Slave (30 page)

I still had enough wits about me to know that such a thing was impossible. Technology had come a long way, but short of a laser blast that could actually vaporize a person, there was no magical transporter beam that could do what the old science fiction writers had imagined. Cat had either gone off somewhere under his own power, or someone had taken him.

The thought that he might have been taken straight to a waiting starship had me scared shitless, but there was no place nearby to land one, and I knew all the sites that the smugglers used—had studied the maps for months, remember?—and there were none that were any closer than a two-day ride to reach. Of course, a land speeder of some sort could take him there a lot faster, but I doubted that anyone could have flown in, nabbed Cat, and then flown out without being noticed—they weren’t
that
quiet, and in an area where the primary form of
transportation was either horses or on foot, people didn’t come and go very quickly.

The thing that kept creeping back into my mind were those damned Nedwuts we’d seen. Cat had killed two of them, and they might have circled back around and managed to be stealthy enough to sneak up on Cat and nab him. Alanna had said she would report them, but if they’d been caught, no one had mentioned it to me. It occurred to me that if the Nedwuts had simply wanted Cat dead, it would have been easy enough to do it from a distance if one of them was a decent sniper; though if that were the case, we’d have found his body. I couldn’t imagine that Nedwuts would have bothered to carry him off and hide him, for none of the ones I’d ever dealt with had been all that neat about much of anything.

I felt like I was losing my mind. My Cat was gone and I simply couldn’t function without him! Perhaps I shouldn’t have let myself get so attached to him, but Cat had promised that he would stay with me forever, though I’d never asked it of him. He’d decided to stay with me of his own free will; had even given himself back to me after I’d set him free. Still, he was a man, and what was I thinking to actually believe him? I knew better than to trust a man! It was why I’d been a loner for so long!

I was better off without him, I told myself. If I couldn’t trust him out of my sight long enough to saddle a couple of horses, then what good was he? Besides, I couldn’t live like this if I went nuts anytime he was gone for a little while! You see, Jack, I told myself, this is what comes of going against your better judgment and letting yourself fall in love! Honestly, I hadn’t felt this panicky
when Ranata had been kidnapped! She was my sister, and I loved her, though it wasn’t quite the same, but still, I was coming positively unglued and I didn’t understand why,
unless
….

Then, from somewhere in the back of my disordered mind, I could hear Delamar asking Cat, “Is she well bonded to you?” I hadn’t thought about him for some time now, but what else had he said? That being bonded to Cat—by which I’d assumed he was referring to the bond between master and slave—might not be enough, and then he had given Cat what he had called his gift. A gift that would enable me to track Cat over great distances should we ever become separated. I hadn’t believed it, of course; hadn’t felt the slightest bit different afterwards, unless you want to count throwing up, which, at the time, I’d considered to be a perfectly normal reaction to that aquamarine slime he’d pumped into my stomach—until now, that is. Unfortunately, what the little creep had failed to mention was that I would feel as though half of me had been ripped away when Cat wasn’t right there beside me—which was exactly the way I felt!

A very important part of me was gone and I felt empty and lost without him. It was horrible, maddening, and compelling. One thing I knew for sure, I had to find him, or I was going to lose what was left of my mind.

Of course, the creepy little Delamar really
had
lied about one thing, because his “treatment” hadn’t turned me into a bloodhound; I had no idea whatsoever where Cat might be located and hadn’t even the slightest clue as to the direction in which he might be headed. After about half an hour of frantic searching, I was tearing my
hair out in frustration and Ranata was beginning to be concerned for my sanity.

“Look, Jack,” she began. “If he’s gone, there’s not much more we can do about it right now. We’ll get help to find him, but you have to calm down.” She took me firmly by the shoulders and looked into my eyes. “Just relax. You have to relax, Jack, don’t think. Just let your mind drift.

Take a deep breath, now. That’s it, take it easy. Breathe.

Close your eyes and breathe. That’s my girl. Just breathe.”

