Into the Forest Shadows (13 page)

"Something is wrong with the tree." She
whispered

"There is now. Something in the bottle is
making it sick," Ayden corrected.

The water around the bottle fizzed, bubbling
up with white. "Grandma refused to take it. She insisted I take it
back. Do you think she knew?"

"I don't know. She knew something was going
on in the forest, so it's possible."

"Uncle Travis gave me the bottle," Kate said
slowly.

"A relative?"

Kate scowled, "My father's brother. I really
don't consider him a relative, but I guess he is. But to poison
Grandma? Wait, the tree is starting to take on the appearance of
the sick trees in Grandma's orchard. I mean, the way the smaller
limbs are knotting up. Have you ever seen anything like this?"

"No, definitely not. And I don't think we
should stick around in case we catch whatever it now has." Ayden
turned around and grabbed the backpack.

"The tree just saved us," Kate murmured. She
didn't like just leaving the tree. A tree getting sicker by the
moment. It might even die.

"The best we can do right now is get whatever
is in your head to those who can do something about it," Ayden
reminded her.

"One of which was supposed to be the Watcher.
The Watcher is now dead," Kate reminded him.

"There are others in the forest that may be
able to help. But first, we have to get to the other camp."

Kate forced herself to turn around and
purposely walk away from the tree. "Let's hurry. Before something
else happens."

Ayden nodded. He settled Bunbun in his
favorite place of peeking out of the collar of his jacket. Out of
all of them, Bunbun seemed the most comfortable.

#

"Ms. O'Hanson, does your company have any
inbound ships at this time?" Ranger Tottori demanded.

Mary looked at the Ranger, confused. When
she'd been summoned to Communications, she'd expected to be
informed about the status of Kate or her mother. The new subject
rendered her speechless for a moment.

The image of the company schedule board
flashed through her mind. "Of course not. The next ship isn't due
for another two months, in accordance to the planetary landing
limitations"

"Then explain that." Ranger Tottori pointed
at the large screen on one side of the room.

A red blip far outside the standard planetary
approach corridor blinked menacingly. Mary frowned. What was a ship
doing that far off course?

A different kind of dread filled her stomach,
one that went beyond her worry for her family. A worry for all the
humans on the planet.

"Call the Oburos City council," Mary said.
"This is not a ship from the Blackstone Corporation. We might have
an illegal landing in progress."

"After the last fiasco instigated by your
Corporate Manager, you expect me to believe that?" Ranger Totorri
asked.

Anger surged through her that he would assume
the family business was at fault. The previous situation had been
taken care of and would never happen again. Mary turned to him,
just in time to see him rake a hand through his dark hair, his face
tense.

Her anger eased.

He would surely be concerned about the same
thing she was: the Watcher and the Ancients.

"I'm picking up a power surge in the area!"
one of the controllers shouted.

The source of power showed up in blue on the
display. Right in the general vicinity they knew one of the
Ancient's satellites orbited.

Mary swiftly moved behind the chair of the
controller, "Warn the ship to get back to the corridor before it's
fired on."

"I've been doing that. There is no
response."

"Someone from the Directory is on the way
up," Ranger Tottori said as he joined her. "We've heard reports of
a rash of illegal settlement ships on other worlds."

"Energy is building," the controller
said.

A warning siren went off in the room. Mary
flinched at the sound of it. All eyes went to the large main
screen. A line of energy arced from the blue dot to the pulsing red
dot.

"The ship is still there!"

Mary turned back to the controller. She
studied the display, noting the readings coming from the ship were
the same as before. "A warning shot."

"The Ancients are considerate today," Ranger
Tottori said, relief coloring his voice.

Mary knew better than to think that. She
shook her head. "Don't count on it happening again."

"They will shoot them down, just like the
original colony ship."

"You can't fire on us!" A man yelled over the
main communications channel. "Alliance, we have been fired upon by
Oburos City."

