by James McEwan
Freya wanted to say something pithy in response, but all she could manage was, “Drugs, give me drugs damn it!” Thad inserted an I.V. and started pushing fluids and painkillers. She was out cold in a matter of seconds.
With both Fiona and Thad working on her it didn’t take long to remove the large splinter and patch up the wound. Tenderly, Thad picked up the unconscious Freya and moved her to a hut where they could lay her down. After seeing that Freya was taken care of, Thad went looking for Un-Tark.
He found him standing in the middle of the carnage, watching the mothers, sisters, and lovers of the dead wailing for them. Thad stood next to him in silence as he watched. After some time Thad spoke, “I’m really sorry, I really liked Un-Plork. He was a good warrior and funny too, he always made me laugh.”
Un-Tark placed one of his hands on Thad’s shoulder, “I too am sorry, but their sacrifice will be spoken in the tales and sung in the songs of our people. They shall not be forgotten. This will always be known as the day that we stood with sky walkers to battle sky walkers.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I was a little worried this would change your people’s mind, to go back to your old ways of killing anyone that comes here,” Thad said.
“Well I’m sure some of the elders will feel that way, but if we had killed you and yours, it would not have stopped these Ralnai from coming, and without you, we would be slaves again. No, I think I can make a good enough argument to keep the changes to the law and besides what good is it to be Chief if I can’t make a few changes now and then?” Un-Tark chuckled.
“Good to be Chief I guess,” Thad said, “But Un-Tark, this is not completely over, there should be at least one more, the pilot. He would have stayed with the ship. I still need to deal with him to ensure you are truly safe for now.”
Un-Tark nodded in understanding, Thad left him to deal with his people and their dead. Thad went to the lift and headed down to the forest floor. He was going to take care of this Ralnai pilot himself so no one else was put in danger. He took off at a good run, but what he did not see was Fiona hot on his trail. She was not sure what he was up to, but she was not about to let him deal with any more of these overgrown lizards by himself.
Chapter 21
Thad made good time getting back to the ship. He stopped just short of the edge of the forest to take a look. He was in luck, the pilot was outside the ship, and had his back turned towards Thad. In as much as Thad was not sure this Ralnai was truly the last one, he opted to do a silent takedown instead of risking noise from a gun.
He crept up on the Ralnai moving from cover to cover until he was just a few feet away. Thad was almost in position to kill the pilot, force blade in hand, his finger ready to flick on the force field. As he got closer, he could see what the pilot was doing, and he could smell it long before he could see the long foul smelling stream of green urine flowing freely.
Thad was one-step from the kill when he stepped on a small twig that snapped. The small sound was enough to get the Ralnai’s attention. He wheeled around to come face to face with Thad. The Ralnai was not wearing a translator box around his neck so when he spoke it was in his native guttural grunts and clicks. Thad just said, “Shit.”
Thad wasted no time. He flicked on the force field, the green light flooded across the blade’s edge. He thrust the blade at the Ralnai, who for being such a big creature was uncannily fast and nimble. He sidestepped Thad’s blade then backhanded him in the face.
Thad took the blow well, but it still rattled his windows. Thad blocked the next shot that was coming from the Ralnai’s other hand, but he didn’t see the tail as it whipped around and knocked him off his feet. His body flew a few feet before hitting the ground. He bounced and rolled a half a dozen times, losing the grip on his force blade, sending it sailing off and burying it in a tree.
Trying to shake off the pain, Thad rolled onto his back and tried to regain his breath, which had been knocked out of him when he hit the ground. The Ralnai had no weapon on him, so he grabbed up a large branch lying on the ground. He charged Thad like a mad bull, his hands holding the branch high above his head.
Thad looked up to see the Ralnai bearing down on him like a freight train. All he could do was roll to his side as the branch smashed into the ground, where he had just been. The Ralnai swung the branch again as Thad rolled to safety. Thad was running out of options and sooner or later, the Ralnai was going to land a hit, and then what? I guess I will find out just how good the doc’s bones really are, Thad thought.
