Beast Master's Ark

by Andre Norton; Lyn McConchie

  They followed, to a place where Tani cringed back once they had linked. The clickers swarmed there in the thousands. Hidden inside rock tunnels and great rooms. The old breed to guard, as the dying Xik had said. And further in the distance, the faint touch of the new breed waiting to rise up and devour a world. In the end the dying Leader had spoken truth, there were other safeguards as well. They returned to the ranch, leaving Speaker of Dreams to give further orders.

  Kelson was worried. "I don't know, Storm. Letting Nitra do most of the fighting."

  Tani spoke quietly. "Mr. Kelson, there isn't much choice. I talked to Speaker of Dreams. Under treaty humans have no right to enter native lands. The Nitra don't want hundreds, or even dozens, of humans swarming into their tribal areas. They will permit a few of us. But not nearly the numbers we'd need to fight the Xiks on our own. The First Leader said there were safeguards. The teams scouted for us. They say there are about another thirty Xiks in the guard post. They're holed up in an area that overlooks the laboratory where they have the clicker breeding vats. Storm thinks he knows what system they'll have used to connect the two hideouts. Hing can cut that."

  "Cut?" Kelson looked surprised. "Won't they use radio impulses of some kind?"

  "Something like that, and they'd have to run regular checks to make sure it works," Storm informed him. "If a copter was in the air on the desert fringe it might pick that up, or if planet security had the wave detector on they'd pick it up at once. The Xiks prefer to do it the simple way in something like this. They'll have run a couple of buried wires."

  "But the Nitra?"

  Tani answered that. "It's their kind of country. The tribes don't usually go there, it's too barren. But they're used to fighting in that sort of land. It's going to be a brutal scrambling fight in land where you can't use anything but your own feet. Besides," her eyes glittered at him, "my people had a saying. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Don't you think the tribes might look more kindly on the rangers and settlers if they'd fought beside them? If they help to fight a mutual enemy?"

  The liaison man stared, then grinned. "I suppose you'll be with us, and your clan too?"

  "Of course."

  "Storm?"

  "Tani makes sense. Logan's picked a dozen temporary rangers who'll come. The ones who survive can join up permanently."

  Kelson winced. "We lost seven good men in the last fight."

  "Good men die the same as bad ones," Storm said. "Maybe more often. They'll risk more to do what's right. If we have your okay I'll com Logan. The word will go out. Speaker of Dreams says she can have some warriors arriving at the Xik hideouts, and ready to fight against the Xiks, in less than twenty-four hours, and others will be riding in later." He paused. "Kelson. I think we have to go with it. The only other choice is to saturation-bomb the whole area. Even then the laboratory is so deep, and so well shielded, we'd have to use massive bombing to be sure of wiping everything out down there. If we do something like that in tribal lands, it will bring the tribes out—against us. And Tani's been listening..."

  Kelson's head jerked up. "What? What's she hear?"

  "The new clickers hatch very soon now. She thinks it could be as close as thirty hours."

  Kelson sagged into the chair. "Then there isn't a choice. I don't like having the natives doing so much of our fighting for us, but you've made some good points. We go with the Nitra. Com Logan. Tell him the pilot is to swing by, collect us and whichever of the teams you're using. We leave tonight for Tani's clan camp. In the morning we can run relay with copter and horses if the clan will agree."

  "We guessed you'd offer. Tani talked to Speaker of Dreams, the Nitra agree, and Brad sent our horses on to the clan a while back. They should just arrive in time for us to ride with the main war party. The. first group of warriors will leave with most of the horses tonight and keep moving. We explained to the Nitra that they'd be safe. The loose swarms were cleaned out. There could be another at the laboratory, but there shouldn't be any loose clicker swarms running about the desert. As for the Xiks, there's soldiers at the guard post and maybe a few scientists and clerks in the hidden laboratory, with the breeding vats. Logan talked to the pilot earlier and they checked the map. A copter should be able to get to within twenty miles safely. The air currents don't pick up until after that. I'll go com Logan."