"Oh look, they found their voices," Ranger
Tottori said sarcastically. He reached down and switched on the
microphone. "Unidentified human vessel, you are instructed to
return to standard approach. Marker beacon frequency 855.9.
Acknowledge."

"The Alliance has been notified, Oburos
Control. We have partial generator power and life-support. You will
stand down your weapons." The ship said.

Whoever they were, their intelligence didn't
impress her. The fact Oburos was not a formal human colony could
hardly be classified as a secret. Or that another sentient species
controlled the planet.

"They've sent an emergency signal to the
Alliance and they invoked the Alliance human-rights charter," the
controller warned. "Human vessel, identify yourself."

"This is Alliance vessel Polaris Found. We
are in the process of breaking orbit to land."

"If you attempt to land outside the
designated corridor the Ancients will shoot you down. Return to the
designated approach corridor immediately!" The controller said.

"I don't care how ancient your systems are.
Shut down your weapon systems. We're landing!"

Ranger Tottori sat down at a nearby station.
The controller continued her arguments while the ship insisted on
landing on its current course. Mary glanced at the main screen. The
blue dot was still there, the energy readings building. Building
for another shot.

Ranger Tottori cleared his throat, "I
apologize Ms. O'Hanson. The registry for the ship indicates it was
stolen from a repair shipyard eight months ago."

"The satellites are preparing to fire again.
This time they won't miss." Mary rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"And the ship invoked the Alliance charter. Illegal or not, the
Alliance will expect us to rescue them even at our own peril."

"We are not technically a part of the
Alliance, and I will not order our shuttles out on a suicide
mission," Ranger Tottori said. He turned back to the console. "But,
there may be another way to get the ship back to a safe
course."

Mary didn't like being helpless. If this
didn't go well, they would have the Ancients and the Alliance on
their backs. They might even lose their permission to live on the
planet. She couldn't do much about the Ancients. But, perhaps, she
could do something about the Alliance.

Mary slipped into the chair at the one empty
console left in the room. She connected up to the Interplanetary
Communication System, not bothering with anyone she knew in the
Alliance Government. That wouldn't do any good, but a little
pressure from a slightly different source might do it.

A man appeared on the screen, his eyes
wrinkled at the edges with laugh lines and two dramatic gray
streaks at the temples. "There's my favorite Grand-Niece. How is
business?"

"Hello, Uncle Elliot. The business is going
well. We're exporting as fast as we can produce."

Uncle Elliot nodded, "Wonderful. You usually
don't call this time of month. Is something wrong?"

"This call isn't about me. It's about Oburos
City. We have an unauthorized ship in orbit trying to land, and you
know what that means."

"Those strange Ancients using their
technology?"

"You got it. It was a warning shot. We're now
trying to get them down safely before the Ancients fire again, but
the ship broadcast an emergency signal to the Alliance."

Mary looked up as Ranger Tottori crowed in
delight, exclaiming, "I have a lock!"

"Sounds like the idiots forgot you aren't a
formal human government," Uncle Elliot said.

"Exactly," Mary said, turning her attention
back to him.

"I'm surprised it's not my sister on the
call. She loves to get riled up over things like this. I think in
some ways she's as protective of that planet as those Ancients
are."

"Uh, I can't contact Mom right now. We've had
odd weather and it's affecting planetary communications. I'm hoping
for a little helpful pressure if this doesn't end well. And if the
ship doesn't obey instructions to get back on the only approved
flight path to the city, it's not going to end well."

Uncle Elliot sighed, the smile leaving his
face, "True. I'll do a little leaning. Hopefully it'll help. Before
you go, can you send an extra canister of the hyperdrive lubricant?
Top pay, as usual."

Mary blinked at the sudden change in subject,
"You went through the last shipment already? Your business must be
taking off, too."

"Dear, my last shipment was over a year
ago."

At first she didn't think she'd heard him
correctly. It didn't make sense. He should be receiving shipments
every six months. But, his face remained serious.

