Laura Jo Phillips (30 page)

“They can probably walk about thirty miles a day, tops,” he said.  “If they continue going in this direction, then we need to find them in the next couple of days or they’ll hit town.”

Darck grunted, but didn’t say anything for several minutes.  “We’ll keep on this way for awhile,” he said finally.  “Maybe we’ll get lucky and run into ‘em.”

Garid nodded in agreement, sensing that Darck was watching for his reaction in the mirror, though he didn’t dare look up to confirm it.  He had to cooperate with Darck, but he still thought he was an idiot.  He knew that would show in his eyes, so he kept them focused firmly on the desert outside his window.

***

Before breaking camp, Hope, Grace and Karma spent time filling their collection bags with dry sticks and branches from the abundance scattered beneath the trees.  Hope selected some green branches because they would burn hotter and longer, but they were so much heavier than the dry ones that she couldn’t take very many. 

The sun was just clearing the horizon by the time they started walking, following the small stream north.  They were able to stay close to the water for several miles until the stream cut to the east.  Then they had to leave it behind and continue north.  They all took the opportunity to splash in the water one last time, getting themselves wet before leaving the stream. 

Hope kept a close watch on their surroundings as they walked, stopping frequently to stare into the south, looking for any sign of movement.  She kept telling herself that the odds were against anyone coming straight at them so quickly.  There was a lot of desert, and they could have gone in any direction.  She just couldn’t seem to make herself believe it.

Finally, around mid morning, she paused to look back and saw a tiny dust trail in the distance.

“
Gamoto
,” she said softly.  “I knew it.”

“Knew what?” Karma asked testily.  She was tired of the constant stopping and starting and was considering continuing on her own.  Hope and Grace could rush to catch up with her for a change.

“Knew that our luck was going to bottom out,” Grace said over her shoulder before she turned back to Hope.  “What do we do?”

Hope took a moment to study their surroundings.  She turned around twice before spotting what looked like a low rise about a mile away.  She studied the dust trail in the distance and decided they had plenty of time to reach the rise. 

“Lets head over there,” she said, pointing to what appeared to be a small hillock west of where they stood.

“Why?” Karma asked. 

“We can lie down on the far side of that rise and they won’t be able to see us,” Hope explained patiently.

“Why don’t we just crouch down here?” she asked.  “That car is miles away.  It’s never going to see us.”

“We’re all wearing blue jeans,” Hope pointed out.  “There isn’t a lot of blue out here, so that’s going to stand out.  And you’re wearing a bright red shirt, which is going to stand out even more.  If you want to stay here, then that is your choice.” 

Hope turned and began walking quickly for the rise she had spotted.  She glanced over her shoulder frequently to check on Karma, and the finger of dust rising on the horizon.

The closer to the rise they got, the bigger it looked, until Hope was uncertain whether or not it would be wise to try to climb it.  There was a lot of loose shale scattered along the steep incline and she hesitated, looking around for something a little safer.  But the ground-car was getting closer, and they didn’t have time to find another place to hide.

“What’s the problem?” Karma asked.

“I’m worried about climbing up this,” Hope said.  “It’s going to be slippery, so go slow and be careful. 

Karma rolled her eyes and started up the incline.  She took two steps, then slid back to the bottom.  Hope knew that the other woman would not appreciate anything she might say so she remained silent and started up the incline herself.  She bent forward, using her hands to help her walk-crawl up the incline as quickly as possible.  She reached the top and looked over to the other side, relieved to see an almost flat rocky area just below the peak.  She climbed over, not liking the feeling of standing out against the horizon at the top.  She turned around and was pleased to see that Grace was just behind her, and Karma was not far behind.  She looked toward the dust trail, glad that it was still too far away for her to see what was causing it.  If they had any electronic search equipment in that ground-car, whether they could be seen or not wouldn’t matter a bit.  She was just hoping that they didn’t.  It was a slim hope, but it was all she had.

A short while later all three of them were lying on their stomachs, their heads just peeking up over the edge of the rise, watching the ground-car move inexorably closer. 

“They’re not going very fast,” Hope said.  “I think they’re searching for us.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Grace said. 

“They’re on a direct course for the town,” Hope noted.  “If we hadn’t veered off to the stream yesterday, or followed it so far this morning, we’d be right in their path.”

“Luckily, we didn’t do that, so we have nothing to worry about,” Karma said, earning raised brows from both Hope and Grace, neither of which were noticed.  “I think this is a good time to take a nap,” she added, rising up on her knees to slip her pack off.  She dropped it on the ground and then laid down on her back, closing her eyes against the sun which was edging toward noon.

Hope shook her head, then turned back to watch the ground-car, unwilling to take her eyes off of it for too long in case it suddenly changed direction.  They continued to watch for the next hour, until finally, the car disappeared to the northwest.  By then they had relaxed enough to eat lunch and drink some water, so by the time the ground-car was out of sight, they were ready to get moving again.

Hope had her pack on and was helping Grace with a strap that kept slipping when Karma started over the edge.

“Wait!” Hope called out, reaching out to grab Karma’s hand just a moment too late.  Suddenly Karma was sliding uncontrollably down the incline in a cloud of dust, sand and rocks. 

 “Damn fool,” Grace said as she and Hope watched helplessly.  “Wasn’t she listening when we discussed going down the other side?”

“Guess not,” Hope replied as she squinted into the dust. 

Karma yelled, then swore, but it was the high pitched scream of pain that sent a shiver of dread down Hope’s spine.  She started over the top of the rise, but Grace grabbed her arm.

“We’re not going to do her any good if we break our own necks,” she said. 

