With a gentle nudge from his shell, Pik stepped into the daylight with Dal close behind. The Lizard Men walked forward until they were an arm’s-length from Brandt. He knew who they were and dipped his head in greeting.
‘I am Brandt Earhshaker, King of the Aurochs. I am pleased to meet you, Pik Ha’ar. The humans speak highly of you. And you are Dal, as my small orange friend has informed me.’ G-War surprisingly was not on Brandt’s head, but would be shortly, after getting a drink and hunting down a wild rabbit. He planned on eating the rabbit away from the group as the intelligent Rabbits Patrice and Delavigne stood with the rest of the companions, having delivered the children to their parents.
‘We are pleased to meet you, great King. You are as impressive as they described. But it would have been nice to meet under different circumstances. There is a war in the rainforest,’ Pik said without elaborating further.
‘Yes. There is a war. And something else?’ he asked in his booming thought voice, looking at Braden, who couldn’t meet his eyes. Brandt looked from creature to creature until Bounder stepped forward.
‘We lost two yearlings who traveled with us from the ship. They didn’t survive the process.’ He rested a paw on the King’s forehead and they suffered together.
‘I understand, Bounder, and mourn their loss with you.’ Brandt spread his legs and held his head high as he bugled the call of the Aurochs. The Wolfoids joined him, howling toward the sky. Skirill and Zyena screeched from a nearby perch before flying down to land on the King’s horns so they could be closer to the clone of their old friend.
Pik reached up and stroked their chest feathers, something that he hadn’t done when they were on the ship together before the battle with the Androids.
‘I regretted not doing this last time,’ he said simply. Dal tentatively eased forward and raised a hand until he touched the Hawkoids. The Lizard Man ran his fingers along one of the King’s horns. He touched the hair on his head and leaned back when Brandt raised his head to its full height. Dal looked at the Rabbits, and they nodded to him before running after the twins. The Wolfoids, Rabbits, Hawkoids, Tortoids, Aurochs, and the humans–they were the companions that the Lizard Men were happy to be a part of.
And they looked like close friends, something he’d never had before. He noticed how the others watched Braden. The human was the leader, but not by dictate. He didn’t act like a leader, issuing orders and sitting back to watch the lackeys work.
Braden caught Dal watching him, so he thought he’d welcome the Lizard Man to his new home.
“How are you settling in, Dal? Are you used to how it feels here?” When they’d left the matter transfer chamber, Braden had been too distracted to watch the new arrivals for signs of disorientation. He looked them over now, but everyone was standing still. With the loss of the yearlings, the group lost its usual exuberance when returning home.
‘I am fine. It is different here, but I am fine,’ he said over the mindlink.
“Have you met everyone?” The Lizard Man nodded. “Relax the rest of this daylight and then when the sun rises, we will plan our way ahead. You and Pik will play key roles in helping us through the rainforest. We won’t be able to do this without you.” Braden held out his hand, but Dal didn’t know what it was for. Pik joined them and heartily shook Braden’s hand. Dal mimicked the older Lizard Man.
He slapped them on the shoulder and stepped into the shallows of the lake where Micah played with Ax and ‘Tesh.
“Bounder!” Braden yelled without looking up. “We have guests and they want venison!”
Bounder and Gray Strider knew what Braden was doing. To properly mourn the loss of the Wolfoids, they needed to celebrate. They’d start by making a great kill and then they’d feast, toasting the lost lives with deer steaks. Bounder asked Loper and Sunny to join them on the hunt, and the four Wolfoids ran into the nearby woods. Deer were plentiful in the oasis of New Sanctuary. Whether the Bots stocked them or they simply found their way to a place where food was readily available, it didn’t matter. Everyone benefitted from the cycle of life.
Loper and Sunny had no idea how to make the kill, so Bounder didn’t wait. He and Gray Strider flanked a small buck. She feinted while he caught the beast mid-turn. He slammed hard into the deer, knocking him down where he pinned it to the ground and clamped his jaws onto its neck. Gray Strider jumped on to hold the deer while Bounder did the final work of ending the creature’s life.
