Free Trader Box Set - Books 4-6: Battle for the Amazon, Free the North!, Free Trader on the High Seas

by Craig Martelle

  When Dr. Johns walked toward the front of the room and started to clap, the clones joined him and started to cheer as well. He wore a broad smile. Once the cheers died down, he started issuing orders, giving direction to each person. With renewed vigor, they jumped on their terminals and dug into the systems using the keyboards, touchscreens, and mice. Dr. Johns winked and said he would have a proper progress report in the afternoon. He suggested they relax and do something fun.

  Braden took the older man’s hand and shook it, happy that he understood and supported the world they were trying to create.

  Braden gave Dr. Johns the pouch with the grass from the southern plains, the grass that caused those who ate it to grow lethargic and feeble minded. “Have that analyzed, please. Is it bad for the Aurochs to keep eating? And thanks, Dr. Johns,” Braden said in a low voice.

  They both watched as the President shook hands with people and wished them the best while casually working her way toward the elevator. Braden didn’t want to be left behind. He freed himself from the conversations and caught up with his partner as the elevator doors opened. They entered, completing their escape from the confines of the New Command Center.

  They both enjoyed the relief that the sun brought, walking casually, holding hands as they liked to do. They found the twins riding on Aadi. Someone had rigged a small harness that they used to hang on. Micah looked from face to face trying to find the perpetrator. G-War showed both his paws – no thumbs. The Wolfoids looked away, keeping their front paws out of sight. The Rabbits also took great interest in something on the ground. Aadi floated back down and told the children it was time to get off. Then the crying started. Ax tried to hug Aadi’s neck so Braden couldn’t pull him off. ‘Tesh flattened her body across Aadi’s shell so her father couldn’t get her.

  Braden rubbed his temples and looked to Micah. “Your children need to get down now,” he said, trying to sound calm.

  “My children? You have nothing to do with this?” she shot back. They both turned and looked at Aadi. “And where were you when all this was going on?”

  The Tortoid tried to shake the children from his shell, but they clung tightly, refusing to move. Brandt come running from somewhere, causing everyone to look. He slowed, coming to a stop in front of Aadi. He bowed his head until his horns were within grabbing distance. The twins both jumped for them and Brandt pulled his head away. The two went sprawling into the sand. Aadi floated out of their reach and swam over the lake, turning and looking back. Then the second round of crying began, so the parents scooped up the overtired children and headed for the Presidential Suite.

  “Come on, all of you. You know they won’t be able to sleep without you there.” The Rabbits, Wolfoids, and Hillcat hopped, padded, and walked after them.

  Four Turns From Now…

  After a good nap, everyone was in a better mood. The twins returned to the lake under Brandt’s watchful eye while the Rabbits tended to the fields, scolding the Development Unit for some of its improper gardening techniques. The Bot couldn’t understand the Rabbits, but they gave it an earful regardless.

  The Wolfoids stayed nearby, hoping they could accompany Braden and Micah back to the ship. They wanted to go, and in their minds, they deserved to go. G-War would go wherever Braden led and the ‘cat appreciated having the Wolfoids along. He felt they were shaping up to be respectable hunters. He liked how they handled the spear-throwing villagers of Cornwall, delivering overwhelming force without hesitation. Braden and Micah liked having them nearby.

  The Hawkoids wanted to go, but this trip might not be best for them as they would spend too much time in the smaller corridors where Skirill and Zyena couldn’t fly.

  Aadi had to go. Although the Lizard Men didn’t respond to him like the Amazonians, they still believed he could make a difference.

  The only ones who had no desire at all to go were the humans. Braden and Micah dreaded the return to the ship.

  The Rabbits did not care in the least if they went. They wanted more of their kind to come to Vii, but were patient, knowing that it would be better if they were successful in the war against the Overlords before exposing any of their fellow Rabbits to harm. Which reminded them to ask about Ferrer and Brigitte.

