Merkiaari Wars: 01 - Hard Duty (44 page)

“The Murderers know their devices better than we,” Nevin said thoughtfully, slowly feeling his way to a conclusion. “Could it be as simple as that? Could they be using it differently?”

“Yes!” Shima said excitedly. She scrutinised the computer. “This one could indicate a wide area scan,” Shima pointed a claw at one of the icons running down the short side of the map. There were two circles one inside the other. The outer ring was filled with colour, the inner empty. “Perhaps the Murderers are watching for danger close by.”

Kazim flicked his ears in agreement. “That makes a lot of sense. They’re looking for what or who killed their friends.”

“Yes,” Nevin mused, “but that means they only have to touch this icon on their computer to see us.”

“Right,” Shima said. “We must run until we can’t see them on ours anymore, then we rest and wait for night again. “One of us remains awake to watch the computer.”

“Agreed,” Nevin said.

Shima studied the display a moment longer and chose her direction; away from the mountains and the safety of the keep. They dare not be seen heading to a keep. Even if the Murderers did not guess they were looking for safety of some kind, it wouldn’t take much for them to project forward and notice the mountains. Shima decide right then to turn toward the mountains only if the map remained clear for a cycle.

“This way,” Shima said, putting the computer in her pouch and dropping to all fours. “We move fast and hard, and then review our direction. Let’s say two segs before our first stop, which gives us roughly two more before dawn to find somewhere to rest.”

“Good,” Kazim said. “I play rear guard this stretch.”

Shima flicked her ears and tail. She was pleased he was taking some responsibility for the group. She left Nevin to organise his family how he would, and set off into the trees. A moment later, she heard the others move to follow. She set a rapid pace, but not so fast that she risked exhausting everyone. The wilds could be dangerous. They might need to fight or run from predators, or Merkiaari, or both.

Dawn found Shima safely hunkered down with the others. Rahuri and her sibs were tangled together in a pile, sleeping the sleep of the exhausted. The sight made her smile, but it faltered as she remembered Merrick. He should be with his sibs, no doubt in the centre with the others on top and spilling around him. Female sibs tended to be that way, very protective of a brother especially if he was their only brother. They would have doted on him, looked out for him, boasted of and about him. It made Shima want to weep.

Chailen was wonderful; a beauty in her personality to match her sleek form, but a brother would have been very special to both of them. They would have raised him together, though of course Tahar would have final say... well mostly. Sibs were always close, their bond as strong if not the same as parent to child. Yes, a brother would have been good. Tahar had told her of her dead sibs only recently. She didn’t know any details except they died as a result of the failed FTL project, the same that crippled her. She didn’t know if one or more of those dead sibs had been male. She didn’t have names for her dead. Suddenly that lack mattered. It hadn’t before, but with Tahar gone and now Merrick, it mattered a lot. She should at least have names to think about, to imagine what might have been, but she didn’t. She wished she had asked Tahar. It was possible her parents had not named them. She didn’t know, but they had surely chosen names in anticipation of the birth. If Shima knew the names, she could pretend she had a brother once.

Shima sighed quietly, trying not to disturb the others, and studied the alien map. All clear, as it should be. She wondered what the other control icons did, but she dared not change any settings. For one thing, she might not get the ever so useful map back. For another, she had heard alien speech come from it so she knew it was a communicator as well as a map. What if she accidently transmitted her location? No, the two icons they had decided were long and short range scan would have to do. She would give it to someone at the keep. Let an engineer figure it out. Tahar would have loved investigating its guts, like that time with the droid.

Shima smiled remembering his delight in the strange device. They didn’t know then of course, but they had played a tiny part in the arrival of the Humans. Her smile faded. Where were the Humans now? Had they escaped the Murderers? Kajetan said in her broadcast the Humans would fight, but had they? Surely their ship could not do so well as the Fleet. Everyone said the Human ship was designed for surveying new worlds not fighting. Shima gazed upon the fading stars as the sun came up and wished the Humans well.

