Green World

by B. V. Larson

  “Remember,” she shouted to be heard over the whirring machinery. Every passing second, it revved up in volume and intensity. It was beginning to throb already. “Remember, McGill: you’ve got twenty minutes max to die. After that, you’re permed.”

  I nodded, trying to tell her that I’d ridden the first of these devices they’d ever made, and that I’d teleported my first time about when her daddy was cutting his first tooth—but I never got the chance.

  Suddenly, the world went white—then it was gone entirely.

  The trip wasn’t a long one, fortunately. When I appeared on a rocky shoreline, I was only slightly out of breath.

  Overhead, the sky was a dark, gray-green. The ocean off to my right was almost the same color.

  It was raining, and the drops splattered on my bare back. I stood up from my crouched position and looked around, taking stock of things.

  “Well this is a loser,” I said, staring at the beach. “Hey techs, if you’re listening, this is the original beach I visited back in the day. I recognize the Wur hut up there on the rise.”

  I pointed upslope, and I waited for some orders or something—but there was nothing.

  Hmm… that wasn’t a good sign. The last time I’d done this casting business, I’d been in contact with the people who’d tossed me down into the depths of the Moon. They’d come up with improvements, and they’d said they could talk to me as well as hear me.

  But not this time. I experimented with a few hoots and hollers, but it was no good. Either the connection had broken, or it was only one way on this rig—or maybe the range was too great. I wasn’t sure which was the case, so I proceeded as if they could still hear me.

  Striding down the beach, I was soon soaked. The world was chilling my balls down pretty good, as I was wet and getting buffeted by thirty kilometer an hour winds.

  I immediately thought of how nice a suit of special-made Vulbite-made armor would be right now, and I wished I was wearing one. That wasn’t in the cards for two very good reasons: one, you couldn’t take anything with you when you rode the casting couch. Two, I’d heard the top brass had sucked up all those suits for themselves. The Vulbites could only make about one a day, and once you got through every clown with stars on his shoulders, I figured it would take years to get down to grunts like me who actually needed it.

  Left with no other choice, I shrugged off my minor discomforts. I walked barefoot up to the old Wur building and poked around inside.

  The place was just as abandoned as it looked. A few ten-legged crabs scuttled away—that was it.

  “In case you guys are listening in and recording all this,” I said loudly to no one, “this trip looks like a bust. I’m going to swim out into the sea and drown myself. That’s probably the easiest way to end this fiasco.”

  Turning away from the abandoned building, I strode directly toward the waves. The rain was still going. It was coming down a little harder now, if the truth were to be told. I was anxious to get this over with.

  When my feet splashed into the waves about knee-deep, I heard an odd sound. It was a thrumming, sort of. An unnatural sound.

  Turning around and scanning the sky and the seas, I gazed north, east, west—there it was! Something was up in the air, coming in fast. It was helicopter of some kind, but it didn’t have any visible props.

  “You getting this, guys? I hope you are. I don’t know what kind of aircraft that is, or what it’s doing, but I’m gonna have to run to make it to deep water.”

  So saying, I picked up my naked feet and started splashing. Unfortunately, the beach was as much rock as sand, and my soles were soon banged up, and I was cursing something awful.

  There was a ripping sound overhead. The copter—or whatever it was—had pulled up and was hovering above me. The water was flooding away from me in a circular pattern. I thought about throwing myself into the surf, but there wasn’t any point yet. It was just too shallow. Not even I could manage to drown myself in a few centimeters of water.

  Running now for all I was worth, I made it to bigger waves, but they were less than a meter tall. Green World’s ocean wasn’t very turbulent, as it lacked a big moon like ours.

  Still, I didn’t give up. I picked up my feet, lifting them up high so I wouldn’t be dragged down by the surging sea. If I could just get to where it was deep enough to dive down…

  That’s when everything went dark. Was that helicopter landing on my ass? That was the impression I had, and I dared to glance over my shoulder and up.

