Aurum: The Golden Planet

by Sharon Joss

  The housekeeper’s young niece. Sweet, but not too bright. He had watched Garrett and Paul flirt with her, tease her, and then lure her back to the barn one night with the promise of a party. The police had been called. No, she couldn’t remember which boy had touched her first. But she looked at Garrett with great tear-filled eyes as she spoke. In the end, no charges were pressed against any of the boys in the crowd, and the housekeeper had been dismissed. The incident hadn’t been the first time, nor would it be the last.

  How did I forget about that? Leo tried to tell him; tried to talk him out of coming. How could have forgotten how self-centered and lacking in empathy Garrett really was?

  Garrett poured a cupful of cloudy water over the cement-like earth clinging to the edge if the gold and began licking and scraping at it with his tusks.

  Renly’s lip curled back in disgust. He dug into his pack and pulled out his chasing hammer and one of his burins, and held them out to Garrett. “This should make quick work of freeing that nugget.”

  Garrett slapped away the proffered tools. “You don’t get it, Renfield. Beneath that slick surface, the dirt is hard as a rock. We can’t use any sort of explosives or metal tools. If we do, that craggon and all her angry relatives will be down on top of us in no time. They’re like sharks sensing prey struggling in the water. Any rhythmic sound or metallic noise makes them crazy. The only thing to do is get down here in the dirt with us and ease it out with our fingernails, tongues and our teeth. Come on, try it.”

  “I don’t care how much gold you’ve got there. I am not going to help you dig it out. Neither is K’Sati. In fact, we’re leaving. Right now. Last chance, Garrett. Are you coming or not?”

  “You aren’t leaving, Renfield.”

  “Like hell you say.” He’d already made up his mind. He slipped his tools back into his satchel and turned to go.

  Garrett’s attack came from behind; without warning.

  CHAPTER 28

  K’Sati stared after Renly as he followed Paul and Garret down the trail and out of sight. Not for anything in this world would she willingly follow him into the lair of a craggon, but at the same time, she was certain those two men would do something terrible to Renly. How could he not sense their intentions?

  She mistrusted Garrett on sight; he seemed nothing like Renly. And Paul was not the easygoing Terran she thought she knew. The two of them together, in the craggon lair, might very well decide to hurt him. She glanced in the direction of the blindfolded traggahs.

  I should leave. Now. She glanced back down the trail. She could not shake the sense of foreboding she felt from Renly’s brother. I cannot leave him; he needs me.

  High above, the distant specks of craggons circled, sending prickles of fear down her spine. Until yesterday, she had never seen one, and she never wanted to get so close to one again, but Renly and those men were marching right down into a craggon lair. If she left without him, she might never see him again.

  If she left now, something bad would happen in that cave, she was certain. What if they’d already hurt him? She could not let that happen.

  He is herd to me.

  She started down the trail toward the craggons lair.

  A familiar voice sounded behind her. “Hold it, girl. What’s your hurry?”

  She jumped. Wayne had three men with him: his scary friend Nevers, and two strangers. The dark expression on Wayne’s face and Never’s cruel grin told her everything she needed to know. I am dead already. They stood between her and the traggahs. Her only chance of escape was to follow Renly into the craggon’s lair.

  She ran.

  Wayne caught her fifty feet from the entrance to the cavern. He tackled her in mid-stride, growling like a rahg as he took her town.

  She grunted under his weight and butted him in the face with her horns, but couldn’t shake him loose. He cursed her, and wiped his bloodied nose on his shoulder, but held on until Nevers and the others caught up.

  They grabbed her by her arms and jerked her to her feet. Wayne ripped the front of her shirt to her waist.

  “You want to play rough, well ya bloody well asked for it this time, bitch.” He grabbed her by one horn and shook her nearly senseless.

  “Forget about her,” one of the men she didn’t know interrupted. Don’t you know what this is?”

  He wasn’t dressed like the Arkady men; he wore rugged, oddly-pattered canvas clothing. The tracker, she guessed.

  “Worst stink I ever smelled,” Wayne answered. “We’ve got the girl and the traggahs. Let’s go.”

