The Between (Earth Exiles Book 3)

by Mark Harritt

  Shar tilted his head to the side, perplexed, “They search.”

  “For what?”

  Shar shrugged, then explained, “Each world with life on it has a unique biochemistry.” He paused for a moment, considering the team members, “the biochemistry on each planet has unique chemicals, unique proteins that can be used for different purposes for different hominid species. Some can be replicated; some can only be harvested. They search for biochemicals that would be profitable for trade with other markets.”

  Mike thought about this, “What about gold, platinum, diamonds?”

  Shar waved as if to discard those commodities, “That can be found in great quantities throughout any solar system. Biologicals are unique. One biological compound can be used for a myriad of different purposes across multiple species. One species’ poison is another species’ elixir, depending on how it reacts to their bio-chemistry. The only other thing that is of worth is the technology of the ancients, the civilizations that came before us. Much has been lost of their technology and science. Information is also valuable.”

  Mike was lost in thought contemplating this.

  Everett brought them back to their immediate reality, “Shar, where is this base located?”

  Shar stood up and moved back toward the pilot’s chair. He stopped when he noticed they hadn’t moved. He motioned with his hand for them to follow him. He moved to the table next to the pilot’s seat. He shifted the top of the table up, and pulled out a flexible, transparent rolled piece of plastic. He closed the table and flattened the plastic over it.

  He pinched one of the corners of the plastic sheet, and an image appeared on the sheet, and started to focus. Mike whistled. He was used to topographic maps, but this blew those away. As he stared down at the plastic sheet, it became opaque, and a series of high mountains was represented three dimensionally on the map. As he moved, the mountains shifted accordingly, as if he was staring down at them from above, maybe as he would see it if he flew over it in an aircraft.

  Mike ran his hand over the plastic sheet, and the image seemed to ripple where his hand touched it. He looked up at Shar, “Where are we?”

  Shar waited until the image settled, then he pointed at a long valley that was surrounded by high mountains. Shar lightly touched the map, and then moved his fingers. The map tilted until the mountains filled the sheet so that Mike was looking at them from the valley floor. It was a true three dimensional map that could be manipulated to give a view from the location that they were at. Mike touched the map, and changed the viewing angle so that he could see it from above again.

  Mike noticed the river leading down the valley and followed it with his finger and identified where dragon valley was, as well as the possible location for the necropolis. He could even identify the location where the compound was. He made sure he kept his finger well away from that location, though.

  Everett looked at the map, “Damn, I wish we’d had this when we started.”

  Mike nodded, “Yeah, it would have made our trip a lot easier. We wouldn’t have stumbled around the highlands trying to find a route to Matki’s tribe.”

  Mike looked up at Shar, “Where’s the base?”

  Mickey spoke before Shar could answer, “Mike, we need to wrap this up. Matki lost some blood, and I think he’s getting tired.”

  Mike turned around and looked at Matki. Sure enough, Matki looked pale.

  Mike nodded, “Okay, I just want to find out where the base is, and then we’ll stop.”

  Shar pointed at a spot on the map. It lit up and remained on the map. Mike frowned.

  Everett looked at where Shar had pointed, southeast of their location, “hey, isn’t that the direction Matki’s tribe was traveling in?”

  They had been traveling to another tribal village further to the southeast, where they could find refuge, and possibly get some food. That village was close to the grey man compound, within a hundred miles, which was nothing with aircraft in play. There were too many people for an extended stay at that location, so that meant that they would move further. The valley they would be taking could potentially take them further south and east, closer to the slaver camp.

  Mike nodded, “This could definitely be a problem.”

  Shar went on to point to other locations, one of which was the village that Matki’s tribe was walking to, “These are locations that have been marked for the slavers to visit.”

  Everett stared at Mike, talking in a low voice, “Damn Mike, we have to do something.”

  Mike nodded, “Yeah, we do.”

  Mike looked at Matki, who had translated everything. Jendi had heard what Shar told Matki, and now he was upset. Matki was talking to Jendi. Mike knew he was trying to reassure the boy.

