After the trouble with the Pirates six months ago, Drake had replaced the used high explosive det-tape. He’d also purchased three sets of restraints (wrist and ankle), a field first aid pack, emergency rations and water, and a handheld stunner. The green backpack was starting to fill up.
Drake made these purchases after reviewing some of the mistakes from his last adventure. After capturing three pirates, he had to resort to using duct tape to bind them because he’d no other way to secure them while waiting for help to arrive.
Drake clipped the handheld stunner to his belt, in front of his heavy blaster pistol, and he was ready to go. At least he hoped he was prepared for whatever he found.
Drake had already had Samantha request a rental air-car for today. One of the thinks Drake liked about this world, was automated vehicles. You could place a rental request over the net, pay for the car and it would drive itself to your door. Air-cars were more expensive than ground cars, but they were much better for traveling outside the city, and much faster. Of course, they had no controls, but they didn’t require a driver’s license either, and Drake could live with not driving.
Drake wanted to get Fiona talking. While on the ship, she was able to distract herself by playing games, but now that she had time to think, the girl seemed very downcast.
“Did you try to call your father last night?” Drake asked the girl.
“It’s no use, he doesn’t respond much. He just sets there it the living room brooding… not eating and not talking.” Drake could see his question was just making her more upset. So he tried a more positive angle.
“Well, if you don’t think your father will miss you, we can just skip to going straight to the place where your mother was last seen. By the way, we’re now heading south, what was the name of your town so I can refine the cars heading?” asked Drake,
“The town is called Straffwood, after the type of trees that grow in the local forest,” said Fiona.
Samantha redirected the air-car without waiting for Drake to say anything, so Drake immediately saw their new destination appear in the car’s holo-display.
“Samantha could you bring up a map displaying the area around the town for us?” asked Drake.
An overhead picture of a small town at the edge of a forest appeared. The forest was to the south of the town, while the other sides of the town were bordered by what looked like a patchwork of farms and fields for grazing animals. The town was small, and Drake estimated its population at less than ten thousand people.
“Fiona, can you tell by looking at this, where your mother was last seen and where she regularly went when working in the forest?” asked Drake.
“There was a farmer here,” Fiona pointer to a field near the edge of the forest, who said he saw mom heading into the woods here. This is on the path she usually takes to go into the woods. You can’t see it from this overhead view, but she has a small research station about a kilometer into the forest, about here.” She said pointing to a spot a little way into the dense forest.
Drake couldn’t see anywhere nearby the indicated research station where the air-car could sit down. So they’d have to walk into the thick woods to search the area.
“How far out does this forest extend?” Drake asked, intending for Samantha to answer the question.
But it was Fiona that said, “It goes on for about 1300 kilometers to the south where it fades into a grassland for another 600 kilometers, and then just a little further south is the Great Southern Desert.”
“Our town is really on the edge of know where.” complained the youth.
“Fiona, how old are you?” asked Drake.
“I told you yesterday, I’m 13 standard years old… I know I should have been fledged already and not living in my mother’s nest. But no one out here can take me on in service. I think my mom made a mistake in bringing us out to this God forsaken planet, so she could spend all her time in the forest with the animals.” And with this last said, Fiona started crying. Drake put an arm around her. While trying to offer some comfort, he couldn’t help but wonder how he kept ending up in situations like this.
Drake knew that most of the girl’s complaints were from her anger and fear of losing her mother, but he also heard the frustrations of a young person who felt trapped by her circumstance and place in life.
Drake could offer no immediate help with the girl’s problems; he could only hope that they were able to discover something the previous searchers missed.
“Samantha, could you move the view a little to the south, and look for any openings nearer to where Fiona pointed to for the research station.” asked Drake.
Drake looked at the view for an opening he could sit the car down in. He thought he found a spot and maybe something more.
“Samantha, is this a live view from the space station?” Drake hoped that it was current; it would mean he would have a real chance of finding Fiona’s mother.
“Yes, the search party requested a feed a few days ago, and this camera hasn’t yet been retasked. So we’re getting a live area feed.”
“Good, can you focus in on this area? Does this look like a small clearing, and do you think this looks like smoke?” Drake asked as the camera focused in on the area he had indicated.
“There’s a dark area there that might be a small clearing. If that’s smoke, it’s a small fire, or we’d see it more clearly,” replied Samantha.
“Ok, take us to that spot and see if we can safely land there,” said Drake.
He got busy checking over his equipment. He really missed having his scout gear right now.
Then he remembered Fiona.
“Fiona, when we land, remain in the air-car.” Drake directed. “And here, take this knife, just in case of trouble, but stay in the car.” Drake continued as he handed the girl his vibro-blade.
Drake hated giving up even the vibro-blade, but he really felt he shouldn’t have brought the girl out into the forest either. But the lure of what might be a small fire was too strong an attraction for him to pass up.
They still had about a half-hour to wait while the air-car closed the distance. Drake’s mind kept working on the possibilities. Should he drop the girl off? Could she help him identify her mother, if so what if she was dead, should Fiona be seeing her that way.
