The Children of the Sky

youngest Children were gone. Three packs were mostly murdered.

Ravna sat with Jo and Pilgrim on that beautiful carpet, and felt as cold and miserable as if she’d been in the blizzard outside.

Maybe Johanna had been crying, but all that was left was the strain that showed on her face. “We would have let the Tropicals run right on into the wilderness, except that the storm had caught up with us.” She had reported most of this by radio. She’d be saying it again tomorrow morning when all the Children got together at the New Meeting Place. She punched angrily at the big pillow she held on her lap. Pilgrim was stretched out around her, also looking tired and unperky.

“We rescued no one,” Jo said. “We discovered nothing. The only good thing that came out of this was getting to work with Jefri. He handled the ground chase, and for the first time in years we really cooperated.”

“Jefri is the best of all the humans at woodcraft,” said Pilgrim. “He and Amdi came down from Smeltertop, watching all the way for signs of small escaping parties. They were just ahead of the main group of Tropicals when the storm hit.”

“So between him and Woodcarver’s troops, the Tropicals were boxed in?” said Ravna. She had followed the chase with most of the other Children, just watching the comms from Oobii.

“Yeah, we really had them trapped, and if we didn’t stop them, they could lose us in the storm.” Jo swatted her pillow again. “We should have captured a lot more of them, though. Damn that Gannon Jorkenrud. He just charged on through, whacking Tropicals. I’m gonna complain about that.”

Ravna nodded. In fact, Johanna had already complained loudly and publicly, and her complaints had been heard by almost one hundred Children on Oobii. Jorkenrud’s attack had been ineffectual, except as it forced a complete loss of coherence among the Tropicals. “Yes,” said Ravna, “we saw.” Via the camera carried by Woodcarver. “The Tropicals were hunkered down around their sleighs, almost clumped into rational groups. Then Gannon and company came in—”

“Yeah! And poof, the Tropicals ran off in all directions, as singletons.” Johanna glared at nowhere in particular for a moment. “No way could we catch many of them in the storm.” A shadow passed across her face. “Tropical singletons in a northern blizzard. I’ll bet they’re dead now.”

“Jefri and Amdi brought nets,” said Pilgrim. “They managed to snag a few.” He shook a head wonderingly. “What an unlikely team they make. Jefri is almost as good in the woods as a pack—and Amdiranifani is a pudgy, overly nice genius who doesn’t even like to eat live food. I’ll bet the nets were Amdi’s idea. Between them, they caught more Tropicals than Woodcarver’s troops and Nevil’s idiots.”

“What did you find in the sleighs?”

Johanna shook her head. “We’re gonna have to wait for Nevil’s big meeting to learn that. We were still in the air, and Amdi and Jefri were busy with their nets. It was mainly Gannon and company on the wagons.… I swear, even after ten years Down Here, they still seem to think that the world is built just for them. If objects don’t have intentional response, or at least voice command obedience, they figure they’re broken. These bozos ended up using axes to make kindling of the sleighs and cargo boxes.”

“I saw some of what they spilled out on the ground. It was a jumble, but here and there I saw rainbows.”

“Big deal,” said Johanna. “For years, the Tropicals have been stealing tech items, mostly glittering garbage. I want some real clues. Where are Geri and Edvi and Timor? How can we get them back…” her voice became soft and sad, “… or can we ever get them back?” She looked up at Ravna. “I think Jefri is as upset as I’ve ever seen him, even when he was little. This takes us back to Murder Meadows.”

Chapter 17

A tenday passed. There had been no sign of Geri or Edvi or Timor, but something new happened up at the cemetery—hundreds of packs and all the remaining Children showed up and stood in snowy, windy twilight for the funeral of Belle and parts of Dumpster and almost all of Beasly. For better or worse, this looked like a new tradition among the packs. Nevil said just a few words, thanking the fallen Best Friends, and promising that the stolen Children would be found. Then various packs and humans spoke to remember the dead. They even found nice things to say about the ever-churlish Belle Ornrikak. The last of Beasly stood quietly beside his pack’s grave, looking sad and puzzled.

The murders and kidnappings brought the Children together as nothing had before. The growing complaints died, and everyone pulled together. Though there were no signs of the missing Children, there were clues. Along with the pilfered trinkets and toys, the Tropicals’ sleighs had contained food supplies, including syrup-grain bars that only humans could stomach. Someone had planned to take the stolen Children far away. Nevil confessed that his leadership had been terribly unprepared and that their best rescue efforts had been a botch.

So the Domain had an external enemy, someone who evidently was interested in learning more about two- legs. The names Vendacious and Tycoon were high on everyone’s suspect list. There was something very dangerous out beyond the Domain. This time it had used its puppets—but next time?

Nevil and Woodcarver were forced into closer cooperation. Both Tines and humans volunteered their time for special watches. The youngest Children were never without double guards. Jefri and Amdi stayed in town, working to devise a sustainable town patrol. Nevil appointed special committees to recommend new policies.

At twice-a-tenday meetings, Nevil summarized the results of the planning committees. The unsuccessful bioscience projects were swept away by the necessities of immediate safety.

It was such a perfect fit for Pilgrim’s warning of what a regime might do to stay in power. But now Pilgrim was less the cynic: “Events have worked in Nevil’s political favor, but I don’t see how he could have engineered this.”

“Not by himself,” said Johanna, “but if Nevil has fallen into Vendacious’ schemes, this is exactly the sort of thing that could happen.” She glanced at Ravna. “You told me Nevil looked overwhelmed in the embassy.”

“Yes.”

Jo nodded. “I think Nevil did a deal with the devil and now he can’t get out.” She was silent for a moment. “Or maybe he is totally innocent. I talked to Jefri again today. If he stays in town long enough, I really think I may learn what’s going on in his head. Jef and Amdi are desperate to keep this from happening again—but I’ll tell you, they’re whole-heartedly behind Nevil’s security schemes. Jefri says we really need those handcannons that Nevil mentioned at yesterday’s meeting. Jefri would never put up with the kind of dark-hearted alliance Flenser was claiming. And yet … Jef’s holding something back. Has Flenser had anything more to say to you?”

Ravna shook her head. “No. You know that.” They had had this conversation before. Flenser had shown up at the meetings, generally backing Nevil, and without his usual sly innuendo. The help he had promised Ravna was not forthcoming.

The Mad Bad Girl crossed her arms truculently. “I say Woodcarver should grab Flenser and put the bastards to the question.” She glared at Pilgrim. “How about it? You saw the Queen just this afternoon, right?”

Pilgrim looked around at himself. Embarrassed? “As a matter of fact, our latest chat was a bit more, um, intimate than any we’ve had in some time. I got some real insight. I fear she is going to become even more erratic than before.”

“It’s that puppy, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Sht is older now, but the situation hasn’t stabilized. Woodcarver knows he’s a problem, but he’s such a part of her now that she can’t deal with it. She’s bouncing around between some very different states of mind. I caught her in an affectionate mood.”

“Hmmph. You should tell her to ditch little Sht,” said Johanna, quite out of keeping with her normal soft- hearted attitude toward individual pack members.

“Heh, even in the midst of our loving, I suspect that suggestion would have provoked a very negative reaction. The Old Woodcarver would have never drifted this far. She knew she was giving up the stability of centuries when she started fooling around with me—but we never thought she’d lose it like this. The good news is, she knows she has a problem and she’s trying to cope with it. I think she’ll eventually be