by Mari Collier
A puzzled look came over Lamar's face. “Llewellyn, my laddie, ye dinna really want the beasties. Ye are a Warrior. That kine nonsense was the twaddle of the one named Lorenz who tis a kineman.”
“Who do ye think taught him to be a kineman?” The roar made Lamar step backward and Llewellyn followed. “Where tis Rollo?”
“Right here, Llewellyn.” Rollo answered. Both men had been seated in round leather chairs by a table strewn with the unplaced pieces of a crystal tower game. An almost empty pitcher of brew sat on a serving tray and a blue mug was at each place.
“I am sure Lamar and I can settle this amicably.”
“I am nay interested in settling. I want those beasties, all of them delivered by morning's light.” Llewellyn was no longer shouting, but his voice was hard and insistent.
“I am nay empowered to turn over Rurhran's beasties.”
“They are nay Rurhran's. They are Don's!” Llewellyn's voice returned to a roar.
“Ye are accusing Rurhran of being thieves.”
“Ye are continuing the rape of Don by the Justines. If the beasties are nay returned we will take them.”
“Ye are declaring war between the Houses. Rurhran will bring this before the Council of the Realm.”
“There tis nay legitimate Council without Troyner.”
“Llewellyn, Llewellyn, bide a minute. Ye are a Warrior, nay a herdsman. Leave that to the people who are nay Warriors.” Lamar was desperate to salvage his friendship with Rollo and bring Llewellyn to his senses.
“Are ye suggesting that I am nay a Warrior?” Rollo was shocked. “I served honorably in the Justine War.”
“Well, aye, but so did all of Thalia. It was after the War that Don and Ayran continued their resistance. That tis the way of a Warrior.” Lamar ran his good hand down his chest and turned back to Llewellyn.
“Admit it, Llewellyn. Returning the kine and the sheep was the idea of that mutant alien ye brought with ye.”
Llewellyn's fists clenched and he gritted his teeth. “Lorenz tis my laddie, a living child of my Counselor Anna. If he tis a mutant alien, what then am I, or my other Earth descendants?”
He turned to Rollo. “I shall step out of the way and ye will leave. Now! Ye are nay welcome on Don until our property tis returned.”
Rollo shrugged, retrieved his hat, and left. He did not even bother to nod at Lamar.
Llewellyn directed his ire at his elder. “As for the beasties, Don needs them. Rurhran tis the House that has prospered and their prosperity tis from Don's beasties. They are needed to rebuild Don.”
Lamar shook his head. “Ye have your House and LouElla.”
“My mither tis rebuilding Flight. Where tis my House? Except for the ones at the stations and the Centers, nay have come forward. Others have fled to Rurhran and bleed us. That tis ended. Tis the gossip of Thalia true? Did ye tell the House members nay to apply for the open positions?”
Lamar's throat was beginning to constrict with anger. “I may have mentioned that ye were dreaming of a Don that was and those dreams were fueled by that—by Lorenz. Soon ye will come to your senses, and Don will return to the Warrior society we are.”
Red flushed Llewellyn's face and he stared at his elder. “I dinna ken ye.” He turned and reentered the main room.
“The free brew has ended. If ye wish to remain House, then I suggest ye check the list of positions that are open and apply at the Maca's Tower by tomorrow. Tis your choice.” He swung on his heel and marched to the door. Before he could touch the circle to swing it open, his com began pulsing.
He touched the unit. “Aye.”
Leta's words were clipped and hurried. “Maca, five Sister fighters and one Rurhran carrier were logged coming across the plains toward the Laird's and Lady's Station. Medicine has received an aid request from the Sisters in Don. Do ye have orders?”
“Meet me at the Maca's padport. Bring your weapon and mine.” He ran out the door as he spoke.
Lamar stared at the empty doorway. “He dinna ask me to attend him.” The whisper did not carry to the others in the room.
