Poisoned Pawn (33 page)

“Chief Querran,” Paltronis said. “We should wait.”

“We are going to have to,” Tayvis answered. “I can’t find the trail.”

He found no trace of the footsteps that had stirred up the ground on the downslope. Paltronis flipped her com on, trying to raise the troops just the other side of the ridge. The interference was too great. They waited in silence, until the sound of Querran’s men moving down the marked trail reached them.

Querran herself was at the front. She stopped, breathing a bit hard, when she saw Tayvis and Paltronis. Her men drew up behind her. She eyed Tayvis.

“Lowell said you’d started searching,” she said. “We’ve got maybe an hour before the storm breaks.”

“Then we’d better move,” he said.

Her eyes flicked over his rank insignia. She said nothing, her eyes narrowed as she watched him take charge.

“Are any of your men trained in tracking?” he asked.

She glanced behind, at her men.

One man stepped forward. “I’ve got a biomass sensor.”

“Better than nothing,” Tayvis answered. “Scan the area while I look for any trace.” He moved up the far slope, working his way back and forth.

Paltronis moved after him. The man with the scanner followed, eyes glued to his screen. Thunder rumbled overhead. Querran sent her men after them, fanning out in a search pattern, looking for any trace. Tayvis reached the top of the ridge and paused, looking down the far side.

The trees were, if anything, even thicker. They crowded close, thick trunks and interwoven branches keeping any plants from growing underneath. He saw little in the gloom under them. The scan tech came up beside him, instrument glowing.

“Traces that way,” he said, pointing to one side down the slope. “Disturbed ground that might be a track.”

“Probably a bushy,” Tayvis said. “Sweep the whole hill, if you can see through the trees.”

They found at least a dozen tracks, crisscrossing the hill in a dozen different directions. Paltronis stood behind Tayvis, waiting for him to decide which way to go. Querran and her men came up to the crest.

“Fan out and search the hillside for any trace,” Tayvis said. “The three most likely paths are there, there, and there.” He pointed in three very different directions. “Watch out for bushies. There’s a female breeding group that live in this valley. I tracked them a week ago.”

The men dispersed, traveling in pairs, one looking at the ground, the other keeping a sharp eye on the trees and surrounding area. Paltronis brought up the rear with the scan tech. Tayvis watched them as they disappeared in the trees. Querran stood behind him.

“What did Hom Daviessbrowun really want?” Tayvis asked her. “I assume you met him.”

“Give me one reason I should answer you, Ensign,” she said, stressing his rank. “Whatever history you may have with Commander Lowell, it makes no difference to me. You shouldn’t even be here. You should be back at the camp with the other Survey people.”

“And I should let the bushies eat you,” Tayvis answered. “Don’t pull rank on me, Chief Querran. It won’t work. Your men aren’t trained for this.”

“My men are very well trained.”

“In wilderness searches where their equipment won’t work? I doubt it.”

“Do you want me to put you on report? Lowell may tolerate such sloppiness and insubordination but I won’t. Don’t forget your place, Ensign.” She stepped past him, heading down the hill. All of the men were now out of sight.

“Before Lowell and I had a difference of opinion, I was a Sector Commander, Chief. Don’t push me.”

She turned to look at Tayvis in surprise. “Must have been quite a difference of opinion.”

“Watch your step around Lowell. Have you ever asked him what rank he really holds?”

She shook her head.

“He won’t tell you.”

They were interrupted by a shout from down the hill. Tayvis brushed past Querran at a fast trot.

A stream ran along the bottom of the slope, a thin trickle of dirty water. The man stood over it, straddling the narrow flow. The trees were even thicker along the bank, the gloom growing deeper as day faded into a stormy night. Thunder rumbled overhead.

Tayvis jogged up to the man. The man pointed at the side of the stream, outlining a footprint in the mud with the yellow glow of his handlight. It wasn’t human and it wasn’t bushy. It was wide, flat, with three distinct toes.

“There are several more leading that way,” the man pointed across the stream, at a spot where it flowed shallow and wide, leaving a deposit of mud exposed.

“Tayvis,” Paltronis called from the other side of the stream. She waved a thin strip of filmy green material.

