Deadly Designs

by Dale Mayer

Did they know who Storey and Eric were?

  They’d taken in Tammy’s presence but their features in no way showed that they recognized her as one of their own people.

  “Eric?” She kept her voice calm and quiet.

  He answered in an equally low murmur, “Yeah. I’m here. Not sure what to do at this point.”

  Not liking the situation, she stepped closer to him. Tammy stayed glued to her side. “Tammy isn’t liking this development.”

  “That’s not good.” He bent around her slightly to see for himself.

  She waited, considering their options. The Louers were still a bit away. “Do we run?”

  “Where?” he countered.

  Damn. “Suggestions?”

  “None.”

  “Aren’t you the ranger here? Don’t you speak multiple languages? Can’t you communicate with them at least?” With a sharp motion, she tapped his codex. “Why are your codexes not translators, too?”

  He lifted his arm. “That capability has never been needed before. I would have to ask Paxton about adding such a function.”

  “Right.” The two were almost upon them. Storey stiffened at the stony looks on their faces. She tried smiling at them. No reaction. “Being friendly isn’t helping.”

  “Pull out the message from your stylus.”

  “Oh right.” Awkwardly, trying to keep an eye on the approaching women while working to open the pocket on her backpack, Storey finally managed to pull out the note. She straightened. Eric took it from her, unfolded it, then held it up in front of them.

  The women stopped. Something flashed in their eyes. When they were still a good fifteen feet away, Storey called out, “Hello. It’s nice to see you.”

  Both women had similar features, potentially making them siblings. Except one had short, dark hair and the hair on the other one was a lighter brown. The dark haired one glared at her.

  “Great. Tammy doesn’t speak verbally either. What’s the chance they can communicate telepathically and sounds bother them?” she whispered.

  “Noise didn’t appear to bother Tammy. But telepathic communication might explain Tammy’s lack of speech.”

  The women separated several feet as they approached. One came up on the outside of Eric and the other on the outside of Storey. Tammy freaked. Her mouth opened and the shrillest sound they’d heard yet came out of her mouth. Storey gasped and clapped her hands over her ears. From under her half closed lids, she could see the two women still strode forward. The noise didn’t affect them.

  “Maybe they’re deaf.”

  “That would be wonderful right now.”

  Shuddering against the shrill tones, Storey bent to wrap her arms around Tammy. The shrieks reduced to whimpers. And Tammy locked her arms around Storey’s neck – tight.

  For a child, she was strong. Then she was going to grow into one of those Amazon women. Still, lifting her was out of the question. After a few moments, Tammy calmed enough to lift her face away from Storey’s shirt.

  Something poked her side. Storey turned to see one of the women had a long pole in her hand, and where that had come from she didn’t know. Eric was receiving similar attention.

  She frowned at the women and whispered, “What do they want?”

  “To see how fat we are. To see if we’re ready to eat.”

  Storey spun, horrified. “What?”

  “Kidding,” he muttered. “I think they want us to move.”

  He backed up closer to the water’s edge, pulling Storey with him. Immediately the women poked them harder. Storey retreated more and the dark haired woman who’d been tormenting her, moved to the side and poked her more towards her back. “So do we go with them, or run across the water to the other side.”

  “I don’t swim. Tammy probably doesn’t swim. And we brought her here to find her people. How is running away going to help us?”

  She hated when he was right. “Fine then.”

  Glaring at the woman poking her, Storey shifted her bag on her shoulders and grabbing Tammy’s hand again, she nudged her in front so they could walk forward. Tammy walked but she wasn’t happy. She kept an eye on the women and the tears looked like they’d fall at any time.

  “Tammy is so not happy.”

  “And what can we learn from that?”

  “That’s she not overjoyed to see some of her people?”

  Eric whispered, “I got that. The question is why?”

  With the two women now bringing up the rear of their little group, they walked for close to fifteen minutes. She was itching to drag out one of her portals and escape to Paxton’s lab. Except, Eric was right. They’d come here to find Tammy’s people. And they’d found them.

  Only no one appeared to be happy about it.

  Eric’s words echoed her thoughts. “We don’t know for sure that Tammy is wanted here.”

  She gulped. “Surely, anyone would be devastated to lose a child.”

  They kept walking forward. Storey’s eyes searched from one side to the other. There was no sign of other Louers. No possessions. No buildings. No activity.

  “Maybe, maybe not. They can’t have it easy yet and Tammy is just another mouth to feed.”

  “So do we take her home again?”

  “Your home or my home? You know how my people feel. We only have to consider Jendron’s face when he saw her to understand that. Fear does that to a society.”

  “I don’t know how my people would treat her. But it would be almost impossible to keep her secret. I’d have the government down on me in days. I’m sure her DNA would prove to be very different. That alone would make the scientists want to keep her under observation. What kind of life is that for her?”

  “Not much of one. So forward we go then. For better or worse.”

  *

  Eric didn’t like any of their options. How many Louers were actually here? He had no way of knowing. What bothered him was Tammy’s reaction. It’s obvious the women frightened her, but why? Had she bonded too long and too hard with Storey that she didn’t want to go back to her old life? Was she afraid of being punished for having run off and being left behind?

