Dragon and Herdsman

CHAPTER 26

On their previous days the group had walked carefully and deliberately through the forest. Jack and Alison and Draycos had tried to watch all directions at once, watching for ambushes and traps.

Today, all that was forgotten.

They ran. All of them, even the Erassvas. They ran as fast as they could, dodging trees and bushes, stumbling over roots and small hollows hidden beneath the matting of dead leaves.

And as they ran, one by one the brightly colored Phookas faded to black.

The rest of the forest animals were on the move, too. Small animals scampered around them, and at least two herds of hornheads went lumbering past in the distance. Large and small predators alike were also on the move, ignoring potential prey as they fled from the fire chewing its unstoppable way toward them through the trees.

And it was gaining. At first Jack had dared to hope that Frost was bluffing. But after the first five minutes of their mad dash he was able to hear the distant crackling of the flames whenever the group paused for a minute's rest. Slowly but steadily the sound increased until he was able to hear it even over the rapid swishing of their feet and his own hoarse panting.

He could smell the smoke, too, as the wind generated by the fire blew it ahead of the flames themselves. He had no idea how fast a forest fire moved, but already he could tell that they would have little margin for error. Clenching his teeth, blinking his eyes against the tendrils of acrid smoke burning at them, he focused on his footing—

And nearly ran into Hren as the Erassva suddenly stopped in front of him. "What?" he gasped as he managed to brake to a halt. "What is it?"

"There," Hren said, panting even harder than Jack as he pointed ahead. "The river."

Jack stepped around him. It was there, all right, glimpses of blue water between the trees. At the front of the group he could see Alison and Draycos talking together in low voices. "Stay here," he told Hren. "Try to keep everyone together."

Jack maneuvered his way through the crowd, automatically patting and stroking the heads of the more frightened Phookas as he passed them. Off to the side, behind some bushes, he caught a glimpse of Draycos's diversion tree, still bent over with the comm clip dangling from it. "I hope you two have a plan," he said as he reached Draycos and Alison.

"We must first see how the enemy is positioned," Draycos said, keeping his voice low. His green eyes glittered unnaturally brightly against his black scales.

"Then let's do it," Jack said. "Alison, stay here and watch the others."

"Watch them what?" she retorted. "Panic? Hren and Taneem can watch them do that. Give me the machine gun—we're wasting time."

Jack glared at her. But she was right, and the distant crackling of the flames was getting louder. Unstrapping the gun from his shoulder, he handed it over. "Now be quiet," she warned. She started forward, Draycos moving into place beside her. Jack followed, hoping it wouldn't be as bad as he feared.

It was. In fact, it was worse. A hundred yards north, the Kapstan transport was hovering fifty feet above the river. Its stubby wings were discolored from the smoke of the fire it had started, its nose and weapons pointed vigilantly at the forest where Frost expected them to emerge. Behind and above it, moving up and down the river like a roving patrol, was the floater.

And that was it. There were no ground troops on the river-bank that Draycos could ambush, no air or ground vehicles nearby they might be able to grab, nothing at all within their reach. Frost and his men would simply sit high up out of harm's way until their quarry came to them.

Or else died in fiery agony.

Jack looked at Draycos, a hard lump in his throat. "I guess that's it, then," he said as calmly as he could.

"Cork it, Morgan," Alison said tartly. "We're not finished yet. Draycos, how high can you jump?"

"Not as high as the transport," Draycos said, his tail making thoughtful circles. "But if we can lure it here, I won't have to. I can use the bent tree as a launching platform."

"Oh, I can get it here," Alison promised, hefting the machine gun. "The question is, once you're up there will you be able to disable it?"

"Probably not the transport itself," Draycos conceded. "The lifters are on the underside, and the power and control mechanisms will not be easily reached." He arched his crest. "But I do not expect the pilot will be nearly so well protected."

"Wait a second," Jack cut in as he suddenly saw where they were going with this. "You kill the pilot and the ship's going to drop like a rock."

"As long as the transport remains at its current height, I will be all right," Draycos assured him. "Especially if it stays over the river."

"I thought hitting water was like hitting concrete."

