Kevin Bird THE TOKEN


One


“Dad! Dad!” the shouting was loud, angry, and frightened. “They were here again. They got one of the big blues!”
The girl’s eyes were wide with a mixture of fear and excitement as she ran through the foggy dawn light towards the simple wooden building she called home. Her feet crunched as they hit the muddy yard still hard from the clear and cold night only just now moving on. She was young, only eleven years old, and had just been out to feed some of the animals kept on the family farm, her chores before the day’s lessons.
She was wrapped against the early morning cold in a green animal skin cloak while underneath she wore the traditional rough tunic of natural fibers and leather trousers of the farmers she shared this world with. Her long brownish-blond hair was wild and unkempt matching her emotions.
“It’s happened again!” Her young voice was high and pierced the morning stillness.
Jacob came out of their home at the sound of her voice. Recognizing the level of near panic in it, he knew what the words signified before he could even make them out. He took two large steps into the yard and held his large and callused hands out towards her halting her forward charge.
“Calm down, catch your breath. Tell me slowly what’s going on, Bettine.” He put a hand on the girl’s shoulder and squeezed gently. He looked down into his daughter’s excited face with un-blinking steely gray eyes, held her with the strong stare and forced her to calm down.
“Dad, they got another one of the blues! A big one!” The girl was still excited, but no longer frightened.
Jacob knew his daughter looked to him as being her big, strong, guardian who could chase away all her fears. “Where did it happen this time?” His voice had a more balanced sound to it than he actually felt, but he knew he had to make sure Bettine had no doubts about her own safety. His self-identity as a proud father and provider wouldn’t allow him to let his daughter down in any way.
“Down by the dry creek bed where the fence crosses.”
“They must have come under it.” He sounded resigned, but inside he was seething, mostly at himself. Since the water level had dropped he hadn’t found the time to run fencing down to the creek bed. Damn! They, whatever they were, just walked right on under it! Angry at himself, but knowing there was little he could do about it right now, he told his daughter to go inside to eat, clean herself up, and get ready for lessons. “Tell your mum I’ll be in soon, but I need to go down and see for myself.”
He reached down to take the cloak off Bettine’s shoulders as she passed him to go inside. Jacob’s daughter was growing quickly and yet Jacob still towered over her and likely would for another five or so years. The cloak barely covered his broad shoulders, but he didn’t want to waste the time to go back inside for his own. However, he did take a quick moment to watch as his daughter disappeared behind the closing door, wishing her a safe future; not much of a guarantee in this world, he thought. She would soon be as tall as her mother and, for many years, all had agreed that she would become a beautiful woman. Jacob wanted to see her safe to fulfill that prediction.
He pulled a woolen hat from his back pocket and then strode off pulling its welcome warmth over his thick tangled black hair. As he quickly walked through the yard he picked up a large three-tined pitchfork; just in case, he told himself, though he realized it was little more use than being unarmed would have been.
As he strode purposely out of the yard he thought how important it would be for the others to know what had happened on his land as it would undoubtedly occur again somewhere else, affecting the whole farming co-operative. This was becoming a more frequent event and he and his neighbors were becoming progressively more concerned. In three more cycles of the moon the fleet would arrive and expect their Token in full. Without a full quota there was always the chance of some of the youngsters being pressed into a service from which they would likely not return home.
At fifty-one years old he thought that he deserved some peace and security in his life, and that of his family, but it looked to him like something was trying to disrupt that hope. This would not happen if he and the others had anything to do with it, he thought, feeling his anger stir.
As he walked carefully down the creek bed, his eyes and ears ready for anything out of the ordinary, his mind raced unbidden trying to put the pieces together. Over the last three cycles, both he and the other farmers in the co-operative had started to notice some of their livestock missing. At first only some young ones had disappeared, and so few of them had gone, spread over such a large area, that the general consensus was that the fencing must have small holes it that just needed to be found and then repaired. This had been the simple explanation; and yet, after several days spent searching, no holes large enough had been found in any of the farms.
One of the farmers had even ventured the possibility that some of the boys had taken to pulling ill-advised pranks on their fathers and neighbors. Ill-advised pranks! This polite turn of phrase was used to hide the man’s true feelings of anger and a deep unsettling fear. Jacob had understood that the far-fetched idea had come from a need to put a name, however innocuous or incorrect, on the strange occurrences. Thankfully neither Jacob nor the others had taken the idea too seriously and it had soon been forgotten.
At the time of the first losses, the creeks had been running high with fresh water from the eastern mountains, so nothing could have slipped under the fence then. Now, in the dry cycle, it was clear the fencing had been damaged below the waterline by flash floods of winter snowmelt. He could easily imagine something might be able to come under the fencing now, but if that were true how had something gained access to the penned in animals during the high water season? It was all still a mystery in Jacob’s mind.
Blake, his friend and neighbor to the west, had been the first to notice something that changed the opinion of everyone regarding these disappearances. Jacob remembered clearly the way Blake had described the events to the whole co-operative the day it had happened.
“Early this morning, I was woken by a noise I couldn’t really recognize.” Blake had a wild look in his large expressive eyes that disturbed all those present to hear him. He was well known for his calm demeanor so his clear agitation made everyone pay attention to his story.
When he was pushed on the matter, he said that it reminded him of the time one of his big greens had broken a leg in a posthole and had screamed in a frightening and high pitched tone. This had been extraordinarily memorable since these animals were known for their lack of vocalizations.
“Anyway,” he continued to the hushed group, “the noise didn’t repeat, but I was concerned for my livestock and got up anyway. It was still dark and was freezing cold when I went out.” His voice was slightly slurred and his right cheekbone swollen, both the result of a kick from one of his blues when she was thrashing in labor. The bone had fractured and never healed properly giving him a recognizable slur and forcing him to speak carefully so all could understand his words. His speech took some getting used to, but gave him some of the character that had endeared Jacob and many of the other farmers to this man.
He had told everyone that the night had been very clear and across the yard he could see nothing unusual in the first field. Skirting the fence he had walked quickly towards the near corner of his second field, and had immediately seen all his livestock in a packed mass in one corner.
“They should still have been sleeping, but they were clearly agitated. Those blues were all milling around trying to force their way to center of the group like a mass of anchovies. None of them wanted to be on the outside. When I got closer I saw a blur from the corner of eye. I turned, real quick, but all I made out was a dark shape that seemed to just fly over the tall fencing on east side of field away from my scared blues.”
Immediately, he’d lost sight of the shape in the distance and he’d run down the side of the fencing to the spot. He’d looked eastwards away from his field towards the distant mountains, but couldn’t hear or see anything unusual. He’d wondered if he’d just imagined it or maybe it had just been a large owl returning to its roost.
“As I turned back, I saw something different about a patch of ground a few meters away. The sun finally started to show and that’s when I saw the wide blue stain on the grass; obviously blood from one of my animals. It was fresh, as it was still glistening in the sun. There was nothing else around.” He had looked almost pleadingly at his fellow farmers as he finished. “What could have done this? There are no dangerous animals left on this planet; that was guaranteed to us.” No one had been able to offer him an answer.

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When Jacob reached the creek he still remained wary, though somewhat reassured by the fact that all the other attacks had occurred during the hours of darkness. No one had seen or heard anything in daylight, and the sun was now well above the horizon, warming his wide back, though he still kept the cloak on. He walked down to the creek bed where, not so long ago, the water had flowed clean and cool, bringing life with it. Now it had dried up and his leather boots crunched loudly on the dirt in the morning stillness creating an added feeling of uncertainty. He was annoyed at finding himself out of sorts in an environment where he usually felt so comfortable and at home. After all, this creek bed had apparently helped to bring death only hours before and here he was alone with the haze of the morning fog still visible as the sun began to burn it off.
He could see a sizable gap between the creek bed and the bottom of the fence and after closer examination, realized it certainly wasn’t big enough for any of his larger animals to get under. Some other explanation would have to be found.
There were no prints in the dry earth to indicate what had come along here so recently, but he could clearly see what his daughter had found. On the far bank was a flattened area of grass with shiny blue blood splattered all around. His animals always came to forage by the creek where the most succulent grasses grew, since even in the dry cycle the water table was close to the surface here.
Walking over to it, he knelt on the grass and realized that there was a print after all, since the blood had soaked into the ground creating a kind of blue mud. The print was clearly not one of his stock and was larger than his spread hand. Based on the impression made in the mud, there seemed to be only three toes with all apparently ending in a sizeable claw. He then noticed there seemed to be another indentation pointing in the opposite direction from the other three; it also seemed to end in a large claw. Except for the blood, the print and a small tuft of short blue hair, there was nothing to show what had happened. Jacob thought how this was reminiscent of Blake’s experience and he felt just as angry and frustrated as his friend had.

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“Bella, I’m home!” Jacob shouted as he walked in the door taking his heavy work boots off. Even with the events of the morning he found himself still remembering to make sure not to track mud into the clean house; as strong as he was, he never liked to tackle an upset Bella if their was any way to avoid it. Strong farmers still had to defer, in many ways, to their strong farming wives if they were to enjoy peace at home.
“Jacob!” His wife rushed up to him, crushing him in an embrace. Tough she might be, but she loved him dearly and had no fears of showing it.
She had been a beautiful young woman when Jacob had first met her a lifetime ago and a galaxy away and she had not lost any of that beauty in their hard years here. The brown skin and lined eyes from the outdoor work they shared had only added character. He knew he was biased, of course, since he loved her equally.
Her upbringing on a distant world in a culture different to that of Jacob’s had been one of the things that had attracted them to each other. She was an exotic to him, not only physically attractive, but also strong willed and smart. She had learned his language after adolescence, much as Blake had done, and he still found her accent and sometimes broken tongue quaint, though she got annoyed if she heard it described it so.
The girl that joined them in the embrace had completed their family and Jacob felt the pang that was a mixture of fear and joy; he couldn’t bear the thought of anything destroying what they had built and so he was always conscious to enjoy each day, each moment.
“Why aren’t you at your lessons, Bettine?”
“She so scared for you I told she could wait till you home got back,” his wife told him breaking the embrace. “You OK?” She seemed to be looking deep into his eyes to see if he was going to lie to her.
“Yes, I’m fine.” He turned to his daughter, and Jacob felt his heart do a little flip at the prospect of anything threatening her in anyway. How time had flown by! She would soon be old enough where maybe he shouldn’t feel this protective, but he knew instinctively that that day would never come. “Now, go to your lessons and don’t make me tell you again.” He ruffled his big fingers through her tawny hair, softening his words. “Oh, Bettine, thanks for paying attention to what’s around you and letting me know so fast about the missing blue.”
“Thanks dad, I’ll see you both later,” she said as she hugged them both and then ran out of the door, obviously feeling very proud of herself.
“For just a girl she’s turning out OK!” He said with a smile on his tanned face.
His wife punched him in the arm at his words.
“A good job I know you joke or you be in serious trouble. We women of this family do not take abusive men much lightly.” Bella poked him in the chest to emphasize her point then, smiling, hugged him.
“What we going to do Jake? We only have three more cycles before Token. Cannot let them take my baby,” she said close to tears. She was standing at the kitchen sink twisting a cloth in her hands and staring out the window at her pride and joy as she ran through the yard.
“I’ll ask Blake to help me spread the word to the others, and we’ll have a meeting tonight if possible. I’m getting worried now too. We need to do something quickly,” Jacob said running the back of his hand along his wife’s cheek. She was a strong woman who had spent these years working hard by his side and he knew that Bettine was her only weakness, if it could be called that. She was often over protective of her, but since they had lost their first child shortly after birth, Jacob could hardly blame her. “But don’t worry yourself about it too much. We’ll sort it out. Now, how about some breakfast?”


Two


Here in the mountains the night was already beginning to cool, and not a cloud marred the heavens. In one direction the light of day was now fading; and in the other, the stars were already appearing bright and sharp, soon to bring icy cold with them. As the sun began to drop, orange and gold behind the mountainous horizon, we awoke with images sent and received.
The connections between us meant these pictures were much the same, a mass of black shapes feeding on a large motionless body. The feeling of joy and comradeship rang strong through these images, and now it was time to put the touch of reality to them. We looked to each other for assurance, for a further sign of our bond, without which we would have been completely lost long ago in a world full of changes.
A family, a pack, a group, there were many ways of describing us. None were truly accurate, and none were used by the few of us that were left. There had been a time when we were many and we had a name for ourselves. However, we did not send it anymore; it was a thing reminding us of an evil past; it was now forbidden. Many lives had passed and many stories told, then forgotten, since the days our name had been used. One day, we hoped, we would once again use it and be proud, secure in ourselves and our future. But for now that future was far from certain.
In our past there had been creatures that were not content to live on this world together with us and would do anything to destroy us; since our big awakening we had hoped they were now gone. After a very long time away from the outside world, we had sallied forth from our caves and had been pleasantly surprised to find our would-be killers apparently gone. Our world had changed in the past, not for the better, so we hoped that now we could reverse our misfortunes and live again as we had in the past….free.
This night we had more immediate things to attend to. We were hungry. Tonight would be a hard night. The difference between the light of the day just passing and that of this new night was small. Much of our success relied on our advantages in darkness. None-the-less, we had no choice. Hunger, thirst, and a primal urge that could not be controlled were our masters. The hunt must go on.
We brushed against each other’s bodies rubbing black, smooth shoulders against each other mingling scents, a further sign of our commitment to one another, especially important prior to a hunt. We must always feel totally at ease with those around us, secure in the knowledge that we were all working towards the same goal, that of finding food and making sure all came home safely. Now and again one of us would raise its head and give off a soundless howl to the night sky. Then the images that passed among us were powerful and uplifting. We felt invincible as we had always been in our distant past. We wanted this again now.
As we prepared to seek out our prey, clouds began to roll gloriously across the starlit sky. A dark night! Good. The images in our minds spoke to us of the pursuit ahead and the joy of the darkness. Our numbers had grown and the recent trips we had made out of our caverns had all been successful. Each night we had come home with full bellies, both for ourselves and those who had remained behind to care for our young and old.
In a final grouping, we intermingled and again sent images of a successful hunt, reaffirming those bonds that kept us together where no external compassion had ever been shown us. We raised our heads to the newly veiled moon and let out a silent howl, heard only by us, and then we were off! This night we would head in the opposite direction from the previous night so as to surprise the prey animals.
The younger ones pushed off down the hill first. Using powerful hind legs they playfully bound ahead, leaping from rock to rock, tree trunk to tree trunk, instinctively practicing the moves important to preying on animals stronger and larger than us. It was usual for the younger ones to take the lead. They were inexperienced, yes, even foolhardy, but who amongst us had not been the same way? This was how they must learn, as we had in our time. At least, while some of the elders were still around to offer support and direction, these youngsters might survive long enough to look at future youngsters with the same feeling of fear, envy, and strained patience as we now did them. We all knew, even the youngest among us, that as the evening wore on, there would come a clear time when our rigid structure would be enforced; then the young would fall back to watch as we took the lead. Learning was a process where errors were expected, but not at the price of going hungry. The time for the younger ones among us to prove themselves would come all too soon.
Tonight some would get the chance to test how well they had learned and how ready they were. We elders realized that we must let them try sooner than later, so long as it did not affect the final outcome of the hunt; we would be there to make sure it did not. We would assure that all in our family would eat well tonight, and the young would become of more use to the group through the experience.
The scratching sound of hundreds of claws on the rock surfaces as we bounded from boulder to boulder was loud in the otherwise silence of early night time, but we would slow ourselves as we approached our prey and once again become the stealthy hunters we were born to be.
As the steeper cliffs and large boulders gave way to a flatter terrain, covered in smaller rocks worn down over time by rain and wind, we slowed our forward momentum. The younger among us knew their time for fun was over and they calmed down, willing to watch and learn. For most of them, tonight was not their time.
This new food source was strange to us and was clearly not like any natural animal with all its instincts intact. Nothing we had hunted in the past had ever been found in such large numbers and in such small areas unable to get away from us. Their senses seemed to be dulled; and we were always able to get so close to them that by the time they recognized something was wrong, it was too late for them. However, caution was still wise.
Ahead of us we could see the unnatural barriers we now understood contained our prey, and we stopped to re-group. At this stage we had learned to go slowly and make sure of our moves before we made them so that the attack was quick and efficient, with no one hurt but the prey. One elder silently moved ahead into the shadows of a large tree overhanging the perimeter and peered into the enclosure at the animals inside. Our eyes, well adapted to seeing at nighttime, could easily see the elder sniffing at the night air and immediately we all saw, in our mind’s eye, his image of the sweet smell of food. After we had also seen, through his eyes, where the prey were and how they were dispersed, the elder came back to the group and led us through an area of large rocks, which must have been washed down the mountain in the last spring melt. This way we could not be seen by anything in the compound that might chance to look our way, though all of the prey seemed to be laying on the hard ground, contentedly asleep. From our position in the rocks, we looked for anything wrong, anything out of place. We smelled the air and the ground. Nothing told of any problems. The time was here.
One of the young, who had been instrumental in helping bring down a large animal the night before, was given the honor of leading the way this night. The image sent by the elder was that of a large dark animal seen asleep some distance from the main body of its fellows. If successful, the youngster’s ranking would increase and one day we would have a new elder in our group.
We all gave our silent respect as the youngster moved off strong and proud, but still understanding of the place held in our tight knit group. The youth moved towards a rock, tall as one of us, that lay on the opposite side of the barrier from our food. Climbing to the top of the rock quietly was not easy with such large claws, but it was done efficiently and the penned animals did not stir. We could sense each other’s tension and hear our heartbeats as we waited for the moment to be deemed right; only the youngster would make that decision. Our job was that of support after the initial move was made.
In a blur of motion, powerful back legs hurled the body of our comrade over the barrier and directly onto the back of the sleeping animal. Even though it was twice our size, we saw the image of the deathblow delivered smoothly and we followed after our friend to eat our fill.


Three

“Please, let’s have some order!” Blake shouted, trying to be heard over the raucous men sitting around the table. As they quieted down again he continued in his authoritative voice, “Right then, let me re-cap what I’ve written down, and you tell me if I’ve got it right.”
All the headmen from the co-operative had gathered in Jacob’s big birthing shed. At the height of the season, this shed could hold up to fifty of the large animals and their young. Now, holding only the twelve farmers sitting on bales of animal feed, the barn was an echoing cavern that only added to the eerie quality of their discussion.
“In the last two cycles, Jacob, you’ve lost two of your big blues and three big greens, right?” Jacob unhappily nodded his assent. “Before that, you lost about eight young blues and five young greens. We thought they were getting out of the fields themselves; but I think we now all agree something else has been going on. Seems to be getting worse, too.” Blake ran his finger down a sheet of paper he’d been taking notes on during the last hour’s meeting.
He continued, “Kai, you lost the same as Jacob except two less young blues. Right?”
“Yes, and I’m getting really concerned about meeting the Token this time around. What’re we going to do, Blake?” he replied, clearly shaken by the losses.
Blake was the assigned group leader for this cycle, and it fell to him to govern this meeting in such a fashion that order was kept, even as emotions rose. “I share your feelings, we’re all as concerned as you, Kai. Let me finish first then we’ll move on, OK?” He got the nod he expected. “Bart, three big blues and three green, five young blues and six green. Is that right?” He continued down his list confirming or amending his information until he had verification from all twelve farmers.
“Looks pretty bad, friends.” He looked down at his pad and in a few moments looked up and continued. “In the last three cycles we’ve lost a total of two hundred and seventeen animals of both colors and all sizes! That’s more than seventy per cycle. If this goes on for three more cycles, when our Token is due, we’ll be in big trouble. None of us want to see our children pressed into service, so let’s resolve this now. There’s no way to contact the Collectors, so it’s up to us!” He finished his statement by sitting down and spreading his arms wide, opening the floor of debate to anyone wanting to speak.

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This portion of the universe had been in a state of expansionist warfare for generations; and as outward growth had continued, support personnel had to keep up. Learning lessons from military commanders and the mistakes they made was always important, even if the events were centuries in the past. Those in command read history books from a thousand planets and a million cultures gleaning the do’s and don’ts of the martial arts, so as to be prepared for any situation or countermeasure put forth by the enemies. The lesson they had specifically taken to heart, as this present campaign had moved forward, was that from an obscure military leader named Napoleon Bonaparte.
On a small planet named Earth by the inhabitants who had eventually used it up and destroyed it, this General had experienced much success. He had created an empire that had expanded easily until he made two big mistakes in trying to take a city named Moscow. First, he had not understood the severity of his enemies’ winter weather and so his troops were not adequately prepared. Second, and most importantly, his army was so far into enemy territory that their supply line was stretched too thin to be effectively maintained and defended. His majestic army had been routed, not by superior troops, but by bad weather and a poor supply system. Here plans had been made to ensure this campaign would not experience the same problems.
As the war spread outwards, it became clear that an entirely new department had to be created to make sure that the men and machines fighting the war were kept fed and fueled correctly and regularly. No Napoleonic mistakes this time around. The Suppliers were formed from a mixture of traditional military quartermasters, bounty and trophy hunter organizations, and academics representing fields as diverse as biology, botany, geology, and metallurgy. The Collectors, who answered to the Suppliers, were made up of military transports, private shipping companies, and even some pirates who had earned their amnesty through their ability to get these large supply ships from place to place quickly and undetected.
The Suppliers found planets that were uninhabited by advanced life forms, away from the fighting and yet close enough that supplies could be ferried to the front quickly. If the planet was barren, a little terra-forming worked wonders. If there was already life found there, then decisions were quickly made as to what would have to be eliminated and what could stay. Since most planets were to be virtual monocultures, the vast majority were entirely cleared of their natural life and re-born in the image the Suppliers deemed most practical for their purposes. Feed the troops and fuel the engines; that was their mantra. The Collectors were charged with the task of making sure that the goods made it to the front in the prescribed time frame.
Some planets were just massive mines, producing the raw materials that were then shipped on to others that were covered in manufacturing facilities, turning out the finished goods of war. Others, like Jacob’s, had been set aside for the breeding and raising of the primary foodstuff of the soldiery, blues and greens. These animals had been genetically engineered thousands of years earlier to be the ideal food source for all people. The meat of these animals included all things necessary for a well-balanced and healthy diet. The blues had more of the proteins and oils found in meats and fishes while the greens, reasonably enough, carried within them the benefits of fruits and vegetables. Any soldier fed meat from these animals was on his way to great health, so the Suppliers created many farming planets.
The Suppliers and Collectors had been given a mandate to provide a certain amount of food and materials in certain amounts of time to keep the war effort moving smoothly. Those in command knew heads would roll if their own quota to the cause was not met. So, likewise, they had set quotas, or Tokens, for all those who answered to them on the mining, manufacturing and farming planets. Many of those working on these planets were doing so because they were either not willing or not able to go to war. Pacifists, criminals, scientists, those too old or too young, the disabled, they all created something for the cause, or suffered the consequences.
With war comes death, and one big problem for any army is to have enough soldiers to fight effectively. Therefore, each planet had to provide a certain amount of their finished goods within very clear time frames or people could become forfeit and would be pressed into service. Children and young adults were the favorite, since they could be apprenticed into any sector of the military machine and within a few years be a soldier or other expendable resource. If, however, it was felt the child had more promise then they might be more valuable to the war effort as a pilot or other important asset to the expansion. In the big picture though, one child here and there would not be as valuable as continued lines of supplies; so for everyone concerned, it was preferable that the Tokens be met.

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Many cycles before, none of the farmers could even guess how many, this planet, one of many habitable ones in the Teldar system, had been devoid of intelligent lifeforms, by accepted military standards anyway. A thriving and varied plant and animal population had been found when the first ships arrived, but things quickly changed for the better, or so felt the Suppliers. Any animal or plant life that the Suppliers deemed detrimental to the new role of the planet, that of providing food for those fighting this war, were summarily sought out and destroyed. From the air and from the land, the Suppliers swept the planet with poisons and weapons to ‘clean house.’ In only two cycles, they had, like many times before on other worlds, created the beginnings of a man-made environment designed to be solely a food producer. Thereafter, they had transported a large group of non-techs as farmers down to the planet to finish the transformation.
For generations, non-techs all over the known systems had refused to incorporate modern technology into their lives. Dating back to the beginning of the first inter-system wars, they had shunned any of the advances they felt had led to the wars. This soon turned to a complete regression into a more simple and, often, pastoral existence. What the non-techs couldn’t produce directly through nature, they didn’t have; it had become almost a religion of sorts. These people were ideal to work a farming planet, as they were on a much closer level with nature and tended to be able to take care of themselves better than most, requiring less from those off-planet which suited the Suppliers just fine.
The paradox was that man had heavily adapted nature on these planets to suit his new requirements; however the new inhabitants simply had to make do and work in harmony with what was left to them. But adapting was more palatable to the non-techs than the option of going to war. They were willing to work hard to keep any of their people from being pressed into military service where they would be surrounded by all things technological, and would eventually find nothing but death. The Token was something they had never failed to meet.

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“We must do something now!” shouted one of the farmers in the back of the group. He visibly shrank back in embarrassment when his voice echoed off the far wall. “I’m sorry to shout so,” he said to no one in particular.
“That’s OK, we’re all feeling the same frustration you are. But what would you have us do?” responded Blake. “We don’t have any weapons, and even if we did, we don’t have the skill or the moral ability to use them. There has to be another way. We don’t even have communications equipment to call the Suppliers for help.” He seemed to sag a little before continuing. “Sometimes our beliefs can make life difficult.”
Silence fell over the room as they all considered the apparent dead end they’d found themselves in. Jacob knew that if they didn’t do something quickly, they’d lose more animals and would be unable to meet the Token that was due so soon. Then some of their children would be forfeit. He couldn’t let that happen. But what could any of them do?


Four


Out of necessity to survive we had entered our long period of dormancy. We had gambled that much would have changed in our world by the time we awoke again. When that moment came, our minds were groggy about what had happened. Soon, however, the memories came back. A rush of remembered pain and fear!
Many strange two-legged creatures had poured from inside large flying things that came from out of the skies. The noise of their approach had frightened each of us, for we had not seen or heard anything like them before. We had never been afraid of anything in our past. The emotion of fear was new to us. At first the two-legged creatures did not seem to even know we were here, as we sensed they were out mostly during the daylight hours. Soon, however, they began coming into our hills to kill our food. This we could not allow.
We tried to defend our prey and were able to inflict much damage on those that had come to take food from us for no apparent reason. But the creatures were many and offered no mercy. Once they realized we were there, they wasted no time in attacking us. In short order all but a very few of us had been destroyed. Those that survived hid in our cave homes and saw images of the last of our brethren knocked to the ground by the flashes of light that came from the big loud things the two-legged creatures lived in. The images of pain appeared in our minds and then promptly blinked out. Our comrades had not risen again. After that, nothing was the same for any of us.
For two more cycles, the two-legs had combed the planet searching out all manner of lifeforms, both plant and animal, and destroying much of what they found. They seemed to pay particular attention to any animals that, like us, hunted and ate other animals. As it became clear to us that our species was in its last throes of survival, we sought the safety of hibernation. Those of us chosen for the long sleep were torn between the clear need of our kind’s survival and the rage at not being able to go out with the others in a direct confrontation against our killers. Doomed though this final defense appeared to be, our pride and group awareness pushed us to it. It was clear to us what we should do. We knew a breeding group would have to be left safely behind; we must continue.
Those of us selected to survive entered into caves that had rarely been used because they were so deep into the mountains. There we huddled together for warmth and entered a dormancy from which we hoped to awaken in a safe and sane environment. While we slept, the two-legs continued their cruel work. Yet, also while we slept, nature started to work on the elders in our small group, and in this dormant state the survival instinct began to create new life. The last images we saw were of youngsters bounding across rocks while elders sat by enjoying the playfulness. It soothed us to sleep.
We had lost the majority of our kind, and to delay breeding any longer would possibly have been the end of us. Thoughts being sent back to us were those of fear and loss, strangers standing over the lifeless bodies of our family, and our prey animals being likewise slaughtered. In times of dire need, we would naturally go into a long sleep. During this time we would develop, and then, finally at the time of our waking, bear young. It was unusual for us to breed this way, none living now could remember the last time, as we would normally take advantage of some of our larger prey animals as hosts for the growing young. Now there were no animals large enough left alive after the invader’s violence, and our own bodies would have to do the carrying. This was always more dangerous, both for the adult and the new life within them. We would have to expel our young from the hollow sub-dermal area behind our heads before they began feeding on us, which is what they would normally have done with larger host animals. Because of this early birthing they would be less developed than usual and would need much more care.
Traditionally, we would attack a prey animal but instead of killing it, we would merely introduce the beginnings of one of us into its belly cavity. Our probosci were not only powerful enough to kill and rend flesh, but were also precise and delicate enough to place our seed exactly where it needed to be. Over time our youngster would grow by ingesting the still living animal from the inside, eventually killing it. Once it emerged from the dead host, the rest of us would immediately sense its feelings and images and all would rush joyfully out to bond with the newest member of our close group. The young one would appear precocious enough to hunt with us within a few short days, needing little or no support from us. This was the way it should be, but instinct had told us this was an unusual situation and desperate measures were called for.
We had slept for a long time, waiting for some recognizable change or sign. Eventually, images began to appear in our heads. We sensed some of our prey animals were roaming the mountain, so all had not been destroyed. Also, there came images from another lifeform with a similar mind to our traditional prey. Different, but close, they were still clearly a source of food for us. At that time our delayed implantations began to move ahead. The time was near. Another sign as we came closer to wakefulness was a lack of something. No more could we feel or hear the loud explosions and heavy vibrations that had been the last things our senses offered us.
Initially, when we had woken, we had found a small number of our traditional prey animals in the mountains and foothills where they, like us, must have escaped the slaughter. Very quickly we had decimated the remaining animals. We were once again hungry. Now, more than ever, we needed a ready source of food. Our newly created young demanded it. We had been forced to go further afield than we were used to, but our noses and some vague images told us something to eat was out there, to the west away from our mountain safety. Leaving the young behind with a few of the elders for safety, the rest of us had pushed ourselves in the dark of night to move across the land and find what it was we could smell on the wind. Finally, we saw a group of unusual looking animals behind some kind of a barrier made from tree parts.
We spent some time looking around making sure there were no noisy things in the air or two-legged creatures that could throw the flashes of light that brought death to us. Satisfied it was just us and these animals in the night we had, one by one, quietly bounded over the barrier. Not knowing our prey, we had attacked a small animal that was somewhat apart from the others. It was much more powerful than its size would have indicated, and we were grateful for our numbers. We took just this one small animal back to our cave to make sure it was good food. We soon realized that not only were these new animals good to eat, they were also much easier to catch, since they were penned in, than the free-roaming prey we had grown up hunting.
Once the animals realized there was now a threat to them during the night, they began to sleep in a tighter group. It was now sometimes difficult to separate one of the small ones from the rest. One way around this was to make sure we left several nights between attacking each group. We found that our mountains were now surrounded with these penned animals; so each night we would go out on our hunt in a different direction from the last. We found that the animals would quickly forget why they should be careful at night, and we could invariably surprise some young animal sleeping apart from the group.
As our young began to grow bigger and stronger, they needed more food. We soon had to learn to take down the larger animals. This was no easy task, as many of them were twice our size and would readily defend themselves by rearing up and pounding down with their massive hooves. Previously we would jump over the barriers, and a group of us would leap upon an animal’s back, this worked, but many times we were thrown off and injured in the process. Luckily, none of us had been hurt seriously; but it was only a matter of time, especially now that we were concentrating on the bigger animals. We had to find another method that would create less risk to us, and find it we did.


Five


After the other farmers had left, Blake and Jacob stayed to talk some more. By the end of the community meeting nothing had been decided and the two men felt very ineffective, a feeling neither was comfortable with. They were strong men; farmers with families to provide and care for. This was a situation now out of their control and they didn’t like it.
“Jacob, what do you think? Is there anything we can do?” Though slurred, Blake’s voice clearly had a desperate tone that Jacob hated to hear, but understood.
When he replied, he hoped his voice didn’t sound the same. “My friend, we have to do something. We have no choice! If Bettine is taken from us because I can’t meet the Token, I know it would destroy Bella.” His voice would have been desperate except that he was getting angry now.
Looking out the door of the barn he could see the sun disappearing behind the mountains. The sky was overcast. It was going to be a dark night and that gave him pause to feel a chill run down his neck. Was it a premonition?
“How long has it been since you lost one of yours?”
“About four days,” Blake looked quizzically at his friend. “Why?”
“Well, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought and it seems to me that most of the losses have occurred on dark nights, and never at the same location more frequently than every three or four days. I lost one last night, so I’m thinking that I don’t need to expect any problems here tonight. Don’t you think that maybe tonight might be a good chance for us to see what’s taking our animals? Especially from your farm?”
“You never cease to amaze me, Jacob! You seem to think differently from the rest of us sometimes.” He got up and began pacing, hands in his pockets, clearly in deep thought. “I know what you’re saying and even agree with your logic, but what would we do? Don’t know about you, but I’m not well trained in the art of night reconnaissance!” Blake was smiling at his little joke, but Jacob knew that his statement was true for both of them.
They talked some more, making a simple plan that might help them discover something without, hopefully, any risk to themselves. They both went to their homes and ate a hearty dinner. Each packed a snack and a flask of hot drink into the big pockets of their cold weather coats and met back at Blake’s farm.
“What did you tell Bella?” The two men were sitting high in the branches of a large tree that overhung one of Blake’s fields. They each had a pitchfork that both fervently prayed would not be used. They were also wrapped in coats and blankets made from the skins of their own animals so as to be well insulated against the oncoming night chill.
“Told her I was coming over to help you with an injured blue and not to wait up for me. I think she believed me; I hope so. I don’t want her worrying when nothing might happen tonight after all.” Jacob was really nervous about his daughter or, as he often described her, his “little lady.” He just couldn’t forget that they’d all agreed to the terms of the Token, at the time not remotely expecting anything like this could ever happen.
It was two hours after full dark and only now and then did the moon peak through the passing cover of clouds to throw some silvery light on the ground below. When this happened, the two men could make out the bodies of Blake’s blues, big and small, settling down for the night. Most of them were curled up on the ground close together towards the middle of the enclosure, but there were a few scattered animals that had chosen to lay down in twos and threes away from the larger group. When the clouds passed in front of the moon again, the animals faded into shapeless dark masses hardly distinguishable from the earth around them. Jacob knew this would be a long night and it was likely nothing would be seen by either of them, but it was worth the try.
Jacob had folded a blanket under his buttocks since he had been unable to find a spot on the tree limb that was comfortable for more than five minutes. So now his rear end was fine, but his feet and knees were feeling the cold. Great! He couldn’t win! He envied the animals below him the luxury of their thick hides and the warmth created by all the close bodies. The skins he wore helped, but clearly not as efficiently as they would have done for the original owners.
He and Blake sipped at their hot drinks, neither speaking. Steam rose between them from the liquid and their breaths; it was getting even colder. They were lost in their own thoughts, each trying to ignore the cold and the mounting tension. Jacob couldn’t help but think about the countless questions he couldn’t yet answer. Would something happen? If so, when? What would they do, if anything, about it? The reason they were farmers during the longest war ever recorded was because they were good at what they did and were unwilling to fight. He knew that as long as they remained capable of creating something to help the war effort they would be left to live their lives with their families in safety, a long way from the battlefront. Once again the Token was pushed into his mind, an inescapable part of all their existences; and one that in effect, meant life or death. For the first time, his Token might not be met, and tonight could well be the opportunity for him to see what was causing an increase in the chances of that potential calamity.

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Fifteen of the elders and maybe five of our younger family members were now milling about at the entrance to the cave. We pushed into each other, rubbing shoulders and sharing our scent. Bonding was an important ritual to the success of our expedition. To ensure we would eat tonight meant working closely together and so we could have no greed, no regard for our own self. A hunt demanded a oneness of spirit and cause, a consistent goal with every member working toward its achievement through mutual support. These attributes were what had kept us alive throughout the evil times in our past.
On a physical level we were also well developed to be successful in the chase. Whether it was taking our traditional mountain prey or these strangely trapped newcomers to our world, we were superior. Our nighttime lifestyle had led to powerful hearing, eyesight, and a tremendously heightened sense of smell. However, in all situations it was our ability to pass ideas and thoughts through mental images to one another that really set us apart from those we would devour. Our intelligence, camaraderie, and this tool of mental interplay gave us strengths and benefits over our prey. Tonight would be a good night for our hunt.

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“Blake, what was that?” Jacob sat upright in the tree and grabbed for Blake’s arm in the darkness as he whispered to his friend. He was afraid. “Did you hear something?”
“No, I don’t think so, Jacob,” his voice was quiet and sleepy. They had been there most of the night and were both torn between discomfort and exhaustion.
Suddenly they heard loud and clear the unmistakable, though rare, shriek of one of the animals. It was a shriek of intense fear and pain. Neither man felt tired or uncomfortable now; they were both terrified! The hair on their necks stood out with more than just cold being the reason.
“Look down there!” Jacob pointed to the far corner of his friend’s field.
The night was still dark and through it he could barely make out a writhing mass on the ground. Whatever it was appeared muted, showing no defined edges. There was no clarity to suggest what it might be. However, in the almost silent night he heard the sound of movement. Then several blues of various sizes ran madly to the corner of the field closest to he and Blake, and farthest away from the amorphous thing at the other side. The herd was clearly as terrified as the men, more so, if Jacob was any judge of these animals – snorting and prancing, they jostled for position, each trying to be the closest to the fencing and farthest from the...whatever was attacking them?
Jacob was frightened, of course, but he was now becoming more frustrated than anything. What was happening and how could he and his friends hope to deal with something that scared their animals so much?
“Come on Blake, we’ve got to get a closer look at what’s happening over there!” Without waiting for his friend to respond, Jacob began climbing clumsily down the large tree. It was hard to see and he didn’t want to let go of his pitchfork. He held it as if it were the only thing standing between him and death; with a terrified moment of clarity, as he hit the ground, he realized that if he wasn’t careful he may actually be forced to put that defense to the test. As he gathered his thoughts on what to do next, he heard Blake coming up behind him and he felt a little better knowing that he wasn’t completely alone.
Without saying a word Blake followed Jacob as he quickly moved in a squat position to a tree a few feet closer to what he needed to see. They hid behind the wide base of the tree and once there tried to make more out of the pulsating mass in the dark. The only thing they noticed were dark segments of the whole seemingly breaking away to float over the fence moving towards the mountains. Each man looked at the other with a quizzical expression, showing clearly that both had seen the same thing without any understanding of what their eyes had shown them.
“Follow me,” Jacob whispered at Blake’s ear. “I still can’t see well enough.” With that, he moved in the same stealthy manner, tree to tree, until they were able to see clearly what they had come for that night; they now saw what had been taking their animals.

