ARMS War for Eden

by Arseneault, Stephen

  Tawn returned a half scowl. “I don’t get it. Why give us so much when you could hire your own delivery grunts for a fraction of the take?”

  Bax shrugged. “As much as I dislike the two of you, you’ve shown you can be trusted. I was miffed when you stole that first load, but you came back and paid me for it. And I haven’t had a single issue since. My suppliers are moving the merchandise they want. I’m being paid, you’re being paid, Mr. Herrik’s being paid. And the end buyers are getting the personal defense weapons they want. Sounds like a win for everyone.

  Bax crossed her arms. “Now… what I really want to know is… what are you gonna do with all those credits?”

  Tawn replied, “We’ll figure something out.”

  Harris asked, “Where’s this rented ship?”

  Bax held out a slip of paper. “You’ll find it parked at these coordinates. Use this entry code and she’s yours.”

  Tawn slowly shook her head. “This is too big a deal to be this easy. Are we gonna find a NE destroyer waiting there for us?”

  Bax sighed. “Look, you’ll be flying to those coordinates in the Bangor. If anything looks off, just fly yourselves out of there. One of you will be flying the rented ship and the other your own ship. When you get to Bella all you have to do is deliver the security code for the rented ship to Mr. Herrik. He’ll take care of the return. You collect your credits when he gets the code and you are then free to go.”

  Tawn scowled as she looked at Baxter Rumford.

  Bax held out her hands with her palms open. “What?”

  Tawn replied, “I don’t know. I haven’t figured it out yet. You’ve got my nose twitching and that usually spells trouble.”

  Bax began to laugh as Tawn looked down at a robotic dog that was attempting to latch onto her leg.

  Tawn glared at Farker. “I thought we had an agreement!”

  Harris said, “Come on. Let’s get this done so we can get on with our lives.”

  The pickup, delivery and payoff went as scheduled and predicted. The Bangor shot up through the Bella III atmosphere and out into space. A wormhole was opened to near Domicile and the boxy craft slipped through.

  Harris propped his feet up on the console for the two hour ride to Chicago Port Station. “I’m at just over eight million credits… What’s yours say?”

  Tawn returned an irritated look. “Same as yours. We got paid the same for all those runs. Why you asking stupid questions?”

  Harris laughed. “I don’t know. Because I’m stupid rich? Because I can afford to be stupid? All I know is you and I are each looking at a plush retirement. Where was that colony of slugs and stumps you mentioned?”

  Tawn sighed. “The Rabid system. Not even sure it exists. Could have just been wishful thinking by those slugs.”

  Harris put his feet on the ground. “Well here’s what I’m thinking I’m gonna do… when we get into port, I’m going straight to those loansharks to pay off the Bangor. They’re gonna flip. Then I’m going to my apartment to collect my stuff. And then I’m gonna go looking for the Rabid system. With the credits I have, I could build a palace and have a party every night with my own kind.”

  Tawn scowled. “That’s your retirement?”

  Harris spun around in his pilot’s chair with his feet again raised off the floor. “If it doesn’t work out, or if I get bored, I still have the credits to come back and live among the regulars, like a king. It’s a win – win. What about you?”

  Tawn scratched her head. “Not sure. If nothing comes up maybe I’ll just tag along. But I will be getting my own ship. Nothing against the Bangor, but she’s not mine.”

  Harris posed a question. “Ever thought you’d be owning your own ship?”

  “When I was younger, maybe.” Tawn replied. “Not in the last ten years. You know, there was a time when I thought I wanted to be a farmer. Just get away from the war and do nothing but grow vegetables all day. Sounded like bliss at the time. Now I can’t think of anything less interesting. Maybe I’ll buy a fancy ship and become an explorer. Gotta be worlds out there that need exploring.

  “I had this friend once, a squad member, and a slug, she always wanted to try to find Earth. If it even exists. She claimed her commander from when she first started to fight had knowledge of a site on one of these outer planets. Said it was used to help create the first wormhole that brought the colonists through from Earth.”

