Reith winced.
"But look at the bright side," continued Stavrakos. "I'd be sorry to see you lose your fiancée, if that's what you call her; and Cassie's a hot movie property. But if she gets killed, think what it would do for the box office! Millions would go to see Cassie Norris's last film who otherwise wouldn't bother."
Holding a hammerlock on his temper, Reith said dryly: "Nobody's ever accused you of lack of business acumen. What have you heard from Schlegel since Jack left yesterday?"
"Oh, several of these damned arrows, back and forth. I sent word that if he'd loose the girls, I'd turn over my stuff. Of course I'd hide the cans of developed film; I'd tape 'em under the wagons or something. But he says no. He wants us to drive out on the Mish€ road till his men stop us. We're to line up and strip while he goes through our clothes and baggage before sending us on. Then, when he gets word we're on our way back to Earth, he releases the dames. I said no to that."
"Good," said Reith. "Keep the argument going, in oriental-bazaar style, while I see what I can do."
"What you got in mind, Fergus? A rescue?"
"Maybe. What about it?"
"Okay! Either you win, in which case the dames are free and Schlegel's dead; or he wins, and you and the girls are dead. Either way, there's nothing to stop the rest of us from lighting out. But how will you find them? We don't even know where in that forest they hang out; and we don't have bloodhounds."
Reith peered at Stavrakos through narrowed eyes. "You may not know it, Kostis, but I think you've solved our problem."
Reith found the Krishnan in charge of the spare ayas. For a generous fee, the wrangler agreed to take two of the animals, so that he could ride them alternately, and travel all night, reaching Mishé the following midday. There he would deliver to the Terran consul, Anthony Fallon, a letter from Reith about the kidnapping.
Fallon had left Zinjaban ahead of the Cosmic crew; and Timásh and Yinkham had been instructed, on arriving at Mishé, to get in touch with him. Reith asked that the consul order both hands to ride to Gishing forthwith.
The messenger clattered off into the night with Reith's precious message tucked into his glove. As Reith reentered the inn, the Cosmic people clustered around, asking: "Hey, Fearless, what now?"
"Are you gonna try a rescue?"
"When can we be on our way home?"
Bennett Ames growled. "Say, Fergus, if you're going to have a crack at those bastards, I want in. Cassie's my wife, after all."
"Good!" said Reith. "Any more volunteers?"
None spoke. Looking them over, Reith was not displeased. Of the males, all but Ames were too slight, too fat, too old, or too querulous. Reith shrugged aside further questions, saying: "Sorry, folks, but I've been on the go since dawn, and I'm half starved. See you in the morning!"
The sinking sun saw Reith teaching his volunteers swordplay and crossbow shooting in the backlot behind the inn. For fencing, he used the wooden swords designed for the battle scene of Swords Under Three Moons. He improvised protective gear and borrowed the shatterproof goggles owned by members of the crew.
He added a local hunter named Shedan to his band as a mercenary, promising the Krishnan more money than he normally saw in a year, because of his knowledge of Durchab Forest.
Ames grumbled: "Why all this practice, Fergus? They may be killing our girls right now!"
"So they may. But if we go stumbling around Durchab Forest like a herd of shaihans, they'll hear us coming and either ambush us or scram. So I'm waiting for my bloodhound."
"Your what?"
"I'm getting a bloodhound from Mishé to help us locate Schlegel's gang. Now let's see that stop-thrust again!"
Zerré arrived in the late afternoon. During the night, Reith was awakened by the arrival of Timásh and Yinkham. He sent them to bed but routed them and the volunteers out before dawn. He bullied them into dressing and eating a hasty breakfast, and led them out on the Mishé road as the sky was beginning to lighten above the morning mist.
"Why this ungodly hour?" complained Valdez. "I am not a human being before noon!"
"Keep your voice down!" snapped Reith. "Schlegel has people in the woods watching us. If we set out in daylight, they'll see us for sure."
"Where are we going?"
"Well leave the main road soon. Shedan knows the secondary roads and trails."
Ames mumbled, "Where's this bloodhound you're getting?''
"It's Yinkham here. See his extra-long antennae? He's a Khaldonian, which means he has a keener sense of smell than Krishnans of other races. When the wind was right, my former secretary could not only detect the approach of visitors half a kilometer away but even tell which species they belonged to." To Yinkham he said in Mikardandou: "Do you smell anything?"
"Only that people and animals have passed this way. I do not smell Terrans except those with you."
They walked in silence as the mists melted away. Reith unfolded a map and conferred in low tones with Shedan, tracing dotted lines on the sheet with his finger.
"This way," said Reith. He walked straight into the wall of vegetation bordering the road. Once past the screen of shrubs and saplings, they found themselves on an abandoned secondary road, invaded by seedling trees. The growing fight brought out the brilliant colors— azure, ruby, emerald, and gold—of the trunks of the Krishnan trees; it also illuminated the stealthy passage of the eight invaders.
A dawn breeze rustled the leaves. The squad tramped on, trading one road or trail for another. The sun was high when Yinkham at last held up a hand and whispered: "I smell human beings upwind, with a trace of Terrans."
"How many?" asked Reith.
"I cannot tell at this distance. I think several."
Reith got out the map and, with Shedan's help, located the point where they now stood. He drew an arrow through that point showing the wind direction. After conferring with Shedan, he went on. Another hour passed, and Yinkham said: "The wind hath shifted, sir. Now I smell them that way!" He pointed.
Again Reith marked the map, explaining in a whisper: "Their camp is probably near where those lines cross—at least, within a few hundred meters of it."
"How for?" breathed Fairweather.
"As a rough guess, another half-hour's hike."
They resumed their march, zigzagging on old overgrown trails. Reith hissed at them to make less noise in moving.
"How the hell can I help it, with all these damned bushes and things?" said Ames, after a twig beneath his foot snapped with a crack like a pistol shot.
"Watch Shedan." Reith nodded at the hunter, gliding noiselessly ahead of them.
Time passed. Yinkham held up a hand. "I smell them strongly. I think they are over yonder, too for to see. They have Terrans with them."
Reith wishing his crossbow and pulled the cocking lever from his belt. "Load!" he whispered.
Soon seven of the rescuers, bent over their cocked crossbows, stole ahead, with Shedan in the lead and Reith next behind him. As Yinkham worked his way through the underbrush, being too small to handle a foil-sized crossbow effectively, he cradled Alicia's little crossbow pistol, which Reith had found in her room at the inn.
Suddenly a crossbow snapped, and a bolt whistled past Reith's ear. He spun around, furious, and hissed, "Who's trying to kill me?"
"I—I'm awfully sorry," mumbled Bennett Ames, looking reproachfully at his discharged crossbow. "Didn't know these things were on such a hair trigger."
When Ames had recharged his weapon, the eight moved on, until Shedan again held up a hand. Reith whispered: "Spread out and get down on your bellies. Pick your targets, but don't shoot until I give the word." To Shedan he added: "You know which you're to shoot?"