Chapter 37

Meryl stood on the upper deck of the steamer. There were many decks she could have surveyed the desert from, but she preferred the top deck because no one asked questions there. The small matter of her being able to catch a glimpse of a flaring red coat atop a truck in the caravan had nothing to do with her choice of location. The Black Tomb Pass was a broad valley through the mountains southeast of December. The rough town that gave the area its name was on the west side of the valley mouth closest to December. It was a gold mining area and this steamer transported the ore, trade goods, food and water supplies and other necessities, as there was no power plant in the region. It explained why they had had a quiet trip out; anyone wanting to attack the steamer would do so on the return journey.

They disembarked at Black Tomb, and Livio went ahead to hire a car. He returned with a brown jeep with worn seats and chipped paint. She had loaded up her pink bag on the luggage rack and Livio was busy tying down Chronica's case. She sat on the driver's seat making idle conversation with Milly who was busy readjusting the strap on her stun gun.

"I'm surprised this place is still operational after the war." Meryl remarked.

"People like gold." Milly murmured with a shrug. "It's good that they can work at something. At least there is money here."

A tuft of black hair in the crowd caught Meryl's eye. What was Vash doing sneaking away? Ah, no. It was not Vash, only he was the right height. No, now that she caught his side profile he looked exactly like Teres.

She stared at him in shock, not hearing what Milly was saying. It was Teres. With black hair. But they had met Johnston and he'd had blond hair? What was going on here? She leaped out of the jeep and ran after him. She shoved her way through the crowd and darted up onto the veranda of the nearest shop. There he was, a hundred yarz away, headed towards the saloon. She darted back into the crowd as Milly caught up with her, her stun gun under her arm

"Miss Meryl!" She called.

Through the gap in the crowd she saw Teres turn, see them, and then with a slight grimace of annoyance, he slipped into the crowd. Meryl sprinted, but he was long gone by the time she reached the place she had last seen him. She searched for a solid ten minutes but he was nowhere. She trailed back to the jeep with Milly miserably repeating apologies.

"It's okay Milly." Meryl said as Livio shot them a sarcastic stare from his place in the driver's seat.

"Take your time in the Saloon eh? Where're our drinks?"

"Miss Meryl saw Teres." Milly said unhappily.

Calor and Chronica turned to stare at each other.

"Damn, he's blocking." Chronica hissed.

"What's that mean?" Livio asked.

"He's hiding his presence." Abe explained. "Plants can sense the presence of other plants. And here comes Vash, at last. But we're pinned here if Teres is here. We have to get him."

"So you mean we now have time to stop at the Saloon?" Livio grumbled.

"No. You're on perimeter duty." Chronica grouched at him. "You can drink yourself stupid later." Livio scowled thunderously as Vash walked up with his brown cloak pulled around his shoulders and his bag slung over his shoulder. "Oi, Vash, Teres is in town." Chronica told him.

Vash's eyes flashed with fury.

"Why is everyone sitting here?"

"We just heard." Calor explained.

"I lost him." Meryl mumbled, suddenly horribly ashamed.

Vash nodded.

"Then let's look for him."

"He's got black hair and is wearing a suit." Meryl informed him.

"Which he can change like he did last time." Milly added helpfully.

"C'mon Livio." Vash said easily. "You and I can check the Saloon." He walked on, and Livio leaped out the jeep and hurried after Vash without a glance backwards.

"Men!" Chronica snapped after them and turned to glare at Abe with such fire in her eyes that he flinched. "The rest of you, spread out, check the town exits and someone watch the sand steamer. Abe, you look like one of this town's crazier inhabitants, that's your chore. Milly and Meryl take the southeast exit, Calor and I'll cover the north west. Meet at that stupid Saloon in an hour."

The moment they stepped into the Saloon, Vash hurried upstairs. Livio tramped after him.

"What's this bypassing the bar?" He protested as they came out on the landing. Vash stopped to peer through the window that overlooked the street outside. They could see the others dispersing and Chronica and Calor drove to the south east in the rented jeep.

"He hasn't left." Vash said grimly. "He's nearby, I can sense him." He worked the latch loose and opened the window.

"I thought the plants tried that trick." Livio scratched at his hair and pulled it back out of his eyes.

"I don't know what they tried, but I can sense he is here. You know that feeling in your gut you get when a bounty hunter is after you?" Vash stuck his head out of the window.

Livio nodded all too emphatically, he had foiled several assassination attempts by that sixth sense alone. Vash reached for the drainpipe nearby and gave it a tug to test it was firmly attached to the building.

"He's here. And the last two times he ran into us, he shot me and he shot Meryl. He doesn't know I'm here, so his target will be her. We're trailing the girls."

