* 51 *

             "You are surprised to see me cat-man, are you not?" Thunder Arrow said gleefully as he strolled casually up to him with a swagger in his step.
             "Yes. How did you get here before us? There is no way you could have on foot, even running," Ky'tulendu questioned him with narrowed eyes and then noted the stunner in the native's hands which was aimed at his heart.
             Ky'tulendu became very cautious and suspicious as he worried about how the old man had gotten the weapon and how many he now possessed. He was not left in suspense long.
             "I took one of your flying machines. A skimmer I believe you called it. As we were leaving we were passing by the equipment sheds and one of your people was starting to put it in. We convinced him to bring us here. He was very cooperative," Thunder Arrow boasted, smiling the entire time.
             "I see, and the stunner came from him as well?" the Asenti asked, more worried about where he got the stunners than the vehicles.
             "Yes and no. My men are quite well armed now. I would not be stupid and try to put up a resistance because you do not know how many weapons I have or what they are. You didn't show us all your weapons during the tour, did you?" Thunder Arrow asked mockingly, getting into Ky'tulendu's angry face.
             Ky'tulendu tried to back up but found he couldn't. His arms were held tight by Thunder Arrow's men. He decided not to answer him in case the native was bluffing.
             "So you won't answer, cat-man. Then I'll tell you. After we had the skimmer and your man. He took us on a special tour of your weapons shed. I wonder why that you left that out of my tour? It would have been the best part. I took every one I could find, cat-man. Everything that was in there is now mine and hidden where you can't find it, even with your little machines. Yes, I listen and I learn--very quickly," he gloated, pacing now before the two captives.
             Ky'tulendu had steeled himself not to react, not to fight, just to listen, and let the chief go on about what he had done.
             "I also ask questions that don't seem like questions. Like what makes sensor machines not see things. What do your force fields do. What all can your weapons do. Then I watched very closely during demonstrations of your machines what buttons and knobs were used and how. I also know how helpless you Atanzi are without your machines to give you great powers. Without your machines you are the same as we are," the native laughed mockingly, trying to taunt him into doing something as he waved the stunner under his nose.
             "So what are you going to do to us Thunder Arrow?" Ky'tulendu asked him refusing to be intimidated by this man who was going further and further into madness.
             "Keep you prisoner for awhile and then kill you. You know too much about your machines for me to kill right now. I need you intact and alive for my plans."
             "And if I don't cooperate?" Ky'tulendu asked.
             "You will. You don't like seeing others hurt. That's why you came here, wasn't it to stop me?" Thunder Arrow questioned with a smile.
             Ky'tulendu was confused. How could he know what the plans were? Then he saw Thunder Arrow nod to one of his men who disappeared into one of the lodge and he dragged a small form back out with him that fought with all their might. White Deer! Ky'tulendu realized with a start and his face lost all color as he looked back at her father who was well pleased with the success of his surprise.
             He turned back to the chief, red fire and hate blazing from his blue eyes. His muzzle curled up in snarl at her father. "How did you get your hands on her? You rejected her and told everyone she was to be dead to the tribe!" Ky'tulendu demanded angrily straining against his guards.
             "I changed my mind after I got the weapons. She is still a valuable commodity, is she not? I was going to marry her off to another chief, but since you have spoiled that by soiling her I will use her to insure your good behavior cat-man," he sneered emphasizing the soiled part.
             Soiled her? Ky'tulendu was really confused now. He hadn't laid a hand on her, hadn't even kissed her. Unless she had told her father that to keep him from marrying her off. All right, he'd play her game and see what happened.
             "I will behave, Thunder Arrow as long as you don't hurt her, or any of the dreamers here," he told him, seeing sadness and shame in White Deer's eyes as he said it.
             "Agreed, for the moment. I am glad you brought my brother, because he is the only one who does know for sure who all the dreamers are. Grey Owl knows a few, but Roaring Wings is the only one who knows all. Don't you, my Brother?" he asked coming up to him.
             Roaring Wings eyes only held contempt and hate for his older brother, and he looked away from him, ignoring his existence.
             "Answer me!" Thunder Arrow demanded trying to get him to look at him. The shaman stood like a statue, immobile, and unfeeling as his brother continued to shout at him, but he never flinched or moved once. "Very well, my Brother, you will talk to me in time, and I will get the names of the dreamers from you."
             Roaring Wings eyes just got darker and harder but he said nothing. Instead he watched the approaching storm with alarm and glanced to Ky'tulendu to get his attention, which he did and nodded up at the wind and rain almost upon them.
             Quickly Ky'tulendu spoke, "Thunder Arrow, if you want to have any people left to rule over you better be getting them to the caves. The storm coming in is dangerous. My people have been tracking it . . . "
             "Enough, cat-man. I know. I have sent the women and children there already. If I didn't need you and my brother for my plans I would leave you out here staked to a pole and let the storm take care of you. Secure your ship and let's go!" he ordered, telling his men to release Ky'tulendu long enough to let him shut the hatch.
             They let him go and he quickly initiated the locking program. He hoped Thunder Arrow didn't know that. They he turned back to his guards and let them lead him away offering no resistance.
             The storm was almost upon them. The strong winds pushed them all along making keeping their feet and balance difficult as they walked through the village. Then the rains hit. Hard and pelting, soaking them to the skin almost instantly as it came down in heavy leaden sheets of wetness blown by the winds.
             He saw White Deer fall to the ground several times blown by the wind and the driving rain. He heard her call out and saw her guard try to forcibly pull her up by her slender arm from the mud they now waded through. She was too tired and exhausted and fell back into the deepening mud pool. As the man raised his hand to hit her, Ky'tulendu reacted. With a thunderous roar he broke loose from his guards and sprang to her side, grabbing the arm of the man who was going to strike her. With a snarl he broke the young warriors's wrist and flung him away into the rapidly rising creek.
             He did not care whether the man lived or died, his concern was with White Deer as he pulled her out of the clinging mud. She was barely conscious he saw, as her eyes flickered open and she saw him and threw her arms around him holding on to his large neck tightly. He scooped her up from the ground and held her tight. He could feel her relax now as he looked gently down at her as he stood up with her securely in his arms now.
             He glanced up and saw his guards and her father rapidly approaching him. He barred his fangs and snarled a warning to them. "Don't even think of trying it!" he growled from low in his mighty chest. "I'm carrying her. She's too weak to walk."
             Her father was angry, but then concern for his favorite daughter took over. "You can carry her cat-man," he said giving him permission. "Come!" he ordered.
             The rain continued to pour in sheets, wave after wave with the wind pelting them as they struggled through the mud. The warrior who had been thrown into the creek had been rescued and he walked at the end of the procession nursing his broken wrist, keeping a wary eye on Ky'tulendu and White Deer.
             Most particularly his interest centered on White Deer because he had had plans to marry her himself. He had been unaware until now about White Deer and the Atanzi chief, and he hated both of them now and vowed he would get even.
             The clinging sticky mud made getting to the caves even more hazardous than normal. The entrance was up on a ridge overlooking the camp. The narrow path was slick with rain washed mud pouring rapidly down the rock lined path. They all fell several times on the path, getting drenched head to foot in mud and muck, which the driving rain quickly washed off of them leaving nothing but the worse mud on them by the time they got to the opening.
             They burst into the cave with Ky'tulendu in the lead once he had seen where they were going. He stood at the entrance an imposing figure with the wild storm raging behind him, and White Deer's small delicate form in his massively muscled arms.
             His red-gold hair was slicked down tightly to his skull, and he shook his head to get the water out of eyes so he could see the dim forms of people huddled against the walls of the entrance cave.
             "Is Sees Far here?" he asked loudly, not seeing her among the curious crowd who just watched him with wide eyes, afraid to come closer.
             From the very back there was a movement, and a woman got up and made her way through the people seated on the floor. "I'm Sees Far!" she announced coming closer and gasped in fear when she recognized her daughter in the Atanzi chief's arms.
             "I carried her here. She was too worn out to make it. She fell in the mud several times and we have all gotten soaked to the skin. Get her into some dry clothes and keep her warm," Ky'tulendu told her gently looking down at the sleeping girl hoping that her mother would understand since she wasn't wearing a communicator.
             Her mother nodded understanding in some way what was being said. "Bring her this way, please," she asked in her own language, directing him to follow her.
             He brought White Deer over to where her younger sisters sat at the far end of the cave with their belongings. Their eyes got huge as they saw him approach with White Deer's limp form and they quickly moved out of the way to let him put her down.
             "Put her there," her mother said with gestures, directing him to put her down on a pile of soft skins. He did very carefully sliding her unprotesting arms from around his neck to let them lay in her lap.
             She was so still and silent. She had not moved or waked since they had arrived. It was not a good sign. He reached out a huge fur top hand and felt her forehead. It was warm, and getting warmer--fever. His blue eyes clouded with concern as he squatted there next her.
             "She's running a temperature. I'll tell Roaring Wings when he gets in and have him look at her. Meantime get these wet clothes off her and keep her warm," he told her mother who was watching him carefully and noting the concern as well as affection he had for her daughter on his face.
