“Whew.” Karle wiped imaginary sweat from her forehead. “They had me worried for a second there. You sure didn’t waste any time making friends with them.”
“They like my cooking,” I said. “What can I do for you, Lieutenant?”
“I have a few minutes before my team is ready to go, and thought I’d drop by and introduce myself.” She grimaced.
“There are only six females in the crew, and one of them is attached to Frisk at the hip. I figure the rest of us women need to stick together.”
My shields were down and I was picking up overtures of friendliness from her. For the moment, I accepted her at face value. Even if she were somehow masking her true emotions, she’d piqued my interest with that comment about Frisk.
I gestured toward the hut. “Do you have time for a cup of cafftea?”
I’d noted she was tiny the day before, but now I saw she was downright petite, with hazel eyes, café au lait skin and a dark cap of short hair curling around her face. When she smiled, her eyes sparkled. “I’ll make time.”
“Then please, come in.”
Junior looked vaguely alarmed when she followed me to the hut, but I smiled assurance at him and he settled down.
“Have you been working with Frisk long?” I asked as I punched the button for two caffteas.
She straddled one of the bench seats at the table. “Six months now. Dynatec replaced our regular captain and our chief science officer at the last minute. None of the crew were too happy about it. Captain Morgan was a great guy, a real jewel to work with.” She shrugged as I slid a cup in front of her. “Not that we had a choice. You take what you get with Dynatec. Frisk can be a real ass, but I’ve seen worse. At least he stays busy romping with Quilla and leaves us alone to do our job.”
“Quilla?” I tried to sound casual. That name wasn’t included on the ship roster I’d received, a sure sign Dynatec didn’t want us to know about her. Chances were good I’d just found Frisk’s superior.
“Yeah, Quilla Dorn.” She sipped from her cup. “She’s the other new crew member, although we’ve yet to figure out exactly what her job is. She came on board at the very last second, and spends all her time entertaining Frisk.”
Oh, yeah. She was the one, all right. “Max?”
“Checking,” he responded.
I nodded. “How’s the mapping going, Lieutenant?”
“Slowly. It’s a big planet and we have to cover most of it on foot.” She smiled. “And please, call me Claudia.”
“Claudia. I’m Kiera.” I cradled my cup in my hands and settled my elbows on the table. “Doesn’t Dynatec provide you with mapping drones?”
A frown flickered across her face. “Not this trip.”
Apparently I wasn’t the only one puzzled by Dynatec’s refusal to take advantage of modern technology. “It doesn’t look like you’d get much of the planet mapped if you have to walk to a new location each day.”
“Oh, we don’t walk. We take a sled to the last place we marked and start from there.”
“Redfield said the Buri always follow you. Don’t they have trouble keeping up with a sled?”
She laughed. “They don’t try. It only took them one day to figure out how we operate. Now the two assigned to my team just stay at our last location until we come back the next day. Gorgeous, aren’t they, though? Any one of them could make a fortune as a holovid star. Especially wearing nothing but those loincloths and thigh-high boots. Not to mention the gold bracelets. There’s nothing sexier than a well-muscled arm highlighted by hot jewelry.” She fanned her face with one hand. “I hope you find a way to save them.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Won’t that cut into your profit?”
“Of course. But I’m not so mercenary that I could still sleep well at night knowing I’d gotten rich off the extinction of an entire race. And I’ll get my usual pay no matter what your decision is. I can live with that.”
She drank from her cup, her gaze going to the door. “You know, if this place is ever opened up for colonization, I wouldn’t mind settling here permanently.”
“If the decision goes against the Buri, that could be a long time happening. Colonization won’t be allowed until the last surviving member is gone.”
“I know.” Her smile turned wistful. “That’s another reason I want you to find a way to help them.”
I really hoped Claudia was on the level, because in spite of her employer, I couldn’t help but like her. And I could always use an ally in the enemy camp, so to speak.
