SHANNA started to full alertness, shivering with cold, drenched through by the rain. “They’re coming, Amma!”
“Who’s coming? The Garsal?” Amma struggled to a sitting position, alarm in every line of her body.
“Sorry, should have said ‘The boys are coming!’ Which probably means that Spider will be here soon!”
“Are you sure you broke that thing?” asked Amma worriedly.
“As sure as I can be. And they’re sure too.” She could barely talk for the wash of joy that threatened to overwhelm her. Blue and violet sparkled vividly in her mind, and despite the rain that persisted in blowing into their rocky haven, she felt her spirits buoy as Storm and Twister neared. She had only a few seconds warning before three wet, loving starcats attempted to press themselves into the crowded space. There was a flurry of purring, humming, and love, as the separate parts of the whole came together. Shanna felt herself tearing up as she hugged the two heads to her chest. Despite the discomfort, the cold and the wetness, they stayed like that until a voice penetrated through the loving fug.
“We’re drowning out here, and it’s likely that now the barrier’s down in a few places there’ll be some visitors. Let’s get moving!” Arad’s voice was quiet, but penetrating. Shanna struggled to her knees and had to push Storm gently out of the way in order to exit the cubby. Every muscle and joint creaked as she stood.
“We’d better remove the plybrush ropes before we leave, Arad, or the Garsal might realise that it was more than just the cyclone.” Arad nodded and flicked a hand signal behind him, and Verren and Nelson appeared, laden with extra packs. They handed them off to Shanna and Amma, and as Shanna eased her wet arms through the straps, she felt an enormous relief flood through her. No longer alone, no longer trapped, back with her cats, and equipped for survival. It had been a harrowing few days. It took a few minutes to locate the two plybrush ropes through the still driving rain, and as Verren carefully hanked and attached them to the outside of Shanna’s pack, he rested one hand briefly on her arm.
“Glad you’re OK.” There was a wealth of unspoken emotion in the short sentence.
“We are too,” said Shanna, in case anyone else had heard, but she knew that Verren would know what she meant.
“Lead off Verren,” directed Arad. Nosey positioned herself carefully in the middle of the group of starcats, and they moved off towards Allad’s position, while Shanna automatically took the rear, directing her two cats to guard them on both sides.
It was hard, dangerous work trying to move in the remnants of the storm. Shanna realised that Arad must have decided to move in as soon as it looked like being physically possible. She had to lean into the wind just to stay upright, and flying twigs and leaves plastered them all with debris. Extra camouflage, Shanna thought wryly. Fortunately Frontier’s native trees were well adapted to the weather. Although the occasional branch fell, few of the native trees had been uprooted by the wind’s onslaught. As the winds began to slowly abate, their passage became faster, but more cautious. Now was the time that marauding predators began to move, and if they could move, so could the Garsal. As the winds began to drop, Shanna began to feel more and more unwell. Finally, she was moving in a haze of shivering, and realised that Twister had taken himself off the rear watch to hold her up. She felt too unwell to chastise him.
Sooner than she could have hoped, Shanna saw the familiar signs of the little grotto which had become their haven yet again. As she stumbled between the still flailing trees, Shanna saw that the grotto held Allad, Spiron and Barron and their three starcats. Satin was sitting almost on top of Allad, and Shanna almost giggled despite her exhaustion and illness, as she saw Allad’s slightly pained expression. Despite the wet and the cold, it was a little like coming home.
Barron signalled that he and Hunter would take the watch, and vanished through the trees. His wet weather gear blended into the foliage almost seamlessly. “Verren, Arad, take Shanna and Amma and check them over,” said Spiron, “Allad tells me that both have been injured. He jerked a thumb towards the rocks at the back of the grotto, and the four of them stepped into the relative dryness of their shelter. Shanna thankfully dropped her pack onto one of the rocks, and herself on another, and began to hunt out some drier clothing and her rain gear as fast as she was able. Her leg ached, and she had begun to shiver violently.
“Arad, can you warm us?” asked Verren.
The other Scout nodded, grinned, and flicked a finger at Nosey. Now a chubby teenager, she ambled over to her partner, blinked her long eyelashes, and climbed into his lap. Almost immediately, the pair began to emit a warmth that washed over Shanna like a hot fire. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” sighed Amma. Arad smiled at her, and Nosey hummed in a smug manner, purring loudly.
