Exodus: Tales of The Empire: Book 2: Beasts of the Frontier.

by Doug Dandridge

  Katlyn looked down in horror, dropping the teapot to land on the carpet. She scrambled to get to her knees and picked up the pot, watching the darkening stain of liquid spread across the fabric.

  “I am so sorry, Marta,” said the Baroness, her cold eyes glaring at the servant who had burned her guest.

  “I am sorry, ma’am,” said Katlyn, putting the pot back on the tray, then snatching up a cloth and moving to wipe down the woman’s dress.

  “You stay away from me,” said Marta, knocking Katlyn’s hand away.

  “Leave us, Katlyn,” said the Baroness, pointing at the door to the kitchen. “Wait for me, and I will be in to talk to you shortly. And send Kimberly out to serve us.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said a dejected Katlyn, picking up the tray and carrying it to the kitchen, listening as the women talked about how clumsy and stupid she was. She was near to tears as she entered the kitchen, but remembered to send a com call to Kimberly, summoning her to the kitchen.

  “What’s wrong?” asked the other servant as she entered the kitchen and saw the tears on Katlyn’s face.

  “I screwed up, Kimberly,” said Katlyn, feeling a sense of almost hysteria coming over her. “I was paying attention to the baby, and not to what I should be doing, and poured hot tea on one of the Baroness’ guests.”

  “It will be alright,” said the other woman, putting together another tray. “Just calm down, and it will be OK.”

  Katlyn could tell from the expression on Kimberly’s face that the other woman didn’t think it would be OK. She was just saying words she thought might calm Katlyn.

  Kimberly came in and out of the kitchen several times over the next hour, while Katlyn sat in a chair and waited to hear the verdict from the woman who employed her. It seemed to take hours, but eventually the Baroness came into the kitchen, her cold blue eyes fixed on Katlyn like lasers.

  “How dare you injure one of my guests,” she said, walking over to the quickly standing young woman.

  “Was she burned badly?” asked Katlyn in a panicked voice.

  “Nothing that nanites can’t take care of,” said the Baroness, putting her hands on her hips. “That’s not the point, you little common born trash. You caused distress to my guests, and I will not have that. You are no longer in my employ. You will leave this house immediately, never to return.”

  “Please,” said Katlyn, dropping to her knees and grasping at the employer’s dress. “No. It won’t happen again.”

  “No,” said the Baroness, taking a step back and glaring down at the girl. “It will not. At least not by you. There are a thousand girls out there waiting for your position. And one of them will have it. Now leave, before I call security to escort you out.” The woman turned and started to walk away, then spun back around on her heel. “On second thought, I don’t want you absconding with any of the silverware.”

  A few moments later a large man in the uniform of a liveried security appeared and dragged a shocked Katlyn off, adding insult to injury. She walked in staggering steps to the nearest bus line and caught the next one to the central station. She stared straight ahead the entire trip, not even taking in the scenery from on high like she normally did. What am I going to tell Cornelius? she thought. They would still do well enough on his income, but she wanted to feel like she was contributing to their progress up the financial ladder. Now she was to be relegated to the role of stay at home housewife, and without even any children to look after. She cried her way to the central station, and then on the elevated train home, where she sat in the living room and cried some more, waiting for her husband to come back from work.

  * * *

  “And then they escorted me from the manor like a common criminal,” stammered a crying Katlyn as Cornelius held her in his arms.

  Bastards, he thought of the people who had caused her such trauma. And all because she made a simple mistake, spilling some tea on her betters. Betters, he thought with a flare of anger. As if any of those people are actually better than we are. Cornelius knew he had above average intelligence. He had been tested back in primary school. But a commoner needed much more than above average to compete with the nobles for the slots needed for higher education, at least on New Detroit. Maybe if we were on Jewel, or a University rich planet like Avalon. It was said that even those with slightly above average intelligence scores could attend a University on those planets, if they had the proper work ethic.