  “And where would this site be?” Harris asked.

  Tawn looked up at the ceiling in thought as she replied, “Don’t know. She died about half hour later during an assault. I think the story just stuck with me because it was the last memory I have of her. She was a good egg. Took a sniper round to the center of her chest. Blew her spine out the back. Didn’t deserve to go out that way.”

  The Bangor landed in her rented slip at Chicago Port Station. The next week was spent in luxury hotels, stuffing their gullets at five star restaurants and then drinking at the bars. After a particularly long late-night binge, Tawn awakened in the morning, showered, dressed, and made her way to Harris’ room.

  A series of loud knocks brought him to the door, rubbing his eyes. “What?”

  Tawn pushed the door open. “I took the initiative. There is a Rabid system. And there’s a single colony registered as being there. I thought we might go out and take a look.”

  Harris pulled his eyes open with his fingers. “So go.”

  “I don’t want to go by myself. Come on. We need an adventure. Otherwise you’re gonna become that five-hundred-pounder you talked about. We can’t eat and drink like this every night.”

  Harris chuckled. “I can. I feel like I’m living a dream right now. People like me. They cater to me. I eat what I want, drink what I want and do what I want… when I want. I’m kind of in a happy place right now. Don’t spoil it.”

  Tawn followed Harris into his bedroom and to the door of his bathroom.

  Harris said, “You think I could get some privacy?”

  Tawn replied, “I’m serious about this. And do what you gotta do. I’ve seen it all before. We need to be out there living, not stuck here sending ourselves to an early grave.”

  Harris dropped his shorts and sat on the toilet.

  Tawn raised her hand as she turned back toward the living area of the luxury suite. “OK, guess I didn’t need to see that. What I’m saying is that we’re wasting our time here. It’s a big galaxy and we have short lives. I just think we should be doing something with them.”

  Several minutes later, Harris came out of his bedroom, scratching his bum through his shorts.

  Tawn scowled. “I’ll be back in an hour to talk about this. Get a shower… you’re starting to smell.”

  ***

  Harris walked into the living area rubbing his belly. “I could use some breakfast.”

  Tawn winced. “You just had two large steaks about nine hours ago. Those are still digesting.”

  Harris picked at his teeth with a fingernail. “Think I got some gristle stuck in there.”

  Tawn chuckled. “You’re gonna make a fine catch for some woman someday. You want breakfast? Come on. My treat. I’ll take you to what used to be my favorite.”

  A short walk out to the promenade had the pair on a moving sidewalk. Fifteen minutes later they hopped off in one of the poorer sections of Chicago Port Station.

  Harris looked around with an unhappy face as they walked. “You know we have enough credits where we don’t have to see this squalor anymore. At least I don’t have to, anyway.”

  Tawn said, “Come on. It’s just over here. This lady used to feed me breakfast even though I couldn’t pay her. I want to buy breakfast and I want her to know just how much I appreciated her generosity.”

  Harris asked, “Is this at least a good breakfast?”

  Tawn half smiled. “It’s OK. That’s not why we’re here, though. We can talk about Rabid while we eat.”

  The old woman greeted Tawn at the door, taking her to the best booth in her
small establishment. “I’m so happy you’re doing OK. You just disappeared like so may others here do. I thought you might have gone back down to the surface.”

  Tawn smiled. “Nope. I got a business partner and we’ve done pretty well for ourselves. I thought I’d bring him over for a meal.”

  Harris thumbed through the menu. “How about… one of everything.”

  The old woman raised her eyebrows at the thought of what she would need to prepare.

  Tawn said, “He’ll have two of the special and I’ll have one. And as I said, we’ve been doing well with our business, so I’ll be paying this time.”

  The old woman smiled as she turned back toward her kitchen.

  Harris said as he held a hand above the table, palm flat, “Shouldn’t have mentioned that. Probably made her about this tall.”