Verren began to check Amma over, while Shanna pulled out a dry set of clothing, teeth chattering still and leg throbbing, along with her last clean pair of socks. Her rain gear went on one of the rocks, ready to put on, and she leaned back on her own one and began to pull her boots off. Her cats lay on either side, and she could feel the relief and the love radiating from them. As she removed her tattered trousers, she realised that the infection in her leg had worsened, despite Amma’s best efforts with the tweezers. It was haloed in angry red, and gave an especially violent throb as she looked at it. Trying not to wince, or shiver too much, she pulled her dry trousers on carefully, and then changed her shirt. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that, Shan,” came Verren’s voice. “Roll your trouser leg up and leave your boots undone.”
Verren’s hands were very gentle as he examined the long gash. “It’s pretty dirty, Shan. Amma said it was a tusker?”
“Yes. Allad picked out a bit of the grime, and Amma got a bit more, but that was all we could do.” He felt her forehead and neck with the back of his hand.
“And you feel like you have a fever. Are you feeling well?” Shanna shrugged noncommittally, trying to suppress another violent shiver, and Storm hummed sceptically and twinkled his tidemarks at Verren, who smiled at her and rolled his eyes slightly.
“Apparently you’re not.”
Shanna shrugged helplessly, and made a face.
“Well, I’m going to have to clean this properly, I’m afraid. Despite the concussion, Amma’s actually in better shape than you, so she can help.” He pulled a variety of implements from his pack, propped Shanna’s leg up on a convenient rock and began to moisten the ugly scab with a mixture of disinfectant and water. A few minutes later, Shanna was grateful the rock she was sitting on had a backrest of sorts. Despite Verren’s gentleness, the wound was excruciatingly painful as he slowly cleaned away the accumulated filth. “I’m going to have to scrub,” he warned her, and she gritted her teeth as he took up a clean swab and moistened it. Thirty seconds later she heard, “Catch her Amma!” And then she woke up, flat on her back, leg no longer throbbing, and finally warm. Her wet weather gear had been carefully spread over the top of her.
“How’d I get here?” she mumbled.
“You fainted,” said Arad, who was the only one still with her. “Which was probably good, because then Verren really cleaned your wound while you were out to it.” He grimaced slightly. “Glad it wasn’t my leg. In the end he had to use some of the soothall salve. He said it was pretty infected under all the dirt. Here, drink this.” He handed her a leafy cup and Shanna recognised the fruity smell of soothall berry tea.
“Really?” she asked.
“Really,” replied Arad drily. “Verren said that without proper treatment, that wound would have incapacitated you in a couple of days, and probably killed you within a couple more. You’re to drink that and do nothing but rest, and I’m to keep you warm.”
“The others?” asked Shanna, drinking the tea. It was, as Verren had said in a time that now seemed so long ago, delicious.
“All here. And safe. Go back to sleep, Shan. It’s almost dark.” With warm cats on either side of her Shanna did as he said, more tired than she’d realised, finally secure in the knowledge that her friends were watching.
She woke to discover the whole Patrol assembled in the grotto. After the isolation and fear of the preceding days it seemed almost crowded. There was minimal noise, and the hint of ever circling starcats. Hers were still stretched out on either side of her. As she struggled to a sitting position, Storm opened one eyelid and blinked lazily, yawning and stretching his enormous length. Twister hummed sleepily on her other side and wriggled slightly closer.
Several small groups bent over maps, and as Shanna sat completely upright, Verren hurried over. “How are you feeling?” She pondered slightly and wriggled her leg and foot experimentally.
“Much better.” And she was. The background throb had reduced to a murmur, and she had more energy coursing through her than she’d had for days. Perhaps she’d been more tired than she thought. Verren began peeling away the dressing on her leg, and she leaned forwards as he exposed the wound. The angry swelling had reduced, and the now clean wound had already begun to close.
“You’ve been very lucky, Shan. A couple more days and you’d have been really ill.”
“So Arad told me.”
He nodded. “You were lucky I still had some soothall, or you’d be at death’s door by now.” He paused, his eyes unable to meet hers, and for a moment she didn’t know how to respond. When Cirrus hummed gently and nudged him with her head, he blinked and began to smooth on more of the soothall. His hands were very gentle and the murmur from her leg faded completely as he finished, and covered the wound with a fresh dressing. “We’ll leave that one on for a few days and you’ll be right as rain.”
“Verren, what happened to Fractus?” The question that had been burning in her mind for several days finally had an outlet.
