Free Trader Complete Omnibus

by Craig Martelle

  “The reason we’re here is because of ill intent, Holly. It’s hard to assume anything but. The raiders have put us all on edge.”

  Strider summoned the pups. They cautiously walked into the open.

  “How are you feeling?” Micah nonchalantly asked the young Wolfoids while not taking her eyes from the two figures crumpled on the deck. Klytus snarled and raised a claw. “Not yet, Klytus, but stand ready, just in case.”

  Strider thanked the pups and relieved them of her lightning spear. She liked the feel of it in her small paw-hands. The power. Who were they to deny others the same feeling?

  Because they didn’t abuse the power, that was who they were. Strider poked the woman with the butt of her spear. She groaned and rolled over. Strider knew what it was like to get hit by a stun weapon. On the island, she found out the hard way. It was a singularly unpleasant experience. She almost felt sorry for the two.

  Almost.

  “What were you doing on our ship?” Micah demanded, speaking firmly as she stood with her hands on her hips and glared at the woman.

  “Looking around, seeing what there was to see. It’s a unique ship, and we only wanted to look,” the woman mumbled, her eyes rolling back in her head.

  “Why didn’t you wait for us? Do you always go into other people’s houses when you’re curious?”

  “Not anymore,” the woman replied, blinking and trying to focus on the figure looming over her. “We are sorry. What hit us?”

  “An electrical charge.” Micah stepped back. “Since you survived, you’ll be fine.” Micah offered the woman a hand and pulled her to her feet.

  She stood, woozy and unsteady. Strider jabbed her male companion. He groaned, long and low.

  “Men,” Micah muttered, shaking her head. She kicked his foot. “Wake up!”

  He rolled his stomach and pushed up until he was kneeling. “My head…”

  Micah waited.

  He stayed where he was.

  “Your head is going to feel the toe of my boot if you don’t stand up.” Micah gestured toward him with her chin and guided the woman that way. Micah resisted the urge to throw the intruder into him.

  The woman helped her partner in crime to his feet.

  “Names,” Micah demanded.

  “I’m Blithering and he’s Idiot,” the woman said.

  Micah did a double-take before starting to laugh. Strider chuckled in the Wolfoid way. The pups followed suit.

  “What are your real names?” Micah asked softly.

  “I’m Hope and this is Chester.”

  Micah started to laugh. “I thought you were going to say his name was Les. I’m sorry.”

  “That would be funny and well-deserved,” Hope agreed. “I want to make it up to you, for boarding your beautiful ship without permission. We wouldn’t have touched anything.”

  “I’m sure you would not have, but those two—” Micah pointed to the pups. “—might have hit you with a bolt of lightning for your troubles. You were better off with what happened.”

  “I don’t feel better off, but I’ll take your word for it,” the man said, trying to stretch out his muscles. “I feel like a house fell on me.”

  “Stretch it out. Follow us so we can sit, drink water, and eat a little. We can tell you about us, the Wolfoids, the Rabbits, the ‘cats, all of it. We may be strangers to Southport, but we’re not strange, only different.”

  Delay

  Braden stomped through the puddles and huffed his dismay at the days that they’d been waiting for Forest to heal enough to continue on.

  G-War, Bounder, Skirill, and Zyena were somewhere on the mountainside hunting deer that the ‘cat had sensed and the Hawkoids had seen. The group needed to maintain its strength. That meant meat and vegetables. The natural hunters headed out.

  Braden had hurried away from New Sanctuary, comfortably carrying his two blasters but had forgotten his bow. He would have set snares, but he didn’t pack those either.

  The Wolfoid and Hillcat were efficient hunters without needing a weapon beyond their fangs or claws.

  Braden scowled. Cygnus was getting better, even though less than a week had passed since the raid on Livestel. Cygnus held his side as he rose and joined Braden.

  “I hear that the ladies like scars,” Braden said, pulling his shirt back to reveal a sample of the wounds he’d sustained over the years. The ragged tear from the Lizard Man’s trident was the worst of the bunch.

