Moonbeams and magic (13 page)

"Let's take the rovers and get out of here," Auken suggested. "It's almost dark and they might return. We're too outnumbered."

"The Enforcers will be here soon," Tochar said. "Nypeer should have them gathered and en route by now."

"Nypeer better hurry because they're coming again!" Sach shouted.

As Skalds crept from the orifices, showing caution and wariness this time, an enraged Tochar ordered more blasts from the Destructoids and demanded the rescuers get there fast.

Starla looked at Tochar. "Do you want me to see if I can reach Cypher-T, get him to lock in on my signal, and give us added firepower?" she asked. Before the leader could respond, a sharp pain stabbed through her head and her senses gave way to blackness.

Dagan grabbed her body as it slumped forward. "They hit her with a rock," he told the others as he examined the injury.

Between blasts at attackers, Auken asked Dagan about her condition.

The worried Kalfan replied, "Out and has a head cut, but breathing. We'd better get her back to the colony fast in case she has a concussion."

"We will after my unit arrives and finishes off these ugly creatures," Tochar said. "I see dust rising, so my Enforcers will be here soon."

"Not soon enough if they don't hurry!" Moig yelled. "Those beasts are almost on top of us! Karlee, we can't kill them fast enough!"

Dagan positioned himself between Starla and the new threat. "Those carnivorous brutes won't get their hands on you, if I have to die preventing it," he murmured. He twisted and turned as he shot countless targets. When his energy

pack was drained, he grabbed another from his beh and shoved it into place. Two Skalds almost reached them, but the quick and accurate Dagan terminated those perils. He was amazed that the mutants lived and preyed so near the settlement without being seen—or smelled, as their bodies and breaths reeked of the damp muskiness of underground and foul stench of unwashed bodies, and of rotten meat and unbrushed teeth, too. Before the next rush at him, he glanced at her, stroked her cheek, inhaled her fragrance to clear his nostrils of the creatures' offensive odors, and whispered, "Hang in there, Starla. I promise I'll get you out of here."

Destructoids fired away at the attackers, as did the Enforcers, who arrived before a cloud of red dust and using weapons more powerful than those of their entrapped friends. The sounds of laser beams, shouts, yelps of pain, and shattered rock filled the air. Wind, laser impacts, and rapid movements stirred up more dust. Light was vanishing fast, but the Enforcers were wearing night vision gear.

Within preons, all mutants were dead or hiding in their apertures.

Koteas and Terin were eager to leave the dangerous setting, and did so after the shuttle was checked to make certain no Skalds were lurking there. The craft lifted off to return to its ship and to head for their planet to await news from Tochar that more crystals and drugs were available.

While the Enforcers stood guard, Tochar and his team climbed into their rovers. Dagan lifted Starla in his arms and carried her to a vehicle, placing her in his lap for the swift and bumpy ride. Darkness engulfed the canyon as the group drove toward the settlement in the next one.

Starla was awakened by the jostlings. While her wits were still dazed, she sighed dreamily and nestled closer to Dagan, whose smell was familiar to her. She liked being held in his strong and possessive embrace. She just wished those intrusive noises, bounces, and ache in her head would go away.

"Starla, are you all right?" Dagan asked. "How does your head feel? You took quite a hard hit on it back there."

Starla realized she was not dreaming or fantasizing. She opened her eyes and stared into Dagan Latu's blue gaze, one filled with concern and desire. She was sitting in his lap, in the landrover. Except for the vehicle's lights, it was dark, night. They were traveling, safe, alive, with Moig. She lifted her hand to check the sore area on the back left side of her head.

Dagan captured her hand and said, "Don't touch it. We'll let a doctor look it over when we reach Tochara. That mutant's rock struck you hard."

Moig glanced over. "Glad you're alive, Vedris. You had us worried good. Those Skalds about did us all in."

"What happened?" Starla gathered her wits to ask, "Is everyone safe?"

