Free Endurance by Richard Chizmar Page A

it gazed down at me. Reluctantly it gave me a single
hnk
.
    I’d take that as a yes. “Enough physical art form, okay? I want the favor now. Get down from there. Go watch over the man I just operated on.”
    For a minute, I wasn’t sure it was going to work. Then, with a slow, mesmerizing grace, the Chakacat sprang down from Devrak’s back. Then Alunthri lifted a hind paw and urinated on the Major’s leg.
    “Alunthri,” I said, trying not to grin at the gesture of supreme feline contempt. I failed.
    The Chakacat gracefully padded off toward my patient.
    Devrak didn’t seem to be concerned about the small puddle he was standing in. Or maybe he was just trying to act nonchalant. “Now we will finish this.”
    “Be my guest.” I sat back down on the floor and deliberately examined the deplorable condition of my fingernails. Why was it that doctors were unable to maintain a decent manicure? I had no idea. The working conditions?
    “Get up and defend yourself,” the Trytinorn said.
    Against a being several hundred times my size? What, was he kidding? “I’ve sworn an oath to do no harm to other life-forms. Do you really think I could take you in a fight, anyway? Pick on someone your own size.”
    “I dislike killing cringing cowards.”
    “I’m not cringing,” I told him. “I’m sitting. And wanting to do no harm doesn’t make me a coward.” I raised my voice so all the mob could hear me. “Hurting people who can’t or won’t defend themselves—now, that’s more like what a coward does.”
    Suddenly everyone seemed to notice how big the Major was, and how small I was in comparison. People who a minute ago wanted to stomp me into the decking now shuffled back or looked away.
    “Perhaps the nurse is right,” someone said. “We could use her skills, until our plan can be—”
    “Silence!” The Major looked back down at me. “This is your last chance, Terran. Get to your feet.”
    “No. If you’re going to kill me, be my guest. If you’re going to stand there and argue with me all day, I’d rather take a nap. Make up your damn mind.” I smiled. “
Coward
.”
    I knew from dealing with Trytinorns back on K-2 that the Major’s species had very rigid views about honor. He couldn’t bring himself to strike the killing blow. I had been counting on that. The only problem was he was League, and had learned the fine art of delegation.
    “Lieutenant Wonlee!” the Trytinorn shouted.
    A slender, heavily clawed being pushed his way through the crowd. He wore a specially designed uniform which allowed hundreds of thin, sharp spines to protrude. Hugging must not be big on that guy’s homeworld. “Sir?”
    “Kill this Terran. At once.”
    I watched as the Lieutenant, whose prickly species evidently had no problem at all with situations of honor, came walking toward me, his many talons extended.
    Odd thoughts crossed my mind at that moment. My surrogate mother Maggie had died nearly three years ago. Kao had died in my arms on the
Sunlace
. Jenner was safe with Kao’s family, HouseClan Torin, back on Joren. Alunthri, no stranger to slavery, would find a way to survive. They’d given my life true meaning, and I’d been privileged to love them all.
    I kept my eyes open and my head up. I might be resigned to death, but I wasn’t going out a coward.

C HAPTER F OUR

    Aksel Drift Nine
    Before Wonlee got within clawing distance, some interesting things happened.
    Dchêm-os, and two of the nurses I’d rescued, had quietly circulated through the crowd of detainees. Now they and whomever they convinced to help them charged the inner circle, shouting for my release. At the same time, Alunthri sprang over a lot of heads and landed practically in my lap. It stayed there and bellowed at anyone who got within a foot of me.
    I tried to push it out of harm’s way. “Alunthri, get out of here!”
    “I think not, Cherijo.” The Chakacat grinned at me, then turned and snarled at an approaching crew member.
    Now