascinated by the turbulence. She picked up a stone and tossed it into the middle.
"I wouldn't," Skai called back.
Mito took a step back just as a small mud-colored reptile surged up out of the water at her. She screeched, jumping back farther so it landed at her feet.
A brief flare and it died. Guynor put his pistol away.
"Frogs with teeth," said Skai. "Cute, aren't they?"
He moved back to his lead position while the others followed as quickly as the terrain and their tired bodies would allow. Before long, the last one had been hauled up to safety on one of the lower branches of the tree.
"We'll have a meal stop now," said Vanna, checking Kusac's reopened wound despite his protests. She took a pressure hypoderm and an ampoule out of her bag and proceeded to administer another analgesic.
"Kusac won't be able to travel again until this takes effect." She looked up as she put her instruments away. "Besides, we're all done in."
"It's not as bad as she makes out," Kusac muttered to Carrie, but she noticed he cradled his right arm in his lap. Gratefully, they accepted the food and water as it was passed down to them.
"At least it isn't dried meat," said Carrie, leaning back against the main trunk. "I've had more than enough to last a lifetime." She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on reducing the pounding in her head to a bearable level.
"Well, your wounds are beginning to heal nicely," Vanna said tartly, giving Guynor's ear a cursory glance. "Luckily, the wound on your arm is minor. Kusac had the decency to only bite, not tear like you did. You'll live." With that, she clambered back to her place beside Carrie.
Garras pulled a blanket from his pack and began trying to clean some of the mud off his fur, an almost impossible task without water. He was leaning forward to dip the end of the blanket in the water below when the peace of exhaustion was broken by an agonized yowl from Guynor.
Food went flying as he almost overbalanced and fell off the branch. He scrabbled frantically for a hold, finally managing to sink all four sets of claws into the bark and pull himself back up.
Frozen with shock, the others watched as his tail whipped up to thump against the branch with a wet thwack.
"In the Gods' names, get it off!" he yowled, his voice high and penetrating. "Get it off!"
Mito lunged for the afflicted tail, but the pain was so intense that Guynor was unable to keep it still and it whipped about as if it was independently alive.
Snatching up Skai's stick, Carrie leaned forward. "Grab his tail at the base," she ordered Mito. As soon as the Sholan had it pinned down, Carrie pounced on the middle section and gave the fish several hard thumps with the stick.
Guynor's face was still contorted with pain, but his tail was only twitching faintly now. Mito grabbed it by the end and examined the dead creature cautiously as Vanna clambered over to them.
Handling his tail as gently as possible, Vanna turned it this way and that before speaking.
"I'll have to cut the fish off, Guynor. Even dead, those jaws are locked solid," she said.
"Do it," he hissed between gritted teeth, keeping his face turned away from Skai.
Vanna pulled her hunting knife and hesitated. "Do you want an analgesic first?" she asked.
"Just do it," he moane
d, trying to control the involuntary flicking of his injured tail.
Vanna inserted her knife as far as possible into the fish's mouth and sawed away at the heavy jawbone. It was a slippery and unpleasant job and several times the knife slipped, narrowly missing both her and Guynor. At last she was able to pry apart the jaws. She handed the fish to Carrie, who looked at the massive array of teeth with a shudder before giving it to Kusac.
Now that Guynor's tail was free, Vanna could see that there was no permanent damage. She got out her antiseptic and analgesic spray and coated the whole wound with the sealant.
"That should stop hurting in a few minutes," she said, checking his face for the telltale signs of shock. "You'll do, just take care."
She returned to her place on the branch to finish her meal, noticing with a faint grin that all the Sholans, herself included, had curled their tails up beside them. No one was going to be caught like that again. One of their oldest instincts, forgotten in exhaustion. They would all have to be far more careful. Still, it was a nice irony that it had been Guynor who had been caught.
For the rest of their stop Guynor sat with his back to everyone, his tail resting safely in his lap, and sulked.
All too soon it was time to gather their packs again and inch their way along the branch behind Skai. They were able to cover a couple of hundred meters in this fashion before they ran out of branches sturdy enough to support their weight.
While the others waited by the central bole of the last tree, Skai sat astride the lowest limb and wriggled slowly along its length. Every so often he stopped to probe the swamp below for solid ground.
"It's solid here," he shouted at last, sitting up. "Garras, you join me. Don't worry, the branch is strong enough," he said, noticing the anxious flick of the Captain's tail. "You haven't got a rope in one of those bags, have you?"
"No rope," Garras said.
"Bring a couple of blankets, then. We'll tie them together and you can help lower me to the ground."
Garras unslung his pack and pulled the blanket free once more.
"Here," said Mito, handing him hers.
Garras flicked his ears in acknowledgment and began to twist both blankets securely around his body. Cautiously he edged forward to Skai. Once he had reached him and handed the items over, Garras moved back slightly to allow Skai room to tie them together into a makeshift rope.
"You hold this end," instructed Skai, tying the other around his waist. "I suggest you lie down to get a better grip on the branch, because you'll have to support my weight as I climb down. I'd hate to end up in the swamp," he said, with a smile.
