The Wolf's Bounty

by K. T. Harding

  “You’ll see.”

  At that moment, a glare of blinding light stabbed her eyes. She raised her hand to cover her face when a huge shape reared out of the dark. Before her eyes, the suitcase split open on the ground at Bishop’s feet. Two blazing parallel lights pierced the night, and a machine larger than a steam locomotive unfolded from the suitcase.

  Raleigh staggered back, but the thing only got bigger and bigger the longer she stared at it. One layer after another peeled off and hit the ground. The lights came to rest near ground level and lit up a large cavern set into the ground. It resembled the cavern with the underground lake, except that a few feet away from where Raleigh stood, a gleaming black river curved and rippled off into the dark.

  The vehicle flopped this way and that until it lay still. It reminded her of a sleek black bird hugging the ground. Two wings extended on each side and a long pointed nose stretched far to the front. Two round flat lenses stood up between the flaps at the rear where its tail should be.

  Raleigh’s mouth hung open. “What in the world is that?”

  Bishop chuckled. “It’s a little invention of mine. Come on. Let’s go.”

  He climbed into the thing and arranged himself in a comfortable seat. He jerked his chin at Raleigh. “If you don’t get in, you’ll be standing here all night. In a few seconds, I’ll be a hundred miles away, so you better get in and don’t forget to buckle your seat belt.”

  She stumbled around the other side of the vehicle and found the seat next to him. She sat there in confusion before he reached across her and drew a strap across her chest. He clicked it into a buckle next to the seat.

  “Now hold on, ‘cuz the Gs will rattle your bones.”

  She had no idea what he meant until he pushed a button on the flat panel in front of him. The whole panel burst to life. Lights and dials whizzed and buzzed on every side. His fingers flew over them like a piano player tickling the keys.

  The vehicle roared awake. The whole framework shuddered underneath her. Raleigh took a firm grip on either side of her seat with both hands. Her heart pounded in her chest, but it was too late to back out now. She wanted to clamp her eyes shut, but she had to see this. She must be the only person outside of Hinterland to see something like this.

  The two lenses behind her head vibrated to a ferocious pitch. A screeching whine wailed in her ears. She would have screamed in time with it, but she couldn’t make her throat work. What did she get herself into?

  Before she could change her mind, the vehicle quivered underneath her. With one final shriek of its engines, it lifted off the ground and hovered there for a fraction of an instant. Bishop’s finger touched something on the console, and the vehicle shot forward so fast it slammed Raleigh’s head back against the seat.

  The river slipped away out of sight. The vehicle raced faster and faster within inches of the ground. It rocketed right and left at breakneck speed. Raleigh’s face dragged back on her bones. Her brains threatened to leak out of her ears, but the vehicle only whizzed faster.

  Bishop pushed another button on the dashboard. The vehicle skidded sideways and veered off in another direction. The river vanished in the blink of an eye. The lights on the front of the vehicle teetered in all directions so fast they revealed nothing of the landscape.

  All at once, the vehicle exploded out of the dark into a space so large Raleigh thought they must be outside again. She could see no walls, no ceiling, no sign at all of any end to the place. Light shone down from somewhere out of sight and illuminated the place as bright as day.

  The vehicle sailed on as fast as ever, but the space extended so far on either side the vehicle seemed to slow down crossing it. Grassy fields, tall oak trees, and large buildings spread a delightful landscape all around. A winding road led from the dark cavern into the unknown distance.

  The vehicle’s speed tore tears out of Raleigh’s eyes, but she blinked them away to take in the scene with all her sight. They passed a farm like the one at home, except this one kept ula’ree in pens near the barn. A few kataracts wandered harmlessly in the fields among men mowing hay with scythes. A fragrant breeze blew through the place, and Raleigh’s heart ached to stop and rest there.

  In a few minutes, though, the vehicle tottered in mid-air before plunging into another long tunnel through the dark. How long it went on, Raleigh never knew. She only knew when the magical bird flew out of the dark once more into a second large space as big as the first.

