by Chris Hechtl
“Doctor Roshenko, a moment of your time,” Ryans said looking up. The doctor came out and adjusted his coat before coming over. “A consult if you please,” Ryans waved to the sword.
“Interesting,” the Geologist and Metallurgist said, eying the blade. “May I?” he asked holding his hands out expectantly.
“By all means,” Perry said, handing the blade over. The metallurgist studied it for a moment. “Yes, it does have the hall marks of a katana, note the etching... it's actually due to clay that they use to coat the back of the blade. It creates a temperature differential that is used in the final quenching to give it a hard edge and yet a soft back... two grades of steel are normally used. It's normally folded in a billet... fascinating... It also gives it that curve... fascinating...”
Perry smirked. “Glad he's happy. I'm going to check the perimeter.” He shook his head, walking off. Ryans shrugged then watched the doctor studying the blade for a moment, then turned his attention to the doctor and the two survivors.
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“Their names are Zara and Deidra. The oldest is Deidra,” Doc said over the link. “We're making some progress. It's tough though. They are definitely royalty. Princesses I think.”
“Keep at it Doc,” Ryans said, looking over to her nodding politely to the three women and then turning back to check the perimeter. The military personnel were getting a little nervous about being in such an exposed area. They were going to need to move soon. He glanced at Perry. They'd need a destination first, time for another planning session.
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Nate the biologist was intrigued by the reptilian beasts that the raiders had been riding. “Primitive... almost dinosaur... look at the leg structure! The hips and spines!” He pointed excitedly to one of the bipedal creatures. “They have a sexapod limb structure. I wonder how their shoulders and hips are arranged...”
“A what?” Perry asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Sexapod, it means six in Latin,” Nate answered distracted. The girls looked up at them then back to the doctor.
“Well, go with hex. It's less... of a problem,” Perry replied, clearly amused. He knew what his soldiers would think of that whole sex thing.
“Very well. The animals have a six limb arrangement but are bipedal. The upper two pair of limbs seems to share a joint shoulder socket. I wonder if it split or something further back on the evolutionary tree? The skin folds seem to be like a rhino's... Oh!”
He stepped back as one of the animals bent forward then went on all fours. It groaned then lay down in front of him. He looked at it warily. The animal snuffled then blew a trail of snot. Foam was crusted around its nostrils.
Zara, the younger girl with the leaf tiara came over giving them an amused look. She hugged herself as she approached and then passed them to get to the animal's side. She rubbed its jowls, and then its multi eyebrows. The creature uruphed and harrumphed at her. That got a slight smile out of the girl. She then patted its side and touched its small upper arms until she reached the saddle bags. She untied and flipped the cover up on one, then fished out a treat and fed it to the creature. She rubbed at its brow ridges until it gave an umbling sound and multiple eyelids closed. After a moment all six eyes were shut and it was making snoring sounds.
“Fascinating, to have domesticated a non Terran beast... It's quite strong too!” Nate said watching the girl and taking video with his digital camera. Sergeant Waters snorted. “It moves like a hadrosaur I'm sure,” the Doc murmured. By the way the Doc was dancing around the camera footage was going to be next to useless later Waters thought. He shrugged at the thought, it wasn't his problem. He looked around to the perimeter, checking it instinctively.
Zara pointed to bluish grass near the edge of the tree line. “Veno. Veno,” she said something to Nate. He went to get some but she grabbed his hand. She told him Veno again, shaking her head but he didn't understand. She waved her hands then made hissing sounds.
“She's telling you don't touch it Nate,” Ryans said catching on. “That's what you mean right? Danger?” he asked pointing to the grass then making a slitting motion across his neck. Her eyes were wide. He pointed again and said her word. “Veno right?” he asked. She nodded, eyes clearing. “Latin for poison, root word for venom gotcha,” he said, looking at the tablet.
“Yeah,” he nodded then touched his throat mike. “Safety tip people, steer clear of the bluish grass. Toxic.”
