Killing Rhinos

by Herb Hughes

  “But my stuff?”

  “Tell your bosses the damned mule chewed through his rope and ran away. I’ll back you up. The rangers have got better sense than to question me. Here, take this water skin. I’ll give you some of my food, too. Let that old fool die out there alone. The mule, too.”

  “Where will you be? In case my boss wants you to verify my story.”

  “I’ve got to go to Lisbon to meet somebody. Important job. I need to get moving while Wheat is still lying around. Won’t have time to stop at the post office this trip, but I’ll be back soon enough. I’ll talk to your boss on the return trip.”

  Bill shrugged and Greg Bonner mounted his horse. The big man reached into a saddlebag and tossed Bill a leather-wrapped food package then he turned his horse around and trotted off toward Borderton. He would by-pass Borderton this trip, circling north to avoid any chance of running into Jack Wheat. This wasn’t the time, but Greg Bonner had big plans. The next time they met…

  Chapter 9

  “Dipsy dee, I love me. Three times eleven is thirty-three. The square root of one has only begun to look like itself like me and my friend. Dreamsie, weemsie, woosie, woo... Where are you, exalted self? I miss you so, reposed here by the dripping globs of jelly and without the glorious rapture of my dreams as I am. What’s that you say? You were here the whole time? How could that be? I would have enjoyed having a conversation with you had you been. Or were we merely non-cognizant of each other in our daily dwindlings toward the gooey state that we are inexorably going to be. Oh. Now that I think of it, we will suffer such a horrible fate. This is so dreadful. So very, very dreadful.

  “Why don’t you get up and walk away, lowly self?

  “May I remind my elevated self that he is in the same fine mess that I am? If he could get up and walk away, why hasn’t he done so, eh?

  “Tree in the forest syndrome. Somebody has to be here to listen to your pathetic musings or they wouldn’t exist.

  “Okay, okay. Don’t be so mean. I miss my dreams so. If the machines had only not broken. I could have lived… even died with it all, if I only had my dreams back.

  “Oh, cruzzles. Leave me alone, miserable self! Go away and leave me alone. You’re such terrible company.

  “Dum de do. A new scooty for you. Yes, a small baby scooty. Oh how much fun!

  “Hey, pathetic self, it has occurred to me. Why could you not have been a woman? I could while away my last few centuries screwing myself to death. Instead, you’re another man like me.

  “Hardly my fault.

  “I thought I told you to go away!”

  Chapter 10

  The pinkish-red light of sunrise glinted through the seams around the wooden shutters in the apartment above the library. Sheffie rose and threw the shutters open, dashing brilliant tinted sunlight over the walls. She smiled at the world below then twirled and danced gracefully across the room.

  “Isn’t the sunrise beautiful?” she asked.

  Jack moaned and rolled over, covering his head with a pillow.

  Sheffie continued to smile as she took the new dress, purchased hastily the afternoon before, from a hook on the wall. She held it up to herself. It was a special blend of cotton, a newly invented process, soft and smooth. The dress was long, almost to her ankles. It was a light rose color with only a hint of orange. The wide collar dove deeply down her chest, the current fashion. She wouldn’t wear it today. This would be her arrival dress, her “Here I Am, Lisbon!” dress.

  Although the store had been closing when they walked in, the shop keeper told them he would stay open as late as they needed. It didn’t take long. One look and she knew this was the one, if it only fit. And it did. Perfectly. They didn’t buy anything else. Jack had not wanted to carry too much on the trip, so Sheffie promised to pack light as long as he would go shopping with her once they were in Lisbon.

  She danced around the room holding the dress against her body. “Wake up, sleepyhead. Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for this? Maybe you won’t marry me, but at least you’re taking me to Lisbon. That’s the next best thing.”

  “It may be better,” Jack grumbled from underneath the pillow.

  “Perhaps.”

  Jack popped up from the pillow. “Hey, I was only joking.”

  “Of course you were.”

  “You?”

