Chapter 4

The Search Is On!

Riding on the back of a horse for two weeks, wearing leather armor in the hot sun while you head south is a hell of a way to be a Hero. It had been two nights out on the road without a tavern. Some Hero I was! A little discomfort had me whining like a twelve year old wanting a hot meal and a bath.

You could take the earth man out of the twenty-first century but not the twenty-first century out of the earth man. The thoughts of a Holiday Inn and a Denny’s nearby amused me as we continued our leisurely pace. I chuckled at the thought of Moons over my Hammy. I had never even actually eaten it, but somehow it struck me as funny then.

Ruby came over with a knowing look. “You’re having a flashback to Earth aren’t you?”

“Yes, A hotel with a soft bed and the thoughts of a restaurant.”

“Aunt Alice said the General would have them when he was on a long adventure.”

“So I’m not going crazy?”

“No, it’s normal for the Hero to experience it. At least that is what the General had told Aunt Alice.”

“So tell me about Beth Caretaker. Is she beautiful like all the rest of the women on Cassandra?”

That got the attention of Sammy and Joe, and they moved closer to listen to my description of Beth, her beauty, strength, knowledge and poise. I felt the need to be with her, and I could sense something brewing with the three women I was with.

I knew that having them was out of the question. I was a ship passing through their lives and the rules were the rules, no gray areas to exploit. While they were women of Chaos and knew their place, discussing the advantages for Cassandra in the terms of status and education had a grass is greener pull for them. Life for women on Chaos was not easy. That is why this adventure was so important to them. With a Hero on an adventure they were free of those disadvantages for a while.

I began to understand why Samuel had taken people with him. Sure with all of his experience and fighting abilities he could have likely survived and accomplished his mission. But for the people of Chaos and the women in particular this was the escape from what was a bleak existence.

Tim came riding up at that point. “We need to get off the road and into those trees, now!”

We didn’t stop to question; we just did. Moreover, when he had worked us back we saw why. There was a group of riders coming down the road. They were riding in formation; we did not see anything that resembled uniforms. They passed where we went off the road and continued on their way.

Tim navigated us through the woods and found a stream. We crossed it and he continued on until he found a rocky stretch.

“We need to get off and cover the hoofs of the horses.”

“What is going on, Tim?” I asked.

“I am not exactly sure, there were sentries out, but they didn’t have uniforms. I have a bad feeling is all.”

“Well you have kept us out of trouble, so I’ll go with your feeling.”

We covered the hoofs and walked the horses out off the rocks and back towards the stream. Once we were in the middle of it Tim went back and worked on covering what little evidence of where we had gone into the stream.

He and I led the way, and once we were a little way ahead of the women I asked, “So what is it?”

“They aren’t an army but they act like one. I don’t know exactly but it’s better if they don’t know we’re here.”

“That is going to be difficult since I have to find Jessica and rescue her.”

“We just need to be careful.” I could see he was scared but trying to hide it.

We traveled in that stream for an hour before he found a rock outcropping for us to exit on. The women got of their horses and helped him scrub off the prints the horses had made on the rocks and wash them away with water from the stream.

I kept a watchful eye for anything or anyone out there. Then they went back and added dirt and leaves back on to the rock. This was more than just a little concern. His fear was spreading to the others.

Samuel had taught me that fear was a good motivator but a poor way to live while on a mission. You would get predictable and that could cost you dearly.

I called for lunch after we had gotten away from the stream. We didn’t talk but ate in silence listening for anything out of the normal. It remained quiet and we finished our lunch putting everything back. We took the coverings off the horses hooves and went on our way. The stream had led us away from the road so it took some time before we were back on the road and then Tim was out front of us again.

“Why did we do all of that?” Ruby asked.

“Tim thought we needed to.”

Sammy and Joe came closer. “He is really scared. We have never seen him like that ever,” Sammy said.

“It’s good to be scared sometimes, but we won’t continue that way. Cautious, yes; scared, no.”

