Halcyon Nights (Star Sojourner Book 2) (21 page)

“C'mere, George, it's time for maintenance.” I picked up the remote screwdriver from under the bole tree.

“Maintenance,” his tinny voice repeated as he rolled closer. “Shave an' a haircut. Hah, hah!”

What wiseass engineer had programmed that in? I aimed the remote toward his chest plate and clicked it. The plate swung open and I lifted it off its hinges and threw it into the pond. Do Not Attempt To Cut Wires, the alarm inside his chest announced with beeps and a flashing light. It Will Alert Stun Settings.

I didn't have the key to disable the alarm system. I also didn't have any intention of being stunned again, or of cutting my keeper's wires.

George waited patiently for his plate to be re-attached while I trotted to the other side of the pond. “I'm going for a walk, Georgie,” I called back. “Alone!”

“No! It is against my programming.” He rolled around the edge of the pond but I kept it between us.

“Wait,” he called. His yellow eyes brightened to track me.

Two days ago he had followed me right into the hospital's rehab pool when I had refused to get out as a test. He was waterproof and had no qualms about getting wet.

“Bye, George.” I trotted away from the pond, then paused as he rolled down the slope and waded into the water, which was the straightest line to catch up to me.

I smiled, there in darkness, as he ground through mud and into the middle of the pond. His simple metallic mind could not make the leap to the fact that water weighed. And it weighed heavily in George.

I watched bubbles burst at the surface as water replaced air in George's innards from the open chest slot.

He gurgled. Wavelets beat at the shore as his spiked treads and the weight of water dug him a grave at the bottom of the pond. His bright eyes protruded above the surface as he watched me trot toward the ambulance bays.

“Return now!” he burbled. “Or you will be in trouble.” He was probably right about that last part.

No one locks doors in the small community of Laurel, same as in Cape Leone, the scientific community back on the planet Syl' Tyrria. I hit the red button that opened the bay doors, got into the pilot's seat of the closest of two ambulance mantas, and turned on the engine. The comforting purr told me the hospital kept the vehicle in good condition. Large red crosses on fields of white were painted on both its sides of the craft and, I knew, under its belly. Ambulances get special consideration on the air lanes of Earth. Here, too, I figured, though there wasn't much air traffic on the planet.

I slapped “auto” and the manta cruised out to the launching pad. The engine swung into vertical mode. The craft lifted to a sky full of stars and a curved arm of the diamond-white Milky Way.

Lisa?

No response. She was probably asleep at this late hour.

Wake up, baby!

Tired, Daddy.
Her thought came as a whine.

C'mon, Lis'. I need you to guide me. Daddy's coming to get you!

I'm sleepy.

Right now, Lisa. Now sit up and listen to me!
I felt her surprise at my mental command, but I remained firm.
Are you awake now?

OK. I'm awake.

Good! Now stay awake.
I tacked the manta like a sailboat to use Lisa's rambling thoughts as a beam to guide me to Wolf Ridge.

Are you alone in the room, baby?

Willa's asleep on the sofa.

Oh. Well, don't talk out loud. Just stay in touch with me with your mind.

About an hour later, as Halcyon reckons time, which is longer than an Earth day, I approached a valley between high peaks. The forest seemed unbroken, but that was the czar's camouflage net. Crystals will buy you a lot of Earth stuff. Come to think of it, like radar, too.

I set the manta down when I knew Lisa was close. I felt naked without my stingler, but it was gone when I awoke in the hospital.

Blackroot! A field of it. The czar's first defense. I wondered what other surprises awaited me, like land mines and traps.

I drove the vehicle through the maze of ground roots without lights and felt the brittle branches snap and crackle beneath my wheels. With the light of two of Halcyon's three moons, I managed to avoid the bare patches. There might be mines or sensors or pits in those dark flat areas.

Ahead, a structure loomed. A high wall. The one Lisa had shown me in her image. She was asleep again and I was glad. I didn't want her telling Willa that her dad was here. Earth creds will also buy listening devices.