With nothing constructive to do, Drake finally decided to meditate and try to relax. All the worries weren’t helping, and he had as many good reasons for bringing Fiona along as leaving her behind. But Drake knew she wanted to be part of this, so he settled on taking her in with him.
For the next half an hour Drake meditated and tried to clear his mind of any doubts, and prepare himself to deal with whatever situation he might come across.
One stray thought did cross his mind, the fire might just be someone hunting or camping in the woods. That was more likely than the hoped for discovery of Fiona’s mother.
After meditating for nearly a half hour, Drake started to get ready for the landing, when he realized he forgot to get one important piece of information.
“Fiona, what’s your mother’s name?”
“Amethyst, but everyone except me calls her Amy.” said the girl.
Just as the air-car came into view of the small clearing, Drake decided to leave his blaster carbine in the vehicle. Carrying the weapon took both hands and limited his options. If he were holding the carbine, it would take even longer for him to switch to using the stunner.
Drake had never yet had the need to use the carbine blaster outside of training. He was beginning to wonder why he even brought it on trips like this. It was more powerful, but it sent the message to anyone who saw him holding it that he meant dangerous business…
Drake thought, ‘Maybe that’s its best use, for those times when you had no options but to try to kill your enemy.’
Yet, Drake didn’t know what he would find when he left the car, and he wanted his options left open. So, the carbine would be left in the air-car.
“Fiona, when
we land please keep your head down. I don’t know what to expect, but if I find your mother I’ll call for you. Can you do that for me?” Drake asked the girl.
He got a nod, the girl now seemed to be getting a little frightened. Which Drake figured was because she was picking up on his worry for her, and just hoped she would be ok in the car.
He didn’t like the feeling of this. He seemed to keep walking into trouble only partly prepared; it would be nice to know what he was getting into for a change.
As the air-car descended into the clearing, Drake didn’t see any sign of people. Even what he assumed was a small fire was still not visible through the trees.
The air-car stopped just above the ground, just brushing the tall grass of the clearing.
Drake opened his side door and exited the car.
He looked around and still didn’t see anyone.
Drake took a second to focus his mind and push out his psionic senses. They still only reached just over six meters, but it was like having an extra set of eyes in a place like this.
Damn he missed his scout armor.
Drake closed the car door and started making his way toward the area where he thought the wisps of a smoke was coming from. It should only be 50 to 70 meters into the trees.
Drake thought he heard a noise off to his left at a distance, but when he turned to look he couldn’t see anything through the trees. He couldn’t sense anything but trees and bushes in that direction either.
It was a bright morning, but as Drake entered the dense woods, the trees quickly ate what sunlight there was, leaving only a dense, shadowy landscape. Drake paused to let his eyes adjust a little.
Drake continued forward slowly, not trusting his eyes so much in the gloom. He pushed his psionic senses out to their limit.
After moving about 40 yards into the forest, Drake finally sensed someone hiding up in a tree just off to his left. By the size and shape of the person, Drake was confident he was dealing with an adult male Human.
Drake could only imagine two reasons someone would hide up in a tree if they heard and air-car land. They were either afraid of being hunted, or they were hunting.
This made Drake either a hunter or prey in their eyes, and neither was a good thing for Drake because it portended a conflict.
Drake started to back away from what he suspected to be a trap. He would find a way to draw the man out, or go around him to the location of the smoke.
That was when he sensed a short man behind him. By the size of this man, he might be a Dwarf, and he was walking up behind Drake.
Now it was evident to Drake that he was the hunted in this game.
He didn’t sense a gun in the hand of either man, but the Dwarf was carrying what felt like a thick branch or club in his right hand.
Drake had just a second to decide what to do in this situation. Try to get in close and use the stunner, or draw and use his blaster.
If it were one man, Drake would have used the stunner, but he was outnumbered, and one man had a weapon of sorts.
Drake drew his heavy blaster and aimed it at the Dwarf.
“Come no closer or I’ll shoot.” said Drake.
Drake was having trouble focusing on both men and using his gun at the same time. He needed more practice at combining the use of psionic’s while using a weapon, and tracking more than one target. He would have to suggest that to Samantha, as something new in his training.
The Dwarf dropped his club and put up his hands.
“Don’t shoot.” He said, but his voice sounded weak, like a half whisper.
At that moment Drake sensed the Human coming up behind him. He was in a pickle.
Drake made up his mind to move, and with the Dwarf’s arms up, he chose to move in his direction. He reached across and pulled his stunner out with his left hand and ran toward the Dwarf.
The Dwarf noticed Drake moving at him too late to react, he was just bringing his arms back down when Drake moved past him to his left.
Just as Drake passed the Dwarf, he pushed the stunner into the man's chest and pressed the trigger. There was a loud crackle sound, and as Drake ran past it seemed like the Dwarf might have fallen, but Drake was too focused on not running into any trees in the gloom to try to find out what happened.
He only ran about 20 yards, and then he ducked behind a tree and tried to circle back around. Once again, he pushed out his psionic senses.
