Андрэ Нортон - Beast Master's Circus

"Looting, of course," Baris drawled.

"Rev the engines."

"That'll bring her." He obeyed and the woman came running, her arms full of small plunder. Baris shifted a hand, the engines rose a note, and the copter lifted. Ideena took her seat and strapped in as the machine fled low and fast for the port.

"I found a few good things. Makes up for that jewelry we couldn't find on the native." She displayed her loot and Baris grunted approval. Cregar leaned forward and selected a ring from the pile. It was from old Earth, Cregar thought. Silver, with a flawed grass-green garnet as the stone. Some skilled gemstone-carver had etched that with the head of a cat in three-quarter profile. It seemed to look sideways at him.

"I'll take this. It isn't worth much and I know someone who'd like it." He saw their sneers. They thought him enamored of some woman. Nor did they recognize the work as Terran. They saw only the flawed stone. He smiled into the dark. Laris would be delighted by the cat's-head ring. He'd give it to her as recompense for his return and the loss of his stashed credits—and for her warning which had saved him a spear in the back. He'd have to tell her not to wear it if they ever returned to Arzor though. He dropped the ring into his pocket and sat back.

The copter raced the daylight as it hurtled across country. It beat the sun by a narrow margin. Dawn was showing dimly as it set down quietly behind the largest cargo shed. Cregar was first out. He peered about. A man approached and hissed softly.

"One is sent."

"One is found."

"Good. Dump whatever you have into these." Two men wheeled in large covered pallets and the raiders got busy. Surra went in, her bleeding stopped although Cregar didn't like the way she breathed. Dedran would be furious if another beast died. After that they loaded the uninjured but still stunned coyotes and meercats. That haul was good enough to temper rage. The meercat female would stay alive to care for her babies, and the babies wouldn't care where they were so long as they had their mother. What was more, the babies wouldn't be even loosely bonded to anyone as yet; he'd claim a pair for himself before any other person reached for them.

The man was nervously tossing them port coveralls. "Here, quick, put these on over your gear. Push the pallets up to your ship. Will it unlock as you get there?"

Baris nodded. "I can voice trigger it when we're close. It'll drop the ramp on command."

"Good. Take the pallets and coveralls with you. No time to leave them." He was checking the chrono on his wrist. "Go that way," he pointed. "Behind the shed and around from the other side. It puts you closest to your ship without being seen until you leave cover. Security will scan anytime now. You go the minute I say. You have one hundred fifty seconds to reach the ship before they see you moving. On my mark—" He held his hand across their path. Then, "Go!"

With Cregar in the lead pushing one pallet, Baris right behind him shoving the other, Ideena racing up to pass both men, they made for the ship. In his head Cregar was ticking off the time. Fifty seconds, a hundred. Baris called a hoarse order and the ramp began to lower. One hundred fifty seconds and from behind them a Klaxon howled. Ideena slowed to scoop up a stunner from the weeds. The ramp hit the dust and Ideena was first up, running for the bridge. Baris shouted an order as he and Cregar thrust the pallets up the ramp.

The ramp began to close behind them and the ship shivered into life as engines obeyed the final order. Beside him Cregar heard a clang as someone shot at the closing ramp. It snapped shut obliviously. He grabbed for ties. They'd have to up-ship right now. No time to sort out the beasts. Just hope they could lift before any heavier port security came into play. There certainly appeared to be a lot of activity in the main building. He could see lights coming on all over the place.

Someone was shouting at them with a loudspeaker. Someone else had fired up a laser cutter on a crawler heading toward the ship. He could see the ruby winking as it lit. Baris and Ideena weren't listening. They'd flung themselves into seats on the bridge, the engines were screaming, and even as Cregar threw himself flat the ship howled upward. Baris must be pulling five gravities, he thought dizzily. But at least he could think. They hadn't been shot down yet. He hoped the big cat would survive such a liftoff.

The ship cleaved sky, higher, higher. A vanishing silver splinter until it was gone. Below the port manager was resolving to make some very stringent inquiries. Her security shouldn't have been that slow. Whoever that bunch had been they'd had help from some at Arzor Port. She'd find whoever they were and make them sorry. The port was autonomous, but for an insult like that she'd work with the peacekeepers. Even the patrol. No one raped her port and walked away laughing.

On the High Peaks ranch Logan was drifting into consciousness. He hurt. He crawled bleeding from room to room unable to accept what had happened. Surra was gone, taken. So too were Hing and her babies. What was he going to tell Storm? He heard hoofbeats outside just as he slipped into darkness again.

In the Djimbut clan camp Tani stood shakily. She reeled toward the comcaller and gasped out a message. Then she sat limply waiting for her strength to return a little and her stun-headache to abate. The Thunder-talker joined her. They sat in silence, both outraged, both determined. This insult would be avenged. Neither as yet had realized that the coyotes had gone.

In the basin, Brad Quade finished breakfast and answered a call. He blew out a mouthful of swankee as he heard, dropped the cup, and ran for the door. Moments later his crawler left a plume of dust along the road toward the port. He drove with a reckless disregard for the road or his own safety. Kelson's copter came in overhead and settled on the first suitable spot. Brad's vehicle raced up.

"Talk fast, Kelson. What's going on?"

"You've been raided. I'm on the way to the Djimbut camp. Tani called from there. She says some copter came in during the night, attacked the Nitra. Stunned everyone, stole her coyotes, as much cat's-eye jewelry as they could find, and left again." Brad opened his mouth and was waved to silence.

"That's not all. The clan got four of the raider's men. I want to go there first and see if we can ID any of the bodies. They went on to hit your place at High Peaks. Storm commed in. He got back after line-riding to find Logan hurt bad; Surra and some of the meercats are missing." Brad sat. Then he spoke quietly.

"There's more, isn't there?"

"Yup, we lost the damn raiders too. Somehow they got back into the port and managed to up-ship. Port manager's going crazy. She swears they didn't do that without someone helping them and she's going to bring in the peacekeepers." Kelson eyed the big rancher. "Keep it together, Brad. Logan will be okay. Tani isn't hurt. We'll find out who it was and get the animals back."

"This ties in with those other reports."

"Seems likely. I have one of my men alerting other planet ports. We may pick them up elsewhere. The city security knows too." He grinned wryly. "I gather they aren't any happier about this than the port manager. Their officer here has made an offer to the port manager to bring in a deep probe and operator. Last I heard she was thinking about it. That's how serious she's taking everything."

"Guada's First-ship family too," Brad said absently. "Our families have been friends since then. I'd do the same for her." He lapsed into brooding silence again as the copter hurtled on.

It all fit together somehow. The dead beast masters, the missing beasts. The way in which the raiders had been able to arrive unnoticed and lift off again despite a closed port. They'd had a copter, he remembered. And left four men dead in the clan camp. Those would be places to start. With his teeth in the beginnings of a solution he'd not let go. A small deadly smile quirked his mouth. Nor would his kin.