  ‘I don’t know how he is, but he was already looking better when we left Village Dwyer. I’m sure he’s just fine,’ Micah tried to reassure the Rabbits.

  ‘Does Bronwyn still have the communication device?’ Braden asked.

  Micah looked dumbfounded. How could she have forgotten? All this time they rode around wondering. She accessed her neural implant and sent a message to the device. A few heartbeats later, Bronwyn answered, happy that they called.

  Ferrer was mostly healed, and he and Brigitte spent most of the day in the field directing the farmers and helping them understand how the plants could grow bigger, have larger yields. No one argued with the Rabbits as they already had the plants looking far healthier.

  The refugees were slowly integrating with the villagers, but it was difficult. Food was constantly in short supply. The Amazonians delivered smaller and smaller loads of mushrooms. They had to divert more of their people to security patrols. Zalastar and Akhmiyar had stopped by twice to check in. They said that they hadn’t made progress in finding any information related to the location of the Overlords. Bronwyn had searched her mind over and over following the Bat-Raven attack, but nothing in their thoughts showed her the way. She only saw trees from their perspective, flying. She couldn’t follow the path they’d taken through the rainforest. She was sorry, but the Bat-Ravens’ minds were too dark and horrific for her to dig too deeply.

  Micah apologized for asking too much of one so young. In these times, everyone had to carry more weight than they should. Micah couldn’t promise it would get better, as they didn’t know when they’d be back. It wasn’t very comforting to tell one who was only twelve cycles old that the future was dark, but they’d found it was better to tell Bronwyn the truth, even if she didn’t like it.

  Bronwyn said she understood and gently closed the connection. Micah stared into the distance as she heard the young girl click off. She recovered her wits and told Patrice and Delavigne that Ferrer was on the mend and in the fields every day. The two Rabbits hopped in glee and clapped their furry paws together.

  With good news came more good news. Patrice was pregnant.

  That made the decision on who was going to the ship easier. The Rabbits were not going through the matter transfer process. No one wanted to risk Patrice’s babies.

  With Holly’s help, the companions were able to make a fire within the oasis. The Bots hovered nearby, temporarily prevented from dousing the flames. They roasted a whole deer on a wood spit, turning it gradually over the fire. The Rabbits had to turn away, working with the vegetables they picked from what was left of the vast fields. The horses weren’t doing too much damage, but the four Aurochs were wreaking havoc. The young bulls were much smaller than Brandt, but it seemed they took it as a challenge to ingest a similar volume of food. All of them waddled out of the fields and found space around the lake to lie down and digest.

  Braden insisted that everyone join them. There was so much in their world to lament that when possible, he wanted to celebrate a victory. Something as simple as arriving at New Sanctuary was a success. They’d been attacked four times on their trip, and they were stronger for it. They’d added two villages to the trade route. They’d found a vast herd of Aurochs. They’d found an easy route from east to west as the ancients’ road was mostly intact, and it was a way to get to New Sanctuary without going through the rainforest.

  Braden and Micah facilitated while the others talked over the mindlink. To the few people from Cygnus VI who strolled by, the gathering looked odd. The humans and the animal companions would all chuckle or grunt or make other noises, without anything said out loud. The survivors knew they were communicating but couldn’t hear them. The other humans moved on, leaving the President and her closest friends
to their silent celebration.

  Aadi tried to apologize for giving the twins rides, but he wasn’t really sorry. The twins giggled and tottered toward him anew, but were caught mid-stride by their parents. The others laughed about it and Gray Strider admitted that she had tied the harness onto Aadi. Their front paws had opposable thumbs and short fingers. They couldn’t be seen because of the long hair on their legs, but it gave them a distinct advantage over those without.

  G-War held up his furry paw in his mocking way of giving the one-finger salute. The Rabbits held up their paws to show that they also had an opposable thumb and stubby fingers. G-War exposed his long claws, then retracted them, and then held them out. The Wolfoids were impressed. Aadi swam to the middle of the group, trying to show them his feet which looked more like stumps. He turned back and forth while floating at head level, far out of the reach of the children.

