Free Trader Complete Omnibus

by Craig Martelle

  ‘I think haste will not get you what you want, Master President,’ Holly cautioned. ‘We need more information, otherwise, I fear that all the companions will be captured. The Professor blocked the neural implant and I suspect he blocked the mindlink, somehow, too. The Hawkoid heard nothing from Braden or the Golden Warrior.’

  Micah stomped on the deck and spit angrily. She growled as she talked. “Bronwyn, ask the Dolphins to bring the Wolfoids back, please. We will plan, and then we will return. When we go, all of us will go. The Professor will pay for this. I will make him pay,” Micah said through gritted teeth.

  Together We Go

  Micah stood looking over the railing, seething at the limited information they’d gathered. The Hawkoids had flown into the tops of the trees, but they were unable to get too close to the compound. No one liked the thought that the Professor could not only hear them when they talked over the mindlink, but he could block it as well.

  When the Hawkoids found two other outposts hidden beneath the canopy of the jungle, they flew back to the ship before reporting. They didn’t want to be discovered. Micah updated the map that Holly provided by way of the neural implant with the latest information, what they’d seen of the compound the previous daylight, and with all the locations where Holly discovered emissions. After consolidating the information, they realized that they still didn’t know very much. The map had a great deal of empty space.

  Holly suggested dropping advanced listening devices, but it would take the ship’s small fabricator a full day to produce them. Micah didn’t want to go in completely blind, but she couldn’t wait. She assumed that the Professor was doing the worst things to her mate.

  ‘Master President, I also suggest you take the field generator. I believe that will mitigate any of the Professor’s electronics that he may be using. The only way the neural implant can be blocked is with technology, and the only way your mindlink can be blocked is with biotechnology. Both are within the power of the ancients. If we can mitigate their technology, physically, he is no match for you, even the younger version of the Professor, and no, I have no idea what that is all about. I can only surmise that there are two of them, an older man and a younger, cloned version.’

  “You want me to carry that big brick?” Micah asked.

  ‘I would have the King of the Aurochs carry it, personally, but if you want to carry it, who am I to argue?’ Holly replied. Micah tried not to deliver an angry retort, because Holly was right. Since Brandt was going, he could carry it and not even notice he had it. She’d ask him.

  The Dolphins swam up the well deck and delivered two dripping Wolfoids, who were not pleased at having returned to the ship.

  “I’m sorry, but Holly had a bunch of good points. We can’t go storming in after the Professor, he’s an ancient with ancient technology. Skirill said he easily captured both Braden and G-War. If we go running in there, he’ll take us, too, and then there will be no one left to rescue anyone. It’s up to us to get this right because if we don’t, we lose Caleb, too.”

  The Wolfoids hung their heads, shaking with the desire to do something but hamstrung by circumstances and an enemy that was more dangerous than any they’d previously faced. When it came to fighting, their leader who always came up with winning plans, wasn’t there. They had to figure it out on their own.

  Pik Ha’ar stood close by, seemingly unfazed by the situation. He looked at the shore, unmoving. Aadi swam close to the Lizard Man. ‘Tell us, Pik, what are you thinking?’

  ‘Let us sail the ship around the island. I wish to look at it from all angles. Then we go ashore, individually, coming at the compound from each of the cardinal directions. If one of us gets taken down, the others press on. Micah’s concern was that there would be no one left to come rescue us. We split into four groups. Then there will be three who can come. We need to time our movements so we all arrive at the same moment. We cannot use the mindlink,’ Pik said smoothly and calmly.

  “Holly!” Micah yelled. “Take us on a tour around the island, quick as you can, please.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain!” Holly announced over a loudspeaker.

  “How can you hear me?” Micah asked, even though she’d talked with him out loud before on the ship.

  “There are a number of sensors. This ship was very advanced at the time of the civil war. It was the best that the ancients’ technology could offer, a testament that it could float around the ocean for four-hundred years and still look new when we found it, and that includes the quality of the gardens. While the Rabbits are on board, I’ve disengaged the Development Unit that would usually tend the foliage.”

