Kadi joined him, and together they took in the scene below them. The group of Gens, all male, wore no uniform or identifying blazon, so they couldn't be an official Gen border patrol. Perhaps they were a band of vigilantes mounting a reprisal raid against nearby Larchmont Crossing—where Rimon planned to go for a Pen Gen to kill.
On the ground among the Gens lay their captive, a Sime woman wearing the green armband of the Sime border patrol. She was unconscious, but must have suffered for a long time before reaching that state, for Rimon could not believe the cruelty of what they had done to her. Beside him, Kadi choked and turned to bury her face against his shoulder, chills of horror running through her.
The Gens had a contraption Rimon had seen before, and hated: an animal trap. They often set them along the border to capture bears or wolves, or other fur-bearing animals. Rimon had occasionally released animals from Gen traps or, more often, killed them quickly to end their suffering.
The Gens had clamped both their prisoner's arms in the trap, the cruel teeth closed about halfway up her forearms. It was obvious that she had sustained a fatal lateral injury, slowly voiding selyn until she would die of attrition —not long now.
As they pitched camp, the Gens kicked her every time they passed by, to see if she was conscious. Rimon felt every blow deep in his own body. They aren't civilized– they're just animals. His need rose and his tentacles ached for the kill. That was really all Gens were good for.
"Rimon, I can't breathe!"
He realized he was holding Kadi to him so tightly his own shoulders ached. "I'm sorry. Here, that better?"
She wiped tears away and forced her breathing to steady as she looked once more at the group below them. "I can't go down there. I won't have anything to do with such sadists. Take me home; I'd rather belong to Nerob."
Rimon held her away from him, suddenly remembering that she was Gen. He told her what he'd just been thinking. "But that doesn't apply to you, Kadi."
"Maybe it will—one day—if I go down there."
"Somewhere out there, you'll find somebody good who'll want to,take care of you as I want to—and can't. Kadi, go on down there. They won't be cruel to you—any more than the Reloc Pen guards would be cruel to a kid in changeover."
Kadi looked thoughtfully down at the Gens. "Maybe I can distract them, make them stop torturing her. Maybe —when they're not looking—maybe I could give her a quick death. I wonder if I could make myself do it."
"You're a full-grown woman, and you can do anything you set your mind to. Kadi, if you can distract them, get them away from camp a bit, I could probably get in there and help her die peacefully. If I have to, I could take one of them and be gone before they knew I was there. It would make your escape claim seem more valid."
Kadi's lips tightened. "You're going to have to kill– and soon—I know that. But—"
"It's different when it's real people involved? Yes—I know. But, Kadi—"
"Oh!" cried Kadi as one of the largest Gens kicked the prisoner again. "Rimon—you kill that one—the one with the barbed spurs on his boots, Do it for me."
This was the Kadi of free spirit and pure courage he had always known. "All right, if I have to take one of them, it will be that one. Now"—Rimon almost choked on the words—"now, go on down there and do what you must."
He could feel the emptiness in Kadi's heart as she stared at him for a long moment, as if she were engraving his features in her memory as he was hers. Then she turned and scrambled down the twisted trail toward the Gens. With one hand she loosed her hair, and with the other she smeared dirt over her skin so she looked much more trail-worn than she was.
She paused to kick a rock loose to signal her approach. Then, when she was sure they'd seen her, she veered off across the rock face, stumbling and scrambling, tossing fearful glances over her shoulder as if expecting close pursuit.
Several of the Gens broke away and came after her. Kadi redoubled her pace. Rimon could see her plan at once—to lead them a merry chase so he could get into their camp. But suddenly Kadi slipped, her ankle twisting under her, and went skidding sideways down the slope toward the Gens. He heard her yelp of pure surprise. She went into her panic act, screaming and kicking against the Gens as if they were Simes out to kill her and she were merely a runaway from the Pens. There was no panic in her nager, but the act was pure genius.
He held his breath, waiting to make sure her pain was nothing more than scratches and bruises. Then, seeing that her initial plan had failed, he decided he'd better find a more secure vantage point. He went back the way they had come, then up and over the side of the pass.
Hugging the edge of the valley, Rimon worked his way to where he could zlin what went on. By this time, they had Kadi by their fire, one of them tearing the Sime woman's shirt into strips to brace Kadi's ankle. The Sime woman was still unconscious, and from this close, Rimon could perceive the selyn leaking from her torn laterals. He fixed his attention on the big Gen with the spurs, for the first time in his life approaching a kill without the slightest hesitation or doubt—or regret.
Kadi let one of the men help her to her feet. It seemed that they had accepted her. Then the man who had helped her bent and scooped her into his arms, kissing her roughly on the mouth. Kadi began to kick and squirm, but the huge Gen was more than she could manage. Then the Gen with the spurs pushed Kadi's captor, and in an instant the two big men were squared off for a fight, Kadi on the ground between them, just as Rimon had seen Gen males fighting over females in the Pens.
Animals—nothing but animals.
But these were Wild Gens. What were they doing? Did they make slaves of Gens from Sime Territory? Was that what he'd sent Kadi to? His first impulse was to charge in and break it up. But these Gens were not trained to obey a Sime, and one Sime in need against seven wild Gen males —no, no chance.
Before the two males began to fight, a short blond Gen shoved between them. With one hand, he plucked Kadi off the ground and shoved her at the Gen with the spurs. The leader rewarding his man.
At that moment, Wolf, whom Rimon had forgotten, dashed from the underbrush and began to nip at the Gen's spurred ankles, barking and snarling. As the big Gen danced away from the dog, the other Gens howled with laughter. One of the others took a lariat from his saddle and flipped it over Wolfs head, securing the snarling, prancing dog to a tree. That won't last long, thought Rimon.
During the distraction, Kadi had made a run for it, back the way they'd come. But they caught her before she'd fairly started. I've got to get help, thought Rimon. His eye fell on the green blazon now wrapped around Kadi's ankle. The border patrol never traveled alone. The Sime woman must have been part of a detachment, and some of them must still be in the area.
Rimon worked his way back along the edge of the valley to where he could overlook the whole green flatland to the border. In the distance, there was a haze of dust, and just in front of it, now that he was concentrating, he could barely discern the collective nager of a band of Simes—the border patrol. It had to be the border patrol—but any Simes would be delighted to attack that band of Gens.
Augmenting slightly, confident he would soon have a kill, Rimon went to meet them. They had already spotted the Gen nager ahead, and Rimon told them, "They have one of your scouts." In two-syllable words, he described what had been done to her. Then he said, "And they've got my—"
"Your Gen? You can prove legal ownership, I presume."
"Yes, of course." Thanks to those tags!
The patrol leader held out a hand, tentacles extended. "Then come!" Rimon vaulted aboard, suggesting a sheltered route back to the Gen camp. Soon they drew up behind a stand of trees, dismounted, and crept up with Rimon to survey the scene.