Early Byrd (12 page)

Li bowed silently from the neck, face
impassive.

Then Rapput leaned back, expression
contorting in agony for a moment as he did so. "I'm badly hurt," he
admitted. "Worse than even I at first understood. Yet I've been
spared what you would call infection so far, and the food has been
good for me." He turned to Li again. "Colonel, I intend to walk up
that mountain on my own two legs. You can't possibly carry me." Li
tried to object, but employing his good hand in a very human
gesture, the alien waved him to silence. "If I can’t make it on my
own, I'll take other steps to ensure that I'm no longer a burden to
you. The recorder will prove it wasn't your fault, and I say now
for the record that all three of you have behaved not just properly
but nobly and in accord with the highest traditions of Gonther
household honor." He bowed slightly. "This is how it shall be."

Li shook his head. "I can carry you," he
repeated. "And I shall."

Rapput smiled. "You know no discipline, by
Artemu standards. Unlike most of my kind, however, I've come to
cherish independent thought in my subordinates." Then he held out
his hand, palm-down.

Li understood instantly what was expected
and edged over so Rapput could lay his hand atop his head.

"You're brave and tough, Colonel, even if
you weren’t entirely honorable in attempting to join my household
after having shared less than the full truth about your
background." He withdrew his palm and let Li go free. "I'll rest
until we get to the bottom of the slope and let this last meal give
me what energy it can. But after that I’ll either rise from this
stretcher and walk to the top or die trying. And that, Colonel, is
that. You couldn't stop me if you tried."

20

"That wasn't any good!" Tim hissed in my ear as we
picked up what gear was worth keeping and stashed it in the
pillowcases. "If he dies, I still think we'll all die."

"Rapput is right," I countered. "Li's
awfully strong. But there are limits to everyone."

"I don't know," my brother answered, setting
down his pillowcase and picking up his comforter. We'd spread it
out in the weak sunlight while we ate, but it was still so damp
that in places you could wring water from it. "They're going to
catch up with us today. I don't see how they'd not."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes,"
I reassured him, quoting one of Mom's favorite sayings. "You can
only solve one problem at a time. So far we've managed. "

Li insisted we ford the river right away,
first thing. "I scouted several miles downriver and saw and heard
nothing," he explained. "So for the moment, we can be fairly
certain the boat won't appear. We won't have that certainty later.
Besides, it's shallow enough here even for the boys."

It was shallow, all right. Tim and I had to
go in up to our bellies, was all, and our upper parts would've
stayed dry if my brother hadn't stepped on an uneven rock and
knocked us both over right in the middle of the deepest pool. We
both crawled out blue-lipped and shivering on the far side, and for
a moment I thought Li was going to risk lighting a fire to warm us
up. Then he frowned and had us strip buck-naked and huddle under
one of the comforters while our clothes dried in the still-weak
morning sun. We put them back on bit by bit as they were ready, but
the incident still ate up at least two hours and left us with
squishy, nasty sneakers sure to cause more blisters.

Tim and I looked at each other, but said
nothing. After all, there probably wasn't a clothes dryer for
hundreds of miles around.

We had to stop again for almost an hour when
the boat finally showed up. "Quiet!" Li hissed as the motor's
droning echoed up and down the valley. Fortunately we were already
deep in a patch of thick brush, trying to force a way through.
"Find a comfortable spot, fast! Then lay down and don't move or
make a sound until I say so!"

It was easy for Tim and I to comply—this was
basic hunting craft. But Li had to first locate a good place for
the travois then find another he could keep watch from. He barely
made it before the boat emerged from around a sharp bend, perhaps a
couple of hundred yards away. There were six men and a woman
aboard, all armed with either heavy hunting or military-style
rifles, and all of them wore what looked like bits and pieces of
uniforms. Each faced a different direction except for the driver,
who was free to twist and turn as he liked. A
shiver
went
up and down my spine that had nothing to do
with the cold.

I'd never been the deer before.

I scowled and shifted position, my hands
seeking the shotgun for reassurance. Tim and I would give them a
fight, by god! To say nothing of Rapput and Mr. Li!