  “Always thoughtful, Holly. Let’s look at the island and see what it will take to seize control. Pik has a plan. Do as he tells you,” Micah ordered.

  “I can’t hear Pik Ha’ar when he speaks,” Holly answered.

  “Fine,” Micah retorted. Even Holly knew that when she said ‘fine,’ it didn’t mean fine. Braden and Holly had had many long conversations about the nuances in language use between the human females and males, although Braden admitted that he had minimal expertise, most of which was learned the hard way. “I’ll tell you what he says.”

  The companions gathered on the port side of the sail, on the open deck outside the galley. Brandt stood on the deck below, watching the shore go by. The Hawkoids flew high above, looking for any sign of Braden and G-War. Pik pointed at various points, then asked the Hawkoids if there was a route inland from there.

  They all had clear paths into the interior of the island, they were told. Pik was concerned that the ways seemed too inviting.

  ‘Strider, Brigitte, and Zeeka. Bounder, Ferrer, and Skirill. Brandt, Treetis, and I. Micah, Aadi, Fea, and Zyena. These are the groups. I will disembark last. Judge the time it takes us to get around the island. First ashore, Strider’s group to the northwest. You’ll skirt the peak and head east.

  ‘Bounder’s group will land on the north shore and head south to the compound. You will be the closest, which means you’ll have to wait much longer before you move. Do you understand?’ Bounder nodded.

  ‘Micah, you will land over there, on the eastern shore near the stream. Follow it inland and it will take you directly to the compound.

  ‘Brandt will land in the cove as it’s the only place he can disembark. We will head inland, quickly to the compound. I suggest we do not kill any of the misfit mob. They are innocents in all this. The Professor is the problem. We will close on his position and attack as soon as we arrive. Just like we did in the rainforest.’ Pik looked to each face, waiting for them to nod before moving on.

  ‘I am Pik Ha’ar, Commander of the Lizard Men. We cannot stand by while there are those who would do evil in the way of the ancients. There is a new way now and people like the Overlords and the Professor are not welcome here. They change, or they die. And the Professor? He needs to go. Once we have him, the Golden Warrior will rip the secrets from his mind and then we will end him.

  ‘Brandt and I will make noise, head up the trail like a herd of water buffalo. The rest of you, quiet as you can. We will storm into the compound first, distract them. The rest of you follow, watch each other, look for anyone who has succumbed to the technology of the ancients. Cover them and keep them safe. The rest of us will converge on the Professors, both old and young. Any questions?’

  ‘What about me?’ Bronwyn asked in a small voice.

  ‘You are the key to making it all work. We need your Dolphin friends to take the teams ashore. And we need Rexalita to make sure that no one approaches the ship while we’re gone. We don’t know what other creatures the Professor has. And then when we need help, we will call you. You will be the only one left.’

  ‘But I can talk with them. They’ll listen to me!’ Bronwyn pleaded.

  ‘Then you go with Micah,’ Pik readily conceded, hoping that the girl could keep the misshapen mob from hindering them as they went after the Professor.

  “You sound just like Braden,” M
icah said, slapping the Lizard Man on the shoulder. She didn’t smile. She didn’t have it in her. She encouraged her father to teach the villagers of White Beach how to fish, and he was taken. Then she let Braden go ashore alone to be taken as well. Her father was missing and her partner was captured by a man Bronwyn said was filled with darkness.

  She readied her gear for the tenth time. Everyone was fully loaded with food, water, and weapons. Brandt had the shield generator tied to his back with Amazonian rope. He was still healing from the storm’s gashes and rubs, but he didn’t complain. He was the King of the Aurochs and his friends were in trouble.

  Pik asked Micah for a blaster, but she didn’t have an extra one. He said that he’d be fine with his trident. Pik assumed that he’d be bait for the Professor, opening the way for the rest of the companions to take him down.

  Micah knew what Pik was thinking, but didn’t have a better plan. She gave the Lizard Man’s plan her full support. As she thought about it, she wondered where the scientists were. She headed below.

