John Ringo Alldenata 05 The Hero (with Williamson, Michael)

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the bark of a tree, resisted for a moment, then skewered it. It thrashed
angrily.
Quickly, he pulled the releases on his ruck's strap, let it drop, and turned
to impale the other pest. With
soft ground underneath, he wasn't able to pierce it, but it did stumble off
quickly.
Ferret panted for breath, suddenly wider awake than even the drugs had made
him, a warm flush of adrenaline coursing through him. He whipped his head
around to see if there were any others nearby.
It was clear. He carefully resheathed his knife, took a quick glance at his
boot and was reassured that integrity was good, even if the tough surface was
badly scored and peeled. Then he reattached the clips on his pack, shouldered
it, shrugged it and adjusted it. Of course, just for a minor annoyance, he
couldn't get the straps back to the original position. It rode differently on
his shoulders and would take some time to get used to. But he was alive,
mostly unhurt save for a skinned knuckle on his already bug-bit hand and a
sore hip, and was up and moving again at once.
* * *
It was fear that drove Dagger to call Ferret, though he would never have
admitted it. Just the sound of a human voice, or, even if Ferret refused to
answer, the knowledge that he was there, reduced his fear of this black hell
he was moving through. This black hell that turned bright and grainy under
enhancement, fronds and branches reaching out like wings or arms to grasp at
him, brush at his legs, or worse, his head.
His teeth were clattering and his knees shaking, but he pressed on. Damn that
Darhel, he had to catch that little freak, or this was all a bad screwup to
try to explain. He'd catch a firing squad if they convicted him, and without
the box for assets, he had no way to get out of the Republic.
"Ready to give up yet, Ferret?" he asked. Just the act of talking made the
fear retreat slightly, as it emphasized his humanity.
There was no reply, so he continued, "You know we're going to flank you and
kill you, you crippled little loser."
Still nothing.
"But I want to be fair, Ferret. Tell me who to send regards to, and I'll tell
them you died bravely."
At that, there was a response. "Bravely how, Dagger?" Ferret's voice was
angry. Good. Dagger could almost hear the teeth grinding. "Bravely against
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you? Or are you going to blame this on the Darhel and kill him, too? Because
you sure as hell can't blame this on the Blobs and be believed."
Dagger had no immediate reply, and hesitated just long enough. Ferret
continued, "That's it, isn't it? He's not really your ally, he's a
convenience."
Dagger snarled. This wasn't the way he'd planned it.
But Ferret was still talking. "I wonder if I can convince him of that? Hey,
Dagger? Be awfully bad for you if we started hunting you instead, wouldn't
it?"
That he could respond to. "Not at all, Ferret. I don't mind superimposing a
target on your face and watching the splatter. Be good for a laugh. And you
don't think a fucking Darhel is going to give me any trouble, do you? Do you
imagine he's going to believe you? 'Oh, I haven't spoken to you yet, but I'm
really on your side.' That will fly."
"Him? Trouble? No," Ferret replied. "But I can stalk you better than you can
stalk me. And you have to sleep sometime. I don't really need to talk to
Tirdal, anyway. I know where you both are. Later, asshole.
The next sound you hear will be your chest exploding."
Dagger growled again and decided he'd better talk to Tirdal quickly. If he
could keep these two afraid of each other, he could play them off.
"Hey, Tirdal," he called.
"Yes, Dagger? Are we done with insults?"
"For now, Tirdal, for now," Dagger said, grinning even though no one could see
him. "I have a surprise for you."
"Oh? A gift of some kind? What's the occasion?" Tirdal was doing his best to
sound light and cheerful, almost human. With that deep, slow voice it didn't
work well. Instead, it was ghastly.
"Sort of, Tirdal," Dagger said, nodding to himself. "Ferret is still alive and
is right with me. You recall how well he can track?"
"Interesting, Dagger. You realize, of course, I find that very hard to
believe. If you really had an ally, I
would have been flanked in short order, or one of you would have secured the
box before you 'fragged'
your entire team." Tirdal did not sound distressed. That reasonable, logical
tone of his was one more reason Dagger was going to see him dead.
Tirdal obviously hadn't Sensed Ferret, he realized! He thought this was a
bluff, but he should know. If he didn't, then that defined a limit on his
Sense. Excellent to know.
"Well, it was a lucky fluke," Dagger said, grasping for control. He really
needed to rehearse his comments before talking to the damned Elf. "But once we
realized how much we both hate Darhel, and the value of the box, it became
easy. We both get you dead, we each get money. It's a good deal all around.
Except, of course, for you, because you'll be dead. The fact that you can't
Sense him gives us even more of an advantage, not that we need it. You're
dead."
"Very well, Dagger," Tirdal replied. "You have an ally. It's amazing how much
of an advantage you feel you need over a lowly Darhel. It makes me think that
you aren't as formidable as you'd like everyone to believe you think you are."
That stung a little, once he sorted it out. Tirdal knew how to use the
language better than Dagger did. He must have spent years studying to be that
sarcastic. But there were a billion credits at stake, and words weren't going
to change things.
"Tirdal, I don't mind being generous with a billion. That's why I was offering
to cut you in. But you won't take it, so it just leaves more for me and
Ferret. As to being fair, why should I bother? We all know that
Ferret's the best tracker, I'm the best shooter, and you're nothing. We're not
trying to prove some macho point, we're simply going to kill you."
"So you say, Dagger. To borrow a clich�, 'First, you have to catch me.'
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Goodbye again."
Dagger knew better than to waste time replying. Tirdal wasn't going to listen.
Still, those seeds of doubt had been planted in him. If he kept playing them
off each other, they would both be allies to him, while they imagined they
were against him. It was even possible Ferret would do in the Darhel for him,
if
Dagger could get close enough to flank and let Ferret take him from behind.
And Dagger could backtrack the discharge from a weapon easily.
Yes, this should turn out okay, after all.
The sooner dawn came or they cleared the woods, the happier Dagger would be.
This was not pleasant.
He grimaced. "I'm not a fucking coward. It's just dark." It didn't reassure
him. Dammit, there was nothing here except a few bugs he could outshoot.
And Ferret. Why was Ferret still alive? He stopped again, back to a tree, then
turned in a circle, back still to it, searching through his scope for any
activity in infrared. Little bugs, but no predator forms yet.
And no sign of Ferret.
* * *
Ferret decided he needed to hear from Tirdal. He'd have to be doubly cautious
what he said and felt, with that little freak probing at his mind, but he also [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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