“It is as natural as the caves, just different, my friend. I don’t want to see you unhappy. If you need time off or a ride somewhere you can take a friend into the caves, let me know and I’ll fly you there.”
“I would be so very muchly grateful. Should the time come. Maybe I will find a short Kuskokwell Unglok who will think I am tall and attractive.”
“I think you are tall, if it makes any difference.” The sheriff checked the instruments of the flyer. They were getting close to the Kuskokwell cave mouth.
“I think you are short, like all humans. You look like Unglok children.”
“Unglok children are cute!” Thad countered, still studying the instruments. He clicked off the autopilot and used manual control as they approached the landing area.
“Yes. Cute. We find mates because of cute. Not.” Mast lifted his head in a perfect parody of a human.
Thad looked up. “Be cool. Don’t get us kicked out of the cave because you’re trying to chat up the hotties.” The sheriff massaged the controls as he nosed the craft into the wind for a smooth landing less than twenty meters from the entrance to the Kuskokwell settlement.
“I don’t know what you mean. Mast Jotham never gets kicked out of anywhere. Mast Jotham is a gentle Unglok.”
“That’s what I meant, of course, my friend.” Thad shook his head and popped the rear hatch. Maximus was off like a shot.
“That dog,” Thad said as he hurried after him, stopping to grab a box of the food strapped to the inside of the small cargo compartment. He nodded to Mast, who picked up the rest of the boxes. The sheriff took one more box from the top of the stack so his deputy could see.
The Ungloks were unusually strong for their lean physique. Thad had expected to make a number of trips from the ship to the cave mouth, but once he was standing in the wind and blowing dust, he was happy that he wouldn’t have to.
They dropped the boxes well inside the tunnel and continued downward until Mast held his hand up.
“Greetings,” Mast said into the darkness. Thad would never have known that there was anyone else there, had his deputy not spoken.
“Greetings, Mast Jotham. May your tunnel always be clear of obstructions,” came the standard Unglok reply, something that Thad had learned early in his language training. But he remained silent rather than butcher the greeting. He nodded, even though the other Ungloks didn’t understand that body language.
“We have food, the first shipment of many we hope to provide,” Mast said in his native tongue.
The elder appeared, followed by a large contingent of the shorter natives. Mast stepped back and clicked his tongue as he focused on one of the party members.
“No, you don’t,” the sheriff said in Galactic Standard.
Mast started speaking rapidly in Unglok. The sheriff was lost after the first word, and waited impatiently for Mast to finish his diatribe. The elder grunted at various points, but Mast didn’t acknowledge the interruption and kept talking throughout.
“You need to come up for air every once in a while,” the sheriff said loudly the second that his deputy paused. “What’s going on, buddy?”
“I am pleased to announce my formal courtship of Angak,” Mast replied proudly.
“How do you know her name?”
“She gave it to me. Didn’t you hear her speaking?” The sheriff shook his head. “That’s right, your ears don’t pick up the lower range of our language. She has a delightfully deep voice, muchly so.”
“Just like that. We talk about it in the flyer and here she is, in the flesh. Doesn’t that seem weird to you, because it sure as hell does to me.”
“She thinks I am tall and handsome. That’s what they say, yes.” Mast stuck his bony chest out and waved one arm gregariously.
“You are, of course, but damn. How often am I going to have to fly you over here?”
“I may stay when you leave this time. They have plenty of room in their village.”
The sheriff winced and groaned. “Not again, Mast. I’m still playing catchup from the last time you disappeared.”
The deputy looked hurt. “But it was the spirit quest. I had to go for my own sanity. You said it was okay.”
“It was okay! That time, and now? Is this another spirit quest?”
Mast stood upright. “No. It is for my future life and just as important.”
The sheriff held one hand up. “I’m sorry, Mast. Of course, you can stay here for as long as you need. I will make do while waiting impatiently for your return. We all do better with the support of our families. You know me. You’re the only family I have, Mast Jotham. I will miss you. Again.”
