The Free Trader of Planet Vii

by Craig Martelle

  Mutants and humans working together. Although in Braden’s mind, they were all mutants. None of the ancients were left. Everyone and everything had changed since the war destroyed the tech.

  Which reminded Braden that it had been a while since he last waxed his bowstring. He always took care of his recurve bow, because it took care of him.

  Skirill grew restless so he flew out of the rainforest and waited in the open.

  Amazonian villages were initially established along the road and edges of the rainforest. Once the war started, the Amazonians moved deep into the Amazon, as far away from humanity as possible. Over the last hundred cycles, as their numbers grew, they spread back toward the edges.

  Zalastar wanted to improve the road through the rainforest. He was currently working with his people to start moving the villages closer to both the road and the northern border. As they moved, they could reestablish regular interaction with humans.

  This time as equals.

  As Brandt and the Aurochs were doing with the humans.

  Braden showed them it was possible for humans and mutants to share equally, although they didn’t consider themselves mutants. They were a different race, that was all. Braden committed to remembering that. They were different races, working the same trade.

  As the conversation wound down, Brandt called to get everyone’s attention. He wanted to discuss the matter of New Sanctuary with the leaders of the peoples of Vii. Micah was the President, with Braden her mate and the Free Trader. Golden Warrior was a prince among his people. Master Aadi was the First Master of the Tortoid Consortium. Skirill was the Hawkoid with a vision for building a community. He had been cast away from his people for that, but he was still the best to represent them.

  How could he refuse? He flew back to the Amazonian’s Market Square, rejoining the others. With Brandt’s permission, he landed gently on one of the King’s great horns, gripping it tightly with his claws.

  Braden tried not to laugh, stifling it with a cough as the ‘cat sat on the Aurochs’ head, Skirill perched near the point of one horn, Aadi floated close by, while Zalastar stood like a statue.

  Once Braden returned to the topic at hand, he sobered quickly. They know about New Sanctuary, he thought. How do we prevent a second human war? The easiest answer was to deny access to the Old Tech.

  Micah assured the others that they set up security when they left. No other humans would be granted access. This gave them some relief, but what was a long-term solution?

  Braden felt like he was over his head. He didn’t think that far ahead. Micah hadn’t either, not to the degree that Brandt and Zalastar had. How could they memorialize their commitment to long-term peace, ensuring that others followed suit? Braden and Micah both were in awe in the presence of real leaders like Brandt and Zalastar.

  The companions wanted future generations to think as Braden and Micah, that the good of all was more important than personal power.

  Braden shared his caravan’s adventures with Zalastar, noting the growing problems with power-hungry individuals in the north. Braden and Micah had greatly reduced the number of strong-men in the south, but the problem would rise again if not carefully watched. The others seemed fascinated by Warren Deep’s civilization. Braden thought it was better than the south, more mature as a civilization, but not fully civilized. When he saw the mob in Binghamton hanging the trader, he didn’t equate that to a good society, but rather the breakdown of civilization.

  Maybe the north was preparing to fight themselves again, but he escaped it when he came south. They needed people of vision to prevent another civil war.

  Well, Micah is the President, Braden thought. Where is that rope? They would have to think about this and talk more. Braden was most comfortable trading. With powerful allies like the Aurochs and Amazonians, he felt that they could maintain a balance of power. No one could be allowed too much.

  He’d seen what power did to people.

  He was Free Trader Braden and always would be. His mate was Micah, a Warrior. He kept repeating this to himself and it helped ground him. When he opened his eyes, not realizing he had closed them, everyone was looking at him.

  “I could really use some of that sweet smoked pork right about now,” he said. He needed time to think.

  51 – Muties Attack

  With plenty of rope and the Aurochs well fed with mushrooms, the companions continued their journey.

  Micah wasn’t surprised to see a number of men, formerly of Dwyer, working in and around Village McCullough. Everyone waved happily until they saw the Aurochs, but with Braden and Micah’s assurances, the groups met without reservation and greeted each other.

