“Mir’ah no hear words of Marat akUt’ar. Must make go, or stars blood is more.”
“I think that’s marching orders,” Angel whispered.
“Mir’ah no hear words of Walker akEarth,” the captain said. “Sandi is we’ir sharrah at the new sun.”
“Is her end now?” she said, tilting her head to the side.
“Yes,” he said.
“I’m next,” Rene whispered.
Ethan shot him a look, but realized from the lack of glow that the engineer had deactivated his suit. He was standing upright on pure muscle. He might have missed it in the glare from the lightening sky, but Nuko stood with him and her suit was visible as fully powered.
Mir’ah looked at Rene and swayed back and forth. “He we’ir sharrah, yes?”
The captain shook his head. “He goes with us.”
“He is slow, marat gone. No good.”
“Only she stays,” Ethan said, swinging his hand toward Sandi.
She looked over his shoulder at the sky and blinked, her eye color changing from dark to pale blue. When she looked back at him, she blinked again, and they returned to their original shade. She jerked her head up and down. “Words of Kep’tan Woh’kah akEr’tah good. We’ir sharrah at new sun.”
She spun and walked away.
“Why don’t you want to leave me here with her?” Rene asked, collapsing back to the ground in a barely controlled fall.
“Help is coming, and we have to do everything we can to slow things down,” the captain said, settling down beside him and killing his suit’s power. “If we can make this we’ir sharrah take as long as possible, and then drag you along until we have no choice, we’re buying time for the rescue party to catch up.”
He nodded. “I can’t say as I like being an anchor, especially since the more you have to carry me, the sooner you go down, too.”
“It should only be a few hours,” he said.
“You are risking Sandi’s life on a maybe,” Tash said.
“Seems to me you wagered all of our lives on a secret you’ve been keeping,” he said, without turning to face her. “I don’t trust you, but at this point I have no choice since I can’t risk losing access to what you know. Otherwise I’d be feeding your naked ass to the jungle, too.”
“All I know is what I’ve already told you,” she said.
“It might be best to just fold your chips while you’re behind,” Angel said, leaning in close and making sure that Tash understood it was not a suggestion.
They sat in silence for almost an hour watching the Ut’arans going through their morning rituals. After the sun was high enough that the tops of the trees far above them were brightly lit, Mir’ah announced that it was time for the we’ir sharrah. Three others joined her, and they waited until the humans had moved to the far edge of their enclosed area before they moved the rope to put Sandi on the outside. Rolling her over, they picked her up and carried her to the trees.
Unlike Toby, Sandi was wearing part of a hardened PSE exoshell. And although Mir’ah’s knife made short work of the polymorphic liner, the mechanical augments were tougher than her blade. The oily ferrofluid that gushed out of the liner when she cut it, turned everything into a slimy black mess, and made the whole process even more challenging.
The captain wasn’t sure if he should let them struggle with it, but the longer they tugged and pulled at the shell, the more Sandi cried out in pain. When it looked like they were on the verge of ripping her arms from her body, he had to do something.
“Tuula Mir’ah! Stop. No good,” he bellowed, hoping to give his voice the right tone to cut through the chaos, but not sound like he was aiming for trouble.
She spun and glared at him. Apparently, interrupting the we’ir sharrah was a bad thing. Several of her people rushed toward the humans obviously intent on tearing them apart.
“Et’ah re’eshat!” she roared, bringing everyone to a standstill. She walked over to the rope ring and stared into his eyes. “We’ir sharrah can no be stopped. Sharrah Ut’ar must e’eet.”
“I hear Mir’ah’s words,” Ethan said, nodding and looking down at her feet where she stood. “I can help with Marat… skin?” He rapped his knuckles on the hard shell over his forearm.
“Marat akEr’tah Kep’tan Woh’kah. We’ir sharrah Ut’ar?” she asked. Skepticism translated in her tone in spite of the language difference.
He raised his eyes but kept his head down. “Yes. I help do the we’ir sharrah for her.”
She waved the other humans back and waited until they moved away before she bent to pick up the rope and place it behind him. Three of her tribe unslung their arrow throwers but held off until she gave them instruction.
Reaching into her pouch, she pulled out a knife. Looking at the blade for several seconds, she held it out to him flat in her palm. Although the ones watching could have ventilated him in undesirable ways, that she offered him a hand weapon showed a shocking amount of trust.
He held out his left hand palm forward and fingers down, in the same gesture he’d seen the ones do who were asking forgiveness.
She stared at him with her head tilted far to the side. “Mo’oh ke’esha. Kep’tan Woh’kah words good.” Shifting the knife into her right hand, she reached out and turned his hand, so the fingers were upward and bumped her left palm into his.
Tash gasped. “She made herself his equal.”
Mir’ah snapped her head up and down once and then flipped the knife over and put the handle in his right hand.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kaycee sat alone on the ConDeck staring out the window and feeling helpless. It wasn’t a feeling she experienced often. Since she was the only one aboard, there wasn’t much to do other than wait until Ammo and Quinn had news. She glanced at the chrono every few minutes but all she could do was imagine what was going on down there.
