by Gary Hoover
“Or I’m not The Raja and this is all a bunch of BS.”
“BS?” Nahima’s eyebrows went up.
Jeff realized that she didn’t know all the colloquialisms he used. “Garbage... nonsense... you get the idea.”
“Well, I think I’ve got it fixed,” Dave said as he entered the cabin from the exterior ramp. But I think we may have a problem.”
Jeff looked at him and saw an unfamiliar expression on Dave’s face. It almost seemed to be concern.
“What is it?” Nahima and Jeff asked simultaneously.
“Well... ” He shuffled his feet and avoided making eye-contact. “I don’t know where Baldwin is.”
Chapter 46:
“And I feel confident that, with strength and determination there’s no threat we can’t face. Thank you.” Artimus clicked the microphone off and stepped to the side of the lectern. The crowd applauded – not overly enthusiastically, but it was a solid and sincere ovation. The church was nearly full this time with a crowd that consisted of reasonably normal people. Not that the fringe freaks who had been there the first time weren’t there now, but they were becoming less conspicuous in a crowd of more mainstream attendees. Artimus had a particular spot in his heart for those who had been there from the start.
He glanced over and smiled at Don, who was fumbling with some papers. Don’s okay, Artimus thought to himself, but he’s no Codi. Artimus walked toward the side of the stage, nodding to Don as he passed. He descended a small set of stairs and headed up the aisle toward the reception area outside the main church chamber.
The reception area was crowded with people who stood eating snacks and talking in small groups. Artimus felt he should put in an appearance, though he was tempted to sneak out the back door.
“Father, where is The Raja?”
Artimus turned to face a well-dressed, elderly woman who was waving to get his attention.
She smiled. “I’m sorry, Bishop, was that too abrupt and rude? It’s just... I really want to know.”
Artimus returned her smile. “I understand there’s a lot of... I’m not sure if curiosity is the right word, it seems more than that. But I just don’t know much more than you do.”
“Jeff Browning is The Raja, isn’t he?”
Artimus thought for several moments before responding. “I have believed that to be true, but I also feel it’s unfair to put that on Jeff. One thing I can tell you with certainty is that Jeff does NOT believe he is The Raja. I think for us to thrust that title on him... well I just don’t think that’s right.”
“Where is Jeff now?”
“He’s trying to figure some things out, and I think it’s best for us to give him some privacy while he–” Artimus stopped suddenly as he saw Duanan’s security chief, Roho, standing near the back of the room with two people he also recognized as Duanan’s security. “Excuse me,” he said to the woman as he headed back to see what they were doing.
Roho had been looking in his direction, but as soon as he started toward her, she turned and began to make her way out of the room, taking her people with her.
Artimus pushed his way through the crowd. People greeted him and patted him on the back as he passed, but he ignored them as he looked for Roho and her men. They were no longer in sight, but his progress was bogged down by the crowd that swarmed around him.
“Great speech, Bishop!”
“Well said, Father.”
It took him at least a minute to reach the rear door which opened automatically when he reached it. He stepped out onto the street, which was eerily quiet in contrast to the bustle of the auditorium.
It had rained during his speech, but had stopped and the pavement glistened in the light of the street lamps. Artimus looked left and right. The street was deserted except for two men who had been conversing one hundred feet away. They both stopped and looked at him.
Duanan’s people were nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 47:
“I don’t know,” Dave said as he fiddled absent-mindedly with a wrench. “I was right here working.” He tapped the motor covering with the wrench.
“What was Baldwin doing?” Nahima asked.
“He was just sort of there… ” Dave shuffled his feet. “He had asked a few questions. I sort of... barked at him... a little bit,” Dave said with an uncomfortable, sheepish grin. “After he got quiet, I just sort of... well, I guess I was... sort of... absorbed, and as I finished up and was putting things away, I just sort of realized he wasn’t there anymore.”
