Nuworld: Claiming Tara (37 page)

Semore was north. All indications showed Gowsky’s
house to be on the southern edge of the town. She’d work
her way west before heading north again.
There was still no sight of anyone. However, she had no
warm clothing,
no food,
no
weapons,
and
no
way
to
communicate with anyone. The odds for survival were not
in her favor.
Within minutes, she stood surrounded by a clump of
trees at the edge of the large yard. Tara turned back and
looked at the house.
“That was too easy.” Tara didn’t see anyone. “There are
no guards, no servants – no one.”
Did he want her to escape? Gowsky had said they
weren’t murderers. Maybe he didn’t know what to do with
her. Was he just going to let her go?
“No,” Tara decided, and she pulled the blanket tighter to
fight the chill. “It would be stupid to let me go back to my
people and tell them I was kept unconscious for six cycles
by the Neurians.”
She looked around at the trees and focused on the land
south of her. Aware of how technologically advanced this
society was, she searched the topography yard. Maybe
there were traps she couldn’t see. An icy breeze rustled
around the trees. Was it her imagination or did the trees
half a dozen yards away not appear affected by the breeze?
She picked up several rocks and threw one toward the
trees in question. The rock came back to her with so much
force she almost didn’t duck in time.
So that was it. He had a force field of some kind. She
walked in what she believed to be a parallel path to the
invisible field, determining its location by tossing rocks.
They all bounced back at her. No wonder no one was
pursuing her. She was fenced in.
Again, she studied the house. Were they watching her?
Studying her? Figuring out what abilities she possessed?
Tara was perplexed. Without a landlink, she had few
skills to handle her current situation. She didn’t have a
way to
determine
what the
force
field was made
of,
determine where it began and ended, or identify weak
spots. If she threw rocks all day she might not learn a
thing.
She climbed one of the taller trees to see into the
distance. Her blankets slipped and attempted to trip her
several times, but she managed to settle on a branch,
relatively
hidden by dead
leaves,
and wrap
the
loose
blanket around her again. The force field had her stumped,
but she would figure something out.
Sooner or later, someone would be sent looking for her.
Then at least she’d have the chance to disarm them and
have a weapon.
Runners taught their young warriors that patience was a
virtue. Tara had never done well with that lesson. She was
impatient. How long had she sat on this branch?
She listened for sounds other than leaves rustling. It
seemed forever. Eventually two Neurians approached her
from either
side.
She
immediately thought
of
the
five
Gothman she’d taken out in the forest the day she’d
entered that nation. That seemed like a hundred winters
ago. She’d thought of those Gothman warriors as nothing
more than an obstacle course. Even taking on Darius,
when he
might
have
killed
her,
had been a glorious
adventure. Now, with these Neurians, everything seemed
more serious, more focused. Maybe it was because she had
more to fight for now. Andru and Ana needed their mama.
The memory brought a smile to her face.
Two men, each carrying those large Neurian lasers,
wandered through the trees toward her. They were looking
in her direction, but didn’t see her. As they approached
each other, they turned around, then walked in circles,
focusing on the area beneath her. Their landlinks had led
them to her.
She waited until they were within a hand’s reach of each
other. Slowly, the two men looked up into the branches of
the tree above them.
Wait. Wait
.
She mouthed the words, bracing herself.
Tara’s muscles tightened, her adrenaline
spiked.
A
breeze brushed against her neck. Icy fingers crawled down
her spine. The excitement of the hunt sent chills rushing
through her. Her body and mind had been deprived of this
for too long. She inhaled the cool air deeply.
Wait. Wait
.
She watched two heads tilt back, and two
sets of dark eyes look up until they spotted her.
Now!
She leapt off the branch. The comforter acted like a net
that she used to try and drape over both men. One of the
men aimed his large laser at her. She grabbed the front of
it as she fell. With the force of gravity to assist her, she
shoved the butt of the gun into his face as she landed on
the ground.
“Do you plan to kill me?” she hissed.
The butt hit square on his nose, and he howled as Tara
spoke. His own blood blinded him. Grabbing the gun from
his hand, she turned and shot the other in the face.
“You broke my nose,” the man howled, as he covered his
face with his hands.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t like it when people point lasers at
me.” Tara tugged her blanket free from under the dead man
and seized his laser as well.
Turning, she hardly had time to aim as a third Neurian,
this time a large woman, lunged at her. The target was
close, and Tara took her down easily. Two more Neurian
women were right behind her. They, too, proved easy
targets.
An incredible blow from behind sent Tara flying forward.
She hit the ground with excruciating force. Tara endured
the pain from the rough ground tearing into her flesh. She
scurried to her knees and crawled to the Neuriam laser
that had flown out of her grasp when she fell.
“Hold it right there.” Tara aimed straight into the mouth
of a young Neurian man. His eyes doubled in size as her
finger tightened on the trigger.
“That’s enough!” A voice boomed through the air, jerking
every muscle in Tara’s body as she jumped in surprise.
She turned to look at the man who’d shouted the
command. “You steal six cycles from my life, and then tell
me this is enough?” Tara pulled the trigger and shot the
Neurian in the mouth. She then fired on the man who had
issued the command.
The sound of him falling to the ground, with half of his
face missing, echoed through the surrounding trees. Then,
all was silent.
Tara turned, arms outstretched, aiming the Neurian
lasers and at anybody fool enough to make their presence
known. Seven dead bodies lay on the ground around her.
The smell of blood and burnt flesh drifted as the breeze
increased. Breathing hard, her body tensed. She listened to
the silence and continued glancing in all directions.
There were more. She heard the occasional leaf crumple,
or a small twig snap. Gowsky walked slowly out from
behind a nearby tree. His hands were outstretched, his
movements slow and deliberate. She aimed one of the large
lasers at him.
“Do all Runners fight like you?” He raised his hands
higher, letting her know he was not armed.
“If they’re good, they do.” Tara aimed at his face.
“We definitely have a problem on our hands.” He smiled
at her. “Do you shoot someone who isn’t armed?”
Gowsky must have believed she wouldn’t shoot him,
since he appeared before her with outstretched arms. But
she knew he didn’t trust her when four Neurians appeared
from behind the trees. They aimed their lasers at her.

