Gemar [Sunsinger Chronicles Book 9]

by Michelle Levigne

  “This is Rhiann, Ganfer,” she said, whispering. “Please be quiet—we don't know who's listening."

  Silence answered her. Ganfer had too much sense to respond.

  Now what?

  Bain waited until the pounding in his head subsided, then slowly sat up straight. He took deep breaths and kept his eyes closed, and found it wasn't too bad. For now. He flinched when something wet touched the back of his head. Opening his eyes, he saw Rhiann kneeling next to him, holding the damp rag to his wound again.

  “Thanks,” he whispered, and reached back to take it from her.

  “What do we do now?"

  “I don't know. I can hardly think straight. Probably the best thing is to be ready to run as soon as we can."

  “That sounds good.” She turned around and slid back a few centimeters. Bain turned and saw she leaned against the cold rock wall. Moving carefully, a centimeter at a time, he scooted himself backwards until he could lean against it, too.

  * * * *

  Bain woke from a fitful doze with a headache and the smell of fresh bread tickling his nose. He swallowed, and only then realized the dryness of his mouth.

  Night had come and their stone cell was cold. Marlin Feris moaned and thrashed in his sleep. Their captors had yet to appear, to talk or threaten them or give them a blanket to sit on. A cup of water would have been wonderful, even if it smelled like the seep water Rhiann had used to wash his split chin and the back of his head. She had found the rags there, and shallow puddles of mineral-heavy water in the rock.

  Maybe he could find some more spatters of water. Just enough to wet his lips and tongue.

  Bain opened his eyes. In the weak glow of the handlight—it was dimmer than when he had fallen asleep—he saw a canteen and a loaf of bread sitting on a scrap of paper. Bain took a deep breath, drawing more mouth-watering bread aroma into his lungs.

  A canteen? The smell of the bread slid to the back of his thoughts under the onslaught of the dusty dry feel and taste of his mouth. Bain slid onto his hands and knees and crawled to the spot.

  Neither bread nor canteen vanished when he reached for them. The canteen sloshed when he picked it up, and Bain grinned at the beautiful sound. His chin ached from the movement, stretching his skin, but his wound didn't re-open.

  Bain knew better, but he gulped the first three mouthfuls of water. They hit his stomach hard, sending a wave of nausea through him. He quickly closed the cap of the canteen and held it aside, in case he threw up.

  The nausea passed. Bain took another drink, but slower this time. Then he turned around and crawled back to Rhiann. Grinning, he held the canteen to her lips. The first few drops spilled down the dusty front of her shirt, but then her mouth opened wide, her lips closed around the opening and her hands jerked up to hold the canteen. Then her eyes opened.

  “Bai—” She choked, just a little. He put down the canteen and sat back on his heels and waited. “Where did that come from?” she whispered hoarsely, and coughed.

  “I don't know. Maybe our invisible friends followed us all the way out here."

  “Is that bread?” Rhiann crawled away from him and snatched up the loaf. She was about to tear it into two pieces when Bain saw something that made his heart jerk to a stop.

  “Wait.” He got to his feet and tottered over next to her. “Rhiann, look.” Bain pointed at the door, which had been closed and barred since he woke up that afternoon.

  It stood open, barely a handspan, but wide enough they could see the gap between makeshift door and the mouth of the cave-prison.

  Marlin Feris in the other cave let out a whistling moan. Rhiann and Bain jerked. She nearly dropped the bread.

  “Think it's a trick?” she whispered.

  “Only one way to find out.” Bain's legs grew steadier with every step he took. He gently pushed the door open. It was nothing more than a barrier of crate slats held together with nails and rope. It pivoted a little when he pushed on it, then stopped. Bain slid his fingers around the edge and pushed, trying to slide it aside. That worked better.

  The room beyond was another cave, but the opening was a long crevice in the rock face. In the moonlight beyond, Bain saw the canyon and a massive black shape that was probably the Nova Corona.

