When he dropped to the ground, they turned to look at him, and he gave a silent signal, letting them know which way the threat was coming from, how many there were, and how long he thought it would take them to get here.
He estimated they had five minutes.
Five minutes wasn't bad, as far as forewarnings went.
Soo and Lenny nodded, sliding around to face the right direction, but they had no weapons and he realized it was just a need to do something that compelled them.
“Pack the hover up, I'll help move Frangi to one end of it,” he said, voice low, and after a moment's hesitation, they started to do it.
Tally must have heard him, because she stood, her hands going under Frangi's armpits, and Ben grabbed her hips.
They lifted her to one end of the hover, and then Tally ran to the only tent they still hadn't put down, and came back out with a pillow and a sleeping bag, which she arranged around Frangi to make her more comfortable.
“It's her leg.” Tally glanced at him, and he tried not to wince when he saw the mangled mess of it.
“Good thing it's the fake one.” Frangi's voice was so faint it was almost impossible to hear.
“You're right.” Tally bent close to her ear. “They can grow you a new one, and they already have all the specifications.”
“True.” Tears glittered on her eyelashes. “Pity . . . the nerve endings took so well, though. It hurts.” She drew in a labored breath. “You should leave me and run.”
Tally gripped her shoulder. “Say that again, and I'll kick your ass.”
The hover was almost fully packed, Soo and Lenny had thrown themselves into the job, and they both stepped back, their gazes going to him for further instructions. Lenny had found the big hammer used for the tents, and he held it like a cudgel.
Ben glanced at his wrist unit and saw someone coming in much faster than walking or even running pace. He leapt to his feet, mouth open to shout a warning, as a small hover came shooting into the clearing.
There was a single Caruson riding it, a massive laz in his hand. Ben stood on the wrong side of the hover, his hand just closing around the laz he had hidden in his jacket. He'd never felt so impotent.
Tally had started to spin around and rise from her crouch a second before the hover appeared, and she turned the movement and her elevated height on the hover into some kind of springboard. He was hauling himself up onto the hover beside Frangi when she threw herself into a forward somersault.
Her arm curved, hooked the Caruson around the neck as she flew over him, and pulled him off his vehicle.
Ben didn't waste time trying to work out how she'd done it, he followed her lead, pushing off the edge of the supply hover and landing beside the Caruson, who was flat on his back.
He threw his laz at Tally and grabbed the Caruson's weapon. As he shot him in the face, there was a screech of metal and then a thump as the small hover smashed into a nearby tree.
“Lenny, Soo. Take Frangi and the supplies deeper into the trees.” Ben was already running across the clearing, in the direction the Caruson had come.
Lenny didn't argue. He was already on the other side of the hover to Soo, jogging deeper into the bush. “Come after us as soon as you can.”
“You want to go with them?” Ben glanced across at Tally, who had drawn level with him. He wanted her to say yes.
She shook her head, such a fierce look on her face, it seemed to him she was raging an internal battle with herself.
Maybe she was.
* * *
Her little helpers had taken control, and she nearly hadn't let them.
Tally knew the person she'd been wouldn't have executed a somersault like that, wouldn't have known how, but she'd made a split second decision and stopped fighting, and because of that she'd helped to stop the first Caruson soldier.
There was no way she was letting Ben take on the others by himself.
She followed him amongst the trees and then stopped as he slid into the shadow of a massive tree trunk.
“Seems like that was the only hover they had.” He was looking at his wrist unit. “There are only three left and they're coming at walking pace.”
She could tell his disrespect for their decision to send the soldier ahead. His lip curled, even as he whispered the information.
“You think they have heat sensors?” She pointed to his wrist unit.
He shrugged, but she could see the edge of violence in him, in the way he stood.
Then he seemed to come to a decision. He pointed upward, and when she nodded, he made his hands into a step for her. “Aim for their faces. They'll have an anti-laz layer under their clothes.” He boosted her up the side of the tree.
It seemed to her she managed to jump higher than she thought she could. She caught a branch, pulled herself up.
It was wide enough for her to crouch easily, and she shuffled to where the branch met the trunk and lifted the small laz Ben had given her.
The Caruson came marching through the tree below, confident, making no effort to hide.
Ben had told her there should be three of them, but she could only see two.
She waited, tense, knowing Ben was going to attack, and suddenly he was firing the big weapon he'd taken from the Caruson in a wide arc.
They were not expecting it.
Tally wondered if they thought their colleague had already subdued everyone, because they reacted with shock and surprise.
One went down, and she took aim and fired at the one closest to her, narrowly missing him as he jinked to the left and rolled, coming up on his feet with his big laz raised.
Ben had run to the right, and now he opened up again from the cover of another massive tree trunk.
As the Caruson turned to follow Ben, Tally shot again, but while the soldier she hit flinched, his hand going to his shoulder, he didn't even cry out.
The Caruson were big, and their skin was thick, but Ben was right, these soldiers were also wearing anti-laz layers. Her little laz wasn't making a dent.
