Peter Hamilton - The Temporal Void

The cliff top it is, then.

As soon as he left the wood he spun a concealment around himself, becoming no more than a dense wisp of dark air. His farsight swept out, alert for any hint of danger.

Just as he'd suspected, there were fastfoxes acting as sentinels above the cliff. They were curled up amid the boulders littering the long grass, wide awake, sniffing the night air for foreign scents. He reached out with his longtalk, and began subverting their orders, coaxing them away from their obedient attentive state, allowing them to stretch and settle down comfortably, scratch their hides and groom some of the day's mud away. A sensation of contentment began to percolate through their thoughts. When one finally registered his scent, it dismissed the intrusive smell as being an irrelevance.

There was a lone human watcher standing near the edge of the cliff. He was concealed, but Edeard could sense his farsight washing back and forth intermittently. Once he'd worked out the approximate location, he used his own farsight to gently prise apart the concealment. The bandit was revealed, with the customary twin belts of ammunition boxes across his chest, and a repeat-fire gun on a strap over his shoulder. There were also several knives and blade discs in various pouches. He even had an ordinary pistol. For all his toughness and weapons, he hadn't noticed how slack the fastfoxes had become. His thoughts remained blissfully unsuspicious.

Edeard picked a section of the cliff eighty yards away from the bandit, and crept forward.

'Nine of them? Topar asked. 'You're sure?

'Yes, Edeard said for the third time. 'One on top of the cliff controlling the fastfoxes. Five asleep below an overhang, and the one we followed settling down for the night. Then there's two watching the gullies, both concealed. There's also two fastfoxes in each gulley. I saw five ge-eagles, and nine terrestrial horses.

'What about supplies? Larby asked.

'A pile of sacks and bags, probably enough food for three weeks at least. And three boxes of ammunition. They're not done with raiding yet.

'Bastards, Verini growled.

'So can we take them? Topar asked. 'They outnumber us.

'By one, Fresage said dismissively. 'And we have surprise on our side.

'I think it's possible, Edeard said. 'We'll need to approach down a gully. I can keep the fastfoxes calm long enough for us to get past them. The trouble will be the three watchers, they longtalk each other all the time. As soon as one is taken out, the others will know.

'So we have to be within striking distance of the camp when that happens, Topar said.

'I can take out the three watchers fast enough, Edeard said. 'But I can't guarantee they won't call out; so you'll have to deal with the others. Especially if we're going to take one alive.

'I'd prefer to take two of them, Topar said.

'Can our ge-wolves tackle the fastfoxes? a mildly apprehensive Dinlay asked.

'We can't take them with us, Edeard said. 'That's a whole new instinct I'd have to soothe out of the fastfoxes, and a much stronger one than human scent. We have to keep this as simple as possible.

'Lady… fastfoxes.

'They look fierce—

'Look!

'They are fierce, but that's all they've got. Don't waste time trying to shoot one, especially not in the dark. Heartsqueeze them, or pulp their brains. It barely takes a second to kill one. Fear is their only ally.

'Oh Lady, Dinlay groaned.

'Can you do this? Topar asked with quiet authority.

Dinlay took a breath, managing to appear quite offended. 'Of course I can do this. It's only a fool who won't admit his worry.

'Good. I want you to take out the two fastfoxes in the gully as soon as Edeard deals with the watchers.

'Certainly.

Larby glanced up at the sky. 'Do we do this now?

'No, Topar said. 'It's only a couple of hours until dawn, and we haven't slept. We spend the day laying up here in the woods and resting, then tomorrow after midnight we strike.

Edeard had never felt so apprehensive before. All those times he'd sneaked into the House of Blue Petals, rescuing Mirnatha, arresting Buate, even facing down Bise atop his mansion; he'd known and understood what he was facing then. This was different, the bandits were an unknown, and he certainly wasn't as confident as Topar they could bring this off. It would only take one little mistake to alert the watchers, and then they'd be fending off nine rapid-fire guns.

At first light, three of the bandits left their camp, with ge-eagles orbiting high above them and fastfoxes trotting obediently alongside. One of them even sneaked through the edges of the wood where Edeard and his companions were encamped. Thankfully they were well hidden beneath the boughs, and his ge-eagle never spotted them as it flew overhead.

One of the bandits headed back to the pass at the side of Mount Alvice, while the other two went off in completely different directions.

'Picket duty, Boloton decided. 'They're making sure nobody gets close. We were lucky.

'No, Verini said. 'They're good, we're better.

'We'll know tonight, Macsen said sagely.

Edeard didn't manage much sleep during the day. He was

restless, his mind going over the plan again and again. It all depended on how fast he could eliminate the three watchers. That's if they only have three watchers. Suppose they change the pattern each night? I would. No, I wouldn't . He eventually fell asleep in the afternoon.

Larby woke him. 'They picket guards are on their way back, he said as Edeard blinked up at the darkening sky. Buluku was already visible, its swaying violet length beset with waves of electric-blue light. Odin's Sea was rising above the eastern horizon, several scarlet spikes crowning its blue and green nucleus. He found its presence strangely reassuring. I wonder if Boyd has reached it already?. Probably not. Who knows how far away it is ?

There were an unusual number of stars in evidence, twinkling away in the wide gaps between the nebulas. At least Honious hadn't appeared in the firmament. The way Edeard was feeling he would probably have taken that as a bad omen. Stupid, because the sky is just the sky no matter what .

They ate together, munching their way through half-stale bread and some cold pasties followed by dried fruit. However, Topar did allow them to use the Jamolar oil stove to heat some water for tea and coffee. They were too far away for a fastfox to pick up the scent.

'No one else left or joined during the day, Macsen said. 'So it's just the nine of them.

'You sure it's only nine? Fresage asked.

'I counted nine, Edeard assured him.

'I want everyone to oil and check their pistols, Topar said.

Edeard was thankful for the distraction, even though he knew he was sure he'd never use the weapon. His third hand was all he needed. But he went through the routine anyway.

Just after midnight, Topar led them out of the woods. It took them an hour to retrace the route Edeard had taken the previous night, moving slowly and cautiously. As they reached the end of the gully they linked hands before summoning up a concealment. Both Larby and Topar had insisted this was the best way of keeping in contact, whispers and strong farsight might be detected by the watchers. It was a strange sensation; Edeard could feel Dinlay's hand in his, yet if he glanced back he could see only a blur of darkness.

Edeard walked forwards very slowly, using the weakest farsight he could to check the ground for tripwires or any other alarms. As he did so, he began to feel uncomfortable. A tremor ran through him. Something wrong .

The boulder-strewn walls rose sharply as the slope carried them down towards the bandit camp. Soon the steep walls were topped by imposing rock cliffs. Below their feet the ground was turning damp. Nebula-light revealed a meandering channel with thick reed tufts growing out between the stones. Edeard's trepidation grew with every step. Cold had claimed him now. He knew what this feeling was. The same as that night in Ashwell, the same as the entrapment atop the tower in Eyrie.