They dragged it through the trees and into the clearing, where the humans cleaned it and prepared it for cooking. Understanding that the Lizard Men preferred their meat raw, Braden sliced off healthy portions for the two, while tossing bits into the air for the Hawkoids to show off their flying skills by catching the pieces before they fell back to the ground.
In the brief time they were on the ship, Holly had directed the Maintenance Bots to build a proper fire pit and steel spit. Braden and Micah hung the deer, while the Wolfoids built the fire. The Maintenance Bots tolerated the fire thanks to Holly, but they didn’t like it when Bounder started the fire with a lightning bolt from his spear. They buzzed away to find cover as they summoned one of the Security Bots. Everyone froze in place as the shimmering metal beast hovered into the area. Without a second a look, Micah sent it back to its post, much to the relief of the newcomers.
Once the flames built and their dinner started to sizzle, Loper assumed the duty of turning the spit to cook the deer evenly. The four Aurochs settled down, laying on the beach as the twins climbed onto the King and made themselves comfortable.
G-War returned without anyone having noticed his absence. He was pleasantly full. Since the Rabbits arrived, the wild rabbit population had grown almost to the point of being out of control. It seemed that others were more restrained in hunting the non-engineered cousins of their friends. G-War noticed Skirill and Zyena, who looked quickly away. They weren’t shy in hunting the wild rabbits either, it seemed. With the expanding fields and the companions’ extended absences, the wild rabbits had fertile territory to grow their numbers. The ‘cat decided while he was at New Sanctuary, he’d keep to a strict diet of wild rabbit, for the health of the oasis, of course.
The companions settled into an evening of casual conversation. The bite from the loss of the yearlings faded quickly. Braden feared that they wouldn’t be the only ones lost in the Battle for the Amazon.
Braden, Micah, and the rest of the companions ate and slept under the open skies around the lake until it started raining, then they made a mad dash for the indoors. A wet ‘cat, four wet Wolfoids, and two wet Rabbits combined for an interesting smell as they all settled into the Presidential Suite.
Braden watched as the Wolfoids sniffed at the couches before jumping onto them. Bounder filled one entirely, but Gray Strider felt she belonged up there, too. After a brief wrestling match, they settled down. Loper and Sunny Day climbed on the smaller couches with a strange sense of belonging, like the couches were meant specifically for Wolfoids.
The Rabbits thought the bed was wonderful. Braden and Micah could only watch as the Rabbits showed what their back legs were capable of when, with one hop, they launched themselves from the living room all the way into the bed. The twins raced after them, while G-War waited. They climbed up using a small stool placed for that purpose. Braden and Micah had to rearrange the bodies so they could climb in. After laying there without a blanket, Braden finally retreated to the living room to sleep on a thick rug, using towels from the bathroom for blankets.
What’s the Intel?
The Wolfoids were the first to awaken. Bounder stretched and knocked Gray Strider off the couch onto the human sleeping on the floor. She growled at her mate, Braden growled at her, and Bounder shrugged as he completed his stretch and vaulted from the couch.
Braden got up although he was still tired. Maybe he could get a nap later. The four Wolfoids let themselves out and headed for the great outdoors, hoping that the rain had stopped.
At the recommendation o
f the fabricator, Braden ordered a cup of coffee. He’d had it before, but found that it made his hands shake, throwing off his aim for morning hunting. Knowing that he wouldn’t be hunting this daylight, he enjoyed the therapeutic effects of the steaming black liquid. He’d have to ask Holly if he could get some to make while they traveled when sometimes it was better to be awake than to hit a target. He’d practice doing both. He needed the practice after losing two fingers on their first trip to the Traveler.
He sat at the table, relaxing in the peace of a quiet morning. The Rabbits snuffled while they slept, which was comforting in a way. The Wolfoids snored with reckless abandon. Braden wondered how creatures with such keen hearing could sleep through their own racket. He finished his coffee, and the rest had not yet gotten up, so he showered, put on the one set of clean clothes he kept in the Suite, and with the ‘cat, headed outside.
