Rogue Stars

by C Gockel et al.

  This kah was all wrong. It was not playing by the rules, she thought plaintively. That thought was so absurd that at any other time she would have laughed, but not now. There was nothing funny about burying Merrick, or running for their lives from the Murderers, and there was nothing funny about this kah. It... she couldn’t think of it as a he. It wasn’t Merrick, it wasn’t! Despite its strange ways and looking like the youngling, she had to cling to her lessons. It wasn’t him, but it seemed not to know that or care. It acted like Merrick, wanted her attention like he had, and Harmonies help her she felt herself wanting it to be really him. That was so wrong.

  She couldn’t talk to him... it! It was an it, wasn’t it? She couldn’t talk to him with the others nearby, but when she checked they were busy lowering Merrick’s body into the pit. Shima holstered one beamer and gestured surreptitiously behind her back, wanting the kah to move behind a tree. Shima almost gasped when it did what she wanted. They don’t do that, she wailed silently in her head.

  Shima followed it behind the tree and stopped to watch its antics. “I don’t understand.”

  The kah... oh Harmonies, call it Merrick. She was already losing her mind; what difference did it make? Merrick raised his hands and let them fall in defeat. He looked very upset.

  “You can’t tell me, can you show me?”

  Merrick’s face glowed brighter as if suddenly excited. Shima swallowed. He moved away and looked back. His expression asked if she was coming. Shima used her gift to look for danger, and gave herself over to the madness.

  She followed him through the trees, already guessing where he planned to lead her. Maybe she was asleep and dreaming? She stumbled over a hidden root barking a shin painfully.

  “Not dreaming,” she muttered and rubbed the pain away. “I couldn’t be that lucky.”

  Merrick stopped by the dead aliens and looked at her.

  Shima and Kazim had dragged all the bodies together before deciding to just leave them for the scavengers. They’d had some vague notion of hiding them, but it would have taken too long. Better to bury Merrick and vacate the area quickly than spend time hiding dead aliens she had decided.

  “What?”

  Merrick pointed urgently to one of the aliens.

  Shima raised her beamer, suddenly wary. Had it somehow survived? No, not possible. The Harmonies showed Merrick glowing very brightly and nothing else. They were definitely dead.

  “They’re dead.”

  Merick raised his fists at the sky and shook them. Then he pointed at the alien again.

  “All right, all right... no need to get testy about it. I’ll look at your stinky alien if you will leave me alone and join your ancestors like you’re supposed to.”

  Merrick grinned at her. Grinned!

  Grumbling about getting even more blood on herself, she holstered her beamer and rolled the stinky and definitely dead alien onto its back. Kazim had stripped its weapons and shared them out, just as she had done with the other aliens, so she didn’t expect to find anything.

  “Now what? There’s nothing here.”

  Merrick crouched near her and mimed undoing its clothes.

  “I am not stripping this foul thing naked!”

  Merrick’s ears went back at that, and he looked disgusted. He gestured slowly and Shima finally understood.

  “Oh, sorry,” Shima said and reached for the flap of material attached to the Merkiaari covering.

  Merkiaari didn’t wear anything like a Shan harness with its loops and pouches, but they still needed to carry things. Like the new aliens, the Humans, they wore coverings they called clothes and those had built in pouches. She undid the flap securing the pocket and reached inside. Her hand felt something and she stilled. Had they missed a weapon?

  “What is it?”

  She looked for Merrick but he was gone. Had he gone back to the others? Somehow she knew he hadn’t. He was truly gone to his ancestors now. Shima looked back at the alien and withdrew the item. It wasn’t a weapon; she was sure of that. She suspected it was some kind of minicomputer. She turned it this way and that, wondering why this thing was important enough for Merrick’s kah to break all the rules to get it into her hands.

  She turned it over and stared at her face reflected in the shiny surface. There were no controls, but if this really was a computer... she touched the shiny part and things started happening. She watched coloured icons and blinking graphics move over the screen.

