Chapter 432

The Prison Planet

“ ... It’s gonna fucking rain,” he said as he stared at the thick clouds that covered the entire sky. “Shit. Shit. Shit. I’m gonna lose my oats if it rains on them again.”

“Look at those clouds,” he told Lobo as they both stared skyward. “They’re low and thick from horizon to horizon – if we could see the horizons with all these trees,” he amended. “I don’t know much about the weather on this planet, but you can bet this isn’t going to be just a summer storm. When it starts, it’s going to rain for a while. I don’t think the cane will be hurt, but the oat shocks will never dry out after it rains on them for a week.”

Lobo probably didn’t understand all that his friend said, but with their mental connection, Morales had apparently conveyed enough to make the big beast worry.

The two hurried through their morning routines outside and were soon back in the cave. Morales fed the chickens a few handfuls of grain before stuffing his pockets with jerky. He hooked the rolling cases together and told the wolf, “Come on. We’ll eat on the way.”

After the cases were out of the passageway, he went back to put the bars up. Gertrude and her brood, along with Abigail and Hortense, were all lined up waiting to go out. “Sorry, Ladies, but I’m going to leave you inside today. I have no idea when the rain is going to start, but I know it will be sometime soon.”

He doubted they understood his words, but when he put the bars up, they went back to their nest area and started scratching in the dirt.

As he and Lobo began hurrying toward the oat field, he told his friend, “I know the chickens are used to living outside, but there’s little protection inside the brush fence, and I’m still worried about the bears. At least, inside, the chickens can flee on into the cave. Oh, I know the hens could fly away outside, but the chicks can’t, and I suspect the hens would die trying to save Gertrude’s brood.”

Glancing again at the ever-thickening clouds, his tension went up even more. “I need the oats to feed the chickens during the winter, and by damn, I am going to get as much as I can before the rains start.”

Lobo, picking up on the human’s tension, loped on ahead to check for danger, then after a bit, circled back to give the all clear. Morales, trusting the wolf, broke into a shambling jog each time he reached a smoother section of the trail, the rolling cases sometimes bouncing along behind him, but they never quite tipped over.

At the shallows, he stopped to take his boots off and roll up his pants legs. The stream, having originated in the mountains, was up some and getting colder almost daily.

At the field, he quickly loaded both cases full of the oat shocks and immediately started back for the cave, Lobo again ranging ahead to clear the way.

Back at the cave, he quickly unloaded the cases on the stack of oats he already had, then with a drink of water and another few handfuls of jerky for Lobo and himself, hurried back toward the field.

Thus went the day until late afternoon. This trip, as they were nearing the cave, he smelled rain and could feel mist in the air. No sooner was he inside than a drizzle began and the sky darkened even more. By the time he had the cases unloaded, the drizzle had progressed into a steady rain and the temperature had noticeably dropped again.

Man and wolf stood in the passageway looking out at the rain. Well, I got almost all the oats, and truth be told, I have more than enough to feed the chickens for a year. But it pisses me off to leave any in the field.

His musings were interrupted by Lobo’s whining as he brushed by Morales to stand staring out into the near darkness.

“Trouble, Lobo?” Morales asked, as he brought the crossbow around on its lanyard while trying to see what the wolf had detected.

Lobo looked up at him, whined once, and charged into the rain.

“What the fuck? Where the hell are you going?” Morales called after his friend, but the wolf was already out of sight.

With tension rising, the man stood watching. Several minutes later, frustrated, he went to dig out the rain suit that had come in the resupply case. After donning it and putting his weapon belts back on, he had walked to the end of the passageway just as a wet Lobo trotted back to stand in front of Morales. He figured the wolf would shake himself, so he turned away, expecting a shower, but when nothing happened, he turned back to Lobo. “Where the hell did you go, and what was that about, anyway?” he questioned.

The wolf looked at him, whined and looked back outside, but his hackles weren’t raised, and he wasn’t displaying any signs of danger, nor did Morales sense any tension from him as he usually did when Lobo knew something dangerous was around.

Frustrated, he tried to remain calm. “You never act like this. What’s up, Boy?”

Lobo looked up at the man, then turned to stare into the approaching darkness as a low rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.

Without warning, the wolf charged into the rain again, disappearing into some barely-seen bushes forty yards or so from the cave.

“What the fuck is the matter with you?” Morales called out. “Come back here.” Then, his frustration building, he muttered to himself about stupid wolves as he pulled the rain hood into place and started after his partner. When he neared the bushes where Lobo had disappeared, he heard a low growl that he knew wasn’t Lobo’s. “Oh, shit,” he cursed as he raised the crossbow, but a second later, Lobo appeared in front of him, whining yet again.

