Exodus: Tales of The Empire: Book 2: Beasts of the Frontier. (4 page)

A large flying
predator swooped low, its leathery wings booming as it caught the sonic
repellor of the car on its nose.  The low gravity and high oxygen content of
this world allowed for large flying creatures, capable of lifting an adult
human into the air an dropping them to their deaths.  Most avoided objects like
aircars, but some of the larger ones saw them as prey, hence the automatic
repulsion systems.  They were still a danger, especially in numbers, since the
repellor system could only engage one at a time.

“We’re almost
there, Aunt Fara,” said fifteen year old Stephen, who like most teens on this
world could use a number of vehicles and devices that teenagers on most
civilized worlds would be forbidden to touch.

“You’re what,
fifty miles from town?” asked Matthew.

“Fifty two point
six, to be exact, Cousin.   Half an hour at cruising speed.  Considerably less
if I push her flat out.”

Stephen looked
forward for a moment, then pushed a few of the panels on the dash.  The car
started to drop, though there really was nothing that looked like a landing
site.  It moved down to a hover about twenty meters over the ground, then slid
forward under the trees.  And there was the landing pad, a construct of
hardwoods, plastics and metals.  The car extruded its landing gear and lowered
itself, coming to a stop with a gentle thump.

“I always
thought Timothy was the crazy brother in Tobias’ family,” said Fara, looking
out of the car’s bubble dome to what looked like more wilderness.

“Dad says a lot
of people think that,” said Stephen as he opened the dome.  “Now it looks like
he wasn’t all that paranoid.”

They climbed out
of the car, the sounds of the Swamp, thousands of animals and insectoids,
almost deafening them.  The sonics from the car kept the buzzing creatures
away, which, unfortunately, could find nutrition in human blood and tissue.   A
lift appeared on the solid ground about twenty meters from the pad, the doors
opening to reveal a cab about two meters square.  As soon as they were away
from the car it started to lower through the pad, taking itself and their
luggage down into the dwelling’s garage.

Most people
living in the wilderness wanted their dwelling to be seen from the air or
orbit.  They wanted the watchers to be able to see them from above, and see if
anything was wrong.  Uncle Timothy was different.  He preferred to depend on
himself and his family, and not have rely on the eye in the sky to watch over
him.  He had taken a refurbished cargo container from a freighter, thirty
meters long by fifteen meters wide, by ten high, a total of four thousand five
hundred cubic meters.  With the addition of the garage unit, a smaller cargo
container, and a mechanical attachment that provided water, power and
environmental, it was a very comfortable house for a large family.

As the lift
opened onto the vestibule that led into the main living area the memories came
flooding back for Matthew.  He had spent eight summers in this house, when he
wasn’t out on the Swamp with his Uncle, who had taught him how to survive, how
the harvest the largess of the continent, as well as how to feed himself.  Part
of that learning experience was the use of weapons, everything from particle
beams to hand made spears.

“Matthew,”
called out his aunt, Timothy’s wife, Sarah Kelvin, running over with open arms
and wrapping them around her nephew.  She gave him a hug, then repeated the
gesture with Fara.  “It is so good to see both of you again.  We have the guest
rooms ready.  Matthew, you will have the bed you used when you stayed with us. 
Fara, you can have the VIP suite.”

Matthew smiled
at that last.  All of the rooms of the house were serviceable, with the
metallic walls that had been installed to separate the spaces.  They had all
the modern amenities, but would not rival any of the luxury hotels in any of
the larger towns.

“I’m so glad
you’re safe,” said Sarah, putting an arm around Matthew’s shoulder.

“I screwed up,
Aunt Sarah,” said Matthew with a grimace, shaking his head.

“You wouldn’t be
the first, son,” said the small woman.  “Plenty of people have tried to get
easy money out of the Swamp.  The important thing is that you’re safe.”

“Thank God for
that,” said his mom, a concerned expression on her face.  “And the sooner this
blows over and we can get you off planet, the better.”

She’s worried
about dad
, thought the young man. 
And so am I.

