“Yes” – Leeds pushed back from the rim of the ledge to set his shoulders against the crest rise – “it presents a problem, doesn’t it? But there is a solution. Vandy’s our way out of here.”
“How?” Nik demanded.
“The Patrol – they’ve taken the refuge. Probably some scout squad is out there now hunting down my flitter. They’ll track me here, and then – then we’ll have our bargaining point, Vandy for our freedom. Boy, you gave both of us about the best break in this whole bungled job when you lit out with Vandy. Him for us – my spacer, free air out of here – Yes, I thought you were a gift from Lady Luck; now I know that’s the truth! We have the boy – so all our comets slid over their stars on the table. You ever play star and comet, Nik?”
“No.”
“Well, it’s a game of chance they tell you – sure, it is. But there’s skill to it – real skill – and most of that lies in selecting the right opponents and knowing just how far they’re ready to plunge in answer to any bet you’re reckless enough to make. I know how far the Patrol will go to get Vandy back – and it’s pretty near all the way. He’s about the most important pawn in a big – system game going on right now, so much so that the orders from our top were to erase him.”
“Erase him?” Nik echoed.
“Sure, the Guild deal was to take him out of the game permanently. These Gallardi – they’re very family and bloodline conscious. The boy’s father is the warlord who’s holding the key stronghold on Ebo. To wipe out his family line would mean he would then make some suicide play.”
“But Vandy’s father is dead.” Nik was bewildered. His hand was at his chin, cupping the firm bone and smooth flesh he needed for reassurance. Leeds’ story, which had bought him that face.
“On the contrary, Jerrel Naudhin i’Arkrama was very much alive the last I heard. At least, he was to Lik Iskhag, which was the important point as far as the Guild was concerned. Iskhag paid to have the Naudhin i’Akrama line finished”
“Then the story you told me.”
Leeds shrugged impatiently. “Was a story, a good one. I didn’t know I had it in me to do a regular tape-type tale. Only now it’s all worked out for the best, anyway. We can use Vandy to get out of here. And – believe me, Nik – I had my own ideas about the boy and this erase order all the time. Of course, his being conditioned meant trouble, but he could have been kept under wraps until Iskhag got what he paid for – the surrender of the garrison on Ebo. Then Vandy could have been turned loose. I don’t hold with erasing children any more than you do. Orkhad’s being here wasn’t part of the plan as I was told it, either. But maybe it was good that he was – he made you take to the hills, and that certainly saved Vandy. Now, all we have to do is wait for the Patrol to get a direction on us and argue it out.”
“And if they do come,” Nik asked, “do you plan to turn the boy over to them on their word to carry out their bargain?”
Leeds laughed. “No – I’m no fool, and neither do I think you’re one, Nik. We get the spacer and free air, Vandy going with us. Outside, we put him in a suit with a beeper and space him. They can easily pick him up on a directional signal. And by the time they’ve retrieved him, we’re in the clear and long gone. The plan isn’t completely free of a misfire, but it’s the best chance we have now.”
“And if they don’t find us, Vandy has to have food.” Nile stated the immediate problem. Leeds had talked a lot, and he wanted to think it over.
The captain moved his shoulders against the rock support.
“Yes, let me think about that. I took a jump from the flitter, and she fire-smashed out there. The emergency rations on board must have gone up with the machine. Those you left back in the cut seem our best chance now. Of course, the Patrol might already have prowled that area and found your trail. But it’s still the quickest way.”
“You mean – I go after them?”
“Seeing as how I can probably not even make it down from this ledge again for a while, I’d say you are Vandy’s only chance of getting some food in the immediate future. If you are picked up by the Patrol, you still have your chance, and a good one. I’ll be here with the boy, and I’ll swear by anything you want that any bargain I’ll make is for the both of us! That’s the truth. I wouldn’t be in any position to bargain if I didn’t have Vandy. And who gave him to me – you did! We get out together. And if you are netted, you tell the truth – that you know where Vandy is and that he will be delivered safe and sound on our terms. Anyway, we’re small fry in this as far as the Patrol is concerned. They want Iskhag, those behind him, the man who made the bargain in the first place. You can say I’ll give some help in that direction – I don’t like the erase plan enough to cover up for those who gave such an order.
“But you may be really lucky and get in and out of there without getting caught, or least only picking up a tracker, and if you do that, it will be just what we want, anyhow.”
Leeds leaned over to touch Vandy’s forehead.
“Guess he’s asleep now, but you can tell them if they pick you up, that he’s none too happy. Could just hurry the whole matter along, and that would suit us all.”
Nik sat quietly. Again everything Leeds said made good sense, good sense if you accepted his new story and its logic. But to do so meant leaving Vandy here with Leeds – the two of them alone – and going straight back into trouble himself. And how could he be sure that this story was any more the truth than that other this same man had told him back on Korwar? Perhaps Leeds had followed that same thought, for now the captain said:
“Nik, you’re rubbing that face of yours. Still smooth and real, isn’t it? Mightn’t be for long – remember? Of course, maybe Gyna did a lasting job, but she said the odds were against that. You want to go back to the Dipple and no face?”
“But if we get out of here, the Guild won’t do anything for someone who has helped to spoil a job.” Nik had found the flaw in that argument.
For a moment, he thought he had Leeds, but the silence did not last long enough to suggest that the captain did not have a ready reply.
“This was a job split – don’t you think that an erase on a child had blast backs at the top? I had my backers, too – and you did just what you promised, brought Vandy here. The minute you landed on Dis, you’d done your part. Most of this mix-up was Orkhad’s doing, and he was being watched already from above. You played straight, and that makes it a Guild promise for you. Just let us get off-world, and you’ll keep your face. But if we sit this out too long or fail.” He shook his head slowly. “So, you see you have a big stake in this, too. You kept your part of the bargain; the Guild will keep theirs.”
In the end, it all added up to just one sum, Nik saw, and that was his job. Vandy could not live without food; the nearest available food was back at the refuge. Leeds was too injured to make the trip, so Nik had to go. He looked out at that back trail.
Even with the goggles, the Disian night was too dark for him to see much, and there were hunters in that dark. He was tired from the long day’s travel, and a tired man makes errors of judgment, is duller of sight and hearing. It was not going to be easy, and he wanted every possible advantage on his side.
“I’ll go – in the morning.”
“Fair enough!” Leeds moved against his back support. “No use going it blind. Maybe we’ll be lucky and they’ll reach us by then.”
Vandy rolled over. “Hacon.” His voice was a husky whisper.
“Here,” Nik answered quickly.
“I’m thirsty.”
Leeds pulled a canteen from his belt. “Filled this down there at the lake. Give him a pull.”