  He wiped a tear away from Katlyn’s face, looking into the eyes of the woman he loved. So she’s not as bright as some, he thought, studying her classically beautiful features. That’s alright. I’m here to do the thinking for us. “Look. I’ll talk to my father and see what he can do. He has the ear of the Duke, after all. So what’s the word of some damned Baroness?”

  “You really think he’ll be able to do anything?” she asked, sniffling.

  Hell no, thought her husband, nodding his head. You’re not important enough. “Of course. Look what he did for me.”

  Katlyn’s eyes unfocused for a moment, the sign that she was accessing some information. “Your sister will be here in an hour,” she said, standing up from the couch. “And I don’t have anything prepared.”

  “You get cleaned up,” said Cornelius, giving her a quick hug. “I’ll order a delivery.” As the last word left his mouth he jacked into the local net and looked over the menus of the local delivery joints. With another thought he ordered Chinese and authorized a debit from his account.

  “You look beautiful,” he told his sister as she walked in the doorway with her husband an hour later. Natasha did look beautiful, with a glow to her face he had never before seen. Her husband, Larry, alternated between smiles and an expression of worry.

  Natasha took off her coat, and even in the baggy clothing she was wearing it was obvious that she had gained weight, most of it…

  “Are you pregnant?” asked Katlyn after hugging Natasha, then holding her back with hands on the other woman’s arms.

  “I am,” said Natasha with a smile, her eyes taking on the worried look of a caged animal.

  “How did you guys get a reproduction license?” asked Cornelius, suspicion raising its ugly head. “You’re younger than I am, Larry, and I’m looking at slim to none chances.”

  “We, we didn’t get a license,” said Larry in a hushed voice, as if afraid that he would be overheard. “I had a friend who reprogramed our nanites. Made us both fertile. And then, it was just God’s will, and nature.”

  “Are you fucking crazy?” yelled Walborski, fear and anger warring with each other in his feelings. “How in the hell did you expect to get away with that? What were you thinking?”

  “We wanted a baby,” said Natasha, as if that answered everything.

  “We decided to trust in God,” said Larry, looking upwards. “He will see us through this.”

  “Christ,” cursed Cornelius, looking at the idiot his sister had married. He turned his glare on his sister. “And how is God going to hide the fact that you are pregnant? Or the child, after you give birth, if it goes that far?”

  “God will protect us,” said Larry, trying to smile.

  And you’re still freaked out about what’s going to happen, thought Cornelius. Despite your assurances that your God will take care of you.

  “Why don’t we eat?” said Katlyn, gesturing toward the dining room, where the Chinese delivery was laid out.

  Yeah, why don’t we, thought Cornelius. A last good meal for my sister and brother-in-law.

  The meal was mostly eaten in silence. Cornelius kept staring at Larry, blaming him for everything that was about to happen to his sister. If they’re lucky they’ll just get a forced abortion, and a maybe some incarceration time in a work camp. That didn’t happen very often. There was always the possibility of mind wipe, and his sister would not know him, and he would really not know her, only her physical appearance.

  “How in the hell could they do that?” he complained to Katlyn after their guests had l
eft. “What were they thinking?”

  “That they wanted a child,” said Katlyn with a faraway look. “Just like most of us.”

  “It’s against the law. We are living on a population controlled planet. People just can’t have unlimited children, unless we want the overcrowding they were said to have had on old Earth. I for one like some wilderness area to roam around in.”

  “And you only get that because of your father,” said Katlyn in an angry voice. “The rest of us have to make do with the parklands they allow us common folk to use.”

  “It’s a job, honey,” said Cornelius, feeling a bit put off by her accusation that he was privileged to hunt the wilderness, something the average citizen couldn’t. “It pays for things like this apartment, and our aircar. I had nothing to do with being the child of a gamekeeper.”