  This one didn’t speak to Raleigh’s heart, though. It chilled her blood in horror. Volcanoes bubbled their lava in the distance, and all along the stone ground thousands of people worked and slaved in chains. They hauled wheeled carts loaded with stone and wooden beams. They bent their heads under their burdens, and massive creatures marched back and forth lashing them with whips.

  The vehicle emerged into this horrific scene on a ledge some two dozen yards above the ground. Bishop cut the engines, and the vehicle came to rest on the ledge just outside the tunnel entrance. He unbuckled his seat belt and got out. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 24

  Bishop set off down a twisted path toward the valley floor far below. Raleigh hurried to catch up with him. She would have whispered to stop anyone from hearing her, but the noise of rumbling wagons, cracking whips, and screaming voices made whispering impossible. She had to shout to make herself heard at all. “What is this place?”

  Bishop didn’t seem to notice the awful nature of the surroundings. “This is Rolling Downs. It’s a part of Hinterland, and it’s the home of Soto’s people. He grew up here, and everything you see here is part of his people’s business. They’ve got thousands of businesses. That’s what makes them so successful.”

  Raleigh looked around. “It doesn’t look much like Rolling Downs to me.”

  He shot her a wry grin. “It isn’t, but it used to be. It used to be rolling farm country like that other patch we saw. Then the Tax moved in. That’s the name of Soto’s people. They started farming it. Then they started mining it, and now it’s what you see here. It will never be fertile again. When the Tax take over a place, they don’t leave until they squeeze every last drop of life from it. They leave it a barren wasteland, and they’ll do the same thing here.”

  They got to the valley floor and wound their way between the wagons and laborers. “Who are these people?”

  Bishop waved to a short figure passing under an enormous bundle of iron rods. The bound bundle dwarfed the creature so Raleigh could hardly see it. Just as she passed, the creature happened to glance up and she saw its face.

  Its body and head merged into a solid egg-shape. Its ears stuck out near where its neck would be if it had a neck. One big eye stared out from under the rods. A slit between the ears formed the mouth, and when the thing opened its mouth to gasp for breath, Raleigh spotted a pointed pink tongue inside.

  Its two arms hung at its sides, and three leather straps crisscrossed the creature’s chest to hold the bundle in place. It waddled on flat flipper feet under its coarse robe.

  “These are Britlis. They’re slaves, and those things…” He pointed across to the huge taskmasters. “Those are Endavors. They’re also slaves, but the Tax use them to keep the other slaves in line.”

  “How do they do that?” Raleigh asked.

  “They feed the Endavors Britlis to eat. It’s their favorite food, and if the Endavors do as they’re told, the Tax give them one Britli to eat at the end of the day. That’s their way of punishing any Britli that steps out of line. It’s a brilliant system of control. You have to give the Tax that.”

  Raleigh didn’t want to give them that, but if Bishop said so, who was she to argue? “Do they do this everywhere they go?”

  He nodded. “Everywhere. They’ve done it in thousands of places. That’s the only thing they know how to do.”

  “Then how did Soto get into the smuggling business?”

  “Simple. It’s the most lucrative business there is. Only the most ambitious Tax ge
t the idea to abandon their humble roots to go after the big money. You have to admire Soto. Not only did he get into smuggling. He went after the most rare and expensive commodities. Not many people have the guts to smuggle twen.”

  Raleigh fell silent while they traversed the valley. The Endavors walked upright on their hind legs, but their heads hung forward between their shoulders like kataracts. At closer inspection, Raleigh could almost believe the two species were related, except the Endavors had no horns.

  They must be intelligent, too. No kataract could ever do a job like cracking the whip on a bunch of helpless slaves. They would just as soon eat them all. Then again, maybe that’s how the Tax developed such a good breed of taskmaster. Maybe they bred certain kataracts to postpone eating their prey until the end of the day. That’s all they would have to do to keep the Britlis in order.

  The ground shook when the Endavors took a step. They could crush the Britlis underfoot, but they always took care to place their feet in the right place so as not to harm the slaves. They cast their beady eyes over the scene in constant vigilance to make sure the Britlis did their job.

