Metal Boxes - Trapped Outside

by Alan Black

  She nodded and bound away.

  Stone looked back at Li. “Okay, Sergeant. You have something you want to say?”

  Li hesitated but said, “Please don’t go outside after dark again. I mean, you let us know what kind of leaves your drascos eat and we will bring them to you. I can even find a few privates to clean up piles of drasco poop if it comes to that, sir.”

  “You had my six, Sergeant. I wasn’t worried.”

  “That’s the point, sir. You aren’t worried, but I’m the one who is supposed to keep you from getting killed. If something happened, you’d be safely dead, but I’d still be here to catch the flak for letting you die. I’ve lost officers before and I ain’t so worried about that. We’re a combat command, losing officers and men is a part of doing what we do. I’ve never been this close to a planetary governor and I sure as hell have never had a governor I was supposed to be protecting eaten alive by alien creatures. I’m right sure that would have an effect on my next promotion.”

  Stone nodded as his stomach growled. Jay and Peebee wonked in fits of giggles at the noise. He pointed at the dammed section of the small stream and the pond. “You girls go get something to drink and go swimming for a bit.”

  Jay said, “But we are watching you because you sent Barb away.”

  Peebee grunted in agreement, drawing herself up into a strange, cartoonish imitation of her own fighting stance. She wonked, giggled, and suddenly belched, falling over to rub her own belly.

  Stone said, “You two go play. Sergeant Li will watch me for a minute or two.” Jay raced away to splash in the pond, hitting it at a full run, rolling in the water. Peebee was only a step behind, her leg still healing. She launched herself into a cannonball that almost emptied the pond.

  Li laughed, “When I was a kid, I had a pair of yellow labs that went to water just like those two.”

  “Yellow labs?” Stone asked.

  “Labrador retrievers, sir, kind of yellow in color. They were hunting dogs, really loved the water, and ducks.”

  Stone wondered how the man could be speaking standard while so many of the words didn’t make sense. He got the dog part so they must be some type of breed. “They loved ducks?”

  Li smiled, “They loved hunting ducks, sir. Oh, um, on my home world, ducks are a waterfowl that flies from water to water. We sit up on a pond or a lake and hunt them. It’s only sporting to shoot them out of the air. The dogs go into the water and retrieve them for us. There ain’t any better meal than roast duck with cranberry stuffing.”

  The mention of food, even something he’d never heard of before, started his stomach to rumbling again. He didn’t care about the time of night, Dollish would have to get up and fix him something even if all the man fixed was a pot of boiled rocks. He pointed at the gap Peebee had torn in the wall. “Sorry about that Sergeant Li. I promise to not go outside after dark again, if I can help it. It looks like you are going to have to fix the wall.”

  “Fix? If we’re going to stay here long, we’re going to have build it higher, thicker, and stronger. Your drascos laughed at it.”

  Stone wondered about staying in the canyon for a long time as he wandered off looking for Spacer Dollish. How long could they stay here? They certainly weren’t far enough away from the Hyrocanian settlement for comfort. He wasn’t sure he could feel comfortable being on the far side of the planet from them. He glanced over his shoulder at Jay and Peebee splashing in the pond. He let them play.

  He tried to see if he could catch a scent of Dollish, but wasn’t able to pick him out of the jumble of odors swirling around in the still night air. He did catch the scent of smoke mixed with something cooking. Letting the scent guide him, he followed a path from boulder to boulder, moving upward away from the central stream.

  He found Dollish sleeping beside a cooking fire. A huge pot sat next to the fire. The warm odor of food curled up from inside the pot. Stone wondered where the huge pot had come from. Surely, no one would have bothered to carry such a thing from their abandoned compound. He looked closer and realized the pot wasn’t metal. Someone had taken five crab-like shells and stuck them together in a pot-like configuration. Whatever glue and tape they used seemed impervious to the heat.

  A small stack of flat wooden boards and hand carved utensils was stacked on the ground. Stone found a relatively clean plate and a spoon that wasn’t too oddly shaped and returned to the pot. There was barely anything left inside; scraping along the sides and bottom rewarded him with a stew of meat and tubers.

