Chapter Fifteen
The sun had already set when Zhor landed and released Annika from her safety harness. She looked around curiously while she worked the kinks out of her muscles from being strapped to Zhor’s back for hours, wondering why he’d decided to land in this particular place.
He had never actually landed on the ground—not when she was with him anyway.
And the only thing that seemed of any significance at all near where they’d landed appeared to be a ... well a junkyard—or maybe just a pile of rubble from something that had collapsed?
Zhor headed directly for it.
Disconcerted, Annika followed him, studying what seemed to be nothing more than a mound of garbage—a curious assortment of cast-off things.
A half a dozen figures abruptly appeared at the top of the mound.
“Halt! Do not come closer! State your name and your business here!”one of the men of the group growled.
Annika jumped at the bellowed demand, glancing at Zhor uneasily.
Zhor said nothing for several moments. “We are only seeking shelter for the night. We have been searching for a place to dwell ... but it is not safe to be exposed after dark as you well know.”
There was no response. The man who’d spoken merely studied them assessingly.
“I lived in this place ... once. With my parents and my sister,”Zhor persisted.“Raiders destroyed it ... killed everyone who was not fortunate enough to escape.”
That comment got a reaction.
“And yet I do not recognize you,”the man said after a long pause.
The comment startled Zhor.“I am Zhor ... son of Eonid and Stark Qurillian.”
A jolt went through the speaker. He stepped closer, paused, and then leapt from the wall to land only a few yards from where they stood. It startled and unnerved Annika enough that she moved a little closer to Zhor—and slightly behind him, wondering if she was the subject of the discussion since the man had stared straight at her when he had landed.
He lifted a hand in a gesture unfamiliar to Annika. She couldn’t tell, therefore, what he meant by it—if it was some sort of challenge or a gesture of peace—and that made her even more uneasy.
“I am Baden. Do you not remember me, Zhor? Am I so hard to recognize?”
Zhor stared at him hard and then laughed and surged forward, gripping the other man’s shoulders.
Despite the fact that he’d laughed, Annika wondered if he was about to throw the man to the ground. Instead, the other man laughed and grasped Zhor in a similar hold.
“I thought everyone had died, truthfully,”Zhor responded finally.“I did not expect to find an old friend.”
The stranger smiled, but it was less friendly ... almost uneasy.“My memories of our time to together are good ones. I do still consider you a friend and for that reason I will tell you there is no place for you here. It is dangerous for you to be here at all with that female. There were strangers here looking for that one only a handful of days ago. I wish I could offer shelter—for more than one night—but there are many who are afraid.”
Zhor’s own smile died.“Her people?”
Baden shrugged.“I have to suppose it was her people who offered the reward they found so interesting, but no ... there were two bounty hunters—one a zorph and one a conkerrie. They were very hard to dissuade. They promised to come back with more and take the walls down and slaughter everyone if they found her here.
“You understand that is why I cannot welcome you? We have our mates here and our young.”
Zhor frowned, uneasy when before he had been mostly just dismayed to find proof that Ah-na’s people were looking for her.
“You should look worried. The bounty was for her corpse,”Baden said grimly.“And that is another reason you should not stay here. It was a handsome enough bounty that I could not guarantee that no one here would try to collect—and that’s assuming the threats from the bounty hunters were idle.
“The Outlanders made no friends here when they came before, but it is difficult to turn down an offer of food when that is so hard to come by.”
Disbelief and suspicion replaced Zhor’s uneasiness.“You are suggesting ... they want her dead? You must have misunderstood! Or they did. She and several others crashed. Her people would have reason to think she might be dead ....”
“There was no misunderstanding,”Baden countered grimly.“They made it clear they did not want or expect to have her returned still breathing. This was part of the threat—that the outlanders would send soldiers to wipe out the village if we were harboring her. They say she has stolen something of great value.”
