“First off,” Stanislav said, “your man is applying more force than is necessary for either task. I have no mental energy left to battle any of you, and physically, as you can see, I’m getting to be an old man.”
Not that old, Alisa decided. His face wasn’t that lined, and he looked fit beneath the robe, if lean. Mid-fifties perhaps. If he
was
her father, he hadn’t been much more than twenty when he had been cavorting with her mother.
“Second,” Stanislav said, “may I impose upon you for a ride?”
“A what?” Alisa asked.
“In your ship. I assume you brought it.”
Alisa gaped at Leonidas. Did he find the man’s gall as incredible as she did? Leonidas wore his professional hard-to-read soldier face and was watching the rainforest around them as much as the conversation.
Meanwhile, Abelardus leaned on Stanislav’s staff, his own still attached to his pack, and observed the reunion—or rather
first
union—like someone watching a vid drama.
“I have one,” Alisa said, “but it’s surrounded by Alliance soldiers right now. I can’t even give myself a ride without getting thrown in a brig. Or shot.”
“Hm.” Stanislav gazed in the direction of the canyon and the ship, the
exact
direction, by Alisa’s reckoning. “Then I suggest we rectify the situation.”
“You have an idea about how to do that?”
He tilted his head. “If I do, will you give me that ride? I believe the temple is in danger.”
“There are five Alliance ships up there and the suns know how many shuttles and troops on the ground looking for us.”
“Dealing with them will be a challenge, but I’m certain I can be of assistance.”
“Oh, really? From my perspective, it looks like you got your ass kicked by two men in black dresses.” Alisa jerked her thumb toward the clearing where the Starseer ship had landed.
“Actually—” Stanislav winced again as he touched his abdomen, “—they kicked my stomach. And other parts hurt even more. I struck those stones at an uncomfortable speed.”
“Then you did it wrong.” Alisa tugged at her braid. What was she doing? Trading quips with the thief who had stolen the staff? They needed to reunite with the others and figure out how to get back in the
Nomad
and escape.
“What do you mean the temple is in danger?” Abelardus asked. “
My
temple?”
“I believe that’s where Tym is going with the Staff of Lore. To avenge himself against those who tried to entrap him and to finish teaching the Alliance a lesson.” Stanislav grimaced. “Those were his words, not mine. Their government leaders dismissed him, and he was… displeased.”
“Tym?” Alisa asked.
Stanislav sighed. “My older brother. And the man currently wielding the staff.”
“That sounds like a name for a mouse, not a villain.”
“He believes himself divinely appointed as the rightful leader of humanity.”
“He
sounds
like a villain,” Alisa said. “Can we call him Terrible Tym?”
Leonidas frowned at her. Right, this wasn’t the time for inappropriate humor.
“It’s short for Tymoteusz if that sounds more dastardly,” Stanislav said.
“What do you mean people tried to entrap him?” Abelardus asked. “
My
people? At the temple? How?” He twisted the staff in his grip, looking like he wanted to crack the man over the head with it.
“It is, as I said, a long story. Could we discuss it en route?”
Alisa snorted. As if they could amble up to the
Nomad
and hop aboard. Thanks to her failed attempt at being clever, they had a huge problem to deal with. Why hadn’t she simply tossed the Tiangs’ earstars out into the ocean? For that matter, why had she insisted on taking them with her? Oh, she knew
why
, but Abelardus had been right. That had been a ludicrous thing to worry about at that time.
“Fine,” Alisa said, aware of all the men looking at her. “We’ll see how close we can get.” As she pulled out her comm, wanting an update from Beck, she asked Stanislav, “Do you want to walk or be carried?”
He eyed a snake hissing at them from the shadows of a nearby tree. “I suppose it’s too much to hope for a hover gurney piloted by a pretty nurse.”
“Leonidas is stronger than a hover gurney, and Abelardus can be pretty for you, if you want.”
Stanislav looked over at Abelardus, who was scowling.
“I believe he wants to beat me with my own staff,” Stanislav said.
“Yes, but he can do it prettily. He spends a lot of time grooming his braids and his eyebrows.”
I’m touched that you noticed
, Abelardus spoke into her mind.
It’s hard not to. Nobody has eyebrows that perfect without using a laser touch wand. What do you make of this man?
