Page 13 of Stellar Drift (Central Galactic Concordance)

Houyen thought he’d been in pretty good physical shape until this expedition. He had the feeling that Phen and Koda were finding it as challenging as he did, though so far, they hadn’t complained. Still, he was glad to see they were experienced hikers who knew when to call a brief rest.

Sairy, on the other hand, seemed indefatigable. Well, maybe determined was a better word. She shared her experience and her maps and deftly avoided Koda’s attempts to draw her into revealing conversations. Mostly, she climbed and talked to Kyala.

He’d had reservations about Kyala’s presence, but the gargoyle had turned out to have an uncanny knack for discovering usable paths and avoiding the shallow thickets that hid wickedly sharp thorns.

Sairy’s and Kyala’s partnership reminded him of when his younger brother’s animal affinity talent had blossomed, and he’d made friends with every stray cat in the neighborhood.

He didn’t know why it surprised him that Sairy was good with systems and animals, but it did. She continued to intrigue him.

He also had to admit that Sairy’s description of the cloud forest as being eerie was on target.

Mosses covered everything. Unexpected mists wafted in between the dense stands of trees.

Unleashing his minder talent gave him the sense that the plants lived a more precarious existence than he’d imagined.

A lot less diversity than he’d imagined, too.

No parasitic figs, no nano-needle shrubs, and too few epiphytes on the stunted-looking trees.

Just a couple of species of birch and skinny firs.

The topsoil was rich with organics, but the volcanic soils below were acidic and friable. And sharp, where they jutted out of the steep slope, waiting to tear any thin fabric that brushed by too close.

At least the bare-branched shrubs proved they were on the right track as far as tracking the wuzzy-bug trail.

Houyen’s talent said the plants weren’t as dead as they looked, which suggested they’d adapted to periodic insect swarms. Once again, the serious lack of environmental records made him shake his head in disgust. How had the rangers missed that for well over a century?

By tacit agreement, as dusk approached, they selected and set up their sleeping spot for the night, then sat in a circle to eat from self-heating mealpacks.

Houyen was glad that Phen and Koda had left the amateur camper’s cold box on the big airsled.

Sairy unfolded a collapsible stool and joined the group with her own mealpack after she’d put down food and water for Kyala.

Phen seemed to have gotten past her towering anger at her overprotective, meddling father’s actions. “Thank the universe I didn’t have to eat many of these tasteless things in Ground Div, or I’d have termed out after my first tour.”

“At least these are fresh,” said Koda. “I think Axolotl Bend’s emergency stores were old when the Central League was still ruling the galaxy. That’s no way to run a town.”

“Truth,” agreed Phen. “I’ll vote for you if you want to run for Administrator.”

Koda laughed. “Thank you, love.”

Phen cast a dubious glance upward at the tree canopy that shaded everything. “We need to avoid lights tonight as much as possible. I don’t want to wake up covered in wuzzy bugs because we confused them.” Phen waved her fork. “I think I’m sensing a bigger mass of them right where Sairy’s map—”

The gauntlet on Houyen’s arm vibrated and sounded the ping tones for an incoming call from Brannezzo. Contrariness made him again answer with audio only and let the group hear it. “Hello, Ranger Brannezzo. You’re on speaker.”

“Where are you now?”

Houyen let the peremptory tone slide on by. “On the mountain.”

“Did you come across the treasure yet?” After an awkward pause, he added, “Just kidding. It’s too late to find you tonight. You’ll have to wait for us in the morning.”

“Who is ‘us’?” Houyen glanced at Phen. From her stormy look, she shared his suspicion that Garamont was still meddling.

“A couple of locals who know the area. Don’t know their names. The Chief made the arrangements. I’m meeting them in the morning. Do you need me to bring anything?”

Houyen wanted more details, but his intuition warned him not to ask. “No, I’m set. Ping me when you’re on your way up.”

“Yeah. Send me the coordinates for where you parked your airsleds. We can meet there.”

“Okay.” Houyen disconnected the comm.

His intuition was sending him a hailstorm of alerts. Trouble was, he’d rarely been able to articulate the reasons until events proved him right. He just knew that it had kept him out of harm’s way more than once.

Koda raised her hand. “Show of hands. Who else thought that call was weird?”

Phen raised her hand immediately. After a long moment, Sairy tentatively raised her hand, too.

