Alien Chronicles 3 - The Crystal Eye (10 page)

With a grinding groan of tortured metal, it opened partway and stopped. The sweet smell of mountain air, tainted with smoke, reached her nostrils.

She turned around and saw someone she recognized. “Kuma!” she called to the striped male Aaroun. “You climb out first, then help the others as I boost them.”

His restraints were off, and he was rubbing his wrists. “No good,” he said. “They’re right on top of us. We got no chance.”

“Shut up!” she said angrily, giving someone a shove. “Just do as I say and
try.
All of you, listen to me. Get out and run in different directions. Scatter; don’t stay bunched together. Hide in the undergrowth and keep moving. They can’t get all of you. Now, move!”

Moska, streaked with grease, came bounding through the confusion. He pushed past Ampris and jumped for the semi-open hatch, catching the edge with his fingers and swinging there. She boosted him from beneath.

“Now, wait there and help pull up the others,” she said.

Moska eeled himself on top of the hatch, peered down at her briefly, and vanished without a word.

“Moska!” She snapped shut her jaws angrily and didn’t waste her breath trying to call him back. “One out. Come on. the rest of you! Move!”

Kuma shoved a Kelth female ahead of him and lifted her up. She squirmed and struggled, but finally made it out.

Her scream paralyzed them all. “The patrollers are here!”

The glare of a spotlight outlined the edges of the hatch. Ampris gripped Kuma’s arm, jolting him on purpose.

“Keep them moving.”

“They’ll kill us, pick us off one by one as we come out,” he said.

She glared at him. “You fool! You’re more valuable to them alive. Now get out of here and run for it.”

Others moved past Kuma, struggling and boosting each other. But the big Aaroun continued to stare at Ampris, fear plain to see in his eyes.

“If we get free, how will we live?” he asked. “Without a master, who will feed us? What will we do?”

“I’ll teach you,” she said in exasperation. She was still looking around for Elrabin and Paket, and at last she saw them, crumpled together against a storage bin.

Forgetting Kuma, she rushed to them and knelt beside Elrabin. A gash on his head bled freely, but he was breathing. She patted his face gently, trying not to weep with relief.

“Elrabin,” she said, “wake up. You must wake up.”

He moaned but didn’t open his eyes. She checked him swiftly for other injuries, finding no broken bones.

Paket, however, was dead. Sprawled there, his body was already growing cold and stiff. She saw the wound that Elrabin had concealed from her and knew that Paket must have died almost instantly, perhaps before she even got the shuttle off the ground.

Grief filled her. She sobbed once, and choked it back. Paket had been so sensible, so good. He had worked hard, helped everyone, supported her loyally. He had come here tonight to help rescue her, and he had lost his life in the process.

She bowed her head, keening in her throat. Not like this. He was old. His life had been hard. He should have been allowed to die peacefully in his old age, surrounded by his friends.

A loudspeaker blared outside, ordering the slaves to surrender. Ampris looked up, coming to herself. With a sniff, she tried to put aside her emotions.

Elrabin was coming around, blinking groggily and holding a hand to his bleeding head. “Somethin’ blue ri’ for us,” he mumbled, not making any sense.

She focused on him, realizing he needed her help. There was nothing she could do now for Paket.

Swiftly she pulled Elrabin up on his feet and put her shoulder under his arm. His head lolled and he mumbled something else she could not make out. Then he went limp, nearly dragging her down.

She hoisted him up again, patting his face. “Elrabin, come on!” she said urgently.

Only two other slaves were not yet out. Kuma boosted a Myal up, then turned to Ampris.

He held out his hand. “You go up. I’ll lift him to you.”

She nodded, grateful for his help, and after she sat Elrabin on the floor, where he immediately slumped over, she stepped into Kuma’s hand and let him boost her.

She caught the edges of the hatch and pulled herself out on top into the warm night air. The spotlight no longer shone on the hatch. Instead, she could see it sweeping back and forth as the shuttle flew in pursuit of the scattering slaves. The patrollers were working to round them up, but while a few slaves had stopped and surrendered, most of them were trying to run in all directions as Ampris had suggested.