  ‘I can grow hair over mine,’ Cygnus answered using his thought voice, compliments of G-War, wherever he was. ‘But it’ll always be there, no matter what.’

  Braden put his hand gently on the Wolfoid’s shoulder. “Scars define us only in telling the world that we survived what it threw at us. We stitched ourselves back together and went about our business. If we tried to live any other way, then we’d let fear rule us, and I refuse to live that way. What about you?”

  ‘As the first born of Cygnus, I am a symbol of perseverance through the past and the promise of a better future. I don’t have the choice to be afraid.’

  “But you are. It’s natural. The thought of the Bat-Ravens makes my skin crawl. I know that the Golden Warrior’s emotions rage when he thinks of those foul creatures. He thinks I don’t know, but I do. That’s where courage comes in. Even though we don’t want to, we do what we have to—break out the blaster or the spear and stand in the open while they’re on their way.

  “It’s easy because I know that Micah has my back. And Aadi, G-War, Brandt, Skirill, all of them. They know that I have their backs, too. Bounder and Strider ask for our help and of course we come running. That’s what friends do. It doesn’t matter if you’re afraid, because we’re ready to go over the cliff together. I’m sure Bounder would tell a joke on the way down. G-War would look for a way to scratch me one last time. With friends like that? What’s there to be afraid of?”

  ‘I can still feel the knife scraping across my ribs.’ Cygnus winced as he said it.

  “So?” Braden replied, sounding more heartless than he felt. He held his shirt open to show the vicious trident wound. “Don’t live your life in fear. I suspect you’ll feel better when you have something in your stomach. It’s much easier to be brave when you have a gut full of venison.”

  Braden laughed and slapped the Wolfoid on the shoulder.

  “And if we haven’t found some greens or vegetables, Bounder will not be very happy. G-War won’t care because he’ll have already eaten the disgusting choice bits.”

  Braden waved for Cygnus to follow. Normalcy. We’ll give him the mundane until the pain lessens. It will always be there, my friend. Always, Braden thought as he tried not to flinch while buttoning his shirt.

  ‘Thanks, Holly,’ Micah said, sitting in the captain’s chair on the bridge. She’d taken the Warden back out to sea while waiting for the verdict from Southport about whether they would help or not. She had talked with Braden to find out that his group was stymied by the deluge and injuries to Rainy Forest.

  Holly continued to track the power signatures of the Wolfoid spears using the network of satellites that the ancients had put in orbit around Vii. They allowed Holly to guide Braden and his group to the raiders. They’d cleared the pass through the mountains and had made good time when they hit the other side, a long valley oriented north and south.

  The distance between Braden and the raiders was significant and growing with each heartbeat that the pursuers remained static. Micah knew that it had to be tearing at every fiber of Braden’s being, but he was safe and healthy. She secretly hoped that the raiders would fall into a bottomless crevasse, they and the spears lost forever.

  She could always hope, but she knew reality, and it would end in fire and lightning.

  Twenty Aurochs ran like the wind while Zeller and Young Tom hung on tightly. Arnie bounced the wagon over the rough terrain of the plains leading from the sea to the western edge of the Amazon rainforest.

  Bronwyn cheered and yelled, her light brown hair
flapping like a flag behind her. Cragmore playfully dashed left and right, as young Aurochs bulls are wont to do. The small group was easy to convince. They said good-bye to their fellows and that was that.

  In less than a day, Zeller and Tom would take the ancients’ road east, while Bronwyn would continue south. Eight days, bah!

  She figured they’d make it in five. Zeeka could be there already if she wanted. The Hawkoid rose above the sea breeze and raced far ahead to make sure the way was clear. It wouldn’t do to run headfirst into an ambush.

  It wouldn’t do at all.

  Arnie started to slow. Zeller, Tom, and Neeson appreciated the break. The seat was padded but after the bouncing of the previous two days, it wasn’t padded enough.

  Neeson yowled constantly. Through the mindlink, he maintained a steady stream of profanity that Tom never knew the ‘cat commanded. Neeson had been easygoing until combining the unknown of going to space with one of the roughest rides they’d ever taken.