Her voice might have been calm and soothing to my troubled mind, but I fought against it anyway. I simply had to find Cat! My dear, sweet Cat! I loved him so much I couldn’t live without him; he was a part of me now and I needed him! I felt like I was dying; that pain that had begun growing in my heart from the moment I realized he was gone had now swelled to the point that I thought my chest would burst wide open under the strain. Tears were streaming down my cheeks and I was in such misery that if I’d had Tex handy, I think I might have blasted myself into oblivion.

And then I felt it. I
was
dying; my heart was split-ting open and blood was pouring into my chest cavity from the gaping wound. I felt it filling up the space where my lungs should be and I couldn’t breathe anymore. It was so ironic, for after a seemingly fruitless and never-ending search, I had found my dear, sweet sister at long last, only to die right before her very beautiful blue eyes. For I
did
die, right there in Ranata’s arms.

Slave 221107.qxd 1/30/08 4:36 PM Page 275

I KNOW I DIED, FOR WHEN I WAS REBORN, I COULD HEAR

the sounds of weeping from my sister and her family, and Ranata’s tears were dripping onto my face. I was cold, too; more chilled than I could ever recall having been before, for the chill went right straight down to the bone— even the marrow had begun cool. The first breath of my new life filled my head with a cacophony of scents, but I seemed to know, unerringly, not only precisely what those scents were, but also exactly where the source of them was located. My eyes were not even open, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ranata still held me and that Alanna and her daughter and husband were standing to her right. Dantonio was kneeling behind Ranata with his arms around her. I could smell the fear and the sorrow that flowed from each of them, and I knew those emotions for what they were just as surely as if I’d seen their facial expressions with my own two eyes.

The horses. I could smell them, too—could even judge the distance from the stable where they were still chewing their hay to where I lay in the cool grass of the lawn that surrounded Ranata’s lovely home. Then I took another breath and I got a whiff of him, carried to me unmistakably on the wind.

Cat! I could almost see the line of his scent from where I lay. He had passed down the tall hill through the
jungle and was east of the town in the wilderness—and still moving away from me—with four Nedwuts! Their path would lead directly to one of the illegal landing zones. They were taking him offworld somewhere, and in space, I seriously doubted that I could track him—at least not with my nose. I had to catch up with them before they reached their ship, or he might be lost to me forever, and I’d spend the rest of my life searching for him, just as I had searched for Ranata. I had to get moving, and quickly.

My eyes opened at last, and Ranata gasped in surprise. “Jack!” she exclaimed weakly. “My God, you gave us such a scare! I thought you were dead! Are you all right?”

I took another breath and could smell the sadness and apprehension emanating from her, a scent that was now becoming mixed with the sweet aroma of relief. Just how I knew what all of these scents were, I have no idea, but it was as though I had been breathing them in all of my life and had simply never been able to label them. I sat up and stretched, noting that the chest pain was gone and not even the slightest hint of soreness remained.

But as I looked around, I noticed that something else had changed. My vision had always been good, but now, it was so sharp I could spot a butterfly on a flower a mile away. The images were so sharp, so crisp that they almost hurt my brain to interpret them. I figured that all of this would take some time to get used to, but I also wondered if the change in me was permanent.

As I turned to face Ranata, she let out a scream loud enough to curdle blood and which probably would have
awakened me even if I’d still been dead. “Your eyes!”

she whispered hoarsely. “Jack! What’s happened to your eyes?”

“Well, I can
see
a lot better, if that’s what you mean,”

I replied, surprised to find that my voice still sounded the same, “but are you telling me they
look
different, too?”

She nodded dumbly.

“They’re red!” Alanna whispered in amazement.

“The pupils are glowing red!”

“Well, I’ll be damned if that little creep wasn’t telling the truth after all!” I declared, getting to my feet. “Look, I know where Cat is now. I’ve got to go after him, but I can’t go like this,” I said, indicating my little see-through riding habit. “I need some real clothes and my pulse— shit! That’s right, I forgot. Cat’s got it. Well, I guess I’ll have to take that cursed Nedwut’s pulse rifle,” I grumbled. Of all the times not to have my trusty Tex in his holster, it had to be this one! “My horse,” I shouted. “I need my horse!” I ran down the path to the stable with the line: “
A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!
”

running through my head. I forget what ancient monarch had uttered those words, but I now knew exactly how he’d felt at the time, because I couldn’t get to one quickly enough to suit me. The damned Nedwuts probably had about a two-hour head start on me, and I would be lucky if I caught them before they got to their ship.

