Spear of Light by Brenda Cooper Read Free Book Online Page B

the constant background babble of small mammals that filled every forest on Goland. He slowed.
    Still nothing.
    Then something, although not on the scope. The body of a large man. Davis. Recognizable even from this height. It angered him. Davis had been kind and helpful, and no threat at all to anyone, ever. Charlie flew on without stopping. A skimmer rose before him like a bird flushed from a bush, just as Gerry said, “There’s another one.”
    He goosed their craft, trying to chase. The other craft grew smaller fast, escaping. He slapped the console. “It’s no good. We can’t.”
    Nona said, “Two more people.”
    Jean Paul stood up “I see these two. They’re by the river, basically walking the banks.”
    â€œI’ll come down closer.”
    â€œOne’s hurt.”
    â€œThere’s one other skimmer left,” Nona pointed out.
    â€œI know.” Charlie took the skimmer further down until he spotted the people too. Two women; one limping. It was far too shadowed to be certain, but she could be Amfi.
    He remembered her tears at the end of the negotiations. The situation demanded caution, but he needed information. They were walking in the clear, so they must not be too afraid at the moment. “I’m going to search for a place to land.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    NONA
    Nona watched the skimmer’s dashboard display closely as Charlie flew lower in the valley. She leaned forward and clutched the seat with her right hand to brace against sudden movements and ran her free fingers through the thick fur on Cricket’s neck. “Maybe,” she whispered in Cricket’s ear, too low for Charlie or Jean Paul to hear, “maybe I finally understand Ruby.”
    They passed over a few heat signatures of mammals, which Nona ignored.
    Jean Paul pointed, voice clipped. “There.”
    The skimmer slowed quickly, Cricket tensing and Nona sliding forward on her seat. Charlie and Jean Paul muttered between them, but she missed the words as she kept watching closely. The scope clearly only showed what was right around them, but it looked clear.
    Charlie braked again and then nosed in to land. He tucked the skimmer into a clearing surrounded by tall trees that would block it from easy view.
    He helped Cricket out his side, reaching a hand through to pull Nona out next to him. His arm snaked briefly around her waist, and he brushed his lips against the top of her head. Forward, for a man so reserved he’d avoided her for almost a year. Maybe it was a very good thing she’d come back.
    He whispered. “I don’t see anything dangerous.”
    Cricket snuffled the air. Her upper lip rose, showing teeth as long as Nona’s thumb. “She does,” Nona whispered back.
    The tops of the trees swayed in an up-valley wind, and Nona shivered in her dress even though there was barely enough breeze to ruffle Cricket’s fur lightly. “Do we have time for me to dig out good shoes and something less noticeable?” she asked Charlie.
    He opened the back storage compartment of the skimmer.
    She pulled out her blue bag and reached in for the new walking boots she’d had made for Lym. She turned and pulled one of her pretty flats off, careful not to get it muddy.
    Cricket let out a long low growl, full of menace.
    â€œSomeone’s there,” Charlie whispered, almost too low for her to hear.
    She kept right on changing shoes, as deliberate and fast as she could.
    A glance from the corner of her eye showed Jean Paul with his gun out, looking toward the forest.
    Her hand shook so hard that the second boot slid through her fingers. She knelt down for it and shoved her foot into it.
    â€œStay there.” A male voice. “All of you. Drop your weapons.”
    Her breath caught in her throat. She forced herself to stay calm, to finish tying the lace before she stood.
    A robot. Big and jointed. Not flowing like the Next at all, not more than