High Flyer - Michelle Diener Page 0,37

to negotiate whatever obstacle was in its way.

It stopped moving, and they heard a shout, and then the sound of raised voices.

Hana turned her head to look at him, then pointed to one of the boulders that lined the sides of the valley like a row of sentinels. He followed her as she jogged toward it. He dropped his pack beside hers, giving her a boost up the side of the rock and then pulled himself up after her.

“Anything?” He settled in beside her, keeping his voice to a soft murmur.

She shook her head. “Whatever's happening, its just over the rise.” She pointed and he saw the top of the lander was just visible up ahead but nothing else.

The shouting grew a little louder.

“We need to get closer.” He pointed to a spot up ahead, a cluster of bushes that might give them enough cover.

She nodded and turned, sliding down the rock to land in a graceful crouch. She had their packs in her hand by the time he'd jumped down beside her.

They moved silently, weaving between boulders and staying low. The ground was covered with a thick, lush vegetation Iver wasn't familiar with, but it was good for muffling the sound of their footsteps.

“We just want to know what's going on.” The first voice Iver could hear clearly was an annoying whine.

They had reached the bushes, and he lowered himself to the ground, hoping he'd be able to see through the branches to whatever was happening beyond.

Hana crouched beside him, head cocked to listen, her face intent.

“Given you set a trap for me, I'm not likely to tell you, am I?” A hand moved, just a flash through the leaves, but enough to give Iver the location of the driver.

He seemed to be out of the lander.

“We only did that because we knew you wouldn't stop if we tried to flag you down.” A woman spoke. Iver just made out her silhouette through the leaves.

“Well, now you've had your chance to say what you want, let me be on my way.” The driver's voice had an edge to it.

“Sure.” A third voice spoke up, another man. “We're not going to stop you, but consider things from our point of view. I've seen a few of your friends coming and going, and some of them I recognize from the war. Made me curious, that's all. There's talk about a resurgence, and we were just wondering--”

“We are not planning a resurgence.” The driver cut him off, tone flat and angry.

“That's what you say, but you're on a supply run, unless I'm mistaken, and as I said before, there are people I recognize from way back, from the havens. And I want in on what's going on. Especially as we've been living in this part of the Spikes since the war ended, and I still haven't found the camp you're headed for. Some trickery going on here, is my guess.”

“This deal is invitation only.” The driver moved his hand again, a cutting motion. “If you didn't get an invite, that's the end of it.”

“Well, now, I'm sure our invitation was just an oversight.” The woman put a little lilt into her voice, shifted again. “As Craven said, we live out here, and we have a right--”

“Not any right we recognize.” The driver moved; Iver could hear from his voice that he was bending down. He heard a rock hit the ground, as if the driver had thrown it. “You going to move your obstacles, or not?”

“Given you haven't been very polite, why should we?” The first man, the whiner, asked.

There was a beat of silence.

The driver sighed. “How about I promise to raise your issues with the top tier? That's all I can do, anyway.”

Maybe he'd spent too long in the thick of politics, but Iver heard the insincerity in the driver's voice. He was saying what he thought they wanted to hear to get out of there.

“Proper old style hierarchy.” The third person in the group's voice was approving. “None of this VSC flat structure nonsense.” The man spat.

“You were in the havens, you said?” the driver asked.

“I was. We all were.”

“I'll tell them. It'll mean something to them.”

There was another beat of silence, and then the sound of rocks being rolled away.

From behind them and up the hill, Iver heard the long, lonely cry of a druf.

Hana turned at the sound, frowning.

“You can tell your two colleagues to come out, now that we're all friends here,” the woman said.

Iver went