“Your little friends heard a hover coming, so they took you outside and got you to climb a tree to see what was going on.”
She drew in a shaky breath. “That sounds pretty mild.”
He stroked her hair. “Do you remember what you saw? I couldn't get high enough up on the tree, but it looked like you had a pretty good view.”
She shook her head. “I don't remember any of it.”
“The hover never came that close to us, it was to the north, so I'm guessing it was making for the Caruson camp.”
He had barely finished speaking when they heard the hover again, coming back the other way.
Neither of them moved.
“It didn't stay long,” Ben said when it was long gone. “Dropping more soldiers off, maybe?”
“I don't feel any sense of worry when you talk about it, so I guess whatever is in me doesn't feel threatened by it.”
She sounded so miserable when she said it, he tugged at her hair gently to distract her, and when she tipped up her face to frown at him, he bent his head and kissed her.
She opened her mouth beneath his, and kissed him back, and in an instant, what started as a gentle exploration ramped up into a hungry devouring.
He slid his hands up her sides, cupping her breasts and groaning at the feel of them under his palms.
She levered herself up on his shoulders, moving her legs so she straddled him, so they were flush against each other, and then she rocked against him.
He lifted her thin shirt over her head, clamping his lips on a hard nipple and she arched back.
He had decided not to go down this path, and he forced himself to pull back, his breathing hard.
Tally looked at him through half-closed eyes. “What is it?”
“I don't know what my plans are, but I know I'll be stuck on Veltos for months, especially now.” He could barely remember the reasons he'd given himself.
“I don't know if I'll even live to the end of the week.” Her eyes gleamed in the moonlight. “I'm prepared to take a chance if you are.”
He'd dropped his hands, but now he ran them up her naked back and pulled her a little closer. “You'll live to the end of the week, I'll make sure of it.”
She sent him a smile, but there was something sad behind it. “It's not up to you, but for what it's worth, I have your back, too. There is nothing I'd like more right now than to make love to you, to feel good for a change.”
Ben cupped her face in his hands. “Are you sure?”
She nodded, turned her head and kissed his palm.
The touch of her lips went straight to his cock, and he lifted her more fully onto him. “As it happens, there's nothing I'd like more, either.”
Chapter 18
They woke and packed up their things in darkness, their bodies and hands brushing each other as they moved around, in a way that made Tally's blood sing, and made her regret they didn't have more time.
Dawn was still half an hour off when they left the cozy nest she'd made, working their way silently toward the Caruson camp.
The hover last night had definitely been headed in that direction, and neither of them wanted to move on without trying to see what the hover had brought with it, if anything.
Tally followed Ben, and he headed without hesitation to the east of the camp, where the ground rose in a series of small hills.
It was difficult going in the dark, but the sunlight had just started to filter through the branches when he stopped under a massive tree and pointed up.
The air was crisp, and the birds were calling in what seemed to be a morning frenzy.
As she found handholds and pulled herself up, she realized she felt good, despite the early hour and the danger they were in.
She was carrying her pack, unwilling to leave it on the ground, and when she looked down, she saw Ben had done the same. The weight pulled against her shoulders, but she didn't care, almost relishing the feeling.
Her body sang with contentment. Something inside her had relaxed. Ben hadn't held back as they'd explored each other's bodies last night, hadn't treated her like the alien thing she'd started to see herself as. He'd made love to her like she was the old Tally, and it had given her back a measure of calm.
No matter how fleeting their time together might end up being, she was deeply grateful for that.
She had been moving steadily upward, but a small sound from below made her stop.
She looked back, saw Ben wasn't able to climb as high as her. He was too heavy. He was looking up at her, his pack beside him.
She quickly descended, handed him her own pack, took the enhanced visor he handed her, and climbed again.
She found the Caruson camp easily. The hills put them above it, and the tree added a further boost.
It looked empty, though, the fire was smoking but looked like it had been doused, and there were no soldiers that she could see.
She worked her way back down, stepped in close to him, mainly because there wasn't very much space to begin with, but also because it felt nice.
His arm held her against him.
“Can't see anyone. They've already left for the day.”
“Packed up?” he murmured in surprise.
She shook her head. “There's a few tents still up, but the fire's out and there's no one there.”
He stood quietly, thinking about it, when Tally heard the crunch of dead leaves under boots below them.
She lifted a finger to his lips and pointed down, and after a moment, he seemed to hear it too.
There was no sound other than footsteps, and they stood, arms wrapped around each other on the narrow branch, absolutely still.
Then someone cursed.
Tally thought it was a curse, anyway. It was explosive and sounded annoyed, but it could just be how the Caruson spoke.
Someone else responded, and finally, there seemed to be a little group just out of sight through the thick, green branches, conversing with each other.
They kept their voices low, and it was hard to hear distinct words because of the rumble.