Vash did not wait for Livio to reply. He swung himself out, and with his knees and hands hauled himself up the pipe and onto the roof of the saloon. Livio leaned out to warn him not to fall off before catching himself in shock. He watched the man shinny up the pipe stunned at how confused he felt. That protective habit came from being around the orphans back home. He bit his lip as he realised he had been about to scold Vash like one of the kids. He loosened his guns in their holsters and followed before the plant could get too far ahead. He grinned as he clambered up; he had forgotten how it was tailing Vash's crazy antics.

Meryl walked through the town, her eye caught by every black suit, sand coloured duster and broad hat similar to what Johnston wore. It was blazing hot with no wind and sweat was making her heavy cloak stick to her back. Milly was gallantly keeping up with her stun gun at the ready.

"I'm so sorry Meryl." Milly murmured. "I didn't know."

Meryl stopped in the shade of a men's barbers where the shaggy clients sat in a row on the bench outside and smoked or dozed. It was near the southeast gate.

"Milly, it's okay. It was a mistake. He's wily. He'd have probably got away anyhow."

"I'm sorry." Milly said miserably.

"Um, excuse me?" Meryl called to the men who were watching them. "I'm looking for an old friend."

"Sounds like he owes you money." One of the shaggy men said with a grin around his pipe.

"Much more than that!" Milly stated indignantly.

The men chuckled.

"What's in it for us? I could tell you about everyone I've seen in the time I've been sitting here..."

There was a snort of derision from the last man dozing in the line.

"Don't listen to him, girls, he's only been here for the last five minutes. What's this debtor look like?"

Meryl gave a brief description of Teres. He would not have had time to change his appearance so quickly in the last half an hour, or so she hoped. Several of the other men shook their heads.

"Nope. Not seen him. But anyone who goes to the southeast usually goes by Karl's General Store 'cause there is nothing out there except sand, heat and death if you don't have supplies."

They walked back up the road to the general store. There was a crowd of people there as there was a delivery truck parked outside and some were trying to buy from the store, others trying to bargain bulk from the delivery men. They milled amongst the people as they shouted at each other, but did not find Teres anywhere.

They walked out into the street again, now hot and bothered.

Meryl sighed and raked her hands through her hair. As she did so she caught the glint of sun off a gun barrel. There was Teres, perched atop the roof opposite the general store, aiming a silver revolver at her. She screamed and shoved Milly out of the way the shot went off. It thudded into the side of the truck as other gunshots went off. Most of the patrons of the store had fled inside or had whipped out their own guns, searching for their enemies, several taking pot shots at Teres. He gave an inarticulate yell at the unexpected retaliation and skated down the roof on his boots as a car skidded up to where he was. Milly dodged out from behind Meryl, her stun gun claw took Teres in the middle of the chest and he fell back against the roof. There was a stunned silence as he slid off falling into the car, winded. The driver spun the wheel and drove directly at Milly. She tried to leap out of the way, but he swerved just before he hit her. The man who rode shotgun grabbed her and tried to haul her into the car.

"Milly!" Meryl screamed and tried to shoot out the tires.

The thug holding Milly received an elbow in the face and the driver was swerving so much with Milly fighting next to him that it was a miracle that she even hit the dust they threw up. Then suddenly there was a roar of a shout and Meryl heard the thump of a stun gun again.

The car continued its skidding wild progress down the road. Out of the dust walked Milly, without her coat, but holding her stun gun.

"Milly." Meryl called her voice hoarse with relief as the car sped off into the valley.

Livio brought the jeep to a screeching halt in front of the store. Vash leaped down from the roof of the general store.

"Did he hit you?" He demanded, as Meryl stared at him in shock. Hadn't he seen what had happened with Milly?

"No." She said, though she had grazed hands from falling badly. "But Milly." She pointed as her friend broke into a jog to join them.

"Get in!" Chronica yelled at them. "They're getting away!"

They tumbled into the back seat, Vash perched himself atop the luggage and took the rifle that Abe handed him and Livio took off in a cloud of dust.

"At least we now know what he's after." Chronica said over the roar of the engine.

"What?" Meryl asked. Her palms stung like mad.

Chronica gave her a surprised stare.

"He wants you dead. He only missed you because Livio shot him earlier."

"But he grabbed Milly!" She protested.

"I'm fine Miss Meryl!" Milly declared with a fierce glare at the car. She stood and hefted her stun gun as if itching to try the extreme range of her stun claws.

"Ah-." Abe pulled her back down into her seat, and continued his conversation with Meryl ignoring the dangerous glare Milly was giving him. "They could easily have shot her, but they didn't. They want you."

Milly's face took on an even more frustrated expression; Abe was preventing her from protecting Meryl.

"But why?" Meryl protested. "Fifth Moon does not exist any longer! And what did I ever do to him?"

There was a long silence as Livio sped after the dust cloud that was the other car. Chronica glanced back at Abe as if to indicate she was not going to say anything and Calor simply turned and scowled out at the high canyon walls they were speeding past.