Gowsky noticed how seductive she looked in spite of her
dirty clothes hanging on her thin body. Tara had many
sides to her personality, he noted. Those who didn’t know
her well would think she was simply a happy mama with
two small children, looking for a new life. He’d seen what
he wanted to see, however. She was the most incredible
warrior he’d ever witnessed seeing. Gowsky was more than
a bit put out that Kuro hadn’t given him better warning of
her unbelievable fighting skills.

Tara watched Gowsky aware that he was summing up
her abilities. Had he set her up simply to see what she
could do? If so the man had sent seven of his warriors on a
suicide mission to test her. Tara had no problem showing
the Neurians her skills, or letting them know she would
fight for her freedom. Now, she was curious what Gowsky
planned to do with this knowledge.

There was no movement beyond the surrounding group
of trees. Tara shifted her attention and looked through the
trees. Something moved again. It was the old woman from
the desert! She stood partially visible behind one of the
farthest trees, returning Tara’s stare. Had she walked all
the way here by herself?

The woman was definitely very old. Her wrinkled skin
was leathery and her watery eyes almost glassy. It Tara
didn’t know better she’d say the age had stolen the old
woman’s sight. Her dress and boots were made of animal
skin. Thick, white, straw-like hair was wrapped loosely
around her head in a twisted bun. For an old woman who
had obviously walked so far she
was relatively clean,
probably a lot cleaner looking than Tara looked at the
moment.

There was another thing Tara noticed about the old lady.
She
was out
here
on the
edge
of Gowsky’s property.
Possibly she’d just witnessed Tara kill Neurians. The old
woman didn’t look stressed, though. If anything, she
seemed relaxed, content with her surroundings and at
peace.

Gowsky glanced in the direction Tara was looking. He
didn’t see anything, yet she was alerted by something. He
stared harder. Still nothing. What was she doing?

Tara narrowed her eyes and scrutinized the old woman,
who had finally stepped out from behind the tree and had
begun walking toward her. There was obviously a break in
the force field for the old woman to get on Gowsky’s land.
Tara had to figure out where it was.