Nahima sighed and scanned the village. “It’s not like him to wander away in a strange area. Do you think any of these... things... could have... ”
“I wouldn’t put anything past felears,” Dave said with a sour expression. “If they think they might be able to get some money out of it.”
The three of them scanned the area, looking for any clues and thinking.
“Okay,” Dave said, looking at Jeff. “Go ahead.” He made a large, circling motion with his hand indicating that he wanted Jeff to get on with it.
Jeff looked back at him with a puzzled expression.
“You know. You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?” Dave put his fingers on his temples, closed his eyes and made a ‘breeee, breeee’ sound. “You know,” he said, opening his eyes. “The Raja thing.”
Jeff flushed. “I’m not The Raja,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m not going to beg you... ”
Nahima put a hand on Jeff’s shoulder. “Why don’t you just give it a try?”
Jeff exhaled with exasperation.
He had never really tried to do the ‘Raja thing’ before. Things just sort of came to him.
He looked back and forth between Nahima and Dave who were staring at him expectantly. He exhaled again and closed his eyes.
Nothing.
Jeff squeezed his eyelids tighter, but all he could see was the slight orange glow of the sun shining through them.
“I can’t see anything,” Jeff said, spreading his hands with palms up in a gesture of frustration.
“Oh, you’re not really trying,” Dave said, allowing some of his own annoyance to show through.
Jeff glared at him for a moment then closed his eyes again. This time, he tried his best to relax. He concentrated on his breathing and slowed it. He didn’t try to look or focus on anything, but rather let his mind drift.
He saw the orange of his eyelids start to swirl and twist and mix with other colors, then he saw Bugs Bunny... running a comb through the feathers on Tweety Bird’s head. “Don’t worry, I won’t let Sylvester get you,” Bugs said, then turned and looked directly at Jeff. Then, Bugs morphed into a disheveled old woman – The Prophet. “What are you looking at me for?” she asked. “You’re supposed to be looking for Baldwin.” There was a swirling of colors and the scene completely changed. Jeff was looking at a young woman, sitting alone in a darkened room… crying? Laughing? She turned toward Jeff, and he felt that he recognized her: Artimus’ assistant? Codi? The scene shifted again, and Jeff saw a furry hand. It was resting on the arm of a chair, and the chair arm seemed to have switches and buttons? Jeff found himself being drawn out of the scene, like he was waking, and he couldn’t refocus.
“What’d you see?” Nahima asked expectantly.
Jeff shook his head. “Just a bunch of random images.”
Jeff thought about the last thing he saw and wondered if it might have been the hand of a felear. “I saw a hand. It looked like a felear hand with gray hair, and it was resting on the arm of a chair with some strange switches and buttons.” Jeff illustrated by holding his own arm in the air then shrugged.
There was a pause, and then Dave and Nahima said, nearly simultaneously, “The mayor!”
“That mayor we met,” Nahima said shaking a finger at Dave while looking toward the village. “I think he has his thumb on things. I doubt much happens without him knowing. If somebody’s up to something – and I have a STRONG feeling something’s no
t right – I’m betting he’ll know something about it.”
Dave seemed to think for a bit and then said: “How ‘bout Jeff and I... and Benji,” he added with a sly grin, “go talk to the mayor, while you and Rasp hang back here. Scout around a little bit, but don’t get too far from Princess Trina.”
Nahima nodded.
Dave made a motion to Benji, who was watching from the entrance ramp, then started toward the village with Jeff at his side.
“Mayor?” Jeff asked as Benji caught up with them and fell in behind.
“Yeah, calls himself mayor; seems more like some kind of crime boss. I guess they’re pretty much the same thing around here.”
Jeff looked around nervously as they went deeper into the village. He felt eyes on him from all directions, even from above in the tree dwellings. There were odd, eerie, haunting sounds: low howls, moans, whistles, insect-like ‘chittering’, and other sounds so numerous and over-layered that it was difficult for Jeff to distinguish them. The overall effect made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Benji made his own low, rumbling sound that Jeff could understand as an expression of unease, and the thought that Benji was nervous just put Jeff all the more on edge.