Hope nodded and the two of them worked their way down the back side of the rise, then hurried around to where Karma lay, covered with sand and shale.  It took Hope a moment to realize what she was looking at, and when she did, her stomach lurched.  Karma was clearly unconscious, which, all things considered, was a good thing.  The sickening sight of her leg twisted in two unnatural angles was enough to explain both Karma’s scream, and her current state of consciousness.

“Well, hell,” Grace said as she stared at Karma’s leg.  “What are we going to do now?”

Hope shook her head as she shrugged out of her pack and knelt down beside Karma’s still body.  She had no medical training whatsoever, and no idea how bad Karma’s injury really was.  She felt as though she should try to straighten the leg into something more closely resembling normal, but she was afraid that by doing so she might cause more damage.  It appeared to be broken in two places.  The only good news was that it didn’t look as though there was any bleeding.  If the bones hadn’t broken the skin, that had to be good. Didn’t it?  It seemed logical, but she honestly didn’t know.

She gazed at Karma’s white face and tried to decide what to do.  In the end, the only plan she could come up with was the first thing that had entered her mind.

Chapter
34

Ellicia went straight from the parking area to the Director’s office, barely waiting for Mark to open the door for her. 

“What’s up?” she asked the Director the moment she stepped in. 

“Come in and sit down,” the Director said, refusing to allow Ellicia to rush him.  “Good morning Jackson, Clark, Rob,” he added, standing up behind his desk and nodding politely.

Ellicia and the Bearens took seats, though Ellicia was nearly vibrating with impatience.

“Why are you in such a state?” the Director asked with a concerned frown.

“I don’t know,” she replied.  “I just feel that we need to hurry.”

“But you don’t know exactly where you’re going?”

“No,” Ellicia replied.  “This is completely different from what I usually do.  I can’t explain it, I just know we have to go to the Mojave Desert, and we have to hurry.  Once I get there, I’ll learn more.”

The Director nodded.  He had worked with psychics for many years, and he knew that what they did was not an exact science. 

“Ell, isn’t there a way for you to stay here and find this woman?” he asked. 

“No,” Ellicia said firmly.  “I have to go there, Director.”

“You aren’t a Field Agent any more,” the Director reminded her.  “You made me promise that you wouldn’t have to go into the field again.”

“You don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head.  “I have to do this.  It’s not about the Directorate, or field work, or anything else.  This is personal.”

“Personal?” the Director asked in surprise.  “How is this personal, Ell?  You don’t know this woman, do you?”

“No,” Ellicia replied.  “It’s personal because Hope Strigida is Harlan’s cousin.  I have to do this for Harlan.”

Of all the possible responses that Ellicia might have given him, this was the last thing the Director had expected to hear.  It was also impossible to argue with.  He almost wished Ellicia was lying to him, but he had known her too long and too well to doubt her. 

“Very well,” he agreed reluctantly.  “There’s a transport waiting for you down at the air field.  They’ll take you to Phoenix II.  I’ll contact the Commanding Officer at the base and fill him in on the situation.  They’ll provide you with whatever you might need.”

“Thank you, Director,” Ellicia said. 

“Yes, Director,” Jackson said.  “We appreciate this very much.”

“Just find those women,” the Director said.

“Before we leave, I would like to discuss something with you,” Jackson said.  “If you have a few minutes, that is.”

“Certainly,” the Director replied.  “Go ahead.”

“Have you ever heard of a group who call themselves the Brethren?”

The Director frowned in thought for a few moments, then shook his head.  “No, I can’t say that I have.  Why do you ask?”

Jackson took a few minutes to fill the Director in on what the Jasani had learned about the Brethren, and about
berezi
.  “We have reason to believe that the Brethren are in league with the Xanti, and that they live here, on Earth, and have for approximately three thousand years,” he finished.

“That’s interesting,” the Director said in surprise.  “A group that has been around that long, and has managed to keep themselves hidden would be extremely unusual.  And troubling.  Can you tell me anything more about them?”

“I’m sorry, Director, but I’ve told you all we know so far,” Jackson replied.  “We were hoping you would be able to shed a bit more light on them for us.”

“I find this to be very disturbing,” the Director said.  “I’ll do some digging, see if I can find anyone who has ever heard of these people.  If they’ve been on Earth for three thousand years, as you suspect, there must be something on them somewhere.”

“Thank you, Director,” Jackson said. 

“I don’t want to be pushy, but can we go now?” Ellicia asked.

“Yes, we can go now,” Jackson said, rising to his feet and offering Ellicia a hand up.

“Keep me informed, please,” the Director asked as they headed for the door.

“I will,” Ellicia said.  “And thank you, Director.”

“You’re welcome Ell,” the Director replied.  “Be safe out there.” 

The Director sat in his chair after Ellicia and the Bearens were gone, staring at the closed door for a long time.  He felt unaccountably sad.  Finally he shook his head and turned toward the vid terminal.  He didn’t like this story about the Brethren.  If they existed, he was determined to find them.

Chapter
35

“Well, hell,” Darck said, kicking at the sand.  “We ain’t gonna find those women this way.”

Darck’s tone indicated he was looking to blame someone else for his idea to try to track the women with the ground-car.  Garid didn’t know about Lenny, but he wasn’t saying a word, although he did wonder how dumb you had to be to think that stopping randomly to search for tracks in a desert that stretched over twenty-two thousand square miles would be anything but fruitless.

“Get in the car,” Darck ordered.  “We’re going into town.  We’ll get something to eat, spend the night and pick up an infra-red system in the morning.  Then we’ll find those bitches.”

Garid turned his back on Darck as though he were looking out across the desert one last time.  It was just after noon and Darck was ready to give up for the day.  He mouthed a few silent obscenities, just to release a little bit of his anger and frustration.  Then he turned back to the car and climbed in.