Ann Wilson

“ Dave shook his head. "It's not as easy as you make it sound, sir. People who've wanted to be found have been lost in these mountains for weeks. We don't want to be—and we're in a cave, which'll make it that much harder for them." He hesitated, a thought surfacing. "Unless they search on foot, and happen across us. If they do, I guess it'll be up to me to decoy them away."
Tarlac didn't like that idea, but he also didn't have Lord Robert's convenient ability to ignore unpleasant reality. A Ranger was, to put it bluntly, far more valuable to the Empire than any youngster. ”

“ Tarlac grinned, reasonably sure what the youngster was thinking. "We do take advice, suggestions, and sometimes orders, from anyone who knows more about a given situation than we do, or who's in a position to handle it better. Right now, that's you—and you had the initiative and resourcefulness to pull me out of the middle of a rebel camp; I'm satisfied to have you go on with the job."
"The kids at school will never believe this," Dave said, as much to himself as to the Ranger. ”

“ Dave had saved his life once already, and it would be his doing if Tarlac lived through the next couple of days. The fact that Dave would get a substantial reward if they made it out wasn't a lot of help; dammit, part of his job was protecting Imperial citizens! Still... "I'm afraid it will."
To his surprise, Dave grinned. "That shouldn't be too hard. Those rebels're city people; they don't know what real mountains're like. Chaos, I don't think they'd even know to avoid something as simple as a trapper vine!" ”

“ In spite of his position, Tarlac had to laugh. Lord Robert was deluding himself if he honestly thought the Emperor would make that sort of trade! "You must know better than that, my Lord. The Empire doesn't make deals with criminals."
"I think His Majesty will make this one, Highness. You are, after all, his newest Ranger, and he is bound to want to keep you; Rangers, for whatever reason, are scarce enough to be worth trading for an entire Sector." Lord Robert looked thoughtful. "Yes, a Sector would be even better. ”

“ Dave grinned in satisfaction when he got to the driver's position. Convenience, as he'd hoped, had overcome security, something his mother said disapprovingly even happened sometimes with Marine units; the card was in the slot. He took it, then grabbed his supplies and hurried into the next vehicle in line.
He breathed a sigh of relief when the card proved to activate this vehicle as well; he might have had to go through a decade or so. Now to see if it had ... yeah, good. Lord Robert might be a rebel, with creeps—well, mostly creeps, Theo was okay—for followers, but he had good equipment. ”

“ Tarlac cautioned him. "If they do find us, we've bought it."
"I know—but Mom was a Marine for thirty years and never even saw a live Ranger. I go on a camping trip, and end up helping one, against a bunch of rebels!"
Looked at that way, Tarlac conceded with some amusement, it did have something in common with a holoshow. And maybe having Dave treat this as an adventure wouldn't hurt—might even help, by keeping his morale up. It was a good bet the youngster would need all the pluses he could find ... he damnsure wouldn't be one! The way he felt, he wouldn't even be conscious much longer. ”

“ The dying firelight provided just enough illumination for him to find what he needed on the second rebel he checked. It was an expensive hunting knife, and he hesitated for a moment, feeling a twinge of guilt at taking it even from a rebel. ”

“ Once, he could have sworn he glimpsed an Imperial Marine troop lander, but decided that had to be wishful thinking; if the Marines were getting ready to land, the rebels should be running for cover, not continuing to search for escaped prisoners.
A little after noon, what he'd been dreading happened. Half a decade rebel aircars descended, and moments later he heard shouts and the sound of people forcing their way through brush. He checked the disruptor one last time, then moved back to the side passage he'd chosen. ”

“ As the quidine wore off and the stingweed poison grew stronger, Dave wished his patient would pass out—for both their sakes. Eventually, Tarlac did; Dave made sure he was covered snugly, then turned down the lamp and arranged the remaining blankets into a nestlike bed for himself. ”

“ Eventually, one of the rebels brought out an animal whip, suggesting it might be fun to see if they could get some amusement out of the damned Imperial.
Somehow, Dave Scanlon thought, being held prisoner by a bunch of rebels just wasn't what it was cracked up to be. He wasn't even locked up, and his guard had won every one of their chess games so far! Oh, the rebels themselves seemed to be having a good enough time—it sounded like a fun party—but he was bored. Then he heard something odd, and looked around. "Hey, Theo, what was that?" ”

“ Colonel Korda had orders to give me three days, then come looking for me."
"But we're not at the camp any more, and I don't dare use anything much more obvious than the fusion lamp, or the rebels will find us first." Dave brightened. "Unless they blew up the car I used, when they found out it was missing; then they'd think we were dead."
"True, but we can't count on that; it'd be best to assume they landed it, and are looking for us."
"Yeah, I guess so." Dave hid his disappointment; the Ranger was counting on him! "We've got to be awfully careful, then. ”

“ Dave said positively. "No one who'd take a Ranger prisoner could possibly be qualified as Sovereign—even if Prince Forrest hadn't been elected Successor."
"True, but that doesn't keep some people from trying." Tarlac shifted, bit back a groan. "I think the quidine's wearing off, Dave. Do you have anything stronger?"
"No—and I wouldn't give it to you if I did." Dave braced himself against the objection he anticipated from the Ranger. "Quidine's almost too much of a risk itself, for someone who's been hit with stingweed." ”

“ The only alternative he could see to playing decoy was using the cave as a fort if the rebels found them, and that didn't sound much better now than it had the first time he'd thought of it. One disruptor without even a single spare powerpack wasn't much to build hopes on. He'd do what he could, of course, but he still couldn't help wishing he hadn't ventured into Lord Robert's camp and gotten himself into all this! ”

“ The parking area was guarded, though it was obvious that the two on duty had been doing their share of drinking. Dave thanked any gods who might be listening that the rebels didn't come at all close to Marine standards; if they had, a fourteen-year-old civilian wouldn't have had a chance. ”