  It wasn’t landing on me. Instead, it had tossed down a spinning metal net of cables.

  “Oh, shit…”

  I dove into the waves. I tried to swim like one of ten-legged crabs I’d spotted on the beach, dragging myself over the sand and rocks on all fours. I had to stay low, I had to—

  The net closed over me. They hadn’t been fooled or even slowed down by all my efforts. Instead, the net of cables wrapped me up, and I felt a jolt of electricity.

  It was nothing to write home about. I’ve been shocked any number of times, and this wasn’t a killing dose. Not by a long shot.

  But it did numb the nerves and cause a surprising level of pain to my entire body. Maybe it was worse because I was wet and in contact with the ground. I could only guess.

  The long and the short of it was things didn’t go my way. I was scooped up like a mackerel in that net, and I was hauled up into the strange craft that hovered overhead.

  Sure, I struggled and cursed and tried to tear loose of the trap. My only thought was to somehow break free and drop into the ocean from a serious height. With any luck, I’d be drowned in that dark cauldron of water.

  But I wasn’t successful. Despite my best efforts, I was hauled aboard the strange aircraft.

  There, the greeting wasn’t a warm one. Six figures with dog-like snouts huddled around me in my net.

  “Hey boys,” I said. “How’s tricks? You want to fetch me a stick, or sniff my butt?”

  Either they didn’t like my jokes, or they weren’t the friendly kind of dogs. They lifted black clubs and beat me with them. They struck my ribs, my limbs, my balls—and at last, one of them landed a good one on my skull.

  I passed out and knew no more.

  -36-

  When I awakened, I was mildly worried. I’d kind of hoped they would have killed me while the folks back home monitoring the casting device were watching. There seemed to be little chance of that at this point.

  The first clue came when I saw the dawn light coming in all pink and pretty on the horizon. The helicopter-thing had a few windows, and the first gleams of sunlight were unmistakable, and they were coming in at a nearly horizontal angle.

  “Oh… shit…” I said, rubbing at my hand.

  A dog-man stood up and approached when I awakened. He was fuzzy, if not outright furry. I thought I saw the fuzz on his back lift his shirt a little as he bristled, but it could have been my imagination.

  I glanced down at the stick in his hand. It was black, like the ones they’d used to work me over last night. It wasn’t fancy with electric shock capabilities—nothing like that. It was a stick, and this dog liked his stick.

  He stared at me, lifting his dark lips from his teeth now and then. I sat up and nodded to him.

  “Nice doggy. Where’s your master, boy?”

  The stick came up again, and I thoroughly expected to get my second beating of the mission—but it didn’t come.

  Instead, a small, feminine hand touched dog-boy’s elbow. The stick lowered.

  “Let me talk to him, Sergeant.”

  My mouth dropped open, but it really shouldn’t have. I knew that voice, I knew that hand—it was none other than Abigail Claver.

  “Seriously?” I asked her. “You came out here to pick me up?”

  “Of course, James. I know you pretty well. You told me about meeting the Wur out here at this lab complex, so I figured Central might get around to sending an agent here to take a look around. I’m kind of
surprised to see it was you again, however. Weren’t you reassigned to doing some kind of fruit inspection at the docks, or something?”

  “Something like that, yeah. I didn’t do too well. They didn’t like when the Sea Empress blew up, I guess, so they sent me out here to look around.”

  “I see…” she eyed me, and I could tell she wasn’t entirely believing me. But at the same time, she didn’t seem to know about the approaching transport full of legionnaires, and I wasn’t going to tell her about that.

  “Well,” I said clapping my hands on my knees and starting to get up, “I really should be getting back to Central. There’s nothing really to see out here, is there?”

  Dog-boy twitched and rose up on the balls of his feet—if he had any. He was like a watchdog straining on his leash.

  Abigail sighed. “No, there isn’t much out at your arrival spot. Unfortunately, you’re about to see something much more worthwhile.”

  “Uh… maybe you could just fire me back toward Central? I’ve seen nothing more than a few two-legged hounds and this weird copter.”