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With the powerful claws on each of its four feet securely piercing the skin and surface muscle of the large prey, the youngster’s grip was secure; and the long and multi-purpose proboscis shot downward, powering into the animal’s neck. Immediately, the precise motion caused the expected result and the animal’s spinal cord was severed. The youngster disengaged its claws and leapt to the ground so the animal’s greater weight did no damage as it collapsed, quivering, to the ground. As soon as the animal stopped moving, the youngster raised its head to the night sky and roared silently in a wash of satisfaction and pride in a successful hunt. The image spurred us all to repeat the action and thought. Our bond was strong tonight.
One by one we quickly leaped over the obstruction and surrounded the dead animal. Giving silent heartfelt thanks to the youngster for a quick and clean kill, we fell to the job of feeding ourselves. This was a big animal and there was no shortage for anyone. Our probosci plunged backwards and forwards, ripping flesh from bone and swallowing all in one motion.
In moments, we spread images of our own satiation followed by those of our comrades, still hungry, back in the dark of the caves guarding our young. Quickly and cleanly we quartered, and quartered again the remains of our prey, passing the pieces amongst us so that nothing was left on the ground. No waste was allowed or justified with so many hungry at home. We began to leap over the barricade, though for some of the smaller amongst us it was not so easy now they were full of meat and also carrying some clasped to their chests in their front claws. Even with our powerful hind legs the extra weight made it a more precarious jump, and two or three of the youngsters had to take a second leap to get over.

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From behind the tree they had just witnessed one of Blake’s blues disappear before their very eyes. They were in a state of near shock. Jacob, however, was not paralyzed by it and began running without thinking. He screamed and rushed towards one of the smaller black things.
One thing that he couldn’t get out of his mind, he would tell the others later, was the sound all around him of a spine jarring scratching noise. He realized later, when he was safe at home and could give it due consideration, that the noise had been coming from the creature’s claws as they tried to get purchase on the slick rock surfaces. He imagined that normally these beasts would move much more carefully. But obviously he had frightened them as much as he and Blake had been, and they were trying to get away as quickly as possible without regard for stealth. It was an eerie sound and it would live in his head for a long time to come, waking him at night sometimes.
The beast had jumped over the fence, stumbling on its landing since the ground was very rocky and uneven and its arms, if that’s what they were, were full of blue meat. Later, he would tell Bella that it must have been the image of Bettine, being pressed by the Collectors because of these creatures, that set him off so. He was not a very aggressive man by nature; none of the non-techs were. All he had was a pitchfork, but, none-the-less, he ran at the horror before him.

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One of our youngsters slipped to black-plated knees on the slick rocks and on rising, ready to leap towards the mountains and home, a strange loud shadow sped out from the nearest tree. An image was immediately sent to the youngster showing what was coming, and our comrade turned as the running shadow became an enemy, a killer! We recognized it from the times it had hurt and killed us from great distances with the loud things that flashed light. We knew to be afraid and to leave as quickly as we could, but the killer threw a long stick at the youngster just as it was leaping up the hill towards safety. An image of pain and fear from the youngster burst into our minds followed by the message that the injury was not too severe and we could all return to the caves safely.
We realized this event would once again spell a change for us. We had clearly woken from our sleep only to find our world was still a dangerous place to us. There seemed to be no escaping these two-legged creatures that had come here so recently in our history and had caused so much death and grief. Maybe this time would be the end for us since we were so few.

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Jacob screamed with anger and frustration as he saw the creature about to leap after the others. He wasn’t going to let this one escape unscathed. He threw the pitchfork as if it was a javelin and he had the satisfaction of seeing the points of the tines sink into the black flesh. The animals head rose in pain, but no sound came from its lips….it didn’t have any lips! In fact now the animal’s head was pointing upwards and the faint glow of the moon shone through the clouds behind it creating a silhouette, Jacob could see that there were no lips because there wasn’t even a mouth! He fell to his knees in shock and emotional exhaustion as the last of the creatures disappeared into the dark towards the mountains of the east. He heard a small sound from behind and on turning he saw it was Blake coming towards him, pitchfork held out ready for anything so it seemed.
“What were they?” Blake whispered, his voice betraying his fear of speaking out loud in case the things would hear and come back; Jacob felt the same way. “Did you see their heads? No mouths! What were they?” he repeated. He fell to his knees next to his friend, his eyes peering into the darkness apparently searching for answers.


Six

“Here they come!” a voice from the crowd shouted as several people pointed fingers skywards. Several thousand of the planet’s inhabitants had gathered at the designated place and the Collector ships had shown up on time; they always did. There was a feeling of excitement in the air as it was clear that everyone had fulfilled their Token and that the Collectors would be pleased. However, as mandated by Supplier law, they were there with their children just in case anyone had been unable to produce the required amount.
For the last three years they had toiled away in their factories producing a range of finished goods that would be at the front, and helping the war effort within the next three or four cycles. The main product coming out of this world was a type of cross-linked polymer used in the canopies and cockpits of both off and on-world fighter craft. These polymers were put through stretching and cross-linking that dramatically increased tensile strength and elasticity in the end result. When in battle a soldier or pilot whose windows, ports or canopy were made of this could expect a level of protection from enemy firepower far beyond any found in other materials traditionally available. This was a much-needed product.
The large fleet of transports stayed in orbit with their fighter escorts while several cargo containers were sent into the atmospheres of many planets in this system and down to their surfaces. The landing area had been designed for maximum efficiency in the loading process, there were to be no delays allowed at any stage of re-supplying the front.
The factories had packaged all of the products expected by the Collectors, and had shipped everything by rail to an underground storage area awaiting pick-up. As the first container landed its down-blast created a huge swirl of dust and noise forcing the gathered throng to squint, and to turn away despite their interest in the activities unfolding before them. As the dust began to settle and the noxious fuel smells dissipated, everyone could see how large and utilitarian the vessel was. It was really just a larger version of the very containers they had each filled and shipped to this storage area over the last couple of cycles. Basically just a rectangular boxy thing with a powerful engine designed only to thrust it and its cargo out of an atmosphere up to its waiting mother ship.
As the craft’s legs splayed out in preparation for the increased weight they were soon to bear, there appeared a large opening in the ground below. A large series of plates were shifting back from a central point revealing a man-made shaft heading down out of sight. At the same time a correspondingly large opening showed in the belly of the container ship. From the shaft in the ground a smooth whirring noise could be heard by those on the surface and then a series of platforms rose into view. First, the raw material shipped from mining worlds was off-loaded. Massive quantities in numerous huge containers were moved into underground storage facilities using the platforms. Second, each platform was then used to carry the Tokens from the manufacturing planet’s inhabitants up to the surface.
Once the containers reached the surface a man walked over to them, a small device in his hand. This man was a Collector, and the people had been so intent on watching their goods rise from the earth that they had missed him being lowered to the ground on the vessel’s platform. At the first stack of finished products he pointed a small electronic machine at a code built into the metal crates before him and pressed a few buttons. Those close enough could actually see colored lights flashing on and off and even hear a couple of electronic beeps before he seemed satisfied and made a sign to someone above. The platform was lowered down to slide under the crates standing up on legs. The whole thing, platform and cargo, was then raised back up to disappear from sight within the massive hulk.
At the moment he had made the sign to the platform controller above him a squeal of joy was heard somewhere in the crowd and everyone turned. A woman was hugging two small children to her breast as a man, her husband, did the same with a young boy maybe only fourteen years of age. As a group they turned and left with maybe sixty other people equally happy. Clearly their factory had correctly and fully provided their Token to the Collectors, and they were now free of concerns over pressing for at least another three years. As the day wore on more and more Tokens were loaded onto the container, and more and more people left to go back to their homes celebrating another lease on life. They had survived, and so long as they continued to work hard the lives of their children would not be forfeit.
The Collector thanked and congratulated those in overall control of the manufacturing planet and told them to stand ready for their next delivery date in three years time. These men deserved the offered thanks since they made sure that everyone always produced their Token by working more as a communal venture than as a group of individual manufacturers. It benefited the planet as a whole since the Suppliers were easier on them than on others because of their reliability. They had learned the hard way, as other planets had done also, that to miss a Token was traumatic to everyone even though it might only affect but a few families directly. Those planets that had not advanced and followed through on this philosophy of mutual aid often found the Collectors pressing their children and then suffered the anger, loss and pain that followed.
The Collector then rose on the platform, the ship closing behind him leaving a solid wall of gray. The engine gases began to escape vents along the container’s sides creating a loud hissing that got progressively louder. Those few people remaining ran to areas designated safe from the blast to watch as the huge storage container strained into the air with a shriek of engine noise. In only a few seconds it was a smoking speck high in the sky, and a few more after that it was gone from the atmosphere, soon to rendezvous with a Collector storage ship.

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“Clayton, report,” a heavily uniformed officer shouted.
“Both transports are in their respective bays, Sir,” the young Lieutenant said loudly over the buzz of noise on the flight deck. His instrument panels were flashing colored lights and text messages that he translated to his superior. “Outer hatches now sealed and we’re ready to leave orbit and shift on your command, Sir.”
“Are the fighters and other vessels also ready to shift?” the Captain asked.
“Yes Sir. All transports report the complete collection of all Tokens for this system, and all show green lights for the next shift, Sir,” his clipped tone and professional manner had alerted his superiors to his abilities, and his promotion track was ahead of schedule.
“Have you transmitted the co-ordinates to all ships?”
“Yes sir, co-ordinates sent and receipt confirmed.”
“Very good. Quiet on the deck!” shouted the Captain and immediate silence fell. “Put me on communal speaker, Lieutenant.”
“You’re on, Sir,” came the response a second later.
The Captain leaned towards his console and the microphone built within it, “All vessels, on my mark, shift to the next planetfall co-ordinates.” The people in the room seemed to hold their breath as they either looked at their controls and monitors or over at the Captain – those on the flight decks of ships around them would be doing likewise. Looking over at his staff who, each in turn, gave him a slight nod of assertion that they were ready for his command he said clearly, “Collector vessels and escorts….mark!”
In the blink of an eye sixty ships winked out of the orbits of several dozen worlds leaving this system on the long journey to the next. It would take them two more standard cycles to get to their next pick-up planets, and there they would be loading on a different cargo from these manufacturing worlds - there the manifest would include live blues and greens to feed the frontline troops fresh meat. Their next stop was the Teldar system.


Seven

“After we got our breath back, and felt sure they were really gone, we went over to where the big blue’d been,” Jacob spoke to a hushed gathering of the farmers in the co-operative. “We found the pitchfork I’d thrown. It must’ve fallen from the animal as it leaped away. The tines were covered in a clearish, sticky liquid. It must be its blood.”
When Blake and Jacob had returned home the first light of dawn was already showing over the horizon. Tired as they were, they chose not to sleep, but to gather everyone together and discuss what they had experienced. They had sent their children out to inform the others to come as quickly as possible to meet at Jacobs feed barn. By the time the sun was clearing the mountains and daylight was washing away residual fears, Jacob and Blake were telling their story, the pitchfork still sticky with gore to assuage any doubts; though none of those assembled seemed to have any.
The crowd was silent, not quite sure what to say or ask next. A creature that didn’t apparently have a mouth and that they’d not known existed on their world was now killing their animals and risking their children’s lives because the Token might not be met. Something obviously had to be done, but no one seemed to have any ideas. Finally, Jacob spoke.
“We could go to the mountains and kill them.” It was spoken quietly and without too much assurance of getting any support. He was sitting on a bale of feed with his elbows planted on his knees, chin resting on his clenched fists. He felt exhausted both physically and emotionally and just wanted to put this nightmare to rest.
The people before him seemed to go into a kind of shock at his words. He knew all too well why.
“Jacob, please!” a burly farmer said in amazement. “You know very well that goes against our very beliefs. We’re non-techs! That doesn’t just mean we can’t use advanced technology; it also means we don’t fight. That’s why we’ve the agreement with the Suppliers. We stay here as non-techs in safety as long as we continue to provide them their Token.” The crowd nodded and mumbled their assent. They all seemed to feel the same way.
“In fact what you did last night was already a breach,” another man said.
“What would you have me do? Nothing?” Jacob went on in his own defense. ”Do you want me to just stand by and watch the Collectors take our children away to war in two cycles time?” He stood, energized by his own anger, and began pacing in front of his peers looking into each man’s eyes.
“Most of you have sons and daughters, what do you wish for them? To die old with their loved ones or young on some alien battlefield alone and bleeding? Again, why don’t we go and kill them? They’re obviously strong, but it’s clear they can be injured. That means we can kill them, too. There has to be a way.” He sat down on a bale of feed and waited for someone to respond. He drew in a deep breath of the musty, rich smell inside the barn trying to calm himself; he realized that arguing wouldn’t help his cause.
Blake stood in front of the group and spoke, “Jacob, I was with you last night and saw those...things. I want them gone too and would even be willing to bend our beliefs a little to make it happen, but I just don’t think we’d be capable. You saw how the one you hit was still able to leap higher than this barn. Knocked the pitchfork from its leg in the process.” His head sank and his voice began to trail off in apparent defeat. “We have no stronger weapons. We have no training. We must wait for the Collectors to arrive and they’ll know what to do.”
Jacob looked in turn at each man sitting around him before speaking angrily; he couldn’t help himself. “You all know what that means! We have no way to elicit outside contact; we have no radios or other signaling devices to alert them to our troubles. When the Collectors get here of course they’ll get help from the Suppliers for us, but we’ll still be held to our Token regardless! We’ll lose our children and we can’t let that happen!”
Everyone fell into another shocked silence, this time not from outrage, but frightened agreement. Jacob could read them and knew their thoughts. They knew he was right, but they were stumped on what to do next. Going after the creatures sounded like the only thing to do, but they each knew that, even as a group, they weren’t up to it. They’d probably die in the attempt, if Jacob’s experiences last night were anything to go on. Now it wasn’t their non-tech beliefs they were worried about, but their very lives and those of their children. He knew that they felt overwhelmed.
“I have an idea,” a man sitting next to Jacob said in a timid voice. All eyes turned to him.
Leaning forward eagerly, Jacob spoke quickly. “What do you have in mind, Dale?” Suddenly he felt an invisible weight removed from his shoulders at this ray of hope.
Dale was much shorter than Jacob but was equally well built from years of hard work in the fields on various farming planets in his past. He and his wife were relative newcomers to this world, but all had been pleased with the choice to allow them both in, as Dale was a hard worker. His wife had not gone out of her way to mix and few new anything about her. The man looked nervous under everyone’s scrutiny and clearly hesitated before going on.
“As you know, Carlee is not originally one of us,” he spoke in a faltering voice that was hard to hear and he continued quietly. “But she accepted our non-tech ways when we married. After being shipped to this planet we got on well, and she seemed to fit in comfortably with our lifestyle here. However, it turns out she’d had some serious doubts about leaving everything behind when she accepted my proposal and knew she was to move here.”
Jacob knew that Dale had met his future wife, Carlee, on a manufacturing planet while he was transferring to the Teldar system. They had quickly fallen in love as so often happens during war years, and she had accepted his proposal of marriage. Initially she seemed to have no problem with his transfer to the farming planet. Her family had warned her of the enormous differences between the world she had been raised in and that of a non-tech one, but it was her opinion that, so long as she was with the man she loved, anywhere would be perfect. It also hadn’t hurt that she was somewhat rebellious and her family’s stance only solidified her own.
Once her non-tech status had been approved (through their marriage) they had moved to their new home. All had been fine for a couple of cycles but soon her ‘love is blind’ attitude changed. She’d complained to Dale about many different things: she was sick of the smell of animals everywhere, she didn’t have a vid-phone with which to speak to her mother, there was no such thing as a ground car to go for a drive on a nice day, and even if she had somewhere nice to go, there was nowhere to buy pretty clothes. Everything here was simple, practical, boring!
On the manufacturing planet she was from, her family had done well because of the war. They had received a contract from the Suppliers many years earlier to provide a new kind of armor plating for ground assault vehicles. From there they had expanded and were now one of the main suppliers for a wide range of protective equipment.
They were well paid, and had all the amenities money could buy. Most importantly they had contacts with a group of pirates who could provide, for a price, the things you weren’t supposed to have. As in all times of shortage there is always a burgeoning black market for those with the lack of scruples and excess of cash to take advantage of it. The next time the Collector ship had left with its cargo of blues and greens, one of the crewmen who was actually a pirate plant, was carrying a note from Carlee to her father.
Dale had not noticed anything unusual for some time, but he eventually found out what she had done. One day he came in from the fields earlier than normal and couldn’t find her. After spending some time looking he finally heard laughter from one of the barns and followed the sound. Carlee was sitting in the rafters high above the floor where Dale stored winter bedding for his animals. She was laughing out loud, watching a vid-screen. It was broadcasting some funny show from the ‘real world’, as she put it when confronted by him.
Her father had sent back a small radio transmitter/receiver with a crewman he could bribe on the next Collector ship. Through it she managed to get in contact with the pirates and set up the time and place they would deliver her vid-screen. Her father had paid handsomely for the radio to be smuggled to her on board a small pirate ship he had sometimes hired for various ‘under the table’ deals. The small ship had no difficulties getting on and off the farming planet unseen. A non-tech world such as this had no such thing as radar or satellite coverage to cause problems, due to their non-tech status. The vid-screen itself was only the size of a water bucket when opened up, so she’d had no problem in keeping it hidden.
Dale’s anger at his wife had only been tempered by his fear that others in the co-operative would discover her frailty, and possibly have her removed from the planet. It now seemed that she might be open to it, but he wasn’t willing to give up on her and their relationship so quickly. He’d kept it a secret and allowed her to keep the vid-screen under the agreement that she didn’t let anyone know about it and had no more secret shipments. He’d confiscated the radio and made sure that she wasn’t anywhere near the crewmen whenever the Collectors were on planet for their Token. He didn’t want anymore notes getting to her father.
“I know I did wrong by keeping it a secret from you all, but at the time I thought it best just to keep it quiet. It seemed harmless so long as she never used the radio again, and I knew the cells on the vid-screen would eventually dry up anyway,” he was nearly weeping with embarrassment.
Jacob put his hand on Dale’s shoulder in a gesture of solicitude, “Don’t worry about it now Dale. Any one of us might’ve done the same in your shoes. The thing is what do we do now we’re in such a precarious position and have something that might help us. It’s clearly against our principles to even consider using this radio, but in my opinion we’re out of options.” Jacob sat down waiting for a response from anyone. It was slow coming as he could see each of them fighting with their inner-self over this moral dilemma.
“I don’t think we have much of an option,” one man said. Several others nodded and grunted their assertions that they agreed with him.
“Under these circumstances do we all agree to use this technology to call for help?” Blake asked in his position as this cycles leader. His hand, plus eight others rose immediately skywards. Four others remained immobile, the men’s heads lowered toward the ground.
“We don’t have the right to take other lives,” said one without raising his chin.
“Allain, I know how you feel.” Jacob spoke gently to the man, “We all feel that way, but the reality of the situation is that if we don’t do something some of our children will die, maybe yours.”
Blake stepped to the side of Jacob. “Listen to him, my friends, he’s talking sense whether we like what he’s saying or not.” He rested his hand on his friend’s broad shoulders showing his support for the man who was saying aloud what every man there was truly thinking.
“This should never have been a problem for us.” Jacob continued with his attempt at winning the last few holdouts, “The Suppliers were supposed to have cleared this planet of all dangerous lifeforms. They clearly didn’t do a very good job of it.” He was pacing up and down and he realized he was lecturing, but his emotions were too strong to hold back.
“You’d think that they’d give us some dispensation regarding our upcoming Token, but you know as well as I do that we’re in a war and they don’t care for excuses. They need the food we’re supposed to provide for them and they need it in two cycles, not later. It’s unfair but I don’t see we’ve any choice.”
He looked around the group of his fellow farmers and clearly none of them were happy with the situation they found themselves in. “Who’s with me?”
Slowly, the last four hands were raised.

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“Carlee! Are you okay? Why haven’t you used the radio for so long? We’ve been worried sick.” the voice on the other end of the radio was a man’s, strong and assured. However, he was obviously a little concerned there might be a problem with his daughter.
“No daddy, I’m fine, but there’s some really bad stuff happening here, and Dale and his friends are asking for your help.” She handed the phone over to Dale before her father could respond with more questions.
“Hello father,” he said, clearly not comfortable using the title, but wanting to be polite. “We’ve a big problem that we’re hoping you might be able to help us with.” Carlee had reminded him to play to her father’s need to feel superior and in control.
“First of all, Dale, what happened to your high and mighty non-tech views? How can you be talking to me over a radio?” There was no attempt from him to hide the disdain and sarcasm in his words. “And second, what kind of trouble have you got my baby into?” He was obviously unhappy with the situation. “By the way don’t call me father, just stick with Marshall.”
Dale had warned Jacob and Blake that Marshall had never fully accepted Dale as his son-in-law since it was Dale who had taken Carlee so far away from him. They weren’t expecting much from the manufacturing magnate, but it was worth the try since they had no other options.
“OK, Marshall. We had no choice but to use the radio once we found out Carlee had it,” he said very softly. He was trying not to get drawn into a defensive posture, as Marshall was their best hope of help. “Carlee is perfectly safe, so you truly needn’t worry about that.”
“Sir, my name is Jacob,” he had taken the receiver from Dale’s hand a little impatiently; this was taking too long. “I’m one of the farmers in Dale’s collective. I know this is abrupt of me, but it’s very important we speak to you about our problem.” He thought for a second that he had pushed too hard too soon, but he had met men like this before and they seemed to respond well to those who were respectful, but did not back down. He took a breath and went on before Marshall had time to respond.
“I know you can help us, as we know you’ve many connections not available to any of us. After all, you got Carlee her radio and vid-screen without anyone here knowing about it.” He remembered that a little pat on the back recognizing Marshall's talents wouldn't hurt their cause. “Your daughter may be in perfect safety now, but if this situation gets any further out of hand, who knows?” Jacob continued with the whole story before Carlee’s father had much chance to argue against Jacob’s stern and forceful manner, polite though it had been.
Once Jacob had finally finished giving all the information he could, Marshall took over as he was so used to doing in his role of manufacturing baron. “What precautions have you taken thus far?”
Jacob hesitated before replying. “I’m not sure I know what you mean sir. We’ve really run out of ideas. However, I’m willing to try anything that you suggest though.”
“You people just floor me sometimes!”
Jacob could easily hear in Marshall’s tone that the man felt he was dealing with a group of people whose beliefs seemed to make them incapable of taking care of themselves.
“You already have a good idea of the likely farms these creatures are going to attack next so you need to set up a guard. Also, you need to take all your active breeders and keep them indoors away from harm while this threat is still out there. Speed up your breeding program to try catching up with your Token before the Collectors show up. I’ll see if there’s anything I can do to slow down their arrival to your system; I’ll contact some people I know and try to pull in some favors. In the meantime you need to get rid of the last of those creatures.” He ended still openly frustrated with his daughter’s new ‘family’, but there was also now the unmistakable sound of command in his voice.
Carlee had told them this was where his strength lay, ordering people around and taking charge in tough spots. Maybe that would somehow work in their favor.
“We’re not really in much of a position to be effective in that, sir,” Jacob responded. “We have no martial skills and no weapons. I was lucky enough to injure one of them, but my best throw with that pitchfork was clearly not enough to slow it down much.”
“Then the least you can do is to make sure you have a guard on the animals in the most likely farms to be attacked. Make sure you lose no more before I can do something to help you out.” He sounded resigned to the fact that these people, as non-techs, would clearly need to have help in overcoming their self-imposed limitations. “If I’m to help you I need to go now. I’ll have help for you in the next few days, all being well. Jacob, you sound like you’ve something inside you I’m going to count on. You need to make sure your people understand they may have to bend some of their beliefs in the next few weeks if they, and their families, are to come through this alive. Now, let me speak to my daughter again.”
“Yes sir, I’ll do my best with everyone. Thanks in advance for anything you can do for us. Here’s your daughter.” He passed the radio to Carlee and she talked reassuringly with her father while Jacob went to Blake and the others to discuss their situation.


Eight

“Blake, is everyone set?” Jacob had been voted in by the other farmers to lead the defense efforts; Marshall’s apparent approval of him had been obvious.
“Yes.” His friend responded. “Everyone’s a little nervous, but between the adults and older boys we’ve about six guards for each of the three farms you think most likely to be attacked.” Then in a more personal tone, “Glad you’re heading this. Don’t know if I, or any of others, would be up to the task.”
The men had herded the animals into the corners of their pens trying to deny the predatory creatures an easy and solitary target. Each of the farmers was dressed in skins to ward off the cold of the long night ahead of them, and was armed with the only tools that could be used as weapons, which were their pitchforks. They knew these weren’t the best things in deterring this threat to their livelihood, but they had nothing else at hand and had to do something. They felt that they’d have strength in numbers and might be able to scare off the creatures if they showed up.
“I certainly hope none of us has to try to use one of these.” Blake was hefting his pitchfork as if ready to throw it the way he’d seen Jacob do the night before. “Don’t think any of us want to be put to the test.”
“Don’t worry, Blake. I’m sure help’s on the way soon. We might not have to be brave after all.” They continued talking quietly as they walked around Allain’s stockades, vigilant for any movement in the shadows.
Earlier in the day all the breeding age blue and greens on each farm had been moved into the birthing and raising buildings. The birthing buildings were large, warm barns where gravid animals were moved in their last few weeks of pregnancy to ensure a stress free birth under controlled conditions. The raising barn was likewise warm and spacious and helped to ensure that all the young blues and greens would have a safe environment away from the elements in which to grow strong. Then, by their third cycle, they were moved outdoors with the others. These buildings were windowless except for some small vents up near the roof and only had one door at each end that was easily barred. The animals within would be safe. Now, as Marshall had said, it was time to take a more active hand in their breeding to try to offset the losses the farmers had experienced.
As they walked, they talked quietly to each other, trying to keep their minds off what might be just beyond their sight.
“How’s your Token coming along?” Blake’s voice was wary and gentle. It was no secret that Jacob had lost more stock than he had.
“Well, it’s never easy is it? We have a little time to speed the usual process up which might work so long as we can stop any more losses. You?”
“It’ll be tight, but we should be OK. I wish I had extra stock to offer you. What’re you going to do to speed things up?”
“I have some animals I was leaving fallow till next year, but I’ll have to move ahead with them now. They’re all in good health, so it should be OK.”
As non-techs they’d always had an issue with their animals. Genetic engineering was something they didn’t want anything to do with, but scientists had adapted their blues and greens many years before. So long as it was in the past, they told themselves, it was not their doing. The problem came when they needed to breed them. Long ago domesticated animals were denied the ability to breed naturally, too dangerous to the males apparently, so artificial insemination was developed. That had worked for a long time till the engineering of these blues and greens. If you were going to play God with them, why not go crazy? The scientists had created them to be only one sex, female, and they could now become pregnant with just changes in diet. Non-techs weren’t too pleased with this situation, but clearly had no option and no say. Manipulating breeding cycles with changes in diet was a relatively small compromise in their non-tech lives.
“I figure that if enough of them become pregnant and bear young, then the Token can be filled by including adult animals I’d usually have kept for breeding purposes. I’ll still have enough of an animal population that in a few cycles they’ll be of breeding age again, and with luck could be back on track for the next Token without too much trouble.” He looked over at Blake whose face didn’t show much excitement at the plan. “I know it’s a risk, but it’s my best hope for now.”

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As the night birds began their familiar calls we once again moved down the rocky slope towards food. Our injured comrade was healing well, but had stayed behind to recover fully; we would bring home plenty of food, so all would eat well. Like any predator an injury was a liability, but at least our group mentality allowed for compassion and mutual aid. None would ever go hungry if there were still active members capable of hunting and with prey to bring down.
Tonight our hunt took us to an area we had previously hunted a large animal that had been easy to kill, since it had been over in one corner of its enclosure alone. The images passing between us as we ran lightly over the ground showed us feeding till we were heavy. Then we saw ourselves taking plenty to our hungry fellows waiting for us to feed them.
Though we expected no problems, the scare of the previous night reinforced the need for care when hunting, as anything could happen. We spent plenty of time raising our noses to the air, as we slowly closed on the barricaded area containing our target. We could not smell any two-legs, but this did not comfort us greatly, as we had not smelled the creature that had injured one of us the night before either. One image we had seen was that the attacker was covered in what looked to be the skin from a prey animal. It was possible the smell of the skin had hidden that of the two-legged creature we now had grown to fear. If that was the case, our noses might not be able to help us as much as we normally expected.
Now we moved forward using the rocks and trees to our advantage as much as we could to hide ourselves from anything that might be out there waiting. We made full use of our excellent night vision and before we had reached the rocks immediately next to the stacked tree parts that we would have leapt from, an image shot into our minds. Our prey animals were gathered in the center of the enclosure all huddled together with no animals off on their own. This was confusing. It had been at least five nights since we had hunted here last. Our experience was relatively new with this kind of animal, but we felt sure that by now they should have relaxed their tight defensive group.
Suddenly an image came in. What was going on? What we had taken for smaller prey animals were now clearly seen as some of the two-legs once again wearing skins from their animals. They also had the flying sticks in their hands that had caused so much pain to our friend. What should we do?
Immediately the picture of us feasting on prey further away came to our minds and we all began to move back up the hill. Once we were well out of sight of the two-legs below we headed to an area that we had taken food from four nights previously. Surely this group of animals would be spread thinly to allow us to pick one off. Our hunt had to be successful; we could not have any of our growing young spending a night hungry. We older ones would soon be relying on their strength to take over more responsibilities on our nightly hunts.
We reached the shadows surrounding the cleared area that held the prey we were after and stopped to survey for dangers. The first thing we saw, shot between us in clear images, was the sight that these animals, like the ones before them, were in one tight mass in the center of their enclosure.
Again? Why? As the questions came to our mind we quickly saw why. More two-legs in the skins of our food! They were spaced around our prey clearly making sure none strayed from the safety of the group. This time the two-legs had also reduced their inefficiency at night by creating some kind of a light source on the ground that opened many shadows as if by daylight. We would not have the time to go to any other areas to see if they were likewise prepared for our hunt. We would have to try here as we all agreed that our hunger was to be dealt with now. Dawn was approaching and we could not wait for another night.

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Over at Dale’s farm he and his two neighbors, Santor and Gamik, were all guarding his flock of greens. With them were Gamik’s two sons, both teenagers, robust and vital, prime fodder for being pressed into the service by the Collectors. Gamik was, like Jacob, more than ready to do whatever was necessary to avoid not meeting the Token even going against his non-tech beliefs of no violence and no weapons. He was not willing to lose his two sons, Adam and Lane.
They were all dressed in the thick skins of the blues and greens giving them ample protection against the chill they knew would be coming during the night hours spent away from their soft, warm beds. They were all nervous and spoke to each other in whispers afraid that talking aloud would somehow attract danger to them. They had started a small fire to give them some further comfort against a dark night where a strange and dangerous creature might be lurking that they had no urge to meet.
“What’re we expected to do if we see anything, dad?” said Adam quietly as he walked with Gamik around the inside of the perimeter fencing.
“Well, just like Jacob said. He was able to make one bleed the other night, so they’re not invincible and if we stay alert and don’t panic we should be OK,” Gamik explained. “If one of them comes over the fence stand with your back to Dale’s greens and stab at whatever gets close enough to you. Your pitchfork is long enough that if you keep it between you and these monsters they can’t get at you. In any case, they probably won’t show up tonight.” The man’s gruff, assured tone complimented his stocky muscular frame.
“Anyone want something hot to drink? Carlee made sure I have enough for all of us,” Dale asked. He was standing by the fire and the others came to him offering their cups, pulled from beneath their cloaks. He began to fill them one by one. The men stood in a tight knot for a moment enjoying the feeling of warmth and safety the hot liquid and proximity of their friends gave them.
As Dale offered a refill he said, “Drink up, it’ll be a long, cold night.” The wisps of vapor from his breathing attested to his words.

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Ahead of us we saw the two-legs walking around our prey and we tried to decide how to get close enough to surprise the animals and stay away from those who would hurt us. Though their eyes didn’t seem to be as good as ours in the darkness, as long as they kept facing outwards they would not fail to see our approach. We were about to just take our chance and bound over the barrier when we all saw our chance.
The two-legs suddenly all converged on one of their own at the far side of our grouped food and then they turned their backs to where we were in hiding. We didn’t know what they were doing but they were certainly paying no attention to guarding their animals for the moment. We wasted no time, the mental picture passed amongst us and as one we acted.

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The sound came suddenly and deafeningly to their ears. In an instant they knew what was happening before they even had time to turn and have their eyes confirm it. They all remembered vividly Jacob’s description of his encounter with these creatures and the hideous scratching noise the claws had made on the rock surfaces when they were moving quickly and without fear of being detected.
Pointlessly, Gamik shouted, “They’re here!”
The men turned in the instant as all hell broke loose all around them.

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We all leapt from the rocks around the perimeter and soared high over the stacked wood. Not the clumsy way we did on our usual exit from these places with our bellies full of meat, but with a smooth motion creating exhilaration we all felt together. We landed on, amongst and around the animals. We had to take the chance of possible injuries from them in the confusion in order to throw the two-legs off their guard, and what better way than to scatter the group of frightened prey between them and us.
While two of us attacked a large food animal the rest of us continued leaping around the remainder so they remained frightened and moving about, creating an impenetrable shield we felt safe behind. One of us shot an image of pain as it was kicked savagely by the hind hooves of a big beast and the force of the blow sent our comrade flying over the milling group and out of our sight. Two sets of images came to us at once. One from our injured comrade in pain; the other of success, our hunt had been successful and one of the prey animals had been brought down.

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Black shapes were flying over the far fence and into the corral landing amid the greens, frightening them awake. They jumped up and some even screamed in their fear expelling hot breath into the cold air in plumes like exploding geysers. Dale was as scared as he felt his flock was, but he knew he and the other men with him needed to act, but what could they do. They had a fence behind them and a wildly kicking mass of hooves and big green bodies ahead of them. The men desperately tried to force their way through the group by whacking the animals on the sides with the pitchforks, but without any luck. The greens were far too frightened to worry about these inoffensive men.
“Adam! Lane! Come stand by me!” Gamik was clearly terrified, but still had the need to look out for his boys.
Suddenly a black shape came flying over their heads and landed with a loud thump on the dirt behind them. As one the men turned around and saw, up close for the first time, one of the creatures. It was on its side and one of its hind legs was bent in a different direction from the other three, even Gamik, who had not seen one before, knew it had been injured.
“Get it!” he shouted at the others around him who seemed transfixed by the horror of the thing in front of them. They had found it hard to understand that Jacob’s description of these animals could have been correct, how could they not have mouths? And how could they jump so easily even when carrying meat in their front legs, or where they arms?
All five men ran at the thing on the floor that was even now trying to rise. Clearly it’s damaged leg refused to allow any control and it stayed on the ground thrashing madly. It never got another chance to rise as all five pitchforks found their mark and pierced the thick, tough hide sinking deep. The same liquid Jacob had described gushed from the writhing body and within only a couple of seconds the body stilled.
With a sigh of relief Dale turned, pitchfork still in hand, in time to see more black shapes appearing over the confusion in front of him. He only had time to raise his weapon, and to shout, “Watch out!”

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Without thought or hesitation we responded to our comrade’s silent cry of pain. Backing away from the stomping hooves around us, three of us found enough space to spring over the backs of those in our way. The rest of us joined in the rending of the killed animal so we could begin taking it back to our homes. Our powerful rear legs took us cleanly over the animals and into the midst of our enemy. One of us landed directly on one of the two-legs whose back was to us and did not even see what was happening to him. A picture of a proboscis shooting down and breaking through a pathetically weak frame, then tearing the life out came to all of us as it happened. What exhilaration! We could hear above the occasional shrieks of the animals behind us, the shouts of these small creatures that were once again, as in the past, causing us so much trouble.
No sooner did the image of our initial success flash away than another came in behind it, one of pain again. This was too much! Another one of us injured. No, killed! Looking backwards we could see our brethren leaping over the fence with the food and the last two of us chose to join them since there was nothing more we could do to save those who had fallen. We headed back to what we hoped would be safety, but this night had reminded us too much of our past when we had been nearly exterminated. Would the two-legs succeed this time?
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As Dale lifted his pitchfork a black shape, increasing in fearful detail, descended upon him. The force of the contact knocked Dale to the ground and he felt the wind knocked out of him and a pain in his chest. His head was swimming and he couldn’t concentrate or focus but he did feel a warm wetness spreading over his chest. “I’m dying!” he thought with horror before the world went dark and he felt no more.
“Look out Adam! Behind you!” Gamik was shouting as he turned to find out what Dale had been screaming for. He had immediately seen Dale go down underneath a large black mass and before he’d been able to go to his aid another had been flying towards his son. Adam turned but too late as the thing landed on him knocking him to the ground under its weight. As Gamik ran to his son he saw something come shooting out of what, on anything else, would have been the things chest. Whatever it was, it shot through his son’s neck and came back out all in less than a second. On its way in it was a shiny black, but on its way out it was dripping in red clearly seen in the light from the fire. His son’s blood!
“No!” he screamed, lunging towards the evil creature.
Lane and Santor followed his lead and ran to stab at the thing, but as they got close another shape appeared seemingly out of nowhere knocking all three of them to the ground. As the men strove to get quickly to their feet the two black shapes in front of them turned and seemed to look over at the creature on top of Dale. A second later they bent their back legs, and with a power that shocked the watching men, launched themselves over the greens still blocking the men’s way. Faster than the awe-struck farmers could follow, the black things were out of sight, gone.
Gamik rushed to Adam’s side and knelt down. He took his son’s head in his hands and could immediately see that there was no life left in him. Screaming in anguish he pulled the limp body up to his, and ignoring the blood and gore on Adam’s chest, hugged him as if to squeeze the breath of life back in. Lane joined his father and began to sob in pain at their mutual loss. His younger brother was gone and he had not been able to do anything about it. Here he was, now a man, for he had turned seventeen years old only the week before, and he felt impotent. All he could do was stare down at his brother and then raise his head to the sky and scream.
Santor had rushed over and found that the thing that had appeared first had landed on Dale crushing him to the ground. It was still lying on top of his friend. He speared it with his pitchfork, but there was no reaction from it. It was already dead; he could now see a clear liquid pouring over Dale’s body. The creature’s blood.
By digging in his heels and putting his full strength into it, he was able to roll the thing off Dale, and as he did so he realized that it had killed itself by landing on the upraised pitchfork. Dale looked dead, but on closer examination Santor could hear ragged breaths coming from a mouth that had froth stained blood-red slowly dribbling from it. He was alive, for now at least.