The field of blackroot ended near the wall. I left the manta and threaded carefully ahead, shining my small flashlight down to search for mines and trip wires. The high bent branch with the spikes sticking out was a dead giveaway. The trip wire at my ankle would spring it. I planted my feet and turned from my waist to peer behind me with the flashlight. A land mine! If you saw the spikes and backed up, chances were good the l mine would get you.

Spirit? I can use a little advice about now.

Do not step on a mine or trip a wire,
he sent.
And keep away from pits.

I hope you didn't stay awake nights figuring out that one! Do you know what other traps lie ahead?

Only when you reach them. I am seeing through your eyes.

I should have known better than to ask the genderless crote.

I am both genders
.

Good for you
. I refrained from telling him to go fuck himself.

Consider that the czar does not want you dead.

That makes two of us,
I considered. There were no guards on the wall. What would they guard? Native animals? But Lisa was the bait and the czar was expecting me. Their only variable was when.

Lisa!

A dreamscape of space bears. A yearning…

I'm coming, baby,
I sent, even though I knew she was asleep.

A blackroot slithered out and snapped around my calf. I used the small serrated kitchen knife, probably only good for slicing tomatoes, and sawed at the root. Yellow liquid spurted. The slashed root spasmed and withdraw. The sliced end continued to wiggle at my feet. I felt like Alice in a wonderland that was trying to eat me. What intriguing turns nature takes when left to her own devices, without man to twist her into shapes that satisfy our own needs.

There were no stars overhead. A strange landscape in the heart of Halcyon's great expanse of wilderness. Romantic Spanish guitar music drifted from a high square building that loomed behind the wall. Soothing, the music. Disarming.

Would the czar allow me to enter Lisa's quarters easily, then close the trap behind me? That's how I'd catch a live mouse. To feed to a snake. Where were the trap doors? I climbed the wall, hand over hand on thick clinging vines that ripped and smelled like honey.

When I reached the top, I flattened down and surveyed the grounds. The walk Lisa had showed me in an image lay below, lined with wrought-iron benches. The dark trees were probably the imported avacodoes. Chili plants dotted the edge of the walk.

A small fieldstone cottage up ahead drew me with Lisa's dream images. The top of the wall was wide enough to walk, but I stayed low and brushed cement crumbs from my path as i crawled along it.

When I reached the cottage, I lowered myself to the ground.
This is altogether too easy!
my survival instinct threw in. Perhaps opening the front door from the outside would set off alarms. Perhaps there were sensor plates under the welcome mat that would set off alarms by weight that was not calibrated for Lisa or Willa.

I stayed back.
Lisa! Wake up, baby. Daddy's here.

She didn't.

Lisa! Wake up. Now! Daddy's here.

”Daddy?” she said aloud. “Are you here?”

I picked it up through her thoughts.
Quiet, baby. Talk with your mind.

Willa's awake. She wants to know where you are.

OK. Tell her I'm outside the door. Tell her to come out with you. Quietly!

The door opened and Willa peeked out suspiciously. Her large hazel eyes were wide with fear in the light from the door lantern.

“It's me, Jules,” I whispered. Bring Lisa out.” My heart pounded with the expectation of seeing my daughter again.

“They know you're here,” Willa said shakily.

“What? How?” I looked around quickly. “Where are they?”

Lisa squeezed out from behind Willa. “Daddy!” She ran out and threw her arms around me.

I scooped her up. “Baby.” I hugged her close. “Where are they, Willa?”

She looked around. “I don't know.” She put a hand to her mouth and stared at the main building, looking like a frightened child herself.

“It's OK, Willa,” I said. “C'mon. Climb up the wall and take Lisa. I'll follow.” There were tears in Willa's eyes.

“We'll never make it,” she said. But she climbed easily from jutting stones with her slim, boyish body.

I handed Lisa up to her and followed, then scanned the grounds from this vantage point.

Empty.

“Daddy, I – “

“Stay quiet, Lis'!”

We crawled along the wall.

“How could they possibly know I was here? The manta was still parked where I'd left it. Perhaps there were no traps and Willa was just another scared kid. I eased Lisa down the outside of the wall and jumped after her. “Willa!” I helped her down and we ran to the manta.

