Beast Master's Circus

by Andre Norton

  "Heyla. Come to help?"

  "To help and to talk." There was a tone to that which warned her. She stepped to the cage door, glancing about.

  "I know where Cregar is. And at this hour Dedran will be doing last night's receipts over breakfast. He won't be outside for another hour. If you help me do the next few cages we can stand where I can watch for anyone and we can talk. That way if Dedran or Cregar turn up I won't be behind with the work." They worked industriously for half an hour. With the work well ahead of schedule Logan drew her to one side. She checked down the line of cages and nodded.

  "No one in sight. What is it, Logan? It's important, isn't it?"

  "Yes." He caught her small hands up against his cheek. "Listen to what I'm saying, love, and don't interrupt yet. First, we all know about Dedran using you and Prauo to steal. No!" he warned when her face whitened. "Listen to me, I had to tell them, but Storm spent time in one of the camps once as part of an undercover job. He knows what they're like. Brad worked with people who came to Arzor from the camp on Meril. We all understand that you had to get out and just how Dedran forced you to steal. You didn't have a choice, he owned you, he could kill Prauo, beat you half to death, and no one would prevent it."

  Her shoulders hunched slowly as she half-turned from him. Logan reached out to pull her back into the curve of his arm. "I'm telling you, Laris. We understand how you had to get out of the camp, then how you had to obey Dedran. You've done a lot of reading, you know the law on a bond-servant. You acted as you did to save your life and if it came to a court they'd accept that."

  "What about Prauo?"

  "I have Versha's word that he will stay with you."

  Laris eyed him with a flicker of hope. "Can she keep that promise-and will she keep it?"

  "Oh yes. Versha's word is good, and on Arzor she's the patrol's assistant security head for the planet."

  Laris's eyes widened. "Then she can say that, but you're certain she's agreed?"

  Logan met her gaze, willing her with all his heart to trust him. "I swear!" he said slowly. "Storm had her write out a note of agreement saying you could keep Prauo just so long as it was proved you were the closest person to an owner he has. I saw the letter and read it, my word on that."

  Prauo's mind voice cut in then. *He speaks the truth as he knows it, I would trust him.*

  *I think I do,* Laris thought back, then she spoke aloud to Logan: "How do I prove Prauo is mine, though?"

  "You told me once you'd do anything for Prauo. You may need to accept deep-probe to prove Prauo is yours. Can you do that?"

  Laris took a deep breath and let it out raggedly. "I can do it. What else do you want me to do?"

  "A couple of men from the Endangered Species Conservation Unit here will be arriving around midday. They will have a warrant to take the tigerbats. Once it's proved the two females are stolen property the whole swarm will be confiscated to be returned to the sanctuary on Lereyne. At the same time other people from the National Disease Control will collect you and Prauo. If anyone asks, they'll be claiming they need to test you both."

  "Why?"

  Logan grinned. "Because, as they'll tell Dedran if he asks, there's been an outbreak of a disease on another planet which may have been caught from a cat-like creature similar to Prauo. Disease Control wants to check out the two of you in case."

  "What if Dedran doesn't want to let me go, Logan? He knows I could tell too much for his safety; he might try to stop them from taking me."

  "Can you have Prauo make a fuss if they try to take him without you?"

  Eyes opened again in the back of her head. *I will do that, furless-sister. I'll be so ferocious without you to calm me, they will insist on taking you with them.*

  Laris smiled. "Prauo will do that if I signal him. Tell Versha to be ready."

  "I'll make sure she knows." He picked up a broom again. "Let me help you finish. Just in case you can't get back to the circus for a while you might want to sneak off in a few minutes and have a bit of time to do things."

  Laris smiled at him, relaxing. She had to admit that when he started this discussion she'd wondered. Almost all of her life she'd been used and she'd been afraid this was what would happen again here. But she trusted Logan, he was doing his best for her, and his family and their friends knew about her, all about her, and they still accepted her, understanding she'd done only what was necessary for her to survive and save Prauo.

  Logan was right too, a little time now would be useful. She didn't want to leave her small hoard behind. If Dedran ran he'd run with the ship if he could-and her stash would go with him. Apart from her savings she didn't really have anything worth taking-except her ring, and once she'd told all she could to Versha, she'd have to give that back to the Quades.

  Cregar passed just then with a nod to her, and Laris, her senses quick with her years in the camps, noticed the odd way Logan looked at the man before he was out of sight. She knew that look. It said, "I know something about you."

  She wondered what Logan could know and that brought another thought to mind. Cregar. He'd been kind to her. Saved her from Baris, trusted her over his own hoard while he was gone. She should warn him. If Logan knew something about the man then she'd guess the patrol did too. They could arrest him as well. He might prefer they didn't. And what about Storm and Tani's beasts? She swept so hard as she mulled over her options that Logan grinned.

  "You'll wear out the cage floor."

  "Less to sweep if I do," she laughed back. The work was almost done when Dedran appeared. He eyed Logan and grunted. No skin off his nose if the stupid kid wanted to work for free.

  "Laris, we'll use the carras on the trapeze with you in the afternoon performance. I'm switching that act with Jonran and his knife-throwing."

