There were plenty of creepy-crawlies here in the Basin, that was for sure. We were constantly brushing the local wildlife out of our hair and off our clothes. At one point, we almost lost TenSix when he stumbled into a ground-dwelling insect hive and found himself swarmed with natter bugs. It was only Kira’s quick reaction with her cutting torch that saved the little bot from being dragged underground.
“What’s that thing?” I had spied a dark shape rising up from the jungle floor. It looked too dark to be a tree.
“That’s an old Mantean structure,” Kira said. “One of the Pillars. That’s what we call them. There are a bunch throughout the Basin.”
“Parash-annd,” TenSix said. “It translates to ‘sky dagger’ in the Mantean language. They were actually towers.”
Kira made a face. “Now you’re just showing off, Short Stuff.”
“What we see of these towers is just the stone base,” the bot continued. “Apparently, they were three or four times as high. The rest of the tower was constructed from wood which didn’t stand the test of time.”
“What were they used for?” I asked. “Lookout towers?”
“No,” TenSix said. “They were sacred places. Presided over by the Mantean warrior-priests. The idea was that by climbing the parash-annd one could get closer to the gods.”
“And here I was thinking that they might be a good vantage point to survey the camp from,” I said.
“Wishful thinking, Adventure Boy. We still have an hour to go. The only thing you’d see from up there would be a sea of treetops.”
“Worth a shot,” I grumbled.
“No, I like how you’re thinking. There’s not a tower near the camp, but there is a big lobandon tree that’s definitely climbable. We might be able to see the camp from up there. If it’s not too dark.”
We excitedly reviewed our plans. Once we got near the camp, I’d climb the big tree and see what I could see. If that didn’t work, we’d circle around the perimeter of the camp, spiraling inward until we saw some sign of the enemy or their vehicles.
“Then what?” TenSix asked.
“Like we said, we take out any potential reinforcements. Hopefully collect their weapons as well. Otherwise we hit the equipment shed and get the weapons stored there.”
“Then what?”
“Then we assault the camp and free my parents,” Kira said.
“What if we are outgunned?” TenSix asked.
“I’m pretty handy with a blaster,” I said.
“My question stands.”
“It sounds like you’ve got something on your mind, Short Stuff.”
“I should go in alone,” TenSix said.
“What?”
“Reconnaissance. No one will pay attention to an eighty-centimeter-tall robot moving through the underbrush. I’ll shut off my indicator lights and—”
“I think it makes sense,” I said. “Let’s do it.”
“Are you crazy?” Kira asked. “You want to trust a bot to find my parents?”
“Think about it, Kira. TenSix can get in there, as close as possible without being detected. It can see how many hostiles we’re dealing with—”
“My pronoun is ‘he,’ if you please,” TenSix said.
“Huh?”
“I present as male. It’s in my programming.”
“I knew that.”
“Thank you,” TenSix said.
“Whatever. He can see how many hostiles we’re dealing with. And he can determine where exactly your parents are being held and who might be guarding them.”
“Sounds great,” Kira said unenthusiastically. “If he doesn’t get caught.”
“I won’t get caught,” TenSix said.
TenSix didn’t get caught.
Because there was no one to catch him.
When I climbed the big lobandon tree all I saw was an empty camp. We walked around the perimeter just like we planned, but saw nothing. No ship. No speeders. No hover-sleds. Nothing.
Just to make sure, we sent TenSix in. He didn’t find anything either.
The camp was deserted.
10
We spent a half hour scouring the camp, running through every building and the grounds, with high-powered lamps Kira got from the equipment shed.
“Screw it,” Kira. “I am going to call them.”
I followed her into a low building that served as the camp’s communication and security center.
“Hang on a second.” I was worried that if we called, we’d be alerting the hostiles to our presence. “What kind of monitoring do you guys have running?”
“You mean the peri-guard?” Kira asked. “I already checked that. It was off. But that’s typical during the day.”
“No, I was thinking more like surveillance.”
“Shit, you’re right. Oeri’s got full-range sensors all over the place. Liability and insurance.”
“You know how to access the records?” I asked.
“Not really. It’s kind of a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thing. We just return the data box back to HQ as part of our debriefing.”
“I may be of assistance,” TenSix said.
“You’re trained in security?” Kira asked.
“I’m trained in a lot of things. I am a utility robot, after all.”
Kira shrugged. “Might as well try.”
She pointed to a console at the far end of the room, then slumped in a chair. “Have at it.”
I walked over with TenSix. “You need a boost?”
“That would be much appreciated.”
I lifted the little bot onto the console and watched as he familiarized himself with the controls.
“Do you have an RS-233 port I can access?” TenSix asked.
“I don’t even know what that is,” Kira said. She looked and sounded exhausted. “How long is this going to take?”
“Not long, as soon as I can get some data throughput,” TenSix said.
“I’m going to walk the camp one more time,” I said. “Maybe we missed something.”
“Fine,” Kira said. “I’ll keep an eye on Short Stuff.”
I started back in Thastus Lark’s cabin, where I had been outfitted with some ill-fitting clothes during my first night here in the Rhinobo Basin. The place pretty much looked the same as when I had left it: a mess. I searched the long, narrow room for Thastus Lark’s blaster, but didn’t find anything except a bunch of dirty underwear.
I moved on to the next sleeping cabin. In contrast to the mess of Thastus’ cabin, this one was spotless. The bed was made and all the surfaces were clear of clutter. It actually looked like an empty hotel room. But when I checked the closet, I saw it was packed with women’s clothing—all neatly