  Mike put his hand on Jendi’s shoulder. Mike looked at Matki, “Tell Jendi that we won’t let anything happen to his family.”

  Matki reached up and grabbed Mike’s hand, “Thank you, Mike.”

  Mike smiled down at him, “It’s nothing you wouldn’t do for us.”

  Mike looked at Everett, “Let’s go talk to Caul. He may have some ideas.” Mike turned his head and looked at Mickey, “Stay here, please. Watch the pilot.”

  Mickey nodded, and pointed at Matki, “I have to stay close to my patient, anyway.”

  Mike pointed at the map and pantomimed taking it with him. Shar nodded, and squeezed the corner of the map. It went blank, and Shar squeezed the corner again so that the map was displayed again.

  Mike nodded and smiled, knowing that Shar was trying to show him how it worked. He pinched the corner, and the three dimensional image on the map blanked. Mike quickly rolled it, and he and Everett turned to walk to the back of the aircraft.

  Tom and Caul were sitting on the ramp. Tom had a blade of grass in his teeth, and Caul was carving a stick of wood.

  Tom turned and saw the look of concern on Mike’s face, “Oh hell, what’s going on now?”

  “Nothing good,” Everett replied.

  Tom took the blade of grass out of his mouth and tossed it to the ground, “We in trouble?”

  Mike shook his head, “Us, no, everything is copacetic for us. The problem is that Matki’s family might be walking into a bee hive.”

  Mike rolled the map out onto the ramp, and touched the corner.

  Tom whistled, “Damn, that’s a nice map,” Tom reached forward to touch it. The image distorted where he touched it, and Caul just looked confused.

  Everett pointed at Caul, “Yeah, my face looked exactly like that the first time I saw a topographic map.”

  Mike smiled. He did what Shar had done previously, and tilted the map so that they could see the mountains from the valley floor. Caul’s eyes grew wide as he realized that he was looking at a representation of the mountains around him. Mike grinned at his expression.

  Mike pulled the electronic translator out of his pocket and switched it on so that he could explain the situation to Caul. He grew serious again as he flipped the map back so it was an overhead view of the surrounding mountains, “Okay, here’s the problem. We’re here,” he pointed at the map, “this is the direction that Matki’s tribe traveled. They were going to travel up this valley to go to another village further south and east of here. Then, they were going to move further south past that village.” Mike’s finger moved to the location of the enemy base, “And this is where the base is that the Turinzoni came from. The problem is, these villages have been marked for collection by the slavers.” Mike pointed at the locations that Shar had shown him.

  Caul’s face grew solemn, “They are in danger.”

  Mike looked at Caul, “Yes they are. We need to intersect them before they go any further.” He hesitated, “But Matki’s wounded.”

  Caul made a horizontal motion with his hand, “It doesn’t matter. The tribe is more important.” He looked into Mike’s eyes, “Besides, you think he cares that he’s wounded if something happens to Balia, Olmla, or Desci?”

  Mike conceded that point, “Yea
h, you’re right.”

  “We could leave him here with Jendi,” Everett pointed out.

  Caul shook his head, “He will fight you if you try to take him off of the flying box. He will not rest until he knows his family is safe.”

  Tom looked at the aircraft, “Well, we have that. It can get us there quickly.”

  Mike nodded, “Yeah, but we might be traveling into a world of pain. From what Shar tells us, they still significantly outnumber us. And, they would have the advantage if we run into them. Kind of hard to sneak and peak in an aircraft. Plus, we’re low on ammo.”

  Everett looked at the map, then around the group, “Mike, I don’t think we have any choice. We have to get there ahead of the slavers and warn them.”

  Mike stood up, “I just hope we get there in time.” He looked around, “Where’s Geonti?”

  Caul put two fingers in his mouth and a shrill whistle filled the air. Moments later, Geonti came trotting out of the trees, headed to the aircraft.

  The other three stood up. Mike picked up the map, and turned it off. He rolled it up and started walking to the aircraft. They followed him up the ramp.

