LINKS
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The Christa Affair
Chapter Forty-Six
Torrents of water. Streaks of red slicing the sky above into tiny pieces. Clap after ear-spitting clap of deafening thunder. Very slowly, Karli became aware of the driving rain stinging her face. She tried to sit up and failed, falling back into the mud.
She was naked, spread-eagled on her back under open sky, her hands and feet tied to stakes that were surprisingly unyielding, considering the soggy condition of the ground. Between flashes of lightning, the night was pitch black. She felt something crawling on her stomach; the effort and the movement made her head spin as she tried to see what it was, and she gave up. It crawled relentlessly upward, toward her face, then suddenly sprang away into the night with incredible force.
Karli rolled her head to one side, away from the driving rain, and again opened her eyes -- very carefully. They were in the open, apparently in one of the fields outside the village; she could see nothing but soggy black dirt. She reached out to Jashi with her mind -- found him unconscious -- then tried to contact Tad.
(.... ???? ....) Karli's effort was rewarded with a blast of confusion.
(.... !!!! .... "Tad, wake up! Now! ....") She was brutally forceful -- this was no time for etiquette. At least he was conscious and receptive.
The assault brought the boy around. (.... "Yes, Lady Karli. What happened? Where are we? ....")
His reply made her irrationally angry; that was \her\ question. (.... "I'm tied down in the middle of a goddamn mud-hole! Where the hell are you? ....") She knew from the contact that his situation was the same as hers -- she could feel the water.
(.... "Me too! But I can't see you... Or anybody. What happened? ....") Whoever had staked them out must have separated them; Karli wondered if she dared call out for the others.
The effects of the poison were wearing off rapidly, and with it the irrational anger. (.... "I don't know, Tad. Something bit me, and the lights went out. Can you pull loose? ....") He couldn't be too far away; they weren't straining to maintain the link.
There was a moment's hesitation as he pulled at his bonds. (.... "No, Lady Karli. I'm sorry. I think it was a poison dart....")
(.... "I can't contact Jashi, Tad....")
For a long while neither said anything; there didn't seem to be any point. The rain intensified; the lightning became even more frequent. The thunder was constant now, a never-ending blast that rattled their insides.
A powerful bolt struck near Karli. Tendrils of red slithered along the ground in all directions, boiling the mud as they went until their energy was absorbed by the soggy soil; the superheated mud turned briefly luminescent as it cooled, tracing a spiderweb of soft green around the point of the strike. She gasped from the static discharge as hot soggy earth rained down around her.
There was something Tad wasn't telling -- Karli could feel it. (.... "Spill it Tad! ....") she ordered at last -- might as well know the worst.
(.... "Native trial by the gods, Lady Karli. If we survive the night, we go free, but we won't live long when the rain stops. If something poisonous doesn't get us, one of the mutant Zolith will, or one of his normal cousins -- they get brave when their prey is helpless....")
"Or we'll be fried alive," Karli reflected, carefully shielding the thought from Tad. She fought the impulse to ask what \else\ was out there that might like to have them for supper; Zolith was enough. Absently she wondered what kept the Zolith out of the city... And she didn't \remember\ any vicious insects. She probed again for Jashi, found him still unconscious.
*********
Jashi opened his eyes. The room spun, and he closed them quickly. \Room\? He was supposed to be in the jungle! Carefully he opened them again and fought down the resulting wave of nausea. A flash of lightning from beyond the door-way revealed walls, close; he was leaning against one of them. The near-simultaneous crash of thunder was deafening; the wall behind his back actually rattled. Without warning, he vomited.
At last the heaving ceased, and he fought to catch his breath. Tabor had won after all. With all their precautions, they'd still followed him blindly into a trap. He wondered again at the agent's motivation -- a renegade faction of Federation officers perhaps, intent on carving out a piece of the disorganized galaxy for themselves. Strangely, he felt no satisfaction in the knowledge that he'd been right about the man.
Jashi tried to brush away the filth from the front of his coveralls; his arms refused to work. If he just could figure out where he was; and how did he get here? And what time was it? He closed his eyes and drifted back into unconsciousness.
The flicker of awareness went unnoticed by Karli as she maintained her link with Tad. She was thankful there was someone to talk to; alone, this would be terrifying. She wished Jashi would wake up. She wondered about Roi and Tabor; how widely separated were they? Did she dare call out to them between claps of thunder? She wondered if Roi was awake yet -- in contact with Lito in the \Klondike\. Would Roi even wake up at all? Maybe she and Tad were the only ones to survive the poison -- it was supposed to be fatal, according to the sketchy data on the natives contained in the transmission from Computer Central.
Several times the rain slackened, and for a few terrifying moments each time, it looked as if the storm was over. Each time it built again with renewed vigor as fresh cells replaced the rained-out ones in their relentless march to the west. Tad laughed in her head. (.... "Never thought I'd want it to keep raining when I couldn't get out of it, but something better happen real quick. Until it stops we're safe from the animals, but the water's up to my ears now, and rising fast! ....") With a shock, Karli realized that Tad was staked out in a low spot -- the water couldn't drain away fast enough.
