by J. D. Sonne
“Yes and yes,” she said. “And I need you to at least pretend to be my ally so we can get this done. You know how I feel about Landman!”
“I know how you feel about all of us after your little speech after the rock quake. ‘You are the most STUPID viruls who ever lived on Maraquan’ you said,” he croaked. “Landman included. Perhaps we’re too stupid to help you!”
Rane wanted to say, well, most of those in the cave are females and they are not too stupid, and you are the only virul here, but she let that thought go. She had to persuade him that she had changed. “Listen, Scout! I was frustrated and shocky when I said those things—you’ve got to believe me that I didn’t really mean all that. And, I am indebted to you for saving Landman.” Rane relaxed her hold on him and said, “I am going to let go of you to show good faith. After your windpipe recovers, if you would like to discuss our differences, we can do that. But I urge you instead to use this time away from the others to listen to my plan. The females in the cave should not see us fight—they need to see a united front. You are the key to that. Hate me ferociously if you wish, only do not act like it. Scout.”
The repeated use of his camp name had the effect that Rane wanted: his eyes calmed, his brows lowered, and he nodded, so she released him from her hold and watched him scatter away from her, coughing and grasping at his neck in an effort to get air. It took a few pours, but while he recovered, Rane outlined the plan.
He listened intently as she explained the results of her reconnaissance of Larad’s estate and punishment cells. She also shared her infiltration of the security detail allowing her easier access to the prisoners. And, although she disliked telling him about their rejection of her, she did so. That was important for two reasons: she wanted to tell him the entire truth to gain his trust, and she needed him to vouch for her to Landman and the others so she could gain their trust. The plan had no possibility of success if they refused to be rescued.
Scout smiled at that. “What did you expect?” He asked, rather good-naturedly to Rane’s surprise. “Your last speech to us was not what you would call ‘endearing.’ And I could tell that it hurt Landman, deeply.”
A new sting entered Rane’s gut, but she said, “Hopefully, the rescue goes well, we all survive, and I can make it up to him,” Rane said. “So, are you with me? With us? I can do this with just the females, but as I have explained to you, your involvement could make things a lot easier.”
“Of course, I will help,” Scout said. “They are my brothers, and much more to me than they are to you, a lead who should want to enslave them. But how do I know after the rescue you won’t just transfer them to your estate to increase your slave population?’
Rane sighed. Oh, how she wanted to do a verbal rip into this idiot virul. She hadn’t predicted that he could think she would endanger herself just to acquire more viruls on her estate. Surely such stupidity—well, all she could do was think past him.
“Scout,” she said with great patience. “What would happen if I were caught helping viruls break out of a Titled’s estate?”
“I don’t know,” he said sullenly, defiantly.
“Yes, you do. So, tell me,” Rane pressed.
With reluctance, he answered, “You would probably be killed.”
“Yes,” Rane said, “I would be killed—likely after torture and, well, things even I don’t like to think about! And, tell me, how many viruls do you think I have on—it’s not even my estate, it is my mother’s—the estate?”
“I don’t know.” Again, sullen.
“Close to five-hundred. Do you think that three more viruls would make a difference on an estate that large?” At his hesitation, she went on, a little louder, “Well, do you?”
“No,” Scout said, only slightly abashed. “But what are your plans after the rescue? The camp is ruined. Where will all of us go?”
“That,” Rane answered, “will be up to all of us. We, you, Landman, the other men and women, will all decide where we will live. I would venture that it will be well beyond the wailing mists, so far away that Mount Termonos will disappear from the horizon. But, you will have a say, and so will they,” she gestured toward the cave, “and so will all of us!”
Scout nodded and fell silent in thought. Rane thought she saw excitement and acknowledgment in his face, but realized she shouldn’t be fooled. Doubting that a little talk like this could go so far in resolving old distrust, she also had to remember that she and Scout had a natural aversion to each other and act accordingly. She would have to trust him for now, because she needed him, but the shield should be slung on her back for protection.