  Not bothering to wonder what the meat was or what type of tubers were in the pot, he sat, shoveling the food into his mouth. He’d expected it to taste much like every meal he and Danielle Wright had made on Allie’s World, but it didn’t. After the first few bites, he realized the stew was quite flavorful.

  He glanced up and noticed Dollish was awake and staring at him. “Sorry, Spacer. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  Dollish sat up and gave him an unmilitary shrug. “It’s only sleep, sir.”

  Stone realized he had been looking at Dollish as a young spacer, but they were probably the same age. The only difference between the two was Stone had a rich family with connections to get him into the officer’s academy and Dollish probably came from the working class or lower. Stone knew his grandfather and his parents worked hard trying to maintain the illusion they were part of the working class. Dollish hadn’t appeared to be particularly bright, but most likely, that was also an illusion. As an officer, he could look up his records, they were on his dataport, and check the man’s intelligence level, but he wouldn’t. Stone wasn’t a super genius himself; he was well above average, except with math. Dollish might or might not have greater native intelligence than Stone. The differences between the two were education, training, position, influence, and money.

  He smiled at Dollish and gestured with his plate. “This is good. What did you do with it?”

  Dollish grinned. “Lesson two at the navy cooking school was salt. I managed to snag a ten-pound bag of salt when we bugged out of the compound. Human’s gotta have salt, sir.”

  Chewing thoughtfully, tasting a few bites, he said. “You must have grabbed some other spices, too.”

  Dollish shook his head and looked embarrassed, “No, sir. I wanted to, but I just didn’t want to take the time to get the other stuff. I was scared stupid, I guess. I just wanted to get out and not get blowed up. Besides, I haven’t been out of cook school long enough to be a high enough rank to qualify for getting access to anything other than salt.”

  “I taste other spices in here other than salt.”

  “Yes, sir. I borrowed a scanner from Doc Menendez. She uses one to check all of the meat the marines bring back from hunting, to make sure it isn’t poisonous and won’t kill us. She said we’d starve if we waited for the science-types to make up their minds.”

  Stone smiled. “Checking the meat is a reasonable precaution, I think.”

  Dollish grinned. “Seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyway, I used that scanner to check on all of the plants and stuff growing in this canyon. I found some we could eat and some we couldn’t.”

  “How did you find out what would make good spices?”

  Dollish looked at him as if he was an idiot to ask such a question. “Well dang, sir. I just tasted it. I found some leaves up high on the canyon wall that kind of taste like sage and back in one of those little caves, I found some moss that tingled my tongue kind of like a Serrano pepper. I just used what tasted right to me. I guess a few leaves did make me throw up, but I did point out a combination of two bushes whose leaves made me kind of sleepy, so if you want some tea to help you rest?”

  Stone said, “You sound like you’ve been busy, Dollish.”

  “Mostly just trying to stay out of the way. The Doc was happy about the tea leaves though.” He pointed at Stone’s empty plate. “If you’re still hungry, I’ll see if I can get out and find you something else.”

  Stone said, “No, thanks. I’m
quite full.”

  “Yeah, I found some tubers under a thorn bush that kind of acts like a sponge. I figure the pieces hit your stomach and expand some, making you feel more full than you really are. I think when it rains, the thing soaks up water and squeezes it back out to the plant in the dry times. The thorn bush thanks the tuber for the water by protecting it from being dug up and eaten by wild animals.”

  “You figured out how to find and harvest them?”

  “I ain’t a wild animal, sir. I’m a navy-trained cook and I had hungry people to feed.”

  “Well, Dollish, you make a wonderful stew.”

  “Thanks. You just toss the plate over here and I’ll go wash it up. I been trying to wash things where the stream runs out below the wall. I need to get some hot water and scrub the pot Whizzer made for me, but the marines down on the wall said they don’t want a big fire near where they’re on guard duty. I don’t rightly have anything else to carry water in.”

  “I’ll talk with Major Numos in the morning and see if we can figure something else out. We’re going to have to upgrade our sanitation requirements if we’re going to be here for any length of time.”