Then it happened, as it inevitably had to.
One of the men shouted and pointed at where Rapput's stretcher had
been dragged into the stream. There hadn't been any way to hide the
tracks, though we'd all hoped it'd take them longer to find them.
The boat slowed and began to ease toward the far bank.

I looked up at Li, who by chance happened to
take that same moment to check on me. He smiled and held his hand
palm-out, meaning I was to wait. So I did, for what seemed like
forever as the boat found a snag to tie up on and all but the
driver climbed ashore and fanned out into the brush-patch we'd
camped in. Eventually one of them found where we'd slept and called
out in triumph. One of the others smiled and dog-trotted in his
direction . . .

. . . until a tree snapped upright, the man
screamed, and there was silence again.

I looked at Li, but his grim face told me
nothing.

Then another of the searchers shook off the
shock of the moment and took off running toward the man who'd
vanished. As he did so, another tree jerked violently, but this
time the booby-trap missed its mark. "Snare!" the man cried out.
"Or whatever the hell you call it!"

"Shit!" the woman shouted. "Don't move,
anyone, until—"

But I never heard the rest of it. Because
Li stood,
settled the
poles of Rapput's travois on his bleeding shoulders, and then
motioned urgently for my brother and me to move out.

"Wow!" Tim said later as we made more miles
up a caribou trail that led toward the base of the mountain Li had
chosen for us to climb. He allowed us to chatter, so long as we did
so in whispers. The wind was steady from behind us now, and Rapput
had assured us that he'd scent our pursuers long before they'd
overhear boy-whispers. "He was out setting traps all night
long!"

I nodded back. "I can see now why Dad's so
impressed with him."

Tim frowned, then reluctantly nodded.
Admitting there was anyone better than our father at almost
anything was heresy of a sort, yet Dad had chosen Li to go with us
for a reason, no? "Robert, my feet hurt something awful."

I reached out and wrapped my arm around his
shoulder for a moment. The fact was that mine were a mess too—we
were both bleeding with every step. Not only was our footwear
totally inadequate, but the dampness had rendered them even less
effective. Only Li's soles seemed up to the endless march; someday
I'd have to ask him how he managed that.

By now we'd skirted the two higher, more
vertical summits that were in our way, and I felt all climbed-out
just from that. Yet there in front of us stood a peak that, while
hardly a standout among the local group, was easily half again as
high as anything we'd ever attempted back home on the ranch. I
looked Tim in the eye again, and for the first time ever saw my own
fears reflected back. He didn't think we were going to make it
either.

"The Gonther clan," Rapput eventually said
into the silence, "was originally born and bred among the highest
mountains of our homeworld. They were only marginally habitable. We
were poor beyond measure—there was little game and even less arable
land, which was subject to an irregular climate that varied
enormously from year to year. To this day our build is leaner and
more sinewy than that of other Artemu. This is the result of ten
thousand generations of starvation. The only crop we could raise
was the beta'l bean, which permanently stains one's teeth a
ridiculous shade of violet when eaten regularly, and causes an
enormous amount of flatulence. Today we consume it only at
ceremonial events." He sighed. "We were also surrounded by tribes
as fierce and aggressive as our own. It's a miracle we survived,
much less triumphed over the rest of the planet."

"What happened?" Li asked. "That Gonther
ended up on top, I mean."

"Metals," he replied with a smile. "And
coal. We were good at keeping the secrets of manufacturing
high-quality weapons. Steam too, eventually. Our part of the
mountains were full of ores and coal near the surface. Once we had
the monopoly—"

"And how did you learn about metallurgy and
steam?" Li continued.

There was a long silence. "The wind veers,"
Rapput finally said, "and grows less certain. Perhaps we should
resume our hunter's silence."

"Of course," Li replied, though I could tell
he was dying to hear more. We humans still knew practically nothing
of the outside universe, much less Artemu history. And for the
moment, it seemed, we weren't to find out anything more.