  It occurred to him that he felt more sorry for the ship than he did for Marlin Feris. After all, the man had helped these people. From things they had overhead during the long evening of being ignored, he and Rhiann deduced they were smugglers of some kind, probably mercenaries, maybe pirates. They had tricked Feris into taking them through Knaught Points to transact their business, and when he started to get suspicious they used his greed. When that wore off, they drugged him. Then he had become useless to them.

  Still, the ship didn't deserve to be stuck here, hidden in this canyon that used to be a lake, sitting idle. Ships, especially Spacer ships, were made to roam and keep moving.

  Bain stood a long time in the opening of the cave, listening, straining his eyes against the darkness for movement, a sign someone waited to catch him trying to leave. Finally, his own breathing and pulse became so loud in the stillness he could hear nothing else.

  “Let's go.” He slid the canteen strap over his neck and under one arm.

  Rhiann wrapped the scrap of paper around the bread and tucked it inside her jacket, snatched up the handlight and joined him at the door without question. Bain decided he liked that about her the best—her common sense and knowing how to act in a dangerous situation.

  There was nothing but crates and tarpaulin-draped piles of supplies in the cave. Bain considered exploring a few of them, to see if there was anything in there he could use. He shook his head, winced at the unwise movement, and stepped out of the cave. They couldn't afford to waste time, even to find weapons.

  They did pause long enough to slide the door back into place. The longer it took for their captors to realize they had escaped, the better, even if it was only a few minutes. That was a few minutes more lead time they would have before the search started.

  Rhiann led the way, once they got out into the canyon. Bain didn't like having her out in front, where any weapons fired at them would hit her first, but the alternative was to have her whisper directions to him every step of the way. After all, she had walked this path with her eyes open. He had been carried, unconscious.

  The Nova Corona was indeed only a few hundred meters away, but on the other side of the canyon, with the tents of the pirates between Bain and the ship. The crevice they used as access to the next level up was only a few meters from the cave mouth. It was partly a natural stair, cut by running water ages ago, aided by boulders lodged in convenient places and boards put into place by the pirates. Halfway up, Rhiann stopped them, turned, and pointed back down into the canyon. Bain looked and saw a golden-green glow in one of the tents, barely hidden under a screen of branches.

  “Monitors,” Rhiann whispered.

  Bain nodded that he understood. Someone was still awake, keeping watch over the site. That reminded him of how they had been caught, by someone hearing their transmission to the Rangers.

  Yet he had to call them soon. How long would it take the Rangers to get out to this canyon? Longer than it would take the pirates to realize their prisoners had escaped? When that happened, would the pirates look for them, or pack up and flee?

  Whatever happened, Bain knew he had to go back and steal the Nova Corona. Without their ship, the pirates were stranded here, both in the canyon and on Gemar. The Nova Corona was a Spacer ship; he could fly it, even without a ship-brain handling the little details.

  At the top of the staircase, they paused to eat the bread. It was only a few mouthfuls for each, but washed down with half the canteen, it filled their stomachs and boosted their energy. Combined with the exhilaration of being free, Bain knew they could keep moving for as long as it took.

  They found themselves in the first canyon where they had left their jet-cycle. It wasn't there anymore, which made sense. The pirates wou
ld want to keep every vehicle they could get hold of, for future use. Plus, leaving the cycle out in the open would help search parties pinpoint their location.

  “Search parties,” Bain whispered. He grinned and glanced up at the starry sky. The cluster of four small moons was near zenith, casting a silvery glow across the landscape.

  “What?” Rhiann said. She glanced around, as if expecting someone to jump out at them.

  “The others know which way we were headed. They have to be close, if not already watching this place. We have to take the chance.” He reached for her neck and the collar link shining softly in the moonlight.

  “What chance? Oh.” She nodded and let him slide the collar link off.

  “When we connect, they're going to know down in the canyon. We have to go somewhere else and hide as soon as we finish,” he said, thinking aloud. A few seconds later, he had an idea.

  He led Rhiann back through the barrier of bushes, to the ledge of the dried out waterfall where they had first seen the pirates’ camp. Sure enough, it was just as he remembered, including a ledge around the top of the canyon. Bain thought it was wide enough for them to walk without fear of falling. It was a long drop to the floor of the canyon.