Tara returned
her
attention to
Gowsky.
The
four
Neurians still held their weapons on her, and Gowsky was
giving her a hard look. None gave any indication they
noticed the old woman approaching. Tara looked down at
the ground and slowly lifted her eyes in the direction of the
old woman once again.

She walked into the open, allowing herself to be seen by
the small group. Yet they didn’t appear to notice her.
Were they testing her again? Tara tried to give no
indication that she noticed the old woman approaching.
The woman stopped next to Tara. She looked up and met
Tara’s eyes. It was definitely the same woman she’d seen in
the desert.
“Why are you here?” the old woman asked. Her deeply
creased dark brown face appeared healthy.
Tara didn’t respond. Instead, she looked at Gowsky, who
was giving her an odd look.
The old woman continued. “You have a lot of work to do.
Tonight, you need to go home.” She turned and walked
back through the trees.
Tara made mental note where the old woman left, then
looked at the four men, still aiming their guns at her,
before focusing on Gowsky.
“Take her inside,” Gowsky instructed the four armed
men.
Tara was escorted past the damaged barn to the house.
She
wondered
what Gowsky normally
used
the
small
wooden structure for since she didn’t notice any animals
on his property.
Her thoughts returned to the old woman. Who was she?
Tara remembered Fleeders’ explanation about guardians
roaming in the desert, but this woman had been flesh and
blood, not a hallucination devised from the imagination.
Gowsky led Tara inside his home, dismissing the guards
before
they entered.
She found herself surrounded by
warmth for the first time in days. As she entered a large
room, Gowsky didn’t seem to mind her self-guided tour, so
she studied the room’s contents.
Tara glanced behind her at Gowsky, who stood just
inside the door pushing buttons on a wall-mounted pad.
Tara wished she had her landlink with her; she could then
determine if force fields surrounded the house.
Tara stood in a long, narrow room. She noted a closed
door at the other end of the room and a hallway to her left,
which was shrouded in darkness. The room was possibly
used for brainstorming political tactics, judging by the
number of chairs and sofas arranged in it. The floors were
covered with thick, braided carpet, and the walls made of
clay.
A door opposite her opened, and a woman appeared. She
stared at Tara but made no move to enter the living area.
“You can show our guest to her room, Saysil,” Gowsky
said.
The woman walked across the room, heading for the
dark hallway. Tara guessed she should follow and did so.
“These clothes should fit you.” The woman, who was
about the same age as Tara, opened the door at the end of
the hallway.
Tara entered the room, noticing Saysil backed to the
doorway. She gestured silently to clothes draped over a
chair, before closing the door and locking it.
The dark khaki pants and wool sweater she’d been given
to wear were actually comfortable. The small room where
she’d changed had a large bureau
and
a small bed.
Possibly it was a spare room for guests—or for prisoners.
The room she’d been given in Gothman, when she’d first
come to live with Darius, had been much nicer. Darius had
also considered her a prisoner of sorts, although at the
time Tara hadn’t known it. Gothman were obviously a lot
more skilled in their tactics than Neurians.
Clay-plastered walls slowly closed in around her. Pacing
the length of the room agitated her further. The walls had
no pictures hanging on them, and only one thin blanket
spread over the bed—certainly not enough cover for the
new winter.
Left
alone,
Tara explored the room’s contents.
The
bureau only had a few items in it, possibly forgotten by a
previous guest. She found a pouch-like bag with straps
that she tied around her stomach and hid under her
sweater. She also discovered long underwear in the bureau
and pulled off the khaki pants to put them on before
donning the pants again. It would be wise to dress warmly
if she took the old lady’s advice and headed home that
night. Even though she had no idea how this plan was to
be executed, she decided to prepare just in case. It would
be colder the further north she traveled.
The
only
window in the
room looked
out
over
the
backyard. A large pane of glass was enclosed in a wooden
frame that slid up and down on ropes. It easily unlocked,
and she slid it up. The screen on the other side of the
window would
pop
out
easily,
she
determined
after
studying the manner in which it attached to the window
frame.
She looked out the window at the side yard. Not too far
away was another, much larger barn. The barn door was
open but it was impossible to tell if anyone was inside.
