Hunter's Home: Hunter's Saga Books 1-3

by Art DeForest

  Like all the rest of man’s discoveries, once someone figured out how to do something, everyone else seemed to figure out how to do it too. Before long the European Union and some of the asian collectives, primarily the Pan-Asian confederation and the resurgent Chinese Empire also figured out how to use the rifts. Like sap through a tree with many branches and offshoots mankind started flowing out to find new places in the galactic arm to call home.

  That was all ancient of history of course. Since the exodus started, man had come together in different regions of space connected by the rifts. Trade agreements became coalitions became multi-planet empires. The largest was the Assemblage. Surrounded by a host of smaller and sometimes aggressive neighbors. This man could have come from any number of them. They could be very organized pirates, but Alex didn’t think so. He didn’t know where they came from, but he knew they didn’t belong here.

  Alex inspected the assault weapon that fell a short distance from the man’s hand as he sprawled in death. It really was a chemical burner like his own. “Now that is just strange.” he thought. “Why would an army use chemical burners when there were energy weapons that were so much more efficient?” Yet another question to add to the list he thought. Figuring out how to remove the clip he saw that it held many more shots than his rifle’s six, but they were also much smaller. A medium ranged weapon then. Good out to a couple hundred meters and could lay down many rounds per minute at a guess. The man didn’t have any other firearms on him. He had a knife at his side somewhat smaller than Alex’s own hunting knife. He also had two spare magazines on him. “Apparently he wasn’t one of the people spraying the hill randomly.” he thought derisively. The rest of the bodies in the front yard were similarly equipped. Alex purposefully avoided looking at his mother. He wouldn’t be able to clear the area if he let himself break down again. He’d known as soon as he saw the smoke and heard the distant report of the officer’s weapon that there was no chance for her to survive. Alex moved up onto the porch and looked down at the officer lying in the doorway. He had a handgun added to his kit over and above what the rest of the soldiers had. He had murdered Alex’s mother with it after all.

  Rage replaced the nausea Alex had been feeling up to then. It threatened to overwhelm him once again as he looked at the corpse. Pushing the rage down deep, but still shaking in rage, he inspected the other body on the porch. This soldier had a large hole in his abdomen. “Mom did her best.” thought Alex with a little pride Pride was quickly swept away on a tide of guilt however. “I should have been there!” he started to berate himself. “If only I had been there i…….would have most likely died by her side.” His shoulder slumped in resignation. The knowledge that he couldn’t have saved her didn’t do much to make him feel better

  Alex shouldered his rifle once more and drew the heavy bladed hunting knife strapped to his side as he entered the close confines of the house. Mom’s shotgun lay in the center of the living room floor mute testament to her last stand protecting her home. To Alex’s mind there had been no tougher woman on the planet. That’s saying something on a planet that was known for it’s sturdy independent minded people. He believed it none the less. She had raised him alone since his father died in a farming accident when he was only two. She worked part time in the town of Carlson Springs 20 miles down valley from their home, cooking at the local cafe. She split the profits of produce grown on her homestead with a neighbor who did the actual farming. Those two income streams allowed them to make ends meet...mostly. Working as hard as she had though, Alex had never felt anything less than loved and secure. Until now.

  The living room was empty. The bad guys didn’t appear to have had the chance or inclination to ransack the place. Alex continued on down the hallway checking both bedrooms and the bathroom of the small ranch style house. He was starting to breath easier as he entered the kitchen. That’s when the attack came.

  4

  Alex sensed movement to his left. Spinning around he got an arm up just in time to block an overhead blow. A blade sliced into his forearm as it was withdrawn by his assailant. An instinctual thrust with his own knife forced his attacker back a half step. The knife scored a shallow cut on his attacker’s stomach.

  The soldier swept the blade to the side with his empty hand and lunged at Alex. He pushed him backwards violently across the kitchen. Stumbling as he went, Alex’s lower back crashed into the kitchen table. Sprawling across it, his knife slipped from his grip and clattered to the floor.