Three hours later, I was more certain than
ever that we were done for. By then we'd scaled perhaps the lowest
and easiest third of what I'd privately named Mount Pain, and that
should've been a good beginning. Even Rapput, true to his word, was
climbing on his own and doing surprisingly well. But that was the
essence of the problem—it
wasn't
just the beginning. It was
well after dark now, and we were climbing solely by the light of a
full moon. The air was cold, cold, cold, and my sneakers were all
squishy again. This time, I knew, the wetting fluid in question was
blood. My feet were fiery balls of pain; the only parts that
weren't in agony were my toes, which were numb from the cold. Our
pursuers were closing on us; Rapput had long since sniffed them
out. Worst of all I'd collapsed a few hundred yards back and
blacked out; my cheeks still burned with the shame of it. As a
direct result Li had found us an indentation in the mountainside
that sheltered us from the worst of the wind, where we all sat
clustered around Rapput trying to warm ourselves at his expense. He
had my brother clutched tight to his chest. Timmy'd passed out
about ten minutes after I had and still hadn't come back around
yet.

"The boys are finished," Rapput observed in
a whisper. "They've been brave and come far. At least as far as an
immature Artemu could've, and without complaint. But they can go no
further. They've given all."

Li nodded. "We're not as resistant to cold
as your kind."

"Anatomy is anatomy—there are plusses and
minuses both ways. And you, Li? How do you fare?"

"I . . . Begin to be affected. But of all of
us, I remain by far in the best shape." There was a long pause.
"You should allow me to carry you."

Rapput shook his huge head. "If I must die,
I'll do so standing on my own two legs." Then he looked out at the
mountainside. "This niche is fairly defensible, no?"

Li's brow furrowed. "Yes. With proper
preparation."

"The boys can go no further," Rapput
repeated. "Not without a good long break, at least. And as you've
admitted that the cold has begun to affect you, I'll in turn
acknowledge that I can walk only so much further myself." He looked
up and down the slope again, considering. "This, I think, is a good
place to die. Or at least the best we're liable to find under the
circumstances."

Li scowled again. "Forgive me, respected
sir. But I was trained by experts to find ways to keep on living
and complete my mission, not places to die nobly."

"Hah!" Rapput laughed, reaching to slap Li
on the shoulder. "Brave, brave words, and so very human in
sentiment!" Then his features sobered. "What do you have in
mind?"

Li
pondered
the lay of the land, and then pointed. "They'll
attack from that stand of scrub over there, right? Once they locate
us, I mean. And, if I were doing it, they’d be supported by
long-range suppressive fire from those rocks. The crossfire would
pin us down and render us totally helpless. Then I'd charge with
grenades if I had them. Just plain rifles if I didn't."

Rapput nodded. "Primitive, but effective.
Probably best for ill-trained troops."

Li
smiled. "
We have several points of advantage. One is that
first they must find us in the darkness. Conditions are far from
ideal—they may never accomplish even that much. The second is that
we can predict where and how they'll deploy and make preparations
accordingly. A third is that you're far more physiologically suited
to night-fighting than we humans are. That always catches us by
surprise the first time, esteemed sir."

Rapput nodded. "As your suicidal
determination and tenacity in defense always caught us off-guard."
He frowned and drew the .45. "This doesn't fit my hand well. I'll
never be proficient, but it will suffice."

"It's highly effective at short range," Li
assured him. "You have seven rounds." He paused. "I can set up a
couple booby traps, and perhaps we'll come up with some other
twists as well . . . if we have long enough."

"It's a workable plan," Rapput agreed. "The
boys will benefit from some rest before the battle is joined—I
estimate we have at least an hour. With their help and our
expertise, this position can be held most of the night."

"But they’re . . . I don’t think . . ."

"They're warrior-youths of the Clan of
Gonther now," Rapput explained, as if to a child. "Honorable
bearers of arms. While allowance must be made for their physical
weakness, they've earned by their past actions a place in the line
of battle." He tilted his head. "Do you forget who freed whom from
captivity and thereby made this entire adventure possible?"