  She found them in the lab, so engrossed in a project that they didn’t even hear her enter. Micah cleared her throat, then louder. They didn’t lift their heads from examining whatever was on the table.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she grumbled as she walked behind them and grabbed a handful of each, pulling them roughly away from the table.

  “Hey!” Patti May looked put out. Chrysalis knew better than to argue with Micah, so he kept his mouth closed.

  “Braden has been taken by an ancient still living on the island. Bronwyn described his mind as ‘dark.’ He knows all about the intelligent species, that they were engineered by the ancients, and he can block our mindlink and the neural implant. He’s dangerous. He has Braden and G-War and we’re going after them. You two are staying here, but you have to be ready in case we need you!” She emphasized the last few words, but couldn’t imagine what the scientists could do if things got ugly. She wanted them to participate in some way, even if only to wish them well.

  “What do you want us to do about it?” Patti May said with a sneer. Micah took a calming breath.

  “I want you to be ready to come ashore. If we find a laboratory, you may want to examine it, but I don’t think the Professor is very good. There’s a group of creatures on that island that are misshapen with low intelligence. I think they are his failed experiments.”

  “A Genetic Engineer from the old school. We didn’t do any of that on Cygnus VI. We cloned, but that was standard technology, not any kind of research. When can we go look at the lab?” Chrysalis asked.

  “We have no idea where the lab is or when you can come ashore. We haven’t gone ourselves, yet, but we have a plan.”

  “Good. Let us know when things are safe for us to look at the laboratory,” Patti May said as she returned to the bench where she’d been working. She waved one hand dismissively as she resumed her study. Chrysalis shrugged and mouthed the words, ‘thank you.’

  Micah walked out of the lab and opened her neural implant. ‘Holly, would Dr. Johns be put out if I killed his son and that other scientist that we’ve been saddled with?’

  ‘Master President, I never know when you are joking. I don’t think anyone should be killing anyone else. Those two are established scientists. They are very good at what they do. You shouldn’t have any problems with them,’ Holly said soothingly.

  ‘So, yes. Dr. Johns would be put out, is what I hear from you. We need help and they aren’t helping. They don’t even seem interested in helping.’

  ‘Master Micah, Pik Ha’ar’s plan is tactically sound and has a very high probability of success. I think you underestimate your abilities,’ Holly added, sounding confident.

  ‘I think you overestimate them,’ Micah replied, closing the link.

  Pik asked to meet the two Wolfoids and Micah on the bridge. Once there, he used the navigation board to show a three-dimensional image of the island. The Wolfoids were never good with two-dimensional maps, but they seemed to completely grasp the representation that Holly provided.

  Pik ran through the plan afresh, talking about how long it would take each group to travel through the jungle. They estimated the time between drop off and when they should start walking. Then he changed things. Once south of the island, the ship would turn around and head the opposite direction, which changed the delivery sequence, but Pik wanted to reduce the predictability.

  The ship would circle the island a second time, dropping each group into the ocean on the starboard side, away from where someone on the beach could see them leaving the ship. With the Dolphins’ assistance, thanks to Bronwyn, they’d swim the teams close to the shore, then return to the ship for the next group. Pik absolutely didn’t care that the ‘cats were going to get wet, although Fea didn’t complain. Her mate had been captured, too.

  The female Hillcats were the hunters when they ran in a pack. Fea was no different. She watched over a great number of ‘cats, the matriarch of a large group that had left the ‘cat enclave in Warren Deep and ventured to the south to reestablish themselves as predators and not surrender to a life as a shepherd. And bonding with humans was encouraged, to help humanity along a better path.

  Fea was going after her mate, just like Micah, and wouldn’t return without him. ‘I don’t think you can hear me, Ax, but just in case, I’m coming for you.’

  Micah put a hand on the white ‘cat’s back, hoping they’d be ready for whatever the Professor had in store. Micah had her sword slung across her back and two blasters. She carried a length of rope, one flask of water, and only a little food, energy bars as the fabricator referred to them. And that was it. She would be ready to fight with each heartbeat as they traveled inland.