She smiled a little at Titled Nooro’s favorite metaphor. ‘Sling the shields on your backs, Leads! Trust no one until they have absolutely proved themselves! Sling the shields on your backs!’ Rane extended her hand to Scout.
Scout eyed the hand for a pour or two, then grasped it, exchanging only a fleeting look with Rane before his gaze dropped away.
Yes, she thought to herself. My shield will be firmly on my back.
Chapter Twenty-six
Scout’s appearance made it necessary for Rane to prolong their camp at the cave for another couple of days to soften up Saruah. There had to be a way to convince her friend, if not to fully become involved in the rescue plan, to at least not give them away to the Titleds of their sector. Saruah’s skills as a fighter and strategist would be an immense help to Rane in mapping out a rescue, but it passed credulity that Saruah would give up all the years of indoctrination she had experienced as a Lead and follow Rane and her new, rather motley group of low females and viruls. In fact, Rane actually despaired of rallying her friend to such an unlikely venture, until the moment she finally introduced Scout to Lead Saruah.
Where Scout had absolutely hated Rane from the first pour he saw her, the opposite was true of his reaction to Saruah. When Rane finally brought them together, she mentally cowered for quite a few pours, expecting Saruah to react to the virul rat with derision and scorn, but nothing like that happened. There was absolutely no recognition between the two, but something else altogether. Rane had heard stories about viruls and Leads having the experience of “love sight,” but she had never known it to happen to anyone in her sphere of acquaintance. But, now she was seeing it, in immediate time, between her best friend and her worst enemy. It was actually a stunning look into what Rane realized was natural servaquan behavior between the genders, before Kagallen Rush had put an end to such spontaneity in attraction by separating them.
From the first hour of their introduction, Scout brought tokens to Saruah, a flower, an interesting fern frond, and at the end of the first day he even caught a small marmouse, building a tiny cage for it all through the night so she could be entertained while she recovered the next day, after which Rane had decided they would journey back.
At first, Rane was miffed and slightly jealous of Scout’s attention to Saruah. Until now, she had never cared that Scout despised her, ascribing the loathing to the fact that she was a Lead. Well, here was another Lead and Scout could not get enough of her attention. Not only that, but she also missed Landman and their relationship. Scout’s and Saruah’s mutual simpering just reminded her of what she had lost, and every new demonstration of their obvious feelings for each other slashed a new wound in Rane’s psyche.
Despite Rane’s jealousy, she realized that this attraction made things much easier for her. Saruah’s attraction to Scout may make her more apt to join to the cause of freedom, not only for the prisoners but perhaps for all viruls. Not only that, but Scout would be much easier to handle with this new interest of his; his love sight for Saruah may replace his loathing for Rane. But a maddening development ensued in that Saruah denied everything. Rane had broached the subject while she and Saruah watched Scout manufacture the tiny cage his second day in the camp.
“So,” Rane said as the two Leads observed Scout’s tinkering, “He is quite taken with you, it seems! And, it looks like the feeling is mutual.�
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Saruah’s shrug and rolled eyes surprised Rane. “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saruah huffed. “He is a virul, and not even one I would couple with! No, not for all the cattails on Maraquan!”
“It’s normal,” Rane pointed out. “Remember what we talked about the other day? The biology is there, and Scout is a nice specimen of virul. Your attraction is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Of course, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, because I feel nothing for him. I am not like you, falling in love with a nasty virul. I would never do it!”
“All right!” Rane said, stung, and putting up her hands. “It shall be as you say.”
But, as she turned away, Rane was a little hurt that Saruah would not share her obvious truth: that she was falling in love with Scout. Well, there was nothing to do except wait and see how this played out. Again, if eventually Saruah responded to Scout’s attentions, Rane might be able to gain her help in the rescue. Her only worry was that her friend may never acknowledge that she was drawn to the virul, or that it would take so long for her to do so that the opportunity for her to experience love, not to mention to help with the rescue, may be lost.
