I paused to laugh quietly to myself.

“I didn’t have a Bear host for Harness Light. I couldn’t use my body. The guide was dead or had fled. But there was one other body on the ice field.

“It was insanity, but all I could think of was Harness Light. We weren’t even close friends, but I knew he was slowly dying, right between my hearts. I couldn’t endure that.

“I heard the angry claw beast roaring, and I ran toward the sound. Soon I could see its thick white fur. I ran straight to its third left leg and launched myself as high up the leg as I could. I was a good jumper. I used all six of my hands, the knife sides, to yank myself up the side of the beast. It roared and spun, but that didn’t help. Picture a dog chasing its tail. Claw beasts have very small brains-a limited intelligence.

“I made it to the beast’s back and ran up the double spine, digging in with my knives so that it couldn’t shake me off.

“It only took seconds to get up to the beast’s head. But that was where the greatest difficulty waited. My ice cutters were only… about as long as your forearm, maybe. The claw beast’s hide was twice as thick. I swung my arm down as hard as I could, slashing through the first layer of fur and membrane. The claw beast screamed and reared back on its hindmost legs. I almost fell.

“I lodged four of my hands into its hide-it screamed and thrashed. With the other two, I took turns cutting at the gash I’d made. The skin was so thick and tough, I didn’t know if I would be able to saw through.

“The claw beast went berserk. It shook so hard that it was all I could do to hold on for a moment. But time was running out for Harness Light. I shoved my hands into the hole and tried to rip it open.

“Then the claw beast threw itself backward onto the ice.

“If we hadn’t been over its lair, the pit it had dug to hide in, that would have crushed me. As it was, though it knocked me silly, the fall actually helped. My knives were already in the beast’s neck. When I hit the ground, the weight of the beast drove my cutters deep through its skin. Deeper than I needed.

“We were both stunned; I was half smothered. I knew I had to do something right away, but I couldn’t remember what it was. The beast started to roll, dazed. The fresh air cleared my head, and I remembered Harness Light.

“Protecting him from the cold as well as I could in the soft side of my hands, I moved him from my egg pocket into the claw beast’s neck.

“The beast got to its feet and bucked again. This time I flew off. I’d let go of my hold to insert Harness Light, you see. The claw beast was infuriated. The wound on its head wasn’t nearly enough to kill it-just annoy it.

“The snow had settled enough that I was in plain sight, especially as I was painted with the beast’s blood. It’s a very bright color, a color you don’t have here. It raised its pincers, and they swung toward me. I thought that was it, and I was comforted a little that at least I would die trying.

“And then the pincers hit the snow beside me. I couldn’t believe it had missed! I stared up at the huge, hideous face, and I almost had to… well, not laugh. Bears don’t laugh. But that was the feeling. Because that ugly face was torn with confusion and surprise and chagrin. No claw beast had ever worn such an expression before.

“It had taken Harness Light a few minutes to bind himself to the claw beast-it was such a big area, he really had to extend himself. But then he was in control. He was confused and slow-he didn’t have much of a brain to work with, but it was enough that he knew I was his friend.

“I had to ride him to the crystal city-to hold the wound closed on his neck until we could reach a Healer. That caused quite a stir. For a while they called me Rides the Beast. I didn’t like it. I made them go back to my other name.”

I’d been staring ahead, toward the lights of the hospital and the figures of the souls crossing in front of those lights, as I told the story. Now I looked at Jared for the first time. He was gaping at me, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.

It really was one of my best stories. I’d have to get Mel to promise that she’d tell it to Jamie when I was…

“They’re probably finished unloading, don’t you think?” I said quickly. “Let’s finish this and get back home.”

He stared at me for one more moment, and then shook his head slowly.

“Yes, let’s finish this, Wanderer, Lives in the Stars, Rides the Beast. Stealing a few unguarded crates won’t present much of a challenge for you, will it?”

CHAPTER 52.Separated

We brought our plunder in through the south vent, though this meant that the jeep would have to be moved before dawn. My main concern with using the bigger entrance was that the Seeker would hear the commotion our arrival was sure to cause. I wasn’t sure if she had any idea of what I was going to do, and I didn’t want to give her any reason to kill her host and herself. The story Jeb had told me about one of their captives-the man who had simply collapsed, leaving no external evidence on the outside of the havoc wreaked inside his skull-haunted my thoughts.

The hospital was not empty. As I squeezed myself through the last tight bubble of space out into the main room, I found Doc preparing for the operation. His desk was laid out; on it, a propane lantern-the brightest illumination we had available-waited to be lit. The scalpels glinted in the duller blue light of the solar lamp.

I had known that Doc would agree to my terms, but seeing him thus occupied sent a wave of nervous nausea through me. Or maybe it was just the memory of that other day that sickened me, the day I’d caught him with blood on his hands.

“You’re back,” he said with relief. I realized that he’d been worried about us, just as everyone worried when someone left the safety of the caves.

“We brought you a gift,” Jared said as he pushed himself free behind me. He straightened up and reached back for a box. With a flourish, he held it up, displaying the label on the side.

“Heal!” Doc crowed. “How much did you get?”

“Two cases. And we’ve found a much better way to renew our stores than to have Wanda stabbing herself.”

Doc did not laugh at Jared’s joke. Instead he turned to stare at me piercingly. We both must have been thinking the same thing: Convenient, since Wanda won’t be around.

“Did you get the cryotanks?” he asked, more subdued.

Jared noticed the look and the tension. He glanced at me, his expression impossible to read.

“Yes,” I answered. “Ten of them. It was all the car could hold.”

While I spoke, Jared yanked on the rope behind him. With a clatter of loose rock, the second box of Heal, followed by the tanks, tumbled onto the floor behind him. The tanks clanked like metal, though they were built of no element that existed on this planet. I’d told him it was fine to treat the empty cryotanks roughly; they were built to withstand much worse abuse than being tugged through a stone channel. They glinted on the floor now, looking shiny and pristine.

Doc picked one up, freeing it from the rope, and turned it around in his hands.

“Ten?” The number seemed to surprise him. Did he think it too many? Or not enough? “Are they difficult to use?”

“No. Extremely easy. I’ll show you how.”

Doc nodded, his eyes examining the alien construction. I could feel Jared watching me, but I kept my eyes on Doc.

“What did Jeb, Brandt, and Aaron say?” I asked.

Doc looked up, locked his eyes on mine. “They’re… in agreement with your terms.”