It also took a little time for him to get used to all of the robot animals that were used for transportation. Individuals usually rode a variety of robot horses, from swift ponies to more powerful stallions. Families were often seen coming out of carts or carriages pulled by robot horses or mules. Trance even saw a few sleek and swift-looking two-person chariots, as well as the occasional more luxurious coach. Some of these pulled vehicles were like those he remembered out of the past, while others were more like automobiles being pulled either by a single robot animal or a team of them. All seemed to have a pneumatic tire on a spoked wheel and modern suspension. It was all so fascinating how everything seemed to fit and work together. Soon it was normal to him as well. He only wished his family were with him.
He knew that Chorus had sent a letter to the government committee taking care of the people of Earth. Unknown to Trance, Chorus had unintentionally misspelled his name and reported that the ship Trance was from was the Spartan XV, due to the letters he could make out on Trance’s deep sleep chamber. In their talks Trance was having fun and was too distracted to think to correct Chorus the night he wrote the letter and mailed it.
When he was back at the farm, Trance started to read the books that the Markems had and the ones he’d bought in town. He also worked with Martin and the girls to learn more and more about Althora and the kingdoms on the planet. He learned more about the nearby planets and their kingdoms. He wanted to get himself ready to go to school. He wanted to go so badly. He really wanted to take the knight classes and start learning how to be a knight. But he couldn’t predict where he’d go to school and how well he’d do in the knight class.
Chapter 6
A Time for Action
It happened near the end of summer. Trance had been having one of the best summers he’d ever had. The summer just seemed to go on and on. Trance had learned about the Althorian calendar and that the seasons were longer than those he was used to.
The Markems had checked into getting Trance a new birthday. By the Althorian calendar he would turn eighteen on the fourteenth of Nothemtree, the third month in Auburn. Trance and Martin had become such good friends that they went everywhere together. Martin took Trance all over town, showing him the Game House, a neat looking arcade that had some very interesting games. Most of the games were similar to those that Trance had played in his past. There were race games where you controlled racing robot horses, or horse drawn carriages that sped along various racecourses and terrain at great speeds that rivaled the racecars of the past. There were also sport games of various sorts that Martin explained to Trance, telling him about all of the major sports on Althora and their rules.
The pair had great fun checking out the games and playing for hours. Trance found other amazing games to try out. There were flying games where you controlled flying robot horses; jet powered giant robot birds, or robot dragons. Trance was fascinated by these games.
Some games were war games. There were the expected ground fighting knight games, but there were also games featuring the knights as air defenders. Trance had learned from Martin about the knights that were in the air defense. The air defenders were divided into five basic categories: the knights that rode the winged horses, the knights that flew the sleek predatory bird fighters, the knights that flew the large bird bombers, the knights that flew dragons, and finally the knights that flew in the planetary ships. The games featuring these knights and their flying creatures and ships were interesting and fun.
There were also shooting games of hunting or battling armies with electronic bows and crossbows. However, one game really got Trance’s interest. It was a virtual game where the player had to put on virtual reality goggles and use a plastic sword hooked to the game computer that allowed the player to fight in virtual combat. Trance quickly found that the game was tremendously exhilarating. By this time Trance had become the best player of this game in town.
Besides going to town and playing at the Game House, Martin and his father took Trance on a few hunting trips. Chorus had explained about hunting on Althora and in their kingdom. Every two months there was a week that people could go and get a license to hunt a certain breed of animal. Trance had been brought up to appreciate hunting by his parents. His father had never gone hunting, but had taken Trance and his brother and sister fishing several times. Trance’s grandfather and some members of his mother’s side of the family did go hunting. They had taught him that hunting was fun and okay with the understanding that you respect the animal that you are hunting. You could only bag one animal, and you have the animal prepared for food. One uncle in particular argued that when you hunt you only kill one animal for yourself and your family. Thousands of cattle, pigs, chickens, and turkeys were killed daily. They were packaged and sold in grocery stores.
Trance had learned to shoot a bow and arrow in his youth but hadn’t shot at more than a round target. He was fairly good, he could hit the target, but he’d never had time to go and practice on a regular basis to get very good. Now he had lots of time to practice and new things to shoot at. Martin had shown him how to correctly hold the bow and aim so he could hit what they were after. With Martin’s help he gradually improved.
Chorus and Martin were excellent hunters and every time they went out on a hunting trip they always got their animals. They went after afflors, an animal resembling a very large elk, and velops, which were large antelopes with cow horns. They also hunted a variety of birds, some which resembled large pheasants and some others that were like large flying turkeys. It was always an adventure when they went out. There was so much to be seen that was all new to Trance.
Trance also learned that Chorus was a member of the Public Militia. This was a loose defense organization made up of many of the men in town that were seventeen years old or older. The members of the Militia met once a month on the second weekend for organization and practice. Being in the Militia gave the member a license to carry a weapon and required them to help defend the town in case of invasion. They were to be under the regular military and take orders from them. They were also to come out and help only when they were needed and requested by the captain of the knights at the outpost guarding the town.
