Exodus: Tales of The Empire: Book 2: Beasts of the Frontier. (14 page)

“It’s a job,
honey,” said Cornelius, feeling a bit put off by her accusation that he was
privileged to hunt the wilderness, something the average citizen couldn’t.  “It
pays for things like this apartment, and our aircar.  I had nothing to do with
being the child of a gamekeeper.”

Katlyn got up
from the couch, glared down at him with a pout, and stomped away to the
bedroom. 
Dammit,
thought Cornelius, ordering the trivee on with a
thought. 
I just can’t win today.
  He knew he would have to watch some
of the vee, and let Katlyn fall asleep.  Otherwise, he would have to endure the
tense silence of her lying with her back to him.  So he sat and steamed, while
the trivee recreated the scene of a popular comedy, something he was not the
least bit interested in.

*    
*     *

Cornelius walked
slowly through the forest, placing his feet with care, trying to move like a
shadow.  The birds, or what passed for birds on New Detroit, sang, croaked and
twittered from the trees.  At times they would go silent, and the crunching of
heavy footfalls would come to his ears. 
Damned tenderfeet
, he thought
of the nobles he was leading through the forest.  They were here at the invitation
of the Duke to hunt this planet’s version of big game.  And big it was.  Today
there were on the trail of a five ton carnivore that was this planet’s prime
predator.  And it was his job to get them a kill without losing any of the
idiots along the way.

And if they
keep making so much noise we’ll be lucky if we don’t see any King Tigers.  And
if we’re unlucky, one of the noble assholes will become food for the beast.

Up ahead was the
small river that watered this acreage of the forest.  The watering point for
the herbivores, and therefore the prime hunting ground of the carnivores. 
Cornelius spotted the blind that was his favorite in this area.  It was masked
with native scents, sprayed earlier by other foresters working for the Duke. 
Today’s prey would not smell them if they reached the blind without notice,
which was what he was worried about.  Kings had a great sense of hearing, and
every kind of sound masker tried had just ended up attracting their attention.

Cornelius
settled himself into the blind and looked through the scope on his particle
beam rifle.  His was the only military class weapon out here.  The rest of the
hunters were here to bring home trophies, and a beam weapon didn’t leave a good
hide.  But someone had to be ready for the unthinkable, to save the hides of
the rich bastards if one of them made a critical error.

The three men he
was leading settled into the blind, setting their rifles on the edge and
looking through their scopes.  Two of the men, a balding fat man and a thin as
a rail elder, were clumsy in their movements.  The third handled himself and
his weapon with quiet efficiency. 
The Marine
, thought Cornelius,
nodding at that man with approval.  He was a distant cousin of the Duke, and a
serving captain in the Imperial Marines.  And the only one to treat Cornelius
or his father like they were actual human beings.

[Only fire at
the ones I designate as targets] sent Cornelius over the com link.  The Captain
acknowledged immediately.  The other two stared at him like he was a pack
animal that had just learned to talk.

And then they
waited.  Several herbivores, from delicate antelope like beasts to plodding
armored things that weighed twelve tons, appeared at the river bank to drink. 
The bald man raised his rifle to shoot at one of the later, and Cornelius
grabbed his barrel and pushed it down.

“How dare you,
you common pig,” said the fat man.

[We’re here to
get Kings] he sent over the circuit. [If you want a Parson’s Rhino, then by all
means we’ll take you on a hunt for one.   But these other gentlemen are here
for Kings.]

[Ease up,
Humphrey] sent the Marine, putting a hand on the fat man’s arm and squeezing
until the other guy groaned.  [I want a King.  And I won’t hesitate to mount
your fat hide on my wall if I don’t get one.]

Humphrey nodded
his head, and the waiting began.  Eventually something rustled the bushes, and
a heavy dark form came loping out of the foliage.  It stopped, crouched down on
its six legs, while its ears moved independently to scan the area.  Its striped
coat of purple and red moved with the play of muscles.  Cornelius admired the
animal as it bent down to drink, knowing that this was not one they were
after. 
It’s still a baby
, he thought of the six hundred pound beast. 
Which
means momma and the others are around here somewhere
.  He didn’t want them
to shoot a baby, or a mother that was still taking care of the young and
teaching them to hunt.  This one was more independent than his littermates, and
had come on ahead.  He scanned the jungle up from the river, hoping that a big
male would appear.  Kings hunted in prides, and where there were young, there
were sure to be adults.

