Beast Master's Ark

by Andre Norton; Lyn McConchie

  Logan had moved around her again and was admiring Mandy. "Maybe not, but they sure have the beak for it. Whooeee. I bet she could take a real bite with that. Her claws aren't bad either." He bit back a broad grin at Tani's attempts to shift him away from the big bird. "What do they normally eat?"

  "On Ishan they used to eat insects. Of course the wild birds were a lot smaller. On Dulshan they eat lastree nuts, and the insects are bigger, too. The paraowls like the wire worms and fleetie grubs there. On the Ark I feed Mandy lastree nuts as a treat and a special mix we make up for her regular meals." She reached up to stroke Mandy. "She does love a lastree nut. I haven't given her one yet this nine."

  Logan beamed. "Why not. It's a lovely morning." He waited. Mandy obliged with a pungent suggestion similar to the one that had convulsed Storm the previous day. Tani went red, waiting for this boy to start laughing. He just looked at her sympathetically.

  "Did someone teach her that?" Tani nodded, too embarrassed to speak.

  "On purpose?" She nodded again. "To be mean?"

  That unlocked her voice. "Yes!"

  Logan saw her distress and was suddenly angry at a corrupter of innocent paraowls. "That wasn't kind. How could they do that. Why did they do that, anyhow?"

  Tani glanced up at him. He was nice. He hadn't laughed at Mandy and he really seemed to understand how horrible Marten had been to teach Mandy awful things to say. She began to explain about Marten. Behind her, Aunt Kady and Uncle Brion were talking to the other two. The Beast Master had looked over toward her twice. Maybe he didn't like her getting along so well with his brother.

  Brad was talking to Kady. "So it looks as if we may have something previously unknown. The possibility exists that these things are insects of some kind released from the sealed caves. There certainly existed collections of plants and animals there, so insects are a possibility. My son tried to talk to you yesterday about this and to give you the collected material that might bear DNA. He was turned away by some young man who didn't appear interested."

  Kady was furious. "Just how long has this possible material been detached from the donor?"

  Brad calculated. "About sixty-five hours minimum now."

  Kady used words in several languages. "That means by now it's breaking down. We may not be able to get anything. If we'd had it last evening there'd have been a better chance." She turned to glare at Storm. "Describe the man who spoke to you."

  Storm obeyed.

  "Jarro! That idiot. I'll have him washing beakers for a week."

  Brion intervened. "Kady, Brad has suggested we transfer to his ranch. It's much closer to events and we could use it as a base if we can drive the mobile laboratory over the road. Tani could stay there with us. Brad says the natives would take us into the field for samples and he has a few of the sealed cave plants growing on his ranch as well."

  Kady's face lit up. "Anything from Ishan or Terra?"

  "A few items," Brad assured her. "A few from other planets, too. A couple where we can't identify the planet of origin. Kelson has had us growing tiny plots outside to see what can live here. I do assure you we're careful, though, the plots are outside, but we prevent seed or genetic material escaping to cross into indigenous species. But if any of the foreign plants can survive Arzor weather and parasites, then we check to see if it is medicinal, edible, or useful in some other way."

  "And have you found anything?"

  He nodded. "One of the unknown plants yields a sap." He laughed suddenly. "It dissolves glass. They found out when it dissolved the beaker that was holding it. In concentration it can be used to reshape plascrete, or the heavy-duty clearplas." Brion whistled. "Yes, that's something that surprised us. Clearplas that has had time to set and cure usually requires a special saw to cut or shape it after that. In the right concentrations the sap can be used to etch glass or to cut it in exact shapes. A couple of artists are experimenting with it. Apart from that we've only found edible items, but two of them will grow here if they're hand-pollinated. They'll be a valuable export item for Arzor."

  "And you'd have no objections to letting us take samples from anything?" Kady cut in.

  "Of course not. Just so long as you keep us informed of anything you discover." His eyes twinkled at her and Kady smiled.

  "We promise." She moved to take Brion's arm. "I think moving to Mr. Quade's ranch would be an excellent idea. Tell Tani to start packing."

