Issar gave Varga a rather helpless look. Varga wasn’t sure how to handle the female either. Given her fear, he suspected that she had been restrained in the past. However, she was the smallest and lightest of all of them and would be most at risk if the winds increased. Rummel tried approaching her but even though she had walked with him before, this time she backed away.
“Oh for gods’ sake,” Saka muttered and unfastened the rope from around her own waist before stalking over to Polly. By this point, the female was crouched against the wall, her hands lifted into ineffectual claws in front of her. Saka crouched down so that she was at eye level.
“Enough,” she said harshly. To everyone’s surprise, Polly actually stopped making that disturbing noise and stared at Saka. “You want out of here, right?” Apparently taking the silence for consent, Saka continued, her voice softening only slightly. “Well, the way out is across there, but if you’re not roped, you can’t go.”
“Go by myself,” Polly said defiantly.
“And if the wind blows you away, it will blow you right back into the hands of the guards.”
It was more likely that she would be sent flying into an area where she could not survive, but Varga didn’t bother to contradict Saka. Her words seem to be working. Polly rose reluctantly to her feet.
“Good girl,” Saka said briskly. “We’ll put you between Taliane and me. That way if anything happens, they’ll get us first.”
A fleeting smile actually crossed Polly’s face, and for the first time Varga realized that beneath the dirt and injuries, she was probably an attractive female. Although not compared to his own female, of course. He gave Joan a worried glance, but she still appeared to be sleeping peacefully in his arms. Even George had stopped licking her arm, although the lizard was not sleeping. Instead, his big eyes were keeping watch on everyone around them.
Varga realized that George would also be vulnerable to the savage winds. While Issar resumed tying the party together, Varga urged George back inside Joan’s coverall. He would be safer there.
When Issar approached, he let the male fasten the rope around Joan’s waist, even though he hated the other male so close to her body, then took the final length in his own hand.
“Let’s go,” he said for the second time, hoping that this time they would make it the entire way.
Chapter Fifteen
At first, the trip wasn’t as bad as he had feared. A hot, dry wind buffeted them from the fire side of the planet. It drained the moisture from their bodies, but it also helped push them in their direction they wanted to go. The ground was smoother here as well, the huge sheets of hardened lava relatively flat beneath their feet as long as they avoided the cracks in the surface. But as they grew closer to the frozen side, conditions began to worsen.
The temperature dropped rapidly. The wind picked up, now blowing from the other side and carrying icy pellets that stung their exposed skin. His skin, of course, was immune, but while the coveralls provided some protection for the females, their faces and hands were taking the brunt of the barrage.
He and Issar moved closer together, trying to provide a shield for the others, but the wind changed direction so rapidly, it was difficult to protect them. The ground too had become more uneven and he had to keep a constant eye on his footing to make sure that he did not stumble and disturb the precious burden in his arms. Saka went down once, Polly twice, and then Taliane fell. Issar swore and lifted her up in his arms. She protested, but he ignored her, continuing in the direction of the ridge.
They had covered perhaps two thirds of the journey when Joan stirred in his arms. He looked down eagerly, happy that she was returning to consciousness, but his excitement was immediately replaced by anxiety. Her eyes were still closed, her face flushed. Her body moved restlessly, arms and legs jerking.
“Joan!” he called, trying to get her to open her eyes.
For a second, they flashed open but a silvery gleam of recognition vanished as quickly as it had appeared and she began to moan.
“What’s wrong?” Issar asked, and Varga realized he had come to a halt as the rest of the party gathered around him.
“I don’t know. She seems feverish. We have to hurry.”
Issar looked from Varga to the ridge. “We can make it the rest of the way without you. Go now and take her to your ship.”
The rest of them, even Saka, nodded in agreement. Pushing aside the uneasy promptings of his conscience, he untied the rope and handed the last of it to Rummel.
“You make sure she’s safe,” the small male said gruffly. “We’ll be along shortly.”
Varga briefly clasped his shoulder and then set off as close to a run as he could manage under these conditions. The ice storm continued to increase in intensity and the terrain became more treacherous as it was covered with a thin sheet of ice. He put his head down and kept moving, grateful for the years of training that helped him move so rapidly.
His foot slid out from him once, and he went to his knee with a painful thud, but Joan was still cradled safely in his arms so he ignored the lingering ache