“I’ve got their
bags,” said Stephen, coming out of the garage annex with a large bag in each
hand, his two younger sisters manhandling a bag each.

“You know where
they go, son,” said Aunt Sarah.  She turned back to her guests.  “Why don’t you
both get comfortable.  Dinner will be ready in an hour.”

Matthew smiled
when he heard that.  His aunt was a much better cook that his mom, and he
hadn’t noticed how hungry he was until she had mentioned food.  He went ahead
and stowed his clothes and effects in the room that had been his during visits,
an ample chamber three by four meters, with a large closet and its own
bathroom.  Space was plentiful on this world, and the only restriction on
building size was the wealth of the builder.  And Uncle Timothy had been a very
successful swamp prospector.

I hope dad’s
OK,
he thought as he sat on the comfortable bed after putting everything
away.  His father didn’t know these people, and probably didn’t really
understand them.  They wouldn’t care that his father was a well-known and well
respected member of the community.  They would only care that he had
information they wanted, and they wouldn’t care about his rights or wishes,
only that they could force him to tell them where his son was.

I should have
stayed in town and faced them myself
, he thought, laying back on the bed
and regretting the decision that he had made that put everyone at risk.

*     *     *

Lorenzo McManus
really didn’t like the Swamp, like most that didn’t live there.  But when
Deveroix told him to jump, the only thing he could do was to tense his legs and
spring into the air.  So now he was sitting at the village’s one diner, waiting
to get the word from his informants that their target was located.  His two
enforcers sat at the table with him, sipping their coffee.

The snitch they
had paid to recon the village came through the entrance, eliciting some sour
looks from the locals in the diner.  Lorenzo guessed the man was not well loved
in this community, one reason he was willing to work with the Mob.

“Matthew is
gone, sir,” said the snitch, sliding into the one open space at the table. 
“Some people saw him get into an aircar earlier today and fly to the
southwest.”

“Dammit.  And
your sources have no idea where he went?”

“No.  And his
mother went with him.”  The snitch looked around for a moment, trying to see if
anyone else in the diner was listening, then turned his attention back to the
Enforcer.  “But his father is still in town.  Still working out of his clinic.”

Lorenzo thought
for a moment.  They could go to the clinic, but there might be other people
there.  It was too public.  “What time does the clinic close down?”

“That depends,”
said the snitch, who knew enough about every business in town to know when they
were open or closed.   Africanus was on a twenty-four hour clock, each hour
sixty-three minutes.  “Most nights they close down about five.  Sometimes a
little later, depending on what’s going on.  And an incoming emergency could
make them open up at any time, day or night.”

“Then here’s
what we’ll do,” said Lorenzo, motioning for his people to lean in so they could
hear him.

*     *     *

Tobias Kelvin
walked up to the door to his house and let the security system look him over
for a few moments before it opened.   The system linked with his implant and
told him that nothing had entered the house since he left, and he waved to his
brother before entering.  Timothy waved back, then turned to go on the
intelligence gathering mission he had talked about earlier, seeing if any
strangers had come into town.

As soon as the
door closed behind him he knew something was wrong.  He could feel a presence
in the house.  But that was impossible.  The security system was state of the
art, and it was guaranteed to either foil any attempt at intrusion, or at least
let him know that someone had defeated it.

“It is so nice
to meet you, Doctor,” said a voice from behind him, where the kitchen was
located.  “Now, keep your hands in the clear.  I would hate for there to be any
misunderstandings.”

Tobias raised
his hands and slowly turned, to see a pair of men standing at the kitchen
entrance, and another out of the corner of his eye in the hallway to the
bedrooms.

“What do you
want?”

“We want to know
where your son, Matthew, is,” said the man who had to be the leader, the only
one without a weapon in hand.  The other two had pistols out, one that looked
like a standard magrail, while the other had the look of something much more
deadly, like a particle beam.

“I don’t know
where Matthew is,” protested Tobias, hoping they would believe the lie and just
leave, though he knew that was unlikely.