Drake wasn’t being followed. He wondered if the human might be trying to help the Dwarf, or he could just be reluctant to chase an armed man through the woods alone. Especially after seeing the Dwarf go down.
Drake wasn’t confident the Dwarf was knocked out but decided that delay only favored the men, giving them time to lay another trap for him.
Drake returned the way he came, and didn’t sense anyone on the way back; he hoped he wasn’t getting lost. Of course, Samantha should still be able to connect to the air-car, so if he got desperate he could have her have the car horn honk…
‘Did air-cars that were self-driving even have horns?’ thought Drake. ‘Shit, wrong time to think about that… focus.’
When Drake finally got near where he thought he encountered the Dwarf, the short man was still there and unconscious.
Drake couldn’t sense the other person near, so he stopped to bind the Dwarves wrist and ankles, then bound them together, so the Dwarf looked like a roped calf, all tied up for branding. The image came to Drake of a rodeo he once saw. It made him grin for a moment.
‘Now where was the man, and why did they try trapping him?’ thought Drake.
Drake could not sense anything within his six-meter range, but he thought he heard something off in the direction of the tree that the man had previously hidden in. That was also the direction he thought the smoke came from.
Drake left the comatose Dwarf and move toward the noise. After binding the Dwarf, Drake’s weapons were back on his belt. Drake decided to use the stunner for now since he hadn’t seen any real weapons yet, and he didn’t want to kill the man without even knowing what this was about. He could always drop it from his right hand if he needed to draw his blaster fast.
Drake finally made it to the area where there was a small fire. He couldn’t see the man, but there were two people tied up under a lean-to.
From what Drake could tell, one was a female Elf and the other a Karura of unknown sex. Drake had the suspicion that he’d found Fiona’s mother. But Drake remained silent and outside the edge of the camp. He still could not see the Human man.
Then he sensed the man, he seemed to be trying to sneak up on Drakes right. He must have picked up the club the dwarf was carrying since Drake sensed he had it in his right hand.
The odds had changed, but Drake was now sure that the men were guilty of kidnapping, or this was a really weird case of adult multi-species roleplaying.
Drake dropped the stunner, then drew and pointed the blaster at the man.
“Stop where you are, and live,” said Drake.
The man rushed Drake.
Drake fired off two shots. The first hitting the man in his stomach, but the second only catching a glancing hit off his left arm.
For some reason, the first shot didn’t drop the charging man. But it did knock him off balance as he swung the club forward, throwing off both the aim and the force of the club.
Drake had been expecting the two shots to take the man down. His confidence that the two shots would end the fight, left him unprepared for what happened next.
Being unprepared to dodge out of the way of the man and his club, Drake could avoid neither. As the man stumbled forward, the club swung in lower than expected.
Drake tried blocking the club with his left arm, but it went under his arm and hit him in the lower ribs. Drake was thrown to the side, and both he and the man fell to the ground.
When the club hit Drake in the ribs, he felt a sharp lancing pain and heard a cracking sound, either from his ribs or the club. As Drake tried to recover from the
fall, he couldn’t breathe for a moment.
He could see the other man trying to stand back up, and just as he was lifting his blaster to take another shot at the man, he caught a breath, that caused lancing pain through his ribs and body.
Damn that felt familiar, he remembered the last time he broke his ribs, it felt the same.
The pain caused Drake to have trouble bringing his weapon to bear.
Drake’s enemy got to his knees and picked up the club while Drake tried to control his arm and the heavy blaster that had never before felt so heavy in his hand.
Drake fired off his shot before the man could bring his club to bear. He hit the man at the top of his chest, just where his neck and torso met.
The shot threw the man back, and he landed back on the ground.
The man still wasn’t out of the fight, though, which again surprised Drake. The pain and damage should be shutting down the man’s nervous system, but he was somehow ignoring it.
Drake was still having trouble breathing and aiming his weapon. On seeing the men still trying to get up with his club, he said, “Stop or I’ll have to kill you.”
The man ignored Drake. Drake was beginning to suspect that he was on drugs or something.
Using both his hands to control the blaster, Drake fired two more shots at the man. One more shot hit him on the side of the chest and the last on the side of his head.
The man fell to the ground and stopped moving.
Chapter 8 – Reunions and Commitments
Drake hoped the man was dead, but he needed to see to his own problems first.
He holstered his weapon and moving very slowly he pulled out his field first aid kit.
He then injected himself with a pain reliever. He was careful this time to buy one that was non-narcotic, but highly effective at numbing pain like that caused by severe trauma, which is how Drake felt at the moment.
Then Drake injected himself with a military grade nanite booster. This booster cost more than the standard emergency nanite boosters, but they were supposed to work twice as fast.
Drake then looked at the area where the club hit him. The Blast-Vest must have absorbed part of the blow. The area was an angry red color, and normally except for the nanites he would be severely bruised soon. He poked at the area some and could not feel any bones that were badly broken, so he hoped he could move without a rib bone puncturing his lungs. He would need to get a proper medical checkup after this one.
Making the Grade (Omnia Online Series Book 2) Page 8
