Alone in the Crowd (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 3)

by Patrick Stutzman

  “Good. Go back and ask her to accompany you here, so she can warn me directly. If she is serious about this, then she should have no problem with that.”

  Jason nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

  “Great! You are dismissed.”

  He left the room without delay.

  * * * * *

  The colonel stared at the closed door for a brief moment before turning his rigid stare toward Ms. Armstrong. “Wh…why did you let him go back there?”

  “Colonel McClaskey,” Ms. Armstrong said as she stood up from the table. “I understand your concern about the loss of equipment, especially since we have limited supplies this far away from Earth. But if he is right and there is a genuine threat to our lives and well-being, a few pieces of missing equipment are the least of my worries.”

  “You can’t be serious? That kid is an idiot! That kid…”

  “That kid found the pyramid on the other side of the lake on our first full day here! He may be a number of things, but he is not an idiot!

  “And let’s get one thing straight, Colonel! I don’t care what you think about my colonists. Your job here is to protect each and every one of them, regardless of your personal feelings toward them. If you don’t think you can do that, I can easily have you shipped back to Earth and replace you with somebody who can. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Oh, your words are crystal clear, Ms. Armstrong,” he replied, his voice quiet but firm. “I know exactly what I need to do.”

  She nodded toward the door and the town square beyond. “Get back out there and do your job,” she said in a softer tone.

  The colonel turned on his heel and marched from the room. Ms. Armstrong sat back down and, leaning on the table to rest her forehead on her hand, sighed heavily. “I did not sign up for this.”

  Chapter 6

  Anna rummaged through her crops, disappointed with her survey. “Yep, he plucked a couple off of each plant. Damn it!”

  Through her wristcomp, Kate consoled, “I’m sorry, Anna. What do you want to do about it?”

  She shrugged. “There’s not much that I can do. They’re already picked. It’s not like I can put them back on. I’ll have to bring them in and see what I can do. At least he didn’t find the other two plots. He could have really screwed up my harvesting rotation.”

  “I’m glad he didn’t find them, Anna.”

  “Hopefully his boss will take the warning I gave him at face value and tell everyone to start packing.”

  “Do you think they will listen to him?”

  Anna paused and wiggled her toes in the soil. “If she has a brain in her head, she won’t. She will want some sort of concrete evidence. That’s what I would do.”

  “So, why did you send him off like that?”

  “To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t think of anything else to get rid of him. Maybe he’ll think I’m some crazy lady and stay away from here.”

  “Not likely.”

  Anna cocked her head and furrowed her brow at the response. She turned to look in the direction of the downed vessel. “What makes you say that?”

  “I am detecting movement heading from the lake in our direction at a high rate of speed.”

  Anna rolled her eyes. “Oh! Not again! Why can’t he just leave us alone?”

  “How do you know that it’s him? He said that the colony had over five hundred people.”

  “Trust me. It’s him.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “One,” she listed. “His administrator probably wants more information about the vague threat I gave. Two, I still have his backpack and weapon. I’m willing to bet that he’s going to be in trouble unless he brings them back. Colonies rarely have a lot of resources at their immediate disposal.”

  “Do you want me to go offline again while he’s here?”

  “Yeah,” Anna said automatically. “You’re my ace in the hole. I don’t think he knows that you’re still operational.”

  “Are you going to come back inside?”

  She thought for a second before answering. “No, I’ll wait for him out here. He found me the first time by following the irrigation trough. He’ll probably come here the same way this time.”

  * * * * *

  Jason landed his skycycle a few meters upstream from the water wheel. He dismounted, making sure he did not step into the water or mud along the bank, and ventured into the woods by the same route he had taken before. When he reached the garden, he was surprised to see the woman standing on the other side of the worked section of land. She had her arms crossed and a sour look on her face. She was about the same age as Ms. Armstrong and, in his opinion, just as pretty. At least, she would have been without her current expression

  “Hi,” he greeted with a mild wave.

  “Didn’t I tell you that you were going to die unless you left?”

  “Yeah,” nodded Jason. “But, Ms. Armstrong wants to talk to you about it.”

  “Ms. Armstrong? Is she your leader?”

  “Yes.”

  The woman looked beyond him into the woods, an odd expression on her face. “Well, where is she?”

  He too glanced over his shoulder for a second, worried he may have been followed. Relieved that nothing strange was happening behind his back, he returned his eyes to the woman. “She invites you to join her at our colony to discuss the matter further.”

  She frowned. “What’s in it for me?”

  “I…I’m sorry?” Jason puzzled over her question.

  “What’s in it…for me? What do I get out of visiting your colony?”

  “Uh, well. We could give you some of our luxuries. Blankets, maybe some jewelry…”

  The woman interrupted him as she uncrossed her arms and planted her hands on her hips. “What do I look like: some ancient Native American who’s never met the white man before?”

  Jason looked her over a couple of times, noting her skin tone and choice of clothing. “Well, actually…”

  “Shut up.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know! I’m sure we could find something. Maybe some food…”

  “Food?”

  “Uh, yeah! Food!” Would that convince her?

  “What kind of food do you have?” Anna requested, her voice sounded softer.