  Stone lay back in a grassy patch as Dollish took the plate and spoon, trudging downhill toward the stream. He wondered how long they really could stay here. He hoped if anyone survived from Hammermill’s platoon, they could find them before the Hyrocanians did. He also hoped the Hyrocanians never found them, but that wasn’t likely. It didn’t make sense they weren’t searching, or if they were, the analysis on Ryte’s drone video didn’t show any evidence of a concerted attempt to find the humans.

  If he were a Hyrocanian, he wouldn’t see any need to rush. The planet might kill all of the humans and fix the problem. The humans weren’t going anywhere, so why rush? However, if they wanted them alive, they would have to find them to capture them. So, why the delay? Any delay would increase the odds of additional human spacecraft coming to look for them. It might be weeks or months, but someone would start to wonder why there weren’t any progress reports flowing back through Brickman’s Station. Maybe the Hyrocanians were waiting until they had enough defenses in the system to protect any size of incursion. Additional ships and mining the jump point could easily lock humans out of this system and the Hyrocanians would gain a valuable foothold deep inside human space. There must be a jump point in the solar system leading back toward Hyrocanian space, such a valuable jump point would give them access to a protected supply line.

  He closed his eyes and tried to calculate what it would mean to give the Hyrocanians a beachhead so deep inside the Empire. The war would turn from hot to blistering in the blink of an eye. Dozens of systems and millions of people would be threatened with annihilation.

  Just as he started to drift off to sleep, he smelled flowers. The scent of roses dipped in maple syrup was so thick it almost made him gag, dragging him to full wakefulness.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Jay and Peebee were screeching, their voices loud yet unintelligible in the distance. Stone’s eyes flew open and he shot a hand out and up. Wrapping his fingers around Doctor Triplett’s throat, he squeezed none too gently. He shook her until she dropped the knife she was thrusting at his chest. He’d caught her with bare inches to spare. He held her at arm’s length.

  Stone stood, not releasing his grip on Triplett, until he held her dangling from his arm. She was heavy and he was angry enough not to let her go. She gasped for breath, grabbing his wrists with her hands. Unable to pry him free, she hung limp.

  “You bastard,” she spat in his face. “You’re going to get us all killed. I have a chance to stop this war and save millions of lives, but you won’t listen.”

  “So, you planned to murder me so you could try and take over again?”

  Jay crashed through a bush with a worried wonk. “Mama is in danger.” Peebee followed behind.

  Stone said, “I’m fine.” He threw Triplett to the ground, unconcerned about the fall injuring her. “Jay and Peebee, watch her. Do not let her move or talk to anyone. Do not eat her until I tell you.”

  Jay rose on her hind legs, wonking and hissing a loud warning. Stone heard shouts coming from all over the canyon as people woke up, grabbed weapons, and raced to their defensive positions, unsure what the alarm was, but reacting with military trained responses. Jay remained standing high, hanging her head down, a look of hunger in her eyes. Peebee crouched low, her tail spike scorpioned over her head, beating a tattoo on the ground next to Triplett’s head, gouging dirt and splintering rocks, first on this side and then on the other.

  Triplett screamed in panic, but Stone ignored her. He turned in a slow circle, waving at Dollish to stand fast as the spacer raced into the small clearing. The air wasn’t clear and the odors were muddled. He couldn’t find Private Melanie Tighe’s scent. He caught a faint whiff of Agent Ryte and Corporal Tuttle as they raced down the canyon toward the wall.

  The canyon mouth was the most logical direction for danger to come, but not this time. Pointing at Dollish and then to the fire, he said, “Build it up, Spacer. Jay, please go get Allie and Numos.”

  Jay hesitated and wonked in anger. She said, “This one wanted to hurt you.”

  Stone said carefully, “Please, Jay. Doctor Triplett did try to hurt me, but Peebee will keep her from—”

  “I can hurt her back,” Peebee interrupted.

  Stone said, “Peebee will keep Doctor Triplett from moving or talking to anyone, but she won’t hurt her. Jay, please do as I ask.”