“I forgot, of course you wouldn’t know. When you three fell out of the sky, the Garsal sent searchers all over the place. Fractus knew he’d be detectable, so he retreated to the closest way-station. Unfortunately that meant he couldn’t relay for us, so now we’re on our own again.”
Relief washed over Shanna like a wave. She’d become very fond of the Starlyne, and as day after day had gone by, she’d worried that something had happened to him. “I was worried when we couldn’t contact him.”
Verren nodded. “We knew you would be, but there was no way to contact you – or so we thought – until Allad lobbed that written message over that barrier.” He smiled. “Maybe one day we’ll stop thinking of new ways to use our gifts.”
“I hope not,” Shanna said.
“There you go.” Verren finished dressing her leg and pulled her trouser leg down. “Can you get up? We’ll see how you go when you’re vertical. Spiron has plans and we need your input.” He helped her up, and she put her boots back on after checking to make sure nothing had taken up residence inside them. She wriggled her toes as the slight dampness chilled them a little and then, after a few tentative steps, realised that her leg was much better.
“Thanks. I hadn’t realised how bad it was, Verren.” She was disappointed to discover she didn’t need to lean on his arm, but shrugged the thought away and placed her mind back where it belonged – on defeating the Garsal.
Several hours later, Spiron had divided them into groups again. In pairs and trios they began the arduous task of re-familiarising themselves with the area around the ship. It was extraordinarily difficult to avoid the roving Garsal vehicles. They seemed to be everywhere. In the aftermath of the storm, they seemed to have renewed their hunt for the downed flyers with increased vigour. Shanna wondered if they’d put the failure of their fence down to the humans. She hoped not.
It took time to plot their movements, as they seemed to be ever-changing, but finally a pattern was beginning to appear. Shanna’s leg had performed better than she’d believed was possible, but she was still more tired than she wanted to be. Not really fatigued, more mildly drained, but the need to fade on and off all the time hadn’t helped. With her cats by her side she’d been able to relieve the drain, and the enhanced link meant that she would have one in contact with her as soon as she was even contemplating fading. But with all of the urgency of their situation, Shanna hadn’t had time to consider the changed nature of their togetherness.
As dusk began to darken the sky, they congregated once more in the grotto.
“It seems clear from this that the Garsal will sweep this area within the day,” said Spiron, outlining the search pattern on the map, “so we’ll need to move. Allad you have another base for us?”
The tall Scout nodded, and leaned forwards and tapped a spot on the other side of the bowl. “They’ve already been through here twice today, and each time they’ve passed this spot close by, but not passed through it. The trees grow very thickly just here – probably too close together for any of their vehicles to pass through, and they’re still reluctant to venture outside of them.” He smiled, and the grim amusement was echoed around the group. “We should relocate there tomorrow first thing, Spiron. There’s water and a small rock shelf that would do in a storm if it had to. We’d get pretty wet and cramped, but it’s at least sheltered on three sides, and from above.”
“And Kalli, you saw an assembly of vehicles?”
“Yes Spiron. The numbers suggest that they may be about to attempt a full assault on the plateau.”
There was silence, and Shanna could almost hear the gears ticking over in everyone’s minds as they contemplated the last statement. Barron and Spiron exchanged a long look, and then Spiron raised an eyebrow at Allad. He nodded decisively.
“Then we act,” said Spiron. “If they’re going to send troops in force towards the plateau, we’ll have the best chance we’ll ever have to get inside the ship in numbers great enough to do substantial damage. It’s also our best chance to rescue some of the slaves Semba said had access to valuable information.” Kaidan’s name remained unspoken, but it hung there in the air above them anyway.
Shanna took a deep breath and looked at her fellow cadets. Determination sat like a badge on each face. Almost instinctively they’d looked for and found each others’ eyes, and she could almost feel their resolve.
There was a quiet hum from all of the cats surrounding them in the grotto, and Shanna turned to see all of the tidemarks cycling in a dancing chorus of agreement.
“Apparently they agree,” Arad said. Nosey nudged him and bounced irrepressibly. Now a half grown starcat, she vacillated between grown up gravity and cub-like enthusiasm.