  The ship swung around the south end of the island and the first group prepared to go into the water. The Rabbits wore their life preservers and the Wolfoids had an extra flotation strap around their necks, to keep their heads out of the water.

  The ship sailed past the cove, where Brandt’s group would disembark last. First up was Micah’s group. She let a strand of rope trail behind her that Aadi could hang on to as the Dolphins took them ashore. Micah carried Fea in her arms, hoping she’d be able to keep the ‘cat from completely submerging. Bronwyn carried her own food and water. For a teenager, she’d seen too much, been a part of things no one her age should have to be a part of, but thanks to G-War, she was stronger and Micah was happy to have her along. Bronwyn would be able to keep the creatures from attacking them while the Professor was taken care of.

  Pik didn’t say anything. He simply pointed at the ocean and nodded. The Dolphins magically appeared next to the ship. Bronwyn and Micah climbed directly onto their backs as Fea wrapped herself across Micah’s shoulders and Aadi clung to the rope from her pack. The Dolphins veered away from the ship, lolling in a trough to put distance between themselves and the ship. Once it was well clear, they started swimming.

  Micah Ashore

  Aadi tried to stay as close to the water as possible, not wanting to be easily seen, but every time a wave hit him, Micah was almost yanked from the Dolphin’s back. Fea clung to Micah’s neck like a huge scarf, draped to her waist. The ‘cat was mostly dry and Fea wanted to stay that way. Bronwyn was soaked as she frolicked on Rhodi. Chlora was all business, carrying a heavier load and dragging a sea anchor.

  The Dolphins took them into the surf then swam parallel to the beach until they were in waist-deep water for Micah. She slid off Chlora, thanking her for her help, turned, and ran for the beach with Aadi still hanging onto the rope. Fea dropped to the sand when they were past the tide. Bronwyn did the same, taking longer to come ashore as she watched Rhodi and Chlora dive through the surf and race to catch up as the ship sailed into the distance.

  Zyena was perched in a tree, intently watching the jungle. Micah and the others stopped below her and waited. They’d agreed not to use the mindlink. The Professor had to know they were coming, but the details of the plan were different from the exe
cution. Now that they were ashore, silence was king. Micah had turned her neural implant completely off as Holly had encouraged.

  Zyena used her wing to point to a path and then nodded. She took off and flew ahead, staying under the jungle’s canopy, landing where she could see Micah as well as the approaching trail. They’d asked for her to screech in warning if anyone or anything appeared.

  Fea melted into the undergrowth, popping up not far away, her all-white head standing out against the greens prevalent on the island. She sat calmly and, with all her senses, watched.

  Bronwyn leaned close to Micah, but only to watch the jungle, study it, listen to its sounds. She didn’t seek comfort. She’d learned a great deal about the world in her short time on it, and she realized that some people weren’t compatible with the rest. She discovered that the humans and the Overlords could not coexist. In her mind, the creature that called itself the Professor was in the same category. She expected that when night fell, he’d be gone and she was good with that, because she believed that it needed to be done. She looked at Micah, smiling, knowing that Micah wasn’t afraid to kill him herself.

  Micah noticed the teenager looking at her, but didn’t speculate on why. It only mattered that the girl stay out of harm’s way. Micah waved to Zyena, then pointed at her own eyes and stabbed her fingers forward, pointing down the trail.

  Zyena understood. Scout the way ahead. She launched and flew forward, weaving left, well away from the trail, then right, crisscrossing the trail at ninety degrees as she looked to make sure the others weren’t walking into a trap. A ways forward, she ran across a built-up mound, with a door inclined against it, as if opening to a stairway down. The Hawkoid resisted the temptation to project a mental image of the door. She flew around it, and not seeing anyone or anything, she returned, landing on the sand next to Micah. With her talon, she drew a rough map of the trail leading ahead, then meticulously drew in a door and a mound. It was little more than a stick figure as this was her first time drawing, but she pointed emphatically to the circle and door.