  She shook her head sadly. “You’ve seen me, too. Besides, I’ve got orders—I can’t just let you go again.”

  “Let me go? Last time, you shot me.”

  “Right. No more easy ways out for you, I’m afraid.”

  I sat back and she gave me a tube of piss-warm water. This went well with a tube of greasy nutrient paste. I ate without gusto.

  “What’s the deal with the dog-men?” I asked her. “I’ve never seen the like before.”

  “You haven’t? Ah, well, I can see why not. You’re not from around here. You see, my brothers and I have gotten into a new trade.”

  I eyed her, and I almost didn’t ask. But then, curiosity got the better of me. “What kind of trade? You running a puppy-farm?”

  “Sort of. Remember when we used to use the revival machines to churn out primitive Claver Threes?”

  “Sure do.”

  “Well, we kind of ran out of gas on that idea. Revival machines are in short supply right now what with you Earthers having moved the manufacturing business away from the border.”

  “Ah, so you’ve gotten into something else? How did you come up with this guy?” I jabbed a thumb at the hound, and he looked like he wanted to bite it off for me.

  “He’s quite an achievement, actually. He’s a genetically designed hybrid humanoid. We’re quite proud of the breed.”

  I nodded, finishing my breakfast paste with a grimace. As a prisoner, you never knew how long it was going to be before you saw your next meal, so I had a strict policy of finishing my food, even it if tasted like barf.

  “Who’s your buyer?” I asked conversationally.

  “The rebels, of course. They’ll take anything and anyone in their quest to put down Earth. Even humans are welcome, if they’re notorious enough.”

  I thought about the Clavers and men like Armel. They were indeed renegades, traitors of the worst stripe.

  Before I could ask for a place to piss, I felt the copter lurch and begin spiraling downward.

  Outside the only visible window, I caught a glimpse of dark green seas and a long beach with crashing breakers. “This can’t be the same place you came from to pick me up. You reached me too fast.”

  “That’s right. This is our main camp. I was out patrolling around when you tripped every alarm back at the old lab.”

  Just my luck. If she’d been a few hundred kilometers farther away, I probably would have drowned myself out of boredom and been back home by now.

  But noooo, I had to go and get picked up by Fido and his pack. Sucking in a deep breath, I was already planning out how I could kill as many of these jokers as possible. Maybe I’d even gain control of the copter—but I didn’t think I could fly it.

  And Abigail? Well, if she got in my way and didn’t step aside, things might go badly for her, too. After all, we’d both killed the other more than once in the past.

  One thing held me up, however. If I made a move, and I failed, well… I might be permed. Or at least, I’d be at the mercy of Abigail and her brothers. If they wanted to leave me dead, they could—for as long as they wanted.

  Remembering an old lesson from Claver himself, I yawned and stretched. Abigail and the dog-dude eyed me. They both knew I wasn’t tame. Not by a longshot.

  The copter landed, and the engines died. I climbed out with a dog at each side, and one behind me. Abigail led the way.

  The base was impressive. There was hustle and bustle everywhere. I saw at least a hundred dog-men doing things—driving lifters and such. There were even a few squids helping out—and what was that? A team of Vulbites down on the beach? Damn, every human-hater I knew of seemed to be on these islands.

  “Say,” I said loudly as we reached the warehouses, “you wouldn’t happen to be in a trading mood today, would you, Miss Claver?”

  Abigail stopped walking and turned around slowly. Her eyes were narrow with suspicion, but there was also a yellow gleam of greed in there. There always was when you dealt with a Claver.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Nothing. Probably best I wait to bring it up until I meet someone in charge.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Uh… like… one of your brothers? An authority figure, so to speak.”

  She put her hands on her shapely hips and glared up at me. “Are you trying to piss me off?”

  “No ma’am. It just comes natural.”

  “Right… well, I’m in authority here. You see this? This is the same base you first arrived at nearly a week ago.”

