Into the Forest Shadows (19 page)

"What honor? Aligning with the murderous
Shadow Creatures? Enslaving the Gatherers? Clear-cutting the
forest?" The fury bubbled up in Kate, making her practically shout,
"And where is my real Grandmother?"

Captain Straos hissed at her. Two of his eyes
narrowed while the one in the middle went wide. "Do not accuse me
of no honor. You and the so-called Ancients know nothing of
it!"

"What did the Ancients do to you to make you
so angry?" Ayden demanded.

"Their ship purposefully collided with my own
while trying to force us off-course. Cargo gone, crew adrift. Their
ship healed itself and continued on its way, while I had to return
home. Dishonored, no ship, no cargo, no income. Explanations to be
made. Loss of business." Captain Straos stalked towards them,
waving a fist at them. Kate and Ayden took several steps away from
him. "I am owed! This world and all on it will provide me what my
honor is owed!"

"Then take it up with the Ancients. You don't
have to go after the humans. We live here only by their
permission," Kate said, refusing to back up any further.

"You have seen them? They have granted you an
audience? You are sure of your position? You know where the city is
located?"

Kate frowned. What a stupid question. "Every
intelligent animal in the area knows where the city is. It's not as
if it's hidden, with all the fields around it."

Captain Straos straightened up to his full
short height. "Take me to the Ancient City and I will air my
grievance with them."

"The Ancients have a city?" Kate asked before
she could stop herself.

Diasis returned from the other side of the
building, fully in his wolf shape, "You thought he would have need
of the human city, simple mind?"

Kate's mind flashed on the dreams and images
the trees had supplied on the hike to the Gatherer camp. Could part
of what she'd seen be described as a city?

"You lead him there, Diasis," Ayden said.
"The animals of the forest know more of the Ancients than we do,
including where they can be found."

She gave an evil grin, "Judging by your ship,
the Ancients shot you down when you approached the planet. I would
guess they don't wish to talk to you."

All three of Captain Straos's eyes narrowed.
"You dishonor yourself by not obeying your elder. Especially from
one so young and immature as you. I asked for the city."

Kate focused on Captain Straos with narrowed
eyes of her own. Uncle Travis called her immature. Her father had
said the same.

She shrugged, turning her eyes to the camp,
trying to appear casual but also studying it for a way of escape.
"Find it yourself."

Diasis chuckled. Captain Straos whirled on
him, his jaw quivering. "You laugh? Honor has not been satisfied.
You will return to the cottage and find the data. It will be
brought to me as payment for what I have suffered."

"You are in no position to demand anything,"
Diasis barked out. "You are a visitor to our world and will
remember your place. Could repairs to your ship have been completed
if not for us and the products of our forest? Show respect."

A second Newcomer holding what Kate had no
doubt was a weapon appeared from around the building. The Gatherer
hands on her shoulders and upper arm kept her from moving while the
argument raged. She reached up to try and pry the man's hand off
the cloth.

Captain Straos shook a hand at Diasis. "You
will not forget our arrangement. Without us you will not succeed.
If not for me you would still be making only whispered plans in the
forest."

"We would succeed with or without you,"
Diasis snarled, moving forward, his legs beneath him as if to
leap.

"Do not forget that the repairs of your ship
would be impossible without human help."

Kate gasped at the last voice, stopping her
struggle against the hands holding her.

No, it couldn't be.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

A man moved past her to join Diasis and
Captain Straos. Kate wanted to close her eyes, sure it all had to
be a bad dream.

And yet, right in front of her, stood Uncle
Travis. With that charming, nearly blinding, smile that so many
found endearing. A smile that appeared sinister to her.

Uncle Travis looked down at Diasis, "You
failed to retrieve the data?"

"The old woman refused to cooperate." Diasis
growled at him. "I followed your instructions, but the woman did
something with the thing on her desk."

"So much for the almighty strength of the
spores. And you hoped Kate might help you salvage the situation?"
He glanced at Kate, "Your mother has been worried about you."

