A World for the Taking Ch. 05

"F`reet `du Hom," T` Emmi said, drawing her from her contemplations.

She looked up to find they had stopped on a new trail among very tall, thick boled trees. Below them, among splintered limbs and crushed undergrowth, rested a large white craft of some sort. The smell of death hung on the air. T` Emmi gestured for her to dismount and then waved her closer.

"What is this?" F`reet `du Hom asked.

T` Emmi spoke. Seeing the pilot did not understand, the girl cradled her arms as if she were holding a baby and rocked back and forth saying, "Mother" and "Father." She made more hand gestures and noises indicating the craft had been shot and crashed here.

This could not be! Bob and his mate could not be in that wreckage! They had ridden out before daylight. She had heard no sound of engines. And surely T` Emmi would be far more distressed had her adoptive parents' bodies been in the craft.

F`reet `du Hom sprang down through the trees with T` Emmi calling and following after. She ignored the girl. Perhaps not all of the occupants of the craft were dead. What she found was a sizable vessel with massive fans in deep wells and blast damage on the rear where the power plant must have been. She considered the wreckage for a long moment and realized this must be the vessel Bob had told her of on that first day. She sighed with some relief but had to wonder why the smell of death hung about the ship. Rddoy and Yo`Shii were lifting what looked like toolkits from a compartment on the side and jZeen` was leaning through a large hatch, looking in. The girl's face was sad and she knelt to touch something within the compartment.

F`reet `du Hom went to jZeen`'s side. She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder comfortingly and looked in. There lay a large riding beast, dead. Three of its legs were clearly broken. This was the source of the smell.

jZeen` rose and wiped her eyes. The girl was mourning the death of the animal.

"So, Humans love the creatures that serve them as my people do," F`reet `du Hom said gently. She drew the Human girl into her arms and hugged her. The girl responded, but soon she pushed away. Her words were unintelligible, but the meaning was clearly thanks. "No pain for this one anymore, little one. She rests in the lap of the Builder with all her ancestors, and so shall all who serve."

jZeen` hugged her again and went to help carry the tools. With a final glance at the dead animal F`reet `du Hom stepped over to Rddoy and took the large case he had just pulled from the compartment. He made some small protest, as if he would carry it, but she shook her head and followed jZeen` and Yo`Shii up the slope with the case on her shoulder.

Once the tools were stowed in the cargo carrier they all mounted and moved a short way down the trail until the scent of death no longer lingered. Here they dismounted and had a meal of the cold rations.

T` Emmi looked fidgety. Presently F`reet `du Hom learned why. The girl took from the pack on her mount a belt with a holster and other pouches. She presented this to the pilot with a few words and made the rocking motion with her arms cradled again. Gesturing at the sky and drawing her finger down to point at something to the south she repeated the motion.

"What is this?" the pilot wondered aloud and unfolded the belt. "A utility belt? Where did it come from? How did you get it?"

Even as she asked, it came to her. The girl had been trying to explain this had belonged to one of her parents. Probably her mother, given the gestures she had made. F`reet `du Hom drew the deq'istle* from the holster.

"This is an older model," she said, examining the weapon carefully. It was in good shape and looked as if it had been well maintained. She pressed the diagnostic button and was not surprised to find the weapon in perfect order. Only three shots had been fired from the magazine and the charge was nearly at full capacity. She looked to the girl and asked, "Are you giving me this?"

T` Emmi pushed the weapon and belt at her and nodded.

"Thank you, T` Emmi," she said and then, realizing there were tears in the girl's eyes, she leaned over and rubbed her cheek on the girl's in the manner of a sister or aunt. This was likely the only thing the girl had of her mother's. Likely, she had never known anything of her history and this, if lost, would cut her off completely from her family.

*****

"Are you sure you want to give that up?" Roy asked. He looked concerned for Tammy, knowing what the gun belt meant to her.

"We don't have any other weapons for her," she replied. "And she might need one. At least it's something she's familiar with."

"Still," said Jean, looking just as concerned as Roy.

"Is it a jZav`Etch gun?" Yoshi asked, interested.

"Yeah," said Tammy, watching as F`reet `du Hom inspected the other things in the belt's pouches. "There's a medical kit and a spare magazine for the pistol. Some other stuff. My mother, my birth mother, was wearing it when she escaped her ship and swam to shore with me. Not exactly all I have of her, but most of it."

