Beast Master's Circus

by Andre Norton

  Storm knew Tani's Aunt Kady. She was a scientist. Nothing deterred her when she was on a trail. And it was true she'd be delighted about the dogs. He touched his mount into a canter to catch up with Laris and Logan. He addressed the girl.

  "Would Dedran mind having a scientist take tissue samples from your carra as well?"

  "I don't think so." Laris frowned. "Why would they want to?"

  Tani had caught up with them. She explained how Terra had created a space-faring ark with beasts and embryos in stasis, with huge tissue banks, all to save Earth's flora and fauna if the worst happened. "And it did. But the ark was safe," Tani said softly. "Now my aunt and uncle seek out other Terran animals or rare ones from other worlds and take samples to hold. She'll be so pleased about the dogs' samples you got us already but carra are quite rare too."

  "What if something happened to the ark?" Laris was fascinated.

  "Then we'd still have the samples. They split those into three. Two others go to planets with groundside storage facilities. They're held in those as well. Lately Uncle Brion's been talking about increasing the groundside places to five. That way it would be even less likely everything could be destroyed."

  She started to tell Laris about her days on the ark. Then how she had come to Arzor. The girl listened, wondering if she should say anything about the rumors Dedran had heard. But she didn't know who'd told him. Maybe he wasn't supposed to know. Tani and Storm had said nothing and it sounded like an exciting tale. Surely if it was all right to tell it they would have. In the end she listened with interest but asked few questions and those carefully chosen.

  The next week passed quickly. Then there were only a few more days. Dedran had commed the ranch to say they would up-ship in five days. The call had come in late one afternoon, insisting Laris must be back well before the ship's departure to see to the animals. Few of them enjoyed takeoff. Some started becoming agitated early as they understood that the time was coming. She could have another three days.

  She hoped Brad would hear from the Ermaine camp before she had to go. Tani had taken samples of tissue from the carra and sent those and the dog tissue to the ark. Kady hadn't received them as yet, although she had mentioned getting the message asking her to interrogate Ermaine's people. She'd replied she'd do her best and that was the last they'd heard.

  Laris sighed. Perhaps even a scientist who knew people still hadn't enough influence to open those files. She dimly recalled some strange events at the camp shortly before she was transferred. It was likely that there-as in many places during and after the war-there'd been corruption. The people involved wouldn't want records found. And others wouldn't want such events exposed. It could reflect badly on the current government. Besides, would all of this be worth the effort? She was in the ranch house the next evening when she decided to ask the one who'd know.

  "Mr. Quade, if Tani's aunt does get the camp records opened, what could you find?"

  "Your full name for a start. I had a search done in Kowar. They have no record of you as other than 'Laris.' No last name in their records. But many of the camp's records simply list the adults of the family who arrived and note 'with three minor children,' giving only the children's first names.

  "If we had your full name we could track that. Once we had the full records we could trace how you came there and from what planet." He looked at her kindly. "It takes time to do that sort of thing, Laris. But governments thrive on records. They're there somewhere." He paused. "I know it seems like a long time to you. But it's only ten or twelve years. A few seconds to a planetary government."

  The girl twisted her hands together. "There were some things that went on..." Her voice trailed away and Brad Quade understood.

  "In the camps? And you think some people in power now might not want to remember them? That's very likely. But I can make it clear to them there's no legal trouble in mind. Don't worry. I know you have to leave soon. I'll get the circus schedule and spacegram any information that comes in. Or won't Dedran like that?"

  She thought. "I think he won't mind. But maybe if you sent it to the port office for collection. I could just pick it up there when we land."

  He nodded. "I'll do that."

  He returned to the book he was reading and Laris departed quietly. She adored the excellent library the ranch owned and understood that a reader liked to read in peace. She read late most nights in her bedroom and her companions were amused at the wide variety in her reading.

  The three days passed. Laris sat down to her last meal at the ranch and was conscious of sadness. Prauo sprawled behind her. He'd eaten earlier but preferred to stay with Laris. She kept her face blank but the others were beginning to know that look. It meant that emotion lurked and the girl was determined not to show it. They combined to make her laugh, sharing old jokes and retelling amusing incidents.

  Finally she excused herself. If she didn't leave she was going to cry. Laris, who hadn't cried since she was six and had learned she would never see her mother again. That she must move on alone.

  *You are sad, sister-without-fur.*

  *I won't see them again. Dedran's going to do something awful to them and they'll never forgive me.*

  *You could warn them.*

  She sent nothing in reply. Better he not know that Dedran had once made a threat which had turned her heart cold with terror. But the big cat had learned. He picked it from her mind in part, guessing the rest. *You keep silent for my sake. Well, they have each other. We have only the two of us. But if there is a chance, if we escape, then warn them.*

  *I will.*

  She read late that final night. Losing herself in the adventures of another. She rose to eat and then to take one last ride with Tani and Logan. Only Logan was there.