  "I will and you'd better do the same, my dear. But I think we will leave Jarro behind in the shuttle's laboratory. He can make a start on trying to extract DNA from the samples he so unwisely refused. It will be a boring and tedious job, but it may help to remind him he doesn't run the Ark the next time someone asks to speak with one of us."

  By the paraowl, Tani and Logan were talking horses. "There's a gray and black mare that would do nicely for you. She's half-sister to my fellow here," Logan was saying. "Put Larkin has been breeding for a horse that will stand up to conditions here all year round. A lot of mounts don't handle the Big Dry very well. Put brought in some Astran duocorn crosses and the first foals from that mix seem to like the heat." He sighed. "Only now their hooves don't do so well in the Big Wet. Astran soil is a lighter sandy stuff, it doesn't hold the damp, where here the land really does."

  Tani looked thoughtful. "That's only one gene complex. I could isolate it, choose for sex, and produce a couple of female embryos that would have everything this man has bred for plus really hard hooves."

  "Would it breed true?" Logan asked with interest.

  "It should. The complex would be a dominant. If we're going to your ranch I can take a look at the horses. Talk to your friend."

  "You should talk to Storm as well. He knows a lot about animals. He's a Beast Master."

  Tani's voice was sharp. "I'm sure he does. But I'm looking for a gene to keep hooves hard, not heads."

  Logan opened his mouth and shut it again. There'd been an animosity in that which he was at a loss to understand. Maybe it had been the way Storm had laughed at Mandy. If it had been his bird he might have been pretty furious, too. Not that it was Storm's fault. He'd been really strung out with young Lasco's death and all. Logan had found Mandy's bad habit funny, too. He'd just known in advance not to laugh.

  "Come on, let's see what the olders have decided." Tani grinned at the latest noun for those older than the speakers. It was used a lot by city teenagers speaking one-speech, but it felt odd to hear it here on the ranch.

  Brion looked over as they strolled up. "Tani. Good. We're relocating to the Quade ranch for a while. We'll take the mobile laboratory, you pack whatever you think you may need, and put your things with that. Kady is talking to the others."

  "Who's coming with us?"

  "Only the three of us will be going. I want you to make sure that everything in the laboratory is in place. Brad tells me that while the first part of the road is easy, it gets rougher further along. I don't want to arrive and find items damaged. When you're ready come and find me. Kady and I will be talking to the others in the ship and leaving them with work schedules." His voice went grim. "Particularly Jarro."

  It all took time; it was two days before the mobile laboratory with Brion at the wheel and Tani beside him crept slowly along the final stretch of the main road to the Basin. The even rougher stretch from main Basin road to the Quade ranch took another whole day.

  Brad was present when they drove into the wide front yard, but Logan had gone to see a friend. Storm had vanished to talk to other ranchers, so Brad said.

  "He'll be back later, but you've made better time than we expected. If there isn't anything useful from the ranches, he plans to talk to the Norbies. Shosonna, and the Zamle clan in particular, are friends. If they know anything they may tell Storm."

  On the far side of the Basin, some miles into the semidesert, Storm sat watching the hand signs of a native Arzoran. The clan had known things, but nothing he'd wanted to hear. Opposite him sat an old friend. Gorgol had been one of the first natives
to befriend Storm when he arrived on Arzor. Gorgol was still young but an accomplished hunter and warrior. His sleeveless tunic reached down to upper thigh; it was split over each hip and belted at the waist. The tunic was of undyed frawn leather, the belt of yoris-lizard skin.

  The native stood far taller than any human. He was hairless and on his head he bore the two small curving horns that had originally brought the nickname of "goat" from some of the more foolish or arrogant ranchers. About his neck he wore a great wide collar of yoris-lizard fangs and Mountain Flyer claws. Red tattoos surrounded several warrior scars, showing his growing status within the clan.

  Gorgol's hands flickered in the swift finger-talk. Native throats were not designed to speak a human language, nor were human throats designed to utter the odd, high-pitched twittering that was the native tongue. However, the sign language used was versatile and formed an excellent means of communication.

  "Some of the Nitra clans are moving. They say strange things happen in their lands and it is better they are closer to ours and away from the trouble. Norbie clans are not pleased with this."

