[adamu]

Before Alyce was halfway back Al had sent her detailed notes on his planned line of march for the rest of the day, including a first alternate and a reminder that he'd never be far if she needed anything. As for the bearers, her tricked-out ears could understand them, and if she needed to say anything very complex to them, she could tie her ears to her commlink, and he could play Cyrano to her Christian.

Once he'd said that, he figured he'd better act a bit Christian himself, and he took some time to pile rocks over Grand Master Po, whose kung fu was apparently not as strong as the lizard's had been.

Then he started moving to catch the group up and then get out in front of them.

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce will not have to do much pretending.  Every step she takes leaving Al behind brings a pain to her.  It is actually quite surprising just how much it hurts.  And this is just temporary and she knows he is still alive and will come get her if she needs help.  She looks inside herself and finds that he is so very much a part of her.  Her mind, her heart, her very soul are all mixed up with him.  She stops and turns around when she and Xander are less than a quarter mile away from the site of poor Po's death.  The Troll recognizes something in her face and puts a hand on her shoulder.  "Doctor Krait, no.  You cannot go back.  He will find you when it is time.  You are protecting him by doing this."

Alyce opens and closes her mouth without saying anything several times, shaking her head.  "I find that I very much do not want to lose him.  He is everything I ever wanted in a companion.  I will die if he does.  I feel so alone without him near me."

"Have you told him this?"

Alyce shakes her head again.  "He will not let me.  He changes the subject when I bring it up.  Frag it, Xander.  I love him so much and he is still trying to decide if he loves me.  And I cannot tell him until he is ready to hear it.  I am so fragged up inside."

"You need to hold it together Doc.  You are what is keeping this expedition going.  We all depend on you for our food, comms, and security.  All that my brother and I can do is for nothing if we are shooting in the wrong place.  Al Guthrie will be back.  I will tell you something that all of your sensors and fancy deck and implanted drek cannot tell you.  I have seen the way he looks at you when he thinks no one is watching.  Al is in love with you.  Why he cannot tell you is a good question, but not one for Xander to solve.  that is between you and him.  Now let's be on our way."

By the time they get back to the camp, Alyce is practically distraught with anguish and simply runs into her tent, leaving Xander to explain what happened.  Jiahui immediately runs to the tent and slides in to hold Alyce in her arms and cry with her.

[adamu]

Al sat well concealed in a tree about fifty meters away watching the dwindling group make camp and get ready to eat. He kind of wondered what they all might be talking about. He'd never tried reading lips before, but once he pondered it for a moment, he really had to ask himself, 'How hard could it be?' People's body language would help, plus he had pretty good frame of reference on their personalities and what they might be talking about.

He decided to give it a shot. He first looked at a conversation between Yao and Lok, but all he got was gibberish. He was dismayed at first, but then realized they were likely speaking in Chinese. Of course. So he looked over at where Ling was talking to Xander, and was delighted at how easy this lip-reading thing turned out to be.

"You must be a mighty warrior despite the troglodyte blood flowing through your veins. To have slain the estimable Al Guthrie will earn you a place among legends such as Miyamoto, Hector, and Marcinko. How are you for ammunition? Surely you must have used much of your store bringing the superman down..."

Then he shifted over to Alyce and Jiahui. "Oh, Jiahui, I shall not eat, I shall not drink or sleep. And only breathe once in a while. For how can I concern myself with these mortal pursuits when my soul's true companion languishes alone and cold in this accursed jungle."

"Milady, as a woman, I myself cannot fail to be overwhelmed by his earth-moving magnetism and raw animal charisma, and have myself vowed never to marry, since Fate has ruled it cannot be to him. We have no choice but to comfort one another. Come, find solace between my ample young bosoms, entangle yourself in my honey thighs."

Unsurprised by the fact that most of his erstwhile companions' minds were focused on him, Al congratulated himself on his aptitude to acquire new skills as necessity required.

Turning his attention to the troll brothers, he was bored by their fixation on the good old days when they ate man flesh and the streets flowed with the blood of slain virgins, so he got to work sending details of tomorrow's route to Alyce. 

