No one had seen the scientists in days.
Micah thought about all of that in the moments before she stepped through the door, letting it close behind her. They walked down the stairs, but slowed as noise rose from the level of the meeting room.
“Gailey?” Micah wondered, stopping.
“We have a number of interested parties. Heads of each of the craft guilds, the fishermen’s coalition, and more.”
Micah crossed her arms and tapped a foot.
“What? This is an important decision. We couldn’t make it all by ourselves.”
Micah loosened her blaster and continued downward. Strider tapped her spear. ‘Fea, be mindful of our lines of fire,’ Micah shared over the mindlink, looking at the meeting as a tactical combat situation and not a diplomatic effort.
Gailey walked through the doors with her arms raised, calling for quiet.
Micah had rarely seen so many people packed into such a small space. And every one of those times, it portended a monumental change in the lives of those attending.
She wondered if this would be more of the same.
After a deep breath, she looked around the room. Usually Braden made the speeches, but she was the President.
“My name is Micah and I come from the east. I live in New Sanctuary with my partner, the Free Trader. He has connected the north with the south, bringing livestock and trade, securing the routes from east to west. We have now come south and ask only for you to consider what you may have excess and what you may be lacking. We might be able to help, but I ask that you help us. Men, raiders, from somewhere east of here have attacked us and stolen some Old Tech, powerful Old Tech. They don’t know what they have and we want it back before they cause irreparable damage to families, to towns, and to that which matters to us.”
Micah paused to get her breath.
“They’re here to take!” someone shouted. Micah couldn’t see who it was, but others hushed him.
Gailey stood up. “QUIET!” she bellowed against the murmurs. “You’ve all seen their ship. Look at her!” Gailey pointed. Instantly, Micah was self-conscious.
“Yes, look at me,” Micah replied softly, walking forward so she could be closer to the group. She wanted them to see the determination in her eyes. “We don’t need anything from you except information. Dunk’s Town, is it? Are they causing you problems? I think they’re the ones who are causing us problems. I want your help to take us there. In exchange, we have an Aurochs herd en route, intelligent creatures that will help fertilize your crops. Rabbits can help you with your fields, but all of these creatures are equals. They look different, but don’t we all?”
The murmurs started afresh. “Shut it!” Gailey yelled again. “What’s wrong with you? We need help or our kids will be the last generation.”
Is it that dire? Micah wondered.
“We can provide a guide to show you how to get to Dunk’s Town. After that, you’re on your own. We’ll accept the Aurochs’ help and the Rabbits’, but it’s still our town, for humans, run by humans,” Windsmede stated, emphasizing her final points by pounding her fist on the table.
Micah smiled slowly and said two words. “No deal.” She turned and walked out. Strider followed and Fea ran ahead.
‘I can’t get out of here fast enough. We shouldn’t help this town or those people.’
‘I’m inclined to agree, Fea. We’ll see if Bronwyn and the Aurochs can make them change their ways.’
Someone started pounding up the stairs after them. Micah took the stairs two at a time until she reached the next landing. She pulled her blaster and dialed it to a narrow beam, took a knee, aimed down the stairs, and waited.
Micah pulled up when Gailey ran into view. The old woman huffed and puffed, holding her hand over her heart as she fell back against the railing.
“Dammit, Gailey! I thought the mob was unleashed on me.” Micah holstered her pistol while rushing down the stairs to help the old woman.
“It’s worse than any of those old fools will admit. If we can breathe new life into our farms, then Southport can thrive once again. The majority down there don’t agree with Windsmede.” Gailey stabbed an angry thumb over her shoulder as she continued to wheeze.
“I guess we’ll continue what we’re doing. Bronwyn would be pretty angry if we told her to turn around. You don’t want to make her angry or the Aurochs that travel with her. Or the Hawkoid.”
“Hawkoid?”
“Yes, a Hawkoid. A big, intelligent bird. If you have a rabbit problem in your fields? She’ll take care of that in no time.”