Dave led them to a nondescript shack that had two guards, armed with high power weapons, at either side of the door. The guards moved to block Dave as he approached.
“We need to see the mayor,” Dave said forcefully.
The guards looked at one another uncertainly. “What’s your business with the mayor?” the larger of the two, who wasn’t much bigger than Jeff, asked.
With a quickness that surprised Jeff, Dave snatched the gun away from the guard and then leaned down until his nose was nearly touching that of the guard. “Our business is none of your concern,” he growled into the face of the visibly frightened felear. He shoved the gun back at him, pushing through with such force that the felear stumbled backward and landed on his butt. Dave reached for the door handle, and the other guard stumbled clumsily as he tried to get out of the way.
Jeff and Benji followed Dave into a small, dark, dusty room. At first, Jeff had trouble seeing, but as his eyes adjusted, he saw a fat, gray felear in a motorized wheelchair of some sort. He had been looking through some books on a shelf but turned his attention – slowly, it seemed to Jeff considering the suddenness of their entry – to the three new arrivals. The guards stumbled in behind them looking confused and embarrassed.
“Why do I even pay you two?” the fat felear said, shaking his head. He turned his attention to Dave. “Do you intend to do me harm, friend?”
Dave shook his head. “I’d rather not.”
The mayor waved his hand dismissively toward the guards. “Give us some privacy. If they’re going to kill me, they’ll do so with or without you two present. See if you can prevent anybody else from interrupting us, will you?”
The guards turned and exited without any words.
“Were you able to find the parts you required to repair your vehicle?” The mayor said gesturing toward a stained, torn couch. Jeff assumed it was an invitation to sit that nobody heeded.
As the mayor turned his chair to reposition himself, a shaft of light hit his face, and Jeff could see dried mucus on his nose and eyes. Jeff also noticed that his face was scarred with an odd crisscrossing pattern.
Dave shook his head. “This shouldn’t take long. We can stand.”
“You’re my guest,” the mayor said with a supplicating gesture.
Dave rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“And what, exactly, is it you came here for? Other than to frighten a frail and fragile old man.” He made an unpleasant phlegmy, wheezing sound.
“You know why we’re here,” Dave said curtly.
The mayor twisted a knob on his wheelchair, and it slowly rotated toward Dave. There was an uncomfortable silence, as it took many seconds for the chair to fully rotate until he was looking directly at Dave.
“No, I’m afraid I don’t,” he said with an unpleasant scowl.
Dave glared at him. “One of our crew members is missing.”
The mayor considered that comment and seemed to be thinking about something. “Well, that’s unfortunate.”
“Where is he?” Dave asked through clenched teeth.
“He’s your crew member. Now if you were to ask me where my guards were, I’d tell you they’re outside that door,” he said with a limp gesture toward the door, “and right now, I expect they’re thinking about – possibly talking about – having romantic encounters with their siblings. So, if I know not only where my guards are, but what they’re thinking, how is it you’ve become careless enough to have lost your crew member?”
Dave lunged at the mayor but held himself before moving far. The mayor didn’t flinch.
“Go ahead and kill me if it would give you pleasure. I don’t know how that would help you find your friend,” the mayor said with a disinterested expression.
Dave pulled some plastic cards out of his pocket.
That got the mayor’s attention. “But I might be able to find out more... for the right price.”
“What price would it take for you to skip the games and just tell us what you know?”
The mayor stared directly at Dave for several moments.
“1000 MMUs”
Dave reached in his pocket, counted out several cards, and slapped them on a tray attached to the mayor’s chair.
The mayor’s eyes widened as he looked at the cards. “What guarantee do I have that you won’t steal your money back from me once you’ve got what you want?”