Nine


Drake picked up the receiver by his captain’s chair and held it to his ear. “Yes, Marshall, my old friend what can I do for you?” His voice was friendly enough, but there was clearly an undercurrent of skepticism and wariness in his tone. He had not become the captain of a small fleet of pirate vessels and stayed alive as long as he had without keeping his eyes wide for hidden threats. His ship, the Harpy, had been the scourge of many systems for fifteen years. Over many of those years he’d had a special relationship with Marshall, based on personal gain and some mutual respect.
In fact, it had been Marshall that Drake had contacted after his accident several years earlier. The pirate ship had barely escaped a trap set by some enterprising bounty hunters. The Harpy had destroyed the would-be assassins but had taken a lot of damage in the process. Drake had been badly burned on one side of his body and needed quick, professional and most importantly, discrete medical attention. Pulling in a favor from Marshall hadn’t been too hard and he was back in his bridge seat in a couple of weeks. Now, his good looks seemed almost to be accentuated by the livid scars running down his left cheek, neck, and shoulder. Many women would look at him seeing only a rugged, handsome man who exuded power and self-assurance. It was, in many ways, these same qualities that had allowed him to fight and cajole his way to the top of his trade.
Marshall had contacted Captain Drake to help with his daughter’s problem and he knew he would have to do some very serious dealing to get what he needed. Drake was a man he could trust as long as something was in it for the pirate. There was little honor among these people, but as long as your back wasn’t turned to them and you brought them profit, they’d leave you alone. In the past, each man had helped the other, and so there was a certain amount of trust between them, if only on a business level.
Drake was receiving spare parts for his ships from Marshall’s factories and in return Marshall was given luxury items the pirate took from captured transports. He’d also benefited from Drake’s role as a kind of security force when Marshall was trying to circumvent the Suppliers and sell product for a greater profit elsewhere. He had not gone so far as to supply the enemy, that would have been business suicide, but he wasn’t above a little under the table sales. Drake knew this about him and that’s why the two men, very different in many ways, actually got on fairly well together.
“Can we talk?” Marshall asked knowing there was always the chance that the Suppliers were listening in on their conversation. They were always trying to get any information they could about the whereabouts of the infamous Captain Drake.
“You should know me better than that, Marshall! There isn’t a Supplier cracker out there that could break through my communication lines!” he said with a mixture of pride and bravado. It was almost as if he was taunting them but in fact he was always careful and had not made any mistakes yet. “The worst that could happen is that they trace the signal position, but I never stay in one place long enough for that to help them. Well?” as usual Drake was direct and wasted no time on small talk. Business as usual.
“I need your help killing a few alien bugs that are causing problems in the Teldar system where my daughter’s living now.”
“Interesting, tell me more.”
“Seems some native predators were left behind when the Suppliers declared the planet safe and imported the farmers. The farmers’ Tokens are due soon and they’re losing some of their animals to these things. They’re just a bunch of farmers who don’t know what to do and, to make things worse, they’re a bunch of non-techs!” the disgust was obvious in his voice and didn’t escape Drake’s ears. “Recently one of your ships delivered a vid-screen to Carlee, and it seems to me that for the right price you should be able to get past any of the authorities ships and help them out.”
“What would you have me do to help?” the pirate said cautiously.
“Since they don’t have weapons, or the guts to use them anyway, I was hoping you could get some of your men some shore leave to go on a little game hunting expedition. I’d make it worth your while; you know that. What do you think?” He was too much of a businessman to show in his voice how much he needed this man’s help, but Drake had worked with him often enough to realize how much Marshall loved his daughter. He knew he had the advantage in this negotiation and would make sure it went well for him and his men.
“I think we can work something out and, yes, you’re right, you will make it worth my while.” He all but rubbed his hands together with glee at the prospect. “Call me back in one hour so I can do some research and I’ll give you my terms.” He hung up before Marshall had time to respond and then began his preparations.
First, he contacted his man within the Collector organization through routed lines that made it look as if this plant was taking a regularly allocated call from home. The news was not good. The ships were expected to reach the Teldar system on time to pick up their Token in about two cycles, not much time to do what had to be done.
Second, he talked to one of the hunters paid in the past to do the dirty work for the Suppliers. This man, Cale, was now working on Drake’s ship as his trusted head of security. He was, after all, a mercenary and, as such, worked for the highest bidder and Drake always paid his crew well. When this man had worked for the Suppliers he was called on to help clean out planets so they would be safe for settlement by those producing goods. The information this man had learned in the Teldar system would be invaluable both in Drake’s dealings with Marshall and these creatures when it came time.
An hour later the light flashed and his communications officer told him the line was secure to take. “Marshall, right on time, thank you.”
“What have you decided?”
“I’ll be happy to help you, but I’ve found out some very troubling details from my sources. It doesn’t appear that we have much time before the Collectors will be on your daughter’s world. I don’t like to rush any operation especially one where I’ll be sending some my men to try to kill off an unknown number of Hoppers.” He enjoyed the moment of silence on the other end of the connection and waited for Marshall to come back with the only possible question.
“What’s a Hopper?” his voice was tentative, not sure if he had heard Drake properly and unsure if the pirate was toying with him.
“One of the men commissioned by the Suppliers as a mercenary to help clean out that system prior to colonization spoke with me today. He told me about what they found and by far the most frightening and dangerous lifeform was an animal that they gave the accurate, but misleadingly inoffensive, name of Hopper.” He was ready for the big sell now as he knew more about this animal than Marshall, and so knew he’d be able to dictate terms. Clearly the non-techs were not going to be able to take care of the situation themselves. “Let me tell you why they called them that and then maybe you’ll understand why this will cost you plenty if I’m to save your lovely little daughter.”
“Go ahead,” said Marshall, clearly resigning himself to the fact that this would be one business deal where he’d not have ultimate control.
“These Hoppers were quite a surprise to the Suppliers and those they sent there to prepare the way for the farmers. For quite some time they didn’t even know the Hoppers even existed. These things only came out at night and they tended to stay up in the hill country. Anyway, it became clear that one of the animals that had to be destroyed was some kind of herbivore, similar to a mountain goat, I suppose. It would have been a threat to the grazing land needed for the blues and greens soon to be imported. I guess that even with the special foods they give their animals, the farmers always want good grazing land as a short-term back-up just in case a feed shipment is delayed.”
“Anyway, it seems crazy to me since these grazers were only found in the hills and the farmers wouldn’t have been grazing away from the flat land anyway. You know how wonderful bureaucracy can be even more than I. So they began to go up into the hills and mountains killing off these goats and soon enough they ran into the Hoppers.” He paused for effect waiting for Marshall to respond. He didn’t have to wait long.
“Enough playing around Drake, just tell me.”
“Well, it would seem that these things look like some kind of giant bed bug or flea. They have enormously muscular back legs that allow them to jump like crazy. Their front legs are strong too, but they use them more for balance and holding onto things with their big claws. Yes, they have big claws, four on each foot. They’re set up kind of like an eagle’s talons with three pointing forwards and one back. Once it sinks them into something it doesn’t lose its grip.” He was getting into his description now and thoroughly enjoying being able to enrapture his audience in it.
“My connection says that they kill by sticking some kind of an elongated jaw into their prey,” he paused for effect, “goat or human!” It worked, as he could hear a tremor in Marshall’s voice.
“They killed people?” He was clearly shocked and Drake could almost imagine Marshall picturing his daughter, Carlee, and what might happen to her in a world where those kinds of creatures lived..
“Oh yes, they killed plenty of people. But let me tell you more about this jaw because it scared everyone on the team sent to destroy them. These animals have no mouths and instead have a kind of proboscis that comes out from between their front legs or chest or whatever! It shoots out as long as your arm and faster than you could blink. They got a close look at some of the ones they killed and this thing is just full of teeth. These creatures would just jump onto the back of something, and this jaw thing would shoot down and break straight through the body usually ripping through the spinal column. A quick death, but that wasn’t any consolation to the men that went that way.”
He took a breath and readied himself for his closing arguments that would allow him to ask for the fees he wanted. Years as a pirate had trained him to negotiate, as well as fight, with skill. “Those Hoppers were something the Suppliers hadn’t expected and it took them a long time to clear them out. Problem is, it looks like the guys they hired might have been just a little too keen to get out of that system and go home. Obviously the Suppliers didn’t get their monies worth, since the Hoppers are back and they seem to be very hungry again.”
There was silence on the line for a while and then Drake heard Marshall clear his throat. ‘Here we go’ he thought.
“Drake, can you and your men take care of these things once and for all?” It was a simple and direct question for which Drake had a similar style of answer.
He did not hesitate. “Yes.”
“Very well. I don’t believe Carlee’s husband that she’s in no danger. What would a non-tech know anyway? Tell me what you want to get the job done immediately.”
Drake knew that Marshall was as confident in the bargaining arena as he was, but he also knew that the older man would still be ready to acquiesce to just about anything if he could stop the horror his daughter seemed to be mixed up in.
“This isn’t just a fun-filled bug hunt as you described it to be. It’ll be a costly job, as I’ll have to outfit several men with the latest in weaponry...”
“Don’t worry about weapons or even personal armor for that matter,” Marshall interrupted. “I can pull some favors and get you the latest upgrades, the kind being sent to the frontlines.”
“Good. For payment I need enough of your newly perfected ship shielding for two attack class vessels and one transport ship for which I’ll send you specifications. That’s all.” He sat back in his chair and only then did he realize that his deck crew had stopped all activity and speech, so engrossed were they in the unfolding negotiation. He gave them his slightly lopsided grin, but kept silent waiting for the reply.
Marshall hesitated for a second in shock at the huge request. “Drake, that’s virtually impossible and you know it. If I give you that much shielding I’d be unable to meet my own next Token. Please, can’t we reach a compromise?”
Drake knew Marshall well enough that he believed him. What good would it do to have one of the best buyers of his black market goods and the supplier of under the table military hardware, in the bad graces of men with even more power? Maybe he was being a little greedy, but he did need that shielding. What else could he do?
“Marshall, my friend, I’ve a proposition that I think you should at least consider.” He went on in some detail and finally got his answer.
“Very well, I’ll do it, but only on condition that I hear from my daughter when you’ve succeeded in your mission. Do you agree?” He was tired and wanted this to be over so he could get on with his side of the bargain.
“That’s fair. I’ll need proof you’ve completed your little task when you hear from her. If not maybe your daughter might still be in danger,” there was menace in his voice. This was a time to be firm with so much at stake.
“You don’t need to threaten me, Drake. Once my word is given I don’t back out,” he was clearly biting back his anger. He didn’t want to upset this pirate as, like it or not, Drake was his only hope.
“Then we have a deal.” Drake went on. “Make sure the small arms and body armor we need are in the Teldar system within two days and then wait. I’ll contact you as soon as I’ve something to say. Till then goodbye.” He hung up and immediately gave directions to the helmsman. This job would be worth a tremendous amount, so why delay?


Ten


Pain, loss, death, sadness and a horrible finality were the thoughts and emotions washing over us. Images of our fellows in their dying agonies pierced our minds as we sped up the hillside towards safety. Would it remain our sanctuary or would it, like the rest of our world now, become a deathtrap? We had been through this before. After a futile attempt at defending ourselves, we had become resigned to what had to be done and then done it instinctively. It seemed we were now in the same situation again. So soon?
With arms full of food we entered our caves and our comrades, young and old, rushed up to get their share of our kill. Even as they ate, we all communicated as our situation was clearly a dire one and we felt our time was now limited. Those who had remained in the caves already knew of the two deaths at the hands of the two-legs. What we had seen they had seen, as though they had been there with us, and they were saddened too. Our communal loss was not only for those who had not returned to the caves, but also for our way of life.
Again we were at a crossroads not of our making and a decision must be made. We did not want to make it, but the choice was being forced upon us. Some of our elders could still remember the time this same situation had arisen and now in their own lifetime it was happening again! In times of severe weather, food shortage, or widespread disease we might have slept, but very rarely in our history and only then for short periods of time. Now it seemed we would be forced into doing this for the second time in the span of one lifetime, something that had never happened before.
As the conclusions to our mutual thoughts were passed through the group, a melancholy washed over us at the inevitability of our situation. Having only so recently woken from a long sleep intended to bring us to a time of safety and plenty, we were not mentally or emotionally ready for this. Our world was once again changed by the two-legs into a place in which we could not survive. Our food was gone and the only thing left to eat was all but off limits to us, creating a no win situation. We were too few to put up much resistance so would it be worth the risk to try?
Previously the two-legs had killed us with loud flashing things that hurt us from afar, so our numbers were ineffectual. Even though this time they seemed to be less effective than before, not once had they attacked us until we were upon them, but now our numbers were so low any loss, such as the two tonight, would be devastating to our group. What option was their but to sleep?
Suddenly an image passed through us coming from one of our elders. It was one of desperation and yet one born of the need for survival. We all thought about the idea communicating backwards and forwards for some time while the youngsters played around us, oblivious to the seriousness of their position. Eventually it was decided; we would have no choice, but to sleep again. However, this time we would not do so with the expectations of waking to a world free of two-legs as we had done the last time; now we would take some actions that might give us a chance to survive even if our sleep was not successful.
Leaving our injured comrade to be tended we headed back down the mountain. There was not much time before the light would come over the horizon, but that could not be helped as we had something to begin and we could not take the chance of waiting another day. Time, once again, was running out for us. This time it might be permanent!


Eleven


Marshall was frustrated. “Can’t you speak up a little? I can’t hear you properly.”
“I’m sorry, Sir, but someone might come in and if they found me on this radio I’d be done for. The Collectors don’t take kindly to having a spy on board. I can’t do what you want if I’m dead.” Though his tone was polite to his employer he was clearly annoyed at being contacted by Marshall.
Usually, for safety’s sake, it was the spy who made the call when he knew he was safe to do so. This time Marshall had called the spy and it turned out the man’s radio had vibrated while he had been on the bridge and he’d had to quickly excuse himself to find a quiet place from which to respond.
“I know this must be important, Marshall, as you wouldn’t risk your favorite Collector spy on something frivolous, now would you?” His tone had become a little more relaxed and Marshall clearly heard the hint of humor in it; one of the things he liked about the spy was his grasp of putting things in the correct perspective. He wouldn’t have lasted long as a spy without that talent.
“You’re right, it is important. My daughter’s life might be at stake here and I can’t save her without your help.” He went on to rapidly explain his plan for how he hoped to use this man in saving his daughter’s life.
He was beginning to regret his agreement with Drake, but what were his options? He couldn’t have given him the amount of shielding he’d asked for. He had a son, Rone, who managed one of his factories and if the Token was not filled then Rone could become forfeit and then pressed! He’d already lost his daughter to her husband and another system far away, and he couldn’t and wouldn’t lose his only other child.
“Sir, I don’t think I can do what you ask.”
He’d never said no before, as he was being well paid, but this was a request so far out of the ordinary Marshall wasn’t surprised the man could hardly imagine getting away with it.
“Who else but you has the opportunity? I know I’m asking a lot, but I guarantee your safety and you know you’ll be handsomely rewarded for your services. Think about it from my point of view. I’ll be losing your services and you’ve been invaluable to me in your position with the Collectors. I need you to do this. What do you say?” Marshall felt a little ashamed of himself. He was a high powered and wealthy man who was used to giving orders and expecting immediate responses. Here he was all but begging one of his employees to do what he asked. Funny how his role as parent overrode that of executive.
“Very well, I’ll do it.” The voice was still quiet and was also clearly nervous. “I want you to remember that this will be my last job for you within the Collectors as I’ll be a marked man. Therefore, I need you to promise me that you’ll make sure I’m safe and well taken care of after this is over. We’ll both have to trust each other, as I’m sure you won’t want them to know who organized something giving them so much pain and embarrassment. Do we have an agreement, Sir?”
Again he thought of the strangeness of this temporary shift in roles, but Marshall didn’t mind as he had what he wanted, as he had expected.
“Yes, we have a deal. When you’ve delivered what I ask you’ll have enough money that you won’t be worried about what the Collectors, or even the Suppliers, would like to do if they ever found you. In any case I’ll also make sure they don’t find you, I have a lot of friends in a lot of places who’ll give you the sanctuary you want.”
Marshall was pleased to have resolved this part of the plan and was happy to do anything for this man who was making it happen. During these many years of war this spy had been of great use to Marshall, so he thought it was only fair to take care of him even after his usefulness was at an end. Marshall was not an ungrateful man and he wouldn’t go back on his word of future support.
”Sir, I have to go now. You’ll get my signal when everything is complete.” His voice was cut off as he broke the connection with his real employer.
Marshall stared out of the window of his office. All he could see to the distant horizon was a land covered in factories and other man-made structures. This planet was not pretty, but it had brought him wealth and was helping the war effort. Funny how the thought of patriotism had crept into his mind when he had just arranged for a clear act of treason to be perpetrated. He was able to easily justify it by picturing his children, Carlee and Rone, and imagining the first being killed by some kind of monster on a far away planet and the second being forced to fight in a war from which he would likely not return. No, this was the only way. Drake would have his payment. Marshall would have his children safe.
In a business like manner he pushed aside his personal thoughts and emotions, they’d only get in his way and he started contacting some business associates. He had some weapons and supplies to order for the pirate captain if all these plans were to work.


Twelve


Dale had been carried into his home by Santor and Lane who then laid him on the bed. Carlee had rushed to open the door when she’d heard them shouting that Dale had been injured. Lane had immediately excused himself to go help his father bear Adam’s body to their home. Carlee was struck by the pain she felt at his loss. Adam had been a fine young man and this was no way to die. As soon as the thought came it was quickly replaced by a fear for her husband. She was surprised that it overwhelmed her as much as it did. She hadn’t realized until now that she still loved him deeply and the sight of his bloody and apparently lifeless body filled her with dread.
Santor’s voice broke into her internal struggle; “He’s not dead Carlee. Come on let’s get him out of these clothes and see what we can do. Lane told me he’d swing by Allain’s farm to get Jacob. When he gets here he’ll know better what we should do. But for now it’s just you and me. Are you ready?” He was already lifting Dale’s limbs carefully in order to remove the heavy clothing the man had worn to keep warm.
Carlee snapped out of it and became the epitome of a strong and loving wife, “Yes, of course I’m OK. Here let me do that. “You go boil some water, the pots already full, but you’ll need to light a fire.”
She felt herself calming as she asserted her position as the woman of the household. She noticed the look in Santor’s face as she got on with her tasks; he seemed almost impressed with her. “Go on, now!” She didn’t raise her voice, but he moved as if she had and went to the kitchen. She knew that he’d half expected her to just go into hysterics at the sight of Dale being carried in yet she was handling this very well and was pleasantly pleased at herself. From Dale’s description of her attachment to the vid-screen and her apparent boredom with her life here, she knew Santor and the others imagined her to be a much more spoiled person than she was now showing herself to be. Amazing how stress could bring out the best in people given the chance.
While he was gone Carlee continued to gently remove her husband’s clothing. The sight of his blood down the front of the jacket made her hesitate in fear for a moment but she went on. She felt sickened by the sticky stuff all over him. What was it? As she took off his thick woolen under-shirt she gasped aloud. A large wicked looking bruise, already turning purple, covered the left side of his chest. She was grateful that Dale was unconscious, as this would have been extremely painful.
She had stripped Dale naked by the time Santor returned with the water. She gently ran her fingers through the still figure’s dark hair while whispering in his ear. Ignoring Santor, she told Dale how he was going to be all right and that she would take care of him.
“What’s this stuff all over him and how did he get this bruise?” She was talking as she began to wipe Dale’s body clean with a soft cloth Santor had dropped in the hot water. She did this lovingly and somehow it made her even more sure Dale would be OK. After all, how could someone die when they were being taken care of like this?
“He killed one of the creatures that came into the pen, and its blood spilled over him. It’s not like our blood, it’s colorless, and as you can tell, very sticky. The bruise must have come from the end of his pitchfork. We found Dale under the dead creature, and I think he stabbed it as it landed on him and the end of the pitchfork was jammed into his chest. I’m no doctor, but I’d guess that his lung was hurt since the blood coming from his mouth is all frothy.” Carlee shuddered visibly. “I’m sorry Carlee, but don’t worry, Jacob is great helping our injured animals, and he’s helped some of us before, too.”
Carlee again ignored him. She was into her work and talking quietly to the still form of her husband. In the periphery of her senses she knew Santor was moving out of range so she could talk with Dale privately. She was grateful for that courtesy and saw him go to wait for Jacob by the front door.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered as she wiped his chest. “I didn’t give this place a chance; I didn’t want to meet any of the other wives. I think I felt I was better than they were; I mean, look who my family is and how they spoil me. I know now I’m no better than anyone else. I realize I love you, just as I’m sure they love their men; and if you were taken from me, especially like this, I’d be destroyed. My heart goes out to Adam’s mother right now.” Her tears fell, mixing with the blood from her husband and that of the creature. She didn’t try to hold them back. She felt like she’d crossed a threshold. She hadn’t realized what she’d had in Dale until she saw that he might be taken from her.
Santor’s voice from the door broke through to her, “He’s here Carlee, everything will be fine now, you’ll see.” He stepped aside from the entrance and watched quietly.
Jacob rushed into the room and went straight over to sit by Carlee. He gently lifted her soft, bloodstained hands away from Dale and held them in his larger, callused ones. In an equally gentle tone he said, “Carlee, thanks for washing him, and now let me take a look at him. I’ll do my best I promise you.”
“I want you to tell me exactly what you think when you think it. No surprises, OK?” She sounded strong, but there was also a little girl close to the surface that didn’t want to lose someone she loved. She stepped away from Dale to give Jacob room to look him over. However, she did keep hold of one of her husband’s hands while Jacob carefully felt all over the injured man’s body.
“He doesn’t seem to have any injuries except the obvious one, Carlee. I’m worried about the frothy blood coming from his mouth. I’d guess that he’s punctured a lung. This bruise is right over his right lung and,” he felt carefully at that spot, “I think maybe one of his ribs was pushed into it.”
“Will he live?”
Jacob was amazed at how she had gained control of herself and that her question had come out so calmly. She was obviously still scared about her husband’s well being, but she was strong enough to realize hysterics wouldn’t help him.
“Yes, I believe so, but he’ll need a long recovery with no work. We’ll help out, don’t worry. Right now his body seems to be keeping him asleep for a while to let the worst of the pain pass by. He should be grateful for that.”
“Don’t worry about him, or his work, I can take care of everything. Tell me what I need to do for his lung to recover and how I can help with the pain when he wakes up.”
Jacob could hear the relief in her words. She was now obviously steeled to do whatever it would take to bring Dale back to health. He thought that maybe this was her way to atone for how she had seemingly turned her back on the life Dale had brought her to. She had never given it or the people around her the chance they deserved. Maybe now she was determined to change that.
“Can’t we contact my father? He’d have a real doctor out here to help if I asked.”
In days past he would have expected her to say this petulantly, but now she brought it up calmly as a reasonable option she wanted his opinion on. Once again he saw Carlee differently than he’d done in the past. Later she’d understand that he was just pleasantly surprised by how she had apparently changed after this one event, but for now he could tell that she didn’t really care what he thought of her, just what he thought of Dale’s condition and how to fix him.
“Carlee, you have to realize that Dale is a non-tech by choice, and that means he would not want a technical doctor here helping him. He’d want and expect me to be here, but that’s all. We can’t re-make his choices.”
He saw her begin to respond and then almost as quickly bite her lip and hold back her words; he imagined they wouldn’t have been pleasant ones.
“Let me tell you,” he went on, “that I don’t believe he’s in any immediate danger, nor is he likely to suffer any permanent problems from this injury. What he needs is lots of bed rest and his lung and rib should heal well.”
As he bound Dale’s chest with bandages he told Carlee what he was doing. He told her he wanted her to feel comfortable about her husband’s condition and treatment. “These bandages will hold his chest still so as he breathes he doesn’t injure himself more. In a few weeks or so he’ll be up and around like his old self.”
After Jacob had gone over the steps Carlee should take in Dale’s recovery, he told her he would return and then excused himself so he could go with Santor to offer support to their friend, Gamik. One of this man’s sons was now gone from him, and he would benefit from knowing others cared and that he was not the only one mourning the loss of such a fine young man.
As he left the room he heard Carlee speaking clearly and with authority. “Dale, I’ll make sure you’re better as soon as possible. In the meantime, don’t worry; I’ll take care of what needs to be done around here. You’re hurt because you defended our farm, and me I guess. You’ll be fine.”

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Jacob and Santor had rushed over to Gamik’s house and as they came into the courtyard area they could hear loud, almost hysterical crying. They went to the open doorway of the low stone house and inside they could see Gamik and Lane trying to console Laren, Gamik’s wife. She was sobbing uncontrollably when she caught sight of Jacob. Suddenly her sobs stopped and she broke away to come to him.
“Please do something for my poor Adam. Please, Jacob, tell me you can do something for him.” She had her fingers locked into the front of his coat and she stared pleadingly into his eyes. Jacob’s heart was torn. He knew these people looked to him for what rudimentary medical knowledge he had, but he knew there was nothing he could do for her other than offer his sympathies. Just one sideways look at Adam’s limp body lying on a nearby table told him this. The body, for that’s what it was now, was lying on its back with the head bent at a terribly unnatural angle.
“Laren, let me take a look at Adam.” His voice was soothing as he motioned for Gamik to come over and gently pry her hands from the material of his coat. Santor walked over with Jacob to the table. Jacob carefully felt at Adam’s neck for a pulse and finding none he leaned over and put his ear to the young boy’s chest then to the mouth. Still nothing. When Jacob turned to look at Laren he saw, that she needed no words from him. The others had been telling her Adam was dead but she had refused to accept. But now, if Jacob could find no life in her son, then that was that. She collapsed in a faint, her husband catching her and carrying her through to a back room.
Jacob rolled the body over to take a closer look at the wound on the back of the neck. It was a large opening that went clear through the spine. “Santor take a look with me. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Both men examined the injury as best they could. Though neither had any knowledge of post-mortems, it was obvious to both of them that this boy had been killed, almost instantaneously, by a massive intrusion to his neck.
“It looks like something just ripped through the flesh and tore out a section of spine and the spinal cord with it.” Jacob backed away and pulled a sheet over the body. “He probably died before he even knew he was being attacked, a small mercy I suppose. What happened out there tonight?”
Santor stepped away from the body. Jacob saw how pale he had become and ushered him outside for some fresh air.
After a moment composing himself, Santor answered Jacob’s question. “We managed to kill one of them that had been kicked by a green, then we were set upon by two or three more. One of them jumped over Gamik’s greens and landed directly on poor Adam. We saw something shoot out from between its front legs towards his neck and then he fell to the ground. Before we got the chance to stab at it the thing jumped away and over the greens again. Another one had already landed on Dale, but it was already dead when I stabbed it.” He paused for a breath and Jacob let him continue without interrupting.
“Jacob, this whole thing only lasted a few seconds! These creatures are amazingly fast and I think they’re really intelligent. They seemed to be deliberately keeping Gamik’s animals between them and us while they killed and took away a green. Once the others were over the fencing the ones attacking us followed them. It was scary and eerie at the same time. They’re not just dumb animals. They must be communicating though I never heard anything.” He seemed to have gone pale again, this time from re-living the horror of such a short time ago.
On closer examination Jacob could see that the wound’s edges were very smooth, not like he would have expected from an animal bite. Then he remembered that when he and Blake had seen these creatures for the first time it had been the lack of a visible mouth that had shocked them both the most. Now, hearing Santor describe the attack, he realized that maybe the thing that had shot out from between the front legs had been some kind of a mouth, though nothing like anything he could imagine. He needed to find out more about what had now become the enemy of the way of life that he had come to love. The more he knew the more he could help those that Marshall was sending out to deal with this problem.
“Santor, it’s almost dawn. I’m going home to let my family know what’s going on, I’d suggest you do the same. Then I’d like you to meet me after sun-up at Gamik’s field. Are you up for that?” Santor nodded. “Good. We need to have a closer look at the animals you and Dale killed and I don’t think we’ll have anything to worry about during daylight hours. See you shortly.”


Thirteen


When the Harpy shifted into the outer edge of the Teldar system, Marshall’s vessel was waiting exactly where he’d promised Drake it would be. It was a small ship, one of Marshall’s own. Designed for speed to make furtive shipments of products that had questionable legality, it was a glorified smuggling vessel and could outrun anything larger and hide from anyone faster. Perfect for this job.
“Helm, bring us within transfer distance and open a channel for me.” Drake, sitting in his bridge chair, was pleased. Things were starting off well for this mission.
“Aye, sir. Channel open.”
“Do you have something for me?” No formalities here. As confident as Drake was about his communications security, it still never hurt to be careful. Too much at risk for anyone involved being chatty.
“Yes.” Came the equally abrupt reply from the captain of the delivery ship. “Our port cargo bay door is open. Come and get your package.”
“We’ll be right over.” Then to his men, “Close channels and send the boys out to get our stuff.”
At the same time the order was given three men were already on the deck below the Harpy’s bridge suiting up for a trip outside. Once they were sealed in their bulky outfits the room was de-pressurized and the cargo bay door opened. Ahead of them lay an infinity of blackness with a multitude of sparkling dots of light. As they moved out into space they could see their target in orbit above them. Light was shining off its surface and it was very close, for that they were grateful. Leaving a perfectly safe ship was always a nerve-wracking proposition. However, being the tough pirates they were they’d never admit it to each other. Each man was tethered to a stout nylon and wire mesh cable that was slowly being rolled out from inside the cargo bay. Every few seconds the lead man would give a short burst from his power backpack to adjust their direction and they slowly approached the other vessel.
Once they reached the slick and sleek surface of the delivery ship, they maneuvered themselves around to the other side where they saw the expected open bay door. They went inside and there was a large sealed container sitting on the floor in the center of the spacious room. They could see a man, presumably the captain, giving them a thumbs up signal through the viewport of the door leading to the main compartment of the ship. Each of the men hooked themselves to the container and gave their own thumbs up to the captain. The leader sent a signal back to the pirate ship and the cable began to tighten, and they, along with the container, were gradually pulled out of the bay and back into space.
“Delivery complete, captain. My employer sends his regards and wishes you well on your hunt. He hopes to hear of your success very soon.” With that Drake saw the other ship begin to move then suddenly blink out of sight.
A few minutes later the message came through to the bridge, “Captain, all’s in order with our supplies and the cargo bay door is sealed.”
“OK, let’s go hunting boys.” The ship moved quickly towards a nearby small farming planet and, hopefully, a nice payday for just a little work. Actually, everyone was looking forward to the idea of being paid to hunt some dumb animals. Just what the doctor ordered to relieve the usual boredom of space. No one had really taken to heart any of the horror stories they’d heard about the Hoppers. After all, they were tough pirates who were now going to be equipped with the very best weapons and personal armor available. The only two who did consider this a serious mission were Drake and his security chief, Cale. No point in worrying the men too much too soon though.
As the ship began to move Drake spoke into his radio. “Marshall, we’re about an hour away from our anticipated landing area and I need to make sure all’s as we had agreed.” He wasn’t about to risk himself and his crew if Marshall wasn’t going to fulfill his end of the bargain.
There was a moment’s delay then the voice of his intermittent employer came loud and clear through the radio. “Don’t worry, Drake. I told you what I’d do and I’m a man of my word. My contact is just waiting for my command and he’s ready to give you what you need. When I hear from my daughter that all’s well, you’ll be paid.” Marshall felt a little better about the whole situation now. He’d worked with Drake many times in the past, and though the captain was greedy, he did get the jobs done. This was just another one of those jobs, he told himself. Relax and let the professional do his thing.
“I’m not sure how long it’ll take, but you’ll hear from your daughter and you and I’ll have completed another business deal. It’s always good to work with you, Marshall. As usual, call me anytime you need something.” The tone was sincere, as he trusted his some-time benefactor. He’d never had any problems in the past with payment and he really expected none this time either.

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“Thanks for coming with me Blake.”
“No problem. I’m as keen as you to find out exactly what it is it that’s causing all this trouble for us. Anyway if there’s something we can learn that might help us then all the better.”
Jacob had called on Blake on his way over to examine the bodies of the creatures. Blake had already been up and was about to leave to look in on his animals so it didn’t delay Jacob, and they arrived at the field at the same time as Santor.
“There they are,” Santor said pointing to the other side of the enclosure. “Someone must have dragged them out of the field. I’m sure the greens were too freaked out by the bodies. Dead or not I’m sure they’d still smell like predators to them.” He walked over to the bodies and knelt down to take a close look. The other two men joined him.
“These things are big!” Blake whistled as he said it to emphasize his amazement. “Very impressive.”
Santor said, almost defensively, “Impressive? If you’d been attacked last night you’d be a lot more scared and angry, like me right now, than impressed! These things aren’t just curiosities, they were smart and dangerous”.
Jacob had been ignoring the others and was staring down at the closest creature. The black body was almost the size of Jacob, a big man even by farmer standards. The front legs were as long as his forearms but when he stretched the back legs out they were thickly muscled and as long as he was tall. Jacob took Santor’s not so subtle hint to get down to business and went down on one knee to probe under the front legs.
“Look at this.” His voice was both shocked and surprised. “The thing they used to kill Adam is like nothing I’ve ever heard of or seen before. How about you?” He had pulled a limp length of dark and shiny flesh from between the beast’s front legs. It lay on the ground extending from the body as long as Jacob’s arm. He pulled back the flesh at the end to expose a set of razor sharp teeth. Santor stepped back at the sight of them, nervous. Images of Adam’s neck flashed in his head.
“New to me,” Blake, like Jacob, was calm. “What’s that thing?” His slightly slurred speech added a level of horror to his question. He pointed between the teeth at a thin tube with a pointed end that seemed to hang down from the back of the ‘throat’.
“I couldn’t even imagine, Blake. This thing’s beyond me.” Jacob stood and with a hand full of dirt wiped his hands free of the sticky ‘blood’. “All I know is, I’m really looking forward to Marshall’s help arriving here as quickly as possible. I don’t want any of us to have to deal with these things anymore.”

