Nuworld: Claiming Tara (40 page)

morning as Tara wiped down her bike and prepared for the
day’s journey. She declined breakfast, but eagerly worked
on her second cup of coffee. One of the advantages of being
befriended by the clan leader’s daughter, not everyone had
access to the rare drink. It worked miracles on the dayafters brought on by too much ale the night before.

Tara looked up to see Rolko speaking to her as he and
two other Runners approached. “Good morning.” She tried
to sound polite as her mind raced for a response. “I’m
Leetha,” she decided.

“Leetha, we’ve brought a landlink for your bike.” He
gestured to one of the men with him, who produced a small
flat black panel. “Which clan are you from?”

“The Blood Circle c
lan.”
“Well, we really are taking you home, aren’t we?” He
smiled, but the look in his eye let her know he had more to
say.

She stood silently, showing her respect.
“You violated our law by entering Southland, Leetha.
Male has told me you plan to enter the Test of Wills. I can’t
permit you to do that. I’ll turn my report into Patha and
make him aware of your violation. You’ll have to approach
him personally to argue your case once we arrive at our
destination, before your entry can be accepted. I’m sure
you’re aware of the laws.”
“Yes, I am. Thank you for the landlink.” Tara remained
still until the men were finished with her bike and had left
her. Her heart sank. The only way to enter the Test of Wills
now was by using her own login number. Furthermore, she
knew the second Patha received a transmission saying a
Runner named Leetha—from his clan—had just come over
the border, her cover would be blown.
There was no Leetha in the Blood Circle clan that she
knew of. She hoped Patha wouldn’t review the reports from
the clans right away. After all, there was a lot going on to
distract him.
Somehow she needed to remain undetected until the
Test began. She knew she could prove herself in battle. In
fact, unlike Male, she looked forward to that part of the
test.
Tara tested her landlink, and the travel plan for the day
appeared on the small screen. They were scheduled to
arrive at the Blood Circle clan that evening. This was
perfect. Arriving after dark would be to her advantage.
She shut down the landlink and entered Male’s trailer.
Tara already knew the young girl was not there. She’d
taken off earlier to help some of the mamas organize their
children for the day. It was a job that had often been
assigned to Tara when she was that age. Male would be
gone for a while.
She sat down at the landlink and took a deep breath.
This would either work or it wouldn’t. She held up her
fingers, hesitated for a second, and then typed in her login
number. The landlink buzzed, and the proper lights lit up
accordingly. Her heart thumped when it seemed to take
forever for the network to appear. Male wouldn’t be gone
forever. Tara wanted to submit the answers to the written
test through the network before she was discovered. Her
landlink had never moved so slowly.
At last, the picture on the monitor flashed and the
selection screen appeared. It worked. Her logon number
hadn’t been deleted. That meant she hadn’t officially been
announced dead. Why then, were they conducting the Test
of Wills? She had no time to ponder this mystery but
instead selected a blank page and began answering the
questions that Male had printed.
She was familiar with the test but still read over each
question carefully. Because the leader of the clans would
have to know all the laws of the Runners very well, each
test question asked about a particular one. Also required
was the
origination of laws, which one best suited a
particular situation, and how she would interpret several
selected
laws.
Tara
typed
quickly yet
answered
each
question thoroughly.
After Patha reviewed the tests, he would name those
who qualified to compete in the confrontation. This part of
the test was no longer a fight to the death. That law had
been changed over one hundred winters ago because too
many good warriors had been killed. The fight would last
until the surrender of one of the competitors. Nevertheless,
this still resulted in a fight to the death all too often, at
least according to the stories. There’d never been a Test of
Wills called as long as Tara had been alive.
Her fingers ached, and her back was sore. Over an hour
passed. Tara clicked on submit and leaned back in the
chair.
It was done.
Whether this would cut her throat or lead her to victory
was undetermined. Tara knew if the test with her logon
number was identified before she got to Gothman, Runners
she didn’t know would arrest her, and she would be
delayed. But if she made it to Gothman before her test
submission was discovered, she would be able to convince
Patha of her need for the test to continue, even though,
strictly speaking, it was unnecessary. She imagined Patha
would be outraged that she’d enter the Test of Wills instead
of simply acknowledging she’d returned.
She stared at the blank monitor for a minute, wondering
who would first notice a written test had been submitted
with her logon number. Would they think it a fraud, or
would they suspect it was her?
Tara leaned back and smiled. Could she actually win the
Test of Wills and be heir to Patha twice over? If so, she
would rule the clans completely. Her authority would be
unquestioned. And then there was Darius. She wanted him
to see her earn her way to victory, conquering each hurdle