  There was no western road. Theirs would be the first wagon tracks of the modern era.

  Arnie continued to slow as the herd raced further ahead.

  “Take good care of them, Bronwyn,” Zeller said aloud, knowing that the young woman would hear through her ever-present mindlink.

  ‘Always,’ Bronwyn replied.

  Neeson stopped yowling.

  “Are you okay back there?” Tom asked, trying to get a look at the ‘cat.

  ‘Finally,’ he said in his normal thought voice, without a trace of agitation. ‘I think we don’t have to go wherever they are trying to send us. I’ll be fine if I stretch a little and work at running. We can go back now.’

  “We’re not going back. This will be good for all three of us. We’ll get the chance to go someplace where very few have gone before to do something that no one has done.”

  ‘That sounds like the perfect reason not to do it!’ the ‘cat retorted.

  “Imagine the time when you’ll be able to hunt again, when you’ll be able to do what ‘cats do. I need you to say ‘yes.’ I need you to want to get better. That croc didn’t do you any favors, and you shouldn’t have to be punished for it for the rest of your life.”

  Neeson didn’t reply. He curled up in the back of the wagon, on top of huge sacks of flour.

  “Go ahead and sleep. We’ll be there soon enough, and you’ll need your strength.”

  Braden carried a bundle of edible greens in his arms while Cygnus had two hands full of things that looked like turnips. The Rabbits would have been able to tell them if they were worth keeping or not. The group had little choice so Braden told Cygnus to bring them along.

  As they were walking downhill to their camp, Braden saw something that looked familiar, yet strange. He took one more step and the vine laying innocently across his path started to worm its way toward him. “Look out! A mutie tree!”

  Braden threw the bundle to the ground as he pulled his sharpened blade, two hand-spans of Old Tech steel. He waited until the vine got close then hacked through it. Cygnus backed up. Braden hacked his way up that vine, found the rest of it, and went on a tirade. He chopped and beat the vines and the tree it was attached to until nothing moved.

  ‘You could have used your blaster,’ G-War offered.

  Aadi floated serenely, patiently waiting for the group’s return with dinner. His head was raised as he watched Braden’s antics.

  ‘Anything I can help with?’ he asked.

  ‘I think we’re good,’ Braden answered as he tried to calm his breathing. “Come here, Cygnus.”

  The Wolfoid walked close, shying away from the chopped vines. “Is it wrong to kill the mutant vine creature?”

  ‘What?’ Cygnus looked from Braden to the vines. He didn’t understand. ‘I guess not.’

  “Why?”

  ‘They’re bad?’

  “They attacked first and would kill us without hesitation. They can’t be reasoned with; they can’t be soothed. As long as they stay away from us, I’ll leave them be. When they start coming toward us, that’s it.” Braden sheathed his blade, then pulled it from his belt.

  He handed it to Cygnus. The Wolfoid looked at it without freeing a hand to take it. He continued to hold the root vegetables in his small hands.

  “Here,” Braden insisted.

  The Wolfoid shook his head.

  “Next time, I may not see them and I will need you to have my back. I have a knife and my blasters. I am not unarmed. But you are, or should I say, you were. We’ll have a lightning spear for you soon enough. Until then, take my long blade.” With the sheathed blade extended, Braden stood and waited.

  ‘Take it,’ Bounder said into their minds.

  ‘Before we grow old,’ G-War added. Skirill and Zyena swooped low on their way down the hill, gliding until they backwinged to a landing on a branch above Forest.

  Cygnus reluctantly took the blade, balancing it across his forearms as he refused to relinquish his vegetables. Braden’s look suggested he needed to say something.

  ‘I worked hard for these! I’m not just going to throw them on the ground.’ Cygnus looked purposefully at the greens that lay unloved where Braden had tossed them.

  “Damn,” Braden replied, digging through the pile to rescue most of his haul. With one last look at the dead mutie vines, he turned and walked away.

