Free Trader Complete Omnibus

by Craig Martelle

  Micah squinted at her partner. “Who’s Ava? You haven’t thought about her before.” Braden was taken aback and the more he tried not to think about the lithe, brown-haired beauty, the more he couldn’t help but visualize her in the classroom when she told him to go without her. Micah’s stare turned cold. “I see,” she said softly, not taking her eyes from Braden’s.

  He started to get angry. “Let’s go,” he spit, turning and stomping down the path into the oasis. G-War followed, suggesting that Braden slow down so they had time to react should any evil creatures raise their ugly heads.

  Braden stopped and shook his head like a dog shaking rain out of his coat. “C’mon, G, let’s clear this place and get to the lake. I could use a swim.” When he turned back to the path, a single beetle stood in his way. He wanted to crush it under the heel of his boot, but Aadi noted that could bring more.

  ‘Beetles,’ Braden passed over the mindlink. ‘Aadi said not to step on this one as it could bring more.’ G-War pounced on the beetle and batted it into the underbrush. They waited, but nothing else appeared. Braden couldn’t relax. He sensed something dangerous. G-War assured him that he saw nothing ahead that was alarming. Braden couldn’t rid himself of the feeling. He continued ahead slowly, cautiously,

  Bounder carried a bag with smoked javelina. It wasn’t very much, but it was half of their remaining supply.

  When Braden heard Ava’s voice calling him, he scoffed. “Is that the best you have, Tiskanay? It is I, Free Trader Braden, and we have returned. We bring you a gift and beg your leave to rest in the oasis.” Braden stood with his feet wide apart, his bow in his hand and a confident look on his face.

  He heard the sand rustle behind him as Bounder made to pass, walking as if in a trance. Braden jumped into him, wrapping his arm around the Wolfoid’s broad chest, trying to force him to the ground. Bounder snarled and snapped at the human’s head. “Stop it!” he yelled. With a mighty heave, he pushed Bounder away from him. The Wolfoid looked at him, eyes clear. With a curt nod, Braden turned and nocked an arrow.

  He strode forward two steps and drew his bow full, aiming at Tiskanay’s head. “That’s enough. Stop, or I will kill you,” he growled.

  ‘Okay,’ came the tired, old voice of the Gila Monster. Braden raised his bow and released the tension of the string. He held the arrow in place, just in case. He walked back to where Bounder stood, taking the bag from him, returning, and then dumping its contents in front of Tiskanay.

  He finally noticed a pile of crushed bones near her. “A visitor?” he asked.

  ‘You called them horses. Two, with their riders, showed up a cycle after you, but they couldn’t speak with me. They didn’t know the secret of the Seeders. But they brought the beetles back,’ she stated without emotion. ‘Thank you for the gift. I shall leave you alone. Beware of the Seeders. There are many of them, now.’

  “Skirill! I need you and Zyena to find all the Seeders.” Two horses and two men could provide plenty of fertile ground for new plants to grow. “You saw five. I suspect there are more. Find them, show us where they are, and take care. I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Braden said, pleading with the Hawkoids. They were perched at the top of the trees that were unique to the oases. They stood awkwardly on the rough, leafy branches, happy to get the call from Braden for their help.

  They beat their wings hard to avoid dropping low over the lake. Skirill led the way again. He spotted the larger three Seeders, the original ones they had seen on their first trip. There were two more growing in the sand between the older plants and the lake. Skirill used his keen Hawkoid eyes to look into the shadows beneath the larger trees.

  He flew just under the higher branches, perilously close to crashing as he swerved left and right. Zyena stopped trying to follow and settled for circling above the trees, eyes focused exclusively on her mate.

  Skirill saw a trail from Tiskanay to the lake and turned to cross it.

  There! He saw three more Seeders spread out to the side of the path. Had Braden and the companions tried to reach the lake, they would have been attacked. When Skirill shared the images, Braden asked Micah to get her blaster. She smiled as she jogged back to the wagon, Bounder by her side.