*********
"Goddamn it, Toko! I'm going, whether you like it or not!" spat Lito as she struggled into her combat-gear. "If you think Suu needs help with the ship \you\ stay here!" They were in the \Klondike's\ recreation compartment; Lito's contact with Roi had been severed only minutes before.
"You can't, Lito. We have to have you here for communications," Toko countered, strapping on his utility belt. "We don't dare break comm silence, and besides, only a telepath can fly the ship with the hookup to the Teacher." Actually, any one of them could fly it, but only for a short time -- unlike the Teachers of L'sa'ria's Hall of Records, extended periods under the hood of the \Klondike's\ unit gave the non-telepaths a raging headache.
"And just who the hell am I going to communicate \with\, vacuum-head!" Lito snapped. "Roi's unconscious, remember?! At least if I go, I can find him telepathically, once we get close enough." Would this shit \never\ end?! Why had she allowed Jashi to drag them into this mess? This was just supposed to have been a scouting mission -- a quick patrol to make contact with Tabor's friends among the natives and leave a few T-cases so they could return later -- as usual it had been snafu from the word go. "And if you think I'm going to try to fly this thing with that mickey-mouse hookup, you're crazy!"
"Shut up! Both of you!" ordered Suu. "I have the conn, and I'll damn well decide who goes!" The others looked at her in surprise. "Toko, that antenna you rigged for Tabor's benefit -- so he wouldn't know any of us were telepathic -- is it for real?"
"Yes..." he answered. "We're monitoring on it now. That's why I'm afraid they're all out of it -- if it was just Roi, someone would be hollering for us."
"All the more reason for me to go, isn't it?" interjected Lito; the argument was threatening to start up again. "Or maybe it's just Roi, and there's no \reason\ for them to break comm silence." As she said it, she realized the logic was flawed, but she didn't care; she was \going\, by God, and nobody was going to stop her!
"\SHUT UP\!!" snapped Suu; she was starting to feel a bit irrational herself. Without Lito, they might never find Roi in time -- if Lito was lost and the others didn't make it back, there'd be no one to fly the \Klondike\. "Rang, take Lito and Marty -- you're in command. Toko, you'll stay here." She waved her hand, cutting off his protest. "Lito says they were at the edge of the village clearing when she lost contact, how close to there can we transport?"
Toko swallowed his sharp retort; he knew it was useless to argue with her, and she \was\ in command, for whatever that was worth at this point. Maybe she was right anyway. He knew he could stay under the hood long enough to blast Licti's mountain-top hideout; it was doubtful the \Klondike\ would require a pilot for very long thereafter. "Alright," he answered softly. "Here, I'll show you."
Jashi had left them a list of the codes for the transport cases taken ashore by the scouting party, showing the order in which he intended for Tad to leave them behind during their trek thru Sanctuary's rainforest. Toko started at the bottom of the list, coding in each number as a destination; the transport facility showed each to be deactivated. About halfway thru the list, the entry came back as a valid destination. "If Tad put them out in the correct order, that'll be the last one activated," he said. "It'll be dark in about two hours; better take rain-gear, and a force-tent, in case you have to spend the night."
"Get going," ordered Suu. "Get em out before dark if you can. If you run into anything you can't handle, you'll just have to break comm silence." If \this\ bunch got into trouble, it'd all be over with, anyway, she reflected.
Rang stepped into the \Klondike's\ transport facility. "We're all transporting to the same booth, so we'll have to go thru one at a time," he said. "Lito, soon as it cycles, send Marty thru; come thru right behind her. Marty, when you land, get out quick."
"Okay, Rang," Marty answered -- a bit shakily he thought. Her society upbringing in the cities of Terra's Australia had certainly not qualified her in the use of tactical weapons. During the past week they'd trained her as best they could; he knew she wasn't ready for this, but they needed the third pair of eyes -- and the additional gun.
Rang reached for the activator. "What the... ?? That booth shows occupied!"
Toko elbowed him aside and ran thru the list of codes again. On the first check he'd only been looking for valid destinations; sure enough, every single activated transport case showed to be occupied. Thank the gods they hadn't left them programmed for the \Klondike's\ transport! "It looks like someone's trying to board us." he said. He coded in more numbers. "The two in Tad's place and the one we left in the abandoned building show clear."
Suu turned to Marty. "It's the long way around, but you'll have to go in thru your place. Can you find your way to the surface?"
"No Lady Suu," Marty answered emphatically. "I was too sick to care when Tad took me in, and I only went topside once after that. Besides, I can't see in the dark like he can."
"That's out then," Suu said. They didn't even know the location of the other booth; they'd been very lost at the time. "Without a guide, you'd have hell finding the village anyway."