Dagan related the events that took place after she was rendered unconscious. "Tochar's planning to have those rock formations shattered by Destructoids to prevent mutants ft-om having places to live and hide so close to his settlement. It will be done late tomorrow after the area is searched for crystals, though he doubts any can be found. After a blast like that one, they're probably lost in the sand and rocks."

Starla could imagine how angry Tochar was about their loss. If the device worked as Yakir said, there wouldn't be any crystals to recover, and no evidence of the unit to find. "I guess that means we'll be going after more to replace them. At least no one was hurt during the blast and attack."

"Except you," Dagan reminded, and smiled at her.

Starla was aroused by his touch and gaze. She felt safe in his embrace, but that was a perilous place to be. Since there were only two seats in the front of the vehicle, she did not make an attempt to leave his lap and arms, and getting into the backseat while moving was impossible. "I'll be fine by tomorrow. Thanks for taking care of me."

"Despite the grim circumstances, it was an enjoyable

task."

The group reached the settlement and halted at the Enforcers' command station. Tochar approached Starla to check on her condition and to suggest she visit the only doctor in the colony, one with a lost license.

"Thanks, but Cypher has a medical program and my ship has a sick bay with equipment so he can check me out and take care of this minor injury. All I want are a bath, clean clothes, a cool drink, and some rest. That was quite an m-timidating adventure. We expect to confront dangers and risks during raids, but not in or near our base. We weren't prepared to battle that much trouble. I'm glad everyone else is safe and unharmed."

"That hazard will be destroyed tomorrow, so you must not worry about being safe in Tochara."

She smiled at the leader. "We are all grateful to you for taking such good care of everyone. What happened to cause that explosion?" She saw him frown.

"I do not know. Nypeer vows it was not from Destructoid fire."

"Perhaps since it's powered by a crystal, its blasts so close to the others destabilized them. Too, sitting in the hot sun so close together might have created some type of chain reaction. My father was a scientist," Starla alleged, "but I don't know much about those kinds of things or those moonbeams."

"Whatever it was, Starla, they are gone now and my sale is lost."

"Only until we can replace them for you," she responded.

"I was smart to hire you, Starla Vedris. If you need anything tonight or your android cannot handle that injury, contact me."

"I will, and thank you. Can one of the men take me to my shuttle?"

"Dagan, will you see that Starla gets to the landing grid safely?" Tochar requested.

"It will be an honor and a pleasure. I'll see you tomorrow, Tochar."

The leader grinned at Dagan as if to say, you owe me for this favor.

Starla and Dagan left in a rover and traveled toward the landing grid, both holding silent for a time and cognizant of their close proximity.

During the ride, Starla evaluated their surroundings to keep her mind off being alone with Dagan. They passed single and multi-unit dwellings and a variety of businesses, none over two levels. Several nightspots sent forth loud music and most were crowded with customers, obvious from views through large transascreens. Small groups of people gathered here and there. She overheard them chatting or discussing sales or relating news of recent raids as the rover moved along slowly to avoid hitting walkers. Old-style signs, some painted and some illuminated, revealed what one could buy or the service one could obtain inside those places. The only ground transportation available was rental landrovers, offered by a company that paid Tochar for that privilege. The streets and walks were made of a hard white material, and were spray-washed frequently to get rid of the red dust accumulation.

"You're mighty quiet, Starla. Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Were you told that if caught stealing here," she began to end the strained silence, "means one's choice of exile into the desert or the loss of a hand? No fights—either with fists or weapons—are allowed, and the penalty is the same. If men disagree to such a strong point, they must leave the colony to settle the matter. The punishment for murder is execution. Cheating another in a deal results in the loss of the defrauder's possessions and subsequent exile. Littering is against Tochar's orders, so the

settlement is clean and rather neat except for the outer fringes where the less fortunate live and hardly anyone visits. No one lands on or visits Tochara without our leader's and his Enforcers' permission. It seems as if Tochar has created a safe place for him and his inhabitants to live and for guests to visit, a rough sort of civilization. I was told it isn't the same in the other settlements on Noy where it's every male for himself, so crimes are rampant and conditions are crude in those places."