  She returned, having already dialed the blaster to the tightest flame setting. With Aadi in the lead, Micah put herself on the far side, away from the Seeders. If they shot their seeds into any of the warm-blooded creatures, there would be nothing that could be done to save them. The plant would feed on the body until it died, then plant itself where its host fell.

  As they approached the first Seeder, Aadi floated upward and Micah ducked beneath him. She crawled forward until she had a clear shot, then she lit up the plant. They didn’t know how, but the plant screeched like a wounded animal. The others covered their ears as Micah shot it a second time. The hideous noise stopped as the flames consumed the Seeder. Aadi waited until the heat died down before continuing.

  They did the next two the same way. Braden pushed them forward, wanting to get it over with. He asked Micah to dial the widest setting and fire up the last five all at the same time. As they approached the lake, the Seeders were screaming and flailing about. Braden pulled Micah back as a Seeder launched a seed high. It bounced off the top of Aadi’s shell, falling harmlessly to the ground.

  “I’ve never seen one do that before. Everybody back!” Braden ordered. Aadi floated forward trying to draw the Seeders out, but they wouldn’t launch their deadly projectiles at him.

  “They seem to have gotten smarter in the past three cycles. I believe they are all connected somehow. I bet Bronwyn would be able to talk with them, and now, I’m not sure we should kill them,” Braden thought out loud. Micah hung her head, hearing the screams of the creatures reverberate in her mind.

  ‘I’m sorry, Master Human. It doesn’t seem to be working,’ Aadi said sadly.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Braden told Micah. She shook her head vigorously. He looked to the Wolfoids, but they shook their shaggy heads and shrugged. G-War laid down and closed his eyes, waiting for the humans to do something. The Rabbits and the Aurochs were in the fields, away from the danger.

  Braden opened his neural implant. ‘Holly, got a bit of a situation here. Can you see the Seeders? Yes? Good. They shoot seed pods into living creatures. The plant grows, killing the host, and becomes a new Seeder. Well, we killed three of them, but they screamed and the other five are out of control. I think they might be intelligent. They are blocking our access to the lake. We need the water, but none of us want to sacrifice our body to become a Seeder, if you know what I mean. Any ideas?’

  ‘Let me review the data,’ Holly said, returning after only a heartbeat. ‘I have no information on these creations. The plant mutations that you’ve discussed with me don’t exist anywhere except in the north. I suspect they were created by Doctor Warren after he split from Sanctuary. I’m not surprised that the Seeders found a home in the oasis. They will eventually make their way south, but that could take a millennium. In any case, they are plants. They could be intelligent, but what do you do with a plant when you want to keep it but don’t like where it is?’

  ‘I’m sorry, what? Do you have any ideas or not?’ Braden was quickly frustrated. There was a huge obstacle between him, the companions, and the lake.

  ‘I’ll dispatch the Development Unit to transplant the Seeders, as you called them, to a spot away from the lake, but still within the oasis. It is an area that you’ll have to keep everyone from going into. After that, you will be safe.’ Holly stayed on the link, but the Development Unit had already arrived and immediately started digging with a combination of a tentacle and its energy shield. In short order, it had the first two Seeders dug up. It carefully carried them around the lake and into a dense patch of trees. It reversed the process, digging a hole and putting them in. It then snaked a small hose to the lake to give the plants a good drink. Braden hadn’t seen the tentacle or hose before, but he hadn’t paid attention when the
Development Units went about their business.

  The older Seeders were larger and the Unit could only move one at a time. Instead of waiting, the companions retreated back to the wagon, where they drank deeply from their flasks. They walked to the fields to join the Rabbits and the Aurochs. Holly said that the only crop in that field was soybeans. The others seemed to enjoy them, but Braden tried a few and didn’t like them. G-War didn’t bother. He was holding out for venison.

  Braden watched over the others as they walked through the fields as if relaxing in an over-sized garden. The sun was high in the sky and the desert shimmered, but where the plants grew, it was cooler and the sun didn’t seem as harsh. Braden looked at his partner as she and Zeller walked together, talking about the oasis and Old Tech. At this point, the choice to use or not use Old Tech was well past. It was an inextricable part of their modern world.

