Escape from the Drowned Planet

by Helena Puumala

  “That is very, very interesting,” muttered the Eldest.

  The rest of the table sat in expectant silence.

  “Thus, as an Agent of the Federation Peace Corps, when Kati and I had broken free of Gorsh’s slave ship, on which she had been a captive slave, and I was a drugged, comatose body whose brain the captors intended to pick, I realized that there was a very good chance that there would be a beacon on this planet, and that I could use it to call for transport home—assuming that I could, firstly, locate the beacon and, secondly, get to it.

  “To skip over a lot of a very interesting story, we found out that the beacon was in a temple in this town—or rather in what remained of a city that had been located here before The Disaster. So naturally, we headed towards this place, and this morning I sent Jocan to look at The Temple of the Morning Star of the Spring Equinox, and when he returned, and described to me the inside of the building, it became clear that the beacon, indeed, is in there, nearly within my grasp.

  “The reason why it isn’t actually within my reach is the same reason why your town is now mixed up in the problem. Gorsh, the slaver Captain, and his minions know about the beacons—which is not surprising, considering that they are close to a millennium old, and were built with technical know-how now out of date, although they still serve their purpose well enough, and therefore have not been replaced. They, Gorsh and company, that is, have located this one, and left a couple of armed men to guard the Temple—they don’t have the secret for determining it’s precise site, only that it is in the Temple.”

  “Joakim is not a man,” Tania interjected with a snort.

  That roused a few chuckles from the others, and a smile from Mikal.

  “Maybe not,” he conceded. “But he is well-armed, I don’t have any doubt about that. Frighteningly well-armed, as a matter-of-fact. As is his accomplice, without question. By the way, has anyone seen this other character ever, or does he only come out at night, when he can hide in the dark?”

  “He only comes out in the dark.” This was Ammi. “Nevertheless, I have seen him once, when I took some flowers to the Temple for the morning ritual, the night before. That was, what? Say, a ten-day ago, maybe. He was in the shadows, but I got a fair glimpse of him when I came to the Temple steps because I’d been outside for a while and my night-sight was pretty good. He’s a tall, heavy-set man with a hard face and a hairless head. I did not like the look of him.”

  “That description fits Lavesk,” Kati said after a quick, silent consultation with her node.

  Mikal nodded.

  “Not a nice man,” Kati added from the granda’s storehouse of knowledge. “Trigger-happy, or, for those who aren’t familiar with that term, someone who is way too ready to use his weapon at the slightest provocation.”

  “I guess we should be relieved that he hasn’t killed anyone yet, if that’s the case,” said the Eldest.

  “We assume that he hasn’t killed anyone yet,” Zenco corrected him.

  “Why do you say that?” the Eldest asked. “Do you know something that we at the Community don’t?”

  “A couple of travellers disappeared about a week ago,” said Wills, his face pale. “A man and a woman. It was all rather strange and mysterious. They wanted to look at the Temple, apparently; no reason why they shouldn’t have. They never came back to their Inn; they didn’t stay here but at Yauk’s across town. I think their runnerbeasts are still there, waiting for them to return.”

  The tale sent shivers down Kati’s back. What could have happened? Had the couple annoyed Joakim or Lavesk somehow? Or was it a case of mistaken identity and criminals too high-strung to follow their boss’s instructions?

  “The first, more likely,” subvocalized Kati’s monk. “They probably did not understand the danger of the weapons, and had the temerity to sass that idiot boy.”

  “Shit,” groaned Mikal. “That’s the sort of thing I really, really wanted to avoid—that and random shooting of citizens while they try to capture or kill me and Kati.”

  “We’re rather at a disadvantage here, since any weapons we can scrounge are quite primitive compared to theirs,” said the Mayor, shaking his head. “They’ve got us in a box.”

  “We’ve got more smarts than they do,” Jocan threw in, his eyes glittering. “I’m sure we’ll come up with a way to get around their fire-power.”