  Shar looked at Mike as he walked onto the aircraft.

  Mike made a circle with his finger, “Fire up the engines.”

  Mickey looked at Mike, “We going to get them?”

  Mike nodded, “Yeah, it’s the only choice we have.”

  Matki looked at Mike, “Going to get who?”

  Mike took a deep breath, “Your family, Matki.”

  Matki had a tear in his eye, “Thank you.”

  ----------------------------------------------------

  “You ready for this, Mitchem?”

  Mitchem looked over at Landberg, and replied, gruffly, “I’m ready. You sure you want to do this?”

  “There won’t be any better time. Joseph is the only one in the Mech suit, and Weitz will suit up as soon as we call everybody out to the courtyard. Williams and Sustein both have rifles from the armory. They’ll be at the back of the crowd. You and I will be in the front with our pistols. With the Mechs on top of the wall, nobody will want to challenge us.”

  Mitchem stopped skinning the rodents that he was about to butcher, “You got it all planned out then? Are you sure this is going to work?”

  Landberg studied Mitchem closely, “You getting cold feet?”

  Mitchem shook his head, “No, I just want to make sure you’re not going to back out of this.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that. It’s been six days since the team called back. They were being attacked by ‘grey men’ the last time they called in. If they haven’t called back by now, they’re done. They ain’t coming back. Now’s our chance. If we take over before they get back, there’s nothing they can do.”

  Mitchem wasn’t as sure about that as Landberg seemed to be. Still, at this point, he didn’t really have a choice. Mitchem stepped back and took his leather apron off, draping it over the table. He walked over to a tub, picked up a bar of soap and started soaping his hands.

  Landberg followed him over, “If you’re having second thoughts, let me know, and I’ll just leave you here.”

  Mitchem ran that scenario through his head. He didn’t think it ended with him walking away from this conversation, especially with his pistol over on the bench, “I told you, you don’t have to worry about that. I just have to clean up before I go over there with you.”

  Mitchem didn’t like Landberg’s plan. If he’d gone against Landberg, though, Mitchem would have met Joseph one night in the dark somewhere. Mitchem didn’t like his new life, hated this new world, hated the people he was stuck here with, but he had no intention of taking a dirt nap anytime soon.

  He finished washing his hands and shook them to get the water off. He picked up one of the charcoal grey towels and dried them off. He walked over and grabbed his pistol belt off of the bench. After the attack by the spawn, he didn’t go anywhere without a pistol. He was keenly aware that Landberg was standing behind him, watching intently as Mitchem strapped the belt around his waist.

  “Okay, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it,” Mitchem motioned toward the compound wall.

  “You’ll need this so that you can listen to Weitz and Joseph.” Landberg dropped an ear bud into Mitchem’s hand. “After you,” Landberg motioned for Mitchem to proceed him.

  “You there, Weitz?” Landberg asked.

  “Yeah, I’m here. Joseph is in the mech. Everybody’s down at the courtyard. I’m going to fire up my suit.”

  “Okay, we’re headed to the courtyard. As soon as we get there, I need you two to stand at the back of the wall so that they know you’re there. I want them to understand who’s in charge now. You got that Joseph?”

  “Yeah, I hear ya. No prob.”

  “You got it Weitz?’

  Weitz sounded annoyed, which was nothing unusual, “Yeah, I’ll be there. It will only take me a few minutes to get this powered up.”

  Landberg’s voice sounded calm, but the threat was implied, “Make sure you get this right.”

  Weitz was flippant, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

  Mitchem walked as they talked. He knew that Landberg was using him as a figure head. If somebody found out about this little conspiracy, it would be blamed on him. If it succeeded, Landberg wasn’t the type of guy that shared power. Mitchem doubted he’d be allowed to remain vertical for very long. Besides, with Mitchem dead, that was one less man for Landberg to share the remaining women with.

  Mitchem knew he would be the only one in an unmarked grave. Still, if he went forward with the plan, at least in the short run, he would survive. Mitchem walked toward the courtyard. His spine itched as Landberg walked behind him. Mitchem could see the crowd that had gathered at the wall.