  “No, wait. This is the craggon’s den. This is what those mandragons were looking for. Don’t you get it? It’s a gold mine. We just hit the jackpot, gentlemen. We can’t walk away from this.”

  “Lyle’s right,” Nevers said. “This is the chance of a lifetime. Forget the girl. We gotta check this place out.”

  “She was going into the cave,” the bearded one never took his eyes off her naked breasts. “

  Wayne licked his lips and shook her by her horn again. “You’re right. How many are down in that mine? And don’t lie to me.”

  Tears streamed down her face. If only she hadn’t waited so long to decide. If she’d gone after Renly two minutes earlier, they might never have found her. They might have walked right by.

  “Three.”

  Wayne held her by her horns while Nevers handcuffed her.

  “I’m not goin’ in there,” the bearded one said. “What if the craggon comes back?”

  “Fine Corey, have it your way.” Wayne grabbed shoved her toward the bearded man. “Stay here and keep an eye on her.”

  She didn’t like the leer on Corey’s face. She did not want to be left alone with him. “Take me with you, Wayne. I can call to them. They will listen to me.”

  “Yeah, right. And warn ‘em,” The one called Lyle answered. “I say leave them both here. More gold for the rest of us.”

  “Hey! Just ‘cause I’ don’t want to go into that stinkhole doesn’t mean I don’t get my share of the gold,” Corey protested. “Somebody’s got to stay up here and warn you guys. What if that craggon shows up?”

  “He can snack on you and the girl while we fill our pockets with gold and sneak out the back.” Nevers grinned as he pulled a flashlight out of his pack.

  “Give him your sidearm, Lyle,” Wayne ordered. “I don’t much relish going in there, but if craggons caves are as full of gold as I’ve heard, we ought a check this out. At the same time, I don’t’ want to get trapped down there if that craggon comes back.” He gave her naked breast a squeeze. “But don’t worry, bitch. I’ll be right back. You and I have plenty of unfinished business to take care of.”

  CHAPTER 29

  Garrett’s fist slammed into the back of his head, just behind the ear, sending Renly sprawling forward and down to the slippery floor. He struggled to keep his feet under him, but Garrett was on top of him, reaching his arm around his neck. He hardly had time to think, but jerked an elbow back instinctively. The satisfying crunch of bone and his brother’s loosened grip told him he’d tagged Garrett good.

  He whirled to face his attacker, and whipped the flashlight around for a blow, but Garrett parried with his forearm, and the flashlight went flying. In the dim light of the single lantern, Renly saw Garrett open his arms wide and lower his head to grapple him and take him to the ground.

  The slick surface beneath his feet betrayed him yet again, and Garrett flattened him; pinning him to the floor again by virtue of his height and greater weight. As Garrett panted into his face, Renly used the slick mud slime to his advantage and twisted; squirming onto his side.

  His brother dug his blackened talons into Renly’s shoulder. He grunted in pain as the image of millions of aggressive black viruses swarming into his bloodstream sent him into a panic. His brother’s hot sour breath enveloped him, and from the depths of his subconscious rose another forgotten memory of childhood.

  “You little sneak,” Garrett hissed furiously, just inch
es from his face. He jerked Renly up by his shirt, tearing the sleeve. “It’s about time you learned a lesson or two about life.” Garrett held him above his head, to the amazed stare of the dozen big men in the kitchen. “Here, take him! He can be my collateral!”

  The man with the quiet voice nodded. “Bring him into the light. Let’s take a look at him.”

  He struggled against Garrett with all his strength, but his brother was ten years older and ten years stronger. Once they bound him with duct tape, he was helpless.

  “Your young brother here will be your marker until you pay me the money you owe me, Harkness,” he said. “You’ll think twice about ducking out on me again, I promise.” As he spoke, he stroked Renly’s hair as he would a cat.

  Renly screamed, but no sound escaped him. He stared desperately at Garrett, but his brother wouldn’t look at him. The quiet man tightened the grip around his throat with his hard, hard hand. Renly remembered the feel of hot tears tracking down his face. No one in the room would look at him; not even the big bodyguards the quiet man had brought with him. He felt invisible. Helpless.

