Beast Master's Circus

Chapter Eight

Cregar found Baris. The man was gambling again but with skill. From what the ex-beast master knew, Baris often supplemented his and Ideena's income with some clever cheating but only on planets not sophisticated enough to have checking programs in place. The penalties for being caught cheating ranged from forced bond to death depending on the world and its laws.

Nor would Baris bother with the inner worlds, where monetary systems were mainly on personal or general memorychips. They depended on IDs which were almost impossible to forge, and their gambling payouts were transferrals from one chip to another. Baris wouldn't gamble on such worlds; they gave nothing portable and anonymous. Computer winnings on such worlds could be too easily tracked from planet to planet. He signaled Baris who raked in a stack of credits and nodded.

"Thank you, friends. I must go now as I warned you." He flicked a couple of credits across to the dealer. "Drinks on me." He bowed to the gamblers around the table. "I salute you. It's as well I'm leaving before fortune frowns and I lose my very boots."

Cregar noted the grins. So, Baris had been cheating a bunch of rich amateurs. A good touch. He'd warned them he'd have to leave when a friend showed up. Paid for drinks, and left them with a compliment. By their looks, they had no suspicion they'd been done. They thought of Baris as a nice man and merely a good gambler with luck on his shoulder. Cregar made a mental note of that. Baris was a better psychologist than he'd thought. Judging by the stack of credits he'd scooped up he'd sheared this bunch and left them liking it.

Baris joined him. "Nice people, terrible gamblers." His smile was satisfied. "Ideena will be pleased. I made back everything we spent on supplies earlier."

Cregar hid a wince. "How long were you at the table?"

"Five hours. Come on, Ideena wants us back at the ship. She plans to lift off as soon as we get clearance."

Obediently Cregar hurried. Five hours, he was thinking as he trotted along. Baris must have tossed in the occasional hand and built up a slow but steady trickle of hands won. No huge pots. No obvious runs of too-good fortune. Just a quiet bleeding of credits across the table in Baris's direction. He'd have used sleight of hand to drop credits into his pockets. No buildup of those on the table. With them out of sight and Baris not seen pocketing them either, there'd have been nothing to remind the others that they kept losing.

Cregar wasn't a gambler himself. Most professionals in that field had a touch of ESP. His own abilities didn't lean in that direction, but he knew how it was done. It was one of the first things they taught beast masters, so they didn't get caught in any traps. He'd survived long enough to learn that as well as other things. He didn't realize his lips had peeled back in a snarl. They'd taught him, shown him heaven—then torn it away from him, leaving him empty and bleeding for the rest of his life. They would pay.

At the ship Ideena was waiting. "What kept you?" Her tone softened when Baris grinned and began turning credits from his pockets. "Well done. No trouble?"

He snorted. "Bunch of amateurs. Rich kids wanting to show they knew what was what. I trimmed them good an' they never knew a thing. They'll still be down there drinking the credits I left and saying what a nice guy I was."

Ideena was counting the notes and coins. "This'll cover what I spent for supplies. Nothing like a free trip." She eyed Cregar. "But there's still fuel. You'd better make this worthwhile, Circus Man. Get to your cabin and strap down. I've already got clearance. We lift in a few minutes."

Cregar nodded and left. He opened doors. The first two cabins clearly belonged to Baris and Ideena. The next was empty. He dropped his bag into a chest bolted to the floor, rolled onto the bunk, and fastened the shockweb harness. Just a couple of minutes later the small ship shivered and leapt skyward. Cregar was mulling over something Ideena had given away. She had to have known Baris had met him and that they were on their way to the ship.

Without knowing that, she'd hardly have asked for liftoff clearance. This was an active port. It was the clearing area for the trade of several planets. Ships large and small came and went busily. If Ideena had asked for clearance and then aborted they'd have dumped her to the back of the queue. Therefore she'd known they were on their way. Which meant she and Baris had some way of keeping in contact without the man making it obvious.

He'd better find out what that was. It could be inconvenient at the least to have them exchanging information if he wanted them isolated. At the most it could be lethal. The shivering quietened as the power curve leveled off. Gravity dropped to what felt like a quarter of standard and Cregar flicked the shockweb harness free again. He stood and wandered from the cabin. Time for a quick snoop now under the guise of finding his way about.

