Vish curled its true-arms to touch its shoulders with its claws. “If that is what you require, we will obtain it for you. In addition, I sense the approach of someone who will serve as a better assistant to you than the ones I have at my disposal. He should arrive within the hour.”
“What are you talking about?” She shook her head, trying to follow the abrupt shift in topic. “Have you been in contact with someone who is immune to this madness?”
“Those details are not important.” Vish’s tone said that the matter was closed. “We have much work to do. I will have our guardians bring the people for whom you have requested bioscans.”
One at a time the guardians hauled the insane Jarada into the laboratory and forced them into the scanner field. Most of them were under restraint, their bodies twitching and jerking so much that Crusher had no trouble visualizing what would happen should the bindings work loose. A few were comatose, so far gone in their madness that they were no longer aware of their surroundings.
She studied each new set of readings with growing excitement, as the data confirmed her original guess. The biochemistry of the insane Jarada was severely distorted, with a clear correlation between the severity of the madness and the extremity of the imbalance.
Crusher was so busy searching for the underlying explanation for her findings that she forgot about the promised assistant until someone flung open the door and announced, “He’s here.” Battered, bruised, and muddy, Will Riker limped into the room.
Chapter Sixteen
AFTER AN HOUR that seemed more like twenty to Keiko, the Jarada quit throwing themselves at the tree trunk and wandered off. It was fully dark by then, and she was unable to tell what the insectoids were doing on the ground below. Even after fifteen minutes of quiet, she thought she saw several darker shadows stumbling through the forest in an erratic pattern. It was enough to discourage her from descending to the ground, but she didn’t want to stay where she was either.
“Reggie?” she whispered, hoping her voice would carry only as far as the branch where he was sitting. “Reggie, are you all right?”
For several heartbeats, only silence answered her. Then, softly, Tanaka’s voice floated out of the darkness, hoarse with pain. “My leg is pretty badly torn up. . . . I stopped the bleeding, I think, but I won’t be able to run from them.”
Keiko groaned as the sight of the maddened Jarada replayed itself before her eyes. She couldn’t outrun the Jarada either, and both her legs were uninjured. “We can’t stay up here when all our supplies are back at camp.”
The tree quivered and the branches below her rustled as Tanaka pulled himself to his feet. Slowly, he levered himself up to her level, guiding himself by touch more than sight. At last he eased himself into the crotch around the tree from Keiko. “I could stay here safely enough if I thought they wouldn’t come back. But if you’re not used to trees, you’d fall off when you went to sleep.”
“And you wouldn’t? Are you crazy?” Keiko shivered at the thought of the long drop to the ground. It was bad enough just being here, without having to think about staying.
“I grew up on Dulsinaray. I’m used to living in trees.” He shifted position, the dark bulk of his body leaning over to probe his injured leg.
Keiko closed her eyes and hugged the rough trunk tighter. The sight of Tanaka casually ignoring the open air below him made her stomach roil. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to exclude all other thoughts. Instead, the name Dulsinaray teased at the edge of her consciousness. Something in the news, something she had completely disregarded at the time but which had turned up later in one of her classes at the Academy.
Suddenly the memory clicked. About fifteen years ago a group of terrorists had seized the capital of Dulsinaray, taken the government hostage, and proceeded to execute the citizens until their demands were met. Most of the details had faded from her memory, but she still remembered the manner of the killings. Dulsinaray’s population was arboreal, living in spacious tree houses far above the swampy, carnivore-infested surface of the planet. The terrorists had exterminated their hostages by setting fire to their tree-homes and stunning anyone who tried to escape to the adjoining trees. The people had either burned to death or had fallen into the swamps below, where their bodies were devoured by the ravenous predators. If Tanaka had been in Dulsinaray City during that brief reign of terror, it explained his reaction to the thought of being held hostage again.
“Dulsinaray?” Keiko asked finally. “Are you from the capital?”
“Yes.” He clipped the word so short, she could barely understand it. Then, as if to compensate for his rudeness, he added, “I lost all my family. Can we change the subject?”