Micah offered Gailey her arm to help the old woman the last couple flights of stairs.
“Would you have shot me with that thing?” Gailey asked, nodding toward the blaster at Micah’s hip.
“Yes. If you were leading a mob after me or Gray Strider or any of us, yes.”
“At least I know where you stand.”
“And you know for a fact that I did not shoot you, because we talk first. My partner in life taught me that. There was a time when I didn’t believe it. Judge first, deal with the damage later, but not anymore.”
“I’m selfishly happy that you’ve changed your ways.” Gailey patted Micah’s arm. Strider opened the door and held it as the two women walked into the sunshine.
“We are going to press forward, head east toward Dunk’s Town. I know Braden and his group are closing on it from the north. We don’t need Southport’s help at all. I have a good map that will show me the way. I only wanted to give them something to trade so they would accept our help. Do you know what we really want? We want friends to our south, not enemies.”
Gailey leaned back and put her hands on her hips. “Why didn’t you tell them that? It makes more sense than trading. Who does that?”
“We do. We believe in free trade first. That has been Braden’s whole life. He gets so excited talking about it. I get excited watching him, but I can’t convey the same message.”
“But you can,” Gailey replied with a motherly smile. “I can’t wait to meet this Braden of yours. I’ll keep working on the group down there, and you go do what you have to do.”
Micah smiled and the two hugged. Gailey disappeared through the door on her way back down into the bowels of the planet.
“As soon as Bronwyn gets here, we’re heading inland, cut off the raiders’ retreat.” Micah kicked at the ground as the anger swelled within. “And punish them for coming after your people.”
‘Our people. Aren’t we better for coming down here? Southport needs our help and now, they’re going to get it.’
“Sometimes, I need to put on my President’s hat more often, but I still feel the need to punch people in the face because that’s the only thing they understand.”
‘But not these people. I think that they’ll become friends, join the trade route, and start growing. Some of their leatherwork is the best I’ve seen,’ Strider offered while they walked toward the harbor.
“And their fishing nets. They’re better than what my dad is using. We need their help, more than I was able to say.”
The Spaceship Traveler
Zeller walked to one side before correcting herself and angling back. Tom and Neeson were doing the same.
‘I hate this place.’ Neeson scowled. ‘There’s nothing alive.’
Tom worked on his gait until he could maintain a straight line. “I think I have the hang of it!” Zeller looked over her shoulder at him, staggered left, and bounced off an enclosed piece of machinery.
“Then you lead.” She handed him the paper as he walked past. She waited until Neeson was in front of her. She realized that they were acclimating to the ship’s spin. The smell was far different from anything she was used to. There was no smell of an Aurochs, something that had been a constant in her adult life.
She felt for her sword, at her side as it always was. She practiced every day against opponents she carried within her mind. Zeller held the hilt tightly as she watched Tom walk c
onfidently forward. Neeson grumbled, but followed with his limping hitch.
The comm device in her pocket buzzed and kept buzzing. She took it out and looked at it. She hadn’t listened to the briefing and couldn’t figure out how to use it.
“Tom?”
He stopped before he turned, to avoid falling over. She handed the device to him. He pressed the single button on the front.
“There you are!” Doctor Johns’s voice came through loud and clear. “I see that you are on your way to the corridor that will take you to the elevator. It has been brought to my attention that the elevator may not be working. You may have to go to the stairs, but your bracelets will give access to most doors. You’ll see panels to the right of the doors. Just wave your bracelet there, as the briefing instructed, and the door should open. Good luck!”
Tom started to speak, but the green light went out.
“What a jerk,” Zeller said.
“Let’s do this thing and then go home. We’ll leave New Sanctuary and won’t have to go back, unless it’s to see Braden and Micah. I don’t like this place either. It’s big, but I still feel like I’m in a box from which I can’t escape.” Tom shivered, then clenched his jaw and started walking toward the stairs, which were set at even intervals around the engineering space. They needed to climb to the catwalk, enter a corridor, take it to the elevator, and tell it take them to the medical level.
