by Jaleta Clegg
Chapter 33
The men were more loyal to Robin and Will than to John, but they still needed convinced. John fought hard, dishing out plenty of black eyes and bloody noses. I found myself back to back with Dysun, beating people over the head with branches. Sergeant Clay arrested anyone and everyone who tried to belt him. Roland chanted hymns while he bashed heads. He grinned like a maniac.
The men surrendered before too long, those who still supported John. The others enthusiastically trussed John head to foot in rope. The sheer volume of rope available on Dadilan amazed me. Sergeant Clay, proudly sporting a black eye and a split lip, produced a pair of force cuffs and slapped them on John's wrists.
"John Littlebottomford, you are under arrest for violation of your research grant, ordinances sixty-three through seventy-eight, fourteen, twenty-seven, forty-two, eight, and three subclauses of thirty-four. And," Clay yanked the cuffs savagely, "For being in the company of men who can't be described except in language unfitting for a woman's ears. Even if she swears like an engineer herself."
"Who wants to help us rescue Robin?" I shouted over the hubbub. Instant silence fell. "I'm busting him out and I need help."
They shouted, waving swords and bows in the air, all of them except John. Even his supporters cheered, switching loyalties. They scrambled to pack their gear.
I realized just how tired I was when I sat down on a handy rock. I'd been going since dawn the day before. I yawned widely. Despite the urgent need to rescue Tayvis, I couldn't go any farther. Leran hadn't killed him yet, if I believed Roland's report. Another day wouldn't make much difference.
"Sergeant," I called.
"We'll be ready to march within the hour, Captain." Clay crouched by my rock.
"What will Lieutenant Harlborl do if we don't show until sundown?"
"Probably sit around and wonder what to do."
"Good. I'm going to sleep. Find me a blanket."
"We'll leave later?"
I didn't answer. I slept, leaning against the rock.
As Clay predicted, Lieutenant Harlborl hadn't done anything when we finally returned to camp late that afternoon. I'd slept most of the morning and felt much better for it.
We walked into camp without any trouble. Harlborl hadn't even posted a sentry. Sergeant Clay lit into him, lecturing him on safety procedures for a hostile world.
Robin's men materialized from the trees. They'd been invisible on the hike back, fading silently into the woods. John appeared, wrapped in ropes and cuffed and looking even more battered. Robin's men seated him on a log with lots of branches poking up.
I called the leaders Clay had chosen and held a quick meeting. Will Scarlet became the leader of Robin's men. We revised our plans.
"Unless someone knocks out their force field, none of this will do any good. It has to be done from the inside," one of the leaders pointed out. "We did some scouting today when you didn't come back. The field covers the entire outer wall."
"We could send someone in through the tunnels to knock it out," Clay said.
"I could go in." Roland volunteered.
Neither plan had much chance of working. I chewed my knuckle while they debated other ways to knock out the generator.
We finally decided to send Roland in the front and three others through the tunnel. Roland drew maps of the caves.
The plan left me uneasy. The chances of anyone, even Roland, sneaking around the monastery unnoticed were very low. I couldn't think of a better plan, though.
We turned in for the night. Sergeant Clay ensured the sentries knew the penalty for falling asleep at their posts. I rolled in my blanket on the lumpy ground and had nightmares.
Dysun shook my shoulder urgently.
I groaned, rubbing eyes that ached from lack of sleep. "It's still night, Dysun."
"There's something you have to see."
"All right, I'm awake." I followed Dysun through the sleeping camp.
He spoke to one of the sentries as we crossed out of the camp into the woods.
I followed him silently, my brain still sleeping. He led me up the ridge, then down the other side. We followed it around a valley before climbing another ridge.
"Where are we going?" I asked, stopping for breath. The sky was streaked with pink and orange. I shivered in the cool dawn breeze.
Dysun grinned over his shoulder, walking down the far slope. I sighed and followed.
The monastery came into view, cupped in the valley below us. Smoke rose lazily from a chimney. The bawling of goats carried faintly on the breeze.
We stopped at the edge of the trees near the bottom of the slope. I turned to Dysun, waiting for an explanation.
"Sorry, Dace." He leveled a blaster at my belly. "Down the road and right to the front gates."
I walked; he gave me little choice. I fumed over his betrayal. "Do you know what a snake you are?"
He pushed the blaster against my back to keep me moving. I swore under my breath as we approached the monastery walls. I stopped when I heard dust sizzle from the force field.
"Clyvus!" Dysun shouted. We waited for a response.
"You're going to pay for this," I said.
Dysun shoved me. "I've got something you want!"
A head peered over the wall. We waited. After a while, the shimmer of the force field died. A smaller door, set into the gate, creaked open.
"Trust me," Dysun whispered as he pushed me through the door.
I stared down the barrels of a dozen blasters. Dysun grabbed my hair. I kicked his shins until he shoved his blaster muzzle into my face. The door behind us swung shut, latching with a loud thump. The force field sizzled.
"If it isn't Dysun Farr." Clyvus looked as arrogant and conceited as he had when he had eyed me as potential merchandise on the slaver's wagon. "And just what have you brought that I want so badly? I do admit the woman does look slightly familiar."
