“I’m telling you, it’s all wrong, and that worries me. A lot.”

Siertes was peering over the edge of a rocky ridge, in the mountains, about ten K west of Dennte. This was where the barrels of Tompar adrenal venom booster had gone. They were presumably here, but they were not alone.

“Are you sure it’s Elistary’s?” whispered Boodins. “It’s hard to believe.”

“Maybe for you.” said Dene.

“You don’t get it- this is crazy, just crazy…” said Siertes.

It was a base, unquestionably. Hardened steel walls, turrets, barbed wire- yet there were no sentries, no troops, no sound. Small sharp lights blinked here and there in the distance.

“How much time do we have?” said Dene.

“Maybe twenty minutes at this point.” said Siertes. “No longer.”

“It’s scary.” said Dene. “All those turrets and guns- but why do you keep saying it’s crazy?”

“Well, look at it! Arcs of fire! Supply lines!”

“Nothing’s shooting fire.” said Boodins. Dene nodded to this, and looked quizzical, her ears perked attentively.

“Sorry.” said Siertes. “I forget you furry things aren’t trained. I’m spotting stuff you can’t read.”

“Fill us in.” said Dene.

“See those gun turrets? How far do you think that thing can pivot to the side before it’s shooting at the column there at the corner of the building?”

“Not far,” said Dene, “it’s kinda set back into the wall.”

“Exactly! It looks impressive but if it was on top of the column it’d have 360 degrees of pivot. Now, the four other ones next to it. What areas do they cover?”

“Um- exactly the same. You’re saying…”

“I’m saying it’s crazy. It’s like the guns were put in the place they’d look coolest, with no thought of their defensive function. And that’s not all. See the little road?”

“Sure. The car would fit on it, but I’m glad we didn’t try that, with those guns there…”

“Well, where’s the loading docks? Where do trucks come in? This is a big facility.”

“I don’t know. You’re expecting trucks?” said Dene.

Siertes gave her a look. “Place this size, you want a loading dock, at least two bays, raised to the bed of the trucks. Now, you might think they’ll go in that big main entrance, see there with all the glass? That’s also crazy, by the way, but it covers a lot of area. Well, look more closely, go on.”

“I don’t have eyes like yours.” complained Dene. “Be fair.”

“No, I think it doesn’t take eyes like mine. Go on.”

Dene squinted and studied the front of the building. Then she saw it.

“She’s… run a truck through the glass. Part of that is missing. Because of the way it’s made, and seeing it through the trees, it’s hard to spot, but somebody’s gone into that place by just driving through a wall.”

“And that’s crazy.” said Siertes. “I have no idea what we’re facing in there, but it’s like this place is a joke or a prank. And darling wolfess? When you’re in the field, jokes aren’t funny.”

“We’re in the mountains. There’s trees. No field.” suggested Boodins.

“This would be one of those jokes that aren’t funny, yes?” said Siertes with narrowed eyes. Dene sniggered, very quietly.

Boodins’ ears drooped. “Um- yeah, pretty much. You just seemed worried. Dene liked it!”

“Do you think those bike guys are going to be able to smell out the car?” demanded Siertes.

“I don’t know.” said Boodins. “Maybe, maybe not. I could. I saw you trying to cover up the tire tracks.”

“Here’s why I’m worried.” said Siertes. “If we hid the car well enough, it might be safe, but they might still smell us. I’m betting that there’s one place the biker guys will not go- but I don’t have to tell you where that is.”

Boodins nodded, his eyes big. Dene said, “Yeah.”

“Here’s the good news. There’s no supply lines, there’s no obvious sentries, there’s no troops. Frankly, this looks like she’s not prepared- this place isn’t ready. I’m not confident of that, because it’s so crazy that there’s no telling what she considers ‘ready’, but it sure doesn’t look like she expected to get out here this early.”

“So what,” said Boodins, “are we going to just walk in? I don’t like the look of those guns.”

