Part 58 (2/2)

”Please, sera. We don't know what will happen. Just be ready to move.”

”He's the best,” Florian said. ”Andy's always out here; the Supers are always in the offices. Andy's birthed most everything there is. You should do what he says, sera.”

”I'll move,” sera said, which was something, from sera. But she liked liked Andy, and she realized right off that Andy had good sense, that was the way sera was. So she stood there watching anxiously as the techs led the Mare past, two of them, each with a lead on her. Andy, and she realized right off that Andy had good sense, that was the way sera was. So she stood there watching anxiously as the techs led the Mare past, two of them, each with a lead on her.

The Mare pulled and they let her stop and put her head over the stall door. She snuffed the air and made a strange, interested sound.

The baby p.r.i.c.ked up her ears, and stood there with her nose working hard too.

”Put the Mare in the next stall,” Andy told the techs holding the Mare. ”Let's just watch this awhile.”

That was the way Andy worked. Sometimes he didn't know. Sometimes no one knew because no one in the world had ever tried it. But Andy didn't let his animals get hurt and he had a way of figuring what they were going to do even if Andy had never read a book in his life.

”She's talking talking to her,” sera said, ”that's what she's doing.” to her,” sera said, ”that's what she's doing.”

”They sure teach something,” Andy said. ”Animals sort of do tape on each other.”

”They're a herd animal,” sera said. ”It's got to be everything everything to do with how they act. They want to be together, I think.” to do with how they act. They want to be together, I think.”

”Well, the little girl will fix on people,” Andy said. ”They're that way, when they're born from the tank. But the Mare could help this little horse. She's getting milk, already. And milk from a healthy animal is a lot healthier than formula. I'm just worried about how she'll act when hers comes.”

”Politics,” sera said. ”It's always politics, isn't it?” Sera was amused, and watched as the Mare put her head over the rail of the next stall. ”Look at her. Oh, she wants over here.”

”Somebody's going to sit all night with the Mare, too,” Andy said. ”When we've got something we don't know about, we just hold on to the ropes and stay ready. But there's a chance the Mare will want this baby. And if she does, she's the best help we could get.”

They were very very late getting back up the hill. Florian wouldn't trade the time with sera and the filly for his own sake, but he was terribly sorry when he got back to the room, in a dark and quiet apartment, and said to Catlin: ”It's me,” when he opened the door. late getting back up the hill. Florian wouldn't trade the time with sera and the filly for his own sake, but he was terribly sorry when he got back to the room, in a dark and quiet apartment, and said to Catlin: ”It's me,” when he opened the door.

”Urn,” Catlin said, from her bunk, and started dragging herself up on an arm. ”Trouble?”

”Everything's fine. The baby's doing real well. Sera's happier than I've ever seen.”

”Good,” Catlin said, relieved. So he knew Catlin had been worrying all this time.

”I'm sorry, Catlin.”

” 'S all right. Shower. I'll tell you the stuff.”

He shut the door, asked the Minder for the bathroom light and started stripping on his way to the bath while Catlin got herself focused. He hardly ran water over himself and pulled on clean underwear and came out again, cut the light and sat there on his bed while Catlin, from hers, a calm, coherent voice out of the dark, told him how they were going to have one b.i.t.c.h of a problem tomorrow, they had to break past a Minder and get a Hostage out alive.

They said there were going to be three Enemies, but you never knew.

You never knew what the Minder controlled, or if there wasn't some real simple, basic wire-job on the door, which was the kind of trap you could fall into if you got to concentrating too much on the tech stuff.

They had to head down the hill at 0400. It was drink the briefing down, fix what could happen, and sleep for whatever time they could without getting there out of breath, because you never knew, sometimes they threw you something they hadn't told you about at all, and you had to cope with an Enemy attack before you even got to the Exercise.

Catlin never wasted time with what and where. She had showed him a lot in the years they had worked together, about how to focus down and think narrow and fast, and he did it now with everything he had, learning the lay of the place from maps he scanned by penlight, not wanting to s.h.i.+ne light in Catlin's eyes, learning exactly how many steps down what hall, what the distance was and what the angles and line of sight were at any given point.