She grinned, knowing some would make it. Once the patrollers gave up and left, she would try to find the escaped slaves and help them. They would need to be trained in survival skills. Freedom was not easy. From experience she knew some of them would die in the wilderness. Some would give up and turn themselves back in. Others would make it, as she and her little group had.

“Ampris!”

It was Kuma.

She looked down and saw him struggling to lift Elrabin’s unconscious body. Bracing herself, she reached down and grabbed the Kelth under his arms. She lifted, feeling the strain in her back and shoulders, while Kuma kept boosting from below. Finally she managed to pull Elrabin out and roll him over onto the side of the shuttle. Then she reached down to Kuma.

“Give me your hand.” she said.

He jumped, clasping her hand, and she pulled with all her might.

Kuma came scrambling out and perched there beside her, puffing hard. “Not much time,” he said.

Ampris heard the muffled roar of the shuttle engines as the craft started back in their direction. She snarled at it and reached for Elrabin.

Kuma pushed her gently back. “Get on the ground and I’ll lower him to you.”

“Thanks.”

She slid down the metal and dropped lightly to the ground. Kuma lowered Elrabin’s body to her, and she hugged the unconscious Kelth in her arms, supporting his weight while Kuma slid down.

“This way,” she said.

But the shuttle was close, sweeping the spotlight back and forth. Kuma draped Elrabin across her shoulder.

“You go, while you can,” he said.

“That way,” she said, pointing toward a stand of trees. “There’s a canyon not far from here. I was heading there when we crashed. We can—”

“No,” Kuma said. “I will distract them, while you take your friend to safety.”

“We stick together.”

“Do not argue,” he told her. “You do not give the orders here.”

“But, Kuma—”

“Our paths do not lie together,” he said. “I have been a slave all my life. I do not hate it. I would be lost out here, without work, without order.”

“But, Kuma—”

“Ampris, go,” he said.

He started away from her, and she tried to block his path. “We can make it,” she said urgently. “You must try.”

“Why?” he said harshly, glaring at her as the shuttle came closer. “You believe in freedom? Then give me freedom to make my own choice. Go!”

He shoved her, and Ampris bit back her protests. Swiftly she turned and hurried away as fast as she could carry Elrabin’s weight. Hobbling and snarling over the pain in her bad leg, she was attempting to make cover when the spotlight caught her in its bright glare.

She kept moving, refusing to freeze in place, and expected a shot to take her down at any moment.

Kuma shouted and went running out into the full glare of the spotlight. Waving his arms, he stopped and gestured at the shuttle, then placed his hands atop his head in surrender.

The spotlight swung his way, and orders blared from the loudspeaker.

Ampris reached the trees and melted into the undergrowth, taking cover swiftly. She looked back only once, in time to see a net of restraint rope settling down over Kuma, imprisoning him while he stood there passively.

Grief mingled with anger filled her. Her vision blurred, and she blinked the tears away. Setting her face in the opposite direction, she hurried away with her burden. She would never understand someone like Kuma, someone who wanted to be cared for at the awful price of being a slave. Never, never would she understand it.

CHAPTER
•FOUR

At daybreak, Ampris came staggering into camp with Elrabin hanging over her shoulder. Exhausted and aching, she halted and drew in several ragged breaths before letting Elrabin slide gently to the ground. He was still unconscious. The gash in his head had finally stopped bleeding, but he looked terrible, with blood dried across his face and splattered on his coat. He had not regained consciousness in the last few hours, and Ampris was extremely worried about him.

She crouched beside him, and gripped his slack hand. “Stay with me, old friend.”

He lay there, unmoving, his mouth open. Flies buzzed about him, and she shooed them away before standing up with a muffled groan. Holding up her arms, she stretched her tired muscles.

Before she’d come into camp she’d known it was deserted. The place was too quiet. All the scents were old and fading. But now she wandered around, studying the evidence of hasty departure. Dirt had been thrown on the cooking fires, the stones scattered. Their shelters still stood, but had been cleared of possessions.

Ampris limped over to Elrabin’s shelter and checked it, but Velia had left nothing behind, not a scrap of cloth or a blanket or a crudely made cup of bark. Sighing, Ampris entered her tent, noticing that a mended place had come unstitched again. The wind was pulling at the tear, widening it.