She knew that Marti’s humanform body was working to reconnect the power in the basecamp so it could get access to the language database, but other than sporadic reports that it relayed from the two of them, there wasn’t anything to do but sit.
“Dr. Forrester is requesting permission to come aboard,” Marti said, startling her. “He is at the outer airlock.”
“Is he alone?” she asked, leaning forward to open a screen.
“Yes. He claims he needs to do a medical follow-up exam on you,” the AA said.
“Do you think he’s saying that for effect, or that he doesn’t remember the truth?” She watched as the image opened and she shook her head.
“He appears to be exhibiting signs of physiological stress, so I would say it is likely that someone is monitoring him.”
“Then I can’t go down there and talk to him,” she said.
“I can meet him at the inner lock with my Gendyne 6000 automech,” Marti said. “I believe it would be sufficient visual deterrent in the event that he is seeking to gain access for others.”
“Do you think it’s safe to let him come aboard?”
“If he is alone, I do not think there would be much potential for problem,” it said. “You could meet him in the MedBay, and he may not realize you are the only one aboard. I can escort him there and make sure he does not explore beyond areas he has already seen.”
“Do it.” She pushed herself up from the captain’s seat and headed down to the mid-deck.
Several minutes later, she sat on the edge of the diagnostic bed when Marti stopped outside the door and Forrester came in alone. He looked nervously around the room before he settled onto the stool beside the bed.
“I’m here to check on how you’re doing,” he said. “I have to say I’m surprised to have been met at the door by a robot. Where’s your handler?”
“He and Ammo are on the ConDeck, I think,” she said.
He nodded, looking around again. His eyes fell on the collar where Quinn had left it, and he studied it for a moment before he said, “So how are you feeling?”
“I’m doing fine.”
>
“That’s good. Your injury was pretty severe, and I’m surprised to see you up and around,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck where she had cut him to sever the failsafe. It appeared he wanted her to be aware that someone was listening.
She nodded.
“I’m also here to deliver a message from Parker,” he said.
“Really? He doesn’t seem the type to worry about my wellbeing,” she said.
“He’s not.” Forrester shook his head and looked down at the floor. “Parker wants me to tell you he’s willing to get your people out of there, but he needs something from you first.”
“I thought they planned to rescue them, anyway?”
“I don’t think that’s the plan at this point. Your crew is in grave danger, and they won’t last another full day,” he said, holding up his hand to stop her from reacting. “He told me to tell you that if you want them back alive, you’ll have to do him a favor.”
“He’s holding them?” she hissed.
“I don’t believe so,” Forrester said. His expression told her that he wished he wasn’t the one facing her. “But all he has to do is delay the rescue mission. If they don’t get down there in time, the gravity or the jungle will kill them.”
She nodded, biting back on her desire to kill the messenger. She could tell it wasn’t something he personally wanted to have happen. “What does he want us to do?”
The doctor swallowed hard and then took a deep breath. “He wants you to haul a load of slaves.”
“What?” She bounced off the edge of the bed with the sudden intent to go ahead with his execution. That idea was dangerously close to reality, but she stopped herself short of making it happen. Barely.
“You already suspected that’s what he’s doing,” he said, pushing the stool back far enough to remain out of reach. “He’s got a regular buyer for heavy world slaves, and he conscripts private haulers to carry them.”
“You’re serious?” She turned away from him and started pacing in small orbits around the MedBay. “If we even load them up, he’s got us wedged over the bulkhead.”
“That’s true. But he’s done this before to leverage indies into hauling slaves,” he said.
“He’s kidnapped other ships’ crews?”
“No. Not that I know of,” he said. Strangely, he looked shocked at the suggestion. “I think the situation in this case is just opportunistic of him, but he’s used other ways to coerce freighter captains in the past.”
She stopped and stared at him, shaking her head. “Slaving is one of the few capital crimes left in the Coalition. We’d be lucky to get a trial if they catch us.”
He nodded. “Exactly. He knows he can bury you once you take them aboard.”
“Well he’d be right on that point,” she said. “What if I say no?”
“Then he’ll let your crew die on the surface. You don’t have any choice if you want them back.” He looked down at the floor and shrugged.
If Ammo and Quinn can’t rescue them, then he’s right, she realized, slamming her fist down on the counter.
“What makes him think we wouldn’t just turn on him?”
“It’s that whole capital crime thing,” Forrester said. “Unless being a hero is more important to you than being alive, you don’t dare. He’s got connections that will get you hung for it… without a lot of extra unnecessary talking time. You’d never get a chance to state your case.”
“If he’s the master badass, why’d he send you to negotiate this?”
“Would you have let him on the ship to talk to you?”
“No.”
“Which made me the logical choice, since he’s smart enough not to do this on an open comm,” he said. “Honestly, he doesn’t think there’s much to negotiate. He knows you’ll comply.”
“Frakking bastard,” she said, sighing. “He’s probably right.”
