Of course I would never admit this to Kira, but most victims of kidnapping do not get out of it alive. And I wasn’t even sure if this was a kidnapping.
I installed Kira in the MedBed, then grabbed some blankets and pillows from one of the cabins and set up a place where I could sleep on the floor next to her. I kept Kira’s blaster right near my pillow. TenSix plugged himself in and got in position in front of the door. He would keep guard for us.
I extinguished the lights and burrowed into my blankets. Even the hard floor felt good after a day in the jungle.
“Jannigan?” Kira said quietly.
“Yes?”
“I never said ‘thank you,’ did I?”
“You don’t have to.”
“You saved my life.”
“It was nothing. I am Adventure Boy, after all.”
“Yeah, you are. But thank you.”
When I awoke the next morning, Kira was gone. So was TenSix. A surge of panic ran through my body as I pulled on my clothes. Had the camp been hit again?
Thankfully, I found them both in the lab, which smelled of fresh-brewed moxa.
“Some of the samples are missing,” Kira said. “I was so out of it last night that I didn’t think to double-check the log book.”
“What do you mean, log book?” I asked, looking longingly at her steaming mug.
“In this context a log book is a primitive analog information storage system,” TenSix said.
“I know what a book is, TenSix. I’m just surprised, is all.”
“My dad doesn’t really trust data systems, so we double log all the samples.” She held up an old-fashioned notebook with paper pages.
“You’re kidding me.”
“I know. It’s a pain in the ass. But he insisted. I’m glad he did. See this?”
She showed me a notation in the notebook. “My mom entered this group a few hours after we left the camp.”
“Two days ago?”
“They were samples from Toati Ridge. Salae, Ficoia, and Phorbiace.”
“And you’re sure that they are missing?” I asked.
“Completely sure. And the records aren’t in the system. The data system, that is. And my mom was fanatical about following procedure. There is no way she’d log them in the book and not the data system.”
“What’s so special about those samples?”
“Nothing, as far as I know. Of course, the whole plan is that we were going to take them back to Devariin and analyze them properly. But these hadn’t been flagged as priority samples or anything.”
“But they’re the only ones missing, huh?”
“Yeah. I checked it three times while you were sleeping.”
“Sorry about that,” I said. “I guess I was more wiped than I thought.”
“We’ve all been through a lot,” Kira said. “Best to get sleep when you can.”
“Speaking of which, how did you sleep? And what did the MedBed say?”
“Dr. Lark was extremely fortunate to have escaped with nothing more than some bone contusions, and a mild concussion. We need to monitor her for any sort of dizziness, sleep problems, light sensitivity, memory issues—”
She turned to TenSix. “Who are you again? Kidding.”
“Ideally, she will also switch to a non-inflammatory diet,” TenSix said.
“Thanks for the update, doc,” Kira said. “But the bottom line is that I’m pretty goddamn fine thanks to Jannigan, here. Though I’ll be really fine once my parents are safe.”
“I’ve been thinking of that,” I said. “I want to search the camp again, now that it’s light out. It would take at least two people to attack the camp and remove your parents. But I’d guess at least four—and as many as eight or ten. Much more than that, and we would have seen something last night.”
“So you think we’ll find something now?” Kira asked.
“Unless they were taken by ghosts, we should see some trace.”
“Let’s go, then.”
“Um, mind if I grab a cup of moxa in a to-go cup?”
“I’m well ahead of you, sport.” She motioned to the back counter where a cup of moxa and a couple of teinsticks had been set out for me.
“I could kiss you.” I smiled at her.
“Might as well. We don’t have time for anything else.” She grinned back.
I pulled her close and kissed her, but she pushed away in mock protest. “Ugh. Morning breath.”
“Okay, people,” TenSix interjected. “Perhaps you could postpone your flirtatious behavior. We should make use of the daylight and commence a systematic search of the grounds.”
TenSix was right. I grabbed my moxa and teinsticks and we set out. “Let’s stay within three or four meters of each other and spiral out from the center of the camp.”
“Good idea,” Kira said. “What exactly are we looking for?”
“Any sign that someone passed through the camp. Footprints, broken branches—”
“Blood,” TenSix said.
“Not helpful, TenSix,” I said.
“Sorry, but it’s true. Dried blood would certainly be an indicator—”
“I said quiet, TenSix.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We’re also looking for signs of some sort of transport. Again, broken branches, depressions in the soil from landing gear, that kind of thing.”
We walked quickly, but carefully, scouring the ground for tracks or other signs that a raiding party had come through here. The problem was that the area was full of bootprints—from Biella, Thastus, Kira, and even some from me. Months’ worth of bootprints, in the case of the Larks.
But about a half dozen meters south of camp, Kira spotted some unfamiliar bootprints. They were larger and deeper than all the others.
“Okay, everyone watch where you’re stepping,” I said. “I’m going to try to count them.”
I quickly discovered that interpreting prints was not really one of my strong skills, so I let TenSix take over. His pattern recognition software made short work of the analysis.
“Six individuals. Likely human. Heading into camp.”
“I knew it!” I said. They weren’t ghosts after all.
“Any sign of my parents’ bootprints, going the opposite direction?” Kira asked.
“No, but let me continue to look,” TenSix said.
He crisscrossed the area, methodically
