“The fact is,” said Meline, “you were angry at your nephews, and your brother and his wife, for disowning you and your sons after they intervened for you with the law when you were brought up on other very serious charges of interplanetary poaching, charges that could have incurred dungeon sentences for all of you.”
“If not for us, you’d be deteriorating in a dungeon right now,” Conran cut in.
The Knights gave a warning glance at Conran not to interrupt again before Meline addressed the old man again. “You need to tell us anything you know about what happened tonight.”
“What would I know?” asked Xorian. “As you can see, I’m old and I’m sick. I’ve already become an invalid in the short time since I last saw my nephews. My condition has closed in on me quickly. I’m on my last wings. Am I in a position to have masterminded a heist of this sort? What would it profit me now?”
Donar spoke up: “Revenge is a payoff.”
Meline reprimanded him. “If you continue this, we’re going to have to ask you and your brother to wait outside.”
Donar quieted down, fuming, Brianne putting a hand on his arm and giving him a cautioning look.
Again to Xorian, Meline asked, “Is that what this is about? Revenge on your family?”
“I have no use for revenge, young Dame,” said Xorian, sounding as weary as he was defensive. “Revenge is no good to a dying dragon.”
“Then what about your sons?” asked Voran. “Are they still on Lacerta? If they’re not, where have they gone?”
“You should be able to determine well enough if Xhondor and Kalum are still on Lacerta,” answered the old dragon. “As to where they might have gone…how am I to know? After we were all disowned, they went their own way. They took their part of what money was left to us, and they left. They’re on their own now.” He shut his eyes. “My boys are on their own. They may not see me again until after the end has come.”
“So, you’re saying you had nothing to do with what happened on the estate tonight?” asked Meline. “You had no part in taking the cralowog?”
“What could I have done?” Xorian shook his head. “With just enough money to keep this property, engage my nurse, and see me out of this world, what could I have done? You’re looking in the wrong place, you Knights. There are no answers for you here.”
“Not even about the present whereabouts of Xhondor and Kalum?” Meline pressed.
“My sons are grown dragons,” said Xorian, prying open his eyes to glare at the Knights. “They go where they please. And may they make a better lot for themselves after I’m gone.”
Xorian shut his eyes again and took deep, rumbling breaths. Leticia crossed round the other side of the bed from where the Knights and the others were standing. She put a hand above one of his wrists and touched her sleeve. A display of his vital signs leapt into the air. She studied it for a moment, then said to the visitors, “Mr. Quist can’t help you anymore. I’m going to have to ask you to leave now and let him rest.”
The Knights accepted the nurse’s decision and let her lead the group back to the foyer, where she invited them to see themselves out, then returned upstairs to her duties yet again. Brianne, the twins, and the Knights paused in the foyer to talk a moment more before leaving.
“What do you think?” Brianne asked Meline.
Pursing her lips thoughtfully, the dragon Dame said, “I’m not completely convinced that he had nothing to do with the intrusion tonight, or that his sons aren’t behind it. Being sick and bedridden needn’t necessarily have stopped him from helping to plan and engineer the crime.”
“I agree,” said Voran.
“So, what do we do about it?” asked Brianne.
“The first thing we do,” replied Meline, “we put a discreet surveillance on this villa. We can monitor all comings and goings from this property and all inbound and outbound transmissions without Mr. Quist or his nurse knowing we’re doing it. That will cover him well enough.”
“What about his sons?” Brianne pressed.
“The next thing we do,” Meline continued, “we find them. And the best way to find them, I think, is to find your cralowog.”
Brianne said, “We have a way of doing that. It’s something that no one without specialized knowledge would have thought of.”
“What’s that?” Donar asked.
Brianne explained, “One of the things we set up to monitor Damara’s condition was a device to let us know the minute she conceived after successfully mating with the male specimen we were going to have brought in. We planted an intrauterine sensor and monitor that won’t interfere with mating, conception, or gestation, but would send a signal immediately when she became pregnant. The transponder in that unit gives off a coded signal that only Sondra, Burton, or I can identify. We can use the transponder to track Damara anywhere she’s been taken.”
Meline was pleased. “That’s good; that’s very good. You’ll have to share that signal code with us. We’ll get it out to the whole Knighthood and the Dragon Corps if we have to. If necessary, we’ll have every dragon in uniform looking for your cralowog all over known space. Whoever took her—or had the androids come to take her—won’t get away.”
“Let’s get back to your lab now,” said Conran, to Brianne and everyone.
Quickly, the five of them exited the villa of Xorian Quist.
CHAPTER 14
The group rejoined Drs. Hawkes and Kimura at the lab, and Brianne made short work of sharing the transponder signal code with the Knights.