Looking around, she saw that her sons had been less than thorough. Belongings lay scattered. They had left behind spare clothing and the cooking pot. Her vid player had been taken, along with her bedroll. But her little wooden box of treasures remained, tossed carelessly on the ground.

Picking it up, Ampris opened it and saw the clear stone of her necklace inside. Breathing out in relief, she slipped the Eye of Clarity around her throat, and clutched the stone in her hand. At once she felt calmer, more in control of herself. She rubbed her head in weariness, resisting the need to lie down and sleep.

Instead, she picked up the tattered blanket her sons had abandoned and carried it outside to spread over Elrabin. She had left him lying beneath the shade of a cetex tree, and she saw no reason to move him now.

She carried her cooking pot to the nearby stream, which gurgled and splashed over the boulders, filled the pot with cold water, and took it back to Elrabin. She tried to trickle some of the liquid into his mouth.

He swallowed some of it, then let the rest spill. Ampris settled herself beside him and began washing the dried blood off his face. She was almost finished when a shift in the wind brought her a smell that made the hair on her neck bristle.

Sniffing, she stood up and turned in that direction. With only a single glance back at Elrabin, she limped swiftly out of the camp into the trees and climbed to a mossy knoll a short distance away.

Stopping there, she glanced around, casting for the scent. It was strong here, but confused. She noticed the ground had been scuffed up, as though a struggle had gone on. A wadded cloth lay beneath a bush.

Ampris studied it, then straightened. “Tantha?” she called softly.

A growl came from behind some bushes on her right. Ampris approached cautiously. The birth smell was fresh. She knew Tantha would be sore and exhausted, but still very dangerous.

“Tantha?” she called again, keeping her voice quiet and gentle.

The growling grew louder, warning her away. Ampris parted the bush and peered into a small hollow, where a bedraggled Tantha lay curled around her newborn cubs. Ampris counted four, plus another—clearly dead—lying off to one side beneath some leaves.

Ampris went to it first and carefully scooped up the poor creature. Tantha had made an effort to clean it, but the little one was not properly formed. Probably it had been born dead. Cupping her hands around its tiny body, Ampris bowed her head and whispered the Aaroun prayer of grieving, then she carried it away and buried it.

When she returned, Tantha was sitting up, looking wild-eyed and afraid. She blinked when she saw Ampris.

“You!” she said in her gruff way. “I thought I dreamed you here.”

Ampris reached out and rubbed Tantha between her ears. “No,” she said with compassion. “I have buried your dead cub.”

“Ah.” Tantha’s eyes filled with tears, and her lips drew back in a snarl. She began to rock from side to side, grieving in silence.

Careful not to touch the living cubs, Ampris embraced her. “Do not grieve,” she said. “Do not grieve. The little one is safe. You have others to care for now. Think of the living, who need you,
chenith-fahn.”

Tantha lifted her face and sniffed. Tear tracks streaked the fur of her muzzle. “What does that mean?”

Ampris smiled at her. “New mother.”

Tantha began to weep again. “I miss Morlol. He would have held me now. He would have named our cubs.”

“Hush, hush,” Ampris said, holding her closer. “This is a day to be glad, not to weep. They look strong and healthy. How many of each?”

“Three females and one male,” Tantha said, still weeping. She rubbed her face and lifted her drenched gaze to Ampris’s. “How will I feed them? How will I—”

“We will all help you raise them,” Ampris assured her. “There will be enough. We are all one family.”

Tantha growled and flattened her ears. “Who?” she demanded. “They are gone, all of them! They ran like fehtans, the moment there was trouble.”

Ampris stiffened. “Trouble, here?”

“No, but the patrollers were sweeping the lower hills all night. We heard them. We saw the lights. Velia wanted to run at once.”

“That’s the rule,” Ampris said.

“I would have fought,” Tantha declared, baring her teeth.

“But you were too near your time. It is sometimes best to be cautious.”

“They left me!” Tantha said, spitting the words. “We were fleeing together, and then my birthing pains came. No one would stay with me. If the patrollers had come up this far, they would have found me and killed me.”

“Hush! It didn’t happen,” Ampris said quickly, trying to calm her.

One of the cubs began to mew.