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce goes through the motions of cooking, thankful that Jiahui is able to help.  She does revive herself enough to treat her patients.  Her only solace is that Al is safe and she knows this when he sends her his messages on the route.  She is able to convince the bearers that the monster is dead and that they will get a bonus from her if they stay.  She is warmed by Milo's smile and nod of agreement after talking to his brother.  Ling Tse Tau seems surprisingly forgiving of her earlier outburst, doubtless seeing that he now has a clearer path to both women with Al gone.  Jiahui is clearly willing to give Alyce space, but readily changes her mind when the Keeb turns to her for comfort in their tent that night.

The following day, the team heads off, with Alyce providing the direction of movement based on the maps and Al's guidance.  Movement is at a good pace without poor Master Po and the expedition makes good progress.  Ling Tse Tau seems willing to let Yao Lung and Alyce select a campsite as the light fades, and the doctor sees to all of the minor injuries from the day's travel while Jiahui sees to getting a meal prepared.  She does her daily check of Senor's camp, satisfied that the man is still confused by the direction change, and reports that information to Yao Lung.  Before settling in for the night, Alyce takes her cross and kisses it before asking God to deliver Al to safety, then retires to the comfort and pleasure that Jiahui can give her.

[adamu]

Again perched in a tree, Al watched the camp for much of the night. Partly because he figured it was his job, partly because he never could sleep right anyway, and being in a tree didn't help. And he wanted to see Alyce. He liked watching her. When she disappeared into the tent with the Chinese girl, however, not only could he no longer see her, but he couldn't help imagining what was going on. No reason to think it would be any different from what he'd overheard two nights back. When they got up at night to pee, neither ventured out in the dark to the latrine, when they could simply take a couple steps into the bushes. And they each were always naked when they did it.

Well, he chuckled to himself, so much for all that undying love she'd been hinting at all the time. He was hugely relieved but more disappointed. He reminded himself again it was none  of his business. Had he been too slow, or was she impatient? Hell, it had been her idea to go slow, to be sure of things - maybe now he could see how smart a play that had been. He'd known from the start - from the things she said, from the way she acted around pretty much any man she saw - a little about what she was like. It was a wantonness that should have sent him running for the hills, but instead it was a wild spirit that threatened to bind him with a flaxen cord.

And that thought was enough to set his mind at peace, because he knew there was no one that could ever bind him.

He slept a little, then took off well before dawn. He had them back on a trail now, and the ground was dry. The loads were getting lighter with each passing day of eating, and the slowest members of the group were all gone. They'd made something approaching good time that day, and would likely do better today. He was having to work harder to go on his little scouting trips and still keep up with them, and today he wanted to go three klicks out of the way to one of the Pearic villages. If they weren't dead, there were people in this one he knew, and if he could get in and out quietly, he might learn something useful. So he plotted out a neat triangle, one line up to the village, the other set to hit their camp that night. Sending his campsite choice to Alyce in advance took the guesswork out of it, but he wanted to be back with them before dark, so now was the time to take off.

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce receives Al's coded message when she woke up to begin the morning meal.  She fingered her cross and said a prayer for his safety.  As she used the latrine and got dressed, she accessed the feed from Sasha, noting that Senor has his camp stirring as well.  Based on the satellite images she references, the Azzie is well off the track that Al has the team on.  Alyce knows that Senor is a shrewd man and has been on expeditions like this before and so must have a back up plan.  It is, of course, possible that Mai Lin had been the primary and Cheung the back up, but Alyce doubts that Senor would have placed too much faith in the woman seducing Ling Tse Tau and worming her way onto the expedition.  Too, if any of the plans required the help or skills of the decker, they were all pretty useless now that the man is dead.

Breakfast is prepared and served and Alyce gives the morning status briefing on the Azzies and on their own team's progress.  She lays out the map and the campsite that Al is recommending they use.  Ling Tse Tau, impatient as always, tells her to estimate how much longer until the book is in his hands.  She looks at him and gives the best answer she can, based on projections provided to her by Al earlier.  "Ling Tse Tau, I expect that we will be in the vicinity of the book within eight to ten days if we keep making good time like we did yesterday".  The man gets irate at the delay and shouts that he must have it sooner than that.