“Call your men,” Tayvis said to Querran. “We’ve found her trail.” He loped up the hillside after Paltronis.

Querran tapped her com, realized it probably wasn’t working here, and put her fingers in her mouth. She blew a sharp whistle, the signal to regroup.

“Good work,” she told the man who had found the tracks. “Send the others after us, and bring up the rear.”

The man nodded. She headed across the stream after Tayvis.

Rinth had left long scrapes in the loose soil. His path twisted and turned across the ridge, taking the easier way where possible. Tayvis moved as fast as he could through the gathering darkness. Thunder crackled overhead, louder and more insistent.

He lost the trail again over a stretch of exposed rock halfway up the next hill. Wind whipped past, blowing leaves and grit in his face. He ignored it, concentrating on finding Dace’s trail. He crossed the rock face, casting across the far side, looking for any traces.

Querran and her men caught up, gathering on the exposed rock. The trees above them shook in the gusty wind. Thick clouds boiled overhead, smelling of rain. Lightning flashed nearby, lighting the scene for a split second. Thunder boomed and rattled.

The scan tech crossed the rock, his instrument clutched in one hand. He got to the far side and tried his instrument. He shook his head, twiddling dials.

“I can’t get any readings,” he shouted over the wind. He put the scanner away.

Tayvis looped back above the rock, frustration showing plain on his face. Downhill was a steep dropoff, uphill was a very thick stand of trees. To either side of the curve of rock were more trees. Thick undergrowth clutched at the rock wherever it found any soil to grow in. There were no signs of a forced passage. He stopped, weighing options, and decided that Rinth must have taken a path above the cliff, the one way that wasn’t choked with bushes. He headed up. Querran’s men followed across the rock.

He came around the side of the hill and stopped. Boulders of all sizes scattered the hillside. The way was almost impassable. He turned and pushed up the hill, breaking through bushes as he went. He fought his way to the top of the ridge, standing under trees that creaked as the wind tossed them back and forth. The far side of the narrow hill was a wide flat, thickly covered with shorter trees and brush. He waved the scan tech next to him. The man still couldn’t get a reading.

Tayvis started across the flat. Screams, faint with distance, carried on the wind. He didn’t hesitate. He ran towards them. Querran’s men pounded behind him.

Rinth’s arms closed over me like steel covered with rubber and fur. I hung limp and dripping, not sure if I was alive or dead and dreaming. The pain of bouncing against his hard body finally convinced me I was still alive. Every step he took jolted me, sending bolts of red fire shooting through me. I’d broken more than just a rib when I went over the waterfall.

Rinth shifted me to his shoulder, cradling me against his thick body. I could tell when he went uphill or down by the change in his rhythm. I would just get used to the pain when he would change and jar me in new ways.

He ran for an eternity of burning pain. I wanted to pass out, I reached for black oblivion, but the red fire kept burning, kept jerking me back to awareness. I smelled trees, broken branches as Rinth shoved his way through. New scratches added their own level of agony.

He slowed. His breath came heavy. He smelled of something animal, of sweat and fear. His thick feet pounded harder and harder as he slowed.

He stopped, bending down with me tucked against his chest like a baby. I heard him drinking, sucking liquid up from the ground. I tried to move. My face was full of fur and my side was on fire. I twisted my head. He tucked me into the crook of his arm.

“Find Miya,” he crooned. He got to his feet and loped away with me. Each step jarred my broken body.

His steps began to stumble as he tired. His breath came in loud gasps. We broke into an open space. The wind gusted past my face, thick with the promise of rain. Rinth shifted me again, holding me carefully over one shoulder. He picked his way across a rough field of rocks, moving with surprising agility.

We reached the far side. He set me down, standing over me protectively. I shivered with cold, wet, and shock. My side burned with every gasping breath. I turned to my side and coughed up what felt like half the stream. Each cough ripped through me. Rinth shook himself, his fur rippling. He picked me up again. His walk was slower, but less painful.

I drifted in and out of coherence. The pain was a distant thing, a constant that I could ignore until I started shivering or coughing. Rinth moved slower and slower, panting heavily as he carried me over the hills. Thunder cracked overhead. The wind howled through the trees. It sounded like words. I tried to listen until the pain drowned it out.

