Captured (16 page)

Is that a break in the trees?
 
A clearing would be perfect.
 
I could see him coming.
 
A clearing with a place to hide would be even better.
 

Mari broke into a run. Then she remembered that big cats were attracted to running prey just like sharks were attracted to the splashing of a fish or a seal, so she slowed her pace.
 
As she neared the clearing a smell assailed her nostrils. It was the thick sweet ammonia of big-cat spray.
 
Mari followed her nose, eyes, and ears while scouting in every direction.
 
She stopped in front of a wide tree and looked up.
 
The claw marks were six feet above her head, and the spray was at shoulder level.
 
She touched it.
 
It was oily, warm to the touch, and smelled pungent.
 
He or she had marked his or her territory very recently, possibly within the past hour.
 
Mari glanced around and noted that several more of the trees were marked in exactly the same way.
  
She forced herself to take the time to study the rock outcropping at the far end of the open space despite the fact that Pana was closing on her.
 
The setting sun reflected red off the rocks, and the shadows were deep.
 
There had to be a small crack or crevice somewhere in that pile of granite.
 
She was small, small enough to slip inside and wait him out.
 
She would shoot him if he came close, or maybe the giant durra would come back tonight and do the job for her.
 

She knew Pana would smell the animal well before she did and that he’d be wary.
 
He might even turn around, maybe wait for her somewhere along the route to the cabin.
 
If she held out long enough Ekkatt would return, and he’d see Pana’s craft.
 
But she knew Pana had probably thought of that himself.
 
If he couldn’t catch her immediately, killing Ekkatt was likely first on his
to do
list. No, she had to kill him now.
 
That was the only way to save Ekkatt’s life and maybe her own.

What does Pana want?
 
Me, plain and simple.
 
Will the presence of a giant durra dissuade him from his purpose?
 
No, not likely.
 
Pana thinks too highly of himself.
 
If he can catch me, he’ll drag me to his ship and do something…black market…a laboratory…a zoo…whore me out to patrons who prefer red hair...No, he has no intention of returning me to the meat market. I’ll bet a million bucks he hasn’t told anyone what he suspects or where he’s gone.
 
I have that in my favor.

Mari stopped worrying about noise.
 
She checked to see that she’d clicked the safety on the uustal.
 
She rolled the weapon up in her long shirt and tied it tight, hoping the safety wouldn’t release while she scrambled over the rocks.
 
There was a crevice near the top.
 
It faced the clearing and it looked just big enough to hold her.
 
She didn’t know what kind of creepy-crawlies lived on Attun-Ra. If luck was on her side they weren’t too poisonous.
 
Mari had climbed before when she’d gone rock climbing at the Dells in Wisconsin.
 
She might be afraid of the big cat and Pana, but she wasn’t afraid to climb.

As Mari reached the crevice she heard Pana’s voice.
 
He sounded close behind her now. He’d switched tactics,
 
 
calling for her in a nice voice like she was a wayward dog.
 
Squeezing into the crack in the thick granite, Mari turned to peer out over the open space.

“Human, show yourself before you become a meal,” Pana called.
 
“The durra will not take pity on you.
 
I can protect you.
 
I can keep you safe.
 
You will not return to the market, human.
 
I swear it.”

Yeah, you have something worse in mind, asshole.

Mari heard snuffling behind her and, quick as a rabbit, she ducked her head.
 
A heavy cat scent preceded the nose that poked into the crevice, a large, black feline nose.
 
Mari got a quick impression of enormous canines.
 
They reminded her of those of a saber-toothed tiger.
 
Heart pounding, holding her breath, she pressed herself against the rock wall, trying to stay as far from the opening as she could.
 
The nose disappeared and a questing paw was inserted.
 
Mari quickly pulled the uustal from her shirt and slammed the butt of the weapon against the fur-covered appendage.
 
With a soft grunt the cat withdrew its paw.
 
Pana’s voice carried into the crevice.
 
It sounded like he had almost reached the clearing.
 
Mari heard the soft, nearly silent pad-pad of the big cat as it moved away.
 
She risked a peek out the opening in time to see a huge, leopard-spotted, furry back and long golden tail leap over the rocks.
 
The cat vanished into the nearby trees.

“I know you are here, human.
 
The stink of the cat offends me only half as much as yours.
 
Come out.
 
I will save you, not eat you.”
 
Pana laughed at his own joke.
 

Mari made no response.
 
He would trail her up the rocks.
 
There was no doubt in her mind about his ability to find her.
 
She had only a few moments to prepare.
 
She flipped the safety off the uustal and waited for him to appear in the opening.
 
There was no way could he squeeze his big body inside nor would he be able to pull her out.
 
But he’d try anyway.
 
That’s when she’d shoot him. Unless, she thought, he decided to starve her out.
 
She heard the clatter of rocks as he climbed after her.
 
