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

by Craig Martelle

  The tip drooped as the man barely had enough strength in his arms to hold the pole upright.

  “I can see it!” Caleb cried aloud. “It’s as big as a boat. Now’s the time, laddie, pull with all you’ve got.” He moved thigh-deep in the surf, keeping his legs spread to give himself leverage to drive the gaff home and help his student bring the monster ashore.

  Caleb had never seen such a fish. It was flat, with its eyes on the black and green mottled top. Underneath, it was all white. A wide tail thrashed the water as the great fish decided it didn’t want to come ashore. The fisherman was pulled to his knees and almost lost the pole. With a monumental effort, Caleb jumped into the surf and drove the spear tip of the gaff between the creatures eyes. The old fisherman landed on the fish, slid off, and toppled into the ocean.

  He sputtered as he lunged back to his feet, regaining his grip on the gaff. He pulled it and expertly twisted the hook-end underneath the fish. Caleb stood upright, pulling the gaff into the creature’s head, then backed out of the surf, dragging the massive fish with him.

  He pulled until it was on the dry sand above the lightly rolling surf. The fisherman in training was on his hands and knees, panting like a dog as he looked sideways at his catch. The pole lay forgotten in the sand before him. Caleb had collapsed in the sand, his injury aching from the salt water. The weight of the fish challenged him, but in a good way. He sat next to the monster, trying to catch his breath.

  He looked at the man they called Digger and grinned. “No greater fish has ever been caught, my friend!” Caleb said. When he finally stood, he reveled at the great creature before him. “Tonight, we feast!”

  Caleb pulled a knife and started cleaning the fish, right there on the beach. He found the meat on the flat top to be thick. He cut numerous steaks and piled them on the inverted skin he’d used to cover the sand. Then he flipped the fish and started on the bottom side.

  “We’ll need a proper fish cleaning station and a cart to move sea monsters like this,” Caleb quipped, looking at the other man who was now sitting in the sand, his arms hanging uselessly. “Give us a hand. It’s going to take all we’ve got and then some to move this where we can cook a little for now and smoke the rest for later.” Digger finally stood, wobbly and weak, but he was standing.

  “Let’s get to it, then, but, I’m pretty sure I’m done fishing for the day,” he chuckled.

  “What?” Caleb exclaimed. “Just when they started to bite, too…” They laughed together as the surf behind them started to churn. The two men didn’t notice anything until they heard the sound of grinding sand and water dripping. An ancients’ oceangoing vehicle crawled up the sand behind them, stopped, and the front started to open.

  Caleb wanted to run, but his body wouldn’t move. Digger stood upright, mesmerized by the sight of the metal monster. A large flat panel at the front dropped into the sand. The inside contained smaller metal creatures of various designs, some rolling from the vehicle while others hovered as the Tortoid did. One, humanoid in shape, but bulkier and squatter, approached Caleb and Digger and used its metal arms to grab them by their hands and lead them back to the vehicle. It dragged them through the fresh fish, ruining the day’s work.

  What a shame! Caleb thought to himself, distracted from the plight of his abduction by the loss of the what he considered the greatest catch ever. I really wanted to know what that fish tasted like, were his last thoughts as he drifted toward nothingness.

  Bad News

  ‘Good afternoon, Braden!’ Holly said pleasantly via Braden’s neural implant. ‘If I may have a word, in person, I would really appreciate it, and alone, if that’s okay?’

  Braden stood by the oasis with Micah, their children, and a mass of their friends representing the other intelligent species on Planet Vii. Ax and ‘Tesh were chasing Klytus and Shauna, their half-Hillcat bonded partners. The ‘cats easily avoided the screaming children as other Hillcats, full bloods from the north, lounged lazily in the sun. Bounder and Gray Strider were with them, visiting from the nearby Wolfoid town of Livestel.

  The Hawkoids, Skirill and Zyena, perched in a tree above the lake. They and Aadi, First Master of the Tortoise Consortium, were the only original companions who claimed that they lived full time at New Sanctuary, but the others visited often enough that they could have called it home.

  ‘Sounds dire, Holly. I’ll be right down,’ Braden replied, not worried. The Artificial Intelligence known as Holly was stretching his digital legs, seemingly in an effort to become more human in how he was perceived by the others. He often practiced on Braden.

  Since their return from the north these past three moons, things had been going very well. Trade was accelerating with Free Traders joining the routes as soon as Old Tom could build another wagon. With each new one, new Free Traders hit the road.

  “Holly wants to see me for some reason,” he told Micah out loud. “I won’t be gone long.” He looked at the menagerie on the small beach around the lake. He spotted the Golden Warrior among some of the newcomers with Treetis, his young protégé, attached to his hip. Braden tried to get the ‘cat’s attention, but stopped when he realized that G-War probably already knew that he was going. The ‘cat didn’t like anything underground and wouldn’t go unless it was an emergency, then he’d complain the entire time.

  Braden walked alone to the elevator building, where he waited patiently as a couple survivors from Cygnus VI exited and headed somewhere. They generally didn’t like being in the sunlight and ventured out infrequently and only for short periods of time.