  They both wore dark clothes, and with their dark hair they could keep their faces turned to the wall and have a good chance of not being seen when the pirates started moving around in the canyon. Bain suspected the pirates would assume he and Rhiann would go back to the canyon where they had left the jet-cycle, so they had to be far from there in a short time, with no discernible trail.

  “This way.” He pushed down into the barrier of bushes, worming his way into the scratchy, dry mass. Rhiann followed without question or complaint, though he knew it had to be uncomfortable with her long hair snagging on the branches.

  In the heart of the barrier, he found a gap where they could both sit on the ground. Rhiann took the handlight out of her jacket and set it on the ground between them, shielded with their bodies. Bain touched his collar link and in a loud whisper called for Ganfer.

  “It's about time,” Captain Gil said.

  “We had to escape, first,” Bain said, grinning wide enough his chin threatened to split open again. Quickly, he gave the Ranger captain a description of the two canyons and the layout of the pirates’ camp. “They caught us when they tracked my first transmission. They took the wrist link,” he added, feeling a stab of guilt.

  “At least it's not broken. We've been struggling to force open the link with a power surge, to turn it into a homing beacon. Keep the link open with Ganfer now, and we'll be there in half an hour, tops."

  “Where are the Scouts?"

  “They're practically on top of you.” Gil chuckled. “They're listening in right now, if they know what's good for them."

  “Of course we are,” Arin chimed in, managing to laugh and sound offended at the same time. “We even saw those two canyons on my sonic scanner. I didn't focus long enough to catch the Nova Corona, though."

  “It's covered with lots of branches and camouflage netting,” Bain offered.

  “We'll be there in a few minutes. Sit tight."

  “We can't.” He quickly described the ledge around the canyon he and Rhiann would follow, and explained their strategy for avoiding re-capture.

  “Don't worry about finding them,” Gil interrupted. “Their job is to find you. The two of you are to concentrate on staying free. Good work, and I mean that. But don't take any stupid risks, hear me? A hero isn't worth anything if he doesn't live to tell about it."

  “Right.” Bain swallowed hard and licked his lips. “Is Lin there?"

  “She's with Herin and Dr. Haral. Ganfer patched the link straight to me in my ship. We'd better break now before they catch up with you. Out."

  “Out,” Bain echoed. His legs ached as he pushed himself to his feet again.

  Rhiann tucked the handlight back into her jacket and they squirmed back out through the barrier.

  The light coming from the monitor tent hadn't changed by the time they stepped out onto the ledge. No sounds of voices, no ruckus of a search party setting out. For a few seconds, as they took their first steps out onto the ledge, Bain dared hope they hadn't been caught this time.

  Then the tent flap opened, spilling more light through the darkness, framing a black man-shape for a few seconds. As it fell back into place, Bain saw the dark shape hurry to the next tent.

  There was no hue and cry. Bain watched, almost paying more attention to the canyon below than he did to where he put his feet on the ledge. No voices echoed through the nighttime quiet. No clatter of weapons or running feet. The pirates worked quietly, dark shapes moving from one tent to another. No shouts. Bain thought he heard urgent whispers, muffled by the distance, but he couldn't be sure. It could have been nothing but his imagination.

  He was three-quarters of the way around the ledge, heading for the other side of the canyon opening and unknown territory beyond, when the action he dreaded finally happened. Someone ran into the supply cave. Bain kept moving, straining his ears for the sound of boards dragging on stone. He didn't hear it, but there was no mistaking the urgency of the man who ran from the cave only a minute or so later.

  He dove into the tent that Bain imagined belonged to the leader of the pirates, just from the level of activity coming and going. A moment later, he knew he was right when the bald man emerged, half-dressed and shrugging into the sleeves of his jumpsuit.

  Bain's foot touched the edge of the crevice in the rock. He moved off the ledge, back onto more secure footing, then reached back and guided Rhiann along behind him. They held hands and felt their way through the darkness.

