The Tattooed Tribes (31 page)

He moved to
the far end of the ledge and made a fire. Risking injury he leaned
out and grabbed a huge handful of wet green grass and threw it onto
the small blaze.

Immediately
grey smoke began to rise, seeking out all the holes and gaps in the
canopy; and regrettably, finding the eyes and noses of those hiding
under it.

“
Why did you do that?” Dr Riddett asked,
her eyes streaming.

“
Signalling,” Jon whispered from the back.
“Well done, son.”

“
Will that bring your dad?” Lucien asked
Vlic.

“
Like a shot,” Vlic replied cautiously.
“Provided he sees it.”

Another
burning faggot, this time thrown far more enthusiastically, landed
in the canopy, but Lucien managed to bounce it off with the butt of
his rifle and it dropped into the wet undergrowth where after a
while it began to send up a thin column of grey.

The rising
smoke must have irritated those above as well, because no more fire
was sent down, but Stacey spent some time making little faggots of
kindling, setting them on fire and then hurling them down the slope
where they also started to send up their own signatures.

She blushed
and smiled when she caught Jon’s eye and saw his nod of
approval.

Nothing
happened for the next hour. There were no sounds from above, but
those below were not stupid enough to think they had been left
alone.

“
Someone will be watching,” Jon told
Lucien.

“
I guessed as much. Any idea what they
might try next?”

“
Starve you out, if they have the patience,
which I doubt,” Jon replied. “But they will need dust long before
that happens.”

“
Frain doesn’t need it,” Lucien pointed
out. “I reckon I could take him.”

“
You might,” Jon agreed. “But you won’t.
You’ll wait for Iesgood.”

“
If I just …”

Jon grabbed
his wrist and damaged as he was, he still managed to grip it hard
enough to make Lucien wince.

“
You will wait for Iesgood.”

“
Okay, I’ll wait,” Lucien said. “But I
don’t see why I can’t …”

“
Hello down there!”

There was
nothing challenging or aggressive in the greeting, but it made all
of them jump.

“
Iesgood?” Dr Riddett asked, hope springing
to her face.

“
No,” Lucien replied.

Something
about his voice made Vlic stare.

Wainwright had
shifted uncomfortably and Stacey’s eyes went from him to Lucien, a
question in them.

Lucien
grimaced and nodded, but there was no emotion on his face.

“
You answer him,” he told Vlic softly. “You
won’t like this, but you are going to have to lie.”

Vlic looked
very serious and Lucien put a hand on his shoulder.

“
I know,” he said with a sympathy he would
once have scorned. “But we have to keep them off balance and he’s a
clever bastard.”

Vlic, his
suspicions about the identity of the man above confirmed, gave a
slow reluctant nod.

“
What do you want?” he called
out.

“
I thought it was time we had a chat,” the
man replied. “My friends here have been a little crude in their
attempts to attract your attention. I thought I’d see what
conversation might achieve.”

“
Who are you?” Vlic demanded.

“
My name is of no importance, but I suspect
the congressman will tell you if you’re interested. He is with you,
I presume?”

Lucien mouthed
some instructions and Vlic called.

“
He died in the night. Your man shot
him.”

There was some
muttering above and they caught the words “flesh wound” and “not my
fault.” Tim Frain was apparently feeling the need to justify
himself.

The man spoke
again. “What about the woman?”

Below Dr
Riddett opened her mouth to answer, but Lucien’s warning finger
stopped her.

“
What woman?” Vlic replied.

There was a
rapid exchange of hushed words at this and both the boys grinned,
knowing they had caused some consternation.

“
The woman who was guarding the child,” the
man above said. “What have you done with her?”

Lucien
whispered some instructions.

“
We found no woman,” Vlic replied. “We just
took back the maiden of our people. The man begged to go with us,
so we brought him, but we couldn’t stop him bleeding.”

More angry
whispers greeted this and they heard a demand to “ask them!”

“
Oh, very well,” was the exasperated reply.
“Someone up here wants to know what happened to the Tribal Liaison
Officer who was in the shed with the girl.”

This time Vlic
grinned, lying might not be the accepted behaviour of an honourable
warrior, but it did have certain satisfactions.

“
There was no Tribal Officer when we
rescued our
cheed
.”

It did not
take an eyewitness to know there was a furious conversation going
on above.

They heard
Frain shouting some shrill orders, calling for men. His voice
became more and more distant until he was so far from ear shot they
could no longer hear him.

“
Well, well,” the man said. “It appears
we’re alone at last. Don’t let it get you over excited, I’ve a very
good rifle here and I can pick you off one by one if any of you try
to escape.”

There was the
click of a bullet being eased from the magazine into the
breach.

“
I’m wondering how many of you are down
there. Good old Timmy and the unwashed seemed to think no more than
four. Care to enlighten me?”

“
No,” Vlic replied.

“
What a pity. Now I won’t know how much of
this to send down. I hope there will be enough for all.”

A small heavy
bag was dropped with skilful precision through the biggest of the
holes in the canopy. It landed near Jon, missing him by a few
centimetres.

Lucien picked
it up and opened it. It was full of the familiar brown powder.

“
Very clever,” he said under his
breath.

And it was
clever, or would have been if there were four tribesmen down here
weak enough to need the muck.

Stacey took
the bag and held a small amount to her father’s nose.

“
It’s a pain killer and sedative,” she
said. “Or it is for us.”

Lucien turned
to Jon, offering him the bag.

“
Get rid of it,” Jon ordered and the bag
made a swift exit over the edge to land in the boggy ground
below.

Vlic watched
it go, then yelled, “Oops! We dropped it. Can you send down another
couple of bags?”