  Cygnus shrugged but didn’t immediately follow. Normal but in a different way. A new normal. The Wolfoid watched Braden’s light step as he walked toward the camp. It was as if a heavy burden had been removed from the human’s shoulders. Cygnus felt lighter, too.

  He couldn’t wait to add the long knife to his harness, practice and use it to defend himself from the likes of the raiders. They wouldn’t have a chance next time.

  If there was a next time. They’d be back on the trail in the morning. Success would mean twenty-five Wolfoid spears in the group’s possession. Whether they left any raiders standing or not was yet to be determined.

  Cygnus hurried after Braden. He felt like eating cooked venison and talking. He knew Bounder and G-War were bringing a deer in. He’d heard the ‘cat’s scream. They all had.

  Not the raiders. They were too far away. Tomorrow, they’d start to close that gap. Cygnus wanted the chance to make up for how weak they’d made him feel. But now he had something he could hold onto and proudly face his enemies.

  Cold steel.

  Tomorrow

  “Take us in, Holly,” Micah said. She found herself again in the captain’s chair, on the bridge, alone with a great view and her thoughts.

  “Of course. Will we have visitors again?”

  “I hope not.” The horizon shifted as Holly turned the ship toward the harbor. The coastline came into view before the odd bow of the exploration vessel. “How long to docking?”

  “No longer than an hour,” Holly replied.

  “Thanks, Holly. You’re the best!” Micah jumped up and headed down the stairs. There was enough time for her to take a swim in the well deck. The twins were already there, playing with the Dolphins.

  Micah remained inside when she reached the main deck, stripped to her underwear, and shrugged. Good enough. The scientists would stay below and the only other humans were her children.

  The ‘cats were on the garden deck wreaking havoc in the Rabbits’ orderly lives. Micah was a master at ignoring the sounds of chaos. She smiled and strode boldly into the sunlight. Two steps into the open air, two waves of warm water slammed into her.

  “I’m gonna get you!” She ran and dove into the water as the Dolphins sped away with tiny humans hanging on for a wild ride.

  “I don’t know if you can make it,” Braden told the King of the Aurochs. The trail led along a rocky edge, barely wide enough for a man to pass, before it descended toward a grassy green valley beyond. Brandt’s nostrils flared as he drew in a deep breath.

  ‘I can smell it. Heaven is right over there.’ Brandt closed his eyes and reveled in the aroma.

  “But you can’t
get through,” Braden replied.

  ‘Leave that to me,’ Brandt’s thought voice boomed. Braden looked at the drop-off. Steep. Rocky. Certain death.

  “I don’t think it’s a risk worth taking,” Braden argued.

  ‘How far away are the men?’

  Aadi floated over the canyon and slowly swam around the corner. The Wolfoids had gone ahead and were already heading downhill to green plains that extended to the horizon. Skirill and Zyena were flying south, staying close to the western mountains as they looked for where the men might be headed.

  Braden pulled up the window powered by his neural implant. “Far to the south. They continue to move, but they are slowing according to Holly,” Braden reported.

  ‘Go ahead. I’ll meet you on the other side.’

  Braden pinched his eyes shut, the vision of the king’s broken body at the bottom of the gorge seared into his mind. He choked up. When he opened his eyes, he couldn’t keep a tear from escaping. He rubbed Brandt’s nose one last time and turned away.

  ‘Go on ahead, little man.’

  G-War ran down the Aurochs’ face and jumped past Braden. He trotted ahead, seemingly without a care in the world.

  Braden followed him along the trail and around the corner until the King was lost from sight. He blinked away more tears as the ‘cat ran ahead to the first level spot. G-War stopped and sat.

  “What are you doing?”

  ‘Waiting for my ride,’ G-War said matter-of-factly.

  “Why aren’t you worried?”

  The ‘cat didn’t answer. The sound of rocks falling and an Aurochs snorting made Braden’s breath catch in his throat. He looked over his shoulder, slowly, because he didn’t want to see his friend’s death.

  Brandt Earthshaker, King of the Aurochs, stood on two legs, rocking precariously over the edge. His right legs were in the air, on the side of the cliff above the trail. He hopped forward a hand-span at a time.