Tim came back about an hour later and told us there was a town up ahead. We were in town before sundown, the horses in the stable, our rooms secured with our supplies in them. We had been to the stores, acquired more supplies and brought them back to the rooms.

We sat in a corner of the dining room and were eating when the owner came over. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Why?” Tim asked.

“The clan riders came through yesterday. If they had found you with them three women they would have killed you and taken them. That’s the way they work since they first started coming through.”

“How long have they been coming through?” I asked.

“Over two years now. Hey, you’re one of them aren’t you?”

“One of whom?” I asked.

“You are, I can tell if from your talk. A good ear I have. You’re after the cock burner,” His chest sticking out with pride at that.

“And if I am?”

“They stopped in yesterday on their way through. Overheard them saying she was worthless for anything but work and her mouth.”

“Do you know where she is?”

“From what they said it sounded like the old Han’s place. Called it something else but they took it over and ran off the family.”

“Why are you being so free with your information?” Tim asked.

“Self-interest. They will make us clan or kill all the men in the town and take the women into the clan. Would rather they didn’t do either.”

“I can understand that,” I agreed.

“This all you have to fight them with?” He was looking at the four of us.

“Did not know they were this way or had that many with them.”

“Lots more of them down south a ways, but they are expanding like I said.”

“What are your plans?” I asked.

“Thinking about moving north, lot of us here are. Ain’t right, but we don’t want to be with or like them.”

“If there are that many of them down south, they would send more if these ones ended dead somehow.”

“Most likely, that would be right. I need to be getting back to the kitchen.”

After he left, we discussed it over. It would be a challenge getting her from them. Too many to fight. If we tried to trade for her, they might just kill us and take Ruby, Sammy and Joe, and if we took her, they were sure to chase after us. The first choice was suicide, the second was not far from it and the third would have us running for our lives.

We retired to our rooms where I spent a night tossing and turning, working at it in my mind.

Over breakfast Ned the tavern owner told us how when they went on patrols like this, there were only the overseers on the farm.

They may have been clan, but they were slavers first and foremost. I was simply outmanned and outgunned. I had to have a strategy that would tip the odds in my favor.

We stayed in town and I tried to remember the stories about the other Heroes that I had read about in Samuel’s house. I needed some weapon on my side to take out the clan, but I didn’t want to kill the slaves.

We were eating lunch when the idea came to me. Dysentery: it would make everyone sick and allow us to escape without being chased down immediately. The key was how to get them infected without the slaves also suffering from it. As I sat and pondered, I bit into my sandwich and it came to me.

It was the food; if it was like most slave cultures on Earth the slaves fixed the food for the masters. If they contaminated the masters’ food and not theirs it would work. Since I was sure they didn’t eat at the same table, and that they had owned the slaves for so long they likely didn’t have anyone who tested their food before they ate it.

The only problem was how to get the word to the slaves and to make sure all the guards ate that food while none of the slaves did.

We discussed the plan and waited until after dark to head out. We made our way south and tied the horses up a mile away from where Ned said the farm was and slowly hiked to it. Ned’s information was correct. There were only a few people who looked to be in charge moving around.

On the outskirts of the farm we could see there wasn’t much in the way of light at the houses. The slaves were locked down in some building off to the side of the main house and there was one house for the guards just to the side of that. That we deduced from the guards coming and going while the other remained locked up tight.

I fought the urge to have Tim take me with him. He was the sneak and I did not want to hamper him in any way. My mission to rescue Jessica was now a mission to rescue many. That was a shift in the dynamics of what I would need to accomplish afterwards, but if we had complete surprise it would work. I hated having an ‘if’ be the key to all of this, but I saw no way to change that.

He left to do his sneaking and was back a little over an hour later. He had talked with Jessica; she was the main cook. He told her of the plan, and she assured him she could and would make it happen. That she was the cook was simply luck but I was not opposed to having it.