Kate ground her teeth, glaring at him. It
shouldn't surprise her to see Uncle Travis talking so easily with a
Shadow Creature, being the snake she knew him to be, yet it
did.

"Are you here to see Kate safely home?" Ayden
asked.

She glanced at Ayden. Had he forgotten about
the bottle full of spores the trees saved them from?

"Not yet. Kate, would you like to see your
grandmother?"

Kate couldn't have heard that right.

The Gatherer holding her pushed her forward
after Uncle Travis as he walked towards a nearby building. The
armed Newcomer trailed behind.

Uncle Travis stopped at a small building,
sliding a wood plank holding the door shut. "Grandma Olivia, time
to wake up! Kate is here. She can fetch the information for
you."

The building held one windowless room with a
small bathroom in the back. Her Grandmother lay still on a bed in
the corner. Her head moved, turning towards the light let in by the
door.

Grandma slowly rolled to her side, swinging
her legs off the bed, pushing her way to her feet. Kate had never
seen her face so pale. And no sign of the red cape anywhere.
Grandma's eyes latched onto Kate, her face nearly as emotionless as
the Gatherers.

"Tell Kate where she needs to go to find your
research. She can bring it to you," Uncle Travis insisted. "You can
trust Kate with this."

"Kate. Ancients," Grandma mumbled. She
reached out to the bed post to steady herself, still looking
straight at Kate. "For a slice of coconut cake with ringroot
shavings."

The back of Kate's head buzzed. Grandma said
something else, but Kate couldn't hear it over words radiating from
the center of her head.

"Only the Ancients can fix this now. The
forest knows where to look," Grandma's voice said loud and clear.
"So will you, if the time comes. Learn to listen."

The voice faded as quickly as it had
appeared.

The mountains. She needed to get closer to
the mountains.

Grandma sighed, turning back to the bed. She
lay down with her back to the door.

Uncle Travis sighed. He pushed close the
door, blocking off Kate's view of her, "She's not been well."

"She's a prisoner after being kidnapped from
home. How is she suppose to feel?" she demanded.

Uncle Travis shook his head at her, "I know
you love your Grandmother, but not all is as it seems. Haven't you
noticed how different she is from others of her age?"

Kate snorted, "Yeah, she's doing great."

"Exactly. Your grandmother's long life and
stamina. I'm not the first to suspect she's found something in her
research of the plants of the forest. Captain Straos needs it for
the illnesses among his people and crew. We need it for our
Gatherers."

"You assume whatever she discovered can be
adapted to another species," Ayden said.

"The physiology is close enough," Captain
Straos said. "A profit will be made while serving good."

Kate glared at Uncle Travis. "You want it
yourself."

Uncle Travis turned to her, practically
rolling his eyes, giving a quick shake of his head with one corner
of his mouth turned down. "Doesn't everyone want to live long and
healthy? A great many people will benefit from it, many who will
pay a fortune."

"It's always about money with you. If Grandma
kept something from you, then she did it for a good reason." Kate
clamped her mouth shut. She could see his growing anger from the
tightness around his eye.

The low growl from Diasis reinforced her
decision. Best to be silent right now.

"I don't think you know what that money could
mean to you and your mother," Uncle Travis said quietly. "Money can
buy a citizenship. You could live on any world in the Alliance and
your mother wouldn't have to worry about money again. Why your
grandmother is keeping this from her own daughter, I don't know,
but you can change it."

The idea of a permanent home was more
appealing than she wanted to admit. Not a dinky interior apartment
with barely enough room for a few pieces of furniture and Mom
afraid every minute that the Ancient's would appear and kick them
off the planet.

But the idea came from Uncle Travis. Other
than her departed father she distrusted him more than anyone she
knew. In one very vital respect the two were just alike: everything
for themselves.

Another important fact: Grandma locked away
in an illegal human camp with an alien ship being repaired by
hypnotized humans. A Grandma who had a few days earlier been the
picture of health.