“I’m monitoring
your pulse rate, Doctor,” said the leader of the trio.  “I know you’re lying. 
And I understand your concern.  But we mean the boy no harm.  The Boss just
wants to talk to him.”

“And now you’re lying,”
said Tobias with a grim smile.  “And I don’t need a remote monitor to tell that
you are.”

“Well, you got
me, Doc.  Now, tell me where your son is, or you’ll regret it.”

“Not for
anything in the world.  Unlike you bastards, I’ve got a conscience.”

“We have the
means to make you talk, Doc.   Don’t you doubt that for a second that you’ll
tell us what we want to know.  And then you’ll be dead, your wife will be dead,
and any other relatives trying to protect Matthew will join you.”

Tobias shut his
mouth.  He didn’t think anything he had to say would help, and he was sure they
would eventually make him tell them what they wanted to know. 
If only
Timothy were here
, he thought of his older brother.  While Tobias was not
afraid of using a weapon, he was not a warrior like the former Ranger.

“Very well,
Doctor.  The decision is yours, and will be the consequences.”  The leader
looked at one of the men, the one with the magrail.  “Bind him.  We’ll take him
out of here and back to the city.”  The leader walked closer to Tobias as his
man pulled the Doctor’s hands behind his back and bound them with a plastic
strap.  “We’re taking you to our car, Doctor.  If you yell out or try to catch
the attention of anyone, we will kill them.  Understand?”

Tobias nodded,
staring into the eyes of the man and knowing he was a born killer.

“Then let’s go.”

*     *     *

Timothy was
walking back to the house with Jacob at his side after asking down at the diner
and a couple of the shops about strangers in town.  He had the descriptions of
some newcomers who had seemed overly curious moving around town, both at the
diner and at one of the stores.  He had talked to the constable as well, and
let him know what was going on.  Or as much as he could tell him what was going
on without getting Matthew in trouble.

What the hell
,
he thought as he watched his brother being led down the street toward a parking
platform with a large airvan parked to one side.  Tobias’ hands were behind his
back, and one of the men had his hand under a jacket.  It didn’t take a genius
to figure out that his brother was under duress.  Nor to figure out the reason
why.

“Get up on that
roof and cover me,” he told Jacob.  His son nodded and took off, running for
the door of the two story building that was the town’s hotel, hunting rifle in
hand.

“We have an
incident happening near the parking platform,” said Timothy into his com link
to the Constable.  “They have my brother, and are taking him to a van.”

“Don’t do
anything, Timothy,” ordered Constable Farrell.  “I’ll be right there.”

“And they’ll
have taken my brother away by then,” hissed Timothy, unsnapping his pistol
holster and striding toward Tobias and his captors.  “Hey, you.  What are you
doing with my brother?”

The three men
turned toward him, a second one also putting a hand in his jacket, while the
one in the best suit, the obvious leader, moved in front of Tobias.  They
didn’t say anything, but then what could they say?

“Are you in
position, son?” he asked over the com link.

The
acknowledgement came back, and he hoped his son was ready to shoot at least one
of the kidnappers.  The boy had been well trained, but had never taken a human
life, and Timothy knew from experience that it was not an easy thing to do. 
Since his life, and that of his brother, might depend on his son pulling the
trigger, he hoped the young man could do it.  The one thing he didn’t need to
do was to put more pressure on the boy.

“I asked you a
question,” he roared at the kidnappers.  “What the hell are you doing with my
brother?”

*     *     *

McManus didn’t
like the look of the man that was coming toward them.  He definitely resembled
the man they had in their custody.  A little larger, older.  And moving with
the grace of a dancer, or a martial artist.  And holding one hand just off the
butt of a very large pistol holstered at his side.

He’s fucking
augmented
, thought the Enforcer, who had spent time in the Fleet, shuttling
Naval Commandos around.  This guy moved like them.  Naval Commando, Force Recon
or Army Ranger?  It really didn’t matter, they all had similar abilities.  And
this guy carried that gun on his side like he knew how to use it.