every step of the way.
The winner of the Test of Wills wore the title of Head
Warrior. It was the highest honor a Runner could receive
and always fell upon the ruler of a clan. Not as many
women won as men did, but Tara knew she hadn’t lost a
competition in winters. She didn’t know of a warrior she
couldn’t defeat. If Darius witnessed her taking the title of
Head Warrior, he, as well as all of Gothman, would see that
a person’s sex had nothing to do with what skills they
possessed. Taking the title would be one more step toward
earning the respect Tara needed from Darius, and from his
people.
Her heart ached and her blood warmed as she thought
of battle. Her pregnancy might have stopped her from
participating in the last war, but nothing would stop her
from using her warrior skills for the test. She was free to
soar to her highest potential.
Who would the other contenders be? Would they be
allowed to use weapons on a field, or would it be in an
arena with hand-to-hand
combat?
How many finalists
would there be? Tara had studied a few Tests of Wills
before
her
Age of
Searching
,
and knew
the
leader
of
Runners had complete control over how the test would be
conducted. Tara hoped for an arena. More people would
witness the victories that way.
Questions continued to swarm in her head as Tara
stared across the trailer. The sounds of starting motors
brought her back to the moment, and she jumped up.
Turning off the landlink, she hurried outside to her bike.
By the middle of the afternoon, Tara began to recognize
the countryside.
They were
coming
up
on the
southern tip of
the
Gothman nation. The ground was hard, and the dark gray
clouds hung very low. Her eyelids burned from the cold
wind that had slapped her face for the past few hours, and
she guessed snow would fall before they arrived on the
western side of Gothman where the clan site was located.
She suspected her logon number had been discovered by
now. It wouldn’t be difficult for the authorities to determine
its source. It was quite possible Rolko would be notified
that one of his landlinks had transmitted using her logon
number. Then, they would search for the one who had
used the number.
Tara wondered how much information Patha would give
the clan leader. Would Patha tell Rolko that an illegal
number had been used? Or would he specifically say that
Tara’s number had been used? She continued hoping they
arrived at their destination before Rolko was contacted.
Over the next hour, snow began to fall, drastically
limiting visibility. Tara was forced to slow down, as was the
rest of
the
clan.
She
strained
to
see
the
passing
countryside, trying to determine how far into Gothman
territory they’d come.
The wind picked up. For a brief minute, she thought she
saw something in the distance, but then it was gone. She
focused on the ground immediately in front of her. Several
riders ahead yelled, and she looked up. One of the Runners
was pointing to something, and Rolko pulled up alongside
him.
Tara looked in the direction they indicated and made out
several brown figures ahead. She squinted and refocused,
watching through the snow as the figures drew nearer.
Four Gothman approached. Rolko, with the surrounding
Runners, slowed to a stop. Her heart pounded against her
leather coat as she watched the men talk to Rolko. It was
impossible to tell who the Gothman were.
The one speaking to Rolko was long-legged and broadshouldered. Through the blowing snow, she wasn’t able to
determine his hair color. He turned his head to scan the
Runners scattered across the meadow. Rolko gestured for
the
Gothman
to
follow him.
They rode
on their
loud
Gothman bikes through the hundreds of parked Runners.
Tara watched the four Gothman approached. One of
them was Darius!
He passed within a few feet of her motorcycle, head held
high in the blowing wind. Blond curls stuck out from
underneath a black hat.
His hair was longer. Everything inside her reached to
him like a magnet, yet he never glanced her way as he
drove by.
The Gothman and Rolko drove back to where the trailers
were parked with the Runners congregating in their wake.
Tara was near three Runners, and several others joined
them to discuss the possible reasons for the Gothman’s
arrival.
“They said something about a wrong logon number being
used.”
“That doesn’t seem like a reason to stop us in this bitter
cold.”
“The Gothman are looking for an excuse to search our
clan.”
“Why would Lord Darius come himself?”
The chatter continued. Tara quit listening. Rolko would
figure out what landlink transmitted the illegal number,
and when the transmission had occurred. Once he had
that information, he would know either his daughter, or
she, had sent the transmission using the illegal number.
She couldn’t conveniently disappear—she
was
surrounded by clan members. Even if she slipped away,
the snow was blowing hard enough to get lost. Not to
mention the fact that they could easily track her with the
landlink they’d assembled on her bike.
Tara was trapped.
She waited for the inevitable to happen. Within a short
amount of time, it did. A motorcycle approached their
group, and one of the Runners who’d been with Rolko
gestured to her.
“Come with me.” He said nothing else.
She followed through the snow. Some of the Runners
watched her pass, but for the most part they huddled
together in small groups, preoccupied in conversation. No
one was concerned that she’d been singled out.