Four guards had accompanied them to the house, but she
didn’t see any of them at the moment. She didn’t see the
small barn that had been her prison, but knew it was on
the other side.
Carefully, she removed the screen and held on to it until
the
bottom touched
the
ground,
then
let
go.
Gowsky
obviously didn’t use his house to hold prisoners. Possibly
he relied on a landlink system to protect his home and
decided there was only one way to find out. For the second
time that day, Tara planned her escape. She slid out the
window, landing easily onto the ground.
Tara walked several feet away from the house and froze.
At the corner of the building, Gowsky stood talking to
another
man.
They hadn’t
been noticeable
from the
window. The other man faced her, but Gowsky had his
back to her. If she made a move toward the trees she would
be noticed.
The man talking to Gowsky pointed a finger in her
direction, and Gowsky turned.
Tara saw him throw up his hands as if exasperated and
steer the man in the other direction. That’s when Tara
realized the other man was Fleeders!
Fleeders looked
hard
at her,
saying something to
Gowsky.
Tara seized the opportunity and bolted toward the barn.
She heard Gowsky yell her name. He was running after
her.
Tara got to the barn in plenty of time to shut the door
and lower the wooden lock. She moved away from the door
as Gowsky lunged against it.
“Open the door, Tara.”
Tara ignored him and moved farther from the door,
looking around her. Farming equipment surrounded her.
Irrigation supplies lined the wall. She saw several horse
stalls and started examining each in turn. They appeared
empty. She passed a pitchfork and picked it up as she
continued investigating the stalls.
“Tara!” Gowsky yelled loudly this time, his frustration
apparent.
“Where are all your animals?” Tara decided to feed his
anger.
“Dead. Now open the door!”
“Dead? That’s odd. How’d they die?”
“All the animals died, Tara.” It was Fleeders’ voice.
Tara reached the fourth and last stall. “Perfect.”
She stared at her motorcycle parked in the space. It was
covered with dust and straw. She brushed off the seat as
she pulled it out. The landlink was missing from the dash.
Would it run? Not far without fresh gas and oil.
Several laser shots hit the door, Gowsky yelled from the
other side. “Aim at the lock.”
A final shot broke the metal piece holding the wooden
lock, and it slid across the hard dirt floor. The door swung
open.
“Where do you expect to go on that?” Gowsky stood at
the door, focusing on Tara who’d mounted the bike. “The
force field surrounds the yard.”
Tara smiled. She pushed the necessary buttons, and the
bike started easily. “I guess I will have to have faith in your
Crator.”
She wouldn’t know how hard her words hit Gowsky. He
looked at her with complete bafflement. Gowsky snapped
his attention at Fleeders, then back to Tara. “You don’t
believe in Crator.”
“Well, it seems your Crator believes in me.” Tara raced
her engine, allowing the gas to flow through it.
“You have no right to speak about Crator. You know
nothing about Him,” Gowsky sneered. “Crator would have
anything to do with a Runner.”
“If you say so.” Tara shrugged indifferently. Her
expression didn’t change as she looked up and saw that he
pointed laser gun at her. “You know I saw her again today,
don’t you, Gowsky?”
“You saw her?” Gowsky inched closer, maintaining his
aim on her.
“I saw an old woman.” Tara had no doubts that Gowsky
would shoot her. But if he got just a bit closer, she’d
disarm him. “She told me to go home.”
“How convenient,” Gowsky snapped.
Tara lunged the bike forward with no warning. Straight
at Gowsky. He jumped to the side and fired the laser. Tara
reached out and smacked Gowsky’s wrist, causing the it to
fire into the rafters. A blizzard of hay descended on them.
Tara maintained her grip as Gowsky yanked back.
Her hand moved with him as he yanked, offering no
resistance.
He was prepared for her to pull back, assuming she’d try
to take the laser from him. He used too much force and lost
his balance. Which is exactly what she wanted.
As he hesitated, trying to regain balance, she stole the
laser, pulled the handlebar of her bike hard in the other
direction and sped out of the barn.
Tara was amazed. She was properly clothed, armed, and
had her bike
.
She knew her skills exceeded those of the
Neurians, but the accomplishments she’d just achieved
almost appeared to be handed to her. Maybe that old
woman wasn’t as delusional as she looked.
Gowsky was right, she knew nothing about Crator. She’d
never been asked to have faith in something she knew
nothing about or had never met. She’d had faith in other
Runners before, during battle. She knew they would do