Robyn nods without saying anything, an act that ought to have won her an Oscar if others had noticed it.  The camp is broken down after breakfast and begins the day's march.  The ground is starting to climb more steeply and the Mule's winch comes in handy more than once during the day to get it and others up or down a number of steep slopes.  Alyce finally urges Yao Lung to call a halt as the day turns to evening, and a new camp is set up.

[adamu]

By the time the sun came up Al was well on his way to the Pearic village. Of the four, it was the one he was least famiiar with, being the southernmost in the Cardamom range - his time in the region had been with an isolated tin mining outpost to the north, where he'd had regular contact with the two northernmost villages. He knew, though, that a couple of the families he'd known had resettled down in this village, and it was his hope to contact one. Hopefully gather some intel on the shaman's activities without the whole village of terrified potential snitches knowing he'd been there.

The lighter it got the more beautiful it became, and as the birds awoke they colored the sights with a richness of sound that could almost be seen, and was certainly felt. It was so tempting to just relax and enjoy the splendor, a reminder that some places remained in this world that God had not entirely forsaken. Be Al knew that the very jungle itself was a liar, a seductress bent on lulling him with her wiles even as one hand held the knife. One misstep and he would fall prey to any number of natural and unnatural hazards. As it was he stepped off a cliff edge screened by foliage and nearly broke his foot, tumbling over stones and branches until stopping his descent.

So he stayed sharp and made his way northeast. Just southwest of where the village should be he found a fast-running stream. Guessing it was a source of fresh water, he looked around and soon found a well-trod path leading up to the settlement. With luck, he wouldn't even have to go in among the huts.

He secreted himself just off the path and waited. Traffic was fairly steady, he found, with a woman or child along to fetch water every ten minutes or so. Finally, toward mid-morning, he spotted a woman he knew - an older matron called Kajil. With no one else in sight, he called to her quietly.

Looking around slightly startled, she spotted him and her mouth opened in surprise, but she covered it before making any sound. He motioned to her and she joined him out of sight of the path. She addressed him by his Chong name. His own was not really pronouncable in their tongue, so they'd just started calling him Phert Lak, which translated as something like Runt Rat. Which he took as the compliment they intended. He told her he was here to kill the shaman, which wasn't really their mission, but he was started to think it sounded like a worthwhile personal project. Plus it wouldn't do to tell them he was going to steal an artifact sacred to their pagan religion.

She wept with joy at the news, explaining that every male that could possibly labor had been taken up to the ruined city to be worked to death, along with the choicest young women for the shaman's pleasure. Her own husband, two sons, and daughter were there, leaving her here alone with no food to look after two of her own small children and seven grandchildren. All the woman in the village were in similar predicaments, and things were getting desperate.

Al confirmed his estimates of the location of the site, and got an idea of how many men were there, and how they were armed. "Will they fight?" he asked her in Chong.

She began to cry. "They are so afraid. Many men resisted, especially when the shaman came for their daughters. But the ones devoured alive by his demon were the lucky ones. Others were hung by their feet and flayed alive in front of their families, left to hang and suffer for hours or days, a similar fate promised to any that would end their misery. So yes, many may fight. But except for a handful of bad apples that have been seduced by power and bribes of young women for their beds - they serve as his bodyguards and overseers - except for them all would prefer in their hearts to flee, or even to fight the evil one himself." Her tears redoubled. "You must kill him, but please do nto kill the men. Please do not kill my sons."

Al thought of the trolls, and the sorts of weapons they carried. But he promised to do his best. He had just handed her all the food he had - about three days' worth for him, maybe one meal for her little clan - when they heard shouts from the village.

Women's screams. Men's voices.

They approached close enough to tell that the men were not speaking Chong. Al recognized chipped Khmer. They were demanding that someone that spoke Khmer come and talk to them. The woman couldn't understand a word, but was obviously terrified for her children in the village. Al told her to go hide, promising to take care of them. Then he crept closer.

Climbing a tree, he saw that two men with assault rifles were herding everyone they could find into the center of the village. They were frustrated, refusing to believe that no one here spoke Khmer. Idiots. A few men sometimes did, but certainly none of the women. And the men were all gone. Al recognized the men from the images Alyce had shared back in Chi Pat - these were two of the ones she'd had arrested. Now, with Senor's camp supposedly several kilometers away, here they were. He must have had them sprung and then kept them separate from the main group.