The Caruson she'd hit turned and looked up, his gaze connecting with hers, and with a snarl, he turned to face her.
As he brought up his weapon, she felt the tingle through her body, knew what was happening, and for the second time that day, she gave in.
She rose into a half-crouch and leapt as the branch beneath her disintegrated.
She fired off the laz as she flew through the air, and the soldier who'd shot at her fell.
She landed on the ground beside him, and a wave of nausea rose in her at the sight of his eye.
She'd done that.
“Tally, take cover.”
Ben's angry shout galvanized her, and she dived low and rolled, finding cover behind a tree.
There was another burst of laz fire, and then silence.
“Tally?”
She let herself fall back against the hard bark of the trunk behind her and let out a breath.
“Tally!”
“Here.” She had to clear her throat. “I'm fine.”
She pushed herself to her feet, and tried not to stagger as she stepped out into the open. Ben was standing in the middle of the carnage, looking more than a little wild.
“You all right?” Her gaze raked over him.
There was blood on his cheek and she must have made a sound, because he lifted his fingers to his face and looked at the blood.
“Just some splinters from the return fire.”
As she walked toward him, he checked his wrist unit, and she saw him relax.
“Gone?”
“One got away.”
He held still as she took his face in her hands and carefully pulled out a large sliver of wood from the skin over his cheekbone.
“There's more, but I'll need drawing gel, or tweezers.” She looked in the direction of the clearing. “Let's go find the others before that soldier comes back with more friends.”
Chapter 15
“Frangi can't go all the way to Rainerville.�
�� Soo's voice was matter of fact as they huddled around in a small circle, eating a quick meal. “Especially not if we can't use the Trail. She's in a bad way. I saw Caruson laz wounds on Garmen, but I'll never get used to how nasty they are.”
“We definitely won't be able to use the Trail.” Ben shook his head, his gaze landing on Frangi, lying unconscious on the hover beside them.
Tally was relieved the medication Soo had given her friend had kicked in and sent her into a deep sleep. She winced every time she caught sight of Frangi's leg, but Soo and Lenny had done their best to deal with it and she agreed with Soo's assessment.
“The supply station is two or three days away, Rainerville is about a week away, depending how fast we can travel. You have to go back. And anyway, we can't play hide and seek with the Caruson through the forest with the supply hover.”
Soo tapped her lips with a slim finger. “There may be a spare part for the comms unit at the supply station, too.”
Ben's eyebrows lifted.
“I thought I saw some equipment in that big communal room.” Soo shrugged. “Not sure, but maybe.”
“So what's the plan?” Lenny took a slug of water and set the bottle down.
Tally looked over at Ben, and held his gaze for a long beat.
He gave a short nod. “Time to come clean.”
Soo's gaze lifted, surprised, but Lenny just got more comfortable, and looked like he'd been expecting it.
When Ben had finished telling his story, Soo blew out a breath. “So what was this attack on us about?”
“They're eliminating the witnesses, which means they don't want anyone to know they were here.” Ben glanced up at the bright blue sky. “Which means whatever they're doing is temporary, or secret.”
Tally set the plate of food she'd been eating aside. “And Irwin either led them to us, or went out and found them, and told them where we were.”
Soo gaped at her and Tally shrugged.
“Why else did he clear out just before we were attacked?”
“He's either been in bed with them all along, and is helping them,” Lenny agreed, his voice a low rumble, “or this is a huge coincidence.”
Tally snorted, and Lenny lifted his drink bottle in salute.
“I need to see what they're doing at Rainerville.” Ben stretched out his legs. “We need to know what they're up to there.”
Tally knew he would say that.
“So we have to split up?” Soo gave a sigh. “Not the best solution, but I don't think we have any choice.”
Tally touched her arm. “Soo, you obviously have to go back to the supply station, in case there is a chance you can get the comms unit working again.”
Soo nodded. She looked over at Lenny, waiting for him to say which way he'd go.
He flashed her a quick grin. “I can't let Soo go by herself, not with Frangi in the state she is.” The look he turned on Tally and Ben was almost apologetic.
Tally smiled at him. “I'm glad you're going with her.”
Ben turned to her. “You sure you want to come with me?”
She nodded. “I'm not letting you go alone. And Lenny and Soo will be able to handle Frangi. They don't need my help.”
“The Caruso may come sniffing around the supply station.” Ben's warning was serious.
Soo gave a shrug. “If they do, they do. We'll think of something.”
Ben cleared his throat, and Tally thought he hesitated for a moment before looking them in the eye. “One more thing. Frangi wasn't wrong in thinking something was off with Linn Fraser's response. He is nearby. He's not repairing a warship down for repairs, that's the cover story all the crew use. He's one of the crew on the Arkhoran Special Forces ship that's in this system, looking for Caruson activity. They dropped me and my team off on Veltos, and they might well be in range. Soo, don't bother with pretending you're contacting Linn. Signal to Commander Reskit. He's my superior officer. Straight out say what's going on.”