Both the boys
thought this was the height of humour, but Jon’s serious face and
Stacey’s mocking sneer brought them back down to earth.

“
You can have anything you like if you
return the girl to me,” the man replied, apparently undisturbed by
their rejection of the dust. “And I’ll need Wainwright’s body as
well. Give me those and I can see no reason why you and your
friends shouldn’t leave here alive.”

“
He’s sticking with the original plan,”
Stacey whispered in surprise.

“
He doesn’t know we heard it all,” Lucien
replied. “Frain probably didn’t tell him everything.”

Stacey gave
him a speculative look. “You do know who that is, don’t you?”

“
Of course I do,” Lucien replied. “He has
always been very fond of his plans. Vlic, tell him no.”

Obediently
Vlic shouted, “We keep the maiden, but you can have the body any
time you like, it’ll be getting high soon.”

This was
answered by a single bullet fired with precision through a hole in
the canopy. Dr Riddett gave a shriek as it sliced a long and bloody
groove down the side of her face.

She was not
able to control the pain and dropped her rifle to hold her hands to
the wound to try and stop the flow of blood.

“
Which one of you did I get?” the man
inquired, “I do believe that had a feminine ring. Not my useful
little girl, I hope.”

“
Time to stop playing,” Jon said. “Tell him
you’re here.”

Lucien
shrugged and called out, “You’re a better shot than I thought you
were, dad.”

If Marcus
Devlin was stunned hearing his son’s voice, he recovered
quickly.

“
Why, if it isn’t little Lucy,” he said,
mockery dripping from every word. “What an unexpected
pleasure.”

“
Gee, dad, it’s just great to know I give
you pleasure,” Lucien returned. “You sure have managed to keep that
a secret.”

The laugh that
greeted this had a ring of genuine humour.

“
Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting you
after everything Tim told me,” Marcus said. “I’m wondering how many
of you are down there. I’m guessing Wainwright, alive or dead,
Harabin and the girl. Of course, what I really need to know is, who
else?”

“
Come on down and do a head count,” Lucien
suggested.

Again there
was laughter. “Do you know, I used to think you were like your
mother, but I’m beginning to wonder if a bit of you is more like
me.”

“
Remind me to have that bit surgically
removed.”

“
Have I annoyed you, Lucy?”

Lucien ground
his teeth; this particular shortening of his name was one he
reluctantly accepted from his mother. Anyone else using it was
likely to be doing a quick count to make sure they had picked up
all their teeth.

An obvious and
angry retort sprang to his lips, but Jon’s hand on his wrist
squeezed, so he took a breath and allowed his natural insolence
full rein.

“
Do you know what, I’m guessing you fuck me
off about the same amount as I fuck you off.”

“
I doubt that,” came the annoyed and
unconsidered reply. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much you’ve
fucked me off over the years.”

“
You never did like me, did you,
dad?”

“
No, not very much, but your mother seemed
to feel you had some worth, so I indulged her. I saw little or no
reason for having you and nothing you’ve done since has changed my
mind.”

Vlic could not
keep the shock from his face and Stacey stared in bewilderment. She
looked down at her own father and then, to Lucien’s embarrassment,
her eyes filled with tears.

A glance
across at Brigedh showed a sad little face, and in desperation he
turned to Jon.

“
What a
pyst
,” Jon said. “Keep him talking, son. We need time for
Iesgood to arrive, but don’t allow anything the son of a bitch says
to annoy you.”

Avoiding
everyone’s eyes, Lucien considered his next move.

“
That’s cos Ma knows quality when she sees
it,” he yelled back. “What the hell she saw in you, I
dunno.”

“
Very amusing. Now we’ve established our
mutual regard, how about we stop this crap and talk
business.”

“
Fine by me,” Lucien replied. “What do you
want?”

“
I’ve told you what I want. Wainwright, the
girl and Riddett. I’m willing to bet money she’s down there with
you.”

“
And what do I get in return?”

“
I’m guessing there are no more than three
others, including Harabin. You could have a large quantity of
ammunition and food, but I doubt it and I know you’re short on
water. Very soon you’re either going to have to chance a break out
or surrender. Either will be suicide.”

“
Why don’t you come on down and check the
stores,” Lucien jeered.

“
Because I can wait you out,” Marcus
replied. “But why die, Lucy? Give me what I want and I’ll let you
and your men go. I’ll even let you take Harabin with
you.”

“
Come on, dad! You know you can’t risk Jon
and me telling The Guild about your little plan.”

Again there
was laughter.

“
I used to think you were stupid, but
you’ve really opened my eyes. You’re right. I don’t want this
coming to the notice of The Guild. But there’s no need for it to do
so. How about I make you an offer?”

“
Go ahead.”

“
I have plans for this planet and I intend
to become very, very rich on the strength of them. Who knows, I
might even end up first president of a new republic.”

“
Not if I can help it,” Lucien
retorted.

“
You’ll have no say,” Marcus replied. “And
neither will the unwashed savages who presently stand in the way of
my future.”

Vlic’s face
took on a dangerous expression.

“
You’re not making friends down here, dad,”
Lucien warned.

“
Interesting,” Marcus said. “For some
reason I assumed you’d brought Guild help.”

“
I’m still waiting to hear this
offer.”

“
Ah, yes. If you surrender, give me what I
want and agree to keep your mouths shut, and I will make sure that
a million square acres of this planet will be set aside for you and
your friends. No-one will interfere with you. You can run about
naked in the woods, do your little dances and play nice with the
trees and the animals.”

“
A reservation? And only a million acres?
Come on, dad.”