The other four shrugged off the laser strikes and automatic rifle rounds, their massive legs churning as their clawed feet pounded the metal floor. Jack’s whole body shook with the floor-transmitted impact of those running feet. He aimed his laser at the pink tongue of MakMakGor and tapped the Fire contact.
A solid green beam shot out and cut through the Arbitor’s pink tongue. Which only caused the chief dino to lower his teeth-filled head and fix red eyes on Jack.
“Varoom!” went a second rocket.
“Blam!” went the first recoilless cannon shell.
“Throw your grenades!” Mabry called as the charging dinos reached the 25 meter mark.
Black balls streaked through the air to explode about the heads of the three surviving dinos. The far right side dino had fallen due to the double hits from the rocket and the recoilless shell.
“I smell you!” hissed MakMakGor, sounding like an ancient steam train whistle. Something Jack had only seen on Open Library vid records.
“Varoom!”
“Kablam!”
The dinos to either side of MakMakGor slowed and fell as their chests were opened by explosive missiles and shells, and lasers cut into their knees, belly, chest arms, every place possible.
The sound of sizzling dino flesh filled Jack’s ears even as the thundering tread of the last dino took it within ten meters.
“Baroom!”
The six claymore mines exploded and shot hundreds of steel ball bearings at the legs and knees of MakMakGor. Then the creature stepped on the round disk of a contact mine.
“Boom!”
The right claw-foot of the dino disappeared, making it fall forward. That fall slammed its chest against two more contact mines. Muffled booms sounded as the tons of its giant torso shifted slightly from the upward blasts of the mines.
Looking down at its amputated right foot, the chief dino pulled up his left claw-foot, stomped the metal floor, and levered himself up. Gaping red holes showed in his belly. White loops of intestines spilled out to dangle. Red blood dribbled from his rows of white dagger teeth. The creature’s red eyes fixed on Jack.
“Human! I eat you!”
It lurched forward, its two small chest arms reaching for Jack.
“Fuck you!” screamed Maureen as she ran forward, leaned down to grab a Bangalore tube, then ran on until she dropped and slid under the massive bleeding belly even as MakMakGor tried to grab her with his giant mouth.
“No!” Jack screamed. He fired his laser into the creature’s right eye, keeping the laser firing in the hope of burning into the Arbitor’s brain.
Similar laser beams came from the right and left. Forty green beams cut through the yellow and red scales of the giant T-rex dino.
Beyond the dino he saw Maureen slide past its thick tail, stand up and pull on a wire cord that linked back to the Bangalore torpedo stuffed with black powder and shrapnel. The torpedo lay just under the slashed open belly.
“Blammm!” went the torpedo.
Jack flinched. But the steel shrapnel in the tube went straight up and into the bulging belly of the dino chief. Then a steel pole jutted out from MaxMakGor’s throat. Maureen’s javelin!
The last dino fell forward, landing just a meter from the three groups of Marines. One red eye fixed on Jack.
He ran forward, past Mabry and his people, lifted Old Roy and thrust it into the red crest that ran along the top of MakMakGor’s head. The creature snapped at his legs. Jack jumped up and landed atop the sword impaled head of the Arbitor. Akemi came up from the right and thrust her katana into the neck of the dino. Gareth and Minna also sank their swords into its upper chest, pushing them deep until only the pommels showed. Ignacio stood behind them and fired a volley of bullets into the creature’s chest. Aashman and Kasun jumped up on the dino’s long back and sank staves into its back.
The surviving red eye blinked slowly. “At last. Now you Humans must become the new Arbitors.”
Jack jumped off the dino head, a head as long as he was tall, and walked carefully up to the creature’s only working eye. That eye twisted to fix on him. “Us, Arbitors? No! We humans break the old rules and find new ways to win!”
The creature coughed. Red blood ran from its half-open mouth. Had it laughed? The single eye blinked but stayed focused on Jack. Clearly his sword thrust had not reached MakMakGor’s brain. Maybe just the spine behind it, since no other part of the creature now moved.
“You Humans have done what we Arbitors did twelve hundred cycles ago. When we defeated the former Arbitors of the Great Dark.” The dino hacked, coughed, hissed low. “Now, you must arbitrate among the Hunters of the Great Dark.” Its eye closed. Labored breathing stopped.
Jack reached over and pulled Old Roy out of the head of the dino who had threatened to Isolate Sol from the rest of the universe. His lips felt dry. His hands shook. This was not what he had expected.