Torgo sat in the corner of the living area sorting through
incoming tests. They’d been arriving by the thousands.
Earlier that quarter cycle the program that received and
graded the tests had quit working. Patha was impressed by
Torgo’s ability to save the submitted tests and fix the
program. Now it worked twice as fast and sorted the tests,
eliminating those with more than one mistake. This made
the job of reviewing the tests much easier, and Patha
praised Torgo’s landlink abilities.

“He’s a natural,” he told Darius with
Torgo sitting right
there. “What he can’t do on the battlefield, he makes up for
on the landlink.”

That comment stung at Torgo’s pride, but he’d kept a
straight face.
“I want an hourly report from you on all written tests,”
Patha ordered. “Request any assistants you may need to
help you.”
Torgo had immediately sought out Syra. The perfect
tests, and those with one mistake, automatically printed
out with the logon number at the top. For the first few
days, only one or two tests were printed. But as the day of
the Test of Wills approached, several more tests printed
out. Torgo had Syra manually check the answers before
they were turned over to Patha.
“Here’s Kuro’s test,” Syra said as she leaned back in her
chair. Torgo came up from behind her and rubbed his
hands down the front of her shirt as he leaned over.
“Not now, silly,” she giggled and pushed him away.
“Perfectly answered, I assume.” Torgo didn’t like Kuro. It
annoyed him the way Kuro was a bit too friendly around
Darius.
“Of course,” Syra shrugged. “Looks like he’ll win the Test
of Wills. I don’t know about the rest of these people, but
Kuro’s quite the warrior.”
“Well, I guess I’ll take these reports to Patha for review.
One of the clans reported a Runner who admitted coming
up from Southland. She’s from the Blood Circle Clan. Her
name’s Leetha.” Torgo grabbed the reports and stacked
them. “I can take those tests to him while I’m at it.”
“Uh-huh.” Syra wasn’t listening to Torgo. She was busy
looking at a test that had just printed. “Torgo, look at this.”
He studied it, then looked at her, confused.
She grabbed back the test. “Look! It’s Tara’s logon
number. We forgot to delete it. Didn’t Darius ask you to do
that a while back?”
“Hell be doomed! Yeah, he did. The transmission
crashed and I forgot all about it. I don’t understand. How
come it’s on this test?” Torgo reached around Syra and
began tapping buttons on her keypad.
The images on Syra’s screen flashed. She tried to follow
what he was doing, but his landlink skills were beyond
hers.
“It was submitted from a landlink in the Four Circle
clan.” He continued to type. “They’re just south of us.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Report it to Patha and Darius, I guess. Those are my
orders.” Torgo took the tests from Syra and walked to the
door.
Syra jumped up and followed him. This was the most
excitement they’d had since they’d started gathering the
tests.
Patha and Darius weren’t in the house. After discussing
it, they decided to ride to the clan site and look for the two
leaders. They rode together on Torgo’s bike, believing their
information vital enough for it to be overlooked that they
were together on the bike.
Balbo disapproved of the time Torgo and Syra spent
together,
considering
his daughter
too
young
for
the
physical relationship he was sure the Gothman boy would
instigate. If her papa only knew how much she’d educated
Torgo.
Torgo drove straight to Patha’s trailer, which was parked
next to Balbo’s. Snow started to fall, and no one noticed the
two of them climb off the bike. Darius and Patha’s bikes