  The attacker charged, wild eyed, across the kitchen, one of his mom’s kitchen knives still held in an overhand grip. Alex rolled to his left as the knife impacted the table missing him by a hair’s breadth. He shoved the man with his left hand as he rolled back to his back. His momentum kept him and his assailant moving to his right until they both rolled off the table.

  Momentum bit him on the ass at that point as it carried them both full circle in the air as they fell and Alex found himself on his back once more, his assailant landing squarely on top of him. Both men lay stunned briefly. The soldier having landed on a bit softer surface, that being Alex, recovered first. He had retained his improvised weapon and once again raised his blade to strike. Alex got his injured left arm up in time to catch the other’s wrist. Pain seared through his arm as he exerted all his strength to keep the blade from plunging into his chest. The soldier was smaller and maybe a little weaker than he was, Alex thought. The injury to his arm had weakened it however, allowing the knife to slowly descend towards his chest.

  Alex pushed desperately at the attacker with his right hand and thrashed underneath him, trying to shake him loose. The attacker clung like a limpet, and the knife crept inexorably closer to his chest. Alex couldn’t shake him. He glanced around in panic hoping for aid of any kind. There! Off to his right he saw the fallen hunting knife. The assailant's knife descended faster as Alex removed his right hand to reach for his trusty blade. The attacker was so focused on plunging mom’s vegetable knife into Alex’s chest that he didn’t notice Alex’s fingertips scrabbling to draw his blade close enough to grasp. The tip of the his attackers blade had just penetrated Alex’s shirt and pressed sharply against his skin when the grasped the comforting weight of the heavy 15 centimeter blade. Propelled by all his remaining strength, Alex’s knife flashed upwards and plunged between his attackers ribs, the razor sharp tip cutting deep into the man’s heart. A strangled cry escaped the man’s lips as he collapsed limply on top of Alex. His lifeblood leaking onto Alex.

  He lay gasping for a moment before he could gather the strength to push the body off him. Once he managed the feat he sat up shakily. The cut on his arm was bloody, but it didn’t look too deep. The bleeding was slowing even as he watched. The receding adrenalin rush along with taking another human life made him a nauseous quivering mess for several minutes. Finally he straightened his spine and took stock of his dead assailant. His uniform was slightly different than that of the dead in his front yard. It was a lighter shade of blue than the midnight blue of the other soldier’s uniforms and there was a silver star on each shoulder. He was of slight build and didn’t appear to be armed except for the knife he had used to try to kill Alex. He surmised that this must have been the pilot of the scout craft taking refuge in the house as the bullets were flying. He probably grabbed the knife when he heard Alex enter the house.

  Standing up, Alex found his rifle under the kitchen table. How it got there he had no idea, but it appeared to be in one piece. Shouldering it once more he knelt down and forced himself to pull his knife out of the pilot’s chest, nausea threatening to empty his stomach contents once more. He kept control however and cleaned his knife off with a kitchen towel, he slid it back into its sheath with a shaking hand. Taking his rifle resolutely in hand once more he proceeded cautiously out the back door to continue clearing the immediate area.

  The crew compartment of the ship was bare in appearance as Alex peered tentatively around the edge of the troop hatch. Entering the craft, h
e tried to open the cockpit hatch to no avail. Giving it up he left and returned to the house. He went into the bathroom and turned on the light switch. Nothing happened. The room remained in semi-darkness. He walked back to the kitchen and then the living room. None of the lights worked. As he looked around the living room he realized there was no power anywhere. Not even hand held equipment with their own power supplies like the handheld game on the coffee table or even the automatic toothbrush in the bathroom had power. He began to suspect why the soldiers used chemical burners. Something had killed all the electronics.