“Well,” said Maureen as she came up to his side, her bloody javelin in one hand even as her other hand gripped an equally bloody sword. “For a youngster, you sure know how to find grown-up problems to solve!”
Around them came sighs, a few cheers, some whelps of pain as a piece of Bangalore shrapnel was removed from someone. As best Jack could tell, everyone had survived. Even crazy Maureen who had run straight at the boss dino and slid under it in order to plant the Bangalore torpedo that did the final job of felling MakMakGor. Duty hit him.
“Admiral Hideyoshi, please organize Tech salvage teams. Grab those giant control pedestals. Look for any kind of computer module. I want to know where these Arbitors call home.” He paused as Akemi, Gareth and Minna pulled their swords from the creature’s dead flesh. “They need a visit from me to remind them that Humans are never anyone’s fall guys!”
Akemi, dressed in her black ninja-style bodysuit, came up to him, her sword wiped clean and stored in a back scabbard. She fixed black eyes on him. “My shogun, what do we do now?”
With a wave at Mabry and his fellow ship captains, Jack headed for the giant hatch that gave access to a ship filled with wonders, dangers and puzzles that might take a lifetime to unravel. Akemi fell in beside him, as did grandma Maureen, his brother Ignacio, Minna of the yellow braids, Aashman of the Deccan plains, Kasun of the jungled isle and Gareth of the Welsh kingdom.
“Akemi, we do what we know how to do, as Belters and as freedom-loving humans.” He stopped by his carrybag, reached in and pulled out a cold bottle of Europa Light Ale. Flipping off its cap he sucked in the cool, cool beer. “We spread the word among juvenile system peoples that they have the right to explore the universe. We free subject peoples whenever we can. We trade with the Nasen and a few sensible Hunters. And maybe, just maybe, we travel to the home system of the Halicene Hunters. They established this Hunters system. Let them figure out how to put it right!”
“Jack!” called Maureen from where she stood to one side. “The Marines and I are going to broil us some dino steaks. You want one?”
He burst out laughing. “Yes! And I’ve got some cigars in this carrybag. So let’s everyone have a drink, a smoke and a taste of our enemy!”
Jack felt hands pummeling his back, cheers sounding from the Marines, chuckles coming from Hideyoshi. His friends, his fellow ship captains, his allies, they had stood by him when a herd of Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs had stampeded straight for them. That had taken guts. And courage. And devotion.
What more could a man want from his friends?
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
T. Jackson King (Tom) is a professional archaeologist, journalist and former Hippie. He learned early on to question authority and find answers for himself, partly due to reading lots of science fiction novels. He also worked at a radiocarbon dating laboratory at UC Riverside and UCLA. Tom attended college in Paris and Tokyo, then helped organize anti-Vietnam War demos in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tom is a graduate of UCLA (M.A. 1976, archaeology) and the University of Tennessee (B.Sc. 1971, journalism). Tom has worked as an
archaeologist in the American Southwest and has traveled widely in Europe, Russia, Japan, Canada, Mexico and the United States of America. Other jobs have included short order cook, hotel clerk, legal assistant, telephone order taker, investigative reporter and newspaper editor. He also survived the warped speech-talk of local politicians and escaped with his hide intact. He writes hard science fiction, anthropological scifi, dark fantasy/horror and contemporary fantasy/magic realism. Tom’s novels are FREEDOM VS. ALIENS (Wilder Publications, 2015), HUMANS VS. ALIENS (Wilder Publications, 2015), GENECODE ILLEGAL (Wilder Publications, 2014), EARTH VS. ALIENS (Wilder Publications, 2014), ALIEN ASSASSIN (Wilder Publications, 2014), THE MEMORY SINGER (Fantastic Books, 2014), ANARCHATE VIGILANTE (Wilder Publications, 2014), GALACTIC VIGILANTE (Wilder Publications, 2013), NEBULA VIGILANTE (Wilder Publications, 2013), SPEAKER TO ALIENS (Wilder Publications, 2013), GALACTIC AVATAR (Wilder Publications, 2013), STELLAR ASSASSIN (Wilder Publications, 2013), STAR VIGILANTE (2012), THE GAEAN ENCHANTMENT (Wilder Publications, 2012), LITTLE BROTHER’S WORLD (Fantastic Books, 2010), ANCESTOR’S WORLD (Ace Books, 1996, with A.C. Crispin), and RETREAD SHOP (Warner Books, 1988, 2012). His short stories appeared in JUDGMENT DAY AND OTHER DREAMS (Fantastic Books, 2009). His poetry appeared in MOTHER EARTH’S STRETCH MARKS (Motherbird Books, 2009). Tom lives in Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA. More information on Tom’s writings can be found at www.tjacksonking.com/.