"Meryl." Abe said with a sadly frustrated expression. "Fifth Moon is an idea. The hope that someone will see the suffering of the plants and help them. I told you, we're arrogant, cocksure and powerful but because of that we're vulnerable. No one thinks we need help, so when someone kills us off, no one is going to believe it. Until you came with Fifth Moon. And the investigations we've done have unearthed such a conspiracy. We haven't had a chance to tell you about the Worms and the Power Plants, 'cause you've been avoiding talking to Calor and I. I don't know what we've done to make you ashamed of us, but we can help. We've got some more information for our plant investigations that could help with the rescue of the twins."

"But all Fifth Moon did was give that Johnston access to all the information on all the plants we were helping! It is such a liability it is not worth continuing!"

"Yes. We were betrayed. That is what betrayal does. But being betrayed does not mean you up and ditch all those who were hurt by the betrayal! You stand there and fight for them, damn it! What's got into you Meryl? I thought you were better than this?"

"But I caused it all! If I hadn't started it, then this wouldn't have happened!"

"Bullshit! I helped compose the archives Fifth Moon had. In fact even that dirty traitor Teres helped! And you know what, it is all Teres's fault! He is the betrayer, not you. Now, what were you going to do when you caught him? I'm interested to know that!"

Meryl gaped at him.

"I'd have shot him."

"Right. And then what?"

"He'd be dead." She said miserably aware that Vash was listening to all this. She felt like a complete failure.

"He's a plant. You can't kill us so easily. C'mon Meryl, you know that. In fact, do you want to know what you were going to do? You were hoping that he'd make it easy for you and he'd kill you."

Meryl stared at him, shocked. How had he known that half of her had wanted to be rid of the wretched guilt that plagued her?

"I, no, Abe, no, that's not..."

"You calling me, who can sense what you're feeling, a liar?"

She stared at him, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"I can't do anything!" The last word came out horribly like an attempt to hide a sob.

"By yourself." Calor said with icy disdain.

"Huh?"

Calor leaned over Abe and stuck her face in Meryl's.

"You're not all by yourself in this mess! Look at all your friends around you who are also involved for a number of very personal reasons. And it is not only this group in this car. Milly's family, and the Orphanage and the plants that relied on Fifth Moon, and those we held correspondence with, everyone we've helped and have yet to help. You might be our boss, but right now you've lost faith in yourself, so you know what, we'll carry it for you. So shut up for a week or two, let us run Fifth Moon as your deputies and if you still want to retire after that, we'll give you a nice going away gift and a trip back to your uncles place. Deal?"

Meryl gaped at her.

"But I deregistered Fifth Moon."

"So? Simple matter taken care of, we got Livio to register it here at the Sheriff's Office. But 'cause you were too eagerly seeking death and ditching responsibility, we took the liberty of making ourselves your deputies."

"I wasn't ditching responsibility!" Meryl snapped at her. "I was trying to save lives! You realise you might die going into this? Johnston has killed how many other plants?"

"Which we know about because Fifth Moon made the effort to try and save them! Fifth Moon dug Abe and I out of the gutter when we ended up there and were at deaths door. Stop trying to do every bloody thing by yourself, and let others walk into danger alongside you!"

"But I can't protect you!" She exclaimed, breaking down at the end.

She flinched as she felt a gloved hand on her head.

"Really?"

She froze. Vash's soft question and the pressure of his hand on her head made her go cold.

"I can count several occasions that you've wormed your way into my business and helped me out."

"I was just doing my job!" She grouched at him, not daring to look up at him. She felt as though she would blush like fire or burst into tears and did not know which would be worse.

He patted her head and sat back up, watching the dust cloud that Livio was chasing ahead of them.

"Yes you were." He said quietly as if that settled things.

"We know the risks going in to this." Chronica said after a moment of silence. Her face was twisted with horror and her calm voice hinted at a powerful rage contained just beneath it. "But the risks of not acting are worse than those of acting. The way you are arguing, it would be logical to stop the car and to leave the twins their fate."

"No." Meryl breathed, her face crumpling. "No."

Chronica gave her a sympathetic nod then. "Let them bring you up to date on what is actually happening."

Meryl scrubbed at her tears and turned sheepishly to Abe.

"Um." She did not know where to begin with her apology.

"We went and visited Milly girl's farm!" Abe launched into the story without any preamble as if Meryl had asked for it with enthusiasm.

By the end of it, Meryl had her mouth hanging open.

"Knives." She breathed, eternally grateful that she was slumped against the car door. Had she been standing she would have fallen. She glanced up at Vash who was staring out at the car they were chasing.

