Astro Equinox's Arc

Chapter 5 of 6

Astro stood on the open ground with the tracker bright in their hands. The bearing line pointed straight ahead, strong and sure. But the line ran into trouble. Past the lab's cleared lot, the ground broke into gullies and loose rock. A steep ravine cut across the path. Astro could not carry the tracker over that and keep it steady. One slip would smash the box. The ear would go dark halfway to the source. "The line goes through there." Astro pointed at the ravine. "We can't walk it. Not with this in my arms." Jeta Halo set down his cable coil. His green face tightened as he studied the drop. "Too far to climb. Too steep to carry gear." He crouched and peered over the edge. "We need another way to read it." Jeta Warnson came out of the lab behind them. She still wore her muddy boots and crossed arms. She had warned Astro to stop chasing the signal, but she had not left. In her hands she carried a sleek black cat. Its tall ears curved like open shells, lined with pink ridges. The animal tilted its head and twitched one ear toward the sky. "You won't get the box across," she said. "But you don't need the box." She held the cat out. "This one hears what you hear. Watch its ears. It turns toward the loudest pull." Astro stared at the creature. Its green eyes fixed on something above, something Astro's own kind could sense. The ears swung, settled, pointed the same way the bearing line pointed. "A living ear," Astro said. Their three gray fingers reached out and touched the cat's fur. The animal did not pull away. Its ears held the line. Jeta Halo looked from the cat to the tracker. "We leave the box here, still drinking signal. We follow the cat across the rocks. Light. Quick. We check the box reading when we come back near power." Astro weighed it. The cat could not give exact numbers. But it could point. And it could climb where the tracker could not. They set the tracker down in the lab doorway, line still bright, and lifted the cat into their arms. "Then we go on foot," Astro said. "The cat leads." Jeta Warnson stepped back. She did not smile. "You hear me still. Reach that device and the sky lands on you." But she handed the cat over and let them pass. Astro held the cat to their chest and started down toward the ravine. The ears swung forward, locked on the far ridge. The path across the broken ground opened in the direction those ears chose. The tracker stayed behind in the doorway. From here on, a breathing creature carried the signal, and it was leading Astro straight into the sky's aim.