Sure enough, Thad could not get out of the way this time and the end of the branch hit him in the forehead. If any other human being had taken a hit to the skull like that, their head would have popped like a grape under a sludge hammer.
Much to his surprise, the Ralnai did not see his prey’s head spatter, but instead he saw the branch bounce back at him. The branch smacked him in his own head. The Ralnai’s skull being thick, and almost as tough as Thad’s, took the blow without shattering, but it did send the Ralnai into a daze. He dropped the branch and staggered around punch drunk.
Thad was still lying on his back. The blow had split his skin open to the bone and blood was flowing down onto his face. The blow had nearly knocked him out, and the force of it reset his eye implant. While it was rebooting he could not see out of that eye, as for his other eye, it was a blurry red mess. The Ralnai pilot had shaken off the hit to his head and now was looking around for something that would be a better weapon. He chose a small boulder that must have weighed about four hundred pounds.
The pilot reasoned the big rock should do the trick. He picked it up easily, with his great strength, and held it high over his head. He was walking towards Thad who was sitting up, trying to wipe the blood from his good eye, so he could see. Thad looked up to see the blurry outline of the Ralnai, with a large rock over his head. He was still processing what he was seeing and what to do about it when the top quarter of the Ralnai disappeared in a pink mist. Thad was showered in blood, brain matter, and bits of skull and skin. The large rock the Ralnai had been holding up dropped straight down on him, making a bit of a Ralnai pancake, which was sending out a second wave of blood and other nasty things to cover Thad.
Luckily, he had his mouth closed at the time because he took a full pound of Ralnai guts to the face. The smell was so bad he rolled to his side and hurled. It was a minute or two before he stopped throwing up. He wiped his face and eyes clean, and finally, his eye implant was working again. He heard soft footsteps approaching. Fiona was standing there with the forest to her back. The large sniper rifle perched on her hip. Thad was not one to be excited about girls with guns but never had Fiona looked hotter than she did standing there right now. It must have something to do with the human response to surviving death, heightened sexually he thought, yeah that must be it. “Well fancy meeting you here,” he said.
“Men, what is with you running off thinking you can handle everything by yourselves,” Fiona said.
“Well, hi honey it is good to see you too,” he sniped back at her.
“Hey mister, if I had not chosen to follow you’d, be a lot wider now, I imagine,” she said, sitting down her rifle and walking up to him.
“Good point,” he replied. He stood up and staggered, still dazed from the blow.
“Whoa, take it easy dear. That was one Hell of thumb to your noggin,” she said as she caught him before he fell on his face.
With her help, he sat back down, “I think you may be right. I think I will sit right here for a little while, at least till the world stops spinning,” he said.
“You do that while I check out the ship,” she said. Fiona pulled out a pistol and headed for the hatch. She was gone for only a few minutes before she came out looking very green. “Oh my God, it stinks in there! Those guys really need to learn about personal hygiene. But I found something,” as if on cue, the missing Untor scouts began exiting the hatch. “They were in cages in the cargo area,” Fiona said.
Th
ad was happy to see them alive. They helped him back to his feet. Thad, Fiona, and the Untors headed back to the village. Thad’s head had completely healed by the time they reached the village, but the headache he had was still with him. He went straight to that bath hut to wash the remnants of the pilot off him. After a half hour in the bath his head still hurt, so he went the hut were Freya was sleeping. He lied down next to his young wife and fell asleep.
It was dark outside and the torches had been lit when Eve woke Thad, “Thad, dear it is time to wake,” she gently shook his arm. He snapped awake in an instant, and without thinking, he attacked Eve who looked disappointed, but she easy avoided his punch.
It was Fiona’s voice from behind Eve that first registered with him that he was safe. “Now you know why we let Eve wake him.” He couldn’t tell who she was talking to at first, but the voice he heard next identified who it was.