  Braden asked if they would consider weaving a saddle blanket from their special material that would cover the horses’ back and flanks. When Mel-Ash saw the scars from the mutie bird attack, she committed to helping out, saying that she’d cut Braden a deal.

  After a short stay, they continued to Village Dwyer to check on the status of the wagon. They had both woodworkers and a blacksmith working on it. If they couldn’t build the wagon, then no one could. Braden put the thought out of his head. He needed that wagon, but worrying about it wouldn’t help.

  The changes in the village were monumental. The villagers greeted the caravan as if they were long lost sons. That was the reception. As usual, the villagers were impressed by the Aurochs.

  What wasn’t impressive was the progress they made on the wagon. As in, they had cut a few planks, but nothing else. There were too many distractions. Braden expressed his dismay, probably a little too vocally, until Micah calmed him down. With renewed determination, he brought together those building the wagon and laid out the details, sketching everything thoroughly on the inside walls of Old Tom’s smithy. They measured the Aurochs a number of times. The wagon could be far bigger than what Braden had previously envisioned. The wagon he designed was better than anything they had in the north.

  He couldn’t wait for it to be completed, but he’d have to.

  In the interim, he drew up a drag cart, a very simple design of ropes and poles, that an Aurochs could drag. They could put a great deal of material in one of these. They wore out quickly, but they’d serve the purpose until the wagon was ready.

  In less than a turn, they had their first drag cart ready for testing. They loaded it with vegetables and headed to Village McCullough. The Aurochs wanted to prove themselves, so they powered through. Often, Max and Pack had to trot to keep up.

  They made the trip in record time. Village McCullough took the vegetables and loaded up half their stock of Amazonian mushrooms for a return trip, along with another sample of their protective material.

  With sunrise, the second Aurochs took the cart, trying to outdo the first. It was a little much for the drag cart, which broke halfway there. Micah and Braden were able to fix it, but it took Brandt lifting the cart into the air on the ends of his horns to do so.

  Even with the fix, they made it to Dwyer in the daylight. Old Tom needed more ore. There was very little close to the village, but he knew a spot not far away on the Plains of Propiscius.

  The villagers built a second drag cart and both Aurochs pulled them into the grasslands, with the King and the companions following. Once at the spot, Tom and his workers started digging. The Aurochs spent the day grazing while the companions hunted. Skirill was readily successful, but G-War had to work much harder to corner a ground squirrel and make the kill.

  ‘They come!’ Skirill screeched in his thought voice. Time seemed to slow as Braden and Micah looked northward, seeing the familiar cloud of mutant birds heading toward them.

  There was nowhere to hide.

  The Aurochs stood back to back to back, with the villagers in the middle. Aadi and Micah lined up on either side of Braden. Skirill returned, his wings pounding the air to get more speed. G-War left his kill behind, his paws barely touching the ground as he raced to join his humans.

  Micah unholstered the blaster, held it wit
h both hands, and aimed. Aadi prepared himself. Braden pulled out his long knife, but hoped he wouldn’t need it. The horses were near panic. Brandt attempted to calm them with his powerful thought voice.

  “Now?” Braden asked. Micah nodded and pulled the trigger. A flame of light shot skyward, tearing into the bird cloud. Black shadows fell. The cloud broke apart, then swirled back together, continuing its approach. Micah fired again. The cloud broke apart again, more bodies fell from the sky. They regrouped into smaller clouds.

  ‘You will leave us!’ boomed Brandt’s thought voice.

  ‘You will all die,’ came the response in unison from hundreds of small voices.

  Micah renewed her efforts, firing short bursts at the smaller clouds of birds. They started to fly erratically, making her miss often. But when a strike was successful, many mutant birds died.

  They were getting close, approaching from three directions at once. Braden stepped away to give himself room to swing his long knife. Micah fired relentlessly, at times depressing the trigger and waving the blaster to spread the light of flame across more of the sky.

