her own jacket, and drew it over her. Carson was in better shape. When she had done what she could for both, she looked at Maggie's mutilated hand.
'How does it feel?'
'I'll live.'
'I'm sorry,' Hutch said. 'I really didn't mean what I said back there.'
'I know.'
She changed the dressing. But tears continued to roll down her cheeks and she kept getting everything wet. Maggie had to finish the job herself. Carson hobbled over and sat beside her.
Hutch stared into the dark. The fires had burned out, and the night was growing cool. A crescent moon floated in the trees. 'He's gone,' she said.
Carson put an arm around her, but said nothing.
'I don't—' She stopped, pulled back, and waited until she had control of her voice. 'I don't want to leave him out there.'
'We'll get him back,' Carson said.
Janet did not look good. We need to keep her warm. Maggie contributed her jacket. Hutch gathered some branches and built a fire. The wind began to pick up, and the temperature was dropping. Carson looked pale, and Hutch feared he might go into shock. 'It's going to get cold,' she said. 'We don't want to spend the night out here.'
Carson gazed wearily into the fire. 'I don't see what choice we have.'
'We can get the shuttle.'
'How do we do that! I can't walk back there. Neither can Janet, for God's sake.'
'I don't mean everybody. I mean me.'
'And what would you do after you got there?'
'Bring it here.'
The treetops were tied together and shut out the sky. 'And do what? You can't get through that.'
'Sure I can. If we remove a tree or two.'
Carson's eyes found hers.
'It's all we've got,' she added.
'Wait for daylight.'
'We may not have until daylight. Janet's not in good shape.'
He glanced at Maggie. 'What do you think?'
Maggie's eyes were wide with fatigue and horror. 'I think it's her call,' she said.
She hasn't forgotten what I said. Hutch felt desperately tired of it all.
It would have been best, of course, if she could start at once. But there were things that had to be done first.
She needed to find the right tree to take down. She thought they could get away with one, and she found it well out along the wall, past the ruined stairway. It was close enough that they could reach it with a pulser; and she judged that it would leave a hole big enough to get through with the shuttle. That latter point was touch and go, but she was hopeful. If it didn't, they'd deal with it when they had to.
Next, she selected a pickup site, and helped get Janet and Carson to it. Just the use of the term seemed to revive their spirits. Once there, she rebuilt the fire. They were far out over the valley now, and close to the treetops. Branches and leaves reddened in the glow of the flames.
While Hutch got ready to leave, Maggie wandered to the edge, studied the target tree, and looked down. It was about five stories.
'You know what to do now?' Hutch asked.
'Yes. We'll be waiting when you get back.'
They had only two functional pulsers left. But Maggie's had gone red. Hutch had the remaining one. She held it out.
Maggie shook her head. 'Take it with you. You might need it.'
'You need it to take the tree down. Anyhow, I'm not going to shoot it out with the little bastards.' Janet's breathing didn't sound so good. 'Got to go.' Their eyes caught and held. 'When we get out of here,' she said, 'I'd like to buy you dinner.'
Maggie smiled. It was an uninhibited smile, ringed by tears. 'Yeah,' she said. 'I'd like that.'
'Be careful,' said Carson.
She strapped the lamp to her wrist and started back along the top of the wall. The night closed over her.
The smell of the sea was strong, and the woods below were full of the sound of insects. George's final cries echoed through her mind, and she was desperately afraid.
Her mind would have conjured up images of his last moments had she allowed it to. But she let the shock effect numb her imagination. She tried to concentrate only on what needed to be done, to push her fears and her loss aside.
She hurried back along the wall, watching the forest floor rise. Ahead, shrubbery blocked her view of the glade.
And she heard them. Directly ahead.
Below, the forest floor was quiet.
Bushes swayed in the wind. She held the lamp up, played its beam across the top of the wall. Everything looked clear. She passed into the screening bushes and emerged in the glade.
They were on the lower level.
She glared down at them.
They were pushing leaves and dirt toward the base of the wall. A chill worked its way up her spine.
Hutch picked up a rock and threw it at them. Incredibly, it missed. But the work stopped momentarily, and eye-stalks swung toward her. Several peeled off and moved into the underbrush on either side of the wall. The others began to back away, and withdrew beyond a distance that George would have recognized.
She opened a channel on her link. 'Maggie.'
'Here.'
'They're out here at the end of the wall. Building a ramp.'
She heard a sharp intake of breath. Heard Maggie relay the warning to Carson. 'Maybe we should try going down the staircase,' Maggie said.
'No,' said Hutch. They would never make it. 'You've got time yet. Just be ready to go when I get back.'
'Okay. Hutch?'
'Yes?'
'I'm looking forward to that dinner.'
'Me, too.'
She retreated back through the shrubbery, and looked down. It was a healthy jump, about five meters. But she saw only one crab.
She sat down, swung round, and hung by her hands. The thing below began to move. She pushed away from the wall, and let go. The fall took an ungodly long time. While she dropped, she held the lamp away from her body, where it was less likely to get broken or cause injury. She was aware of the wind, and the smell of the woods, and of filtered moonlight.
She hit harder than she'd expected, rolled to her feet, and, without wasting time looking for the brachyid, took off.
The route they had blazed was to her right, uphill, but she thought it wise to stay off it for a while. She chose a parallel course, and resolved to cut over when she was safely away from the area. She had decided she would give the little bastards full credit for military capabilities.
There was no sound of pursuit.
'I'm clear, Maggie,' she said into her commlink. 'And on my way.'
She did not run all out. Something had happened to Jake. Keep that in mind. But time pressed. She hurried on, and plunged through blinds and into vegetation that she might otherwise have avoided.