  Raleigh lowered her voice. “Why doesn’t anybody try to stop us?”

  Bishop waved his hand. “Like who? No one knows we’re here, and the Endavors don’t care. They get paid to work the Britlis. They’re not guard dogs.”

  “We’re going a long way. Why didn’t we just fly over with the vehicle?”

  He motioned toward what looked like a mining apparatus. It jutted into the air, and dozens of Britlis buzzed around it. “We’re there.”

  Raleigh hesitated to approach the thing, but Bishop waltzed right in like he’d been there dozens of times before. The Britlis stood aside for him exactly the way the people did at the market.

  A great conveyor belt carried stone and gravel from the ground to the top of the apparatus and dumped it into a hopper at the top. Thumps and rumbles echoed from inside, but Raleigh couldn’t see what became of the raw material.

  Down at the bottom beneath the hopper, grey powder fell out of a chute into baskets strapped to the Britlis’ backs. One by one, they lumbered away with their burdens, only to be replaced by more of their kind to catch the next load.

  Raleigh followed Bishop inside and found herself standing in a wooden stairwell rising alongside the apparatus. Bishop’s steps knocked dust and soot loose above her head. It got into her eyes and made her cough.

  The best cure for that was to get upstairs where he was. She climbed as fast as she could and caught up with him in a tiny room layered in dust on all sides. Four windows looked out to the points of the compass. From that little chamber, Raleigh viewed the scene outside in all directions.

  The room was a small office lined on every wall with shelves of loose papers. A desk stood in the center with more piles of loose papers stacked taller than the single occupant seated behind the desk.

  A creature just like Soto snarled up at Bishop when he walked in. The same weeping sores disfigured his face, and his squat disgusting body turned Raleigh’s stomach. “What do you want?”

  Bishop kept his voice neutral. “I want you to tell me where I can find Soto.”

  The little man’s eyes bulged out of their sockets. “Soto! I don’t know where Soto is.”

  Bishop waved his hand around the room. “Come on, Fuki. If anyone knows where he is, it’s you. You’re his brother, and you two have been in business since I can remember.”

  Fuki started in his chair, but he didn’t get up. He rolled his eyes around the room. “I don’t know anything about Soto’s business. I haven’t seen him since he started smuggling, and that’s the truth.”

  Bishop’s eyes widened. “Who said anything about smuggling? I just asked you where he is.”

  “How should I know?” Fuki shrieked. “What do you come around here for, disturbing me like this? I’m an innocent businessman. I don’t have anything to do with Soto.”

  Bishop’s eyes glittered. “Now I know you’re lying to me, Fuki. Soto’s bodyguard Angelo told me Soto was on his way down here to visit you. He made a big deal about it, and that was supposed to explain why Soto couldn’t see me. Either Soto was just here recently visiting you, or you two are mixed up in a lot more than just the next family reunion. Now do you want to tell me where he is, or do I have to take drastic measures?”

  Fuki launched himself out of his chair. He waved both hands. “No! No! Don’t do that.”

  Bishop relaxed. “I’m not here to mess with you, Fuki. I have no reason to interfere with your business. I’m looking for Soto. That’s all. Perhaps you need some excuse to tell me, just in case Soto comes around asking later. Is that what bothers you?”

  Fuki sank into his chair. “You drive a hard bargain, Bishop.”

  “I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t.”

  Fuki looked around and affected to notice Raleigh for the first time. He gave Bishop a disgusting grin. “Who’s the tart? Do you want to sell her?”

  “I don’t want to sell her. This is my new apprentice.”

  “Apprentice!” Fuki laughed and wound up coughing up a wad of green phlegm. “Maybe I should get an apprentice like that. How about it, baby? Would you like to come apprentice with me sometime? I’m sure I pay a lot more than he does.”

  Raleigh didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. Bishop ignored the taunts, too. They both saw them for the delay tactics they were.

  Bishop waited. “Are you going to tell me where Soto is or not?”