             "N'shin'gi, Asenti Ky'tulendu," she told him looking up at him, hoping he could understand her. In gestures and by words she told him, "she will be safe here. Her father will have to get through me to see her." Then she started rummaging through their belongings and found him one of In the Forest's robes and a loin cloth. "Mah! saXkuta'kun, ta'Li," she said handing him the clothes and with kindness in her voice she directed him with gestures to go further back in the cave where he could change privately.
             "Thank you Sees Far, " he said rising to his feet and then went to follow her advice.
             He was just emerging from the dim shadows at the back of cave when Thunder Arrow, Roaring Wings and the other warriors came into the cave all thoroughly soaked as well. Thunder Arrow looked around with murderous eyes searching for him and his daughter. Finally he spotted her unconscious form as she was being tended by her mother and sisters.
             "So they did make it up here after all," he said to himself, then more loudly he asked, "Where is he? Where is the cat man? Speak up?" he shouted, as he stood at the entrance dripping water onto the floor of the cave.
             "I am here, Thunder Arrow," he said stepping out of the shadows and into the firelight where he could be seen as he walked to him unafraid. "Calm down, I wanted to get White Deer to her mother. She is running a temperature and may be ill," he told him.
             A momentary flicker of pain and fear crossed the old chief's lined face, but then it was replaced with an angry hardness. "That is for the shamans to decide," he told him. He turned to Roaring Wings. "When you have dried yourself off go check on White Deer. The cat-man says she has a fever, " he ordered.
             Roaring Wings nodded, and gratefully took the heavy deer skins that some of the women were thrusting at him and the others to dry themselves on and to wrap themselves up in. Thunder Arrow ignored them and stalked across the cave to his wife.
             "Attend me, wife," he ordered her as she was trying to spoon some warm venison broth down White Deer.
             She half-turned and glared up him. "Attend yourself! I'm busy!" She told him and went back to what she was doing, turning her back on him.
             He stood there in silence for a few moments and inwardly fumed. Then he grabbed up his bearskin robe and some buckskin coverings and stalked off to change. When he was dry he came over and threw his wet clothes to his two younger daughters to take care of. They made themselves scarce as they felt their father's anger boiling up.
             "You are angry at me, why woman?" he asked coming up behind her.
             She shook her head as she felt White Deer's head. "You know why, you old fool. You've run off our son and now almost killed our daughter. If she doesn't die on us it will be a miracle," she spat at him angrily keeping her back to him.
             "I did nothing! It was the storm!" he protested.
             "If you had not dragged her with you to the village where she would be out in the storm instead of leaving her with me where she belonged--she would not be sick!" she raged at him losing her temper with him.
             "I needed for him to see her so he would agree to my demands!"
             "Him, as in the Asenti? Now what have you done? Are you plotting to take over his village too?" she asked bitterly.
             "Yes. I've taken his weapons and I hold her as hostage for his good behavior," he smirked.
             "Hostage? Hostage? Our daughter a hostage? You are crazy, old man! Because two people love one another and they appear to be different to your blind eyes doesn't give you the right to play games with them," she yelled at him.
             "I will do whatever I want to with anyone I wish! I am the Chief!" he yelled back and stormed off to where his men sat eating and watching the storm outside the entrance.
             Once she had loved her husband, but no longer. Allowing their daughter to be harmed was the last outrage she would take from him--ever, she vowed. She had spoken with the council after he left to go find In The Forest. The elders all agreed that Thunder Arrow was getting to be a problem, but they were too afraid of him to take a stand and take the leadership of the tribe away from him.
             When he and his warriors had returned on the skimmer and gathered the other warriors loyal to him they had attacked the council lodge making the old men leave. His men had taken them into the lower level chambers of this cave and were holding them there. He had also made everyone leave their homes because of the coming storm. This also to made it easier to control the people. Many protested until they saw the blackening sky.
             They could only take away what they could carry on their backs and in their arms. She remembered the storms of long ago. She wondered how much of their village would be left intact especially of their almost ready to harvest crops. If the crops were destroyed then it was going to be a very hard winter this year she feared. What they had brought and what they had stored seemed so very little now.
             The question remained for all of them as to what were they going to do about Thunder Arrow now that he had the Atanzi weapons. He was clearly dangerous to everyone and becoming more dangerous all the time. He had to be stopped but no one was sure how.
             She looked up and saw Roaring Wings approach. She noted he did not wear his shaman garb, and that his scarred face was naked to the world, but still he exulted the power and presence of his office.
             "Do you come as healer or uncle?" she asked, giving up her place so he could examine the girl.
             "Both. My medicine garb was left at the lodge the Atanzi have given us. When I came here it was a warrior to stop my brother and help my people. Is Grey Owl here somewhere? I need to see if he has brought medicines with him," he asked pausing in his exam.
             "He is below with the council members. Thunder Arrow holds them in the medicine chambers. They are prisoners as we all are," she told him.
             "Prisoners?" he questioned. "How? Why?"
             "He took the council members first and then told us all the leave from the village because of the storm, but he did it at stunner point and his men have orders to shoot anyone if they dare to leave this place without his permission," she warned him.
             "I understand now. Can you see if Grey Owl can be brought here with his medicines if he brought them?" he asked urgently.
             "I will try. Is she very sick?" she asked.
             "Not yet. If I can get medicine down her before it does get worse then she will recover quickly. If not, it will be very difficult to help her," he told her his tone making it clear how serious it really was.
             "I will find him," she assured him as she rose quickly from her seat on the floor and went off to go find the younger shaman.

* 52 *

             Ky'tulendu saw Sees Far go to the back of the huge cave where a guard stood before an entrance way that led off into seeming blackness. She asked the guard something and he nodded, then shook his head and frowned at her. She stamped her feet angrily, gestured emphatically and got another deliberate negative head shake from the young warrior that guarded the entrance. In exasperation she stormed off and found Thunder Arrow and relayed her problem to him.
             He stormed back and proceeded to take the young guard verbally apart, or at least that's the way it seemed from Ky'tulendu's vantage point across the cave. The young warrior was chagrined and tried to make apologies to his chief. Thunder Arrow pinned him with a savage look as he stormed past the man going down the tunnel with a torch leaving Sees Far and the warrior at the entrance. The young man looked embarrassed as he stood against the wall with his arms folded across his chest while he stared upward to the ceiling not meeting Sees Far's angry gaze.
             Thunder Arrow was soon lost to sight as the tunnel turned and the torch light disappeared. About ten units later he returned with a younger man dressed in an elaborate owl's head headdress. A shaman maybe, Ky'tulendu thought seeing the bundles and bags that the man carried. They were similar to those bundles that Roaring Wings had carried on himself when he had come to the Atanzi village.
             Ky'tulendu was too far away to hear what they were saying but it was clear that the younger man had been told to follow Sees Far. They went back to where Roaring Wings sat with White Deer. He longed to get closer, but the guard assigned to him was under orders not to permit his moving from the area.
             Unfortunately, the guard did not have a translator and Ky'tulendu did not know the native language. It made communicating with him difficult, but he managed to communicate with the people around him with gestures and politeness. At least the guard was allowing that.
             One of the older woman handed him a piece of dried meat and a round dark tannish colored object that seemed to be made out of ground grains, nutmeats, berries, meat shavings and animal grease of some kind. He thanked her for it with a smile and she seemed to understand and warmly smiled back. Catching a scowling look from the guard she quickly turned back to her group and they went back to watching the raging storm outside ignoring Ky'tulendu again.
             The meat was tough but edible with a salty-smoky tang to it. The strange food ball would take a while to get used to. The grease in it was rather on the rancid side, but he understood the principle of it. It was a field ration of some sort. Despite his dislike for its rather gamy smell and taste he ate it not knowing when the next time he would get an opportunity to eat.
             At least the people were not afraid of him and seemed to like him, as evidenced by the kindness of the nameless woman who gave him the food. If any thing they were curious about the strange pale skinned man with hair the color of flame with a face and hands like that of a wildcat's.
             He wished he could talk with the people around him, so he could find out what was happening. Something was besides the weather outside. He got the impression that he and the council members weren't the only prisoners here, that all the people within the cavern were also the prisoners of Thunder Arrow.
             The only ones that weren't were those who had sided with Thunder Arrow and were now armed with the stunners. It was with some relief he noted that those numbered no more than a dozen, but their very possession of the stunners made the situation more dangerous.
             The fear in the cavern was very real, very sharp to his already heightened senses. The children he saw felt the fear of the adults and were unnaturally subdued and quiet, staying very close to their mothers. Even the few men he saw were quiet and stayed close to their families if they had them. The resentment and burning hate for this injustice was there under the surface, in their eyes but they controlled themselves because of the women and children. Fear was the emotion that bound them all.
             And the fear had a name--Thunder Arrow. He saw that as the old man moved among them. Their eyes also strayed to the stunners. Had he demonstrated their power to his captives before they arrived? Killed someone by burning them to a crisp or worse? The people's reactions suggested that possibility.