Having acquired the code, Meline said, “The androids, or whoever sent them, will have thought of using sensory masking technology to confuse us, or throw us off the scent, so to speak. They’ll be using some tech to make sensor probes return a false signal or a false impression, masking the cralowog’s readings with the readings of some other animal, trying to make us pass your cralowog over. But they shouldn’t be able to work around your transponder code. We can have the planetary satellite sensor net search every cubic meter of Lacerta, if we have to, for any sign of Damara.”
“You really think she might still be on Lacerta?” asked Brianne.
“I’d say it’s possible,” Meline replied. “It might have been easier for whomever we’re looking for to keep the animal here for the time being while setting up a way to smuggle her off the planet.”
“Of course,” Voran pointed out, “it’s also possible that they had their smuggling plan set up in advance and they’re already gone with Damara.”
Brianne shut her eyes, folded her arms, and shook her head. “I thought of that too,” she said. “I just didn’t want to say it out loud. Space is huge—parsecs and parsecs, and who knows how many planets they might have gone to?”
The brothers stood by her, each putting an arm on one of Brianne’s shoulders, lending her strength. “Don’t think the worst yet,” said Donar. “Our Knights and Corps are the best at what they do. They’ll track Damara across the quadrant if they have to. They’ll find her.”
“And how will they find her?” Brianne asked, snapping open her eyes. “What condition will she be in when they find her? She’s out of her natural habitat and out of the habitat we created for her. She’ll be stressed and scared. And we all know she’s liable to be hunted. That’s what this whole thing is really about, isn’t it? Someone wanting to hunt a rare, endangered animal the way your uncle and your cousins did; that’s what this whole thing is. We might not even find her alive. By the time we find her, it could be too late.”
Brianne shut her eyes again, already grieving. Donar pulled her into his arms; Conran softly stroked her hair.
“Let’s not go to the worst case yet,” Meline said sympathetically. “We’ll feed the code data into the system and see if we get anything here on Lacerta. If not…we decide where to go from here. And Donar is right: we will not give up.”
Meline worked quickly. She apprised the Spires of her mission status and sent them Brianne’s data. The Spires worked just as qui
ckly. At once they uploaded Brianne’s data into their satellite system. Brianne patched the comm systems of the lab into the data net of the Spires and produced a large holographic display of every signal source on every continent of the planet. It blossomed into a glowing tapestry of light within the lab, reaching from floor to ceiling and wall to wall; the contours of all the landmasses of Lacerta, lit up with pinpoints of all points receiving or transmitting signals.
“All right,” Meline called out to the Spires AI that was patched in to the mansion’s computer network. “Narrow the data stream according to given search parameter and reload display.”
As if erased by an invisible hand, every single light in the display disappeared—except one. A single pinpoint remained, on the representation of the same continent where they happened to be standing.
Brianne’s eyes widened with excitement. She gasped, “She’s here! She’s still on Lacerta! Damara is still here!” Casting her eyes among the twins and the Knights, she eagerly asked, “Where is that? Where did it find her?”
“That’s the Corvulth Glade,” answered Voran. “It’s a wilderness area—no settlements, hardly any population. As you know, we’ve kept large sections of the planet that way, partly because our population is so relatively small, partly because it’s good for the health of the planet. But that’s where your cralowog is—and whoever has her, I’m sure we’ll find them there too.”
Meline put a knuckle to her chin, pondering. “From what I know about hunters,” she thought aloud, “they like to pursue their quarry while the animals are going about their natural behavior.” She said to Brianne, “Am I correct that the cralowog isn’t a nocturnal animal? That is, these creatures are active in the daytime, true?”
“Yes, that’s right,” said Brianne.
“Very well then,” Meline went on. “The Corvulth Glade is in the same time zone as we are right now, only a short ride away. Our poachers, unless I miss my guess, sent the androids to collect the cralowog and take her somewhere in the Glade to be held overnight and released into the wild in the morning. That’s when the hunt will be on.” She put her hands on her hips, frowning disdainfully. “It will be more ‘sporting’ that way. So, they’ll move in the morning.”
“Then we can go after them now and stop this whole thing before it starts,” said Brianne. “We can catch the poachers, arrest them, and get Damara back here before they have a chance to harm her any more than they already have.”
“Excuse me,” said Meline. “‘We?’”
“Yes, ‘we’,” said Brianne. “I have to go along. And I’ll need Drs. Hawkes and Kimura with me. We have to come.”
“You’re civilians, Dr. Heatherton,” Voran said. “We can’t have you along on a mission.”
“We’re not just civilians,” Brianne protested. “We’re wildlife experts and biologists, and we’re certified in veterinary first aid. Damara might have already been injured in the process of capturing her. She could be in a weakened state during this hunt she’s been captured for. Once you’ve arrested the poachers, Damara may need immediate attention. Are there any Knights or Corps members qualified to treat her in the field and stabilize her, so we can get her back here?”
Voran and Meline faced each other with growing concern for this unexpected complication of their assignment. Finally, Voran admitted, “We don’t have that kind of qualification. The Knighthood and the Corps train us to give first aid to Lacertans, humans, and the sentient beings who visit Lacerta most often—but not animals.”