At least she was clean now. They had a good source of water and cover. The spring was icy cold; supplied no doubt by snow melt from the mountains, but all she had cared about was getting the stinky alien blood out of her pelt. She loved that spring for being here. The cave was a boon too of course. Shima had stationed herself just inside the entrance to watch the game trail she had used to find it. It was perfect. They couldn’t be observed from above, they had water, and the cave was close to game trails fresh from regular use. Native animals must use the spring, and that meant she would have an easy time feeding everyone.

She checked the map again. All clear.

She closed her eyes and settled into her meditation sleep. Not truly sleep, her lessons were clear on that, but it was restful for the body if not the mind. She was determined not to make any more mistakes as she had with Merrick. She would let the others help, but she would not relax her guard until they were safely in a keep. Her muscles relaxed, the map device settled a little in her hands and lap. Her breathing deepened and slowed as her mind wandered. Images of Tahar, of Merrick, of Chailen flowed through her thoughts, but none lingered. The fight with the Merkiaari briefly flashed by, broken static images shocking. Her claws buried in the eyes of an alien, another of her claws already running red ripping open a throat. Another, another, another... her hand in the guts of a Merkiaari. That one almost made her lose her trance. She hadn’t noticed at the time, but she must have been aware enough to strike beneath the alien’s breastplate to disembowel him. Gradually the violent images gave way, and the Harmonies showed her the world around the cave.

She was right, Shima sluggishly mused, her thoughts slowed to match her breathing. The local wildlife was abundant. The animals would not come near the cave now it was occupied, but they still needed water. She watched as they followed their usual trails, and noted the point at which they scented the Shan hiding in the cave. Shima wondered what the little mind glows were thinking. Probably they were scared or annoyed about the interlopers sleeping here. The creatures waited a short time before turning aside. Shima followed and watched as they found a second source of water. It was a shallow pond, just a low place in the forest that ground water had filled.

Shima opened her eyes, not losing her calm and slowly looked down. Yes, the little creatures were clear on the map. The icons were a different colour, and the alien text attached to them was different than she saw previously attached to the Merkiaari icons. She couldn’t read the text, but she would bet it said the animals were not Shan or something of the kind. Non sentient maybe, though Merkiaari didn’t seem to care they were killing sentient beings. Or perhaps they did, and preferred to kill them. Who knew?

Shima studied the map, took note of the pond’s location by the simple expedient of comparing where she knew the animals were and where they appeared on the map, and then closed her eyes to continue her watch.

In this way, alternating eyes open observation of the map and cave entrance, with eyes closed observation using the Harmonies, Shima kept the group safe through that morning. Kazim came and took over charge of the map. Shima didn’t move or bother to say anything when he quietly took it out of her lap. He knew she was aware of him, but didn’t speak. He sat inside the cave entrance on the opposite side to her, probably using her position as guide. They sat like two statues, guardians of the clan, though their small group was no such thing and the real clan guardians were wooden, cut from trees in the various clan groves.

The day passed slowly for Shima. She did not allow herself sleep. She kept her vigil, noting Kazim handing off his responsibility of watching the map to Nevin. She ignored their whispered converse. They were simply speculating about what was happening elsewhere. To Shima that was a little pointless when all that mattered for now was surviving to reach the keep. Besides, homeworld was far away. It was likely the Merkiaari were doing the same there as here. Considering what happened when the Merkiaari last made war on them, Shima didn’t doubt her people were fighting for their lives everywhere.

Kazim left to get more sleep. Nevin watched for a couple of segs in silence, and then gave his place to his mate. They had decided not to include the younglings in the watch, though next nameday they would be seven cycles old and adult. They were not adult quite yet, though probably more than capable. It was their parent’s decision in any case, and they had decided to prolong their cub’s innocence for as long as they could. Shima sympathised. If this war progressed as she thought it might, Merrick’s sibs would be fighting very soon. Let them remain innocent for as long as they could.

