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Back to the compound. I don t think I ll be leaving it again today.
You would not mind, Colonel, sir, asked Rhasyr cautiously, if we did not
tell Captain Benjyr that, not until after the midday meal, sir?
Dainyl laughed. Right after the midday meal.
Yes, sir.
Back at the compound, after getting something to eat and retrieving his flying
jacket and gloves, Dainyl searched out his Myrmidon rankers. He found them in
the sunlight next to the squares where their pteridons were sunning
themselves.
Colonel? Quelyt and Falyna straightened.
Who wants to take me flying?
Might be better if I did, sir, replied Falyna. Trading off works better.
Where to, sir?
There s a cove on the coast, maybe twenty-five vingts north of here. I d like
to go there, then head west to the mountains. Smugglers have been landing
things there. I d like to see if there are trails or paths to somewhere north
of the mine.
North, it is. Falyna grinned. I d rather fly than sit around, sir.
Dainyl understood that all too well. In the past, when he d been a lowly
ranker, he d spent far too much time waiting to fly, rather than flying.
Within moments, Falyna had donned her jacket and gloves, and the pteridon was
carrying the two Myrmidons northward along the coast. For the first ten vingts
there was an outer bank, mostly of sand, if with some grass and bushes, but
the bank vanished when the coastline swung more to the northeast. Dainyl only
saw three fishing craft, all in the protected waters between the inner shore
and the outer bank.
The cove was as Dainyl had envisioned from Tulcuyt s description, a half
circle less than a vingt across cut out of a low bluff, with an entrance no
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more than a few hundred yards wide.
Lower, if you can, above the beach, when you head west!
Yes, sir.
Dainyl thought he could make out a narrow footpath threading between the
man-high, greenish gray, brush olives, the kind with long and sharp thorns.
There was a natural depression or narrow valley that led upward toward the
hills, and the mountains beyond, almost between two plantations that held the
nut trees. Dainyl could make out the path or a path in places, but he didn t
Talent-sense anyone on or near it. Still, he wanted to see where the trails
from the cove might lead. As Falyna neared the higher hills, the valley ended,
and so did any trace of the path.
Take us up, in the higher ranges right ahead, Dainyl called.
With the plantations so close to the hidden trail, if the es-caped prisoners
were anywhere, they had to be higher in the hills, perhaps even in the
mountains beyond.
Circling to gain altitude, several times, the pteridon lurched in the
turbulent air, but finally rose above the lower peaks.
A glimmer or a reflection from something to Dainyl s left caught his eyes.
Dainyl concentrated. On the edge of the short bluff below a peak, still
several hundred yards above them, there was something& something that drew
both his eye and his Talent. Was it a faded golden green? He wasn t sure.
Can you get over that bluff? Dainyl called. The one just to the left above
us?
We can try, sir. It s getting rougher.
The pteridon strained, and the blue wings lifted them higher, until they were
almost level with the edge of the bluff. For a moment, Dainyl could make out a
golden archway hidden back inside a natural cave, but they swept past, and the
rock blocked his view.
Then the pteridon s left wing was buffeted upward, and they slid sideways
through the air, losing hundreds of yards, before Falyna and the pteridon
recovered, all too close to another jagged ridge that had been well below them
moments before.
Better head back, Colonel. Falyna gestured to her left, where the clouds had
moved closer and gotten darker.
Go ahead. If Dainyl had been flying solo, he would have made another pass,
but the pteridon was carrying double. That reduced maneuverability and the
altitude the pteridon could reach.
Dainyl looked back once more, but he could see nothing of the mysterious cave.
After they had landed in the courtyard and dismounted, Falyna turned to
Dainyl. A little touchy there, Colonel. I m sorry we couldn t get any closer,
but the wind was picking up, and there was a good chance of another
downdraft
In better weather, could you set me down on that bluff?
Falyna frowned. If we went at dawn. The air would be colder, and calmer.
That d be worth another couple hundred yards in altitude. She paused. Might
I ask why, Colonel, sir?
There s a building inside that cave. We didn t build it. I don t think the
locals did, either.
You think it s the rebel miners?
I don t think they built it, but they might be using it.
Maybe both Quelyt and me should come. We can circle there if we re not
carrying you. Flame anyone if you get into trouble.
Dainyl smiled. Maybe you should.
Glass before dawn, sir?
A glass before dawn. As he left Falyna, Dainyl had another idea. Rather than
head for his quarters, he made his way to the headquarters building, where he
found Captain Benjyr in his study.
Colonel, sir& ? Benjyr jumped to his feet.
I have a favor to ask, Captain. I d like to talk to a handful of your rankers
about their duties at the mine.
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Ah& yes, sir. Third and fifth squads are on standby.
Good. If you would escort me there?
Dainyl followed the captain across the courtyard to the barracks. He had
loosened his jacket, but not taken it off.
Benjyr stepped into the second doorway and called out, Stenslaz?
A squad leader jumped up from where he had been sitting on a foot chest. Yes,
sir?
The colonel here wants to ask the men a few questions about their duties.
Yes, sir. The squad leader looked around. There s no study here, sir.
Dainyl smiled. It s nothing that has to be too private, and it won t take
much time for each man. We can just talk outside in the courtyard.
Dainyl walked out into the sunlight with the captain. After the chill of
flying, the warmer air and sun in the courtyard felt good. You can stay if
you want, Captain.
If it s all the same, Colonel& there are a few reports&
Dainyl grinned. He understood about reports. Go take care of them.
Thank you, sir. Benjyr nodded, turned, and walked quickly back across the
courtyard.
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