He had time for that and more over the time it took to make Arzor. Baris tried to entice him into gambling and failed. Ideena tried her wiles and he allowed it to appear she had succeeded. Not that she'd take it further than sweet smiles. Baris wouldn't like it. But he allowed it to seem that he was softening toward her, perhaps that he was beginning to even trust her a little. He wondered who was fooling who. But you had to play the game.

They landed on Arzor. Hiring a copter and a few career criminals was easy. Baris had the transactions completed by evening. They'd fly out early the next morning. Cregar went to his cabin for a good night's sleep. Judging by the sounds, Baris and Ideena had sought her cabin for a similarly early night, although not to sleep. That was another interesting point. Courting danger clearly excited them. His smile was grim as he made his own preparations. If they tried anything he'd be ready for it and the danger would be more than they were expecting.

The copter was already there by the time they had risen and eaten a light meal the next morning. The hired quartet of scruffy, dangerous-looking port scum were lounging about beside it. Baris was a qualified pilot, but at a pinch Cregar could get the copter up if he had to. He took the seat behind Baris and unobtrusively watched as the big man handled the controls.

The copter circled, drifted in as quietly as possible from an unexpected direction, and finally settled in to land in the rough country past the clan camp. They'd wait until dark then move in. Both Baris and Ideena had slipped dark lenses into their eyes. They would be able to see well enough. The lenses Cregar used were state-of-the-art. He could not only see everything as if it were day, he could also pick up heat auras. He'd know if living things were in hiding behind brush or behind anything else which allowed a heat signature to seep past.

He omitted to mention that. Let them believe his lenses were of the usual kind. If things went wrong he wasn't about to risk more than he had to. The sun curved slowly across the lavender sky. The copter's seven occupants dozed, drank, and ate. Cregar eyed the hired quartet from under half-closed eyelids. An unsavory bunch. Ten-to-one if Ideena found her gems in any quantity there'd be an attempt to dump her, Baris, and Cregar. Probably not until the men had been paid though. If they waited until they were back at the ship they could maybe loot the ship too.

He lay back, allowing himself to fall into a half sleep. He could smell the desert from here where the small breeze lifted to higher land. It was a good smell. Clean, dry, with a hint of the growing brush. That soft smoky scent which would have said falwood in bloom to an Azoran. In the distance a grass hen squawked angrily. Cregar squinted at his watch. He'd keep an eye on their so-called comrades in crime. He didn't think they'd try anything. Not yet. They wouldn't move until there was loot to take. Right now he'd be safe enough.

When he woke completely the sun was almost down. It would take them a couple of hours to walk the distance to the clan camp. Best they had a meal now, then started. Ideena was of the same mind. Once they'd begun the march she ranged up alongside Cregar and her voice came in a low tone none but he could hear.

"I don't trust these men." That was the pot calling the kettle black, Cregar thought. He cocked an eyebrow in invitation for her to continue and she did, dropping her voice still lower. "I've a spare gun tucked in the clump of weeds by the ramp. If anything happens, pretend to fall down there."

"What sort of gun? How effective will it be?" He wanted to know how far she'd go.

"Stunner but it's blast-bolt activated." That told him. She'd go all the way. Activating a stunner with a blast-bolt had been done before, but it was so frowned on that anyone caught doing it would go to rehab automatically. Of course, if it was his life, then he'd risk the illegality first and worry about rehab later. It wasn't likely they'd catch him anyhow. Or care greatly about the death of any of this lot. But it told him more than he'd known about this precious pair. He'd always thought they were small-time. They might still be the jackals he'd believed. If they were prepared to go that far though, they were rabid ones. He spoke quietly.

"What about your own stunners here?"

"They're straight."

That was better—if it was the truth but he couldn't be sure of that until they used their weapons. He plodded on in silence considering all he'd learned of them thus far. He couldn't trust any of the six people with him and he didn't like that. He'd have liked things even less if he'd known what lay ahead.