Mast deflated his chest and bowed his head closer to the sheriff. “That means much to me. Thank you. This should not take long. She either loves me or not. It is simple.”
The sheriff’s mouth hung slack. “Say what?” he asked in disbelief. “How many ex-wives do I have to leave in my wake before you can learn from my mistakes?”
“Ah, yes. Thaddeus Fry’s ex-wives. Haha!” Mast forced a human laugh.
“Just trying to save you from yourself, my man.” The Kuskokwell Unglok contingent waited patiently while the sheriff talked with his deputy.
“Boonodd,” he told them. Thank you.
No one else spoke. The sheriff pointed to the boxes closer to the entrance and started walking that way. Mast passed him and reached the boxes first. The sheriff stepped aside to avoid getting trampled by the locals. Mast held one box in his hands, while the others were picked up and carried away. The short woman remained.
Thad could see her lips moving, but couldn’t hear any sounds. Mast focused on her before replying.
“Does she speak your language?” the sheriff asked.
“Not at all. But the sound of her voice pleases me greatly.” Mast nodded once and headed down the tunnel with his new friend close beside him.
Thad scratched his face as he found himself all alone. He couldn’t see Maximus. “Not you, too?” Thad hung his head as he turned to leave, stumbling over the pig-dog who had been sitting right behind him. “Thank the stars! Come on, boy, you can sit up front on the ride home.”
The sheriff drew his shirt over his face and ran from the tunnel mouth toward the flyer. After five steps, he knew something was wrong.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“They should be there any day now. An advance party, followed in a couple weeks by the main unit. They intend to train for a month, but they’ll be followed by two other contingents. You’ll have TerroCom on Darklanding for at least the next three months continuously. Maybe they can have liberty in your town, my dear?” Tiberius Plastes smiled serenely.
Shaunte had her elbows on her desk, holding her head in both hands. “No,” she replied clearly.
She wasn’t in the mood for banter. She knew the boundaries quite well. As the Company Man, no one could enter the town of Darklanding without her permission.
“Just a thought to help bring a little more money into your operation, but I see the first payment has arrived. That by itself should put you close to the black on the year. Two more before the fiscal year closes and you will be at the top of all the remote operations.” Tye clasped his hands and shook them over his left shoulder then over his right in a victory dance.
“Have you seen the numbers since the cave-in repairs? Of course you have. They were climbing into the black on their own. There was no doubt that Darklanding was going to have a profitable year,” Shaunte countered.
“But you, my dear, you will have a good year now.” Tye had seen that it had been a full month since she covered excess costs from her own pay. As the chairman, he had unrestricted access to all the records.
Sometimes she wondered why she submitted any reports whatsoever. But those were for the underlings to pick apart and question, justifying their own existence. Her father didn’t need to look at a report on reports. He personally pulled the numbers he wanted to see.
Shaunte leaned back and crossed
her arms. “The sheriff is over there. Will he be telling me a story of how he was shot at?”
“Is that what passes for pillow talk for your generation?” Tye cocked one eyebrow at his daughter.
She gritted her teeth but refused the bait. “Just keep your derelicts inside the boundaries and we won’t have any problems.” She stabbed a finger onto the cutoff button before her father could. She smiled to herself before licking her finger and drawing in the air over her head.
One for me.
Shaunte activated her communication system and called the air traffic controllers.
“Shaunte Plastes here. Have you seen any air traffic going to the other side of the planet?” she asked innocently. The video of the small tower popped onto her screen.
“We tracked the sheriff’s flyer over there, but that’s it. What is he going over there for?” the controller wondered.
“Company business. He’s conducting an informal Unglok survey to see if we can find some new veins to tap. Darklanding is coming around and you know the old saying. When the miners find the vein, away goes all the pain.”
The controller nodded vigorously. “You know it, ma’am.”
