“You’re sure you parked it over behind those bushes?”

“Yeah.” said Dene.

“Well, this is gonna be interesting.” said Siertes.

The Xarnax drones extended right out the smashed front of the base, in an orderly line that led off in the direction of the highway. In the distance, Xarnax ships were landing, using the highway for that purpose. There was no telling how many more alien robots were coming- but it was plain to see that the line went directly across their path to Voustrets’ Estrai sports car.

“Can we go over them?” said Boodins.

“Shh. I’m thinking.”

“Why aren’t they killing us?” asked Dene. “Not that I’m complaining!”

“I think I can tell you that.” said Siertes. “It might even mean that we can get away- but it certainly means we have time to think. I wouldn’t step in front of one, or do anything where they can hurt you without firing a shot…”

“What’re you driving at?” said Dene, ears quirked in thought.

“Just that- they’re avoiding firing any shots. You notice all the lights, the little noises? Did you wonder why they’re doing that, when they’re robots? Why they’re not using wireless transmissions?”

“Now that you mention it…” said Boodins.

“You didn’t, huh?” said Siertes. “Well, they’re not, and they’re not firing a shot, and here’s why- we can trace radio waves. We can trace wireless broadcasts. Those horrible lasers that go ‘tick’- those have a really distinctive radio signature. These guys could turn us into little piles of ash at any moment. Each of them can get off a laser discharge maybe once every twentieth of a second, and there’s dozens- hundreds of them. But if they did, they’d set off every alarm on this planet.”

“They shot once.” said Boodins. “They got Elistary.”

“They’ve got to be desperately worried about firing again, or they’d have taken us out by now. Maybe taking advantage of a lucky target situation. Let’s not give them one, okay?”

“How do you mean?”

“Put it this way. If we stood up in a neat line, so our heads were all in a row, one of these guys could dispose of us all with a single laser ‘tick’. Try not to do that…”

Dene backed away from Siertes and Boodins a little, looking distressed. There was another flurry of lights and quiet noises from the Xarnax drones as they trundled on in their queue.

“Told you they were thinking about it.” said Siertes.

“Maybe the plane will distract them?” said Boodins.

Siertes glanced up quickly. “What plane? Oh, great. Do you know who’s flying that?”

The plane was just a speck to Boodins. “Give me a hint?”

“Don’t feel too bad, I can barely see it myself- but that’s our fox Voustrets! And it looks like an ambulance plane out of one of the Verss hospitals. What the hell is he doing out here?”

He was coming closer, at any rate.

“Does he not see them? Why isn’t he turning and running?” said Dene.

“If I had to guess,” said Siertes, “I’d say he’s taking pictures or video. I know Estrai. Back home they fly in our defense, in planes that barely have any electronics to them at all- Xarnax are real good at jamming electronic or computer gear. It looks like he’s also getting visuals- I see him better now, he’s peering out the window, and there’s that Rairate guy, and… what the hell? The little Runge kid, Hallem? And it looks like he’s just h… shit!”

There was a loud ‘tick’, just one, from a Xarnax drone. Not from one with a clear shot, but from one coming down the road towards Elistary’s base, one that fired through tree canopy to do it. Leaves fluttered down, quietly, as the alien robots continued moving.

“They killed him, they killed him!” wailed Dene in a subdued yelp.

“No!” snapped Siertes. “I think I see all three of them. They’re unharmed for now- do you realize what that thing did? It’s shot their radio antenna off while also taking out the controls for one wing. They’re serious about not attracting attention… Voustrets must have just got on the radio, they were waiting for that.”

The plane grew nearer and nearer. “Did you say they shot the controls for a wing?”

“Ah… not exactly.” said Siertes. “That’s what it looked like at first.”

Above them, the ambulance plane wavered, and pitched over, as the injured wing gave way completely, ripping off in the airflow, coming loose, the plane going into a tumble, the severed wing piece flashing strobelike in the sun as it fell.

“Oh, shit!” said Boodins.

As it tumbled, something else came loose. It was another speck, but it expanded and unfurled…

Thousands of feet up, the air was cold and savage as it whipped past. The plane fell away, tumbling faster and faster, and it was plain that Voustrets had been right when he demanded a bail-out.

Rai had, in turn, demanded that Voustrets bail out with the child Hallem, and leave him, yowling that three was too many for one parachute. He was injured anyhow. He would try and crash the plane into some of the Xarnax drones, since they could not radio for help.

In the end, Voustrets had simply grabbed both Hallem and Rairate, and ejected. Rai had bitten Voustrets, in an attempt to get him to let go. Voustrets did no such thing- and Hallem had outmaneuvered both. The Runge kid, in free-fall and buffeted by wind, had shifted his grip from Voustrets and now hung on to Rai alone- which meant there was no way to avoid testing the three-person parachute without throwing Voustrets to the winds.

Rai looked like he was ready to try that, but Hallem did not agree.

“DO NOT ATTACK HIM! NO!”