“Sure,” she agreed, too quickly. The thought of the blazing trees reminded her too much of their current predicament. All they needed was one crazed Jarada to stumble through the woods with a torch lit from the bonfire to make their precarious situation worse. They couldn’t outrun the insectoids on the ground, and an uncontrolled fire would turn the forest into a deadly inferno. “How are we going to get out of here?”
Tanaka shifted uncomfortably on his branch and Keiko realized he had been having similar thoughts. She heard him give a deep sigh. “For myself, I’d go through the canopy. I was studying the limb structure earlier this afternoon, while you were asleep. All the trees go up to about the same height, and the branches on the upper levels are firmly interlaced. Skipping from one limb to another in a forest like this is child’s play.”
“And you don’t think I can do it?” Keiko’s stomach knotted at the thought of traversing the forest canopy in the dark. Tanaka might think it was easy to stroll along a tree limb using other branches as handholds and to change from one branch to another while the rounded surface beneath his feet bounced in response to his movements, but Keiko found the idea terrifying. However, she was even more afraid of staying where she was. “I can do anything you can do.”
“Then let’s go.” He pulled himself to his feet, grunting with pain when he put his weight on the injured leg. “I for one want to be a long way from here when those lunatic bugs come back for us.”
Keiko swallowed hard, forcing her stomach back under control. She had, after all, volunteered to try Tanaka’s chosen method of escape. Perspiration sprung out on her palms at the thought of following him through the treetops. She wiped one hand and then the other against her uniform, trying to remove the dangerous slipperiness. Reluctantly, she pulled herself to her feet, keeping one hand locked around a branch at all times.
Anything he can do, I can do better, she told herself over and over as she started up the tree after Tanaka. It wasn’t that she doubted her abilities exactly, but tree-climbing was not high on her list of job skills. She followed him slowly, glad he was setting a careful and deliberate pace.
As they reached the canopy level and started to work their way across the forest, the reflected glow from the gas giant gave them more light. Even so, Keiko found she was relying on touch rather than on sight to settle her feet on the springy, rough-barked limbs. Her hands were slick with perspiration before they had been moving five minutes.
Fighting her nervousness, Keiko made sure she was grasping one branch before she released her previous handhold. After she adjusted to the idea, she realized she was glad they were doing this in semidarkness. That made it easier for her to convince herself that she was barely above the ground, that if she slipped, the worst thing that would happen to her was a skinned knee or a sprained ankle. Somehow, false as it was, she found comfort in the illusion.
Three hours and a dozen near falls later, Keiko was less reassured by her pretense. She felt dirty and sweaty, her arms were shaking from the constant effort of holding and lifting and balancing her body, and, worst of all, her stomach was seesawing between hunger and nausea with alarming regularity. All she wanted was to crawl into her tent and sleep until the Enterprise found them.
“Look. There’s the road.” Tanaka pointed
to a narrow break in the trees.
Keiko shook herself, wondering how he knew it was the road and why it had taken them so long to cover the distance. She was afraid she knew the answer, that her inexperience—more than Tanaka’s injured leg or the darkness—had been the reason for their slow pace.
As they reached the row of trees bordering the road, Tanaka told her to hold her position and went on by himself. Part of her protested at being left behind while he scouted out their course, but she was so tired from the unaccustomed mode of travel that she wedged herself into a secure perch on a forked branch. Wrapping her arms tightly around the trunk, she surrendered to her exhaustion. She could not remember when she had felt so sweaty, so thirsty, and so downright miserable in her life.
Fifteen minutes later Tanaka swung onto the branch opposite her. His approach had been so quiet that she jumped in surprise as his hand closed on her shoulder.
“Easy,” he murmured, keeping his hold on her. “I didn’t realize you were so tired.”
“I’m not tired,” she protested, her words sounding like a spoiled child. “I’m just not used to this.”
“Uh-huh.” His tone was noncommittal, refusing the argument. “We’ve got to go down to the ground now. There’s no other way to cross the road.”