             Somehow the people would have to motivate themselves into taking action to overthrow their guards and Thunder Arrow. The antipathy he saw around him was overwhelming. It was going to take a miracle to overcome it. He knew that he was the key. So far no opportunities had presented themselves. He would have to wait until they did.
             It was difficult being this close, and yet this far away from White Deer. Normally all his attention would have been focused on the people's situation, but with her near. His evaluating of the situation in the cavern, he noted unfortunately, was secondary to his concern over White Deer. Even unlinked as they were, he could feel her pain and how sick she was. In his head he could hear her call his name and her plea for him to be near. He had been trying to ignore her attempts at communication, but it was getting more and more difficult.
             He watched Roaring Wings and Grey Owl work over the girl with their medicines and with their chanting healing rituals. Sees Far and White Deer's sisters rushed to do what the shamans asked fetching containers of boiling liquids, coverings, or whatever else they needed. Their faces looked drawn and frightened as they hovered anxiously nearby.
             Then he saw Roaring Wings stop and sit back on his heels and shake his head discouragingly, Grey Owl looked at him puzzled. The older man looked over to where Ky'tulendu sat and caught his eye. With subtle gestures he indicated he wanted Ky'tulendu to come over if he could, he needed him. Ky'tulendu nodded that he understood.
             Casually, Ky'tulendu got up and stretched. The guard started to get up and force him down. Before the guard could react the Atanzi spun around and was on him, quickly disarming and knocking him out before he had a chance to cry out. Getting up in a crouch, Ky'tulendu spun around with a now armed stunner. The three other guards nearby were too shocked to move or react. They stood numbly at their posts as he ordered them to drop their weapons. They might not have known his language but his meaning was very clear. They quickly threw theirs to a spot in front of his feet and backed away. He motioned them to sit down, and they did with no argument. Four down and at least nine or more to go, Ky'tulendu thought grimly.
             Thunder Arrow was nowhere to be seen and the other stunner carrying guards were missing too. He suspected that he had gone down to where the council members were being kept. He rushed over to where Roaring Wings and Grey Owl were with White Deer.
             "Ky'tulendu!" Roaring Wings exclaimed as he drew nearer. "How?" he asked.
              Ky'tulendu shrugged. "I knocked the guard out and took his stunner and then I relieved the other guards by the entrance of theirs. I now have four of them," he said and handed one each to the shamans and Sees Far. "Where are Thunder Arrow and the other guards with stunners?" he asked.
             "Below, in the sacred chambers of the shamans. He holds the council members and the dreamers there. Swimming Otter and his party are there too. He did not have time to return to his village. My brother holds him hostage to force him and the council to declare him ruler of all the Lay'nee Lay-na'pay. Sees Far tells me that before the storm he sent runners to Swimming Otter's village and to Howling Cat's. With your weapons and ships, Thunder Arrow thinks he will be invincible. Me must stop him, Asenti Ky'tulendu for all our people's sake,"
Roaring Wings said, his dark eyes boring into Ky'tulendu while Sees Far pleaded in her language, her dark eyes very serious as she touched his arm briefly in reassurance of her trust in him.
             He nodded gravely. "Roaring Wings tell Sees Far, I want her to stay here with White Deer and guard the people. I have this set on stun. It will just make the person go to sleep for awhile, not hurt them. Just have her point this end at them and press the button here down hard. Can she understand?" Ky'tulendu asked.
        "She can," Roaring Wings told him and speaking rapidly in their language he instructed her what to do.
              At first she looked skeptical, the she nodded in determination to do what was necessary to help her people. She told them in her language, "I can do that Asenti. I will keep the peace here," she said, holding the shiny black weapon carefully in her lap.
             "Good," he said, "Roaring Wings, you and Grey Owl come with me," Ky'tulendu said getting up cautiously and watching the guard by the tunnel who had been observing the group off and on.
             He hadn't seen Ky'tulendu take out his own guard or his disarming of the other ones. The former guards he had disarmed were being guarded by the people that had befriended him with the food. Luckily the young guard by the tunnel entrance was not armed with a stunner only a spear. He was very young. He had made one serious mistake already with his duties and he was not going to make more. The three men walked up to him with Roaring Wings in the lead.
             "Let us pass, Jumping Fox. Thunder Arrow told me when I was to bring the cat man down below with the other prisoners," Roaring Wings said, holding on to Ky'tulendu's arm as if he were a prisoner.
             "I know of no such orders, Roaring Wings. He told me to let no one pass. NO ONE!" he said empathically, and stood there rigidly, threatening them with his sharp flint headed spear.
             "You forget yourself, Jumping Fox. I am the shaman, and I am Thunder Arrow's brother. Do you wish to make him more angry with you than he is?" Roaring Wings reminded him.
             The boy began to waver, uncertain now. "No, but he told me no one was to come down," he insisted.
             "Am I no one, warrior? I am the shaman. Those are my caverns he defiles by holding prisoners there. Enough talk," Roaring Wings said angrily, and stunned him.
             The young warrior slid limply down the wall. The men disarmed him and left him propped up against the wall. They threw the spear to a young boy about ten years of age who seemed eager to help them. The child grinned and then came over and stood proudly over the unconscious older boy becoming very serious about his new duties.
             "Go," the boy said to them. "Jumping Fox will not cause you problems," he said motioning them to go on.
             The three men went into the tunnel cautiously. They did not want to use a torch and announce their presence. Ky'tulendu wished he had a portable light but Thunder Arrow's men had stripped him of all his equipment. He had not seen his or Roaring Wing's field packs in the cavern anywhere, so it was safe to assume that they had been taken below too.
             Roaring Wings took the lead knowing the path downward well. Ky'tulendu soon began to realize that Roaring Wings could see almost as well as himself in this blackness. Grey Owl on the other hand was having difficulty keeping up and stumbling over the loose rock and dirt in the passage way.
             The tunnel after it made its sharp turn angled downward gently for a while, and then became steeper. As they got closer to the end they could see lights. They crept forward carefully, trying not to make noise. Before the exit a guard stood with his broad bronzed back towards them. Ky'tulendu motioned them to be still and wait while he inched forward along the wall.
             The guard sensed his presence, but before he could turn or give alarm, Ky'tulendu grabbed him and clamped a hand over his mouth. He yanked the guard backward then hit him hard on the back of the neck below his skull knocking him out. He quickly dragged him back into the dark tunnel and disarmed him. Stripping him he gagged his mouth and tied his wrists together.
             "He'll be out for awhile," Ky'tulendu told them in a low whisper. "Are there other guards close by?" he asked.
             "Some, although they cannot see each other clearly because of the shape of the cavern and the rocks. Thunder Arrow has put everyone in the chamber near the Altar of the Ancients."
             "Altar of the Ancients?" Ky'tulendu questioned as he secured the guard's flint knife to his own belt.
             "That is where the books I was telling you about are kept as well as other strange things from the ancient days of our people," Roaring Wings explained.
             "Interesting," he commented. "For now we are going to split up and take out the guards in the central chamber. You know how to work the stunners?" he asked them. They nodded and they crept forward on their stomachs using the rocks by the entrance as cover.
             So far the other guards had not noticed the disappearance of their fellow. Their attention was focused on listening to Thunder Arrow's ranting at the council trying to get the elders to capulate to his demands. By the strident dangerous tones in his booming voice they were hearing he was not succeeding.
             It was relatively easy to stun the guards before they could react to their presence. The six outside guards went down with very little noise, not that much could be heard over Thunder Arrow's voice echoing across the large chamber. The three men relieved them of their stunners and then crept across the open space to the entrance to the sacred chambers.
             A stunner beam flashed by Ky'tulendu head just missing him and hitting the rock wall ahead of him flinging off pieces of rock. The Atanzi's eyes got wide with fear, that stunner had been set on the highest setting. He spun quickly and began firing blindly hoping he'd hit the shooter.
             Roaring Wings and Grey Owl had hit the dirt as soon as they saw the beam hit. They began firing trying to see their hidden opponent. The beams from the lethally set stunner hit next to the three tearing up the hard packed ground around them.
             They gave up any pretense at keeping quiet and upped the settings on their stunners. The main advantage they had was that their unknown foe had only one stunner which was rapidly being drained by being used at full strength and they had three apiece that were still fully charged. Suddenly from the opposite direction two more beams hit the dirt around them pinning them down. The situation was worsening, not improving.
             Cautiously, Ky'tulendu raised his head from the dirt and spared a look behind him. It was a bad as he had thought, Thunder Arrow and another warrior were partially hidden behind the large boulders on either side of the entrance to the sacred caverns.
             "Surrender CAT-MAN!" Thunder Arrow yelled at him. "It will do you no good to fight me. It is almost too easy to kill you and the shamans where you lie in the dirt on your bellies. I give you a chance to live if you surrender fully to me now," then he laughed evilly his laughter echoing hollowly in the cavern.
             "NO WAY!" Ky'tulendu yelled back. Then before Thunder Arrow could react Ky'tulendu fired. It was aimed not at him but at a crack in the rock wall behind the chief. The edges of the crack got superheated and large chunks spun off where the concentrated beam hit. Thunder Arrow stared up dumbly for a second or two then his eyes widened and before he or his warrior could react the wall collapsed and tons of rock came tumbling down upon their heads burying them.