  Storm's fingers flicked in turn. "Strange things?"

  "Dead frawns, dead horses. Twice they have found a dead herder child. No one sees or hears any enemy. They only find skeletons where children were alive a day before. The bones say the child died without moving. The Nitra will fight an enemy they see. How can they fight an enemy none see? The Ones Who Drum Thunder speak of evil in the night." Storm winced. If the clan's shamans were already saying that sort of thing, trouble was brewing.

  Gorgol rose to his inhumanly slender seven and a half feet as he stood. The small horns that crowned his hairless head curled back ivory white. His hands flickered as he continued.

  "Nitra press now against our lands. This is not good for our clans."

  Storm stood too. "True. Evil things in the night killed one of our people also. Many frawns have died and the ranchers are angry. If we hunt together we may find this enemy. Learn whatever weakness it may have, then kill it."

  "A good trail. Tell us how Zamle clan may aid in this?"

  "Wise ones of our kind come. It may be they know the ways of strange enemies. If you see any signs of this Death-Which-Comes-in-the-Night and the signs are close, send for me. I shall come swiftly, learn what I can. To know the enemy is to defeat it."

  The Norbie's head nodded twice in the sign they'd learned from the settlers. "Very good. I listen for news from any clan, send word to you if any comes to my ears."

  He was gone in a patter of unshod hooves as his mount scrambled up the slope. Storm stood, his face blank in deep thought. So the killers were on the move. Or perhaps they'd been on Nitra lands before they'd reached the edge of Dumaroy's place. It would take a long time and a number of deaths to spook the Nitra. The wild tribes must have been convinced from the beginning, too, that this wasn't some Norbie or Settler trick. If they had believed that, they'd have already been at war.

  If he could talk to Norbie medicine men he might be able to get peace poles up to enter Nitra lands. Not for himself so much but for the scientists. They needed fresh samples. In the four days since they'd agreed to come to the Quade ranch, word had been relayed from the orbiting Ark. On the shuttle, too, Jarro had run every test he could think of and many that his fellow scientists had suggested. All DNA had been broken down completely in the too long a time it had taken for the tests to be done. Jarro had found nothing—if there ever had been anything to find, his comcall had added nastily. Storm had stopped at any of the line-camps with a comcaller. His stepfather, Brad, had kept him constantly informed of what was occurring.

  Finally Storm moved. He must return to the ranch. The Carraldos would be arriving shortly. Brad would want him there to welcome them, family to family. Hing had been left back there with her family but both Baku and Surra had come. He rode back slowly, there was no hurry. He was bringing no good news. He came in sight of the ranch below just as the large vehicle that housed the Ark's mobile laboratory crawled down the final stretch of ground. It seemed to settle into position. Tani jumped out, the coyotes whirling about her in excitement.

  From a little in advance of where Storm sat his mount, Surra's head rose. Then she was gone, flowing in a silent rush toward the oblivious trio. Storm's mind lashed out. There was a flicker of reassurance, then the big cat was down the slope and throwing herself at the girl. Tani landed on the seat of her jeans with a thump and a yell of delight. Her arms went out to hug the dune cat to her. Around them Minou and Ferarre seemed to be dancing a welcome.

  Storm allowed Rain to pick a steady way along. It seemed that Surra knew the girl. Tani appeared to know the cat as well and to be delighted to see her again. He arrived to find the tangle resolving into Surra, purring friendship as Tani rubbed under her jaw. The girl's eyes were alight with happiness, but they changed as she looked up at his words.

  "You know Surra?"

  "I was at Terra station when she came in with you."

  That explained it for Storm. It had been three years before, on another world when he'd been badly injured in a commando raid and Surra, too, had suffered minor injuries. They'd been transferred to Station Twelve for surgery. Tani must have been the person who'd cared for his team member while Storm himself was also hurt. He'd known someone had but had never been told a name. That after three years Surra had remembered the girl with affection showed that Tani must have been kind as well as done her job. He amended that as he saw the affection between them. More than kind. They had liked each other, there was trust there.

  "I thank you on behalf of Surra," he said formally.