  I looked around, and I was impressed. I recognized the place all right. “Yeah, I know it—but last time, this place was deserted.”

  “That’s right. Our plans have been stepped up. We’ve gotten word from Earth that Central knows about us.”

  “Is that so?”

  She eyed me, and she took out her pistol. She checked the charge and snapped the breach.

  “James, you and I have had a lot of good times together, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to put you on ice for now. I don’t have time to entertain guests. Maybe, after everything is finished here, I’ll put in a revival order for you. Just for old times’ sake.”

  “That’s mighty nice of you, Miss Claver.”

  “I like to think you’d do the same for me—but now, if you don’t mind—”

  “Hold on a minute. Don’t you want to even hear the offer?”

  She hesitated. She knew me. Of every human on Heaven, Hell or Earth, I was quite possibly the slipperiest of all of them—with the possible exception of her and her brothers.

  Finally, she sighed. “All right. Give me your pitch—but make it fast, will you?”

  “No problem. I know you’re a busy woman. Well, here it is: Earth’s on the way here right now with six ships. They’ll be crossing the border into Province 926 in a few days. I’d say they’ll be here in a week, tops.”

  Her expression flickered, but she managed to laugh at me. I could tell my words had made her nervous, but she was determined to keep up a brave front.

  “That is total horseshit, McGill. I don’t blame you for trying to bamboozle me, but there’s no way they could invade 926 in force. The Skay will stop them.”

  “What? You mean with those little, drone-like Skay they’ve got strung along the border? We’ve got a way to get past them.”

  Abigail looked alarmed. She was trying not to, but she was failing at it.

  That’s when I heard some crunching boots behind me. I turned to glance over my shoulder.

  “Now, how in the nine hells do you know about those Skay drones, McGill?”

  It was another Claver. A real Claver. A Claver-Prime, and he didn’t look too happy to see me.

  Abigail seemed miffed. “I was just about to get that out of him, brother, if you don’t mind.”

  Claver made shooing motions in her direction. “You’re too close to this. I’ll tak
e care of it. Go on break for an hour.”

  He whistled then, one short, hard blast that came out of the side of his mouth. The two dog-boys on either side of me clamped onto my arms. I was kind of surprised. They had some serious strength in their gray-black fingers.

  Maybe I’d been wrong about them, I realized. Instead of being a cross between men and dogs—what if they were part gorilla instead?

  It was an unpleasant thought, but the power in those gripping hands, and the look of those primitive fingers… Once considered, I couldn’t get the idea out of my mind.

  Abigail retreated, and with her I saw my best hopes of an early escape leaving me behind. I turned to face Claver and tried to toss him a salute.

  The dog-men grunted and dragged on my arms like I was making a move. I pretended not to notice, despite the fact their fingers were making deep indentations on both my arms.

  “Hey, Claver. Nice to talk to the real-deal. Listen up, I’ve got information that—”

  He hauled off and belted me then. One in the mouth, then two in the gut. Fortunately, I tightened up before he landed these last two and I barely felt them. The shot to the jaw, though—that had hurt a little.

  “You finished?” I asked him. “Or maybe you want to kick me in the balls, or something. Here, I’ll make it easier so you don’t miss.”

  I splayed my legs helpfully and grinned at him.

  Claver cursed and shook his head. “I know there’s no point beating on you, boy. I might as well kick around a sack of meal. You’re almost as dumb as these pit bulls for coming out here. You know that, don’t you?”

  I shrugged. “Orders are orders. You want to hear my pitch, or not?”

  He sighed. “All right, let’s hear some bullshit. It’s too early in the morning for it, mind you, but—”

  “Armel is going to do it,” I said.

  Claver snapped up his head to look at me. “Armel? What are you talking about?”

  “Have you noticed he’s dead? Or rather, he’s gone AWOL from Rigel?”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Was that your work?” He laughed out loud. “I did hear some crazy shit raided Rigel and killed some lizards. I didn’t hear about Armel, though…”