The somber silence that followed was broken by the sound of one of the Dusig ships rumbling to life in the north. Roy stood and put his binoculars to his eyes. The noise began to swell, filling the valley with thunder once again.

"Can you see anything?" Tammy asked.

"Too many trees," said Roy. Already he had to speak louder in order to be heard above the ship's engines. And the sound continued to grow. The steelies became restless and even the teens found themselves becoming apprehensive. Clearly the ship was coming closer at a rapid pace.

F`reet `du Hom tried to be heard through the thunder, but she had to settle for waving her hands and motioning the Humans to duck behind cover. When Roy ignored her she dragged him by the arm and shoved him behind a large tree. Roy looked irritated, but did not resist much. A moment later the Dusig ship passed their position. It was as large as they remembered and in the light of day seemed more menacing. The engine noise changed. It made several enormous coughing sounds in rapid succession and then the sound dropped off markedly.

"What's it doing?" called Yoshi.

"How the hell should I know?" Roy called back.

"Sounds like it stopped," Jean yelled.

She was right. The noise had changed in pitch, but the ship was no longer moving. Roy jerked his arm from F`reet `du Hom's grip and moved to where the trees were not as dense. The rest of the group watched apprehensively and every one ducked when the tall red haired boy dove behind a log. The ship thundered past their position again, heading north. Soon it was back at Waimea and the noise quickly dissipated. The teens came out of hiding.

"Any guesses as to what that was about?" Tammy asked no one in particular.

"They wouldn't do that just for the sake of doing it," said Jean. Her expression was one of serious concern and distress.

"They were moving too fast for it to have been a patrol," said Yoshi. "A lot faster than a spinner or flyer could go."

"I don't like it," Roy said, striding back to the group, knocking dirt and twigs off his clothes. "I really couldn't see much. I think they stopped near my folks' station. Just dropped down to treetop level for a minute and then rose and flew off."

"You think they were looking for her?" Yoshi asked, indicating the jZav`Etch pilot with a thumb.

"Maybe." Roy shrugged. "Why'd they take off so quick, though?"

"F`reet `du Hom?" Tammy said to get the pilot's attention. "Why?"

The girl made a few gestures and noises imitating the flight of the ship and then turned her hands palms up.

The pilot scowled in the direction of town and then squatted down to clear leaves from a smooth patch of dirt. Using a stick she made a quick, crude drawing of the Dusig ship in profile. She looked to be sure Tammy and the others were watching and then she drew a straight line down from the tail of the ship and made a few stick figures on the line and in a row at the bottom of it, as if the figures were standing on the ground.

"She thinks they dropped off a foot patrol," said Roy, rubbing the back of his neck.

"That's not good," Jean said. "Should we turn back?"

"You should," said Yoshi. "And you too, Tammy."

"Come with me, Yoshi," Jean replied immediately.

"I'm not going back," Tammy said firmly. "You're going to need me when you get down around Big Lake and the Tower."

"I can't go back, Jean," Yoshi said. He put a hand on her arm and looked her in the eyes. "Roy and Tammy won't be able to hook up the transceiver."

"We should all go back!" the girl protested. "We don't even know if it will work! Yoshi, come on!"

"We are not going back," Roy said. He scowled down at the drawing in the dirt. "Something has to be done, Jean. They have a ship in orbit. We can't do anything about that from the ground. If we take them on at Waimea they could send more troops. They might just bombard us the way they took out the tower and the fliers."

"But there are soldiers on the ground at your cabin," she said, her voice rising in pitch. "Are we going to fight them?"

"Jean!" snapped Tammy. "Pa always warned us not to panic. Calm down, take a breath and let's think about this. You were all for it this morning."

"There weren't any soldiers between us and the tower then!" her sister said.

"That doesn't change what needs doing," Tammy replied firmly.

Jean looked as if she were on the verge of tears. For a second Tammy thought her sister would start screaming and crying but Jean gulped in a deep breath, straightened her back and forced the tears away.

"Alright," Tammy said soothingly. "Let's try to figure out what they're up to."

"F`ret Do Hum," Roy said, butchering the pronunciation.

The pilot flicked her ears and sighed, but she met his eyes and gave a nod.

"How many?" he asked, pointing at the stick figures. When she only shook her head as if confused he began ticking off fingers, saying, "One, two, three..."