  "Why?" Laris asked in surprise. The act had been popular.

  "The idiot was practicing this morning to add knife-juggling. He missed. He'll be out a while. I told him to pack his bags. We don't have time for fools who play about and leave me short-handed with the acts." He turned on his heel. "And don't forget the costumes."

  Laris took the opportunity. "Logan, I have to go." Her voice lowered. "I'll see you around midday. I'll have Prauo with me. We'll be cleaning a cage by the tigerbats. That way I'll be just where Versha can see me." He hugged her quickly and left to tell the patrol officer all was arranged. Laris promptly darted in another direction. She found Cregar where she'd expected, just leaving the hidden cage with the meercats. She slid unobtrusively past, speaking to him in the soft slurred speech of the camps. Her lips were slightly parted but remained unmoving.

  "Got'a talk. Danger you."

  Cregar strolled in another direction, circled, and met her behind the cage line.

  "What danger me?" Now he could speak more clearly but in his worry he'd reverted to underworld brevity.

  Laris answered in kind. "Patrol comes. Logan say they know tigerbat illegals. Reclaim they. Take me 'n' Prauo too. Logan not say but think me he know something 'bout you. Look at you odd you pass us. Maybe you somewhere else sun-high."

  Cregar sucked in a breath. Let the girl go and she'd talk. Looked as if it was over for Dedran. But the animals-Dedran had plans for them Cregar had never liked. His hands remembered the feel of small, warm, trusting meercat bodies. Of the first tiny itching of his mind-channels reopening. The meercats hadn't bonded to him as yet although there were signs they could, and might choose him if they did. But now at least he knew his ability had been only burned out for a few years. It could be brought back. Yet with what?

  He remembered his team. Las and Lara, the mongeese. Keeroo, the Aubearan falcon. And Mali, the dune-cat, so like the sick beast in the hidden cage. He felt again the love flow across the bond. The trust, the place where oneness was. He'd loved them all. Mali had been half his heart, Las and Lara his laughter, Keeroo his eyes. With them gone he'd lost heart, laughter, and that inner vision.

  Laris waited patiently as he pondered. Finally he turned to her. His
eyes were different, she thought. It was as if life had flowed in to break the ice of indifference. Even his voice had changed. There was a clean snap to it, the slurring forgotten.

  "Tell the patrol about the hidden cages. Warn them. I can't just open the cages and let the beasts go, there are reasons. And Dedran has the cages rigged to explode, destroy any evidence. I'll try to defuse that. Tell them, mount a full raid at midday. I'll try to be done in time."

  "What about you?"

  His smile was sad. "It's too late for me. You get out clean, girl. Take your cat and be free. I'll do my best for the animals. Tell the patrol to be careful in case I couldn't get all the hidden cages cleared." He walked away abruptly, leaving Laris standing there. Well, she'd told him. She bit her lip nervously. This business about the cages upset her badly. She didn't know much about such things.

  Surely Cregar was wrong; he could simply open the cages, the meercats would run out as soon as the door was opened and Storm called them. The same with the coyotes. It would take only seconds for them to be safe. But not Surra. The big cat was weakened by months of drugs, illness, and her original injuries. She'd almost died but somehow Laris had helped her cling to life.

  Cregar would have to clear Surra's cage first. But could he? On the other side of the circus Cregar was thinking he shouldn't take that risk. Surra's cage was right at the end of the line. Dedran could see it from his office tent. No, better to clear the other two cages first. Then if Dedran saw him he could maybe hold the man off long enough to save the dune-cat. The others would already be safe.

  He checked the time. Not long. The cages had been cunningly rigged with the explosives. To clear both would take much of the time remaining before the patrol came calling. Cregar slid under the cage housing the meercats and began to work with hands suddenly deft. Yes, one cut here, slip this part from that. He'd been well trained by the unit once. It came back to him as he worked. Laris would wonder why he didn't just let the beasts go.

  Dedran had been smarter than that. Tied into the circuits in the hidden sections of the cages was an electronic nerve-field. Dedran had these activated on the three cages holding the meercats, coyotes, and Surra. People could walk through the fields without registering their existence. A beast which tried suffered agony, dying from a burst heart. Dedran had the key to shut that off. Cregar did not. To get them out he'd have to disable the entire system or the pain would almost certainly kill the beasts. It was a failsafe against escape or theft. He worked on, sweat beads starting on his skin. One wrong move and he'd go sky-high. But so would the beasts, and even as he sweated, his hands kept working.

  He cleared the circuits under the meercats. Best to leave them be. If he let them out now they might be seen and Dedran alerted. He inched along under the low cage until he reached the coyotes' prison. There he worked again feverishly. It was taking time, so much time. But now he knew how it went and he was a little faster. He glanced at his watch. Thirty minutes to midday.

  In her suite at the patrol offices Versha was looking at information flow. Her investigator at Ideena and Baris's ship had cracked not only a very well-hidden safe in the ship wall but also the coded disks inside. Very interesting. More material had come from High Command. The last items from Regan's service file. A name in them was somehow familiar. Where had she heard it? She shrugged. No time to sit about wondering. Storm was reading the hard copy of the file over her shoulder. It meant more to him than to her and his eyes widened slightly. It was twenty-five minutes to midday.