PRAISE FOR T. JACKSON KING’S BOOKS
THE MEMORY SINGER
“A coming of age story reminiscent of Robert A. Heinlein or Alexei Panshin. Jax [the main character] is a fun character, and her world is compelling. The social patterns of Ship life are fascinating, and the Alish’Tak [the main alien species] are sufficiently alien to make for a fairly complex book. Very enjoyable.”—Don Sakers, Analog Science Fiction
“Author T. Jackson King brings his polished writing style, his knowledge of science fiction ‘hardware,’ and his believable aliens to his latest novel The Memory Singer. But all this is merely backdrop to the adventures of Jax Cochrane, a smart, rebellious teen who wants more from life than the confines of a generational starship. There are worlds of humans and aliens out there. When headstrong Jax decides that it’s time to discover and explore them, nothing can hold back this defiant teen. You’ll want to accompany this young woman . . in this fine coming-of-age story.”—Jean Kilczer, Amazon
EARTH VS. ALIENS
“This story is the best space opera I've read in many years. The author knows his Mammalian Behavior. If we’re lucky it’ll become a movie soon. Many of the ideas are BRAND NEW and I loved the adaptability of people in the story line. AWESOME!!”—Phil W. King, Amazon
“It’s good space opera. I liked the story and wanted to know what happened next. The characters are interesting and culturally diverse. The underlying theme is that humans are part of nature and nature is red of tooth and claw. Therefore, humans are naturally violent, which fortunately makes them a match for the predators from space.”—Frank C. Hemingway, Amazon
HUMANS VS. ALIENS
“Another great book from this author. This series has great characters and story is wall to wall excitement. Look forward to next book.”—William R. Thomas, Amazon
“Humans are once again aggressive and blood thirsty to defend the Earth. Pace is quick and action is plentiful. Some unexpected plot twists, but you always know the home team is the best.”—C. Cook, Amazon
RETREAD SHOP
“Engaging alien characters, a likable protagonist, and a vividly realized world make King’s first sf novel a good purchase for sf collections.”–Library Journal
“A very pleasant tour through the author’s inventive mind, and an above average story as well.”–Science Fiction Chronicle
“Fun, with lots of outrageously weird aliens.”—Locus
“The writing is sharp, the plotting tight, and the twists ingenious. It would be worth reading, if only for the beautiful delineations of alien races working with and against one another against the background of an interstellar marketplace. The story carries you . . . with a verve and vigor that bodes well for future stories by this author. Recommended.”–Science Fiction Review
“For weird aliens, and I do mean weird, choose Retread Shop. The story takes place on a galactic trading base, where hundreds of species try to gain the upper hand for themselves and for their group. Sixteen year-old billy is the sole human on the Retread Shop, stranded when his parents and their shipmates perished. What really makes the ride fun are the aliens Billy teams up with, including two who are plants. It's herbivores vs. carnivores, herd species vs. loners, mammals vs. insects and so on. The wild variety of physical types is only matched by the extensive array of cultures, which makes for a very entertaining read.” –Bonnie Gordon, Los Alamos Daily Post
“Similar in feel to Roger Zelazny's Alien Speedway series is Retread Shop by T. Jackson King. It's an orphan-human-in-alien-society-makes-good story. Well-written and entertaining, it could be read either as a Young Adult or as straight SF with equal enjoyment.” –Chuq Von Rospach, OtherRealms 22
“If you liked Stephen Goldin’s Jade Darcy books duo, and Julie Czerneda’s Clan trilogy, then you will probably like Retread Shop since it too has multiple aliens, an eatery, and an infinity of odd events that range from riots, to conspiracy, to exploring new worlds and to alien eating habits . . . It’s a fun reader's ride and thoroughly entertaining. And, sigh, I wish that the author would write more books set in this background.” –Lyn McConchie, co-author of the Beastmaster series
STAR VIGILANTE
“For a fast-paced adventure with cool tech, choose Star Vigilante. This is the story of three outsiders. Can three outsiders bond together to save Eliana's planet from eco-destruction at the hands of a ruthless mining enterprise?” –Bonnie Gordon, Los Alamos Daily Post
STELLAR ASSASSIN