“If they’re what they look like, those are artillery cannons. They’re manned. There’s a chance that they’re not ready either. It’s also possible that they’re automatic, and open fire when motion is sensed.”

“You’re thinking what I’m thinking.” said Dene.

“Good wolfess. But this one, you had better leave to me. What I want you to do is, keep your eyes and ears peeled for reactions. I’ll watch the base, each of you need to watch the woods around it. Movements of sections of bushes, quiet words- you can figure it out. You watch for any reaction, all right? Here goes.”

Siertes picked up a heavy piece of stick from the ground, weighed it speculatively, wound up, and threw it hard at the guns. It arced through the air, and fell to the paved ground directly in front of the base with a dry clatter.

“Did you hear that?” whispered Dene, in alarm.

Siertes held a reptilian hand up for silence, and all three listened desperately, motionless.

“Wolfie? Still hearing it?”

Dene shook her head. “No. I’d swear it was some kind of whir. It was very quiet. It’s not happening now. Did you hear it?”

Siertes regarded her lover solemnly. “Not with these ears, sweetie. You guys have us whipped on that front. You’re sure it’s not still happening? Let’s try again.”

She threw another stick, the Runge and Resten straining their high-perked ears for signs of danger.

Dene’s face showed fear and frustration in equal measure. “Nothing.”

“Well, I don’t see anything. You guys have one more trick. Especially puppy here. Do you smell anything?”

She froze, silently, again, and Boodins gave her a look. “That won’t matter, don’t bother.” He tested the air, again and again. “Hmmm…”

“All right, what, undistractable one?” said Siertes. “Are there any troops or sentries out here?”

“Nobody. There’s been nobody here. I can smell Elistary. She doesn’t smell worried… nobody else. It’s just her and… metal?”

Siertes waved in the direction of the base. “Imagine that.”

“It’s weird though… and… glass?”

“Next you’ll be telling me you can smell which panes were broken.”

“Glass is really hard!” protested Boodins. “You have no idea! And again there’s something weird…”

“This whole place is weird.” pointed out Dene. “You can hardly expect anything about it to be very normal. Look at it.”

“I am looking at it,” said Siertes, “and I think we can actually go in. And does anybody have a good sense of how many minutes we just lost doing that?”

“I don’t even want to think about it.” said Dene. “So we’re going in?”

Siertes looked grim. Boodins gulped, and nodded.

The three began sidling toward the entrance. Deep in the foliage, to the side of the building, and covered by the rustling of their cautious footsteps, there was another faint whir.

Back in Verss, Voustrets and Rai had discovered something.

“It is of the most usefulness! To think we rushed in here only to conceal ourselves!”

“It is a sort of rescue equipment.” said Rai, flicking his ear in puzzlement.

“And are we not on a rescue mission? We will take it!”

It was a sort of airplane, but very small. It rested on a metal rail that extended out across the city, towards open air, and it boasted one seat, one extended space that would hold a stretcher or litter, two small wings and two large jet engines- large, at least, for the size of the plane.

Rairate was uncomfortable, and not wholly from his injuries. “But… will we not ask permission? For the use of this thing? ‘aons?”

“Listen. Not only are we on a rescue mission, but you must get in the plane right away, for we are in great danger until you do.”

Rai regarded the Estrai detective skeptically. “Why?”

“Why? My friend, we are already fleeing their attempts to shoot you with tranquilizer darts and strap you down upon the bed again!”

“Yes, you told them to do that yourself.”

“And much good that will do us now! They will shoot us with guns, not tranquilizer darts! Get in the plane, please.”

Rai’s ears went flatter and flatter. “Why would they do that?”

“For stealing their plane. Quick, quick!”

“But I don’t wish to steal this plane!”

“Do you think,” said Voustrets, “they’ll believe that?”

Rai stood for a moment, ears flattened, tail irregularly bristling out as he tried to think the situation over- and then began to climb into the plane. “As you wish, but on one condition.”

Voustrets was visibly resisting the urge to push Rai into the plane more quickly- just as well, for he’d have lost a hand if he’d tried. “One condition?”