Mary looked up in surprise. “A toxic grass? How unusual!” She went over to the tree line. Zara tried to warn her but she waved the warning off and then made a show out of putting on gloves and pulling a sample bag and giant plastic tongs out of her kit. She took a few samples and then bagged them carefully.
“There, something to look at when things quiet down.” She looked over to the lieutenant. “We are moving on soon I hope?” she asked, indicating the animals. He nodded. A group of soldiers and civilians were burying the bodies of the boy and his servants in a nearby ditch. The bodies of the raiders were left to rot for the scavengers.
“Their base language is some form of garbled Latin or Celtic with a smattering of Chinese. But a lot of words are popping up as unknowns... We're getting about a ten percent proper translation. I'd say the universal translator needs work,” Sue said as she helped Deidra to her feet. The girl brushed at her shredded dress in distaste. She didn't shy away from the people around her like her sister did but she did growl and make it clear she didn't want any of them especially the men getting any closer to her than necessary.
“The system's not set up to poll multiple languages libraries at the same time probably. When we settle down I'll tweak the AI to open the other language libraries,” Sydney said coming over. “Once we have a base context we can build the database and it'll be easier. I've set up all our bluetooth’s to translate through our tablets... as long as we remember to keep them charged.” He gave Doc a dirty look. She nodded. His eyes were wide as he filmed the scene. “Sorry about Ben, he was a nice guy.”
“Yeah, he was,” Perry said nodding. “Stupid though. He should have waited.” Sydney turned to object but Ryans shook his head.
“Shit happens. Sometimes there isn't anything we can do but get an umbrella and a big roll of TP. Let's get moving,” he ordered, waving to the trucks.
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They buried the dead, righted the carriage, and put the women in it just as a pair of refugees came from up the road. They were immediately pressed into service, as were the horses and reptilian animals of the late raiders. The princesses rode off without a word. “Well that's some thanks,” Perry said disgusted. A few moments later they heard an animal's scream and then a woman's.
“I knew it was too good to be true,” he said in disgust running to the vehicles. They rushed off to find the women trapped and encircled by more raiders.
Perry grimaced and fired a single shot over their heads. The raiders paused and then looked at him in shock and surprise. He fired a second shot, this time at the feet of the leader of the raiders. The man looked wide eyed at the dirt kicked up by the shot. The animals were bucking in their traces, those riding them were having all they could do to control their beasts, and weapons remained in their scabbards or on the ground where they had dropped them.
“Think it over red,” Ryans snarled.
The red haired, red bearded giant looked around and then snarled something. He turned his beast to leave. Just as they were about to relax he spun it in place. He reached for his scabbard but Ryans fired. The man tottered in the saddle clutching his chest and then fell. The military personnel fired as well, picking off the other raiders in short one or three shot bursts.
“I'd say that did it,” Perry said looking at the body. Most of the animals had gone off into the bush when the weapons fire started. A few were dragging the bodies of their riders.
“Yeah,” Ryans sighed, seeing the girls looking at him. He shrugged. The other two refugees were huddling t
ogether on the roof of the coach. They looked from him to the women and then back. They looked a little pale.
One of the carriage mounts was dead. That presented a problem he realized. The ladies apparently didn't want to leave the carriage so they climbed out and then they ordered the two refugees down.
“What are they doing?” Perry asked as the refugees dismounted and began to strip the tack off the dead beast. One of the other mounts nudged them, then its partner, making mournful noises. The woman cooed, patting its nose then pushing it away. It looked away and faruped.
“Getting down to business,” Ryans replied turning away to the Terrans. He was putting labels on his people, Terrans versus raiders with these native people stuck in the middle. “We should do the same. It's obviously not safe here.” He looked around. One of the refugees looked at a wounded mount and said something to the princesses. The women looked out then climbed out to touch the beast.