             They screamed as the rocks fell on them, but once started the avalanche of rock could not be stopped. Ky'tulendu and Roaring Wings looked on in horror as they saw that the same rocks that were burying the chief and his warrior were also burying the only entrance to the caves beyond where the council and other prisoners were being held.
             The remaining warrior that had been firing on them had quit now that his support was gone. He stood up from his hiding place and walked over to where they all now stood watching the tide of rock. It was slowing down and through the cloud of dust they could see that the entrance way was completely buried.
             "Here, cat-man, take the stunner. I am now your servant. What do you wanted of me?" The warrior said bowing humbly after he handed the stunner to Ky'tulendu.
             Ky'tulendu looked the young warrior over and nodded approval. "I have nothing for you to do at the moment. And I really don't want a slave. You are free to follow your own path," he told the warrior, who then relaxed and bowed gratefully to the Atanzi.
             The four walked over to the rock pile and surveyed the damage which was extensive they now saw. Ky'tulendu shake his head as he estimated how deep the entrance was buried and how long it would take to clear the rubble away.
             He stood there with his foot on a large rock feeling hopeless now. "How are we going to get to the council members through that? I had not anticipated that the whole wall would go down like that. That was not my intent. I'm sorry Roaring Wings, I know he was your brother. I just wanted to scare him, not kill him," Ky'tulendu apologized, ashamed and saddened that he had killed the old chief.
             Roaring Wings put his large hand on his friend's bare shoulder as he stood next to him, "It could not be helped Asenti, he asked for such a thing to happen to him. My brother was a bad man, who cared not who he hurt as long as he got what he wanted. The people will be safe now from the danger of his evil heart. I will mourn the boy he was but not the man he became." Roaring Wings said consoling the Atanzi who was having a hard time accepting the results of his actions .
              Roaring Wings could not spare the time to mourn. He would return and retrieve his brother's body later and then he and his people would do him proper homage. Now the living, if they still lived were of a greater concern. The sacred chambers were fairly large but with that many people their air supply would soon diminish. Time was more critical than before.
             Grey Owl was also surveying the damage, kicking the rocks with his mocassined feet as he too thought on how to get through. He really felt that there wasn't too much hope.
             "Are there any other tunnels that lead to the caverns, ones that only shamans might know of?" Ky'tulendu asked suddenly, getting an inspiration and seriously hoping that there might be a secret entrance that was only used for ceremonial purposes.
             Roaring Wings and Grey Owl looked at one another, trying to remember the passages they had been shown as initiates by the old shaman when he had shown them both the sacred caverns and inducted them into the mysteries of the ancients. Roaring Wings looked around the cavern searching the walls looking for something.
             "There, up there!" he pointed off to their right high up on a ridge of rock above the floor of the cave there was a dark hole. "There is another passageway that I was told of, but I've never explored it. It was used in the old days for special ceremonies. It is supposed to come out behind the altar."
             "We'll have to try it. We can't dig them out. There's too much rock. We have to hope the passageway does go there. Is there a way up?" Ky'tulendu asked not seeing any way to reach the entrance from where he stood.
             "Kay'hay-la, ta'lee wa-nee'!" The warrior told them gesturing for the Asenti to follow him. Ky'tulendu wasn't sure what he was saying, however, his intent was clear. He wanted him to follow him.
             "Swift Water wants you to go with him. He says he knows a way up there. We should follow, Asenti. What choice do we have?" Roaring Wings told him following the tall, thin young warrior.
             "None, I guess." Ky'tulendu replied and fell in step behind him as they crossed the cavern to where they could see a narrow ledge running up the side of the wall to the dark entrance hole far above.

 * 53 *

             They followed Swift Water's advice and took the narrow footpath up the side of cave walls to reach the ledge where the small tunnel opening was located. It was a tight fit, but Ky'tulendu managed to squeeze through the rough opening into the narrow tunnel beyond. His broad shoulders were scraped raw and bleeding from the sharp crystalline rocks. He bore his pain in silence.
              This was one of the few times in his life that he wished that he had been born a little smaller of chest and shoulder and not so long of limb. It was difficult going down the dark passage on his hands and knees, but there was no other way. He just hoped this wasn't a false trail and the tunnel did come out where the shaman's had told him it would.
             He heard someone come in behind him, whether it was Roaring Wings or Grey Owl he wasn't sure. He just kept going. After many long minutes he began to see a glimmer of light ahead of him. It was a hole in the wall of the tunnel he discovered. It looked out upon a large cavern lit with torches. He could see figures walking, moving about--the prisoners. As he looked out he could sense the person come up beside him.
             "Ky'tulendu, have you found a way through it?" asked Roaring Wings deep tones near his ear.
             "I think so. There's just a small hole. We're going to have to make it larger to get to them and to get them out. Is there an entrance further down that we can't see yet?" he asked hopefully.
             "No, this should be it. Maybe it got filled in. This passage hasn't been used in many generations," Roaring Wings replied coming closer to see for himself. "Let us see if we can kick it loose," he suggested.
             "It's worth a try," Ky'tulendu agreed and maneuvered his body so that he could brace his back against the tunnel wall and kick his powerful legs outward. He could dimly see Roaring Wings move next to him and do the same.
             "Now!" Ky'tulendu shouted, and they both kicked outward at the wall before them and felt it give explosively as the rock and dirt was kicked loose from the hole, enlarging it.
             There were loud and frightened exclamations of surprise from the other side that sounded both fearful and happy because the former captives of Thunder Arrow did not know whether this was a new kind of cave-in or the rescue they had been praying for.
             They surveyed the results, almost but not quite big enough to get a person through. They kicked outward a few more times. Their leg muscles were hurting as well as the bottom of their feet from just wearing moccasins as they hit at the hard packed dirt and rock repeatedly using their strong legs to kick more of the wall away.
             They heard the captives help them by digging out the rocks and dirt that had been knocked loose and taking the debris away. One of the captives had gotten a heavy stick and was using it to knock more rock and dirt from the edges of the hole. They were joined by two others and the hole was quickly enlarged.
             They were helped out by Swimming Otter who was smiling broadly to see them. He had not met Ky'tulendu. He had heard of him and the stories, he saw for himself, had not been exaggerated in the slightest. Roaring Wings, however, he did know from past visits back and forth between the villages. He greeted both warmly.
             "Roaring Wings, great shaman of the Wolf Clan, I am surprised that you are our rescuer. I take it this is the Asenti Ky'tulendu, chief of the Atanzi cat-people that I have heard so much about?" The chief asked Roaring Wings in their language since he wore no translator.
             "Yes, it is he. It was his idea to try this way to reach you. The entrance was buried when he killed Thunder Arrow. There was no choice. Either he killed him or we would be killed. I mourn the loss of my brother for his being my brother. I am relieved that the evil that he did to all our people and to yours will now stop and peace will come if we let it. Are the council members and the others all right and where are the guards?" he asked changing to a less painful subject.
             "When the shooting and the cave-in began they rushed to the entrance to see what was happening. Two of them got killed by the falling rocks. We overpowered the other two and now hold them prisoner. Here are their weapons. Here-- please take them. They are too powerful and do not gain a man his honor by using them," Swimming Otter said solemnly as he handed the two stunners over to Roaring Wings.
             The shaman nodded seriously, understanding very well what the chief had said. Even Ky'tulendu did not need a translator to figure out what was meant by the chief's words and actions.
             "There are the weapons and things from your village that Thunder Arrow brought here," he said pointing to several large sacks on the ground. "Please take them back to your people and keep them out of evil's way. Our peoples are not ready to use such powerful magics. This goes against all the teachings to use such things," Swimming Otter told the Atanzi.
             "I understand, Swimming Otter. I will take them back and make sure they are put up so that both our peoples are safe from their magics. I am having my people learn to use your weapons and your ways so that we can be equal here in this place. Our magics are too powerful, even for us sometimes. We will be careful to control ours."
             "That is good, chief of the Atanzi. That will make my people rest more easily knowing that you respect our ways and will not use your magics to harm us. It is not good for one people to have more than another because it creates greed and envy and that leads to pain and people being hurt. It is good to know you are a reasonable and honorable man," Swimming Otter said clasping his shoulder in friendship.
             "Thank you, Swimming Otter. And I am pleased to know that the chief of the Turtle Clan is a wise and honorable man as well. I look forward to many years of peace between your people and mine as well as with the Wolf Clan peoples. When the storm and everything is over I would like to invite you to my village and we shall all have a feast to celebrate our friendship," Ky'tulendu said, surprising both Roaring Wings and the chief.
             "I would be honored, my friend. Shall we say in one month after the harvests?" he asked.
             "One month, after the harvests," Ky'tulendu agreed solemnly.
             "Until then, my friend," he said pleased and then wandered off to tell his people and the curious members of the Wolf Clan's council who all smiled happily at the idea and generosity of the Atanzi chief.
             "That was a good gesture to make to Swimming Otter," Roaring Wings said. "You are a good diplomat, Asenti. This will do much to repair the damage that has been done here by my brother."