‘I hate this place,’ Neeson reiterated.
Braden stomped his feet in frustration. Brandt continued to sleep while the Hawkoids assumed an aerial vigil, watching the village to learn all of its secrets.
The Wolfoids walked in circles which did nothing to burn off their nervous energy. Aadi floated serenely, blinking slowly.
G-War had found a soft spot on the King’s neck and was curled up sleeping.
The light flashed before Braden’s eye to notify him of an incoming message. He stared at the mountains as he opened the window.
‘Master Braden! I hope you are well,’ Holly said happily.
‘I’m not! We’re doing nothing while Brandt sleeps off the effects of the bad grass. Worse news is that there is nothing else to eat. I don’t know if we’ll ever get him out of this valley.’
‘Some of my research indicates that ingesting numbweed may offset the effects, but you’ll have to wait for him to wake up,’ Holly suggested.
‘Eat numbweed? We don’t have very much left. If we give him all of it, then we’ll have none in case someone gets injured.’ Braden looked at his companions. They weren’t privy to his conversation with Holly. He’d have to break the news the old-fashioned way.
He turned to the King of the Aurochs. “We need you,” he said softly.
‘Skirill?’ Braden ventured over the mindlink. ‘Do you know what the numbweed bushes look like?’
‘We believe so. You have processed a great deal of numbweed in our presence,’ Skirill replied before sadly adding, ‘And used it, too. There’s something happening in the village.’
Braden expected Skirill to continue, but he didn’t.
Zyena was next to speak. ‘I see them. A group of four men with Wolfoid spears in the trees to the south of the village.’
‘Holly, track four men leaving the village heading south,’ Braden requested.
‘I see them. The power signatures remain strong. Twenty-one spears remain in the village, sixteen in one building and the other five spread around the perimeter.’
Braden relayed Holly’s information to the Hawkoids.
‘We see the five.’ Skirill shared his view.
Braden translated what he was seeing, using a stick to make notations on the map he’d drawn on the ground.
‘You two come back,’ Braden ordered. ‘I need you to take G-War to look at the minds of the four to see if the leader is among them. If so, then we’ll need to hit the village sooner rather than later.’
‘On our way,’ Skirill replied.
Zeeka saw it first, the mast of the Warden. She flew over the town, circled back, and landed on the railing outside the mess deck. She nodded to Micah and Strider.
Klytus and Shauna threw themselves at the door, wanting to say ‘hi.’ Ax and ‘Tesh opened the door and the four nearly fell through the crack as they each tried to be first. Zeeka bent down and gently pecked them on the tops of their heads.
Micah and Strider squeezed onto the catwalk with the others.
‘Bronwyn would like to know where to take the herd?’ Zeeka asked.
“All business!” Micah replied easily, stroking the Hawkoid’s head and neck feathers. “Your parents are inland, with Braden. We are heading that way momentarily, now that you’ve arrived. We’ll meet Bronwyn and the Aurochs east of town, north of their fields.”
‘I will tell her,’ Zeeka replied in her pleasant thought voice. She bowed to the group, then launched herself from the railing. ‘It is good to see you, no matter the circumstance.’
‘It is good to see you, too,’ Micah replied. They were in Southport only because of the attack on the Wolfoids. Yes, better circumstances would have been nice.
The five-year-olds leaned against the railing and waved good-bye. The ‘cats went back inside where it was nice and cool.
Micah watched the Hawkoid wing away, disappearing into the distance.
“We better get ready to go, all of us. And, Holly? Once we’re off, take the Warden back out to sea.”
Fea nodded knowingly and Micah headed upstairs to the captain’s quarters to collect their gear.
The twins ran to the well deck to say good-bye to Chlora and Rhodi. Fea went to talk with the Rabbits, only to find Klytus and Shauna already there, tormenting the gentle creatures.
