At Empire's Edge (17 page)

Cato hoped for the first but thought the second possibility was more likely because, even though they could fly, the Lir had to bring most of their supplies up into the mountains on angens like everyone else. Supplies which, ironically enough, they had probably purchased from the same merchants Cato had done business with over the last couple of days. In spite of its location inside bandit territory, the town of Donk’s Well had never been attacked by Lir raiders, and there was an obvious reason for that.

There wasn’t much to do while sitting around the campfire other than talk, so it was an opportunity for Cato to learn more about his traveling companions. It turned out that Phelonious had been the property of a retired roboticist, who having acquired three A-7276 carcasses, combined the parts to create a
fourth
machine, albeit without many of the built-in software restrictions that Imperial law insisted on. That explained why Phelonious was free to make his own decisions, cheat people out of their money, and generally behave the way Umans did.

Life was good at first, but all things must come to an end, as was the case when a financial setback forced the roboticist to sell Phelonious, who immediately ran away from his new owner. And it wasn’t long thereafter when the android fell in with bad company, which was to say Perat Belok, a Kelf who fled his clan rather than accede to an arranged marriage. “You should have seen her,” Belok said, his eyes glittering with reflected firelight. “She was uglier than Phelonious, too damned tall, and dumb as a rock! No wonder the bride price was so low! If the deal had gone through, my parents would have been able to save a lot of money. Damn them to hell.”

The temperature fell to well below freezing during the night, but that didn’t matter to Phelonious, who could increase his temperature by simply “thinking” about it, or the Kelf, who was equipped with a thick layer of fur
and
a miniature sleeping bag.

Phelonious didn’t need to sleep, so he volunteered to stay up all night, just in case someone tried to sneak up on the campsite. That was comforting, but Cato found it difficult to get much rest even with a sentry, and felt grateful when the sun finally rose.

The policeman had seen the con artists as little more than deadweight until then, but thanks to the fire Phelonious had built, and the breakfast that Belok produced, Cato was feeling better about the strange twosome by the time the three of them hit the trail.

With the heavily laden robot walking ahead, Cato shouldered Belok, and carried the new rifle at port arms as he followed the path upward. And the strange thing was that the skeletal sniper’s rifle wasn’t just new to him, it was
brand-new
, meaning just out of the box. Judging from the way the weapon was set up, it had originally been intended for use by one of the Emperor’s Legions or a planetary militia. Perhaps Dantha’s militia. Which raised the question as to why such a weapon would be available in Donk’s Well. It was a question that would have been worth investigating had there been more time.

In any case, the rifle was light, powerful, and capable of hitting targets up to a thousand yards away, all of which made it a lot more useful in mountainous terrain than the shotgun would have been. Unless they were ambushed—when a good close-quarters weapon would be ideal. But there was only so much weight Cato could carry, and having no desire to arm his companions, he was limited to one long gun.

The morning wore on, and the trail grew steeper as they left the last of the foothills behind and found themselves on a raw trail that switched back and forth along the west flank of an enormous mountain. The people down in Donk’s Well referred to it as The Tooth because of its triangular shape. The Lir called it something that Cato was unable to pronounce.

And that was good, because according to the information Issit had given him, the lofty aerie called High Hold Meor was located about halfway to the top. That was the home of clan leader Hybor Iddyn, as well as senior warriors Pak Nassali, and Etir Lood. All were Lir bandits who not only took part in the attack on Station 3, but had engineered it on behalf of someone in Solace, a person or persons Cato was determined to bring to justice. Or, failing that, to execute on his own. Because one way or another, someone was going to pay.

The threesome paused around noontime so that Cato and Belok could eat a cold lunch before pressing on. The people who had been ahead of them the day before were
still
ahead of them, as evidenced by fresh angen dung and tracks in the snow. Phelonious claimed that the party included three Lir, leading six angens, but Cato had no way to know if that analysis was correct.

Cato was worried, though, because it would be easy to unknowingly overtake the caravan, and wind up on the losing end of a firefight. So he suggested that Phelonious scout ahead in hopes that the robot would be able to detect trouble before he walked into it.