Rinth stumbled, clutching me tightly to keep from dropping me. The pain flared white hot, through my ribs. I screamed. His grip loosened and I tumbled to the ground.

Time slowed. I saw the ground clearly, a mix of leaves and needles drifted thickly under trees that swayed and danced in the wind. Berry plants grew in the mulch, tiny spots of red in the brown. I watched an insect skitter past my nose. And then the pain came back. I curled up, breathing shallowly to try to ease the burning in my chest.

Rinth patted me, his fingers feeling like tiny feet. “Find Miya find Miya find Miya,” he repeated over and over in a high pitched monotone.

I groaned and shivered. My dress, still damp, clung to me in ragged tatters. I coughed again; patters of red, blood not berries, dotted the ground.

“You come now?” Rinth said, stopping his patting. He peered down at me, his face blurred in the fading daylight.

Lightning flashed nearby, a brilliant streak of white light that grew strange shadows. Thunder cracked. Rinth jumped and huddled over me, rocking himself and crooning wordlessly. I rolled into a ball, trying to tuck my aching feet under me. The wind plucked at us, throwing things when we didn’t respond.

I shivered uncontrollably, burning hot and freezing at the same time. It was unfair, I thought. I’d survived Luke only to be carried off by his pet to die of exposure. A sob caught in my throat and sent stabbing pain through my chest. I decided crying was not a good idea.

Rinth cradled me against his chest. He rocked back and forth, his crooning mixing with the sound of wind and my own rattling breath. I smelled his fur, too exhausted to try to move away. He shuffled around to put his back to a tree and the wind. Thunder rumbled and rattled through the hills.

“You come now,” Rinth said. “You come now find Miya come now Miya find.” He patted me softly as he talked, mangling the words as he grew more agitated.

“I come,” I tried to say. My voice was only a hoarse croak. The effort set me coughing again. I saw flashing lights. Pain stabbed through my chest with each breath. I coughed up more blood.

“Miya stay,” Rinth said, laying me on the ground. His furry warmth was gone.

I shivered hard. I tried to call him back. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t stop coughing. My mouth was dry and parched and the pain burned deeper. I huddled on the ground until the shivering slowed and the coughing finally stopped.

I heard a low growling that wasn’t the wind or thunder. I forced myself to open my eyes. Lightning cracked and showed me a scene I didn’t want to see. Rinth sat hunched a few steps away, facing down a long dark creature. Rinth raised his arms, making high pitched hooting sounds that hurt my ears. The creature responded with a low growl that made my hair stand up. It flowed around Rinth, moving almost like liquid. It had four long limbs and a very long tail and teeth that showed large and white against its dark fur. Its eyes glinted in the gloom.

Rinth swung at the creature, a backhanded blow that sent it rolling away. It yowled in surprise. And then attacked, growling. Rinth grappled it, locking his thick hands around its neck. The creature clawed and bit. They both went down, rolling on the bare earth under the trees.

My side was on fire as I dragged myself to my knees. I screamed, unable to make myself stop despite the agony it caused. Rinth beat at the creature’s head. It bit whatever it could reach, growling low. Its claws scraped down Rinth’s side. Rinth hooted mournfully and bashed the creature’s head on the soft ground.

He was losing the fight. I saw dark smears in his fur. He left glistening streaks of it across the ground. I struggled to my feet, a stick clutched in one hand. I still screamed, sending white fire burning in my chest with every breath. I struck the creature, beating it feebly with the stick as it clawed Rinth.

Rinth’s gray pebble eyes filmed over. His hands locked around the creature’s throat. Its neck broke with a loud pop. The creature gagged. Its limbs kicked convulsively one last time. It twitched feebly as it died. Rinth’s breath was ragged, tearing in and out with a horrible whistling noise.

“Find Miya?” he said plaintively. His eyes focused on me. “Find Dace.”

I dropped down next to him, the stick falling from hands that would no longer work. He knew who I was. Surprise and shock numbed me, freezing me in place. Where could he have learned my name? I stroked his face, my own breath tearing through me. I couldn’t find words to say. His eyes turned white. His breathing stopped. I slowly folded over him, my face resting on his chest fur. Tears ran down my face. I sobbed, despite the pain. I couldn’t stop.