F`reet `du Hom's ears cocked forward when she realized what the Human was asking. Squatting near the drawing she picked up her stick again and started making tally marks. The surprising thing was that she used the same sort of ancient system as every Human school child was taught except she made five vertical lines before crossing with a sixth. In total she scratched twelve lines in the dirt and then looked at Roy to see if he understood.

"That's a lot of people," he said.

Tammy squatted next to the pilot and touched the pistol she had given her. F`reet `du Hom seemed to understand. She shook her head and pointed to the Buller 30 on Jean's saddle.

"They'll have rifles," Yoshi said, interpreting the meaning.

Roy gave Tammy a questioning look. He turned up a palm and glanced at Jean and Yoshi and then returned to her.

"Jean," Tammy said. "Roy and I are going on. At least to the ship. If you and Yoshi want to go back, go on. I think you should."

"You are going to need me," argued Yoshi stubbornly. "I'm not going back."

Jean bit her lower lip and looked at her boyfriend. She threw her arms around him and said in a rush, "If you aren't, I'm not!"

"What's our next move, Roy?" Tammy asked. She wanted to reach out and hug him, but she felt she needed to be strong for her little sister and Yoshi. She could smell how scared they both were. She could smell how scared Roy was. Her tail flicked uncertainly and part of her mind was amused to see F`reet `du Hom's tail flicking in the same manner.

"We'll cross at the ford above my folks' place," Roy finally said. "It's deeper, but not as wide as the lower one we crossed yesterday. That will bring us in north of where the ship stopped. Maybe they won't be expecting us to come at them from that direction."

"You want to fight them?" Yoshi asked. He still had his arms around Jean, but he was paying attention to the conversation.

"Hell no," said Roy with a shake of his head. "We don't know anything about them other than they're armed and they killed some of our people last night. I want to see where they are. If we can skirt around them without being seen, maybe we can get to her ship and get the transceiver without them knowing we are even out here."

"What if we can't?" Tammy asked.

"I don't know yet," he admitted. "We have an advantage over them. We know the territory and they don't."

"They probably have all kinds of electronics," warned Yoshi. "Maybe drone scouts. Maybe ground level sensors. Lots of things we don't know about."

"Sensors?" Tammy said and shot Yoshi a speculative look.

*****

"You think this is going to work?" Roy asked Tammy.

"Pa's got the whole valley under surveillance," she said. "All the way from Waimea down to Big Lake. The entire Mid Valley range is his responsibility."

"I thought he just covered the middle of the valley," said Yoshi as he removed the cover from the old sensor they had found not far from the trail. It had been in place for so long moss had grown on it. Under the cover the device was pristine, as clean as if it had just come from the factory.

"We're in the Mid Valley, Yoshi," Jean said. "Mid Valley is between East Valley and West Valley. And beyond West Valley are the Plains Districts. Beyond East Valley is the Costal Range and the Coast District."

"You really didn't pay attention in your orientation class, did you?" Tammy observed.

"We came here to take care of the electronics," Yoshi said, pulling the service box from its compartment. "My family only gets half a share of the harvest profits."

"That'll be in two more years," said Roy. "You going to leave after that?"

"I don't think so," said Yoshi. He set his pad next to the service box and keyed in a command. "Mom and I like it here. Dad is okay staying. He doesn't much care where we are as long as he can tinker with his designs."

"I know a few of the settlers are going to pull up stakes when the harvest is done," said Roy. "Maybe you or your folks can take over one of those parcels."

"Maybe." Yoshi shrugged as if he wasn't particularly interested. With a last flurry of taps on his pad screen he said, "Okay. We're in."

He tapped another command and brought up a hologram above the pad. A relief map of the valley showed the locations of all the sensors as bright green pips. There were a few flashing red, indicating they needed servicing. He tapped again and zoomed the view to the area surrounding Dodge Station.

"What do I need to be looking for?" he asked.

"Let me take a look," said Tammy, crowding in next to him.

The cat girl tapped a new command that created a holographic image of a standard keyboard. Her fingers danced over the image of the keys as if they were real, though sometimes her fingertip sank right through them. For an instant the valley lit up with pulsing blue pips. Thousands and thousands of them shone and then most disappeared.

"What was that?" asked Roy, leaning in closer to stare at the map.

"Pretty much every living animal in the valley," she said. "I narrowed it down to things as big as we are. Now I'm telling it to eliminate known animals."

"Known animals?" Yoshi asked, fascinated by the changing display.

