by Gun Brooke
Using some old leaves to wipe out the energy-cell fluid, Beaux made the exchange. She took what could be salvaged from the backpack and placed it in her pockets and hoisted her rifle before switching on the long-range communicator. “Lestarion to any senior crew.”
After a soft crackle, Veyar answered. “Captain! What’s your status?” He sounded out of breath.
“Moon and I are in the woods, east of the drill site. We took out the power to the drills, but the darragons are still in play.”
“The what? Those fire-breathing things?” Now Beaux could hear Veyar’s steps as he clearly was running.
“Yes. What’s your situation?”
“We’ve landed and are loading the people that are coming our way. We’ve started the scuttles and sent miners and the Ilienta people with them, as many as we could stow safely. Now the rest of the crew is here helping carry the wounded.”
“When you’re done, take off. Leave the Rapidfire for us.” Beaux moved next to Moon, but then Dancer pressed against her, and she felt him reverberate. He was growling. “If you need me to page you, send two clicks, Veyar. I’m hitting radio silence for now. Lestarion out.”
“He hears something.” Moon had stopped moving and was looking around them. “What’s up, Dancer?”
“Fst.” Dancer stood rigid, facing southwest. His lips were pulled back from his teeth, and his normally soulful eyes had changed to narrow slits.
“Danger ahead,” Moon mouthed to Beaux.
Beaux pressed her lips to Moon’s ear. “And it’s in the direction we need to go to reach the Rapidfire.”
“I have an alternative. Come on.” Moon motioned for Dancer and Beaux to follow her, and by now, Beaux knew better than to second-guess her.
Keeping to the soft ground where the soft moss grew, Moon ran, and she was so fast, Beaux became worried she might not be able to keep up. Dancer stayed just behind them, and perhaps he meant to nip at her heels if she slacked off.
Behind them, they heard an unexpected roaring sound. Moon stopped and turned her head, her eyes huge in her pale face. “That’s not any animal I’ve heard on Haven.”
Beaux halted next to her. “No, but I know that sound. Those fucking fools.” She wanted to blast all the Ilienta execs into ash particles. “Those are gas-fueled caterpillar bikes, and they’re heading our way. They’re too far away yet to have seen us. We have to hide.” Unlike the Empress’s caterpillar bikes, the ones Ilienta had brought polluted the atmosphere as well as being noisy.
“Come!” Moon took off again, this time at a ninety-degree angle. Growling louder now, Dancer took the lead. Beaux’s lungs burned, and she needed to cough so badly, her vision grew blurry again. Behind them, the noise of the caterpillar bikes grew. What the hell were Kragh and Drak up to, if it was them, which Beaux found likely.
“Here,” Moon called out and jumped in behind a fallen trunk. Beaux followed and found herself in a deep indentation under it. Moon pulled her farther in, and Dancer joined them, placing himself against them and effectively preventing them from being seen.
The engines came closer and fast. Beaux felt Moon’s arms around her, holding her close. “We’ll be fine if they just go past us,” she murmured in Beaux’s ear. “Hold still.”
Beaux didn’t plan to move, no matter how she wanted to jump up and fire at the bastards. What could they be doing that was this important? Any sane person would be getting to safety if the sky was full of fire-breathing alien creatures. They had stopped their first and only attempt at drilling. What else could there be?
The bikes passed them, only a few meters from the trunk, Beaux surmised. The ground shook, and she could feel Dancer growl more heavily. Thankfully the bikes drowned out the sound. When Beaux judged that the vehicles had passed them, she pushed away from Moon and nudged Dancer aside. Poking her head up, her rifle ready, she peered after the disappearing bikes and saw a group of them vanish among the trees. All of them seemed to have cargo holders behind them, and they weren’t empty. As soon as they were out of sight, Beaux got up and waited for Moon to emerge.
“Ten of them,” Beaux said darkly, “and they’re hauling something. I can’t even begin to guess what.” She pulled out her communicator and paged Veyar. “Lestarion here. Report.”
