Wouldn’t take much strength to run them through and take some of their food and shove it up—
“Bannon….” This time it was Louie who interrupted Timothy.
“Yeah?”
“What about Captain Kindros?”
“What about her?”
Louie rolled her head up to stare at him again, giving him the are you jesting with me look. “They are not going to be back for several days at least. So what do we do once we go to the site and destroy things? And how do we keep the IN from finding out about Captain Kindros helping us? We cannot dismantle the pieces of shuttle that survived. Don’t you think the IN will wonder why she is here? If they truly are here already, it will seem odd that she’s visiting this planet and that she sent a shuttle to the surface.”
Well, hell. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. “We’ll play it by ear. We have to get away first.” The very thought made his blood run cold. He was not used to playing hero. Antihero or someone in need of a hero was usually more his speed. But there was nothing for it. The only other option was to die, or worse, put his family and friends in danger. “Captain Kindros will come up with something. Admiral Hawkins will cover for her.” He hoped.
Closing her eyes, Louie rolled her head, giving him a kiss on the shoulder through the thin lawn shirt.
Tipping his head forward, he kissed her on the top of the head and sat back and waited. He stared up at the sky, saying a silent prayer that his plan would work, then rested his eyes, feigning sleep.
After what seemed like hours, the camp finally quieted down. Only the crackle of fire and snores echoed through the cliffs, along with the occasional flatulence. Bannon grimaced. The sooner he got away from these barbarians, the better. The wind had calmed to a steady breeze, blowing against his left side. On his right, the heat of Louie’s body warmed him. He listened some more, then cautiously cracked one eye open.
The fire was so low it was nearly out, but he could discern the MacLeans littering the plateau like fallen leaves with no rhyme or reason. Odd. He’d have thought they’d sleep in some sort of strategic way, with their backs to one another or something. Opening his eyes more fully, he turned his head, looking about. The moon filtering through the clouds and the last of the fire gave enough light for him to confirm that they were all asleep. He wished he’d thought to count them earlier, but there was nothing for it now. He nudged Louie.
Her eyes opened immediately with no vestiges of sleep in them. Lifting up, she scooted forward and away from him, presenting her tied wrists.
Bannon worked quickly on getting the knots untied; it was not easy, even with his hands in front of him, but he managed.
After stretching her arms out and rolling her shoulder a few times, Louie set to work on his knots.
As soon as they came free, Bannon took a deep breath, held it, and got to his feet. When no one shouted or rushed forward, he exhaled and offered Louie a hand.
She picked up her skirts and wadded them in her hand above her knees, and they made their way back toward the place where Bannon had nearly fallen off the mountain.
He got to a big boulder in the middle of the pathway and stopped, looking both ways. They could go left or right. Right led to a long, narrow pass, and left, the way they’d come, led past the MacLeans. “Where are the horses?” Bannon asked.
Louie glared at him. “Are you serious?”
What the devil did that mean? “Of course I’m serious. Do you really think we will get that far on foot?”
“I really want to plant you a facer right now,” Louie hissed at him. “They are on the other side of the men.”
The blood rushed from Bannon’s face. Blast! This escape just became a lot more difficult. “How would I know? I was unconscious. Why didn’t you say so?”
With a shake of her head, she turned and walked back the way they came.
Bannon followed, and together they tiptoed through the sleeping MacLeans. It was like something right out of a comedy, or perhaps it was a tragedy.
Definitely a tragedy. Any minute they are going to wake, and we are doomed.
Oh shut up, Timothy! Galaxy help him, he was arguing with himself while trying to