She cleared her voice, "I'll see to it. And
thanks for your help."

As she ended the call Ranger Tottori asked,
"Who were you talking to?"

"My Uncle Elliot. He has a lot of helpful
connections in the Alliance that might come in useful if this
situation deteriorates." Mary stood up, wiping her hands on her
pants. "Such as stopping the sanctions they tried to levy like the
last time-"

She stopped, realizing Travis stood next to
Ranger Tottori's chair. He scowled at her, "There was no reason to
bother him about this. I can take care of it, as I usually do. I
know what I'm doing."

"As do I," Ranger Tottori said, casting
Travis an expression of disgust before turning a genuine smile
towards Mary, "I talked to the shipyard where the ship was stolen
into giving me the ship's main computer access codes. We're
bringing them down on autopilot, and there's nothing they can do
about it."

"Unless they shut down the main computer,"
Mary said, disturbed at the expression of partially masked anger on
Travis's face. Why did he look at her like that? What had she
done?

"A ship that large can't be flown without the
main computer," Ranger Tottori said.

"It can. It's difficult, but it can. I've
done it myself, a long time ago."

Mary found Travis next to her with his hand
on her upper arm. He guided her towards the door. "Mary, please.
Let me take care of this situation. Haven't I already taken the
lead in searching for Kate while the Directory hasn't? Go home.
I'll be by later to take you to dinner."

Mary found herself outside the door in an
empty hall with the door to the Communications Department closed.
She rubbed her arm where he'd touched her, fury building up
inside.

She'd help Ranger Tottori. Why shouldn't she
be in that room? She'd been the one called in. There was no excuse
for treating her like a child in front of others.

She laughed derisively at herself. She was
acting just like Kate.

And perhaps Kate had seen the situation
clearer than she from the start. Perhaps it was past time for
changes.

She glared at the closed door. Time for big
changes.

CHAPTER TWELVE

"The Kiset River. It's the only big river
between us and the camp." Ayden stopped at a ridge above the
water.

Kate agreed with the definition of river. The
clear water flowed wide and fast. A short distance down river she
saw a tree that gave her the shivers, "Yeash, Memory Trees are
everywhere."

"They love water," Ayden said. "This will be
a safe place to cross."

Kate studied the steep embankment down to the
rushing rapids. Neither the rapids or the wide distance across
looked friendly to crossing. "You'll pardon me if I disagree."

"Oh, we aren't wading across."

She shifted on aching feet. "Sorry, I never
learned how to fly."

"Ha ha," Ayden mocked.

He handed her the backpack and Bunbun and
activated the red cutting edge at the top of his staff. He walked
to a stand of trees to, studying several. After one more glance at
the river he put a hand on the straight bright yellow trunk of the
tallest. "This one will do. You better move over back."

"Do you think that's a good idea right now? I
mean, we've already been beaten up by trees once today," Kate asked
as she stepped away.

But Ayden was already swinging his staff. The
cutting edge bit deep into the trunk. Kate cringed. Her eyes darted
to the canopy of the tree, waiting for it to react.

Ayden swung again and again, each swing
biting ever deeper into the trunk. A creak shivered through the
tree. Ayden stepped to the side.

With a graceful movement the tree tipped to
the side. Leaves and limbs trailed behind it as it fell across the
river chasm with a mighty crash. The ground under her feet
shuddered at the landing.

Kate looked at the trees of the stand. Still
no movement.

Ayden grinned at her, deactivating the
cutting edge of his staff, "It's a matter of knowing the
trees."

"Still, with what's happened today you can't
assume all of them are safe to treat as normal," Kate said as he
took Bunbun from her.

"This one I know. Look at the trunk."

The ragged edge of the trunk quivered. Out of
the middle a green sprout poked up. At the top of the sprout
uncurled one leaf. As Ayden walked towards the fallen log the
sprout grew taller, sprouting several more leaves.