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No sooner had Jacob returned home than Bettine ran up to him excitedly, “Dad, the radio’s making a noise.” She handed the radio up to Jacob’s outstretched hand.
After Carlee had finished the conversation with her father, Marshall had requested that Jacob be the one to keep the radio. He said he felt Jacob had the reliability to be trusted if, and when, a message had to be sent in or out. He’d also liked the way the farmer had handled himself on the radio, especially in an emotionally charged situation. Though Jacob was a non-tech he was clearly concerned about his daughter and would bend his own rules, if really necessary, in order to make sure the girl was safe. Using the radio would be a small price for him, one he would willingly pay. Marshall had thought how there must be more to this farmer than showed on the surface.
Jacob pressed the button to send, “Hello, this is Jacob.” A little static came out of the small unit followed by a voice he had not heard before.
“Jacob, this is Captain Drake, Marshall sent me to take care of a little problem you seem to be having with some bugs.” To Jacob he sounded pompous and full of himself. “We’ll be landing within the hour and will home in on your radio, so I want you to do two things for me.” He didn’t wait for a response but just continued talking as if he always expected everyone to pay attention and then jump to follow his orders. “First, go to an open, flat area of land close to your homes and fields. It needs to be a big enough area for a ship the size of a Collector vessel. Second, keep keying the send button of the radio every five minutes till I give you the message we have you in sight. Clear?”
“Perfectly clear.” The line went dead. Jacob already had a dislike for Drake’s condescending way. He would happily swallow his pride though if this man could help them all.
“Bella, can you make me something to eat, please? I have to go out again.” He walked into the kitchen to find her already putting food on the table.
She smiled grimly up at him. “Go ahead, eat. I heard what the man say and I’m just not happy about all this. I hope it ends soon.” She stood behind him as he sat and she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, “Please be careful. We need help of the men, I know, but they don’t sound like our kind. Don’t trust them. Take Blake and some of others with you, OK?” She kissed his ear and went to make breakfast for Bettine.
“I will Bella,” he said with his mouth full. “Don’t worry. It’ll all be over before you know it. We’ve had all the problems we’re going to have with these creatures. This Drake guy may not be very friendly but if Marshall sent him we can rest assured he’ll do the job. Marshall doesn’t want anything to happen to his precious Carlee.”
He turned to his daughter who had just come into the kitchen. “Bettine, before you eat I need you to go over to Blake’s house and tell him to pick up Santor and meet me up on the meadow above my blues. Tell them to come as soon as they can.”
“Yes, dad. Can I go with you to see this Drake man, too?” His daughter had also heard the radio conversation and was clearly excited to be involved.
“No. Sorry, Bettine. I don’t know what kind of people these men are, and I don’t want to take any chances. In any case since I’ll be gone, I want you to come right back home, eat, and then help your mother feed the animals.” He hugged his mumbling daughter who grabbed a morsel of meat from his plate and ran from the house. He smiled at her youthful exuberance and quickly finished his food. He kissed Bella and went into the brightening, and deceivingly peaceful morning.
As he walked he keyed the radio as he’d been instructed. Before long he had a crick in his neck from continuously looking upwards trying to catch a glimpse of what he hoped would be the help they so desperately needed. By the time he’d reached the center of his meadow he’d keyed the radio four times and just as he was about to key it for the fifth he was startled by a sharp crackling noise and then a voice. “Jacob, we have a visual on someone standing in a large field. Go ahead and wave your arms.” Jacob did so. “OK, that’s you. We’ll be there in about four minutes so move to the edge of the grassy area.”
Jacob still couldn’t see anything above him, but as he turned this way and that he saw movement ahead of him and realized it was Blake and Santor. They were sweating as they ran up to their friend.
“What’s going on? Bettine said something about our help being here. Where are they?” Blake was trying to catch his breath as he scanned the meadow.
Before Jacob could reply, Santor pointed over Jacob’s shoulder. “There they are!”
They all stared up at the sky as a large black ship broke through the clouds and shot towards them. Instinctively, they all threw themselves to the ground as a roar of wind passed over their heads and the tall grass around them whipped from side to side.
They raised their heads and watched as the ship landed with surprising ease onto the ground. It had four legs with wide bases that sank into the soft earth as the ship settled from flight. There was a last blast of some kind of gas escaping under pressure from the belly of the ship then all went quiet. So sudden was the silence that it came as much of a shock to the cowering men as had the ship’s sudden and deafening approach. The non-tech within each of them was overwhelmed by their proximity to such a vast amount of technology. Whenever the Collectors arrived, many of the farmers would leave their Token of animals out in a fenced area far enough away from their own homes so they would not have to deal with the very thing towering above the three men right now.
As they finally struggled to unsteady feet, Jacob ahead of his friends, brushing blown dirt from their tunics, they heard quiet laughter. Ahead of them a group of three men were walking down a ramp that had silently slid down from the belly of the craft. Jacob eyed them warily as they closed the distance between them. They were all large men who looked very confident in themselves and each was wearing, or carrying, some kind of weapon. The farmers were overwhelmed for a moment and then Jacob found his voice and greeted the newcomers.
“Welcome. We’d like to thank you for offering to help us.”
“You must be Jacob,” said one of the men. “Let’s get one thing straight before we go any further. We didn’t offer to help. The father of one of the women on this smelly planet is paying us very well.”
He and his men wrinkled their noses and Jacob realized that the pervasive odor that came from the thousands of blues and greens was all but imperceptible to him and the other farmers but would be very noticeable to these newcomers.
“We’re here to do a job, get paid and then leave.” The two men at his side grunted and nodded their agreement.
He may have been trying to be direct and professional, but to the ears of the three men in front of him he was just rude and full of himself.
Keeping the image of Bettine in his mind enabled Jacob to keep his temper from boiling over. He’d had dealings with people like this before. These people were here to help them and it didn’t matter if they were likable or not. “We’ll be happy to do anything within our power to help you.”
“Very well. I’m Captain Drake. This is my second-in-command, Taren and this is my chief of security, Cale. Tell us a little about what’s been going on around here.” Before Jacob could respond Drake had turned to the men with him, “Get back inside and start everyone unpacking. I want to be organized within an hour. I don’t want to be here any longer than necessary. What a smell!” He looked over his nose at Jacob as if giving him silent permission to begin his story.
As the two men walked away, Jacob noticed the one named Cale had a pronounced limp. Some old battle wound perhaps. Who could tell with these people, they looked like the pirates he’d heard of in the past. He took a closer look at the man who captained this ship and stood arrogantly before him, hands on his hips. As Drake had turned to order his men away, Jacob had noticed red, angry skin all down the left side of his face. He guessed it was a burn of some kind. Strange how even with a scarred face and an unpleasant attitude, Drake was still able to exude a confidence and attraction that Jacob knew would work well in commerce and with women. He was a tall, well-built man with short almost cropped hair the same color as his eyes, nearly golden. A man with looks and charisma, one not to be ignored or forgotten.
Jacob swallowed the bitter taste this man caused, and went over the recent events in as much detail as he could. To his credit the captain actually did pay attention and even asked some questions that showed he was going to do his best to get the job done properly and for that Jacob was relieved.
Once Jacob had clearly finished Drake took control again and began issuing orders. “Since these creatures come out at night we’ll begin our efforts today after dark. We’ll spend the rest of today preparing our equipment so we’ll need some food. There are twenty of us in total.”
Jacob turned to Santor spoke a few quiet words and Santor walked briskly off the meadow towards the buildings below them.
“How many farms are there in total?” Drake was all business apparently.
“We have twelve separate farms and each has about five fenced off areas.” Blake spoke for the first time. “My name is, Blake. I’m in n charge of this collective for the rest of this cycle.”
“Well, Blake, I don’t much care which of you is in charge just so long as you all help me finish what I came here to do. That would seem to be saving your rear ends!”
He had raised his voice as if trying to cow Jacob and his friends, but it didn’t have the same effect it might have done had they been his crewmen. Jacob could see in the man’s face that he was thinking something like, ‘Damn uppity backwoods farmers!’ It made him feel good that they’d not fitted into this pirate’s, for that’s now what he felt sure they were, expectations.
He went on, “From what you’re telling me these beasts only come at night. Where do they go during the day?” He looked at both men for an answer.
Jacob was the first to respond, “We don’t really know. The only thing that we can tell you is that when they leave after a kill they head straight up the mountain that all our farms surround. I know there are caves up there so I assume they hide in them by day.”
“Why haven’t you gone up to find them?”
“Because we are__”
“Non-techs and you don’t believe in weapons, fighting, or technology! I remember now that Marshall had told me that. He didn’t seem too pleased that his daughter was married to one of you. Oh well, I’m sure it won’t be too hard to find them and finish them off once and for all.”
He was silent for a moment while he was obviously doing some careful thinking. Jacob and Blake stayed dutifully silent, too. “Tonight we’ll have some of my men stationed at each of the farms you feel are most likely to be the next targets, and we’ll take care of your little problem. Then we’ll be on our way which will suit all of us I’m sure. Have a man from each farm here at mid-day and we’ll begin.” He turned away without waiting for a reply and started to walk back towards his ship.
Jacob heard a distant shout, words indistinct. Turning, he saw two men running across the meadow heading straight for him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Drake had come back to stand to one side, clearly as interested as Jacob was in what was going on. Jacob recognized the figures to be those of Santor and another farmer, Kai. As they closed on Jacob, Drake moved in to listen.
Santor was almost out of breath but managed to say, “Jacob, when I got through telling Bella about the food I started to go back home when Kai showed up looking for you. Tell him Kai.” He turned to the shorter man who looked even more exhausted than Santor. Through sentences broken by gasps for air he told his story.
“Those things came again. Near dawn. My farm and five others. Three of them hadn’t expected to be attacked and were unguarded. They never found out till they went to feed their stock.” He put his hands on his hips, took a deep breath, and then went on. “The rest of us had guards out though it made no difference. The only benefit was that we all saw what happened.”
Kai had his breath back and carried on with his story almost tripping over his words trying to get them out so fast. Jacob asked him to slow down a couple of times, but Kai promptly sped up as his excitement at re-living the recent adventure once again roused him.
“We were almost ready to go back to our homes. We never expected them to come so close to daylight. We were all tired and cold and all we could think of was getting home for some hot breakfast. Without any warning my blues started going berserk.” His eyes danced wildly as he remembered the sight and they seemed to mirror the actions of his animals. “For a few seconds we couldn’t figure out what was going on as it was still dark enough, and the animals were running around so much that it was hard to focus.” He stopped to take another breath.
Jacob noticed the farmer’s eyes suddenly stop and focus on something, he’d seen Drake. Then his eyes went large with amazement, as he seemed to notice Drake’s ship. “What’s that doing here? Are the Collectors early?” He’d forgotten his story for the moment in fear for his son, Jacob knew how the man felt. There was more than one farmer whose Token wasn’t ready yet.
“Kai, this is Captain Drake and he’s been sent here by Carlee’s father to help us.” He was impatient to hear the rest of the story. “Please, Kai, let me tell you this later. For now get on with telling us what happened.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry. Well, within a few seconds of all hell breaking loose around us we realized that several of those black devils were in the pen with us! They’d jumped over the fence and were leaping from one animal to the next. We were in shock and as soon as we tried to stab them with our pitchforks they…”
“Pitchforks!” Drake laughed. “Are you people really going after them at night with only your pitchforks?” He was being rhetorical and the others knew it and so ignored his question.
“Go on Kai.” Blake said with a sour look over at the pirate.
“As we got close enough to one it jumped onto the back of another animal. They just seemed to be jumping all over the place and before we knew it they leaped over the fence and were gone. It was weird! One second they were all over my blues and the next they left. All of them, at exactly the same moment as if someone had given them a signal or an order.” He waited for questions.
First to ask was Jacob; “Did everyone else have the same experience?
“Yes,” said Kai.
“How many animals were lost?” He was dreading the answer but had to ask.
“Jacob, you won’t believe this because I certainly don’t!” His wide eyes showed his disbelief. “I spoke to everyone and none of us lost even a small animal. None of them were injured so you would notice unless you looked really carefully. The only ones that escaped this attack, if that’s what it was, were the gravid ones we had in our barns. All the animals kept outside, and I mean every one of them, big and small, were scratched up and it seems those things had tried to bite their necks. But they didn’t even hurt them really, scared them bad, but physically it didn’t seem to bother the animals at all. Their wounds are already clotting over. To tell the truth if I hadn’t seen it all with my own eyes I’d have said it was a dream, but the marks prove it. Why they didn’t kill any I don’t know.” He looked puzzled and exhausted. “What was the point?”
“Drake, you said one of your men was in the initial party to destroy these things, can you ask him if this means anything to him?” Jacob asked.
“I’ll go talk with him now, but I don’t think it will. He told me everything he could recall and mentioned nothing about this. But, remember, they were here to kill, not study.” He pushed on to the next topic, “Kai, how many of these things do you think were in your pen, how many attacked the other farms and did it happen at the same time or one after the other?”
Kai thought about it for a second and answered him, “We think there might have been about ten or so in each of the farms and they all seemed to attack at the same time and leave at the same time.”
“So, that means only between sixty or seventy were out on this raid. That might mean something, it might not. Jacob, see to the food and then send the men up here to lead us to the farms. We obviously can’t waste any more time.” He turned and walked away.
“Kai, I want to go to your farm and see these animals for myself. Santor, Blake, why don’t you just go to your homes and eat? Try to get some sleep, too, as I think we’ll be having a few more long nights ahead of us before this is over.” No one seemed surprised at Jacob giving orders, and even if they did, none said anything about them or hesitated in following them. “On your way past my place tell Bella I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He walked off with Kai and inside he was feeling very scared. What were these things doing now? All he knew was that they were all heading for some kind of a showdown and he and his fellow non-techs were neither ready nor able to handle it. But what were the alternatives?

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The return to the home caves was a strange one. Everyone was excited, but we were also very sad. Our minds were full of the thrill of what we had just accomplished and the fact that none of us had been injured. This was especially amazing since we’d included all the able bodied young, some that had not even been on a hunt before, and they had shown us what they were capable of and we were all proud. But our minds were full of sadness, too.
We had all agreed that this was our last stand and that we might not survive even if some of us slept like we had done so recently. Now and then some of us would imagine this world with none of us alive and the land covered by two-legs, a horrid image we would rather not contemplate, but reality was forcing us. We had to find a way to deal with our situation. Tonight had been the beginning.
We all knew that we must go out the following night and carry on our work even if it was on an empty stomach and even if we were not so lucky this time and some of us were hurt or worse. We could not really last anyway so why not end our lives this way, helping the group so that maybe one day we would be free again. For now we would sleep away the daylight hours and save our energies for the next step in our attempt at freedom.


Fourteen

The container had been opened and the supplies inside checked and distributed by the time Drake reentered the Harpy. Marshall had done well. Everything they’d asked for was included. There was twenty of everything so each of his men would be as prepared as possible, at least physically. However, considering only one of their number had ever faced these creatures before, he was not as sure as he’d appeared to the farmers of the ease of this mission. His men were good fighters and he’d been in many tough spots with them before. Also, the payment would be well worth the extra risk this time around, even his men had agreed to accept this mission. A certain level of democracy still ruled among pirates wherever they were in the universe.
Each of them was able to don body armor that had been adapted specifically for Drake and his men from the ship armor manufactured by Marshall’s factories. Drake put his on and was impressed to find that the suit was fairly typical except for the area that really counted. The specially resistant material, lightweight and yet strong enough to stop all but an armor piercing shell, covered his back and neck carrying on upwards to wrap around the head creating a helmet.
Drake thought aloud, “Great, no gaps for one of them damn Hoppers to get at me!” The men around him, already dressed for action, nodded their agreement.
“Here sir,” said a man passing over a weapon. “These are amazing!”
The gun in Drake’s hand was light and obviously strong; he immediately recognized it as a fourth generation close-quarters frontline weapon. Once again, he thought aloud, “How on earth did Marshall get these? He must have friends in high places.” He was honestly impressed. When he’d asked Marshall for them he’d really expected as much resistance to the order as he’d received when asking for the armor plating for his ships. These were weapons only issued to top-notch troops at the front and were heavily guarded by the Suppliers from the manufacturing stage all the way through to the actual dispersal to the troops. Marshall was still capable of amazing Drake even after all these years frequently working together.
“Well, if these things don’t stop them I don’t know what will!” Drake spoke to his second-in-command, “Taren, take everyone outside, set up some targets and get some practice in. We’ll be leaving as soon as everyone’s eaten.” The other nodded and ordered the men to pick up their supplies and follow him. As they walked by he grabbed the arm of one man and pulled him aside, “Cale, I want you to go over everything with me again. We’ll be dealing with those Hoppers real soon and I need to make sure there’s nothing we’re missing. From what the farmers are saying it sounds to me like these things are more intelligent than you’d given them credit for. I don’t want to be surprised.”
Cale, was a big man and Drake could well understand how he had spent so long as a successful mercenary and bounty hunter under Supplier employ. He was clearly a man not to be underestimated, and Drake was very happy to have him working on his side now. It was expensive to keep him but well worth it. His leg had been severely damaged in a battle on some far off planet long before he hooked up with Drake. The handicap had never affected his ability to do his job so Drake ignored it as he did with the many other pirates under his command who had been wounded in their past. His own wounds, received in an onboard fire, had only increased his status in the ‘one of the gang’ mentality. It seemed war wounds were to be boasted about not hidden.
“I don’t think there’s much else I can add, Captain. But I’m happy to go over it again if you’d like.” Drake spent the next ten minutes listening to the man’s previous experiences with the creatures they were here to destroy.
“It seems like they’ve learned a lot since your visit here, Cale. These farmers’ve painted a picture of a thinking animal that’s clearly able to make plans and communicate them to each other. I’d like you to lead the men, I’ll tell Taren, and please don’t let them get carried away. They’ve the idea this is going to be some kind of fun trip wiping away some silly little bugs. You and I know differently! If you help me get this job finished quickly and cleanly there’ll be a nice bonus in it for you, OK?”
Cale nodded his agreement and walked quickly outside to join the others where Drake could now hear small explosions, and cheers and hoots of laughter. His conversation with Jacob and the others had shaken him a little. Much like his men, he had come here thinking this would be almost a big game. Oh, he’d paid attention to Cale’s descriptions of these Hoppers and what they could do but he had really felt he and his men wouldn’t have too much trouble. He certainly wasn’t as sure he believed that now.
By the time he went outside, he saw his men crowding around a table that had been set up to hold the food just brought up the hill by a young girl and woman standing back. They were both pretty, though in drab clothing, and clearly mother and daughter. Some of his men had also noticed the pretty faces and were making loud crude remarks that brought gales of laughter from those eating around them. The two women began to move away, back down the hill, but two of the men ran ahead to cut them off.
“Excuse us, ladies. Won’t you sit and eat with us?” One of the men reached out as if to grab the mother’s arm and lead her to the table. She pulled her arm away and looked around nervously.
“Leave us alone.” Bella kept her voice calm but was clearly worried and her face showed the lack of trust she had in these men.
Drake began to walk forward as the two men, malice in their eyes, moved in on the women. “No reason to be rude, lady. Here we are to save you and look how you treat us.” The pirate again reached out for the older woman’s arm and this time she apparently let him.
He looked over his shoulder to smile and leer at his friends in triumph but Drake and the others saw his face change dramatically from one of crude joy to one of horror and pain. The woman had taken the opportunity of his distraction and kicked him lustily in his groin. He fell to the ground shrieking and rolling about curled up with his knees to his chest. The other man standing above him swore and rushed after the women who had begun to run away.
A blast cut through the noise and the scene became still and silent. All, including the women, turned to look over at Drake standing with smoking gun in his upraised hand.
“Enough! We are here to do a job and to get paid. No one is going to mess with these people. If you do you’ll lose your share.” That made a few of them stare in shock. “I don’t want there to be any reason for our benefactor to renege on his deal. Got it?” He looked at everyone paying particular attention to the man on the floor. All nodded, not without some muttering. Drake leaned down and gave his hand to the prostrate man and helped him stand. “Come on, Sal. Let’s get you some food and then we’ll go kill something. How does that sound?”
“Sounds fine to me, boss.”
As he hesitantly walked back to his colleagues they all began to laugh and shortly he joined them. Drake walked over to the women breathing a heavy sigh of relief at being able to so easily dissolve the tension. “My apologies, ladies. They are crude men but they won’t do it again. Thank you for the food.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for getting horrid men away from us. I’m Bella and this is my daughter, Bettine.”
Drake was surprised to see how quickly she had regained her composure and realized that a farming life must breed women tough. He could also hear in her voice an accent that he wasn’t familiar with but was clearly from a different one to his own and that of her husband. It was an attractive addition to her already pleasant good looks. Thankfully his men would be too busy to try to pester these women before they shipped off-world.
“My husband says men will be here shortly to guide to their farms for tonight. I’ve left you some blue and green skin blankets to keep you and your men warm; it’ll be cold.” She put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and drew her close. “Please do what can to help or it’s children like her that’ll be taken by the Suppliers if don’t meet Token.” She turned and walked away pulling Bettine with her.
Drake watched them as they walked from sight. He was here to do a job and get paid well for the risks it involved, not to be a hero and save the day. No one had ever cared for him unless there was something he could offer in exchange so why should he care for anyone else. He hoped he wasn’t turning into a gentleman. He turned his back on the place where he’d lost sight of them and joined his men to eat his fill, ready for what he knew would be a long night.

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By the time Bella had returned home Jacob had come back from Kai’s. She gave him a hug and told him to sit down, “I’ll bring some food.”
“Dad, are those men pirates? They’re certainly rude and violent enough to be.” Bettine was clearly excited and angry at the same time.
“I thought I told you not to go near them, Bettine.” Jacob was too tired to be really angry with her.
“Mum needed help carrying the food up the hill to them and she didn’t know how long before you’d be back. I thought it’d be OK if I was with her.” She wasn’t very worried about disregarding her father’s orders, as she knew this argument was a good one. She was right, as Jacob just grunted and began to eat the hot food placed in front of him by Bella.
“Come on, let’s all just eat.” She always had a way of soothing the family in times of stress by not dwelling on the problem or issue. She felt, and was always proven right, that if you had a good meal, things always looked better. “What will happen next, dear?”
Between mouthfuls Jacob explained, “Drake and his men will set up some kind of trap around the farms we feel are the most likely to be attacked next. After what went on this morning I’m not sure we can predict with any hope of accuracy where those places might be. These things have suddenly changed their actions. Anyway, he seems to feel confident that they’ll be able to finish them off without too much trouble. That suits me just fine. I want them off this planet, pirates and black creatures both.” He heard Bettine’s intake of breath. He put down his fork and his eyes drilled into hers.
“Yes, Bettine, they’re pirates, and not the kind of people you trust and certainly not the kind we want around for any longer than necessary. Remember that these men are thieves and murderers, only here because they’re being paid, not because they want to help us. Please stay away from them.” He spoke gently to his daughter in order to emphasize his point rationally. He knew she was smart and would respond better to logic than emotion, just like him. How else could he and the others here be non-techs in a world full of technology? Look where emotion had taken the universe; to war!
“Can you pack me up some food and a hot drink? I’ve to leave soon and won’t be back till...I don’t know when. Tomorrow, early I guess.” He already sounded weary he thought. He didn’t want himself or any of his friends to risk themselves or their values by helping the pirates, but they needed this situation resolved as quickly as possible so they could get back to normal. “Bettine, stay here and help out with the work while I’m gone. And remember what I said about those men.” He looked into his daughter’s eyes.
“Yes, dad,” Bettine said gravely. It was the straightforward answer Jacob had wanted.
After he had finished his food Jacob had one errand to run before heading up to the meadow. “Bettine, want to come with me?” The look in his daughter’s eyes showed that she no longer harbored any resentment about being disallowed from visiting the strangers. She loved to help her dad; it made her feel useful and important. Jacob knew it. “Let’s go over to the barns and check to make sure everything’s OK.” The two, father and daughter, left the house while Bella watched with the threat of tears. Jacob looked over his shoulder and saw her face and knew she was stressing over the uncertainty of what the next few days outcome might be. Would their baby be safe or would she be taken from them? He gave her a quick smile, turned and went to catch up with Bettine.

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As they approached the first building Jacob talked more to the girl. “I don’t mean to be tough on you Bettine, but you’re old enough to understand what it means if we don’t meet the Token. I don’t want to lose you to a world of war. Do you understand?”
Bettine was obviously moved by the adult way her father was talking to her, and Jacob saw her stand a little straighter when she replied, “I understand, and I don’t want to go to war. I’ll do whatever you say to help the pirates do their job. If that means staying away from them then I will.”
Jacob put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her, “Thank you, little lady. Now let’s check the animals inside and then see to it that everything is secured.”
They both went to work. Inside the first building, the birthing barn, were maybe fifty animals. They were all greens, several pregnant, and they went about their feeding ignoring the two humans. All looked fine and the doors were locked again on their exit. The next building was the raising barn, which was a little larger than the first, and held about the same number of animals, this time all blues. Several of them were heavily pregnant which brought a smile to Jacob’s face.
After checking that nothing was amiss they again locked up as they left the building. “Let’s go home.”
They walked to the house and after grabbing his food and hugging Bella then Bettine, he left again. As he walked outside, a group of five others were coming up to his door.
“Hi, Jacob.” Blake was smiling. “If all things go well we should see ourselves free of troubles very soon now that these fighters are here to help.” The others with him also seemed to have buoyant spirits. However, Jacob didn’t quite feel the same as they did. He still had a nagging idea these creatures weren’t going to give up quite so easily. He didn’t bother to share his feeling of gloom, but put on a smile too and joined the others walking up the hill.
When they reached the pirate vessel Drake walked up to Jacob. “We’re ready. I’ve split my men into six groups, one group for each of you. Let’s not waste any time.” He waved his men over then spoke to Taren who began to direct each group to follow one of the farmers. “I’ll join you, Jacob, with one of my men and we’ll show you how you can deal with these things better using real weapons instead of your pitchforks!”
The men within earshot laughed and the farmers all bit their tongues choosing to hide their anger. After all these men were right! Jacob knew it was a result of their own beliefs that they were precluded from using weapons and it was obvious now that if these attacks were to stop then someone had to take the offensive. Since it wouldn’t be themselves to make that move then they should just be pleased that someone else was being paid to do it for them. Swallowing their pride would be a small price to pay to finish this once and for all, and then these annoying men would be gone for good.
When the group reached the bottom of the hill the majority went through Jacob’s yard and continued on to the other farms. Drake and the other pirate, Jacob recognized him as the one introduced to him earlier as Cale, followed the farmer toward the first of the fields. It was mid-afternoon and Jacob’s animals were just now rousing themselves from a nap under some large trees at one end of the compound. Whenever the temperature went up they would spend one or two of the hottest hours resting in the shade waiting for it to get cooler when they would become more active again.
By the look on the pirates’ faces it was obvious this was the first time they had seen any of these animals up close and in person. Like most people they only knew them as pieces of meat. They were much bigger in real life than could be imagined; they were very impressed.
Drake turned to the man with him, “Cale, are these bigger than the original prey animals the Hoppers are used to hunting?”
“Hoppers? What’re they?” Jacob hadn’t heard the term before and felt he knew, but needed Drake to confirm it.
“The little beasties causing you all this fuss were nicknamed that by people such as Cale here,” he turned and pointed at him with an outstretched arm, “When this planet was being cleansed by the Suppliers, Cale was one of the men who came down to do the dirty work. So, how about it Cale?”
“The original prey animals were like mountain goats and about a third of the size of these blues,” he said pointing at a large blue that was peering over the nearest fence showing a dumb interest in this group of people. “They must have been desperate to switch to these guys,” he concluded.
“That’s one way of looking at it. However, though I do agree they were forced into hunting these because you killed their natural prey back then, there are a few other things that seem important. If you and the other Supplier goons thought you’d killed all of them, where did these come from? Also, if they’re used to hunting something so much smaller, how’re they able to be so successful taking animals like these?” Again he was looking up into the sublime and not too intelligent face of a large blue.
Cale gave it some obvious thought and before he could give any answer to his employer, Jacob spoke up. “It seems to me that these things are more resourceful and more intelligent than the Suppliers thought.”
“Exactly the thought running through my head!” Drake sounded impressed by Jacob. “What do you say Cale?”
“I’d have to agree. There must have been enough of them hidden away somewhere to be able to increase their numbers again in such a relatively short time period. That’s pretty impressive as we really scoured this planet. The idea that they’ve been able to change their prey source and do it so well is amazing and shows a level of adaptability and maybe even intelligence that’s almost frightening. If we’d sensed that when we first encountered them we’d probably have been more thorough. But at the time the war was expanding rapidly and they didn’t want us to waste too much time cleansing any one individual planet since there were so many more.”
“OK, what now?” Jacob wanted to get on with it. “What are you going to do?”
Jacob saw a faint smile pass between the two men as Drake responded simply; “We wait.”
“That’s it?” He was clearly disappointed.
“What else would you have us do?” Drake sounded more amused than annoyed at Jacob’s question. It seemed to Jacob that the man considered him to be naive. In truth, maybe he was, but he still didn’t like to think of anyone laughing at him.
“Can’t you go after them during the day before they become active?” It sounded reasonable enough to his ears.
“Cale, I’m going for a walk around to check the place out. Please explain to our farmer friend the realities of our situation.” With that he turned and walked along the fence line of the closest enclosure. Jacob, once again, bit his lip and didn’t respond to the man’s arrogance.
“Don’t take his attitude personally. A pirate captain only holds that office as long as he brings fortune to his crew. He was voted in several years ago and hasn’t retained his position by being sweet to everyone. He’s got to be tough or he’ll be booted out.”
“Survival of the fittest?”
“You could say that, Jacob. Let’s get back to our little problem. It’s not as easy as you make it seem. You should understand, you’ve already had your run-ins with these animals and realize they’re a very worthy adversary. We can’t underestimate them as the Suppliers did in the past.” He limped over to a bench in front of Jacob’s house and sat down. He pointed at the seat next to him, “Sit. You have to realize that we were hired to do this because we know what we’re doing, especially with my personal experiences on this planet. Clearly these animals are much more than we ever gave them credit for, and we have to do this the right way if it’s to be done permanently this time around.” He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees as he went on. “We can’t go after them when we don’t know exactly where they are. Too risky and too inefficient. We have an idea how we can get this done as quickly, completely, and safely as possible.”
Cale reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small object that Jacob could not make out at first. The man held it out for him to inspect. “Do you know what that is?”
Jacob held his hand out and Cale dropped the thing into his palm. It was very heavy though only about the size of his thumb and it was made out of a bright metal. “It looks like a bullet of some kind, but it’s bigger than I thought they would be.” He handed it back. “What’s so special about it?”
“It’s not really a bullet in the sense you think. It’s not designed to kill what it hits. This is a tracker. Once this penetrates the skin of its target it opens up like so.” He manipulated the bullet in such a fashion that the end immediately popped open like a bale of fodder when the binding was cut.
“They are fairly low velocity and the end expands so quickly on impact that it stops the bullet from penetrating too far and seriously injuring the target. Can you see inside the end now?” He turned the end towards Jacob who nodded that he could. There was a little metal spike pointing outwards. “That’s a transmitter. Once we fire this into one of them Hoppers we can just follow them back to their den and finish them right there in one spot. That’ll save us chasing them all over the mountainside.” He seemed pleased with himself and Jacob thought that maybe it was justified.
“Now don’t get me wrong. When these things come down tonight we’re gonna try to get as many of them as we can right there and then, but we know we won’t get them all. Each of the teams sent out to your farms has been instructed to kill as many as possible, but to make sure that some get away with a transmitter embedded so we can track them to their caves.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Jacob said somewhat grudgingly.
Drake appeared from the other side of the enclosure and told Cale to follow him. “We’ll go and set up for tonight. You should stay indoors with your family and let us do our thing, OK?” He was less condescending than Jacob had been expecting from him so he just nodded and went inside.
Bella and Bettine were standing by the door having listened to the whole conversation. He turned to look out the doorway to see the two men, weapons slung over their shoulders, disappear round the corner.
“Well, what think you, Jacob?” His wife was hugging him and looking up at him clearly concerned. He glanced over at Bettine, and even though she was putting on her brave grown-up face for her dad, Jacob could see that she was scared, though he knew she’d never admit it.
“Marshall sent these men to kill these things and it seems to me that they’re going to do it. We should be very grateful to them.” Jacob believed what he was saying. Bella didn’t.
“Oh, come now, Jacob! Those men are just bunch of pirates out to make some money, or whatever it is they getting from Marshall. They don’t understand how to give, just how to take.”
He knew her well enough not to argue on this point. Most of her anger was fueled by fear and he couldn’t talk her out of that. Their child’s freedom, and ultimately her life, was the stakes involved in this gamble and they had no other option but to trust in Marshall’s choice of Drake. Jacob and his friends were in no position to do much for themselves and must rely on others to do the fighting for them. Jacob didn’t feel very good about that, but his beliefs were strong.
“Bella, just remember that if they want to be paid they must fulfill their commitment to Marshall. We’ll be fine.” His calming and confident tone seemed to have some positive effect on her and she stepped out of his arms and gave him a loving smile. He knew she’d be OK now, especially for Bettine’s sake.
He turned to his daughter, “Bettine, I need you to help me tonight, OK?”
Her face brightened up, as Jacob had known it would; the signs of fear evaporating immediately. “I don’t quite know what’s going to happen tonight but I have a feeling that if those creatures show up there’ll be a lot of noise. I don’t want any of the animals in the barns to be scared, especially since some of them are pregnant. We can just be there to keep them calm. We can treat it like a camping trip if you like.” He didn’t need to sweet talk Bettine into agreeing to go along, the girl was glowing.
“Are you sure?” Bella was looking at Jacob obviously not as excited at the prospect as her daughter was.
“Don’t worry, we won’t go outside and we’ll keep the doors barred from the inside. Bettine will do whatever I say, won’t you?” His daughter nodded vehemently and looked pleadingly at her mother for permission. Bella nodded, without quite the level of excitement her daughter had shown, and gave Jacob the look that told him he’d be in trouble if anything happened to their baby.


Fifteen

As the sun went down and the sounds around them subtly changed, Cale and Drake were already positioned in well-chosen sites. Each could see the other even though the full length of Jacob’s fields separated them. They had picked spots that gave them a commanding view of as much of the property as possible, Drake on top of a small structure between the fencing and a large barn like building, Cale in the fork of a large tree outside an enclosure far to Drake’s right. Cale had managed to get up without help even though his leg had already begun to stiffen slightly as the cool night approached.
Each pirate wore special eyewear that not only improved the range of their vision but also their ability to see clearer during the coming dark hours. They felt confident of success as all aspects of this mission had been covered in detail. Now all they had to do was wait. Each pirate also had a small radio attached to his helmet and Drake had already used his to make sure that all his men were equally prepared for anything that might happen this night.
Cale was holding one of the new weapons Marshall had supplied them with. It was a good weapon to have in his present location up a tree. It was lightweight, easy to maneuver and also, though still very powerful, was designed to have barely any kick at all. He had told Drake how pleased he was to have a better weapon than the last time he’d been here to face these creatures that jumped out of the darkness. They moved so fast that he and the other hunters had found target acquisition hard with the older heavier weapons. This time, with the weapon being so much smaller and lighter, he didn’t think there would be much of a problem keeping up with the moving targets.
Drake was beginning to feel the usual rush that came to him in the quiet time of anticipation before any kind of a confrontation or battle; this was the edge that had kept him alive. He knew that Cale was feeling the same though his head of security was a more experienced fighter. Cale’s time working for the Suppliers had been exciting, but eventually he had realized that there might be a way to get the excitement he craved while at the same time taking better care of his financial future. Through the grapevine of mercenaries and other questionable characters he had found himself talking with Drake about becoming more neutral in his allegiances. The argument was sound; why represent only one side when there was money to be made from both sides? A pirate’s life was not a bad thing if you didn’t care about politics. Drake and Cale had been together for quite some time now and trusted each other implicitly; that was why Drake had chosen him to be working at his side tonight.
Drake’s quiet voice came over the radio. “See anything?”
Cale whispered back, “No, but I can feel them out there, somewhere. They’ll come tonight.” Anyone else might have laughed at that, but Drake knew better than to ignore the man’s senses in these things. “Now it’s time to just sit tight and wait.”
Drake was lying on the flat roof of one of Jacob’s buildings, he didn’t know what it was used for and didn’t care, as from here he had a panoramic view. His weapon was the same as Cale’s, but his ammunition was different; he had the tracking rounds that would help them find the creatures’ lair.
He knew that he wasn’t as good a shot as Cale so he could rely on him to kill as many as possible while all Drake had to do was hit at least one of them, more if he could, for this night to be deemed a success. The reward at the end of this job would make the risk completely worth it for both himself and his men. If Marshall fulfilled his end of the bargain, and he had no reason to suppose that he wouldn’t, things would change for all of them. No more small stuff for them, they would move up a notch or two and become a force to be reckoned with. The thought of his name, Captain Drake, being known and feared across the vastness of space should have done more to keep his mind off the weather while he waited for something to happen; unfortunately, it didn’t and the biting cold sank into his very bones.

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The sun had gone now so it was again time. We must move out from the relative safety of our home inside this mountain and into a world we hardly recognized anymore. The previous night we had begun something we hoped would save us. Not us as individuals, but us as a family. Our thoughts and dreams would carry on in those to come after we had gone; so we hoped.
On waking there had been very little play or rejoicing at being alive except for the very young amongst us who did not understand what lay immediately ahead. It was a sad thing for the elders to see them playing and to receive their images of leaping freely and hunting wild game. Those were false images now and might not become reality again if we failed. Only half-finished, our task must be completed tonight. We had sensed and felt the arrival of another noisy thing from the sky, and we knew from past experience what that presaged. If we delayed, the two-legs would come to finish what they had started long ago.
Everyone among us who could move would go out tonight, old or young. We would all be important and since this was not a hunt for food, our usual need for stealth, strength, and experience was not so important. Large numbers were more valuable to us.
In a more muted fashion than usual, we moved amongst each other rubbing together, smelling each other, and bonding in the ways that had always been so important for our success and survival. For all we knew this could well be the last time we did this and it was all the more poignant for it. As elders we tried to keep our spirits and images as high and as positive as possible, little point in frightening the younger ones with something they could not control or understand. The truth would come to them when it would, hopefully quickly and painlessly.
With a final image of family sent to those who would not be coming with us, we took off down the slope toward whatever our future held. As we ran and leaped, it was hard not to feel the primal joy of the hunt coursing through our veins. A night like this was made for us; overcast and dark it afforded us all the advantages lost to our prey with their daylight eyes. Even the two-legs of the previous night had not succeeded in stopping us, because it had been dark and we had moved too fast for them. Tonight would be no different, though we were concerned about the noisy thing that had come. Was it bringing the means of our destruction as before? We could not let that thought keep us from what we must do.

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All Drake’s men were ready. At Jacob’s, Blake’s, and four of the other farms, the pirates were in positions waiting for the creatures to show up. In each case one man had been assigned the same type of ammunition Drake was carrying so they would be guaranteed to have several animals embedded with the transmitters. Tonight’s work would be a success and life could return to normal.
Inside the raising building Jacob and Bettine were up in the rafters where extra equipment and animal feed was stored. Lying on their bellies they could see out of the air vents, very necessary when the building was usually caring for many young at any given time. Their field of vision was reasonably extensive. They couldn’t make out Cale in the tree at the far side of the nearest enclosure since it was now dark, but they could see Drake ahead of them on the roof of the seed house.
Bella had packed them some food and blankets to keep them as comfortable as possible during the long night ahead. This had turned into a pleasant adventure for both of them. It was just like a father daughter camp-out, especially now that they were so much more convinced of the inevitable results of tonight’s efforts.
“Dad, why are we non-techs?” Bettine was leaning up on one elbow and looking over at Jacob with a serious expression. She looked like a little grown up and Jacob found he had a lump in his throat; time had flown and his baby was quickly becoming a young woman.
“What do you think, little lady?” Jacob believed in making his daughter work things out for himself.
“Well, mum’s told me some things about the beginning of this war that are kind of scary. I think they made a lot of people want to kind of escape from things they thought were bad.” Her face was screwed up trying to concentrate on the subject, clearly wanting to please Jacob. “I guess a lot of people didn’t believe it was right to go to war and kill other people just to get more planets. It seems to me that it was a big step to just turn our backs on pretty much all technology though, dad.” She had clearly given it a lot of thought and Jacob was very impressed with his daughter’s grasp of the subject.
The heat created by the mass of animals below had warmed Jacob up enough that he pushed the blanket off his back. He could hear regular breathing sounds from them and knew his stock was relaxed and most of them were already asleep. He hoped the peace would continue.
“Well, you’re right about why we chose to separate ourselves from what we felt was wrong and, sometimes, even evil. You’re also right about how big of a step it was for us, but I don’t think it was a bad one. Do you?”
“No, not really. I don’t like what little I’ve heard about the outside world. It just seems to be one big war and I’d prefer to live here tending the animals. I admit I like all this excitement for now, but I’ll be glad when they’re gone.” She pointed towards where they could see Drake lying on his belly just as they were. “They kind of scare me.” She looked a little ashamed at his admission.
Jacob didn’t hesitate in his response, “Hey, don’t worry about it, they scare me too. These men are pirates who only care for what they can get from you. I don’t trust anyone motivated that way. I want them to succeed in helping us, but then I want them gone too.”

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Drake got what he’d been waiting for; something happened. He’d been scanning the hillside ahead of him, though all he could see was a vague dark blur of rocks, trees, and distant fencing, when something caught his eye. At first he was sure his eyes and the darkness were playing tricks on him. He adjusted the simple controls on the goggles he was wearing to try to clarify what it was his brain told him his eyes had caught. He still wasn’t sure and needed confirmation.
He radioed Cale and whispered, “Cale, can you see anything to your left, in the hills?”
He waited for a moment and Cale’s voice came back to him sounding nervous and excited at the same time, “Yes, I see movement in the shadows. No real shapes yet, but there’s definitely something alive out there and whatever it is it’s coming this way.”
“Hold your fire until you hear a shot from me. We have to make sure we tag at least one before you have your fun.”
“Copy,” was the hushed reply.
Drake knew what Cale was thinking; he would have loved to be given authority to just fire as he wanted. Oh well, he’d have his chance shortly.
In his tree, Cale carefully pushed the animal skin blankets from his shoulders and brought his weapon up, resting his cheek against the cold metal of the stock. He settled into the rifle and aligned his right eye with the telescopic nightsight squinting with his left.

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As we approached the farms we divided our numbers into three groups and went our separate ways after a final co-mingling and sharing of scents. This might be the last time we would see some of our friends, and the images in our minds as we went ahead with our plans were sad and resigned. They were also determined to fulfill what might become our only hope of survival.
We drew close to the perimeter around the first group of penned animals and spread ourselves throughout the rocks. Our plan was simply to attack in much the same way that we would if this were a hunt but with two big differences. First, we would jump over the fence together, no stealth tonight, and second we would not be killing any animals, so if we went home at all it would be with empty bellies. The rocks and darkness had hidden our approach, and we could neither see nor sense any of the two-legs we had expected to be waiting for us as they had been the previous night. With luck we would survive to return to our caves intact and having fulfilled our goals.
The animals ahead of us were spread throughout their confined area. Most were settling down to sleep though some were still restless and standing. We arranged ourselves so our first leap would be completely efficient, as thereafter, it would become confusing enough. The images passing around clearly showed which of us would go for which of the animals; no wasted efforts here. With one last message of familial love, we leapt over the fence towards our targets.

