Reaper Inc. (12 page)

Ben lay on his
bunk reading information about the planet Lotham. He saw a few things that
might be worth leaving the ship for. There were a number of waterfalls and some
active and dormant volcanoes. He laid the data pad down and stretched. Maybe
Natalia or E'Aria or both would want to go do some sightseeing with him. He had
some fences to mend, apologies to make. He looked at himself in the mirror and
thought a shower and a hair brush were in order.

The door chimed
and he opened it. Natalia and General Raza's lieutenant were standing outside.

"The governor’s
son has been missing going on two days. I want you to get ready and go look for
him."

"Just like
that, huh! No ‘hi dad, how are you?’ just go and save some kid. Why doesn’t the
governor have his own damn people out looking? We are leaving tomorrow and we
shouldn’t get sucked into staying any longer than that."

The lieutenant
was sensing that the young female's tone might not have been the best approach.

The lieutenant
said. "Sir, General Raza would consider it a personal favor if you could
help in anyway. We will more than likely depart without the governor tomorrow
because of some bad judgment on his part. But because we are here and there is
a crisis, he thought we could help until we depart."

"Has
everyone been consulted on this Natalia? Do E'Aria and the rest all know? I am
staying on the ship for a reason if you haven’t figured that out yet."

"They all
know," she answered.

"Did they
tell you to order me around like that?" Natalia began to squirm.
"Don’t get too full of yourself and think to take advantage of my love for
you. I will knock you on your ass if you talk to me like that again. Especially
in front of a stranger." Ben paused staring them both down. "Am I
allowed to bring any weapons to defend myself with?"

"I am
sorry sir, but no weapons. Once we are at the villa you can petition the
General and see if he will change his mind."

"I was
just reading about this planet lieutenant. There are a number of large
predators living here. What am I supposed to do, rip your arm off and beat them
with it?"

"So are
you going to help?" Natalia asked.

"Yes, I
will get dressed. Wait for me outside." Five minutes later he was on his
way but not before he had sent E'Aria a com to get all information together and
have it ready. He found them waiting in a courtyard; General Raza, E'Aria, some
of the household servants, a young Allond male and a dozen military personnel.

"What do
we know?" Ben asked, getting right down to business.

The General
answered, "The child went out to play yesterday and no one has seen him
since. One of the servants saw some children playing in the field about a
hundred yards from the villa. He didn’t see any of them later so he thought
they had all gone to their homes."

"I take it
no children live here at the villa."

The young
Allond male answered. "No sir."

Ben continued.
"Are there any other children missing? Did the child have friends? They
may know something."

"The
constable has been interviewing children but has not learned anything."

"Ok, show
me where they were playing." They walked out of the back of the villa and
down a path that lead to a clearing. The forest had been cut back and nothing
taller than about a foot was growing. Nothing very large was going to sneak up
on anyone without being seen. There was evidence of activity everywhere
probably from the search parties. The children's activities were trampled over
so no clue there. He would have to get into the woods.

He walked away
from the wood line about fifty steps then turned to study it. There were a
number of places that looked to have in and out activity and the search party
wouldn’t have made them. It could be game trails or if the kids played there a
lot, they were probably running in and out of the woods. Ben picked the one
farthest from the villa;  it had less sign of being trampled.

E'Aria handed
him a com. "There are about five hours of daylight left today. I will com
you in two and a half."

"I am
going alone? What the hell is going on?"

"The
constable called off their search so his people could rest and eat. The rest of
us have diplomatic reasons for not getting involved."

"Ok. I'm
wasting my time. I'll just go commune with nature for a few hours then I’ll be
back." Ben walked towards the trail he chose, mumbling and cussing all the
way until he got into the woods. He had no armor or weapons. He checked the
wind but wasn’t sure it mattered; he didn’t know the woods or which direction a
predator would come from. He didn’t know shit; that’s what it amounted too.

There may be
five hours of daylight but not when you are in forest with thousands of years
of life cycles and a thick forest canopy. He thought he may have four hours if
he was lucky. He was lucky in his choice of trails. There were small footprints
and signs of recent activity. Ben just eased slowly through the woods
listening, watching and trying to smell for anything that said something died
here.

He was still
angry at the situation but thought if the child was alive, he needed to do his
best to bring it home. There was something they didn’t tell him but he would
figure it out. He kept expecting the trail to turn and head back towards the
field, but it didn’t. That wasn’t good. The kids probably didn’t make this one.
He walked for an hour and only heard the sound of calm forest. He had not
really walked that far. He guessed no more than half a mile. His speed was a
slow stalk, just like approaching an enemy camp. Speed was not the object. He
looked at the com; it was still early for his call. He put it back in his
pocket and continued on. Twenty yards later, he heard something new.

There were two,
maybe three distinct sounds involved in the chase he heard. The first was
making whimpering noises as it ran clearly frightened and not running on the
game trail. The second and third were also making noise but it was a snorting
mixed with heavy breathing. Ben decided if he stood still, they would cross his
path in just about twenty seconds and he would know if he had to do anything or
not. He wouldn’t interfere with anything natural.

He saw the
small Allond child running for its life and he didn’t wait to see what
followed. He would see it soon enough. Ben ran an intercept course. He was
hoping to catch the child and keep running then he saw the six legged killer
not far behind. Body like a komodo dragon with extra legs and a head like a
vulture minus the skinny neck. It was fast but so was he. Ben was running all
out one bad step and he wouldn’t recover in time.

The child heard
the sound of what he thought was another hoard of the monsters; he dare not
slow enough to look back. He could hear it getting closer and closer and then
something grabbed him and lifted him off the ground. It spoke to him and he
understood.

