Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...
Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...
Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...
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Generated <strong>by</strong> ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html<br />
you down easy. Hold on, Chevenga, I'll climb down."<br />
She went h<strong>and</strong> over h<strong>and</strong> down the rope, hooked her legs around his body, while he hooked his free<br />
one around hers, then sawed through the rope until just a str<strong>and</strong> or two were intact. "We'd better not get<br />
caught," he chuckled, "in such a compromising position."<br />
"If you won't tell I won't," she gasped. "Now shut the fuck up!" She caught the knife in her teeth,<br />
grabbed the rope with both h<strong>and</strong>s, felt torn in two—Koru!—as it broke, slamming both their weights<br />
onto her arms.Koru it's no heavier than wet sail but Koru shit I'm losing it … He was still giggling as<br />
he slid down her body, curling to break his fall, but it cut off in a gasp of pain when he hit ground. Her<br />
own weight alone felt feather-light.<br />
"I'm clear," he rasped. Praying she wouldn't break an ankle, she dropped, taking only bruises. The<br />
Arkans were coming fast now, breaking through the underbrush.One of the dead, not so dead, still<br />
kicking, he'll tell … She tore out the man's throat with her claws <strong>and</strong> grabbed up those of her knives<br />
she could find fast enough, while Chevenga staggered to his feet.Claw up any corpse in my way, a bit,<br />
just to give them something else to talk about … Leaning together the two fled.<br />
He wouldn't let go his wound to lean an arm on her, probably wisely, she knew, so she steadied him <strong>by</strong><br />
hanging onto his belt. And he started laughing again. Not that it mattered; they were making as much or<br />
more noise crashing through the bush. "Dotyimind me," he chuckled. "I just have a seasoned appreciation<br />
for the basic ironies of life. Or else I'm going into shock, hee hee hee ha ha…"Koru help me with this<br />
fish-gutted lunatic , she thought. Talking too much; that was one of the signs of shock, she<br />
remembered.<br />
The Arkan yells fell behind, stopping at the clearing. She pulled him to a halt <strong>by</strong> a rock."Here, sit down,"<br />
she said. "I'll bind it up. You lose strength to hold it shut, you're in trouble." He fought, weakly, saying,<br />
"No, dammit, I can run. Don't give me this shit that I'm incapacitated." That would mean she was in<br />
comm<strong>and</strong>.Forestall me, will you ? "If I st<strong>and</strong> still I'll get cold <strong>and</strong> stiffen up, I might not be able to get up<br />
again, Iknow , dammit, I've been woundeda few times before!"<br />
"Shut up, Gold-bottom!" She pinned him with her knee, grabbing a sash she'd tucked in her belt, felt him<br />
go still.<br />
"Gold-bottom?" His voice broke into a giggle-fit. Under it he was trembling now, she could feel; she had<br />
his arm half-wrapped already, pulling the sash tight as she could under his other fist, knotting it. "<br />
Gold-bottom?" She hauled him up, half-carried him, laughter <strong>and</strong> shivers both growing worse. "I'd better<br />
go straight to Kaninjer," he managed to gasp, as they neared camp.<br />
"Nooooo," she spat back. "Actually we're going dancing."What did I say that for? He's going to drop<br />
dead on me , she thought,still killing himself .<br />
A snapping voice out of the dark: the sentry, a Lakan, was challenging them. "P-p-password?"<br />
Chevenga's teeth were chattering now. "Sh-shit, I c-can't remember theky-ky-kyashin password, <strong>and</strong> I<br />
made it up—sentry, it'sm-m-me ! You know—G-g-gold-bottom! Let us in be-f-fore Ik-kyashin freeze<br />
to d-death!" Megan dug the word up out of her memory, spoke it. Still suspicious, the guard let them<br />
show themselves, immediately changed to cringingly kowtowing.<br />
At his tent a small crowd of guards <strong>and</strong> squires enveloped him, taking his weight—thank Koru—asking<br />
if she was all right as well. She heard Haian-accented Yeoli, giving orders: Kaninjer. "The report's up to<br />
him ," she said, to the hard-faced comm<strong>and</strong>-council types who wanted answers. "He's superior officer."