  Renly’s heart pounded in terror. In a flash, everything came back to him. No wonder he could never remember his abductor. There had never been an abduction. It was Garrett. His brother had given him willingly to the pedophile with the hard hands. The police and everyone else hailed Garrett a hero, but it was all a lie.

  Garrett smashed his hand into his face, but Renly felt nothing but his own rage.

  All those years of pent-up guilt. Of feeling helpless and stupid that he couldn’t remember, when all along it had been Garrett who betrayed him, Garrett who gave him to that horrible man. The kidnapper was a myth, a lie. A lie that kept him hiding behind the walls his studio, afraid to face the outside world. Afraid of everything. His inability to remember the incident fueled his determination to become an artist; he remembered how desperately he wanted to become a police sketch artist like the one who tried so hard to help him remember his kidnappers face. But there had never been anything to remember; Garrett’s face had been right in front of him every single day. And then, when Garrett’s face became the only face he could draw, he never made the connection between his own brother and the abuse he suffered at the hands of that pedophile. And Garrett had known all along!

  He brought his knee up hard between his brother’s legs. Garrett howled with pain and curled into a fetal position. Renly rolled away from him and scrambled to get his bearings. At the foot of the far wall, the light from his flashlight illuminated one side of the chamber.

  He stumbled to his feet. Carefully, he skidded over and picked up the light, relieved it still worked. Garrett still lay moaning on the floor like an animal.

  “I remember now, Garrett. You lied about everything, didn’t you,” he panted. “We never had a psychic connection between us. You made that up. Every word that comes out of your mouth is a lie.”

  A low growl was Garret’s only response.

  If he stayed any longer, Garrett would try to kill him. The anger he felt toward his brother was rapidly fading to a numb disgust. Garrett had made his choice; he preferred to live in the filth and slime of the craggon den and seek his pathetic dreams of gold. Up on the surface, K’Sati was waiting for him with Neatfoot and Silverbeard.

  “I’m done here. You are no longer my brother. You lost that privilege twenty years ago.” He wiped the blood from his face and without a backward glance, set about finding his way out of this hell hole.

  He found his way back down the tunnel to Garrett’s sleeping cave. For a moment, he considered taking the casket of gold with him, but it seemed pointless. This gold was tainted; just like Garrett and Paul and every other mandragon who had ever hoped to pull gold out of a craggons den. The gold on Aurum only led to madness.

  He noticed a smaller tunnel leading from the back wall of Garrett’s sleeping quarters. The tunnel was lower and narrower than the main lava tube. The surface texture in this tunnel was coarser; the air cooler and less feculent. Forced by the low ceiling to walk hunched over, he braced himself against the sides of the tunnel and instinctively made his way toward the surface. The lack of guano in the narrow tunnel reassured him.

  His thoughts were consumed by Garrett’s betrayal. The string of lies his brother told everyone had stolen his childhood from him. His parents must have known something; or guessed. They’d been so agreeable when he told them he wanted to attend that private art school in Boston. They never invited Garrett home for the holidays. It was almost as if they suspected Garrett’s involvement.

  He’d been so stupid. So willing to believe Garrett when he said they shared a psychic connection. That he’d made such a massive fool of himself burned deep. He readjusted his pack in the narrow tunnel and moved forward. His hands shook badly. When the icy chill of fresh air hit his face, he welcomed it. It smelled as sweet and fresh as any he could remember.

  He wondered if K’Sati had already left. She’d sensed Garrett’s true nature almost immediately, but he’d refused to listen. She was so sweet; so unassuming and quiet, it was easy to overlook her quiet strength. She’d only had his best interests at heart. He could trust her. She was herd to him. He hurried forward, eager to reach her; hoping he wasn’t too late.

  CHAPTER 30

  At a narrow crevice near the entrance to the mine, Wayne motioned for silence. Someone was coming; they heard muttering and the sounds of footsteps before they saw him. Renly Harkness came into view.

  He paused, as if temporarily blinded by the light, and Wayne motioned to Lyle and Nevers to grab him. Second later, they had him cuffed and helpless, not that he put up much resistance. He’d obviously been beaten badly.