“I see,” said Un-Tark. “Come, my friend, it is time for the feast.”
“Feast?” Thad asked.
“Yes the Feast of the Dead,” Eve said. “The Untor hold a feast to honor those who have fallen, and to announce to the ancestors they have new members to add to their ranks.”
Thad understood now and did not question anything else. He quickly got dressed in the clothing laid out for him. He joined Fiona, Eve, and Un-Tark, who led them to the center of the village where a large circular table was set up with many smaller tables surrounding it. The whole village was there, minus those who had fallen. They were seated next to Freya who was already there.
Speeches were given about the departed, and even though they were given in the native tongue, the visitors had learned enough of the language to understand. Anything they did not understand Eve would translate for them, as she had mastered the language. After the feast high in the tops of the highest trees, funeral piers were lit and the Untors sang the Song of the Dead.
It took two weeks of work, with Eve working around the clock, to clean and adapt the Ralnai ship for them to use. Even after Eve’s very thorough cleaning job, it still had the faint smell of Ralnai, but no one complained about it because it was a ship and their ticket off this world and back on their way.
Now that they had access to a subspace transmitter Eve was able to contact her copy back home and was able to update their storage device with some new templates. Thad didn’t want to leave the Untors with out way to defend themselves. He installed a replicator in Un-Tark’s hut, which would let him make arms and ammunition. He also spent the two weeks training the Untors how to use and fight with the new weapons. Much to his pleasure the Untors with their four arms made very efficient soldiers, with their ability to hold, reload, and fire two weapons.
Meanwhile, when not helping Eve, the twins spent their last two weeks with the Untors working with a second replicator programmed with food, clothing, make up, and other templates that would help them. By the time the twins were ready to leave the damage was done, the woman of the Untors would never be the same.
When the time came for them to leave the whole of the people turned out to say goodbye. The twins insisted they dress for the occasion, so he allowed the twins to dress him in a dark purple collar-less shirt and black suit with matching purple trim. The twin’s themselves were dressed in matching purple and black short skirts and blouses of their own design. The most interesting thing about their dress was the matching knee high, stiletto-heeled boots. They caught Thad’s attention because they were made out of Ralnai hide, dyed black.
“Nice boots ladies,” he said.
They laughed and Freya said, “I’m not normally one for wearing the skins of sentient beings, but these Ralnai assholes deserve to be made into boots, belts, luggage, and anything else that can be thought up!”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said, to make sure he stayed on their good side today. He did have to admit the Ralnai skin did make for some really sexy boots.
Tears were shed and hugs given, arms were shaken the whole affair took hours, but finally they had said their goodbyes and entered the ship. The Untors waved and sang goodbye, as the ship rose into the air. They all stayed and watched until the ship was out of sight.
The next few days were completely boring, with nothing going wrong for a change. This made everyone happy, as it seemed their luck was changing and they were finally, back on track. Thad and the twins spend a lot of time in bed, as there was little else to do. Eve had taken on the job of pilot and captain of the ship. She spent all of her time on the bridge flying the ship. She had to make constant course corrections. Anytime Thad came to the bridge she would complain about how bad the ship was, “It is such a piece of crap, it doesn’t even have automated computer systems,” she had remarked.
They were entering Federation space when Eve keyed the ship’s wide broadcasting system, “Attention ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking. We have crossed into United Terrain Federation space and everything continues to go smoothly. We should be at Nova Texas in two more days. That is all.”
Thad entered the bridge, “Oh Eve, now you have done it!”
Confused, she turned her chair around to face him, “What do you mean?”
“You have just jinxed us by saying the word smoothly. You should know by now, nothing goes smoothly for us,” he said.
“I’m not sure what that means, but I think things should be okay for us now that we have our own ship,” Eve said.
“Yes, we have our own ship, a Ralnai scout with little in the way of weapons and light armor. No, we need to be very careful in Federation space. This ship is a death trap,” Thad said.
