Earth 481
Rip stared in disbelief at the woman standing in front of him. ''Are you out of your mind?'' he asked her. There was no way he was going to agree to work with her.
Lance controlled her temper with an effort. ''Your friends have been arrested'' she pointed out. ''They may be charged with murder. As it happens, it's in my interests to see that doesn't happen, as well as in yours.''
''Absolutely not'' he ground out and turned away. Snart had suddenly become by far the lesser of two evils.
Lance glared at his retreating back. If this had not been a crowded public place she would have killed him. That would have made her happy - and helped her mission. A human death at this point would restore distrust of the Airborne.
X
Talyn Clan Goshawk had had Kendra and Carter - he had learned their names by now - taken to his private quarters in one of the treetop cities. He had allowed them to fly using their own wings but had had electronic bracelets fitted to their wrists before departure.
''Should you try to escape those will give you a rather unpleasant jolt'' he warned them.
The necessary unpleasantness out of the way, he turned out to be a very good host, taking them both on a tour of his city. A network of aerial walkways and landing/take-off platforms connected airy rooms. They toured art and craft galleries, listened to music recitals on exotic looking instruments, attended a drama performance, toured science exhibitions, listened to a poet reading her latest work. Eventually they paused for lunch at what he assured them was one of the best restaurants in the city. Airborne food was delicious, if rather heavy on meat and fruit - the only traces of green vegetables were those that were used in the exotic sauces. Cuisine, he assured them, was another aspect of the culture that his people valued so highly.
Later on, he'd taken them back to his quarters and quizzed them about their world. The architecture of Earth 1 seemed to interest him greatly. He would, Kendra thought, have enjoyed touring some of the cities of the Old World. Their personal history, he seemed to find a bit harder to accept - asking them if they were really sure that they were not a separate species from the 'humans' of their world.
X
Rip went back to where he had concealed the Acheron, fending off the A. I. Morris'' questions about whether he was really leaving the planet alone.
''Set course for the co-ordinates you gave Stein and the others'' he ordered.
''Yes. Captain'' Morris managed to sound huffy.
Morris brought him into an area of dusty plains and scrubland. There was no sign of the five. Rip did a sweep of the horizon and picked the most likely route for them to have followed. After about an hour, he started doing circular sweeps of the terrain. Eventually, he discovered the site of a campfire and four flattened areas of grass, where there had been a camp for the night.
After that, it was fairly straight forward. He followed the trail of camps across the open countryside and through the grim ruins of New York City. There were nearer settlements but something seemed to be compelling them to head for the coast. He found their current camp near a fishing village - but of course there was no sign of them - they were never going to make things easy.
He made several cloaked passes over the village, seeing no one but those who appeared to be locals.
Eventually he set the cloaked Acheron down and headed for the food dispenser.
''Meat, cooked'' he ordered. ''- a large selection of Earth 1 varieties.'' He was going to pose as a trader, selling food that was now rare in this part of the planet.
X
Kendra and Carter had spent a comfortable night in Talyn's guest room, being roused by a soft musical chime that announced breakfast was ready. That - by contrast with lunch - was mainly cereal, fruit and a herb flavoured drink.
Talyn's apparent interest in further small talk was interrupted by a slightly harsher note that came from the screen he used as a front door. He took the two new arrivals into his room, apparently for a private conversation.
When, half an hour later, he showed his visitors out and came back to Kendra and Carter, his expression - his whole bearing - was more serious.
''There was a meeting of the Clan leaders yesterday'' he began. ''It's decided that there are grounds to charge you both with murder and wanton destruction.''
They both looked at him in disbelief.
'''But there's no proof of that'' Carter pointed out. ''No witnesses. No physical evidence. Because there can't be - we didn't do it.''
''You are correct about the lack of evidence'' Talyn allowed. ''But Clan Peregrine have demanded justice - as is their right. This can only be settled in one way - trial by combat. To the death.'' He looked directly at Carter. ''You'll meet the Clan Peregrine champion in the arena tomorrow.''