The Colony Ship Vanguard: The entire eight book series in one bundle

by John Thornton

  “Hobson, I have warned you before about your antics,” Larissa said in a controlled and yet powerful way.

  “How dare you come into my home! You have not right to be here. Leave now! I will not allow interruption of the discipline of my child!” Hobson said. His eyes were filled with contempt. “The home is sacrosanct, and none shall trespass on it.”

  The young child was now huddled near her older brother. Larissa motioned to the children without taking her eyes off Hobson. “You two go outside and stand near Ben.”

  “You will not tell my children what to do,” Hobson said and stood to his full height. He was slightly taller than Larissa and out-weighted her by roughly twenty kilograms.

  A woman came out from the back rooms and peered around the corner. Her one eye was blackened and swollen shut; her nose had dried blood under it.

  “Charleigh, you will take your children outside immediately,” Larissa stated.

  “That is my wife, and she will obey me, and only me. I am the head of this family,” Hobson said.

  “Governor, he was just trying to control the children,” Charleigh said in a quivering voice. “Just being a good father.”

  “I suppose he was just trying to control you, when he slugged your face?” Larissa asked. “Now take your children and go.”

  Charleigh stepped out from the back room and there was a baby on her hip. There were red welts on the side of the baby’s face, but the baby was being held tightly. “Hush, Daanay, momma is here.”

  Charleigh looked back at Hobson, then at the children.

  “You stay right where you are Charleigh,” Hobson dictated. “You know what to do. There are always consequences.”

  “Go now,” Larissa snapped the order. “Take the children now.”

  Charleigh looked one last time at her husband, then she moved past Hobson and hustled her children out the door.

  Hobson’s rage was evident in his eyes, but he managed to keep his voice moderately civil. His face split in a mocking smile. “This is way out of hand. Forgive me. Now Governor, you have caught me at a difficult time. I am sure from your vantage point, this looks like quite a scene. I apologize for my child’s outburst. That must have disturbed the neighbors, and I am sorry for that. She is a strong willed and defiant child.”

  “Hobson, you are right on only one thing, she is a child,” Larissa said coldly. “A child, just a child.”

  “Mara is four years old and more than grown enough for training. Rivan is eight and will be a man before I know it. You know I love them dearly,” Hobson tried to smooth talk to Larissa, but she saw right through his phony words. “My good Governor, my religion is very important to me. I know my role as leader of this family. Family is the cornerstone of society. My daughter Mara there, she is strong-willed. That must be broken,” Hobson explained.

  “Like Charleigh’s nose was broken?” Larissa asked.

  “My wife stumbled in the kitchen and hit her face on the cabinet doors.”

  “I suppose the marks on the baby were from her fall as well?” Larissa asked.

  “Yes. They fell against the cabinet. Ask her yourself, she will tell you want happened.”

  “I am not interested in hearing more lies,” Larissa said. “I am sure she would tell me the story you have instilled in her by fear and violence.”

  “I am disciplining my family, not being violent. My discipline is not harsh and destructive to the child's spirit. It teaches them the order of life, with me as the leader of this family. The husband must lead the marriage, and the father must lead the family. That is the divine order of things.”

  “Little Mara was wailing in terror from your violence. That is not discipline, it is violent cowardice.” Larissa’s blue eyes were intensely locked on Hobson.

  Hobson was losing what little control he had over his rage. His false smile disappeared. “Discipline must start early and be consistent. Discipline must be of sufficient magnitude to cause genuine pain to the child. I am doing our society a favor by disciplining my children as the divine intends.”

  “I know only too well what your kind of discipline leads to,” Larissa stated. “I know it personally.”

  “Good. That is one reason for your success! So in your own life you know that I am right. While learning to yield to my loving authority, my child learns to submit to other forms of authority. That is essential here in Orsk, and you our Governor should know that. Authorities will confront my children later in life, teachers, troopers, neighbors, job managers, our Constable, and you Governor. The quarantine exists only because of authority. You benefit from my discipline of my children. You should applaud me and thank me!”

  “You will never have my thanks. You are wrong. I have warned you before,” Larissa repeated. “Your violence is wrong even if you excuse it in name of religion.”

  Hobson retorted, "When I am defiantly challenged, I win decisively. That is what loving fathers do. It is my religious right, duty, and obligation.”

  “I have heard all that nonsense before. Love is not shown by beating a child, no matter what you call it.” Larissa uttered a mirthless laugh. “Mara was screaming and crying in terror.”

  “Real crying only lasts a minute or two. I allow that, yes I do. I allow for real crying, but after a minute or two, my child’s crying is not real. That crying, well, it is just protesting and complaining and challenging my authority. We cannot have that! At that point I require her to stop the crying. She must learn. I, in my mercy, I ask if her if she needs a reason to cry. Then if she fails to submit to my authority and keeps complaining, I give her more of what caused the genuine tears.”