  Tani snorted. "Surra thanks me herself. I don't need thanks from the person who dragged her into a mess and almost got her killed."

  "I obeyed my orders."

  "So it was orders that got Ho killed as well." The girl's voice was angry. "I saw the records on your team. You risk them as if they were nothing, then come to us for replacements."

  Surra butted her gently, distressed at the human emotions. Tani shut down her anger. It wasn't fair to upset Surra. She gave the cat a final hug, then stood and walked away, turning her back on Storm in relief.

  He stared after her, eyes hard. What experience had she ever had? Cocooned in the Ark, cared for by doting relatives, handed a priceless team to play with just because she knew the right people. His snort echoed hers. Let her walk away. He had no time to fight with ignorant spoiled children while people were dying on Arzor. He had to report to Brad. He wished he had better news.

  Brad was with the scientists and all listened in silence. Kady was the first to speak. "Whatever it is, it's spreading. It's essential we get samples to identify."

  Brad nodded, his face worried. "Yes. But so far anyone who has seen it has also died. Can you suggest a way in which we can get these samples in safety?"

  Brion and Kady looked at each other, communicating silently. Brion shook his head. "To ensure safety we need samples to know what we must guard against."

  They sat thinking before Storm stood again. "I've sent word with Gorgol. The Norbies will let us know if the thing moves onto their lands, and maybe we can talk to the Nitra. I'll ride the line cabins for a while, so I'm easily found if any of them wants to talk."

  He went to pack in his room. At the corral he roped out a fresh replacement for Rain and a gray pack mare. Tani was there with Logan but he ignored them. He had no time for arguing now.

  Tani stared after him once his back was turned. Storm really had no manners. He'd walked past them without even a word to his own brother. He was going riding, but did he ask if she'd like to come along? No, she answered herself. He didn't. Well, she didn't need him. Logan would take her out into the desert. He'd said he would. It wasn't as if there were any real danger. According to the ship's information tapes, the natives here were friendly and she'd have her team.

  An hour later, Logan saddled the mare he'd mentioned as suitable for Tani, once she'd suggested they ride together. He
led out, talking of the plants and animals of Arzor. He showed her the puff bushes, the feefaw birds nesting, and agreed she could ride any horse she chose once he'd had time to see that horses obeyed her eagerly. Hing and her family made it a habit to spend time with this girl who knew just where to scratch. It angered Tani that they had to come to her for attention and affection. Storm should have taken them or stayed. Between riding with Logan and petting the meerkat family, Tani worked. She isolated the gene complex as promised and looked forward to the arrival of a bunch of young horses. Once they arrived she could move on to the next stage and try for embryos that would grow into hard-hoofed mares. It would show Storm she didn't just sit about enjoying herself.

  For a week all was quiet—at least so far as the Quade ranch was aware. But it was merely the lull before the tempest. During that week Tani found herself sleeping badly. Not all night, just at brief intervals when some alert in a deeper part of her brain seemed to be calling her awake. Afterward she would sleep again but not immediately. It irritated her until on the sixth night she accepted something from Aunt Kady. That night she stayed asleep—through a nightmare that became so horrific that she woke everyone else. They rushed to her room, crowding to see what was causing her to scream as if she were in agony.

  Kady pushed them out again and gently woke the shrieking girl. "Tani, Tani, dear. You're having a nightmare. Wake up." She watched in concern as her niece opened bleary eyes.

  "What is it, Aunt Kady, is something wrong?"

  "That's my question," her aunt said dryly. "You're the one waking us all up."

  "I did? What did I do?"

  "Screamed as if you were being tortured to death, and kept on screaming," Kady informed her. "Everyone on the ranch is outside this door asking each other who attacked you."

  "Uh, no one." She shuddered, remembering. "It was just a dream but it was really gruesome." Her voice dropped as she started recalling her nightmare. "It started like the others but I always woke up before." Kady sat, arms around the girl, but Tani did not see her aunt's eyebrows go up in interest. So, that was the reason for the wakeful nights. This nightmare had been coming regularly, but each time it began the girl had wakened before she was drawn too far in.