Tonio was different, now. Astrud had noticed a big change, too.
Whimpering, she awakened and looked around with wide eyes.
By morning Tonio’s determination had increased. «Tonight we eat fresh fish,” he said, slipping crossbow bolts into his pack. «You’ll see.»
«I’d rather you didn’t go. Oh, Tonio — there are some peccaries near! Raoul came across a whole herd of them in an old sailcar, in the bush over there!»
«I’ll shoot one tomorrow.» Shouldering the crossbow, he strode off into the forest.
«Oh!» Unwittingly, Astrud had sentenced a peccary to death.…
It was raining, but the ridge was already warming up as the sun tried to burn away the clouds. Tonio descended the other side — and now, as he re-entered the rain forest, the place seemed to hold a different atmosphere. The air was fresh instead of fetid. The cries of the parrots were musical rather than harsh. The rain dripped softly through the leafy canopy and the other sounds — the animals and reptiles moving through the bush — were no longer menacing.
He was welcome.
He reached the nexus of pools and began to search the interconnecting streams. The water was clear despite the rain and Tonio became aware of an unusual sensation. It was a feeling of total certainty: he was going to catch that big fish, Torpad. The feeling was so definite that it was almost as though the event had already occurred.
And on many happentracks it had. A few Tonios had failed, a few had even drowned, and one had received a slashing bite from the fish which would turn septic and ultimately cause his death. But in general the fish had been caught.
Tonio saw Torpad. The great fish hovered in his accustomed position, facing the flow of water, keeping station with minimal fin movement. Tonio loaded his crossbow and knelt on the bank directly above the fish, which gave no indication of fear.
Tonio shot.
Torpad thrashed on the bright pebbles of the stream bed, while a mist of scarlet flowed away. His tail came clear of the surface and water sprayed about. Tonio made ineffectual grabbing motions, nearly overbalanced, nearly received a bite; then, satisfied the fish was securely pinned by the bolt, sat back to wait for him to tire.
«So you killed Torpad.»
The flat tones of the girl came just as Tonio was wading into the stream to claim his prize.
«I said I would, didn’t I?»
«And you did.»
«Well.… He didn’t even try to get away. «Tonio laid the fish on the bank; it was well over a meter long. «He just stayed there as though he wanted to be caught.»
She said seriously, with no trace of anger or recrimination, «Perhaps he did. Perhaps he knew his time had come, and he wanted to get it over with. But those little fish you were after yesterday — perhaps their time hadn’t come.»
«I knew I’d get him.»
«You didn’t know yesterday. It was only this morning that you knew — when the number of possible happentracks had diminished enough to make the Ifalong easy to foretell.»
He stared at her. The words were strange, yet they made a kind of sense. «Are you saying its possible to forecast the future?»
Her face was like a stone. «Nothing so precise. But it is possible to foretell the Ifalong.» Now she smiled, but there was no humor in it at all. «Come with me. You must be tired and hungry after your walk. My cottage is near.»
«You mean you could foretell my future?» he asked, trotting behind her like a pet animal, the fish forgotten beside the stream. She was young and very attractive, this girl, and she couldn’t possibly be the same one who had given him the infant Raoul, all those years ago. But the resemblance was uncanny.…
The pursuit
The battle for Rangua was virtually over by daybreak. Under cover of darkness the grupos had infiltrated the True Human lines and attacked from behind with terrifying ferocity. Although outnumbered by five to one the felinas had the advantage of superior night vision and, in the confusion, many True Human casualties had been inflicted by their own people hacking with swords at anything that moved.
Barricade after barricade surrendered and the prisoners were herded into the inn and other buildings on the main street. The felinas were not compassionate jailers. Their fighting instincts were still aroused and they were quick to punish anything which remotely resembled an attempt to escape. In point of fact no True Humans wanted to escape. The dark interior of the inn was a blessed sanctuary after the streets with their murderous, half-seen predators.
Shortly before dawn, Iolande reported to El Tigre.
«The northern half of the town is ours. Should we move south, or wait for Tamaril to work her way up to us?» She was panting with excitement and drenched with blood; an unnerving sight in the early half‑light.
It was probably at this moment that the first intimations of disaster came to El Tigre.…
«Wait,” he said.
«We could fan out north, mop up the farms and link up with Manoso in the delta.» Iolande was unwilling to stop fighting. Only her affection for El Tigre — and a certain fear of him — had prompted her to report back at all. Now she wanted to return to the battle.
«No. Hold your positions. Have there been …? How many died?»
«No more than necessary,” she answered. She gave him a quick hug which left a dark stain on him, then ran swiftly back to her forces.
As the sun rose out of the ocean El Tigre was watching from the top of the signal tower. The town was quiet; all fighting seemed to have ceased. Nearby, a great crowd of silent True Humans spilled out of the door of the inn and nearby houses, guarded by felinas. El Tigre wondered at their silence. It was though they were in the grip of a kind of mass shock. Even the children made little sound.
There was no joy in El Tigre as he descended the ladder, having seen Iolande and Tamaril heading towards the tower. They had obviously linked up, the battle was over, Rangua was theirs. A single cry of desolation rose from somewhere in the town like the crowing of a lonely cockerel. What about Manoso? Why was he silent? And in the foothills, the Palace. How should he approach that problem?
By the time he reached the foot of the ladder Karina, Teressa and Runa were there. His girls.… He put his huge arms around them, feeling better, for a moment.
Karina said, «I think we’ve won, father.»
«That may be.»
Now Torch, Iolande and Tamaril arrived, looking alert and ferocious despite having been busy all night.
«You must come and address the prisoners, El Tigre,” said Torch. «We must make our position clear — this is no temporary occupation. We must get certain guarantees out of them before we allow them to go home. We must assign responsibilities —”
«Yes, yes. First I’d like to inspect the town.»
«Of course.» Torch understood. It was natural that El Tigre should wish to gloat over the scene of conquest.
«Father,” said Karina, «we’ve captured the captain and crew of the Palhoa car. Can we get them to take us to Palhoa now? We must get after Tonio while the scent’s still warm.»
El Tigre looked at her, shaking his head slightly like a baffled bull. «No — come with me first. There’s plenty of time for Tonio.» And he thought: I need you with me for a while, children.…