Crisis Of Empire - Crown Of Empire Part 31

She moved away through the brush, taking care to leave as little trail as possible. In spite of the batde, she feared she might stiH be pursued, for if Gover- nor Merikur should arrive with troops, the tables might easily be turned on the attackers.

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She found a creek and decided to follow it.

Very soon, she came to a boundary fence. It was essentially invisible, consisting of squat pillars of metal and stone s.p.a.ced about every hundred meters. The pillars contained transmitters that sent signals to the pain centers of Horizon Park's animal inhabitants. The transmitters allowed for a buffer of about a hundred meters between strips, a sort of no-beast's-land where pain implants ruled.

Jessine followed the stream through the buffer and into the next strip. She was now in the Hillimot: sector, a thickly wooded place with a variety of evergreen- type trees and flowers me size of platters. There were flying creatures here, as brightly colored as tropi- cal parrots but more closely resembling large bats.

After the chaos of the Palace and then Kitchleys house, the sector seemed peaceful, and Jessine let herself be entranced by its beauty and calm.

A wail, sharp and high, broke that calm.

Jessine went very still. There were bauins in this sector, she remembered - long, leggy predators of stealthy habits and relentless appe- t.i.tes. They hunted in packs, surrounding their prey and making escape impossible.

She stepped into the stream. The water would help keep the bauins from smelling her. She hoped the bauins hunted by smell.

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The sound of the bauin was echoed by another. Stream or no stream, they seemed to be coming closer. She clutched at her rifle, then picked up a rock instead. Maybe she could divert it.

She threw the rock. It crashed into the under- brush and the wails stopped for a moment. She picked up another rock.

She stood still for several moments, but could not hear any more bauin calls. She slogged for- ward in the creek. Somewhere up ahead there had to be a monorail station, and when she found it, she would be safe. Might be safe, any- how.

A hundred yards farmer on, the creek became a small river. In places the bank was too steep for her to walk and she had to swim, and hope her weapons survived. After the first dunk, she ditched the poncho. It wasn't heavy, but it dragged at her and hindered her strokes.

A pillar on either side, and the river rolled into the next sector: Dellos.

At once the environment changed, the vegeta- tion more spa.r.s.e and pulpier. There were few trees, and those stood near the river. Standing along the banks was a small herd of loose-limbed sylees, high-shouldered and narrow-haunched.

They were formidable leapers, a necessary

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survival trait for the favorite prey of sand wolves, the rail-thin coursing carnivores called ninikik on Dellos.

Jessine swam slowly, rolling over now and then to check for signs of sand wolves.

The sylees kept their heads moving between drinks, and ambled restlessly from one spot to another, always prepared to run.

The river was growing louder. Jessine knew there was a canyon ahead, and rapids. She wanted to leave the water now, before it got any faster and the walls of the canyon trapped her.

Jessine could see the first drop-off of rapids a short distance ahead in the river, and she fought her way toward the sh.o.r.e. But the river was strong and fast now, and she smashed into a shoal of hidden rocks, bruising her legs. Her arms sc.r.a.ped on a boulder as she strove to grab hold of it, but she refused to let the pain loosen her grip, and this time she did not get pulled from safety.

Slowly, aching from the battering in the river, she dragged herself onto the rock, and sat there a short while to inspect her bruises. Sighing at the colors she knew would come later, she rose and started up the slope for the plateau over the canyon.

It was a long canyon, growing deeper for fif- teen miles, and then slowly giving way to the

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rocky slopes at the back of Horizon Park, more than thirty miles away. Jessine had often seen it from the air but had never been this close to it.

The canyon divided the Dellos Sector from the Daphnean sector. At its far end there was a fairly good-sized settlement where the families of the Horizon Park maintenance staff lived, but that was too far and they might well be Rainbow Dawn adherents.

The monorail was still her best bet, but she still had not caught sight of it, and she fumed at the planners of the Park who had been at such pains to be sure the monorail was not intrusive.

Coming to high ground, she paused. As she turned in a circle, a bright flicker caught the cor- ner other eye. She focused on it. Back toward Kitchley's house, something was burning. She wondered how fast the fire would spread.

Behind her, suddenly, she heard the eerie chuckle of sand wolves who've found their prey.

She whirled, lifting her rifle to firing position, but the wolves had found something else to eat.

Jessine bolted, heading for the sector line. If she could reach the buffer before the wolves killed their meal, she might be able to rest safely.

Safely. If you could call it safe to be caught between sets of wild beasts. No more dangerous, in a way, she thought, than being caught

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between two - or more - sets oftoild political factions. At least the beasts would simply eat her and be done with it.

She spotted the transmitter pillars and pushed herself harder. Meters before of the boundary, she stopped short. A Cernian spabot, ma.s.sive, mauve and scaly, stood beside a pillar, honking in surprise.

Jessine stared at the beast, and realized that the power had failed, for the spabot was on Del- los sector ground.

The power station! thought Jessine. Someone must have hit it!

She moved as quickly as she could to get out of the path of the tremendous animal, watching its nervous progress as she went.

The chucldes of the sand wolves stopped.

The spabot made its ponderous way forward, armored head lowered defensively, long, rough- scaled tail flicldng.

Then the sand wolves appeared over a ridge and ran directly at the spabot. Two of them leapt to sink teeth into the meaty shoulder.

The huge tail slapped the first wolf away, and the second could not sink his teeth into the thick, loose hide.

As the spabot lashed his tail again, the end slapped Jessine across the shoulders, sending

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her staggering, black spots forming before her eyes.

The sand wolves began to circle the spabot, one or two of them eyeing Jessine speculatively.

She raised her rifle and put her bruised back against the pillar.

A new cry brought her head around. A hunt- ing pack of Cernian blue lions had come from the trees to find their planned spabot dinner under attack. They were displeased.

The spabot made a short lunge at the sand wolves, and this time one of the Dellos wolves took hold, sinking his curved fangs deep into the huge upper lip of the spabot.

With a rumbling squeal the spabot swung its tail in frenzy and attempted to pull the sand wolf off.