Tani had returned to the clan. Storm had accepted that when, after ten days, there'd been no sign of trouble. But it was the time between the two major seasons on Arzor, the big wet and the big dry. She enjoyed that pleasantly mild in-between season and had gone back to hunt with her friends another few days. They'd taken two yearling merin deer and a number of the fat grass hens. It was an hour short of dusk. They'd done well enough, now they'd head for the camp to be back before dark.

Jumps High, the first clan friend she had made the year before, had been about to pack the meat onto their horses when Ferarre's ears pricked. He whined. Linking, Tani caught the up and down beat of a muffled copter. She hissed and dropped flat. Jumps High copied that as did the other four natives.

He half turned from his sprawl to hand-sign to her. "Danger, where, what?"

"Ferarre hears a copter. That's not good."

"How so?"

"It didn't head for the camp, instead it's gone in a half circle around and landed beyond. It hasn't lifted off again. You know the law, no copter is allowed over clan lands. I think those who fly it may be enemies." It had to be that. Or some idiot citizen with more money than sense but the rangers would have known and stopped it. The treaty was very firm on over-flights.

If it had been Storm or one of the rangers with an emergency he'd have flown straight to the camp. The Nitra weren't fools. They would have understood if it was truly needful. But the copter had landed in cover; not near the camp. She felt there was danger and these were her friends, she would not have them hurt because she did not make her warning clear.

Jumps High was signing. "Does the copter rise again?"

"No." The coyote's ears could hear no sound. The engines were still off. That probably meant it would stay where it was for a while. She stood, turning, listening. Then her hands rose. "The engine sounds came from that way."

Her friends clustered around their mounts, swiftly field dressing the dead deer then loading the kill. Jumps High considered. "How far are the copter sounds from here, and how far from our camp?"

"From here maybe a half-hour ride. From camp they may be one hour's ride." And that was what had given the copter away. They'd circled in from the far side of the outer lands. It was their ill fortune that Tani and her friends had been hunting in that direction. Worse luck that Ferarre and Minou could hear even a copter with a muffled engine at that distance. Had it not been for the coyotes, even then the copter would not have been noticed.

She smiled to herself. They'd all been under cover cleaning the game when the copter circled. If it had heat-sensing gear the occupants hadn't been reading it at the time. And neither Tani, the Nitra, nor their animals had been out in the open to be seen by any glancing out of the clearplas bubble. A copter's heat-sensing gear differed. It was possible theirs was of the basic kind which read only that there was a sort of blotch of heat in a certain position. Not the shape of that source. In which case with everyone in cover they could have seen the sources and still mistakenly assumed them to be animals, sheltering from the hotter sun of afternoon.

The deer and grass hens safely loaded, Jumps High was signaling to Tani again, using her native name. "We will go now, Sunrise. Once we are back in camp I will speak to the Thunder-talker of this. She will pray and ask the powers of the Thunder what is the danger to us. Then we can make plans. For now, let us ride quickly for the camp."

His mount leapt away and Tani swung into her saddle. Destiny, the silver part-duocorn filly she rode, followed Jumps High's mount eagerly. Behind them in a scattered group came their friends. The coyotes ranged ahead. Tani wondered if she should mind-link with Mandy. The big paraowl could fly out and look over the area where the copter had landed. But if anyone who knew Arzor saw her they'd know she didn't belong here. It could warn the enemy if that's what they were. Best to take no chances. Not yet.

One thing the possible enemy should not know. Tani smiled, a slow hard grin. She was the only human clan-friend among the dozen clans of the Nitra. Because of her position Kelson of the rangers had granted her a miniature comcaller. When she visited the Djimbut clan it came with her by clan permission. Using it she could report any Nitra problems, anything likely to make trouble between native and settler. There was a built-in scramble as well; that way if the news was bad no one listening in would raise a premature alarm. She nudged Destiny and the filly sped up to canter lightly beside the mount of Jumps High.

"When we come to the camp I'll speak to Kelson. Ask why a copter breaks the treaty."

"That is good," was the brief reply.

Tani rode on, her mind busy. She had to know what to say to the ranger head. She sorted her impressions, ordered them by importance, then rode patiently. As soon as they arrived at the camp she slowed but continued through toward the tent of the clan medicine woman. Once there she dismounted, signing swiftly as her friend stepped from the tent entrance to greet her.