  “Stop. No longer will you do that,” Larissa stated. “You are under arrest.”

  “What? Arrest me for what? Living out my religious faith? How dare you try to oppress my religious liberty in my own home! Get out now!” Hobson was indignant. “Governor Muravyev would never have been persecuting good people like me.”

  “Governor Muravyev is dead. Killed by smugglers,” Larissa said.

  “So you claim. Muravyev was at least the right gender for leadership. You are a joke as Governor,” Hobson folded his arms over his chest and spat at Larissa.

  “You are under arrest,” Larissa repeated calmly and confidently. “I thought you claimed to honor authority.”

  “You have no authority over me. This is my home. I only submit to the divine, and no one else,” Hobson was defiant. “If not for that weapon of yours, you would have no power in any situation. None.”

  Larissa, her blue eyes never leaving Hobson, unbuckled the belt which had the holster and the pouch for the multiceiver. She stepped backward and set them down just inside the door.

  “I have no weapon now. Yet you are still under my authority and are under arrest. You will be going to my jail.”

  “Never!” Hobson screamed.

  “This is your last, your final, chance to come peaceably to jail. Go outside now, or I will take measures,” Larissa stated with a cold icy stare.

  Hobson trembled a bit, but then pulled his sneer into a tight line. He clenched his fists.

  Larissa walked over toward him. He tried to cuff her when she got close enough. Larissa tipped herself backward and easily dodged the blow.

  “I am not a child you can beat at your whims. I have no fear of you,” Larissa said. “Nothing you can try will work. I promise you that.”

  “You should fear me,” Hobson said and punched at her.

  She dodged to the side and planted a jab to Hobson’s midsection.

  “Opff!” he expelled all the air in his lungs.

  Larissa stepped back and watched.

  Hobson took several moments to catch his breath. “You are quick…but you are wrong.” His eyes burned with intense anger. He stepped forward and swung a wild punch at Larissa. She ducked it easily. As she came up she landed a series of punches into Hobson’s abdomen.

  He grabbed at her as he bent forward in pain. By sheer chance one of his hands snag
ged Larissa’s braided hair. He yanked hard, twisting her around by using his weight.

  “You think… you can stop me…. with some fancy moves?” Hobson chortled in glee and tugged harder at her hair. With his other hand he slapped her across the face with a resounding smack. “You should respect the privacy of my family and focus on other issues.”

  Hobson’s breath was hot. Larissa’s face stung. Her scalp was in pain from the hair pulling. Instead of moving away from his hand which was yanking her braid, Larissa suddenly threw her head back and cracked it into his nose. His hand let go of her hair as both of his hands went to his bleeding and shattered nose.

  “It hurts when your face is smashed and broken, right?” Larissa taunted. “But our dance is just beginning.”

  Hobson looked at his bloody hands as he pulled them away from his nose. He could feel the stickiness as the blood seeped between his fingers and ran down his chin.

  “You cannot do this to me.” He pulled back to punch at her again.

  Larissa turned sideways a bit and she shifted her weight to one foot. Then with dazzling speed she raised her left foot in a smooth, semicircular motion, lifting it from the floor to smash into Hobson’s chest. This roundhouse kick broke several of Hobson’s ribs. The kick sent him stumbling backward.

  “I guess arrest is now totally out of the question,” Larissa said. “You had your last chance.”

  Hobson feebly swung his arms in an uncoordinated manner as he staggered about.

  “Surprised? Little children do not strike back, do they?” Larissa said as she backhanded his bruised and bloodied face. “You now may cry for two minutes.”

  Hobson face was swelling quickly, but he still glared at her. He spit out a stream of blood. “I only sought my children to be good people.”

  “I am only seeking for you to be a good person,” Larissa responded and slapped him again.

  “Please?” Hobson muttered. “I am just….”

  She jabbed rapidly at Hobson’s jaw and neck which shut down his words. He lumbered around trying to escape. Larissa continued to smack his face with combinations of right and left jabs. He failed to block any of the punches. Several blows landed on the sides of his jaw and into the front of his neck. Larissa felt something crack when she landed the last thump to his jaw. His breathing became extremely labored.

  As he dropped to his knees, his eyes implored Larissa with a mixture of surprise and a request for mercy. He clutched his throat and tried to breathe. He was unable to talk, but bloody sputum drooled down his chin.

  Larissa stepped back for a moment and the said, “No pity today, sorry.”

  His eyes pleaded with her above his battered and swollen face.

  Larissa again kicked Hobson as he knelt before her. The force of this kick snapped his head upward and back so violently that his neck snapped. His body fell to the floor and his last heartbeats took place as his eyes starred at the ceiling. His muscles began to twitch as his dead body lay there on the floor.