It had cross bow bolts stuck in its side. Its blood was dripping down. It was trying to pull the bolts out with a hand and its mouth, but was failing. One clawed hand splintered one of the bolts. It cried out piteously in pain, throwing its head up and then bellowing.
“That did it,” Perry muttered as the other animals became restless. “Just what we don't need, a wounded alien critter.” He started forward drawing his weapon as the younger woman, Zara came running forward and hugged the huge creature.
She stroked it for a moment. Perry got to her just as one of the refugees tried to pull the bolt out. The creature bellowed in agony and threw its body around, thrashing in pain.
“Look out girl!” Perry said grabbing the girl and pulling her away as the head snapped at her. She cried as the animal screamed and lunged forward.
The others were caught off balance. Startled, with the scent of blood in their nose and their herd mate screaming in pain the other creatures panicked, lunging down the trail.
Deidra, caught off guard fell back from the carriage step into Eugene's arms. He helped her to her feet. She angrily shook off his helping hands and said something like unhand me. He grimaced, holding his hands up and backing away. She turned to the unmanned carriage.
The carriage bounced down the trail with the refugees yelling and running in hot pursuit. It hit the bend of the trail and smashed into a pair of trees. Ryans winced in mute sympathy. The splintered yoke snapped, the animals continued on oblivious, leaving the wrecked carriage behind them.
The girls stared stunned, the refugees as well. One was bent over, huffing in distress, clearly out of breath. Zara threw herself into Perry's arms, weeping bitterly. He hugged her and patted her shoulders awkwardly. “Well, that sucked,” he muttered watching the refugees shake their heads and head back. One kicked a stone in disgust.
“What now?” he asked looking over to Ryans. He turned as well to see Deidra climbing into a hummer.
“Guess they ride with us,” Ryans said dryly as he looked over his shoulder to Deidra, sitting prim and proper, head elevated, every inch a princess in charge. He shook his head; he for one wasn't going to argue with the woman. “Come on folks; let’s get the hell out of here. I for one have had enough excitement for one damn night.”
“I'll take care of them,” Doc said softly. “Come on kid, let’s get you fixed up. I've got a washcloth and a chemical toilet with your name on it... then we can get you an MRE.” She wrapped an arm over the other girl's shoulder and gently guided Zara away from Perry towards the camper. Deidra noted their path and got out to follow.
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“Where are we going now?” Zara asked, looking back to Deidra as the healer urged her into the strange large carriage.
“With them of course,” Deidra said. The man and woman followed her.
Inside the metal carriage she looked around in amazement. There were strange torches in the ceiling, bright white unlike anything she'd ever seen before. The walls were thin and white with wood paneling on what looked like cupboards. There were seats as well, and seats in the front. There was a glass wall, something she didn't understand. A man was seated in front, behind a wheel. He said something to the healer.
“Strange,” she murmured looking around. The healer closed the door and pushed the peasants into a seat. Deidra and Zara sat in another seat. She turned to the driver and said something. After a moment the strange contraption rumbled to life and began to move.
The healer turned and opened a small door and pulled out clear bottles. She used a hand to pop the top off one and handed it to Zara before giving another to Deidra and then finally one each to the peasants.
<==={}------------>
Doc slipped each of the girls a couple of yellow pills after they had a drink of clear cold water and washed up. They asked what they were for in their language. Guessing their intent from their faces she told them gently that one was to prevent infection; the other was to prevent pregnancy. The princesses nodded after she mimed what she meant. Zara latched onto the Doc, Doc told them both they needed rape trauma counseling.
Chapter 3
When Zara finished her drink she whimpered a little as they hit a bump. She fumbled the cap on, surprised that it screwed on and then studied the material, trying to distract herself. Her legs crossed and she groaned as they hit another bump and jolted.