Clamping his mouth gently around Morales’ hand, Lobo tried to pull the man away from the dripping bushes while the rain came steadily down.

Morales got the idea and backed up a few paces, but still held the crossbow at the ready. When Lobo continued to stand between Morales and the bushes, he finally realized what the wolf wanted and swung the crossbow around to dangle on its lanyard at his back. Lobo made a noise before turning back to disappear into the bushes as if by magic.

How the hell does he do that? Morales wondered yet again. No way could I force my way in there that easily. Hell, the bushes didn’t even move when he went through them.

Time passed, interspersed by an occasional quiet whine or barely-heard growl, the rain steadily increasing all the while. Impatient, Morales wiped his eyes as water cascaded off the rain hood and trickled across the left side of his face.

Finally, Lobo returned to grab Morales’ hand yet again. “Okay. Okay. I get the idea,” Morales grumbled as he backed off a few yards more. As the wind shifted and the rain increased into a downpour, Morales adjusted his hood to allow him to see a little better. Finally, as night began to creep upon them, he saw a dark form move partway out of the bushes. He had opened his mouth to ask Lobo what was going on, when he realized that there were two barely-seen forms emerging from the brambles.

“Oh, shit,” he whispered.

Lobo made a quiet, almost pleading sound that Morales had never heard the wolf make before, then turned to stare at the man. With a suddenness that was startling, Morales knew that Lobo wanted to bring what was obviously another wolf into the cave. Morales wasn’t sure that was something he wanted to happen. In the near darkness and pouring rain, the trio stood looking at each other for a time. Dammit, he fought for me. I’ve trusted him with my life, Morales thought as he tried to convince himself. But that other wolf is wild. Granted, he isn’t as big as Lobo, but that thing could still kill me in an instant.

Morales and Lobo had a unique history that had evolved into a profound trust, and a system of communication that had developed beyond what they could do verbally. Morales had heard of telepathy, but he wasn’t sure what he and Lobo had could be considered that. Whatever it was, it worked. Lobo isn’t signaling danger either through our bond or his physical actions, but he’s obviously asking me to let the new wolf come into the cave.

The second wolf didn’t seem too pleased to meet a human, either. It growled, but Lobo instantly touched it with his muzzle. The movement didn’t seem to be a threat, and Morales thought it might have been meant as reassurance to the other wolf.

Lobo turned his face to stare at Morales. Finally, with a sigh, Morales backed up a few more steps. Then with the hair on his neck trying to stand up, he forced himself to turn toward the cave. Turning his back on a wild wolf took more than courage; it took strong faith in his partner.

He had already brought up four bear steaks to thaw – two for tonight and two for their breakfast. “Looks like we’re going to have a guest for our evening meal, Ladies,” he told the chickens as he walked inside and removed his rain gear. “Best that you guys stay close by your nests and well away from our visitor,” he said while shooing the chickens back. They must have already smelled the new wolf, because they didn’t approach as they usually did. Rather, Gertrude gathered her brood and moved them back even farther.

Morales began to hurry the thawing of the steaks, then sat to peel a larger pile of potatoes.

A few minutes later, he heard Lobo shake the water off in the passageway, and a second after that, the same sound from the second wolf. Looks like we’re going to have an interesting night, he thought as he raked a big pile of sliced potatoes into a skillet and put them on the fire.

Deep Space – The Scout Ship

“Warning!” the scout’s AI snapped out. “The mining vessels have ceased their search pattern and are accelerating toward us.”

“They have detected us,” Selina said. “Logic would dictate that we should...”

“ ... move aside and not overreact,” Diana finished for her. “Stop to think this through. We know that our stealth has prevented their having detected any energy pulses from us. Right, AI?”

“I have maintained energy expenditures well below the threshold. Other than when the asteroid almost struck the vessel, nothing could have been detected, and even then, most of the energy emission was nullified. Some was above the threshold then, but absolutely nothing since.”

“Set our course ninety degrees to the mining vessels’ direction of travel, and again, keep us well below what our stealth can cover. Stop relative to the alien ship when we are a light minute from our present location.” Then to Selina, “I think they’re highly suspicious that they are being observed and are trying to flush us out, as my husband would say. At my insistence, he has shared some of his combat stories. In one of them, the enemy tried to flush his team out of hiding, but they didn’t fall for the ruse. If the alien search vessels turn toward us as we flee the area, we’ll change direction or warp out if they continue to follow and get too close, but for now, let’s just see what their strategy is.”

“I think...” Selina began, but stopped before she completed the sentence as the thought that experience sometimes trumps intelligence came to mind. I will use this experience to learn from someone older than me, then I will have another modicum of experience to add to my meager amount of life experience.