  He ran his hand along the curve of his bow, feeling it as he used to. It had brought him comfort, before he met Micah. As they got closer to the north, he expected that he’d need it again to hold off whatever darkness was falling over his homeland. Why had men followed his tracks into the Great Desert? What would entice them to do that? How had they known what they needed to make it all the way to the oasis? But they did make it, only to succumb to the Seeders and the Gila Monster.

  Braden wanted to talk with the others. It helped him think through problems by saying them out loud. The input of the companions was always better than what he came up with on his own. He was an expert at seeing a problem. The others were experts in helping to fix them.

  Micah still held her blaster as she and Zeller walked. It seemed a natural part of her hand. Old Tech.

  His neural implant blinked so he opened the window. Holly confirmed that the Seeders had been relocated and the lake was theirs. Braden didn’t know why, but he asked if the Seeders would be okay where they were. Holly had the utmost confidence in the Development Unit’s ability to ensure that the plants would survive. Holly had no doubt that they would be well taken care of. The Unit had added them to its routine for care.

  “The lake awaits!” Braden announced. “Just stay clear of that side over there, where the trees and bushes are heaviest,” he pointed out. Braden thought the others would casually find their way to the lake, but they’d done an incredible job of hiding their impatience.

  Braden dove to the side as the stampede began. Arnie was first, tearing a swath through the field as he made a beeline for the water. Soybean plants, bushes, and even a couple small trees were plowed over in his headlong rush. Brandt was close on his heels, followed by the Wolfoids, while the two women tried to keep up with the Rabbits who both bounded happily along the Aurochs’ trail of destruction.

  G-War hacked up a hairball and then looked up at Braden. ‘Hungry.’

  Braden and G-War first checked out the small building before joining the others. They found it to be a maintenance shed that was mostly empty. The building would eventually be used to maintain the Bots who would maintain the oasis.

  Shaking his head, Braden followed the others, arriving to see a lake full of humans and creatures. Even the Rabbits and the Wolfoids were splashing around. Braden only wanted a drink, so he stripped on the run, waded in two steps, and dove into the water. He swam to the fountain in the middle and drank from the cool, fresh water as it pumped into the air. Micah and Zeller joined him, which made him wholly uncomfortable as the water was crystal clear and they were both naked. He quickly swam toward shore, shook out his signature braid, taking his time squeezing it dry, and got dressed while the women laughed.

  ‘It’s okay, lover, that you’ve seen her naked,’ Micah told him in her thought voice. He knew that it was just the two of them talking as she could control the link far better than he ever could. ‘Traveling as we are, it is inevitable. We have a difficult journey ahead of us. It’ll take all of us working together to succeed. I think this is the easy part. Coming south with a herd will be tough. We will travel half as fast, and keeping them together will take twice the effort. We’re always going to be short of water, hoping that we reach the next oasis before we run out. Seeing people naked isn’t important for what lies ahead of us.’

  ‘As always, you are right. We have a tough road ahead. Let’s focus on that and what we have to do. In the meanwhile, I think we have someone who needs to get to a Tortoise Consortium.’

  “Aadi!” Braden yelled as he walked the paths of the oasis, looking for the Tortoid.

  ‘Here, Master Human. I was having a pleasant conversation with our host,’ Aadi said as he hovered in front of Tiskanay.

  “How far do you have to go, and can we help get you there?” Braden asked.

  ‘Tortoids always know where they are in the Desert. I can go myself, but it is some ways, not far from where you found me.’

  “And when we met, you blasted my head! I won’t forget that, Master Aadi,” Braden laughed.

  ‘Yes, indeed,’ Aadi answered, blinking slowly. ‘If I could impose upon one of the Aurochs to run me out closer, it would shave turns off my trip. I can contact you when we’re done and you can pick me up as you head north on the final leg of the journey through the Barren.’

  “It’s a plan. I’m sure Arnie or Brandt would be more than happy to help, although I’m inclined to ask Brandt to stay here, rest and recover. I’ll have to go, too, so we can find our way back to the oasis.”