"There may be trouble, I must speak to Kelson. Listen to what I say." She switched on the comcaller and reached Kelson almost at once. As she spoke into the transmitter panel her hands flew, repeating in sign-talk for the benefit of those clan members who did not understand the settler language what she was saying to the ranger head.

"Kelson. Listen. While I was hunting to the north of the clan camp Ferarre heard a copter. It landed about an hour's ride from the camp and hadn't taken off again after an hour or so. I don't like the way the engines are muffled and it circled supposedly out of our hearing before setting down. Could it be a legitimate flight?" There was a gasp, then the sound of a computer beeping. After several minutes the ranger's voice came back, loud and angry.

"No, it is not. There's no record of any request. Our two copters are both out in other directions and I've just checked with port. No copter filed any flight plan even remotely in your direction."

"You're sure? Then what do we do?"

"Hang on. I'm checking." He came back after several minutes. "I don't like this, Tani. The only copter it could be is one belonging to an outfit I don't trust very far. The copter has muffled engines and the pilot filed a flight plan toward the desert fringe on a sight-seeing trip with tourists. My contact at the port says seven people boarded. He knows two of them from the port here as minor but unsavory criminals." He paused. "It should be just about dark where you are by now."

"It is," Tani informed him.

"I can't get our copters back until morning. Tell the clan these people have no rights. If the warriors protect the clan in any way they must, then they are within our laws as well as their own." He paused again then spoke with heavy significance. "In any way. But do your best to see those ways don't include the tourists, who may be an innocent cover."

"And if they aren't?"

"Then that applies to them as well."

Her flying fingers had been keeping up with the conversation as Tani and Kelson spoke. From the growing Nitra circle about her there came soft hisses of satisfaction. If their actions were within settler law as well as their own, that meant that stunners taken were legitimate loot. They could be kept as could anything else taken from the attackers. The Nitra would have no use for the copter, but if they took that they could exchange its price for clan wealth in horses. Tani could guess at their reaction to that idea.

"I think you've said the right thing, Kelson."

"Tell them live tourists can be fined and the fine given to the clan as well, but only if the tourists are in one piece," he suggested.

"I'll do that. But you see what you can find out about them. I'll switch the com alarm off. Better our possible enemy doesn't know we have one. It'll flicker the lights if you call. The Thunder-talker's interpreter will stay with it; he's crippled so he isn't a warrior. If there's no attack going on when you call he can whistle me in to answer. Tani out."

She settled in to discuss tactics. The coyotes would eat and drink now then slip into the night. They'd show to heat sensors but as smaller blotches only, not as what they were. With fortune the enemy would assume them to be native animals disturbed by the movement. Jumps High had called in the camp's younger warriors as well. Thrown out in a screen, they would let the attackers through then close in behind. The experienced fighters would be ready, defending the camp and filling in the other half of a surrounding circle of death. The horse herd was loosed to wander about. The more heat blotches the better.

The Nitra medicine woman was signing, "What weapons will they have?"

"They'll have stunners for sure, those are legal and everyone has them. If they really mean this as an attack they could have pulse rifles." She grinned again as the listening warriors hissed in delight. They knew weaponry. A pulse rifle was normally beyond their ability to buy, but if the enemy brought the rifle here it was legitimate loot. Her hands flashed signs as she continued.

"They may have special things for their eyes. Lenses that allow them to see in the night as if it was the day."

The Nitra medicine woman gave a bark of amusement. "Hough! Djimbut are warriors. We can fight in dark or light, do they think we do not know our own lands? These enemies are fools if they think that way. Already we know they are here while they do not know we know. Kelson says their landing is not lawful. They are our prey and their property shall be ours." Tani signed swiftly then. She must make them understand that it would be bad if the possibly innocent tourists died.

The Thunder-drummer nodded, the human gesture of agreement the Arzoran natives had learned from the settlers. "We understand. It is simple, those without guns we do not harm, those with guns we shall kill. If your tourists fight against us, they too shall die."

