TangleRoot (Star Sojourner Book 6) (15 page)

“Thank you for your help.” I automatically extended my hand to shake his.

He studied my hand. “What should I do with that?”

I lowered it and smiled. “A Terran ritual to show friendship.”

“We had a stake in destroying the bristra and in saving you to return to Alpha with our message.”

His body began to fade.

“Are you a projection?” I asked.

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not,” I said, but how did you pull up the grass, and…"

“Damn!” Chancey exclaimed as his image shimmered and disappeared.

Huff sniffed the ground where our guide had stood, then dug at the dirt. “He is gone,” he announced and sat down. “Would you like lunch food?”

Chancey and I glanced at each other as Huff dug into his belly pouch and rolled out three Wholly fruits. I kept these," he said “for a foggy day.”

Chancey looked at me.

“A rainy day, Chance.” I shrugged. “What's so hard?”

Huff handed us two of the fruit. We thanked him and ate.

After our foggy-day lunch, I stared northwest, where clouds scraped their bellies on mountain peaks. If there were live bristra crouched in the shadowed passes beneath those dark clouds, we had one day left after today to board the transports and get out of Spirit's way. “Guess we're on our own again,” I said, got up and started walking.

Jules.

I paused.
Spirit?

Your guide. I have touched the mind of the human called Alfredo. He intends to contact his family and have them steal the tank of bristra from your bio Lab.

Why? They have samples onboard Searcher.

Those samples died when we killed the ground roots.

“You coming?” Chancey called and kept walking.

“In a minute, Chance.”.

I can't contact Earth without an SPS unit. I have to wait for the transports to land tomorrow. They'll have them onboard.

Then I would advise that you do that. I have broken one of our codes by interfering in alien affairs. Please keep this knowledge within your own mind until you are off my world.

I only hope I can contact Earth Central in time.

Until then, let it be in your mind.

You have my word.

That is sufficient.
He broke the link.

I caught up to Chancey and Huff.

“What's happening, man?” Chancey asked.

“Nothing. Let's go.”

“Wish I could believe that,” he said.

“Are you all right in the well?” Huff asked, came closer and brushed a paw through my hair.

“Oh yeah.” I sighed. “Just fine.”

As we walked, the wrist and ankle manacles suddenly sprang open and slid off.

“A present from a friend?” Chancey asked.

“I guess so.” I looked back and rubbed my wrist.
Thanks,
I sent.

“When one of the Ten Gods,” Huff began and pushed at a manacle with his paw, “gifts you with a gift, don't look it in the mouth, as Terrans say.”

“OK, Huff,” I told him. “I won't.”

As we continued walking, I could only pray that the family hadn't already stolen the Lab tank.

“Can't eat, Sophia?” Bat asked.

I sat at the table with Joe, Bat, and Gabby, and picked at my meal of rice and beans. Finally, I put down the fork. “No. Do you think they're waiting for us near the village?”

“I think they know better.” Joe seemed drawn and tired.

“We have just one day left.” Gabby looked around.

“We know, Gab,” Bat said.

She lowered her head. “Sorry.”

I smiled and patted her back.

The Alpha transports were due to land tomorrow. I knew we were all thinking the same thing. Would we have to leave without Jules and Chancey and Huff?

I covered my quivering lips with a loose fist.
Jules.
I pictured his smiling face, a smile to die for. His blue eyes shadowed by sunlight like a hawk's. His lanky body and easy gait. The breeze lifting his mop of blond hair. It had grown long again after we'd laughingly held him down and cut it. He could have stopped us with a tel link, but he didn't. He was all I wanted. Was it possible that I couldn't have him? I closed my eyes and spread my empty hands, as though I held his head and kissed him.

“Sophia,” Bat said. “You should eat something.”

“I can't!” I stood up. “I need to get some fresh air.” I went for my jacket and scarf and hat, and slipped on my gloves. Jules had forgotten his gloves back at the lab, and his hands were always cold. I began to sob. Gabby came up behind me and patted my shoulder. “I need some fresh air too.” She put on her jacket and scarf and hat.

“Don't forget your gloves,” I told her.

“Oh.” She put them on.

“Sophia,” Joe said, “don't wander too far from our hiding place. We don't know where Searcher is hunting for us.”

“And for Jules,” I said. “Can I take the graphoculars and a hand light?”

He nodded.

I strung the graphoculars around my neck and clipped the light to my belt.

“Stay within sight,” Joe ordered as I opened the hatch.

I nodded and went out, followed by Gabby.

The site Joe had chosen for a landing and hiding place was an open plain strewn with large boulders and groves of trees as far as I could see.