“We’ve gotten everyone in sight on board. If possible, we’ll return for the corpses later. Our crew has sustained some injuries, but no casualties among us. We’re taking off now. The only vessel planetside is Rapidfire.”
“Affirmative.” Beaux was relieved that her crew was intact, apart from Zac. “Moon and I are still in the forest. I’m sending you my current coordinates, but we’re going to head farther east. We saw Ilienta people on caterpillar bikes, carrying cargo, and they’re riding toward the east mountain chain.” Beaux saw Moon’s lips tense. No wonder. That was Moon’s home—her mountain.
“I hear you, Captain. What are my orders?” Veyar spoke curtly, and Beaux knew he was stressed about the danger she was in.
“Once you’re back, let the rest of the crew take care of the wounded. I want you in another shuttle with the crew you require, and settle into a low orbit until you hear from me.”
“And if I don’t hear from you?” Veyar asked.
“If you haven’t heard from me within two hours, launch a rescue. Among the crew, Tracks, Somas, and Nia know this area best.”
“Aye, sir.”
After placing the communicator back inside her jacket, Beaux pushed her fingers through her hair. “We have to follow them. Can you think of where they might be going?”
Moon began to shake her head but then stopped. “They’re interested in what’s below the bedrock. I mean, drilling, blasting, and so on. There is a deep cave system farther up the mountain.” Her eyes filled with tears. “No. That can’t be it.” She looked over at Dancer, who stared back at her with darkening eyes.
“What?” Beaux stepped closer, gripping Moon’s arm.
“The extensive cave system is farther up the mountain from the tree house.” Moon wiped at her eyes. “It’s where the Dancers of this world live and bring up their offspring. What if they’re on their way to those caves?”
Beaux pulled Moon into her arms. “We’ll go there. They’ve got the bikes, but you know the best way, and so does Dancer. Come on. We have to hurry.”
Moon nodded against Beaux’s shoulders. “Yes.” She pulled free and hurried over to Dancer. “We have to go to the caves. I know it’s your place and we don’t belong there, but you have to let us help you.”
“Tsch.” Dancer looked back and forth between them a few times, and then he took off but kept looking back over his shoulder, which Beaux took as a sign that he wanted to show them the best way. Beaux grabbed the communicator again as she ran. She had to brief Veyar.
* * *
The forest was dense in this area, but if you knew your way around, you could find hidden paths made by animals like Dancer. Moon weaved back and forth between shrubs and trees, and soon she could hear the caterpillar bikes, which she had yet to lay eyes on, to the right of them, where the forest was less dense. They had to reach the cave area first for several reasons. If the people from Ilienta got there first, she, Beaux, and Dancer would be cut off, as there was a large clearing in front of the caves and no place to take cover. But if they could reach the caves before the riders showed up, they would have an advantage.
The terrain was uphill now, and judging from the labored propulsion system of the bikes, the riders felt the strain too, as the grade was even steeper over at their end. Dancer was ahead of her but seemed to realize he had to make sure he had them with him. He had a guarded relationship to his kind, mainly because he hadn’t been brought up among them as a cub. Moon had bottle-fed him, then spoon-fed him, until he was old enough to eat on his own. He had ventured out in the woods from when he was almost a year old, and in the beginning, he had come back bloody from scratches and bites. Only when she’d thought of going with him and showing her face among th
e creatures of his species did things turn around.
Moon had made sure to approach the large flock with respect. The adults had circled her, and she had told Dancer to be calm several times when they got close and pushed at her. Only when Moon saw the others push at one another with their blunt noses did she realize it was a greeting. It was part of their language, and she, of course, hadn’t been able to teach it to Dancer. The next time an adult approached her, she readied herself and pushed her nose against his. This movement seemed to surprise the older male enough for him to sit down and stare at her. That had been the beginning of how she learned about their means of communication, alongside Dancer. He had never fully become like them but found his own way of existing in both worlds. She never doubted that he loved her most of all.