Despite the earliness of the hour, people congregated around us. The first light of day touched the bell tower.
"You vermin!" Pardui shoved her way past the gunmen to slam her hand across my face.
My head snapped to the side. I tasted blood.
Dysun pushed Pardui away.
"Give her to me!" Pardui's perfect skin wrinkled in anger.
"I demand my share." Leran's icy voice cut across Pardui's. "The woman has caused me much trouble and inflicted considerable cost."
"She is a demon! I demand the right to burn her at the stake with holy men present so she cannot escape her rightful death." Baron Molier pointed, his eyes gleaming with righteous fervor.
"We left a priest with her the last time." Leran eyed me with his glacial green eyes.
"You burned my lodge," the Baron said. "You assured me that she could not escape. She is indeed a demon with all the powers of darkness at her command."
"She is a spy and a thief," Pardui interrupted. "It is my right to behead her. And my pleasure."
I should have been flattered to have people fighting over me. I wasn't.
"Enough of this," Clyvus finally said. "You brought her here, Dysun, tell me why I should care?"
"She's Patrol. She's the Enforcer's partner."
He could have dropped a bomb. It wouldn't have had a greater effect. Clyvus' eyes narrowed nastily.
"Here's my deal," Dysun continued. "You give me my men, what's left of them, and my ship. I give you the spy."
"Here's my deal," Clyvus countered. "You hand her over anyway or both of you die."
Dysun raised his blaster, aiming at Clyvus' head. The gunmen raised their weapons. We were seconds from being incinerated.
"I want my ship," Dysun said, his voice as cold and hard as the blaster he held.
Clyvus studied Dysun and his blaster. Then, he laughed. "You can have your ship and your men, on one condition."
Dysun tightened his hand in my hair.
I winced at the pain.
"You work for me," Clyvus continued. "I run a large smuggling operation. I could use another captai
n of your skill."
"Under what conditions?"
"You give me the spy, first of all. You get a thirty percent split of all profits on cargo you run."
"I get one hundred percent now, why should I work for you?"
"Bigger cargoes, higher profits, and protection from Patrol hassling. You also get to leave this world. Alive."
Dysun lowered his gun. "Accepted." Dysun released my hair and stepped away.
I hoped he and Clyvus strangled on their agreement.
Pardui and the Baron lunged at the same time. I dodged them both and came up against Clyvus.
"She is mine to dispose of." Clyvus hauled me to one side.
Leran and Pardui exchanged cold glances. Baron Molier stamped his foot in frustration.
"Good morning," a cheerfully refined voice chirped behind Clyvus. "What's the noise about, Gerant?"
Clyvus dragged me around to face Ricard Blake.
Ricard's smile brightened. "If it isn't the charming young woman with such skill at reading maps. Why are you dragging her around like that, Gerant? Are the guns really so necessary?"
"She's Patrol, sir," Clyvus said, trying to sound polite and barely succeeding.
"Bad joke, Gerant." Blake frowned. "You did send me straight into the Patrol headquarters, didn't you?"
"An accident," I said and got shaken for it. Clyvus wasn't gentle.
Blake's smile perked up.
I angled for his sympathy. "Did you find your fountain?"
Blake glanced around, trying to hide a guilty start. "Obviously she's been a bit touched by the sun. You ought to put her somewhere nice and cool for a while."
"What fountain, Ricard?" Clyvus didn't need a knife, his voice sliced through the morning air like a razor.
"Only an old legend, my friend. Dysun, my old companion, it is good to see you again." Ricard brushed past.
All hope of escape drained away.
Clyvus escorted me through the monastery buildings, trailed by his men. Pardui and Leran sauntered off in a different direction. I smelled a conspiracy brewing, but I wasn't about to help Clyvus by pointing it out.
We passed through halls and climbed multiple sets of stairs before exiting onto a roof. Clyvus dragged me across it to the outer wall. We walked along the top to another building.
"This place needs more cells," Clyvus complained.
We entered a squat tower that boasted a rickety ladder rising to a hole in the ceiling.
"Up the ladder."
I climbed. Clyvus yanked the ladder away when I reached the top. I scrambled through the hole, then peered down. It was a long way to try jumping, but not impossible.
"Don't think of trying," Clyvus warned as if he could read my mind. "Not unless you want me to turn you over to the Baron. I've always wanted to see someone burned alive on purpose. Is it the same as getting caught in an engine flare? I'd imagine it would be much worse, slower and more painful."
I drew back from the hole.
"There will be guards around to see you if you try." Clyvus gathered his men and left.
I lay on my belly, studying the room below. The only exit was the doorway onto the roof. Even if Clyvus hadn't left guards, I would be awfully exposed.
Waist high walls circled the tower. Slender wooden pillars supported the peaked roof. I leaned out. Long shadows stretched across the valley below. A herd of goats milled outside the monastery walls.
The view out the other side wasn't nearly as attractive. Clyvus drilled his men in the main courtyard. They had more weapons than an illegal mercenary bazaar, everything from blasters and rocket bombs to swords and arrows. I hoped Sergeant Clay could work miracles. He was going to need one.