Well, she'd said the bastard was clever. Too bad the same couldn't be said for his hired help.

Al's first thought was to kill them both on principle. They were the opposition, and he knew they'd shoot him if they saw him. But he didn't want to go against Alyce and the brothers' made up rules if he didn't have to. He slaved his eyes to his commlink and sent the image to Alyce. Or he tried to...fishing the 'link from his pocket, he saw that it was totaled. Dammit, the tumble down the cliff. Oh well, better that than his foot.

On his own, he unlimbered his rifle and zeroed in on them. Figured he'd wait until they gave up and left, then track them a ways, so who else was in Senor's separate camp. Yeah, that sounded like a smart play. Maybe there was something to all these rules after all.

Too bad they weren't rules these two men lived by. It wasn't long before they grabbed a kid and put a gun to her head. The village erupted in screams and confused wails, woman kneeling and pleading, completely unable to communicate with their attackers. Al heard Kajil abandon her hiding place and start running for the village. He shrugged. "Back ta plan A," he muttered, and the first man's head exploded, the kid falling out of his dead arms. The second man ran for cover, but he was in the middle of the wide communal open space - one moment he was a living person hoping to survive, and the next moment he was starting his eternity in hell.

And then Al left. he knew Kajil would play dumb, and if anyone else saw him, that would certainly be intel that found its way to the shaman. He wanted to backtrack the men, but he was going to have to scramble to make the camp as it was, and he had no food or comms.

There might have been another reason for going back, but he wasn't about to admit it.

So he spent the afternoon on an intercept course with the larger group, wary now of not only the jungle's hazards, but also the chance that anyone that had been with the two men he'd killed might now be tracking him. He stopped several times to try spotting any pursuit, but detected nothing.

Shortly after dark he spotted the camp. Lok was on sentry duty. He was alert, but easy for Al to avoid. Moving to the other side of the camp, he found a spot of dirt and wrote in it with a stick. "No comm. News. Latrine." He looked at it and stored the image. His eyes had wifi with a very limited range, but they were no commlink - he couldn't just access different commcodes at will. However, Alyce had tapped into them in the past, so he was able to open them up to that access code and broadcast. He was close enough, the only question was if she was still monitoring that frequency.

Well, if not, he'd figure something else out.

He made his way to a good hide within sight of the latrine and settled in to wait.

[adamu]

Alyce and Jiahui have finished cleaning up after the evening meal and setting out the preparations for breakfast when Alyce’s deck agent pings her that one of the frequencies it was assigned to watch over has just gone active.  Alyce checks and sees that it is the one she had set up for Al’s cyber eyes and her heart skips a beat when she sees the message.  She walks to the Mule and roots around in one of the many storage cabinets she has customized it with for one of her burner ‘links and checks it to make sure it is still functional. Satisfied, she slips it back into its small waterproof pouch and calls in one of her drones to accompany her before going to Jiahui and telling her that she is going off to the latrine.  Jiahui nods and smiles and Alyce considers what an asset the young missionary has become.  In more ways than one.
 
Alyce walks past Yao Lung and tells him that she needs to use the latrine and he nods as he gets up to do the escort duty.  She feels Ling Tse Tau’s eyes on her as she turns to leave, but the team leader seems a bit tired from the day’s hard walk and does not make his usual offer to go as escort instead.  At the latrine, Yao plays the gentleman and watches outward as Alyce makes use of the slit trench.  She takes the pouch and places it near the latrine, but off a couple of feet, and has the drone take a picture of its location.  Linking the feed from the drone back to Al’s eyes is child’s play and she sends the picture of the location of the burner commlink off.  Finished, she stands and thanks Yao Lung for coming out with her.
 
Returning to camp, they find that only Milo is still up, and he indicates that he is getting ready to relieve Lok on sentry duty.  Alyce slips into the tent she shares with Jiahui and undresses before sliding next to the other woman, who sleepily turns and kisses her before rolling back to go to sleep.  Alyce places an arm around her lover and waits for Al to find and activate the commlink.  She knows that he will need to go a bit away from the camp before trying to communicate as he will want to be out of earshot of any sentries, so is patient.  She moves the small cross from between her breasts and kisses it before praying once more that Al is safe.

