Walking back into the market area with Captain Dundas and her guards did not make Tana feel any better. She'd lost her two crewmates. If she lost Dundas as well --
Dundas did have power that Tana did not, however. The Captain waved her hand, and people moved. Local guards all but bowed to her. Border patrol ships like Belgium kept places like this safe and had done so even before the Were arrived to terrorize and destroy human settlements.
Many had been polite to her and Krisin but not to Lisil. Tana knew that a few Catchin had disappeared on the world -- probably more than had been reported. Too many fleet ships would just as soon not have any Catchin crew, and losing them was unlikely to be reported.
Dundas seemed the only one who had gone in to find them.
"You like the Catchin," Tana said aloud, surprise in her voice.
Captain Dundas glanced her way with an exasperated sigh. "Belgium has the largest contingent of Catchin in the fleet, you know."
"I didn't know."
"Sometimes your inability to see things right before your nose makes me wonder how you get your fighter out of the bay."
Tana would have appreciated the jest better if she hadn't lost both Lisil and Krisen. Dundas did not promise to get the two back, but she looked determined enough to tear this world apart to find them.
They walked around the market, this time gaining more than a few nervous stares. Fifty armed soldiers and an important fleet captain was bound to draw that kind of attention, no matter what else might be happening. They traced the path and came back to the point where Lisil had runoff.
Tana saw no sign of anything that would lead them to Lisil or to Krisin. No one seemed particularly nervous or looked guilty. Tana had her pocketcomp out and kept running the scan to find Lisil, but nothing --
"People, we have a problem here," Dundas shouted. She had learned to make her voice carry, and people turned to look at her, even if they'd been trying to ignore the group. "You know what the trouble is by now. I am going to ask you to take down your tents and move your merchandise. My people will help you. We know that our Catchin crewman disappeared somewhere in the midst of you. We hope to find some sign."
Tana heard a growing murmur of displeasure, and the number of people they faced vastly outnumbered them -- but not many would be armed, and fewer still trained.
"If you do not cooperate, we will move your tents and merchandise for you," Dundas added after the noise began to die down. "I don't think you want that to happen."
Tana had put her hand on her weapon. She didn't watch the people closest to the edge -- they may have been involved, but they were not the ones who actually took Lisil. And what about Krisin? Dundas hadn't mentioned him, but maybe that was on purpose. Focus on Lisil because Krisin might have disappeared but not been taken. That suddenly occurred to her, a moment of sanity working into her brain. Krisin had been ground forces before he went to the fighters. He might --
Tana leaned closer to Dundas and lowered her voice, turning away from the others. "You heard from Krisin."
"We had a bit of code that we assume was him," Dundas agreed, bending her head in a quiet conference while her people spread out and prepared to take charge if the locals didn't start moving. "I was already starting to gather the troops to come out. Your call helped. It gave us a better reason to move."
"What was the code?"
"Numerical directions. Down."
"Down," she repeated and looked at the tents. "Oh, hell. I never considered under the tents. This was a terraformed world, wasn't it? Had underground equipment and housing for the first generation?"
Dundas nodded. "I have set people at the one exit we know about, but it's not been opened in close to a century. We can't tell if there are newer openings drilled into the old system, but this one is on the old maps. We need to get a visual on it."
Tana nodded. She felt a little better for having more information. The two had not just disappeared, and while part of her wanted to be angry that Krisin hadn't sent her a message before he disappeared, she also admitted that he'd been wise to contact the ship and Dundas.
Why all of this? Why the Catchin? And there had been parts of Catchin leaving the area? If someone hurt Lisil --
The people had started to move on their own, but only after the soldiers marched in and began dismantling tents and tables. The locals were at least fast and put up no fight once they started. Dundas and five guards -- plus Tana -- started moving inward. Tana directed them toward the right --
Firefight.
She threw herself at Dundas, and they both went down, a flash of laser light passing too close overhead. The guards formed a shell, and Tana scrambled back to her feet and offered a hand to her Captain.
"Sorry --" she started to say.
"Good reflexes," Dundas said and brushed some dirt from her sleeve. "I can't interest you in a job as my private guard -- no, I didn't think so. And probably not safe anyway, trapping you in the ship. I'd rather have you and your team out taking on the Weres. It looks as though they found something."
Tana spun and looked. The guards had formed a line that led straight to some spot where they were tearing down a tent with more than a little fervor. They had two men on their knees and cuffed, one bleeding from the nose, the other looking stunned.
Down. Tana would have answers soon, and they had better not be bad ones.
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