             "I know, that is why I am doing it. If we do not offer the hand of friendship to Swimming Otter then we will always have to watch our backs. I want peace with all the peoples here so we can live our lives with out fear. There has been too much pain and hurt already," Ky'tulendu said sadly, trying not to remember all that had happened recently. "Come let's see what we can do to help," he suggested as they moved to where the people sat by the wall of the chamber.
             All told there were twenty-five people that Thunder Arrow had held captive. Ten members of the council, Swimming Otter and his three escorts, and eleven of the dreamers, both male and female. Only with the power of the stunners behind them could the guards have held so many captive in the small chamber.
             Looking around the Asenti could not see anything remarkable about this chamber or why it was sacred to the natives. It was rather ordinary looking with hard stones walls of a dark grayish color that were roughly rectangular in shape with a twice man height ceiling.
             Roaring Wings saw him looking and the puzzlement on his face and guessed what he was thinking. "No, my friend, this is not the sacred chamber. It lies in that direction beyond this room. Thunder Arrow was many things, but he would have not disgraced himself or our people by using the sacred chamber to keep his captives in. After we have gotten these people out then I will show you the mysteries," Roaring Wings said in a low voice.
             Ky'tulendu nodded, and they went to help the old people in the group to get up and make their way to the tunnel. The old people were grateful for their help and went willing into the hole. It took quite awhile to get all the people through because they had to go single file on their hands and knees and the older ones had a difficult time of it. Ky'tulendu was glad that Grey Owl was on the other end to help them find their way to the upper chamber.
             Ky'tulendu noted with interest the group that Roaring Wings had said were dreamers from the village. They were all healthy young women and men, except for a three older women in the group who the shaman explained had lost their husbands in battles. He also told the Asenti that these were not all the dreamers. There were others above among the crowd in the cavern and in the two other native villages. He estimated that there were at least thirty-five or so dreamers that he knew about. That staggered Ky'tulendu that so many were drawn to the Atanzi and would be mate-bonded to them.
             Life on this planet was like nothing he had ever dreamed of. It was constant change and adaptation to an established older yet primitive civilization, that welcomed him and his kind and made him feel a part of it in ways he had never felt a part of in his own society. When he had opened the hatch that first morning he had known that he was home at last, now he believed it.
             He noticed that the last of the people were now entering the tunnel and that left just himself and Roaring Wings alone in the chamber. The shaman told the last person that they would be along later on that they had some work to do here first and to tell the others. The warrior nodded and then went on.
             "Come, my friend, there is much I want you to see," Roaring Wings said grinning, his fangs gleaming in the torch light.
             The shaman picked up one of the torches that were stuck into holders along the wall and Ky'tulendu did the same following him down a another long tunnel off to the side of the chamber.
             Without the other people the place was very quiet, all that could be heard was the sound of their feet in the soft dirt of the passage and from somewhere the steady drip-drip-dripping of water. The walls started becoming moist and cold. The Atanzi shivered a little from the cold dampness, his fur cloak having been lost in the stunner fight.
             The tunnel turned abruptly and suddenly they were on the threshold of a huge crystal cavern whose walls, floor and ceiling were composed of white. sparkling snowflake crystals. Part of the walls looked like they were poured from the ceiling in thick ribbons over the surface of the vertical walls. It was breathtakingly beautiful. He could understand why this was their sacred chamber.
             Stalactites jutted down around the edges of a circular dome in the center of the ceiling. The dome itself had been carved and shaped into pictures. Pictures which Ky'tulendu realized with a shock he could recognize--star maps! Star maps of the Heartworlds as they had been known thousands of years before at the time that the Change had come to the Atanzi.
             If that wasn't enough to unnerve him, he got a good look at the altar. The limestone crystals had over grown much of it but it was still recognizable as a Gy'tusesson, a device left over from the mysterious visitors to his world and others. It was not quite a ball but it was not quite a square or any other shape but something that all was all and yet no definite shape according to what angle you looked at it from. It was taller than a man so that a man might go in it. It was said it opened on to other dimensions and spaces within its confines. He had seen pictures of them , though he had never seen one up close like this.
             "How did it get here?" he asked Roaring Wings when he could speak.
             "Legend has it that the small sun appeared one day above the camp of my ancestors who lived in a far away land at that time. It took all my people captive in a great beam as well as others and brought them to this island to live. It also changed us inside and out so that we were like the people on the mainland. It was said that we resembled your people Asenti, before the great sun changed us, though not as much."
             "Go on," Ky'tulendu requested, fascinated.
             "The Little Sun taught us things, showed us pictures in our head how to make things, do things, which we did. It made us peaceful and loving with our neighbors. The sun somehow changed those around for a time to be peaceful too and helped them. Unfortunately, they were not changed as much as my people--we were its chosen ones. The brightest, most intelligent among us were then selected for more intensive instruction from the Sun. The special ones were then made into shamans and chiefs as well as specialized crafts persons."
             "That makes sense. Go on."
             "When the Sun thought that its job was almost finished. It told my ancestor, Talks Softly, that it was preparing a place below the village where it would now stay so it could be near for the people. This place. Then one day it vanished from the sky and reappeared here and has remained ever since. For many years the sun continued to talk with the shamans and the chiefs when they came to ask for advice. Then gradually the Sun grew silent and has been silent for many, many generations now because we could not talk with it. One of the two books that the sun gave us is missing. It was said that one had to use both books to talk to the Little Sun."
             "No one knows where the second book vanished to or when?" Ky'tulendu asked. It was the first time he had heard of an active Gy'tusesson. All the ones in museums on various planets were silent and still. This one was still active he noted, he could see colored lights pulsating around the edges of the crystals covering the outside of the machine.
             "No. The books were supposed to be kept together here in the sacred cave. One day it just vanished in the days of my six-times great grandfather who was the shaman of the village at that time," Roaring Wings told him, watching as Ky'tulendu moved closer studying the ancient apparatus.
             "Do you know what this thing is Asenti?" he asked hopefully.
             "Yes, I do recognize the machine, Roaring Wings. It is called a Gy'tusesson, or the Knowledge Giver, in the language of my people. There are many like it all across the worlds of the peoples of the Alliance. This is the first active one I have ever seen or heard about. We don't know who built them or why. Only that the peoples who got them were mentally and physically transformed from primitive war-like beings ruled by their emotions to beings that became peace lovers and builders of civilizations."
             "So there are more of these elsewhere--on other worlds?"
             "Yes, many. Not all planets in the Alliance have them, just some. This is the first I ever heard of having instruction manuals." Ky'tulendu said with a smile.
             "Instruction manuals?" Roaring wings questioned, not familiar with the term.
             "Books or visuals that say how something is to be used."
             "Ahh, I think I understand. So you think that is what the books were for?" the shaman asked.
             "Probably. May I look at the remaining book?" Ky'tulendu asked not wanting to touch it unless it was all right with the shaman.
             Roaring Wings nodded and smiled, "Yes, I am hoping you can read the writing and tell me what is in it. Maybe even get the small sun to work again," he said reverently looking at the glowing object.
             "I will try. If I can't read it right now, I would like to come back later with some of our scanning equipment and take pictures of the pages and have my techs look the writing over and compare it to writings we have on file from other worlds," Ky'tulendu asked stepping over to the large book, looking it over carefully trying to see how it opened.
             "That sounds good, Asenti." Roaring Wings agreed, and noticing that the Atanzi was having problems opening the book he went over and pressed the hidden studs on the gold metal cover opening the book.
             "Thank you," Ky'tulendu said relieved.
           The pages appeared to be of some sort of thin, slick, shiny material similar to what the Atanzi themselves used for making hard copies. The book was very large almost a pec'lssn square and almost six kec'lssns thick. The writing was a very ancient script that Ky'tulendu almost recognized as being the base root of his own native language, but it was somehow oddly different. He could make educated guesses at some of the words, though that was about all. He shook his head and turned back to Roaring Wings that was watching him expectantly.
             "I'm sorry, my friend, I can't read it. I recognize the writing and some words here and there, but I do not know the language. It will have to wait until my techs can look at it. I just do not have the skills," Ky'tulendu apologized.
             "You tried, that is what mattered. We better go back above and see if the storm is over. Later when we have time we will come back and let you take pictures. The book has remained unread for this long it can remain unread a little longer," Roaring Wings told him, resigned to the way things were.
        Ky'tulendu agreed and let him close the book. Taking their torches they left the chamber and made their way back up the tunnel and on back the way they had come to get to the surface.
             There was going to be much to do now in the wake of Thunder Arrow's death. They had made steps down here to repair the damages to peaceful relations between the tribes. That was only the first of many steps that would be needed to be taken. More work had to be down in eliminating those elements that had been loyal to the old chief and bringing the people's of the tribe back together. A leader would have to be chosen.
        Ky'tulendu wasn't sure whether In The Forest would be a strong enough chief yet because of his age and lack of experience or even if the people would accept him fully. He would hate the leadership to go to one of Thunder arrow's followers, but there was little he could do or say on the subject except watch what unfolded.
