“Welcome to FOB Darklanding.” Forward Operating Base.
The general returned Bob’s salute. “What are you doing here?” the general asked innocuously.
“Greeting you and welcoming you to the base. I hope you like what you see. If you’ll join me, I’ll give you a tour,” Bob replied.
The general leaned close. “I said you were fired. Get your trash and get on the shuttle. You’re going home, where you’ll get your final physical and be mustered out of the service.”
“I still have three years left to retirement…” Bob stammered.
“Not everyone gets a career, Bob. I’ve heard you say those words yourself after disapproving a reenlistment package. There you are. Pack your trash, because you’re done.”
Bob staggered backward, bumping his way beyond the small formation.
“I know things!” he snarled, before turning and running into the nearest building.
“Craken? Go get him and drag him out of there. Throw him onto the nearest shuttle.”
The sergeant was behind the general. He saluted and ran after the lieutenant colonel. He was inside for two seconds before the sounds of blaster fire echoed from inside.
The general took off running toward the gunfire. He ripped the door open, but from the side, maintaining cover behind the door frame.
He peeked inside, dodging back instantly. Craken was down and the rear door of the building was open. “Find him!” the general yelled at the TerroCom squad behind him. He angrily waved the support personnel away.
Corporal Allen ducked his head and hurried to a place where he would be out of the spotlight. He watched as the squad improved their spacing and assumed a tactical formation, effortlessly moving as one into blowing sand. He’d let the professionals do their job. The chow hall needed extra hands. With his head hanging low, he headed for the largest building.
The general rushed down the hallway, sliding to a stop where he could kneel next to Sergeant Craken. The man winced. “Oh, that hurt.” Two scorch marks on his body armor showed where the round had impacted, but not penetrated.
General Quincy helped him to his feet.
“The colonel kind of went off the rails,” Craken said.
“That he did, Sergeant. Congratulations, Captain, you’re in charge of this mob now.”
“Thank you, I think.” The new captain wasn’t sure what duties he was being given, but a field promotion was always the best kind of promotion. He’d check with admin and see when the new pay would start. Maybe a hovercar was in his future.
The general’s radio crackled to life. They could barely understand the voice over the blowing wind. “He’s gone, General. There are no tracks, no way to follow him without getting ourselves lost in this muck.”
“Bring your people back inside the perimeter and set up security. I have no idea what he’ll do, so remain on alert until the lieutenant colonel is captured.”
“Captured?”
“Dead or alive. Either works for me.” The general clicked off.
An explosion from the landing area suggested Bob had circled back. The general looked through the door’s window to see a fireball rise from one of the shuttles. “Captain! Get out there and secure those shuttles, and bring me McMasters’s head!”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“You have made yourself scarce, I have to say,” Dixie drawled.
No. You didn’t have to say anything, the sheriff thought.
“Been busy as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest, ma’am.” The sheriff tipped his hat to the madam.
“In Shaunte’s office a great deal, Sheriff, when you could be just down the hallway with me.” Dixie smiled and let her bodice slip ever so slightly to show more of her curves.
“What was I thinking? I could eschew Darklanding’s business for one night of ecstasy and bliss!” he replied sarcastically.
She rolled her eyes at him.
“Once with Dixie, there’s no turning back, but you’ll never find out if you don’t start making some moves, young man.” Dixie hiked herself up onto the barstool, exposing plenty of leg on the way. The sheriff noticed.
“There’s more where that came from,” she whispered.
“You have another leg?” the sheriff asked, mimicking his deputy’s embrace of the literal.
“No.” Dixie shook her head, confused. “I mean, yes. I have two, but what does that have to do with the price of tea on Melborn?”
“If you’ll excuse me. Work beckons. I must locate the wayward Mast Jotham.”
“Where has your deputy gone this time, Sheriff? No one seems to know anything besides you flew away and when you came back the next day, you were alone. Are you killing off the locals?”
“Interesting hypothesis. Leave the sleuthing to me, Dixie.” The sheriff leaned in conspiratorially, looking around before whispering into Dixie’s ear. “He’s courting a young Unglok and when I return with him, he may not be alone.”
He winked at her as he climbed from his stool at the bar and headed out. Dixie clapped and started to laugh. “Won’t that be something, Sheriff Fry! We’ll have to have a party.”
He gave her the thumbs up over his shoulder as he continued outside, where Maximus seemed to be waiting for him. Shaunte was out there, too, dressed in her traveling clothes.
“Where do you think you’re going?” the sheriff asked abruptly.
She raised one eyebrow. “I see why you have so many ex-wives. Your charm with women is something else.”
“I wouldn’t call four ‘so many.’ Wait. Five. I think there are five.” He started ticking off his fingers. “Yes, five, and that’s not so many. I can still count them all on one hand.”
He smiled and nodded as if that made it okay.
“I’m going with you to see this base that’s set up on my planet.”
