The Battle for Tomorrow (Ilon the Hunter)

by Frederick Bell

  “Has all of this clean air softened your brain? She intends to kill us anyway. But before that happens I will gladly risk my life to expose the people to what she and her corrupt government are doing behind their backs. You know what is happening out there. And every day we do her dirty work we bring ourselves that much closer to her, to those like her who destroy purely for profit. Because of them our home world is now dead. And when this next world is dead too—what then? No amount of money will ever undo the damage or bring back the destroyed lives. We might die trying to stop her, yet we are the only ones who can stop her.”

  “You are right, of course,” Inelefar conceded. “Certainly I will help you in any way I can.” He would. After all, what other choice did he have?

  “Good.” Poxiciti went to the door to show that this meeting was now over. “I must go to city Anaxerxes. Tomorrow. You will accompany me.” As he was about to leave he abruptly spun around. “One other detail. The segathar. Have it returned to the forest, and released.”

  Inelefar’s shocked expression was such that Poxiciti decided some clarification was necessary. “I do not wish to cause its suffering any longer, nor will I allow its hide to fall into the hands of our jailer. We shall say it died.”

  “Midlothian will demand an autopsy.”

  “Just do it,” he ordered, and then exited from the room.

  The next morning he was up at dawn, working diligently in his laboratory on some new project which he allowed no one to see. Inelefar eventually caught up with him at the sky port, and just as soon as they boarded they promptly departed for city Anaxerxes.

  Although a vehicle was sent to take them directly to Pulima Cos, as soon as they were within the city limits Poxiciti ordered the driver to stop at a location he pointed out on the map.

  “I wanted you to see this first,” he told Inelefar as their vehicle was pulling away. Naturally the driver would immediately report their whereabouts, so before they were apprehended he grabbed hold of Inelefar’s arm and hurried him across the street.

  Up ahead a group of rough looking females were milling out in front of an abandoned building. One of them said something crude as the two males walked past, then turned and started to follow.

  “We’re asking for trouble if we stay here,” Inelefar whispered as he glanced nervously over his shoulder. All three females were keeping pace behind them.

  “Just a little further.” Poxiciti checked the map again, then angled left onto one of the side streets.

  “You!” A harsh voice penetrated Poxiciti’s thoughts, and he turned to see an overbearing female stomping forward. “Not you,” she said coarsely. “The pretty one. Come here,” she ordered.

  Before she realized what was happening Poxiciti pulled a gulun gun from his robe—and now he fired it into the air as he charged forward screaming as loud as he could. As he anticipated, the three frightened females made a hasty departure.

  “This accursed city is full of ruffians and hooligans.”

  Inelefar’s tiny yellow eyes enlargened. “You . . . you brought a gun, a killing weapon? You Poxiciti?”

  “What, this thing?” To Inelefar’s shock he pointed the weapon directly at him and fired. “Just a noise maker,” he laughed at his assistant’s horrified expression. “See? A harmless toy. Now be quiet and stay on your guard.”

  Were this not city Anaxerxes, Inelefar might have guessed he was back home on Epiphiline. The street was filthy, strewn with garbage and derelict equipment. Many of the older buildings were now empty, though he could hear some kind of heavy machinery emanating from the one across the street.

  “Where are we?”

  “Terrasote sector.” Lifting his arms skyward Poxiciti slowly spun around in a circle. “So what do you think of our fine city now? Is this not the pinnacle of all our achievements here?”

  Obviously his sarcasm was intended to launch them both into some sort of philosophical debate that Inelefar had no wish to participate in. It could not come at a worse time. They were two defenseless males, alone, in a dangerous part of the city. And undoubtedly Pulima Cos was searching for them right now. Of all the places to go, why had they come here? Could all this stress and mental turmoil be making him crazy? Inelefar thought for sure he was when Poxiciti walked over to one of the sewer grates and pried it open with his hands.