Martin was not yet qualified to join the Militia. Chorus asked and found out that Trance couldn’t join yet either. He was old enough, but he had to be a citizen of Cator first. To become a citizen Trance had to live in the kingdom for six months. After the six months were over he would have to take a test on Cator and Althora. Trance looked forward to being eligible for citizenship in another two months. Chorus found out that he could of course show Trance how to use a weapon to defend himself. The Militia’s leader believed that it was better to be prepared in the event that he was needed to defend the farm.
Martina on the other hand made sure Trance attended some of the town’s social occasions to meet and socialize with the other kids in town. She in particular enjoyed introducing him to her friends. Trance had always been a little shy when it came to girls and hadn’t had a real girlfriend since second grade, and that had only lasted three weeks. There were some very nice looking girls, but none really got his attention. He tried not to be picky, but he didn’t see any that got his heart racing. At these socials he was as polite as possible, danced with many of the girls and got to know quite a few of them. He also learned more about school and classes and what to expect when they resumed. He thought he learned a lot at these functions and started to enjoy them more.
Even as these happy and carefree events took place Trance noticed that everybody in town was also starting to get slightly nervous. It was as if they were sensing something that Trance hadn’t picked up on. He watched the knights and pawns in town start acting more serious and anxious. Then one day, Chorus came home from a Militia meeting and told the family that an army of Boulthorian troops had landed just a few miles away. Nobody knew why the Boulthorians were here.
Chorus had reported events lik
e this before, and Trance had come to learn that the Boulthorians had a main castle and some small outposts on Althora in various places. These were tolerated to a small degree. As long as the Boulthorians stayed five miles away from any Althorian towns or settlements and didn’t provoke any violence they could stay. But if they started any military action they would face the possibility of all-out war between the two planets. In the event of such a war, all of the other worlds would join in the fighting. So the peace in the area depended on the Boulthorians staying where they were.
Trance had learned that small battles between Althorian forces and Boulthorian troops sometimes took place. These battles usually didn’t escalate very far and peace was restored shortly, but tensions were always very high afterward. Yet the threat of the Boulthorians was steadily growing worse. There was a rumor that a war was coming; yet nobody knew when and dreaded what it would cost.
It was midmorning and the air was quiet and warm. Trance was out on the plow almost where he’d been found in the deep sleep chamber when he heard the town alarm erupt from the emergency tower. He turned the plow around and quickly went back to the farmhouse. As he arrived, Chorus and Martin were coming out of the house. Martin was carrying an ax and Chorus had a scythe in his hand.
“What’s going on?” asked Trance as he noticed the tools the two men were wielding.
“It’s a battle in town. The Boulthorians have attacked the outpost and are now moving into town. They’re destroying everything. Stay here and guard the house and the women,” said Chorus as he and Martin went off to help defend the town.
Trance went inside and immediately planned his defense of the house. First he had Maxine and the girls lock themselves in the master bedroom across from Martin’s bedroom at the end of the hall. He then sealed the back door and blocked the hall with the sofa and other furniture. In the living room he moved the other furniture to block anyone’s approach to the hall. He then went and set up some simple booby traps to slow down and stun any intruders that might break into the house.
In the kitchen he laid the chairs down and set them to trip anyone who came through there. He ran out of the house and in the shop quickly drove some long nails through some boards and took them back to the house and placed them at various spots that he thought that an enemy might trip and fall on them. At the kitchen door he set the kitchen table on its side and set a long hayfork on it. He’d tied a rope to the doorknob and the other end to the fork just below the tines, the idea being that when the door was opened the fork would be pulled into whoever had opened the door.
To arm himself he went to the barn again and brought in three standard pitchforks, another hayfork, a short manure fork, four hunting spears, the bow and hunting arrows he’d bought in town, a butcher knife, and the other ax. Now armed and feeling ready he went back through the house checking his handiwork and set himself behind the sofa. He then thought and made sure the other bedroom doors and the bathroom door were shut. Feeling that he’d done what he could to protect the house he sat back, relaxed a bit and waited.
He had placed the long hayfork against the sofa to deter someone from charging it. He kept the manure fork at hand just in case of close combat and slid the butcher knife into his belt. Carefully he set the regular pitchforks and spears so he could easily reach them and put the quiver of twenty arrows on his back, taking one out and nocking it on the bow. He felt that he had done what he could to protect the house. Half of him hoped nothing would happen yet the other half thought about what would happen if something did happen. Either way he couldn’t wait to hear from Chorus and Martin.
He didn’t have to wait long. Gradually he began to hear the distant sounds of battle. In fact the battle seemed to be moving toward the Markem’s farm. Twenty minutes after Trance had finished setting up his defenses a group of Boulthorian knights came rambling up to the house. They were scouting for a place for their platoon to stay and make a base to launch more attacks and hunt down the pockets of resistance. They dismounted their horses and decided to investigate the house.