“Do we need to cross it?” All at once she realized that descending from the trees frightened her as much as climbing through them. Why couldn’t they stay where they were until the Enterprise got a fix on them? How much longer could it possibly be before the ship located them? Surely her husband was in the transporter room, waiting for the sensors to give him their coordinates.
“I’m afraid we do. My leg needs treatment soon, and the only first aid kit around is in my tent.” He squeezed her shoulder for a moment longer. “Besides, we both need sleep, and first-timers should be roped into their perches. I didn’t think to bring any rope. Did you?”
Keiko forced a weak grin, although she knew he couldn’t see her face. “Not even a millimeter. But is it safe to go down?”
Tanaka sighed. “I think so. At least I didn’t see anyone around and the campsite seems deserted. If we cross the road here, circle around through the trees, and approach our tents from the other side, I think we’ll be safe. I don’t know what else to do.”
“Then let’s do it now, before I think of some other reason why you’re wrong.” She took a deep breath, trying to gather up the courage to match her brave words. If nothing else, they should collect their water bottles, first aid kit, and remaining ration bars from their camp. After that, returning to the trees might be their best course of action, but then they would be equipped to handle a long siege.
“That’s the spirit!” Tanaka’s cheer seemed forced, but Keiko decided not to examine it too closely. “Follow my lead down, since you’ve picked the best tree for it already.”
The limbs were closely spaced, making it easy for her to lower herself from one branch to the next without falling. Only the last stretch was bad, with a gap of twice her height between the bottom limbs and the ground.
Tanaka dropped first, swinging from the lowest branch and then releasing it. He grunted when his weight landed on his injured leg. Before Keiko could ask if he was all right, he whispered up at her, “Wrap your legs around the trunk and let yourself slide down. I’ll catch you.”
For a moment she clung to the last branch. Finally she released her hold and slid downward toward Tanaka. He caught her at waist height, where she could stand without sprawling in an undignified heap.
It was a pleasure to feel the solid ground beneath her boots, to not sway and bounce with every gust of wind or shift of weight. Keiko leaned against the tree, savoring the feeling of terra firma while the small night noises drifted around her. A squirrellike animal jumped from tree to tree above her head while the hunting cry of a nocturnal bird-analog echoed through the forest. Everything seemed quiet, peaceful, undisturbed. She heard nothing to indicate the presence of a group of crazed Jarada anywhere nearby.
“Come!” Tanaka whispered, tugging on her sleeve. He started for the road, limping heavily on his injured leg. In spite of that, he slipped through the undergrowth as though he belonged there, barely making any noise. Keiko was hard pressed to keep her movements as quiet.
When they reached the road, they paused to look for Jarada. Everything seemed quiet, and Keiko could only hope that no one was waiting to ambush them. It seemed unlikely, given the irrational behavior the Jarada had shown earlier, but neither of them wanted to gamble unnecessarily. Finally, they took the chance, scooting across the road as fast as Tanaka’s injured leg would let them.
On the other side, safely screened by the underbrush, Keiko sagged against a tree, limp with relief. More than anything, the tension was getting to her, draining her of what strength she had left. Tanaka, too, seemed to be losing his edge, his energy and enthusiasm waning with each step. He started off, keeping just inside the forest until he reached the closest approach to their tents.
From the protective shadows, the meadow was a vast and dangerous expanse that offered no shelter or escape from potential attackers. Thirty meters of waist-high grass separated them from the edge of the lake. Nothing moved, no small grazers or larger predators, no bird-analogs or potential prey. Keiko shook her head, thinking how deceptively peaceful the gently nodding blades were. Overhead, the rusty ball of Bel-Major glared down on the scene like a bloodshot eye. She shivered, unable to shake the image of an angry god watching her.
“We’ll have to crawl,” she whispered at last, voicing the thought they both had been avoiding. She had known all along they would have to risk it, but she had hoped a miracle would alter things.
