reply.
“Very well.”
She took out her Ka-Bar and cut his belt and pants away down to his mid-thigh. She applied current directly to his genitals for ten seconds. The man convulsed and then threw up. He was sobbing and screaming before it was over.
“Who sent you?”
“The High Keeper.”
“Why did he send you?”
“Someone killed all his Northern Raiders. We were sent to…in-in-in-investigate.”
These men were not after me. They were after Tan'Vi .
“Why were you after these trackers?”
“We followed them from above the gorge. They were at both massacres.”
“Why did you attack my ship and murder everyone I love?”
“I don't know what you are talking about, Witch.”
He never saw the Ka-Bar coming. It entered the back of his skull to the hilt. After a quick twist, she pulled it out and cleaned it on his pants. When she was done, she ripped a section away.
“ Rand, I have withdrawn to ensure Tannhauser didn't panic. When he finally noticed me, he looked like he was going to gather up Vi and run. The Fly is back on patrol sweeps .”
Rand retrieved her helmet and stood.
Tannhauser was visibly shaken. When Rand knelt down, he shrank away.
“I'm not going to eat you.” She smiled as she wet a cloth from her water flask. She cleaned the blood from Vi's face.
Tannhauser stared at her as she worked.
“That t-t-thing...That beast...It does what you say?”
“Yes.” She continued her ministrations.
“Are you going to kill us?”
“No. I could use some friends. Now, gather the horses. I’m going to carry Vi back to the stone cottage.”
Without waiting for an answer, Rand lifted Vi, easily. Vi felt like a small, sleeping child in her arms.
The horses were very well-trained and did not run off, even with close proximity gunfire. Tannhauser gathered their reins, quickly, so he would not lose sight of Vi.
“Tan, did you know they were following you?”
“No, Keeper.”
“Please, just call me Rand.”
They got back to the cottage and Tannhauser tied the horses to the full water trough behind it. He rushed in and strung one of the hammocks. Rand gently placed Vi in it.
“Rand...how...the crossbow...? Are you alright?”
She remembered the bolt she had pulled out of her vest. The impact had been hard enough that the tip of the arrowhead penetrated all the way through the vest, somehow, and cut her slightly. She slid a hand in there to probe the wound on her sternum. Her fingers came away bloody. Tannhauser saw the blood.
“I'll be fine.”
Tannhauser's eyes grew wide.
“We need a fire and some hot water, for washing. The stew pot is out there in the yard. Then, see to the horses. I'll be right back.”
She left the cottage.
“Poole, meet me back at the bodies. We have some cleaning up to do.”
***
Poole collected the bodies and Rand found the last few horses; all but one.
The gear was collected on the horses and the naked bodies were dropped into a deep ravine, along with anything that was too bloody to keep.
Rand sat on an outcrop of stone, supervising the disposal and scanning the area with her rifle’s scope, on infrared, looking for heat signatures. With luck, she might find that last horse.
That was when she heard it.
At the same time, AI~Poole spoke to her, “There is a small ship coming in fast from the south.”
“Take cover, Poole,” she said.
She had a high spot in the rocks. The cloak was excellent camouflage. The sound of the ship grew louder and louder. By the time she realized that it was traveling in the ravine, it was too late to move.
She glimpsed it speeding along from the south and she ducked down. Then, it got real loud and stayed real loud.
She knew it was hovering in the ravine right in front of her. She couldn't believe she had been spotted.
In a smooth, practiced motion, she cleared the cover of her hiding place. She came to rest and acquired the target. Through her scope, she saw the pilot's profile. His mouth moved, probably tracking
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