Just as Trance had predicted one of the Boulthorians came up to the door and swung it open very hard. Just as planned the hayfork was pulled into the first knight. “Agh!” he screamed as the points were driven into his middle. He crumpled back and his companions went in past him.
The others instantly became more cautious; unfortunately another unlucky soldier backed up and tripped over a chair and landed on one of the boards of nails. He yelled in surprise and great pain. He perished when one of his companions that was trying to help him up tripped and fell on him and drove him onto the nails, one of which struck his heart. The knight that had fallen on his doomed partner didn’t live much longer due to the fact that in his surprise and killing his partner he stood suddenly and lost his footing and fell throat first on a second board of nails.
The remaining seven knights now very cautiously moved through the kitchen toward the living room. There they encountered the maze of furniture and made their way through. Here, like the kitchen, the booby traps worked as expected and caused pain and confusion. Still the knights kept moving to the hall and started making several rude comments about whoever had set up these household defenses. The first knight that reached the hall ran toward the sofa hoping to catch the house defender unawares. “AAHH!” he screamed in horror as he ran straight into the hayfork.
Trance was initially stunned by what had happened so far, but he quickly recovered and sent his first arrow at the intruders. He missed and ducked as one of the knights drew a bow and sent an arrow back at him. Trance set the bow down and got ready to throw the first pitchfork. His chance came to throw, and he stood quickly and hurled the fork directly at a charging swordsman.
“Take cover!” commanded the knight with a short sword as he ducked behind the fallen recliner.
Keeping cool, Trance counted in his mind how many men were left in the house yet. Well, he knew that four men had screamed in agony, and he had seen six men jump for cover in the living room. He wasn’t sure if there were more. Wow, he was stunned that four men could go down in just a few minutes. Oh well, don’t dwell on it he told himself; there are still six enemies in the house. He knew that they were very capable of ending his life at any time. He breathed deeply and made up his mind to make it as hard as possible for them. With a steady hand he grabbed the second pitchfork and waited for another target.
A target came. It was a mace man who was trying to get around to the side to leap on him. Trance saw him and instantly threw the fork with tremendous accuracy, hitting the mace man fully right between the breast and back plates. Spying the archer lining up a shot on him, he ducked down and grabbed the last pitchfork and with a swift movement hurled it at the archer’s throat.
Fortunately Trance ducked in time as a second archer had lined up on him and had fired his crossbow. The bolt missed and the archer started to draw the string back to reload when the string broke. Filled with rage, he took up his battleaxe, ran at the sofa and leaped over it, surprising Trance.
Trance barely had time to pick up the manure fork. They fought in very close quarters for a minute until in desperation Trance somehow drove the fork’s points into his opponent beneath the breastplate.
As all this transpired the remaining three leaped to help their comrade. Trance heard them coming and firmly held one of the spears to catch the first man coming over the sofa. The first man came over swinging a military flail and landed full on the spear; however, he did not die right away and swung again at him. Trance had no choice and slit his throat with the butcher knife. He was then knocked over by the man with the short sword.
“Take this you little bastard!” yelled the man as he lunged at Trance. Trance rolled past the side of the man and before his opponent could turn around he leapt up, grabbed his head and exposed his neck. Trance cut it before he’d even realized it. The last man came with another sword and Trance fought him with his ax. He
fought for a couple minutes and finally put the man down.
There seemed to be no more invaders and he slowly took in what he had done. He had just killed ten men. He quickly said a prayer thanking God for protecting him and helping him defend the house. He then tried to calm his shaky nerves and knocked on the master bedroom door and reassured Maxine and the girls that he was okay.
At that moment surprised voices came from the kitchen doorway. Trance thought for a moment that other unfriendly knights had arrived. Then he realized that it was Chorus and Martin back from town. He breathed in relief that they had survived the battle in town.
“What happened here?” asked Martin seeing the three dead knights in the kitchen.
“I set this all up to defend the house,” said Trance as he let the women out of the bedroom and led them through the house and past the other dead knights.
“I see your defenses worked pretty well,” said Chorus as he scanned the mayhem and the other fallen enemy knights in the house.
Trance proudly showed the booby traps and how they were supposed to work. Then all of them went toward the back door and out into the sunlight. All of them were very grateful to be alive.
“We need to leave here. The Boulthorians are still battling in town. We’ve got them driven back a bit, but they might try to escape in this direction,” said Chorus.
While they stood outside and discussed their options an Althorian knight came riding up and addressed Chorus. “Chorus, those Boulthorian scumbags are headed your way. You and your family need to get out of here and in a hurry. I left them just a few miles from here, and they could be this way in just a few minutes.” The knight saluted Chorus and the family politely and rode off.
Space Knights: The Arrival Page 8