The cold bit my face. A banshee wind howled. Snow fluttered between my teeth as I took a breath. Jules always said that the only word for the smell of snow was “cold.”

To the west, a storm was climbing the distant mountain peaks. Were Jules and Chancey and Huff out in this, with no place to take cover and stay warm? They had two stinglers, but I didn't think they'd use them to start a fire and give away their location.

Huff would be all right, I knew. “Oh Jules,” I murmured, “be safe, my love.” Tears began to freeze on my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away.

Gabby walked by my side as I climbed a hill for a better view of the surrounding land. The village was west of us. I focused there with the graphoculars. It was too far for a clear view and I studied the desolate land east of the village. Something told me to search there. Was I receiving a tel send from Jules? I was not a sensitive, but I felt his presence like a warm pressure against my mind.

“I…I feel as though they're close,” Gabby said and rubbed her arms. “It's so cold.”

“Are you a sensitive?” I asked.

She shook her head. “It's just a feeling.”

“I feel it too.”

She looked at me.

“No.” I smiled. “I'm not a sensitive.” I scanned the western plain again. A small herd of the six-legged goat-like animals dashed through a wallow, raising clouds of snow. I smiled at the sheer vitality of wild creatures, no different on any planet I'd ever visited.

“Wait!” I focused east of the herd. Three figures, one almost lost in the white snow. “Oh my God!” I shouted. “It's them!” I unhooked my light and shined it skyward in long arcs. “It's them, Gabby!”

She jumped up and down in the snow. “Let's go meet them.”

“All right.” I clipped the light to my belt and we ran and slid downhill on snow, shouting. I heard the whine of the hovair's engines. They must have seen my light flashing in the sky as a signal. It taxied from behind boulders and kept to the ground where it would be less noticeable as it followed us. We stayed ahead, running between boulders and trees, while the hovair made its way around them.

“Jules!” I shouted when we were close. “Jules.”

They heard us and began to run in our direction.

“Oh my God!” I laughed as I ran.

Suddenly a dark shadow swooped overhead.

Searcher!

“Oh, no,” I gasped and crouched down. “No.”

The hovair lifted and banked as it fled to a hiding place between boulders. Searchers laser cannons blasted rocks behind it.

“Gabby, here!” I threw myself under a ledge. She scrambled in beside me. But Jules and Chancey and Huff were out in the open. Then I remembered what Jules had said. They wanted him alive to pilot Searcher to the trade lanes. They didn't know how to run the complex Alcubierre drive for interstellar flight. After he got them there, he'd said, they'd kick his ass out the airlock in space.

“We have to get back to the hovair,” Gabby said. “They'll meet us there.”

“You go. I'll wait here for them.”

She crawled out into the snow. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Go!”

She started to run and fell over a snow-covered tree stump. “My leg!” she cried. It was twisted under her. “I can't get up.”

“Oh my God.”

Searcher had not discovered Jules' group in the snow veils raised by wind. I crawled out from under the ledge and shined the light at his group, flicking it on and off. I saw Jules and Chancey point toward me and start to run. Our hovair's engines were silent as it hid between boulders about two hundred feet away.

“Jules!” I screamed as they approached. “Chancey. Huff.” I ran to them and threw my arms around Jules. “Oh, Jules!” This was a dream I'd prayed for but never dared hoped for.

“Sophia!” He hugged me tight, lifting me off the ground, and kissed my cheek. “It's really you!” He looked around. “Where's the hovair, Soph? Searcher's breathing down our necks.”

“Between those boulders.” I pointed. “Gabby needs help. She hurt her leg. It could be broken.”

“Huff,” Jules said, let her ride on your back to the hovair, OK? Chancey, go with them and steady her for the ride. You too, Sophia. I'll play decoy and lead Searcher away. Chancey!"

“Yo?”

“Pick me up later.”

“You sure about this, Superstar?” Chancey asked.

“Go!”

“I'm coming too,” I told Jules as he began to run away from the hiding hovair.

“No!” he said. “Go with them, Sophia.”

“I won't!” I followed as he ran.

But it wasn't long before we were both gasping for breath and had to slow down.

Searcher came in low, like a bird of prey, its star engines deafening in a deep-throated roar. Snow swirled around us and blinded me. Suddenly a high whine, more like a hovair, vibrated snow off trees.

“They're launching the lifeboat,” Jules shouted.

The lifeboat! A small fast craft. Snow settled and I saw it skid down and plow to a stop in front of us.