She signed off before he could ask any more questions.
***
Maximus snorted and stopped short of the ramp. He snarled and showed his teeth. The man inside raised his blaster. In the blink of an eye, Thad’s blaster magically appeared in his hand.
“You shoot my dog and I will shoot you.” Thad’s aim held steady at the man’s chest. He heard the men come up behind him. Because of the blowing sand and dust, they needed to get close.
Too close.
He ducked and spun, kicking the rifle out of one of the soldier’s hands. He continued spinning, following up with a kick to the groin of the second soldier. He grabbed the rifle on the ground with his free hand and swung it, cracking the barrel across the second man’s face.
Thad dodged right, then left to put the first man between him and the soldier in the flyer. The sheriff pressed his blaster against the first soldier’s forehead.
“What are you clowns doing here?” the sheriff growled.
“I’ll ask you the same question. You’re flying this rattle trap into our firing range.”
“Your firing range is ten kilometers in that direction, where your standoff boundaries start. You are on private Unglok land now.” Thad holstered his pistol and shoved the rifle into the first man’s hands. “See to him.”
Thad tipped his chin toward the soldier on the ground. The man hesitated, glaring angrily. “I am Captain Thaddeus Fry of the First Battalion, First Regiment, Ninth Division. You will put your weapons down, do you understand me?”
The man in the flyer let his weapon’s barrel drop. The first man shrugged before moving to the second man and helping him to a sitting position.
“I’m Corporal Allen from TerroCom,” the soldier in the flyer said.
“And you are way the hell out of bounds. Take your men and get inside the established boundary. I put the markers there myself so I know exactly where they are, or rather, where they were. If they’ve been removed, I’ll replace them and cut off an additional five kilometers, and that will be your responsibility, Corporal.”
“I’m sure the colonel will want to talk with you about that. I’m done talking. Our transport is up front. If you’ll accompany us, Captain.”
The soldier said Thad’s rank as if it was a pejorative.
The sheriff didn’t want to go with the soldiers, but he was responsible for the entire planet. His charter as sheriff was overly broad, but it gave him the opportunity to snag a flyer whenever he needed one because of the size of his area of responsibility.
“Lead on, Allen.”
The soldier walked past the two men struggling through the sand. He scoffed at their weakness. Thad moved in beside them and draped the injured man’s arm over his shoulder.
“Sorry about that, but Centauri Prime made me a little gun-shy when it comes to ambushes.”
“We haven’t seen combat ourselves, but we’re promised soon.”
“Don’t be in a hurry to die. Bullets and bombs don’t care how long you’ve been a soldier.” Thad helped the two soldiers to their flyer, where the corporal waited impatiently.
“Find Mast Jotham! Maximus, find Mast!” the sheriff yelled into the wind outside. The pig-dog was nowhere to be seen.
They took their seats in the cargo compartment while a pilot closed the hatch from the cockpit and immediately took off.
Three minutes later, they landed in an expeditionary camp one kilometer on the wrong side of the boundary that he and Mast Jotham had established.
When the hatch opened, the corporal waved for Thad to follow.
“Get him to your medic. He probably has a concussion at the very least.” Thad looked at the man’s eyes. The second soldier wasn’t sure what to do. “What do you think you should do?”
“He’s hurt,” the man admitted. “I’ll take him to the medic.”
Thad nodded and headed after the corporal. The wind whipped through the compound, mercilessly clawing at the semi-rigid tents. Three buildings were set up beyond the tents to block some of the wind and generate power with windmills on top.
It was to one of these that the corporal led the way to. They entered, and the corporal, wearing a smug expression, waved the captain forward.
Thad saw the lieutenant colonel standing in the hallway with his hands on his hips, trying to look intimidating.
The sheriff walked briskly to the other officer, stopped, and saluted. “Captain Thaddeus Fry reporting as requested.”
“In there,” the lieutenant colonel said gruffly before adding, “That’ll be all, Corporal.”