  Shelving that thought for the moment, he cleaned and bandaged his arm. That done he grabbed the remaining first aid equipment as well as whatever medicines he could find in the cabinet

  Next, he went into the kitchen once more to fill a sack with food. Protein bars and packaged snacks that would last unrefrigerated found their way into his sack. He also refilled his canteen from the tap and hooked it back to his belt. Feet dragging, he knew what he had to do next, but the hollow ache in his chest fought with his need to get out of the area before more bad guys showed up. It had to happen though, so he shouldered his pack and rifle and trudged outside to his mother’s side. As he approached the body of the officer he had killed in the doorway, he stooped and retrieved the pistol and it’s holster from the man’s belt. He wasn’t familiar with this pistol in particular and he was no great expert with handguns overall, but he figured it would have come in handy back in the kitchen a few minutes ago. Strapping it to his belt he continued on to his mother’s side.

  Alex tried not to look at his mother’s face as he gently picked her up, cradling her in his arms. She was a slight woman to begin with and she seemed to weigh nothing in death. She was starting to stiffen though and the feeling of her dead flesh clasped tightly against his chest was almost more than he could stand. He pushed through the pain and revulsion though and holding her protectively, he headed back towards the ridge tears streaming down his face once again. Reaching the hills, he turned to skirt their base heading up a narrow canyon that wound its way deeper into the mountains. Brush quickly turned into forest, deeper and darker the farther up the canyon he went.

  Just as he was entering the trees however, he heard the deep rumble of an approaching ship. Ducking quickly he found cover under the trees and set his mom down quickly but gently. Sneaking tree to tree up the side of the ridge he climbed higher and higher until he once again he had a view of the homestead.

  Descending vertically out of the sky was a ship at least 3 times the size of the one in the yard. It also appeared to be heavily armed with a roving turret at the nose of the craft and what appeared to be guns mounted beneath its stubby swept back wings. As he watched, it circled the immediate area of the homestead before lowering to hover a few feet off the ground next to the scout. A ramp descended from the belly of the craft creating a ramp to the ground. As soon as the ramp finished its drop, heavily armed soldiers immediately rushed down the ramp and fanned out to take up defensive positions around the ship. Several people entered the house and barn.

  Alex dropped his pack again. This time however, he pulled his camo cover from the pack before resting his rifle once again upon it. Hiding beneath the cover concealed him quite effectively as he hunkered among the trees and brush. It also served dual purpose as a survival blanket. It’s reflective inner surface radiating a person’s own body heat back at them. It was standard issue for the local militias, and Alex loved the thing. He hoped it would help if that ship decided to search the area with heat seeking sensors of some kind.

  He watched through the scope as troops scoured the homestead. Anger pulsing through him as he helplessly watched them defile his home. He noticed that two people seemed to follow his tracks to the edge of the bush. He started to tense, but they turned around after a few steps into the undergrowth and headed back to their compatriots. The rest of the group were either on security or where set to the task of bagging up the bodies and taking them to the larger craft. A man with more shiny bits on his uniform inspected each one before they were hauled back to the craft.

  “There’s no way I can take on a group like this and expect to kill them all.” Alex thought. He kept his finger resolutely off the trigger and continued to observe. Presently the bodies were all loaded onto the larger ship and he saw another person entering the scout ship. The smaller ship took off first and immediately headed back towards Carlson “Springs.

  The larger craft ascended a hundred meters or so into the air and started a slow outward spiral. Alex covered himself completely with the camo cover and held himself motionless. He shook in fear as he peeked out of a slight gap he had left between the ground and the camo cover watching the big ship. As it circled the ship continued to ascend going higher and in ever widening circles out to maybe half a kilometer from the house. Finally it descended a bit and came to a hover, it’s nose pointed towards the homestead. Doors slid open on the underside of the ship’s body and to Alex’s horror missile pods descended from the ship’s bowels. In rapid succession 2 missiles streaked out from their cradles, striking the house and barn with earth shattering concussions, completely destroying both structures. As the structures burned, the ship rotated and followed the smaller ship back toward town. Alex stared numbly at the ruins of his once safe little world.