Jules grabbed my hand and we ran in the opposite direction. Two men jumped out of the craft and spread out. It lifted and banked in front of us. The engines whined down and it landed again. Two more men jumped out, stinglers aimed at us.

Jules got in front of me and held my hand tightly as the four approached. I leaned my head against his back and shivered from cold and fear.

“It's the fucking kraut,” I heard Al say as they approached. “He'll do. And there's the icing on the cake.” He pulled Jules away from me and hit him across the face. “You mother fucker!”

Jules staggered but he kept his feet.

“Leave him alone,” I shouted.

Al pushed me hard and I fell. “You tell me what to do, bitch, an' I'll give you to Zach to be his pussy.”

Zach approached me, leering. “Can I have her anyway, boss?”

I stood up and faced Zach, though my knees trembled. He was a mountain of a man.

“Al,” Jules said, “you've got me. Let her go and I'll cooperate with you.”

“Are you fer real?” Al laughed. I think he scared me more when he laughed than when he yelled. His black eyes squinted in the windblown air. “She's my insurance that you'll cooperate.”

Paulie and Vito came up.

“Paulie,” Jules said, “tell your brother that I'll cooperate. You have my word. You know I'll keep it. Just let Sophia go.”

Al laughed. “We have your
comare,
so who needs your word?”

Paulie shrugged helplessly and lowered his gaze. I had the feeling that if he could, he would've helped us.

I began to shake all over and couldn't stop. “Paulie? Can't you help us?” I pleaded.

He shook his lowered head.

Jules walked toward me, but Zach shoved him back.

“Get in the boat,” Al told Jules and gestured toward the lifeboat. He moved close to Jules and I tensed.

“Don't hurt him,” I blurted.

“I'm sorry I got you into this,” Jules told me. “You treat her right, Al, and I'll do whatever you say.”

“You will?” Al said too softly. “Then get in the friggin' boat.” He pointed his stingler at Jules. “Before Zach has to carry you there.” He pushed Jules in that direction and turned to me. “You too, bitch.”

I walked toward the craft with Zach close beside me. “You wanna be my lil' pussy?” he whispered in my ear. “I treat you good!” His teeth were rotten, and his breath was worse. “I show you what a real man do with a bitch.” He grabbed his crotch.

I remained silent and stared straight ahead as I walked. If I protested, Jules might interfere, and that would not end well for him.

“Zach,” Paulie said, “leave her alone, will ya?”

“You mind your own fuckin' business,
frocio,
” Zach said.

“They're going to kill us, aren't they, Paulie?” I asked.

“I don't know what Al's got planned!” Paulie strode ahead to the boat.

I was sick to my stomach with fear. Why had I insisted on staying with Jules? He might have gotten away without me to hinder him. “Zach,” I said, “is Al going to kill us?”

“Naw.” He squeezed my backside. “Not until I have my fun.”

I was in the pilot's seat when Al came into the cabin and sat in the co-pilot's seat. “Paulie said you wanted to talk, kraut.” He reached over and put a finger on the green power button.

“Don't touch that,” I said. “I have a deal I want to make.”

He laughed. A harsh sound. “I gotta admire your hutspa. You're in this situation, and you're still looking to deal. OK, this I gotta hear!”

“I know I won't make it back to Earth, but Sophia –”

“I shoulda known this was about the broad. Don't you know they're a dime a dozen? Ya kick one outa bed, there's another one, just dying to be fucked.”

“Sophia doesn't know anything about the properties of Blackroot. I made sure of that, to protect her. She doesn't know why I'm on Equus, or why you're here, either.”

“So what're you saying?”

“Let her live, and go free, and in exchange I'll program the ship for a landing on the Earth spaceport of your choice. I'll notify the tower that it will be an auto-piloted landing. You'll just disembark and walk away. That simple.”

“Looks like you came up with a deal, after all.”

“One thing.”

“I can't wait to hear it.”

“I want you to swear on your crucifix, as a devout Catholic, that you'll keep your word.”

“
Marrona mia,
what a pair of brass balls! Anything else, kraut?”

I shook my head.

He fished out the crucifix around his neck, kissed it, and murmured, “I swear by my Lord Jesus Christ, the savior of my soul, who I love above all others, that the broad…the woman Sophia, will go free, unharmed, when we reach LaGuardia Spaceport. Amen.” He kissed the crucifix and tucked it inside his shirt. “Is that good enough for ya?”

“It'll have to do.”

“I want you to understand something. There's nothing personal between you an' me. What I gotta do, I gotta do. It's strictly business.”

“Whatever.” My stomach clenched.

“So what I'm gonna do for you is this. You'll never see it coming, an' it'll be so fast, ya won't feel a thing.” He shrugged. “That's the best offer I can make you.”