  Fuki leaned forward on his desk. He rested both hands on the surface and peered up at Bishop from below. “I don’t know where he is, and that’s the honest truth. I would tell you if I did. He came here the other day. Don’t get me wrong. He came, but he didn’t tell me where he was going.”

  “What did he say, then? Why did he come if not to do business?”

  Fuki took a stack of papers out of a drawer near his knee and handed them across to Bishop. “He came to drop this off. It’s his Last Will and Testament. He said if anything happened to him, I was empowered to carry out his wishes. He said he was going to be gone for a while and he was doing some very dangerous business with some very dangerous people.”

  Bishop frowned. He took the papers out of Fuki’s hand and flipped through them. “That’s odd.”

  “You don’t know how odd it is,” Fuki exclaimed. “Do you realize what this means? If Soto said he was dealing in dangerous business with dangerous people, you know it’s serious. It doesn’t get any more serious than that. I don’t have to tell you, Bishop. He’s been trafficking in the most dangerous products on the planet since he was a boy. You tell him something’s dangerous and he laughs in your face. Now here he comes giving me his empowerment and saying he’s worried ‘cuz he’s dealing with dangerous people. You have to find him, Bishop. You have to find him and bring him back before it’s too late.”

  Bishop dropped the stack of papers on the desk and sent a cloud of dust into the little Tax’s face. “You couldn’t afford my fee, Fuki, no matter how rich you are, and I’m already looking for Soto. I can’t promise I’ll bring him back alive, but I’m looking for him.” He pulled the folded drawing from his pocket. He unfolded it and spread it on the desk for Fuki to see. “Do these figures mean anything to you?”

  Fuki stared at the drawing in stark horror. Then he collapsed back in his chair and wrung his hands. He came about as close to bursting into tears as Raleigh could imagine a Tax coming. “Oh, this is terrible. This is the most terrible situation ever!”

  Bishop snorted. “Pull yourself together. You and Soto have hated each other bad enough to put out contracts on each other and you still patched it up. I’m sure everything will work out in the end.”

  “Do you really think so, Bishop? Do you really think it will?”

  “No, I don’t.” Bishop turned away. “You’ve still got your business, though. If Soto doesn’t turn up, maybe you’ll make out in his will.”

  Fuki brightened up. “You’r
e right. He wouldn’t have trusted me with his empowerment if he didn’t leave me something.”

  He fell chuckling over his papers. Bishop nodded to Raleigh and folded the drawing up in his pocket once again. He slipped out of the room with Raleigh on his heels.

  Once outside, they set off the way they came. “What was that all about? Why didn’t you ask him what the drawing meant?”

  “He doesn’t know. He’s too stupid. I know someone who can tell us, though, and it’s not far away.”

  “Do you believe him about Soto’s will? Were the documents legitimate?”

  “Even if they weren’t, Fuki wouldn’t have made that up if it wasn’t true. Soto came to him in fear for his life. He must have gotten in over his head with this twen smuggling. He came to give his papers to his brother, and now he’s disappeared. If Fuki doesn’t know where Soto is, then I don’t know how we’re going to find him.”

  “So what are we going to do? How are we going to find him?”

  “We aren’t,” Bishop returned. “We can’t find him, and we don’t have to. Someone or something hired Soto to acquire a twen—a juvenile twen—quite possibly a very unique individual twen. I don’t know, but this thing goes way beyond Soto. Since we can’t find him, we have to find out who paid him. That’s our only chance at finding the twen.”

  He crossed the valley floor in long, sure strides. Raleigh kept pace with him all the way, but when he mounted the path, he didn’t get into the vehicle. He started down the dark tunnel cutting into the rock behind it.

  “Hey, where are you going?” she called.

  “We’re too close to fly there. We can get there just as fast walking.”

  “What about the vehicle? Are you just going to leave it there? What if someone steals it? How will we get back?”

  “No one will steal it.”

  “How do you know? I’m sure lots of people would love to get their hands on that.”

  Bishop snorted. “Do you really think any of these Britlis or Endavors could use it? Of course not. They’re the only ones who could possibly know it’s here.”