"What do we do then?" demanded Lito. "We can't just sit here -- they may be dying!"
Suu looked at Toko, her eyes pleading for help. With Rang mourning his loss, Jashi had left her at the conn only so Toko could finish the repair work -- gods knew \she\ wouldn't have been any help at \that\; not from this damn chair! -- as the \Klondike's\ Engineering Officer, the decision should be his, or more properly, Rang's... And only moments ago, she'd been telling them to shut up, and let \her\ make the decisions.
There hadn't been any rescue plan -- there hadn't seemed any need for one, with transport booths spread out along behind them, and the scouting party equipped with PRDs, and invisibility devices, and wands, and gods-only-knew how many other weapons and gadgets -- just Jashi's orders to blast Licti's castle if they were killed or captured.
They certainly weren't dead -- or at least Roi wasn't -- and there was no evidence that the mission had yet failed. If she took the \Klondike\ up now, and those on the ground were all unconscious... And Marty looked so ludicrous; a thirteen year old Terran female -- the child of wealthy and influential parents -- armed to the teeth with too many weapons and alien gadgets to comfortably carry; part of a desperate rescue effort that was stymied because some other alien gadget was occupied by gods only knew what, in an alien rainforest that even the natives vacated at sundown... "Damn, I'm tired!" she mumbled.
There wasn't really much they \could\ do. If she took the ship up, they were committed. If the aerial defenses of Licti's lofty hideout were slow, if they were caught sufficiently off-guard by the unexpected appearance of the \Klondike\ from her watery hiding place, and if Lady Luck rode with the ship (Fat Chance! Why should Fate smile on them \now\?), they'd be able to blast the top off the mountain and get far enough away to go hyper before Licti's military or one of the Raiders blasted them into radioactive dust. If they \weren't\ lucky... And anybody not ready to transport up would be left behind, even if the ship made it. There was nothing to do but wait, and see what developed.
Toko put the transport facility into scan mode, set to notify them if any of the occupied booths was suddenly vacated. "That's about all we can do for now," he said resignedly. "Suu, I have the conn. I'll take the first watch -- you get some rest." He turned to the rescue team. "The three of you stay here and try to relax. Keep your gear close at hand -- you may have to go thru on a moment's notice. I don't know what's got all the booths occupied at once -- maybe nothing, the rain may have knocked them out -- but if you arrive in the middle of a bunch of hostiles, your PRDs should get you away before they get over the shock."
*********
Toko rose from his chair and crossed to the refreshment console. He'd dozed off twice. Not that it mattered -- the alarm would waken him -- but he preferred to stay alert. He hadn't mentioned it to the others, but if somebody \was\ trying to board them, there was always the chance that they could get lucky with a code and arrive unexpectedly aboard the \Klondike\. Rang and Marty were sleeping; Lito rested in a chair, eyes closed, alert for any sign of awareness from her telepartner. Nearly nine hours had passed since her contact with Roi had been unexpectedly severed.
Toko selected "extra-strong", and the machine dispensed a mug of steaming brew the color of used rotor-lube. He returned to his chair, placing his Uzi across his lap. As he resumed his vigil, he glanced at the chronometer -- two am; he was wondering how much longer they could afford to wait, when the silence was shattered by the scanner alarm. Before he could react, the alarm was followed by the distinctive crackle of the static discharge that preceded an incoming transport.
Toko was instantly on his feet, covering the door of the transporter. Behind him he heard feet hit the floor, and he knew he had backup. A shape materialized in one of the cavities. "Hold your fire!" Toko yelled as Jashi stumbled from the cavity carrying... What? -- or was it Who? -- it was too muddy to tell; a dark furry creature burst from between his feet and scampered across the room on six legs. It reached the safety of the open doorway before anyone could shoot it, and darted out of sight down the corridor.
Jashi lowered Karli gently to the floor; she was semi-conscious, and didn't try to get up. As he straightened, Tad arrived in the transporter behind him, also covered with mud. "Get her to the infirmary," Jashi snapped as he surveyed the room. "Tell Suu broad anti-toxin -- I don't know what bit her... And she took a native dart. The others are still down there. I found her and Tad telepathically, but I couldn't find anybody else. They staked them out separately in the fields outside the village." It was all the explanation he had time to give.
His eyes lighted on the three battle-suited figures. Only four, to search gods-knew how many square miles, and the storm had just about rained itself out. How he wished they could transport the little airsleds ashore. "Let's go," he ordered. "Toko, as soon as Tad gets cleaned up, the two of you join us. We'll have to risk low-power comm. As long as this storm's been going on, there's gonna be a lot of hungry animals when it's over. We gotta find em quick!" Jashi paused, his hand on the activation control of the transporter. "Toko, when you come ashore, bring as much raw meat as the two of you can carry. And don't worry about Max -- he's friendly." He pressed the button and was gone before the questions were out of their mouths.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
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