"Speaking of which, can we put this discussion on hold until we're out of here?" Jack said, peering up at the sky. "Sooner or later they're going to start wondering what's holding up the show."
"Agreed," Draycos said, looking around. The Erassvas and Phookas were starting to come out of their hiding places now, with Hren and Greenie in the lead. "Alison, get the green Phooka and start moving north," he ordered. "Jack, you will organize the herd and keep them together. Taneem, you go with Alison."
"Just a second," Alison said. Stooping down, she retrieved one of the dead soldiers' machine guns. "If you don't mind?" she asked, holding it out toward Draycos.
"My pleasure." He slashed his claws across the metal shoulder stock, cutting it and its embedded tracker away from the weapon.
"Thanks," Alison said, slinging the gun over her shoulder. "Come on, Greenie. Time to go, boy."
Obediently, the green Phooka lumbered over to her, glancing indifferently at the three dead soldiers as he passed. Alison hooked a finger behind his crest, and together they headed off. "Go on, Taneem," Draycos prompted. "Stay with her."
"All right." Taneem gave one last, lingering look at the soldiers. Then, arching her back once as if trying to shake away the memory, the Phooka turned and left.
Draycos watched her go, something stirring deep within him. No; not the Phooka. Not anymore.
Taneem was a K'da.
Jack stepped beside him. "Well," he murmured. "Suddenly this is getting very interesting."
"Indeed it is," Draycos agreed grimly. "Come. We must find a camping place before it becomes fully dark."
CHAPTER 23
They found a good place half an hour away beside a small creek. Jack and Alison got the Erassvas and Phookas settled; and then, at Alison's insistence, she and Taneem took the first watch.
Jack argued a little, but not very much. He was exhausted, and even though Draycos hadn't said anything, Jack knew the K'da was tired as well. And as Alison pointed out, she and Taneem had slept most of the day.
Still, desperately tired or not. Jack slept fitfully, waking every hour or so from a bad dream. Most of those dreams ended with a vision of the dead soldiers Taneem had killed.
Rather to his surprise, the mercenaries didn't launch another attack that night. Alison woke him up a little after dawn—Draycos was already up—and after a quick breakfast and the Phookas' morning dance they were off.
Jack did notice that Taneem didn't participate in the dance. She watched instead from Alison's side, her tail lashing restlessly.
They made good time that day. For once the terrain seemed to be working in their favor, with no cliffs or overly wide streams or large bogs in their way. There were still the stands of rubbery trees and their vine meshes to deal with, more of them with every mile they traveled. But with Taneem at the front of the group with Alison there were no more delays while they waited for Draycos to finish his rounds and cut through the vines.
As for the native animals, they seemed to be avoiding the travelers as well. Jack spotted only one herd of hornheads, and no Kodiaks at all. Draycos mentioned once that the Erassvas' new odor was even stronger than it had been on the previous day, but whether that was the cause or it was just the luck of the draw he couldn't say.
Just before noon Alison called a break, and as the Erassvas and Phookas foraged for food she and Jack sat together beside a pair of trees and compared notes.
"No, we haven't seen any Kodiaks all day," Alison said. "At least, not up front. I did spot a couple of small hornhead herds, but they kept their distance."
"How fast were they going?" Jack asked.
"Not that fast," Alison assured him. "At least we'll have some warning if the Malison Ring tries that one again."
Jack shook his head. "Frost doesn't seem the type to try the same trick twice. I wonder when that transport of his is due back."
"It already is," Alison said. "It came in last night, while you and Draycos were sleeping. Taneem and I heard it."
Jack stared at her. "And you didn't wake us up?"
"No, because there wasn't any reason to," Alison told him. "It was coming in from the west and landed somewhere way to the south. It never got anywhere near us."
"And you didn't think to even mention it when we got up this morning?"
"I'm mentioning it now," Alison said, regarding him coolly. "What's the problem? We both know Frost isn't going to just throw something wildly at us. Whatever he's planning, it'll take him at least until evening to set it up."
"That's not the point," Jack growled. "You need to keep Draycos and me on top of everything that happens around here. Especially Draycos, who in case you've forgotten is our local military expert."
"My deepest and most profound apologies," Alison said, an edge of sarcastic anger in her tone. "It won't happen again."
"It had better not," Jack warned. Still, she was probably right about Frost's intentions. Anyway, this was no time to be fighting among themselves. "Because the next time it does, I'm patching you through to the Essenay and letting Uncle Virge give the lecture. Trust me; you won't like it."
For a moment Alison continued to glare at him. Then, her eyes softened and a reluctant smile twitched at her lips. "I can imagine," she said dryly. "In that case, it definitely won't happen again." Her lip twitched away the smile. "And you're right, I should have told you sooner. I'm sorry."
"That's okay," Jack said, feeling his own tension draining away. "You were right, too. Frost isn't going to just charge madly into anything."
"No." Alison's throat tightened. "Not after last night."
Jack looked around, but Taneem was nowhere to be seen. "You still freaked out about that?"
"Wouldn't you be?" she countered. "Well, no. I guess you wouldn't."
"Actually, I am," Jack admitted. "At least a little."
"Even after living with Draycos for almost four months?"
"Even so," Jack said. "Taneem's attack seemed different, somehow. I'm not quite sure why."
Alison shrugged. "No big mystery there," she said. "Draycos is a trained warrior who knows exactly what he's doing. Taneem's more like a child who's suddenly been thrown into an adult body without even an instruction book. It's all very new to her."
"I think you're right," Jack agreed. "She's probably never even killed anything bigger than a three-bite lizard."
"Or if she has, she's long since forgotten all about it."
Jack grimaced. "She won't forget this one."
"I doubt any of us will." Alison paused. "But it's gotten me thinking. You remember Draycos saying the Valahgua were the aggressors back wherever it is they came from?"
"Are you saying you don't believe him?" Jack demanded, letting his voice harden.
"I'm not saying anything at all," Alison said patiently. "I was just noticing that a K'da in full-bore host-protection mode could easily be seen as an aggressor."
"Taneem's not a typical K'da."
"I know that," Alison said. "And before you get all hot and bothered, I'm not accusing Draycos of lying to us. But it's possible there are sides to this that he doesn't know."
Jack chewed the inside of his cheek. And there was still the unanswered question of why the Valahgua would come all this way just to continue their war against the K'da and Shontine. "No," he said firmly. "There aren't any other sides. Draycos and his people are the victims—pure and simple."
"I just meant—"
"I saw what the Malison Ring did to Draycos's advance ships, Alison." Jack cut her off. "I know the sort of people Arthur Neverlin and the Chookoock family are. If the Valahgua are some poor, put-upon victims, they've picked themselves some really strange allies."