I’d been created to be flexible, to make snap assessments and rely on my own judgment. In other words, be a doer. Abruptly, I made an executive decision. “Claudia, Dynatec is up to something big. I don’t know what it is they’re after yet, but I’m pretty sure they won’t hesitate to wipe out the Buri to get it. If I’m going to stop them, I’ll need all the information I can get.”
She started to speak, but I raised a hand to stop her. “Before you say anything, I want you to know this could be very dangerous. If they’re willing to kill an entire race, they won’t quibble over doing away with one woman. At the very least it would probably mean the end of your career with Dynatec.”
Her gaze met mine steadily, and I could feel her weighing the pros and cons against her personal code of honor. Finally, a sigh lifted her chest and she took a sip of cafftea before answering. “I’d never be able to live with myself if it turns out you’re right and I stood by and did nothing. What do you need?”
“Since you’re head of mapping, I’m assuming you have access to the computers?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “And I’m good with computers. I input our data every evening as soon as we return.”
“Okay, I want you to look for files on the Buri and Orpheus Two, or anything that looks unusual or suspicious. Try to be careful, but if you need help head for Max. He’ll protect you.”
I gave her a comm unit code that Dynatec wouldn’t be able to monitor. “Use that to contact Max if you find anything or want to get in touch with me.”
I reached across the table and touched her hand. “And Claudia, I promise you’ll have an even better job with Alien Affairs when this is over.”
“Thanks.” She put her cup down and stood. “Well, I need to get back before my team comes looking for me.”
Guilt tickled my stomach as I escorted her to the path and watched as she headed around the lake toward the Dynatec camp. I really hoped this turned out well, that I hadn’t made a big mistake.
I pushed the feeling away and thought again of the Dorn woman. “Max—”
“Nothing on Dorn yet, Kiera. I’m still checking.”
“Okay, let me know the second you find anything.” I turned to follow the path back to my huts and promptly collided with a solid wall of warm, clean-smelling, very muscular male.
Either I’d been concentrating so hard that my super-sensitive ears hadn’t heard his arrival, or the big guy moved with preternatural quiet for someone so large. For some reason I thought it was the latter. I also felt an almost overwhelming certainty that, my GEP status notwithstanding, he was nearly as strong as I was.
The idea was a bit disconcerting, to say the least. I’d never before met anyone who came even remotely close to matching my abilities.
Getting a grip on my wandering thoughts, I stepped back and smiled as I waved one hand in greeting. “Hi there. Looking for me?”
With no discernible expression, he studied me for a full minute, then motioned with one hand and headed off in a westerly direction. Apparently I was supposed to follow.
Curiosity running rampant, I trotted to catch up with his long-legged stride. We were moving parallel to my camp and away from Dynatec, staying inside the tree line. None of my guards came with us, but a few dragon birds tagged along, watching our every move with interest.
Five minutes later he found what he was looking for. We stopped on the sandy bank of a small rill. The dragon birds promptly moved upstream a bit and dived into the
water, splashing for all they were worth.
I was looking around, wondering what we were doing here, when Thor squatted and brushed the debris away to clear a wide swath of sand. Picking up a small stick, he drew an oval and put a stylized, intertwined DT in the center.
Surprise ran through me as I recognized Dynatec’s corporate symbol. It was on the crew’s uniforms and on their ships, so apparently he was familiar enough with the logo to reproduce it.
When he was done, he pointed at the drawing, pointed toward the Dynatec encampment, and then gestured at me, his brow arched in question. There was no doubt in my mind that he was asking if I were a part of their group.
I shook my head in denial, then took his stick, knelt next to him, and made my own drawing, this one far away from the Dynatec symbol. It was the same Alien Affairs logo that was on my pocket, depicting the three suns of Alpha Centauri, and I drew a wall between the two sketches.