How was he going to explain this and not look like a conspiracy-addled fool? But if he turned out to be right, he’d feel worse if he kept it to himself. He held his breath. “I think Ranger Brannezzo thinks we’re after the treasure, and he wants in.”

He took it as a positive sign that no one laughed.

“Interesting,” said Koda. “What’s your logic chain?”

He took the plunge, marshaling his thoughts as he spoke.

“Brannezzo avoids field work like he’s allergic.

He’s convinced our boss that the audit of Falco Joro’s construction plans can only be done effectively if it’s done in person at the Planning and Records office in Eolium.

He’s strung out that assignment to keep him in room service for the better part of a year.

So why the sudden enthusiasm to join us in the wilderness?

” Another question popped. “And when did he talk to Pazhkeli to hear what the townspeople said about the treasure?”

Koda swallowed her forkful of food. “Like we used to say in my old Forward Intelligence days, you can never rule out simple greed. Two income sources are better than one.”

On point, said his intuition. Getting paid by Joro for the permit delays and enjoying a luxury megacity lifestyle courtesy of the CPS would be a double win for Brannezzo.

“Okay, I can see that.” He blew out a noisy breath. “But why this sudden obsession with a non-existent treasure, of all things?”

Koda shrugged. Phen shook her head.

“Maybe it’s like a meme,” said Sairy. “My friend says some people are really susceptible to them, especially if it feels like the best secret ever. Logic never wins when people want to believe. His current theory is that the treasure meme is somehow connected to infinity fever outbreaks. ”

“What’s his name?” asked Koda, giving Sairy a winning smile. “Why haven’t I met him? I know everyone.”

Houyen thought Sairy was going to ignore Koda’s probe, but instead, she sighed. “His name is Elkano. He’s a homebody.”

“Is that who you’ve been talking to when you aren’t talking to Kyala?” Koda pointed to Sairy’s left ear, where a glint of metal hinted at the presence of an earwire. Now that he thought about it, he realized she’d worn the team comms earwire in her right ear.

Houyen eyed Koda covertly. She was far more observant than he’d given her credit for.

“Yes. He worries.” Sairy uncapped her water pouch and drank deeply.

“So, Ranger, what do you want to do when your fellow Ranger shows up? If Koda is right about his second paymaster, his ‘locals who know the area’ might be Joro’s enforcers.

And not to be insulting or anything, but are you sure your boss doesn’t also have his hand out? ”

Houyen queried his intuition, but it was stubbornly silent. “I can’t rule it out.”

“Worst-case scenario,” said Koda, “they all believe in the amazing treasure so much that they’re willing to torch their careers — and you — to get it. What’s a few accidental deaths on a dangerous mountain if we’re the only obstacles?”

“On the other hand,” said Phen, “the best-case scenario is that your asshole boss is sending Brannezzo to stop or discredit your infinity fever research. My asshole father, knowing Brannezzo would never find us without help, convinced a couple of my cousins to go with him.”

Sairy was silent, her expression unreadable as she watched him.

Houyen took a deep breath, trying to quell his roiling regrets. “I apologize for getting you all involved in this. The only way I see to avoid either scenario is to get back down to our airsleds before Brannezzo can find them.”

“I don’t think so.” Koda slid her fork into her chest pocket and collapsed the empty mealpack container.

“In the get-rich-quick scenario, if we run, it just confirms we have something to hide, and they’ll hunt us down for the treasure.

In Phen’s scenario, if we run, your ranger career is a total flameout unless you can get the samples to prove otherwise.

And more and more people will keep getting sick.

” Koda shot a glance at Sairy. “We’ve been lucky in the last three years that no one has died, but not if the fever keeps spreading like you said. ”

Houyen couldn’t stop himself from glancing at Sairy, too. Did the townspeople suspect she might have been helping them the way he was convinced she’d helped him? He shook his head, making himself focus on the immediate problem.

“What do you suggest?” he asked.

Koda exchanged a look with Phen, then gave him an assessing look.

“Do you have any weapons?” She waved a hand between herself and Phen.

“We’re carrying hand-beamers, and we have rifles on our airsleds.

It’s a military habit we never outgrew. Joro and her crew are a pain in the ass, but she’s not the first little-fish crime boss trying to exploit the Makaan resources. ”

Phen plucked at the edge of her tunic. “And we’re wearing Koda’s flex-weave because it’s good skin protection. Almost as good as military flexin armor.”

Houyen knew it to be true because he’d helped Koda file the patent applications for it.