It was a reasonable attitude, Tani thought, and Kelson could hardly expect the clan warriors to let themselves be shot, whether the shooter was a panicked tourist or not. She glanced from the tent entrance. By now it was about an hour after full dark. The clans tended to sleep about the second hour unless some celebration was occurring. Those in the copter would likely know that. She turned to the com.

"Kelson?"

"Kelson listening."

"I think if they come it'll be in about an hour. The clan's agreed not to hurt the tourists unless they're using weapons too. Then all bets are off. Did you find out anything more?"

His voice was harsh now. "Much more! The copter was supposed to be taking three tourists from an out-systems ship on a two-day tour, with one of the tourists acting as their pilot. The whole things's an orchestrated litany of lies. I checked the ship register. Nothing. But a friend in the patrol pulled a scan of the ship's registration and it's fake. So are the registered IDs of the two owners. She can't be sure who they really are but she'll keep trying to find out. She's found nothing on their so-called passenger as yet, but birds of a feather flock together." He heard her soft gasp.

"No time to talk that over. Listen. One of the port people says there were seven in the copter. That leaves four of ours. Two we knew about as soon as security saw their recorded faces, and port recording has ID'd the other two tentatively. All four are criminals. Never been sufficiently nailed to be forced into rehab but the peacekeepers say they're sure there's a lot of crime the four have been responsible for, it just hasn't been proven against them. All four are nasty pieces of work."

Tani had been thinking quickly, aided by the fast-moving hands of her friend, the Thunder-talker. "Kelson, would any of the four have ridden herd; are they used to outlands or are they city folk?"

There was a chuckle. "Well asked. Nope, they're all from the city." Her hands relayed that. Jumps High twittered a couple of swift orders in his own tongue and two of the warriors vanished. "I doubt they know much about local terrain and so far as I know none ride. They can't have more than stunners and just possibly a selective needier, either," Kelson assured her.

"Certain of that?"

"Fortunately. The port periphery sensors just put in a new weapons system. It lets us know if anyone crosses the port boundary carrying heavier weapons such as pulse rifles or blasters. It doesn't alert the carrier, just the peacekeepers. They can check them out without the one who's caught knowing how he came to be tagged. So, there were only stunners for certain when this bunch lifted from port, but there was a slightly different reading which could indicate a needier, one of the small handheld type."

She seized on the loophole. "But they could have landed and picked up other weapons after leaving."

"I don't think so. I timed your message, added the time they left here, and there's no gap. At steady speed they'd have just been landing when you heard them. We do think the copter may have basic heat sensors. Those would only give them a rather blurred heat signature and the rough size of the target. I'll get rangers to you at dawn. Where's Logan?"

Tani sighed. "At High Peaks with Hosteen's team. Logan twisted his wrist and ankle handling a frawn. Hosteen's riding circuit alone around our ranch. He's got Baku with him but Surra's still bonding with her new mate, and Hing has babies."

"Then neither man's going to be available. Okay, Tani. I'll have reinforcements in by dawn. I'd like some of these idiots to be alive when I get there but if it's you or them, let it be them. Kelson out."

From the darkness outside the tent came a twittering. The interpreter signed at flowing speed and fluency. "They come. Jumps High has put up the bodies of the merin deer on stakes as though they lived. Our scouts waited in line behind them. Our enemy sees beasts only. They see in the dark as you have said. They circled the deer so as not to alarm them." He stopped to listen as the cry of a night bird came. "The enemy approach. They are close to the horse herd." He gave a thin-lipped smirk.

"They see in the dark, yes. But still they do not know what they see. Within the herd other warriors wait and are overlooked."

The Thunder-talker nodded. "Go now, make ready. Sunrise, walk wary."

Tani smiled at her. "Very wary," she agreed. "You also, wise one." She trotted silently from the tent and went to ground in a small hollow at the far edge of the camp. The chill ground would shield part of her heat signature. With only her head showing she'd look like a rock-rabbit to any heat sensors. The small plump creatures tended to be about in the early hours of the day or during the night, their thick fur shielding them from any chill.

At the edge of the camp Baris halted his troops. "The whole place is asleep. Ideena, you and Cregar go to that big tent, grab all the jewels you can. Stun-spray every tent you pass. You other four, stunners on wide spray. Don't worry, we have additional power units. Walk in line and overlap stun beams in front of us in a semicircle. Make no noise."

