He followed the spoor uphill and down again and then into another section of forest, up another hill. He did not notice when the cat disappeared once more.
But when he heard the screams, the steady jog with which he was following the sign lengthened to a full gallop.
As far as Acorna could see, the problem was not finding the Khieevi. The thing was not stealthy.
Its excremental trail led straight to it. The only problem was how to get the better of it before it could harm Thariinye.
They found Thariinye first. He was at the end of the trail, wrapped up in the end of the trail in fact, pinned by a hardened twist of it to a tree. In the chill of the night air, his breath made a vapor, so they knew he was not dead. But neither of them could pick up any thoughts from him, not even a snatch of dream.
The Khieevi stood slightly uphill from him, its moondrenched shadow falling over them, mingling with the shadows 01 the trees. Its bug eyes were lifted to the moons, its head bobbing. Two of its legs tended what seemed to be some sort or electrical contraption. Sparks flew periodically between its legs and the machine, while two more of its legs burned a bit °i the excrement, with predictably nauseating results. After each bit of legs had gone through the ritual, the pincers made a series of klacks, much like the Morse code Acorna had learned on the mining ship.
Maati and Acorna thought at the same time, (It’s callingthe mother ship. We have to stop it.)
(Free Thariinye first,) was their next simultaneous thought. Maati saw Acorna’s teeth shining in the dark-humor and hostility mixed.
(Work your way behind the tree, Maati. See if you can get him loose from that stuff. Here, take my laserknife. I’ll see if I can create a diversion.)
(Okay. Be careful, Khornya.)
The two split up, and Acorna circled wide in the forest and up the crest of the hill to one side of the Khieevi, who was actually within a slight clearing. Peering at the creature through the trees, she could see that it was busy with its work. Still, she had the feeling it was only trying to make contact, not that it had achieved its goal. Its pauses were to adjust the machine, not to listen. The Khieevi creature must be stopped before it brought an entire invasion force down upon them.
She needed to draw him off, away from whatever it was he was using to communicate and away from Thariinye and Maati. And she needed to have a plan to get away herself, if possible, once they were a safe distance from her friends. She thought for a second, took a deep breath, and started moving.
She picked up a stick, flung it at the creature, and raced off down the hill at a diagonal from Thariinye’s position.
“Neener neener neener!” she yelled at the Khieevi, using an expression she’d picked up from the kids on Maganos Moonbase as she galloped down the hill. She glanced back to see if it was paying attention.
It gave two hops and was almost upon her.
She took off at a dead run, thundering down the hill, screaming at the top of her lungs, with the Khieevi hopping behind her, covering two or three yards with each hop.
(Khornya, run!) Maati cried inside her head. (I can’t get through this stuff without Thariinye’s help. And I can’t wake Thariinye.)
(Try harder. Use your horn if you have to.)
(What if I hurt Thariinye?)
(Better that than what the Khieevi will do to him.)
Thinking and running at the same time was not easy. Acorna stumbled across a broken tree and fell sprawling among the branches. In two short hops the Khieevi was practically upon her. She dove under the fronds and wriggled her way to the trunk, then hopped up and tried to run again, only to find her leg wouldn’t -work. Sharp pains -were running up it.
The heat and stench and klack of the Khieevi were all around her as she tried to squirm and touch her horn to her leg.