The rain had stopped, but it was still overcast. The light from the false dawn showed that sunrise was coming. Braden took a drink of the fresh water from the lake. He found the Lizard Men huddled together in a bush that still dripped water. Aadi floated above them, his eyes closed. Braden could smell the Aurochs before he saw their dark shapes already grazing at the edge of the fields with a Development Unit hovering nearby.
The Wolfoids were nowhere to be seen. Braden expected they were hunting. G-War had disappeared as well. The Maintenance Bots had cleaned up the leftovers from the previous evening’s celebration of life. Braden smiled, thinking of the survivors from Cygnus VI. He had yet to get any of them to try venison. They were appalled at the thought of eating a flesh and blood creature.
As the Wolfoids maintained, there were hunters and there was prey. As Braden turned toward the building with the elevator to the New Command Center, Bounder and Gray Strider appeared and asked him to wait for Loper and Sunny Day. They made small talk, mostly about the comfort of the couch in the Presidential Suite, as the other two Wolfoids finished eating the wild rabbits they’d caught. With Patrice and Delavigne indoors, they found it much easier to hunt the burgeoning population of their smaller cousins.
The five of them squeezed into the elevator for the ride. The Wolfoids were uncomfortable in the tight space, but the trip only took a few heartbeats as they descended a short way underground.
Dr. Johns wasn’t present but his son Chrysalis was.
“You’re here to learn what we’ve found out,” he said, not trying to make it a question. “I don’t think you’re going to like it.” Chrysalis walked to the wall of screens and issued directions to the people at their workstations. Images started changing, many used four or even nine of the screens to give a more detailed view. Maps appeared at various locations beside screens showing what Chrysalis deemed important.
“They have technology with them, which is both good and bad. It helped us to find them, but they can also use it to paint a false picture for us. Plus, it seems that they might be able to use their equipment against us in the same way. They can find us, too.”
“But how did they get Old Tech? They live in the rainforest,” Braden wondered, surprised by the revelation.
“Does it matter how they got it?” Chrysalis asked rhetorically. “We only know it is there and must assume that they have nearly the same capability to access the satellites as we have.”
“Do they have a factory, Security Bots, blasters?” Braden spoke quickly as his stream of consciousness took him to places he didn’t like.
“Oh no, none of that. They have a communication system, but it’s low power, and there’s nothing to suggest a functioning factory environment. That doesn’t mean they don’t have a Security Bot or blasters, just that they can’t make them.” Relieved, Braden took a breath, relaxed, and looked back at the wall of screens. “If you’ll look at the map here, we’ve highlighted the areas where we’ve seen the emissions. It goes back and forth through this area, but the majority of the time, the communications are active right here.” Chrysalis pointed at a spot on the map, zoomed out to show perspective.
It was the deepest point in the western part of the Amazon. If he were to measure, he suspected it would be the same distance from the southern, western, and northern edges of the rainforest. He shook his head, knowing what had to be done. He knew that they were going to hate hiking through that much rainforest.
“What do you think?” Braden asked the Wolfoids. Bounder studied the screens on the wall, but they didn’t make any sense to him. He couldn’t interpret the distances on the map. Braden walked him through their journey from New Sanctuary through the rainforest, then to the villages stretching to the east, finishing at Trent. He then traced a finger south to Cornwall and the ancients’ road west into the rainforest. Bounder and Gray Strider both understood the journey, but they couldn’t relate that with what they had to do against the Overlords.
Chrysalis had nothing else to offer. Lizard Men were mostly cold-blooded, so they didn’t register a heat signature. Even with the satellite sensors refined, they had no idea what kind of force the Overlords had at their command. He could only tell Braden where the communications emissions had come from, but not what the companions would have to fight to get there.
“So we have an idea where we want to go, but we’re blind.” Braden studied the wall of screens, looking carefully from one to the next. He asked for a pan here, a zoom there. He asked about the road through the Amazon, if there was any movement. They couldn’t tell. He shook his head. “Just like the old days. I’ll have to dig out my telescope,” Braden said as Micah joined him. He looked past her to see if their children were with her, but they rarely came to the Command Center. They didn’t like it because they weren’t allowed to touch anything, and they couldn’t talk with the computers like they could talk with other intelligent beings. The clones, the survivors from Cygnus VI, didn’t bother them at all like they did Bronwyn.