Soo grinned. “Well, that's some good news, anyway. Rather have a Special Forces warship than one down for maintenance problems coming for me.”
* * *
“Do you know anything about Irwin?” Tally hitched her pack higher on her shoulders, and kept right behind Ben, her voice low.
“He's one of two guides that work the Trail. They are two months on, two months off.” He glanced back. “This was his second month.”
“So he had time to encounter the Caruso, and make a deal with them.” She thought about it. “How did they know he'd be amenable to that?”
“Good question.” He glanced back at her again, his gaze hard. “There was an accident. The other guide fell down some stairs on Situ, and ended up in the med bay. He couldn't remember what happened, and there was no reason to suspect foul play, but he was lucky to be alive. We wondered about it, but no one had the chance to interview him, and it was Irwin's scheduled time on the Trail anyway, so . . .” He faced forward, and his shoulders lifted in a shrug.
“If it was Irwin's scheduled shift anyway, then why . . .?” She chewed on her lip. “Unless they didn't know how long it would take, so they injured the other guide so Irwin could just offer to stay on?”
“Maybe.”
“Why do you think they're here?”
“That's the question--” Ben stopped, lifting his hand in the signal for silence.
Tally slowly drew the small laz out of the side pocket in her pants and widened her stance.
There was the sound of crashing, and then she relaxed as she saw the tension leave Ben's frame.
“It's a herd of kuyer.” He moved forward again, and she saw there was a sharp dip in the ground, and in the shallow valley below, she caught the flick of ears and the scrape of hide against rough bark.
Then, as if they were automatons, controlled by the same hand, the kuyer all went still and looked north.
One let out a hoot and then a sudden sizzle of laz fire cut through the hazy afternoon light.
The kuyer ran, jumping and sprinting, barging into trees as they all tried to head west through the forest.
Tally dropped down, lying flat on her stomach, and she could see Ben was crouched, leaning up against a tree, the massive Caruson laz he had taken steady in his hands.
When the sound and chaos cleared, she pulled herself forward just a little so she could look down the gentle slope. The forest was empty of kuyer, except for the three left dead on the ground.
Two Caruson walked through the trees below, the sunlight flickering over them as they walked toward their kill.
Her breath froze in her throat. She didn't think they could see her or Ben, but if they had heat sensors, they wouldn't need to see them.
Ben obviously thought that, too, because she saw him lift his laz a little higher, getting ready to shoot.
But the Caruson didn't glance their way. They joked in their harsh, choppy language, and found a thick branch to tie all three kuyer to, then walked away, their kill swinging by their legs.
As soon as they disappeared from sight, she shoved up onto her hands and knees, and Ben was suddenly beside her, crouching down to her level.
“If they're killing kuyer, they've set up a camp. I'm going to check it out.”
She blinked, because that sounded like--
“I'm going to leave my pack with you, and you're going to stay hidden until I get back.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Because I'm trained to do this kind of reconnaissance, and it will be harder for them to spot one person, rather than two. I won't be long, if I can help it. I need to go now, in case I lose them. Find a good spot to set up camp near here.”
He slid his pack beside her, and then he was gone.
She rose up into a crouch herself, and thought she just caught sight of his head for a moment, but then, there was nothing.
Well, crap.
She rose up carefully, and tried to work out how she felt.
She wasn't trained for planet-side ops, that was true, a
nd most likely it was better for him to go alone. And he didn't have a lot of time to discuss it because the Caruso were moving away at a fast clip.
But she didn't like being left behind to babysit his pack, either.
Ugh.
And what burned even more sharply was she felt like her little stowaways were in agreement with Ben.
She turned a slow circle, looking for a better place to hide their things and hunker out of sight.
Some of the fountain bushes they'd pushed through yesterday had turned out to have a lot of room between the trunk and the cascade of branches that fell like a fountain from the center trunk.
She grunted with effort as she picked Ben's pack up, and then started walking until she found one. Its branches were thick with foliage, and she put both packs down and pushed some of the branches aside, to step into the cool dappled green and gold of the interior space.
It encircled the trunk, with the branches curving over her like a domed ceiling. They were wide enough apart overhead that the sunlight was able to squeeze through, but the leaves were so thick and green, they formed a solid wall that fell all the way to the forest floor.
She stepped back out, and pulled in the packs, resting them up against the trunk.
She leaned up against them, and closed her eyes for a bit, letting the forest settle back around her, until the birds and the small rodents began going about their business again.
But she felt edgy--worried about Ben, nervous about how the others were getting on. Eventually, she pulled one of the packs between her legs and started repacking it.
They hadn't had time to do more than throw things in, so she might as well sort them out.
Because waiting and doing nothing sucked.
Chapter 16
Tally was dozing on her sleeping mat, half aware of the growing shadows and the lifting strength of the breeze as the day drew to a close, when she heard the footsteps.
She only just stopped herself from calling out, swallowing the shout and putting a hand over her own mouth.
It might not be Ben.
The tread was heavy, and the person was big, but it didn't sound like the lumbering stride of the Caruso.
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