Garras' ears flattened at the thought, and he stretched out beside Skai, digging his rear claws firmly into the underside of the branch.
Skai handed him the excess length. "Just play it out slowly," he said, dropping his stick down before he began to lower his legs over the edge. "I'm letting go now."
Garras braced himself and managed to absorb the shock of the extra weight of the Terran. Muscles already aching, he slowly fed out the blanket until it suddenly went slack.
"I'm down," Skai called. "I'm going to check out the next couple of dry patches before anyone else comes. Just wait there."
"It's like stepping stones," said Carrie quietly to Kusac. "Did you ever play that game when you were young?"
"What are stepping stones?" he asked, leaning back against the trunk.
His shoulder was giving him more trouble than he would admit, but he wasn't about to let Vanna know. She'd have to increase the drug to a level where he'd be a liability to them all, and he didn't have the necessary peace and quiet to try to deal with it his own way— the way he had learned at such a high cost when he had first landed on this planet. At least he was blocking it from Carrie.
"Stepping stones are stones you stand on to keep your feet out of shallow water when there isn't a bridge. It's also a children's game back on Earth."
"No, we don't have such a game. With bare feet, it doesn't matter so much if they get wet."
Garras' call caught their attention. "Carrie, you next, then Kusac. One at a time, please."
"Here we go," muttered Carrie, taking Kusac's hand for support as she tried to get astride the branch.
When Carrie reached Garras, he handed her the blanket rope and instructed her to tie it round her waist. Gamely but clumsily, she lowered her hands to the branch, holding on tightly as she slid first one leg and then the other off. Her grip slipped and with a shriek of surprise, she found herself hanging suspended in midair.
Garras' arms were nearly wrenched from their sockets, and Kusac hurtled along the branch to join him, nearly falling off himself in his urgency.
The weight lessened, and Garras was able to move his chest and breathe again.
"I've got her," yelled Skai. "Let down the rope before she swings over the swamp!"
Garras fed the rope out hand over hand as fast as he dared until he felt Skai take all her weight.
"She's down," he said, keeping her in his arms. "You're safe now," he said. "I wouldn't let you fall."
"Then let me go," she said.
Reluctantly, he released her. "I'd like to talk to you later," he said.
"We've nothing to talk about," she replied shortly, moving one cautious step backward.
"Carrie," shouted Kusac, "are you hurt?"
"No," she said, looking up at him, "I'm fine. I just slipped and got a fright, that's all." She could sense his fear receding. She staggered slightly, putting her hand to her head. The heat and humidity were really making her feel ill. She'd be glad when they reached the pod and she could rest properly.
"I'll take her to the next dry spot. This bit is only large enough for two. Come on," Skai said, businesslike again.
She followed carefully in his footsteps to the next dry patch, which luckily was a good bit larger.
"Stay in the middle," warned Skai, "and you'll be quite safe." He moved off toward the tree. "Remember, I want to talk later," he said, turning back to her for an instant.
"Damn!" Carrie swore under her breath. She glowered at his retreating figure but couldn't shout a reply without looking foolish. As if her life wasn't complicated enough without having him to contend with. He seemed to have gotten the idea that he and Kusac were in competition over her. She'd have to deal with him once and for all, before Kusac did.
"You're next, Kusac," said Skai.
"Garras, you go now. I'll wait and get Guynor to lower me down."
Garras pushed himself up on his elbow. He stared hard at Kusac, wrinkling his nose in thought. "I didn't have you figured as stupid, lad, but I may have to revise that opinion."
Kusac's ears flattened in distress, and he tried to control the involuntary flicking of his tail.
"You know as well as I do that Guynor is unlikely to lower you anywhere but into the swamp, and I don't intend to lose another good crewman, especially to his psychoses. Now tie that blanket round yourself and let's get you down. I'll get Guynor to lower me next. His injuries won't prevent him from taking his share of the heavy work. You tend to the business of helping your Leska locate the pod."
Kusac's mind was spinning as he fastened the rope. He knew that Garras had said he would speak for him when they returned to the Khalossa, but he hadn't realized that the Captain had accepted his personal involvement with Carrie. Now he thought about it, it was completely in character with Garras' past experience as an escort to Trading missions with other Alien races. He obviously didn't share Guynor's species prejudice. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, and gingerly favoring his injured shoulder, swung himself off the branch.
Once the Captain was down, Skai left him to supervise the descent of the other Sholans and returned to where he'd left Carrie.
She was deep in conversation with Kusac and broke off as he approached.
"We need to head north, Skai, toward that clump of greenery there," she said, pointing into the distance.
"How much farther is it?" he aske
d, shading his eyes as he checked the position of the sun.
"Two or three kilometers, maybe four," answered Kusac.
"You'd better hope it's nearer two," muttered Skai, "or we might not make it before dark. We have to be under some sort of cover by then or we won't survive the night."
"We'll make it," Carrie reassured him. "It's difficult to judge distances from ground level when I've only seen it from above."
Skai gave her a disbelieving glance before he turned to start probing the swamp again.
* * *
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