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wounded "teammate." He grinned at the confirmation of his deduction. So Dagger was afraid at night. It
was unfortunate he couldn't take the opportunity to just kill him, but the recent kill of the predator made
him realize that killing a sentient would toss him into the abyss of lintatai. It was still necessary to be
patient and seek the right circumstances for an encounter.
In the meantime, however, there was no reason not to stick a few pins in his opponent. "Oh,
Dagger," he said into the communicator, "how are you doing?"
"F-fine, you little freak," was the reply.
"Interesting, Dagger, you sound relieved to hear my voice," he said, goading.
"Well, I'd rather hear your screams, of course," Dagger said, sounding as if he were trying to be
brave. "And as long as you're on air, there's a chance of that."
"I see," Tirdal said. "It couldn't be that you're afraid of the dark?"
Dagger laughed and it sounded forced. "What would make you think that?"
Tirdal scanned back on his sensor log and played the amplified sound in question, with the
bellowing noises of nearer animals cacophonous over it. "That's not your scream of panic, Dagger? Or
was it a stubbed toe?"
"You filthy little motherf " Dagger spewed a stream of profanity for over a minute.
When he slowed for breath, Tirdal said, "Dagger, that was neither creative nor clever, though I'm
sure it was heartfelt. Also, most of those suggestions are impossible for humans, much less Darhel. They
do tell me much about your personal tastes though. But since you have nothing to say that's productive,
we should end this conversation. Unless you'd like my company in the dark?"
The profanity resumed, louder and even more hysterical. It appeared that Dagger very much
wanted company in the dark, but would never say so.
"Very well, Dagger," Tirdal said after he wound down once again. "I'm closing this channel. And
perhaps I should come and put you out of your misery now. Look for me in the shadows," he added in a
lugubrious voice picked from a human "vampire" movie. He wouldn't attack, of course. But if Dagger
thought so, it would be . . . amusing.
Tirdal brought his attention back to putting distance between them. Perhaps Dagger would curl up
in a faint until daylight. Though despite his phobias and moral cowardice, the man was, in fact, brave in
many ways, "bravery" being defined as continuing despite one's fears. If only he'd understood that, he
would have turned out a much better human being. Instead, he had apparently spent his life trying to
compensate. Such a waste of potential.
There was movement ahead, and he froze. He eased down into a squat and slipped over behind a
tangle of bush. He hefted the punch gun, hoping he wouldn't have to use it. He summoned Jem, ready to
lock the tal down if a kill were necessary. Cautiously, he let his Sense feel ahead.
His vision had a slightly greater frequency range than that of humans, so he didn't really need his
night vision gear most of the time. He brought it up now, because whatever was there was just beyond
the range of acuity. A glance let him relax. Browsers. The disturbance ahead was large herbivores in a
clearing chittering faintly as they snipped off the local woody grass that was not unlike bamboo or felda.
Still, he should avoid them.
Or should he? The herd was large and a detour might bring him to predators stalking them. They
hadn't shown any real interest in the team as they'd crossed the veldt, he remembered from the insertion
four days ago. Was it only four days? So he might as well go through, cautiously, and trust their noise
and form to give Dagger even more fits.
Drawing his Sense in to only a few tens of meters, he stood and walked slowly, weapon raised so
as to create a distraction if need be, and approached the creatures.
The crashing, crunching sounds of stalks being pruned and chewed were rather impressive, he
thought. These creatures were easily the size of large horses or even buffalo on Earth. No animal from
growth-poor Darhel could compare. They towered over him, noting his passage with brief waves and
twitches of antennae, but took no further notice. He was not food, nor predator, and so didn't enter into
their world. He kept his distance just the same, lest he spook them. They actually had improved his
progress by shearing the ground smooth in this area, and he was through rather quickly.
He reentered the woods proper and it became thick, dark and oppressive once again. Humidity
was greater, condensing into a fog in the dropping temperatures, and seemed to close in around him. His
pace slowed and he had to meander and detour often. The terrain had changed, and this appeared to be
what he'd heard called "second growth." It was tangled and dense, with quick-growing soft trees, weeds
and vines knotted through them and wrapping around the taller trees dispersed through the mess. He
thought about hacking his way, discarded the idea because of the obvious signs it would leave, and
settled for crawling under and through, pacing around and occasionally scrambling over. There were
thorny plants here, too, and some took vengeance for his intrusion in the form of cuts and scratches. He
sighed. Those would be beacons to Ferret's sensors, but the alternative was to take a long detour.
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