So was collecting Marrice Plarron. Those who went to scoop him in found the net empty. There was a hunt, but Marrice Plarron was gone. However in his panic to get clear of retribution he'd left enough odds and ends of only partly destroyed information to be useful. It became a matter of putting the jigsaw together. In that, Storm and Tani could be little help.
Storm rode the basin lands and the ranch had never been so meticulously run. Tani spent time spacegramming her aunt and uncle. Kady and Brion had contacts in strange places. And it could be surprising what unworldly scientists sometimes learned. For the two who ran the ark, they'd even pass it on. Maybe if the net was flung wide enough something might be trawled up.
Logan was recovering slowly; Brad had him back at the main ranch in a month. Time dragged on and they were no closer to knowing where Surra, Hing, and her babies might have gone. All they could do was hope that the beasts still lived. By now the kidnappers would be reaching several planets. Once ported they could disappear.
Then there came a call from Gauda. They'd partly broken the false ID provided for the raider ship. Not what it truly was, but the world providing it. Trastor! And more, several linguists had listened to the record made of the brief words Mandy had overheard. The accent was lower merchant-class from the world of Brightland. Overlaid with a would-be upper-level accent. The combination rang bells with a peacekeeper chief at Brightland's largest city.
"He's sure it's a woman named Ideena. She calls herself Lady Ideena and travels with a man named Baris. They're a dangerous pair. Into all sorts of dirty crimes. He says Ideena is the worst. Both are vicious but Ideena has brains as well. They have no known connection with the Thieves Guild. Ideena likes to run things and it's unlikely she'd join. But they could have been used to get a guild member into Arzor and out again. It's a starting point."
"Do they have any idea where she is at the moment?"
"He's done some private asking about through personal friends and contacts. She was last known at Staril Port on Lereyne. It's thought she was intending to ship on to Trastor. Versha's passed all this on to her superiors. She'll take a patrol courier ship to Trastor in two days to make further inquiries. She says if Storm would be interested in helping with that she can find space."
Tani's eyes widened as Storm's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why? The patrol doesn't usually invite civilians."
"Versha says this time it's different. The raiders could have started a war. And I gather her immediate superior loathes the Thieves Guild. She's also hoping that you may be able to sense your beasts if you get close enough."
"In other words I'd be a ferret being put down a rat hole to see what comes bolting out."
"You've got it. Are you in?"
Storm nodded. He most certainly was.
Chapter Eleven
The circus had been pulling in crowds. Cover, it might be, but Dedran was delighted. Laris, too, was pleased. The animals were always happier playing to a crowd. They understood the approval, the shrieks and applause. Credits had flowed in. The whole circus atmosphere lightened. Dedran was even pleasant to Laris, who was surprised but hid it. She supposed that his boss, whoever that might be, preferred the circus to pay its way. And what pleased his boss pleased Dedran.
Prauo enjoyed seeing the performances through her eyes. He still spoke little most of the time but increasingly she was aware of his emotions. It seemed that he was aware of hers as well and sometimes when she was unhappy he'd transmit scenes from the better times. Or just the remembered feeling so that she laughed and felt happier. Their performances in the ring drew crowds, which always pleased Dedran. Prauo playing the ferocious predator, kept only in check by Laris, dressed in her boy's costume, with a whip and courage.
Dedran preferred it to appear there were more performers than there were in fact. So to that end Laris appeared in a different costume, makeup, and wig for each of the acts in which she was involved. She loved being in the ring. The feel of the animals' anticipation, their innocent pride in the applause and a job perfectly done. And she had no need to strike any of them, only to pretend she did in the tigerbat act. That pleased both her and Prauo.
She wondered when Cregar would return. He'd been gone just long enough to be due back if nothing much had gone wrong. It was nice staying somewhere for a while. There were times when she wondered wistfully what it would be like to have a real home. To be settled. To live on a ranch, say, on Arzor. To ride the land knowing it was yours to care for, to live on for the rest of your life. To love. She wondered what Storm and Tani were doing just now. And Logan. Particularly Logan.
She'd liked him. More than she wanted to admit. But she was bonded. There was no future for her there. Not until the bond was canceled, and not even then if he ever discovered her part in his brother's loss.
Oh, yes. There'd been a spacegram from Ideena's ship. Laris had managed a brief sight of it and been interested to learn that there'd been a good season for swingleberries and that Baris and Ideena had placed and received a very large order on Dedran's behalf.
Laris grinned wryly. Dedran wasn't so smart. He'd left that lying about briefly, believing it would tell nothing to anyone who read it. She'd done so, seen who'd sent it, and guessed the simple code. Cregar had made a real haul of beasts. They had to be some of Storm and Tani's teams. She mourned both for the humans she'd liked and the bewildered animals torn from their homes. They'd be here any day now and it would be her duty to keep them alive.
"Laris!" The voice was a whip-crack. She turned submissively and Dedran's look became approving. "Prepare the hidden cages. Cregar will be here tomorrow."
"How many do I prepare?"
His look was triumphant. "Three of them. Plan space for a pair of beasts of medium size, one of large, and a number of small." He stalked away, every line of his departing body shouting his pleasure in the catch. Laris watched him retreat, remembering. Not the birds, by the sound of it. She would guess at Surra, the coyotes, and some of the meercats.
Laris hurried off to prepare. She cleaned the cages again, strewed fresh bedding, checked the water and feed systems, and went over the gate mechanisms. The cages were ingenious. Each was built into the back of a cage used genuinely for some of the circus animals. A door could be opened at one end revealing stacked gear with hay, straw, or Tirevian peavines—the soft lengths of that vegetation being popular as cheap bedding.
But that stack of bedding was a decoy. It appeared to fill the rest of the space from floor to ceiling. In fact the wall was only one bale thick. If one operated a hidden sliding door at the other end of the cage back, there was room to enter. Behind the bales there was a space, large or small, according to cage size. Concealed holes let in air. Concealed lights could be left on at different levels. A pair of peepholes at different heights allowed anyone inside the hidden section to see out, both into the outer cage, and outside onto the circus concourse.
And the partition which closed the space off from the open part of the cage could be removed. When nothing was hidden this was done. On a few occasions Dedran had maneuvered peacemen into ordering the space emptied to check. He—or perhaps his patron—had then organized a complaint about overzealous security upsetting the animals and the peacemen had been reprimanded. On such worlds most peacemen now left the circus strictly alone. After all, it had been proven that the circus had nothing to hide.
"Laris?" She emerged from the last cage and stood waiting. "Is everything ready?" She nodded. "Good. I've had word. The ship lands in an hour. You'll be here to take charge of the beasts. Settle them in, feed and water them, then report to me. To me, you understand? If Cregar is with me you'll return later."