The Colony Ship Conestoga : The Complete Series: All Eight Books

by John Thornton

  “Stay where you are!” Jerome commanded. “I will toss the medicine to you. All you need to do is ingest it. It will work on whatever injuries or illnesses you have.”

  “Right, some magic cure-all!” The man scoffed as he stopped. “You would not try to poison me, would you?”

  “Of course not!” Jerome snapped back.

  “Do not get mad at me. You are the one pointing some wicked looking weapon at me. If it is not poison, then bring it closer to me,” the man said. “Or take some of it yourself.”

  Jerome placed the gel pack in his palm, where he was holding the Willie Blaster, but kept the weapon aimed at the man. He unsealed the top of the packet. Squeezing out a small amount onto his finger, Jerome put it into his own mouth. “There, that proves my intent. I am not trying to poison you.”

  “So then just bring it over here,” the man insisted.

  Jerome resealed the top of the trauma gel pack, and then tossed it across the way. It landed near to the man. Jerome noted the trajectory of the flight. No gravity sink holes, he thought, but then realized the man would have been crushed had there been one. Jerome’s mind raced trying to cope with the dangers, real, potential, and projected. He kept visualizing the Crock vehicles somehow setting up gravity sink holes, be he also recalled the cruel and vicious people he had encountered in the tunnel. “Use it or not. The choice is yours, but I am not getting any closer to you. I have given you safe medicine. Do what you think is best.”

  The man reached down and picked up the blue gel pack. He had a little difficulty with his arm in bandages, but using his other hand he lifted it up to his mouth. With his teeth he tore open the top. He squeezed all the gel into his mouth and swallowed. “Not much taste, or smell. Why did you help me?”

  “It is the right thing to do,” Jerome answered. “Those who know the right thing to do and fail to do it are antisocial, they commit sin.”

  “Sin? I have not heard that word for a long time. Sin?” The man then just stared at Jerome for a moment. It was an awkward moment. “My arm does feel better. It was not poison.”

  Jerome backed up, not taking his aim off the man. When he got to where Monika was in the karozzin carriage he climbed up into the space between the rear seats. “Go ahead,” he said quietly to Monika. She snapped the reins and the horse pulled the karozzin along, keeping a wide distance away from the man. Jerome kept the weapon aimed at him as they rolled away. Tapping the com-link he said, “Cammarry, the man is on the side of the road. I gave him a trauma gel pack which he used. He seems harmless.”

  “Understood,” Cammarry answered. “I can see him now, and have my weapon aimed at him.”

  Monika slowly directed the horse forward while Peter, came along in the mechanic’s wagon, followed by Siva and Jenna in the covered wagon. As Jenna’s vehicle rolled by she tossed a bottle of filtered water to the injured man. The reinforced container bounced a bit, then rolled to a stop near the man. “Here is some safe water. Do not drink directly from the streams or the river. To refill it, put the water into the top and let it drip down into the bottom. That container will strain and filter the water, but you must use it before drinking.”

  The man just stared at her. After the covered wagon passed, he walked over and picked up the bottle. He looked at it, then set it down on the road carefully. “Bless you!” He called after Jenna.

  Lastly, Bigelow drove Anika up toward the man. Cammarry was sitting in the front seat, Willie Blaster in hand, but more relaxed now. As the troika rolled closer, the man rubbed his bandaged arm. His eyes met Cammarry’s and he said, “You are good people. I did not think I would meet good people on this road.”

  “Yes, we are good people.” Cammarry relaxed a bit more, and the Willie Blaster’s muzzle pointed down toward the road.

  That was all the man needed. His uninjured arm moved too fast to see. He flung something right at Cammarry. “I feel so good now, I can seek some fun again!” He grabbed something else out of the bandages on his arm, and cocked his arm back for another throw.

  Thunk!

  A six-bladed, bright silver, throwing star sank right into the seat between Cammarry’s legs, barely missing her. Its razor sharp edges plunging deep into the wood.

  “Go Anika!” Bigelow slapped the reins. The troika jerked as the horse reared up and galloped forward.

  “I hate good people!” the man screamed and ran toward the troika. He threw another star just as Cammarry fired the Willie Blaster.

  Piff. Cammarry’s shot went into the pavement just beneath the attacking man. The high-speed projectile dug a deep line in the pavement, but the man was unaffected. Again he threw something.

  The throwing star buzzed close by Bigelow’s head in a zipping arc of flight. It sank into the tongue near to the horse’s hind legs. It had only just missed both driver and horse. The next one plunked into the back of the bench seat, its blades barely missing Cammarry’s arm holding the Willie Blaster.

  Piff.

  The man’s right knee was obliterated by Cammarry’s second shot. He tumbled to the ground.

  “Urrgggah!” He rolled around in severe pain. “I will kill you all! None will escape the wrath of The Ferryman! All you good people will be killed. I want to see you depart from this world.” He cried out in anguish as he tried to stand and found he had no right leg any longer. Flopping around on the pavement he hollered, “None of you will ever escape us! We are everywhere and our fun is just beginning! We will cleanse the world of good! You are doomed!” He wailed out again, as blood was pouring from his stump. “You are killjoys like those people defending the Special Care Unit! Why do you stop my fun!”