“They’re outside with Patrice and Delavigne,” Micah told him. “You said just like old times. You mean two cycles ago when Ess wasn’t helping you to see what was around the next bend?” she asked, leading him somewhere.
“And your point, partner mine?” Braden parried.
“My point is that I am amazed you survived without everyone helping you!” She nodded to emphasize her point. “Holly? Are you there?”
The hologram magically appeared next to them wearing his perpetual smile. “Of course, I am always at your service.”
“You’ve been following everything we’ve been doing to figure out the Overlords. Do you have any ideas, where we might find an advantage?” Micah asked.
“Yes. We will have to deactivate your neural implant first, because the Overlords can track emissions the same way we can. You will still have the advantage of your mindlink. You can talk to each other in a way that no one can follow. You can coordinate your efforts without anyone knowing. You control all the area around the rainforest, and you can move at the speed of an Aurochs. When you go into the rainforest, you have Lizard Men you trust and Amazonians who will fight beside you. And you have the power of technology. Against spear-armed forces of the Overlords, you have a distinct advantage.” Holly sounded upbeat.
“But we can’t see the Amazonians when they blend into the trees and the undergrowth,” Braden added.
“Yes, there is that little detail that you’ll have to work out as you go, but you have demonstrated amazing resilience and I have the utmost confidence in you!” Holly sounded like a trader selling a wagon full of bad cabbages.
“Holly, have you been studying how to be a Free Trader? You old dog! Let’s go to the Medical Lab and get that implant out of your head so you can learn to do without it,” Braden said as he took Micah’s hand and headed for the elevator. The Wolfoids followed but all six of them wouldn’t fit, so Braden sent the Wolfoids to the surface first, then recalled the elevator.
Once in the Med Lab, they each took a positions on one of the beds. Braden wanted his implant removed as well even though it was dead, in solidarity with hi
s partner. They laid back and drifted off as the Bots did what they do. Micah was the first to wake and blinked as her eye watered excessively. Soon things cleared up. She remembered her disorientation from when she received the implant. Since then, she’d learned to read because of the implant and used it to communicate with her children when she was far away. She had grown more than just used to it, she started to depend on it.
No more crutch. As Braden said, just like the old days when they were normal humans living their lives the best they could. Normal humans who could talk with a variety of the planet’s creatures, that was.
A Plan Starts to Take Shape
Braden and Micah joined the others in the clearing by the lake. Almost everyone was there: four Wolfoids, two Rabbits, two Hawkoids, four Aurochs, two Lizard Men, a Tortoid, and a Hillcat. The remaining two Rabbits were still in Dwyer. Ferrer was fully healed, and he and Brigitte were working daily in the fields to help provide for the village and all the refugees temporarily calling Dwyer home. They also missed Bronwyn, who was going to have a role to play. They needed her ability to find and speak with the Amazonians. She was going on thirteen cycles, nearly a teenager, and Braden saw her as the key to the future of all Vii.
With such an ability came a disproportionate responsibility. They’d swear to protect her, but they couldn’t guarantee that she’d be completely safe. What parent would agree to such conditions. It was too much to ask, but they had to, for the good of humanity.
Braden felt nauseous. He knew that Bronwyn’s parents would put their trust in him. Maybe he’d try to talk them out of it, but he had more pressing issues.
“We have a problem and it hides deep within the rainforest. We felt its presence last time we traveled the rainforest road. We have empty villages because they’ve sent their minions forward, while they hide behind a vast distance of trees, swamp, and endless rain. We have a single task. Remove the Overlords. Cold-water crocs, Amazonians, even the Bat-Ravens will run when they are no longer driven toward a single purpose, no longer directed by the power of the ancients.
Free Trader Box Set - Books 4-6: Battle for the Amazon, Free the North!, Free Trader on the High Seas Page 15