Rai tried to yell back, but he was too weak. His injuries had objected greatly to being shot out over Verss by the plane’s launching mechanism, and still more to bailing out in mid-air, and he was fairly near passing out. Voustrets clung grimly to him on one side, Hallem on the other.

“COME OVER TO ME!” cried Voustrets, over the wind.

“NO WAY!” replied Hallem.

“DO IT!”

“NO! HE’LL LET GO!”

“WE’LL BOTH LAND ON YOU OTHERWISE!”

The trees were racing up at them, far too fast. Three to a parachute, even if the parachute was made for Runge, was not a good arrangement.

“OH SH…”

In the last moments, Voustrets tried to wrap himself around the injured feline, and Hallem scrabbled to not be underneath both when they hit… blasting through foliage, vicious jerks on the lines as the chute fouled itself in the treetops, and the three whirled violently down and slammed into the ground.

Voustrets won, because both Rairate and Hallem hit directly on top of him. The famed Estrai detective was knocked senseless, out cold. There was a brief silence, broken by the sounds of twigs and branches falling from the treetops.

Then, the sounds of pursuit, scuffling through the forest. Hallem stirred, and Rai tried, unsuccessfully, to get up.

“Yeah, get off him. We probably shouldn’t move him…” said the Runge boy.

“I was supposed to lie still and rest too.” said Rai. “More will be asked of us, than this.”

“No, I mean, what if he broke his neck?”

“I’m sure I’m not that lucky.” said Rai.

The sounds got nearer, making Hallem anxious. “You think that’s Xarnax coming for us?”

“It is unlikely, but the intentions may be hostile. Run, ‘aons.”

“No way!”

Rai attempted to rise again, but only managed to roll off Voustrets and sit up. “Save yourself. I will protect this annoying creature.”

“How can you say that? I’m supposed to believe that?” protested Hallem.

“I’ve.. been called.. worse.” said Voustrets feebly, stirring and sitting up as well.

“See? He is fine. Run and save yourself, ‘aons!”

“Fine? Fine?” said Voustrets. “I shall be sick. And my tail! Ruined!”

“Ignore the tail, ‘aons. We are being attacked.” said Rai, as the rustling grew nearer and Hallem darted out of sight. They stood up, unsteadily.

“Nonsense.” said Voustrets, picking at his tail with an expression of terrible distaste.

Rai stared. “As much as I would like to leave you to your fate…”

“You agree, it is a terrible fate!”

“We’re about to be attacked by…”

“Boodins.” said Voustrets calmly. At this, the rustling, which had been coming ever closer, stopped. Then some foliage got pushed aside, and Boodins’ head stuck out, bearing a perplexed look.

“How did you… waugh!” Hallem burst from the underbrush, tackling him.

“Hallem!” snapped Rai. “Behave, ‘aons! This is our friend, whom you know!”

The Runge boy paused, and stared at his victim, still gripping Boodins’ ears in his small fists.

“Um. Yeah.” said Hallem, smoothing Boodins’ ears out and patting his head. “Good job…”

Boodins ignored this. “How did you know it was me?”

“It was not difficult.” said Voustrets demurely. “Let us now attend to far more important things…”

“Such as your ruined tail, perhaps?” observed Rai.

Voustrets sighed heavily. “Things that are of the salvageable! At least, I desperately hope it is true…”

“I would like to know how you knew it was Boodins, too, ‘aons.” said Rai. “We saw only Xarnax, and far too many of them. Our danger is still great.”

“I too saw only Xarnax,” said Voustrets, “but there are other senses.” He winked.

Rai regarded him with total disbelief. “You smelled him? From thousands of feet up?”

Hallem capered a bit, giddy from the relief of finding the rustling terror was a friend. “Sure! You can smell him for miles away!”

“Hey!” protested Boodins.

“No, no…” said Voustrets. “You may have seen me operate a small electronic device? Perhaps you thought I was sending a radio message. Would that I had…”

“You’ve put an electronic tracer on Boodins?” said Rai.

“Hey!” protested Boodins, even more vehemently.

“Where’d you stick it?” teased Hallem.

“HEY!”

“No, no!” said Voustrets. “On my car.”

Boodins settled down. Rai’s ears and tail described a complicated, silent ballet of polite horror as he considered Voustrets’ statement. Finally, he spoke.

“We flew out here, in a stolen airplane, with a small child to look after and several friends to rescue. We spotted something, only to discover it was a large group of deadly, hostile killer robots that shoot people with lasers. We see that they have made a line towards some purpose that is doubtless terrible, and you immediately check to see if they have stolen your car?”

“Now listen!”

“Did you think they were taking turns to sit in it?”

“My dear Rairate! The plan worked perfectly!”

Rai didn’t move a muscle, but his tail visibly foofed out in outrage. After it relaxed a bit, he said “Explain this plan, ‘aons.”

“Our friends were IN my car. I have located the car, and now we have located Boodins- where he is, the others must surely be. We will go to them and find what they have learned.”

Rai still didn’t move. “They have learned the same thing we have learned- that huge numbers of Xarnax are here doing something.”