  Piff. Piff.

  Cammarry’s next shots struck home. The man never spoke again. She tapped the com-link, “That man attacked us! Even after you helped him!”

  “Are you hurt?” Jerome responded through the com-link.

  “No, his attack missed Bigelow, me, and the horse. He used some ancient kind of throwing star blade things. Why would he try to kill us?” Cammarry asked.

  “Hey rube? This lady killed him dead, she did. Dead,” Bigelow took a drink from his flask and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

  Jerome replied, “He used a shuriken? Evil, just evil. I do not know much about animals, but I remember someone writing, if you pick up a starving dog, feed him, and treat him well, he will probably not bite you. That is the principal difference between a dog and a human.” Jerome was quiet for a moment. “You sure you are not hurt?”

  “I am sure. Just get us quickly to the Special Care Unit!” Cammarry looked at Bigelow. He just gave her a sideways grin.

  Back in the lead of the caravan, Jerome spoke to Monika. “I think we better hurry.”

  “I heard. If I push the horse too fast, he may miss perceiving one of those gravity sink holes, but we will make haste,” Monika replied. She gave Jerome a pleasing smile, and urged the horse onward.

  “Sandie?” Jerome spoke harshly. “Have you figured an accurate way to detect those gravity sink holes? With all the scout ship and Dome 17 technology we have, why are we dependent on animals?”

  The AI Sandie replied, “I am sorry, but no. We know there are visual clues like moving dust, lack of particulates, and alteration in flight vectors for objects which are thrown or flying, but beyond that I have not been able to establish a better method of detection. I am not sure how some animals are doing that. There has been a long history of animals having perception which is beyond…”

  “No history lessons! I want a way to know where those things are before we tumble into one!” Jerome yelled. His outburst was so forceful that Monika jumped a bit and looked at him.

  “I understand the dangers, the frustration, and the need,” Sandie replied. “I will continue to research this problem.”

  “There is something up ahead!” Monika called out. “Just beyond that bend in the road. I think it was one of those Crock vehicles you spoke about and we saw in the recording from the automacube that
was crushed.”

  Jerome strained his eyes, but he did not see anything. When they reached the spot, there was a ravine which ran perpendicular to the road. There he saw the characteristic double-dual tracks left behind by a Crock vehicle, but the vehicle itself was unseen.

  “It must have headed up that ravine, and is behind those trees!” Jerome stated.

  “And that jumble up there once was the Special Care Unit,” Monika said and gestured toward the building complex on the hill. Even from the distance, it was obvious the facility was extremely damaged. Gaping holes were in parts of the roof. Walls had collapsed. And there were bodies strewn all around the fence line. At one section, the fence was missing where an explosion had taken place, leaving behind a burned area.

  “Sandie,” Jerome commanded. “Link me to Khin.”

  “Presently, he does not have the com-link activated,” Sandie answered. “Neither does Vesna. I believe they do not understand its full operation. They have been turning it on and off when they seek to use it. However, I am in contact with SB Cotard. I will have SB Cotard relay a message to Khin. The survivors of the Special Care Unit are on the far side of the complex, under a pavilion. The automacube S-1DT is currently engaging some hoodlums on that side’s fence.”

  The roadway took them back close to the river, and here there were not the collection of dead bodies that had been caught under the bridge. However, the wrecked durham boat, and the crashed airboat were there. Jerome also recognized the bodies of Lloyd and Erma.

  “Monika, stop!” Jerome said while he jumped off the karozzin carriage. As he hit the pavement he called back. “No, just get to Khin and the others. I have a debt to repay.”

  “Do not get yourself hurt!” Monika called to him. The caravan passed by and when the troika came along, Cammarry jumped out. She told Bigelow, “Make sure all the wagons get safely up to where the people are. We will be along.”

  “You two are the strangest people I have ever met,” Bigelow said, “Totally unusual, that is for sure.” His comments were spiced with a plethora of profanities and anatomical absurdities.

  Cammarry sprinted over to where Jerome was kneeling by Lloyd and Erma. The two elderly people were leaning against each other, still upright, facing off toward the river.

  “Jerome? Are these the people who loaned you the boat? The Miss Kay? So you could come rescue me?”

  “Yes,” Jerome answered. He reached out and put a hand on Lloyd’s shoulder. He patted it. “I am sorry I did not return your boat. But you made it possible for me to save Cammarry. Thank you. I will work hard to make sure the journey is a success.”

  “Jerome, the man was shot in the back, but I see no injuries to the woman,” Cammarry observed. “They have both obviously died, and they passed away together, holding each other.”

  “They were the good people of the Conestoga,” Jerome said. He wiped some tears from his eyes. “We better run along and help evacuate the other good people from the Conestoga.”