  In his office tent Dedran was considering recent events. It looked as if the patrol could be closing in on him. Nhara had sent a message. They'd found a spy in the guild. The man was dead by his own hand, too quickly for the guild experts to drain from him what may have been spilled. It might be safer if Dedran simply upped-ship. The Queen of the Circus was largely automatic. Liftoff at least could be done by one person alone. But first he'd stroll around the midway. See if there were any indications that he was being watched. He checked the time. Twenty minutes to midday.

  Versha was on her way now with a six-peacekeeper squad, Anders, and Jared. In a hovercar behind rode Tani with Storm and Logan. They reached the midway, slipped into the crowd, and tried to blend in. Logan's gaze flicked about in search of Laris. He saw her with the tigerbats, Prauo sitting in the next cage, the door ajar. She saw them and nodded, leaving the cage to stand by Prauo, the big cat leaning against her shoulder.

  Under the coyotes' prison Cregar sighed and slumped. One cage to go. He waited until the aisle between cages was empty of people, dashed across, and dived beneath the final cage. Above him Surra's ears flickered. She'd heard a sound. She could feel danger-and also in her mind there was the growing feel of her human getting closer. She was weak but not quite as weak as her warders thought. She dragged herself to lie by the door. Something was telling her Storm was near. She would be ready.

  Cregar worked, hands flashing through the motion needed to defuse the cage. For Mali whom he'd loved. A parade of the dead and dying passed through behind his eyes as he worked. All the beast masters who'd fought Dedran's men. The beasts who accepted death rather than live without their human team member.

  At first, locked in his agony of aloneness he hadn't cared. Had even been glad in a small mean way that they too should share his pain. But with the girl's arrival things had begun to change. She reminded him of someone; who that had been he couldn't remember. Only that he'd cared about her. He'd tried to stay aloof from Laris. But he'd diverted Dedran's anger or punishment from her more often than she knew. It felt right.

  Then they came, Hing and her babies, and at last he felt something touch his mind and heart again. But each time he held them, felt channels open a fraction further, he felt as well the guilt for what he'd done. With emotion and earlier memories and teaching returning, he knew the pain he'd caused. Now his guilt for the things he helped Dedran do was all but unbearable. Superstitiously he feared that his returning gifts would be taken again if he made no repayment.

  Maybe if he could save these, it would be counted for him. He could have his team again. He goaded his hands to motion. Faster. He had to finish and be away from here before anyone knew what he'd done. Boots halted beside the cage. In a soft, deadly voice Dedran spoke.

  "Cregar? Care to tell me what you're doing under there?"

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cregar worked on for a moment before he replied. He could only think of one thing.

  "I quit, Dedran."

  "Do you indeed? But you know guild rules, once in-never out. If you didn't like it you shouldn't have joined."

  Let the man keep talking, Cregar hoped. Let him tell me how clever he's been, how stupid I am. Anything. Just so long as I have time to finish this. Dedran didn't do the wiring himself. He had it done. If I finish he won't be able to repair it. The animals will live.

  Dedran dropped to one knee, looking at what those racing hands had accomplished. He knew more than this idiot believed he knew. Well, well, he thought. So the fool really was trying to save the beasts. He chuckled patronizingly.

  "A pity you've wasted all the work. But there's a dead-man switch with each of the special cages. Too bad. And a dead man should go with it. You can't quit, Cregar. I'm firing you." He produced the tiny deadly needier he carried and pressed the trigger button. Cregar arched in agony as the spray of minute missiles struck. Then he slumped.

  On Versha's watch, the display finally ticked over to show midday.

  Dedran bent to peer under the cage. Blood all over, the needle's scorch in the chest. That was the end of a traitor. He straightened, resolved that it was definitely time to depart. If this wasn't a warning he didn't know what was. He'd go to the ship, close it up quietly, and lift before anyone including the port officials realized what he was doing. The circus had served its purpose.

  He could blame the traitor the guild had found in its own ranks for any failure of his own and Nhara's plans. He strolled toward the ship and was out of
the beast cage rows before something made him slow to stare around. That was odd. The usual crowds were missing. They'd been there half an hour ago when he'd come out to walk the midway. Where had they gone in that time? He advanced cautiously.

  At the gates two peacekeepers turned back those who would have entered. Those who left stayed out. In the half hour Dedran had been oblivious to this, almost all of the people wandering the sideshows and animal cages had departed. At midday most planned to be home and were ready to seek the gates. The time of the raid had been chosen for that reason. With Laris's information Anders had made a decision. He'd have the midway clear. He wanted no list of dead civilians if a cage was accidentally triggered.

  Twice, circus people noticing the odd emptying of the midway had sought out Dedran to mention it. Each time they'd missed him. The first had looked in the office tent and gone away muttering. The other circus employee had missed seeing Dedran as he moved between the cages. That second man had felt a warning chill down his own neck, gathered his meager gear, and sought the gates. The peacekeeper presence had reinforced his decision to be elsewhere while something was happening. He faded into the watching crowd by the gates and left hastily.