She told him the men who had been gone on a clan gathering were due back in three days. If custom was followed, they would all get drunk and then take all the new slaves they brought with them.

That would be the best time to feed them. Holding up the dinner for a while would have them drinking more on empty stomachs which would help to dull their minds. They would bring the food to the guards assigned to guard duty. By late evening the cramps would have taken effect and by morning they would be so weak the slaves could almost walk away.

We were back at the tavern before it closed and had a tankard of watered wine before bed. Tim checked the rooms out again, and we turned in after making certain that they were all secure.

We kept out of sight to ourselves and in our rooms the next two days. Right on schedule the third day the clan came riding through town. They had a wagon full of women with them. It was hard to let them go and not try to free the women knowing what was in store for them that evening. Even so, if we were to rescue them and the others, it had to happen. That didn’t make it any easier to accept.

That night we took all of our supplies and packed the horses with them. We bid out farewell to Ned, and I said, “You may want to think about moving sometime soon.”

He nodded his head and we left. When we arrived back at our lookout position the revelry was all over the farm. It seemed all the female slaves were being taken in some fashion. The guards on picket duty were more concerned with what was going on at the house than keeping watch.

They changed watches at 2:00 and we could hear the guard groaning. We heard him take down his pants and the unmistaken sound of loose bowels. His relief never showed up, and he was disorientated and feverish when we found him. We dispatched him and then went down to the farm.

The slaves were locked up so Tim went and opened the lock on the door. They slowly came out, helping the new ones that had been newly captured and abused last night.

At first, it was calm and orderly as they got comfortable with the guards not being around. Jessica had come to us and when she found out I was the Hero who had come to rescue her, she stayed by my side.

Slowly, we lost control as the slaves, now free of the oppression, became the oppressor and went to extract their vengeance. It became a rampage and then a slaughter that I and the others were unable to control. I had forgotten one of the rules that Hero Greg had written of: Freedom lost and regained will be revenge taken if not tightly controlled.

Releasing them all at one time was a loss of control on my part, and they took their revenge on their captors, to the point they hunted down the ones in the fields who had stood guard and dragged their dead bodies back to the compound. It was a way of life on Chaos but as the Hero I should have controlled it better; I needed to have them work on our escape, not take vengeance.

The adrenalin that had fueled them ran its course, and they crashed when it vanished from their bodies. There was much weeping and screams. I should have expected it, but it was still unsettling. Ruby was the one who got order restored. She and Jessica went to the kitchen. After they had cleaned everything and exchanged the cooking water, they began cooking a breakfast for the rest.

Once fed the mood changed and the tasks of getting the ready to travel started. I sent Tim and Sammy into the house and barracks to gather all we could in the way of valuables. I got Joe to first search and then move all the bodies that had been on guard duty into the slave quarters. I had another problem on my hands now. How could I make the clan think that nothing out of the normal for Chaos had happened here and not follow us? Then, I had the issue of feeding all of these people and how to transport them somewhere safe.

I was going to have to delegate a lot of this in a hurry. I saw a large man walking around just then; he had blood on his hands and his clothes. “Who are you?” I called out to him.

“I am Olaf, Sir. Are you one of the ones who freed us?”

“I am, call me John. But if we do not find a way to transport all of these people none of us will be free for long. Can you work on getting us some transportation? Take whoever you need to make that happen.”

Ruby and Jessica had come back them. “If we are taking them all we need away to feed them and care for the injured,” Ruby said.

I pointed to Olaf and said. “Tell Olaf what you need from him.”

It became a production. Olaf got people to help him. Ruby and Jessica got people to help with the food. Before long we had most of everything we needed to make the trip. Tim came out of the house carrying a chest. Sammy and Joe were working with the injured women helping to get them in wagons for the trip.

“Tim, what do you use to signal there is the plague or some other disease at a house or farm?”

“They hang a yellow flag out so people know to stay away.”

“If everyone dies do they burn the place to the ground?” You could see the eyes light up.

“Yes, they do.”