  But the blaster ran out of power. She threw it to the ground as she pulled her sword.

  A cloud headed for the Aurochs. Aadi delivered a thunderclap into the middle of it and most of the mutant birds fell, flopping on the ground after they hit. The rest swerved away.

  Micah twirled her sword around her as she stepped into a cloud of birds skimming along the ground. She knocked a few down, but the rest flew past her toward the ‘cat, who was flying over the ground to get under the Aurochs.

  Brandt swept his great head from side to side, but the mutant birds were too fast. He wasn’t hurting them, while they dove in, leaving razor thin creases across his back.

  The mutant birds had learned. They were avoiding the humans with the sharp blades and attacking the creatures that couldn’t defend themselves.

  Skirill launched himself and flew hard. None of the mutant birds could stand up to him one on one, so he danced in the sky, staying away from groups, isolating and killing them one by one.

  Golden Warrior climbed to Brandt’s back and kept the birds away. Any that approached were quickly slashed. Once on the ground, Tom and his fellows dispatched them with their shovels.

  The birds stopped their attacks and flew away, where they regrouped into a single cloud.

  “Get back here, Skirill! You! Get on their backs and get ready to fight!” Braden yelled. The men climbed up the Aurochs, backs sticky as they bled from numerous scratches. Their hide was thicker than a horse’s, but they weren’t invulnerable. The horses also bled from a number of new cuts, but Brandt was keeping them close. Braden feared if they bolted, the mutant birds would swarm them and bring them down.

  As the mutant birds headed back toward them, Aadi let loose with his final thunderclap.

  It broke their attack.

  ‘We will hunt you down and kill you all!’ Brandt swore as the remaining mutant birds flew away to the west. There weren’t many, but the villagers from McCullough could suffer if they were caught unaware. Braden couldn’t do anything about that except hope the villagers could get inside.

  ‘And that’s how wars start, my friend,’ Braden said as he dug into their stock of numbweed.

  ‘No. This war was already underway, so that’s how wars end,’ Brandt replied.

  I’m sure that’s what the ancients told themselves, Braden thought. Micah put a hand on his shoulder and hung her head. She retrieved her blaster and put it back on her belt. Then the humans took turns applying numbweed to the numerous wounds on the Aurochs and the horses.

  “Farging crap!” Braden shouted, hands red with Aurochs blood. He sighed and hung his head low. Micah looked at him questioningly. “Bronwyn is going to be so mad at me.”

  Micah laughed, while Brandt bobbed his mighty head.

  52 – Through the Rainforest

  Once the mutant birds were gone, there was no reason they couldn’t continue digging out the ore. They needed ore to make the metal to forge more swords so they could protect themselves while digging ore to make more metal.

  It made sense once Braden stopped thinking about it.

  They worked out a system where the Aurochs could communicate with people who didn’t have the mindlink. Head motions would mean one of a number of things; unhook me, hook the cart up, need to eat, leaving, I’ll stomp you to death if you do that again…

  Things like that.

  The King and the companions returned to Village Dwyer, where they set out planning their return to New Sanctuary. If they were at war with the mutant birds, they wanted to win, without destroying the world.

  If the New Command Center didn’t want to help, then they would take that as a good sign. If they could convince the hologram that nobody won the last war, the ancients destroyed themselves, then maybe it could build in a counterbalance to prevent a recurrence. Braden had the utmost confidence in the intelligence of the hologram and the New Command Center.

  They decided to return to New Sanctuary immediately. They needed help.

  As usual, the companions left at sunrise. Max and Pack carried the humans. Skirill flew ahead. Aadi was towed along behind Pack. G-War took to riding on Brandt, which the Aurochs approved of. He couldn’t protect his back from the fast flying mutant birds. The ‘cat was there and could fight the things off while the King sought shelter. Once in the rainforest, the birds would no longer pose a threat, but Braden expected G-War would remain on the King’s head, perched high above everyone else.

