Tana and Dundas hurried to the areas the others had blocked off. She could see some kind of metal covering in an area that was otherwise dirt. An answer, finally --
"You can't do this! They're just damned Catchin, not human!"
Tana had moved out of instinct: spun and kicked, sending the man with the bleeding nose tumbling backward. Then she looked at Dundas --
"Uh --"
"You need to watch your step and not trip like that again, Tana."
Some of the Captain's guards snickered.
There had been a keypad lock on the circular opening, but it was now in pieces, and the metal door pulled open. A musky scent drifted upward -- Catchin.
Tana saw a human guard, already unconscious, at the bottom of the ladder. Two of Dundas's guards went down and moved him out of the way as they secured the area.
Tana went down before the Captain. The lower area was small but opened to a massive cave, metal-lined and not well lit. She could barely hear sounds some distance away. It was the only direction to go, and they moved out with five guards at the front, weapons drawn. Dim lights lit the entire area, and shadows moved across the opening.
Humans. Not on guard, either. Tana began to think that the only way they had kept this quiet was because they had help above; the others in the market must have known, at least the ones in this area --
She had her laser in hand and would have pushed on ahead, but the Captain caught tight hold of her arm and held her in the corridor while the guards went in. She held her breath as lasers fired, people yelled, and Catchin growled. How many humans did they fight?
One of the guards looked back in and nodded. "Looks clear, Captain, but take care."
Tana and the Captain stepped out into the larger room. Cages littered the area, but not as many as she feared. Worse were the skins -- Catchin skins -- hung in driers. All sizes. She knew she let out a cry of anguish at the sight and spun on the enemy. If they had not been behind a line of guards from the Belgium, she would have killed them all.
Lisel. Where was Lisel? She pulled out her pocketcomp, but there was too much interference here for the tracker --
Calm. There was one way to find him. "Lisel!" she shouted. "Where the hell are you?"
"Here!" his voice replied. Steady.
"Notice how she doesn't ask about me," Krisin added as she neared the cage.
Lisel was inside, Krisin chained outside. Both had taken a beating, but they were alive. Tana worked at getting her crew free while everyone else took care of the other Catchin. Her hands trembled. It took longer than it should have.
"I'm going to kill both of you," she said when they were both standing before her. "If you ever do that again --"
"We decided before this started that we'd take chances and trust that you would find us," Lisel said. Krisin winced but nodded agreement.
"Both of you went off without me on purpose."
They nodded.
Captain Dundas had moved up to her side. "You two are braver than I would ever have imagined," Dundas said. "But you are also idiots. Let's go."
They reached the ladder and went up after a set of quiet, somber Catchin. Lisel had crossed to talk to them by the time Tana climbed out, and Krisin pulled Tana to the side.
"Problem. There were children, Tana. The bastards took them away a few hours ago."
"Where --"
"Dundas and her people are already on it." He didn't let go of her arm. "We can only make things worse, Tana. Lisel can help keep them calm. You and I need to talk about other things. They've been shipping out Catchin fur -- you know that part. I got a ship name. It left last night -- and they're going to have word of this before we can catch them. They'll run. We're going to find them, though, aren't we?"
"Yes."
"It means we'll have to head into human-populated areas, you know."
"I want the bastards."
Krisin didn't argue. Tana wondered how long it would take to find the rest of this group. She had spent most of her time fighting the Weres, but maybe it was time to fix things in the human realm. She had not challenged the Weres so long to leave this evil loose in her own people.
The human crowd started to get a bit unsettled, and Tana would have grabbed out her laser and shot a few if they so much as made a single move toward the gathered Catchin. Their voices started to rise -- but then a soldier came up out of the opening carrying a Catchin child that held tightly to him.
The human voices grew quieter. Another followed, and another.
"Mama! Mama!"
A little one broke free from the guard who had carried her and raced toward the gathered Catchin. One of those pushed her way forward and grabbed up the child. Lisel got quickly out of the way, especially as other children came out -- a full dozen of them, almost as many as the adults.
Dundas came to stand by Tana and Krisin. Her guards had spread out all around the area, and more were arriving. So were some local guards, but they were looking worried. The Catchin looked calmer than anyone else in the area.
"What is going to happen to Catchin?" Krisin asked.
"Lisel has already offered them refuge on the Belgium -- even the families. You know that we will be heading inward after the rest of this group, right?"
"Yes, Captain," Tana said. "I appreciate it on a personal level."
"Oh?"
"It means I won't have to steal a fighter and go after them on my own."
Dundas only nodded agreement.
The End (for now)
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