The Search for Kä (18 page)

She clapped her hands together. “Baby sha'um?” she said. “May I see them?”

“If they're outside, you can probably see them from the window,” I said, and went to sit on the ledge that ran along the wall below the two tall, narrow windows. They were made of small, diamond-shaped pieces of glass fitted into a lattice-style frame made of small strips of wood. The frames were divided into two sections, and I opened the lower section of this window, motioning Illia to sit in front of me and look out.

One of the male cubs was just coming out of the sha'um house, using the instinctive stalking movement to sneak up on the female, who was propped unsteadily on her hind legs against the side of the brick building. She was absorbed in batting at Keeshah's twitching tail, which hung over the roof of the house, along with one hind foot. The tail was just within her reach—until her brother knocked her over.

The noise brought the other male on the run, and it was another three-way free-for-all. Keeshah stirred, lifted his head, growled, and relaxed again. Yayshah appeared from behind the building and tromped through the fight, dragging one of the males off and trapping him under a forepaw. She started licking him and he rolled over obligingly, nipping and licking at her jaw and neck as she cleaned him.

“She is beautiful,” Illia breathed, touching my arm for emphasis. “And the cubs—Rikardon, this is a wondrous thing. How did it happen?”

The family scene seemed to have a special significance to me, with Illia sitting so close. Markasset's body had known hers very well, and continued to appreciate it. I stood up, trying not to be obvious about avoiding her touch.

“It has to do with—with the woman who came back with you,” Illia said.

“Her name is Tarani,” I said, “and yes, the female sha'um is hers. It's a long story that I've told too often lately. Besides, I want to hear about you. Are you still teaching? How is Zaddron?”

“I am still teaching,” she answered, then sighed. “As for Zaddorn, his duties keep him well occupied. I suppose you've heard about the sickness.”

“Sickness?”

“The worker vineh—there has been an epidemic of some sort. It spread quickly through the entire colony. They say the pain of it enrages the beast who has it, and that it lasts a long time. Most of the vineh tore their way through the confinement walls at the colony, and are roaming about the countryside. Zaddorn has nearly doubled his Peace and Security Force to provide guards along the roads and try to locate the vineh free of the disease, who simply wandered off because the way was open for them.”

She paused, puzzled.

“Surely Thanasset mentioned this to you?”

“He did say something about trouble with the vineh,” I hedged, “but to tell you the truth, we've been too preoccupied with the sha'um to think of much else.”

So this is how the Council has explained the sudden hostility of the vineh
, I thought.
I wonder if Zaddorn knows the truth.

Illia stood up. “I really must go, Rikardon—I have tomorrow's lesson to plan.”

I walked her to the door. “Give my best to Zaddorn when you see him,” I said, “and take my greetings and good wishes to your parents.”

She turned on the paving stone in front of Thanasset's doorway and smiled at me. “I am glad to have seen you again, Rikardon,” she said. “And I do thank you for writing to me—it is only another sign of your thoughtfulness and honesty. If, as you say, you will be leaving Raithskar soon, I will say goodbye now.”

She stretched up to kiss my cheek, and I reached down to hug her.

Tarani and Thanasset chose that moment to come walking up the street, arm in arm.

“Hello, Illia,” Thanasset said, without embarrassment, but flashing me a quick wink to see he appreciated the situation. “May I present our guest, a traveler from Eddarta? Tarani, this is Illia, our good friend.”

The two women presented startling contrasts—Illia short and golden, Tarani tall and dark-furred. Illia, in spite of a quick attempt to hide her reaction, looked at Tarani with the air of a competitor assessing an opponent. Tarani had natural poise and years of stage experience to help her maintain her composure, but her smile and verbal greeting to Illia were devoid of real warmth.

When Illia had hurried off down the street, I noticed that both Thanasset and Tarani were carrying bundles. They came inside the house and opened them—Tarani had been to the market to buy extra water bags for our foray into the desert, and Thanasset had brought home some dry and faded charts which he hoped would give me an idea where to start looking for the Raithskar end of the pipeline, if any of it remained to be found.

“I have this for you, as well,” Thanasset said, sorting a fresher-looking sheet from the mass of old paper and handing it to me. “Ferrathyn was in his offices for a short while this morning. I took the liberty of speaking for you, Rikardon. I invited him to stop by and learn the results of your trip firsthand. I fear I teased him unfairly,” he said, smiling, “with a description of Keeshah's family. He seemed intrigued, but complained of pain in his joints—indeed, movement seemed to cost him much effort.

“I provided him with a condensed report on your adventures and your current plans. He was startled and most regretful that you are leaving tomorrow, and that he would not have the chance to see you before you go, or to greet Tarani.”

I opened the sheet—it was a letter from the Chief Supervisor, the cursive script precise and steady:

I handed it to Tarani, who read it and passed it on to Thanasset. When he had read it, Tarani said: “Please tell the Chief Supervisor that I also look forward to our meeting.”

“Thank him for taking the time to write the note,” I added, “and tell him I got the message. ‘Besieged city,'” I quoted, laughing. “Subtle. Tell him we'll hurry.”

The charts had given us information, but little real help in locating Kä. They had verified that a pipeline had indeed been built of expertly fitted ceramic tiles, and that it had taken water from the pool below the Skarkel Falls out toward Kä. But after Thanasset had worked for hours to decipher the badly faded notes, he had announced that the pipeline had
not
led all the way to Kä on the surface, but that channels had been cut and ceramic-lined in some areas, and natural fissures used in others.

The ground-based portions of the pipeline would be impossible to detect, but Tarani and I started our search west of Raithskar, looking for traces of the surface construction as a starting place. Keeshah, confident of Thanasset's devotion to his family, was looking forward to the trip—it seemed a long time since we had shared the exhilaration of a long run. Tarani had parted from Yayshah less happily, but had reported, grudgingly, that the female had protested less than the girl had expected.