The sheriff stopped and looked at her. He was no longer smiling. He made sure no one was nearby before he spoke. “Are you sure you want to do that? You know, plausible deniability and all.”
“By all that’s holy, I accepted the payment from them. There is no doubt that I know about the military training area.”
“I guess there’s no deniability then.”
“Which means the only thing we can do is make sure they don’t exceed their authority and blow anything up that they’re not supposed to blow up.”
“I guess you’re coming then?”
“I guess so,” Shaunte replied.
“If Mast and his much shorter better half are ready to come home, we have no place to put them.”
“You couldn’t fly three people in that flyer anyway. That’s why I’ve requisitioned a bigger bird for this trip.”
“Out of your pay?” The sheriff had long ago assumed he had no control over his own life. This reaffirmed that he was hanging on for the ride that was Thaddeus Fry’s journey through life.
“For now,” she admitted. “Shall we? And don’t tell me that thing is coming along.”
“Okay, I won’t tell you, but Maximus always come with me. He’s my guard dog.”
“He farts.” Shaunte blocked the sheriff, crossing her arms and looking down her nose at him.
“Yes, he does, and he’s still coming. Come on, Maximus. Let’s go see Mast Jotham. He’s your buddy, isn’t he, boy?”
The pig-dog wagged his whole body in joy as he led the way toward the airfield, clearly understanding where they were going.
“He’s really smart, though,” the sheriff added as he walked around the Company Man.
She hurried to catch up. “I’ve had the food supplies loaded, too.”
“You’re making me feel useless,” Thad admitted.
“Sorry. The only reason I can go is that everything is peaceful. You’ve made it that way.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence with Maximus running ahead. They checked in and were given access to a much bigger flyer, a much nicer craft.
When they climbed aboard, the sheriff closely looked over th
e cockpit and passenger compartment. “So this is how the other half lives. I like it.”
Shaunte gave him the hairy eyeball.
“What?” He didn’t understand, and she didn’t elaborate.
He took his position in the pilot’s seat, ran through the short checklist, told Shaunte to buckle up, and they took off. He found that the aircraft was more than twice as fast as the old flyer he’d been using. He spun up the RPMs and looked at the estimated arrival time. Less than four hours.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” He watched the dial count the seconds.
Shaunte reclined her chair, curled up, and went to sleep. The sheriff caught himself staring at her. Get a grip, Fry-man. She’s not your type, he argued. His mind raced and the arguments occupied all of his time.
***
“Time to wake up!” the sheriff shouted, making Shaunte jump.
“What the hell?” She rubbed her eyes as she blinked away the sleep. “Are we there?”
“On final approach now.” Thad leaned forward and looked at the roiling dust clouds below.
“Does it always look like that?”
“Mostly. It’s pretty nasty, but that is what’s available over here.”
“I could see how they set up in the wrong place by mistake.”
“Don’t be fooled. The beacons were well-placed and they knew exactly where they were. They chose to set up outside of them. I want to check that they’ve moved before I land.”
The sheriff swung the flyer wide and slowly crossed the area to the east of the Kuskokwell cave. He checked the coordinates as they flew. Thad pointed to the ground.
“There were set up right there. Looks like the wind has scrubbed the area clean. No sign of them. That’s how we want it. Deputy Jotham, here we come.” Thad swung the flyer around and raced back to the cave entrance, turning the craft into the wind to put the back ramp as close to the tunnel as possible.
He powered the systems down and opened the ramp. As he walked out, he took two boxes off the top, grunting with their weight. Shaunte strolled past.
The sheriff loudly cleared his throat. She stopped and sighed.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Shaunte Plastes!” he said. “Take a box and help me move this stuff into the cave.”
Maximus worked his way past and headed outside. He didn’t go into the cave, but headed toward the front of the flyer.
Thad didn’t wait. He tromped down the ramp and hurried into the cave, carrying the boxes a dozen steps in before setting them down. He turned back to help Shaunte when a voice came out of the darkness.
“That’ll be far enough, Sheriff Fry,” Bob McMasters said, breathing with a raspy wheeze. Thad could make out the blaster pointed in his direction. “Pass me one of those protein bars.”
“Shaunte, RUN!” the sheriff bellowed, but it was too late. She stumbled forward, trying not to drop the box she was carrying. She careened into the wall and slipped.
“Put the box down, young lady,” Bob told her. She sheltered her eyes, but couldn’t see far enough into the cave to make out who was talking.
“Join the sheriff and face the wall, but first, THROW ME A PROTEIN BAR!” the man screamed.
The sheriff could feel the weight of the blaster against his hip, beneath his fire coat. He may as well have left it on the flyer for all the good it was doing him.
Shaunte opened the box and took a handful of bars out. She reared back and threw them as hard as she could at the man. He laughed as they bounced off him. Bob backed up before bending down and picking up two of them. He maintained his distance as he ate.