Ben could hear
the beast getting closer. It was in its stride. He finally saw what he was looking
for and in three long running steps, he threw the child up into the tree and
turned to face the ugly beast. The tactic must have been something new because
six legs were digging in trying to stop which it finally did but not very
gracefully. Ben kept his back to the tree not even sparing a look to check on
the child. Slowly he pulled his pant leg up and removed a knife from inside his
boot. He would never be good at following the rules. He saw a large round stone
partially buried in the soil. He kicked it with his boot to loosen it up and
now he felt a little better. Something sharp in one hand and something hard in
the other.

Big and ugly
circled him, pausing to look up at the child then back to him. Ben guessed it
had never smelled anything like him before but it sure knew what was up in the
tree. Ben looked around the tree and saw a number of smaller rocks.

"Hey kid,
if I toss some rocks up to you, can you throw them at that ugly bastard and not
fall out of the tree please? He spared a glance and received a nod. The first
was golf ball-sized. He tossed it up underhanded and a second later, he saw and
heard the thump as it bounced off the beast’s chest. Rock number two was
larger. It made a nice thump, followed by a squeal and a jump backwards. They continued
the process which thoroughly confused the beast. The child had a good arm and
eye; he only missed once. Ben picked up a baseball-sized rock and let it fly.
At twenty feet away, he was pretty sure that one would really hurt. He missed
the head but the angle put the rock in the middle of its back. It was a mighty
thump and the squealing that followed said something might have cracked. It
decided it had enough and moved off looking back every so often, then it was
gone.

Ben put his
knife away after waiting another thirty seconds, listening for the beast to see
if it was doubling back. He held up his arms.

"Jump,
I’ll catch you." The child didn’t hesitate. He jogged part of the way back
then slowed to a walk.

Ben said
gently, not to upset the child, "You have had everyone worried. You are
lucky to be alive." He didn’t get an answer but he did get a hug and
whimper or two. The kid held it together. Ben took out his com.

"I am
coming in. I’ll be there in about ten minutes. I have one tired and probably starving
child. He seems in good shape, you should get food and water ready. We had a
run in with some ugly beastie but managed to discourage it."

E'Aria
answered, "That is good news. We will have something ready for him."

Ben said to the
child, "Your father will be happy to have you home safe. I hear he has
been very worried."

"No sir,
my father can’t be happy or sad or anything. He has been dead since I was a
hatchling."

"Isn’t the
governor your father?"

"No sir,
he is the father of my friend. He is not going to be happy his son is dead. I
also do not understand why he said there was treasure in the den of the Varzan.
We found their den and waited till they left and went inside but there was no
treasure and they came back. I climbed high up the stone wall where they
couldn’t get to me. They have been eating him.

"Ok. Try
not to think about it. We will be safe in a few minutes and you can get some
food. You do have family, don’t you?"

"Yes. I
have my mother and I think she will be happy until she is not, then I think I
will be in trouble."

"I will
talk to her for you. When she knows the truth, she won’t be angry at you.
Someone lied to you and that is not your fault."

"He
screamed a lot and called my name. I was too scared to climb down."

"You can’t
blame yourself. You both would be dead if you had climbed down. You said there
were two of those beasts. You could not have done anything to save him against
two of them. You are no coward; you are brave. Your strong arm and good eyes
along with some rocks and determination saved me and you."

They came out
closer to the villa because of the direction the chase took them. They walked
out of the woods to a group of people. There were a few he didn’t know. The
child buried its face in his shoulder, not looking at any of them.

It looked to
all be good for a second. An Allond female began to wail and a short, chubby
well-dressed Allond male spoke to her trying to console her. E'Aria, General
Raza, Natalia and the lieutenant were standing watching. Natalia was smiling
and the others looked curious.

Ben knew the
child did not belong to the female who was wailing her lungs out so he headed
towards E'Aria and the others. He was five steps away when he saw their faces
and felt the push from behind.

"You fool,
you imbecile you brought back the wrong child. You fool." The verbal
berating continued.

Ben whispered
to the child, "I am going to hand you to my friend while I deal with this
idiot like we dealt with the Varzan."

"Hold
out your arms, Princess"
Ben handed the child to her.

"Benjamin,
do not do anything stupid."
Ben spun on his heel, backhanding the
governor with a closed fist. He was going to hit him no matter what anyone
said. He had sized him up as he walked past a few seconds ago. The general held
his hand up in a signal that must have meant ‘nobody move.’

"You piece
of shit. You sent those children there." His fist landed hard against the
governor’s chest. Nice target when your opponent is eight inches taller. Ben
jumped and landed his next punch to the side of his head. With a leg sweep, the
governor was down. Ben knelt next to him and slid the boot knife out. He stuck
it to his throat.

"You are
about to die, asshole. You wanna come clean before you meet your maker?"
Ben felt as well as heard General Raza move within a few feet of him but he
didn’t try and stop him.

"Did I
hear you say that he sent the children out into the forest?"

"Yes, he
told the children that the Varzan had treasure in their dens. You will have to
ask the child but I believe he may have told them where the den was located. I
don’t think they had been playing that far in the woods. They managed to sneak
in but got caught. His son didn’t climb fast enough and they caught him and
have been eating on him since yesterday. I am guessing with full bellies the
Varzan decided to find a nice place to rest and he made a run for freedom. One
of them chased the child, but I got to him first. We fought it off and here we
are. Any last words, asshole?"

Ben pushed the knife
hard enough it drew blood. The governor could feel his blood running down his
neck.

General Raza
said. "I believe the governor wanted to get rid of his bastard
child."

"Looks
like it to me."