             Almost forgotten because of the events that had been happening was the storm and the possible damage it was doing to the native villages and to the Atanzi camp. Would any of their buildings or their crops still be standing after all of this? Ky'tulendu wasn't sure. He had never seen such a fierce storm. For that too, he would have to watch and wait.
             His concern was now becoming centered back on White Deer's condition. Was she better or worse? Ky'tulendu's footsteps began to increase in pace as sensations and thoughts from her were carried through their link. He had toned down the link to be able to concentrate on rescuing the prisoners. Now that it was over and the excitement over all that he had been shielding came flooding into his mind full force And all was chaos in his mind and heart. He ran with Roaring Wings following in his wake.
             Behind them in the darkness, the Gy'tusesson's lights started changing colors and patterns of light began forming around its surface, swirling and dancing. The Atanzi's words had activated it, patterns in the speech of the humanoid that it had not heard before in the many millennia it had sat in this chamber had caused it's circuits to become active again. It began to manufacture another book within its form to replace the one that had been lost.
             It now had purpose again. It could now serve its masters as it had been ordered to. It was now content.


* 54 *

     Pacing nervously, the young shaman in owl's head mask met Ky'tulendu and Roaring Wings at the entrance to the upper main cave with both good and bad news. "The storm is slowing down, Asenti, but White Deer is getting worse. None of our medicine is helping. She is burning up and there is nothing we can do," Lost Owl told them both apologetically, anxiously awaiting their orders.
     The tall Atanzi Asenti went several shades paler than normal at his words, "Take me to her," he ordered in a stressed voice which betrayed the fear in his heart.
     Lost Owl motioned him to follow, his feathers and the leather of his clothing making a rustling sound as he moved quick to obey Ky'tulendu's command. The three walked back to where Sees Far sat tending her daughter, putting cold compresses on the young girl's fevered forehead. The older woman looked up at their approach, lines of apprehension and worry that had not been there when they left were now present on her seamed and lined face. She moved her girth over as her brother-in-law, Roaring Wings, took her place next to the girl.
     Ky'tulendu squatted down nearby watching and waiting until the senior shaman had completed his examination. He absent-mindedly combed his thick reddish-blond mane of hair out his eyes and brushed some of the dirt off his bare forearms and what was left of his black uniform. He hated just sitting doing nothing, unfortunately, that was all he could do since he was not a medic. Roaring Wings was he hoped as the shaman touched White Deer's neck under the jaw line checking her glands, tapped on her chest and listened, and opened her eyes and frowned, his lips stretched taunt in a thin line. Ky'tulendu knew he was not going to like the prognosis.
     "You gave her the teas and the powders I left you?" Roaring Wings asked Sees Far, turning to her to verify that she had followed his instructions exactly.
     "Yes, exactly as you told me to. She has not gotten better only worse by the minute," she answered gravely her dark eyes scared and afraid for her daughter who lay so pale and still on the fur blankets beside them.
     "Uhmm," Roaring Wings grunted to himself, debating what to do next since his usual remedies were not working. The girl's illness was beyond his meager skills and he knew it. Pride was not going to keep him from asking for help--and that is what he needed--help from the Atanzi doctor. She had the skills and knowledge that he lacked to fight this fever. "Asenti, do you have your communicator with you?" he asked coming to a decision.
     Ky'tulendu was surprised that he had not thought of B'tunku before this, "No, Thunder Arrow took mine away when we were captured. There might be one in the sack of weapons that were with the captives, though," he replied.
     Lost Owl pointed to where they had been put and Ky'tulendu went over and looked through the sacks. The communicators that he and Roaring Wings had carried were not there. "They're not here," he replied disappointed and frustrated, but not giving up. He turned to the young shaman with another idea, "Lost Owl where are the warriors who captured us in the village? Maybe they know what Thunder Arrow did with them," he suggested.
     "I will go see if they know," he said hurrying off through the cavern trying to find the men and to question them.
     When the young man left Ky'tulendu turned to Roaring Wings watching him put his supplies and medicines back into his medicine pouch. "You cannot do anything for White Deer?" he asked, no recriminations in his deep voice.
     The shaman shook his head. "Regrettably, she is beyond what I can do for her with what medicines I have from Lost Owl. In my lodge I had medicines that might have helped but I fear the storm has swept them away. Your Doctor told me your people have many medicines that we do not. Somehow we have either got to bring the Doctor here or take her to your village while there is still time," Roaring Wings told him, his eyes hard with determination.
     Lost Owl came back shaking his head. "None of Thunder Arrow's men know what he did with them. He probably carried them on him when he went down to the cavern. Sorry Asenti, I tried," the young man apologized.
     "Thank you Lost Owl, you did your best," he told him giving him a reassuring smile, then he glanced worriedly back at White Deer. "That leaves taking her to the village and flying her back in the skimmer, " Ky'tulendu told them all.
     "But the storm is still going. . . ," Sees Far tried to protest.
     Ky'tulendu raised his hand to silence her. "It's not as bad as it was. It is almost over, Sees Far. If White Deer is going to have any chance we are going to have to take her back to my village," he told her firmly, not wanting to argue with her.
     "Then I will go with you, Asenti, to your village," she said determinedly. "She will need me when she wakes."
     He was surprised, but he welcomed her coming with them. "All right you can go. Roaring Wings are you coming too?" Uncertain what the shaman was going to do.
     He nodded, still packing his things. "Yes. I want to go so that I may help and learn more about your medicines for my people. I will tell the council where we are going and why. They will help the people get reorganized after the storm is over and keep them here until it's safe to go back to the village. Lost Owl, you will stay here and help," he told the young man who was waiting patiently for instructions from his mentor.
     Lost Owl nodded agreeing with the plan while Sees Far got White Deer and herself ready for the journey. She talked to her younger two daughters and told them to stay with one of the families until she returned. They had been told of their father's death and were trying to cope with it. They couldn't understand why people were angry with their father and why Ky'tulendu, his killer had not been punished, or was not a prisoner. They were very confused with all that had been happening that day and night. Even with their sadness and their pain, they were still obedient children and went with no protest to where their mother sent them.
     Roaring Wings in the meantime had gone to see the council members and told them what they were planning to do. There had been some protest, but it was quickly quelled by Walks In Silence who told the shaman to do whatever was necessary to save White Deer.
     "The council is agreed that we can go. Are you ready, Asenti?" Roaring Wings asked watching the huge Atanzi carefully pick up White Deer, who was wrapped in a bear skin robe, in his arms.
      Her mother tucked the skin more securely around her then took a waterproofed deer skin and draped it tightly over Ky'tulendu's head and shoulders to protect them both from the storm. Satisfied that they were covered she nodded to Roaring Wings telling him they were ready. Sees Far handed Roaring Wings another waterproofed skin and then put one over her head and shoulders to protect herself against the weather and the trio left the cave.
     The wind and rain was not quite as fierce as it had been when Ky'tulendu had entered but it was still raining heavily with a now colder biting wind. A day and a night had passed since he had come to the cave. The morning sky was leaden and gray with heavy, angry dark clouds overhead from horizon to horizon which were broken only by a spotting of some thick swirling white wisps of clouds that raced quickly in front of the storm front.
     It was cold. The temperature had dropped thirty or more degrees from the day before. Being from a more tropical environment, Ky'tulendu shivered underneath his thin covering of deerskin. His bare legs, and arms were freezing from the cold rain and wind, but he bore the cold because he must. White Deer, on the other hand, was like a furnace in his arms. The heat from her fever was almost searing his arms and chest where she lay against him wrapped in her furs. Her high fever was scaring him more than he wanted to admit to anyone, including himself.
     If she died . . . he didn't want to think of what would happened linked as they were. They were only linked, not bonded yet, but he could feel her even through the delirium of her fever. He had never been this close to another being in his entire life and the fact that he was becoming that close frightened him. He didn't know if he loved her--they had not spent enough time together to get to know one another outside of the dreams he had had on board ship and here. Their brief physical meetings had been only that--brief. They had also left him uneasy too, but he couldn't understand why because of the bonding pull he also felt when she was near.
     He cursed the fact of the mating bond that tied them together. Without it, though, he wondered if he would ever had tried to do what he was doing now to get her help. This urge to save his mate-to-be was overriding all his caution, all his senses, and his usually good judgment. At that moment, holding her in his arms, he knew he would risk everything, including his very life to save her. It was a very soul-numbing thought for him how important this girl was to him, but it was what propelled him onward and overrode his fears.
     The path down the side of the hill was slick with mud and fast running water gushing down from everywhere. They had to walk carefully and slowly to negotiate the narrow path. Ky'tulendu almost lost his footing several times because of the treacherous mud, but he slowed his pace, mindful of the precious burden he carried. On either side of the path sharp rocks loomed making him even more fearful of falling with her.
     Finally they reached the bottom of the hill. The hood of his cloak was obscuring his field of view so he could not see the damage to the village until he stopped and lifted the hood back when Roaring Wings and Sees Far stopped dead in front of him. He drew a quick intake of breath at what he saw before him.