Alisa would have preferred to ask Leonidas for his opinion, but that was harder to do with Stanislav standing right there.
I don’t trust him. Do you?
No. Maybe if he had come up with a more dastardly sounding name for the asteroid kisser who took his staff, I would have.
I wouldn’t have. He’s got some powerful artifacts on him, if you want to search him at some point. He’s not nearly as helpless as he’s pretending to be. I bet there was a fight over the staff after they used it and learned that its potential isn’t mythological. And he came out on the bottom. Now he wants help getting to this Tymoteusz.
Terrible Tym,
Alisa suggested.
That’s horrible.
“Given the meager options,” Stanislav said, “I believe I’ll walk.”
“Let’s do this then,” Alisa said, touching Leonidas’s arm and heading into the dark jungle.
Chapter 13
Flashlight beams appeared in the darkness ahead, creating eerie shadows among the leaves and fronds as they slashed about. Crunches and thuds sounded, many pairs of boots trampling upon twigs and damp, dead foliage. Engines rumbled above the canopy as the Alliance ships flew up and down the canyon, probing the jungle with their search beams.
“Getting a reading from this direction,” a male voice said.
Leonidas stopped behind a tree, using its bulk to avoid the flashlight beams occasionally pointing in their direction. Alisa eased in beside him. Farther back, Abelardus was helping the injured Stanislav maneuver through the rainforest. Or maybe he was prodding the man along with a staff.
“I’ve got something too,” a woman replied. “They can probably hear us. Cronk, Talus, get your rifles up here.”
To her surprise, Leonidas removed his helmet. He bent low to whisper in Alisa’s ear. “They’re all over in the direction we need to go. I’ll lead them away.”
Alisa gripped his arm. “We shouldn’t separate, and you shouldn’t put yourself in a position where you’ll have to fight.”
Maybe it was ludicrous to believe they could escape without fighting, but she didn’t want to hurt any Alliance troops. Or
anyone
. The plan had been for the Alliance to chase after the staff thieves, damn it. Why had she been so delusional as to think that would work?
“I’ll just run,” he whispered. “I’m fast.”
“Those aren’t the words a woman wants to hear from a man.”
It was too dark to see the confusion on his face, but she read it in the way he drew back slightly and didn’t respond right away.
“You know, in bed,” she added. Another time, she would have explained further, but Abelardus and Stanislav had caught up, and at least four flashlights were heading toward them from the other direction.
“I’ll lead as many away as I can. Join Beck, and let me know when you’re going to take back the ship.”
Take back the ship. As if it would be that easy.
“I think I see someone,” a soldier blurted.
A giant cat roared. Two men whirled toward the noise, firing orange blazer beams into the night. One hit a tree branch, and it exploded, raining bark in a dozen directions. The cat screeched, and foliage rattled as it fled.
“Nice job, sharpshooter,” the female soldier said. “That branch was going to beat the shit out of us.”
It was the strangest time for nostalgia, but Alisa experienced a twinge of it, nevertheless, missing the camaraderie of her army unit, missing being on the side of the right and the righteous. She hated feeling like—no,
being
—a criminal.
Leonidas started to pull away. Alisa knew she had to let him—there seemed to be a whole platoon tramping around between their group and the canyon—but she patted his arm and whispered, “Be careful.”
He hesitated, then brushed his lips across her cheek. “You be more careful. We haven’t gotten your armor yet.”
She hadn’t even
ordered
it yet. “Hard to get a delivery when you’re constantly flying. Fleeing.”
“I know.” He kissed her again, put his helmet on, and stepped around the tree and disappeared, as if he were a weightless wraith rather than a two-hundred-plus-pound cyborg in full armor.
He reappeared in seconds, crashing through the jungle and breaking every branch along the way as he cut across the platoon’s perimeter. Flashlight beams bounced off his red armor. He fired into the group as they started shooting at him. None of his blazer blasts found targets. They could have. Those people were in uniform but not combat armor—maybe they had thought the jungle confines too humid and tight for it—and Leonidas could have mowed half of them down if he wanted to. Unfortunately, there was no way to tell those people that, to tell them that he wasn’t the enemy. And neither was Alisa.