[adamu]

Al's heart sank when he saw that Yao had accompanied Alyce.

He realized that it was the SOP they'd established. Just somehow in his mind he hadn't imagined it that way.

For the best, though. After two days away, things were welling up inside him, and they nearly erupted when he saw her. He wasn't sure what he might have done had they met alone. And he could no longer assume she felt the same way.

So he stayed invisible until they were gone. And then still he didn't move, not for an hour, until the camp was asleep, and he was sure where Milo was. Once he retrieved the commlink he moved off carefully. He didn't want to use text, but sound carried out here. He hiked an hour until he had a ridge between himself and the camp. Then he called her, knowing she'd hear him in her head.

"Wakey wakey, girl. Check this out."

And he sent her the video his eyes had recorded while he was above the village in the tree.

[adamu]

Alyce can barely restrain herself when the text from Al comes through.  She downloads the attachment and sends a message back as she looks at it.  >>I    LOVE   YOU!!  These days apart are fragging hard.  My heart constricts and my breathing gets a bit ragged when it is about your normal time to call in.  Tonight was hell because you were late, but I knew that you were still alive because my heart was still beating.  I know in some way that I would just die if you did, even if we were separated by continents.  I might be saying this all wrong for you, but it is like a dam has burst and my love for you is flooding through me and I have to let it out.  So, I will have to live with it if I have fragged up my chance with you, but one of us has to say something.  I do not know any more what we were waiting for.  I have been yours almost from the first words I heard you speak in Phnom Penh.  Something about you just told me then that I was headed for trouble with you, but it is a trouble I am willing to live with for the rest of my days.  There have been and may likely be other people in my life and my bed, but none matter as much as you do.  We should talk about that when we see each other again.<<

She looks at the photos and whistles silently.  Something in her slight movement woke Jiahui and she gives her a kiss and tells her to go back to sleep.  She looks at the pictures as she cuddles the missionary and send another text to Al.  >>Hmmmm.  I guess Senor got them sprung early.  I told you he was clever.  I wonder where the third guy is; the really dangerous one.  I also have to wonder if there are more people in a second camp.  He was waiting a while after he lost his hacker and he may have arranged for a new one.  I will have to broaden my matrix searches to see.  Humanity will not lose any sleep over the losers your killed, Al.  It is too bad it came down to it, but they really stepped over the line and you did the right thing.  I will leave some food and a general antiseptic ointment in a bag buried under the place where my tent is sitting.  Come get it after we leave.  Now let me get to work trying to find this second camp.  Send any route changes to me at the normal time.<<

Alyce closes her eyes and slips onto the matrix.  She cloaks herself as best she can and sets out to see what she can find.  Her first stop is Senor’s camp, where she sees nothing out of the ordinary.  But there has to be something…….some way for Senor to talk with his second group.  And it looks pretty convincing that there is a second group.  Nothing.  Nothing.  Nothing.  Something.  A faint trail as she sees a line of code arrow in from out in the jungle, heading straight to Senor’s tent.  Alyce makes no effort to intercept or read the code, but sends her avatar racing along its path back to the source.  And finding it.  She stops well out of the camp, not willing to get too close, but pegging is location on the ground.  She summons one of the two drones back at the camp to come and keep an eye on this new find before slipping back to the body and into the meat world.

[adamu]

Time dragged as Al waited for her response. He kicked himself for giving so much of a shit about someone that had already flown the coop. But he yearned to hear her voice. So down to earth, and so cultured at the same time; always dripping with sex; sweetly feminine with just a husky tinge from that mongrel used-to-be-Russian accent. He wanted to hear her voice in his ear. And then instead of talking to him, it was a fucking text.

He read it and stopped after the first sentence. Elation mixed with consternation. In a text?! Of course. It had to be in a text because she couldn't say it out loud because there was someone else with her in her bed. The more he read her words the more his heart raced, and the more he felt like a sucker. And then the part at the end. Pure fucking hippie.

"Yeah, I love you too, bitch," he whispered to himself, careful that his mic was off.

