The Tejano Conflict by Steve Perry

ones.”
    â€œYeah, but I could turn her into a super-Vastalimi. She’d be a blur.”
    â€œNot in the cards.”
    â€œA parochial prejudice, that attitude toward simple augmentation.”
    â€œWhat can I tell you? They are aliens.”
    â€œWhat are you going to do?”
    â€œNot much I can. She’d like a chance to go hunting, but there’s nothing around that would offer her any kind of challenge. This is Earth, which as you point out endlessly, is the cradle of human civilization. Not many critters running loose that would give one of The People much of a workout.”
    â€œHmm.”
    â€œâ€˜Hmm’? What does that mean?”
    â€œHow busy are you in the field? How much time could you give Kay to play?”
    Jo thought about it. The main part of the ranger work was done even though there would be forays to tweak the intel already gathered. They didn’t really need Kay until things heated up. “Four or five days, maybe. Why?”
    â€œJust because there’s nothing to give a predator of Kay’s ability any challenge around here doesn’t mean there isn’t anything on the planet that might. I know some people. Let me talk to them.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œMeanwhile, shut off your beta-blockers and give me an epinephrine spike, half-strength.”
    Jo obeyed.
    â€œGood. Three-quarters . . . good. Two seconds at full . . . fine . . . reboot to carrier levels . . .”
    Jo went through the tests. Everything seemed to be in optimum condition. After she was done here, she was going to go and find Kay, see if she could come up with something to keep her busy and not thinking too much.
    â€“ – – – – –
    Wink came around the corner and found Jo lying on her belly, staring intently at something on the ground.
    â€œWhat
are
you doing?”
    â€œTracking. Be careful, don’t step on the grass.”
    â€œWhat? Why? Who are you tracking?”
    â€œKay.”
    â€œUh-huh . . . ?”
    â€œShe’s been teaching me how to cut sign. It’s an important skill for a hunter.”
    He looked at the ground, which, like most of it around here, was a mix of dirt and dust, with frequent patches of scraggly grass and a few ratty-looking shrubs.
    There was nothing he could see that offered any clue to Kay’s whereabouts.
    â€œSign?”
    â€œAny physical evidence left behind by somebody or something’s passage.”
    â€œI don’t see anything.”
    â€œCan’t from that angle. Come down here.”
    â€œOn my belly in the dirt?”
    â€œSuddenly you are Doctor Fastidious?”
    He grinned. He squatted, then stretched out.
    â€œSee that little tuft of grass?”
    â€œYeah. It looks like a little tuft of grass.”
    â€œLook closer.”
    â€œI don’t have your optical augmentation, I can’t look any closer.”
    â€œYes, you can. I’m not using any of my augs. That’s part of the game. No opthalmic, no olfactory, no enhanced otics, just basic biological issue.”
    He stared at the grass. “I still don’t see anything. It’s
grass
. No, wait, there’s a bug of some kind. That Kay, in disguise?”
    She ignored the last. “Now, look over there, next to it, at that patch.”
    He looked. “Okay. And . . . ?”
    â€œThat patch is undisturbed. See how the stalks stand, the angles?”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œNow, look at this one again.”
    He did. “Some of the grass here is bent down.”
    â€œThat’s it.”
    â€œThat’s what?”
    â€œSomebody stepped on it.”
    â€œWhoopee. How does this help you find Kay?”
    She came up to her feet in a smooth, easy motion. Wink also stood, albeit not quite as smooth and relaxed. He looked down at his tunic and trousers. He shook his head.
    â€œDamp or wet ground takes tracks. Look