  Tawn frowned. “Why would you say that?”

  “She gave from her heart. You appear to be giving from your credit store. Not quite the same thing. What you could have done was to show up here and to volunteer for a week and at the end leave an anonymous gift in her business account. Now you just made the relationship awkward.”

  Tawn looked on in fascination. “When did you become a relationship expert?”

  Harris laughed. “Always have been, just not when it’s my own. Now tell me about what you found on Rabid.”

  “It’s a small world, different grav. Mostly rocky with a few patches of fertile land that are tucked down in deep valleys that keep the more violent weather away. Oxygen is low as well, so no regulars there.

  “Was founded by a stump colonel and has anywhere from two to fifteen hundred inhabitants. One town in the valley where 95 percent of them live. At least that’s what I could dig up from rumors and the media. Most of it from a single source.”

  Harris stared at his partner. “And you think that sounds like paradise as compared to having everything here?”

  Tawn propped her elbows on the table. “Come on. Even you have to admit this non-stop festival of gluttony is getting boring. We have both accomplished exactly zero over the last week.”

  “Well I for one am not bored yet. But for the sake of your sanity, I’ll ride out to Rabid with you. Can’t hurt to just take a look.”

  Tawn leaned back on the booth bench she occupied. “I found out something else with my poking around. Our wormhole drives don’t work past the far colonies. There’s some kind of field that permeates this area of space that allows the drive to function. Just past the outer colonies and the field falls off. You want to travel anywhere else it’s using normal engines, which are about one-sixteenth light-speed.

  Harris replied, “Didn’t know about the field, but I did know the far colonies were it, at least for jumps, anyway.”

  The old woman brought out the breakfasts. Harris tore into his like a pig in a trough. Tawn attempted to hold back the urge but was soon overtaken by habit. As a Biomarine she had been taught to consume her meal quickly, as you never knew when it might be interrupted. The feeding frenzy was over in five minutes.

  Tawn attempted to pay for the meal but the old woman refused. After several minutes of friendly argument, a tip was accepted. The old woman scowled as Tawn passed two thousand credits into her account store.

  As they walked back out into the promenade, Harris said, “This tall.”

  “She’ll appreciate it later. She deserves it. And maybe she can help some other poor sap that’s down on their luck.”

  A walk was made to the docking bays where an order was placed with a ship supplier. Six crates of food and other supplies were to be delivered to the slip where the Bangor was being moored. Once aboard, the trip to the Rabid system would begin.

  Chapter 11

  _______________________

  The wealthy slug and stump were soon jumping to the supposed colony of Biomarines.

  As the planet in question came into view, Harris commented. “Not impressed. Looks about a third smaller than Domicile. What’d you say the gravity was?”

  Tawn shook her head. “I didn’t. The info I had only said it was different.”

  Harris frowned. “Hope it isn’t too low. I get annoyed with every step being a hop. And after a while you start to lose your muscle mass.”

  Tawn looked over. “After the past week you could lose a few kilos.”

  “Don’t want that to be muscle, though. I have a beacon signal for their spaceport. I’m taking us almost straight in this time.”

  “No practice flying?” Tawn asked.

  Harris shook his head. “I’m confident with what I can do now.”

  As the ship dropped through the atmosphere, the target valley came into view. “That’s it? You want to move here? What is that… a kilometer wide by twenty long?”

  Tawn replied, “Let’s not judge it until we’re on the ground.”

  The spaceport came up quickly, with the retrojets only being fired at the last possible moment. The Bangor slowed to a stop just short of a grassy field where a small building held the beacon.

  Harris laughed. “Welcome to beautiful downtown Rabid. I see they sent out the welcome committee for you.”

  Two dog-size animals scampered across the field toward a clump of trees.

  Tawn said, “I’m sure we can get all the info we want on this place at that round building over there. Looks like some kind of office.”