  Cammarry hugged Jerome. She said to him, “If you had not come for me here, I would have died.”

  Jerome held her close. He looked up at the building complex. “It hardly looks the same. So much devastation and destruction. We must get those people to safety.”

  Running together, they sprinted along through the open gate. Jerome remembered rebuilding the latch to give them some security after he had ruined it. He felt guilty about not being able to prevent the gravity sink holes which had obviously wreaked havoc on the complex.

  As she ran, Cammarry was anxious about again encountering the synthetic brain Cotard. Her heart beat faster, as she thought of all she had endured under its forced so-called medical care.

  The caravan was just passing over the hilltop and around the side of the complex. Looking over the grounds, nearly every tree, in every grove or thicket was burned or had been blasted into splinters. There were bodies near to many of those places. Hoof prints crisscrossed the grounds in too many places to count.

  “They have seen much here,” Cammarry said as they gained the rise and stood before what had been the front doors to the Special Care Unit. Now it was a doorway, but the doors were gone, smashed and crumpled at the side, while the exterior of the building had streaks from where parts had been ripped downward.

  “Wizards!” Khin yelled at the top of his lungs. He slid off the horse he was riding and rushed over to Jerome and Cammarry. He laughed and hugged them, and then laughed some more. “You are here! When these carts and horses came, and you were not here, I was worried. But these nice people told me you were down by the river. Do not drink that water!”

  “Thanks! It is good to see you again,” Cammarry said returning the hug. “Khin, let me tell you something about the com-links. You can leave it turned on all the time. It is voice activated. Or if you tap it, Sandie gets a special signal and will know you think it is especially important. Sandie will evaluate where you want the message, or you can just speak into it.”

  “I will leave it on now. Vesna and I did not want the power levels to go down, or wear out. We do not have the energy boxes like you have,” Khin replied. “But it matters not now! We are already packing up the people to leave.”

  Khin gestured down toward the pavilion. The roustabouts were busy with the remainder of Vesna’s people.

  “That is all that is left?” Cammarry said in alarm. She was remembering all the patients who had been residents when she was held captive at the Special Care Unit. “Those few, out of all the patients and residents?”

  “That is all,” Khin said. “The bad monster people have killed so many. They have even been killing the food! All the pigs are dead. All the goats! The monster people kill and do not even want to eat! They killed all the goats! The little chickens ran away. They have no normal chickens here, but they still taste good.” Khin was trying to hold back his rage, tears, and horror. “But the people were the main ones those monsters killed. They shot them! They crawl in the darkness and then blow themselves up! Just to kill other people. They even would sneak inside and cut the throats of the old people while they slept. That was before the crushers stuck. Many died when the walls fell.” He looked at the building and then back to Jerome and Cammarry. “We need to go back home. The light here is too bright, and the monsters are too many. Sandie says we can bring all the animals that still live, along with the people. Vesna’s people have suffered greatly. We all have. I am not sure what my mother would say about any of this. Can we just go home now?”

  “Yes, Khin, we will take everything we can,” Jerome said. “How many vehicles are here?”

  “We have some wheelchairs, and a few cubies, but no carts or wagons. Just the two horses, Old Bill and Poco,” Khin replied. He forced a laugh but it was mirthless. “We have two dogs that have been keeping the flock of sheep alive, but all the goats were killed. They killed the goats.”

  Cammarry and Jerome looked down at what was happening. The pavilion area offered some shelter and cover as a small berm of ground surrounded it. A couple of Vesna’s people were standing guard, watching over the berm and down toward the fence at the base of the hill.

  Jenna, Bigelow, Monika, Siva, and Peter were hugging and holding onto the two girl, Dewi and Nabila. Even though they were too far away to hear the conversations, the animated way they moved and the repeated hugging and embracing showed how great a reunion it was.

  “I wonder what their story is,” Cammarry stated.

  “Ugly, terrible, and probably more graphic than any child that age should have experienced,” Jerome said. Then he shook his head and smiled. “Sorry, I do not want to sound melancholy. I am thrilled they are safe, but all those children were traumatized. It is up to us to get them to safety.”

  After a brief while, the celebration ended, and Jenna started directing people to various tasks. Her natural leadership was accepted by the residents and by Vesna’s people, because Jenna led by inspiration and respect.

  The horses were unhitched, and were
tied to a safe place under the pavilion where Bigelow began tending to them.

  All the wagons were being modified. Peter began removing all the tools and mechanical items from the mechanic’s wagon. He then used a vibration saw and cut the top off to make it an open vehicle. Siva was taking the former top, and welding it into place on the sides to give protection to the people who would ride inside it. Some of Vesna’s people were assisting in that effort. They were working just as if they had been roustabouts themselves. Measurements were being taken of the wheelchairs, and medical devices which the elderly people used so they could find places to carry them along in the wagons of the caravan.

  Monika had removed the horse’s harnesses was laying it out for inspection. She began reworking it to ensure it was intact for when they hitched up the horses again.