"Saw him with my own eyes." Livio chipped in grimly. "There's something going on there that's very odd. But we think the Terran's have pissed off the sandworms even worse than they've pissed off Fifth Moon. The First Leader warned us that they did not give a crap about the humans involved, but the plants and the worms had tipped the scale for them. And to find Teres in this same area at this same time makes it too strong to be a coincidence in my mind!"

"They won't do that to the twins would they?"

There was a grim silence in the car.

"They tried to do it to me." Chronica said bleakly. "Yes, they would do it to my children."

"How did you escape?" Calor asked, fiercely, wishing to add this to her plan of attack.

Chronica glanced at Livio with a fierce expression of admiration but said nothing.

"Oh." Meryl said, remembering the rumours they had gathered of Livio's past, Milly had done that, as part of her tribute to Wolfwood. It was a strange and eerie tale of neglect, cruelty and an extraordinary redemption. The look Calor gave her was a statement of 'you'll tell me when we're alone'.

Ever so slightly, the car ahead of them slipped ahead with each ile. Livio who was riding the accelerator flat on the ground gritted his teeth in frustration.

"We're too heavy!" He muttered. "But if we stop to offload people and luggage we'll never catch them!"

"Toss our supplies." Calor said.

"And end up in the desert without fuel, food, warm blankets and no hope of following them after a day?" Chronica grated scathingly. "All the heavy things are the things we need, fuel, water and ammunition. None of that is going and an extra hundred pounds of clothing isn't going to make much difference."

"We'll be able to follow their trail." Vash pointed out. "Keep after them, they may make mistakes."

They drove through the dust and eventually exited the shadow of the valley. The afternoon suns beat down on them mercilessly. They could only see the car by the dust cloud in the far distance. Meryl washed her grazed hands and Abe and Calor checked all their weapons were loaded and at hand. By the time night fell there was no more dust cloud. Livio pulled over to the side and killed the engine.

"Why are we stopping?" Abe asked.

"Ran out of gas." Livio leaped out of the car. He began to loosen the straps on one of the spare fuel tank lashed to the rear of the jeep. "Take care of any personal ablutions now, as we're driving all night!"

Chronica pulled off the rug that covered the back seat and walked a short distance from the car and held it up as a screen.

"Ladies, here's the loo. Gentlemen, your ablutions occur on the far side of the car!"

They took turns driving. The first hint of daylight the next morning found Meryl at the wheel. Calor, who was supposed to be awake to watch the road, was asleep in the front passenger seat. Livio, Chronica, Abe and Milly were all asleep in the back seat. Vash had changed his perch from atop the luggage behind the back seat to sitting cross-legged on the front bonnet. He had claimed that it was a better place to spot from, but Meryl privately suspected he was warming his arse on the engine heat. It was freezing at night and everyone had burrowed together under the rugs that had covered the seats earlier. Meryl drove with her thick storm coat on and gloves.

Vash suddenly raised his hand.

"What's that mean? Must I stop?" Meryl called in fright, staring ahead in the gloom. The headlamps did not show up anything except rutted road.

"Kill the lights and drive slowly. Try keep on the road." Vash murmured, his eyes not leaving the point they were fixed on a few hundred yarz away.

Meryl reluctantly reduced speed and turned out the headlamps.

"What d'ya see?" Livio asked as he stood up and leaned over Meryl's chair.

Vash did not reply but pointed to the northeast. Meryl stared. Something there was catching the dawn light in a very odd way. It was as if it were a mirage, it shimmered a little with the odd light.

"The tracks go past it." Livio squinted out into the darkness.

"What is it?" Meryl asked.

"The one fault the cloaking devices have." Abe said with hushed awe. "That's one of our ships!" He continued with greater excitement. "One of the lost ships!"

"Abe." Calor interrupted. "If that is one of the Pieces of Earth Fleet, wouldn't they have an operational proximity defence?"

"Oh sh- Stop the car!" Abe spluttered trying to get the words out all at once.

There was a flash of light high above them.

"No!" He yelled. "Drive! Drive! Meryl floor it!"

She turned on the lights and jumped on the accelerator.

"Kill the lights!" Abe and Calor both yelled.

"What's going on?" Chronica asked groggily as Meryl killed the lights.

"Vash get out of my way!" Meryl yelled at him as he grabbed the windshield and half stood, staring upwards. She leaned out of the window to try and see the road in the dim dawn light. Vash's hand flashed down to his side drew his revolver and fired.

"Cover your ears!" Abe did so and ducked.

There was a thunderous explosion that lit up the night sky. Meryl squinted in the glare and her ears rang as Vash scrabbled around to reload his revolver and to track the other missiles that were sent after them. Calor clambered over the back seat take Vash's old perch on the luggage and tried sniping with the rifle. Abe took the free front seat and raised his guns, but let Calor and Vash take most of the shots. Milly held her stun gun, watching the road while the others were occupied with the sky.