Thad walked into the small office and stood at parade rest.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing attacking my men?” The officer had taken a position next to Thad and was bellowing in his ear.
The sheriff dropped the pretense of military decorum. He turned and stabbed a finger into the screamer’s throat. The lieutenant colonel coughed and gagged. “Listen here, candy ass. You are outside the boundaries of the approved training area, which means you fall under the Darklanding sheriff’s jurisdiction. If you want me to drag you out of here in handcuffs, you keep up your tough guy act.
“I know your type. You’re a paper pusher, in the rear with the fruit punch.” The man tried to surge forward, but Thad caught him midstride and threw him across his own desk to sprawl across his chair before falling to the floor. “Don’t interrupt a combat soldier when he’s talking about war stuff. You will move this compound ten kilometers that way!”
Thad pointed in the direction opposite the cave mouth.
“No can do, Captain.” The man straightened his uniform. “I’ll have you up on charges before you can take one step from this office.”
“Call the Company Man,” Thad said softly.
“The Company Man has nothing to do with this.”
“She has everything to do with this. Call her and her answers will determine whether I drag you out of here in cuffs, beat the snot out of you, both, or neither. You had best hope for the latter.”
The man dialed up the system on his desk and was quickly connected through. Thad moved around the desk so he could see the screen. He was satisfied when the officer flinched and leaned away.
“Shaunte Plastes,” a pleasant voice answered before the sheriff could get into the picture.
“Hi, Shaunte. A quick word, please. It appears that TerroCom is incapable of reading coordinates. They set up outside the approved training area,” the sheriff reported.
“I’m Lieutenant Colonel Bob McMaster. I was told to set up here and this is where we’ll stay.”
Shaunte leaned back. “Hang on. Let me comm in a third party.”
“I’m in the middle of something, honey, can this wait?” Tiberius Plastes said. “Oh. Bob. What did you do?”
The lieutenant colonel
recognized the chairman of SagCon and was honored that he knew Bob’s name, except for the fact that he didn’t sound happy.
“He set up outside the boundary, something you specifically promised me wouldn’t happen. The sheriff is going to arrest him and put him in jail before making them move into the approved area,” the Company Man said matter-of-factly.
“I don’t care what you do with that idiot. I’ll get Westy on the comm immediately and get this sorted out. Make no mistake. They will move wherever you tell them to move. Is that you, Sheriff Fry? I look forward to meeting you.”
“Westy? Do you mean the defense minister?” Bob whispered.
“Why would you meet me? Are you coming to Darklanding?” Thad asked.
“No. I mean when Shaunte brings you home to meet us.”
“Sorry, Dad. There’s a problem with the connection.” She killed his link and the second image disappeared from the screen.
“What?” the sheriff said, leaning his head sideways.
“Some fantasy that the chairman maintains. You heard him. Bob is yours to do with as you please. The next communication they receive will have them pack up and move farther into the training area. Also, when TerroCom or any ships supporting you arrive over my planet, instruct them to turn off their jammers. They must be visible to my air traffic controllers. We don’t want any accidents.” She held Bob’s gaze for a moment longer before turning her attention to Thaddeus Fry. “Anything else you need from me, Sheriff?”
“You’ve been wonderful, Shaunte. Thank you.” Thad reached out to touch the screen as she did the same before signing off.
What the hell, Fry-man? Thad shook his head, glad that the shmoopfest was over.
“We’ll pack up and move, of course, but they’ll need me here to oversee the operation,” Bob pleaded.
“I think you are an oxygen thief,” Thad told him. “The only reason I’m not taking you in is because I don’t want to be trapped in a flyer with you for nine hours. You will issue the order and then you stay out of their way. I expect these soldiers know what to do.”
Thad slapped the man in the face, hard enough to leave a handprint. Bob cowered.
Thad strolled to the door and opened it. “Well?” he asked.
SAGCON Page 7