Chapter 31: Raid
It was well after high noon when Lorenz went to the barn to retrieve his zark. After leaving Levi with Andrew, he and Llewellyn directed the distribution of the armor clothing to the Section's Centers, Flight, and the Maca's Tower. About Lamar, Llewellyn remained tightlipped. Lorenz could almost feel sorry for Lamar as Llewellyn had confirmed Jolene's words with Linan. Linan admitted that Lamar had advised the Directors of the Center to beware of Lorenz and the one named Andrew. All three Directors had ignored his advice.
“Mr. MacDonald (as Andrew preferred to be called) has been instructing me in the ways of accounting that I nay kenned. The man tis a genius.” Levin had nothing but praise for the Earthman.
Lorenz was running late and didn't change from the armored clothing that his father insisted he wear while in Donnick. He would have preferred his ranch clothes and boots. He planned on moving the range kine into the yard pens today and had left instructions for Laten and Dolo to wait for him. He found them cleaning out a section of the huge barn.
“Forget this job. The cattle, kine need moving. I'll saddle up and meet you all at the lower field. Those range kine have tamed down. We'll put them in the corral next to the first batch. I don't want to mix them just yet.”
By mid-afternoon, they were trailing the last of the kine into the main yard section when Lorenz felt the old tingle in the back of his neck that something was wrong. His eyes automatically swept around the countryside and then he scanned the sky. There were little black dots surrounding a larger yellow dot coming towards them.
“Laten, is that what I think they are?”
Laten looked upward. By this time the specks were closing in on the barn and the corralled kine.
“Someone tis coming for the kine.”
“Take cover,” Lorenz yelled at them and pulled up his rifle as the gold air combo of Rurhran landed with the aft facing the corral and the double doors swung upward. Rocella jumped to the ground. Several Tris clad in pastel yellow began walking down a walled ramp which they extended to the corral gates.
The Sisters were jumping from the fighters, two-at-a-time, holding their stunners. Lorenz cut loose with his cattleman's yell and fired his rifle into the air. The range kine behaved as range cattle. They snorted, bawled, mooed, kicked up their heels, jumped, and ran straight for presumed safety.
Rocella heard the savage screech and gunfire. The herd and dust were billowing towards her and her craft. She jumped back in the combo screaming for her Tris to get aboard. She gave them all of ten seconds. As the first of the kine began to sweep around her combo, she was airborne; the ramp and screaming Tris dangling from the back. Rurhran Tris on the ground were jumping to, clinging to, or climbing up the fence, and shaking any free fist at the departing combo.
Kine are inclined to avoid the unknown and the combo's lifting upward parted the herd. A small group ran between where the combo had landed and the corral, the rest turned and ran towards the Sisters. One or two Sisters fired their stunners and the smell of burnt hair mingled with the dust and odors of the yard. Other Sisters were screaming while they ran. Lorenz fired the rifle again and the kine found fresh reason to run towards the beckoning green beyond the barn. He used his heels to spur his zark to greater efforts, trying to keep to the right and between the kine and the corrals.
He saw two Sisters coming out of the dust from where the lead kine had passed. The first one aimed her stunner at Lorenz and realized more kine were coming straight at her. She fired at the kine's head. The stunner was set to stop a man, but the kine's bony head simply showed a burn and the kine swung its horns at her and kept going. The Sister was flung into the air, her stunner landing several feet to her left. The kine swept through the area and the downed Sister with a bloodied head went scrabbling after the stunner.
Damn, I don't have my boots on, thought Lorenz. He shoved the rifle down into his scabbard
and turned the zark. He swung over the side of the saddle, leaned towards the ground, and grabbed the stunner on his pass. Another Sister appeared out of the dust, swung her stunner upward, and fired.
Her shot hit the zark in the chest and the animal rose on its hindquarters, its hoofs flailing the air. The Sister, unaccustomed to zarks, thought the beast was attacking her and fired again. This time she jacked the stunner up to full flame turning it into a killing weapon. She hit the underbelly and moved the flame up to the face. The zark crumpled, screaming in pain as the flames ate inward. She fired again at the saddle area where she'd last seen Lorenz.