  As with everything of late, there were more questions than answers. Why did parents play such a prominent role in their current difficulties? He had no idea where his own father had gone or what he could be up to. Then there was the problem of Storey’s parents. Maybe they could find Tammy’s parents and solve at least one problem.

  Of course not.

  Shepherded as they were, Storey didn’t realize they’d arrived at their destination until they were suddenly surrounded by a large group of Louers. She stiffened as a large, angry looking male approached. Oh shit. “Eric, look at his arm.”

  Eric stiffened. The Louer wore a series of numbers on his arm. “Not good.”

  Surreptitiously, she grabbed one of the sheets of paper with a portal on it to take them back to Paxton’s lab. “I don’t know about you, but escape is starting to look like a good idea.”

  “You and me both.”

  Some of the younger members of the group reached out to touch Storey’s long hair. Her bag was grabbed. She jerked it free, glaring at the offenders. “That’s enough.”

  She nudged Tammy forward so everyone could see she had a Louer child with her.

  Silence.

  Tammy stared at them, her fingers clenching hard on Storey’s hand. “Why does no one seem happy to see her?”

  “I don’t know.” Eric held the note and slowly pivoted, showing it to everyone in the group.

  “We didn’t consider that there could be several different groups of Louers from the one complex. It’s possible her family is in another totally different area.”

  “Then what do we do?” She despaired of finding an answer.

  Just then a cry went up from the other side of the group. Tammy opened her mouth and an answering cry came from her.

  Eric and Storey exchanged glances. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

  A smaller
built Louer female squeezed in front of the crowd. She jumped up and down, her sturdy body vibrating in excitement. For the first time, Tammy dropped Storey’s hand and ran over to the new arrival.

  “Family or friend?” Storey asked in a low murmur.

  “Don’t know.”

  More Louers arrived from the same direction. What fascinated Storey was the sheer lack of expression on the faces of the others in the group. As if they were completely unaffected by the scene playing out in front of them. They continued to watch Storey and Eric. As if nothing else mattered. Storey also had the weird sensation of a low buzz going on in the ethers around them. Telepathic communication maybe?

  Even the new arrivals failed to show any emotion. Storey hated it. Tammy had been through a lot and she’d done it with remarkable calm. Now she knew why. She’d learned from her elders.

  Storey and Eric turned slowly as if to check out their surroundings, but were in fact wondering if they were knee deep in Louers on all sides. The answer was yes.

  Storey sighed. “Suggestions?”

  “We could run for it. Tammy has found someone to be with. Whether they are her parents isn’t the issue. She’s found someone who can help her more than we can at this point.”

  “So on the count of three, we run back toward the river and pop through a portal?”

  Relief showed on his face. “Sounds good.”

  She grinned. “Can we find a way to get through this wall though? Or do we try to open a portal here and disappear without any of them jumping in too?”

  Eric searched around. “We barely have room to open it. I say break through the line to the left.”

  Trying not to be too obvious, Storey checked out where Eric had mentioned. There were only a couple of Louers on that side with a space between them. She could go low and Eric could probably just bolt through.

  “One, two and three…”

  The blow came out of nowhere. Exploding on the side of her head like it did, she barely saw Eric crumpling to the ground as the ground rushed to meet her. A horrible cry erupted from Tammy.

  Storey’s cheek bounced twice on the ground then the world went black.

  *

  Eric woke slowly, his head pounding in agony. Bright sunlight beat down on his poor eyes, making it hard to open them. He gulped the fresh air, grateful it was not the stinky fumes of the Louers’ old home.

  After another moment, trying to remember where he was, he attempted to roll over. An explosion went off inside his head. He collapsed backwards. Getting his next breath became a challenge. Finally he succeeded, somewhere around the same time the pain became manageable.

  He drew on his ranger training to try and assess the damage. Aching pain in the head, but…the rest of him appeared to be fine.

  “Storey?”

  No answer. With that the memories came rushing back.

  Please let her be here. He did not want to have to chase around this dimension looking for her. And he wouldn’t leave without her. With one, then a second deep breath, he rolled over slightly, this time managing the movement with minimal pain. With his eyes out of the direct sun, he tried opening them again. All he could see was bare ground. Casting his gaze while lying immobile he saw a line of trees further out. No guard within sight. Was he contained in any way? Or had he been left for dead? Any minute now, he’d grab his courage and try to stand up.

  Now.

  With uncoordinated movements, he made it onto his butt. Immediately he buried his head in his hands as the pounding took over. A head injury wouldn’t do this, would it? Had they injected him with something? A drug of some kind? He had no idea what weapons the Louers had at their disposal, but whatever they’d used, it had brutal side effects.

  Taking several shallow breaths, he finally lifted his head and looked around. He was alone. Left behind? Left for dead? Unwanted? Of no value? Relief mixed with worry and both were ringed with unaccountable anger. They’d taken Storey with them and had dumped him where he’d stood.

  Unimportant, irrelevant, discarded.

  Well, he’d see about that. First though, he had to check out what shape he was in. Giving his body a quick going over, he realized he was uninjured. That was the good news. The bad news was his codex was gone. As were the portals that Storey had insisted he stash in his pockets in case she lost hers or in case they were separated.