Boodins nodded. “Yeah! We noticed. We can’t even get to Voustrets’ car.”

“So, we will go to them and- do what?”

Voustrets drooped a little, sadly trying to pick twigs out of his tail.

“That… will require another plan.”

Siertes and Dene had found a place to wait that wasn’t in the line of fire for any Xarnax. They were taking turns to peek over a low wall and check on the alien robots’ progress, as neither would allow the other to take all the risk. Nothing had happened, except more Xarnax loading barrels of poison.

As the others joined them, Rairate noticed something. “Boodins? You haven’t unclenched your fist once. What is the matter?”

“I’m not going to, either. If I clench it just right, it’s not bleeding.”

“You’ve injured yourself?” said Rai, dismayed.

“Something like that…”

“Elistary shot his hand.” said Siertes.

“What?” said Dene. “She what? When?”

“It was up in that tower, you weren’t there.” said Siertes. “I was going to ask him about it.”

Rai shook his head. “I asked you to protect him.”

“I was trying to! Kitty, I’d just climbed up an elevator shaft and ripped through a floor to get at him. I’m gonna need to get patched up a little after that one. I’m ignoring it for now. I was charging this lady when it happened- but the funny thing is, he was protecting me.”

“Protecting you. Is that sensible?”

“It’s not only not sensible, it’s the stupidest thing I ever saw. But I think I like it. Took me a minute to get used to the concept.”

“What happened to him?”

“Bright puppy knocked the gun out of the way with his hand just as she fired- through it. And he held it, too, don’t think I didn’t notice that. Probably we wouldn’t have got her if not for that.”

Rairate turned to Boodins. “Does it hurt badly?”

Boodins was a little puffed up from the unexpected praise of Siertes. “I’ll deal with it, it’s okay. At least I have a hand, that’s more than Elistary can say!”

Rai was trying to catch up. “She hasn’t got a hand?”

“Sure she does. Here!” said Siertes, and Elistary’s severed paw flipped up at Rai’s face. He yowled and batted it away.

“Siertes!” protested Dene. “Stop playing with that! You don’t know what might happen!”

“Don’t care. She was gonna kill you. That’s all I need to know.”

“Well… Don’t throw body parts at Rai.”

“Indeed not!” protested Rai, still flustered.

“You’re lucky it didn’t hit the ground in many pieces!” said Voustrets, who picked up the Resten hand with great interest. “He has inflicted a deep cut, but surely that is the least of its problems. I see that you have captured Elistary?”

“Oh no no,” said Siertes, nodding Elistary’s limp head like a puppet. “They haven’t captured me. I’m going to have my robots zap them to dust!”

“Siertes, don’t!” said Dene. “It’s not really funny!”

“Would it be better if I make her jaw work? Just a minute…”

Siertes fiddled with Elistary’s mouth, and resumed. “They’re eeeeevil, I tell you, just ow!” Her efforts to work Elistary’s jaw with her fingers got her a brief moment of awareness from the Resten princess’s dazed eyes- and a very determined bite. “Bitch!”

“Serves you right. Just capture her,” said Dene, “don’t play with her.”

“Oh, all right. Wasn’t it funny? Zap them to dust!”

Voustrets interrupted, his tone serious. “In fact, it is of the greatest importance that we answer that question…”

“What question?”

“You have captured Elistary. Yet, there are countless Xarnax drones- here- and they are doing something, to be sure, but why is it they do not zap us? There are so many. They have shot us out of the sky, but they have not harmed anybody…”

“Except Elistary,” said Boodins, “and she thought they were on her side! She’s given them all that poison. They’re lining up for it.”

“That is what they are doing?” gasped Voustrets.

“That’s the only reason we’re alive.” said Siertes. “They’re so desperate to load it all up without interference, that they’re not taking any shots or using radio transmissions. Look, listen- they’re communicating entirely with lights and sounds.”

Voustrets peered over the wall, and his eyes widened. “Oh my. Oh… Oh, that I could study this in the great detail…”

“How about, oh, that we could get out of here?”

“You don’t understand, nobody has ever seen this. The things I could learn… perhaps to communicate with them…”

“Why would they say ‘hi, I want to kill you’ when they can just show you?”

“True…” said Voustrets. “Anyway, I think they may be nearing the end of their line…”

“Excuse me.” said Rairate. His tail was all bristled out, and he stared at the patiently working Xarnax.

“Yeah?” said Siertes.

“You have said, these Xarnax harmed Elistary?”

Siertes waved Elistary’s stump by way of assent.

“And they are not firing, because they do not wish to be disturbed while taking the poison she has acquired for them?”

“Yeeeaah…” said Dene uncertainly.

“And they are almost finished taking it?”

Voustrets nodded. “So it appears.”

Rairate gulped. “I must ask, ‘aons… is there any reason to believe they will just go away afterwards? It seems to me that once they are finished, their reason for being quiet and not shooting will be over…”

He fell silent, and everyone’s eyes turned to the line of Xarnax drones- which was visibly shorter now.