  Everyone laughed at Aadi’s counter to G-War’s claws. Brandt tried to show his mighty horns but was unable to lift his head as he was half-asleep. Skirill and Zyena, perched on a low branch just over the humans, jumped together, each beating the air once, then turned opposite directions to demonstrate their aerobatic prowess. They gained altitude, dove, and flew upward again. They swooped low over the lake, tracing one claw in the water as they passed, then twisted between each other, tucking their wings as they passed in a complex series of high-speed maneuvers. The group cheered as they back-winged to land where they started. Their chests rose together as they breathed hard from their efforts to impress the others.

  No one needed any physical displays. They’d all demonstrated in one way or another what they could do, and more importantly, what they would do for their friends.

  Braden stood and held his cup of wine up for all to see. The group quieted.

  “I can ask for no better friends than those gathered here,” he started, trying to control a struggling Axial. He put the boy down so he could run to the Rabbits, where he quickly settled down. Micah let De’atesh join her brother. “We celebrate all things that make life worth living. To Patrice and Delavigne, we congratulate you and look forward to seeing the first of many Rabbits to be born on Vii’s surface. You will start new generations who will live here as equals. To the rest of you, thank you for everything you’ve done for the caravan, for the trade route. We shouldn’t ask more from you, but we will, and none of you are surprised, are you?” He waited as they chuckled and yipped, heads bobbing.

  “We have to go back to the ship and we’ll leave in four turns. The decision on who goes was difficult. We feel safer when all of you are with us, but we can’t take you all. Patrice can’t travel, so we’re asking for you to protect our greatest treasures, these two.” He pointed at the children, already held tightly against the Rabbit’s white fur. “Skirill and Zyena, Brandt and those in your charge, we ask that you also watch over the children for the short time we’ll be away.” The Wolfoids started to get excited and pranced in anticipation.

  “Bounder and Gray Strider, G-War and Aadi, would you please accompany Micah and I back to the ship as we go to meet the clone of Pik Ha’ar? Our challenge is not only to recover him, but to recruit more Lizard Men to come with us, help in our fight against the Overlords. If we fail in that, maybe some of your people can return with us?” Braden asked the Wolfoids.

  ‘Only as many as can join us. I think all of them would like to come, once they’ve heard what we have to say about the magnificence of what is here,’ Bounder said.

  “In four turns, we go. Until then, we have nothing else to do besides eat and grow fat!” Braden ended his speech by drinking the rest of his wine. Brandt nodded drunkenly before dropping his head to the ground and giving up on trying to stay awake. The other Aurochs were already out cold and had been for the entirety of Braden’s speech.

  The Rabbits held the children close and nodded to Braden.

  “I think our children have been adopted, partner mine,” Braden told Micah.

  “Was there ever a doubt?” she answered, watching them fall asleep in the arms of the Rabbits. G-War wormed his way in and squeezed into the middle of them all, to watch over them and catch a ‘cat nap.

  Braden and Micah watched the fire and were soon asleep, like the rest of their friends. More Cygnus VI survivors walked by, wondering why the President and her family slept outside when she had the Presidential Suite to stay in. They looked at the menagerie of creatures together around the dying fire, and they were envious. They always thought that humans were naturally superior to any animal, but Braden and Micah were surrounded by fiercely loyal, intelligent creatures that were treated as equals.

  The scientists in them considered the words of the young President to be life changing. They wondered if any of the creatures were interested in learning astrophysics.

  “Crap, More Androids…”

  Braden led the parade to the matter transfer chamber. He could feel G-War’s anxiety rising, but the ‘cat looked confident with his tail held high as he walked through the underground corridors to the special Old Tech room. Aadi swam along behind while the Wolfoids walked at the rear. Everyone was well armed and wearing their armor. Aadi had a new set to replace the one destroyed during their last trip.