  He had no way to communicate. No way to go home. And no way to escape.

  Crap.

  The loss of his codex bothered him. It was a part of him. A tool, but one that was also a lifeline to his home.

  He felt naked without it. And lost.

  *

  Storey came to full wakefulness in a flash. She didn’t move, instinct telling her she was in a new, unknown place. Her brain struggled to sort out what her eyes were seeing. She appeared to be in a small cave. Again a cave. The fresh smell reassured her she hadn’t ended up back in the Louers’ dimension. The top of the small space rose less than a dozen feet above her head. Light shone from the side, but in pale, weak rays.

  There wasn’t a sound. No Louers, no running water, no wind whispering through the trees. Silence filled the space, making it uncomfortable as anxiety filled the emptiness. And what about Eric? Was Tammy okay?

  What about her stylus? Her hand slapped against her chest. Panic threatened to cut off her airways. Then she found it. The stylus was caught against the band of her bra. Oh thank God.

  With the stylus, she had hope.

  She rolled to the right and pushed onto her elbow to look around. Nothing and no one. The back of the cave stretched only a few feet behind her, offering nothing but more dirt and rock. Light shone in from the mouth of the cave.

  With that, she did a personal assessment. She felt no physical pain and although stiff, she could move everything. Still, her codex was missing. Her backpack was missing. And her pockets appeared to have been emptied. Damn, she could use a granola bar right about now. And paper. Crap. All her paper was gone. Every pocket she’d manage to stuff a piece of paper in had been cleaned out. She groaned. Her stylus and no paper. Figured.

  Well, she’d been there before.

  Or…maybe not. She checked her bra. A silent woot went through her brain. She had one piece of paper still hidden.

  Now where the hell had Eric gotten to?

  Damn.

  The entrance of the cave beckoned. Was she a prisoner? Was she even still in the same dimension? She peered around the edge of the rock face. Another big meadow. Trees. Blue sky and sunshine.

  And no sign of Eric or the Louers.

  Bouncing on her toes, her breath caught and held. Her blood pulsing with fear, she mentally counted down. Three, two, one… She bolted for the trees.

  And made it to the cover of the first couple of evergreens. She hid behind the largest trunk and caught her breath. Still, no sign of anyone.

  She studied the geographical area. The trees made it difficult to get a decent look. She needed to get higher. A large spruce tree with huge hanging boughs offered both protection and height. Seconds later, she’d slipped under the waist high branches and had a leg up on the next branch. Ignoring the stinging in her palms as the bark scraped her hands, she climbed from one branch to the next. Finally she made it close to the top, or at least high enough that she could look over the meadow and valley.

  Cliffs dotted a large mountain off to the left. Hollows on the side of the open faces reminded her of New Mexico and the cliff dwelling homes of the Anasazi people. She hadn’t visited them herself but had studied it in school. A perfect spot for the Louers.

  As she searched the area, she tried to find the river where they’d first met the female Louers. Maybe that was the shine off to the right. She was relatively safe up here and found herself relaxing to the point of taking her time and studying the area. It was almost familiar. Almost. Something about it though… Back home there’d been a place where she and her mom had often picnicked. She didn’t have the same cliffs off to the side thoug
h so obviously it wasn’t the exact location, yet it had the same effect of making her homesick.

  Small towns like the one she’d grown up in, rivers, creeks and climbing trees were just a way of life. Being out here didn’t make her nervous. It made her comfortable. Free in a way.

  She hoped Eric felt the same way.

  *

  Eric stumbled forward, wishing his head would stop screaming at him. His stomach had already emptied once. His mouth would love a good rinse and his dry throat needed a drink.

  He’d searched the area and there was no sign of anyone. The meadows and trees seemed to continue forever. Storey might struggle with all this openness being a small town girl. Unlike him. He was a ranger and was used to tough conditions. She was a schoolgirl without his training to fall back on. This couldn’t be easy on her. On the other hand, she might be treated as a princess returning the lost daughter, enjoying a hot meal and a good rest.

  Unlike him.

  They’d emptied all his pockets. Too bad, he could use one of Storey’s unending granola bars about now.

  Why was there so much dratted country here? No buildings, no roads, no signs of civilization at all. How long would it take the Louers to build? Or would they live in caves? Make treehouses, or build structures of some kind? Was he to watch the ground for dugout type buildings, like into the side of a hill? Or could they throw up something instantly with a technology he had yet to hear about?

  He had no idea. His people had technology that made building a relatively easy task. However, his people didn’t do anything fast. They took, like Storey had once pointed out, a long time to make any decision. Therefore, although her people might need time to do the actual construction manually, they probably still completed their projects before his people, who could take years to determine and discuss the type, purpose, location, and size. It didn’t take long once a decision was made, months maybe, but the decision making took years. Sad really.

  And his people thought they were so advanced, so much better than the inhabitants of the other two dimensions. A thought that made him cringe as he remembered his dimensional lessons. Her world was always held up as an example of overpopulation, warmongering and power hungry politicians. Her world was theirs without controls, without regulations and with way too many people.