  "Tani had to talk to people at the Peaks ranch. It'll be just the two of us. Do you mind?"

  She shook her head. How could she mind a few hours alone with a man she was coming to care about? But she mustn't think of that. Once Dedran struck, Logan would hate her. A hopeful part of her mind pointed out that Logan might never know she'd been involved in whatever Dedran did to the Quade family. She could get away from the circus boss. Use the cat's-eye gem to buy passage back to Arzor.

  And what, the sensible part of her brain pointed out, what would she do if she got back and found Logan had just been being kind to her? How would she feel if he was surprised to see her? If she was just a nuisance coming back where she wasn't really wanted? It wasn't Logan's ranch. It belonged to his father. Mr. Quade had been nice and he was helping find her background. But then by now he must know a few things she'd rather he hadn't discovered. He wasn't likely to want her back either, even if he was being nice about the records.

  She rode with Logan, laughed, and galloped her pony. She hid what she felt and concentrated on enjoying her hours before she must go. Live for the day. It was all she had. She had no way of knowing how her eyes mirrored her thoughts whenever she remembered she was leaving, even as she twisted her face into a smile.

  They turned back to the ranch house in the distance. Laris halted her pony for a brief moment. She sat looking at the only place where she'd been happy in so many years. She wondered if her own home, wherever it had been, had been as nice. Had she had family there? Been a happy child surrounded with love? She shrugged. What was gone was gone. She heeled the pony into a gallop and forgot her sorrow briefly in the joy of speed.

  "Laris?" She turned to Logan as they slowed, trotting the ponies into the big corral.

  "Yes."

  "You can come back, you know. Anytime the circus is on Arzor. You'd be welcome here."

  "Thanks. But it's the only time we've landed here since I've been with them. I guess we may not be back for years." She held her mouth in a firm line. She would not whimper like a motherless cub. She would not!

  Logan took her hand, glanced quickly around. No one in sight. He tipped her chin up with the other hand and brought his mouth down on hers. Her lips were warm, sweet with a startl
ed half-shy response; then she freed herself quietly.

  "Maybe I shouldn't have done that," he told her. "But I'm not sorry."

  "Neither am I." Then she was running for the ranch door. It had felt strange. She'd fought in the camps to stop anyone touching her and succeeded. Not until now had she understood how that had deadened her emotions. For many years she'd touched only Prauo and the animals. With Logan it had felt good. No coercion. Just safety, warmth. A melting inside.

  Her mouth went wry. Logan hadn't said, "Come back." Just, "Stay with us if the circus is back on Arzor." And if Dedran knew how she felt he'd never trust her again. But she couldn't let him harm her friends here. Yet how could she stop it? She did her best as they dropped her at the edge of the circus area.

  "Storm." She held his eyes with her own, willing him to understand. "Tani's aunt can take other samples if she meets the circus. Sometimes tissue samples can be worth a lot. There's always someone who wants to use things. Other samples, other reasons." She turned away, hoping he'd understood enough to take care.

  "Logan, I'll miss you. Thank you all for letting me stay at the ranch." She spun, hiding her face as she ran. By the time she and Prauo reached her cabin she had herself under control again. It was just as well. Dedran met her.

  "There's been a message from Cregar. He was successful at Trastor and he's going on to Lereyne to meet us there. Get the hidden cage ready. We'll need it for the wolf he's got. Get on with your work now that you're back." He paused as he studied her face.

  "I hope you learned plenty. You'll have to tell it all to Cregar. Did you get to their place in the Peaks?" She nodded. "Good. What about security systems?"

  "Only corns and computer lock-codes. No security in the houses apart from the animals. There is a safe. Lock-coded. I couldn't get the code." That was a lie but it was a secondary target. Dedran probably wouldn't care much. He didn't.

  "Too bad. But Cregar should be able to get in, gas the beasts, and get out again. What's he likely to find?"

  "That depends on what's there on the day he picks. Unless he's very unlucky there should be several animals."

  "Right. Go and fix that cage. We up-ship in a few hours. I've decided to leave a day earlier and I let you stay longer. It does seem to have been worth it but I need you for the animals now." He gave her a shove. "Don't think you can come back and be idle, my dear ward." The last words were a sneer as he turned away.

  Laris nodded. No, she wouldn't make that mistake. She plodded in the direction of the animal hold. She was leaving, she could never return, and all her world was dark right now. Nothing mattered anymore.

  She worked hard for the next half day as she reassured the beasts, prepared the hidden cage to receive Cregar's victim, and now and again listened to conversations. They were taking on two new people, desperate men from the port who'd never quite settled on this new world. They were already planning an act on the high wire. They'd seen it done, thought it looked easy enough. The girl sighed.

  Others had thought that. It was one of the things which brought crowds. This pair would end up on a new world. But at least here they'd been whole, undamaged. On Trastor once they'd failed it would still be a new world but now they'd be injured as well, maybe permanently crippled or dead.

  *In which case they'll have no more problems,* Prauo sent.