  When Braden walked from the elevator into the New Command Center, he could sense the tension. Holly instantly appeared and escorted Braden to the wall covered with monitors. With a nod, nine of them combined to show a single video, taken by one of the satellites orbiting the planet, zoomed in to show a higher level of detail.

  It was White Beach. Braden had been there before. He knew that Caleb was there, teaching new transplants how to fish.

  He watched as the surf turned white and a vehicle crawled out. Two dots on the beach were escorted into it. Braden saw dots leaving the vehicle and assumed they were the people gathering Bots. Holly sped up the video showing the Bots returning with other humans in tow. The vehicle then slowly retreated into the surf and disappeared.

  Braden stood in silence while the others working in the Command Center waited.

  “Caleb?” he finally asked.

  “We believe so,” Holly answered softly.

  ‘Micah, you better get down here,’ Braden told his mate over their mindlink. ‘The so-called sea monster is back and it’s taken your father into the Western Ocean.’

  Without answering, Micah started running. She intercepted Heloysis and Luciana to ask the two Rabbits to watch the children, something they did as a matter of course whenever the toddlers were at New Sanctuary.

  Micah tore through the elevator doors and into the darkened spaces of the New Command Center, where Holly replayed the video for her. Braden hugged her as she stood motionless. Her face tightened as she watched the vehicle disappear into the ocean.

  “Holly, last time you were able to talk with the vehicle. Why didn’t you do anything?” she asked accusingly.

  “They have changed their access and I was unable to penetrate the system before they were gone. I shall review my copies of the attempt and see where I can improve for next time.”

  She nodded as a way to apologize to Holly for thinking he didn’t do what he could to prevent her father’s abduction. The AI had always been there for her and Braden through the best and worst of times. Even though she could see he was a projection, to her, Holly was real. “We need to go there, Holly, to White Beach. Get ourselves captured and go under the sea where we can find all the people, find my father, and rescue them.”

  “I might caution against that,” Holly started, using the human expression he found to be most tactful when suggesting a course of action different from what Braden or Micah was leaning
toward. “If the Bots take you, they will take all your equipment. Once in the undersea facility, you may not have access to what you need in order to escape. The facility could be under two thousand meters of water, that’s twice as high as the decks on the Traveler. You would have no way to get to the surface and be trapped there with the other survivors, assuming they are all still alive.”

  Braden rolled his eyes at Holly, who grimaced when he realized what he’d just said. Micah ignored them both as she tried to think through other options to rescue her father. At Micah’s subtle but firm request, he’d gone to White Beach to teach the new settlers how to fish. She felt like it was her fault and that it was her responsibility to get him back. Micah did not want to tell her mother, as Mattie would insist on joining them in their search.

  “Options, Holly,” Micah commanded, sounding presidential as she squinted at the images on the various monitors filling one whole wall of the New Commander Center.

  “I am currently working on bringing a self-sustaining floating laboratory close enough to shore that you will be able to climb on board. I believe the ship will be able to take you where you need to go. There should be two mini-submarines on board. If those are unavailable, then we’ll try to use the underwater communications on board the Warden to talk with the undersea facility. Proximity will be important if that course of action is to have any chance of success.”

  “How long have you had control over this Warden?” Braden asked, miffed that Holly hadn’t told them about an important piece of Old Tech that was floating around the Western Ocean.

  “Only a month, Master Braden,” Holly said soothingly. “The scientists from Cygnus VI and I have been working on it, but didn’t have a use for it before now. We simply don’t have the people to send on long voyages at this point in time.”

  “That’s not your decision!” Micah yelled, instantly furious.

  “No, Master President,” Dr. Johns said as he stepped forward. “But I made that decision and I’m sorry. I should have told you.” Micah let out the breath she was holding and shook her head.

  “I’m sorry, and no, you don’t need to tell me everything. You know that I prefer that you don’t.” She tried to smile, but couldn’t. “I want my father back.” She looked from face to face.

  “Bring the Warden to White Beach. We’ll meet it there in ten turns’ time,” Braden said, looking at his partner, then back to Holly. “Set us up, Holly. Firepower, gear, anything you can think of to help us on this one. I have no idea what we’ll need. We trust you, Holly. And you, too, Dr. Johns. We’re going after Micah’s father, and we won’t return without him.”

  ‘I hate the ocean, but I know what happens when you’re left alone, so I’ll be joining you, and Treetis, too, and Fealona,’ G-War said, inviting his favorite ‘cats to join them.

  ‘And us, too,’ Skirill added joyfully.

  ‘You all know we’re going under the water, right?’ Braden asked over the mindlink.

  ‘Of course we do,’ Aadi chimed in. ‘That’s why you need us, and Caleb and Mattie are our friends, too. We would go to the ends of Vii for our friends.’

  ‘And beyond,’ Micah added, with a sad smile as she and Braden headed for the elevator. They’d taken the companions all the way into outer space, where they had fought together.

