'There must be some mistake,' she said gently. 'I don't know you.'
Simon's expression hardened. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. 'Let's go, pal.'
'No, wait,' the stranger said quickly. 'My name is Burns. Nick Burns. I'm Fontana's brother.' He tried another smile. 'That makes me your new brother-in-law.'
Chapter 30
'I THINK I'M SEEING THINGS.' RAY LOWERED THE BINOCULARS, eyes narrowed. 'Wouldn't be the first time in the jungle.'
'That's no ghost river mirage.' Fontana kept his glasses focused on the amazing scene. 'I'm seeing the same thing.'
They were sitting about twelve feet off the ground in the cradling limbs of a thickly leafed tree. It was difficult to get a clear view because of the foliage in the way, but he could see figures moving purposefully about near a large quartz ruin. The structure was not made of the clear, emerald-tinted quartz that had been used to fashion his little pavilion, but rather the ubiquitous, solid green rock the aliens had used to construct all their cities and the catacombs.
From the sliver-sized scenes he could see through the vine-clogged trees, he could tell that the ruin was fairly large. It was about the height of a single-story human building at the outside walls, but the roof was wholly alien in design, ethereally arched and domed. There were no windows—another typical feature of alien architecture—only a small doorway. From his position he could not see through the opening but the familiar glow of green quartz emanated from it.
'The
'Looks like my wife was right yet again,' Fontana said.
'This could be a little embarrassing for the Guild.'
'Time enough to worry about dealing with the PR problems after we figure out what the hell is going on.'
'That's why we made you boss.' Ray raised the glasses to his eyes again. 'You know how to prioritize.'
'I count five men.'
'Got 'em. Number six is coming out of the building. He's carrying something. Looks like a big plastic water jug on his shoulder.'
'I see him. There's another man behind him. Same kind of jug.'
'Moving slowly,' Ray said.
'Leg chains.'
'Damn. Someone's got prisoners working down there.'
Fontana lowered the glasses. 'We need to get closer.'
He followed Ray down out of the tree and then waited while Ray recovered the rope ladder, coiled it, and attached it to his utility belt.
The lively birdcalls and the fluttering in the canopy provided some cover for them as they made their way through the undergrowth. The familiar noises also indicated that the creatures in the vicinity had grown accustomed to the presence of humans. That meant the operation, whatever it was, had been going on for a while.
When they drew closer, he uncoiled his own rope, snagged it on the wide branch of an emerald tree, and used it to climb up into the thick web of vines, limbs, and leaves. Ray followed him.
They were close enough now to have an almost unimpeded view of the alien ruin and the men moving around it. He took out his glasses again and studied the scene. Ray did the same. After a few minutes, they lowered their glasses and looked at each other.
He held up nine fingers. Ray nodded, confirming he had counted the same number. Four were obviously serving as guards. They were armed with knives and rez-ball bats. Not that they seemed to need them. The five prisoners all wore chains around their ankles that were secured to chains around their waists. No one would get far in the jungle dressed in that gear.
'Ghost juice,' Ray said softly. 'They're making it inside that building. Using prisoners to bottle it.'
'Probably to transport it, as well. No other way to get those jugs back to the surface except to carry them out by hand.'
'Think this explains those alien abductions we've been hearing about?'
'They needed labor. They took it off the streets of the Quarter. Men they thought no one would miss.'
'Until a certain lady reporter came along,' Ray said. 'Now what?'
'We've got two options. Waste a full day going back to headquarters to put together a team and take the risk that Patterson will get wind of what's going on, or we do this the old-fashioned way.'
'Just like the old days, huh?'
'We should be able to take the guards. Four of them, two of us.'
'Odds change if they've all got those ultraviolet-generating gadgets you ran into in the tunnels,' Ray pointed out.
'We've got this little thing called an element of surprise working for us. They aren't expecting trouble, and they sure as hell aren't expecting it to come at them from above.'
'Probably more guards inside the building,' Ray warned.
'If we work fast, they won't know anything has happened outside until it's too late.'
'Right.' Ray took another look through the glasses. 'Just out of curiosity, have we got a contingency plan?'
'Sure. A strategic retreat.'
'Pretty basic sort of contingency plan,' Ray observed.
'Usually the best kind. No way they can track us in the jungle. Their locators are useless. Doubt if they'd even try.'
'But they'd probably manage to make all the evidence disappear while we're busy retreating. The cheap labor as well. If we start this, we'd better finish it.'
'That's how we've always done things,' Fontana said.
Ray slithered along the wide tree limb and disappeared into the mass of psi-green leaves. Fontana crawled out along his own limb until he found a place where he could transfer to another one that was even larger and closer to his targets.
When he was within range, he pulled dark light, working hard and fast. The whirling waves of night coalesced quickly here in the jungle.
He selected the nearest guard and sent the night ghost toward him from behind. At the last instant the man must have sensed the hot energy, because he tensed and started to turn around.
'Hey, Tony, you feel anything—?' he began.
He never finished the sentence. The dark whirlpool brushed against the back of his head. He jerked violently and crumpled, unconscious.
'Shit, Mac.' The other man started forward. 'What's wrong?'
Then he saw the whirling waves of night. He tried to run, but it was too late. The night fire touched him on the shoulder, a dark ghost come calling. He went down.
The other two guards had begun to realize that there was a problem. One of them raised a small device, but while he was trying to decide where to aim it, Ray's ghost, a bolt of green lightning took him out. He went down. The generator fell from his hands. Fontana quickly singed the other guard.
None of the guards had tried to rez their own ghosts, Fontana noted. They were Riders, not hunters.
He dropped from the tree and ran toward the two men he had fried. Ray did the same with his own targets.
Working fast and keeping an eye on the entrance to the ruin, they yanked knives, bats, and any amber they could find off the fallen men. Fontana found a key on one of the victims that looked like it could de-rez leg