     The village was almost under water because the creek had flooded its banks. He could see the skimmer sitting in the middle of the square almost covered to the bottom of the windows with fast running muddy water. With all that water it was going to be difficult to reach, let alone get them all out of here. He could get in through the top hatch. At least Command had designed the craft for use under difficult situations such as this, but still it was going to be dangerous.
     Judging by where the swiftly moving water was hitting on the sides of the wooden lodges the water was already waist high and rising. As a group he couldn't see all of them getting across the field that separated them from the village itself. He and Roaring Wings might, but Sees Far, and White Deer never would. He would have to bring the skimmer to them.
     Making his mind up he walked over to where Roaring Wings was surveying the damage, shaking his head and trying to figure a way across. The water beaded and ran down on the shaman's scarred face despite the hood he wore. His dark eyes were cold and hard as he looked over the situation.
     "It's hopeless, Asenti. Were going to have to turn back and wait this out. There is no way we can reach your ship. The creek is running too swiftly and too deep. It would be suicide to attempt to cross," he yelled despairingly over the roar of the creek and the storm as if he knew already what the Atanzi had in mind.
     "Sorry, I'm going--I have to, and I have to go alone. I can make it across easier by myself. Then I will bring the skimmer back for you all," Ky'tulendu said his commanding tones warning that he would brook no argument as he handed White Deer over to now waiting arms of her uncle.
     Roaring Wings understood Ky'tulendu's reasoning, but still he felt he had to stop the cat-man from doing this. "Asenti, the current is much too swift. Please, don't do this my friend! It is too dangerous!" Roaring Wings yelled at him, begging him strongly as he reached out and grabbed the Atanzi's bare arm and held him with a strength Ky'tulendu did not think the shaman possessed.
      The leonoid mouth wrinkled in a snarl and he looked back at the shaman with steely determination in his eyes. "I can't just wait around and let White Deer get sicker by the moment. You forget we are connected. We may not be mated yet but I feel her, Roaring Wings. I feel everything that she does, every pain, every thought, every feeling whether I want to or not. She is the other half of my soul. I can not let her die--not when she has a chance to live. If she is going to live then I've got to get her to B'tunku soon," Ky'tulendu shouted over the roaring of the creek waters and the still pouring rain.
     Roaring Wings saw that the Atanzi meant every word and he could offer no further protest. Conceding defeat, he nodded his head in agreement. "Then go, my friend, if that is what your heart tells you, you must do it," he replied and released his hold on Ky'tulendu's arm.
     "Thank you for understanding." Ky'tulendu replied, then he looked from him to the black swirling water, the bottom lip of his mouth set tightly. "Wait here, I'll be back as soon as I can," Ky'tulendu said as he stripped off his head covering and his moccasins, leaving himself clad only in his loincloth.
     Ky'tulendu had swam many times before on different planets in many different oceans in his travels. Unfortunately, he was not fully prepared for the flood swollen waters of the creek. The muddy swiftly swirling waters were a shock after he dove in and felt their bitter coldness. He quickly determined that swimming was not the way to cross to the village. Already he had been pulled almost past it by the current.
     He stood up and walked against it, his powerful legs moving him closer and closer to his goal. The cold was numbing him quickly, more than he had estimated it would. He had to get to the ship quickly before he lost all feeling in his legs, arms, and lower torso.
     If the water were not bad enough in itself, he had to dodge the debris floating both on top and hidden underwater. He stumbled over tree branches and submerged pieces of the village buildings. Several times he was stabbed painfully in the side by tree branches and small logs. He was in pain, but he couldn't allow himself to feel it. He felt as if he were moving through a vat of sticky icy liquid, all the while his head and shoulders were being pelted by the freezing driving wind and rain.
     It was a waking nightmare to him. So much destruction by the forces of nature. He had never seen so violent of a planet before. All his experiences had been on planets that were carefully controlled and monitored to stop such natural excesses from happening. Worst of all were the dead animals carcasses that floated by, luckily there were no human ones, but the numbers and types were unnerving to him. Destruction like this was going to take some getting used to.
     Finally he reached the ship. He rested against its side for a moment catching his breath and trying to remember the exact location of the upper hatch. Already the water was up to his upper chest and still rising. He would have to work fast if he was going to get the ship out of there. It wouldn't be long before the propulsion units were underwater.
     He found the climbing rings on the side of the vehicle and began to climb up the side. Damn, it was cold, he thought to himself as the chill wind blew across his water drenched body, chilling him more. His teeth were chattering as he reached the top and his fingers were beginning to feel numb. He punched the code on the top of the hatch-- nothing happened! He punched it in again and still nothing. Even though the lights blinked, here was no response or sound from the hatch mechanism indicating that the air seal was released.
     He crouched there on top of the ship feeling very frustrated and angry, getting madder and madder about being that close and still not able to get in. Finally his rage and fear took over. He smashed his fists down hard on top of the controls shattering them. The hatch popped open, and the air was deafened by the ungodly clamor from the intruder alarms triggered by the broken seal.
     Gritting his teeth against the irritating noise and the searing pain in his hands he opened the hatch and swung his large frame through the opening, dropping down on the carpeted deck in the center of the ship. Reaching up on tiptoe he grabbed the hatch cover and pulled it shut before too much of the rain poured in behind him. The locking mechanism on the inside still worked so he secured the hatch and then went to solve the problem of shutting off the alarm.
     Working with just the gray gloomy light of the storm to see by he found the alarm switch and turned the damned thing off, then flopped into the pilot's seat drained and exhausted. After resting a few moments, he reached out and flipped on the internal lights and the heat unit as the engines sprang to life under his feet. At least the ship was still working. The water hadn't damaged it as he had feared.
     He let the engine warm up while he warmed up himself. He got up and rummaged through the storage compartments along the walls looking to see if there was a spare uniform or clothing of any description in the lockers. The last locker he checked yielded a field pack and in the field pack a spare uniform and socks. His boots were in the cave, so he would have to do without. The thin uniform was better than only bare skin again the cold. He began to get warm again. He wished he had time for a quick cup of klass. There wasn't, he had to get going.
     He did his preflight check hurriedly and began lift off. The craft was sluggish because of the water around it and clinging mud underneath its runners, then it broke free and lifted up vertically from the ground. It was hard maneuvering the wildly whipping craft, especially with his bruised hands. Somehow he managed to keep it on course, steering it against the wind which was blowing him back and forth inches above the surface of the raging waters of the creek.
     He guided the ship to hover steadily above the surface of the water at the base of the hill where Roaring Wings and Sees Far waited. Neither showed their fear as he brought the huge flying machine close to them. They were awed at what it could do. How it obeyed his commands. Sees Far had not seen as many of the Atanzi marvels as Roaring Wings had and was justifiably overwhelmed by the demonstration of power inherent in the cat-man's magic. Even the shaman was impressed at what the flying machine could do under these difficult conditions, and very grateful that it could do it.
     Ky'tulendu put the ship on automatic and hoped it would hold its position while he unlocked the side hatch and helped them aboard. He would have preferred to land but there was no ledges large enough to set down on the rocky hillside. The hatch opened reluctantly, screaming in protest because some water had gotten into its mechanism. It did finally swing open and partial lower its door ramp for them to climb in on.
     "Roaring Wings, hand me White Deer!" Ky'tulendu shouted over the sound of the storm and the ship's engines.
     The shaman moved closer and carefully handed his niece up to him. Ky'tulendu took her still form and set her on the floor far back from the door and then went to help Sees Far and Roaring Wings in. The shaman was helping his sister-in-law grab the rungs inset along the edges of the door ramp. She grabbed hold and pulled herself up and made it the rest of the way in by herself.
Roaring Wings followed and was quickly in. Ky'tulendu hit the control for the door ramp and it slid back into place. It took the two men to get the door shut and secured because of the problems with the circuitry. Once it was secured they both turned to see how White Deer was doing.
     "How is she, Sees Far?" Ky'tulendu asked worriedly, standing nearby.
     "Her fever is higher, I think," her mother said in a frightened tone, after she had unwrapped the girl and began trying to dry her off with towel that Ky'tulendu had found in the lockers. Sees Far's brown eyes were large with worry and fear as she looked up after completing her task to regard the two. Only then did she push her own dripping hair back from her face and sit back on her haunches to wait for further instruction.
     "Just stay with her. There are containers of water and emergency food packets in the upright storage containers along the wall," the Asenti told her pointing to the walls and showing her how to work the handles to get them open. She nodded and went to go look.
     Roaring Wings bent to check the girl, and shook his head worriedly, confirmation what Sees Far had said. "We must hurry Asenti, there isn't much time. Fever like this kills fast," he said seriously.
     White Deer's delicate face was very pale and waxy looking. Her normally rosy bronze complexion had paled to where it was almost as light as Ky'tulendu's was normally. Her face was also touched by scarlet patches where the fever burned her cheeks and forehead. Her normally full lips looked cracked and bluish in color and he could see she was trembling all over from chills and her fever.
     "There are heavy blankets in the storage compartments along the walls. Get her and yourselves out of those wet clothes and skins and cover her with the blankets. I will also turn up the heat to make it more comfortable in here," he told them. The warmth that had been in the craft had poured out when they had gotten in. Luckily, it would only take a short time to get it warm again in the cabin.