When she heard footsteps again, they came directly toward her and Ben, and she tightened her hold on him.
Someone spat something harsh and choppy almost directly below them, and then the sound of footsteps faded.
“Did you understand any of that?” She breathed it into his ear, as soft as a sigh.
“A little.” He took the vision enhancers from her and angled them downward and to the south. “They caught our heat signatures earlier, and followed us. They don't know where we've gone, but they've made a decision to do something, and I didn't get what, but they've split up.”
He went very still.
“What is it?”
“Two soldiers, headed back toward the cliff. I think they've decided to send a few back toward the supply station, just in case.”
“We can't let them do that.” There was no way she'd let Soo and Lenny fend for themselves while also trying to keep Frangi alive.
“No.” Ben's instant agreement was comforting. “But we need to do two things. Stop the two going back, and give the others a reasonable belief that we're headed for Rainerville, or they'll give up and follow behind the two that are going south.”
He was right.
“So which of us goes which way?” She didn't want to separate, but she couldn't see a way around it. They had two things to do, in opposite directions.
“I'll stop the two that went after Soo and Lenny. You keep making a trail, and lay low. Or high, rather. They didn't see us earlier on their heat sensors because they aren't pointing them up. They're too heavy to climb these trees, so they forget that we aren't.”
She thought about it.
When he said he was going to stop them, he meant kill them. There was no prison to lock them up in, no other way to keep their friends safe. And of the two of them, she had to admit he was the one with the training for this. She drew in a shaky breath. “Okay. How do we meet up again?”
/> “I'll find you as soon as I've dealt with those two. Sleep in the trees at night if you can. And don't get caught.”
She sensed the urgency in him, and knew every moment he spent talking to her increased the distance between him and the two soldiers. “I won't. Go.”
He bent his head and kissed her. Lifted his mouth and then went in for a second, softer touch of his lips. “Please be careful. Don't take chances. I'll be as fast as I can.”
She nodded, because anything else would take up time he didn't have, and then he crouched, pulled on his pack, and swung down.
Moments later, she heard the crunch of his boots as he jumped from the bottom branch, and then nothing but the wind in the leaves.
* * *
There were a lot of footprints.
Tally looked at them, and for the first time felt a dip in her confidence.
She'd enjoyed following the Caruso while they thought they were following her, but eventually they'd realized the trail Ben had set up the day before had disappeared, and that they were simply blundering around.
That's when they'd started hunting for her in earnest.
She'd managed to get ahead, create a trail, and then double back a few times. This time something felt off.
Things went very silent all of a sudden, the sound of the birds cut off, and a feeling of being in danger washed over her. Buzzing filled her ears, and every hair stood to attention.
She felt her control slip, and she forced herself to relax, to embrace it. There was just a hint of movement out of the corner of her eye, and she ran left, jumping down a small gully and then zigzagging through the trees.
She heard the hum of laz fire, had the sense of the air behind her brightening, and then heard the shouts.
She sprinted, and had the strangest sense of being a little outside her body, understanding she had never run so fast, never been so agile.
The gully had dropped into a fairly flat space, thick with trees, and then she heard the sound of rushing water, and, impossibly, found a little more speed.
She reached the stream moments later, and threw herself in, but instead of letting the water take her, she grabbed a rock that stuck out into the water from the opposite bank, and ducked behind it, crouching low so only her eyes and ears were above water.
Interesting choice, she thought to her little invaders.
Not obvious, and that might be a good thing.
Above where she crouched was a big fountain bush, like the one they'd slept under last night, and while it didn't extend over the water, it threw a lot of shade over the small cove between the rock and the bank.
The Caruso burst from the trees.
She couldn't see them, but she could hear them, their sentences a little breathless.
They were big and slow, she realized. They didn't move as fast as she could. The realization gave her a little comfort.
Another thing that helped bolster her was the icy water. It would definitely make it harder for them to find her with heat sensors.
Suddenly they were in the stream, splashing through the water, and she went very still.
One soldier passed her, and then a second, and she thought two more crossed the stream almost directly on the other side of her rock and climbed the bank, and then she heard them above her, following the stream on the other side.
That meant, if two had gone to follow Soo and Lenny, that the hover last night had brought soldiers to replace the three she and Ben had killed yesterday.
She waited until the sound of them faded, and then rose up, and quietly walked back the way she'd come. She needed to keep going toward Rainerville, and the way the Caruso were headed was south of her route.
She shivered as she went, but her clothes were VSC military issue and they dried quickly.
She made a point of snapping a few branches and choosing the rockiest paths, and even then doubled back and made more footprints, to make it look like she wasn't alone.
She'd been going for a few hours when she heard them again--they were behind her, and she guessed they had picked up her trail.
She let herself feel a quick shiver of fear, and then she hitched her pack higher on her shoulders, and started to run.