My only hope was that they might stop for lunch or something, never dreaming that I could track them as well as I could.

The tall chestnut was still standing there in cross ties with his saddle in place, and, after checking the girth, I
pulled it as tight as I could with my fumbling fingers.

The pulse rifle was still hanging from the saddle in its scabbard, and I took the one from Cat’s saddle, as well.

I was going in armed for bear—or Nedwut—and I wasn’t taking any chances on one of those rifles crap-ping out on me. I ran through the barn to where the droid was and palmed open the lock, thanking God once more that it hadn’t had a key, which Cat might also have been carrying along with my pulse pistol! I threw a shirt and my flight overalls and boots on over what I was already wearing, stuffed some food and miscellaneous supplies into the saddle bags, and then, bridling the big horse quickly, led him outside and leaped into the saddle just as everyone else came down the hill to meet me.

“Where is he?” Dantonio asked.

“Down the hill, headed east,” I replied tersely.

“Through the jungle.” I paused as I wheeled the horse around and pointed to a clear spot farther east. Damn! I could even see the ship from here! “They’ll be heading for the clearing on that ridge,” I said. “I’ve got to catch them before they get there.”

“Take the road,” he advised. “You’ll make better time than they will going through the jungle. There’s another road that goes in that direction at the base of the hill. You might even get there ahead of them. The jungle is very thick on this mountain, and will slow them down considerably. Plus, they have your Cat to deal with. They may be carrying him and not be able to move very fast.”

“I hope so,” I said fervently. “Thanks for your help, and thank you again for finding Ranata. She seems very
happy here. If I don’t return, you be sure and take good care of her. She loves you, I think.” I waved to Ranata as I galloped past and headed down the road to the town.

Now, galloping downhill has never been one of my favorite pastimes, and fortunately the road curved around the mountain so it wasn’t too terribly steep. I thanked God for my surefooted horse and rode like I’d never ridden before, but even so, it seemed like forever before I reached the foot of the small mountain that my sister called home.

I hadn’t lost much time in getting ready to leave, and I had been moving pretty fast since then, but I knew exactly how far it was to the ship and also how far the Nedwuts had traveled in the time it had taken me to get to that point. The trouble was, they were still a good two hours ahead of me, and I knew that my horse couldn’t run the whole way. To get there at all, I would have to let him walk at intervals. So, after a good long gallop on a reasonably flat stretch of road, I reluctantly reined him in and tried to keep my growing impatience from upsetting him. I took a sniff of him, noting that he didn’t smell exhausted, but he would if I kept him going at that pace for long. Actually, I thought he smelled rather pleased at the thought of a rest, but he had also enjoyed the run.

“That’s a good boy!” I said approvingly, patting him on the neck. “You’re one helluva guy, you know that?

When we catch up with Cat and have him safe, you’re gonna get the best dinner and rubdown you’ve ever had in your life! I’ll even give you a massage with some of that Marludian oil I’ve got in my pack. It’ll make you feel so good, you could go full out for another fifty
miles.” I kept talking to him, just to make myself relax and let him walk. I gave him perhaps fifteen minutes and then went on again at an easy canter.

The scent trail was surprisingly easy to follow; in fact, it was
so
easy, I wondered how in the world I hadn’t been able to do it before. I was certain that I could find Cat, and probably catch up to them before they got to their ship, but what I would do when I did find them, I wasn’t sure. I knew that stealth was a high priority, but having an army behind me would have been a nice touch, too. It occurred to me that I probably should have gotten a bunch of unchained, mean Statzeelian males to go with me. The Nedwuts would have been running scared then, and would undoubtedly end up feeling sorry that they were ever born. Of course, I planned on making them feel that way myself, just as soon as I caught up with them. I would jerk a big, honking knot in their hairy little tails for stealing my Cat! I’d had time to think about it by then, and I was even more pissed off than I was before, but at the same time, I was calm and I could think. I was doing something rather than floundering about aimlessly searching for him and I knew that I would not fail.