The android agreed, and that left Cato to carry the supplies, while Belok scampered along behind. Climbing the steep trail was hard work, made even harder by a biting wind, and snow that grew ever deeper the higher they went. So it was something of a relief when Cato rounded a bend to find Phelonious waiting for him. It was late afternoon by that time—and the light had begun to fade. “They’re camped up ahead,” Phelonious announced, “and I was correct. There are three of them.”

“Lir warriors?”

Phelonious nodded. “They’re armed with assault rifles.”

Cato swore. “Damn! We can’t get past them. Not without being seen.”

Belok had arrived by then and looked from face to face. “Why don’t I go up and have a little chat with them? Then, while they’re talking to me, you can get into position. Once you’re ready, you can call on them to surrender. I’ll collect their weapons, and you can take them into custody, it’s as simple as that.”

Cato didn’t
want
the Lir to surrender but couldn’t say that, so he nodded, even though the prospect of being forced to cope with three Lir prisoners was extremely daunting. “That sounds like a good idea,” Cato allowed cautiously, “unless they start shooting. What then?”

“I’m pretty good at making myself scarce,” the Kelf replied confidently. “But if it comes to that, don’t miss. The metal man and I would be in a lot of trouble.”

“The fur ball is correct,” Phelonious agreed soberly. “The Lir would kill us—and it would be
your
fault!”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Cato said dryly. “All right, let’s stash the pack, and get up there before the light disappears.”

Having hidden the pack in a jumble of snowcapped boulders, Cato followed Phelonious up the slippery slope that bordered the trail in an attempt to flank the Lir and gain a height advantage at the same time. In the meantime, Belok had instructions to wait a full ten minutes before starting up the trail, since, even though his legs were short, the Kelf was likely to make much better time than Cato and Phelonious would. And, were Belok to arrive too early, there was the distinct possibility that the Lir might kill him before help could arrive.

So Cato felt a sense of urgency as icy scree slid away from his boots and clattered toward the trail below. Though he was not designed for the task at hand, it quickly became apparent that Phelonious was quite agile. The android’s servos whined loudly as he battled his way upward, using sturdy shrubs for handholds. The climb took time, and as they worked their way up the slope, Cato realized that a fifteen-minute head start would have been better. But it was too late for that now, so all he could do was concentrate on his footing, and use such handholds as there were.

Finally, having attained a ledge that would allow them to proceed in parallel to the trail below, the twosome was able to make better time. It was necessary to thread their way between shoulder-high evergreens that opened up like inverted umbrellas when the sun rose and closed into vertical shrubs when the temperature fell. The transformation had already begun by that time.

The ledge nearly petered out at the point where the mountain bulged outward. But by slinging his rifle over one shoulder, and choosing his handholds with care, Cato managed to follow Phelonious out and around the obstruction. If the android was experiencing something akin to fear, there were no signs of it, but since the empath couldn’t “read” machines there was no way to know what was going on inside Phelonious.

Cato’s right boot slipped while he was edging his way around the bulge. That forced him to shift his weight to the other foot as a dozen pebbles rattled away. What could have been a fatal fall was averted as Cato clung to the cliff face and focused all of his attention on selecting good handholds.

After they skirted the bulge, the ledge reappeared, and that allowed the twosome to make better time as a column of telltale smoke rose to merge with the sky ahead. By looking down, Cato could see a section of the trail, but there was no sign of Belok, which suggested that the Kelf had passed them by. That theory was confirmed moments later, when Cato and Phelonious arrived above the Lir campsite.

The shaggy pack angens had been unloaded by then and herded into a rustic corral, where they would spend the night. The fire, which was centered inside a ring of already-blackened rocks, was crackling cheerfully, and as Cato peered over the edge, he could see Belok standing about three feet away from it, talking to a contingent of three Lir warriors. It was impossible to hear any of the conversation, but Cato knew Belok was never at a loss for words, and could be counted upon to keep the bandits entertained for at least five minutes. But how long had Belok been there? And how much of that time remained?