  ‘Why you, partner mine?’ a gentle voice chided Braden over the mindlink.

  “Well, I…” he stammered.

  ‘That’s right, I, I, I… You’re not going. I am,’ Micah insisted.

  “No, I refuse!” he said, looking for his partner.

  ‘You don’t get to refuse. I’m the President!’ she smoothly delivered back to him. He was flustered. He searched heartily until he found her lounging in the shade by the lake. The Wolfoids and the Rabbits were napping nearby.

  “We need to talk about this,” Braden demanded.

  “We already did,” Micah said, her eyes still closed. “The matter is settled. Arnie and I will take Aadi as far as we can go in half the nighttime. We will return by morning. Now, let me sleep. It’s going to be a long night.” She rolled to her side, forcing herself to relax. She tensed from Braden’s flurry of emotions bombarding her over their mindlink. From confusion to anger to worry back to anger. “Calm down, Braden. It will be okay. Whether you go or I go, we will both worry until we are back together. Relax and join me for a nap.”

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The air reeked of wet dog, but through it, he found Micah’s scent. It comforted him, so he joined her, relaxed, and was soon asleep.

  The Tortoise Consortium

  With Braden standing, hands on hips and none too happy, Micah mounted the broad back of the smaller Aurochs. Aadi grasped a rope in his beak-like mouth. Micah tied the other end to her belt. With a gentle word, Arnie jogged into the desert. They disappeared quickly into the growing darkness. Braden and Micah could always talk to each other using Holly as a go-between. He realized that he shouldn’t be too worried. Old Tech would help him to know that she was okay.

  He returned to the lake. Zeller had watched her partner leave after they said their goodbyes. She retired to the wagon to sleep in padded comfort. The others were trying to stay cool. G-War had climbed a tree and sat on a low branch, his legs dangling over the side. Skirill and Zyena were near him, looking like protective statues.

  Braden looked at the ‘cat, unperturbed, accepting of life as it came. “Why can’t I be more like you, G?” he asked.

  ‘Why would you want that?’ the ‘cat replied.

  “You’re calm. You take things in stride. You know when a situation is good or bad and you do what you have to do,” Braden verbally stroked his best friend.

  ‘Of course, all that, but that’s a small part of your life. The humans need you. You need me, but I don’t need them. Do you follow?’ G-War was especially philosophical, probably because Aadi wasn’t there to
bear the burden of mentoring Braden.

  “No, I don’t really follow, but I think I get what you mean.”

  ‘We all do what we have to do. What I have to do is a great deal less than what you have to do. And you feel responsible for the others, too. You can’t control any of that, but think you should. That’s what makes you crazy. Stop it! You’re giving me a headache. And if you haven’t forgotten, I’m hungry. I vote we leave Aadi behind and head north now, but I already know your answer. We can pick him up on the way back, or did you forget that he spent the first two hundred cycles of his life in the Great Desert?’

  “As always, G, I get insight from you. Usually it’s about my own shortcomings, but I think you might have a good idea there. The Consortium could go on for a long time and we don’t have enough meat to get us more than a few turns.”

  Micah had not been gone long, so he contacted her over the mindlink. She answered instantly, as she always did, noting that she’d been listening to his conversation with G-War. She and Aadi agreed that would be best. Her impression of the people in Braden’s north would not welcome a floating tortoise. Aadi said that he’d make his way back to the oasis and meet them there, whenever they returned.

  And that made the night go more quickly. They planned to depart the following evening.

  At midnight, Arnie stopped running. Micah gave him water from a flask. Aadi thanked them both profusely, letting them know that he was very close to where the Tortoise Consortium gathered once every five cycles. He let go the rope, and in his Tortoid way, he slowly swam into the darkness. The First Master of the Tortoise Consortium had arrived in style. The others would be envious, Aadi thought. They had no idea what was out there, and it was his responsibility to tell them. He’d been working on his stories for the past three cycles of the seasons, and Aadi was finally ready to deliver them to the others.