Rane walked to the mouth of the cave to get some fresh air. What was she going to do? They needed to get back to the sector—they had already been away for two days—but she needed to figure out where Saruah’s mind was. If her friend ran to the Titleds and described Rane’s rendezvous with the females and Scout, Rane would be thrown into prison and perhaps die with Landman. A romantic notion, but hardly helpful. Agitation set in as Rane realized that a mindset could not be forced: either Saruah could be persuaded or not; either she would help or inform on them. Beating her fist against the fissured stone of the cave’s mouth, she realized that she needed help to decide what to do and more importantly, how to do it. She would have to consult Scout and Shad. Perhaps even Winsla.
Quickly, she walked into the cave and stooped next to Scout. “I need to talk to you; meet me outside the cave.”
Scout put aside the cage reluctantly, glanced over at the napping Saruah and followed her out of the cave. Rane pulled Shad aside, whispered, and she came also, dragging along Winsla.
The four of them sat down in a garden of rocks just below the cave, Shad, Scout and Winsla gazing at Rane, curiosity on their faces.
Rane sanded her hands together nervously and said, “I need your help. I don’t know what to do.”
The two females looked at each other uncertainly. They had never heard such an admission from Lead Rane. Even Scout looked flummoxed.
“I don’t know what to do about Saruah. I brought her out here to get her help in rescuing Landman, Bruse and Chuan. Well, I tried to explain things—”
“You couldn’t have been stupid enough to tell her about the rescue!” Scout barked. “Tell me you didn’t do that!”
“No, of course not,” Rane hissed, wanting to clout him. She breathed and went on. “But she did guess at our intentions, and we could use her help. She is a brilliant tactician and fighter—”
“None of that matters,” Winsla said, “unless we can convince her to help us.”
“And even if we tell her and she pretends to agree, she could still turn us in,” Shad pointed out.
“All true,” Rane agreed. “So, what do we do?”
“We still have a long journey back to the sector,” Scout said. “You could still use the time to convince her to help us.”
“I don’t think I could do that as well as you could,” Rane ventured.
“What does that mean?” Scout asked suspiciously.
Rane hesitated, a little worried about using Scout to manipulate Saruah, but not enough to abandon the idea. “It means—I can tell that you and Saruah like each other. If you could cultivate that interest and talk to her, and I mean gracefully—can you do that? You may be the one who is able to convince her to help.”
“That’s quite a request,” Scout said, his face turning red. “You want to use me to get your friend to help us? What, do you want me to roll her in bed to get her to risk her life in an impossible rescue mission on sector territory? And, you call yourself her friend?”
“Well done! Yes, just like that!” Rane said. “Take her part, worry about her safety, but convince her!”
“You Leads are so used to exploiting the rest of the planet for your wants and needs, that you have lost your hearts!” Scout said, his voice rising. “She’s your friend and you are asking me to do this?”
“This,” Shad said, speaking to Scout, but looking over at Rane, “is an opportunity, you fool!” Turning her gaze on Scout, she went on. “Yes, she is asking you to work Saruah, and what of it? Rane is trying to undo the decades of virul servitude, and if she wants you to play nice with a Lead, I can think of worse activities for the better good. So, leave aside your misplaced self-righteousness and do your part. I have seen how you look at her, and incidentally, Rane’s right, she likes you, too, so use the advantage. It will probably save all our lives.”
Scout sat erect and looked at each of the Leads in turn. Squirming, his body barely able to rein in his indignation, he struggled to his feet. “What you ask is ridiculous and—well, immoral! I will not do it!” Stalking back up to the cave, he turned his head back, drilling a look of supreme disdain at the three women.
Rane, Winsla and Shad watched him go, until Shad said, “I’ve known Scout for a long time. He blows up like that, but after he thinks about it, he’ll see reason.” Then she added with a laugh, “Especially when he really thinks about what you’ve asked him to do.”
