Cregar passed just then with a nod to her, and Laris, her senses quick with her years in the camps, noticed the odd way Logan looked at the man before he was out of sight. She knew that look. It said, "I know something about you."
She wondered what Logan could know and that brought another thought to mind. Cregar. He'd been kind to her. Saved her from Baris, trusted her over his own hoard while he was gone. She should warn him. If Logan knew something about the man then she'd guess the patrol did too. They could arrest him as well. He might prefer they didn't. And what about Storm and Tani's beasts? She swept so hard as she mulled over her options that Logan grinned.
"You'll wear out the cage floor."
"Less to sweep if I do," she laughed back. The work was almost done when Dedran appeared. He eyed Logan and grunted. No skin off his nose if the stupid kid wanted to work for free.
"Laris, we'll use the carras on the trapeze with you in the afternoon performance. I'm switching that act with Jonran and his knife-throwing."
"Why?" Laris asked in surprise. The act had been popular.
"The idiot was practicing this morning to add knife-juggling. He missed. He'll be out a while. I told him to pack his bags. We don't have time for fools who play about and leave me short-handed with the acts." He turned on his heel. "And don't forget the costumes."
Laris took the opportunity. "Logan, I have to go." Her voice lowered. "I'll see you around midday. I'll have Prauo with me. We'll be cleaning a cage by the tigerbats. That way I'll be just where Versha can see me." He hugged her quickly and left to tell the patrol officer all was arranged. Laris promptly darted in another direction. She found Cregar where she'd expected, just leaving the hidden cage with the meercats. She slid unobtrusively past, speaking to him in the soft slurred speech of the camps. Her lips were slightly parted but remained unmoving.
"Got'a talk. Danger you."
Cregar strolled in another direction, circled, and met her behind the cage line.
"What danger me?" Now he could speak more clearly but in his worry he'd reverted to underworld brevity.
Laris answered in kind. "Patrol comes. Logan say they know tigerbat illegals. Reclaim they. Take me 'n' Prauo too. Logan not say but think me he know something 'bout you. Look at you odd you pass us. Maybe you somewhere else sun-high."
Cregar sucked in a breath. Let the girl go and she'd talk. Looked as if it was over for Dedran. But the animals—Dedran had plans for them Cregar had never liked. His hands remembered the feel of small, warm, trusting meercat bodies. Of the first tiny itching of his mind-channels reopening. The meercats hadn't bonded to him as yet although there were signs they could, and might choose him if they did. But now at least he knew his ability had been only burned out for a few years. It could be brought back. Yet with what?
He remembered his team. Las and Lara, the mongeese. Keeroo, the Aubearan falcon. And Mali, the dune-cat, so like the sick beast in the hidden cage. He felt again the love flow across the bond. The trust, the place where oneness was. He'd loved them all. Mali had been half his heart, Las and Lara his laughter, Keeroo his eyes. With them gone he'd lost heart, laughter, and that inner vision.
Laris waited patiently as he pondered. Finally he turned to her. His eyes were different, she thought. It was as if life had flowed in to break the ice of indifference. Even his voice had changed. There was a clean snap to it, the slurring forgotten.
"Tell the patrol about the hidden cages. Warn them. I can't just open the cages and let the beasts go, there are reasons. And Dedran has the cages rigged to explode, destroy any evidence. I'll try to defuse that. Tell them, mount a full raid at midday. I'll try to be done in time."
"What about you?"
His smile was sad. "It's too late for me. You get out clean, girl. Take your cat and be free. I'll do my best for the animals. Tell the patrol to be careful in case I couldn't get all the hidden cages cleared." He walked away abruptly, leaving Laris standing there. Well, she'd told him. She bit her lip nervously. This business about the cages upset her badly. She didn't know much about such things.
Surely Cregar was wrong; he could simply open the cages, the meercats would run out as soon as the door was opened and Storm called them. The same with the coyotes. It would take only seconds for them to be safe. But not Surra. The big cat was weakened by months of drugs, illness, and her original injuries. She'd almost died but somehow Laris had helped her cling to life.
Cregar would have to clear Surra's cage first. But could he? On the other side of the circus Cregar was thinking he shouldn't take that risk. Surra's cage was right at the end of the line. Dedran could see it from his office tent. No, better to clear the other two cages first. Then if Dedran saw him he could maybe hold the man off long enough to save the dune-cat. The others would already be safe.
He checked the time. Not long. The cages had been cunningly rigged with the explosives. To clear both would take much of the time remaining before the patrol came calling. Cregar slid under the cage housing the meercats and began to work with hands suddenly deft. Yes, one cut here, slip this part from that. He'd been well trained by the unit once. It came back to him as he worked. Laris would wonder why he didn't just let the beasts go.
Dedran had been smarter than that. Tied into the circuits in the hidden sections of the cages was an electronic nerve-field. Dedran had these activated on the three cages holding the meercats, coyotes, and Surra. People could walk through the fields without registering their existence. A beast which tried suffered agony, dying from a burst heart. Dedran had the key to shut that off. Cregar did not. To get them out he'd have to disable the entire system or the pain would almost certainly kill the beasts. It was a failsafe against escape or theft. He worked on, sweat beads starting on his skin. One wrong move and he'd go sky-high. But so would the beasts, and even as he sweated, his hands kept working.
He cleared the circuits under the meercats. Best to leave them be. If he let them out now they might be seen and Dedran alerted. He inched along under the low cage until he reached the coyotes' prison. There he worked again feverishly. It was taking time, so much time. But now he knew how it went and he was a little faster. He glanced at his watch. Thirty minutes to midday.
In her suite at the patrol offices Versha was looking at information flow. Her investigator at Ideena and Baris's ship had cracked not only a very well-hidden safe in the ship wall but also the coded disks inside. Very interesting. More material had come from High Command. The last items from Regan's service file. A name in them was somehow familiar. Where had she heard it? She shrugged. No time to sit about wondering. Storm was reading the hard copy of the file over her shoulder. It meant more to him than to her and his eyes widened slightly. It was twenty-five minutes to midday.
In his office tent Dedran was considering recent events. It looked as if the patrol could be closing in on him. Nhara had sent a message. They'd found a spy in the guild. The man was dead by his own hand, too quickly for the guild experts to drain from him what may have been spilled. It might be safer if Dedran simply upped-ship. The Queen of the Circus was largely automatic. Liftoff at least could be done by one person alone. But first he'd stroll around the midway. See if there were any indications that he was being watched. He checked the time. Twenty minutes to midday.
Versha was on her way now with a six-peacekeeper squad, Anders, and Jared. In a hovercar behind rode Tani with Storm and Logan. They reached the midway, slipped into the crowd, and tried to blend in. Logan's gaze flicked about in search of Laris. He saw her with the tigerbats, Prauo sitting in the next cage, the door ajar. She saw them and nodded, leaving the cage to stand by Prauo, the big cat leaning against her shoulder.