How to even respond? It would be a lie to say he didn't feel the same way, despite himself. And he wouldn't lie to her. And he couldn't just not answer.

And then she made it easy. Before he could decide what to do she was back to business, and then signed off to get to work.

Bullet dodged.

Now he had to do something. Anything to keep busy.

He'd get the food and antiseptic later. He wasn't hungry anymore anyway.

Not knowing for sure if the man was really out there, he took off to find this third guy.

[adamu]

Alyce lies next to Jiahui and composes her next text to Al.  >>Got something for you.  I am attaching a map file with a location on it.  I believe that this is the location of Senor’s other camp.  It is several klicks away from my location by the bird, but probably more than that in this terrain.  I picked up the sign of at least three wireless signals, one strong enough to be a deck and the others are probably commlinks.  I am sending Misha out to get sensors on the camp, but he will not be on location for a while and I would need to have a light source to get the best view, although thermo imaging will give me a body count.  I will send you an update as soon as I can.<<  She hesitates then sends a second message.  >>Al?  You seldom mince words, so I am assuming that your lack of a personal response to me means that I said everything wrong again.  I am sorry for that.  I am what I am, Al.  If you want me, you take what you get with no promises of me being able to be your perfect woman.  If you don’t want me…………………well, I guess that is that.  I love you unconditionally, but if that is not enough for you to overlook my many faults then I guess I am not the woman for you.  And it looks like you may have already come to that conclusion, although I hope that you change your mind some day.  I love you.<<
 
Alyce settles down next to Jiahui and cries silent tears for what might have been.  Her brain tells her heart that there may be other reasons why he did not respond yet.  He might be composing a majestic message of love and..........................just who the fuck is she kidding.  She blew it.  Her heart knows it, even if the message has not got to the brain yet.  She sighs for a love she can give to no one else that is not wanted by the recipient.  And cries.

[adamu]

Al was making steady progress despite the dark, though he'd have given a lot for some low-light goggles. He was backtracking himself. If someone had tracked him, they'd have had to stop with the dark, enhancements or no. Well, unless they had olfactories. But in that case they'd have caught him by now.

So he was making for the point along his trail where it had gotten dark. He figured if he stopped short of that, he could ambush this guy when he tried to pick up the trail at daybreak. A lot of variables, but it beat doing nothing.

Then another text came in. He sighed. The Frogs said vive la difference, and to be sure she had some differences he liked, but all this damned communicating....

Well, no question she'd improved his tactical situation. How she could do such good work with that irrational female brain he couldn't quite fathom.

He changed course, taking himself well off his previous line. Then sat down against a tree and spoke into his mic. Damned texts. <<Shee-it woman. I din't answer ya cuz ya said ta call ya at the next check-in time.An' I don't gotta overlook no faults cuz near as I can tell ya ain't got none. Not far as Al's concerned anyhoo. As fer all the rest of it, I speak French an' I speak Arabic an' a few other furrin tongues ta boot, but I don't speak that language. Ya see me wearin' a damn dress or somethin'? An' if'n I was gon' have that sorta...conversation...it wouldn't be by text, nor anything but face ta face. Al's gon' tell ya somethin', yer gon' be able ta see the whites of his eyes when he does it. Thanks fer the intel, by the way. Reckon I'll sort 'em out.>>

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce hears Al's words and does not know what to think.  He attraction to this man has her all confused about herself and him.  Once again she berates herself for........for just about everything.  She unwraps herself from Jiahui and slips out of the tent for the bushes.  The sentries have gotten used to seeing her move naked to the latrine at night and she counts on that now.  Once she is squatting, she speaks softly, "Al?  I will have more intel for you by dawn.  Stay safe."

[adamu]

Al had just been nodding off against a tree when he heard her voice in his ear.

It made him happier than he wanted it to.

"Darlin', it is good ta hear yer voice. Now I won't say yer not a barrelful o' confusions an' contradictions, but reckon I also can't deny how I feel about ya. May not talk it up an' down an' eight ways ta Sunday like you do, but I don't reckon I made much secret of it neither. Don't know where ya are or who yer with, but if ya got time jist ta chat, it'd be some comfort."