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“It’s them! They’re coming over the fence now!” Cale’s voice was excited and Drake was impressed that he kept it at a whisper so as not to tip the creatures to their presence.
“Copy. Hold your fire, I see them and they’re getting closer to me.” Several black shapes were bounding from the rocks over the fencing and landing directly on the backs of Jacob’s blues. As the animals ran around some came close to Drake’s side of the fencing and within the short range of his weapon. One of the blues let out a piercing scream as the creature on its back plunged its proboscis downwards.
Drake could see this all happening almost in slow motion and took advantage of the creature’s immobility for the moment and fired his weapon. It gave out a quiet popping noise and he saw the tag embed itself in the thing’s side. The creature immediately jumped wildly to one side apparently trying to get away from what had just stung it. Before Drake could even pat himself on the back for his good shot he heard a series of louder shots coming from the direction of Cale. His security chief hadn’t wasted any time.

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“What was that?” Bettine’s voice was quiet and scared.
“That was one of our blues screaming. They must be here now.” Jacob was suddenly terrified. He had seen what these creatures could do and here they were on his farm. Then he heard a faint noise from Drake’s direction, Jacob could just see him with his weapon to his shoulder, and then almost immediately there followed a series of sounds that were obviously Cale firing with the more powerful ammunition.
Then his eyes caught a movement and he was in shock. His blues were running about their enclosure in a panic and many of them had black monsters on their backs. Every couple of seconds one of the creatures would jump from the back of one blue onto that of another. Also, every now and then one of the black things would explode and be knocked from its perch, apparently shot by Cale. Jacob could not see him in the tree so far away from the raising barn, but he could easily see the flash from the muzzle of his gun as it spat its projectile into the black shelled animals that were attacking his blues. He might not be a lover of technology, but he had to admit he liked what it was doing to the creatures that had caused so much trouble.
“Dad, look!” Bettine shouted as she pointed towards Drake. Jacob swung his gaze away from the crazy scene in front of him with difficulty, and saw nothing for a moment.
“What?”
“One of those things jumped over the fence and is trying to get up the seed barn to get at Captain Drake.”
It was true, he could see it now, a deeper black against the black shadows had taken a jump from the ground attempting to reach the rooftop. The first time it fell short and was now changing its position so it might leap from a higher spot; it looked like it would succeed this time.
“Drake! Look out behind you!” Jacob screamed at the top of his lungs, but Drake didn’t show any sign that he’d heard. In fact Jacob could now see the man was talking into his radio headset oblivious to the danger only the other side of the building from him.
Without any real thought other than this was a man who was trying to save them and was about to be killed, Jacob ran down the stairs from the rafters intent on doing something. On the way he grabbed a pitchfork, and as he did so he called up to his daughter. “Lock the door behind me and stay inside.” With that he was gone, running towards the seed barn vaguely aware that he could hear screams from some of his animals as they were attacked. He ignored them, leaving their immediate fate to Cale, intent on stopping the creature before it got to Drake.

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The first image of pain shot through all our minds and we were confused. We had not sensed, nor seen anything to be cautious of, and here was one of our number in pain. Still alive, but clearly injured by something other than one of the animals. Immediately we had tried to see where the danger was and one of us gave an image showing a two-leg up on a roof. The rest of us carried on with our task trusting to our comrade to deal with the thing that had hurt one of us.
Suddenly a loud noise followed by a bright flash of light accosted our senses. It was from outside the enclosure and as we tried to place it and understand what it was, we knew we were in trouble. The previous night the two-legs were unable to stop us or hurt us, but tonight was different. A thought of pain and then darkness flashed to all of us, and we could see one of us knocked to the ground from the back of a beast, never to rise again. Instantly others began to be stung from afar and in most cases the sting was the last thing they would feel. We felt it, too, and were enraged.
We had found where the noise and flashes were coming from and several of us bounded that way, toward a large tree. As we approached we could see a two-legs up high, too high. It was causing pain and death to us without having to be close and there was nothing we could do about it. Staying longer would just be a death sentence with little return for the loss. We had visited almost all the animals in the pen anyway.
As we all leapt over the barrier into the darkness there was still one more of us left behind. The images told us what was happening and that we should not wait for the results of this one action. Maybe the two-legs would be killed and maybe not, but our friend had chosen to stay and try to avenge the pains visited upon us. Moments later, as we scaled the rocky hillside towards home, we felt and saw our comrade’s final pain and could not be sure whether the two-legs had gone to its death also. Either way we would mourn the loss of our fallen comrade.

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Jacob ran screaming Drake’s name into the night air and as he got closer he could see that Drake had finally heard him and was looking quizzically over the edge of the roof. Before Jacob had a chance to shout up a warning he saw the black shape out of the corner of his eye flying upwards, this time reaching the roof. In a fluid motion that seemed to come instinctively to him he threw the pitchfork through the air towards the moving thing. The pitchfork defied the mundane use it had been designed for and flew straight at its target striking home. The creature was knocked off balance by the blow and was slowed considerably. Then Jacob saw nothing for a moment as he stood there catching his breath, unsure if he had killed it or not.
A second later he heard a muted pop and the creature came flying over the edge of the roof above his head and he ducked automatically, afraid for his life now the creature was upon him and he was unarmed. But, in that moment of paralyzing fear, he heard a thud just behind him and then silence. He opened his eyes, not realizing they had been closed, and saw the black shape lying still on the ground. It was bleeding from its side, presumably from where the pitchfork had hit it, but obviously what had killed it was a shot from Drake’s weapon. Jacob could see a large wound in the creature’s head between the eyes and sticking out was the splayed-out end of the special tracking bullet Cale had shown him earlier. Though they were not designed to kill it was clear that at such short range and in such a delicate spot they could kill; lucky for Drake. Suddenly he realized that the silence that had hit him a moment ago was because his blues had stopped screaming. Looking around he saw no more things leaping from back to back. They’d gone.
“Thanks.” Came Drake’s panting voice from overhead. “That was pretty quick thinking and a hell of a good throw.”
Jacob was still shook up, but was able to sense the sincerity of the pirate’s words; the first time he had felt that from him. Maybe he wasn’t all bad after all.
“I guess you won’t be so eager to laugh at us using a pitchfork for a weapon from now on will you?” He was actually surprised to realize he had found some humor in the situation. Drake seemed surprised, too, and he laughed aloud shaking his head in the negative. Before they had a chance to exchange any more niceties they heard Bettine screaming, though they could not make out the words.
Jacob ran back towards the barn and as he approached it the double doors burst open and several of his breeding stock ran past him. They were panicking, running blindly about bumping into each other and the two buildings. Jacob ignored them, for the moment, and he ran inside to make sure Bettine was all right. He saw immediately that his daughter was fine, but the animals were not. Those that remained inside were running about in apparent terror, blind to the injuries they might be doing to themselves. He closed the doors and went in amongst them raising his arms and making a soothing sound he knew the adult’s would often make to their young in times of stress to calm them. Bettine did the same and between them, though they were both knocked around a little for their trouble, they were able to placate the crazed animals. Once this was done, Jacob told Bettine to stay with them and he went out to see to the others.
About ten of them had run from the building and Jacob could only see two of them now from the doorway. Both had been heavily pregnant, and both were lying apparently dead at the base of the fencing around the enclosure holding his other blues.
“They took one look at the others in the corral and just ran straight for them plowing into the fence. I think they broke their own necks! I’ve never seen anything like it.” Drake’s amazed voice came to Jacob through a fog of fear. What had happened? And more importantly what would happen if more of his animals were found dead?
“Can you see the others from up there?” Jacob had to find them and bring them back to safety before more were injured. But it was too late for that now once he heard Drake’s reply.
“I think I see at least one more on the ground. It’s on the other side of this building. From here the only other movement outside the fencing that I can see is below some trees on the other end of the nearest enclosure.”
Jacob ran around the barn and immediately felt his stomach flip. Drake had been right; another large blue seemed to have killed itself by running blindly into the fencing. Jacob could see that by the animal’s side was a smaller blue that had just followed her herd-mate to her death. Jacob was close to panic, but he had to hold on to himself and go to the trees where Drake had seen the rest. Soon he could let his emotions run free, but now wasn’t the time.
Bettine joined him and together they walked over to a stomping, prancing group of five or six blues. Thankfully, Jacob saw, though they were still spooked, they were all healthy. With some effort he was able to calm them down and lead them back to the raising building where the trouble had started. Bettine had locked it from the outside as best she could, but Jacob could see that the latch was broken. Once the animals were inside and Jacob had rigged a better lock, he asked Bettine what had happened.
Bettine began to sob now that the terror was over and the enormity of everything finally hit her. Jacob hugged his daughter and tried to make sense of the words forced out between tears.
“I followed you down so I could lock the doors after you and I did it too. But they all began to go crazy. I think they could maybe smell those things, but I think the main thing that set them off was the screaming. It scared me too.” She stopped for a moment to apparently gather herself and her emotional thoughts then pulled away from her father and sat on a bale of feed to continue. “ It’s so strange to hear sound coming out of these blues that when you do, you know something really bad’s going on. I couldn’t calm them down, and they seemed to just get each other more and more frightened. The next thing I knew one of them fell which made them even worse,” here she pointed to a corner and Jacob’s heart sank. Another body.
He hadn’t noticed this when they had returned the escaped blues inside. But now he could see it was another adult, the other blues standing around nuzzling her trying to get her up. To his shock he saw her move and try to stand. He and Bettine ran over immediately and they could see she was pregnant and was in the process of expelling her premature calf. Jacob sent Bettine to run home and fetch Bella to help him. All else went from his mind as he tried to save this animal.

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Drake was talking on his radio when Cale approached quietly. Drake had come down from the roof and was checking in with the other groups on his radio while staring down at the strange black shape on the ground. He was smiling, hearing news of the successful evening when suddenly he got some bad news. He turned to his security chief.
“Cale, Tenec was killed tonight.” He hung his head respectfully at the loss of one of his men; this was not supposed to have happened so early in their mission. He knew it was a possibility later on when they entered the caves, but he had really thought this night would be easy. He moved on realizing it was all part of the trials of living a life of action for profit. “Two of the other farms were attacked at the same time as this one, and they had no other problems. They seem to have killed about fifteen between them and tagged at least four.”
“I got seven confirmed killed and maybe three or four wounded that managed to escape.” He spoke without looking for a pat on the back. Drake liked that about him; straight to the point and all business. A man he could rely on.
“Well done. I only managed to get one tagged before I had a little trouble from this one.” He kicked the dead animal in anger; he was now realizing how close he’d come to being killed and he didn’t like that feeling. “But, thanks to that farmer,” he pointed toward the larger building, “I’m here to tell you about it. I’d say tonight was a success with acceptable losses based on the results.” He began walking over to the raising building and Cale followed him.

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When Bettine ran in with her mother only two steps behind, Jacob was leaning over the supine form of the blue and he was rhythmically pounding on her chest. Bella rushed to his side and taking one look told Bettine to go take care of the other blues so they would not become crazed again. The beast had bled profusely and the trauma must have caused her heart to stop. Bella checked for a pulse, and finding none, gently pulled her husband’s hands into her own. He tried to resist her, but she held him tightly and whispered that it was too late, the animal was dead. He could tell the look of dread that sprang to his face at that moment was confusing to her.
“This is sad Jacob, but what am I missing here. This just one animal and things like this happen.” She sounded unsure of where to go from here as he didn’t immediately respond, and he knew his face remained one of almost horror. She continued to stare at him as he felt the neck of the calf; and when his shoulders sagged, he didn’t need to waste words telling her the calf had followed its mother in death.
Eventually she got her response, but he knew it wasn’t one she would have wanted to hear. “I don’t think we’ll be able to meet our Token now, Bella. It isn’t just this one, we lost four more and two of them were also pregnant.” He was close to tears, and as she thought about his words he could see she was also realizing the ramifications of tonight’s events.
A voice cut in to their sadness, “Why are the deaths of these animals so tragic to you?” It was Drake and he seemed to have found the ability to show concern and mean it too. Even in their present state both Jacob and Bella were able to appreciate it; the words and tone were unexpected from this pirate.
Jacob swallowed and replied, “In less than a cycle the Collectors will be here to pick up the agreed upon Token set for each of the farmers on this planet. Even though we form ourselves into a type of communal endeavor so we can help each other, there comes a time when you must look after your own. Meeting the Token is one of those times. Our daughter….” He broke off his sentence as the grief took a grip on him again.
Bella continued for him, “Our daughter is likely to be taken by Collectors if don’t meet our Token. It’s within their right and couldn’t stop them anyway. All farms have lost so many animals to those creatures recently that even we did pool all our remaining animals still wouldn’t have enough.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t see how four or five deaths now could be so devastating. You must have hundreds of animals throughout all your farms here.” He still sounded sincere in his interest and confusion.
Bella’s answering voice showed she was being patient with him, which was more than Jacob felt capable of doing right then. “If we gave them all adults Token calls for we wouldn’t have breeding stock enough to continue. That’s why animals in here. We make sure had as many pregnancies go to term as possible before our stocks were made less by the Token. We’ve never had problem before, but over the last three or four cycles we’ve lost over two hundred animals all together. Tonight just pushed over us the edge.” She had begun to cry and her grasp of the language seemed to have just diminished. Bettine had been listening and she walked over to embrace both her parents. Tears stained her dirty face.
Jacob looked up at his daughter, “What happened after they started to go crazy?” He wasn’t accusatory, just drained and saddened.
“When this one fell two of the bigger ones tried to leave, and the rest of them followed. I’d locked the door, just like you told me, but they all just started jumping at it and kicking it. It burst open and a bunch of them got out before I could jump in front of them and try to scare them back inside. Then you came in. I’m so sorry!” At this last she burst into a fresh round of tears and her mother joined him.
Jacob spoke with a firm voice, “Bettine, it was not your fault. You did everything I could have asked of you. It was my fault for leaving you alone.” He looked up to see Drake and Cale heading for the door. “Drake, I might lose my girl’s life because I saved yours! Make sure you do what you’re being paid for. Do it right, and then please leave as soon as you’ve done it.” He didn’t wait for a reply, but turned back to his family. Who knew how long it would be before they would be ripped apart!


Sixteen


The sun was clearing the horizon in a blaze of color when Drake, Cale by his side, stood waiting at the door to the Harpy. The men were now returning from their night of action, and he wanted reports from each group leader on their activities.
The first to arrive were those that had not been visited by the creatures, while those that followed had obviously experienced a rough night. These last were carrying the inert figure of Tenec, mutilated and bloody. The men, dirty and exhausted, passed Drake and entered the ship to get some rest. At a nod from Drake, Cale followed them inside. Those in charge of the two groups that had experienced action had been told to stay outside to talk with Drake.
“Taren, well done. You too, Shad. We met our objective and we need to follow up quickly. I’m sorry about Tenec. Cale will take care of Tenec’s burial and then he’ll get everyone ready as quickly as possible. We need to head out with plenty of daylight to help us.” The two men’s faces told Drake they didn’t like the idea. “We must go out now while the trackers are still functioning. Who knows how long before those creatures work them out of their bodies. We can’t give them another night or we might end up losing more than one of our men.”
The others obviously realized it was pointless arguing with their superior and resigned themselves to no sleep followed quickly by even more conflict. Drake had known that was how they would react. They were just tired; otherwise, they wouldn’t have even thought about questioning his decisions. He asked them what had happened to Tenec.
Taren replied, “He was in my party.” He rubbed his bloodshot eyes and cleared his throat before going on. “When those things started jumping over the fencing we all got on with our jobs and it seemed to be going easily. We’d chosen good spots to fire from or so I thought. Tenec was firing into them when I saw two of them leap toward the tree he was in, and though they couldn’t jump high enough to get him directly, they still got him in the end. He must have been off balance when they hit the tree, as I saw him fall. He got up firing and hit one of them before the other one finished him. I couldn’t do anything as I only had tracker ammunition and was too far away for it to have done anything. None of the other men had a line-of-sight on him either.”
“Wasn’t he wearing his suit?”
“Yes, captain, but apparently he’d pulled down the helmet hood. Maybe it was tough to see with it up while in the tree. I don’t really know.” He shrugged his shoulders in defeat at not being able to give a better answer as to why one of the men under his charge was now dead.
“OK, no ones fault. Go in grab some food, and take a couple of hours rest. We’ll call you and the rest of the men when we’re ready to go.” He followed them in and waved Cale over to his side. “Let’s go over our equipment. I want to be out of here in three hours time, and I don’t want any delays when we get everyone up.”
They went into the storage area where the container Marshall had sent them had been unpacked. Most of the equipment had already been spread among his men for the work of the previous night. The coming job would need all the same equipment plus a few extras.
“All the weapons, ammunition, flashlights, and armored suits have already been distributed.” Cale went over a written inventory he had found inside the container. “We’ll need to have four men carry these trip mines and the rest can all carry regular fragmentation mines and grenades. We also won’t need anyone to use the tracker ammunition this time around. Anything else?” He looked up at Drake expectantly.
“No, you seem to have covered everything. I think we’re as ready as we’re ever going to be. Go get some rest yourself; we’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”
As Cale walked toward the ship he turned and said, “You should do the same Captain.”
Drake wasn’t in the frame of mind to sleep. He wasn’t overly nervous about the upcoming day of excitement as that was just a job he felt prepared for. It was the whole incident with Jacob and the Hopper that troubled him. He had treated these people with little or no regard, assuming they weren’t worth much of his attention. In fact, he had actually looked at them as annoyances that would get in the way of his work here. The whole concept of non-techs just hadn’t sat well with him, and he had been ready to dismiss those who espoused that creed as fringe lunatics and probably cowards too.
The problem was Jacob. Here was a man whose daughter’s life was literally on the line now because he had come to the aid of a pirate. Of course, Drake could create logic for Jacob’s actions if the man had not been a non-tech. Jacob would have had less of a problem using a weapon and could have understood the value of this pirate who was there to kill creatures that were affecting his life and livelihood. But as a non-tech, Jacob should have shunned leaving his daughter and the safety of his flock to pick up a weapon and become, to all intents and purposes, a soldier. Intriguing and confusing. A hell of a guy for someone whose job was taking care of a bunch of big dumb animals.
Drake was at a loss to really understand the man and his actions. To compound the situation he had another relatively unknown emotion surfacing within him; guilt. He actually felt guilty that his life had been saved at the cost of an innocent young girl and he wasn’t pleased at feeling this way. Jacob hadn’t even tried to attack him, as he would have done if the roles had been reversed. He’d just told him to get on with his job and leave. No vindictiveness, no hint of a need for revenge. In another world he might have seen all this as another sign of cowardice, but this man didn’t seem like a coward to Drake.
Without much more thought he found himself walking down the hill toward Jacob’s farm. He had no idea why, but he felt like he had to talk to him. He felt like he owed him something. Good thing none of his men were around, as sympathy wasn’t deemed a respected emotion in a pirate captain.

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Far away, as Drake crossed the meadow towards the buildings, more than a dozen ships blinked out of nowhere appearing amongst a sea of stars. Within this galaxy were many inhabited planets and all were producing something of value that the Suppliers demanded of them to help in the war effort. These ships were those of the Collectors, the errand boys of the Suppliers, and those they hired to protect them as they traveled through space.
Once they had all been accounted for they were divided into smaller groups consisting of two large container ships with their escorts of smaller fighters detailed to keep their eyes out for pirates. At this stage of their trip about two thirds of the container ships were filled with various products, and if the pirates were planning on doing anything they would do it after this last series of pick-ups. At that time the ships would be filled to capacity and heading for their last shift which would take them so close to the front that no one would be crazy enough to try to attack then.
One of the small groups of vessels altered its course away from the entry point and sped off. On board preparations were being made for the final leg of their mission.
“Sir, the coordinates have been set in and we’re underway. We should arrive at the planet in seventy one hours.” The helmsman’s voice was clear and crisp.
“Thank you Mr. Clayton. We’ll be eating some fresh meat on our trip back to the front. I can almost taste it.” Clayton could see that his captain wasn’t entirely exaggerating; he actually seemed to be drooling! Clayton hated the people he worked with and hated the people that he was supposed to answer to. But, it wouldn’t be for long now.

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As Drake approached the farm he could hear crying and loud voices. He saw Jacob’s house with a small group of men standing around the doorway. As he continued to draw nearer the men turned and walked quickly away. He guessed they were going back to their own farms as he recognized them as some of the farmers who had left with his men the previous night. The crying got louder and he thought it must be Jacob’s wife, Bella. To gently attract attention he coughed as he walked closer to the door that was still ajar. He coughed again and this time someone heard him.
Jacob came out and on seeing Drake spoke angrily, “What do you want here? Shouldn’t you be out killing those things and then getting on with being a pirate?”
Drake could see the man had been crying, too, and bit off what would have been his automatic response to another man being so disrespectful to him. It wasn’t easy, but he had come here to talk, not to fight and so he did just that. “What were the other farmers doing here?”
Jacob was clearly taken off guard by Drake ignoring his anger and just answered him; “They were telling me about everything that transpired last night and this morning. You know of the animals I lost, but I don’t think that you know the whole story.” He looked at Drake inquiringly as if to get something out of him, but all the pirate did was shake his head. “My neighbor, Blake lost two animals himself, one was crushed in the panic within his herd and another died from an apparent heart attack from the fear of having one of those things on its back. Another, Gamik, lost one because your boys couldn’t tell the difference between what they were supposed to be protecting and what was supposed to be killed. We’re in a heap of trouble and there’s nothing we can do to get ourselves out of it.”
Drake could see the man was deeply affected by these events, and remembering what he had been told about the Token, thought he knew what was going on. With the losses Jacob had encountered and those of his communal friends, there was no way some of them would meet their Tokens. That meant that Bettine would be forfeit to the Collectors. No wonder Bella and her husband were both so angry and sad, especially with him around. If Jacob hadn’t left his daughter to save Drake’s life he might have been able to help Bettine keep the animals calm and contained in the building thus losing none of them.
“What will happen when the Collectors arrive?” He was a little surprised at himself as he actually sounded concerned and then realized that it was simply because he was. As a pirate it was his general attitude not to pay much attention to other people’s feelings, and he had done well with that philosophy. Jacob had somehow changed that.
“I think it’s pretty clear to you by now, Drake!” Jacob had obviously not had any reason to change his attitude about him though and Drake couldn’t really blame him. “They’ll come for their food. We won’t have enough to fulfill our bargain. We’ll lose our Bettine. It’s as simple as that!” He was holding his wife whose tears increased before the pirate’s eyes.
He pressed on, something formulating in the back of his mind, “What happens to Bettine then? I mean literally.”
Jacob looked frustrated and almost ready to strike out at him because of his apparent callousness, “Why are you doing this to us? Can’t you see we’re grieving for our daughter?” He turned as if to walk his wife back inside.
“Please! What happens to her next?” He was adamant and he could see Jacob calm himself slightly, take a deep breath and reply.
“The Collector ships will take her away from us to some other planet where they train young people to become soldiers or pilots or whatever it is they need them to become. Why do you care?”
“Jacob, you helped me and I’d like to see if there’s anything I can do to return the favor. I can’t promise anything yet.” He spoke quickly when he saw the immediate response his words had created in the eyes of the parents standing before him. They were suddenly hopeful and he almost regretted having talked with them before he was sure, but he hadn’t been able to hold back. “I have to go now but I’ll try and help your daughter I can at least promise you that.” He turned before they could ask him for more details he didn’t yet have and walked out of the house. Before heading back up the hill he found himself walking around the corner of the house where he couldn’t be seen and eavesdropping on the farmer and his wife. It was strange emotion to him, concern for another.
“What did Drake mean?” Bella’s voice betrayed how nervous she must be feeling.
“Don’t pay him any attention, Bella. He just feels guilty about what’s going to happen to Bettine. As soon as he’s finished here, he and his men will be gone. Don’t build up any hopes, please.”
To Drake it sounded like Jacob had already done that very thing but didn’t want to raise her hopes till he was sure. Drake left as time was running out for him, but he did promise himself that he would try to prove Jacob’s doubts wrong.


Seventeen

Drake was listening intently on the radio and held his hand up to silence Taren when the man walked into his office.
“Thank you, Marshall. I have to leave now. My second-in-command has my men ready, and we need to go finish what we started last night. We’ll talk when it’s done.” He hung up the radio in its slot and nodded at Taren.
The man gave his report, “Everyone is rested, fed, and equipped ready for the grand finale. Cale has them outside now.”
“Very good, let’s go then.” He walked outside with Taren and found seventeen men waiting for him. They stood in a relaxed attitude; after all, they may have been dressed like soldiers, but they were still pirates. Though discipline did not sit well with them they’d do as Drake said so long as it meant profit for each; he understood them so well. Cale handed him his weapon as he briskly walked past telling everyone to follow.
They walked up the hillside above their vessel with little difficulty until they were about half way to their target area. At this point the ground became covered with larger boulders and fragmented rocks, creating uneven footing and the need for a continually changing line of march. Also, the hill turned into more of a mountain becoming steeper the higher that they traveled. Despite a few grumbles and mutterings they reached the first cave by mid-day. Cale told Drake that when he had been on this planet the first time he and the other employees of the Suppliers had chased some of the creatures this far and had dropped explosives down the shaft blowing the cave mouth shut. Expecting nothing to survive they had moved on to other caves. Somehow the cave mouth was open again.
“Let’s set up some trip mines in the tunnel and some frag grenades around the entrance. If the caves are connected and we gradually force those things downwards these little babies will stop them getting away from us.” Drake ordered Cale to detail men to go a short distance down the tunnel to set up the explosives. As they backed out they set the frag grenades in such a fashion that if anything dislodged them they would explode. He then led his men uphill doing the same at two other cave mouths till they reached what appeared to be the last. Up above, the ground rose steeply and the surface was so smooth that it was the considered opinion that even the powerful Hoppers wouldn’t have been able to climb it. This was the entrance they would begin their search in.

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Daylight was full outside of our cave homes and we were ensconced in the deepest, darkest recesses. We were not sure if we would see another night or if this would be our final resting spot. We had done all we could to prepare for the latter eventuality and felt as much peace internally as possible knowing we could do no more. Our time of life on our world was surely coming to an unnatural end; the two-legs were back to finish what they had started in the past.
Many of us had self-impregnated in the hopes that we would survive long enough to reproduce ourselves, but we held little hope for this dream. Our numbers were fewer now than the night before. We had lost many of our family to the pain-giving things the two-legs used to hurt us from a distance. There was no defense against that kind of an enemy, and deep down we all felt the inevitability of the situation hurtling towards us.
Several of us had been hurt last night but had made it back to our homes safely with only slight wounds. We were unsure of the things sticking from our flesh, but if they were supposed to have killed those hit by them then they had failed in their task. Some of us had already managed to dig at them long enough so they came loose from our bodies and fell to the floor. When this happened a strange flashing light was exposed coming from the end. We crushed them under foot not knowing what they were, but knowing they were made by the two-legs so they could not be anything except bad for our kind.
As a group we were concentrated in one of the highest caves in the mountain so we were as far from the invaders as possible. After all, we might be expecting death soon, but we would surely not invite it and, if it came to us, would certainly fight it. Many of us were now sleeping the light hours away; especially the young who seemed insulated to the horrors surrounding them.
What was that? The elders and some of the older youngsters sat up, awake and alert. Images and feelings of fear and anger sped from one to the other. Now we could see what it was that had startled us, we could sense by sound and by vibration the approach of danger. The two-legs were coming and they were close. We began to rouse the young and very old who now also sensed what was happening and were calm and ready for orders. We elders sent messages of decision. Some would stay and delay the intruders to give the others time to evacuate to deeper caves. Without hesitation we separated from the five who were to remain and we were gone. They would do what was necessary to help their family members, even if it meant death to them.

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As Drake and his men entered the cavemouth, the sunlight became faint and eventually vanished entirely. They turned on their powerful flashlights attached to the sides of their weapons. The lights showed the tunnel was twice the height of the tallest man and was wide enough for three of the pirates to walk side by side and not be brushing shoulders. The floor and the walls were rubbed smooth and Drake could hardly imagine the number of years it must have taken for these creatures to do this. He did not know how these tunnels had been originally formed, but he did know that they would not have been this smooth naturally. It gave him an awesome feeling of how small and short lived he was to think about the length of time the creatures had been the top predator of this planet before human kind came to change everything in the name of their war.
They came to a fork in the tunnel and as had been planned for this situation the group split in half, Drake leading one contingent and Taren the other. They had agreed to only split their forces to a maximum of three smaller groups below which it was deemed they would be spread too thin. To help them find their way they used radios and they left small glow sticks on the floor to mark their progress at each turn. They didn’t want to get lost in here. Each group also carried a small tracking device tuned to pick up the signal sent out by the tags embedded in the flesh of many of the creatures they were here to destroy.
It was cold and very dark, but their lights pierced the shadows and the men felt safety in their numbers and in the superior weapons they carried. They felt strong and ready for anything. That was good as, rounding a sharp bend, Drake’s group was suddenly attacked by what appeared to be a flying piece of the shadows that had detached itself from the wall ahead of them.
“Get down!” Drake shouted as he saw the dark shape leap out of nowhere at them. It flew over his head as he threw himself to the ground. From behind him he could hear everyone scrabbling to get out of the way also, but someone was too slow. Drake heard the scream as he began to get his bearings and tried to shine his flashlight beam in the direction from which he could hear a scuffling noise. As the light traversed the tunnel another scream broke through his helmet microphone. Someone in Taren’s group was being attacked at the same time, but right now he had to worry about the men in his group.
His flashlight’s beam, and others like it, found what their bearers had been searching for. At the back of the group was one of his men lying motionless on the floor.
“Cale, take a look.”
Drake saw a shape walk haltingly through the spears of light and bend over the still form. A second later Cale returned and went to Drake’s side.
Quietly he reported, “It’s Jadel, captain. Dead. His suit worked just like it was supposed to and the creature wasn’t able to get through the neck armor; unfortunately, the fool hadn’t pulled the visor down on his helmet. The thing must have just thrust its proboscis straight in and ripped out most of his face. No sign of the creature now.”
“Very well. We’ll pick him up on the way out.” He touched a button on his chest and spoke again. “Taren, do you read me?”
“Yes, captain.”
“What happened?”
“We were attacked by one Hopper. It got away.” He sounded as if he were trying to control himself after the shock of the sudden event. His breaths came quick and seemed unnaturally loud over the headsets. “We’re OK. It just knocked a couple of us down. No one was injured.”
“I want three watching the rear of each group as we move forward, and everyone make sure your helmets are secured and the visors are locked in place. Let’s take this careful. Move out.” He walked directly behind the three point men ready to fire now that he knew what to look for; a darker area than the shadows surrounding them. “We don’t have a shortage of ammunition so, if in doubt, fire.”
The next time they were ready and as the blackness detached from the shadows ahead of them, seemingly flying through the air towards their heads, four guns blazed out. Explosions of color and noise erupted in the confines of the rock walled tunnel almost blinding and deafening those trapped within it. The shape seemed to be thrown back through the air in different directions. Drake and his men had shot true and the animal was clearly dead.
Before the ringing in his ears had died away, lights flared again as the men at the back of the group began firing. Drake ran back, Cale at his side, and saw a black shape atop one of his men. It was in the process of ripping through the man’s armor when it was hit by a hail of carefully aimed weapons fire that blew it apart. The flashlights traversed the tunnel behind to see the body of another creature they had killed moments before. These things had attacked the front and rear of Drake’s group simultaneously. Once again he felt amazement, not so much for the creature itself, but more so for the Supplier fools who had decided that this lifeform was unintelligent and should have been removed from this world. It was obviously a smart adversary and Drake would not take it for granted.
Cale reported to him that the man who had just been downed had been saved by the quick and accurate shooting of his comrades and the fact that this time the suit, fully utilized, had been successful in doing what it was designed to do. He was wounded, but would be able to continue with them, and his injuries would heal soon enough. Drake looked around and could see that though his men were a little shook up by the attacks, they were also now feeling secure in the knowledge that their weapons and armor gave them power. They also knew that the enemy was not invincible even on its own turf. They moved on with purposeful strides.

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The images of pain, anger and death shot through everyone’s mind. We knew what our comrades were doing and how they were paying for their attempts to slow down those who would kill us all. We rejoiced in their bravery and mourned their sacrifice. The younger family members were close to panic sensing all that was happening. They could not truly understand it. The old among us stayed with them at the rear giving assurance as best we could.
Our group had moved further into the tunnels, and lower down the mountain into areas that had not been frequented within our memories. Here we hoped to be safe from discovery; and if finally found, this would be the place of our last stand. There would be no further running this day.
Another stab of pain ran through us and we knew one more of our number had died for us all. We had left others along our path to worry the two-legs as they traveled through our dark passages. They would give their lives in the hope of taking some of the invaders with them as others had before. The rest of us waited for what might come; prepared to fight to the death for the family and the life we did not want to lose. One way or another we would be free.

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Drake’s men were beginning to get into a kind of routine. Whether these creatures were intelligent or not, they were unable to stand against the artificial strength created by Marshall’s equipment and Drake’s leadership. As they walked down the tunnels with three men abreast, they were rarely surprised now. Some of the creatures lying in wait were even carrying within them a tag so that Drake, carrying the tracking device, could tell his men where they could shoot before the animal had even showed itself. Other times when one sprung from the shadows it would cut through the many beams of light and be immediately shot by five or six weapons at once. Also, because of the size of the tunnel, his men had an easier time moving strategically than did the creatures; the ceiling reduced the height they could jump thus mitigating their main mode of attack. The men in the back would set up trip mines for the times a creature would try to attack them in the rear; now they could not be surprised from that direction. Drake and his men felt good about their progress. He had contacted Taren and they were coordinating their efforts and duplicating each other’s successful tactics. Between them they had one death and only three injuries with none of those being serious, while they confirmed eighteen of the creatures killed. Things were going well.

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Down the hill, below Drake’s ship, a crowd had gathered. Jacob, his family and many of the farmers with their families too, had come to Jacob’s farm to see how this day would turn out. Jacob wasn’t surprised when they had all shown up even though there hadn’t been any plans to do so. Why wouldn’t everyone want to make sure that this whole terror came to an end? Just like him they’d all lost animals and Gamik had actually lost a family member. If Drake and his men were successful in wiping out the things that had caused all this trouble, then there would be reason to celebrate.
The farmers were looking up the hill, as someone had seen a flash way up high, and a second later all of them heard a booming noise. No one knew whether this was a good sign or not though. Jacob hugged Bella even tighter, and as the thought of celebrating came into his head he realized that there would be no celebrating for the two of them. They would be losing their daughter whatever happened in the caves today. Whether Drake failed or succeeded, Jacob would still not have enough to fulfill his Token, and no one else could help him since many of them might be short now, too. Even if he wasn’t a non-tech he couldn’t fight the Collectors with any expectations of anything good coming of it. If he tried they might shoot him before still taking Bettine. No matter how hard it was to accept, he knew he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t risk leaving Bella to grieve for not only their daughter but him, too. His girl, little Bettine, would be gone from him, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Suddenly a thought came to him that seemed so obvious he was shocked he hadn’t even considered it until now. It was a stretch but he thought it might work in his favor. He turned to look into his wife’s eyes, but decided he couldn’t tell her his idea right now. He had to spend some time thinking it out to make sure he felt it would have a chance of working before he gave her any hope. The tough thing was he really wouldn’t know if it would work or not until the Collectors were actually here.


Eighteen


Drake and his men had met up with Taren’s team. As they had moved downhill within the caves their routes had joined and now they all felt somewhat invincible. There had been no more injuries and yet they had been continually harassed over the last two hours. The total count of creatures killed was over thirty, and by their earlier estimates they expected only another thirty or so remained. The only doubt on the numbers was that Drake didn’t know how many of the Hoppers had not been out attacking the blues and greens over the last two nights. He assumed that like any group of animals, especially intelligent ones like these, they would help take care of their old, young, and injured who would have been left behind while the others hunted. He was not concerned because however many there were, they would be no threat to him or his men once the healthy ones had been destroyed.
“I read at least three signals, Captain. About twenty meters ahead.” Taren was beside him with a tracking machine in his hands. “They’re clustered together. There may be more with them that are untagged, I can’t tell.” He pointed down a decline in the tunnel.
“Cale, throw a couple of frags down there.” Drake couldn’t see any reason to risk anyone if there were easier ways to deal with their enemy.
Cale stepped forward and threw the two frag grenades quickly one after another into the darkness ahead then shouted, “Everyone down, now!”
For a second they could hear the grenades bouncing down the rocky floor. Even with his helmet sealed Drake heard the blast and felt the thud of the impact rushing through the ground into his chest. They all stood up ready for anything, but all their flashlights could make out was dust in the beams of light. As it settled they moved cautiously forward. Soon their flashlight beams lit the passage again, and they could see a wide area of the floor and tunnel walls covered in gore and pieces of Hoppers. There was no way to tell how many there had been, but they were no threat now.
“Captain, the signals have stopped and I don’t read anymore in any direction,” said Taren.
“Let’s keep it careful now men. We just lost one advantage so I don’t want any surprises. We’re too close to finishing this to mess up now.” Drake knew there were at least another thirty able bodied creatures and an unknown number of less effective ones that would still need to be dealt with.
They moved forward slower now. Aware that there were no more tracker tags to give them a warning; stealth had suddenly become more significant. The scary thing was this was unknown territory for Drake and his men, and no matter how tough they were they could be surprised at every turn of the tunnel. And they were!

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We had seen the strong light of day at the end of the tunnel and knew we could go no further now. Almost half our remaining number had been lost and now we were trapped in our own home. We knew from the images and vibrations how far the two-legs were progressing and how our comrades were being sacrificed. Sadly, it did not look like we would ultimately benefit from their efforts. As a last hope we all shared our thoughts and made a hard decision. The remaining strong ones among us would head back up the tunnels toward those who would kill us. Leaving a few of us behind here and there had slowed the two-legs but had obviously not been successful in stopping them. We needed to try something different.
Leaving only a small handful of last ditch defenders, the rest said farewells to us and headed off. This time we had decided to attack in larger numbers instead of one or two at a time. We chose to split ourselves apart so we could send some to the rear of where our enemy was and in the process attack from two directions at once. We hoped that some of us would get to return the gift of death the two-legs had brought into our home.