She saw the trees thinning and become smaller. Stopping, she waited for Beaux to catch up and for Dancer to join her. “We’re a few minutes ahead of them. I think they ran into trouble a bit over by the rock formations.” Moon pointed south. “We have to cross this open space and head for the center cave. That’s our best bet.” She hesitated. “Dancer’s species might not respond well to you, but if you stay close to him—and me—that might give us time to explain.”
Dancer took the lead again and ran full force across the clearing this time. When he had reached halfway, Moon saw some of his kind show up, and then suddenly more than fifty of them appeared. At least two hundred more of them lived in the caves.
“A welcome committee or a posse?” Beaux placed her hand on her sidearm where she ran next to Moon.
“Hm. Both, maybe. They know me. You are a stranger.” Moon slowed and came to a halt five meters from the pack leader, an older female that was entirely silver white. Going down on one knee, Moon tipped her head back, offering her nose. The old one, whom Moon had appropriately named Silver, sauntered over, and Moon wanted to scream at her to hurry. She could hear the bikes in the distance, but for all they knew, they were only a couple of minutes behind.
“Szt-sh,” Silver said and nudged her nose to Moon’s.
“Sh,” Moon said. “Kneel,” she murmured to Beaux, who fortunately didn’t question the command.
The old female stepped close to Beaux and sniffed the air around the newcomer. She followed her hairline and then narrowed her eyes at the sight of the harness and weapons.
Dancer walked up next to his elder and gave a longer sequence of sounds than he normally did. Silver looked at him and then the others behind her. Dancer went to sit between Moon and Beaux, making more sounds. Standing up on her hind legs, which seemed almost too difficult for the old girl, she gave a roar that ended in a long, menacing growl.
Immediately the congregation of Dancer’s kind started ushering the younger ones back into the caves. Silver grumbled and then looked pointedly at Dancer and Moon, before she hurried to join the others.
“Come on. We’ve been invited. Sort of.” Moon began running after Dancer after making sure Beaux was right behind her.
“They’re not far behind us,” Beaux gasped.
“I know. We have to get inside and make sure there are no stragglers.” Moon clawed her way along roots and rocks the last part of the way. She reached back and tugged at Beaux. “Get your weapons ready. I’ll see if Dancer can make them understand how dangerous these people are and that they have nothing that will stand up against their weapons.”
“Will do. I’ll keep Veyar on an open communication link,” Beaux said, her voice stark. “If there’s any way to let them know they need to move as far back as possible, please do so.”
“Yes.” Moon saw that Beaux took up a position at the entrance, readying her rifle and setting up the different smaller weapons she magically pulled out of her many pockets. Clearly, Beaux planned to take the lead and be the first one to meet a potential barrage from Ilienta. Fear, mixed with pain, seared her chest and flooded her stomach. Pivoting, Moon hurried over to Dancer.
“Dancer.” Moon placed her hand on his head. “Have they seen the darragons?”
New sounds were exchanged, and Moon understood that Dancer’s kind were well aware of the latest mayhem. Perhaps they had still thought they were safe up here in their caves.
“All right.” Moon pinched the bridge of her nose, thinking fast. “Bad men are coming. Beaux is going to offer a first line of defense until help arrives. When Veyar arrives, please tell them he’s a friend. That the ones arriving from the sky…this time, they’re here to help. To put things right.” Furious at the tears that rose in her eyes again, Moon tugged at his ear. “I’m not sure if you understand all that, or if they can, but please. We’re trying to help you.”
Dancer blew his cheeks out and then rose to walk along the line of elders that stood in front of the rest of the long-legged creatures. He stopped every now and then, nudged at someone’s nose, and the entire time, he gave a complex series of sounds, mostly consonants.
“We’ve got company,” Beaux called out from the cave’s opening.