  Kati drew a breath.

  “I have a notion to out-wit them,” she said boldly.

  Yarm grinned at her even as the townspeople gazed at her curiously.

  “I’m all ears, Kati,” Jocan encouraged her.

  Mikal said nothing. He did not even smile.

  “Mikal’s going to think that I’m recklessly offering to endanger myself again,” she started, sighing. “However, it’s clear that something has to be done, and that something has to amount to drawing the two of them away from the Temple, for long enough a time period that Mikal has a chance to activate the beacon.”

  “And do it in such a manner that neither the residents of the town nor of the Religious Community are endangered.” This was the Mayor.

  “Exactly.” Kati drew another deep breath.

  “Since I was on that ship as one of the people Gorsh’s minions had captured for the slave trade, his crewmembers will recognize me. And since Mikal and I escaped together, they will connect me with him. No one else in this room, or in the town for that matter, has those two qualifications. So I’m the one that can draw them away, perhaps as far as the nearest camping spot on the road to the south—I recall seeing one about half-way between Faithville and the last town that we stopped at.”

  “How would you do that?” Mikal’s question was terse.

  “I ride to the Temple on a runnerbeast, possibly with a companion—Yarm maybe, since neither of them has seen him yet, since he did not go mushrooming. We make sure that there are a couple of extra saddled runnerbeasts nearby, seeming to belong to two townspeople who just happen to be present, for whatever made-up reason. I’m thinking that we’d doctor the saddles of these animals so that something will break after they have been ridden for a while. When Joakim and Lavesk accost me to question me about Mikal’s whereabouts I’ll let out that he’s at the camp-site and allow them to bully me into taking them there, riding the runnerbeasts. As soon as we’re out of sight, Mikal can enter the Temple, find the beacon and make his call. Meanwhile I’ll lead Joakim and Lavesk on a goose-chase which should end up with them on foot somewhere along the trail south of here. I ought to be able to get away from them, since I’ll still be mounted.”

  “And what if only one of them leaves with you?” Mikal asked.

  “That’s where it would be useful to have an accomplice or two—maybe even three. Numbers enough that both of them are needed to control us, even with their arsenal. But since you’re supposed to be at the campground, they wouldn’t need to have anyone waiting for you here; I’d just have to make it sound convincing about you having waited there, while I came into town to scout out the scene—with my accomplices, of course.”

  “What if instead of choosing to ride runnerbeasts, they decide to break the flyer out of its hiding place and follow you in that?” was Mikal’s next question.

  “That would work, too, for getting them away. It might be tougher to get away from them in that case, but I could give you at least as much time as it takes to ride to the campground, even then. I doubt that they’d try killing me before I’ve led them to you.”

  “But if the runnerbeasts are really handy, and you manage to draw them far enough from their machine before dangling the bait, they might go for the mounts,” the Mayor mused.

  “The reason why I thought of luring them onto runnerbeasts,” Kati said, looking directly at Mikal, “is that the granda node mentioned to me that both Joakim and Lavesk spoke of riding some kind of mounts on their—and Gorsh’s—home world. Those would not have been runnerbeasts, but, a mount is a mount, to an avid rider. They would figure that they can handle the riding
beasts of this World as well as the ones on their own. If taking them and chasing me by mount was faster and easier than going for the flyer, I’m pretty certain that they’d take that option.”

  “I suppose that thing in your head is encouraging you in this!” Mikal snapped.

  “Well, it is prepared to let me know when my accomplices and I ought to duck our heads,” Kati conceded. “After all, its storehouse of weapons lore is likely larger than Joakim and Lavesk’s arsenal.”

  “There is that,” Mikal agreed slowly.

  “In any case, if you have a better plan, I’m perfectly prepared to listen,” Kati finished,

  Mikal sighed.

  “You know that I don’t. The two of them have us in a spot, and I agree that what you just outlined, has a shot at success. Especially if we all hash it out and refine it; decide on the number of people to involve in it, and find the best people to play the parts. I just don’t like seeing you put yourself so casually in harm’s way, Kati; it scares me.”