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Drake and his men had passed the second highest cave entrance and were heading down to the lowest and last. His expectations of success were high though he knew better than to let his guard down. His men could sense they were nearing the end of their adventure and were excited and eager. It was all he could do to keep them from running ahead like children. Now was not the time to change the tactics that had allowed them this far with relative safety.
“Any tracker signals?” he asked Taren.
“No Captain. Still nothing.”
From ahead Drake saw his men stop and then heard a nervous cry, “I hear something, Captain. Coming this way. Fast!”
Drake shouted, “Hold your positions!”
Before he could move to the front to see what was going on, he heard it too. A noise he could not place at all. The only thing that came to mind was the sound of a ground vehicle driving through brush and the thorns and twigs scraping along the side panels. Suddenly he was afraid. Over his intercom he heard a scream followed by shots. Someone on the frontline had seen something and was already firing. From his position Drake couldn’t see, as there was a bend in the tunnel. As he rushed forward he could see a mass of shapes in the beams from the flashlights. He immediately realized the noise he’d heard was from so many creatures forcing their way down the tunnel packed together and scraping the walls. Then all hell broke loose.
He couldn’t make out any individual animal. A wall of bodies came flying out of the darkness and into the full artificial light. Though he knew they would be all but blinded by it he realized that they really didn’t need to be able to see. In these tight quarters his men were easy targets with so many creatures leaping in amongst them all at once. He turned as he saw flashes of gunfire in his peripheral view. The creatures were attacking from behind too. They must have access to side tunnels he and his men had passed without seeing.
His headset became a cacophony of screams and gunfire. The initial wave of creatures had easily broken over the men at the front of his group. He knew the shots fired must have hit home and killed some of the black shapes but clearly not enough to stop or slow them. This tactic of mass attack was working. There was no order to his defense; it was almost every man for himself. They were easily outnumbered and surprised, but their armor and weapons finally began to turn the black tide.
With some careful fire, Drake shot through the body of one creature that had pinned Taren to the tunnel wall, and was trying to tear into his suit. Turning, he could see from his position in the center, that Cale had his back against the wall and was throwing frag grenades over the heads of his men at the rear of the group. They flew over the wall of creatures so that when they blew in a flash of bright light, the force of their destructive power was borne by the creatures at the back trying to get in for their turn. Drake did the same towards the front with similar results. His men were fighting the creatures that had managed to force their way into their ranks, but he and Cale had effectively reduced the number of reinforcements that could come in if and when space allowed.
Now, without the need for words, he and Cale waded into the fray helping the others. Taren had already begun to rally the men into a tight group firing in both directions to great effect. Cale and Drake joined in creating a wall of fire the creatures couldn’t penetrate. With a last burst of fire the final creature was stopped and near silence fell. All that could be heard was heavy breathing, thrashing alien bodies, and human moans.
“Cale, take five men and make sure all those things are dead. Count them too. Taren, check on casualties.” Drake was still shaking, his ears ringing. As he caught his breath and his composure he heard firing ahead, and he turned quickly to see Cale standing over a body firing downwards.
Taren walked to him, “Captain, we have two dead and five injured, two of them seriously.”
“Damn! I guess it could have been a lot worse though. We just passed a tunnel to the outside. Let’s take the dead and wounded outside and leave them where they’ll be safe. We’ll continue and finish this thing.” Taren nodded and went off to organize the others.
Cale came over to report. “Captain, they’re all dead and the good news is that we got twenty six of them. There can’t be many left that we need to worry about anyway.”
“Very good. Help Taren, we’re going to move the injured and dead outside and then push forward.”
When Cale and Taren returned Drake had organized the remainder of his force and they moved off ready for the final confrontation. They all knew their work would be finished this day and that they’d be paid well, good motivation.
As they rounded a bend in the tunnel their flashlight beams lit up a scene that immediately came alive with action. As one, Drake and his men opened fire as several of the creatures leapt toward them. Four were blown apart in mid-air before they reached their targets and the last was killed by concentrated fire as it attempted to pierce the facemask of one of the pirates. The men moved forward and saw a small group of creatures moving down the tunnel ahead of them. It was clear that these were the last, as they were obviously either young, old, or injured and not able to put up resistance. Before Drake could take stock of their situation the creatures ahead of him suddenly disappeared in a blast of light and noise.
He and his men hit the dirt and waited for the wall of dust that blew over them to pass by. As it did, they arose and moved carefully forward not knowing exactly what had happened. As they went down the tunnel in the direction the creatures had gone it became clear. The things had tried to escape from the sure death of the guns towards the risk of daylight and in doing so had crossed through the various mines and grenades Drake’s men had set up in the lowest cave opening. The last of the Hoppers had been blown out of existence.


Nineteen


“Daddy! They did it!” Carlee was shouting with excitement into the small radio.
“OK, OK, I’m not deaf Carlee. Are you doing all right? How’s Dale?”
“I’m doing great now that I’m not scared, and Dale will be fine. It’ll take him a few weeks to recuperate, but I’ll take care of him. We also have friends that will help us out. Maybe this place will be OK after all.” She was seated by her husband’s bedside and was holding his hand with a rejuvenated love in her heart.
Her father went on, “Is Drake there?” She assured him he was. “Please put him on, dear, and I’ll talk more with you in a moment.” She passed the radio to the dirty, sweaty pirate.
“Marshall, mission complete.”
“Well done, Drake. Your payment will be waiting for you at the agreed upon location. I can’t be sure of the exact time, but you’ll be there long before them anyway. I can tell you it should be about twenty hours from now. Will that give you enough time?”
“We’ll be there ready for them. I’ll contact you if there’s any kind of a problem; otherwise, you won’t be able to reach me. The Suppliers will certainly come looking for the culprit and I don’t want to be anywhere near here, and I don’t want anyone to know where I’ve gone.”
Marshall asked to be put on with his daughter again but the pirate had one more thing to say, “I need a favor from you Marshall. I want you to use your connections to try to help someone from this planet that will most likely be taken by the Collectors when her father’s Token isn't met.” He went on to explain about Bettine and the debt Drake felt he owed Jacob.
“I’m surprised at you, Drake! I never expected to see the day when you’d show some sympathy toward another human.” He heard Drake take a deep breath clearly readying himself to respond so he went on quickly. “I honestly don’t know what I can do, but I’ll look into my options and see if I can do something, no promises though other than I’ll try, Drake. Good enough?”
“I guess it’ll have to be.” Drake was displeased, but resigned; he was just too tired to argue. Anyway, he’d done the best he could as he had told Jacob he would, and as far as he was concerned, his debt was paid. “Here’s your daughter,” and he handed the radio over to her outstretched hand. He left the room and headed back to the Harpy and his men.
On returning he called for Taren. “Report, Taren.”
“Captain, all of the injured will recover and we’ve buried those that died. The equipment is stowed and the ship is ready to leave on your word.”
“Very good. We’ll leave immediately, and as soon as we’re under way I want you and Cale in my office for a briefing. We have a meeting to make and a reception committee to prepare.”

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A bright flash of light in the late afternoon sky showed the crowd watching below that the pirate vessel had left the planet’s atmosphere heading for space and who knew where. Jacob was thoroughly confused. On the one hand he was so very grateful to them for ridding his world of the creatures that had caused so much trouble for him, his family and the others in their farming community.
On the other hand he couldn’t clear his mind of the image of his daughter being taken from his home. However, he’d decided that there was something he could do about it after all. He knew it would work, but it tore him up inside since whatever he did the outcome would devastate Bella.
Once the light had disappeared from sight he walked back to his home, hand in hand with Bella and Bettine. He relished the touch of their hands in his and he wondered if he could survive without it. He made a decision, “Bettine, why don’t you go off and play? Me and your mum have some talking to do.” Bettine looked unsure and even a little scared, but his father’s look told her it had not been a question, it was a demand. “Thanks, little lady. Come back in an hour and we’ll have dinner ready for you.”
As Bettine ran off Bella was looking up at her husband inquisitively, “What’s going on in your head Jacob? I know well enough you to realize you’ve been doing some serious thinking. Now I’m afraid ask about what.” She hugged him as they entered their home and sat at the table. “Come on, tell.” Jacob could hear the sadness in his wife’s voice. What he was about to tell her would possibly push her over the edge, but what choice had he?
“Bella, I have an idea how we can keep Bettine out of the hands of the Collectors and the Suppliers.” He continued with his idea and as he had expected, she became progressively more and more upset. When Bettine returned home she entered the kitchen to find her mother in hysterics and hugging Jacob like she would never let him go.

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“Is everything in readiness?” Marshall found himself whispering even though he was safe in his home millions of miles from the man he was talking with. He knew he was playing a deadly game but that was war and politics he told himself.
The voice on the other end of the radio came back weak, “I hope you can hear me OK. I need to talk quietly and we’re experiencing a lot of interference now we’re so close to their sun. Everything is prepared. Once we land you won’t hear from me till this is over, so please make sure you come through for me if I do my part. If they find me I’m a dead man.” He spoke in earnest.
“Don’t worry about anything. You won’t have any concerns about the Suppliers or their kind ever again, I guarantee it.” Marshall meant what he said and the truth came through in his words and tone. “There’s one thing else I need of you when it comes time to leave your ship. I need you to bring someone with you and have the pirates pick her up before you go for good. Fair enough?”
“Fair enough. Her? Who is it?”
“A girl by the name of Bettine, she’s about thirteen years old. Can I rely on you?”
The voice broke up for a moment then Marshall heard, “A girl? Where’s she coming from?” Marshall never had time to reply as the line had already gone dead.

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Another flash of light high overhead signaled to the few people up late enough to see it that another ship was approaching. This could only be the Collectors coming for their Token and many people ran to hide with their families inside their homes. With a lot of noise and flaming lights the two cargo vessels landed, their fighter support staying up above in low orbit ready for trouble. One vessel was close to where the pirates had so recently been, while the other was at the far end of the farms held within the co-operative. The loading was scheduled to begin at sun-up.


Twenty

Few people in the farming community slept that night. The physical and emotional turmoil they had all experienced over the last few cycles was now catching up with them. The stress and the fear came out in many ways. Several people found solace in alcohol, some in prayer, and many just cried. For the majority of these farmers life would be back to normal now. For others life would never be the same again.
Jacob and his family lay together on the roof of their barn looking up into the night sky. They talked sadly about how fate had altered their plans for the future, and how the next day, they would all try to be strong for each other. The stars overhead, usually so exciting, now seemed ominous; a suggestion of distant places that offered nothing but war and the separation of their family. Maybe even death. This might well be the last time the three of them would be together as a family; tomorrow one of them would be forfeit.
Jacob’s plan had horrified Bella, as he knew it would, but as Bettine’s father he couldn’t stand by and let her be taken away from her home to who knew what kind of a future. In fact, the likelihood was that her future would be a very short one if she were dragged into this war.
“How you know they believe you Jacob?” Bella’s voice was soft and quiet; too much crying had given her a raw throat.
“They’ll have no choice.” He lay on his side so he could look into her eyes. “The records will prove everything if I tell them where to look. It’ll work, honey.” He kissed her cheek.
“Dad, I don’t think I can go through with this. I don’t want to be away from you.” Bettine had begun to quietly cry again, her eyes red and swollen.
Jacob could see his daughter’s condition under the bright moon and his heart felt like it was being torn from his body. This was his little lady and he might never see her grow up to be the adult he knew she would become. How he hated war and the strife that came with it!
“You’re strong, Bettine, and you’ll be fine. We’ve raised you well and I’m proud of you. Everything will be OK.” He didn’t believe it for a minute, but as he shifted to look into his daughter’s eyes, he couldn’t imagine telling her what he really expected would happen in their future. It was a future not to be dwelt upon.
Rising to his feet, Jacob grabbed the hands of his wife and daughter and pulled them up too, “Let’s go down and eat. It’ll be dawn soon and we’ll have to get the animals ready for tomorrow’s collection.”

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As the sun broke over the horizon there was a palpable feeling of expectation all around. Even the animals in their pens seemed to feel it, prancing about and clearly jittery; today would be a special day and somehow the world knew it. When Jacob and Bettine walked down to the pens, the blues and greens ahead of them seemed agitated and were milling around uncertainly and seemingly mirroring the emotions of the father and daughter.
“Give them their feed but not too much. Once those ships start zooming around space the crew won’t be very happy if these guys have full bellies. It could get very messy up there.” Jacob was trying to get his daughter to crack a smile, but there was little hope of that and they both knew it; still, it was worth the try. Bettine headed off to the feed barn, her head hanging low.
From behind him, Jacob heard an electric buzzing noise, and he turned to see a long row of trailers being pulled behind a powerful hover cart. They were heading past his farm towards Dale and Blake’s properties to collect their Tokens. He was pleased for them, knowing that they would both be able to make the payment that was due them. In fact to his knowledge his would be the only farm that would fall short. He didn’t bear any of his fellow farmers a grudge, as they had to take care of their families first. If they didn’t have enough extra animals to help him out, then so be it.
A few minutes passed and then he saw another series of trailers heading down the hill towards his own farm; the time was here. He knew he had the resolve to go through with this, but he was hard pressed to overcome the fear of loss that was almost overpowering him. Bella must have seen them, too, as she was running over from the house. When she reached him she threw herself into his arms and he could see she was only stopping herself from crying by strength of will.
“Please, don’t do this Jacob!”
“What are my options Bella? We don’t have a choice; our decision is made for us. Please try to understand.” He was fighting back his own tears so he gently pushed away from her to get busy with something so he could succeed. “Why don’t you go and help out Bettine? She’s over by the feed barn.” She left him and he walked over to meet the men stepping out of the cart that had pulled up.
“You are Jacob?” The voice was cold and officious. The man, along with his two comrades, was in a grey uniform that was of a military style. However, Jacob knew it as a design used only by those working for the Suppliers and their other divisions, such as these Collectors. Not really officers in any military sense, these men still had attitudes suggesting they were aware of their positions of power. Jacob could also quickly tell that they were not entirely pleased with their lot in life and would be happy taking it out on anyone that gave them any trouble.
“Yes, sir.” Jacob didn’t see any reason not to be polite; after all there was still a chance, small though it was, that the Collectors might actually act with a little compassion. He almost laughed out loud at his own naivete. He realized there was more chance of the war ending today than these men would show any humanity towards him. The rules were clear and the Token was theirs to collect; now!
“Your Token is due and we are here to legally obtain it in the name of the Suppliers on pain of forfeit.” It was the standard statement of power and intent that Jacob had heard many times before. However, this was the first time that he’d felt frightened on hearing the words. The man looked down at a hand held computer which clearly gave him all the information he needed with a few finger taps. “You must provide us with seventy adult blues and sixty adult greens. All must be in good health and stand over eighteen hands at the shoulder. We will start loading them on the trailers now. You will help.” Jacob thought he sounded more like a machine than a man.
His initial reaction was to bridle at the man’s rude nature, but he held himself back knowing the man was just doing his job in a fashion that, maybe the Collector felt, was just being efficient. Jacob also realized that this man must have had to deal with many people who had tried to argue or had even become violent when their Token was due, especially if, like him, they could not fill it.
“My daughter and I will gladly help you.” He still felt it might be worth being polite, but his slim belief in the chance of any compassion from these men was almost gone now. “It looks like she’s finished feeding the blues so why don’t we start with them?” Bettine was dragging a bag of feed to the far pen holding the greens, her mother behind with another bag.
The men wheeled one large trailer over to the gate of the closest pen, which Jacob opened and from which he began to herd his animals. As he did so, the two men without the computer checked each animal for overall health and measured their height. As they nodded their approval the other, clearly in charge, tapped into his computer and nodded at Jacob to bring another animal out. As the job progressed, Jacob felt himself become more and more nervous. His feelings were well founded as he discovered when the last of the blues was loaded into the third trailer they had wheeled up.
The man with the computer looked over at Jacob and frowned. “You’re short by two blues. Do you have more somewhere else?”
Jacob felt his stomach knot, “No sir, that was the last of the adults except for the minimum we would need to breed back up for the next Token.”
“Let’s move on to the greens and if we can come up with..” He tapped for a second before looking back up at Jacob. “With three extra greens we’ll call your Token fulfilled.” He moved off without waiting for Jacob’s reaction and had the other men return the trailers with the blues on board up to the cargo vessel. In a few minutes they returned with new trailers they drove over to Jacob’s far pens where he housed his greens.
Jacob heard the head Collector speak into a device attached to his shoulder, “When you’ve done loading Cargo 2, come to our position. We’re loading the last of this farmer’s stock, but we’re at capacity now. I’m expecting at least sixty animals more and you’ll have to take them on board.”
A voice came back, “Affirmative, we’re almost through here. We’ll be at your position in about ten minutes, out”
Jacob looked over at his daughter, “Bettine, take over for me helping these gentlemen. I need to go back to the house for something.” He turned towards his house ignoring the suspicious look on the face of the man in charge. He also had to turn his back on the pained look on Bettine’s face. Bella came over and walked back with him, her arm around his waist.
When they got to the house she kissed him with all the passion she could muster then helped him put a large backpack across his shoulders. They heard a loud throbbing noise followed by a blast of air and they walked outside to see another huge vessel settle just uphill from the first. They then walked back to the pens and, dropping the bag down at his wife’s feet, Jacob relieved his daughter and finished ushering the last few greens out of their paddock. As he was herding them towards the trailer he saw Blake walking up.
“How’s it going, Jacob.” He asked gently.
Jacob knew his friend was trying to be understanding, as Blake knew as well as he that with the events of the last few days he’d lost enough animals that his Token might not be met.
“Hi Blake. Not too well at the moment but we’ll see. What about you?”
Blake looked relieved, “Oh, came through by the skin of our teeth. We were lucky. It’ll be hard to get ready for the next Token. One of the others had a problem though. Hadley fell short, and Collectors took his son, Sean. Horrible, he’s only eleven...”
“Fifty seven.” The man’s voice broke into the friend’s conversation and it sounded strange. Jacob, his senses heightened in his precarious position, heard many things in it. The man was angry, but also sad and resigned. Obviously the man realized what he would now have to do, didn’t enjoy it, and was not looking forward to the reaction the parents would have when he took their child. “You don’t have enough greens even if you hadn’t been short with your blues. You’re short by a total of five animals. What can you do about that?” All three uniformed men were standing in a group staring at Jacob. He noticed that they had all pulled out small weapons from somewhere; and though they were not pointing them at him, their intent was clear. They would not leave empty handed.
Bella put her hand on Jacob’s arm and looked up at him pleadingly. “Please, Jacob, can’t we give them some of animals from the barns?” She sounded desperate and indeed Jacob knew she was as her accent was increasing as it always did when she became stressed. They had discussed this at length lying under the stars, and they knew that the remaining animals were the bare minimum they would need to re-stock their farm.
“Bella, darling, you know that would only be postponing the inevitable. We have no choice.” He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, and turned to the man in charge. “Sir, is there anything you can do to overlook this and allow us to make up the difference at the next Token?” It was worth a shot.
The man seemed about to laugh but then his face became sadly stern again. Jacob guessed the man must have realized this was a traumatic situation, one of almost certain life and death for this family. “That is not remotely possible. We’re not in the business of extending deadlines. This war would be lost very quickly if everyone offered up their Token only when it suited them. No, I’m sorry but you must meet the terms of agreement. Your daughter is forfeit.”
Though Bella and Jacob had expected this, hearing the words spoken aloud by someone who had the power to make it happen rocked the very ground they stood on. Bella fell to her knees and both Jacob and Bettine rushed to her.
“Wait!” Jacob stood up from his wife’s side and addressed the three men. “If I can give you and the Suppliers something more valuable than my daughter or the missing blues and greens would you list our Token as paid and leave my daughter in her home?”
The man looked with annoyance and skepticism at Jacob, but must have decided he had nothing to lose, “I can do that...if it’s worth my efforts. What can you give me?”
“I can give you myself. My real name is Steen. Marel Steen. Please check in your database under the listing for absent officers. When you get the information let me know.” Jacob waited, hugging his family. He could tell the man wanted to just ignore his demand and take Bettine, but there was also a look of interest on his face. He tapped the keys and then looked up at Jacob. He held the small piece of electronics up in front of him in line with Jacob. He was obviously comparing Jacob’s face with that of the one attached to the name of Marel Steen.
“You certainly look like him.” He was getting excited. “You look a lot older...oh, wait!” He looked back at the screen. “This was taken over ten years ago.”
Blake had been silent till now, “What’s this Jacob? What’s going on?”
Jacob ignored his friend. “Let me prove it’s me.” Jacob walked slowly, hands in the open so as not to have any trigger fingers do anything hasty, and placed his thumb on the screen. After a second he stepped away again. The man looked up and his face showed a range of emotions at the same time. He was surprised, pleased, and greedy. While his companions now pointed their weapons at Jacob, their leader turned to them and spoke. Jacob and the others could not hear all he said, but what did come to their ears told them why the man was so pleased. There was a bounty for the return of Marel Steen.
“Your Token is fulfilled and your daughter can stay with his mother. However, Steen, you are under arrest for evasion and dereliction of your duties as a military officer. You will come with us peacefully or I may change my mind about your daughter. Understand?” Jacob nodded his agreement.
Blake stepped forward and tried to intervene, “Wait a minute, what’s…” The Collectors pointed their weapons at him and ordered him away. He hesitated, not sure what to do, but Jacob spoke up.
“Please, Blake, everything will be fine. Just take care of Bella and Bettine for me.” With those words he took a last look at his family, sitting forlorn in the dirt. He threw the backpack almost casually over his shoulder then walked willingly up the hill and into the enormous vessel. Once the rest of the trailers carrying the animals had been loaded aboard the second ship they both took off in a cloud of dust.
As Blake looked up at the vanishing ship, he heard a low pitiful moan escape from Bella’s lips, and he turned just as she fainted across her daughter’s lap. She had, in one moment, lost her husband to the same fate that had been reserved for her daughter; removal from the family and almost assured death far away.


Twenty One


“My God, Bella, what’s going on?” Blake was holding a clay cup of water to her lips while she still sat in the dirt. “Who’s this Steen person and what has he to do with Jacob?” He was close to panic with concern for his friend.
“My dad was Marel Steen.” Bettine had spoken on behalf of her mother who was staring, open mouthed, into the sky where her husband had been taken from her.
“But I’ve known him for years as Jacob the farmer. What does all this mean? Isn’t there anything we can do?” He sounded as wounded as if it had been his own brother taken.
Bella spoke quietly, “Blake, you’re my husband’s friend, but are things he never told even you, things he couldn’t say or you might have found yourself in trouble some time too.” She stopped to take another drink then went on. “When I met him he was officer in Intelligence Section. He make decisions on which troops should be sent and where based on information from spies, friendly civilians, and so on. After many years he just couldn’t take it more. He knew he was really just sending thousands of people to deaths.” She walked back into the house holding her son’s hand. Blake followed close by. Once inside she sat down at the table and began to cry silently. Blake sat next her and tried to soothe her.
Bettine carried on the story she had only learned the night before out on the rooftop. “This was in the last war; the one that my dad says was really what caused this one to start, before I was even born. Anyway, that’s when he says he started to become a non-tech and to hate war. When the last war ended he had done real well for them so they let him retire. When this new war started he was told to become a soldier again, but he didn’t want to. He went away with mum before the army could find him and they changed their names and became farmers here.”
“Since then we’ve tried forget about past and that army would be searching for Jacob,” Bella was in control of herself again. “Was really no way that they ever could found him and we thought we’d be safe here forever. Those damn monsters up the hill changed all!” Her anger got the better of her and she slammed the cup she was holding onto the table shattering it, spilling water all over. “What we do now?”
Blake suddenly jumped to his feet frightening both of the others at the table with him. “I have idea; come with me.”
He ran outside and through the farmyard, mother and daughter following at his heels. They ran past the now empty pens and further down the hill onto their neighbor’s land. They were almost ready to drop from their exertions by the time they reached a wooden farmhouse similar in most respects to the one they had just left.
Blake knocked on the door but before it had even been opened he was pushing it inward and walking briskly inside. Bettine and Bella followed and as they stepped inside they saw that Carlee had come from a back room to see who her rude guests were. She opened her mouth to speak but Blake spoke first.
“Please Carlee, excuse us barging in, but we really need your help.” Without waiting for any response from the surprised looking woman he went on. “Can you contact your father for us? It’s a matter of life and death, literally.” He looked at her in earnest and her face showed no hesitation or questioning now.
“Of course, wait here.” She walked off to the room she had appeared from and went out of sight. They could hear her talking, Dale’s voice weakly responded questioningly, then she spoke again. When she reappeared, she had the radio her father had smuggled to her and that had been of so much help to them all recently. On seeing it, both Bettine and Bella immediately recognized why Blake had led them here. They hoped the radio would now be as useful again.
Bella was very impressed with the change that had come over Carlee in these last few days. She knew that previously Carlee would have had little interest in helping anyone else and would certainly have demanded to know more details before she would even consider it. Now she just played with the dials and spoke clearly into it.
“Daddy, are you there? Please respond if you can hear me, it’s important.” She tried twice more, and just as they were all about to give up they heard a little static then a familiar male voice came across the void.
“Carlee? What’s the matter? Are you OK?” Marshall’s voice betrayed his concern.
“Yes, I’m fine, but I want you to speak with one of the other farmers. Here’s Blake.” She handed the radio over without a further word or any hesitation.
Blake spoke quickly. “Sir, Collectors have just left, and have taken two of our people with them. One is Jacob, the man you spoke with and helped your pirates get their job done. We are asking you, please find way to help us to help them.” He stopped not sure if there was anything else to be said. He heard Carlee hugging and consoling Bella now that she knew what the emergency was.
Marshall spoke back, “Jacob? I thought it was his daughter who’d be taken. What happened?” His confusion was somewhat cleared up when Blake brought him up to date on the events of that day and how Jacob’s past had tied in.
“I thought that man sounded too organized and efficient in a time of stress to be just a farmer; meaning no offence to you and your community, Blake.”
“None taken, sir.”
“Who’s the other person you mentioned?” asked Marshall.
“One of the farmer’s sons, an eleven-year-old boy named Sean,” replied Blake.
“Let me see what I can do. Wait with my daughter and I’ll contact you as soon as I have something to tell you.” He broke the connection and then all they could hear was static.
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As the massive Collector cargo vessels broke out of the planet’s atmosphere and into orbit, their fighter escorts adjusted positions to provide a defensive shield for the groups last trip. The various cargoes they had collected over the last weeks had finally filled these vessels, and it was time to take the trip to their unloading points. The live cargoes were always the last to be collected so they would be fresh and healthy when they were delivered, so this had been the final stop. Time to go.
“Lieutenant Clayton, please dial in the final co-ordinates to the fleet.” The captain was clearly already imagining feasting on some of the fresh meat they had on board, and his drooling face was making Clayton squirm in disgust.
“Co-ordinates have been sent to all vessels, and we have received confirmation from each saying they are ready for the shift. Waiting on your command, sir.” Clayton was too professional to show his true feelings, and in any case this would be the last time he’d have to see this poor excuse of a captain.
“Very well, let’s go.” He casually waved his arm in Clayton’s direction, and the tall, thin man took that as his order to shift for their long trip back. In an instant all the craft winked out of space and were gone.
In his pocket, Clayton could feel an insistent vibration from the small radio receiver. Never knowing when it might pick up a call, he always had with him, though muted and for that he was grateful now, as he was standing only a few feet from his captain. The problem was that his place was here until all vessels reported back that the shift had been successful, and all were heading to the correct location. There was no way he could return the call till that happened, and he couldn't rush the procedures without bringing suspicion onto himself. Whoever it was, presumably Marshall, would have to wait.

----------------------------------

“I’m not able to get hold of the one person who could help you. I’m sorry, but until I can reach my contact, Jacob and Sean are on their own. I’ve left a message for him should he be able to pick it up. Thanks to Drake’s insistence he’s expecting to be bringing out Bettine, so we’ll see what he does when he finds Sean and Jacob there instead.” Marshall was obviously saddened that he had not been able to reach Clayton in person.
Bella sank into a chair at Carlee’s dining table, “What now?” She felt defeated.
Blake was on the radio with Marshall relaying the information to the others. He asked the same question of the man on the other end of the line.
Marshall replied, “At this point, all we can do is wait and I can keep trying to reach him. I promise I’ll call back as soon as I have anything to tell you. I must go now. Please give my love to Carlee.”
The connection died and Blake passed the radio and the message to Carlee. She waived the radio off telling Blake to give it to Bella for now so she would have it close if any information came in. After surprising them all again by coming over and hugging Bella, she excused herself and went back to the bedroom to tend to Dale.
“Blake, we’ve some work to do on farm. Would you spend a little time to help Bettine and me?” Bella’s voice had taken on a tough edge. She knew there was nothing that could be done right now, and so life would have to go on. “We still have animals penned in raising and birthing barns; animals should be moved out to open air pens since now creatures gone. We have to take care of the stock left.” She walked off, the man and young girl following her.


Twenty Two


Jacob was sitting on a hard chair and feeling miserable. Once on board the Collector vessel he had been forced into a small room that he knew wasn’t reserved for esteemed guests. It had probably been used for some kind of living space in the past, but now it was just bare metal. He knew it was now basically a cell. He had lived the life of a peaceful farmer for many years but now his history as a warring man had come back to haunt him. He couldn’t stop thinking about the family he’d just left behind; maybe never to see them again.
There was nothing that he could do to change his situation. That was the irony. He felt he could use some of his experience and possibly escape, but he knew that as soon as he did his daughter would become forfeit to the Suppliers again. No, he would just have to go along for the ride and bear the consequences whatever they might be. He didn’t know if they would send him to the front lines to be slaughtered or try to enlist his help doing what he had done so well for them in the past. Either way he would be lost to his family and they to him.
He could feel the change in the rhythm of the ship’s engines when it shifted and knew with every passing second he was now moving farther away from his home at speeds beyond the comprehension of his non-tech colleagues. His heart grew heavy with the realization; but before he had time to dwell more on his situation, he heard an odd noise. It sounded like someone crying. He stood and walked the two steps from chair to metal door then looked through the heavy-duty mesh in the top half. Across the corridor he saw another door like his, and he called out over the whine of the ship’s engines.
“Who’s there? Can you hear me?” He strained his ears and was rewarded when the sobs came to a halt and a small face appeared at the mesh opposite him. He thought he recognized it. “You’re Hadley’s boy aren’t you?”
A small scared voice replied, “Yes, sir. I’m Sean. You’re Bettine’s dad, right? What are you going to do now?” His voice betrayed the fact that he had glimpsed some hope in improving his situation. His tone said that this was a grown up that he knew and surely he could expect some help from him.
Jacob picked up on this sense in the boy’s words and didn’t know whether to be honest or just try to make the boy feel better with some well-chosen words. He compromised, “I don’t know what to do yet, but let’s keep thinking and we’ll see if we can’t come up with something, OK?” It was weak but it was all he could think of.
Sean said, “Yes, sir.”
“Please, while we’re here can you try to call me Jacob?” The boy nodded in agreement.
A loud noise, a door opening and closing to his left, interrupted his thoughts and he craned his neck trying to see what was going on. A man apparently in his twenties appeared and came up to Jacob’s door. He was wearing a uniform showing he was an officer of middle rank belonging to some kind of security arm of the forces. So many things had changed since Jacob had been active, and this war was so much more expansive than those before that he wasn’t surprised he didn’t recognize the uniform, rank, or the insignia.
“Marel Steen?” The man’s voice was stern and curt. He looked down at a hand held device waiting for Jacob’s response. When it didn’t come he looked up. “Well?”
“Yes. And who are you?”
“That is none of your business, traitor!” He had raised his voice and Jacob was shocked at the man’s apparent anger.
“What do you mean, traitor?” Jacob was outraged and he felt he had to defend himself. “I was never a traitor nor am I now.”
The man continued, “The information I have clearly shows that you ignored your summons to return to active duty as all citizens with military experience were ordered to do. That makes you a traitor.” He sounded smug and satisfied with his rebuttal. “And, since you asked who I am, I’ll tell you. I am Adjudicator Maken, and I serve the Suppliers as legal council on military matters. I just happened to be on board travelling to my next case. Since you and I are both here at the same time and your crime is so egregious, I have taken a direct interest in making sure justice is served in your case. I have contacted the powers in this arena and they have given me jurisdiction over you. During the time of our shift I will prepare the case against you. It doesn’t seem like it will be very hard to prove the kind of man you are.”
Jacob didn’t want to let this officious little man rattle him, but neither could he allow him to slur his name. “Let me tell you something, young man.” He actually enjoyed seeing the other man’s obvious annoyance at having his authority flouted.
Before the officer could interrupt Jacob continued. “I became a non-tech, as many others did, and simply chose not to return to a position that had forced me to choose which soldiers should die and when and where it would happen. That doesn’t make me a traitor; that makes me sane and honorable. If I had tried to file for non-tech dispensation people like you would have turned it down and put me under lock and key to stop me leaving. I chose the only way I could in order to follow my conscience. For that I’m neither ashamed nor am I a traitor.” He was suddenly aware that the officer in front of him was staring and he realized he had just given an impromptu and impassioned speech. Clearly the younger man had only expected simple denials, and so now he seemed a little stumped.
“Regardless of your beliefs,” he seemed to find his focus again by looking down at the small screen in his hand, “you are still classified as a deserter. As such you are liable, if found guilty since this is wartime, to receive the only fair and just penalty for your crimes, death.” He looked expectantly up into Jacob’s face but seeing no apparent reaction went on. ”I’ll leave you for a short while to think about your position, and when I return maybe your attitude will have become more respectful. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other over the next few days.”


Twenty Three

Everything was in readiness. Drake’s ship had arrived at the agreed upon co-ordinates ahead of the Collector vessel by several hours as Marshall had predicted. During that time, the pirates had prepared everything so that the surprise would be complete. However, Drake realized that no matter how much preparation he and his crew had gone through, the success or failure of this raid was reliant on Marshall’s spy. If he failed to bring the ship to this spot there would be nothing to attack; if the vessel arrived but its escort of fighters also showed up, then Drake knew this would be his last day to be alive or free. Even if everything went well to that point, Drake was still relying heavily on the spy to reduce the defensive capabilities of the vessel from the inside. As tough as his own ship was, he knew that under normal circumstances it would not have the sustained fire-power to stop a fully secure Collector cargo vessel before it could send out a distress call for help and maybe even to receive that help.
Drake sat on the bridge of the Harpy feeling a little nervous and tried to hide it by being curt, “Taren, how’s it going?”
As the cargo bay door slid home and the seal was confirmed Taren responded to his captain over the intercom, “Everything has gone as you ordered thus far, captain. The men are in place and they’ll wait for further orders before moving. I think this’ll work well so long as the spy comes through for us.”
“My thoughts exactly, Taren. Come back up here and let’s be ready.” He turned to one of his men standing at a bank of dials and lights. “I want long range sensors wide open. No surprises. When they’re about to show up I want as much warning as possible, understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Now what he had to do was to wait. Drake wasn’t very good at that under normal circumstances, but now it was even harder; if all went well in the next few hours he and his men would have the chance to live like kings. The cargo on that vessel was more than just livestock of blues and greens, though they alone would bring in a fortune on the black market. No, this ship had picked up much more than just animals on its last few planet stops. What Drake was really expecting to make a killing on were the weapons stored on board that he would sell through his many connections.
These weapons were a generation ahead of anything the “enemy” had; he and his men had just found that to be true from personal experience against the Hoppers. Drake didn’t care how long this war went on or who won in the end just so long as he could make a handsome profit. Selling Supplier weapons to those they were supposed to be used against would make him rich beyond even a pirate’s dreams. This was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. That’s why he was so nervous, especially since he had to rely so heavily on someone he didn’t even know to do something integral to their success.
He shifted in his seat and to keep himself occupied, said to his com officer, “Open a line to the men outside.”
“Line open, captain.”
“Cale, can you read me?”
There was a slight pause in which Drake imagined the worse, then Cale’s voice came to him loud and clear, “Captain, all’s fine out here. We’re just waiting on your word.”
“As soon as we spot them we’ll cut off all radios and flash our starboard landing lights twice to confirm with you their approach is imminent. When you see the escape pod break away from their hull you and your men move in. The prepared entry points will be the only ones lit by violet strobe lights so you can’t miss them. Remember, we must have the ship intact and capable of shifting so take care where and what you shoot. Clear?”
“Clear, captain,” came the confident voice. “Cale, out.”
That was it, nothing else to do but try to be patient.