After giving him a second to study the drawing, I tapped him on the shoulder and waited until I was sure I had his undivided attention. Keeping my movements abrupt, almost angry, to indicate decisiveness, I tapped the Dynatec logo, jabbed the stick toward their camp, then did the same with the Alien Affairs logo. Only this time, I pointed toward my pocket, and when I was done, made a slicing gesture with my hands and broke the stick in half. Then I flung the two parts in opposite directions and looked at him expectantly.
He watched intently and then turned his gaze back to the drawing. I could literally feel his thoughts turning rapidly as he processed the information I’d given him. When he looked back up, he was smiling and a feeling of relief flowed from him.
Not only did he get that I wasn’t allied with Dynatec, he believed me. And I was more than a little stunned at how important that was to me.
I was mentally backpedaling, reminding myself of my vow to stay away from males when he rose lithely to his feet and extended a broad well-formed hand to me.
Dear Goddess, was I blushing? I’d never had anyone but the boss treat me with such chivalry before.
Grimly, I took his hand and rose, then pulled away and dusted off my knees to give myself a second. When I was done, he grabbed my hand again, gave it a gentle tug, and pointed toward the Buri village. His invitation to visit couldn’t be plainer, but I needed some equipment before I could take him up on it.
Once more I shook my head, this time pointing back toward my huts. “I really want to visit your village, but I have to go back to my camp first.”
He watched my lips moving and then raised his gaze to meet mine. Immediately the same buzzing I’d felt last night started, and I couldn’t stop my smile. Instead of reacting with shock as he had the first time, I picked up a sense of acceptance mixed with an underlying excitement, almost a feeling of fulfillment.
Slowly he lifted a hand and two long, strong fingers ran gently over my cheek in a sensual caress.
And then he was gone, leaving me in stunned confusion, wondering what had just happened.
As soon as I got back to camp, I went into the storage section of the hut and filled a couple of knapsacks. Now that I had an invitation, it was time I paid a visit to the Buri village.
All my buddies were standing at attention when I stepped outside, as if they knew what I had planned. Even Crigo rose to his feet. When I headed northeast, toward the Buri village, they all fell in behind me, including a large flock of dragon birds, but only Junior dared to get within spitting distance of the rock cat at my side.
We’d been walking a few minutes when Junior gestured at Crigo and growled something at me.
“Crigo.” I touched the cat’s head. “His name is Crigo. He’s a rock cat.”
I stopped and took Junior’s hand, pulling it down to Crigo’s nose. “Behave yourself, damn it,” I said when the rock cat’s ears flattened and a low growl rumbled in his chest. “Pretend you’re a bunny rabbit.”
He rolled his eyes at me, but politely sniffed Junior’s hand and then allowed the young Buri to stroke his coat. A murmur of excited voices erupted from the other males, and to Crigo’s disgust, they all had to take turns gingerly touching him.
When we finally got started again, they moved in closer, some going in front of me this time. “Here.” I slid one of the heavy knapsacks off my shoulder and handed it to Junior. “Make yourself useful.”
He hefted it in his left hand, keeping his right free for the spear that was never far away, and motioned toward Elder. The senior Buri angled to the left, leading us to one of the small streams that emptied into the lake Max had settled near. Since the banks were free of brush, the going was much easier and my thoughts wandered to the reactions the villagers would have to my presence. I needed to be ready for anything up to and including an attack. Since I didn’t dare injure any of them, my actions would have to be defensive and evasive, although I didn’t think being attacked was likely, given the basically friendly nature of my escort and the big guy’s invitation. On the other hand, the rest of the tribe hadn’t tried my cooking.
The Buri village sat at the very base of the largest mountain range on Orpheus Two. No gentle rise to higher elevations, this, but an abrupt transition from jungle to towering peaks.
The stream opened out into a small, rocky clearing where a waterfall spilled from a huge granite bluff, bounced off an outcropping halfway down, and ended in a crystal-clear pool. Dragon birds dove in and out of the water with playful splashes, then landed on the multihued vines that decorated the rocks beside the water. As soon as my flock spotted them, they dived into the fun with a vengeance, both groups warbling enthusiastic greetings like they were long lost friends, reunited at last.