  The factory created custom armor for the Wolfoids similar in shape to what the Hillcat wore. After trying to run wearing it, Holly made minor modifications to allow a different type of movement. G-War never walked upright where the Wolfoids usually walked that way unless they were running. G-War brushed along the wall almost as if he was trying to scrape the armor from his body. He hated wearing it, but Braden insisted since they could never trust the Androids again. Those living machines had lasers which cost Braden two fingers. That same burst could have killed the ‘cat and no one wanted that. G-War counted on his ability to see the future to avoid imminent death, but Braden would take no chances.

  Holly informed them that the Androids on the ship had no answer for the vines as to their origin or how to remove them without causing catastrophic damage to the ship. So the vines had to be avoided. Otherwise, they were supposed to enter a fully functioning ship with Androids and surviving clones manning stations throughout. They each wore their bracelet and Braden carried six more. They’d fill the transfer beds on their return, either with Lizard Men or Wolfoids, but they hoped a mix of both.

  The Server Bots had cleaned up the room so it smelled of antiseptic, which was much better than the alternative. They’d soon find out if the third time undergoing the process was the charm.

  Each of them took positions on the reclining chairs from which their bodies and equipment would be deconstructed, sent to the ship at the speed of light, and then reconstructed. There was no room for error and that’s why the computer took as long as it did, anywhere from one to seven turns to complete the process.

  Once settled, the wall slid shut and sealed them in. Braden took a deep breath and shook his head before lying back and closing his eyes. He’d taken to reading some of the ancients’ works, so he thought it best to quote an ancient visionary from earth, Carl Sagan. “Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.”

  The humans laid back and tried to relax. The Wolfoids crouched on the recliners, their heads between their paws, mirroring G-War as he did the same. Aadi floated downward until he rested on the chair. He tucked his legs and head into his shell. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on the hard plastic of the chair.

  No one noticed the room shimmering as they all had their eyes closed. They felt tired. Soon, nothing remained.

  Braden and Micah were the first to awaken. The color in the room told them they were no longer on Vii. Braden breathed deeply and stayed still for longer than he did on the previous trip. He moved in slow motion as he hung his feet over the edge of the recliner, sliding off the chair until his feet touched the floor. He stood carefully and although na
useous, he did not throw up. Micah followed his lead and she was also able to stand upright without spewing her breakfast.

  The matter transfer chamber was clean from when Dr. Johns’ people followed them. Braden wasn’t sure he would have made it if the room still smelled of puke.

  G-War shook himself and jumped down, landing hard on the floor, where he crouched and waited for the chamber to stop spinning. The Wolfoids remained on the recliners. Aadi looked dead, just like last time. Braden felt the Tortoid’s neck, finding his heartbeat a relief. Braden opened his neural implant.

  ‘Holly, we’re here. Can you open the door for us, please?’ Braden looked the box that they’d left behind so Holly could communicate with the ship. ‘Do you still use this box to talk with the ship?’

  Before the computer could answer, a section of the wall slid inward and to the side. Braden jumped sideways and pulled his blaster when he saw an Android standing before the open doorway looking in. G-War’s hackles rose and the Wolfoids snarled their displeasure.

  “Holly sent me to escort you to the cloning chamber where the Lizard Man is going through the final process before he can be released,” the Android said in its emotionless voice.

  “We don’t like surprises,” Braden told it. He hesitated before putting his blaster away.

  ‘Master Braden, I no longer need the box as I am in contact with the ship’s primary systems. Give it to the Android and he’ll make sure the parts are appropriately recycled,’ Holly answered pleasantly.

  “Nice Android escort. What else hasn’t Holly told us?” Micah asked as she pushed the Android on her way out of the matter transfer chamber. She stopped in the bright lights of the Engineering Section and watched the Androids working at a number of stations. Her skin crawled and she clenched her jaw in anger.