Escape from Endeavor

by Daniel A. Jones

  ***

  Faust arrived in town just after twelve o’clock. Most of the townsfolk were already gathered in the fort square, talking. He assumed it was about the attack so he joined them, leaving the wagon near the gate.

  He didn’t notice the guard swing the gate shut as he moved deeper into the crowd.

  Once he’d reached the center he found the town elders standing around a table covered with food. Faust asked the man next to him how the planning was going. The man looked at him and smiled, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile.

  “Look who came to help us!” the man yelled as he shoved Faust toward the table.

  “Faust, we were hoping you’d come say goodbye before heading off to find the ship,” Richard Benson said.

  Faust was grabbed from behind before he could make sense of what they were talking about. How could they know his plans? He was stripped of his weapons and tied to the whipping post in front of the town hall. Once they were done, the crowd moved back to let Richard and the other elders come up to examine Faust.

  “I bet you’re wondering how we found out about your little plan,” Richard taunted him. “You really shouldn’t have used the radio to contact the ship. Jake, take a few boys and go collect your new bride and that space wench. If the boy gives you any trouble kill him. Oh, and Jake, I want that space wench alive.”

  “NO! Leave my children out of this! They had no part in it,” Faust yelled as he fought against the ropes holding him. “Do what you want with me, just don’t hurt them.”

  “You should have thought of them before you decided to betray us. Jake will make a good husband for your little bitch and I expect he’ll take care of your son before returning. Now, who’s ready to watch a traitor get his just reward?” Richard yelled to the crowd, causing cheers to erupt. “Rick, bring me some of your tools.”

  As Rick ran off to get the torture devices, all Faust could think about were his children. He had made a mistake and now he would die a slow and very painful death. The only consolation he had was that they had only sent five men. He had spent years teaching his kids how to defend themselves, and none of the townsfolk knew how dangerous Daemon truly was.

  11

  Daemon didn’t have much to pack, so he finished long before his sister. Sara was helping her, so he decided to release the animals. There was no sense in keeping them penned up if they were leaving. As he crossed the yard he realized he was going to miss them. He had spent all his life caring for them; he’d even named them. Now he was going to say good-bye to them forever. He had helped butcher a lot of animals over the years but this was different. He was leaving and they weren’t going to be a part of his new life. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of leaving. Sure, he’d talked about exploring other worlds with Angelica, but that had been kids’ dreams. He was a little nervous now that it was really happening.

  At first, Daemon thought it was the animals he was sensing but as he watched the last one run off into the woods he realized that it wasn’t. His senses snapped into focus and he detected there was something else within range of his ability and it had some very aggressive intentions. He turned and started running for the house, yelling for Angelica as he ran. He made it about halfway when a sudden bolt of pain shot through his chest, followed almost immediately by the crack of a rifle shot. Daemon stumbled another few steps before crashing to the ground, barely getting his arms up in time to break his fall. He lay there very still, trying desperately to stay conscious as the shock of being shot washed over him.

  Inside the house, Angelica dropped the glass she was drinking from as she felt the wound in Daemon’s chest through their link.

  Sara jumped at the sound of the gun shot and rushed to the window to see if she could spot who had used a gun when Angelica grabbed her. Sara was about to protest when she saw the tears running down Angelica’s face.

  “They shot Daemon. He’s hurt really bad; I think he’s dying. I don’t know who or why but they are still out there,” Angelica was able to get out as she dragged Sara to her father’s room. Once inside Faust’s room she opened a cabinet and took out a hunting rifle and some ammunition and handed it to Sara.

  “I need you to close the shutters and bar every window. Whoever shot Daemon is coming for us next.” Angelica pulled a rifle of her own from the cabinet. “If you see anything moving outside, shoot at it. Even if you don’t hit anything it’ll make them think twice about coming in.”

  “Angelica, come on out! We aren’t going to hurt you,” someone shouted from outside.

  Angelica motioned for Sara to get moving as she ran to the kitchen door. Angelica was glad that her father had put so much time and effort into making the door, with a simple push of one lever four bars slid into place, securing it. Faust had told Daemon try to push his way through it before he was satisfied. She then moved to secure the kitchen shutters.

  “Come on, Angel, I know you can hear me. We had no choice about shooting your brother, but we don’t want to hurt you,” Jake Bender shouted.

  Angelica froze, unable to believe who was yelling. “Jake, is that you?”

  “Yeah! We’re only here for the space bitch. We don’t want to hurt you.”

  Angelica didn’t need her special senses to tell her that he was lying. She had to stall, she needed time to think. Faust had told her snap decisions by an inexperienced person in combat were normally very bad. “Why did you kill Daemon?” she yelled out, hoping to distract them. She could still feel him so he wasn’t dead yet, but he was very weak.

  “He didn’t give us a choice. He came at Bob with an ax.”

  “My dad’s going to kill you for it no matter what your reason, you do realize that?” Angelica yelled back, frantically trying to make sense of what was happening.

  Jake’s reply was cut off by the crack of another rifle shot, this time from inside the house. Angelica sprinted to her room where the gunshot had come from. When she got there she found Sara lying on the floor, moaning, her rifle lying next to her. Angelica stepped around Sara to get to the window and close the shutter as she did she saw Jared Smith crawling away, leaving a trail of blood. Angelica allowed herself a brief smile of satisfaction: One down. Angelica turned around.

  Sara was climbing to her feet and rubbing her shoulder. “Did I get him?”

  “Yeah, he won’t be coming back. Did you close the shutters in the rest of the house?”

  “Yes, this was the last room.” Sara reached down and picked up her rifle. “God, this thing has a kick to it,” she said as Angelica herded her to the kitchen.

  “Damn it, Angelica, you’re going to pay for this!” Jake shouted as he reached Jared’s body.

  Lenard Bosworth had been the first to find Jared and was still kneeling next to him. Bob Monahan and Samuel Bench came running up to see what had happened. All four young men stared at their friend as the rage boiled up inside them.

  Lenard was the first to speak. “Neither of them leaves that house alive.”

  “I say we burn the house and them to the ground. What do you say, Jake?” Bob asked.

  All three boys looked at Jake; he was a natural leader. He was tall and lean with blond hair and blue eyes—the type of guy the girls couldn’t resist. Bob was the heavy-set slightly slow member of the group who let his emotions guide him more than his brain. Lenard was the tall, lanky trickster constantly playing practical jokes on people. Sam was the runt who had to take the bulk of Lenard’s pranks.

  “We can’t. You heard what Richard said: He wants the space wench alive. But I like the idea that we burn them out. Once they’re outside, they’ll be easy enough to capture. Bob, go around to the barn side and watch the kitchen door. Sam, go around the other side of the house while Lenny and I get a fire started. If you have to shoot, try to just wound them.”

  Neither man said anything more as they sneaked off in opposite directions around the house. Bob went back to the barn area to find a good spot to watch from, and Sam to the other side, looking for ways the girls mi
ght try to get out of the house. Bob was so focused on watching the house and thinking about his dead friend that he didn’t heed the fact that Daemon’s corpse was no longer in the yard.