  “Thanks for makin’ this so easy for us, Harkness.” Wayne squinted at the man, so changed since he’d last seen him as to be nearly unrecognizable. Blood poured from Renly’s nose and a cut on his lower lip. He wore a pair of badly scuffed Italian leather dress shoes and the clothes and sleeveless battle vest of a Khirjahni tribesman. Wayne recognized the heavy-looking satchel he wore across his chest.

  Living rough on the prairie had made him nearly unrecognizable. He’d acquired a certain weathered toughness. Lean and wiry, he glared at Wayne with a dangerous expression.

  Wayne frowned; there was something else, something different about his eyes. A pale ring of blue circled the brown iris. Just like…

  The answer came to him like an explosion. Heat roared through him. With a wordless cry, he launched himself at Harkness, pounding him with his fists. Harkness went down like a stone and curled into a ball.

  Wayne kicked him again and again.. “Ya fucking animal! What gave ya the right put your hands on her? I helped you look for your damned brother and this is how you repay me? Ya go behind my back? Take this, asshole!” He kicked Harkness again and again, as each blow brought a satisfying grunt from Harkness.

  “Easy, boss,” Lyle held him off. “Gotta keep the noise down, ‘member? Don’t want to bring those craggons down on us now.”

  He delivered a final vicious kick to the head and allowed them to pull him away. He choked back bitter acid at his throat. “He’s been sleeping with that bitch; don’t tell me ya haven’t,” he hissed. “We can all see it. Ya got the same blue ring around your eyes she does.”

  Harkness groaned, but didn’t say a word.

  That K’Sati would let this piece of shit touch her made him sick to his stomach. He’d spent months trying to seduce her. “The local cuisine is off limits without a condom, idiot. Otherwise you’ll end up just like ‘em. They’re all diseased, get it? Ya just lost your passport off this hunk of rock. Federation rules. No transport captain will touch ya now. Gotta protect the masses. Was it worth it?”

  K’Sati’s recent reticence toward him suddenly made sense. She’d been avoiding him, even before the Terran arrived, but he probably wasn’t the only guy she’d been playing games with. He’d been worried she’d taken a shine to the stable master, Ruben, but no; she’d taken up with t
his pathetic piece of shit. Or maybe the both of them.

  Harkness heaved and spat up a gob of blood. Good. This guy wouldn’t be a problem much longer.

  Nevers squatted down beside Harkness and pulled up his head by his hair. “How many more down there?”

  But Harkness was too far gone to answer. “Doesn’t matter,” Wayne replied. “Come on, we’ll leave him to Corey. The bitch will tell me what I want to know.”

  They dragged him back up the trail to where they’d left Corey and K’Sati. Neither of them looked happy. K’Sati sat huddled on the ground, clutching the tattered remains of her shirt to chest, a mutinous look on her face. Corey had a bloody lip. As soon as she saw them, she scrambled to her feet.

  Wayne ran his hand through his hair. The sight of her changed the heat of his anger. Seeing her like this, handcuffed and shirtless, stirred something primal within him. His body responded, thick with desire. He had never seen her angry like this; her eyes flashing, her face flushed with heat. He wanted to strip the rest of her naked and beat her into submission with his bare hands, like he’d never dared do before. To punish her; to make her cringe and beg him for forgiveness. For mercy.

  He forced himself to look away. Not now. For what he had in mind, he wanted privacy, and this wasn’t the time or place. No matter how much he wanted her, the gold had to come first.

  She wouldn’t look at him. Her eyes were only for Harkness. “What have you done to him?”

  “He just tried to talk a little sense into your lover boy,” Nevers retorted.

  “Can it.” Wayne motioned to them to drag Harkness’s limp form over to Corey. “Got another one here for ya, Corey. You sure you don’t want to come along?”

  He didn’t like the way Corey was looking at the girl. That he’d tried to claim her as soon as his back was turned. Bad enough that she had something going with Harkness, but at least he wouldn’t be pulling any funny stuff in his condition. It still bothered him that he’d so underestimated both the bitch and the Terran.