  Jay still hesitated. Before she could leave, Numos rushed into the clearing, followed quickly by Allie. Stone grabbed Allie just as she twisted in pain, dropping her handgun. Her hands clutched her back as she fell to her knees. The cooking fire flared, lighting up the hillside. Numos crouched and whirled in a circle looking for something to shoot.

  Stone said, “Major, we are secure here.” He looked at the cook, “Dollish, could you find one of the medical staff for—”

  Menendez interrupted, “Never mind, Dollish. I’m here.” She rushed over to Allie and ran a medical scanner over her back, helping to ease her to the ground. “Sit, Lieutenant. Dammit, I told you nothing strenuous or you were going to reinjure your back. Those cracked discs could turn into breaks if you aren’t careful. You’re just having some muscle spasms. Sorry, I’m out of muscle relaxants, so you just have to take deep breaths until the pain goes away.”

  Allie scooped up her handgun. With a sheepish look, she dusted it off and slipped it back into her holster. She groaned at the movement and frowned when Tuttle bounced into the clearing with Agent Ryte wrapped in her good arm. Allie looked embarrassed to be injured when others around her were up and about.

  Menendez turned to Triplett. She tried to check on the woman, but Jay hissed and made her back away. “What the—! Stone, call off your beasts.”

  Stone shook his head. “Doctor Triplet is fine. The blood on her isn’t hers.”

  Menendez stared at Triplett, shadows from the fire obscured the older woman on the ground. “I can’t see any … ” She pulled a small flashlight from a pocket and shined the light across the woman. “There is a small splatter of blood.”

  Ryte glanced over Menendez’s shoulder. “That’s castoff spatter.”

  Stone asked, “Castoff?”

  Ryte said, “It’s what’s splashed back onto someone when they stab something. Repeated stabbings will cast off blood on everything around them.”

  Triplett screwed up her courage, pointed at Stone and shouted, “He tried to stab me!”

  He shook his head. “Doctor Triplett, if I wanted you dead, you would be dead. I wouldn’t have to sneak around in the dark to do it.” He looked at Ryte and Numos. “She came at me with that knife.” He pointed at the knife lying in the dirt.

  Allie pulled her handgun from her holster, the click and whine was audible to everyone in the clearing as she flicked off the safety. A low growl in her throat was a warning even Triplett understood.


  Ryte said, “As an EMIS agent I’m not required by law to remind anyone of their rights against self-incrimination and that you should have a lawyer present. For everyone’s sake, I want everyone to keep their mouths shut. Especially you, Governor Stone.” She bent down over the knife and ran a scan over it, syncing the scanner with her database. “This is a marine issue K-Bar knife. It has two sets of fingerprints and touch DNA on it. One set belongs to Private Melanie Tighe. The second set belongs to Doctor Anna Triplett. There is blood splatter across the blade, hilt, and handle. My DNA scan says this matches the blood splattered on Triplett and my database says the blood is from Tighe.”

  Triplett said, “He must have stabbed her before he came after me. My prints are on the knife because I took it away from him when he tried to kill me.”

  Even Dollish laughed trying to imagine how this older woman could take a knife away from Stone. Ryte shook her head. “I doubt that. Not even considering how improbable it sounds for you to take his knife away, there isn’t any evidence of his fingerprints or even the slightest hint of epithelial touch DNA on the handle.”

  Stone was as confused now as he had been listening to Sergeant Li talk about his yellow labs. However, he had been through enough court depositions in the last six months to know when things were going his way and when to keep his mouth shut. He looked at Numos. “Major, you may have an injured marine out there somewhere. It looks like everyone is up, so let’s see if we can find Tighe. Dollish, you go help the Major look for her. Doctor Menendez, if would you go along please in case Tighe needs medical assistance?”

  Triplett shouted. “You can’t leave this child in charge. He’s going to let us all die out here. Remove him from command. I can assume his governorship and I can get us safe passage from the Hyrocanians.”

  Ryte nodded. “Your only motive was to remove Stone from the leadership position because he is obstructing your plans to appoint yourself in charge, and once in charge, you could save us by getting help from the Hyrocanians?”