I thought, privately, that Yayshah and Keeshah were both a bit glad of the promised few days' separation.

I had studied Thanasset's collection of maps to determine if the locations of Raithskar and Omergol had shifted much through the years, and concluded that they had not. Somil had defined Kä as equidistant from those two cities, and eight caravan-days away from either one. That translated to about six man-days for mapping purposes—a man-day was the approximate distance a man could walk comfortably in one day, allowing for meals and rest, which I thought of as roughly thirty miles. I had done some triangulation on several of the maps, and had a fair idea of the terrain to look for. I had already decided to spend a maximum of two hours searching for signs of the pipeline construction. After that, with or without that confirmed starting point, we would start southwest into the Kapiral Desert.

Tarani rode behind me on Keeshah, and both of us carried cargo in the form of sewn-hide bags strung together with thick ropes that rested across our thighs. I had a set of bags filled with dried meat and fruit, and another set which contained water. Tarani carried water bags, and we each had two smaller pouches fastened to our belts. Keeshah could carry us to Kä's approximate area in two days, and bring us back in the same time period. I had allowed for two days of searching, and brought along a sparing supply of food for Tarani and me for the full six days. Keeshah had fed well this morning and could go the entire time without eating again. He would be hungry, but he could survive.

Tarani and I were dressed for the desert, wearing tunics which hung loosely from our bodies but fastened securely at neck and wrists, and pants which tucked into mid-calf boots made of soft leather. The triangular scarves which would wrap our faces and heads when we really faced desert travel were presently tucked into our belts, along with extras to use as wet-cloths for Keeshah, when needed.

We were as well prepared as we could be—for the travel, at least. Tarani's deliberate silence nudged my guilt and prodded my anxiety. Whatever else happened on this trip, I new I would be forced to share with Tarani the real truth—about me and about her. I looked forward to the relief of having it done with, but not to the uncertainty of its effect on our relationship.

Seeing Illia again had made me realize, yet again, how much challenge and complexity and grit there was to the woman who rode behind me—and how much I cared for her.

It was her sharp eyes which spotted the trace we were looking for, a ridge in a grain field that was too straight to be natural. We followed it southwest for a few minutes, then turned around to look. It lay along a straight line between us and the now-distant spot of whitish-gray that stood out against the darker gray of the cloud-crowned escarpment—the foot of the Skarkel Falls.

That brief look back nearly cost us dearly. Keeshah recognized the danger and sprang forward, even as his mind gave the warning:
*Vineh!*

Tarani and I kept our seats through Keeshah's sudden lunge, but dropped to the ground by choice as the sha'um whirled to face the half-dozen apish creatures who had stalked us through the tall rows of grain. We threw aside our cargo, drew our swords and daggers, and moved well out to either side of Keeshah.

The vineh had spread out, as well, until there were two of them facing each one of us. Only with Keeshah were the odds sufficient to make the vineh hesitate. The others attacked.

The two I faced were full-grown vineh males, with hands as efficient as a man's and substantially better muscled. They were covered with pale, curly fur that cushioned blunt blows; unarmed, I would not have had a chance against them. The dual-edged weapons earned their respect quickly, however, and they backed away. The creatures were intelligent, and fully capable of a high degree of teamwork—we had seen a sample of that with the wild group we had encountered near Sulis. It amazed me that these creatures, so recently freed from the habit of docility and an artificial society, could have already achieved this level of group cooperation. It amazed me—but I had no time to dwell on it.

They came at me high and low, one tackling my legs and the other trying to grab and maim my sword arm—a fairly simple procedure, if it ever got its powerful, underslung jaw in range of any part of the arm. I twisted and brought the dagger across my body, into the side of the creature trying to get my arm. The wounded vineh gave a high-pitched, gurgling cry, and collapsed on the ground. I slammed down not far away, kicking at the vineh trying to bite a chunk from my leg. I stabbed with the sword; it connected, but not vitally. By rolling and kicking, I kept the vineh too off-balance to get purchase with its teeth, but it was slowly shifting its position to limit my movements, and the closest vulnerable area, its throat, was beyond my reach and shielded by its body.

I was starting to give way to panic when the vineh let go and shot upward, then bounced on the ground near its fallen companion. Keeshah was over him in an instant, his teeth fastened in the neck of the creature this time—and suddenly, it was over.

Tarani had come through the battle with a torn tunic and a few scratches; I had fared about the same. Keeshah's main loss was his composure; his mind seethed with battle fury and hatred for the vineh, and he spent a lot of energy in the next few minutes tossing the corpses around.

He did not, I noticed, eat the flesh of the vineh.

Tarani and I retrieved the bags, and discovered that one of the waterbags had been damaged.

“Do you want to go back for a replacement?” I asked.

“Can we manage without the water?” she countered.

“I think so.”

“Then I say we drink what is left in this, and start our journey,” she replied decisively. “We have seen evidence of the need for haste. And I am eager to have this task finished.”

I agreed, and reached out for Keeshah mentally, trying to calm him. In a few minutes, we were on our way, running through the southwestern outskirts of Raithskar's farmland.”

Finding Kä turned out to be the easy part of the trip. We soon lost, as expected, the guidance of the raised ridge, but Markasset's Gandalaran inner awareness helped me keep a fairly precise sense of direction. Common sense and a knowledge of Gandalaran technology—i.e., the lack of high-pressure pumping devices—would have delivered the conclusion that Kä had to be located at a lower altitude than the Skarkel Falls. The maps I had looked at—one of which I had brought along for reference—had provided enough detail about land formations to confirm that conclusion, and the physical features of the land conformed to what I expected.