  “Over here. This is something to be seen.”

  Reluctantly, Inelefar squatted overtop the black hole, grimacing as the sewer’s acrid stench bit into his pores. “Poxiciti,” he said urgently. “We have to leave. Now.”

  “Is anyone still watching us?” he asked distractedly.

  “No.”

  “Good. Hold onto this.” He handed over a gnarob, a highly sensitive instrument used for detecting the presence of various toxic chemicals. “I recalibrated it this morning.”

  “For what?”

  He declined to answer, though Inelefar’s curiosity was piqued when Poxiciti attached a line and began lowering it into the hole. While they waited for the device to take an accurate reading Inelefar checked over his shoulder again. To his immense relief no one else was in the area; still, he couldn’t be sure they were out of danger. In any case when he looked back, Poxiciti was hauling the gnarob back up.

  “Ah-hah! Just as I suspected. These readings indicate the usual concoction of deadly chemicals and poisons which city Anaxerxes’s citizens are illegally disposing of. And something else.” He noted this one particular discrepancy and immediately pointed it out to Inelefar.

  “Helixarum? This figure can’t be right. According to this data, there’s a significant amount of helixarum accumulating down there.”

  “Correct.” Poxiciti regarded him grimly. “They’re pouring it straight into the city’s sewers.”

  Inelefar was aghast. “Who would do such a stupid thing?”

  “I suspect poachers. There are several operating in the vicinity. And since helixarum is extremely corrosive, why they’re probably using it to dispose of their animal carcasses. That would explain the elevated levels of carbon in the reading.”

  “It’s insane! To use helixarum for something like that. Why at this concentration, if it combusted, it could . . .” Inelefar caught himself slipping backwards, so great was his shock. “It could wreak the entire infrastructure, knock down whole city blocks, kill thousands! We have to report this at once.”

  “And what do you expect the authorities will do? Hunt down these polluters, arrest all of them, jail every last one? No,” Poxiciti said firmly. “Instead, the lives we save will be our own.”

  “Then—you’re asking me to say nothing, do nothing?”

  “I am.”

  “But . . . thousands of people.”

  “Only thousands. It is a small price to pay if we are to prevent the deaths of millions. After all, it is the people who are precipitating this crisis. Their lust for fashionable animal hides has attracted these same exploiters and criminals who now pollute our cities strictly for profit. So long as there is money to be made this sort of thing will continue to happen.”

  He was appalled by Poxiciti’s cold-blooded reasoning, though Inelefar had to admit to himself that a devastating explosion might be just what they needed to get the people back on their side.

  “Here, help me put this back on.” Together they slid the grill over the opening. Poxiciti rose and brushed the dust from his robe. “We better get going.”

  After a brief walk they again encountered another group of females, though managed to get past them after Inelefar promised to come back with some of his friends. Fortunately, their driver spotted them crossing the street and promptly delivered them to the city’s main headquarters located behind the protective walls of the old city. An armed escort met them at the door and took them upstairs to Pulima Cos’s private suite of offices.

  Her specially equipped wet room misted out just the perfect amount of humidity and water vapor. Invisible droplets of water condensed on their bodies and dribbled off. The coo
l wetness was luxuriating. Ordinarily, Poxiciti might have enjoyed this frivolous convenience, yet seeing Pulima Cos’s fat frame wreathed in heavy moisture was too ugly a sight to behold and robbed him of this one pleasure.

  “You were to come straight here as I ordered. So what were you doing in Terrasote sector?” she demanded.

  “Why out enjoying the sights of your beautiful city,” Poxiciti answered with only the slightest trace of sarcasm in his voice.

  “Very amusing,” Pulima Cos said dryly. She frowned. Seeing him again, this soon, was almost more than she could bear. His annoying presence brought back the anger she had felt during their last encounter—and now made her wish he was dead. He should have been dead, she wanted this very much, though regrettably he was much more valuable to her alive. Yet hopefully, this might soon change.