He had jumped for the ground the minute he realized his zark was hit. These animals were not horses. They were like enough, but they were more highly bred than quarter horses. A quarter horse could take a bullet and keep going, maybe, but it wouldn't do anything stupid. A high strung thorough bred was an unknown.
Lorenz rolled over and was up on his knees. He stood to use the stunner and saw the Sister aiming at him while Dolo's Ab knife flew through the air and impaled her arm.
The Sister screamed and dropped her stunner, tugging at the knife. Lorenz turned and saw Laten running towards him.
“We made it to the barn. I'll take these two and secure them.”
No other Sister appeared through the dust and Lorenz tossed his stunner to Laten. Then he tugged his rifle out of the scabbard and turned the rifle on the two Sisters who were staring at him and Laten. The carcass of the dead zark continued to smolder.
“How many more are there?”
Laten answered instead. “There were five fighters, Laird. That means ten Sisters, and they've scattered.”
They took the other stunner and hurried the two Sisters into the barn. Dolo closed the huge door behind them.
“Can these things burn through those doors or any portion of this place?”
“It would take a while, Laird, but the doors are all vulnerable.”
“Then lock 'em down.” He looked at the Sister with the knife wound. She was clutching at her arm and the blood was running freely.
“Is there any cloth or light twine around here?”
Laten stared at him. “Why?”
“To tie up her wound and then tie them both up.”
Dolo had the scan and com on. “Medicine has landed their cairt and are tending to three of the Sisters. There are five Sisters running this way.”
“Laten, Dolo, I want you all to hold this place. I'm going out the back door. Relock the door once I'm out, and see if y'all can get a call through to the Maca. Use rope to tie those two.”
He ran out the back before Laten could protest. This time he took the Thalian weapon. A rifle was handy, but he had learned to use stunners before boarding the Golden One. They could inflict more damage and cover a wider area.
Dust still hung over the ground from the stampede, but the winds off the coast were strong today and the air cleared rapidly. His hat was long gone. His movements slowed in case a Sister came charging around the side. These pens held kine and he felt the Sisters might hold their distance. Some of the range kine might take an exception to a two-legged being in their pen. He'd chosen this side as the fence was solid and not an open weave like the other side.
One peep over the top of the fence brought a stream of fire. He ducked in time and ran back the way he came. He could hear the shouts behind him and doubled his speed.
The high pitched whine of the Krepyon fighter brought more yells and shouts from the Sisters.
What the hell's going on, thought Lorenz. He'd heard those sounds when they'd practiced with the Krepyon ship on the larger asteroids surrounding the Justine Refuge. Laten appeared at the door he had just left.
“Laird, the Maca tis in that craft. He has requested we detain the Sisters on the ground.”
Chapter 32: The New Guardian
Lorenz sat in the chair opposite his father's at the Maca's desk; a sky-blue molded piece that curved around the chair. “I just called Daniel and told him I'd pick him up soon.”
“Good, I need ye to do something for me.”
The door slid into the slot and Lamar walked in with a determined look on his face. Both men looked at him in surprise.
“Have ye come to apologize?”
“Tis ye who owe me an apology, Llewellyn. Ye had nay right to berate me in front of Rollo or the lesser of our House.”
“Nay right? Ye have done everything possible to sabotage my plans. By now we should have teachers, trainers for Warriors, someone who kens about manufacturing and designing new products.”
“How can there be any to do those things? There have been nay schools for over one hundred years. Our plants were shut down and everything imported from the Kreppies. Our knowledge tis gone.”
“We have the crystals' dimensions from the Justines. Knowledge can be relearned. Surely there are those left who taught.”
“Someone taught Levin to do the rudiments of accounting.” Lorenz observed.
“She tis a Tri by birth. Gar kens how they learn things.”
Llewellyn rose and his voice raged out. “Lamar, accounting tis a complicated procedure. Someone taught her. Are ye blind? The schools are ready to open and someone should be planning the re-opening of Don's factories. Why have ye nay brought any of our House into these enterprises? We have Tri's willing to do what House shunned. Do I need to appoint Lorenz as my Guardian to accomplish these things?”
“What?” Lorenz rose from the chair.