Chapter 19
It had taken him over three hours, but Ben had finally caught up to the Caruso.
They had led him back to the clearing near the crashed runner, and he crouched down behind a tree and watched the soldiers examine the spot where the Caruson soldier he'd killed yesterday had died.
They were looking at the ground, and he realized they were examining the dark spot where Frangi had bled.
A wave of fury washed over him, and his grip tightened on the massive laz in his hands.
At least the dead soldier had been taken away, although his smashed up hover still listed drunkenly against the tree it had hit.
The hover that had disturbed them last night had probably been sent to fetch the bodies, as well as drop off more troops.
There had been at least five yesterday, and he guessed more likely six--one to guard the camp.
Three were dead, but there seemed to be six again. They'd received reinforcements.
The two soldiers straightened up and began searching the outside edge of the clearing, looking for evidence of which way they'd gone.
One found his and Tally's deliberate path, but the other called out and pointed in the direction Soo and Lenny had gone.
They stood together for a moment, conferring, and more importantly, making themselves an easy target.
Ben raised the laz, leaning against the tree and angling his body, and opened fire.
He aimed high, going for their heads, because they were wearing anti-laz layers.
He saw one go down, but the other had dived to the side, and came up shooting.
Ben ducked, used the thick undergrowth to shield himself, and ran to the next tree.
He crouched beneath it for a moment, then started to climb.
He only went up a short way, but the tree was thick with foliage and it would be hard for him to be seen from below.
The Caruson shot wildly for a minute, the laz fire even striking the bottom of the tree Ben was in, causing shivers to run through its trunk.
The fire cut off, and the silence stretched out.
The Caruson was waiting for him to break cover, or start shooting again.
He could just see the body of the Caruson he'd hit through the leaves. The Verdant String version of a laz had a kill setting, but they didn't score flesh, they fatally disrupted the body's synapses. This Caruson version he'd stolen acted more like a real laser, burning as it went.
It was a shock to see the blood. Had been a shock when Frangi had been hit, too.
After a long break, long enough for the birds to start singing again, he heard the sound of footsteps. The Caruson walked toward him, stopping every few steps, and then moving again.
Ben tilted the laz downward. He would have to be very certain of his aim, or he'd be an easy target in the tree.
He could hear the rustle of leaves, but the foliage that was keeping him hidden also blocked the Caruson completely from his view.
He listened carefully, and when he thought the soldier had passed him, he moved down to the lowest branch and then dropped to the ground.
He landed almost on top of his quarry, who had his back to the tree.
Ben didn't know who was more surprised, him or the soldier, who turned, shock stamped on his face.
Ben got off a shot, but it went wide, and the Caruson reacted with a body slam, rather than using his laz.
He was massive, with the typically heavy frame and thick skin of the Caruso. Ben landed, winded, beneath him, levering the laz in his hands between them.
The Caruson grunted, lifting his hands to try to choke Ben, but Ben managed to get some momentum, and rocked them both to the left, and got the barrel of the laz under the Caruson's chin.
He fumbled for the charge release, while the Caruson got
in a blow with his elbow to the side of Ben's head.
Dazed, Ben's grip on the laz slipped for a moment, but he got hold of it again and rammed it upward into the Caruson's chin a second time, with enough force to tilt the soldier's head back.
He slapped his hand down the barrel blindly, and eventually hit the charge release, but the Caruson wrenched his head to the side in time and the laz fire only scored along his jaw and ear.
With a shout of pain the soldier rolled away, and Ben rolled in the opposite direction, head still ringing from the elbow blow.
He stumbled to his feet, swaying where he stood, and tried to focus. The Caruson was doing the same.
Laz fire lit the gloom of the forest, and Ben threw himself back onto the ground, but not before he felt the pain of a hit along his side.
He landed, panting, and watched the Caruson shake his head as if to clear it and then stagger forward.
Ben couldn't lift himself up, and he could barely aim, but Tally was out there, all alone, and so he forced himself to wait, making himself look limp as he sprawled among the leaves, and then when the Caruson was almost on him, he fired.
He got the soldier's legs, and while it didn't break through his laz protection, it did knock him to the ground.
Ben struggled up onto his knees, and shot again, this time getting him in the chest.
The soldier grunted, but it wasn't enough to stop him lifting his own laz.
Ben's was already up, though, and he finally hit the Caruson in the face.
He realized after a while he didn't know how long he'd been kneeling, swaying like a tree in a strong breeze, and decided to just lie down for a bit, until he felt better.
* * *
He blinked awake to the sound of sniffing.
Confused, he cracked his eyes open a little, and a long snout came into view. He felt the touch of a nose against his chest.
He sat up, and with a squeal, a long, sleek animal jumped, twisted in midair, and dashed off.
Ben swallowed back the nausea that rose up in him, and carefully removed the straps of his pack, wincing at the shooting pain from his side.
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