“That’s more like it,” he said when he finished. “I think you need to stay here, Sheriff, while the young lady goes with me, because I need help getting off the planet. Would you happen to be the Company Man?”
Shaunte didn’t answer him.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Bob laughed gruffly.
Maximus appeared behind Shaunte, snorting and scuffing the dirt on the cave floor. He danced back and forth as he frothed at the mouth.
“What is that thing?” Bob took aim, but Thad jumped in the way, holding his arms out. “As you wish.”
Bob raised the barrel of his blaster to aim at Thad’s head. The sheriff kept his arms out to shield Maximus and Shaunte.
“Lieutenant Colonel McMasters!” someone called from the cave mouth. Laser points appeared and bounced down the cave walls. Bob ducked to keep the sheriff and the Company Man between him and the newcomers. “Put your blaster down and come with us. It doesn’t have to get ugly.”
“I don’t believe that. I walk out of here and my body will turn up as the next training accident. Back off or the sheriff and the Company Man get it.”
The men at the front hesitated. Their gear scraped against the rocks as they tried to get into better firing positions. The sheriff continued to stand with his arms out.
“Get down on the ground, Shaunte,” the sheriff whispered over his shoulder. Bob rushed forward, shaking his blaster.
“Nobody move!” Bob yelled. Shaunte remained standing. The sheriff shifted his body. Maximus leaned around the sheriff’s leg and growled at the man holding the blaster. “The resolve of the hostage-taker is always questioned until he proves what he is willing to do.”
Bob stepped back, staying low to avoid the laser dots. He aimed at the sheriff’s chest. “Any final words, Sheriff?”
Thaddeus Fry had been this close to death before, but he’d never thought about any last words. He had always thought that he could cheat death, one more time. He was young enough to believe in his own resilience, but old enough to know that if he did nothing, it wouldn’t turn out in his favor. He started to move, but Bob was quicker. He shook his head as he started to pull the trigger.
A blaster barked from the darkness. Bob was thrown forward. Thad deflected the man’s blaster and body-blocked him into the wall. Bob left a bloody smear as he slid down the rocks and rolled onto the floor.
Mast Jotham stepped into the light, still aiming his blaster at the lieutenant colonel. Thad pressed two fingers against Bob’s neck. The sheriff shook his head.
“Put your weapons away. He’s gone.” The sheriff stood up. Maximus forced his way past to sniff and growl at the body.
Shaunte wrapped her arms around the sheriff, hugging him tightly.
“This is new,” Mast said.
“Where’s your better half?” Thad asked, walking forward with Shaunte to give the TerroCom soldiers room to recover the lieutenant colonel’s body.
“Too young, and they don’t want to leave Kuskokwell. Mast is deputy sheriff! It is my career. They can accept that or lump it. They say there are many lumps before the gravy is smooth. Yes. That is what they say.”
“They can lump it?” the sheriff wondered aloud. Shaunte stepped back and smoothed out her traveling clothes. She nodded to the sheriff.
“I won’t ever forget what you did,” she said before turning to the soldiers. “Who’s in charge, and where can I find him?”
“That would be me, Miss Plastes,” an older man said from the cave mouth. “I’m General Quincy. Please accept my apologies for the aberrant behavior of that man. We’ve been trying to capture him for three days. Unfortunately, you arrived as we trapped him in here.”
“Unfortunately, of course,” Shaunte said diplomatically. “I expect that this was an odd case and that there will be no repeat? Especially since your armed soldiers are outside the training area boundaries.”
“In this case,” the sheriff interjected, “I would have asked the military for assistance in capturing their AWOL soldier. One team, one fight. Right, General?”
“Always, Captain,” the general replied. “Let’s put this business behind us and don’t take this personally, but I hope there is no need for us to meet again, under any circumstances.”
“That would be the best case, General,” Shaunte said.
Thad nodded and turned to his deputy. “Ready to go home, Mast J
otham?”
“Very muchly so, my home in Darklanding.”
“If you could have your soldiers bring the rest of the boxes from the flyer and stack them here, I would greatly appreciate it. And then we’ll get out of your hair,” Thad said.
The general removed his hat to show his bald head. He waved to his people, who made quick work of the remaining boxes.
Thad, Shaunte, Mast, and Maximus hurried through the wind and into the flyer. They closed the ramp and with one final shrug, Thad jumped into the pilot’s chair.
Shaunte started gagging.
Mast covered his face. “I would rather breathe A19,” the Unglok said.
Thad held his breath as he hurriedly put on a supplemental oxygen mask. Shaunte staggered to the co-pilot’s chair and grabbed her mask. Everyone turned to glare at Maximus.
The pig-dog rolled onto his side and was soon fast asleep.
The End of Episode 6.
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Other Books by Scott Moon
Darklanding with Craig Martelle
Episode 1: Assignment Darklanding
Episode 2: Ike Shot the Sheriff
Episode 3: Outlaws
SAGCON Page 9