  Kelson was gathering his gear. Tani helped, then fetched the two small packs she'd prepared. Surra and the coyotes would remain at the ranch. Mandy and Baku would act as sky-eyes and air cover. The erratic currents wouldn't bring them down as they did copters. The other passengers would be meerkats. Hing was eager to do her old job of sabotage. Her kits to her original mate were barely adult, but Storm had trained them as well. Somehow Hing had conveyed events to her new mate; he was coming with them, eager as she to hunt and dig.

  The clan welcomed them soon after dawn. The copter hopped the odd assembly ahead and returned for more. Waiting were the mounts for several clans and their riders. Destiny had been led along with Storm's mount, first to the clan camp and then to the waiting warriors. The twittering deepened as the girl swung up. The warrior who had found the Xik hideout pointed to Destiny, then signed to Tani.

  "They say that is a warrior horse, and a warrior rides her. We ride with the Djimbut's clan-friend. Is it good?"

  "It is good," Tani signed back. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We hunt enemies, kill them together. With them dead we feast, show our scars afterward to the clan. Is it good?"

  The warrior gave his high twittering laugh. He translated it to the others.

  Storm grinned as they too twittered in amusement. "Little diplomat," he commented.

  Tani smiled at him. The warrior turned to sign to them both. "They say it is very good. Do you hear the death yet?"

  They were perhaps ten miles away. Tani reached over to touch Storm's arm. They fell into link and listened. The clickers were there.

  Chapter Eighteen

  They rode forward with caution. This battle would be twofold. There was the guard post where the main body of Xik soldiers lived and worked. It was closest to the edge of the desert, and the layout, they believed, was simpler in construction. From it an underground comline ran to the hidden laboratory, which bred and hatched the clickers, before loosing them on the people of Arzor. The laboratory was more complex, with subsidiary tunnels and rooms but far fewer inhabitants. Storm wasn't certain there was anyone living there on a permanent basis. It could be that the Xiks went there only to work. That would be something they'd only discover when they attacked the second target.

  Tani and Storm led the war party onward, Hing and her new mate perched in front of them. Overhead Baku and Mandy spiraled upward, watching the land below. It had been only a short time but already the link was strong. Behind them rode the warriors of five Nitra tribes. The ranger force was much smaller, but they had something no Nitra would own. Lasers. It had been discussed at Government levels and agreed. For safety the weapons were matched to user prints. Only the handprints of their operators allowed them to work.

  But the five lasers, while only handheld weapons, would lay down a deadly covering fire against clickers. The killers literally exploded, cooked in an instant in their shells. Storm carried one of the weapons, Tani another. Both were cross-printed so that both could use either weapon. Kelson carried a third, while two other picked rangers carried the last pair. Dumaroy rode with them, carrying a laser pulse rifle. He'd been a marksman in the war, and a very good one. His rifle had returned to Arzor with him, something that had been semi-legal at best, but right now no one was objecting. The weapon was stunningly accurate, well-worn but still deadly.

  The horses plodded on into a land increasingly barren but not so empty as it appeared. The two who were linked could read life ahead. An avid greedy life that swarmed, waiting, hungry to kill and gorge. It hated the bright burning sun, but where it waited the light was dimmer. The prey would have to approach and it would be ready.

  The com K
elson carried chimed softly. He opened a channel. "Kelson here?" There was a long silence as he listened, then he spoke. "Thanks, I'll pass that on." He turned to look at those who rode with him. "Gather round, people, and listen. That was Brion Carraldo. He's had some of the coded scientific papers back with a translation. The clickers at the laboratory are a new type. All of them have poison, the front-runners and the eaters both. Be careful once we find the lab, Brion Carraldo thinks that the poison destroys nerve tissue as well. If you're bitten but get away from the swarm, you could still lose a limb if that's where the bite is, or if it's near an organ, you'll die in a few days. That's all." Storm led the group on again, Tani's hand in his.

  In an hour they had covered only a short distance more, but from overhead Mandy's huge golden eyes saw a flicker of movement. She relayed the picture to Tani. Baku saw it at the same instant. The overlapping images filled the human minds. A Xik had showed at the edge of a tumble of boulders, just for a few seconds, but it had been enough for the predators who hovered far forward of the war party, and high overhead, watching for a movement. Tani and Storm paused to speak softly to those who followed. The group rode on another mile before halting. Warriors slid from mounts, younger hunters caught up the loose animals, running them to shelter to wait. Destiny and Rain-on-Dust stood together unfettered. The filly was alert just in case.