  “Mmmm, maybe. Are you going to take the first bath?”

  “I took a bath yesterday.”

  “I’ll go ahead, then. One of us will be fresh and clean for the trip.”

  Jack took the hint and, once Sheffie was out of the tub, bathed while she dressed. When they were both ready, she put a sign in the library window which read, “CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE”, then locked both doors. They left, walking to the restaurant where they were to meet Avery for breakfast.

  “I’m dreadfully sorry there’s not more room in the automobile,” Avery apologized.

  That was fine with Jack. He had no desire to ride all the way to Lisbon on the smoke-belching, ear-deafening black metal contraption. Besides, there was no way he would go to Lisbon without Killer. He and his horse were almost one when hunting Rhinos. “No apology needed,” Jack said. “We’ll be fine on horseback.”

  Sheffie nodded.

  Avery explained where to stop each night, promising to make arrangements for them on his way back to Lisbon.

  The first night’s hotel was little more than a stable with curtains. There was no town. A few decades earlier the area was nothing but wilderness, but a handful of crude buildings had popped up over the years because it was a day’s ride from Borderton. According to Avery, the hotels got progressively better as they went, with the hotel in Lisbon being the “finest hotel on the planet”. And they would stay in all of them at the city of Lisbon’s expense!

  Avery’s automobile, overnight and into the morning, had become the largest tourist attraction in the history of Borderton. Word had traveled throughout the countryside and people from outlying areas poured into town in the early hours to get a glimpse of the curious machine. Chugging and hissing to the awe and wonder of the crowds, the loud steam ‘automobile’ lumbered up and down the streets many times.

  Horses got used to the noise quickly enough, and their owners kept them well away, so the mayhem created by the Lisbon Express’ entrance into town was not repeated. There was only room for one in the small cabin – two if you weren’t too large and could squeeze close together – so the riders had to hop on where they could. More than one had a blister from being burned on the arm or leg when getting too close to the boiler or a steam pipe.

  Although he had started while it was still dark outside, by the time the sun climbed above the buildings and trees, Avery was still giving rides. The lines continued to stay long because as soon as riders got off the automobile, most of them got back in line for another ride. It was time to move along and poor Avery seemed not to have the capacity to refuse Borderton’s thrill seekers. Demetrius came to his rescue by pulling the tall man away from the crowds with an apology, a smile, and an elaborate wave.

  Already late, they hustled into the restaurant at the Borderton Hotel and ate quickly. Jack and Sheffie could tell that Avery was not used to doing so. He did it poorly. But, eggs on his shirt and all, in short order he walked out of the restaurant and into the street, prepared to depart.

  “Did you sleep well, Mr. Witherstone?” Captain Strombus asked.

  “Indeed. And the rest was well needed, thank you. While my automobile can travel long distances quickly, it does not have the comforts of home. The next one I build shall have a larger cabin, complete with seating. Perhaps I’ll even add a bed. And I must do something to make the ride smoother. It is quite rough, which is problematic over extended periods of time.”

  “You plan to build another one?” Sheffie asked.

  “Oh, yes. I have a number of refinements to make. It would be easier, and better, to build a new one rather than try to retrofit this one. That is how we inv
entors work. We make one model, test it, assess the tests, improve the design then, if the changes are too severe for mere modification, and they often are, build another. On and on.”

  “You seem to have done quite well on your first try,” Demetrius complimented.

  “Thank you, but this is my third automobile. It’s the first to work reasonably well. The first one barely worked at all,” Avery said, shrugging his shoulders. “Too heavy.”

  “Why the bumps on the wheels?” Jack asked.

  “Better traction on hills. Still, there are a couple of climbs between here and Lisbon that are so steep I had to pay a farmer to hitch his mules to the front and help pull. And the downhills can be scary, the steep ones.

  “I hate to rush,” Avery continued, “But it is past time to be off. I must say good-bye. I will see you two in Lisbon.”