  The grav system of the Bangor shut down. Both Tawn and Harris could feel the immediate pull of a stronger gravity field.

  Harris looked over the sensors on his console. “Grav is at 112 percent standard. Haven’t been on a planet like this in a while. Sensors show a large molten palladium core. That density would account for the gravity difference. Not sure I remember ever hearing about that inside a planet.”

  Tawn stepped out. “I kind of like it. I could see myself getting back into fighting shape here.”

  “I can see this being a drag after a couple hours. Let’s go check out your building. I don’t think I want to stay here any longer than I have to.”

  Tawn laughed as she began to walk. “Sounds like the king is getting lazy.”

  Harris said, “Hang on, speedy. I’ll be right out.”

  Two minutes passed before the overweight, stump Biomarine emerged on a scooter, rolling it down onto the grass and riding it over to his partner.

  Tawn gave a half scowl. “What is that?”

  Harris stepped off, handing the unit over to Tawn. “It’s transportation. We keep landing on these colonies where the spaceport’s a kilometer from the nearest building. Get on. This will speed up our treks around town.”

  Tawn winced. “It’s like half the size it should be. Will it even carry us?”

  Harris walked back aboard the Bangor, popping through the hatch seconds later on a second scooter. “It was a last-minute purchase. I guess I could have done a better job of specifying our needs. Had them picked up with those supplies. Now get on and let’s go.”

  Tawn glanced back at the ship. “We gonna take Farker with us?”

  Harris whistled into his bracelet. An eager Farker came to the door, hopping down onto the grass. The two scooters began the run across the field toward the round building, their wheels sinking into the soft earth the grass grew from. It was quickly evident that progress would be slower than walking as the scooters struggled with the oversize occupants and less than ideal terrain.

  Thirty seconds into the effort, Tawn stepped off her scooter, pushing it over on its side. “That was just humiliating. I hope no one was watching.”

  Harris continued in an effort to justify his purchase. Another thirty seconds passed before he tossed his scooter aside as well.

  Tawn laughed. “Nothing like a little reality to bring you back to what the physical world allows.”

  Harris glanced back with a scowl as they walked. “Really thought those were gonna be a welcome surprise. Maybe for paved roads. We’ll collect them when we get back.”

  A short walk had the duo entering the round
building they had first spotted from the air. A lone slug sat at a desk in the center of the room, her head slumped over as she slept.

  Tawn approached. “Excuse me. Excuse me!”

  The woman came to life. “Oh. Sorry. Don’t get much activity around here. How can I help you?”

  Tawn asked. “We heard this was a community for slugs and stumps so we thought we’d come check it out.”

  The woman nodded as she stood. “Dawn Eureka.”

  Harris asked, “What?”

  Tawn glanced his way. “It’s her name, Igmo. I’m Tawnish Freely and this is Harris Gruberg. What can you tell us about this place?”

  A stretching Dawn stood before them. Despite her sleeping on the job, she was leaner and more muscular than the two Biomarines now in front of her.

  “We call it the Retreat. Was started by Colonel Robert Thomas, a fellow stump. The valley is divided into ten acre homesites where you can build what you want and do what you want, so long as it doesn’t disturb your neighbors. The properties are all leased from the colonel, who claimed this valley after discovering it. Regulars can come to visit but are not allowed to live here. This is just for us.”

  Harris asked, “How many of us are there here?”

  Dawn replied, “Fifty-two and counting. We get about one new occupant a month and one that leaves every other month. Most don’t care for the heavy gravity. Others aren’t into the solitude. After spending time out and among the regulars, some find it a pleasant change to live among others like themselves. There’s a lot of bias out there against us. We’re living in peacetime and people don’t want warriors as neighbors. Even if we are ourselves peaceful.”

  Harris patted Tawn on the shoulder. “You’re welcome to stay if you want, but I think I’ve seen and heard enough.”

  Tawn asked, “The property leases, how much are they?”