I leaned against the wooden wall. My cell contained a bucket of tainted water, a few dusty leaves and twigs. Three birds nested in the roof, watching me warily with beady eyes. I wondered if Clyvus meant to starve me to death. It didn't matter. I was dead as long as I was in his hands. I had to escape. I racked my brain all morning, but couldn't think of any way that didn't involve me getting shot or burned alive.
Robin's men should be stationed on the slope, just beyond the goat pasture. Clay and three teams should be entering the caves soon. The others should be constructing catapults and battering rams for the gates. I paced across the tower to watch Clyvus' men, but they had retreated inside to escape the afternoon heat. I slumped against the wall.
A ladder slammed into the opening. Roland's shaved and balding head appeared. Three men with nasty looking knives guarded the exit below.
"Company for you," one of the knifemen said. He kicked the ladder away just as Roland's hand touched the wood of the floor.
The ladder tumbled over. I hauled Roland into the tower, twisting my fists in his robe.
The men laughed, shouting crude jokes before leaving.
The birds flew out with a rustle of wings.
"So, this is where you went." Roland leaned against the opposite wall. "We wondered when you and Dysun didn't return."
"He sold me out. What happened to you?"
"I came as planned, only the men were suspicious. They allowed me to see Brother Anselm. They tortured him for the secrets of brewing shara."
"Did they learn?"
He shook his head. "They didn't believe him, especially after he recited the forty-seven psalms that must be sung while you gather the herbs and the seventy-six recitations that accompany each ritual stirring while it cooks. The recipe for shara is still quite safe."
We sat in silence.
"This is the old meditation tower," Roland said, gesturing at the open room. "Monks were sent here to meditate, sometimes as punishment, sometimes for enlightenment."
"And were they enlightened?"
"Occasionally. Especially after dark." He signaled with his eyes.
I got the message. Knowing Clyvus, the tower was bugged. We spent the afternoon discussing the habits of the birds that nested in the tower. Roland knew all about them. I was bored after the first five seconds, but kept asking questions anyway. It passed the time.
"The other monks are coming tonight," he whispered after he had just finished a long commentary on the uses of bird dung. "Clay is moving in the morning."
I nodded and asked about the goats. The volume of their cries increased during the long afternoon.
"They need to be milked," Roland said. "Poor creatures haven't been properly cared for."
We discussed goats until the sun set, watching them from our tower perch.
The goats milled, then headed into the woods. Their insistent noise gradually faded.
Roland nodded. "Robin's men. They'll be cared for now."
No one brought us dinner. No one even came to check on us as night fell. The sky grew long streamers of orange and rose before fading to deep blue. Stars winked. The larger moon rose. We waited. My stomach growled.
"There's a trapdoor in the room below. It leads into the loft over the main hall. From there we can get almost anywhere in the monastery." Roland shifted closer. "Shall we try your rope trick again?"
We stripped our outer clothes and tied them into a lumpy rope.
Roland peered down into the room. "It's clear." Roland lowered the rope through the hole. "You brace me while I climb down. You drop the clothes and I'll catch you."
If it had been any other man, I would have protested, violently if necessary, but I trusted Roland. I wound the sleeve of his robe around my arm, then braced myself as best I could.
Roland climbed down the makeshift rope. His naked back gleamed in the moonlight. I did my best to ignore my own state of undress. At least I had underwear this time.
Roland tugged twice. I let the clothes slither down. I wiggled through the hole, hanging by my fingers. I took a deep breath and let go, trusting Roland to catch me.
We landed on the floor with a thump.
Roland rubbed his side and winced. "At least there aren't any stickers here," he whispered as he untied his robe and pulled it over his head
.
I fumbled with the knots in my clothes. Roland froze, staring out the door. He scrambled quickly over the floor and scrabbled at the corner. I heard whistling outside and hurried after him, dragging my clothes. Roland pulled loose a square of the floor. It squeaked loudly. The whistling stopped.
"Who's there?" a guard shouted.
Roland urgently waved me through the hole. I threw my clothes down, then dropped, holding my breath. I landed on something that splintered and gouged my leg. Roland landed on top of me. The trapdoor slammed shut. I fumbled in the dark, but couldn't find my clothes anywhere. The guard's boots thundered almost as loud as my heart as he checked the tower. We heard his shouts as he ran onto the roof.
"This way." Roland grabbed my hand. We stumbled and banged our way past furniture. "I hope they blame the noise on rats. It won't take them long to find the trapdoor. We have to find a better place to hide. Wait here a moment." He dropped my hand.
I waited impatiently, each second dragging like hours. Blood trickled down my leg.
A faint light flared, illuminating Roland's face from below like some grotesque caricature. I picked my way over to him. He pulled aside a stack of tapestries to reveal a narrow door. He put one finger over his lips and leaned his ear against the panel. He took my hand and eased the door open.
"Quickly," he whispered. He darted into the dimly lit hall.
I brushed a hand over my shift, tugging the skirt lower. At least I still had my boots. I followed him as quietly as possible.