You hoped Intelligence was right, that was all.

It was eighty points on the Hostage, that was all they were saying. That meant in a hundred-point scale at least one of them was expendable. They could do it that way if they had to, which meant him, if it had to be: Catlin was the one who had the set-up best in her head and she was the one who would most likely be able to get through the final door, if he could get it open. But you didn't go into anything planning what you could give away. You meant to make the Enemy do the giving.

He did the best he could, that was all.

viii It was Catlin on the phone. Catlin Catlin made a phone call; and Ari flew out of Dr. Edwards' cla.s.sroom and down the hall to the office as fast as she could run. made a phone call; and Ari flew out of Dr. Edwards' cla.s.sroom and down the hall to the office as fast as she could run.

”Sera,” Catlin said, ”we're going to be late. Florian's in hospital.”

”What happened?” Ari cried.

”The wall sort of fell,” she said. ”The hospital said I should call, sera, he's real upset.”

”Oh, G.o.d,” she cried. ”Catlin, dammit, how bad?”

”Not too. Don't be mad, sera.”

”Catlin, dammit, report! What happened?”

”The Enemy was holding a Hostage, we had to get in past a Minder, and we did that; we got all the way in, but the Hostage started a diversion while they were trying to Trap the door. The Instructor is still trying to find out what happened, but their charge went off. The whole wall went down. It wouldn't really do that, it would blow out, but this was a set-up, not a real building, and it must have touched off more than one charge.”

”Don't they know?” know?”

”Well, they're dead. Really.”

”I'm coming. I'm coming to the hospital right now. Meet me at the front door.” She turned around and Dr. Edwards was there. So she told him. Fast. And told him call uncle Denys. And ran.

”He thinks it's his fault,” Catlin said, when she got there, at the front door, panting and sick at her stomach.

”He didn't tell me you had an Exercise today,” Ari said. That was what she had thought all the terrible way down the hill. ”He didn't tell me!”

”He was fine,” Catlin said. ”He didn't make a mistake. They shouldn't have been where they were, that's first.” She pointed down the hall, where a man in black was talking to the doctors. ”That's the Instructor. He's been asking questions. The Hostage-he's a Thirteen, he's the only one alive. It's a mess. It's a real mess. They're asking whether somebody got their charges mixed up, where the explosives kit was sitting, they think it was up against the wall right where they were working, and they hadn't Trapped everything they could have, so that was two charges more than they were using on the door. The whole set-up came down. Florian kind of threw himself backward and covered up, or he could have been killed too. Lucky the whole door just came down on him before the blocks did.”

Ari walked on past the desk with Catlin, down where the doctors were talking with the Instructor, and past, where Florian was, in the hall, on one of the gurneys. He looked awful, white and bruised and bleeding on his shoulder and on his arms and hands, but they had cleaned those up and sprayed them with gel.

”Why is he out here?” Ari snapped at the med who was standing there.

”Waiting on X-ray, sera. There's a critical inside.”

”I'm all right,” Florian muttered, eyes half-opening. ”I'm all right, sera.”

”You-” Stupid, Stupid, she almost said. But a Super couldn't say that to an azi who was tranked. She bit her lip till it hurt. She touched his hand. ”Florian, it's not your fault.” she almost said. But a Super couldn't say that to an azi who was tranked. She bit her lip till it hurt. She touched his hand. ”Florian, it's not your fault.”

”Not yours, sera. I wanted to go. With the filly. I could have said.”

”I mean it's not your fault, not your fault, hear me? They say something blew up.” She went over where the doctors and the Instructor were, right up to them. ”It wasn't Florian's fault, was it?” Her voice shook. ”Because if it was, it was mine, first.” hear me? They say something blew up.” She went over where the doctors and the Instructor were, right up to them. ”It wasn't Florian's fault, was it?” Her voice shook. ”Because if it was, it was mine, first.”

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