There was no way to know as Cato brought the rifle around, worked a cartridge into the chamber, and was just about to call down to the group when Belok attempted to bolt. In spite of the claim made earlier, the Kelf wasn’t quick enough. A Lir warrior pounced on Belok by the scruff of the neck and hoisted him off the ground, as a second bandit drew a ceramic knife. “They’re going to kill him!” Phelonious exclaimed unnecessarily. “Do something!”

Cato already had the rifle in position by then and was staring into the telescopic sight as Belok’s feet kicked uselessly two feet off the ground. Then, as the crosshairs came to rest on the Lir’s temple, the trigger gave, and a sharp cracking sound was heard.

The bullet blew half of the warrior’s head away, Belok was drenched in gore as he hit the ground, and the echoes from the first shot were still being heard as Cato fired
again
. The Lir who had the knife staggered as a slug punched its way through his torso. He took two hesitant steps, and went beak down in the snow, as Phelonious shouted a warning. “Watch out! The third warrior is getting away!”

Cato looked up and saw that the android was correct. Having seen both of his companions gunned down, the third Lir had jettisoned his heavy assault rifle and taken to the air. The sole surviving warrior’s widespread wings made a characteristic
whuf
,
whuf
,
whuf
as he fought for additional altitude.

Cato swung the rifle to the right, waited for the Lir to fill the scope, and applied the correct amount of pressure to the trigger. There was a loud
crack
as the butt thumped his shoulder, followed by an accusation from Phelonious. “You missed!” the robot complained loudly. “Don’t let him escape. He’ll bring the entire clan down on us!”

Phelonious was right. Should the warrior manage to get away and reach High Hold Meor, he
would
bring the clan down on them. And there was absolutely no doubt as to how that conflict would end. Still, Cato wasn’t especially pleased with the robot’s tone, which was clear when he spoke. “Shut the hell up, and stand in front of me,” Cato ordered. “Or I’ll shoot
you
! And believe me—I won’t miss.”

Phelonious did as he was told, which allowed Cato to rest the rifle on the android’s left shoulder, and crouch behind him as the barrel tilted upward. The Lir had gained quite a bit of altitude by then, at least a hundred feet, but was still within range.

The light was fading, however, the warrior was hard to see against the gray sky, and there was no way to calculate wind speed. Still, Cato was pretty sure that the cold mountain breeze was blowing right to left. So, having made allowance for that, Cato aimed at a spot a few feet in front of the fugitive and fired.

The Lir seemed to pause, as if to take a rest, before spiraling down into the forest below. There was a momentary explosion of snow as the warrior hit a treetop, followed by what sounded like a pistol shot as a branch broke, and a soft
thump
when the limp body hit the ground. Three lives had been taken, and three lives had been spared, which, insofar as the majestic mountains were concerned, mattered not at all.

IT WAS NEARLY MIDNIGHT, SO THE SLAVES WHO
worked the day shift were in bed, and that included Alamy. There were twenty beds in the long, narrow dormitory, each having a thin mattress, two sheets, and a single blanket. A wooden footlocker was located at the end of each bed and used to store personal belongings. Not that Alamy had any belongings other than the items issued to her in the palace.

What little light there was emanated from the shared bathrooms that bracketed the main entrance, but having lain awake for more than an hour, Alamy knew they were empty. And that was important if she was to slip out of bed and exit the dormitory undetected. That would result in twenty-five lashes if she was caught because Hingo didn’t want to have off-duty slaves wandering around the palace at all hours of the day and night.

But dangerous though such an enterprise might be, Alamy couldn’t resist the pull of the seldom-used library, and the vast amount of material that could be accessed from there. By sitting down at one of four terminals, she could call up millions of books, videos, and the latest news summaries from Corin. Though weeks old by the time they arrived on Dantha, they were a source of fascination to a young woman who knew there were hundreds of Uman-settled planets but had never been to one.