  Tani paused to pat Destiny in reassurance. Both mare and stallion had been led by one of the Quade riders, to the edge of the Djimbut clan land. From there Speaker of Dreams had ordered them brought to where the copter would land at the desert's fringe. Neither Storm nor Tani wished to ride to war without their most trusted mounts. The Big Blue area was the harshest of all desert lands; riders needed a mount they could trust not to run off if the rider was thrown.

  Storm's burned arm was half healed. It hurt only if handled roughly, but under his sleeve lay a protective bandage. He hoped that would stop further damage. If he could avoid it he had no intention of allowing rough hands to be laid on him. Tani pattered quietly beside him. Both carried a meerkat laid along their shoulders. Other rangers carried Hing's adult kits. At last they were almost to where their sky-eyes had seen the incautious enemy. Storm halted and signed vigorously.

  "Everyone waits now. The spirit animals go forward to seek out the thing that warns the enemy. They destroy it, then return to us. After that we hunt out the enemy."

  The warriors squatted in silence in what small amounts of shade could be found. Storm placed Hing on the ground. She squeaked to gather her clan, then sat to groom her stomach. Storm dropped to his knees to hold her gaze with his. It took little effort. Hing had been his sabotage expert in the days when they had fought from star to star. She and her mate Ho had been responsible for much damage. Now Hing trotted out again. She knew the signs of buried wire; the scents of such man-made items. She conveyed them to her clan and they scurried silently into the rocks.

  They need have no fear of clickers as yet. The lethal insects were confined to the hidden laboratory, this was only the guard post for that. Storm worried silently over what they would find at the laboratory; the First Leader had spoke of safeguards. Storm was sure he hadn't only meant the Xik soldiers. Breaking the comline should be safe for a short period. No doubt it was regularly tested, but out here in the desert there were a number of ways in which a comline could temporarily fail. Falling rock was one; in the desert lands, here in the foothills of the mountain range, large rocks often cracked away and fell. The Xiks would be used to that, and they'd send someone to check before they assumed they were about to be attacked. That was, if they noticed quickly. If they didn't notice for some time, then the Nitra and human war party would have attacked by then, anyhow.

  The sun rose higher. The heat would be stifling soon. Storm touched Hing's mind. She had found something, sharing the picture. Yes, he encouraged her. Yes, dig. She dug. The others, seeing her interest, came to dig with her. Tani grinned, signing rapidly.

  "Our spirit animals find the big secret our enemy hides. It is a pity the enemy does not hide great wealth."

  From around her there were subdued chuckles. With the wire uncovered in several places and then broken Hing led her tiny clan back to Storm. They were petted, praised, then tucked to wait in a small rock hollow. Storm signaled a general advance. The warriors slipped forward in slow silence. They fanned out ahead of the humans, skins blending with the same reddish-yellow as Arzoran earth and rock. They encircled the area where the Xik's hidden guard post lay, and waited. Kelson took a deep breath.

  "Jackson, Larkin. Blow that door in." The lasers were poised and ready. Twin rays converged silently and the door was gone. Into the gap poured the waiting Nitra. They ran in silence but their eyes glowed fierce and ready. They raced down the entrance tunnel, killing as they ran. Here and there fire was returned and a man fell. The human force ran with them, giving each other covering fire. Human shouts or screams of pain mingled with the Nitra's high-pitched cries.

  In the tunnel dust boiled, drawn from the rock walls by laser fire. The stench of musk from the Xik soldiers, the stink of burned flesh, the copper smell of human blood, and the sharper overlay of Nitra blood caught in the throats of those who fought. The blue overhead lights shone through a growing mist of dust and smoke. They had to finish this fight before the laboratory became suspicious about the comlink being silent. Tani jigged from one foot to the other, anxious for her clan-friends. Speaker of Dreams came out of the dust to smile cheerfully at Tani.