  “And you messed up my hair, and got blood on my uniform,” Larissa said. “But now the children will be safer. I wish someone had done this for me when I was Mara’s age.”

  Larissa pulled her hair back and reset her braid. While she did that Hobson’s body quit convulsing. She reached down and replaced her belt around her. Taking the multiceiver out, she activated it.

  “TSI-463, I need a medical automacube and an engineering automacube to come to this location for sterilization and demolition. Dispatch immediately, most expedient route,” she commanded.

  “Affirmative,” the mechanical voice of the artificial intelligence system replied.

  “Also tell Konstantin to send several troopers to this location. They will be needed to escort a displaced family. Have a new domicile prepared for a mother and three children.”

  “Affirmative.”

  Larissa walked out of the house. The children were huddled around their mother, and Ben was watching from a few paces away. He had an uncertain look on his face.

  “I am sorry, Ben. We will attend to your discoveries in short order. I had to protect these children first,” Larissa said and pointed to the three children.

  Rivan looked at Larissa who met his stare with her own cold blue eyes. He nodded only slightly.

  “Rivan, take the baby for a moment,” Larissa commanded. “Real men are tender toward children, do not forget that.” She then turned to Charleigh, “You have a few minutes to remove any family items from your residence here. This house will be destroyed. I will make sure you are set up in a proper home with all new furnishings, food, and clothing. You and your family will also report to my office twice a week where you will meet with someone from Mental Hygiene. I believe counselor Karl will be helpful to you and your children. He is a compassionate man. Do you want me to accompany you inside to get your things? There is a mess inside, and the children cannot enter. There will be a medical automacube here shortly and that will attend to your physical injuries. Until then go inside and get your personal belongings and any keepsakes of the children.”

  “You killed him?” Charleigh asked in horror. “He is dead?”

  “Hobson resisted arrest, and died in the struggle. He had been warned about his violence before. Now do you want me to accompany you inside? The children must remain out here.”

  Taking her hands up to her mouth Charleigh sobbed quietly. She looked around and saw that baby Daanay was being held by Rivan, and she was about to speak when her daughter interrupted her.

  “Papa is dead?” Mara asked in a tiny voice.

  Larissa reached down and picked her up and held her close. “Yes, little one. He is dead. Mara, I had to stop him from hurting you again. I stopped him from hurting your mother, your brother, your sister, or you ever again. He will not hurt you again, not ever. Now is a sad time. It is a time to cry, and you may cry as long and as hard as you need to cry. There is no shame in tears.”

  Mara looked at Larissa for a moment and her little lips quivered. She then threw her arms around Larissa and cried deeply. Larissa patted her back and said, “Better to have no father, little one, than to have a bad father. I know your pain.”

  “Is it my fault?” Mara sobbed.

  “No little one. It is not your fault in any way. This was not your or your siblings fault at all.” Larissa held her close and looked again at Rivan.

  He nodded again and held the baby up and cuddled her.

  Charleigh then rushed inside the house and came back just moments later. She was carrying several sets of clothing for the children and a small wooden box.

  “This was my mother’s,” Charleigh said. “I will have to tell her about all this… I do not know what I will do…”

  “Counselor Karl will help with all that, and you may come to see me whenever you need to,” Larissa said.

  A white automacube came rolling rapidly down the street. Its six wheels were propelling it along and its manipulation arm was folded down for quick travel. Its cube shaped body was labeled with the number 76.

  “I am Doctor 76, how may I be of service?” the white medical automacube asked as it rolled up to Governor Larissa.

  “Give a complete examination and treatment to these children and this woman. If they need to be taken to the infirmary, please do so, but do not separate them. The house will then need sterilization. When the sterilization is completed, inform the engineering automacube to demolish this house.”

  Several troopers jogged onto the scene, and were followed by the blue automacube as it came from a different direction.

  Seeing that all was being attended to, Larissa turned to Ben.

  “Shall we go see these things you discovered?” Larissa asked.

  Ben agreed. He was uncertain of all that had taken place, but he knew Governor Larissa had acted decisively.

  As they walked away from that situation, Larissa tried to push down memories of her own childhood, but was not entirely successful.

  2 Rejection

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nbsp; Paul was agitated, anxious and angry. He paced the room in which he and Gretchen had been staying. There was an orange colored automacube with the number 209 stamped on the side in small letters parked in one corner of the room.

  “I agree with you, this is not right,” Gretchen said as she pulled back her frizzy hair. “But what can we do?”

  “I have no idea. Maybe just go wander in the corridors until some Roe kills us?” Paul replied sarcastically.

  “That does not help at all,” Gretchen said and gave Paul a stern look. Her eyes were strong and steady.