  5

  “The bodies from the scout team have been recovered and the home and outbuilding destroyed Colonel” said the comm officer. “The scout ship and assault shuttle are headed back to base. Commander Walsh did not find any living people in the vicinity.”

  “Very well” said the Colonel. “Have Commander Walsh report to me immediately upon his return.” “As you command Colonel.”

  Commander Walsh rapped smartly on the hatch to the Colonel’s ready room. “Enter” came a stern voice from inside. The hatch slid open and Commander Walsh entered to stand before Colonel Sampson’s desk, saluting smartly. “Sir, reporting as ordered” He said. “What did you find commander?” Sampson asked, leaning back in his chair to gaze up into the Commander’s eyes.

  “The entire squad appears to have been killed by one or possibly two individuals.” said Walsh. The Colonel’s eyes widened in surprise. “How is that possible?” he asked in a somewhat shocked voice. “It appears that they were engaged from long range by a projectile weapon similar to our assault weapons, but much larger.” He said with a somewhat surprised expression on his face. “From the angle of trajectory it appears the assailant was positioned on a ridge approximately 450 to 500 meters for the buildings. His fire was extremely accurate and he was even able to make kills through thin cover. There were 2 exceptions. Corporal Slattery was killed by a large smooth bore weapon. Apparently as he was attempting gain entry into the home.” Walsh grimaced visibly as he recalled the large hole in Slattery’s body. “We found blood evidence that suggests the person who shot him was executed in the front yard. The body however, is missing.” Again Sampson’s eyebrows raised in question. “We believe that the long range shooter came down and removed the body after the battle.” said Walsh.

  Colonel Sampson gazed at the wall speculatively. “So the shooter and the body in the yard were probably related?“ said with raised eyebrows. “ That’s our working assumption at this point sir. Due to the pulse, computer records don’t exist in this area any longer. We will question the captives we have and see if we can identify the attacker.” said Walsh. Sampson nodded his head in agreement. “Yes, EMP does tend to play havoc with computer systems...and every other electrically powered item.” he said with a smirk. The Colonel became all business once more. His face returning to a stern expression.

  What was the other exception Commander?” asked the Colonel. “The other exception was the pilot sir. We found him dead in the kitchen from a knife wound to the chest.” said Walsh. “A knife wound you say? That’s unexpected given how the rest were killed.” said the Colonel. “I wonder what the pilot was doing in the house in the first place?’ he asked spe
culatively. Walsh’s eyebrows drew down into a scowl. “We guess that he went to investigate when the shooting started and was trapped in the house. One of the squad was killed just outside the scout ship. The pilot may not have felt he could safely return to the ship.” said Walsh. “He shouldn’t have left the ship in the first place!” the Colonel said with some heat. “Yes sir, he was young. It was his first action.” said Walsh. It’s no excuse, but that’s what we think happened.

  “Very well commander.” said Sampson, a dark look still on his face. What of this assailant? Why weren’t you able to find him?”

  “We followed heavily indented prints leaving the area, but they were lost a short distance into the brush. We did a spiraling thermoscan out to a half kilometer with no human sized targets in evidence. I felt the prudent course at that point was to return the bodies to the Harvester and report back for further instruction.” said the Commander.

  “Very well” said Sampson. “We must find this attacker. He could be a serious thorn in our side” he said, concern written on his face. “I doubt one lone gunman will be much of a match for our assault troopers Colonel.” said the Commander with a somewhat arrogant tone. “You think not Commander?” said Sampson in slight surprise. By all appearances this lone gunman as you put it, killed an entire squad with exquisite skill and determination, presumably in retaliation for the killing of someone very close to him. Do you actually think his thirst for vengeance is sated?” the colonel’s eyes raised questioningly. “How could he even achieve such an accomplishment?” Sampson asked with a somewhat shocked expression on his face. “Pinpoint accuracy at that range is unheard of!” he exclaimed.