  “Old granda says to tell you that it’ll do its best to keep me in one piece. It’s sort of keen on my having a chance to live out my natural life.”

  “All right, then, Mikal,” Yarm broke in. “Kati has convinced you to go along with her idea, right?”

  “I guess,” Mikal sighed. “I don’t have an alternative.”

  “Well then, let’s get on to the next stage and hash out and refine her plan. And figure out how and when we can implement it.” Yarm was all business now.

  “I think that Kati is right to say that she ought to be accompanied by companions whom Gorsh’s men haven’t seen, since they’re supposed to have just arrived in town,” piped up Jocan. “Which means that I’ll have to be Mikal’s accomplice and help to make sure that he gets to the beacon and is able to use it.”

  “Ah,” said Kati. “You’re thinking of what happened at the false beacon in River City, right?”

  “Just trying to take all possibilities into account,” Jocan replied.

  “It’s actually a good idea,” Mikal agreed. “I’ll brief you on the use of the beacon before we do this—just in case there’s a booby trap somewhere to catch me. If I give you my ident password someone should come down here to check out the situation, whether or not I personally activate the beacon.”

  “Shit.” Kati glared at Mikal. “Try to avoid being booby-trapped. At this point they may be trying to merely make sure that you don’t get off-planet, rather than trying to capture you. In which case they may be happy just to kill you, not drug you, like they did the last time.”

  Mikal grinned wickedly at her.

  “What? You worrying because I might be putting myself in harm’s way?” he asked. “Well, well.”

  Kati made a face at him, noticed the grin on Yarm’s face and burst out laughing.

  “Okay, guys,” she said once her laughter had subsided. “Truce.

  “The granda node tells me,” she continued, “that I should play on the fact that Gorsh’s men are very ready to underestimate me for two reasons: one, that I’m a woman and therefore in their books a lesser creature than they are, and, two, because I come from what they consider a backward world, I can’t possibly be particularly intelligent. So the idea is for me to seem slightly stupid and naive, and therefore not worth taking seriously as an opponent.”

  “Lull them into being incautious by appearing stupid, is that it?” Jocan muttered. “That’s an old trick.”

  “It may be an old trick but it’s a trick that often works.” This comment, surprisingly enough, came from the Eldest of the Religious Community.

  “Men fall for it all the time,” added Ammi scornfully. “When women do it, that is.”

  “Okay, we’re agreed that it’s a workable strategy,” said Yarm. “We’ll assume that it won’t occur to these fellows to question how Kati made it across half the World to get here, if she’s stupid and naive. So, she comes to the Temple, not necessarily right up to it, but near enough to see the boy on the steps and to be seen by him. A couple of townspeople happen to be nearby, having left their runnerbeasts to graze on the grass a little ways off from them, but close to where Kati and company will have their confrontation with these slavers. Now what?”

  “I can’t predict exactly what, but the scenario as the granda and I have worked it out goes something like this:” Kati inhaled, and continued, “Joakim sees and recognizes me, and I recognize him. I stop but stay on the back of my runnerbeast, and so do my companions. I whisper to them that I’ve recognized Joakim, and he is an enemy. He uses his com to talk to Lavesk, who leaves his hiding place in the mushroom grove to come and take a look—after all, I did escape the ship with Mikal, and this would be the first sighting of either of us that they’ve had. One of them, probably Lavesk, will yell at me that they’ve got me covered with their weapons and not to move. My companions will move closer to me, seemingly to protect me. That’ll get a scornful laugh out of the two; I’m sure they know how few weapons there are on this World. Lavesk yells again, telling me that he has us all covered, and for everyone to be still. We obey him and he comes closer, Joakim following him.”

  “Will the boy follow him, or will he do the sensible thing and remain on the Temple steps, guarding the door, instead?” asked Zenco the Mayor.