“You killed my cub,” Marsali said.

Shima said nothing.

“Making him fight was wrong. He was too young. I hate you for that.”

“I know,” Shima said, her eyes still closed keeping her watch. There was no sign of Merkiaari, but some of the larger predators were starting to concern her. “I know.”

“You saved us.”

Shima did not reply, but wondered where this was going.

“My mate, my cubs... we would all be dead if not for you and Kazim.”

“Don’t credit me with saving you. It was Merrick; he died for his family. He loved you all very much. If not for him you would be dead. If not for him I would not have turned back to find you.” Shima opened her eyes and turned to Marsali. “I killed Merrick and will never forgive myself for that. Nothing you say can make me feel worse than I already do.”

Tears welled from Marsali’s eyes and fell. Shima watched her weep silently, but then stood. She moved to take the alien map away, but Marsali held it tight.

“I need to do something,” Marsali said clearing her throat and scrubbing away tears. “I need to be useful, to help save my cubs. To be worthy of Merrick.”

Shima blinked feeling flustered. “I... you have nothing to prove to any of us.”

“To myself,” Marsali insisted. “I need to not be a burden. I need to help save them.”

Shima released the computer into Marsali’s care, but she did take a very quick look at the display; as before it showed no sign of Merkiaari. It did show something was out there. The predators she had found using the Harmonies.

“Keep it and watch then. I am going hunting. We need to eat before we leave.”

Marsali clutched the computer and indicated agreement, her ears flicking in the common gesture, but her tail also curled around one leg. She was nervous indeed; it was a youngling thing to do. Shima wanted to find Nevin and ask him to watch with his mate. Marsali didn’t seem completely confident of what she wanted, but Shima decided to see how she performed. No point in undermining her before she even tried.

Shima slinked silently through the trees, keeping low and moving slow as she stalked her prey. It was a decent sized male Shkai’lon, and could be dangerous. They were fast too. She was upwind of him and determined to hamstring him on her first pass. Shkai’lon weren’t indigenous to Child of Harmony, but they had thrived here. The first colony ships had brought all manner of animals from Harmony for the colonists to eat. Back then no one knew if they could even eat the native plants and animals. As it turned out, certain species were poisonous, but in the main they could. When the Merkiaari came, everything was shattered. Farms and towns were abandoned. Animals such as this one’s ancestors had escaped the pens and bred in the wild. No doubt some of the native life had lost their place in the ecosystem, some even becoming extinct as Shan nearly did, but a surprising number did not and fought back until the current balance was reached. All of which was good news from Shima’s point of view. She was hungry and Shkai’lon were tasty.

Shima stopped, buried in shadow and underbrush, only her gleaming unblinking eyes visible in the gloom. She had taken off her visor as she always did on the hunt, but this time it was for a different reason. Since her accident in Zuleika she had entered a whole new realm of paranoia where her sight was concerned. She had always feared blindness ever since she learned the long term prognosis of her condition, but now she’d had a small taste of it. She never wanted to be so helpless again. The hated visor was now a lifeline she dare not let out of her possession, but at the same time she feared damaging it. Tahar would not rescue her with another visor or repair it if broken. So once again it was safe on her harness.

Like Shkai’ra, Shkai’lon were herbivores, but unlike their smaller cousins Shkai’lon had formidable weapons and bad dispositions to match. They were dangerous as all get out, and would fight even when the odds were bad. A bit like her people in that way, Shima mused watching the delicious creature use his spurs to grub in the dirt for roots. Those spurs were deadly in a close in fight, the only kind to be had between Shan and Shkai’lon. The rack upon his head and the sharp hooves were also something to be wary of. If a Shkai’lon was cornered or chased toward exhaustion, they would turn at bay and put up a murderous blur of flashing hooves and swinging antlers. Many a hunter had died to pull such a beast down.