  Laris grinned. The big cat was such a realist at times. She waited until no one was about and moved to where the largest cage stood in isolation. It held the five tigerbats. They sometimes reached out for those who passed and most people in the circus gave it a wide berth. Just as well. It had secrets other than the inhabitants.

  She drifted around to the rear of the cage, pressed two places on a panel, and leaned hard. A door-sized piece of the back slid aside. Laris entered, stooping through the entrance, light already in her hand. She turned slowly. It wasn't dirty; she could sweep it though. There was a little dust. There were built-in containers for food and water. She would bring bedding.

  *If there is anything left alive to sleep there,* came to her. She had to agree. Cregar and his abductions certainly hadn't been so successful in the past.

  *I'll clean it and put down bedding anyway.*

  She found she was thinking of Storm as she worked. He was so calm, so self-contained. How would he react to the disappearance of some of his team? She wished she didn't have to know about that. Or to be involved. It was betraying the people who'd been kind to her. Then camp life came back to her. None of them were her kin. They had no claim on her.

  *I too am not kin to you, sister-without-fur. Yet our hearts are bound together. What of Logan?*

  Within the hidden cage Laris paused in her sweeping. The name conjured up the touch of his hand on her face, his lips warm and gentle on hers. Sorrow swept over her.

  *Logan will never forgive me if he finds out. And if I ever see him again I think he'd know just by looking at me. Our only hope is to get away before they take Storm's beasts.* There was a long silence while she finished her work. She peered through the tiny viewer in the cage panel, then the viewer which looked out through the tigerbat portion in the front. No one was about. She slid aside the panel, stepped out, snapped it shut swiftly, then emerged from behind the cage.

  Dedran caught up with her a short time later. "Is the cage ready?"

  "It's clean. I've put in fresh bedding. The food and water containers have been scrubbed. I can fill them when the wolf arrives. Everything works well. The viewer lenses are clean. The panel moves easily and without making noise."

  "Very well. Cregar has messaged. He's coming here. He'll land before we leave. The wolf will be transhipped to the circus and you'll get the animal under cover in the cage the minute Cregar is up the ramp. Understand?"

  She nodded. Why the change of plan? What had happened on Lereyne that Dedran would turn everything on its head and leave earlier than planned? Had Cregar started some kind of trouble and had to run? She asked no questions on that score. By the look on Dedran's face it would be unhealthy. She could ask one question safely.

  "What about food for the animal? I could give it some of the carcass the tigerbats have."

  Dedran's reply was a snarl. "Give it whatever is suitable. Damn thing may not be eating anyway. Just be ready to help once Cregar arrives. We could have to delay liftoff." He departed, walking in a way which showed he would like to stamp but didn't want to draw attention. It looked as if things really had gone wrong somewhere, Laris thought. Cregar coming here. Liftoff first advanced then delayed. She wondered if those at the ranch knew about the abduction of a beast master's wolf.

  Chapter Six

  On Quade land, Storm entered the ranch house to find his father coming to look for him. His face was hard with anger.

  "Asizi?" Storm used the Navaho word in reaction to that anger. "What is it?"

  "Kady Carraldo has just spoken to the ranger station at port. They linked corns so she could speak directly to us. There's been a beast master murdered on Lereyne. An old employee of hers talked to her from there."

  "A beast master," Storm muttered, shocked. "Murdered how, why?"

  "Apparently to take the remaining member of his team. Kady says the man was supposed to be in the city all day. His wolf was left at home. Those who took it probably knew all that. The trouble was that the man came home early. They think he tried to prevent his animal being taken and someone hit him too hard in a panic." Storm considered that.

  "It sounds likely." But his father's anger was too great to explain it as just the death of a man none of them knew. "What else?"

  Brad Quade stared at the silent com. "Kady says she has been told by authorities there that it fits other abductions of animals from teams and the murders of their beast masters. She has no idea why it's happening but she can now list seven separate occasions beside this one. There could be more which haven't been passed on as yet."

  "But... but. That must be almost every beast master left alive after the war."

  His f
ather shook his head. "No. Most of the dead were trainees. They had teams but they had never been in the fighting. Maybe that's why they're being targeted. They're easier to take than you veterans."

  Storm's mind was clicking over. "Get me a list of names and where they were when they died. How long they'd been there and any other details you can find."

  "No need. Kady downloaded all that over the link. Here."

  He handed over a sheaf of paper. Storm reached without looking for the nearest chair, dragged it to him, and sat, already reading. At last he looked up.

  "What do you think, Asizi?"

  "You first."

  "It seems clear to me. The first killing was a man I served with. He was no pushover and his team was trained. I'd say the animals fought, he picked up on that, and came running. He killed a couple of the kidnappers, the animals got a third and the leader of the kidnappers made a clean sweep to avoid witnesses. He couldn't get the bodies away so he picked them clean of ID and left them. The authorities say the dead men were port scum, they'd do anything if they were paid."