“Please do not reason with me any more…”

“Yo.” came a small voice, and Voustrets glanced at the door to see a small Runge figure. Hallem had joined them.

“Shouldn’t you be with your sister, and Faisand?” said Voustrets.

“I’m coming with you.”

“You certainly are not. Go back to safety.”

“Rai protected my life! He was taking bullets for me!” protested Hallem. “I have to be in on this!”

“In on what?”

Hallem thought. “On whatever you’re doing, that’s so important you’re stealing an ambulance plane to do it in.”

Voustrets scoffed. “Why should I let you be a hostage to fate again? Stay back.”

“I was on a mission from YOU.” snapped Hallem. “I was working for you!”

This stopped Voustrets. “You’re right. You were, weren’t you?”

“And Rai and Siertes got me and my sister out of our base after it got attacked. You can’t ask me to go back now!”

“But- what use could you possibly be?”

“I could tell you they’re searching all the rooms, working their way down the hall. I could tell you that you’ve got maybe two minutes, tops. I could tell you to get out of here right now…”

Voustrets jumped into the plane, began to close the hatch.

“Stop!” cried Hallem. “They’ll arrest me for helping you steal it! You’re leaving me to the cops!”

Voustrets hesitated, just a moment- and beckoned to Hallem, who lost no time- the Runge boy ran over and leapt across Rai and Voustrets, landing in their laps with as much gentleness as he could manage. The hatch slammed down, Voustrets’ paw hit the launch button, and the plane fired out of its launching bay, hurtling out over the city, dropping and barely clearing the buildings in front of it, clawing for air and gradually picking up speed and lift.

All three breathed again as the plane rose, glittering metallically against the sky.

“Chos!” cursed Rai. “That was close! We barely escaped! They were really searching all the rooms?”

Voustrets and Hallem looked at each other. There was a pause as each sized up the other.

“No.” they both said, together. Rai’s jaw dropped, and he stared, dumbfounded.

“But it was such a beautiful, elegant lie.” said Voustrets admiringly. “Such quick thinking.”

“See, I told you I was useful.” said Hallem.

The rescue plane screamed off toward the mountains.

As Boodins approached the door- or the hole in the glass wall that served as a door- he kept hesitating, sniffing the air, sidling up as if expecting loose panes of glass to fall and decapitate him. This wasn’t such an unreasonable concern, but it slowed progress for Siertes and Dene as well as himself.

“What’s the matter?” said Dene. “What’s there?”

“Something still weird- but I think I can smell where Elistary went. She’s here. I swear she’s here. And I was right- she’s not worried. She’s… excited? She’s run a truck through her front windows, but she’s excited.”

“She’s a sicko.” said Siertes. “Excited about delivering a huge load of illegal poison to this stupid place for some horrible reason.”

“I don’t know…” whined Boodins. “I just… I hate to believe that. Can you be, I don’t know, more gentle about saying it? It’s making me really unhappy anyway that a Relf is doing this…”

“No.” said Siertes. Dene glanced at him, and said, “Let’s just find out what’s happening. We have so little time. C’mon.”

As they stepped over the threshold, a pane of glass dropped and shattered. Boodins hung back, and then slunk in, glancing in every direction.

“There’s the truck,” said Siertes. “Let’s check it first.”

Boodins hung back again, sniffing at a door to the side of the entrance area. It lay ajar, entrance to a darkened room or stairwell. Boodins seemed compelled to pay attention to this door, skulking nearer and nearer to it, following his nose.

Dene, not noticing this, started around the opposite side of the truck, her ears perked with mad attentiveness.

Siertes glanced back and forth rapidly in sudden alarm. “Damn crazy wolfess- wait!”

Boodins poked his head in the door, his tail tucked between his legs.

Siertes began to dash after Dene, then saw her wolfess lover come back into view looking sheepish.

An arm dragged Boodins into the room.

The door shut with a loud, decisive clack.

Siertes’ body slammed against the door, fruitlessly.