Chapter One
Devlin stood
beneath the high wooden benches and tried not to wince every time she heard a
creak or groan from the wood. The last set of bleachers collapsed ten years
ago, killing more than fifty people and maiming others. Safer now people
assured her, but she didn't believe them. Devlin didn't trust low tech work on
backwater worlds.
And she didn't
think much of Forest anyway.
Devlin's plans
hadn't included coming to see the show today. She'd watched one Bear Dance and
found the show a disgusting display of brutality. Pitting a human against a local animal was
barbaric, and she didn't know how these people could watch.
Devlin couldn't
decide why anyone would send someone of her rank and tech abilities to such a low
tech world. Someone from the office could have filed these reports. She'd enjoyed
working on Caliente better than here and she'd despised that world. Forest might be a lovely planet, but she hated
the people. Hated them all and knew she'd lost her objectivity.
The reason she
came today stepped out into the ring. The
locals rated Dancer as the best Bear Dancer ever to enter the ring, which was
apparently why he held the name rather than Wind, Silk, Cloud or the like. She thought he must be the oldest of the elite
group, though he couldn't be more than in his early twenties. He wore close fitting brown pants with his
bare chest showing a couple scars, which meant he'd survived at least one dance
gone bad. His dark hair curled around
his face, but she could see his calm, almost serene expression. Unlike the last dancer she'd watched, this
one didn't acknowledge the crowd. She suspected
he didn't care if they watched or not.
The bear stepped
from a tunnel at the far side of the ring: a tall, golden-furred biped with
arms held down, and head moving from side-to-side as the creature watched the
people. He came closer and towered over the human, whose hand didn't even move
towards the powerblade at his belt.
The crowd began
shouting his name: Dancer, Dancer, Dancer.
The bear began
to sway. Dancer lifted his head and mimicked
the move and within a couple heartbeats they seemed to be fully in sync with
one another. Devlin watched in awe,
almost hypnotized by the movements as they swayed and swayed. Both turned, leapt and swayed and turned once
more.
Enthralled,
Devlin moved closer to the open area. The
crowd fell silent, breath held for this amazing show. She saw nothing barbaric in this performance. Devlin felt all her convictions drop away. .
. .
A change in
sound swept through the benches. At first she thought the crowd showed signs of
growing restless, as though the spectacle wasn't enough for them. Then she saw the real trouble as two more
bears rushed into the arena.
A shout went up from
the crowd and for a moment Devlin saw desperation on Dancer's face, though he
never missed a beat. Sway, turn, leap and
never slow. He did what she thought
would have been impossible, and caught the attention of the other two bears until
all three of the creatures danced.
But the people shouted
louder, startling the bears. Dancer lost
them from one sway to the next, and she saw a clawed hand draw bloody furrows across
his arm and side. The other two leapt in
to attack as well, and he barely moved out of the way as he drew his powerblade
to defend himself.
Devlin reached
for her laser pistol and damn the local regulations which stated she couldn't carry
such a weapon in town. However, Dancer reacted faster than she could get a clear
shot. He killed two bears, leapt out of
the way of two bears, and finally killed the last. Quick kills, despite his own serious injuries.
He went to his
knees. She expected someone to go help
him. She expected --
Anything but the
sounds of displeasure from the crowd.
"Walk
away!"
The words rose
in a chorus by others, punctuated by other shouts of anger. Part of the show. A dancer had to walk away from the ring.
Dancer bled from
deep wounds and the longer he knelt there, the more she feared he wouldn't ever
get back up. He shivered and his hand
brushed very gently, across the fur of a dead bear.
She shoved her pistol
away and lifted her wrist, ready to call in the port medic and everyone be
damned again, but she saw someone going out to Dancer. People in the bleachers booed and stamped
their feet while some headed her way to leave the arena. She heard people talking about disgrace,
which was a local form of ostracism.
Finding an Inner
Words Council soldier dressed in the usual white uniform did not improve their
mood. She didn't want to be the start of
a riot -- well, not unless she thought she could beat some sense into these
fools. Devlin stepped aside, bowed ever
so politely (so they couldn't see the anger in her face) and let the groups
pass while she worked her way, step-by-step, into a shadowed recess where they
could not see her.
By the time the
crowd cleared out, Dancer had disappeared and she hoped to get care. The locals knew the IWC threatened intervention
if they left anyone to die from wounds which could have easily been healed. Even
the Founders, with their perpetual battle of wills with the IWC, didn't take the
warning lightly.
With everyone
gone, Devlin slipped out of the shadows and slid along the edge of the arena,
glancing at the dead bears with regret she must have borrowed from Dancer,
remembering how he had so gently touched the one dead animal.
Devlin made her towards
the area where the bears entered the ring, walking down the dark incline of the
tunnel until she came close enough to spot the cages. Blue light cubes lit the area which she
hadn't expected. Tech.
A man stepped
out of a room to the side, anger in his face.
"Not allowed here, porter."
"I have
questions," she replied. "How
did they get loose?"
"Not your
concern." He out bulked her, but Devlin
knew she could take him. She didn't want
a fight though. Well, actually she did,
but knew it wouldn't help.
"If you don't
tell me, you'll have to deal with the
port commander. Do you want me to send
him here to ask questions?"
He scowled. "They got the locks open."
She glanced past
him. Palm locks on the cages. High tech for Forest.
She nodded and
said nothing.
The man lied, of
course.
She head back
out, intending to return to the port and write a report: A non-judgmental, even-handed report on how
these barbarian bastards would have let the boy bleed to death for their damned
show and lied to her about what had happened.
No, this wasn't
going to be easy.