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“Sir, all the other vessels have given their confirmation. Everyone is on the correct path to our destination with no deviations or problems.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant Clayton. You may leave your post now; I’m sure you’d like some fresh meat, I know I would. I’ll be in the mess to join you shortly.” His fat cheeks gave the impression he was always filled to capacity, but Clayton knew from experience that his superior could never eat enough.
He took his chance to get off the bridge, “Yes, sir, thank you. See you in the mess then.” He walked slowly to the steps though inside he wanted to run. Once off the bridge he did move faster since no one was around. In the elevator he descended the three floors to the habitation level. Walking into his private room, one of the perks of being an officer, he reached under his bunk and pulled out a small bag he had packed earlier. Leaving everything but these few things was easy, as where he was going he could buy anything he wanted, fancy clothes, beautiful women, anything at all. He would leave this rotten place and this evil war far behind. Marshall had seen to everything.
He trusted that Marshall’s word would be as good now as it had been in the past. Clayton had spied for him since this war had begun and neither had let the other down in all that time. Maybe he didn’t like Marshall very much, but at least the manufacturer was fair with those that did their work well. And Clayton had done his work well. Over the years he had helped Marshall increase his worth ten times through diverting supplies, increasing payments for goods, making sure Marshall got contracts others should have received, and many other things besides. He had been paid well and with Marshall’s help had set himself up handsomely. With the payment he would get for this last job he would never have to risk himself again, and he would be far away from this war.
Marshall had planned this very quickly; but with Clayton helping on the inside using his position of trust on the ship, things looked basically foolproof. It had been like any business deal for Marshall. Clayton had seen him work miracles before and this was no different. Marshall had wanted to save his daughter from some kind of creatures on the planet where she lived. He’d contracted some pirates he’d used before and trusted to do the clean up, and as with any contract job they were to be paid highly. The contents of this Collector vessel were to be theirs and in order to make sure they got them, Marshall had made sure Clayton had been the one sitting in position of Navigation Officer. From there it had been easy.
“During your shift to the Teldar system get everything ready,” Marshall had said when Clayton had found time alone between work periods to safely use his radio. ”The pirates will be relying on you, and I’ve made certain promises to them.”
“Very well, what can I do to help them?” Clayton just wanted everything to go smoothly so he could get to safety and his money.
Marshall carried on, “Prepare the co-ordinates for all vessels except yours correctly; you and Cargo 1 go to these when you leave Teldar.“ He had read off a string of numbers. “Next, you must arrange for all outer lighting to go down on arrival except the access hatches that need violet strobes. Are you with me so far?”
“It won’t be easy getting it all set up without getting caught, but I’ll have plenty of time to get the programs ready, then when the time is right I can initiate everything with the flick of a switch.” His tone indicated that he was excited at the prospect of pulling off something as daring as this.
“You must also have the hull shields pulled down, but without any alerts going off. Also, create a diversion somewhere so the security forces are busy with something on board when things start to happen. I don’t think I need to remind you to have a pod ready for your escape, do I?”
Clayton couldn’t help but smile, “I think I’ll remember that without too much trouble. Don’t worry, I’ll contact you if I’m having problems with any of this but I think it should go just fine.”
After that all had indeed gone well and little by little Clayton had got all the details worked out. The only hiccup came when Marshall had called him about the girl Bettine who was to be rescued. He didn’t like the idea of being a rescuer and babysitter but he didn’t see that he had much of a choice in the matter since the man who would be paying him had made this particular demand. The call had been interrupted and he’d received no further details. He assumed it would have something to do with someone missing their Token and more information would show up if, and when, he was fortunate.
Now the time of his escape was imminent and he needed to find the girl Marshall wanted. After the last of the animals had been loaded and the ship was on its way he’d luckily heard some of the men talking about a kid from the animal planet being pressed into service. He also heard about some deserter being in lock up in the old habitation level, and though he wasn’t interested in him, he knew that the girl would be down there too. So, with the small bag over one shoulder, he headed to the elevator, the computer key he had so laboriously worked on during their long last shift safely carried in his pocket. Once he had the girl he could enter the pod and prepare for his freedom.
Nervous about being discovered he forced himself to remember he was wearing an officers uniform, and it would be unlikely for anyone to question him, even if found on one of the old decks. These large cargo vessels had many levels and only the top few were for ship personnel, the rest were for storage needs. The old habitation level was due to be upgraded to more storage since many crew positions had been replaced by even more automation. He thought that if someone did question him he could always say he was just curious about the traitor, and he wanted to look at a man who would probably be executed when they reached their destination. That was certainly plausible. He couldn’t waste time though, as he had to be in his pod as soon as the ship came out of shift, which he knew, was only minutes away. Once that happened there’d be a lot of trouble for him if he were still on board.
Once the elevator doors opened he headed down the corridor to where it came to a junction. To the left the changes to the old quarters had already begun, and most of the bulkheads had been removed to create larger areas for bulky cargo. To the right the rooms had been gutted but their skeletons were still intact; he went quietly, but quickly that way. He could not see or hear any guards, but he needed no surprises.
“Hello, guards.” Nothing. “Guards!” Again nothing.
He began looking into each room as he passed by. Eventually he came to a door that was locked from the outside, and looking inside, he saw a small body, head down apparently quietly crying. The girl was clearly afraid and Clayton tried to soothe her as he fumbled to unlock the simple bolt holding the door fast. “Don’t worry, Bettine, I’m not here to harm you. I’m going to get you out and back to your parents.”
A small voice rose to his ears as he opened the door, “I’m Sean. Bettine isn’t here, sir.”
Clayton was flustered. The voice he heard, though high, was clearly that of a boy! How many kids could there be down here? Then he recalled that he’d heard about only one child being brought on board with no description of whether it was a boy or girl, he’d just made an assumption it was the girl he was looking for. Then he heard a deep voice from behind him. Great! This was just the kind of delay he needed, he thought sarcastically.
“Bettine is my daughter, sir. How do you know her name and why are you looking for her? What do you mean you’re here to save her?” Jacob was standing up; his face pushed up to the screen, confusion and hope showing on his face.
“I don’t have time for this, I have to leave. I was told to collect a girl named Bettine and if she’s not here then I’m leaving now.” He turned to go, but halted when Jacob spoke next.
“Did Marshall tell you to save her?” It was a guess but it was the only thing that really made sense under the circumstances.
“How do you know Marshall?” Clayton was confused and very suspicious now; he half expected this to be some kind of trap.
“Marshall just helped rid my world of some creatures that were killing our animals. I saved the life of one of the pirates he’d hired to do the killing and this pirate, a man named Drake, said he would try to save my daughter. We’d failed to meet our Token and Bettine was to be pressed by the Collectors. I’m guessing that Drake asked Marshall as he knew that would be the best way of helping Bettine.”
“OK, then where is Bettine?” He was still confused but he didn’t feel suspicious anymore as this man’s story made too much sense and fit the facts, at least as far as Clayton knew them.
“When she was to be taken I offered to go in his place, as I’m a wanted man worth more than my daughter. They accepted and here I am. Sean’s father also failed to meet the Token and so Sean was forfeit. Since Marshall told you to save Bettine and she’s not here I’m sure he’d want you to take us.”
“Those aren’t my orders.” He was becoming increasingly torn. He knew his time was almost up, and yet he felt for this man and the boy. Suddenly, a thought came to him. The radio call! He had never thought to check for any message that had arrived while he had been on the bridge. Realistically it could have only been Marshall, but he had been too busy to think about it. He reached into his pocket and looked at the device, pressed a few buttons and held it to his ear. Marshall’s clear voice came to him and he listened intently for a moment.
“You’re a lucky man, Jacob. It always helps to be friends with someone like Marshall.” He opened both doors letting Sean and Jacob out. “Come on, we have to hurry. Both of you stay close to me.” They ran to the elevator and while waiting for the doors to open Clayton suddenly felt the ship come out of shift and knew their time was up.

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Throughout the Cargo 1 a siren wailed and the captain rushed to the bridge. He was angry, mainly because he had just ordered for one of the blues to be slaughtered and prepared for his table. The last thing he needed right now was some false alarm to disturb him and his meal.
As he entered the bridge he knew immediately this was no false alarm or drill. Men were running around shouting questions and orders, punching buttons, and adjusting dials, it was pandemonium.
“Be quiet!” The captain roared above the noise, silence falling around him as everyone turned to stare at the unusual outburst. “What’s going on?” He looked at the officer he’d left in charge of the bridge while he was away.
“Sir, I don’t really know what to say. We can’t explain it.” He stammered with the fear of telling his superior that he couldn’t really answer the question and that a problem had occurred on his watch.
The captain was getting angrier, “Then don’t explain it, just tell me what “it” is and do it now before I strangle someone.”
“Sir, we just came out of shift ahead of schedule. As soon as we did our sensors showed we were not only off target, but also alone. The rest of the convoy, including our fighter escorts, is no longer with us. Also, we’ve just detected another vessel below us. It seems to be a small, long-range patrol vessel that’s had some modifications done; stronger hull plating, and apparently, more powerful than usual weapons for its size. We think it might be a pirate vessel though it hasn’t made any aggressive move towards us yet.” He finished his report with a large intake of breath glad to get all the words out.
“What does Mr. Clayton have to say about our location? In fact, where is he? He should be here by now.” He looked around the bridge, his fat face red with anger.
“Mr. Clayton hasn’t responded to our call, and he didn’t show up in the mess.”
“What? Get security out looking for him. Now!”

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As they traveled quickly down through the many levels in the huge cargo ship, Clayton inserted the computer key into the control terminal on the wall of the elevator. Pressing the buttons with a practiced speed that Jacob’s eyes could not begin to follow, Clayton instructed the key to download and initiate its pre-programmed orders. As he was finishing he felt something odd through his feet.
“We just opened fire! I may have downloaded this too late.”
“Why didn’t you do it sooner?” was Jacob’s reasoned response.
“Because I didn’t want to run the risk of someone discovering the program if they were doing any computer maintenance sweeps. This ship’s weapons aren’t that powerful so let’s just hope for the best and keep going.”
“We don’t have a choice anyway so we’re with you.” Jacob patted Clayton on the shoulder in a gesture of friendship.
Clayton looked gratefully at the farmer and went on, “OK, we’ve only got a couple of minutes to make sure we’re off this vessel before the pirates get in. Once in they’ll kill everyone left on board. So we need to move quickly. I was only expecting two of us in the pod so it’ll be a bit tight for the three of us. That’s just tough, so no complaining.”
They had reached the lowest level and exited the elevator into a corridor with flashing red lights along the ceiling and floor. On either side of the corridor were small panels each consecutively numbered. These were the emergency escape pods. Each held life support, food, and water for several days plus enough propulsion to get them away from immediate danger, but not enough of a fuel store to travel more than a day at high speed.
Jacob put his hand on Clayton’s arm as he was punching keys on one of the panels. “What pirates?”
“I assume they’re the same ones that Marshall hired to rid your world of your little problem. This ship and its cargo is their payment.” The panel opened and he climbed up one step into the pod.
Jacob continued, “But how are they going to get in? I remember that these vessels have fighter escorts plus internal security forces. They’re designed to get their cargo to its destination whatever gets in its way.”
“That’s what that computer key was for. I’m pretty handy when it comes to programming and re-programming.” He sounded pleased with himself. “That’s one of the main reasons Marshall has been happy to pay me so well over the years. Anyway, as we speak, my work over the last few days is now affecting virtually every system on board. I have to make sure the pirates take this ship with only minimal resistance, and make sure we aren’t here when they board us. We…”
Jacob held his hand up in a gesture meant to hold Clayton from carrying on. “I know how to use these pods. Why don’t I take the boy with me?”
“The pirates have been told to expect a pod that has a homing beacon signaling at a specific frequency and destroy anything else that tries to get away. Marshall can’t afford any of this crew living to tell what happened to this ship. Also, we’re only going to be in the pod for a few minutes till the pirate ship picks us up. He’ll be transporting us back to your world, and then I’ll be taken on to my haven.” He was pressing buttons inside the pod and lights were coming to life. “Come on, get in.”
Jacob began helping Sean into the small pod but before the boy got in Clayton told them to wait a second.
“I guess I won’t be needing this anymore.” From out of the opening to the pod a jacket came flying landing on the hallway floor. “I’m done with that uniform and if I never see it again it’ll be too soon.”
Sean continued climbing into the pod and Jacob followed him. The door sealed behind them cutting off the loud sirens and flashing lights. The pod was quiet and very small; Jacob found his knees nearly touching the control panel. He tried shifting around and Sean sat on his lap, which made it a little more comfortable for all of them.
Jacob asked, “Won’t they know you’re powering this up and just override your commands?”
As Clayton continued he smiled and said, “No. Their systems are feeding them false information about all aspects of the ship to keep them confused. Also, by now, they know I must’ve been involved in our coming out of shift here so I made sure the door to my quarters was locked from the inside. When they come looking for me they’ll assume I’m still in there, and call security to break in and arrest me. That’ll waste enough time.” He smiled with apparent glee at his own cleverness. ”I also have some other surprises planned for the few men who might actually be trained well enough to give the pirates any trouble. The rest will be easy; they’re just fat flight crews.”
With a final check that everyone was strapped in as best they could be in the cramped space, Clayton threw a switch. The wall in front of them blew out, and the pod followed. All around them were stars and blackness except for the massive wall of the cargo ship falling behind them. Clayton pulled a small metal cylinder out of his bag and hit a button on its end.
“Now we just wait for the pirates to do their clean-up act, they’ll then come to this homing beacon, and we’ll be taken on board. Then we’ll be on our way. Easy.”


Twenty Four

“Captain!” The man’s voice was loud and excited. “Coming in now, dead ahead and right on target. They’ll break out of shift in thirty seconds.”
It wasn’t much of a warning but Drake knew that it was impossible to track a vessel in shift unless you knew exactly where they were to appear, then if you were lucky you might detect the rush of the energywave that preceded the vessel. He realized he should be pleased with even thirty seconds of notice.
“Flash the landing lights.”
“Done, sir.”
Then there, not more than two ship lengths in front of them, was a flash of light and the enormous cargo vessel appeared.
“What can you tell me?” His men knew what he was looking for and so their scans were already geared to gather that information.
One of the men at a console spoke up after a moment checking his readings. “Captain, they’re here alone and I can see nothing following behind them. It looks like our man did his job.”
“Captain,” another man said, “their shields are still up and all exterior lighting is operational. I believe their armament remains on-line too.”
“Damn, what’s going on? He should’ve been out of there by now with everything we expected already done.” The spy’s delay was becoming a thorn in Drake’s side though he had no idea it was because of Jacob.

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On the bridge, the captain had ordered security to find Clayton, and then proceeded to have all systems checked. He had also sent their position and a quick report of their problem, but it would take many hours before they could expect a response, and potentially days before help could arrive.
“Everything, other than our position, seems to be in order, sir”
“Very well. Is the pirate ship shielded and prepped to fire?” Since this was not a fighting vessel the captain knew that his best hope was to strike first, hope to disable the pirate ship, and then get moving quickly to narrow the distance that any help would have to cover to reach them.
“No, sir. They don’t seem to be expecting any resistance from us.”
“On my mark, fire a blast at their engines.” He waited only a few seconds to give his men time to prep their weapons; after all they had not been expecting to have to use them. “Mark!”

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A blast of light appeared on the screen in front of Drake. “Shields up!” As he shouted out his order he had a moment to see how foolish he’d been to trust someone else and allow himself to be expecting an easy and disabled target to come out of shift. He also had time to realize his order would come too late.
With that thought, a powerful explosion rocked his ship. For a second everything went dark then low lights, running on stored energy, came on.
“Report!” He was alive and his ship, though clearly hit, still sealed him and his men from the death of airless space.
“Our starboard engine has been hit but the emergency seals worked and contained our atmosphere. Shields are now up, and we should be able to resist any more shots from them.”
“Good,” he was relieved. “Open a line to Cale.”
“Open, captain.”
“Cale, are you OK?” He was worried the blast and any debris might have reached his men. On Drake’s orders, Taren had sent out five, two-man teams ready to ambush the expected vessel from several sides at once. While the Collectors would be concentrating their efforts on defending against the pirate vessel the ten men would gain access via openings created by the spy.
“We’re all fine, captain. What about radio silence?” He was annoyed at his captain and was in a precarious spot floating around in space where he didn’t feel like hiding his emotions.
Drake ignored the immediate rebuke that came to his lips, as he knew he had broken his own orders. “Cale, we hadn’t expected them to fire on us so the situation has changed somewhat and in any….” Another blast from the container vessel hit the Harpy, but was only felt slightly with their shields now up. “In any case we…”
A bridge member interrupted him. “Captain, the hull lights are off, shields are gone, and their weapons are powering down!”
The spy had finally done his job then. Drake silently thanked him for his success and, at the same time, cursed him for the delay. He wouldn’t forget the fear he had felt, and who, in the pirate’s mind, had caused it by being inefficient. “Can you see the strobes, Cale?” The line was still open.
“Yes, captain. We’re moving in now. Out.” The connection was broken.

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“Now what?” New alarms had sounded and the captain of the Cargo 1 was in shock. This wasn’t something he had been trained for. Emergencies and pirate ships were for soldiers to deal with. After the two shots his ship had been able to fire he was out of ideas, and now he had been told most of the ship’s systems were faulty or completely off-line.
“Sir, readings show the exterior access hatches on level twelve are being opened from outside. We may be experiencing a boarding!” The man’s voice was shaking with fear.
“Get a security detachment down there on the double.” The captain felt like he was losing control, and he hated the feeling; things were moving too fast for him now and he knew it.
“Tell them to report as soon as they get down there. I want to know what’s going on.”
His crew apprised him of the other malfunctions and shutdowns that seemed to be occurring to all of the important systems. Even their ability to move had now been taken from them. They were stuck here till help came, if they could last that long.
After a few moments a voice came over the speakers on the bridge, “Captain, Lieutenant Swit here sir. My men and I have entered the corridor that accesses all the exit hatches on level twelve and they’re all closed. There must have been an error in the readings. What would you….” His voice was broken off by a loud noise.
“Swit, come in!” His voice was rising higher in his panic.
The Lieutenant’s voice came back obviously frightened. “Sir, the corridor doors have sealed behind us and we can’t override the controls. It looks like the computer has been tampered with.”
Another noise came over the speakers. This was quieter than the last but more ominous, everyone recognized it. It was a mechanical voice repeating over and over something that the captain couldn’t make out.
“The hatches are opening! Oh, God, please close them!” The terror in Swit’s voice was compounded by the sound of the other security men’s screams as they were all instantly blown out to the cold of space.
Their pressure suits would keep them alive for no more than an hour and they all knew it. The sounds came through the bridge speakers and sent shivers down the spines of those on the bridge. The captain ordered the connection terminated and the sudden silence washed over the frightened remaining crewmembers.
A man at a bank of controls behind him said, “Sir, I can’t close the access hatches again.”
“Don’t worry about them now,” the captain almost screamed, “So long as the corridor door is locked no one can get in and we won’t be losing atmosphere either. Anyway, we’ve more important things to worry about.” He was looking up at his screen as the pirate ship began to move closer.

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Cale knew the Collectors would be too worried about the reducing distance between the two ships to scan for any tiny threats right under their nose. He was right. His men had been drifting under the bigger vessel when it appeared and hadn’t been noticed as they slowly moved closer to the hull. They were guided to the hatches by the planned violet strobes and there they had waited. Once they had seen the security team blast out of the hatches, they knew the way was clear for them to board in secrecy. Once inside, they used the code Marshall had given them to gain active control of the ship. The first thing Cale did was to close the hatches behind them. Once the seal had been confirmed and the atmosphere brought back to normal they all climbed out of their cumbersome suits and prepared for a scrap.
“Frem, you’re with me.” Cale pointed to a tall broad-shouldered man who stepped to his side. “Once I get this door open, all of you get going. You know your jobs, so do them and keep in touch with me.”
The nine men around him nodded their assent and stood, weapons in hand, ready for the doorway to open. Each of them had a smile that exuded confidence and a thrill about the coming hunt. Cale’s fingers hit the keys in a short sequence, and the door slid to the side with a quiet rasp.
“Get going!”
The men moved off in their teams of two surrounded by the blare of sirens and annoying red lights flashing overhead.
Cale and his partner headed for the bridge while the rest went to the engine room, living quarters, storage areas, and other parts of the ship where they expected to find crewmen. Their only job was to find and destroy everyone on board.
The Collector security teams had been split between investigating the outer hatch breach and trying to find a way to get Clayton out of his room. The first group were already out of the picture, and the last were shot down from behind just as they had finally cut through the steel door and found Clayton was not even there. Now only the regular crewmembers stood in their way and the pirates easily outmatched the unarmed and mostly overweight men.
Cale and Frem stepped cautiously from the elevator that had taken them to the level of the main bridge. They had not seen any life on board since separating from the other pirates but now was not the time to let down their guard. Cale had already received updates from all his men informing him that their missions had been almost completed. Now it was just a mopping up operation. No one on his team had been injured; Drake would be very pleased.
“Frem, we’re here. Go round to the other entrance and wait for my signal."
There were two doors to the bridge; Cale stood by one and Frem moved to the second. With a quiet word of warning over his radio to get ready, Cale pressed some buttons on a keypad and both doors slid open simultaneously. So much was happening on the bridge and so many people were talking at once, that the entry of the pirates went unnoticed for a moment. But only for a very short moment.
“Fire!” Cale leapt into the room his gun blazing. Frem followed his lead and also opened up on the thoroughly surprised crew and captain. With the first shot the pirates became the center of the Collectors’ attentions. However, seeing the pirates did nothing to help them deal with the situation. Unarmed and unprepared, all they gained from the sight was maybe a brief second to realize they were going to die. Within less than five seconds the two pirates were the only ones left alive in the Cargo 1’s command center.
In rapid succession the reports came in that no other crew members or security personnel were alive, and still none of the pirates had been injured. Amazing! Cale thought that maybe it was the recent practice against the Hoppers that had so improved these men’s close quarter fighting abilities. Maybe those weird creatures had been good for at least one thing after all. Once all the men had gathered on the bridge, Cale opened up communications and Drakes grinning face showed on the screen.
Cale grinned back. “Captain, the cargo vessel is ours.”


Twenty Five

The small pod hadn’t moved far from the cargo ship before Clayton shut down the engines and let the craft drift. When asked why, Clayton answered, “I think the Collectors will be quite busy with the pirates for a while, but I don’t want to take any chances. By now they must have a pretty good idea that I had something to do with this attack. If they track a pod from their own vessel, they’ll guess it’s me and try to do something to stop us. It’s just better they don’t know to even look for us.”
Sean was nervous, “But who’s going to find us out here?”
“This is a homing device,” Clayton held it out to the boy to look at, “and the pirates will pick us up when they’re through with the Collectors.”
Jacob had never been this close to a space battle and he felt grateful that it was apparently a short one. He had always felt his decision to stop sending men to war was a just one and this proximity to danger in the cold of space only reinforced it. The small pod was rocked by a shockwave when the cargo vessel fired and hit the pirates for the second time. They all panicked a little thinking the pirates, and thus they themselves were doomed; but after a few moments they saw the smaller craft moving slowly towards the Collectors. They were OK. Clayton, however, looked like he was still in shock.
“What’s wrong, Clayton? The pirate ship looks only slightly damaged. We’ll be OK.”
Clayton turned to Jacob, “Yes, but I was told to make sure all systems were down before I left the ship. They shouldn’t have been able to put up any resistance at all. That was the plan.”
“If you tell Marshall you were delayed by me I’m sure he won’t hold it against you.” Jacob didn’t think it was as serious as this spy seemed to.
“I’m not worried about Marshall. It’s the pirates who don’t take kindly to mistakes.” He was pale and Jacob couldn’t think of anything to say for a moment. Then he thought about Drake. “If that’s the same group of pirates that came to our world I may have a way to help you. I saved their captain’s life and he owes me. I’ll talk to him.” Clayton looked somewhat relieved and thanked Jacob.
“Look!” Sean was pointing out the small window ahead of them that showed a section of the cargo ship. They looked where the small finger aimed and saw what his young, sharp eyes had caught.
“There they go.” Clayton had apparently forgotten his fear and was now smiling. “That’s the security team out of the way. I knew they’d be sent down to check on those hatches.” He explained his steps to Jacob who was duly impressed by all the preparation.
“It shouldn’t be more than a few minutes before they’ll have the whole ship cleared. With most things automated they don’t carry a large crew and those they’ve got are worthless fighters; that’s not what they’re trained for. The plan is to have the pirates who broke in fly the ship to their home world, wherever that is, while the pirate vessel takes us back to your world. Marshall has a ship on the way right now that’ll collect me from there.” He was much calmer now.
Less than five minutes of silent expectation passed before the young boy, again, was the first to see something change and spoke up, “Look. The lights are starting to come back on and the ship’s moving.”
The two men could now clearly see that Sean was right. All the exterior lights were back on line and they could also make out the telltale movement of the ship against the backdrop of white on black.
“Here comes the pirate ship to get us.” Clayton sounded pleased, but it was clear that he was also a little nervous of the reaction he might receive. “Wait a minute...What?”
As they looked out the window they saw the cargo vessel move a little faster and then, in a flash of light, it was gone. Immediately, they saw the pirate ship do a sharp turn away from the pod in the direction the other vessel had gone. In the blink of an eye it was gone too.
“What just happened?” Clayton sounded as if he were back in shock again.

------------------------------------

The other men on the bridge were laughing out loud as they pulled away from the little pod and shifted. As soon as their captain had given the order for both vessels to shift, the men knew he planned to leave the spy in his pod and that was only just and even humorous to them. Their ship had nearly been destroyed, and certainly damaged, by the spy’s carelessness. He deserved to be punished. What better way than letting him go crazy floating around in nothingness? Pirate justice didn’t have to be fair; it was what it was and they accepted it.
“Turn off that damn beeping noise!” Drake told his communications officer. The quiet, but insistent, sound of the homing device was annoying and he wanted it gone now even though, as soon as the ship shifted, the signal would have been lost anyway. With the noise gone, his small tinge of guilt went with it.
It would take them several days longer than they had expected to get to their home world now they only had one engine, but that was OK. They were safe now. No one, not even Marshall, knew where the planet was that the pirates called home. It had remained a secret for many years, had served them well, and would continue to do so. Located out of the way of any expansionist goals of the Suppliers or those they represented, their planet gave them the refuge they needed. With the cargo on board the vessel they had just taken, they would not have to leave their home for some time. Once the food and other equipment on board they needed were used up they could go out and sell or trade the massive amounts of weaponry in the holds.
Drake had already been in contact with Cale on board the Cargo 1 and everything was as it was supposed to have been, the holds were full. One added benefit for Cale and the nine men under his command was the freshly butchered blue they found already cooking. By the time the ship had been up and running again and they had shifted, the meat had been cooked and they took turns going to the galley for a feast. Drake and those aboard his ship could do nothing but imagine and salivate. Not too long and they too would taste fresh meat for a change. The Cargo 1 carried several hundred of the blues and greens from Jacob’s world, and the people on the pirate planet would be happy to eat them.

----------------------------------

The voice was harsh and angry, “What do you mean Cargo 1 is missing?”
“Sir, the other vessels and their escorts are still in shift, but a message came ahead of them stating it was no longer with them. They had been given their co-ordinates by Cargo 1, and as per orders, they transmitted them back for confirmation of accuracy, which they received. Everything went by the book, sir.” Even though this Lieutenant had nothing to do with the loss, he was still clearly nervous being the one to pass on such terrible news to the Supplier’s top field officer, General Grewer. The older man was known to have a short fuse when it came to sloppiness and stupid mistakes. You couldn’t make a bigger, sloppier mistake than losing a Collector cargo ship with its holds’ full!
“I beg to differ, Lieutenant; obviously it did not go by the book! Who gave the co-ordinates and who confirmed them?” The general was flushed with anger and he was pacing in front of the vid-screen.
“Sir, it was a Lieutenant Clayton. He has a spotless record and recently earned his promotion to Navigation Officer of Cargo 1. We can’t find any explanation as to why he would either falsify information or make such a huge mistake on a simple part of his job.” The Lieutenant would have felt sorry for this poor guy Clayton if he didn’t feel guilty just by the way Grewer was staring at him. The general had a way of making you feel you’d done something wrong even when you knew you hadn’t.
“OK, we’ll worry about Clayton when we find him. Where is Cargo 1 now?” He stopped pacing and took a drink out of a bottle without taking his eyes off the screen.
The Lieutenant gave an almost audible gulp of fear that almost matched the swallowing noise from the man on his screen. “We have no way of knowing, sir.” He shuddered as the General took the bottle from his lips and seemed to look him right in the eyes. “All we know is where all the ships shifted from and at what point along their trajectory they realized it wasn’t with them. Since Cargo 1 was the one disseminating and confirming co-ordinates the others weren’t tracking anyone’s course but their own. They have no idea where Cargo 1 may be as it could have come out of shift anywhere, literally. Now, all we can….” He ended abruptly when he automatically ducked seeing the general throw his bottle at the screen. The connection was terminated as immediately as was the conversation.

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Jacob wasn’t so confused, “I guess they didn’t like the way you’d prepared their arrival, and now they’ve got what they want they’re not interested in saving you. No one ever said pirates were nice guys or could be trusted.”
“How can you be so glib? Don’t you understand the position we’re in now?” Clayton’s face was pale, his eyes wide.
“Clayton, I understand and I’m not taking it lightly, but you must remember from my point of view I’m no worse here than I was back in that cell heading for execution.”
“What about the boy?”
“I would prefer to see him survive this, but he would have died soon anyway; you know what they do with the kids they press. I’m more sorry for you actually.”
Clayton was clearly surprised, “Why?”
“You had planned to be wealthy and free to enjoy it, but it looks like those plans are going to have to change. You also helped us out and for that we’re grateful.”
Sean must have understood the spot they were in but handled it very well. Jacob could feel the boy crying softly, but not uncontrollably or in a panic, and he knew he had to find a way for this boy to live.
Whenever he looked at the boy’s face all he could see was that of his daughter, Bettine. Not because of any physical likeness but because he could easily imagine that his daughter would also be putting on a brave face in this situation. Unfortunately, no clever ideas immediately leapt to his mind. Jacob thought about trying to adapt the homing device to a different frequency, but without knowing which one they’d be lucky to find anything useful.
“I can’t think of anything right now. How about you, Clayton?”
The man was still looking somewhat shocked and ignored Jacob’s question. “I can’t believe they just left us here. It was all my fault, I’m sorry.”
Jacob spoke consolingly, “Clayton, you don’t know it was your fault. Maybe they would have left us anyway once they had the cargo vessel.” The man seemed to accept that as a possibility and shook his head as if to clear the doubts from inside. Then he looked back at Jacob and nodded as if to say he was OK.
“OK, so what are our options?” Jacob felt better that the man was on track again.
Clayton reached into his bag and pulled out the radio.
Jacob was shocked, pleasantly so. “Clayton, why were you so worried about being left by the pirates?” He was suddenly nervous that his hopes had been raised for nothing. “It does work doesn’t it?”
“Yes, yes, it works just fine. I must admit I’d forgotten about it for a moment, but I think we still might have a problem.” He looked down at the boy and knowingly back up at Jacob.
The farmer understood the look. “Don’t worry about Sean, he’s tough. Aren’t you?” He ruffled the hair of the young boy who seemed to relax under the attention. “Whatever you have to say you can say it in front of him, too. It’s not like we could go to another room anyway!” He looked around the tiny compartment they were squeezed into and laughed. After a moment the other two joined him, whether through tension or real humor it didn’t seem to matter.
“OK. What I’m worried about is getting a ship out to us in time. With three of us on board we’ll be using up the oxygen before the food or water and we don’t have the range to get to a suitable planet to land on.” He was obviously concerned; but no longer incapacitated by fear.
“How long do you think then?”
Clayton responded gravely and thoughtfully, “I would guess maybe about a day and a half at most, if we take it easy.”
“Well don’t worry, we can’t exactly do gymnastics in this space can we?” Jacob spoke to Sean bringing a smile to the boy’s face. He turned a more serious tone on the spy. “Why don’t you just contact Marshall? You said he was sending a ship out for you.”
“We can try to reach him, but we may have a problem.” While he pressed some keys on the face of the radio he explained the arrangement. “Marshall had made all the plans so that as soon as the Cargo 1 came out of shift he wouldn’t have to be contacted for any reason. He was nervous, rightly so, that as soon as the ship was shown missing a search would begin along it’s supposed line of travel and any communications picked up in that area would be traced. He can’t afford the risk. My concern is that his radio will, quite simply, be turned off.”
Jacob had nothing to say and just sat while the man next to him tuned the radio and each time Clayton’s face seemed to suggest he had the right frequency all that could be heard was static. After a few tense moments Clayton laid the radio down on his lap.
“Marshall gave me three different frequencies to use to reach him but none of them is connecting now. I don’t know the frequency the ship he sent to your world is using and it would be almost impossible to find it randomly.” His face showed he was deflated after seeing their only hope dashed.
Jacob sat a little straighter and Clayton looked over at him. “What?”
The farmer had a small smile on his face and had obviously thought of something. He didn’t speak but sat thinking for a moment. Clayton wasn’t so patient, “What? What is it?”
Hesitantly, for fear of raising hopes too soon, Jacob explained.
“How long do you think it will be before Marshall’s ship will be at my planet and how long would it take them to get here from there?”
“I don’t see how that…..”
“How long, Clayton?” Jacob interrupted him.
“They should be there some time tomorrow and it would take them the best part of a day to get here. Why?”
Jacob ignored the question; “If we reduced environmental power and shunted as much as possible to engines, how far could we travel before we ran out of fuel?”
Clayton gave the puzzle some thought, clearly ignoring his immediate urge to ask more questions. “Well, since we don’t have the engines for shifting in this pod, we’d be able to travel for about two days; about the equivalent of six hours in shift. But by then, especially with reduced enviros, we might not even be alive. Why, what are you thinking of?”
“I think we’ve got a small chance to make it. Not much of a chance admittedly, but it’s the only one I can think of.” Jacob went on to explain to the doubtful spy.


Twenty Six

General Grewer was given a written report by one of his aides who then left the room. He leaned back in his large soft chair to read over it.
“It seems that all shipments have been accounted for and assigned to the departments requiring them.” He spoke aloud even though he was the only one in the room; it was a habit that had stuck with him over many years. He had no urge to change it as hearing his thoughts aloud often focused his mind and offered solutions he might otherwise have missed.
The other Cargo vessels and their escorts had shown up safely and on time then had unloaded. They had sped off for refitting and time for the crews to be exchanged before the next collecting trip began. Grewer’s job was to make sure everything got where it was supposed to be when it was needed.
“Cargo 1 still hasn’t shown up yet! I can’t believe something that large could just disappear by accident so it must have been that Lieutenant,” he looked at the papers for a moment, “Clayton. For some reason he must have orchestrated this and when we find him he’ll pay for it.”
He took a drink from a bottle that had been standing on the floor beside his chair and then continued responding out loud to what he was reading. “I see the transfer of the livestock went smoothly. We’ll be a little short since we apparently lost so many with Cargo 1, but there’s not much we can do about it now. We can’t demand any more Tokens till those farmers have had more time to reproduce their beasts. Oh well, we’ll just have to make do with regular rations when the fresh is gone.”
He continued reading the report and only showed frustration at one further point. “Damn! It looks like we won’t even really know all that was lost from Cargo 1. They were tasked with keeping over-all records of the Tokens collected on this trip.” He hated loose ends. The only thing that gave him some hope of a clean resolution was that the Supplier hierarchy was as angry as he was.
“They’ll be out in force hunting for this ship by now; and if anyone can find it and my Tokens, it’ll be them. With all the ex-pirates, bounty hunters and other questionable characters they hire I wouldn’t want to be the people that stole Cargo 1.”

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“Bring us in, and as soon as we break atmosphere, order all quiet.” Drake was always careful with communications and more so now with the wealth he’d taken from the Collectors.
Cargo 1 and Drake’s vessel had come out of shift into orbit around a small blue and green planet they called home. In the twenty years they had used this planet as their base of operations, they had never had any uninvited guests; and that worked just fine for them. In order to decrease the chances of being discovered Drake had ordered that no communication of any kind would be made from the surface. The only radio and scanning devices were on board his two vessels and now also Cargo 1. Once on the planet all of this equipment was turned off and put under guard till it was in space again on the next mission. Incoming messages were received so they knew what was going on outside their little world but nothing returned. Drake had never had any problems with people following these rules, as everyone understood the intense need for secrecy. Any Supplier or Collector vessel that picked up a signal from a supposedly uninhabited part of the universe would be very quick to send some nosy and well-armed people to check up on it.
“Have Cargo 1 follow us in and land on the plain below the village.”
“Yes, captain,” the communications officer was almost jubilant in his response. All the men were in a fine mood knowing that their long days of successfully fighting Hoppers and stealing from the Collectors were over and that they would be eating well in their own homes tonight.
As the pirate vessel landed softly onto a wide field, a fine mist of dust blew up around it. When the Collector vessel settled further down the gentle slope from the Harpy, the dirt below it blew away in a dark cloud as the massive bulk slowed its descent with downward facing jets. Several people had gathered and were shielding their eyes from the dust and at the same time trying to get a better look at the monstrous chunk of metal in front of them. It would seem that Drake had come through!
As the dust began to settle and the echoes still rang in people’s ears, hatchways opened on both ships and the pirate crews began to file out. The small crowd applauded and cheered as the men showed themselves.
“Hooray for Drake!” “Screw the Collectors!” “Pirates stick it to ya!” The shouts were loud and full of excitement, as everyone knew what this cargo vessel meant to them all. Tons of food on the hoof, weapons, equipment, enough of everything for the pirates themselves and plenty to sell to get anything else they might need.
“Taren, let’s get the blues and greens out of the holds and into the pens before they damage themselves in those cramped quarters. Get them fed and take one for slaughter. Maybe a green. We’ll celebrate later. The rest of the stuff can wait till tomorrow.” Drake was having trouble making himself heard above the shouts but he felt happy at the success they had just experienced. “And Taren, I’m going to my place so don’t have anyone disturb me till the food is ready. Got that?”
His second-in-command nodded his understanding of the order and went to supervise the unloading of the livestock.
Drake walked through the crowd of people shaking their hands and having his back pummeled in appreciation for his success. Once through them he entered into a small house and closed the door behind him. He lay down on a large bed covered in thick furs he had taken himself from the hardy animals the pirates hunted in the cold local mountains. Their meat wasn’t to the pirates liking but their skins were wonderfully soft and warm.
He felt himself sinking into the softness of the bed and his muscles began to relax. He hadn’t realized how much tension the last few days had created for him, but now that he had the opportunity to relax and be worry free, he knew he had been incredibly fortunate on these two huge missions. He and his men had, with few casualties, been able to rid a planet of a dangerous lifeform and then, only days later, to capture a full cargo vessel from the Collectors. He could finally step out of his role as Captain Drake and see his success for what it truly was, a miracle. He congratulated himself by letting himself drift off to sleep.
Outside, his men worked diligently, helped by the other inhabitants of the pirate enclave. They were like a big family, though few of them were related by blood. They worked well together when it meant profit, but squabbled and fought among themselves in most other daily activities. This windfall of a cargo vessel full of weapons and goods brought them together, as there was clearly enough for everyone.
They formed a double line of people through which the off-loaded animals were led towards the waiting pens. One was taken immediately to the kitchens to be slaughtered and prepared for the feast. The rest of the cargo was left on board per Drake’s orders.
Later in the day Drake woke to a knock at his door and Taren came in.
“Captain, the celebration is ready and we’re just waiting for you so we can see how good this Taldarian green is.” He was in a good mood and Drake shared it.
“Alright, Taren, let’s go and stuff ourselves then.” They walked to the center of their small village together where about fifty men and a few women were waiting at long tables. Drake could see two seats empty at the head table and he and Taren took them. Immediately several people came out to the tables with large platters of steaming hot meat. The pirates cheered and quickly became quiet as they stuffed chunks of fresh meat into their mouths. It was clear to everyone how good this meat was based on how silent everyone was; they were too intent on eating for conversation.
As Drake leaned back in his chair wiping the grease from his mouth a man rushed up to him and whispered into his ear. The man had been left behind in his ship to monitor the radio and was clearly agitated. Drake stood and told Taren to follow him.
“I’ll be back momentarily,” he told the bemused crowd in front of him. “Please, get on with your food.” He turned and walked quickly towards the ship, followed by his second-in-command.
“What is it, captain?”
“Taren, we just got a call from Bern and he says they’re in trouble.” They ran up the ramp into their ship and straight to the bridge. “Play it back to us.” The man who had come to get them hit a switch and a frightened voice came over the speakers.
“Captain, this is Bern. We need your help! I’m transmitting our co-ordinates along with this message and I hope you get them in time.” Drake looked over at Taren who was looking at a display.
“Got their position, Captain.”
Bern was continuing, “We got into a bit of trouble with the group we were supposed to be trading with after you’d taken the Collector vessel. We met with them at the pre-arranged rendezvous point and everything looked fine till they started to demand more of the weapons for less of their information on Collector and Supplier movements. I told them you’d made it clear to them what the conditions of the trade were to be, and I was there just to complete the transaction. The trader threatened to contact the Collectors and tell them who had taken their ship if we didn’t go along with the new arrangement. I told him I couldn’t make those decisions on your behalf. He said that since you should have the weapons by now that you should come out here in person and you can re-negotiate with him. I said I’d pass on your answer when I hear from you, so both our ships are just going to wait for your reply.”
Drake was angry and banged his fist down on the armrest of his bridge chair. “Damn them cheating traders! I thought we were bad! They put us to shame. Taren, what do you think?”
“Captain, I don’t see that we have much choice in the matter. If we cancel the deal with the trader, he might go through with his threat to bring the Collectors to this sector. Though the traders don’t know where our planet is, they know enough to at least get people looking in the right area. If we go out there you might be able to come up with a new agreement.” Taren didn’t sound so sure of his own advice.
Drake squeezed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger in thought. “One option you didn’t mention, Taren, is we could just get rid of these traders and find someone else for our information. I don’t think they’d expect that response from us since they know we usually need up-to-date intelligence and they’ve done well for us in the past. What they don’t seem to understand is with everything on Cargo 1, we won’t need to be out and about putting ourselves in situations where we’ll need their kind of information for quite some time. By the time we need any, we can always find someone new.” He had a small smile on his face that Taren recognized as similar to that of a prizefighter when he knows his opponent is weakening.
“Get the men. Let’s get this over with now.”
“Aye, sir.” Taren left the ship and returned in a few minutes with about twenty disgruntled pirates, upset their party had been cut short.