  “How’d you get everybody to come out to the courtyard?” Mitchem asked.

  “I had Williams go around and tell everybody that I wanted to talk to them, that I’d found some important information,” Landberg replied.

  “That’s all you told them?”

  “I find that the less you tell them, the more likely you are to get participation.”

  That made sense to Mitchem. Landberg was an unknown quantity to many of them, since they only interacted with him when he read them onto the special access program. They’d be curious about what he had to say.

  As they got closer, Mitchem saw the crowds’ reaction when they looked at him. Some of the expressions were neutral, giving nothing away. A lot of them were overtly hostile. Latricia was one of those. That second lieutenant was one arrogant bitch now that he didn’t outrank her.

  Mitchem walked forward, to the front of the crowd. Landberg followed him. Mitchem could see that Pang, Jondreau, and Nosstrand were standing at the front. The security guards were scattered throughout the crowd. A few of them were standing at the back. Murph was one of them. In the back, he could see Williams and Sustein with their rifles over their shoulders.

  “What the hell do you want, Mitchem?” Hank Bethel yelled out, “I thought Russell called this meeting.”

  Mitchem held out his hands in supplication, and then pointed at Landberg, “I didn’t call anything. This is Landberg’s show.”

  Landberg glanced at him, his expression cold. Landberg quickly recovered and smiled at the crowd, “Yes, I’ve called you here for a reason.”

  When no more information was forthcoming, Will yelled out, “Well, you going to tell us?”

  Russell spoke, but it wasn’t to the crowd in the courtyard, “Joseph, Weitz, move up.”

  Above them, they could hear the Mechs walking forward. The crowd grew uneasy as the two mechs suddenly appeared above them. Everybody started talking as they loomed large over the courtyard.

  “What the hell’s going on here, Russell?” Jondreau asked.

  Landberg held up his hands until the crowd quieted, and smiled, “Well, we’ve decided there should be a few changes around here.”

  “What do you mean? Who�
��s we?”

  The sound of rifles being charged sounded at the back of the crowd. Almost as one, the crowd turned and looked back at Sustein and Williams.

  Hank yelled at Williams, “Jacob, what the hell are you doing?”

  Jacob answered him, “Sorry Hank, there just ain’t enough women to go around. We’re going to change that.”

  “How the hell you going to change that, Jacob? You can’t take them.”

  Landberg pulled out his pistol. He spoke to the crowd, “We won’t have to. The spec ops team isn’t coming back.”

  Jennifer yelled at Landberg, “You don’t know that. There may be something wrong with the radio. You don’t know.”

  Landberg sneered, “Wishful thinking, Pang. You know they’re dead. They were being hunted by a bunch of those ‘grey men’ that they’d talked about. You know that they’d be in touch if they were able to.” He paused, gesturing at Jennifer and Joan, “Now, you’re going to have new boyfriends.”

  Latricia exploded, “Oh hell no. I’m not your whore, Russell. I decide who I’m going to sleep with.”

  Jessica Randall yelled at Mitchem, “Mitchem, what the hell’s wrong with you. You can’t do this.” She turned her attention to Weitz, “Josh, what the hell are you thinking? Get out of that mech!”

  Weitz yelled at Randall, something that Mitchem wished he’d said, “Shut up, you cold hearted bitch. When you left Mitchem, you should have been mine! I did everything for you! Then you jumped in bed with that damn midget, you slut! We’re in charge now. You’re mine, now, you stuck up whore!”

  Mitchem knew that Weitz had always had the hots for Randall, but he didn’t know how deep the emotion ran. He’d always followed Randall around like a love sick puppy. She never had any respect for the skinny computer programmer. She’d always spoke about him when she and Mitchem were together with disdain. Weitz’s puppy love had turned to hate. Evidently, that hate ran pretty deep.

  Randall stared at the mech, “You’re a fool Weitz. And an idiot. There’s no way that you and I were ever going to bed together.”

  Weitz was livid, “Screw you, you whore! You’re mine now, bitch!”