Shouts erupted along with the gunfire, and the soldiers chased after Leonidas as he turned east to follow the canyon downriver. Alisa knew from a brief conversation with Beck earlier that her people were hiding in a thicket upriver from the
Nomad
. She would lead Abelardus and Stanislav that way as soon as the way was clear.
“He’s going to be fast when he gets his cock fixed?” Abelardus murmured, coming up beside Alisa. “How disappointing for you.”
“Go bounce on your staff,” Alisa said, watching the canopy. It was growing darker, but she could see the search shuttles leaving the area to follow in the direction Leonidas had run. She hoped they didn’t risk firing into the jungle. In his armor, Leonidas could withstand some rifle fire, but blasts from a ship would be another matter.
“Easy, you’ll get me excited, and there’s not time right now.”
“I don’t believe that such coarse language is appropriate in a woman’s presence,” Stanislav said from behind them. “I’m also not overly fond of it.”
“A gentleman thief,” Abelardus said. “Who would have thought.”
“Let’s go,” Alisa said, ignoring both of them. “The rest of my crew is waiting and in danger of being found by search teams in the canyon.”
Not waiting for them to respond, Alisa pushed through the foliage. It was a lot harder without Leonidas there to clear the way, but they weren’t far from the edge of the canyon. Further, the soldiers trampling about had flattened large patches of the brush.
A touch to her shoulder made her stop just shy of stepping out from behind a tree to peer into the canyon below. She was trying to gauge where they were in relation to her ship and Beck’s hiding spot, but she paused to look back. She expected Abelardus. It was Stanislav.
“Two are coming,” he whispered.
She was glad he spoke out loud instead of delivering the message telepathically. She wasn’t ready for more people in her head. She didn’t even want Abelardus there.
I’m hurt
, Abelardus said.
There are two soldiers, part of a patrol watching the approach to the ship. I’ll try to convince them to turn around and check in the other direction.
A couple of seconds passed, and Alisa spotted the men with their flashlight beams. They paused, murmured something to each other, and turned to walk in the other direction.
Thanks
, she thought.
If you’re thanking me for my steadfast companionship, you’re welcome
, Abelardus replied,
but they turned around before I did anything.
“The way is clear now,” Stanislav said.
Did
he
do something?
Alisa asked.
Possibly. He wants a ride, remember. Apparently, he’d rather ride with you than the Alliance.
Alisa leaned over the lip of the canyon. There was a bend downriver, so she couldn’t see the
Nomad
, but she could see the glow of a lot of lights in that direction. She imagined soldiers stationed all around the freighter, five deep, all armed, and maybe with some nice shuttles hovering overhead too.
“That way,” she said, pointing upriver, toward foliage clogging the canyon. A couple of searchlights were visible, but nothing like the mess in the other direction.
She dropped to her knees in the loamy soil, turning so she could attempt a climb down. No matter where they descended, it would be at least a fifty-foot drop, and unless she turned on the light in her multitool, they would be groping in the dark. She poked one boot over the edge, probing for a foothold. Dirt slipped away before she lowered her weight.
“Pardon the intrusion,” Stanislav said, “but I may be able to help. I can see… here.”
An image popped into Alisa’s mind, startling in its intensity. She almost squawked, but the sound of voices from the opposite lip of the canyon reminded her to stay silent.
The image was of the canyon wall, the path down it as clear to her as if she were looking straight at it while all three suns burned in the sky. Then she saw her position at the top of the cliff, as if she were playing a holo game in the rec room, looking at her avatar from behind.
She climbed down, the dual vision awkward, but the footholds were exactly where they appeared in the image. She kept herself from muttering a thank-you, reminding herself that this man had broken into her ship and helped hurt Leonidas.
“I don’t need your help, Schwegler,” Abelardus said stiffly, his voice floating down from above as Alisa reached the bottom.
She winced at the noise, but the soldiers searching on the other side of the canyon had disappeared into the jungle again. Dirt rained down, preceding Abelardus’s arrival. Stanislav was slower to descend, even with whatever odd Starseer vision he had. He grunted, making pained noises as he maneuvered from handhold to handhold. When he reached the bottom, he grabbed his abdomen with one hand and bent over, his other hand on his knee.