  She cocked her head trying to understand the display, and her ears flicked at the nasty alien speech sounds coming from the device. Suddenly things rearranged themselves in her mind. She turned the device ninety degrees and her breath rushed out as the electronic map made sense and she associated the graphics with the real world.

  “No...” she said in horror.

  She dashed into the trees carrying her booty.

  Shima threw herself onto her knees at the edge of the pit and unceremoniously began pushing the mound of earth into it with her hands.

  “Shima!” Kazim said.

  “Help me!” Shima snarled at Kazim. “Merkiaari heading this way. She handed the device to Nevin. “We can’t let them find Merrick or us. They will chase us forever using one of these things. It happened to me before in Zuleika.”

  Nevin stuffed the device into a pouch and started shoving at the loose dirt. His family followed his lead and the pit was soon full. Shima kicked away the excess dirt, spreading it out to hide it.

  “Kazim, lead them away from here. The stream. Take them to where we stopped yesterday. I’ll catch up.”

  “But—”

  “Go!” Shima screamed.

  Kazim stumbled back in surprise. “This way.” He ran and everyone rushed to catch up.

  Nevin stopped to look back. “Don’t do anything foolish. You owe me a life, remember?”

  “I remember,” Shima said grimly. “I remember everything. I must hide our presence here, and blur your trail. Now go.”

  Nevin dropped to all fours and raced after his family.

  Shima used deadwood and underbrush to cover Merrick’s pit. That was the easy part. The ground all around the area was scuffed and trampled. She didn’t know how good at tracking the Merkiaari were. She hoped they relied upon technology and not natural instinct. Using primitive methods might fool technology, probably would, but she had to do the best job she could in case the aliens did know how to track prey without their devices.

  She drew her knife and leapt into the air, aiming and swinging the knife at a low branch of the nearest tree. The blade was very keen, made of the best steel. It was one of a matching pair Tahar had bought her one nameday. She landed neatly and caught the severed branch in her free hand. Using it like a broom, she swept the entire area so that fallen leaves and other forest detritus spread evenly over everything. To the casual eye, no one had been here. To Shima, it was still obvious that people had been here but that was training and the scent left behind by the others. She could only hope the aliens weren’t her equal.

  Shima backed away, still brushing furiously, following Nevin’s scent. She did that for a long time. Probably too long, but she was determined that any curious Merkiaari would not get any help from her inaction to find Merrick’s family. Finally she climbed into the trees, taking along her branch with its tell-tale freshly severed end. She wedged it in the crook of more branches to hide it, and then sprang into another tree heading toward the stream and the others waiting for her.

  It didn’t take long to find them. Shima dropped out of the last tree to land lightly a few hundred paces from Kazim and the others. Wonder of wonders he had the Merkiaari mass driver aimed rather than his camera. The others were inexpertly holding the Merkiaari weapons they had liberated from their captors; the aliens had broken the beamers they had brought with them from the city. None of them knew how to use the huge weapons; they were used to hand beamers, which had no recoil at all. But mass drivers very much did, especially Merkiaari mass drivers. Merkiaari were big crea
tures and their weapons matched them in size and power. They couldn’t be held and fired like a Shan beamer, but Shima could tell no one had thought about that yet.

  Shima didn’t have time to tell them now.

  “May I see the alien computer?” Shima asked Nevin. He removed it from his pouch and handed it to her. “We might need to put greater distance between us. Let us see.”

  Nevin watched as Shima touched the shiny surface and the display brightened. She pointed to the icons and looked the question at Nevin. He flicked his ears and his tail rose. Its dark tip curled and made a short slashing motion. He was right, the aliens were about to discover their dead. She flicked her own ears and her tail mimicked his. They turned back to the display and watched the alien lights stop at the place where the fight occurred.

  “Watch, they will spread out and search the area. Probably in twos.”

  Nevin flicked his ears in agreement. “Will they find Merrick?”

  “I’m hoping not. If they do, it tells me something. A lot actually.”