When Starla paused to catch her breath, Dagan asked, "That's what you were thinking about so hard and long?"

She laughed, but didn't look at him. "That, and how lucky we are to be stranded in Tochara instead of one of the other settlements on this near primitive planet. Unless you've seen them in the past, you have no idea how horrible they are. At least, that^ what the others told me."

"Even this colony doesn't seem like the place for a woman like you."

"What is a 'woman like' me?" she asked, warmed by his in^plication.

"You're civilized, educated, intelligent, well mannered, and gentle-spirited, though you try to hide that last trait."

Starla noted how husky his voice had become, and the sound of it sent tingles over her body. "Where does a woman like me belong?"

"Not in this setting or this type of work, and not with these people."

"That isn't my choice; this is where I have to be." For now.

"You could change your appearance and identity and start a new life."

"Until my forged identification papers were exposed?"

"The Microcosm is big, Starla; there's someplace you would be safe, someplace where you could live the kind of life you deserve."

"Are you trying to get me to quit and leave so you can

take my place in Tochar*s band?" she jested. "Do you dislike having a female teamer?"

"Not for those reasons. I'd like to see you live longer and happier."

"Who says my life will be short and miserable?"

"What else could it be in this line of work?"

"Is that how you see yourself, Dagan, dying young and unhappy?"

He chuckled as he halted the vehicle. "Yes. Unless I change my ways, or I make another mistake. We can only elude capture so many times."

Starla stepped out and thanked him for his help and escort, dropping the confusing subject. Dagan halted her departure with a question.

"If you're feeling all right after Cypher checks you over, why don't you meet me at the Skull's Den for food and drinks?"

"Thanks, Dagan, but not tonight. I'm tired and tense; that was the closest I've ever come to getting killed." She saw him grimace as if that thought troubled him, but perhaps he was only trying to beguile her.

"What about tomorrow night?" he countered, as there were things he needed to learn from and about her.

"Maybe. If so, I'll see you there about dusk."

"I'll be waiting. Get inside and close the door before I leave."

"Worried about my safety?" she teased.

"Tochar would punish me if I allowed anything to happen to you, and you are supposed to be my teacher."

"From what I've seen, Dagan Latu, there is nothing I could tell or show you that you don't already know or do expertly. Good night." She sealed the shuttle door for takeoff. She wanted to get to the Liska and Cypher fast because there were important things to do.

^,

LX

"Fm glad you stayed calm when I was hurt or they would have wondered how you knew to come and rescue me," Starla told Cypher.

"The sensors in your wrist monitor indicated your injury was minor; your vital signs remained normal. You ordered me not to expose our contact unless you signaled me for help or your life was in imminent danger. I locked on to your coordinates to transport you to the ship if the Skalds reached your location or your conditioned changed. I moved into position to provide assistance if the threat increased. I must examine your injury."

"After we finish checking out things here; my head's sore but there's no headache or dizziness or blurred vision. That vibrator signal was an excellent idea, Cypher; it's worked for us many times. If Tochar suspects sabotage, he shouldn't look in my direction after my offer of help during the attack and he knows I was never alone with the crates while traveling with Moig and Dagan. Besides, he should doubt I—or any of the others—would risk death or injury to betray him in his stronghold and with his armed men nearby. Let's listen to his talk with Koteas and Terin. Is it ready?"

"It is ready." He pressed a key to start the event's recording.

Starla listened and frowned. "Nothing of help there, no clues about his raids or contacts, but it does give us evi-

dence against him and we learned who two of his potential buyers are."

As Cypher reached his hand forward to switch off the button, she stayed it and said, "Wait, I want to hear what happened after I was knocked out." She murmured as she listened to combined sounds of men's voices, mutants' yells, and laser discharges, "It was a fierce battle, wasn't it?"

"I detected many Skalds on my sensors," Cypher revealed, "but rescue was near and the Kalfan was guarding you, so I did not make my presence known. I would have done so the preon your life was in peril."