  “Did you bring the information as I asked?”

  “Of course,” Poxiciti answered. “Here it is.”

  As she swung around to face him she spotted his new companion and all thoughts of work were instantly forgotten. “And who is this pretty one?”

  “He is Inelefar,” Poxiciti said formally, stepping aside so that he might better introduce the two of them. “My assistant.”

  “Assistant? So you are a scientist, Inelefar?”

  Reluctantly, he nodded.

  “Wonderful. And so lovely too.” She rose from behind her desk and squeezed his hand. Inelefar nervously avoided her eyes though could feel them burning into his wet flesh. “You must join me for dinner tonight, Inelefar.”

  A personal invitation from Pulima Cos was impossible to refuse. Not that they would be eating food. Her sexual appetite was well known among the ruling circles. Though he had nodded yes, he was already thinking of possible ways to cancel their engagement.

  However, Pulima Cos wanted him right now; it was difficult to think of anything else. But once she was again seated behind her desk, looking at Poxiciti’s ugly face, the discussion quickly returned to the present problem.

  “Your work. Is it progressing?”

  “Slowly,” he admitted. “Understand that this is a new world and everything in it is a mystery needing to be solved.”

  “Then you and your lazy companions need to work harder. Were you not given a live segathar to study?”

  “It died.”

  “Then get another one. I want answers, not excuses.” In anger she thumped the top of her desk. “Have I not made available to you every scientific convenience, provided you with some of the planet’s best scientists?”

  “You have.”

  “Well then, what have you discovered?”

  “As of yet, nothing conclusive. The segathars I examined showed an intense fear of fire, nor were they able to demonstrate any skill whatsoever that might be interpreted as intellectually motivated.”

  “Then you are wasting my time. I know those creatures are out there. I want them found. And destroyed. My ability to protect the public depends on knowing if these animals can make fire. You have three more days to unlock this mystery.”

  “Or what?”

  Her silence was his answer, and so he and Inelefar departed for home under this new threat of death. Even so, it was not worth thinking about. Whatever she decided to do to them she would do. Poxiciti limped slowly; he did not let her bother him.

  “She frightens me,” Inelefar whispered beside him.

  “Do not fear her. She is more afraid of us than we of her. Remember, for all her powers she is nothing but a fat blowhard.”

  Inelefar snorted. His mentor’s sense of humor was atrocious, yet he appreciated these brief moments of levity if only to remind himself that he was still alive.

  Poxiciti looked to the end of the corridor and saw that the guards were still out of earshot. “The killing of the segathars will not be ended. Therefore we must work against her to ensure that these animals are protected. I propose a non-profit organization of concerned citizens, funded by private donations to ensure that these and other endangered animals are saved from permanent extinction. I want you to go to city Tsilix and begin this task immediately.”

  “And what shall I call this new enterprise?” he asked him.

  “Exactly that. Segathar Scientific Enterprises.”

  A vehicle was waiting outside, and as soon as they climbed in, Poxiciti ordered the driver to take them at once to the sky port. Still he was thinking of Pulima Cos, though he was happy to see her accursed city vanish in the dust cloud behind him. He cared nothing at all for this city, for already it was a dirty, polluted place, growing wildly out of control. That had never been his wish, to see the surrounding forest burnt down, the wetlands drained dry. Sadly, he knew that some day all this would be indistinguishable from the overcrowded, filthy cities they had abandoned on Epiphiline. Some day very soon.

  Then an odd thing happened. Unknown to his two passengers, the driver turned at a crossroad and headed south away from the sky port. Only when Poxiciti realized they were going in the opposite direction did he order the driver to pull over. He pressed a switch on the com panel. Now as the privacy shield slid open so strong was Poxiciti’s reaction to the driver’s face that he fell back into his seat.

  “You!”

  “What do you want?” Inelefar hissed in hatred.