  Kazim joined their huddle around the computer. “How so?”

  “If they find Merrick after all I did to prevent them, then it means they are skilled trackers. We already know from history they are hunters... mindless predators, but can they track us without one of these?” Shima said raising the alien device slightly. “If they can’t, we will lose them in the forest. If they can, we will still lose them I promise you, but it will be harder and I will have to be very careful.”

  “And if they keep following?”

  Shima wished Nevin had not said that. It was one of her greatest fears about this. She dare not lead the aliens to any keep. She remained silent and looked hard at Nevin. His ears went back just a little as he realised what he’d said, but they came up quickly. His tail gestured understanding but worry too; for his mate and cubs no doubt.

  “Let us worry about that if it happens.”

  Kazim finally realised the problem. His nostrils flared and his eyes flicked from Nevin to Shima and back. “We...” he swallowed hard. “Shima and I could lead them away if it comes to that. Nevin can take the younglings to the keep while we distract the Murderers.”

  Shima felt a sudden burst of affection for Kazim. He could be clueless at times, but none could say he wasn’t brave.

  “Yes,” Shima said. “That’s the plan.”

  The aliens split into search parties; they searched in pairs as Shima guessed they would, and were methodical about it. They were using a grid pattern, logical enough, but Shima was very interested to note how exacting their spacing was. That kind of accuracy was machine-like and it made her grin. She looked at Nevin, but he hadn’t caught the clue. He noticed her expression and cocked his head in query.

  “They’re using their machines to search. I’m certain now.”

  “How can you be sure?” Kazim asked.

  “The spacing. It’s too regular. I think they’re using a computer like this, rather than their eyes or noses. They won’t find us that way.”

  Kazim looked unsure. “I don’t know, Shima. Maybe I’m missing something, but if we can see them with this thing, can’t they see us?”

  Shima began to say of course they couldn’t, but why couldn’t they? She had assumed the Merkiaari could not because they had stopped to search instead of chasing them. Was that good enough? She looked at Nevin. He was watching the Merkiaari icons thoughtfully.

  “I assumed they stopped to search because they couldn’t see us, but...” Shima gestured frustration with her tail. “Everything is a guess where aliens are concerned! I don’t like not knowing.”

  “Scientist,” Kazim said and laughed. “Don’t scowl at me. You know that’s part of it.”

  It was, Shima admitted privately. It was the curse all scientist caste suffered from—ever questioning, wanting to know the answers and reasons behind everything. It was often said that a cub’s caste could be predicted by the first word out of her mouth. Future scientists were born with the word ‘why’ on their tongues.

  “The Murderers know their devices better than we,” Nevin said thoughtfully, slowly feeling his way to a conclusion. “Could it be as simple as that? Could they be using it differently?”

  “Yes!” Shima said excitedly. She scrutinised the computer. “This one could indicate a wide area scan,” Shima pointed a claw at one of the icons running down the short side of the map. There were two circles one inside the other. The outer ring was filled with colour, the inner empty. “Perhaps the Murderers are watching for danger close by.”

  Kazim flicked his ears in agreement. “That makes a lot of sense. They’re looking for what or who killed their friends.”

  “Yes,” Nevin mused, “but that means they only have to touch this icon on their computer to see us.”

  “Right,” Shima said. “We must run until we can’t see them on ours anymore, then we rest and wait for night again. “One of us remains awake to watch the computer.”

  “Agreed,” Nevin said.

  Shima studied the display a moment longer and chose her direction; away from the mountains and the safety of the keep. They dare not be seen heading to a keep. Even if the Murderers did not guess they were looking for safety of some kind, it wouldn’t take much for them to project forward and notice the mountains. Shima decided right then to turn toward the mountains only if the map remained clear for a cycle.

  “This way,” Shima said, putting the computer in her pouch and dropping to all fours. “We move fast and hard, and then review our direction. Let’s say two segs before our first stop, which gives us roughly two more before dawn to find somewhere to rest.”