“T. Jackson King’s Stellar Assassin is an ambitious science fiction epic that sings! Filled with totally alien lifeforms, one lonely human, an archaeologist named Al Lancaster must find his way through trade guilds, political maneuvering and indentured servitude, while trying to reconcile his new career as an assassin with his deeply-held belief in the teachings of Buddha. . . This is a huge, colorful, complicated world with complex characters, outstanding dialogue, believable motivations, wonderful high-tech battle sequences and, on occasion, a real heart-stringer . . . This is an almost perfectly edited novel as well, which is a bonus. This is a wonderful novel, written by a wonderful author . . .Bravo! Five Stars!” –Linell Jeppsen, Amazon
ALIEN ASSASSIN
“The Assassin series is required reading in adventure, excitement and daring. The galactic vistas, the advanced alien technologies and the action make all the Assassin books a guarantee of a good read. Please keep them coming!”—C. B. Symons, Amazon
“KING STRIKES AGAIN! Yes, T. Jackson King gives us yet again a great space adventure. I loved the drama and adventure in this book. There is treachery in this one too which heightens the suspense. Being the only human isn’t easy, but Al pulls it off. Loved the Dino babies and how they are being developed into an important part of the family of assassins. All of the fun takes place right here and we are not left hanging off the cliff. Write on T.J.”—K. McClell, Amazon
ANCESTOR’S WORLD
“T. Jackson King is a professional archaeologist and he uses that to great advantage in Ancestor’s World. I was just as fascinated by the details of the archaeology procedures as I was by the unfolding of the plot . . . What follows is a tightly plotted, suspenseful novel.”–Absolute Magnitude
“The latest in the StarBridge series from King, a former Rogue Valley resident now living and writing in Arizona, follows the action on planet Na-Dina, where the tombs of 46 dynasties have lain undisturbed for 6,000 years until a human archaeologist and a galactic gumshoe show up. Set your phasers for fun.”–Medford Mail Tribune
THE GAEAN ENCHANTMENT
“For magic, a quest and a new ba
ttle around every corner, go with The Gaean Enchantment. In this novel, Earth has entered a new phase as it cycles through the universe. In this phase, some kinds of “magic” work, but tech is rapidly ceasing to function. In the world of this book, incantation and sympathetic magic function through connection to spirit figures who might be described as gods.” –Bonnie Gordon, Los Alamos Daily Post
“In The Gaean Enchantment the main character, Thomas, back from Vietnam and with all the PTSD that many soldiers have—nightmares, blackouts—finds his truth through the finding of his totem animal, the buffalo Black Mane. He teaches Thomas that violence and killing must always be done as a last resort, and that the energies of his soul are more powerful than any arsenal . . . Don’t miss this amazing novel of magic and soul transformation, deep love, and Artemis, goddess of the hunt and protector of women.”–Catherine Herbison-Wiget, Amazon
LITTLE BROTHER’S WORLD
“If you’re sensing a whiff of Andre Norton or Robert A. Heinlein, you’re not mistaken . . . The influence is certainly there, but Little Brother’s World is no mere imitation of Star Man’s Son or Citizen of the Galaxy. Rather, it takes the sensibility of those sorts of books and makes of it something fresh and new. T. Jackson King is doing his part to further the great conversation of science fiction; it’ll be interesting to see where he goes next.”–Don Sakers, Analog
“When I’m turning a friend on to a good writer I’ve just discovered, I'll often say something like, “Give him ten pages and you’ll never be able to put him down.” Once in a long while, I'll say, “Give him five pages.” It took T. Jackson King exactly one sentence to set his hook so deep in me that I finished LITTLE BROTHER’S WORLD in a single sitting, and I’ll be thinking about that vivid world for a long time to come. The last writer I can recall with the courage to make a protagonist out of someone as profoundly Different as Little Brother was James Tiptree Jr., with her remarkable debut novel UP THE WALLS OF THE WORLD. I think Mr. King has met that challenge even more successfully. His own writing DNA borrows genes from writers as diverse as Tiptree, Heinlein, Norton, Zelazny, Sturgeon, Pohl, and Doctorow, and splices them together very effectively.” –Spider Robinson, Hugo, Nebula and Campbell Award winner
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