“You lead,” Tanaka answered. “I’ll be rear guard. If they surprise us, head for the water. I don’t think they can swim.”
“Right.” Keiko crouched low and darted from the trees to the edge of the tall grass. She threw herself flat, holding her breath until Tanaka joined her. They lay still, listening for the uproar that would indicate they had been discovered. The silence enfolded them like a blanket, thick and soft, and after a bit Keiko began inching forward.
The grass was spiky and rough, scraping at her exposed skin with serrated blades. It was an effort to keep down and keep moving, but somehow she did. Behind her she heard Tanaka’s slither and pause, carefully timed to sound random to any but the most discerning listener. Keiko had forgotten how uncomfortable crawling was, how the damp earth clung to her uniform and how every pebble in the entire field gouged her knees and elbows. She was grateful to finally see the silvered expanse of sand through the last clumps of grass.
Keiko looked out cautiously, checking both directions, but the beach was deserted. Wiggling up beside her, Tanaka gave a groan of dismay. At first she didn’t see what had caught his attention, but when she did, she had to bite her lip to keep from crying in frustration. Where Tanaka had pitched his tent, the ground was littered with shredded cloth and scattered bits of destroyed equipment. She felt sick, thinking about the effort it had taken to get back here.
After the first shock had passed, Keiko studied the campsite more carefully. Tanaka’s tent, programmed the gaudy orange that no one could miss, was destroyed, his sleeping bag and other equipment trampled into the sand by their crazed hosts. However, Keiko’s tent survived and a faint line of shadow marked its camouflaged edge. Against all odds the Jarada who had trashed the campsite had missed the second tent. Or had they?
Keiko shivered, wondering if the Jarada were waiting for them inside, hoping that the humans would assume they had missed the tent. She sketched the outline of shadow for Tanaka and then leaned close, whispering in his ear, “Is it a trap?”
He drew a deep breath, testing the air. Keiko copied him and smelled only the damp soil beneath her body. Tanaka’s shoulder moved against hers as he shrugged, telling her that he couldn’t determine whether any Jarada were still in the area. “I’ll go first. If anyone jumps me, head for the water.”
<
br /> Rolling over the pile of boulders that separated the meadow from the beach, Tanaka slithered across the sand to the tent. For the first time, in the ruddy light reflected from Bel-Major, Keiko got a clear look at the gash on his leg. It ran nearly from knee to ankle and went deep into the muscle, although apparently no major blood vessels had been hit. He had stopped the bleeding with a makeshift tourniquet fashioned from his shredded pants leg. The binding was still loosely wrapped around his thigh, although Tanaka had long since released the pressure. However, the reason the wound had stopped bleeding was that Tanaka’s calf was swollen nearly double its normal size. Keiko shuddered, wondering how much longer the leg could go untreated. Even with the Enterprise’s advanced medical technology, such an injury could cause him to lose the leg if he did not get proper care soon.
Tanaka reached the tent and lifted the edge of the flap. No one attacked at the movement, and he eased himself inside. Keiko watched, but except for a brief jiggle the tent remained motionless. Taking a deep breath, she slipped from the cover of the grass. She felt terribly exposed, as if she were standing naked before the entire crew of the Enterprise, but she forced herself to dash to the tent.
Quickly, she searched the remains of Tanaka’s tent until she located his undamaged canteen and the nearly indestructible box of the first aid kit, half buried in the sand. She freed both objects and hurried inside, hoping no hostile observers had seen her. Logic told her that they were safe, that the Jarada would not expect to find them here after their possessions had been destroyed, but Keiko did not want to take any chances. At least if she was in the tent, she was hidden from view; she hoped that would be enough to protect her from further attacks.
Tanaka had collapsed across her sleeping bag, his breathing shallow and feverish. She tried to get him to move, but he didn’t respond. After a second attempt she decided he was unconscious and likely to stay that way. Under the circumstances it seemed unwise to make him too comfortable, so she left his boots on but tugged the sleeping bag out from under him to use as a blanket for both of them.
IMBALANCE Page 19