My hand shook on the controls as I watched Equus fall away like a blue ball flung into space. The planets are sanctuaries in the great void. I doubted I would ever again feel soft earth beneath my feet, or the warmth of a sun on my face. I programmed the ship for the trade lanes and closed my eyes as I pictured my daughter's laughing face.

“Al,” I heard Paulie say as he entered the cabin, “I want to talk to you. It's important.”

“Everybody wants to talk to me. OK, what is it?”

Paulie glanced at me. “Not here.”

Al got up and strode out of the cabin. I heard Paulie and him arguing in the living quarters. Dammit! Sophia was in there.

I struggled to loosen the ropes around my chest. I used the armrests to push myself down into the seat. I didn't know what I'd do if I got loose, but I had to try to comfort Sophia. I lifted my arms and pushed hard to slide out from under the ropes. I think they stretched, because suddenly they were around my neck. I threw them off and jumped up, panting.

I turned and almost ran into Zack, who filled the doorway. He grabbed the front of my shirt and drew back a fist.

“Don't hit!” I yelled.

His brows wrinkled into a furry caterpillar. “Why not?”

“Because I give up.”

He threw me through the doorway. I fell, rolled, and got to my feet.

“He give up,” Zack told Al.

“You're a moron,” Al told him.

“Oh, Jules!” Sophia jumped from the chair and threw her arms around me.

I held her head against my chest. “Al,” I said, “let her stay in the cabin with me and I give you my word I won't try to untie myself again.” I looked around. Zack and Vito stood on either side of me. Paulie sat at the table with his head down, rubbing his forehead. “Where would I go?” I asked Al.

His eyes narrowed to black slits. “How long before this boat's programmed to land on Earth?”

I took a breath. My throat felt tight. “Three or four E-hours. When the Alcubierre drive kicks in and starts warping the space around the ship into a bubble.”

He motioned toward the cabin and I led Sophia there. She sat in the co-pilot's seat and watched me. I smiled tightly and felt tears burn my eyes.

Vito came in and tied me to the seat with a rope around my chest. “Now stay put!” he ordered. “Al don't like it when you squirm outa the ropes.”

“Tell Al to go fuck himself,” I said.

“Hey!” He smacked me with an open palm across my head.

Sophia half rose. “Leave him alone, you dirt bag!”

Vito raised his hand to hit her. She stared at him defiantly.

“Vito, don't!” I said. “Please. Leave her alone.” I felt weary, almost numb. This lifebind would be over for me in a few hours at most.

Vito lowered his hand. “Bitch broad. What'd you ever see in her?”

I didn't answer and he left the cabin.

Sophia came and sat on the deck by my side, her head on my thigh.

“Soph, when this is over –”

“I don't want to talk about it!”

“Listen to me.” I took a shaky breath and stroked her hair. “You're a young, beautiful woman. I don't want you to mourn for me. That's just a waste of your life.”

She began to sob.

“Now listen. You find a good tag, marry him, and have a family.”

She shook her head.

“I'm sorry I got you into this. Just do one thing for me.”

She looked up. Her eyes were red and tear-streaked.

“Tell Lisa that her daddy will always love her. OK? More than anything.”

She nodded and wiped her eyes. Then she reached up and wiped my eyes and I realized that they were wet.

I ran my fingers across her face, drinking in every feature, as though making it my own. At what appeared to be the end of my life, I found that never have I loved life more. I thought of Joe's aria about the tag who was about to be executed.
My last hour has flown.
She pulled my head toward her and kissed me gently on the lips. Her kiss was bringing me back to this life. I lifted my head and stared at the deck. My stomach was so knotted I was afraid I was going to throw up. I hoped I wouldn't, for Sophia's sake.

The Alcubierre drive kicked in with a whine and a flash of green lights that made me gasp. I knew they heard the drive from the living quarters.

My arm felt heavy as I programmed the ship for LaGuardia Spaceport, Earth, typed in a code that Starship Searcher would land on autopilot, and gave the tower my call sign for the ship. I sat back, hoping my demise would be as quick as Al had promised.

The fear waned and I felt only numbness, as though I were halfway to geth state, death, already.
Spirit?

It has been an honor to know you, Jules.

You too, my friend. You too. See you in the next lifebind?

Perhaps.

Sophia glanced at the door. Her eyes widened and she screamed.

I lurched forward against the rope and drew in a breath through gritted teeth.

Sophia's screams came through a world that had turned to frost. I had time to think that this was not what I'd expected before my mind froze up like a watch plunged into ice water.