“None,” Dave said. “But I won’t. Now tell me what you know,” he said, leaning close.
“Your friend,” the mayor said as he picked up the cards and clenched them tightly, “was taken by a group of rogue felears who call themselves – roughly translated – ‘The Warriors’. It seems that your friend had a very high price on his head.” The mayor smirked.
“Price?”
The mayor looked at him, apparently trying to read if his surprise was genuine. “Yes. Somebody has offered a very hefty price for The Raja.”
Chapter 48:
“You like it out here, don’t you?” Codi asked.
Artimus smiled and nodded as he scanned the tree-line. He took a deep breath, savoring the clean, fresh smell.
“Don’t forget Artimus was a Ranger,” Goldwin said.
“Just stick close to me, and there’s nothing out here that can hurt you,” Artimus said to Codi with an unconcealed pride that was out of character for him.
“It just makes me... uncomfortable being so exposed out here,” Codi replied with a shiver.
They were in the center of a large field. The long grasses that covered the field were dried and dying from the drought that had affected the region.
“Exposed is good. That way we can see anything that might be coming for us,” Artimus said.
“And anything that might come for us can see us too,” Codi said, unimpressed with Artimus’ logic.
A dark vehicle with sharp, angled edges crested the tree-line and settled to the ground, one hundred feet from the group.
Artimus walked toward the vehicle, and the others followed him closely. A door on the vehicle opened, and two soldiers in battle-gear stepped out and took positions on either side of the door. Blackbuck emerged, nodded to Artimus, then to Codi and Goldwin and walked toward and then past them, gesturing for them to follow as he put a little more distance between them and the vehicle.
“Any news? How are things?” Artimus asked.
Blackbuck shook his head. “Grim. Not looking good.”
“How soon do you think the pheerions will move?”
“Hard to say, but our sources indicate they’re arming themselves to an extreme extent.”
“Any evidence regarding whether they’ll be able to duplicate the gun or shield they had last time.”
“No firm information on that one way or the other. But if they can...
”
“Understood. I think we need to at least assume it’s possible.”
Both Blackbuck and Artimus looked down at the dried grass beneath their feet. Neither said anything for several moments.
Blackbuck looked up. “Are you making any progress with Duanan?”
Artimus shook his head slowly. “He just seems to want to pretend there’s nothing to worry about, though he sure seems to be building up his own security forces. I think he thinks I’m a bigger threat than the pheerions.” Artimus smirked.
“Are you?”
Artimus locked eyes with Blackbuck and read the intensity in the general’s eyes, then he turned to the other two, who had just been observing silently. “Goldwin?”
Goldwin raised his eyebrows.
“I think I’m going to need you to back off in terms of your participation with all of this,” Artimus said to Goldwin with a serious expression.
Both Codi and Goldwin looked back with puzzled expressions.
“If this goes... where it may need to go.” Artimus looked from Goldwin to Codi, gauging if they understood what he was implying. “You are the first in succession. If anything – happened – to Duanan, you would be the rightful governor. I want your hands to be clean in that eventuality.”
Codi’s face whitened. “We’re not... you’re not... we can’t… ”
Artimus didn’t say any more. He looked at Codi with an expression of grim determination.
Codi turned her back to him and began to walk away, toward their car.
Chapter 49:
“But he’s just so helpless,” Jeff said. The thought of Baldwin tied up captive somewhere was eating at him. He felt he needed to do anything… absolutely anything he could to help his friend.
“Hey, I want to get him as bad as you, but it’s not gonna be easy,” Dave said. His face was lit by the holographic computer image they were examining. Dave pointed at the various features as he spoke. “The compound is small, but it’s surrounded by a twenty MLU tall, three LU thick wall of steel.” He saw Jeff’s look of incomprehension of their units. “That’s a big, fat wall. And they’ve got forty to fifty felears, heavily armed.” He looked up with a grim expression and scanned the others’ faces to make sure they understood.