  Braden and Micah were on their way to the armory, because Micah had just declared war on the Bots of the Western Ocean. She hoped that her father and the others from White Beach were still alive, otherwise there was no limit to what she was prepared to do. Braden had witnessed that side of her and didn’t want that person to see the light of day, but knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop her if Caleb was injured. Braden suspected that he’d probably join her in the inevitable conflagration.

  Preparing for War with an Unknown Enemy

  Once in the Armory, they stood and looked around, not sure what they should take. “Holly, do you know if they have Security Bots at the undersea laboratory?” Braden asked as he started to think about what their possible enemy might look like.

  “There is so little information available regarding the laboratory and the undersea facility that I hesitate to guess,” Holly started. Braden and Micah waited, knowing that Holly would continue. “They had everything they needed to build them, from what I can see on the manifests. Part of their equipment list included an industrial-sized fabricator along with enough Development Units to build anything else. They could have an entire city down there by this time.”

  “If they have Security Bots, how do we fight them?” Braden asked, concerned that their newest enemy was invincible.

  “I have a couple items that you may find useful. One is a field generation device. It is a little bulky, but it will disperse the defensive force field of a Security Bot. If there is no nearby field, then it will provide protection with a field of its own, just like the Bots have. The second is a device that is a power grounding unit.” Micah looked where Holly directed them to.

  “This looks like a fishing spear,” she said.

  “Once the security field is neutralized, fire the spear into the Bot, and it will ground the unit, rendering it powerless. You do not want to get into a blaster battle with a Security Bot,” Holly cautioned. “It would be best to avoid battle with the Security Bots in entirety. You must win over the intelligence that runs the undersea facility. I suspect since the Development Units are programmed not to harm people, it is most likely that you will find a thriving population in the facility on the ocean floor. I don’t know if there are ancients there or whether the computer system that is inevitably there realized sentience or not. The scientists of that era were very bright, so I suspect sentience.”

  Holly stood with his arms behind his back, trying to project calm. Even with Holly’s assurances, Braden had grown comfortable blasting things into oblivion. An undefended Security Bot would probably deliver a most gratifying explosion. Braden was more comfortable with a blaster than even his recurve bow. Still, a Security Bot would be a challenge.

  “They didn’t hurt people as they were taking them,” Braden started. “But we take no chances. We need two of everything, Holly.” Braden picked up the spear and handed it to Micah. She hefted it easily, practicing aiming it. Braden did the same with his. The field generation device was a big, heavy brick. They decided that one of those was enough, otherwise they’d be too loaded down to move.

  “And here’s something you should have with you, too. This design came from Earth, but as soon as I knew you’d be going to the Western Ocean, I had the fabricator produce a number of these, one for every member of your party.” Holly looked pleased with himself as a Server Bot approached carrying a stout box filled with strange looking contraptions. There was bar laterally across the front of what looked like a nose piece, with two round protrusions beneath and to the sides. There was a clear square pouch at the back of the strange Old Tech.

  “What do we do with these things, Holly?” Micah asked as she examined the new devices.

  “These will help you breathe underwater for a short period of time. Open the pouch at the back of the mask. It is a plastic bag that goes over your head, cinching around your neck, as tightly as possible without choking yourself, of course. Unfortunately, we don’t have any big enough for Brandt Earthshaker, King of the Aurochs.”

  “There must be twenty in here, Holly. How many people do you think are coming?” Braden asked, looking at the hologram, who shrugged in reply.

  Micah finally smiled, still angry and slightly overwhelmed, but a real smile. “Holly knows us too well.”

  “Rally the team, G. We leave as soon as we’re outside. I think Malo and Denon are grazing the fields, along with Max and Speckles. Let’s see if one of them would like to pull the cart, and then we can ride the horses,” Braden said aloud, conveying his thoughts over the mindlink as well.

  Holly nodded and raised his hand as if he wanted to speak. Braden pointed at the hologram impatiently. “We have another one of the
new wagons ready, well several actually, but I know you wanted to wait to roll them out until you divulged the existence of New Sanctuary to the people, all the people.”

  Braden and Micah did not want to have that conversation again, because they knew Holly was right. Even though the Council of Elders was split on revealing the existence of the Old Tech stronghold, they both felt it was the right thing to do. Give the people hope for a better future. It would start with addressing the kidnapping of people from White Beach. The people deserved to know that Old Tech was alive and well, and that it was nothing to be feared, just something to be managed, like taking a herd of water buffalo across the Great Desert.

  “When we get back, Holly, we’ll take the kids on a tour of every village and make them all aware that the ancients are alive and well and working in the people’s best interest. When we get back, we’ll know what to say. Maybe we can leave some Old Tech at each village, a communication device to show them how Old Tech can help them? Between now and then, we have a ways to go and some work to do. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a boat, but it’ll come back to me. I was raised at sea.” Micah lost her smile as she thought about their trip ahead, into the unknown ocean to find something an interminable distance beneath them.

  “This ship won’t be like anything you’ve ever seen before. It is far more advanced than even the RV Traveler. It has living space for a crew of nearly one hundred, with all the support that would entail, including laboratories both above and below the surface,” Holly said, grinning broadly. Micah was in no mood to explore the wonders of the ancient world.