Deadly Designs (Design Series) (15 page)

Find Eric, then find a way to go home and stay there, or help Tammy return to her people and find a way to make the Louers happy.

She groaned. "Make it easy, why don't you. How can I possibly make them happy? I already made this dimension for them, surely that's enough."

No. They need a portal so they can go back and forth and bring equipment over to help them grow food and build their buildings.

"So if I build them a portal, will that make them happy?"

The stylus hummed.
Maybe.

Maybe? She groaned louder. "That's hardly good enough. With a portal they can have some people living on both sides of the dimension. Then travel as they want to and have the best of both worlds."

But Storey knew the truth. People were people no matter the dimension. Never happy.

First thing first. Find Eric.

***

Eric kept putting one foot in front of the other. It's not like there were many options. He had to find Storey. With any luck she had the means to get them back home. It would be a long time before he'd be willing to come back to either of the Louer dimensions. He could only hope that Tammy and Skorky were with her parents.

Speaking of parents, and fathers in particular, where had his gone? His father might have gone into hiding. But where? And why? It's not as if he could hide out forever. At one point, he'd have to face the Council. Unless he hoped the issues would die down.

But they wouldn't. At least not while Eric was still fighting for Storey's side.

He studied the dry ground, green, tall grasses waving slowly in the breeze and the tree branches bouncing gently higher up. The tall treetops swayed gently. From the database on Storey's world, he'd read about people who built houses in trees. There'd even been movies of some of Storey's people playing in trees, kids climbing them, playing games in and around them. An odd, but fascinating concept. He'd never climbed a tree in his life.

His survival training had pointed out the advantages of getting to the top and having a better view of the area, but there were distinct disadvantages as well. Like being trapped and surrounded by the enemy.

Then there was the actual physical attempt to climb one. He studied a large tree at his side. The first branches were above his jumping height. His training had included running, portal hopping, cliff jumping, rope work, communications, but as he looked around the woods, he understood there hadn't been enough wilderness training. He frowned, for the first time realizing how inadequate his training actually had been. In fact, when compared to some of what Storey's people went through, his had been a joke.

His people had never experienced war, never before been invaded and had never contemplated not being at the top of the food chain – a Storey phrase that seemed even more appropriate at this time.

His gaze went from treetop to treetop, shaking his head. There. His gaze caught on something as it went past. He returned to studying it, grateful his eyes were good enough to catch the slight movement.

Catch it but not understand it. He slipped around behind the trees and crept closer. That was another thing he had yet to see here, animals, wildlife of any kind. Storey felt she'd made a complete copy of her world, but had she included the animal world in that vision? An ecosystem of insects. Had she even thought to consider removing the human element here or was that another worry they needed to consider?

He crept a little closer.

And came to a dead stop.

It was Storey.

Sitting at the top of the tree, enjoying the sunshine – for all the world as if she had no worries. Relief and frustration whipped through him. Why did she always end up on top?

"Storey?"

She didn't notice. Dare he yell at her and alert anyone around to their presence? Well, he wasn't going to climb the tree after her. So…he opened his mouth and yelled, "Storey!"

Now he'd caught her attention. She waved madly at him. He laughed. Everything she did, she did with enthusiasm. He loved that about her. As he watched, she disappeared from view. The top of the tree swayed and wiggled under his fascinated gaze as she descended the tree like a pro.

Next thing he knew, she slipped out from under the lower boughs and was running toward him.

And straight into his arms.

***

Storey laughed as Eric snatched her off the ground and swung her around. Finally, she pulled back enough to say, "It's so good to see you. You collapsed in front of me and then everything went dark. When I woke up, there was no sign of you."

"You saw me collapse? Did they hit me or something?" He reached up to rub his temple. "I've had this horrible headache since I woke up."

"I didn't see anything. Although I did hear Tammy scream. I've been worried. Have you seen her at all?"

"I haven't seen anyone." He wrapped her in a second tight hug before setting her away from him, his face grim. "While I was out, they took everything I had on me. Even my codex." He held out his bare arm for her to see.

"Me too." She showed him her am. "They also took all my paper, my backpack, all the food. But…" She shot him a huge beaming smile. "They didn't get my stylus or one sheet of paper"

He groaned with relief and raised his gaze skyward in relief. "Thank heavens for that."

"But," she cautioned him, "I don't know how to make a portal. The paper is small. I'm not sure how to make it work."

He frowned. "So close but we're not quite there. That's okay, Tammy is back with her people, so mission accomplished there."

"Um, yeah that might be a problem." She stopped and shifted her feet restlessly, her gaze wandering the treed area. How did she tell him about Tammy? "You're right about a couple of things. The stylus does appear to be working well and with its help I'm sure we can figure out how to get home."

Relief washed over his face. "When you started to speak I was sure you were going to say something I wasn't going to like."

"I am." She winced, took a deep breath and explained what the stylus had said.

"What?" His outrage rippled through the trees. She just didn't know if it was outrage for poor Tammy or for her unspoken suggestion that they rescue her. "Also consider the codexes. Do you want to leave them here? Mine is supposed to allow me to get back to your dimension without much knowledge of how to use it…" she let her voice trail off as his eyes widened in horror.

"You don't think they would use it to go to my world?" The color drained from his face.

She didn't know how to answer. "Do you want to leave that as an option. I'm pretty sure no one in your dimension will be pleased if we return without them."

Eric stared at her, resignation and acceptance slowly making its way into his gaze. "I really didn't want to hear that. But there's no way I can leave my world vulnerable to another attack."

Soberly she answered. "And there's no way I can leave Tammy in danger either."

***

"Oh no."