Her look of cunning was such that Rane and Winsla regarded her with surprise, then all three almost fell off their rocks in laughter.
“But,” Winsla said, after the mirth died, “all that aside, we do have to decide what to do it Saruah cannot be convinced.”
“What do you mean?” Rane asked, dread filling her stomach at the implication.
“We may have to kill her,” Shad said simply. “If she decides to give us away, we have to protect the plan and the only way to do that is to ensure her silence.”
“We may have to kill her anyway,” Winsla said. “What if, like you said, she pretends to go along and tries to fool Scout—”
“Easily done,” Shad said, nodding her head and smiling.
“—And fools us,” Winsla went on, shaking her head at Shad’s weak joke. “That would give her a lot of power to do a lot of mischief.”
Rane forced herself to take a breath, then said, “I don’t think we have to think about killing, just yet. Let’s see what the journey back brings. I know Saruah—I think she’ll come around to our plan.” She spoke with much more confidence than she felt, and the sick feeling in her stomach deepened.
Winsla and Shad trudged back up the hill to the cave, leaving Rane sitting on one of the flat rocks, looking over the Termonos Valley. “Oh, water gods, now what am I going to do?”
Chapter Twenty-seven
The suns would not appear over Mount Termonos for a long time, so they arose in the dark of morning to start their journey back. To slow the party, and to give her more time to think about how to reconcile Saruah to the plan of escape, Rane walked Treefall rather than ride, so Saruah the only one horsed. As Rane knew she would, Saruah used this windfall by liberally galloping her beloved Flywood up and down the trail, whooping and cavorting in marshes and streams along the way. Rane also figured that this might put her in a better mood and more malleable for convincing.
Rane found herself walking alongside of Scout and decided to use his time away from his new distraction to draw him out with some questions. She had always wondered how he became involved with the renegade camp. The last she had known of him back in the sector days was that he had been discharged from the infirmary after the beating. She had never had the chance to ask him for the missing chapters in the narrative. Thinking she would have to winnow the information from him, she was surprised that her first question inspired quite a flow of information. While
Scout had been anything but companionable with her, even since his falling for Saruah, his willingness to open up about that lost time amazed Rane in the extreme.
“I had escaped to the camp about a year before I started working at the water trough system,” Scout began. “I lived among the free ones for about a month and got to know Landman and the others quite well. Let me tell you, it was like being in the mists of heaven to be able to choose the events in my days like that. I actually had no intention of returning to the sector, but Landman convinced me to return.”
“Why?” Rane asked. “Why did he want you to go back? And, why would you agree after experiencing such freedom?”
“I don’t mind telling you that I was very hard to convince. The idea of going back and having the leads and titleds telling me what to do after being unfettered during my time in camp was tough, very tough!” Scout said solemnly, but broke into a laugh at one of Saruah’s equestrian antics where she prodded Flywood to rear as she hooted and yelled.
“Hey!” Rane shouted. “Be careful with that horse, damn you! You’re going to trample someone!” But she was laughing along with Scout at the sudden guilt on Saruah’s face which had her bring Flywood down to rest while she patted his neck reassuringly.
“So? Why did you go back?” Rane asked, continuing the conversation with Scout after she tugged on Treefall’s lead rein to settle him after the horsey capers. “I bet it was so you could spy for them—so you could tell them where our weak points were.”
Scout shook his head and said, “That’s what I thought too, but no. It was so I could give encouragement to my fellow viruls. He wanted me to calm them so they wouldn’t revolt—there were quite a lot of them who were keen on that.”
“What?” Rane’s surprise heightened her voice. “They were planning a revolt?”
Scout looked impatient. “What slave doesn’t plan a revolt? And if they don’t actively plan it, they certainly dream about it, don’t they? Landman wanted me to tell any of them who were plotting to wait and that rather than fight, they should escape. We had pulled off a few successful escapes, but very few, as we didn’t want to draw too much attention to the camp. It was Landman’s bringing you to the camp that put us in danger.”
