He knew the edge in his mind-voice was unkind, but the tension and worry in Death Fang’s Bane’s mind-glow didn’t help. Three of the younglings obeyed, but the fourth-a dainty female who carried her tail as if she was much prized by all around her-blinked her large eyes at him.
‹ You are Climbs Quickly,› she said, beginning her descent from the tree only after making clear that she was doing it because she wanted to, not because he had given any sort of order. ‹ My father says you are a disgrace.›
‹ Little Witness!› One of the males spoke up, embarrassment shading his voice. ‹ Our mother says Climbs Quickly is a hero. And you have no manners.›
Little Witness, for so this sassy female must be called, only flirted her tail in reply and scampered along. Her name explained much. It was likely that-like Climbs Quickly’s own sister, Sings Truly-Little Witness already showed promise of a strong mind-voice, perhaps even of being a memory singer some day. In some clans, especially those where a memory singer valued herself very highly, those with promise gave themselves airs.
And, strong-voiced or not, in any case, Little Witness was a very cute youngling and evidently knew it.
‹ I am Springer,› the young male introduced himself shyly. ‹ We went up the tree only when we heard that flying thing coming. It felt like a person, but not like a person. We didn’t know what to do.›
Climbs Quickly stroked his whiskers. ‹ Are you far ahead of the rest of your clan?›
Springer’s reply was troubled. ‹ Not very. Most of the clan has not yet left where we were denning. The fire caught us unawares. The elders and the kittens cannot move quickly. I wanted to stay and help, but we were told we would only slow them further. We came this way to see if our net-wood bridge across the river is still intact.›
‹ I fear it is not,› Climbs Quickly said. ‹ From what we saw, the fire is using it now.›
‹ Then what will our clan do?› Springer asked. ‹ The fire may eat all this island.›
‹ I will hurry to them, › Climbs Quickly assured Springer, ‹ and do what I can to help. My two-legs will also help, be sure of it. Your clan may yet be saved. Turn around and hurry to rejoin them. Go!›
He would have liked to try and convince them to get into the car, but he knew that Little Witness, at least, would have been stubborn, and time was not to be wasted. From images he had gleaned from Springer, they were not far from the clan’s central nesting place.
Turning from the four younglings, Climbs Quickly bunched his muscles and ran as rapidly as he could back to the air car. Inside, the air was sweet and clear, but even as he filled his lungs with it, he began pointing-this time in the direction where the Damp Ground Clan was battling against time and encroaching fire.
Chapter Twelve
With Lionheart to guide them, they found the endangered clan far more quickly than they would have otherwise. Treecats and their dwellings blended very well into their surroundings.
Stephanie had visited Lionheart at “home” and knew what to look for. Treecats didn’t impact their environment as much as humans did, but they did create sleeping platforms and places where they could store food.
Examining the section of picketwood to which Lionheart had brought them, Stephanie thought that at any other time this would be a very nice place for treecats to live. A stream originating from some inland source-probably a freshwater spring-created the eastern border, while in the near distance the southern fork of the Makara River ran to the south. To the north, she could glimpse a large meadow thick with waist-high grass. The picketwood grove itself looked strong and healthy. Now, however, with smoke wreathing through the tree limbs, cutting off the daylight so that the lurid glow of the approaching fire seemed like dull, angry sunlight peering out sideways, the area was ugly and unsettling.
It was also a scene of chaos-chaos, Stephanie realized, that had been triggered by their own arrival.
Lionheart bleeked authoritatively and tapped the door with one hand. This time Stephanie opened the door for him without hesitation. If he didn’t calm the ’cats, their arrival would do more harm than good.
“We’ll wait here,” Stephanie said. “Go on.”
Whatever Lionheart said to the gathered treecats, it was not accepted with universal approval. Several of the males hissed and spat. They didn’t quite arch their backs as Terran cats might do-their long, six-limbed torsos were shaped differently-but the attitude was much the same.
Whatever Lionheart “said” in return did not immediately defuse the situation. From the backseat, Jessica muttered in a mock “hick” accent, obviously speaking for the resident treecats.
“Go away. We don’t need your type here, stranger. We’re doing fine, just fine, on our own.”
Despite the tension of the situation, Stephanie giggled. Karl quirked one corner of his mouth in a half-smile, but when he spoke his voice was tight.
“The fire crossed to this island along the picketwood to the east. As of yet, the wind hasn’t carried it to the crown, but when it does, it’s going to be too late for these guys, even if they run all out.”
Stephanie nodded. “So let’s do what we can to slow the fire’s approach and keep it from climbing into the crown. That little stream’s too narrow to do more than slow the fire, but it does give us a source of water. It’s also a logical place to start a fire line.”
“Agreed,” Karl said. “Let’s leave the car back west of the stream. It’s just a passenger vehicle-and a light one at that. We can’t use it to take down trees. I’m going to set my uni-link to send automatic updates to the SFS.”
“Won’t they notice we’ve stopped?”
Karl grinned. “Well, I’m not being precisely dishonest, but I’m programming to send messages that will show us checking out the extent of this particular tongue. I’m guessing that unless we flag something ‘urgent,’ our data is going into a computerized mapping program. They don’t have enough humans to process data by hand.”
“It’s not precisely dishonest,” Stephanie agreed. “Let’s get going.”
As she and Karl laid their plans, Stephanie had been peripherally aware of Jessica speaking in the backseat. Now the other girl interjected herself into the conversation.
“I called Chet and updated him on our location. A bit of good news. Since he knew he might get assigned to shuttle service, he’s piloting one of his family’s older ’trucks. It won’t be strong enough to take out trees either, but if we can convince the treecats to trust us, we’re going to be able to move a bunch all at once.”
“Diplomacy,” Stephanie said, getting out of the car and casting a worried glance over where Lionheart was now exchanging hisses and snarls with a couple of husky ’cats, “is going to be Lionheart’s job.”
And let’s hope, she thought as she unloaded her gear from the back to the air car, he can manage it without resorting to violence.
Unlike most humans, Stephanie Harrington knew all too well how dangerous treecats could be. She’d been in pretty bad shape when the furry mass of Lionheart’s clan had swarmed down from the treetops to take on the hexapuma that had attacked them both-drawn, she now suspected, by the scent of her blood from when she’d crashed her hang glider. However, she’d seen the aftermath, heard Frank and Ainsley talk about how badly shredded the corpse had been.
If this group decided to go after Lionheart, he wouldn’t have a chance-not one against many, not crippled as he was. She had her handgun with her, but could she shoot at a bunch of treecats, even to save Lionheart? She didn’t know and she really hoped she wouldn’t need to find out.
Leaving that train of thought behind, Stephanie slung the bladder bag over her shoulders, wearing it like a backpack over her fire-suit.
Such devices had been in use since the earliest days of mechanized firefighting, but this model had a great advantage over its predecessors. When those were empty, that was it, but this one contained a powerful miniature pump and a supply of tablets to recharge the chemical supply. All one needed to do was drop a feeder hose into a source of water and the pack would refill, feeding in the necessary chemicals. Once her own pack was on, Stephanie turned to help Jessica adjust hers.