“Kalli, you and Sandar will break out tomorrow and take a message back to Fractus. You’ll break the same sentinel you did on the way in, so hopefully the Garsal will think it’s just a persistent malfunction. Once the message is delivered, you’ll be our exit strategy, so bring as many of Patrols Four and Eight with you as possible.” Both nodded. “Cadets, Allad, you’ll be our primary strike team. You’ll penetrate the ship, survey it, and break out any slaves that you’re able.” He paused for a moment consideringly. “Ragar, Allad is your second.” There was a ripple of surprise around the group, but Shanna saw Allad nodding approvingly, and Barron’s smile, and realised that he, Spiron and Barron must have already discussed this. Ragar looked startled for a moment, but then nodded, looking thoughtful.
There were a couple of raised eyebrows around the group, but no dissent. “Arad, again you and Nosey will hold the retreat safe against the Garsal. You’ll be stationed just outside the inner fence line with Nelson.” They nodded. “Myself, Barron, Karri and Perri will roam inside the fence line, and if we have the opportunity, will attempt to penetrate the hive. We’ll make sure we hold the line to Arad. As we’re able, we’ll sabotage anything we can.” There were more nods. “Verren, you’ll navigate tomorrow. Take us to the other site as fast as possible, but plot your route around the known Garsal patrol routes. And everyone – I need an inventory of your patches. Anything you take with you will be taken on your person. Packs will be left at the new site, to be retrieved when you’re able.” More nods, and Shanna began to run her list of stuff through her mind, prioritising some items for transfer to her pockets and belt. “For now, it’s dinner. Normal watch roster. Shanna, I need to speak to you.”
The others dispersed, and Spiron beckoned Shanna over towards him. Both Allad and Barron joined them. There was no feeling of apprehension from her cats, but she wondered what he wanted. “Are you well, Shanna?” he asked.
“Almost, Spiron. Still a bit tired.” Honesty was always the best policy with the Patrol First. He had an uncanny ability to know when a cadet was lying. He nodded. They were probably all ‘a bit tired’ if they were honest.
“You’ll have a lot resting on your shoulders again, Shanna. Will you be able to concentrate on the mission, knowing that you might not rescue your brother?”
She gulped slightly and took her time answering. “I hope so, Spiron. I .. I can’t promise not to think about him, but I will promise to do my best to remain focused.” The three Scouts looked at each other without speaking. Allad gave a short nod, Barron looked at the ground and tapped his fingers on his belt a few times and then nodded as well, and then Spiron turned back to her.
“In that case, I have several instructions for you. Firstly. Ragar speaks with my voice.”
“Yes Spiron.” Shanna nodded gravely.
“Secondly. If there is a chance of rescue, Ragar will direct it, and his decision on the matter is final. If he chooses to send you in another direction, then you will go where he sends you.” She took a breath and nodded.
“Thirdly. Your group of cadets and you yourself, are more important than rescuing captives. If a rescue attempt fails, your priority is to do everything in your power to extract firstly yourself, and secondly, your group. This is also something Ragar knows. He will prioritise your safety above everyone else’s. Your gifts are too great to be lost to our people.”
“But Spiron!”
He held up a hand. “There is to be no argument. Even if all of the rest of us fall, you must survive. Cerren’s last message before Fractus left was imperative. If the worst comes, and our attempt fails, you, and any other surviving cadets and Scouts will rendezvous here.” He handed her a grid reference. “Memorise it and then destroy it.” His eyes caught and held hers and she found herself nodding despite her mind screaming at her that this was not something she should agree to, and then her mouth framed the appropriate words.
“I will try to do so.”
Spiron raised an eyebrow, but she held his gaze steadily, refusing to back down.
“I told you, didn’t I?” asked Allad, and Spiron nodded.
“That will do then. I have your word, that you will try?”
“You do Spiron. But I’m first and foremost a Scout.” Shanna tried to keep the anger out of her voice, but it came out slightly defiantly anyway. The unspoken rule of the Scout Corps was ‘No-one left behind.’
He sighed. “And yes, you are.” He looked sternly at her again. “But sometimes we have to look beyond what we see with our eyes.” His eyes were bleak, and she didn’t understand, but she did her best, softening slightly.
“I’ve said that I’ll try, and I will, Spiron. The boys and I will try to the best of our abilities.” The Patrol First shared another long look with Barron and Allad, and then Satin hummed quietly at the other two cats, and they both hummed at their partners.
“In that case, go and eat, and then you’ve got the first watch.” Shanna nodded and went to do as she’d been told, still feeling rebellious. Storm and Twister flickered their tidemarks and then she felt a wash of determination from them. About what she was unsure, but they were with her, and that was enough.