  Katlyn got up from the couch, glared down at him with a pout, and stomped away to the bedroom. Dammit, thought Cornelius, ordering the trivee on with a thought. I just can’t win today. He knew he would have to watch some of the vee, and let Katlyn fall asleep. Otherwise, he would have to endure the tense silence of her lying with her back to him. So he sat and steamed, while the trivee recreated the scene of a popular comedy, something he was not the least bit interested in.

  * * *

  Cornelius walked slowly through the forest, placing his feet with care, trying to move like a shadow. The birds, or what passed for birds on New Detroit, sang, croaked and twittered from the trees. At times they would go silent, and the crunching of heavy footfalls would come to his ears. Damned tenderfeet, he thought of the nobles he was leading through the forest. They were here at the invitation of the Duke to hunt this planet’s version of big game. And big it was. Today there were on the trail of a five ton carnivore that was this planet’s prime predator. And it was his job to get them a kill without losing any of the idiots along the way.

  And if they keep making so much noise we’ll be lucky if we don’t see any King Tigers. And if we’re unlucky, one of the noble assholes will become food for the beast.

  Up ahead was the small river that watered this acreage of the forest. The watering point for the herbivores, and therefore the prime hunting ground of the carnivores. Cornelius spotted the blind that was his favorite in this area. It was masked with native scents, sprayed earlier by other foresters working for the Duke. Today’s prey would not smell them if they reached the blind without notice, which was what he was worried about. Kings had a great sense of hearing, and every kind of sound masker tried had just ended up attracting their attention.

  Cornelius settled himself into the blind and looked through the scope on his particle beam rifle. His was the only military class weapon out here. The rest of the hunters were here to bring home trophies, and a beam weapon didn’t leave a good hide. But someone had to be ready for the unthinkable, to save the hides of the rich bastards if one of them made a critical error.

  The three men he was leading settled into the blind, setting their rifles on the edge and looking through their scopes. Two of the men, a balding fat man and a thin as a rail elder, were clumsy in their movements. The third handled himself and his weapon with quiet efficiency. The Marine, thought Cornelius, nodding at that man with approval. He was a distant cousin of the Duke, and a serving captain in the Imperial Marines. And the only one to treat Cornelius or his father like they were actual human beings.

  [Only fire at the ones I designate as targets] sent Cornelius over the com link. The Captain acknowledged immediately. The other two stared at him like he was a pack animal that had just learned to talk.

  And then they waited. Several herbivores, from delicate antelope like beasts to plodding armored things that weighed twelve tons, appeared at the river bank to drink. The bald man raised his rifle to shoot at one of the later, and Cornelius grabbed his barrel and pushed it down.

  “How dare you, you common pig,” said the fat man.

  [We’re here to get Kings] he sent over the circuit. [If you want a Parson’s Rhino, then by all means we’ll take you on a hunt for one. But these other gentlemen are here for Kings.]

  [Ease up, Humphrey] sent the Marine, putting a hand on the fat man’s arm and squeezing until the other guy groaned. [I want a King. And I won’t hesitate to mount your fat hide on my wall if I don’t get one.]

  Humphrey nodded his head, and the waiting began. Eventually something rustled the bushes, and a heavy dark form came loping out of the foliage. It stopped, crouched down on its six legs, while its ears moved independently to scan the area. Its striped coat of purple and red moved with the play of muscles. Cornelius admired the animal as it bent down to drink, knowing that this was not one they were after. It’s still a baby, he thought of the six hundred pound beast. Which means momma and the others are around here somewhere. He didn’t want them to shoot a baby, or a mother that was still taking care of the young and teaching them to hunt. This one was more independent than his littermates, and had come on ahead. He scanned the jungle up from the river, hoping that a big male would appear. Kings hunted in prides, and where there were young, there were sure to be adults.

  The young King at the river howled, and Cornelius swung his rifle to get a look at it in his scope. The animal was falling to its knees, blue tinted blood staining its beautiful coat.

  “I told you not to shoot at anything I didn’t designate as a target,” he said, pulling the rifle out of the fat man’s hands.

  “But it was standing right there, you low born ape,” growled the man.