     "Once we're airborne I'll call ahead and let them know the situation," he said more calmly than he really felt.
     He went back to the pilot's seat and strapped himself in while the Roaring Wings and Sees Far did as he suggested. He glanced back and saw that they had stripped her of the heavy, wet clothes and furs and had wrapped her in the dry blankets. She still lay pale and unmoving under their ministrations. She was so still it frightened him. He had to get his thoughts back to the job at hand and not allow himself to dwell on her condition.. He did so reluctantly, and made himself focus sorely on trying to pilot the ship back to camp through the raging storm.

* 55 *

     The skimmer took off from where it had hovered over the swollen creek. The craft was sluggish and fought him every inch of the way through the violent head winds of the storm. Ky'tulendu quickly found that the winds were more dangerous and unpredictable the higher they climbed. Despite his damaged hands he held on to the controls tightly and kept the craft on course. The winds were hitting them sideways, blowing them in short powerful bursts westward across the sky. The noise of the rain hitting the metal shell of the craft was almost deafening as it switched from hard driving rain to pounding hail as they climbed higher.
     Below them the land was awash in water everywhere except for the higher points of land. Very few of the crops the natives had planted would be left, that was obvious. He was also afraid that their village was now completely unusable, if not destroyed. He was hoping that his own village was still intact after all the damage he was seeing.
     He flipped on the commcon switch and was relieved it still worked, "Central Control, this Ky'tulendu, do you read me?" he asked over the now open line waiting for a picture to form on the small screen.
     "Asenti Ky'tulendu, this is control we hear you. What is your status?" came the reply back. The picture was fuzzy with many gulches and electronic static but it finally cleared and he recognized the pretty blond female officer as being Tanz K'ppenu in data retrieval.
     "I'm on my way back with three native passengers. One of them is extremely ill with a high temperature. Get MS B'tunku and patch her through to my channel. What is the status there?" he asked.
     "All buildings and equipment are secure with all personnel present and accounted for except Specialist O'vettun who still remains missing. The force fields are holding and keeping the damage to property to a minimum. We don't know about the ship because all personnel were evacuated from that area before the storm hit here. Medical informed us a little while ago that we have lost all the Tranquils. The last one died an hour ago. However, the Soaettes are holding their own for the time being and a few seem to be recovering," she reported, hoping that news might cheer him.
     The news of the Soaettes did cheer him a little, though he regretted hearing that the Tranquils were no more. That did depress him. "Thank you Tanz for your report. Now get me MS. B'tunku on the commcon," he ordered her, his nervous urgency coming across clearly.
     It took about a few moments to clear the screen and B'tunku's face and voice replaced that of the Tanz on the small screen on the dashboard of the craft. "B'tunku here, Asenti. I hear you are coming in with a sick native?" she questioned.
     He nodded. "Yes, it's White Deer. She has a fever--a very high one. Roaring Wings' usual remedies aren't working so I'm bringing her in for you to look at. He thinks you can do what he can't."
     "I can try, that's all I can say. I still don't know how different or how similar our two peoples are, Ky'tulendu. Not enough tests have been run yet," she protested, looking worried.
     "I know that, but I trust you, B'tunku, to find answers."
     "Is Roaring Wings with you?" she asked, still trying to maintain her professionalism.
     "Yes, and I am bringing in Sees Far, White Deer's mother. She insisted upon coming. And you should know that Thunder Arrow is dead. . . ."
     "Dead??" she questioned, interrupting him. The shock apparent on her face. "How? When?" she demanded her features and voice became more tight and tense sounding.
     He sighed, not really wanting to get into an explanation of what went on at the native camp quite yet. She was going to push. He could see it on her face. She wouldn't leave him alone until he told her. "It was an accident. He was trying to kill Roaring Wings and me with his stunner. He had us pinned down on the floor of a cavern outside of where he was holding the council and other people prisoner. I fired at some rocks above his head and that caused a cave-in. He was buried alive in a rock slide. There is no way he could have survived," Ky'tulendu explained.
     "Stunners?? How did he get stunners??" she asked alarmed.
     "He overpowered the guard at the armory and took them along with some of the heavy weapons and one of the sled skimmers. He beat us back to the village. He somehow kidnapped White Deer and brought her back to use as a hostage for my good behavior. When we got there we found he had captured the Council already and was holding them and the other villagers prisoner in the caves above the village. Then the storm hit full force and we went to the caves. White Deer got drenched and that is how she got sick, we think," Ky'tulendu relayed.
     "So what about the stunners and other equipment he stole?"
     "I recovered them, but in the haste to get White Deer back to our camp I left them in the cave. We can retrieve them after the storm. The natives do not want anything to do with them. It was Thunder Arrow who wanted to wage war on us and the other tribes. Swimming Otter wants us to keep our magic to ourselves as do the villagers," he told her, but he could tell she was not convinced.
     She decided to wait until later to pursue this, so she changed subjects. "So Thunder Arrow is dead. Who is in charge now?" she asked.
     "No one right now. Logically it should fall to In The Forest, since he was the chief's son. That is if he still wants to be chief. Has anyone seen or heard from him or O'vettun since before the storm?"
     "No, nothing. It's like they vanished off the face of the earth."
     "No, it's more likely they vanished under it," he said with a smile, remembering his conversation with the tall native.
     "Under the ground? You mean caves? There are caves close to our camp? Ancestors, no wonder we couldn't find them on the sensors!" she said surprised and pleased that she had figured it out finally.
     "Yes, but let's keep that quiet for a while. Let the two of them have their privacy. Remember they are still in their initial stages of the bonding cycle," he reminded her.
     "I know. Which reminds me how are you holding up?" she asked pointedly since it was his mate-to-be that was in danger.
     "I appear to be doing all right. I have not begun the bonding cycle with White Deer, if that is what your asking. There hasn't been time or opportunity. I feel the pull and yet I don't feel it," he told her honestly. "My concern is with getting her to you so you can help her . I'm also worried about surviving this storm. What's the latest on it by the way?" he asked changing the subject to a less personal one.
     "The worst is over. It is expected to be ending in about two hours with clearing skies and very cooler temperatures. Then we can go out and inspect the damage. I doubt very seriously if the ship is going to be very salvageable after this. We didn't have time to put a force field up around it so it's going to be heavily water damaged. Nor do I think the computer onboard ship will still be functioning after this. I cleared out all the recovery teams before the storm hit, so no one should have gotten hurt. However, with all this water many of the lower parts are going to be underwater and inaccessible for a while."
     "After seeing how the native village has fared I have been expecting that. We may have to put the natives up at our camp. The creek next them flooded their buildings out and it looks like their crops are destroyed too," He told her, and she looked grim.
     "I don't know whether we've got the room," she protested.
     "We'll make room. That's an order. They helped us and that is the least we can do, B'tunku, to help them get back on their feet any way we can. We are all going to have to work together from now on. With Thunder Arrow gone that task is going to be a lot easier." he said emphatically, careful to keep his voice low if Sees Far or Roaring Wings was listening to his conversation.
     She saw that his mind was made up and decided not to push him too far at this point.
     "Yes, Asenti," she said obeying him. "How far are you from camp?" she asked.
     "You're coming into view now on the horizon. I'm going to land in front of the infirmary so we won't have to carry her so far. Will you be there waiting with a stretcher?" he asked preparing for his descent.
     "I'll have my med team waiting when you land," she replied, and cut off the transmission on her end."
     "Good, Ky'tulendu out," he said and clicked off the commcon.
     He turned his head slightly, and looked behind him seeing Roaring Wings and Sees Far working over White Deer. "How is she doing?" he asked.
     "Not well, Asenti. Hurry--please! There is not much time left for her, I fear," Sees Far said, and Roaring Wings nodded gravely with tears in his dark eyes. His hands brushed her mottled forehead, feeling the waves of heat come off her small body.
     "We are almost there. We will be landing in moments and B'tunku will met us with her medical team," he told them in case they had not heard the conversation.
     He turned back to the window and began the task of landing, trying not to feel anything through the linkage to White Deer. It was difficult, damn difficult not to. The craft set down outside the med building and through the heavy rain he saw B'tunku and her crew come racing out of the shelter of the building pushing the portable grav-stretcher in front of them.
     Once the ship was down he released himself from his straps and raced for the hatch door to let them. As he did so, a wave of dizziness hit him and he almost fell. He recovered quickly and got the hatch open. The experience made him look instantly pale and feel shaky. He hung on the door frame for support but the dizziness was getting worse and it was becoming difficult to breath. What was happening to him, he worried?
     He glanced over to where Roaring Wings squatted near White Deer and saw that the techs were hurriedly taking out their equipment with B'tunku frantically giving orders to everyone. He couldn't feel her and then he realized that he was becoming more and more disoriented and feeling stranger and stranger.
     "Asenti, we might be too late," Roaring Wings voice came as like a whisper from across a far distance, "White Deer has stopped breathing," the shaman shouted loudly, alarmed.
     Then Ky'tulendu could hear nothing more as he passed out and fell heavily to the floor of the craft.
                                             

End Part 7/10