No sooner had he said that when a warning light started flashing on the console next to him. “Eve, what is this?” He asked.
She looked over at it, “Oh, it is the communication console, and it appears we are being hailed. Be a dear and push the button.”
Thad pushed the button and over the cabin speakers he heard, “Attention Ralnai vessel this is the UTFS (United Terrain Federation Ship) Damocles. You have crossed into Federation space illegally. Turn around or be destroyed.”
Thad looked at Eve, “The Damocles? Scan and see what type of ship it is while I try to keep them from turning us into space junk.”
Eve scanned the ship, “It’s a heavy cruiser, and she has the weaponry to do it what she says.”
Thad nodded, “UTFS Damocles we are not Ralnai. We are human piloting a captured Ralnai craft- do not shoot. We request visual contact so you can confirm we are human.”
“Stand by,” the Damocles replied.
The view screen buzzed with snow for a second then a picture appeared of an older man with gray hair, but chiseled features of a well-seasoned ship’s captain. “Well I can see you are human and I glad I don’t have to blow you out of space, but I still cannot allow that ship to cross into Federation space.”
Eve stood up to speak to the captain, “Well Hello there,” she said as batted her eyes. “I’m the captain here. My name is Eve, and my crew have been a long time in space when we were attacked by this ship. We were able to overpower and kill the crew, but our ship was very damaged and we had to escape in theirs. We were on route to Nova Texas when we were attacked. If we turn back now, where are we to go?”
The captain raised an eyebrow, “Well Captain, I must admit that is quite the story, and I hope you will pardon my disbelief that the two of you overpowered a crew of what six or seven Ralnai.”
Eve smiled a wicked little smile that she knew melts men’s hearts, “Oh you are a smart one! Captain….” she paused, waiting for his name.
“Captain Daniel Wesson,” he replied.
“Thank you, Captain Wesson, you are right. It was not just the two of us. We had a crew of twenty. It was our numbers that won the day for us. Unfortunately only I, my first officer, and two young greenhorn crewmen were all that survived,” Eve said.
She could tell by the way his face relaxed, just a little, he believed her. He spoke again, “that is unfortunate indeed,
but I still have my orders. I cannot let your ship into Federation space,” he paused for effect. “However, given your current situation, I could break some regulations for you.”
Eve smiled, “Thank you, Captain, I knew you were a good man, I could tell by just the cut of your jib.”
He laughed, “You sure do know your old nautical terms don’t you?”
“Why Captain, how can one captain a ship and not know all the right terminology?” she played coy with him.
“So true Madame, but I’m not sure you should thank me yet until you have heard my terms of help,” he said.
“Pray do tell Captain,” she leaned towards the screen, a little cleavage couldn’t hurt.
“Well, as I said I cannot allow your ship to cross the border, but the crew is another matter. So the best I can do is take you and your crew aboard the Damocles and transport you to the nearest planet where you can book passage on,” he said.
“I think that would be acceptable Captain,” Eve replied.
“Wait there is one more caveat,” he said.
“Oh,” she said.
“Yes, I insist that you join me in my mess for dinner tonight,” he said.
“I would love to, and thank you again,” Eve said as she cut the video feed. She turned to Thad, “You okay with that?”
He stood there with his arms crossed, “Captain uh?” She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, at least you made me first officer.”
She started to pout, “I’m sorry Thad I was, as you would say, flying by the seat of my pants here.”
Thad laughed, “I’m just messing with you Eve, you did fine, better than fine. We are still alive and in one piece. I would call that a win.”
The Damocles came along side and docked with the Ralnai ship. Eve and crew grabbed their gear, left the ship, and boarded the Damocles. Captain Wesson met them in person. After introductions, he instructed a crewman to show them to their quarters, except Eve whom he escorted to the bridge. The twins were not happy about given separate quarters, but they understood. They did not want it known they were married to Thad, afraid it would be a good clue to who they really were.