  Who else got to ride on a King?

  Besides Bronwyn, that is, but she didn’t do it for her ego.

  Braden and Micah rode in front, side by side, and even held hands when they could. No one needed to talk. This was a journey where they only had a few questions. Once those were answered, there’d probably be more.

  Then the rain started. The smell of wet Aurochs. The Hillcat looked miserable. Skirill tried to perch on one of the King’s horns, but he slipped too often, using his wings for balance, which blocked Brandt’s view of where he was going. He was polite about it, but he made the Hawkoid get off.

  The humans explained that rain was the nature of the rainforest. That’s why the Amazonians developed as they did. The Aurochs was not relieved to hear that the rain would last only a few turns, as long as they were in the Amazon.

  G-War traded his spot on Brandt’s head to wedging between Braden and Max, where some of the rain didn’t fall directly on him. Skirill rode with Micah while Aadi bobbed along merrily behind. Braden wondered if the Tortoid could smell the wet Aurochs.

  The caravan kept going. They were surprised when they reached the southern edge, having not met any Amazonians. They stopped as soon as they stepped into the daylight, exhausted from traveling without a break once the rain started.

  The humans took off their clothes, laying them in the sun to dry. Those with fur spread out, letting the sun work its celestial magic on them. If anything smelled worse than a wet Aurochs, it was a wet Aurochs as it dried.

  Everyone moved upwind of Brandt. He didn’t take offense. Although he was oversized in many areas, smell wasn’t one of them. He couldn’t tell the difference between a dry or a wet Aurochs.

  Braden and Micah had nowhere to lay as the dry grass was stiff and uncomfortable, so they went to the edge of the rainforest, where they could hold each other while standing, leaning against a tree. They talked quietly, simply enjoying each other’s warmth, but not going further than that. They looked forward to a night in the Presidential Suite, and selfishly, having their clothes cleaned for them while they sampled more of the fabricator’s menu.

  They weren’t far from the oasis if they traveled quickly.

  They’d spend the night here, leaving at sunrise, and go quickly over the hills and grasslands. They’d reach the oasis before nightfall next, and they’d sleep in that comfortable bed while enjoying brownies and wine.

  Maybe they could leave before sunrise�
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  53 – New Sanctuary

  Braden and Micah didn’t have to rouse the others as everyone was ready to go early. They went slowly at first as it was still dark.

  When the false dawn came, it showed the rolling landscape before them. Brandt got excited at the broad expanse and started running, his strides eating away the distance. Braden and Micah spurred the horses to a gallop to keep up.

  The ‘cat ran alongside, but it wasn’t long before he leapt into the saddle and clung to Braden. Skirill flew low to keep the others in sight as the darkness gave way to daylight. Then he flew high overhead, correcting their direction as they had veered too far south. They pulled the horses to the right and slowed.

  They would reach the oasis a little after mid-daylight. Brandt was worn down from not getting a good meal for a number of turns now. Grazing in the rainforest did not suit him. He needed to eat. They’d already given him the rest of their mushrooms for his breakfast. That explained his earlier burst of energy.

  Watching him try to eat the dry grasses was frustrating for the companions, but most of all for Brandt. He ate and ate, but it wasn’t nourishing. It took a lot of work to get a little to eat. If he could get to the oasis, then he would be able to eat his fill. He could graze the extensive growing fields, once they alerted the Security Bots.

  He finally gave up and committed to moving on. He struggled with each step, making progress but painfully slowly. G-War and Skirill stayed with him while the humans rode ahead quickly to get some fodder from the oasis and bring it back.

  As they rode up, one Security Bot greeted them and confirmed who they were. President Micah informed them of the new arrival, the Aurochs. The Security Bot knew of the Aurochs from the before time.

  “Can you take fodder to the Aurochs for us? He is dying of hunger,” Braden asked. The Security Bot would not, but he dispatched a Development Unit, a Mirror Beast, to carry as much fresh pickings as possible.