They obeyed, setting their stunners. At his word they started forward, stunners weaving in a pattern which should cover and overlap every living thing in front of them in a wide area. Unprepared for this tactic, the Nitra in the vanguard fell silently in their cover and without the attackers even knowing of their presence. Moving in skilled quiet, Ideena and Cregar had circled just outside the stun influence toward the shaman's tent. They sprayed it and entered. Ideena took one look and swore viciously in a low monotonous voice.

"No one here but a Ghesh-damned comcaller." She touched the panel. "Warm, someone was using it only a few minutes ago. Had to be that girl. Look through the gear here. If they cleared out fast they may have left the cat's-eyes behind." She began raking through the Thunder-talker's possessions ignoring a commotion which flared up in the distance.

"Do you really want to waste time?" Cregar snapped. "The rangers could be on their way right now."

Ideena glared. "No, they couldn't. We paid high for the infocheck. Their copters are on the far side of the area. Even if they were warned just now they couldn't get here in time. But we may have to get back into the port a different way. Move it, Cregar. Check that box!" She gave a subdued cry of pleasure as several bracelets tumbled out of the folded cloth. She snatched up the jewelry, crooning at the play of light over green and sparkling white, before wrapping them again and thrusting them into her pocket.

"Worth a whole packet of credits. Any more?"

"No sign."

Her mouth turned angrily down. "You promised a lot more than these."

"The wretched woman is probably wearing the rest. Get out and look for her if you want them," Cregar growled. It wasn't likely Ideena would find anyone. But it would get her off his back. She scowled and vanished through the entrance only to leap back again.

"What..."

"Don't talk. Get out the back under the edge. Fast. We've got company."

Cregar was no fool. He dived for the edge of the tent, levered a peg out, and crawled through the gap. Ideena followed and he turned to re-peg the edge. As he did so a heavy blow to his back spun him partly around. Ideena stunned the warrior who had appeared, then looked down at Cregar.

"I thought you were supposed to be good, Circus Man?"

"I'm alive aren't I?" Cregar shook himself as he rose to his feet glancing at the heavy fighting spear which had struck him at close range. He owed Laris one for that, if it hadn't been for her warning he'd have been wearing lighter body armor under his shirt. The spear would have gone through the lighter level of that.

He took the lead again, drifting through cover to wait and look back once they were clear. Two of their men were down, dead he thought. The third had been struck down and was being tied even as they watched. There was no sign of the fourth. Baris had hung back cautiously behind his small command. Seeing that he apparently used no weapon, the Nitra had ignored him.

Baris put two and two together when he was ignored and fled as if in a blind panic. Ideena and Cregar came up with him two miles out of the clan camp.

"What do we do now?"

"We get to the copter and come back." Ideena was white with fury. "I'll show them they don't beat me so easily." She smiled nastily. "There's a wide-spray heavy-duty stun on the copter. We brought it aboard in that chest Baris carried. We'll lift, come in at about fifty feet, and spray everything for a mile around the camp. Now, run."

They trotted through the brush and over rough ground until Ideena was stumbling and even Cregar was wearying. They reached the copter, Baris leaped to the pilot's seat and waited, speaking softly.

"Get your breath first. Give them time back there to calm down. Did anyone see what happened to the others? I know some crazy horse killed one. He walked into it around a bush and it jumped him."

"Three dead then," Cregar said. "They've got the other one and he'll talk if they keep him alive."

"So we clean him. Leave him with the others. They'll identify them in time but nobody'll know anything. If we reach the port before daylight we can get to the ship and clear before they can stop us."

Ideena looked mutinous. "Not without my gems."

"Not without my beasts either," Cregar added.

"Okay, okay. Here, take a drink and then we'll go." Baris passed over a flask and both drank. The Fever brandy burned a track clear to their livers and both gasped at the rush of heat. Ideena nodded.

"All right. I'm ready. Go, Go!"

Baris lifted the machine into the air on steady engines, swung it around, and pointed it south to the camp. The return engagement was about to begin. This time...