"It can be, yes," Draycos agreed. "But I know how to enter the water so as to minimize the risk."

"What if they go higher before you crash them?" Jack persisted. "You could be killed."

"That is a possibility a warrior must always face," Draycos said quietly. "I am willing to take the risk. At any rate, we have no choice."

"Sure we do," Jack said. "I can surrender."

"And then what?" Alison demanded. "You really think Frost will let any of the rest of us live? Okay, Draycos, we've got a plan. Go get ready."

"It will not take long for me to get to the tree," Draycos said. "It will be a better lure if we give them a chance to see me."

"Fine," Alison said. "Just don't hang around long enough for them to also get the range and start firing. Jack, you'd better get back under cover."

Jack took a deep breath. "No thanks. I'll stay."

"Don't be an idiot," Alison growled. "Aside from everything else, you're standing right where I'm going to be running in a second. Now, get back."

"Please, Jack," Draycos seconded.

Clenching his teeth, Jack turned to go.

And jerked as he found himself staring into a pair of silver eyes glowing from a black K'da face.

"Taneem," he breathed as his brain caught up with him. He hadn't realized she'd followed him up here. "Come on, move back. We need room."

For a second Taneem didn't move. Then, her eyes flicking to Draycos, she turned and padded back into the trees. With one final look at Alison, Jack did likewise. "Okay," he called.

Alison nodded. "Here goes nothing." Lifting the gun, she squinted along the barrel and squeezed the trigger.

For a couple of seconds the stutter of the machine gun drowned out even the crackling of the flames behind them. Alison paused, fired a second burst, then paused again. "Well?" Jack called.

"They see us," Alison called back. "Maybe trying to decide—here they come," she interrupted herself, lowering her gun and backing hurriedly away from the bank. "Make a hole, Jack."

Jack took another step backward, glancing over at the bent tree as Draycos slipped past him—

And caught his breath. Taneem was crouched on the treetop, gazing up at the incoming transport, the claws of her right forepaw poised over the vine rope.

Draycos spotted her the same time Jack did. "Taneem!" he barked. "No!"

Taneem twitched her tail. "You are needed," she said simply. "I am not."

And as Draycos leaped toward her, her claws sliced through the vine and she was catapulted upward toward the river.

"What's going on?" Alison demanded, crowding against Jack.

"Out of the way," Jack snapped, shoving past her and sprinting back to the river. Grabbing a branch for support, he leaned out over the water and looked up.

Taneem was there, all right, balanced on the Kapstan's portside wing. Her hind claws were dug into the metal for support, her forepaws slashing away at the side hatchway. Another minute, and she would be through.

"Have they attacked her?" Draycos asked anxiously from his side.

"They don't have to," Jack said, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Because Frost had clearly anticipated this move. Even as Jack and Draycos watched helplessly, the transport began to rise straight up into the air.

Locked up safe and sound in his transport, Frost was simply going to go high enough to ensure that his attacker couldn't survive, then turn over and dump her off.

"They will pay for this," Draycos said, his voice crackling with anger and bitterness. "All of them. They will pay with their lives."

"That won't help Taneem," Jack snarled back. The Kapstan was a hundred feet up now and still rising. "Think, blast it. There must be something we can do."

"How about a net?" Alison suggested from Draycos's other side. "Cut one of these vine meshes and use it to catch her."

"No time," Jack said. "Besides, as long as he stays over the river there's no place for us to anchor it."

"Probably why he's still there," Alison growled. "Any chance she'll know how to hit the water safely?"

"At the height they are at there is no safe way," Draycos said grimly. "As Jack said, it will be like striking concrete."

"Yes," Jack said slowly as an idea suddenly came to him. "If she hits the water."

Alison frowned at him. "What—?"

"Rope," he snapped, shoving her halfway around and grabbing at her pack. Getting it open, he scooped out her coil of rope. "Come on, Draycos."

Jack sprinted upstream, his feet making huge splashes at the edge of the water as he ran. "What are you going to do?" Draycos demanded from behind him.

