Chapter 23: A Plan

The final section of the path to his hideaway cottage was treacherous. Arron picked his way with care. He had left it like that on purpose, to dissuade visitors. The little fisherman's cottage he had purchased was originally built with only access by boat. To ensure it remained secure, and just in case he needed to open the door when he didn't have a key, he had adapted part of his defunct radio transmitter case. The case had been secured with a thumb print lock. He had stripped the lock out before disposing of the case and had installed it in the cottage door. To open his cottage all he had to do was place his thumb over the innocent looking keyhole. The reader was inside so it would read his thumb print and let him in. The primitive society he lived in would never recognize it for what it was so he was confident there was no risk using such a small piece of technology.

He placed his right thumb over the keyhole and the door opened with a click. Arron stepped into his cottage, went to the two seaward facing windows and removed the shutters. He checked the cottage over, and apart from a slight musty smell - due no doubt to his long absence - everything was as it should be.

Arron sighed, removed his new boots he had purchased in the town and flopped on the bed, and for the first time in many months he relaxed. He had purchased some supplies, enough food for a week and he had plenty of fresh water due to the spring behind the cottage. It would give him time to decide what he was going to do next. He had talked to several other people after leaving the inn, using the same cover story, that he had been away overseas for a long while. The picture he had built up was that a band of rogue female Grojan similar to Minara had found the planet and had decided to stay. With their superior technology they had overthrown the royal family and were taking advantage of the Halcyons, living like royalty themselves, or dictators at least. They had been ruthless in their takeover, killing anyone who objected or stood in their way.

He had been told of at least one instance where they retaliated against one objector by wiping out his entire family. He suspected it was just a rogue group so it would make fighting them easier as there would be no others on their way. From what he had heard they were the type who would want to keep their discovery a secret. A part of him wondered if Minara had thrown her lot in with them as well, especially as the Princess had probably been killed.

So, he had three options, and he listed them in his mind:

One, he had his cottage, he could find work, even as a sailor now, ignore what was going on and live a quiet life.

Two, steal their ship and leave.

Three, fight them.

He dismissed option one out of hand since it was not his way to let injustice go unpunished, and he was certainly not one for the quiet life. Option two was really no option, because from what Minara had said Earth no longer existed and a human colony, if he ever found one, which was very unlikely in the vastness of the galaxy, would think he were a Grojan. So that left option three, fight them.

He would then have the option of leaving on their ship or keeping it hidden just in case the planet was found by more Grojan. With a ship he could give them more of a headache than he could otherwise. He had certainly been trained for such a situation by the Intelligence Corps. He had hidden his weapons and even his uniform in a cave in the remote north where he had landed. They were securely locked behind a low level force field keyed only to his DNA. He had considered destroying them along with his communication equipment, but had thought better of it and left them hidden instead. He would have the advantage of surprise on his side as the Grojans would not expect to be attacked by modern technology.

If he succeeded, he would still have the authority as General Arron to bring order back to the country and he had to hope there were some members of the royal family who had survived. So with his decision made and course set he fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.