  “The granda thinks that he will follow Lavesk. The boy is not the brightest light around—his only claim to crew membership is that he’s Captain Gorsh’s only son. Gorsh doesn’t have much use for him—even I saw that during my stay on the ship—and keeping Mikal from leaving the World is his last chance to look good in his father’s eyes.”

  “So he’ll be overly anxious to get in on the act, is that the idea?” Yarm sounded thoughtful.

  “Yeah, and Lavesk, according to the granda, hasn’t much use for him, either,” Kati added. “The two of them are probably getting seriously on one another’s nerves by now, and may not be co-operating all that well. However, they both are armed with dangerous weapons and therefore deadly, so we’ll have to deal with them very carefully, and not presume too much on the rift between them.

  “Lavesk will ask me about Mikal, I expect, and I have to get him and Joakim to follow us along the trail towards the campground. I’ll have to have a plausible reason for Mikal having stayed behind there while I and my companions came to scout out the town and the Temple. I plan to have several different scenarios at the tip of my tongue and will choose the one that I judge will get them on those two runnerbeasts, riding behind us. If the saddles on the animals are properly doctored, they ought to fall off their mounts somewhere between the town and the campground, at which point I and my companions leave them to walk either to the campground looking for Mikal there, or back to town and to pick up their flyer. Either way, there should be plenty of time for Mikal to make his beacon call and for all involved to disappear for the time being. Like until the Federation ship arrives.

  “Since the two of them won’t see Mikal at all, they won’t know whether or not he did get to the beacon. If we’re lucky they may stay by the Temple until the Federation ship gets here to deal with them.”

  “And if we’re not lucky maybe they’ll flatten the town before then, killing every person in it,” Mikal objected in a chilly voice.

  Kati shook her head.

  “The granda thinks that won’t happen,” she protested. “Apparently Gorsh doesn’t want too much damage done on this World since the criminals have their rendezvous point here, and at times they find it convenient to pick up perishable foodstuff and other small, useful items on-planet. It’s easier to get the co-operation of the locals if you haven’t been abusing them too badly. Besides, Guzi and Dakra are still here, but Gorsh’s minions don’t know where, so that’s another reason for them to tread lightly.”

  “All right then.” Mikal drew a deep breath. “So we do it. You want Yarm with you, right? I think I want at least one another man with you, preferably two. They’ll have to have runnerbeasts, since clearly my and Jocan’s animals w
ill have to be the bait. Does anyone know any candidates for the task?”

  “I do,” declared Wills, looking around the assemblage. “Two of them, as a matter-of-fact.”

  “No doubt you’re talking about the Bayne boys,” said Zenco, his eyebrows raised.

  Wills grinned.

  “Indeed I am. This is perfect for them; they’ll love every minute of it,” he said. “Bayne Bo and Bayne Cho are as close to daredevils as there are in this part of the world. They live outside of the town and their Ma must have had leashes around their necks lately because we haven’t seen them for a while, so I don’t think we need to worry about them having faces familiar to these off-worlders you’re talking about. Well, it is crop-growing time and there’s lots to do on a farm, especially one that Bayne Ma runs—she grows just about everything that will grow around here, and the way she does things, every little bit of soil is put to use.

  “I can ride over there tomorrow morning and ask Bayne Ma if I can borrow her boys for a bit. I do that once in a while when I need a couple of adventurous fellows to help me out, and they see it as me doing a favour for them, and not the other way around.”

  “Well, Yarm, it sounds like you and I are going to have to be the cold, hard voices of reason during this caper,” Kati said. “For the good of these Bayne boys, you are going to have to lay the law down to them so they don’t draw disaster upon themselves.”

  “For all their love of madcap runnerbeast racing, and engaging in general hi-jinks,” Wills added, “they’re actually quite biddable fellows. Especially if they realize that they’re involved in a serious matter, and I am certainly going to make sure that they know how much is at stake here. Therefore, I do think that they’ll work out just fine.”