  “We’ve got turkey…”

  “Turkey?”

  “Yep,” he smiled. “We have turkey, and roast beef…”

  “Beef?”

  “Yes, and corn…”

  “Corn, too?”

  Jason grinned. For some reason, it had become important for him to invite this woman back to the colony. “Yes, we have all of those, and more. What do you say? Want to come back to the colony with me?”

  “No.”

  Jason lost his smile. “Wh…what?”

  “No,” the woman repeated and crossed her arms again. “I have my own food. Some of it is even better than what you brought from Earth.”

  “What about the turkey and the beef?”

  She shook her head. “Nope. Not interested.”

  Jason wracked his brain. What would pique her interest? An idea crossed his mind. “We’ve got beer.”

  The woman paused and turned her head to regard him out of the corner of her eye. “What?”

  “Beer?”

  “American or European beer?”

  Jason paused, caught off guard by the response. “There’s a difference?”

  The woman laughed. “You obviously haven’t had both!”

  Jason’s shoulders slumped. “You probably wouldn’t be interested in whiskey, either.”

  “Now, wait a minute. Did you say whiskey?”

  “Yes, I said whiskey,” he sighed.

  “You know, I haven’t drunk any liquor for a long time.”

  Jason’s eyes lit up, and a smile appeared again.

  “What kind of whiskey is it?”

  “There’s a…”

  “Yes, there’s a difference. You have malt whiskey, grain whiskey us
ing grains like rye, wheat, and corn, bourbon, scotch, niponi, New Athenian whiskey with that strange blue color to it, and others that I can’t even think of off the top of my head.”

  Jason stared at her.

  “Well?”

  “I…I don’t know.”

  “Tell you what,” she suggested as she moved through the garden toward him. “Why don’t you run back to your colony and find out before you come back again.”

  “But…”

  “And if it’s that New Athenian blue crap, then don’t even bother coming back.” She turned him around and nudged him toward the river.

  “But I…”

  “I know you’ll do a good job for me. I really appreciate it.”

  “I don’t…”

  “Thanks!” She disappeared into the tall grass, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

  “But, I don’t know who…” He stopped as he realized that she had left, sighed, and returned to the skycycle.

  * * * * *

  “What do you mean ‘what whiskey do we have around here’?” Ms. Armstrong demanded from her perch on the corner of the table. They, along with the colonel, were back in the same room for the third time within twenty-four hours.

  Jason slumped back in his chair, a resigned look on his face. “She said that she won’t come to the colony unless we give her some whiskey. And, she made it perfectly clear that she did not want any ‘New Athenian crap’.” He fingered quotation marks in the air as he finished his sentence.

  “Sounds like somebody I knew back in college.” Jason almost did not catch the whisper.

  “What?”

  She waved the question away. “Never mind. Why did you offer whiskey?”

  “She asked what she would get out of coming back with me.”

  “So, the first thing you thought about offering her was alcohol.”

  Jason shook his head. “No, I offered her some creature comforts at first. Jewelry…”

  “Jewelry?”

  “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to offer a woman as a gift?”

  “She’s not your date to the prom!”

  The colonel, who leaned against the wall by the door sipping his coffee, suggested, “As entertaining as this whole conversation is, I have an idea to resolve this situation.”

  Both Jason and Ms. Armstrong turned to him. “What?”

  “We sack her.”

  The colonel further detailed his plan with a smile on his face. Jason raised his eyebrows and the administrator stared at him as though he was insane. “I pick out a few of my troops to go in, capture her, and bring her back here.”

  “Will she still be alive?” Ms. Armstrong asked.

  The colonel’s smile faded. “Yes, she will still be alive and healthy. Not a scratch.”

  Ms. Armstrong got up and paced the room for a few minutes. She stopped and looked up at the colonel, her face calm. “Do it.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the uniformed leader responded and left the room.

  Jason thought he looked a little too happy.

  Ms. Armstrong looked at Jason for a second before dismissing him.

  * * * * *

  “That should take care of it,” Anna declared as she stored the last of her premature harvest in the ship’s kitchen. “But I’m still wondering about these berries he found. I’ve never seen them before.”

  Kate stood next to her in the galley, watching her work. “Perhaps the scanner in his backpack can give you some insight on them.”

  Anna glanced at the hologram over her shoulder. “That’s a good idea.”

  She snatched the backpack from the counter and searched its pockets until she found the handheld device and turned it on. She located the results and skimmed through them, until she found the entries for the foodstuff in question.

  Anna picked up one of the dark blue berries several seconds later, sniffed it, and tossed it into her mouth. She chewed it a number of times, swished it around in her mouth, and swallowed it.

  “Well?” asked Kate.

  Anna smacked her lips and smiled. “That’s pretty good! I’m going to have to find more of those.”

  “Anna, I’m picking up three bogeys closing at high speed from the west.”

  The leather-clad technician chuckled. “Probably just that guy bringing a couple of cases of whiskey to try to convince me to go back with him.”

  “No, Anna. They aren’t following the river. They are flying over the trees and heading straight for us.”

  Anna’s expression turned serious, and she bolted from the kitchen to the bridge.