***
Devlin still
felt as annoyed the next day and knew she dared not go near the locals. In late afternoon she took an aircar and
headed off into the wilds. She couldn't land
the aircar anywhere on the soft, unstable ground but she could make lazy
circles over a river without worrying about anyone else in the air. There were a total of four aircars on the
entire world, and three of them belonged to the IWC troops stationed at the
port. The last belonged to the people at the Bear Camp.
Her assignment
had been very specific: Learn what she could about bear dancing and about the
bears in particular. The people who ran
the Bear Camp wouldn't let her see the animals.
The Bear Dance was as close as she came to seeing a bear.
She couldn't do
this job. She spent the day thinking
through her few options. Devlin hadn't
walked away from many assignments in her career, even when she went against
some surprising odds.
As though a sign
from the heavens, she saw the odd, tell-tale contrail of a shuttle coming
in. This one wasn't on the usual
schedule, but she didn't care. The shuttle meant she could leave this world.
She turned the
aircar towards the port although she needn't hurry. Regulations said the shuttle must remain
grounded at least ten hours while crews went over the craft. She had time to return, pack her few
belongings and tell Commander West she intended to leave.
A glance towards
the ground showed a group of bears at the edge of the water. Devlin wished them well. Wished it more to them than she could to the
humans at this point. She couldn't stand
by and watch another kid get mangled in the ring for the pleasure of these
fools. Knowing so might make her wise in
many ways.
Heading to the
port brought her close to the Bear Camp.
After a moment's hesitation, she turned and flew over the scattered
buildings. The aircar's vid system would
record the scene below, and she could add the scene to her report.
Devlin had
gained more cooperation from rebelling port rats in the midst of war than from
these people. Hell, she'd had more
cooperation from the Lindy Pirates when they settled on Caliente.
She passed the
camp and saw the tiny town of Woodvine to the right. On the higher ground sat Founders Hall, a
huge gothic structure and out of place here.
The people who ruled the world lived there. The Founders held strict power. The last few of the second generation
Founders were old, though, and Forest would be a mess when they died. They'd ruled too long. Someone should have stepped in before now.
Not her
job. Not even her assignment. She swept past Founder's Hall and on the port,
which lay far off behind the Hall and hidden from view, so no one thought about
the outside universe.
She went over
the tall trees growing at the edge of the port and landed in the small, cleared
area near the shuttle. A fortune in
those plants, but the Founders controlled all exports.
"Lt.
Devlin!" someone shouted.
That couldn't be
good. The Bear Camp must have already
sent a complaint.
"Commander
West wants to see you, Lieutenant." The young man looked her over with a
little frown. Everyone knew she couldn't
be a regular soldier with the way she came and went at will. "As soon as possible, if it's no
problem, he said."
He didn't use
the commlink to contact her.
Interesting. Something he didn't
want the people at the Bear Camp to know, since they were the only people with
the ability to hear. Ten minutes later,
she took a seat in his office. West was
an older man, his hair a bit gray along the edges, his dark face showing
creases of worry. She regretted flying
over the Bear Camp and making more work for him.
"I
shouldn’t have flown over," she admitted with sigh. Admitting to mistakes wasn't one of her
better skills.
He waved a hand,
dismissing the words. "They
complained. I told them to file a report
with the Inner World Council."
Good. She could imagine who much those word would
have annoyed Governor Spring. Then she
realized he must have called her here for another reason. "There's
something else? The shuttle?"
"The
shuttle brought an Etech, Cha Hao Chan.
He's one of the IWC's top ecoscientists."
"Damn. I know the name, though I've never met
him. What the hell is he doing
here?"
"He's come
for the 50 year ecology check. Forest is
about due for one. But I get the feeling
there's more going on. He's too high ranking
for a scut job on this world."
She nodded. "I need to talk to him and as soon as
possible."
"He headed
straight out to see the Founders," West replied and gave a surprising
little smile.
"He got an
invitation?"
"No, he did
not." The smile widened as he
tapped his comp and turned the screen to her.
She saw the face of an oriental man who appeared to have some prodigious
credits. Not many of pure oriental blood showed up in the IWC, even a century
after the Bio Plague decimated much of Earth's oriental population. A true rarity, in fact. "He met Governor Spring within half an
hour of landing, and she took him to the hall after he threatened to have the
guards take him in instead. And he has
the ability to order it, too. He got
in."
"Hell. Now I am impressed," she admitted,
sitting back and rethinking her plans.
"They'll
cooperate rather than have the science board send in a full team, and perhaps
station people on world. I would like
you to go and pick him up and stick with him.
He obviously doesn't understand the dynamics of the world, and he could
set things off. He could use a guard and
an official liaison. His position isn't
going to protect him from most of the people."
"Why not
one of your own people?"
"Two
reasons. You've spent more time outside
the port than any of them, and I thought you might find this useful to work
with someone who is also looking at the world."
Good
points. But damn. She wanted off this world. The regular ship would be here in two
weeks. She could give this a try and see
if working with him helped.
"I'll watch
over him." Devlin tried to sound
professional and not annoyed to find her wonderful plan to escape come to such
an abrupt end.
"Good. Thank you.
Take your aircar to the Founders Hall and collect him. When I was taken there, they left me to walk
back to the port, at night and through the woods. Damned lucky a treedog didn't get me. Oh, and he plans to stay in town. I've already arrange for him to have house 7
out in the new sector and sent his equipment on with a guard."
"Equipment? Tech stuff?
In Woodvine?"
"They have
to allow his equipment for the official IWC study of the world and I think this
is another reason why he needs you, Devlin."
Devlin
agreed. She thought this might even be
interesting.
