"Want me to keep an eye on the kid? If they start anything with her and she screams there could be some outsider to hear and ask questions. That Ghesh-damned Anders has the whole city filled with spies. Baris plays some very unpleasant games I've heard, and anyway, if they rough the girl up too badly she can't work. She could even run away if they hurt or scare her too much. You don't want to risk any of that."
Dedran pursed his thin lips. "No, I don't. All right. Stick around anytime she's with them. I'll tell her she's to let you know beforehand." He changed the subject. "What about those beasts? The girl says the small ones are fine and quite friendly but the other two won't cooperate and the big one is still very sick."
"She's telling the truth. The meercats are friendly." He felt a warmth as he remembered how the small group welcomed him. The babies climbing his clothing to beg for treats and petting, even Hing accepted his physical touch—if not any mental contact as yet. "The coyotes eat and drink well. They are in good condition but they resist bonding very strongly. It will take time but I think they'll come around in the end." At least he prayed they would.
"And the cat?"
"That's a different matter. If Ideena hadn't shot her it would be a lot easier. As it is the animal associates me with her pain. Once she's healed further I may be able to convince her that I am a friend. It all takes time."
Dedran scowled. "I don't like having them here so long. There are too many snoopers prying. I'll make arrangements in case anyone does discover anything I'd prefer they didn't know." He broke off and looked at Cregar. "Let's just say that there's to be no evidence of any kind at all if a search gets too close."
He walked away, heading for the main tent and Cregar was left thinking about everything happening lately. He didn't like any of this. And what had that last comment meant? The possible disposal of Baris and Ideena didn't worry him. That Dedran might have the child disposed of if the authorities pressed too closely behind did bother him.
He suddenly felt an odd need to protect Laris. She was a good kid, she admired his training of the circus beasts, and she was good with the animals herself. He didn't remember clearly why he felt somehow protective of her. Only that somewhere behind the fog of years, from the before-time, when he'd had a team who loved him and a place of his own in society, he'd known a kid like her. On a planet destroyed by the Xik, he thought.
He dismissed his vague, trauma-blurred memories of the little sister he'd loved when he had parents and siblings and a world. But Ishan had been destroyed by the Xik and all he'd known and loved had gone with his planet. Over her years with the circus Laris had grown more and more to look like his sister. But Cregar didn't want to remember all the pain of loss again. He forgot again by an effort of will, his memories sliding back into the mists in his head.
In the security building Anders's assistant was speaking quietly into a comunit. He turned to Tani.
"Gracious Lady, it is requested that you join Larash-Ti-Andresson. I will drive you to the place where he waits."
"The three of us will be going," Storm said firmly. "Can we assume that after all this, our quarry escaped?" The assistant flushed unhappily and said nothing. Storm nodded. "They did. I see. All right. Drive us to meet Anders."
They met a man who under the mask of quiet competence was fuming. Storm was honestly interested. "How did they escape?" Anders evaluated the question and understood the genuine interest. The questioner had been in a similar business after all.
"They had an emergency override program. When the navcomp was blown by the scramble-laser the program kicked in. It allowed them to set their ship down in any open area within a certain distance. That distance was determined by how high they were when they had to begin descent again. The program uses a combination of height and side-jets to give a ship options in case of navcomp malfunction."
"Your people weren't allowing for the program?"
"Someone will be answering for that. It's a new system and the people I sent out to collect Baris and Ideena never expected a ship that old to have it installed." He paused. "In fairness to my people I should say that I would have thought the program too new and different to interface well with that ship's older equipment. But if I'd been out there myself I'd have still taken it into consideration just in case. They didn't and that gave Baris and Ideena a chance, one they didn't waste time in taking. We traced them to the street outside a building in the city. They were not seen entering by the building's security cameras."
"So they've vanished," Storm said flatly.
"For the moment." Anders's eyes took on a hard gleam. "Just for the moment. The governor has posted a reward for information. That's not for public consumption, by the way. We're just filtering it quietly through a few underworld informants. But every little criminal in the place will know about the reward by tomorrow. We'll have to sift through a lot of rubbish but someone who knows something will get to considering how much they know—and what it's worth. Then they'll make a call."
Tani looked up at him. "What if the someone hiding them is in as deep or deeper? What if they're the ones who hired those two from the start? They aren't going to come running to sell them to you. They'd be selling themselves at the same time."
She received a look of respect. "That's true. But there are always people who know small pieces of information and who aren't really involved. They'll talk, collect the reward, and immunity from prosecution for whatever minor crimes are on what passes for their conscience." He straightened, hands massaging the small of his back. "Don't worry. Baris and Ideena will turn up." He strolled ahead making for the hovercar, missing Storm's last comment to Tani and Logan.
"I'm sure they will. I'm just not as sure as he is that they'll be in one piece." From the looks of agreement the other two felt the same.
Anders wasn't as sure as he'd seemed. In reality he had thought of that himself. But he'd seen the full file on the fugitives. They'd been involved in much more than was apparent from their list of actual charges. In a secondary file there were pages of supposition and suspicion. Brightland alone suspected Baris and Ideena of involvement in everything from a couple of clever assassinations to several brutal robberies in which every possible witness had been eliminated.
It made it likely the pair could take care of themselves. Then, too, they could be valuable still to those who'd hired them. Anders thought that Ideena would be keeping a wary eye on those employers anyway. She'd know that often employees who became a risk were quietly deleted from the equation. She'd be watching for any hint that was planned. He thought that Ideena and her partner would turn up alive eventually. It was just a question of when—and where.
So he partly discounted the chance her employers would dispose of the two. Ideena would be alert and she'd keep the man alert too. The pair would most likely stay low, seeking a chance to get their ship back and get off-planet. He'd put a cordon about the ship to deal with one part of that. He'd pick them up if they appeared.
For the other possibility, that they might elude his men, he'd had the ship rendered inoperable. It would appear to be working, but there was a stop on the engines. Even if Baris produced a spare navcomp and had the undisturbed hours needed to replace the ship's system, the vessel would stay right where it was.
And the street-smart were talking. Anders had spies and contacts who owed him favors in many areas of the local crime network. Already word would be spreading. He had a two-pronged attack there as well. Firstly there was the reward. It was generous but with it went word that Anders would not appreciate his time being wasted for nothing. To help that along he had a section of his people rousting every game in town.