"Known animals," she said, nodding. "Deer, bears, wolves, bighorn sheep and so on."

They fell silent and watched as more and more of the pips went out. F`reet `du Hom hovered behind them, watching with as much curiosity as the rest. Soon only a dozen pips remained.

"That's them," said Tammy.

"Are you sure?" asked Yoshi.

"The system doesn't know the life signs," Jean said. "Has to be them."

"Looks like they're moving away from the station," said Roy. "Zoom in tighter, Tammy."

The hologram shifted until only the line of pips and the area surrounding them was in view.

"That's a deer trail," she said.

"It's the trail we used to get to the ship," said Roy.

"Wish we had the satellites," grumbled Yoshi. "We'd be able to see them. We could find out what they look like and what sorts of stuff they have."

"Well, we just got one big ass advantage, Yoshi," said Roy, sounding like a wolf that just spotted its first meal in weeks. "Save that setting, Tammy. When we get to the other side of the river, we'll find another sensor and check on them."

"But they're going for the ship," said Jean. She looked pale and worried.

"I know," said Roy.

"What if they blow it up or something?" Yoshi asked.

"If they do, we'll head back to the rock shelter and try to think of something else," he said.

"We need more of plan than just going over there and punching them in the nose," Tammy grumbled.

"We've got a plan," said Roy, unperturbed. "We're going to see what they're doing. After we know more, we can figure out what to do next."

"Yeah," said Yoshi thoughtfully. "We already know more about them than they know about us. Probably, they don't even know we're here."

"What if they do?" Jean asked. "What if they're looking for us? What if they've got drones hovering over our heads right now? Maybe they're going to the ship to trap us."

"That doesn't add up," Roy said, shaking his head. "If they knew we are here, why wouldn't they have just dropped right on top of us? Or blown us up?"

"She's at least partly right, though. They've got too much of an advantage with their ships," said Tammy. "They can move around a lot faster than we can."

"And we have to assume they have good communications," add Yoshi. "They almost have to have military grade radios. I know CP Marines can talk to ships in orbit. These guys have to be able to do that."

Suddenly, the speaker on Yoshi's pad came to life and they heard a voice saying, "All hunters, Bob's big show starts at seventeen hundred. Bob's big show starts at seventeen hundred. Be ready."

"That was Uncle Dan!" Jean said, her eyes wide.

"What does that mean, though?" wondered Tammy.

"Sounds like your dad is going to do something," said Yoshi.

"Big show sounds like an attack, maybe," Roy speculated.

Everyone was silent for a minute. They looked at the little pad on top of the sensor and waited for another transmission. When nothing more was said Tammy and the younger teens looked at Roy. He shrugged.

"Roy, isn't seventeen hundred about when the suns will set?" asked Yoshi.

"They set a little before sixteen thirty last night," the older boy replied. He was staring out across the valley as if thinking. "We could be at the crash site in another couple of hours. If Mr. Mackey's big show is a big enough distraction we might be able to take those guys by surprise."

"There are twelve of them and only five of us," Tammy pointed out. "And even if they don't have drones they probably have sensors with enough range to pick us up. And only three of us have rifles."

"I have the shotgun," Yoshi said.

"Not much good," Roy said, scratching his chin. "Mike didn't pack any slugs. Your buckshot wouldn't be effective at more than forty meters."

"I have my bow," said Yoshi. "I can take down deer at more than fifty meters."

"You packed a bow?" Tammy asked.

"It's in my pack on Little Gertie," he said.

"That's still not very far," Jean said, frowning.

"Not compared to a rifle, but in these trees I don't think any of us will have a clear shot unless we get pretty close," Roy said, looking at Yoshi. "Could you hit anything at night?"

"I never tried," the younger boy admitted. "Not allowed to hunt after dark."

"What if he used your NVGs?" asked Tammy. "Looking through those is like looking through polarized lenses."

While the teens had been talking F`reet `du Hom had been fretting. Finally she began pacing restlessly. Everyone looked at her and watched, wondering what she was thinking. She became aware of their eyes on her and turned to face them. She met each's gaze and then stepped to the middle of the little group and pointed to Dodge Station on the holographic map. She then ran her finger along the trail towards where the crash site should be, looking to make sure everyone was paying attention. In the dirt she scratched a rough outline of her ship, from the top this time, and then made a dozen Xs around it, pointing back and forth from the pips of the Dusig on the map to the Xs.