Moon ran back and threw herself down next to Beaux. In front of them, a low ridge of bedrock ran along the floor, providing some cover and a good place for Beaux to rest her rifle. Ten vehicles, long and slender and with caterpillar feet running so fast underneath the bikes’ bellies they created a blur, pulled into the clearing. Ten drivers jumped off, drawing their sidearms or rifles. On two of the bikes in the middle, two additional men stepped off, having ridden behind the drivers.
“Kragh and Drak,” Beaux said between her teeth. “As I thought. They saved themselves at the cost of so many of the miners.” She looked into the scope and pressed a few sensors. “Veyar is on his way. We just have to hold them off for a little while.”
Moon clutched her sidearm and made sure she wasn’t too close to Beaux, who would need room to maneuver. “What’s the plan, other than wait for backup?”
“If they start moving up the steep part of the clearing toward the cave openings, we’ll make sure they know the consequences. I’d rather not kill anyone until I know their true agenda. Was this area part of the map you saw?”
Moon thought back to the map she’d so foolishly set fire to. “I saw markings near my tree. Several. So yes, I’d say so.”
“And this is the place they risked their lives for when fleeing the darragons.” Beaux kept looking into the rifle’s scope as she spoke. “They know my crew will take the survivors back to Cimeria even after all this—after all, we’re not pirates. So, they tear through the forest over here…could they be after something in this particular bedrock that is worth smuggling on board the Empress after their so-called rescue?”
Moon blinked. “I can’t imagine any difference between this bedrock and the one they were drilling into in the valley, other than the color.”
“Color?” Beaux jerked but kept looking at people in the clearing below.
“The color here, in the caves. You can’t see it from here, but when you shine a flashlight at it, something Dancer’s kind takes issue with, by the way, it is shiny, like blue-green glass.”
“Sounds rare enough to me, but what do I know?” Beaux grew rigid but then took two deep breaths and seemed to force herself to relax.
“Two men looking like miners are on their way up. Look behind us and make sure Dancer and the others push way back. I worry about ricochets if projectiles start flying.”
Moon turned her head and could tell that Dancer was right behind them, flat on his belly, but the others were out of sight. “The elders have taken cover. Our boy is with us.” Moon retook her aim. Thinking of the other cave openings, she could only hope that the other inhabitants knew to remain hidden as well.
“All right. Time to send a message.” Beaux squeezed the trigger.
Chapter Twenty-one
The two miners stopped and threw themselves onto the ground when the blast from Beaux’s weapon hit the ground less than a meter in front of them.
“What the fuck! Someone’s shooting!” The men rolled to the side and hid behind som
e low bushes.
Beaux kept scanning the people in the clearing through her scope. She saw most of them take cover behind the bikes, but not Drak or Kragh. They remained standing, and the latter brought an ocular to his face.
“Down.” Beaux pulled her weapon back and hid behind the rock while making sure Moon did the same. “The longer it takes them to find out which cave we’re in, and who we are, the better.”
Dancer was hissing now but mimicked their positions by pressing his body to the ground.
Beaux nodded at him. “Good. Just keep low, all right?”
“Is that you, Captain?” Drak shouted from outside. “Or perhaps that little creature you kept hidden from us on the ship?”
Beaux returned her focus to the scope, angling it so she could stay out of sight and still observe the Ilienta execs. Kragh and Drak were either entirely foolish, or arrogant—or both. They stood among their subordinates, who had the common sense to take cover, and Drak held a voice amplifier. Beaux didn’t answer, but behind her, she heard Dancer’s kind murmuring, and the now-familiar sounds she was starting to understand was an actual language echoed in the chambers.
“They’re growing really riled up back there, especially the younger ones.” Moon slid closer. “If they decide to attack, we won’t be able to stop them. They’ll be gunned down as soon as they leave the caves.”
“Then we better act before they do.” Beaux changed the setting on her rifle to just below lethal, knowing full well that if she hit someone in the wrong place, they still might die. How she was going to explain firing on her passengers to protect what the Cimerian authorities would regard as simple wildlife, she had no idea. Would anyone believe her when she explained that the Dancers of this world, along with some of the other creatures, no doubt, were sentient beings? Probably not.