  “Only your attention,” Nalanusat said quietly. “There are no listening devices. We can talk.”

  “We cannot. Now drive,” Poxiciti commanded.

  “First, you must promise to listen.”

  “I promise you nothing. You are one of Midlothian’s paid informants.”

  “No more. It was in her jail where I learned to hate her. But it was also there where I met others who made me see that the females are our oppressor. We males have no voice, no power to change anything. Unless we act against them now I fear this new world will become like the one we left.”

  “And what proof do you have of this amazing conversion?” Poxiciti asked him skeptically.

  “Only this.” He rolled up his garment sleeve and showed them the red tattoo burnt deep into his flesh. And though it was only a small and simple design both of the lookers instantly recognized it as a symbol of rebellion.

  “I cannot imagine it. You, a terrorist.”

  Even Inelefar managed to snort out a laugh. “What would Midlothian think of you now?”

  There was a long ponderous silence, Poxiciti was thinking very seriously of how he would now respond. Finally, he lifted his eyes and spoke. “So tell me what it is you want, Nalanusat.”

  “I know you have a fifth column operating in several cities. Your spies are collecting information to use against this government. So are we. Why should our two groups work apart when we are both working against a common enemy?”

  “Then . . .”

  “We want to join you.”

  “No. Never!” Inelefar shouted. “Besides, what do you and your converts know about our cause?”

  “Absolutely nothing,” he said unabashedly. “We only want the same as you—to see the power shared equally, male and female together.”

  Even while Inelefar fully expected his mentor to refuse and say no, Poxiciti found himself unable to turn down Nalanusat’s offer. “Before I give you my answer I want to know more about this movement, your members, your political connections, and your covert activities.”

  “Done,” Nalanusat agreed happily.

  When they arrived at the sky port Poxiciti produced a wet slip of selp paper which he handed over to Nalanusat. “Here. Her name is Borobos. She will examine your organization and decide how it might be integrated to better serve us. For now, until things change, we will have no further contact.”

  “Understood. The next time we meet I hope this world will be a different place.”

  “I hope so,” Poxiciti told him. “I sincerely hope so.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Krugjon is very sick. I fear he will not survive.”

  Horhon was so still that to the watchers she did not app
ear to be breathing at all. “And Ilon?”

  “He is the lucky one.” Katakana sighed. “His sickness is not as bad as the others. Of course he is still not able to leave his burrow, but I believe he is recovering.”

  Then the news was not entirely bad. Still Horhon could not allow Ilon’s present condition to draw her away from an even more pressing matter. Two had died yesterday, and soon maybe another would join them. With tremendous effort she forced aside all thoughts of him and concentrated on her greatest worry.

  “This sickness you speak of. Has anyone else succumbed to it yet?”

  Of all the grim faced hunters only Katakana seemed marginally relieved. “I believe not. Only the four who returned together, only they complained of sickness—and that has not happened to any of us. Not yet. I have questioned everyone here, and since one more day has passed without any sign of it spreading to us, why then I suppose we are safe.”

  “Then what could have caused it?”

  Again it was Katakana who responded, though she was no authority and was the first one to admit that this matter was outside the realm of her understanding. “We see its result, yet we know none of the reasons. I only know that the death of two, and the possibility of even more death, brings great fear to our trod. Who can think clearly when so many terrible things are happening at once?”

  “You should not worry,” Gangahar told the frightened listeners.

  “I do worry,” Horhon interjected, digging her sharp toenails deep into the ground to show him how resolutely she felt. “Something out there is killing our hunters, and while we wait here the answer eludes us. Now tell me Katakana, do you have the answer?”

  “Perhaps. They left together, they returned together. So therefore whatever found them is not here, but out there.”

  “Where did they go hunting?”

  “I believe it was west of here.” Antayak straightened his stance because every hunter was now looking at him. “Before everyone sickened, Ilon told me they tracked a herd of nentenens to the river where they killed one.”