I paused to watch, fascinated by the small creatures, and then glanced around at the buildings dotted here and there under the trees that circled the pool. Thanks to Max, I wasn’t expecting grass huts, but the buildings were even better than I’d imagined. What I found were dwellings that resembled the old single-story adobe homes of the Pueblo Indians. Altogether I counted about thirty of them, all one room, ranging in size from 16 meters to 5 meters. The windows and doors were covered in some type of cloth material that had been pulled aside to let air circulate. Pretty advanced for a developing society, I decided. There was more going on here than met the eye.
There was something else odd about the buildings, something that took me a second to put my finger on. They looked new.
“Max, can you date the Buri homes?”
“According to my carbon dating scans, the oldest are approximately ten cycles. Some are more recent than that. While carbon dating isn’t very accurate beyond ten cycles, there’s one that still hasn’t dried completely. It can’t be more than two or three months old.”
“The Dynatec exploration team discovered the planet ten cycles ago. And because I don’t believe in coincidences, it would seem the Buri built this place because of the exploration team.”
“It is possible.”
“Wonder where they lived before that.”
“I saw no indication of other structures, Kiera.”
“Okay, we’ll worry about it later. For now, begin recording.”
Elder strode to the center of the clearing and raised his voice in a loud string of growls and grunts. Before he was finished, Buri poured out of the jungle and the buildings, all of them tall enough to make me feel tiny by comparison, a condition that would take some getting used to.
Thor immediately caught my attention when he stepped out of one of the larger buildings, followed by a smaller Buri. Smaller, I realized, because it was a female, the first I’d seen among the Buri.
I examined her closely as the tribe gathered around Elder to stare at me. Her hair was as inky as Thor’s, and hung nearly to her waist in the back. Her face was exquisite by any standard of beauty. Lacking the facial hair of the males, her high cheekbones, full lips, and well-formed brow were clearly apparent.
His mate? A pang of disappointment went through me at the thought. My gaze shifted between them
. No, the resemblance was too strong. They had to be related. He didn’t look old enough to be her father, so she was probably a sibling.
Relieved in spite of myself, I made a quick scan of the rest of the group, looking for more females. They were easy to pick out, although there were shockingly few of them. Like the males, they were bare from the waist up, but instead of the leather loincloths and thigh-high boots, the women had ankle-high moccasin-type footwear and a band of material low around their hips. Through this strip was threaded a long rectangle of colored cloth that went between their legs and hung to their knees in the front and back. The females also wore gold bands, but instead of bracelets, theirs were worn around the upper part of the arms.
“Max, do you have a total population yet?”
“Counting the Buri who are guarding the Dynatec crew, sixty-nine. Eighteen females, fifty-one males.”
Damn. A population of fifty was considered the bare minimum for a healthy genetic pool, but I’d feel much better about their chances if the females equaled or outnumbered the males. And one of the women looked to be well beyond childbearing age.
Plus, there was another slight problem. According to the records the boss had given me, there were seventy Buri. What had happened to the one that was missing? Was it dead? It was the only explanation I could come up with at the moment. If it were anywhere in the area, Max would have found it.
My thoughts were interrupted as my contingent of Buri surrounded me while Elder gestured and made a speech to the rest of the tribe. Crigo, supremely unconcerned with the proceedings, bounded onto a rock beside the pool, yawned and curled up to sleep off his late-night snack.
Occasionally, one of my group growled an agreement with whatever Elder was telling them, and then quieted to listen. When he finished, they all turned to look at Thor.
The big guy seemed to be caught in indecision, because he continued to stare at me until the female next to him tugged at his arm and growled a question. His answer was short and to the point, and her eyes rounded as a gasp ran through the crowd.