"You'll see," Jack said, dropping his own pack off his shoulders as he ran, craning his neck to look up. Frost was still over the same spot, and still rising. They had to be getting close to two hundred feet by now. Jack looked down at the water, trying to estimate the current—

"Here," he decided, splashing to a sudden halt and flicking his wrist to send the rope uncoiling into the trees. "Grab the other end and hold on," he told Draycos as he tied the other end around his waist. Taking a deep breath, wondering if this was as insane as it seemed, he threw himself into the river.

The water was icy cold, but he hardly noticed. Kicking out, he sliced his arms hard into the surface, swimming for all he was worth.

"There!" he heard Draycos shout from behind him.

He paused and looked up. The K'da was right: Jack was now directly beneath the Kapstan. He turned around, treading water, putting his back to the low waves threatening to splash into his face.

And then, abruptly, the transport did a sudden midair roll around its long axis, dropping its portside wing to vertical. For a few seconds Taneem's claws held her to the wing. Then her grip gave way, and she tumbled off and dropped toward the water.

Jack swore under his breath, splashing himself into final position as he watched her fall. She had flattened out, he saw, turning her belly downward and stretching her legs out sideways in an instinctive skydiver's minimum-speed posture.

But it wouldn't slow her enough. Not from a fall of that distance. If this didn't work, she would be dead.

In fact, there was a fair chance she and Jack would both be dead.

But there was no time to think about that now. Pumping his legs to hold himself steady, Jack grabbed his left sleeve with his right hand and yanked it all the way back to his shoulder, leaving the arm bare. The more skin surface she had to aim for, the better. Lowering his right arm back into the water, paddling hard, he raised himself as far up as he could and stuck his left arm straight up. "Taneem!" he shouted. "Taneem!" She was dropping toward him like an avenging angel—

And then, suddenly, she shifted out of her flat posture, turning her body head downward. Her forelegs stretched out, pointing straight for Jack's face. The paws slammed into his arm like a falling boulder—

And as he was shoved violently down into the water, he felt her slide around his arm and down onto his back, the momentum of her fall driving him straight toward the bottom of the river.

For a long, terrifying minute he plummeted downward, the churning water battering against his face and body, his lungs fighting to keep in what air he had, the sudden increase in pressure stabbing pain into his ears. Something slammed up hard against his feet, knocking them out from under him and sending his back and head to hit only slightly less hard against sticky muck. His impact sent a surge of mud swirling around him, cutting off the faint light of the surface as the blow to his head sent stars flashing across his vision and scrambled his sense of direction.

But even as he fought against a rising surge of confusion and panic, the rope tightened around his waist, and he felt himself being pulled up and sideways against the current. The swirling mud was left behind; the glow from above returned and grew stronger—

And suddenly his head broke through the surface of the water.

"Jack!" Alison shouted.

Gasping in a lungful of air, Jack shook the water from his eyes. Alison was knee-deep in the river, she and Draycos together hauling him in by his rope. "Are you all right?" she called.

"Yeah," he managed, a fresh burst of adrenaline surging through him as he looked up. With all of them now out in the open like sitting ducks, all Frost had to do was drop back down to treetop height and open fire.

But the transport wasn't moving in for the kill. In fact, as Jack's eyes darted around the sky, he couldn't find either it or the floater anywhere.

He looked back at Alison and Draycos in confusion— "There," Draycos said, nodding his head downstream.

Jack looked, to find the transport was indeed in that direction.

But it wasn't flying, and it was definitely not interested in shooting at anything. It was lying half-submerged in the water, spinning slowly around as the current dragged it eastward. The floater was there, too, hanging on to the transport's single visible wing, clearly trying to keep it from sinking the rest of the way.

He frowned back at the others . . . and then, slowly, his waterlogged brain understood.

He turned his head in the other direction. There, also half-submerged, was something that looked like a frozen bulge of water sitting in the middle of the river. Even as he watched, the bulge faded away, replaced by the familiar bulk of the Essenay, its lasers pointed watchfully toward the crippled Kapstan.

"What do you know," he heard himself say as Alison grabbed his right arm and started pulling him up onto the bank. "I guess the chameleon hull-wrap does work underwater."

And then she took hold of his left arm, and a sudden flash of pain arced through him, and everything went dark.