  “Bring up the sensors!” she barked as she rounded the pilot’s seat. The holographic display came up, indicating the three bogeys closing fast from the direction of the lake.

  “ETA?” she asked.

  “Three minutes.”

  Anna leaped from the chair and dashed back into the galley. She grabbed the backpack and, moving to one of the side rooms, tossed the bag under some tanned hides stacked on the floor. She sprinted back onto the bridge and skidded to a halt behind the seat, dropped to her knees, and pried open the maintenance hatch that led under the floor.

  “Go offline, but don’t let them damage or destroy you.” Anna dropped into the hole.

  “Of course, Anna. Never.”

  With a smile, the blonde closed the hatch and moved to the back of the crawlspace, drawing her pistol.

  * * * * *

  The three skycycles soared into the clearing and landed several meters away from the port wing of the starship. The soldiers, wearing flak vests and helmets and wielding rifles, dismounted their vehicles and approached the nose of the ship.

  “Okay, boys,” the colonel’s voice ordered through their earpieces. “Our buddy Jason says that the only way inside is through the airlock on top of the vessel. Let’s move quickly and procure our target. I want her back in time for lunch.”

  “Yes, sir.” The lead, whose nametag read Forbeck, responded in a low voice. “Hunter, Cassels, let’s move.”

  He looked to Hunter who held a portable sensor module that constantly swept the area for any movement or significant life forms. After a few seconds, Hunter looked back and shook his head. The leader held up three fingers and signaled for them all to move out. The troops charged up the front of the ship and to the airlock. Kneeling next to the closed hatch, the lead withdrew a small cube from a pouch on his vest, set it on top of the keypad, and pressed the one red button on top of it.

  * * * * *

  Anna’s wristcomp signaled an incoming message. She activated the screen to read Kate’s warning. “They are hacking the airlock’s passcode. I am trying to stop it, but it is too strong. All I can do is slow it down for a while.”

  Anna nodded and closed the screen. She rearranged her grip on her pistol in anticipation of the inevitable intrusion.

  * * * * *

  A couple of minutes later on top of the ship, Cassels mumbled, “What is taking so long?”

  Hunter, resting on one knee while watching the cube, shrugged.

  The leader whipped his pistol from its holster on his right hip. “Fuck this! Blow the hatch.”

  Almost as if in response, the button on the little box changed from red to green, and the airlock opened. Forbeck snatched up the cube and pocketed it as the other two dropped through the hole.

  The trio stormed the bridge with rifles ready. While Forbeck swept through the bridge, Hunter and Cassels moved through the corridors leading aft, checking each door as they encountered it. It was a matter of moments before they all signaled the all-clear. As they regrouped at the airlock, Hunter retrieved the sensor module from his belt and initiated a scan. This time, it located a single life form hiding under the floor of the bridge.

  Forbeck and Cassels traced the crawlspace depicted on the image to the access hatch behind the pilot seat. They stepped to the hidden floor plate, and Cassels pried it open with the spring-loaded bayonet he released from its niche within his rifle. Wasting no time, Forbeck p
ulled the pin from a small container and dropped it into the hole. They quickly reset the hatch.

  * * * * *

  Anna flinched when the panel opened, even though she had heard the steps approaching. Her eyes widened on seeing the gas grenade drop into the maintenance tunnel and spray its contents into the air. Once the hatch closed, she knew she had nowhere to go. Vowing to make her capture as difficult as possible for them, she typed a message to Kate to stay offline until they were out of sensors range, holstered her pistol in her tool belt, and climbed under the catwalk to fall asleep on top of the lower hull.

  Chapter 7

  “You found a woman?” Catherine asked, her sandwich barely touching her lips.

  Grinning, Jason nodded, sat down at the kitchen table, and put a plate holding his sandwich and potato chips down in front of him. “That’s right! I found a woman out there!”

  She shook her head in disbelief. After a few seconds, she continued. “What are you going to find next, some alien civilization?”

  “Maybe.” He chuckled before taking a bite.

  She tossed a chip into her mouth and chewed it for a few seconds before probing further. “What is she like? Is she feral?”

  Jason shot a puzzled glance at her. “She’s not feral; she’s not an animal at all. She’s living out of her crashed spaceship and carries a tool belt with all kinds of modern equipment. She’s even made a garden and a water wheel for herself.”

  “Is there anyone else living with her?”

  He swallowed a bite of food. “I don’t think so. At least, I didn’t see anyone else. Then again, I didn’t exactly get the grand tour.”

  Catherine nodded and took another bite of her sandwich, letting the conversation drift into silence for a short while.

  “Is she pretty?”

  Jason had let his thoughts wander as he chewed his food. “Hmm?”

  Returning her sandwich to the plate, Catherine repeated, “Is this wild woman of yours pretty?”

  “Oh! Yeah, she’s pretty. She’s got long, blonde hair. She’s slender and looks really fit. I guess she gets lots of exercise.”

  “I see.” Catherine’s voice trailed off.

  Jason began to take another bite of his lunch, when he noticed her staring into her food. Although he had not known her long, it did not take much to figure out what she was bothered about.