“Ye canna appoint him. He tis nay House, nay Thalian.”
“He tis my laddie and he tis my House.” Llewellyn roared.
Lamar stepped back. His dark eyes were troubled and he looked from one man to the other.
“Fither, Lamar is better suited to be Guardian than I. Maybe Beatrice can convince him how serious these problems are. There's someone teaching the children something or Lecco wouldn't know how to run the ops room at his Center.”
Lamar swung around to face Lorenz. “Do ye truly think ye could find instructors for the wee ones?” He put all the contempt he felt for this skinny interloper into his voice.
“Yes, since Levin and Linen both mentioned someone who was qualified and that his son is at the Laird's Home. Didn't they give y'all his name?”
Lamar ignored the question and turned back to Llewellyn. “Ye canna be serious.”
“Jolene spoke the truth; nay idle Thalian gossip. Ye have been sabotaging my efforts to rebuild. Lorenz can appoint Laten Director of the Station and return at times to bring our kine and sheep back.”
Lamar shook his head. “Ye have changed. I and my counselor will retire.”
He turned his back and walked stiffly to the door. There he turned. Anguish covered his face and resided in his eyes and voice.
“We are Warriors.” The door slid shut behind him.
“Papa, see if y'all can't convince Beatrice to stay, and then let her talk Lamar into staying. I don't have time to pull all the elements together that she does, run down a Superintend of Schools, and get your cattle back too.”
“Lorenz, I need someone to check the schools, the businesses, and someone that will inspire others to work. When will ye have the educator in here?”
“When I know where he is.”
“Ye need to stay in Donnick and help with the Leather Works.”
“What about the cattle?”
“Would ye do a raid this eve?”
“No, they'd be expecting one. They need to stew awhile. Let's keep them on edge. Then I can go in when they think we've given up or are too busy.”
“Good, when ye check with the Center Directors, ye need to see about raising a guard unit from each. We can use Lena for training them and the trainers from Ayran. She tis bored with enforcer work.”
“I need to check in with Andrew too. Why didn't y'all send him to the Laird's Home to live?”
Llewellyn smiled at him. “I thought ye might need it”
* * *
Lorenz lan
ded at the Laird's Home padport. He noted the outdoor swimming pool that flowed into the covered indoor pool. The room facing the outside was filled with huge rounded chairs with rests for drinks.
He stepped inside and was met by the Keeper, Lesta. She wore the blue of House, a shortened blue sash around her waist, and a worried look on her face. “Welcome, Laird. Were ye planning to spend the night and dine here?”
“Yes to both questions, Lesta. I'll be bringing Daniel back with me”
Lesta's face froze. She had met Wee Da, now Daniel on her quick visits to the Station. She struggled for words to explain why this was nay possible when an elderly woman entered. She was dressed in House colors, her hair was completely white, her face wrinkled, and her hand holding the doorway for support was gnarled and covered with bulging veins.
“According to the reports I have, he tis Ab. That tis nay allowed in this home.” Her high voice quavered.
“And who are y'all?”
“My mither, LeAnn, Director of the Laird's Home. Mither, this tis the Laird of Don.”
“He tis nay.”
“Ye are leaving, now. I dislike throwing someone as old as ye out, but this is where I live, and what I say goes.” He turned to Lesta.
“I am looking for your counselor. He kens where the educators of Don are. Will ye answer that or are ye leaving also?”
“Laird, nay, I mean, I will be happy to work for ye. Please, my mither tis declining and she canna change her ways.”
“Then she is retired.” At this panic seem to set into the elderly woman's face. “In fact, convince her of that. Y'all can take her place with the same credits and hire a keeper. Right now I need to know, ken, where your counselor is. I have employment for his father.”
Lesta's face became one of hope, disbelief, and hope within seconds. “My counselor, Stann, tis below in the ops room with our lassie.” Her words died away. How could she say he was teaching her on the systems with the banned crystals?
Lorenz's face cleared and he smiled at her. “That's the best news I've heard. Is he a teacher for the young? His father taught him, right?”