No, he wasn’t going to starve her out.
 

You stupid fucking idiot,
Mari thought,
you poor bastard.

The terrible screams shook her to the core. They seemed to last forever.
 
Mari covered both ears, but nothing could block out the bloodcurdling sound.
 
When the noise finally stopped, Mari remained still for a long time trying to gather her courage.
 
She forced her legs to move towards the opening of the crevice.
 
She had no choice.
 
Was Pana dead and had the cat gone?
 
She peeked out.
 
The cat had vanished and Pana along with it.
 
Mari’s eyes followed the wide trail of blood that led from the foot of the outcropping into the trees.
 

She slid out of the crevice, took a deep breath, and peered in every direction, cautious, hoping the cats hunted alone.
 
Just to be safe, she climbed clear around to the other side of the granite face.
 
It was steeper and the surfaces were jagged, but it was preferable to being exposed on the same side as the cat.
 

By the time Mari jumped off the rocks her hands and feet were covered with blood.
 
It didn’t matter.
 
Reaching the security of the cabin mattered.
 
Praying that Ekkatt was safe mattered.
 
Clutching the uustal in her hand, she crossed the clearing and headed back up the trail.
 
Her pace was measured, deliberate, and quiet.
 
She hoped the cat would take his sweet time feeding.
 
Fifty yards in front of her Mari caught a movement in the brush.
 
She stopped in her tracks, backed up against a thick tree trunk, and aimed the uustal. Ekkatt stepped out of the shadows.
 

Mari didn’t mean to cry, but her eyes filled with tears anyway and a sob escaped her lips.
 
Her legs began to shake.
 
She lowered the weapon and, heedless of her own safety, raced into his arms.
 
Ekkatt cradled her, holding her as if she was the most precious thing in the universe.
 

“Pana?” he asked, his voice very quiet.

“Dead,” she answered.

Chapter 13

“Will you look for his body?”

“Tomorrow, midday.
 
I will bury what is left.”

“Ekkatt, the cat…leave it.
 
Please, don’t go back up there.”

“Mari, I have lived in this wilderness for many years.
 
I understand the habits of this cat, as you call him.
 
He has made a kill. He will sleep tomorrow.
 
I know where his den is and I will keep my distance.”

“Ekkatt…”
 
Her eyes pleaded with him.

“Pana has been many things, good and bad.
 
He was my comrade. I must bury what remains of him.
 
Tomorrow is not my day to die, Mari.
 
I promise you.”

“It’s my fault that he’s dead.
 
It’s my fault he came here.
 
He smelled me on you.
 
Because we…we…”
 
Her voice broke.
    

Ekkatt stroked her tangled hair.
 
“It is no more your fault than mine.
 
Yes, he caught your scent, but he made a choice to act as he did.
 
He could have had me arrested and sent the…the livestock inspectors here to retrieve you, but he did not.
 
He did not wish me caught, he merely wished you for himself.
 
He said to me once that he could make a fortune from one such as you.
 
He called you an
oddity,
and claimed buyers will pay well for
oddities
.”

Ekkatt pulled his little human closer.
 
She trembled in his arms.
 
Her actions had been reckless and desperate, but she’d been very brave to lead Pana into the giant durra’s hunting territory.
 
For once her size had been in her favor.
 
Small as she was she had managed to keep out of the animal’s reach while Pana had left himself vulnerable to attack.
 
The man was raised in a large settlement. He’d had little use for the open countryside.
 
Ekkatt, on the other hand, had grown to manhood in the mountains studying the habits of the animals around him.
 
It was one of the things that made him such an effective trapper.
 

Now he would have to take Mari with him to his family’s compound.
 
It was too risky to leave her alone again.
 
Both times she’d nearly died.

“If Pana had reached you,” Ekkatt began, almost afraid to ask, “would you have shot him?”

Mari lifted her tear-streaked face.
 
“Yes.”
 
She lowered her head back onto his shoulder.

“Good,” Ekkatt replied, his voice louder.
 
“You must never hesitate.
 
Your life will always be in danger on my world.
 
Do you understand, little human?”

“Can we return to my world?” Mari asked, her voice muffled against his shirt.

“If such a possibility existed, I would not hesitate.
 
But I do not hold out much hope.”

She lifted her head and looked into his eyes.
 
“Then you’ve considered it?
 
Because every day that I remain on Attun-Ra, I become more of a threat to you.
 
My presence puts your life at risk.”

Ekkatt pressed a hand to the side of Mari’s face.
 
“I refuse to give you up.”
 
His voice was fierce.
 
“You are my heart, my mate.
 
There is no going back to what I was before.”

Mari’s voice was gentle.
 
“I won’t have you die for me.
 
I won’t allow it.”
 

“We will not die.
 
We will live.
 
I swear to you, Mari, we will find a way.”