  The crevice dead-ended. Bain took a chance and asked Rhiann for the hand-light. Shielding it with his body, he aimed the dying beam at the floor, then slowly brought it up the wall.

  The crevice they had followed turned out to be the west side of a ‘V’ through the rock. The floor of the east side sloped downward, not too steeply.

  “Do you think it goes down to the canyon floor?” Rhiann whispered.

  “Could be."

  “Then we should get out of here. What if they come up this way, looking for us?"

  Bain wanted to argue, but her words made too much sense. They went back out the west arm of the ‘V’ and back onto the ledge. A few more steps down took them to an arch in the rock, which opened out into a long, wide tunnel in the rock. The floor sloped upward as it curved to the right, then back to the left. After the second turn, Bain saw moonlight shining down through a gap in the roof of the tunnel. He and Rhiann climbed up a mound of rubble and emerged at the top of a butte looking out over the entire system of canyons.

  Far off, the sounds clear in the night air, they heard the sounds of running feet and shouts and saw the dull flickers of searchlights waving back and forth in the canyons far below them.

  “I think we're safe up here,” Bain said. He kicked aside a few rocks and settled down on the sandy, relatively flat, cold rock.

  Rhiann joined him as he opened the canteen. They finished off the last of the water while they watched the dots of handlights spread out through the canyon and up the main pathway, and even appear through the barrier of bushes at the top of the dried waterfall.

  “They aren't using that path down we found,” Bain said, pointing. “Maybe it doesn't go all the way to the canyon floor."

  “Maybe they don't know it's there,” she offered.

  “We should really check it out."

  “Why?"

  “So we can get down there and steal the Nova Corona.” Bain nearly laughed when Rhiann's mouth dropped open and she stared at him. “Think about it. Think about the damage we'd do to the camp when we launch, and they'd all be stuck here if we take the ship away."

  “They have our jet-cycle."

  “It can only take two at a time."

  “True.” Slowly, Rhiann's grin returned. “They'd go absolutely crazy, wouldn't they?"

  Then the hi
gh-pitched humming of a jet-cycle reached their ears. Bain jammed the handlight under his coat, grabbed Rhiann's hand, and scrambled across the flat, rubble-strewn ground for the passageway down. He had an awful vision of bombs hitting them just before they reached safety.

  The sound divided into two jet-cycles, just seconds before they reached the opening in the rock. Something made Bain pause and look back. A long streamer of pale blond hair gleamed in the moonlight from the second rider of the first jet-cycle. Trinia Cain.

  Bain jerked the handlight from inside his coat and turned it on, waving it wildly. Lissy brought her jet-cycle in for a neat, short landing and immediately cut off her engine. A moment later, the Piller brothers landed.

  “Nice flat landing pad you made for us, Commander,” Dan drawled as he slid off the back of the jet-cycle. “What's the plan?"

  “We should probably get down off here as fast as we can,” Bain said. “I don't know if the pirates heard you or not, and if they had enough time to track you."

  “We can fit three on each sled,” Trinia offered. “Captain Gil said we'd be well within the weight tolerances. You with us, and Rhiann with the twins.” She finished by handing over two multi-darts, holsters and all. The other four were already armed.

  “I have a better idea.” He grinned, and one by one the other four Scouts caught the grin. Lissy chuckled quietly and held out a new handlight to replace his dying one.

  * * *

  Chapter Twelve

  At the bottom of the hidden trail through the crevice to the canyon floor lay a meter-high drop-off and a screen of scraggly, dying vines clinging to the rock. Bain supposed that was as good a reason as any why the pirates either hadn't found the trail up to the top of the butte, or they didn't use it. The crevice was only wide enough for two at a time to kneel in its sloped opening. Bain and Dan took the first shift, using their belt knives to cut the vines so they could slide through.

  Through the vines, the Nova Corona was only five meters away. As he cut the vines, Bain wondered if Marlin Feris had landed the ship there before he became too jangled from the drugs to pilot any longer. It was a close landing. One good swipe against the bulging rock walls could make the ship useless for even atmospheric travel, let along going out into deep space.