  The stately man politely maneuvered through the huge crowd of onlookers surrounding his automobile, which took some time as he shook many hands along the way, and then climbed up to the cabin. One of the advantages of giving rides was that many riders donated split logs. The wood bin was filled to overflowing. No need to stop along the way to buy or cut wood.

  Steam continued to hiss from the boiler in thin, upward streaming wisps. Once in the cabin, Avery threw two more logs on the fire. After one last wave to the crowd, he strapped the strange hat on his head and put the glasses, what he called 'goggles', over his eyes. Spectators started backing up to make way for the automobile’s exit as Avery began working the controls.

  Slowly, laboriously, the huge machine inched forward; one meter, two, then three and four in slightly more rapid succession. It gained speed slowly, one puff of smoke after another, but finally the machine chugged at a reasonable pace as it moved away from Borderton’s town center. All watched as the automobile turned the corner and passed out of sight, then listened as the sounds of the machine slowly faded to a distant nothing. It seemed to take forever to get going, but once it was up to speed it was gone quickly.

  Jack and Sheffie held the reins to their horses. There were two pack horses tied behind, one for Sheffie’s things and the other for basic supplies and the rest of Sheffie’s things.

  “You seem to be well supplied for your trip,” Demetrius said as Jack helped Sheffie get on her horse.

  “Yeah,” Jack moaned. “I asked her to pack lightly.”

  “I did,” Sheffie replied with great sincerity. “That’s why we only needed two pack horses.”

  Jack smiled and rolled his eyes back – but not where Sheffie could see – as he mounted Killer. Demetrius diplomatically changed the subject.

  “I wish you both a pleasant trip.”

  “Thank you,” Sheffie responded.

  “And,” Demetrius added, “Be sure you keep an eye open for Rhinos.”

  “We’ll be safe,” Sheffie said. “After all, I have the world’s greatest Rhino hunter with me.”

  Jack smiled and nodded and acted as cool and as calm as he could even though he was worried on the inside. Chances were they wouldn’t run across a Rhino, of course. But if they did, would he try to ensure her safety by revealing his secret or would he chance things with a homebuilt? He would make that decision if and when the time came. If there was no time for a decision, reflex would go for the laser. As it should, he thought. He felt that Sheffie would keep his secret should he have to reveal it.

  So the journey began. They left Borderton traveling on the Lisbon Highway, a dirt trail that meandered through the gently rolling fields and clusters of trees to the north and east of town. The gentle swells would soon give way to rolling hills with numerous trees, then to sharply rising hills and thick forests. The mountains, purple and rugged with serrated tips cutting at the sky, could be seen in the shortening distance. There were no roads across them, of course, but the trail would get plenty steep as it twisted its way in and around and through the densely forested foothills at the base of the mountain range. Danger could be standing on four great hooves around any corner.

  Chapter 11

  Ethan, hands clasped behind him, stepped onto the white and silver bridge of the space station. The gravity field was set so that “down” was always in the direction from which the ship had come. This meant that the two meter by three meter clear steel view panel was in front of him as he walked in. Through it he could see a world of blue and white and brown and green, the planet far below. The polar caps were to each side of the view because of the lab’s orientation. While there was more brown than green in the land masses, there was still plenty of habitable land, especially along the coasts and rivers.

  “Good orbit, Stephan,” Ethan said as he walked in, not taking his eyes off the world in the view panel. “Any news from the Farm?”

  “Good orbit, Ethan. Nothing new. The Berrace shipment is in transit, but we still have the White Step and Cotilian searches in progress. No development on either.”

  “Umm,” Ethan grunted as he continued to stare at the planet in the window. “The Farm appears tranquil enough, from this distance. It’s amazing to me they don’t wonder why there’s never been a war in their entire one hundred fifty year history. They keep plodding along at their slow, backward pace. They have no idea how we protect them. All it takes is our eliminating the right person, or should I say wrong person, with a “heart attack” every now and then to keep things tranquil. Simple. And they are so ignorant they have no idea, no concept.”