He looked over at the cervical collar. Grabbing it, he hit the button and swung it over his neck. He gasped and shook for a second before he nodded. Clearing his throat, he said, “He also thinks I have to comply with his instructions.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”
“Because the implant blocked my memories,” he said. “You have to believe me when I say I didn’t know the extent of what’s going on here. Since you helped me, I’ve been able to dig up things that the implant was keeping buried. Without the pain to keep me locked out of my own brain, I remember a lot more about what’s happening.”
She wasn’t sure she should believe anything he said, but she had little choice.
“Parker’s got eyes on the surface watching over your crew. As long as you agree, I have no doubt he can get them home safe,” he said.
He picked a medical scanner up off her counter and opened it like he was going to use it on her. Instead, he snapped the lid closed and slipped it into his pocket. Reaching into his medical pouch, he pulled out a different one and set it down where the other one had been. “That should help once you get loaded.”
“What is it?”
He shook his head. Don’t ask. “Just don’t turn it on until you are away from the station. If it logs in to the local network, he’ll know.”
He pulled the collar off and blew out a slow sigh. “I’m glad you seem to be doing so much better Dr. Caldwell. I’m sure you understand what you need to do next.”
He spun and disappeared back through the door with Marti dropping in behind him.
Kaycee picked the scanner up and turned it over several times in her hand. She hoped, whatever was on it would be enough to unbend things when it came to that point.
Otherwise she knew she was about to make a very wrong decision, for all the right reasons.
Chapter Twenty-Six
After the first hour, Ammo wasn’t as much conscious of her nakedness as she was aware of how intensely connected to the environment she felt. It was uncanny how her senses felt heightened. The world around her seemed to vibrate with waves of sensation as the fine hair over her entire body danced with each breath of wind. The smallest chattering or squeak of an animal scurrying high in the trees above her pierced her awareness, and even her sense of smell seemed to reach out to swallow everything around her.
It was the metallic coppery scent of blood that stopped her in mid-step. Squatting down, she held up her hand. “Something ahead,” she whispered, glancing back at Quinn who followed a few paces behind.
Sliding up beside her, he dropped onto a knee. He drew in a deep breath and held it for a second. “Smells like blood?”
She nodded, reaching into her pouch and pulling out her hand scanner. She opened the faceplate, tapping the screen to activate it, and the jungle around them exploded into chaos. Startled by the sudden cacophony she dropped the unit back into her pouch.
“What the frak?” Quinn whispered as the sounds of angry animals gradually died back to a more normal level. “Looks like they don’t like technology much.”
“If tech freaks out the wildlife, how have the science teams been able to get anything done?” she challenged. “A PSE would make the jungle go insane wouldn’t it?
“Maybe it’s just the scanner that’s doing it,” he suggested. “Like a dog whistle.”
“What’s a dog whistle?”
“It’s a little metal pipe you blow through to call your dog. It puts out a high frequency whistle that’s above human hearing, but dogs can hear it just fine. Maybe the scanner whistles, figuratively speaking.”
“I do not remember an instance of seeing one of the science personnel using hand scanners,” Marti said over their earpieces. “If that is true, it might make tracking the prisoners by their PSEs’ electromagnetic signature difficult.”
“So far, tracking them isn’t a problem,” she said. “They’ve left an obvious trail.”
“We’ve got to keep moving if we’re going to catch them,” Quinn said, standing up and stretching to look over a small wall of underbrush. “Uhm… that’s a mess. There’
s a small clearing and something ugly off to one side. You might want to stay here while I check it out.”
She shot him a glare.
“Or maybe not.”
They edged forward and into the open area. It looked like a place where the Ut’arans had stopped. Off to one side of the clearing what looked like an explosion of blood covered a patch of grass and up the side of a tree. Ammo’s throat tightened as she realized there were pieces of flesh mixed in the blood.
“That’s a body I think,” she managed.
The handler nodded, walking up and stopping before he got too close. “Yah, it’s human too,” he said, pointing over to where there were a few larger pieces of the body.
“Can you determine if it is one of our crewmates?” Marti asked.
“Give us a second,” Ammo said. She stepped up behind Quinn and tried to force herself to look at what was left of the body.
“I don’t think so,” he said, pointing toward a pile of what looked like blue and white rags. Something had scattered them. “That might be a coverall and a thinskin.”
She nodded. “It looks like one of the coveralls the scientists wear on the station.”
“You check it out and I’ll see if I can figure out what happened to the body,” he said. “It looks like something ate it.”
“And we’re running around out here naked,” she said, looking toward the trees and trying not to shiver in spite of the warm air.
“It is important to remember that all the large predators are nocturnal,” Marti said.
“Hopefully, we won’t be here overnight.” Quinn reached out and squeezed her shoulder.
“If that becomes necessary, I can bring the shuttle in to give you shelter,” it said.
“That’s not a lot of comfort looking at this mess,” she said, turning away to check out the clothes.
“It may be difficult to tell superficially if it is human or Ut’aran,” Marti said. “The primary difference that the doctor noted was in the spinal column.”
“I remember,” he said. “I’m sure it’s human. There is an intact hand and it’s wearing a finger band.”
Wings of Earth- Season One Page 55