|
Page 26.
Chapter 9. Kion and Piri Steal a Skimmer
 Kion Danos and Jac Piri found a pool of clear water at the lowest point of their canyon. They were far enough from Aerag-15 that the intimidating hu-u-r-r-p sirens no longer hurt the ear or intimidated the soul.
They came upon a pond about 200 heads in diameter, roughly circular, with clean water in which small finny creatures wriggled about. Swarms of macabs clouded the source at one end, but made no effort to go after the two newly arrived humans.
This was at noon, when the sun of Manaul 5 stood high in the heavens. Both men threw themselves into the water. The shock startled Kion, then numbed him.
What a wonderful feeling!
He opened his mouth and sank down. Cold, mineral-laden water filled his mouth and sinuses, making the inside of his skull tingle delightfully.
The natural chemicals assaulted his taste and smell organs. At the same time, he felt his skin reveling as biting dust floated away. No small number of macab insects had burrowed into his skin, and these floated away dead.
By the time Kion emerged, gasping and coughing amid huge splashes of white-water, he felt as if he'd been reborn. He had swallowed what seemed like a gallon of water, until he choked on it, and his lungs repelled it with coughing fits. Now he lay on his back, with his body lightly floating, and clung to the sandy, rocky bank with his elbows behind him. The cave in which they rested was the largest they had seen yet.
Piri surfaced nearby. "We're saved, boss." He stood and wrung out the ends of his torn prison tunic and his kerchief rag.
As they rested, they listened for any sounds of danger. No threatening noises emanated from the canyon in the direction they'd come. In the cavern, the water would be totally still if it weren't for their splashing. Occasionally, a tiny fish would break the surface to snap at a bug before slicing back under water. Each time, a tiny drip-sound would echo in the cavern.
"What next?" Piri said wearily. "I almost want to stay here."
"Tell me about it. But we're dead men if we do," Kion said. "Let's work our way south. We're in the northern hemisphere. This continent is mostly desert, but there are huge oceans around the equator, along with jungle islands and a huge jungle continent. We can find food, a place to hide, and plenty of drinking water."
"Maybe those Fith people," Piri said.
As they rose to start back on their journey, they heard noises. They froze, looked at each other, and listened. Coming around the corner, from the direction they were about to go, were two men. Two merks, laughing as they peeled off their overalls. The two merks spoke a humanian dialect of Humansh, full of rolling r's and gutterals.
Kion and Piri ducked behind a large boulder as the merks strolled down to the water. Two young, brown-haired men with fleshy faces and hard blue eyes, they laid their overalls and gun belts aside. One after the other, the dove into the water with folded hands extended. Both stayed under for long periods of many seconds. They'd come up spluttering, then go down again. Cold water really drove the hot desert and its bugs out of your body.
Kion and Piri darted from boulder to boulder, until they had a clear run down to the water.
As they picked up the men's gun belts, the two merks noticed and froze in the water.
For moment, prisoners and merks were eyeball to eyeball, separated by no more than 50 heads.
Piri sorted through the overalls, looking for valuables. Each merk had a collar com device. Piri tored the com buttons off, grinning at Kion, and threw the phones into the water, where they sank away with a few sparks, a little smoke, and a long, dreadful sizzling noise.
"Please don't shoot," said one merk as the two treaded water.
"You'll get caught," the other said. "We'll put in a good word for you."
"Kill them," Piri muttered. He now had a gun, as did Kion, but he was a follower and would not act on his own unless told to do something by a leader.
"Don't shoot them," Kion said. He addressed the two merks. "I don't have the stomach for killing. I've killed plenty of men and women in war. I'll put this on the table. We want a head start away from here."
"You got it," both men in the water said.
"Before you make a lot of empty promises and lies, hear me out. I'm dictating the terms. We're going that way." He pointed in the direction from which they'd come. "If I see you following us, I'll kill you both without blinking an eyelash. If you're smart, you'll count to a hundred and then try coming out. If you still see us, go back in. When we're gone, you can join your friends and no damage done. Got that?"
The two merks glowered at him. They had been caught in their lies.
"Still got attitude?" Kion waved the gun. "I can shoot one of you right now and see if the one who lives had hearing problems, or just a big fat head. Did you get what I told you?"
"Yes!" the two men cried out. For a moment, some vestigial sense of civilization reminded them they were addressing an officer.
"You clowns have a chance to get through the next ten minutes without being dead, or having a foot or a hand shot off. Be smart. All you need to do is stay there, keep your meat-holes shut, and enjoy a nice splash in the water."
With that, Kion turned and headed back up the canyon, continuing in the same direction he'd come.
Piri followed, muttering: "You should have shot them. They mean bad for us."
"We'll do it my way. If you want to go your own way, and do things your way, suit yourself. You have a gun now."
"I'll stick with you."
"Good. Then you follow my orders and don't wear me down with arguments."
With a gun, Piri was far more dangerous. Kion gambled that the other man would have no reason to murder him. Even if he betrayed Kion to the Swarm, the merks and Sekurita would show him no mercy except an extra sweet waffle and then a painless hanging for his troubles. Surely, Piri was smart enough to realize that. Deep down, Kion still didn't trust him. Then again, as long as they ran together, they would need to get along in peace.
The canyon ended a few hundred heads beyond the turn around which he'd first heard the merks coming. Kion looked back. They were by the pond, putting their overalls back on. They looked sheepish. Probably they'd be punished by their leaders, docked pay, confined to barracks, or even sent back off-world to a penal or even battle unit.
"My gods," Piri said.
Kion gaped at the skimmer sitting before them. It was a mottled, dark-green camo disk with gun ports, view bubbles, and air vents spaced around a central band. The relatively flat bottom had a gun cockpit in the center, encased in a glastic bobble port. On top was a beveled dome streaked with rust, and dotted with portholes and firing ports. A gangway led down from a rectangular door underneath, to the desert sand. "Let's take it," Kion said.
"You've got hard ones." Piri eyeballed the craft nervously. He licked his lips. "Oh why not? Let's do it."
"We have no choice," Piri added. For a moment, he seemed to lead.
Guns in hand and ready to fire, Kion and Piri stormed up the gang way. Their guns were capable of firing a dozen small shells or bullets, or releasing bursts of deadly energy. Both capabilities were deadly. In an instant, Kion took in the interior platform. In a soft reddish light, desks, seats, and equipment banks made a circle all around. In the center was a spiral steel staircase for climbing up to the periscope sail or down to the artillery cockpit below. The room smelled of unwashed men, dirty underwear, fish lunch, and gun oil. The three humanians inside were bent over charts and having a discussion. They never expected to see the two fugitives come storming up the ladder.
TOP
|
MAIN
Copyright © 2018 by Jean-Thomas Cullen, Clocktower Books. All Rights Reserved.
|