  Stephan did not respond. It was Ethan doing his musing out loud, which he was inclined to do, and Stephan had nothing to add. Besides, it would be a waste of time to disagree with Ethan if he did, which he didn’t.

  After another moment of silence, Ethan said, “These other two searches have been going on for a while, one of them weeks. I wonder what the delay is. Perhaps our agents are getting soft. I could always remind them of their precarious position in life.”

  Stephan glanced up from his controls. “Perhaps a little more time, Ethan? The Cotilian search is barely a week old. White Step about three. The average search takes almost four weeks, considering how few agents we have to cover an entire planet.”

  “Yes, yes. You’re right, of course. I know I get impatient, but people are dying. Good people. We need those tissue matches. Now. We need…”

  The door opened, and a tall, stunning redhead came rushing in, her graceful body, a body that would put a Greek goddess to shame, bouncing ever so gently with her steps.

  “Hello, Diana. What’s the rush? News?”

  “Yes! Agent Bonner’s found a tissue match that should be our answer for the White Step microbe. It registered 99.98% on the field tester. Virtually a sure bet.”

  “Bright stars! That is good news,” Ethan said. “And that would make two in a row for Bonner. I wonder how in the world that Neanderthal does it. Where is he located?”

  “He was on his way from Borderton to Lisbon and passed the match on the road, about half way to Engles,” Diana replied as she pointed at an area on the planet. “Engles is a small village at the foot of the mountains, two day’s north of Borderton by horseback. The match lives on a small, isolated farm south of town. The coordinates are loaded in Central.”

  “Did Bonner send the match’s schedule? Where will the match be in twelve hours?”

  “According to Bonner’s research, the match rarely leaves his farm, only going to town every other week. He’s recently made the trip, so it is doubtful he will be going anywhere in the immediate future.”

  “Excellent! Everything is falling into place. Three weeks search has ended. Stephan, select a nearby area that’s isolated enough for the tissue transfer. Right away. No time to lose. Diana, tell Bonner he can harvest after… ” Ethan checked the time display in his peripheral vision. “9:40 AM local time. Not before. Bonner sometimes gets impatient, but we need that tissue as fresh as possible.”

  “That soon? Don’t you think we should give Bonner more time to prepare?” Diana responded.

  “Time?” Ethan sta
red at Diana and spoke the word as though trying to understand its meaning. There was an awkward moment as the two looked into each other’s eyes before Ethan realized why her comment had seemed so strange. He could not remember anyone ever delaying the execution of his instructions before. He regained his composure quickly and said, “Diana, people are dying. We must move with all haste.”

  “Yes, of course. It’s just… Oh, nothing. I’ll get right on it.”

  “Please,” Ethan stressed. “And notify the other agents that a match has been found. With a ninety-nine plus, we can remove the White Step code from their bracelets. That leaves only the Cotilian search.”

  “Very good,” Diana responded then she turned to leave the bridge.

  It had been a short rebellion, but one that registered high on Ethan’s attention scale. What did Diana think she was doing questioning his direction, his judgment? Nothing like this had ever happened during his entire tenure on the space station. Ethan watched her until the door closed then turned back to the view panel and, once again, stared at the green and brown of the land mass in the window.

  He had always worried about failure, about not being able to find a tissue match before an entire colony succumbed to a devastating organism for which resistance had been bred out of the posthuman race. There had been only one failure in the entire history of The Farm, and it had happened long before Ethan’s time. Every single one of the thirty-eight million colonists on a planet called Paradise Found had lost their lives. The required tissue match was never located on Agrilot. All thirty-eight million had to be left to rot on the planet’s surface. Not a single Paradise Found colonist could be rescued from the infected planet, not even a piece of their equipment. Humanity couldn’t take the chance of spreading the infection off planet, so Paradise Found was designated as “off limits” and remained so to this day. No space ship had ever gone back. And Ethan was determined that they would not lose thirty-eight million lives on his watch. Even if he had to go down and check every inhabitant of the Farm personally, one-by-one!