  "Kelson so-say we are to share all the enemy has. We have found very many blankets, much food, Swift Killer finds a corral. The enemy had horses also. I think they dressed as Nitra, ride out in the land and you do not see they were an enemy. The five tribes sent ten warriors each. I think the warriors will have fine plunder to take back to their people. This is a good war trail."

  The noise from the tunnels was subsiding little by little. "How many horses?" Tani signed.

  "Maybeso twenty. Good horses, and there is much gear with them."

  Tani looked at Storm. "I wonder where they stole those. Unless ..." She was remembering the story she'd heard from Storm's stepfather. How human renegades had helped the first Xik holdout team when Storm had gone up against the Xiks here on Arzor soon after his arrival.

  "I don't think so," Storm said slowly, knowing what she must be thinking. The same thought had initially occurred to him. "There's been no signs of renegades. No, this section of the land is dangerous. Perhaps some of those who vanished near it didn't die so accidentally."

  Tani signed that to the Thunder-Drummer, who agreed. "I think so. This enemy was an enemy to all of us. They would kill your people or mine, it would be all the same to them. This is a good hunting, it is their turn to die."

  The noise from the tunnels had died down to moans of pain and quiet voices. Tani and Storm turned their attention to the sound of approaching footsteps, as Kelson plodded up-slope to where the three sat. He had a torn shirt sleeve and a ruffled look. Blood was splashed across one shoulder. He saw them looking at that and nodded.

  "That isn't mine. The casualties aren't good but Mirt's taking care of them. He was a medic in the service. Mostly those who got hit square are dead. We lost twelve out of the fifty Nitra and two of our boys." His face twisted in grief. "Damn it all to hell. I hate losing men even if we have killed two of theirs for one of ours."

  "Who was killed?" Storm queried, a sudden fear in his heart. Not Logan; not his young impetuous half-brother? Logan had been one of the first into the tunnel, along with the leading warriors of the clans. If anyone was likely to be killed, it would be those front-runners.

  Kelson saw Storm's fear and allayed it quickly. "Logan's okay. But Dumaroy's cousin Mason is dead and Put Lancin's young brother, Dade. Shen Larson is hurt bad. Mirt says Shen'll make it but he won't be riding with us this season."

  They were beginning to carry the dead out of the tunnel now. The Nitra were mourning quietly as Speaker of Dreams carried out the ri
tes, releasing the dead warriors' spirits. Kelson went back to help carry out the human bodies. These were laid on blankets as the men stood around them. Dumaroy leaned down to close his cousin's eyes. His chest heaved once in a dry sob.

  "He always rushed into things. I shoulda been there for him."

  Kelson gripped him by the shoulder. "You couldn't be everywhere, Rig. He died clean; no long dying, no agony, and he died fighting." He managed a rueful grin. "You knew Mason, he was always fighting. If he had to choose, I reckon he'd have liked it this way."

  "Maybe. Maybe so, but I'm going to miss him."

  Speaker of Dreams came to them quietly, a clan blanket over one arm. She signed, her gaze direct into Dumaroy's eyes.

  "I bring a blanket that your kin may sleep the sleep of a warrior. If you wish me to release his spirit for its return, I will do so."

  Rig Dumaroy stared at her. Most of his life he'd hated the natives. Now a Thunder-Drummer offered warrior tribute. She named Mason as one who had died fighting, and should lie in a warrior blanket, should have his spirit released to return in the body of a newborn who would be a warrior in turn.

  Wordlessly he nodded, tears in his eyes as he watched her kneel, lay the blanket out, and roll Mason within. Her hands swept over the blanketed shape as she twittered softly in the Nitra tongue. Speaker of Dreams stood up again and her hands flickered.

  "It is done. Once this is over, let you take the warrior home. Watch for the return of his spirit, which will surely come." She walked away to continue her work over the bodies of other dead while Dumaroy looked after her, tears in his eyes.

  Tani had seen and heard it all. The pain of the living, the sorrow for the dead. Blood spent to buy Arzor's future. She sucked in her breath. It hadn't been quite real to her before. Now it was. Her mother had said war was wrong. It was acceptable to fight if you were attacked, but not to seek out war. She would have protested this invasion of the desert lands, seeing it as aggression.