their part and if she did her part, they would be victorious.
She’d had faith in Patha all her life. He provided for her
and taught her everything he knew. That was the faith she
would use now.
Still if Gowsky and his people believed in something
they’d never seen, what would it hurt if she tried to do the
same? Someone or something had just helped her escape.
She skidded the bike around the barn and headed to the
point in the force field where the old woman had left. Tara
didn’t slow down or hesitate in any way. This Crator-being,
or the old woman…someone…had faith in her. She would
reciprocate. She rode at high speed straight into the force
field.
Gowsky dove at Tara’s bike but missed. He tore at the
ground with his shoes as he broke into a full run toward
his house.
“Turn off the force field!” he screamed, running through
the house, knocking over an end table, heading for the
small room off his living room. He screamed again, “Turn
the force field off now!”
Fleeders was right behind him as the two stormed into
the small room, startling the young woman sitting at a
landlink.
“What?” She turned in her chair, looking surprised and
bewildered at the unusual request.
“She’ll electrocute herself.” Gowsky almost knocked over
the confused woman as he reached for the console in front
of her. A beeping sound began, and a red light flashed next
to one of several monitors. “She thinks she has some gift
from Crator and can just drive straight through that thing.”
The trio watched the monitor and saw Tara riding at full
speed through the backyard toward the trees. Another light
began flashing,
indicating
the
force
field had
been
dismantled. Tara drove around the trees and disappeared
from the screen’s view. Gowsky raced out of the small
room.
“You let her go!” Fleeders followed him.
“You heard her. She said she saw Crator. She was going
to run right into that force field. Her bike is completely
electronic—she’d have been fried to a crisp.”
“She told me an old lady talked to her in the desert one
night, and she just said she saw an old lady again. Maybe
Crator is talking to her,” Fleeders whispered, afraid of being
overheard. He looked around the empty living room. “She
told me the woman disappeared into the darkness and then
she saw a large dog. Gowsky, she knows nothing about the
Guardians. She wanted to research Crator through our
network but I told her…” Fleeders’ cut himself off. He made
eye contact with Gowsky and shuffled from one foot to the
other, suddenly very uncomfortable.
“You never told me that you discussed Crator with her.
What did you tell her? And when did this conversation take
place?”
“Well, uh, I told her it would raise suspicion if she
started researching Crator.”
“When did you talk to her?”
“Uh, the night that…” Fleeders hesitated, searching for
words. He wanted to say the night that Gowsky burned
down his life’s work, the night their communication with
the Lunians ended. “It was the night you brought her
here.”
Gowsky stared at Fleeders for a moment. So Fleeders
had been communicating with Tara when he was supposed
to be
spying on her. The man possessed outstanding
landlink skills, but his religious faith bordered on the
superstitious. It
amazed
Gowsky that
even the
most
intelligent of people allowed something as simple as faith in
Crator to consume their life and affect rational decisionmaking.
Gowsky didn’t have time for this. He gave Fleeders a
look that
said
the
conversation was not
over.
He
straightened the small table he’d knocked over, opened the
small drawer in it, and pulled out another laser. Shoving it
into the side of his pants, he once again ran out of his
house.
Tara didn’t shut her eyes. She didn’t blink. She didn’t
slow down. She looked straight ahead as the trees cleared
and the desert lay ahead.
She had done it. She had driven through the force field.
Was this the act of Crator? Who was this Crator? She
looked around to the vast openness, glanced behind her to
see the trees fading. Suddenly the frigid wind hit her skin,
causing her to shiver uncontrollably.
Gowsky would follow her. Escape would not be this easy.
She needed direction. West. She needed to go west.
Ignoring the waves of cold air streaming across her body,
she veered the motorcycle. She wasn’t used to navigating
without her landlink. But one of the tests she’d passed as a
young warrior was finding her way back to the clan without
the aid of her navigation program. She’d been one of the
first Runners to make it back, and she remembered how
proud Patha had been. He hadn’t shown it in front of the
rest of the clan, but that night, as she’d cleaned her bike,
he’d told her. She’d never forget the look in his eyes—
unconditional love.