Twenty Seven

A loud boom followed by a high pitched scream eradicated the sunny afternoon calm. Bettine, out in the pens feeding a group of greens, instinctively ran for the cover of a tree in the center of the animals. Only then did she crane her neck upward towards the blue sky, to where she felt sure the noise had come from. She was scared out of her wits and was angry with herself for it, since she could find no reason to be so scared. As she continued to scan the sky she saw her mother run out of the house towards the pen.
“Bettine! Bettine, where are you?” Bella’s voice was high, close to panicking.
“Mum, I’m over here.” Her voice was shaky. She stepped from behind the tree and ran through the gate, closed it behind her, and leapt into her outstretched arms.
Suddenly the screeching stopped and a black shadow passed quickly over their heads. They both looked up in time to see a large dark shape break into a cloud high above them before disappearing again.
“I think it was a ship,” Bettine’s fear flowed away and her voice lost it’s tremor as soon as she knew what had made the noise. Now she was only wary. Since the man of the farm had now left them she knew that she and her mother would have to create a strong front and work together helping each other through the coming days. “Let’s go back to the house till we know what’s going on.” She took her mother’s arm and they both walked into the kitchen. There they both pushed their faces up to the window and tried to catch another glimpse.
Out of the white clouds above the open field to their left dropped a black and angular shape. At the last moment before it impacted with the ground part of it swiveled, and a massive blast of flame shot downward. Its descent was slowed and it landed gently in a cloud of dust.
“Who could it be, mum?” Bettine sounded concerned but not frightened.
“I can see two men getting out and they’re coming this way.” A movement to her left prompted Bella to turn her gaze from the ship and the two figures. Relief washed over her at the sight of Blake walking across their yard towards them.
“I heard the noise and then saw the ship head your way so I thought you might not mind if I joined you in finding out what they want.” He reached over and gently squeezed Bella’s shoulder as he came through the doorway.
“Stay here, Bettine. Blake and I’ll go out and see what they want.”
“No way, mum.” Bettine looked up at Bella giving no sign of weakness.
Bella just shook her head and said, “Wait here”, then walked out of the kitchen without looking back.
They all headed up the hill side by side and they could see ahead of them the two strangers were walking on an intercept; in a moment all four of them were standing in front of one another.
The new arrivals were dressed in tight suits designed for the cramped quarters found in a ship this small, it was obviously a fighter, not any kind of a transport ship. However, they were not dressed in any kind of a military uniform. Most importantly to the farmers, the men were not carrying weapons and did not look aggressive at all.
The taller of the two spoke first. “Are you Clayton?” His question was aimed at Blake.
“No, my name is Blake. I don’t know anyone named Clayton and this is a small community,” Blake was confused.
“Clayton isn’t one of you farmers. He’s a Lieutenant for the Collectors and we were sent to pick him up. He was supposed to be dropped here by a pirate ship captained by a man named Drake.” It seemed that this man was also confused. “He should have been here by now.”
The other man spoke up, “Marshall’ll be plenty angry if anything happened to Clayton. He’ll want…”
Blake, on hearing the name, broke in, “Marshall? You were sent here by Marshall? Did he tell you if Clayton would be the only one brought here by the pirates?” Blake suddenly felt very hopeful that things would be cleared up.
“I’m sorry, Blake, but he never mentioned anyone else, and we’ve no way of contacting him to find out, as he’s cut communications with everyone for a time; not sure why. I just work for him and do what I’m told. I wish I could help.” He sounded sincere.
A silence dropped over the small group as they realized they didn’t know what to do next. The decision was made for them a second later. Bella came running up the hill waving her arms. They were both shouting and waving their arms. As they got closer the men could finally make out what they were saying, “You left the radio behind. It’s dad!”


Twenty Eight

The image went through each mind simultaneously. Family, nurturing, food, dark skies, and most of all, freedom. It would seem that all were ready, the time was here. No other signals had come from outside their hosts as they instinctively expected, but they could not wait any longer. As one they began to claw their way out.

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When the ship broke out of shift, Drake could immediately see the two vessels ahead of him almost nose to nose. On the left, was his second ship and on the right, a bigger and oddly shaped trader vessel. The latter was built to be both fast yet large enough to carry a wide range of cargoes and so was very boxy with its monstrous holds and enormous engines.
Immediately, a signal was sent to the captain of the second pirate ship to back off fast and to open fire on the trader at the same time. The decision not to negotiate had been made during the shift period.
Drake’s ship fired first as Bern was receiving the message, so it was only the blink of an eye before the second blast hit the unprepared trader. The ship was rocked; and one of its engines was shredded, bursting into a spray of white-hot particles. Clearly the trader captain had relied on the past importance of his intelligence to the pirates and had expected that with a little negotiation he could improve the deal in his favor. The appearance of the pirates and their firing without a word was entirely unexpected.
Surprised but not out of action, the trader ship quickly returned fire on Drake’s smaller and faster vessel. A glancing blow hit along one side of the ship as Drake maneuvered head on to the trader, presenting a smaller target. By now several blasts had hit the boxy ship and it was clearly being overwhelmed.
When one of the pirate ships turned to evade the shots from the larger vessel, it allowed the second to come from a different angle scoring a hit. The pirates were excellent at taking a prize by using superior numbers and tactics against a larger foe. Like a pack of carnivores closing in for the kill on a wounded prey animal, they both fired at vital sections simultaneously, and the trader vessel disappeared from sight in a blaze of light and a spattering of small metal pieces against the shields of the pirate vessels. They had been damaged but not dangerously so, and now the fighting was over.
“Thanks, captain,” the voice came over the radio and was clearly jubilant. “They were getting real antsy, and were ready to just leave and talk to the Collectors.”
“You’re welcome, Bern. They won’t be talking to anyone now! Let’s head for home and you can have some fresh meat, too.”
“Your trip to take the Collector cargo vessel was a success then?”
Drake was proud of his accomplishment, “Yes, Bern. It actually went easier than I could have imagined and everything is waiting for us. We can do a little trading of our own now. Let’s go.”
“Not too fast though; my engines were hit pretty bad so I’ll need to take it easy till we get…”
“Captain, look!” A panicked voice pierced the reverie and as one the two captains and bridge crews turned to their screens.

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“Sir, there it is again,” the man was hunched over a console staring at his screen and deciphering a series of symbols.
“Plot the co-ordinates to the disturbance, and get us there now!” The captain of the Supplier vessel was angry. He and his crew had been on shore leave when this emergency had caused them to be called up prematurely to help with the search. They had been given all the information available, which wasn’t much and had shifted along with several other fighters to the last known location of the Cargo 1. From there, they had all gone in different directions in the hope of picking up something that might indicate where it was.
They had traveled for several hours at high speed before their sensors had detected the first energy wave. It was very distant, and the sensors, stretched to the maximum range, couldn’t give a clear indication what the flash had been. The only thing the Supplier captain was assured of was that it was not a natural event. They had moved in the general direction, and now had just sensed another wave.
As they moved closer the sensors gathered more data. “Sir, the energy wave is definitely from weaponry. There are two different signature types, but I can’t tell how many vessels there are.”
“Very well. Everyone go to battle ready. I don’t know who these people are, but we must assume they’re who we’re looking for to be on the safe side. As soon as we come out of shift I want whoever’s there to be taken alive at all costs. But I don’t want them to get away so we have to shoot first and do some talking later. Aim for their engines to cripple them only. Clear?” The appropriate heads nodded their understanding.
As they appeared in real space they were hit by a small shock wave as a ship was blown apart before their eyes. Nearby were two ships that were obviously damaged too, but not enough to stop them beginning to move in preparation for a shift.
“Fire!” The captain’s crew was well trained, and at the command shot at the engine of the first ship as the second was turning around to join its comrades shift direction. The shot hit its target precisely and, under normal conditions, it would have done exactly as the captain had expected and just crippled the ship. Unfortunately, these were not normal conditions, and the already damaged engines did not just shut down, but instead they exploded causing a chain reaction destroying the vessel immediately.
“Hold your fire!” The Supplier captain yelled.

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Drake’s screen showed a fighter closing on them but knew they’d be able to shift before it could do anything. After all, it wouldn’t just begin firing on ships it didn’t know. Their captain would try to talk to them first, thus giving them the seconds they needed to get away.
“Swing around and align with Bern’s vessel.”
As the ship began to turn an explosion of light erupted from the Supplier; and before he had time to truly digest what was happening Bern’s ship was hit. It staggered under the blow and in an instant it blew apart filling Drake’s screen with blinding light. The Harpy was now swinging around, and its side was fully exposed to the blast. Being so close to the other ship in preparation to shift, the blast was enough to penetrate the shields. As Drake gave the order to shift, the weakened shields gave way and the hull was opened. The ship de-pressurized too quickly for compartments to be automatically closed, and the ship blew apart. The Harpy was gone in a flash of light.
The Supplier captain saw all this happen within just a few short seconds, and knew that there was nothing he could do about it. Whoever they were they’d be of no use to him now. Since the Cargo 1 was nowhere within sensor range anyway, he’d no reason to suspect these ships as having anything to do with its disappearance. He added to his log that he was disappointed they had not been stopped without loss of life, but that he did not feel it was any great loss. It seemed to be just a group of pirates squabbling amongst themselves anyway.
“Let’s get back to searching for our ship.”


Twenty Nine


The animals thrashed about screaming but there was nowhere to run, and no way to escape the inevitable fate destiny had for them. Blood and gore fell to the metal plated floor followed by the remaining bulk of the dying or dead animal it had come from. Over and over this happened till as many as half the green and blue creatures in the hold were dead. Those left alive were cowering, some screaming, in panic over in one corner. Instinctively they knew that it was only a matter of time before the dead would be consumed and then it would be their turn.

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“OK, Let’s try it then.” Clayton didn’t sound overly impressed with the plan but he realized it was certainly worth the try. “I can’t think of anything better, so go for it.”
He handed the radio to Jacob and the farmer fiddled with the controls for a moment. “I don’t know that I remember the frequency exactly but I do remember seeing it on the front of Carlee’s radio. I know you say Marshall has cut off all his communications, but I just don’t see him cutting off his one way of contacting her. I think he’d leave that open.”
“I guess you might be right,” Clayton said. “I sincerely hope so.”
Jacob spoke as he continued to track down Carlee’s radio frequency, “Clayton, let’s get under way now. The longer we sit here the less time we have to try and cover some of the distance between Teldar and us. If I’m lucky enough to get hold of Marshall’s ship, and they come to get us we should already be on our way.”
“Since we don’t have much air or energy left I tend to agree with you. At least we’ll be trying something, I’m sick of just floating around aimlessly. I’ll get us under way at maximum speed as quickly as I can.” He spent a few minutes programming co-ordinates into the pods navigation system and then the vessel suddenly sped forward. Stellar objects close by moved from them quickly while those further away gave the impression that they were hardly moving at all.
“I’m turning down all life support to the bare minimum now, so let’s try to talk as little as possible,” Clayton gave a reassuring smile to Sean as the interior lights slowly faded to darkness.
Every few seconds Jacob would try a new frequency but only managed to find static noise as had Clayton before him. Not allowing any despair to build within him he kept trying and eventually, as he began to fear the radios small battery would fail before he contacted someone to help them, he found an open and clear channel. Both Sean and Clayton sat up straight, alert to the change in the sound coming from the radio. They looked expectantly at Jacob and finally he keyed the radio and spoke.
“Carlee, can you hear me? Come in, Carlee, please.” He knew he sounded a little desperate but he couldn’t help himself, as that was exactly how he felt. “Please, anyone.”
“Yes, I hear you,” came the reply. The three occupants in the tiny pod heard the female voice. Like a marooned sailor in rapture at the sight of an approaching ship, they thought her voice was that of an angel.
Something was wrong with the voice though. Even with the usual slight variation to a voice over the radio, Jacob didn’t really think it sounded like Carlee.
“Who is this?”
“This is….wait, is that you, dad?”


Thirty

“Captain, the stewards are reporting an emergency in the starboard holds.” The enlisted soldier felt intimidated to be passing on such a negative message to his superior but had no choice. He could only hope that the captain’s reputation for being rough and ready did not extend to harming the messenger.
The gruff looking captain turned in his bridge chair and gave the crewman a wilting look. “Soldier, we’re only moments from breaking out of shift, and we don’t know what to expect when we arrive that close to the front. I have a shipment on board and a delivery timetable I have to follow. I don’t have time for emergencies!” He turned to his second officer and nodded his head toward the visibly shaking man at the doorway. “Take care of this Mr. Laith.”
The officer pulled the young soldier to one side, out of the captain’s line-of-sight. “What’s this supposed emergency, and why didn’t the lead steward report directly to the bridge himself?” his voice was low; he understood the pressure the captain was under at this stage of his short trip from the Collector vessels.
“Sir, the lead steward is dead.” His words were the more horrific because they were spoken in a whisper and they were so far from being expected.
“How?” in shock, Laith’s voice rose unexpectedly and all on the bridge, including the captain, turned to stare at him. He raised his hands in mock surrender and said, “I’m sorry, captain, but I need to leave the bridge for a moment.” He walked out, taking the arm of the soldier with him, before the captain could ask for more details. When they were outside he nodded for the man to answer his last question.
“Sir, we don’t really know what’s going on. A few minutes ago someone went into the animal holds to find out why they were making so much noise. You know how quiet they usually are. He never came back so the lead steward went to see what was taking so long. A few seconds later he came running out with something on his back. Before anyone could do anything, the thing jumped away back into the hold and the steward fell to the floor dead.” He paused for a breath then continued. “They’ve sealed all the doors to the animal holds and are waiting for some orders.”
A pause and then Laith said, “Call security. Get an armed detail down to the main hold entry door, now! Tell them not to do anything till I get there.” The soldier left on his errand and the officer went to tell the captain the bad news.

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Many shift hours away on a small blue-green planet, an early morning sun was rising over the horizon. As the pirates rose from their sleep, many hung over thanks to the previous night’s festivities, something strange was waiting to greet them. The holding pens that had so recently been built in anticipation of Drake's delivery of the blues and greens stolen from the Collectors, were now holding only about half the number of animals they had just hours before.
As the early morning risers went to feed the newly arrived animals, they noticed fewer heads peering over the fencing than they expected. On entering the pens some of the women began to scream and one of the men ran back to the small village shouting for help.
“What’s going on out here?” A tall man ran out on hearing the uproar and grabbed the shouting man by his shoulders and shook him. “Calm down, Gil. What’s happened?”
The other man did as he was told and took a deep breath to calm himself. “About half of the animals are dead on the floor of the pen! I’ve no idea what did it, but they didn’t die pretty. It looks like something tore them to shreds.” The two men ran towards the nearest pen, followed by others attracted by all the shouting.
True to his description, the man showed those who came in after him that indeed many of the greens and blues were now just bloody messes on the dirt floor. The remaining living beasts were huddled together shaking in the farthest corner from where the majority of corpses were.
“What the hell did this?” The tall man, Kell, was in nominal command when Drake and the other pirates were off-world. “I’ve never seen any kind of creature here that could do this to an animal of this size. Anyone got any ideas?” This was too much for him to figure out. No one spoke up.
“Gil, take as many people as you need and clear out the dead ones, salvage any of the meat that you can, then check the paddock walls to see if there are any breaches. I’ll get a group with weapons to patrol the perimeter.”

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At last, freedom! Each member of our two separated groups felt the lust for life our mutual forebears had also experienced after successful hunts. And, as our forebears before us, we communed silently together in triumph before hiding in darkness at the first sign of daylight. Connected in our images, even over distance, we felt each other’s kinship and rejoiced. Some of us were in trouble with no where to go to escape a world of many small suns overhead. Some of us had experienced better fortune, as after breaking out and feeding, we had found shelter away from the coming sunlight and were now settling into our new home. However, in both groups we found the traditionally powerful need to survive, and this we would do at all costs.


Thirty One


“Jacob! Oh, darling, is that really you?” Bella was in tears as she held the radio up to her ear. Bettine had here ear pressed up to the phone trying to listen in and tears streamed down her face too.
“Yes, Bella, and I’m OK for now, but you have to help me.” Jacob had explained his position and asked about Marshall’s ship. On hearing it had arrived he had sent the two women to talk with its captain.
Once the radio had been passed on to Blake he didn’t waste time chatting to his friend. Instead, he realized that time was everything right now, and he handed the radio to the man who had come to pick up Clayton. Blake could only hear half of the conversation but it sounded promising.
“Let me speak to Clayton. Tell me where you are now, Lieutenant. What is your course and speed? How long before your fuel and life-support are out?” He was making notes on a small computer screen as he asked questions and received his answers. “Who else is with you, and what am I supposed to do with them? Very well, since I can’t talk with Marshall right now I’ll take your word for it. If we have any chance at all of getting to you in time I’ll need to leave now. I’ll pass the radio back to these farmers; they seem to be keen to talk to you.” Bella was waving madly at him not to break the radio connection.
The two men walked briskly back to their ship, and telling the others to move away, they entered and closed the door behind them. In a few seconds the engines blasted into life and the ship lifted off in a cloud of dirt, shooting into the sky. In a minute it was out of sight.
“Jacob, they’re on their way. You’ll be OK. Here’s Bettine, darling.” She handed the radio to her daughter.
“Dad, are you alright?”
“I’m doing fine little lady. You want to do me a favor? Can you run over to Sean’s family’s farm and tell them he’s with me. If all goes well we should be back home in the next five or six hours. Tell them they can come and get him at our house. How’re you doing champ?”
Bettine couldn’t keep the relief from her voice, “I’m doing fine now I know you’ll be coming back soon. I didn’t like the idea of having to grow up so fast to help mum. I wanna be a kid for a little while longer at least. Hurry back, OK?”
“I’ll be home before you know it. How’re the animals doing?”
“They’re all out in the pens eating lots and they look healthy. They should breed well, I think. Here’s mum.” Bella had become impatient at the way the conversation seemed to be turning to apparently mundane topics. After all, her husband was floating around lost in space, and might not necessarily make it back.
“I love you, Jacob, and I need you come back safely. Understand? Don’t do anything silly, just get back here.” She realized she was treating him like a child, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Bella, I have to get off the line now. We need to save the batteries so we can signal the men who’re coming out to get us. We’ll be a pretty tiny blip on their sensors so we’ll have to let them home in on this signal. I love you, too and I’ll be there before you know it.” The radio went silent.


Thirty Two

“Sir, we left all the lights on so we could see what was happening inside the holds, and for some reason they seem to stay in the shadows. I don’t think they like the lights.” One of the cargo stewards was talking to the ship’s second officer as they walked side by side towards the main door into the hold containing the shipment of livestock.
“What do you mean, ‘they’?” Laith felt his stomach turning in apprehension.
“I’m sorry sir, but everything seems to have happened so fast. A short time ago one of my men thought he heard an unusual amount of noise coming from in there,” he pointed at the door they had just reached. “He went in to check and never came out. The lead steward was on duty at the time and went in to check on the man. We thought he might have been kicked by an excitable blue but nothing more sinister than that. When the lead staggered back out he was mortally wounded by something that jumped back inside.”
The man pointed at a blood stain on the floor, still wet and shiny under the artificial lights. “The lead’s neck was all bloody and he was dead before we had time to even try to help him. We increased the lights and from the doorway we could see dozens of the blues and greens on the floor dead, and we saw a lot of small black shapes up on the ceiling between the rafters which was the only place with any shadows left.”
While he’d been talking, a group of ten heavily armed men arrived and stood in front of the officer waiting for their orders.
“How did they get into the rafters? It must be twice the height of an adult blue in there!”
“Amazing as it sounds, Mr. Laith, it looked like they just jumped up there. How, I don’t know,” the steward replied, clearly as mystified as the officer sounded.
“Security, what do you think would be the best way to deal with these things, whatever they are?”
“Sir, we’d need to do a recon before I could intelligently answer that. With your permission I’ll arrange one.” After a nod of approval from the officer, he spoke quietly to his men and then asked the steward to open the door.
Leaving two men to guard the door so it could be kept ajar, the other eight men moved into the room. Four went left along the wall and the others to the right.
“I can see at least twenty dark shapes on the rafters above us, sir,” he spoke into a small headset tuned to a handset he had given the officer for communication. “They don’t seem to be moving, sir. Maybe now would be a good time to take care of them. If we use non-armor-piercing rounds there’ll be no risk of causing damage to the ship. Permission to open fire.”
“Granted,” came the reply.
The men in the room began firing at the creatures above, but before the first had fallen to the ground the remaining black shapes launched themselves at the security team.

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Night was falling as the images of pain and fear shot into our minds. The messages from our distant brethren spurred us on to do something; but knowing we were separated by great distances, the only way to attack the emotions bubbling inside was to go on a hunt. Our bellies were calling for us to feed anyway so the decision was made for us, and instinct took over. We had found a large cave close to where our food was, and as soon as the dark was full we would be out feeding. If we could not help the others then we certainly would help ourselves.

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Kell and the other pirates, few though they were, felt comfortable that they had taken all the precautions necessary to make sure that whatever had killed the animals the night before would not do so again. He had contained the remaining animals in a smaller pen that he could guard easily. Two men were posted at each corner; two by the gate and the rest of the people from the village, numbering about fifteen, were resting around a fire ready to spell the guards throughout the night.
“Drake should be back tomorrow so we only have to lose one night’s sleep taking care of the remaining animals. When he gets back we’ll have enough firepower to finish this, if we don’t do it ourselves tonight.” He was talking to the group around the fire while eating a chunk of roasted green.
Everyone was actually in a jovial mood. It was like some kind of an adventure to them since only animals had been killed, and with each man carrying a weapon they feared nothing. Of course, Kell thought, large amounts of wine didn’t create cowards; on the contrary. He had tried to stop any drinking tonight, but these were pirates and that was next to impossible. Drake could have done it, but not Kell.
“We’ll spell those on duty in two hours so relax but keep your eyes open for anything unusual. Remember, we still don’t know what we’re really looking for or if it will even come back tonight.” He grabbed a flaming torch from the fire’s edge and walked off to check that those on guard were all in their allotted positions. The last of the daylight had slipped over the horizon and the stars were trying their best to shine through the cloudy night sky.
As he passed from the guarded door of the pen towards the first corner he heard a scream. It was hard to be sure, but it seemed to be coming from the opposite side of the pen. That was the side farthest from the village and the firelight and closest to the huge looming shadow that was Cargo 1.

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To be free! Those of us in apparent bright captivity drew strength from the images received from those of us afar. A dark and cloudy night and prey being hunted spurred us to respond to the danger in front of us. Light though it was, we had nowhere to hide and thus must react without hesitation lest we go the way of our ancestors.
Still young and far from fully-grown, we were already well able to take care of ourselves. In the real world we would have been taught the nuances of the hunt, but here and now those nuances were not necessary. Some of our number were now being killed by two-legs, and they must be avenged.

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The shock of such an immediate and effective response caught the security men by surprise. They were professional soldiers, but these creatures were new to them and how to deal with the attack eluded them at first. Before they really knew what was going on around them, two of them found black beetle-like creatures clinging to their backs; and before their comrades could help the men fell to the ground bleeding profusely and obviously dead.
“Retreat! Cover fire from the door! Get us out of here!” The security officer shot over his own shoulder as he felt something land on his back and was rewarded by feeling hot moisture run down his spine, and hearing the thing fall to the deck with a clatter.
“Is everyone out?” He turned to see that all but the two fallen men were with him and the door was being locked.
“What the hell happened?” Laith was shocked by the end result of such a short action. The ship’s security team was already down by two men in a matter of seconds. How could he explain this to the captain without looking like an incompetent fool?
“Sir, I honestly have no idea what those things are but they certainly know how to take care of themselves. I can get some more men and go in again. At least next time we’ll know what to expect and will be more prepared.” He was sweating and wiping the sticky liquid from his neck and shoulders with a rag and looking disgusted.
“Mr. Laith, if I may?” the steward waited for the officer’s nod and continued. “Well, we can see through the door window that the living blues and greens have massed at the far end of the hold and all those things seem to have collected in the rafters again, this time above the door. This hold is actually two separate compartments, with the dividing wall retracted to create one bigger space. We could automatically separate both sections from out here and then decompress the side with those things in. We can keep an eye on the blues and greens and make sure there are no more of the black things in there before we off-load them at our destination.”
“Perfect! That way we don’t even have to risk any more men. Get on with it then, I’ll report to the captain that we must come out of shift so we can open the hatches on this compartment.”
Five minutes later with the two sections separated by the divider wall and the ship out of shift, the steward hit a button in a wall panel, and through the window in the door, Laith could see the outer hatches open, and a mass of individual black shapes shot into the vacuum of space. The captain would be pleased.


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Momentarily images of freedom, dark skies, and stars filled our minds. Then nothing! Those of us left behind were shocked at the sudden loss of many of our few remaining numbers. We were now the last and so it was up to us to survive.


Thirty Three

Jacob was the last to pass out. Clayton had turned the life support to its lowest setting and still they’d been forced to turn off the engines diverting the remaining power to maintain enough oxygen for life. The other two slept, but Jacob held on and every minute, as pre-arranged, he keyed the radio transmitter to send out a signal to those searching for the pod.
In his mind he could visualize his family, Bella and Bettine. Seeing them brought a smile to his face and gave him strength. He realized that he had spent many of the last years hiding and even running from his past, even to the point of accepting and embracing the life and philosophy of a non-tech. During his years as an officer in the military, he had looked on non-techs as cowards and almost traitors but then, when it suited him, he had become a hypocrite in order to join them. The life of a non-tech had led him to Bella and their love had produced their little lady, Bettine, the pride of their world. How bad could that be? Over time he found himself truly accepting the tenets espoused by his fellow non-techs, and he felt better about his choices.
But recently he had been inexorably led to a place where non-tech choices had led to turmoil and strife for himself and his family, even his newly acquired farming friends. When he threw the pitchfork at the creature leaping at Drake, when he used the radio to talk with Marshall, these were things he should not have done. But he’d found he had no control over them; and now, did not regret them.
If the non-tech life were based on a religion he would have become a blasphemer, but since it was more a philosophy of peace and simplicity, he knew what he had done was for good. For that he would feel unashamed, and in fact, he would feel proud that he had done what was necessary without hesitation. Words like coward and traitor had recently been used to describe him and he knew he was neither. His family and friends could be grateful and not embarrassed or angry because of his actions.
If he managed to return to Teldar he would not follow the non-tech ideal as closely as he had before. What was so wrong with having a radio like Carlee had? Hadn’t it been of immeasurable aid to them in time of trouble? Wouldn’t electrified fencing have helped save some of their livestock? A little technology didn’t have to turn you from the good things in life; it could enhance it. It didn’t have to be all or nothing. He could still embrace the joys associated with the simple things in life, peaceful co-existence, love of and for others.
He keyed the radio again and then felt himself gently slipping into sleep. His last thought was that he wanted to be saved so he could see his family once more. As his eyes closed they were assaulted by a flash of bright light and then he was unconscious.

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As Kell ran around the corner of the pen he saw one of the pirates, Gil, by the look of the clothing, clutching something on his back. The man was spinning around apparently trying to shake the thing loose when he suddenly stopped moving, his arms dropped to his sides, and he fell face first to the ground. The black thing separated itself from Gil, and before Kell had time to shoot his weapon it had leapt over the pen wall. As he moved cautiously toward the body of the pirate he could see a pool of blood spreading from it onto the hard-packed dirt. Standing over Gil he could see a ragged hole in the man’s neck. A shiver ran through Kell’s body. Another scream, this one a woman’s, followed by rapid gunfire drew his attention, and he moved to the next corner.
Peering around it, weapon at the ready, Kell could see the bodies of three more pirates piled close together. Gil’s partner and the two allotted to guard the door had been killed in the same manner. The door was still closed but he could hear more screams from inside the pen and more shooting. The screaming wasn’t human this time; it came from the blues and greens inside. The black things must be attacking them as well as the pirates stationed there to stop them from getting in. Obviously they had failed.
Rounding the next corner at a run he could see that the people from around the fire had grabbed their weapons and rushed up to help those on guard. Many were firing wildly clearly in a panic. Kell saw at least one stray shot hit the chest of a woman who then fell writhing to the ground. As he got closer he could see what was causing the haphazard and suicidal shooting. There were several of the black things in amongst the group of people, and as they were trying to defend themselves, they were running the risk of hitting each other.
“Spread out!” he shouted as soon as he realized their fire could not be directed effectively if the targets were right on top of them. His voice of command seemed to galvanize them into a more cohesive group and they did as he had told them. “Stand still and take your time before firing.” Two of the men were attacked by the strange creatures that appeared out of the dark sky and before they could fall, Kell and two others also with good angles carefully shot the things from their backs releasing a spray of glistening gore.
“See, if we’re careful we can take care of ourselves.” He waved the remaining people over to him. There were about nine left and he could see many bodies lying sprawled in the dirt, both human and black creature. If he could just hold these things off till the morning, Drake would be back to help. “Let’s stick together, back to back so we don’t get surprised.” No one disagreed with his simple plan.

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Jacob, Clayton, and Sean awoke to the faint noise of a powerful engine pumping out energy. They were on a ship they didn’t recognize, and they had no idea how they had come to be there.
“OK, you’re a smart guy, Jacob. Where are we?” Clayton was feeling a bit groggy from his ordeal, and he hoped Jacob was more alert than he was.
“Though I don’t know for sure, as I’ve never been on board one before, I’d have to guess this is a small fighter. I’d also take an educated guess that we owe our present state of still being alive to Marshall’s fly boys.” He was looking around the room they had found themselves in on waking and could identify enough of the environment to be fairly sure he was correct. “Anyway, there’s no-one else it could sensibly be.”
“Are we going home now?” Sean had woken clearly confused but, having listened to Jacob, felt like he was grasping the ramifications of their situation.
“Let’s go find out for sure, Sean,” Jacob said as he opened the door and walked down a short narrow corridor gesturing the other two to follow him.
At the end of the corridor was a door that slid back into the wall as Jacob got close, and on the other side were two uniformed men sitting in large comfortable looking chairs at the ship’s controls.
“Sleep well?” one of them said.
“Are you Marshall’s men? Are you the ones we talked with on Carlee’s radio?” He felt sure he knew the answer but wanted confirmation.
“That’s us. We’ll have you back home in time for breakfast and we expect to be invited.” The two pilots were smiling at the looks of joy and gratitude on the faces before them. “Clayton, Marshall has given us orders to drop Jacob and Sean off, and then take you to a ship that will ferry you to wherever it is you have planned to start your retirement.” He turned back to the displays in front of him and all he heard in reply were heavy sighs of relief.


Thirty Four

Some of us had stopped sending images and thoughts; they would not be rejoining the group after this hunt. Sadness suffused all our minds and anger flowed strongly amongst us. Alone on a new world with no elders to guide us, we were frightened. Mistakes made now might become permanent and lead to the end for our kind. That could not be allowed to happen. The only thing we could rely on was our instinct.
When these two-legs had shown so much resistance, even killing as they were themselves were being killed, we were all surprised. Since the cave was so close, all of us had returned to it on a mutual signal to regroup there. Through the cave mouth and from the darkness inside we could see a small group of two-legs. The figures stood defiantly in the open where it would be difficult for us to ambush them. We needed some kind of opportunity to rid ourselves of this nuisance and begin our new lives on the planet we had so recently been born.

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“I don’t like standing here in the open,” one of the men complained to Kell, “Can’t we take shelter somewhere?”
“I must admit I feel the same way but I don’t know if I trust our wooden structures to keep those things out.” Kell was looking around to see what their next move should be. His eyes fell on the Cargo 1. The others followed his gaze and some of them smiled as they read his mind.
“Once we get inside there they’ll not be able to follow us when we close up the doors. I say let’s forget about guarding the blues and greens and let’s take care of ourselves till tomorrow.” Everyone nodded in agreement and as one, they moved slowly and cautiously towards the large open cargo bay door in the side of the massive ship.
As soon as the last pirate had walked up the ramp Kell hit the button that closed the door behind them. They all breathed a communal sigh of relief now they were safe inside the metal shell, shielded from the evil black things. As Kell searched for a way to activate the lights the others slipped to the floor in exhaustion, their weapons across their laps. Safe as they now felt, they were pirates and as such their lives revolved around action and violence, so they were not ready to lay the weapons aside till they could completely guarantee the danger was long gone.
Kell found the switch for the lights but before his finger could connect he was thrust against the wall and the wind was knocked out of his lungs. At first he thought one of the men had pushed him for some reason but then he felt the weight on his back. As his mind recognized that he was about to die, and he could do nothing about it. The creature’s proboscis plunged into his neck killing him instantly and silently. The other pirates heard nothing.
“Come on, Kell, sort them lights out; it’s eerie in here,” the high frightened female voice came out of the darkness falling on dead ears. As the last drops of blood ran from Kell’s neck, his comrades saw shapes in the murkiness inside the vessel.
“Kell, is that you?” the voice was nervous. Clearly it wasn’t Kell as the shapes weren’t human sized and they weren’t moving.
Without a sound all the shapes leapt from the decking at the same instant and drove into the men and women who struggled to get to their feet and bring their weapons up to fire. One of the remaining pirates panicked and hit the button to open the door to the outside of the ship. As he turned his back to run he was crushed under the leaping shapes of two of the creatures. The other pirates next to him tried to shoot at them but only succeeded in creating a cross-fire killing two of their own number.
The rest ran in terror through the open door. They each took no more than three steps before being brought down under a mass of black, writhing shapes. The last human on the pirate world died instantly as his spinal chord was severed.


Thirty Five

In the Teldar system a small, fast ship shifted out of sight with a flash of light. From the nearby planet several sets of eyes looked upward until the light had faded leaving behind the normal starscape.
Bella, her arm around the waist of her husband, reached for the outstretched hand of her daughter and they all slowly retraced their steps back into their home. They had just said their thank-yous and good-byes to Clayton as he was ferried off to meet the ship that would take him to his new life. As far as Bella was concerned, Clayton had easily earned whatever it was Marshall was paying him for his services. Without his help her husband and possibly her daughter would have been taken from her. Another mother was also praising Clayton, and also Jacob, for helping her son, Sean, to be returned safely to his home. Life seemed to be returning to normal but Bella was still worried.
“Jacob, what happens now?” her voice betrayed her concern.
“What do you mean?” Jacob stopped walking and he turned his head to look directly into her face. He could see she had something important on her mind. Bettine, too, knew her mother well enough to tell she was upset and she felt as mystified as Jacob.
“Well,” she continued, “what do we do when the Collectors show up? I’m afraid it will only be a few days before they come for you.” Her pretty face screwed up and she began to softly cry.
Taking her face between his two large hands he gently smoothed her cheeks and wiped the tears away, “Oh, Bella, please don’t cry. Everything will be OK, and you don’t need to worry about anything. The Collectors won’t be coming for me or the rest of our missing Token.”
At this, both she and Bettine stared up at him. Jacob led them inside and they all sat at the kitchen table. “Let me explain. I had the same concern, but Clayton made it clear to me that we won’t have any more repercussions from what’s been going on.”
“How come, dad? When they find out who you are they’ll come and get you.” Bettine still looked on the verge of crying but she wanted to believe her dad.
“The Collector vessel that took me away had all the records about who I really am and also the fact that we hadn’t met the Token. When they were led astray by Clayton they tried to contact the Suppliers for help. But Clayton had also masked their communications ability. So, not only were they not able to get the help they needed, they couldn’t transfer any of their records either; everything was lost when the pirates took the ship. We don't know where they took it; but even if the Collectors found it they wouldn’t be able to access the data without the codes Clayton has in his head, and I don’t think he’ll be telling anyone.” He put his hand on top of Bella’s as it lay on the table and for emphasis gently squeezed it.
“As far as the Suppliers and the Collectors are aware, we paid our Token in full and it was taken by the pirates when they stole the cargo ship. They won’t be coming back till Token time again and, with some luck and hard work, we’ll have caught up with our losses and we’ll be ready for them.”
“Oh, that’s marvelous….,” Bella never finished her sentence. Jacob pulled her into his arms and, ignoring his young daughter standing by their side, kissed his wife deeply.
Bettine ran around the table and hugged her parents in a monstrous embrace laughing aloud with relief and happiness.


Epilogue

As the dusk grew into darkness and the stars peered from the heavens, shadows began to move. From the mouth of the cave we tested the air with sensitive noses and scanned the darkness before us to search for possible dangers. When all seemed clear, a few of our shadowy figures took tentative forward movements onto the packed dirt at the foot of the ramp from the ship. Images flooded from mind to mind: night sky with bright stars, silence, hunger, and most of all freedom. Freedom! Hard won, but ours to enjoy now.
As one we leapt forth on our quest. Stopping in a starlit clearing we congregated. Brushing against one another, the mutual tribal commitment was re-enforced. All of us were young and new to this life; new to this world. Without elders to raise us and teach us the ways to survive, we knew we would find times hard. But our race was used to hardship, and we’d fought hard and long to win our present freedom. We wouldn’t readily give it up, as the so recently deceased two-legs had discovered. This world was now ours to rule; those who would kill us were finally gone.
Our group moved cautiously toward the pen and the muffled noises and smells from within were easily picked up by the all of us. Inexperienced and new to survival we may have been, but we had the advantage that our next meals would be easily found and captured. Those still alive would feed them for many days. In time there would be none left and we would have to move on in search of other prey animals, but we had no doubt that the search would be successful. Other animals, maybe not as big as the ones we would eat tonight, had been sensed and they would suffice. Similar to our parent’s original prey animals, the new food source was to be found in large numbers in the low mountains nearby. Over time, lessons would be learned through trial and error, so techniques for successfully hunting the mountain creatures could help this new family to grow.
In our minds were stored the memories of our family’s history and they would not be forgotten. The history of pride would be born again in these few pioneers, and from this planet would spring forth a new common memory. Once again our name would be seen in all our minds.

End

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 17.10.2009

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