"I'm sorry. But I can't. We brought her over here. For a chance at life. Not to ensure her death." Her pleading look was impossible to ignore. And he cared too much about her to ignore it. This mattered to her. And if he was honest, he'd have a hard time walking away and leaving Tammy to her fate. Now the rodent, yeah, that one he could leave behind. He'd never understood why anyone would have such a creature as a pet. That she had a pet at all showed a socializing structure he'd never have given the Louers credit for.

"No, we can't." Standing back, he considered the issue. The two of them obviously weren't considered a threat as they'd been left behind with no guard to keep an eye on them.

They would be able to find the Louers, most likely. However, locating Tammy, sneaking her away and finding her family was an entirely different matter. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I saw caves in a hillside up ahead." Storey suggested helpfully. "Some of my ancient people lived in similar abodes. It's possible they've taken cover there." She pointed toward the north. "It's just a short walk."

Eric studied the area, nodded decisively then reached out and snagged her hand.

He smiled down at her. "I don't want to get separated again," he said. "So don't mind if I just hang on tight for awhile."

She squeezed his hand tight. "My sentiments exactly."

They walked in casual silence for several minutes.

"I wonder why I was left in a cave?" She looked at him. "Where were you?"

"I'm presuming I woke where I fell. It was a meadow similar to where I remember being when we walked as a group."

"Odd. They left you where you fell, and they carried me off and left me free to leave when I woke up." She shrugged. "Why?"

"Maybe they thought you had value and then changed their minds. Or maybe they thought we died and should be left behind. Who knows?"

"I wonder how big this group of Louers is." Storey had been trying to figure that out. "The stylus told me about the Louers plans for Tammy."

"And how would it know?"

"He was a Louer, once. I presume he's got a way to tap into what they are thinking. Although it would be best if we find out for sure."

A few minutes later, hiding behind a tree and using her pant leg to write on, she asked the stylus how he'd known.

I heard them speak of it.

Storey sat back on her heels. "Of course. Just because I was unconscious doesn't mean that the stylus was sleeping. It would have heard everything going on. And being Louer it understood the language clearly."

She tucked the stylus back under her shirt. "Let's go. We need to make sure they don't have time to put their plan into action."

The sun shone hot in the meadow, but the shade provided by the many trees along the edge of the field gave some relief. Eric didn't recognize many of the tree species. The sheer variety of colors and types was fascinating. Brilliant. They came to the edge of the woods and stared.

Across from the meadow stood a high cliff dotted with black caves.

Eric pulled her back behind the trees.

"Look."

***

Storey peered around the pine tree in the direction Eric had pointed out. She spotted movement by the caves. There seemed to be almost pathways between the caves. As she watched someone walked from one to the other. She hunkered down low. "Eric, are they Louers?"

"Who else would they be?"

"I don't know. I'd just like to make sure."

"No way to do that from here." He motioned to a large clump of trees that butted up against the base of the cliff edge closest to them. "Let's sneak over there."

Following his lead, they slipped from tree to tree, then raced as fast as they could through the open area to the relative safety of the shadows once again. Gasping for breath, Storey bent over trying to calm down. "That was fun. Not."

A strangled laugh escaped Eric as he watched her. He wasn't short of breath, she noted sourly. But he'd been cool and calm throughout this whole event. Unlike her, who'd gone from one extreme to the other.

Still, they were close now. She could see and feel it. Tammy would be hidden in one of those spots, maybe guarded and maybe not. The adult Louers wouldn't see her as a danger or in danger of running off. In fact, they'd probably have ignored her the whole time. They'd be more interested in the items they'd stolen from Eric and her. Especially if they understood what they'd found. Tammy would show them if given a chance.

If not, well, they might be able reclaim some of it.

"Do we have a plan of action?" she asked, hoping he'd figured out what to do from here. She didn't think the stylus would be much help. At this point, she couldn't see a way to use it effectively.

"I wish we knew where Tammy was stashed. That info would help to find a way to sneak her out. As it is, they can see us as soon as we move. There's no cover. They've got a heck of a location here." His admiring tone made her turn to look at him.

"What? They do." He said defensively, "It's easy to defend and offers maximum protection."

She studied the layout. "It didn't help my people. They died out almost overnight."

"From what?"

"Who knows? They lived well for a long time, centuries I think, then they all disappeared. It's one of the great mysteries of my people." From the confusion on his face, she could see that didn't make any sense. This wasn't the time for a history lesson on the Anasazi people, especially since she had no answers. "Don't worry about it. I'll explain when we have more time."

He turned back to study the cave structure. "You know, if these caves go to the ground level, we might be able to gain access."

"I don't think they do. The whole point of living in caves like this is safety. To allow access from down here is to leave a door open for intruders."

"Were all your people about fighting and war? Surely it would make sense to have access for things like hunting and water."

"Yes," she said slowly, "but I wouldn't count on it."

He rolled his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So…now what? We could go to the cliffs above them and try to climb down or we could climb up from here and hope we're not seen."

Storey studied the area more intently. "They had to have carried Tammy up there. I can't see her climbing that high on her own."

"That wouldn't have been hard. They're a large, strong people and she's a child to them. It would be natural for them to carry her."

"True." And that shot her idea down. Not that it had been much of an idea. There had to be a way to get to the first cave, which presumably was connected to the others inside the cliff.

She studied the cliff wall at her side. There were no cut-in steps on the face of the wall that she could see, but there must be some somewhere. They'd be hard to spot unless you knew of them. Hard to climb, unless you knew how. The best way to find them would probably be to walk along the ground, hands on the rock face, hoping to come across them by feel. She doubted they'd be easy to see otherwise.

It was afternoon, at least the sun was high and fairly warm. They couldn't wait that long for the sun to go down. Tammy was in trouble and…so were they.