“You have to go again don't you?” Deidra demanded. Zara nodded mutely, one hand going to her waist. “I suppose I'll have them stop then,” Deidra said. She waved to the healer. The healer caught the motion out of the corner of her eye and turned to her. She mimed a stop. The woman shook her head no. Deidra demanded they stop but the woman again shook her head no. Exasperated she held up the water bottle with a trickle of water in it and tipped it over to drip out and then pointed to her sister.
Sue's face cleared as she realized what the girl wanted. She chuckled and came over to the girl. She held out a hand and the girl took it. She pulled her to her feet and then moved her to a cabinet sticking out of the wall further away. She opened the door and the light came on. She pointed. “Bathroom,” she said.
Zara stared at the white fixtures in confusion. Sue smiled and flipped the toilet lid up and down and then turned the sink on and off. The girl blinked at her. Sue frowned and then pantomimed sitting on the seat. When she did the girl finally got the gist of the message and had the grace to blush. It was a struggle to get her poufy but maligned dress into the tiny compartment so she could close the door but they managed.
She sat there and regretted her wardrobe choice. She should have worn her day gear or even her hunting gear. They were... her eyes welled with tears. They were in the carriage, in the trunks under the wreckage. Ah well, she thought snuffling.
“You okay in there sister?” Deidra asked quietly. Zara dashed her tears and nodded.
“I'll be finished here in a moment,” she said and then clutched at the walls and fixtures as the carriage jolted. “If it's not shaken out of me sooner,” she said.
“Indeed,” Deidra said with a chuckle. When Zara came out she took her turn in the bathroom and then opened the door but stood there staring at it in wonder. Zara smiled at her. Both girls were amused and amazed by the bathroom. “I wish we had this in the carriage,” Deidra observed, looking the fixtures over in envy. They were made out of some strange metal coated in white paint. Paint that was hard and didn't flake or chip.
“You and me both,” Zara said from her seat by the door. She still blamed herself for having them stop so she could go to the bathroom. It was that delay that had allowed the raiders to catch them she was certain of it. She bit her lip in pain and guilt.
When they resumed their seats the healer offered the bathroom to the peasants. Both took a turn and then sat. The healer pulled out small strange paper rectangles and offered each of them one. The girl's blinked at her in confusion. They weren't the only ones.
She chuckled and then pulled one apart. Inside was a tray of that strange material. She showed them the food on it. She pulled things off
of it and then put the tray in a white box. The box whirled and then dinged moments later. She took the steaming tray out and put it in front of Zara.
The girl stared at it until the healer pulled the clear material off and handed her a strange eating implement. She looked at it and then down to the thing that smelled of food. “I think she intends for us to eat,” Zara said.
“With peasants?” Deidra asked dryly.
“Apparently so,” Zara replied as the woman handed Deidra a tray and then another to the man named Bux. The man took it gratefully and immediately started to eat.
The healer took another tray and handed it off to the driver who picked at it with one hand while trying to keep an eye on the road. Finally he called something back to her. She stopped what she was doing and came forward. She took the tray and handed him a bar that smelled of nuts. He took it and bit off a chunk.
Zara picked at the food, not really hungry despite her rumbling stomach. The events of the day were too traumatic for her. All she wanted was for this night to be over with.
“It's good,” Bux said. “Bland but good,” he said. “Hot.”
Zara looked over his shoulder. He had some strange concoction of red sauce and green noodles.
“Not bad,” the woman said and nodded.
“I'll try it,” Zara mumbled turning back to her own tray.
“Come on, you're not normally the picky one,” Deidra teased.
“No, that's Balth...” Zara immediately teared up, hands going to her face. Deidra sighed. The healer rubbed the girl's shoulders soothingly until she settled down.
The others had grown quiet while the girl cried. When she stopped they started eating once more. The healer picked at her tray and then took a bit of brown goo on her implement and offered it to Zara.
“What is it?” Zara asked.
“I don't know,” Deidra said. “Try it and let me know,” she said.
Zara hesitantly opened her mouth and the woman plopped it in. She felt sugar hit her taste buds and she smiled as she ate. “It's heavenly, she said.