I opened the door and was about to slide Lisa inside when a voice came from the interior. “Going someplace,
amigo?”

I almost dropped Lisa. I hugged her against me as two warriors trotted out from the wall's open gate. Floodlights flashed on.

“Put the kid down,” a warrior ordered.

I did and she clung to my waist. I rubbed her back to comfort her.

Willa sobbed. “I
told
you.”

I put my other arm around her. “I'm sorry, Willa.”

“It's not your fault.” She cried against my chest.

The short compact man who emerged from the pilot's seat was dark, bearded, with rolled sleeves that showed his muscled, tattooed arms. A call unit was stuffed inside one sleeve, a pack of Puritans in the other. His eyes were intense and perceptive as he watched the warrior pat me down and take the knife.

“Daddy! It's the dragon.”

The czar. I thought so. “He's just a man, Lis'.”

He lifted his brows. “Just a man? And is that your weapon,
cabrón?
” His accent was Spanish. “You were coming to free your daughter with a knife that makes decorations in zucchini slices?”

I was in no mood to parry smartass remarks. “How did you know?”

He leaned back against the manta with his arms folded, obviously savoring the moment. “As a telepath, you should have known that throwing your thoughts…” he flicked a glance at Lisa, “will show up on the right machine. Your daughter's bed was rigged with such a machine.”

Neurons, spectrograms, frequencies. Earth creds. The trap door had been sprung so softly I'd never heard it close.

I studied him. This was the man I was sent to Halcyon to kill. Now I was his prisoner.

This is not good,
Spirit sent.

You think?

A tall woman with long red hair, dressed in a robe trimmed with white fur, real fur, I imagined with a twinge of anger, swished through the open gate, walked up and stared at me. Her cheeks were chiseled. Her eyes slanted, or was that makeup? Her mouth was wide and ruby red as she smiled and tapped my cheek with an open palm.

I drew away my gaze and picked up Lisa.

“I'm so tired, Daddy,” Lisa murmured and rested her head on my shoulder.

“I know, baby.” I stroked her hair back off her forehead and felt my throat tighten. “I know.” I kissed her cheek.

“You should only kiss a child when she is asleep,” the czar told me.

“Thanks for the fatherly advice.”

The rebel forces are approaching, Terran,
Spirit sent.
Your escape was well planned by the doctor and Rache.

They planned it? So they could follow me here? You might have mentioned that earlier, Spirit.

I wanted you to lead them here.

Perhaps they'll destroy the ravager and his compound for you
.
Then you won't need me and Lisa at all.

“Move!” a warrior ordered and nudged my back with his rifle.

I walked through the open gate still holding Lisa. She was asleep. Willa followed close behind. Beyond the net canopy a milky sky materialized.

“What the hell is that?” the czar commented.

I could have told him. Spirit had fogged the sky for the approaching RECOIL mantas. It would hide them, while they had clear shots with missiles that would shred the canopy and destroy whatever was under it. And Lisa and I… Once and for all, I knew I was on my own to save my child. “Do you have a bomb shelter?” I asked the czar.

He squinted at the opaque canopy. “Do we need one?”

”Yes.”

The whine of approaching mantas came from the direction of Laurel.

“
Diablo!
” he said to me. “You brought them here to my home.”

Su casa e their casa,
I thought but didn't say. I didn't want to get hit. ”Would I bring them with my daughter here? They followed me.”

Lisa squirmed and I loosened my grip.

“Tell my warriors to roll back the canopy!” the czar shouted to his guards, “and to man their stations. And shut off those goddamn floodlights!”

The guards turned and were trotting toward a small brick building. I held my breath. The czar was unarmed!

“Wait!” he yelled. “Your rifle,” he told one warrior.

Goddamn…

The warrior trotted back and extended his rifle. The czar yanked it from his hands. “
Imbécil!”

The floodlights snapped off. The red-haired woman ran to the main building. I assumed that's where the bomb shelter was located.

“What about my daughter and Willa?” I asked the czar.

He studied the sky as the whine of mantas grew. “We stay here.”

“Let me take her to the shelter,” Willa begged the czar. “I'll come back and stand with you if you want me to.”