‘STOP!’ she ‘shouted.’ The small calico ran up the stairs to escape. The orange creature called Klytus made one last high-speed pass before darting past Fealona. She kicked him as he passed, sending him tumbling.
‘We hope that you’ll be able to accompany us to look at the Southport fields, make recommendations in conjunction with the Aurochs herd, and then travel further inland to assist Braden and my mate in the recovery of the Wolfoid spears.’
Luciana had pulled her laser pistol to threaten the ‘cats. She put it away and looked to Heloysius. The two chattered in their language before coming to an agreement.
‘Yes, we will come with you as long as those hooligans are not left on this ship. We shudder to think what they would do to our lovely garden. We only today got it in order after months of neglect,’ Luciana replied.
Fea knew that the Bots took care of the garden when no one else was on board. She’d seen it first-hand when they boarded the Warden after centuries without an intelligent creature on board.
‘Thank you. I believe we are preparing to leave any moment now.’
‘What?’ one of the Rabbits exclaimed. The two ran into each other as they each hopped in a different direction.
Fea left them to return to the deck. She hoped to eat her fill of tuna before they had to go. ‘Tuna?’ she asked Micah, unsure of where the President was.
‘Tuna!’ Klytus yelled and ran for the mess deck. Shauna appeared and raced after him. The twins were in the water with the Dolphins. Micah had her backpack fully loaded and two small packs for the children.
“Fine,” Micah said, dropping her gear and climbing one flight of stairs to order the fabricator to spit out plates of tuna.
The ‘cats dug in like they’d never eaten before. Micah grabbed a brownie for herself while she waited, then ordered two more for the twins.
“That’s enough!” she said when she decided they’d had enough. “Time to go.”
The Wolfoids were waiting. The Rabbits hurried up the stairs when Micah appeared. The twins were dripping wet, but present. The ‘cats were seated within paw’s reach of Fea. Treetis stalked back and forth by the pier.
“All present and accounted for,” Micah said, followed by, “Hope and Chester, wait for us on the dock. Everyone else, move out.”
<
br /> Tom waved his bracelet in front of the panel and the door slid open. He jumped back. Zeller stepped in front, snarling and sword at the ready. Neeson peeked through the door. There was nothing beyond but an empty corridor.
Zeller let her sword hang as she walked through the doorway. “How far?” she asked.
Tom referenced the map. “About halfway down on the left. Should be an elevator.”
“Do you see how long this corridor is?”
“That’s a long corridor,” Tom replied. Zeller raised her sword and started to jog, bouncing off the wall twice in her first five steps. “You make it look easy.”
Zeller shook her head, chuckling. “It’s a gift.”
Neeson keened his dismay with a long, low yowl.
“We’re almost there, buddy, maybe five more minutes.” Tom jogged after Zeller and Neeson kept pace. The elevator doors were obvious in their difference from the normal doors that lined the lengthy corridor. Zeller stopped and studied the door, smirking and pointing to a label atop the doorframe.
Elevator.
She waved her bracelet in front of the pad. They expected the doors to open like they’d seen in New Sanctuary, but nothing happened.
“Let me try,” Tom said. Zeller tilted her head down to give him the hairy eyeball. “Just in case something happened to your bracelet.”
Tom wouldn’t look at her as he leaned past and waved his bracelet in front of the pad before resting it on the pad. No sound came from beyond the doors. Zeller crossed her arms and tapped a foot.
“I guess we do it the hard way. Doctor Johns must have expected this because he put the alternate directions on the paper.” Tom held the sheet up, pointing to the door and stairs at the end of the corridor. “Come on, Neeson. We have to go the long way.”
The ‘cat’s limp became more exaggerated and it tugged at Tom’s heartstrings. He picked Neeson up and carried him the rest of the way. Zeller didn’t question it as she kept her sword at the ready, hurrying down the corridor in front of them.
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