  “It was a juvenile,” said Cornelius, staring into the man’s eyes without flinching, making the noble recoil. “They are protected by law.”

  “It looked big enough to me,” said the man, looking down.

  “Look out,” yelled the tall thin man, and Cornelius turned in time to see an enormous female King Tiger come running at the blind. He quickly got behind his rifle and pulled the trigger, sending a dark red beam into the jungle. A tree exploded from a hit, and the guide pulled the beam into the carnivore. With an explosion of flesh and blood the beast went down.

  “That was the momma,” said Cornelius, glaring back at Humphrey. “The daddy will be out there as well, and now he will be hunting us.”

  “So if we shot him wouldn’t she hunt us?” asked the thin man.

  “It doesn’t work that way. If we killed the male the mother would have run off with the young to protect them. That’s her instincts. But the male will seek revenge for his mate, that’s the way he’s wired.”

  “So what do we do?” asked Humphrey, his face a mask of fear.

  “We stay put, and wait for the air rescue car to come to us. And hope maybe the male does something stupid, and puts himself in our sights.”

  “Is he likely to do that?” asked the Marine Captain.

  “Not really,” said Cornelius, shaking his head. “He’s most likely waiting out there in the jungle for us to come to him. He saw what happened to his mate, or at least what remains of her. He knows what we can do, and will try not to attack where we can get a shot at him.”

  “How smart are these things anyway?” asked the Marine, the only one who seemed to be keeping his head.

  “Not as smart as us. But a lot smarter than your house cat. They can reason enough to make them dangerous.”

  So they waited, until the com came in from the rescue craft, which put down in the small clearing near the river. The door gunner kept the other side of the clearing covered while Cornelius led his charges to the car. They were almost there when a roar erupted from the jungle and five tons of angry male King Tiger came charging out. Cornelius tried to get his weapon around in time, realizing that he wasn’t going to make it, and the animal was headed right for him. The crack of a hypersonic pellet sounded, and the beast staggered, then fell as another round struck it in the center of its chest. The carnivore fell, and Cornelius turned to see the Marine Captain standing in a shooter's stance, his mag rifle to his shoulder.

  “That was great sh
ooting, my Lord,” he said to the noble. “And thank you.”

  “At least we have our trophy,” said the Captain, looking over at the other two nobles. “Or at least I have mine.”

  On the ride back to the manor the other nobles stared at Cornelius with hostile looks, and he heard whispers about how they were going to complain about the hunt, and how the gamekeeper had bungled it.

  “And I will tell my cousin that you fools almost ruined it for us all,” said the Captain, smiling at Cornelius. “I had a marvelous time, and I will name you both cowards if you say anything at all.”

  The rest of the flight was in total silence, and Cornelius realized that not all nobles were bad after all. Just the majority.

  * * *

  “So what the hell do you think I had to do with it?” asked Cornelius, looking across the table at the three interrogators, one from the factory management, one from the police, and one from the Baron himself.

  “Directly,” said the Baron’s man, “nothing. But we understand that Parker Murphy was not only your line mate, but your friend as well. And that you were there the night he talked about getting back at the Baron.”

  “He didn’t say he wanted to get back at the Baron,” said Cornelius. “He called the people over him bastards, but he never said he was out for revenge.”

  “And you didn’t think to tell anyone about the incident at the bar?” asked the detective.

  “You all arrested him,” said Cornelius, trying to keep his voice calm. “I would think you would know what he said. I gave a statement to your men.”

  “But you didn’t tell us,” said the manager, pointing his finger at Cornelius. “We might have been able to prevent the sabotage if we had been given advanced warning.”

  “What did you want me to do? He didn’t work here anymore, and he didn’t make any direct threats. This is a free society, or at least I thought it was, and we are free to speak our minds.”

  “Do you like working here?” asked the manager. “Any complaints you would like to voice?”

  And lose my job, thought Cornelius, shaking his head. Not me. “I have no complaints. You have been very good to me.”