  “Good,” Kazim said. “I play rear guard this stretch.”

  Shima flicked her ears and tail. She was pleased he was taking some responsibility for the group. She left Nevin to organise his family how he would, and set off into the trees. A moment later, she heard the others move to follow. She set a rapid pace, but not so fast that she risked exhausting everyone. The wilds could be dangerous. They might need to fight or run from predators, or Merkiaari, or both.

  Dawn found Shima safely hunkered down with the others. Rahuri and her sibs were tangled together in a pile, sleeping the sleep of the exhausted. The sight made her smile, but it faltered as she remembered Merrick. He should be with his sibs, no doubt in the centre with the others on top and spilling around him. Female sibs tended to be that way, very protective of a brother especially if he was their only brother. They would have doted on him, looked out for him, boasted of and about him. It made Shima want to weep.

  Chailen was wonderful; a beauty in her personality to match her sleek form, but a brother would have been very special to both of them. They would have raised him together, though of course Tahar would have final say... well mostly. Sibs were always close, their bond as strong if not the same as parent to child. Yes, a brother would have been good.

  Tahar had told her of her dead sibs only recently. She didn’t know any details except they died as a result of the failed FTL project, the same that crippled her. She didn’t know if one or more of those dead sibs had been male. She didn’t have names for her dead. Suddenly that lack mattered. It hadn’t before, but with Tahar gone and now Merrick, it mattered a lot. She should at least have names to think about, to imagine what might have been, but she didn’t. She wished she had asked Tahar. It was possible her parents had not named them. She didn’t know, but they had surely chosen names in anticipation of the birth. If Shima knew the names, she could pretend she had a brother once.

  Shima sighed quietly, trying not to disturb the others, and studied the alien map. All clear, as it should be. She wondered what the other control icons did, but she dared not change any settings. For one thing, she might not get the ever so useful map back. For another, she had heard alien speech come from it so she knew it was a communicator as well as a map. What if she accidentally transmitted her location? No, the two icons they had decided were long and short range scan would have to do.
She would give it to someone at the keep. Let an engineer figure it out. Tahar would have loved investigating its guts, like that time with the droid.

  Shima smiled remembering his delight in the strange device. They didn’t know then of course, but they had played a tiny part in the arrival of the Humans. Her smile faded. Where were the Humans now? Had they escaped the Murderers? Kajetan said in her broadcast the Humans would fight, but had they? Surely their ship could not do so well as the Fleet. Everyone said the Human ship was designed for surveying new worlds not fighting. Shima gazed upon the fading stars as the sun came up and wished the Humans well.

  At least she was clean now. They had a good source of water and cover. The spring was icy cold; supplied no doubt by snow melt from the mountains, but all she had cared about was getting the stinky alien blood out of her pelt. She loved that spring for being here. The cave was a boon too of course. Shima had stationed herself just inside the entrance to watch the game trail she had used to find it. It was perfect. They couldn’t be observed from above, they had water, and the cave was close to game trails fresh from regular use. Native animals must use the spring, and that meant she would have an easy time feeding everyone.

  She checked the map again. All clear.

  She closed her eyes and settled into her meditation sleep. Not truly sleep, her lessons were clear on that, but it was restful for the body if not the mind. She was determined not to make any more mistakes as she had with Merrick. She would let the others help, but she would not relax her guard until they were safely in a keep. Her muscles relaxed, the map device settled a little in her hands and lap. Her breathing deepened and slowed as her mind wandered.

  Images of Tahar, of Merrick, of Chailen flowed through her thoughts, but none lingered. The fight with the Merkiaari briefly flashed by, broken static images shocking. Her claws buried in the eyes of an alien, another of her claws already running red ripping open a throat. Another, another, another... her hand in the guts of a Merkiaari. That one almost made her lose her trance. She hadn’t noticed at the time, but she must have been aware enough to strike beneath the alien’s breastplate to disembowel him.