She could feel Ayden looking at her, his body
tense. He couldn't think she might agree with Uncle? Surely he knew
her better than that by now. How could she forget the clear
cutting, the death of the Watcher, the alliance with the Shadow
Creatures who intended to destroy the human city?

Her eyes flew to Uncle's face. "You're
helping them kill us. Is money worth all the murders?"

Diasis chuckled. "Such a great speech, human,
but she is as stubborn as the old woman. She's made up her mind,
and it isn't on your side."

Uncle Travis shook his head at her, "I really
didn't expect you to be smart enough to do the right thing, but I
hoped for a pleasant surprise."

"What now? Going to kill me, like what the
Shadow Creatures did to the Watcher?" The words slipped out before
Kate could stop them. She snapped her mouth shut to prevent more
coming out.

Uncle Travis looked down at Diasis, "So, one
thing went right?"

Diasis snorted, "Be watchful human. Many
things have gone right. And do we not have both the old woman and
the child? The answer to your search is right in front of you. A
way past the stubbornness afflicting the females of this family.
The spores."

Uncle Travis smiled, "Ah yes. That may work
with her faster than her grandmother. Then you can use her against
Ms. Blackstone."

She hated it when Uncle Travis smiled. It
made her skin crawl. To have him and Diasis grinning at her made it
all the worse.

"Captain Straos peered up at her. "It is not
only for the humans it is asked. My crew and I need it to return to
our home world in honor and dignity."

Kate nearly bit her own tongue to keep the
acid words from tumbling out. She averted her eyes. She would help
none of these people, just like Grandma refused. Silently she
apologized to her mother, knowing that without Kate's interference
nothing would stand in defiance of Uncle Travis and his
ambitions.

Captain Straos sighed. "Silence seals her
tongue. It is time."

Uncle Travis folded his arms with a satisfied
smile, "It'll be nice not to have you constantly underfoot, Kate.
Your mother will gladly come to me when her sorrow over you
overwhelms her. Once we marry I have many plans for her company
assets and those she will inherit from her mother."

The Gatherer hands dug deep into her shoulder
as she tried to go at him. Her eyes burned. "You're despicable! A
murderer of trees! I saw the trees they cut down. Do you really
think it will be tolerated? And the canisters. They were from our
company!"

Uncle Travis didn't even flinch. Oh, how she
wanted to wipe that smile off his face, "My company. The company no
longer is a concern of your family. They're only trees. Very
valuable trees, worth a lot of money."

They are only trees. The same words she'd
spoken not so long ago. Hearing them come from Uncle Travis sounded
horrible. How could she have said something so coldhearted and
callous?

"I'll be back after you're under the control
of the spores. Then we'll have a nice long chat with your Grandma.
I have a feeling she will be more cooperative with you around."
Uncle Travis closed his coat, brushing the surface to remove a
stray spot of dust. "Excuse me, I have a shuttle to unload. Your
mother and I have a date tonight."

Kate kicked down at the foot and lower leg of
the Gatherer holding her. The Gatherer remained solidly in place.
Uncle Travis laughed, purposely turning his back to her and walking
away. She stuck her tongue out at the departing figure.

She turned her head back, right into the
middle of a white cloud. The following coughing fit pulled it
deeper into her lungs. She heard Ayden wracked with similar
coughing next to her.

Her vision narrowed. Her head felt funny,
almost numb on the inside. Her limbs went limp. Although trying to
keep upright she felt herself go slack The arms holding her let go
but the hard landing on her knees didn't hurt a bit.

How curious.

Thoughts slowed. She didn't have any wish to
speak anymore. Only listen. And perhaps sleep a bit. Yes. Sleep
would be very nice.

"Good, they're succumbing quickly. We will
get work out of them before the human returns," Captain Straos said
from somewhere to Kate's left.

"We will enjoy making them work," Diasis
said. He flicked a lethal curved claw at one of the Gatherers.
"You, take off the female's red cape. She has no right to wear the
color."

They wanted to take off her cape?

The world snapped back into focus. Kate
launched herself to her feet. They would not take Grandma's cape
from her. It was the only thing keeping the forest on their
side!