Андрэ Нортон - Beast Master's Circus

In his office tent Dedran was considering recent events. It looked as if the patrol could be closing in on him. Nhara had sent a message. They'd found a spy in the guild. The man was dead by his own hand, too quickly for the guild experts to drain from him what may have been spilled. It might be safer if Dedran simply upped-ship. The Queen of the Circus was largely automatic. Liftoff at least could be done by one person alone. But first he'd stroll around the midway. See if there were any indications that he was being watched. He checked the time. Twenty minutes to midday.

Versha was on her way now with a six-peacekeeper squad, Anders, and Jared. In a hovercar behind rode Tani with Storm and Logan. They reached the midway, slipped into the crowd, and tried to blend in. Logan's gaze flicked about in search of Laris. He saw her with the tigerbats, Prauo sitting in the next cage, the door ajar. She saw them and nodded, leaving the cage to stand by Prauo, the big cat leaning against her shoulder.

Under the coyotes' prison Cregar sighed and slumped. One cage to go. He waited until the aisle between cages was empty of people, dashed across, and dived beneath the final cage. Above him Surra's ears flickered. She'd heard a sound. She could feel danger—and also in her mind there was the growing feel of her human getting closer. She was weak but not quite as weak as her warders thought. She dragged herself to lie by the door. Something was telling her Storm was near. She would be ready.

Cregar worked, hands flashing through the motion needed to defuse the cage. For Mali whom he'd loved. A parade of the dead and dying passed through behind his eyes as he worked. All the beast masters who'd fought Dedran's men. The beasts who accepted death rather than live without their human team member.

At first, locked in his agony of aloneness he hadn't cared. Had even been glad in a small mean way that they too should share his pain. But with the girl's arrival things had begun to change. She reminded him of someone; who that had been he couldn't remember. Only that he'd cared about her. He'd tried to stay aloof from Laris. But he'd diverted Dedran's anger or punishment from her more often than she knew. It felt right.

Then they came, Hing and her babies, and at last he felt something touch his mind and heart again. But each time he held them, felt channels open a fraction further, he felt as well the guilt for what he'd done. With emotion and earlier memories and teaching returning, he knew the pain he'd caused. Now his guilt for the things he helped Dedran do was all but unbearable. Superstitiously he feared that his returning gifts would be taken again if he made no repayment.

Maybe if he could save these, it would be counted for him. He could have his team again. He goaded his hands to motion. Faster. He had to finish and be away from here before anyone knew what he'd done. Boots halted beside the cage. In a soft, deadly voice Dedran spoke.

"Cregar? Care to tell me what you're doing under there?"

Cregar worked on for a moment before he replied. He could only think of one thing.

"I quit, Dedran."

"Do you indeed? But you know guild rules, once in—never out. If you didn't like it you shouldn't have joined."

Let the man keep talking, Cregar hoped. Let him tell me how clever he's been, how stupid I am. Anything. Just so long as I have time to finish this. Dedran didn't do the wiring himself. He had it done. If I finish he won't be able to repair it. The animals will live.

Dedran dropped to one knee, looking at what those racing hands had accomplished. He knew more than this idiot believed he knew. Well, well, he thought. So the fool really was trying to save the beasts. He chuckled patronizingly.

"A pity you've wasted all the work. But there's a dead-man switch with each of the special cages. Too bad. And a dead man should go with it. You can't quit, Cregar. I'm firing you." He produced the tiny deadly needier he carried and pressed the trigger button. Cregar arched in agony as the spray of minute missiles struck. Then he slumped.

On Versha's watch, the display finally ticked over to show midday.

Dedran bent to peer under the cage. Blood all over, the needle's scorch in the chest. That was the end of a traitor. He straightened, resolved that it was definitely time to depart. If this wasn't a warning he didn't know what was. He'd go to the ship, close it up quietly, and lift before anyone including the port officials realized what he was doing. The circus had served its purpose.

He could blame the traitor the guild had found in its own ranks for any failure of his own and Nhara's plans. He strolled toward the ship and was out of the beast cage rows before something made him slow to stare around. That was odd. The usual crowds were missing. They'd been there half an hour ago when he'd come out to walk the midway. Where had they gone in that time? He advanced cautiously.

At the gates two peacekeepers turned back those who would have entered. Those who left stayed out. In the half hour Dedran had been oblivious to this, almost all of the people wandering the sideshows and animal cages had departed. At midday most planned to be home and were ready to seek the gates. The time of the raid had been chosen for that reason. With Laris's information Anders had made a decision. He'd have the midway clear. He wanted no list of dead civilians if a cage was accidentally triggered.

Twice, circus people noticing the odd emptying of the midway had sought out Dedran to mention it. Each time they'd missed him. The first had looked in the office tent and gone away muttering. The other circus employee had missed seeing Dedran as he moved between the cages. That second man had felt a warning chill down his own neck, gathered his meager gear, and sought the gates. The peacekeeper presence had reinforced his decision to be elsewhere while something was happening. He faded into the watching crowd by the gates and left hastily.

At the far side of the cages Laris waited with Prauo. Logan stood with her. Storm walked up to them briskly.

"Versha says that's most of the civilians out of the area." He turned to look up at Laris where she sat in the cage doorway. "My team. What do you know about them?"

She looked away, her voice a whisper. "I'm sorry. I was too afraid for Prauo to tell you before. Are you sure they have Dedran?"

"Not yet but they will." He frowned. "He was seen only a short time ago. He's still here. Don't worry, Laris, Anders will arrest Dedran the minute he's seen. So, talk to us. Where are my team?"

"In secret cages. Some of the bigger ones have special hidden compartments."

"Show me!" he commanded. Tani had arrived in time to hear much of this. She took Laris's freezing hands in hers, rubbing them gently. The girl was still so afraid of her owner, Laris needed to feel secure, to be soothed a little.

"Don't be afraid. We're all here. I promise, Laris, Dedran won't come near you, Storm will protect you. Are my coyotes unhurt? What about Surra and Hing and the babies?"

"Hing and the babies are all right. The babies are growing and everything. Your coyotes are fine, Tani. They were mad at me but I made sure they had good food and clean water. I kept Dedran away from them." Tears began trickling down her face. "Surra was so badly injured when they stole her. I kept her alive. I kept telling her that Storm would come for her. That I'd save her. I wouldn't let her die. She's in this end cage."

Storm would have looked under the cage for the circuits. Laris pressed the back panel in the sequence which opened it. Before anyone could prevent it, Surra fell out into Storm's arms. She was skin and bone with wasted muscles and fur roughened by her illness, but she was alive. Tani was stooping by the cage.