The young King
at the river howled, and Cornelius swung his rifle to get a look at it in his
scope.  The animal was falling to its knees, blue tinted blood staining its
beautiful coat.

“I told you not
to shoot at anything I didn’t designate as a target,” he said, pulling the
rifle out of the fat man’s hands.

“But it was
standing right there, you low born ape,” growled the man.

“It was a juvenile,”
said Cornelius, staring into the man’s eyes without flinching, making the noble
recoil.  “They are protected by law.”

“It looked big
enough to me,” said the man, looking down.

“Look out,”
yelled the tall thin man, and Cornelius turned in time to see an enormous
female King Tiger come running at the blind.  He quickly got behind his rifle
and pulled the trigger, sending a dark red beam into the jungle.  A tree
exploded from a hit, and the guide pulled the beam into the carnivore.  With an
explosion of flesh and blood the beast went down.

“That was the
momma,” said Cornelius, glaring back at Humphrey.  “The daddy will be out there
as well, and now he will be hunting us.”

“So if we shot
him wouldn’t she hunt us?” asked the thin man.

“It doesn’t work
that way.  If we killed the male the mother would have run off with the young
to protect them.  That’s her instincts.  But the male will seek revenge for his
mate, that’s the way he’s wired.”

“So what do we
do?” asked Humphrey, his face a mask of fear.

“We stay put,
and wait for the air rescue car to come to us.  And hope maybe the male does
something stupid, and puts himself in our sights.”

“Is he likely to
do that?” asked the Marine Captain.

“Not really,”
said Cornelius, shaking his head.  “He’s most likely waiting out there in the
jungle for us to come to him.  He saw what happened to his mate, or at least
what remains of her.  He knows what we can do, and will try not to attack where
we can get a shot at him.”

“How smart are
these things anyway?” asked the Marine, the only one who seemed to be keeping
his head.

“Not as smart as
us.  But a lot smarter than your house cat.  They can reason enough to make
them dangerous.”

So they waited,
until the com came in from the rescue craft, which put down in the small
clearing near the river.  The door gunner kept the other side of the clearing
covered while Cornelius led his charges to the car.  They were almost there
when a roar erupted from the jungle and five tons of angry male King Tiger came
charging out.  Cornelius tried to get his weapon around in time, realizing that
he wasn’t going to make it, and the animal was headed right for him.  The crack
of a hypersonic pellet sounded, and the beast staggered, then fell as another
round struck it in the center of its chest.  The carnivore fell, and Cornelius
turned to see the Marine Captain standing in a shooter's stance, his mag rifle
to his shoulder.

“That was great
shooting, my Lord,” he said to the noble.  “And thank you.”

“At least we
have our trophy,” said the Captain, looking over at the other two nobles.  “Or
at least I have mine.”

On the ride back
to the manor the other nobles stared at Cornelius with hostile looks, and he
heard whispers about how they were going to complain about the hunt, and how
the gamekeeper had bungled it.

“And I will tell
my cousin that you fools almost ruined it for us all,” said the Captain,
smiling at Cornelius.  “I had a marvelous time, and I will name you both
cowards if you say anything at all.”

The rest of the
flight was in total silence, and Cornelius realized that not all nobles were
bad after all.  Just the majority.

*    
*     *

“So what the
hell do you think I had to do with it?” asked Cornelius, looking across the
table at the three interrogators, one from the factory management, one from the
police, and one from the Baron himself.

“Directly,” said
the Baron’s man, “nothing.  But we understand that Parker Murphy was not only
your line mate, but your friend as well.  And that you were there the night he
talked about getting back at the Baron.”

“He didn’t say
he wanted to get back at the Baron,” said Cornelius.  “He called the people
over him bastards, but he never said he was out for revenge.”