“Aside from that,” argued Meline, “this is a dangerous situation regardless. Not only will we be facing poachers, we’ll probably be up against their android accomplices. It’s too much of a risk for you and your assistants.”
“We can handle ourselves,” Brianne argued back. “We’ve been in dangerous situations of our own with more kinds of predatory animals in more kinds of environments than I can name. We’ve had to handle them with hunting skills and weapons. And sometimes we’ve even had to deal with hostile indigenous beings on some planets. There have been unpredictable, risky situations, and we’ve gotten through them. Risky situations aren’t a new thing for Burton and Sondra and me. We’ve had our share.”
“Not like this, you haven’t,” said Meline firmly.
Brianne started to raise her voice, feeling her heart race and her blood turn hot. “Dame Meline, we’re responsible for Damara! We have to go! We have to!”
Raising a hand in an attempt to calm Brianne, the armored Dame said, “Sir Voran and I understand you’re responsible for the cralowog, Dr. Heatherton. What I’m saying is that if we let you come along, we’ll be responsible for you. If anything happens to you, the Spires will be accountable.”
“You’re not the only ones who have a responsibility in this,” Conran interjected. “Donar and I are responsible as well. We’re underwriting and funding Dr. Heatherton’s work. We’ve invested a great deal in her success. So, we have a stake in this as well.”
Meline lifted her head and rolled her eyes. “Mr. Quist, tell me you’re not suggesting that the two of you, you and your brother, should join in this mission as well.”
“That’s exactly what my brother is suggesting,” said Donar. “And he’s right. We’re going along to help Bri—to help Dr. Heatherton. We provided the money and the resources, contracted with all the talent, to make this project happen. Dr. Heatherton’s success or failure is ours as well. We’re a part of this. And we can help keep her out of trouble.”
“And who will keep you and your brother out of trouble?” Meline asked pointedly.
“My brother and I have each other’s tail,” said Conran. “Always have, always will. I don’t need to tell you how connected our nest is all over Lacerta, including at the Spires. If need be, I can contact some Mentors I know, like the ones who were at our reception, make a few arguments, state our case. I don’t like to use our influence this way; in fact, I’ve never needed to do it before. But I can—if I must.”
Meline shook her head. “You would actually go that far?”
Conran replied, “Under our arrangement with Dr. Heatherton, my brother and I have agreed to help her in any way we can. As my brother said, her success or failure is ours, and it reflects on our nest. So, if we have to flex our wings in certain places…we will.”
The two Knights looked at each other again in expressions of defeat uncommon for their office. Knights of Lacerta did not succumb to fear and were unaccustomed to being coerced. They were masters of battle, champions of combat, triumphant against insurgents and invaders and criminals. But against people armed with wealth and position, they were on less certain ground.
Meline sighed, frustrated, preferring to deal for the moment with matters in which her hand was surer. “Putting all that aside for the moment, let’s see if we can determine exactly whom we’ll be dealing with if we head out right now, tonight.” She called to Spires AI, “Readings for all individuals present at the transponder signal coordinates. Species and gender, identification if obtainable.”
The AI voice answered, “One cralowog, female. Seven androids of undetermined origin and vintage, gender neutral.”
“No other organic sentients?” Meline asked.
“Only the specified targets,” replied the AI.
Voran guessed, “The poacher or poachers must have known what they might be getting into, going about their business on Lacerta. Having seven androids with them, they’re ready for trouble.”
“And they’ll get it,” said Meline. “The poachers themselves aren’t at the coordinates right now, but they’re either on their way or they’ll be headed there by morning. The androids are there standing watch. If we move in now, we can get them and the cralowog, but not the ones we’re really after.”
“Then let’s at least get Damara now!” Brianne insisted.
“Again, you’re assuming you’re going to accompany us,” Meline said.
“Which brings us back to where we were a moment ago,�
� said Conran, folding his arms. Donar did likewise and they both regarded the Knights, unsmiling.
Frowning back, Meline relented. “All right, all right. But…I want to make something clear. This is dangerous and risky situation. If we go now, we’ll be going out into a wilderness area at night and taking civilians with us, which will make it that much riskier. Taking civilians with us is dangerous and I refuse to make it doubly so. The androids must have the cralowog bound and they probably have her sedated, and they’ve settled in for the night.
They and the animal aren’t about to leave those coordinates before sunrise. So…we wait. We call for backup. And then—only then—we move. And Dr. Heatherton, Dr. Kimura, Dr. Hawkes, and you Quists—you will follow orders and instructions to the letter. You will not put yourselves in any more danger than is completely, absolutely necessary. I’m not returning from this mission with news that I’ve allowed two members of one of Lacerta’s most prominent families or any civilian scientists come to harm. Is that understood, all of you?”
DONAR Page 13