were parked outside the trailer. Torgo knocked on the door.
“Come,” Patha barked.
The two hurried inside, shutting the door behind them
to prevent snow from blowing into the trailer.
Patha looked up at the young people questioningly.
Torgo handed him the two separate stacks of tests. Darius
sat at the landlink with his back to the two of them, not
acknowledging their presence.
“You rode through the snow to give these to me?” Patha
glanced at the papers. “I planned on getting them from you
later today.”
“There’s something I wanted you to see,” Torgo spoke
calmly. He was working on mastering the coolness of voice
his brother possessed.
Patha leaned back in his chair. “Go ahead.”
“One of the written tests used Tara’s logon number.”
Lord Darius spun in his chair. “I told you to delete that
number,” he bellowed.
Torgo hated how his brother always yelled. “When the
transmission quit sending the tests, I spent so much time
fixing it that I forgot to delete the number.”
“Let me see the test,” Patha said.
“The answers are almost identical to the answers you
gave us to grade the tests,” Syra pointed out.
“There’s something else.” Torgo wished Syra would let
him do the talking. “It’s probably just coincidence but I
thought I’d—”
“What is it?” Darius snapped impatiently.
Darius was too mean since Tara had left. “The Four
Circle
clan reports a Runner
has joined
them from
Southland.” Torgo held out the report to Patha. “Her name
is Leetha, and she’s a member of the Blood Circle clan.”
“There’s no Leetha in my clan.” Patha rubbed his head,
then looked up at Syra. “Is there?”
“No, there isn’t.” Syra came out from behind Torgo. “I
checked before we came.”
Patha handed the papers to Darius to study.
Darius glanced at them but then looked at Torgo. “So
what are you saying?” He handed the papers back to
Patha.
“We’re saying it’s a mighty strange coincidence,” Syra
spoke before Torgo did. Lord Darius made her mad with his
continual grouchiness. Once, she’d thought he was cute,
but not anymore. He had done something unforgivable, and
she wished he’d just get over trying to make everyone
miserable because he was an idiot.
She kept talking while she had everyone’s attention. “A
Runner joins the Four Circle clan from Southland. The
report shows she didn’t have a landlink on her bike so they
weren’t able to verify her identity, but she says she’s Leetha
with the Blood Circle clan. The leader of the clan reports
she’s staying with his daughter. The next day, a written
test is submitted from that clan on the daughter’s landlink,
using Tara’s logon number. And the test answers match
your answers almost perfectly. It just seems odd, and we
thought you should know.”
Syra glared at Lord Darius and then gave the same look
to Patha. “Come on, Torgo, let’s get back to work.” She
turned to leave.
“Wait a minute.” Lord Darius growled.
Syra turned and crossed her arms, waiting for him to
speak.
“Are you saying this is Tara?”
“If it’s her, then why is she trying to sneak back up
here?” Patha thought out loud and all three people turned
their heads to look at him. Patha looked at the test answers
more thoroughly and all three stood quietly, watching him.
The answers were almost verbatim to his. He could
almost hear her vocal inflection in the writing style. It was
a mighty odd coincidence. He glanced over at Darius,
nearly forgetting the others in the room. “It’s always
bothered me that the Neurians were never able to produce
a body.” He stood. “I want you to check this out.”
Darius quickly grabbed his coat.
“Find out who used that number. If it’s Tara—” but
Darius was already out the door.