“And you didn’t
think to tell anyone about the incident at the bar?” asked the detective.

“You all
arrested him,” said Cornelius, trying to keep his voice calm.  “I would think
you would know what he said.  I gave a statement to your men.”

“But you didn’t
tell us,” said the manager, pointing his finger at Cornelius.  “We might have
been able to prevent the sabotage if we had been given advanced warning.”

“What did you
want me to do?  He didn’t work here anymore, and he didn’t make any direct
threats.  This is a free society, or at least I thought it was, and we are free
to speak our minds.”

“Do you like
working here?” asked the manager.  “Any complaints you would like to voice?”

And lose my
job
, thought Cornelius, shaking his head. 
Not me.
  “I have no
complaints.  You have been very good to me.”

“And have you
had any contact with Mr. Murphy since that night?” asked the detective.

“None,” said
Cornelius, knowing he was telling the truth, but still nervous under the
scrutiny of the other men.

“It would be a
good idea if you kept your distance from Mr. Murphy,” said the Baron’s man. 
“That’s all.  We’ll call you in if we need to talk with you some more.”

Cornelius walked
out of the room with mixed feelings, fear and anger.  This was supposed to be a
free society, where people could live their lives as they liked. 
But it’s a
lie.  Live like a free man and they can slap you down.  Maybe not legally, but
they control the economy.  Maybe it’s not such a bad idea, leaving the core
worlds and going to the frontier.

An incoming call
chirped on Cornelius’ link as he was flying home.  The connection showed him
his father as on the line. 
Wonder what he wants.  I’m going to see him in a
few days anyway.  Hope the hunt isn’t off. 
“Hey, dad.  What’s going on?”

“I have some bad
news, Cornelius,” said the sad voice of his father.  “It’s your sister.

“What happened
to her?” asked Cornelius with a sinking feeling. 
She got caught, her and
Larry.  How the hell did they think they could get away with it.

“The police came
for her today at her job,” said his father.  “And Larry as well.  They were
arrested for illegal procreation.”

“Do you know
what’s going to happen?”

“I don’t know,
son,” said the elder Walborski.  “I’ve contacted a lawyer, but what he told me
really doesn’t get my hopes up.”

“Mind wipe,”
said Cornelius in a quiet voice.

“We can hope
not, but I’m afraid that’s a possibility.”

“Are you still
going to do the hunt?”

“I’m obligated
to it,” said his father.  “If you want to bow out, that’s fine.  I can get
another man to help.”

“No,” he said,
shaking his head, then looking at the cityscape passing below.  “Katlyn lost
her job with the Baroness, and I need to make up that loss.”

“Why didn’t you
tell me?” asked his dad.

“Was there
anything you could have done about it?”

“Maybe,” said
his dad quickly.  “Probably not.  I don’t know.  Did the Baroness say she was
going to blackball her.”

“That was the
impression I got, dad.”

“Then probably
not.  At least not at the moment.  Give me a little time and I might be able to
get her on with someone else.”

The next day his
father got in touch with him again, and gave Cornelius the news he had been
dreading.

“Mind wipe,”
said his father in a hushed voice.  “She’s gone to us.”

“Didn’t take
them long, did it?” said Cornelius in a growl.

“The evidence
was irrefutable,” said his father with a sob.  “She was pregnant, and there was
only one way that could have happened.  So they aborted the baby and took away
her memories, and those of Larry.  We’ve lost her, son.  The body is still
alive, but there is nothing there that connects her to us.  I’m glad your
mother isn’t here to see this.”

And I wish
she was
, thought Cornelius.  Mom had died years ago, in an aircar accident
that hadn’t left enough of her around to reconstruct, unless they resorted to
cloning, which, of course, was highly illegal.  Cornelius still missed her
terribly, as he was sure his father still did, as he had not sought any kind of
female company since her death.  But his father also had a point.  The sentence
would have ripped the heart out of their mother.  Mind wiped offenders were
given new personalities, with new lives, and families were not permitted to
have contact with them.