Argel: Book Three - Resolutions

Argel

Book Three

Resolutions

By B.B. Humphrey

Copyright 2013

Smashwords Edition

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All characters and situations in this novel are entirely fictional and any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Copyright © B.B. Humphrey 2013

All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work.

Chapter One

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In the late afternoon, eleven days after leaving Ercwlff, the Owena made camp in the shade of a rugged mountain. Precious water burbled down its side, forming a shallow pool. The women freed the trahern from the wagons and led them into the water. The animals rolled around grunting in pleasure.

Above, several Ssh’fah scouts watched the women. Vala glanced up and muttered to her partner. Filthy lizards.

Mali shrugged as she threw wood into the fire. As long as they stay up there, I’m satisfied. A meal will be ready soon. I’m going to check to see if everything’s in good order.

Vala squatted against one of the wagon wheels and watched her troops. Proud of them, assured of their abilities, she would pit them against any man. Except the Ssh’fah. There would be no fighting on this job. They would have to carry out this rescue by sleight of hand and luck. Although, uncomfortable with this mission, still Vala maintained confidence her Owena wouldn’t let her down. I hope the sky woman is half as smart and tough. She’ll have to be to pull off this stunt.

What kind of woman would be stupid enough to allow the Ssh'fah to capture her? Surely, the sky army, or whatever she came from, teaches their women self-defense. Any self-respecting Elfin woman would kill herself before becoming a prisoner of the Ssh’fah. Maybe she hadn’t heard the horror stories about what happens to women, and men, captured by these devils. She shuddered when thinking of the condition in which they might find this woman after arriving at the Ssh’fah camp. Would there be enough human left in her to bring back to Crisiant, and would Cymry still want her?

A woman with garishly painted face, in a clown suit, leaned from the wagon. Talking to yourself again, Vala. You know what people say about that.

"I’m dreading what we might find, if we find her alive. I suppose there’s no point in guessing, because she is a woman and our vow is to rescue, protect, and value all women.

David and Troy crept from Crisiant so early, they only heard the banging of pots in the kitchen. David grinned, thinking how he convinced Troy to come along on his mad mission. His friend was not a man to take chances or be interested in frivolity, such as this planned excursion in front of them. It was another indication of Troy’s enormous changes since coming back to Argel. Even his appearance seemed different. His body, usually stiff, had relaxed and his head swung side-to-side taking in the activities of Atol coming to life. A small smile lit his face, and his steps were jaunty.

Upon their first landing on Argel, Troy, an uptight, one-dimensional man lost his cynicism about psychic abilities when the Great Oaks forced communication into his mind. Seeing a beautiful Lako woman caused him to lose his heart. Participating in a war, he acquired courage and pride in his abilities. David knew how frightening such rapid changes for a stuffy man of science must be, because of his own confusion. He too suffered from dramatic changes.

Troy took a deep breath. Man, I love this air. If only it could be imported to the Adventurer.

David inhaled the air, expanding his lungs. The clean, crisp aroma contrasted sharply with the canned taste of the ship’s air. Yep, you’re right and Argel offers much more that would make the ship more livable.

Are you as worried as I am about Kyla? Everyone behaves as if she will not survive her abduction by those wild desert men.

If anyone can, as capable as Kyla is, she’ll make it back. I wonder about those Owena women. From the reactions of the royals, they have confidence in their ability to rescue our comrade

Troy grunted. They certainly look tough enough. That tall, rusty-haired woman looks as if she could whip your ass.

You’re talking about Vala? She’s their leader.

They had to step from the cobbled street for a caravan of trahern pulling wagons of farmer’s goods to the market. A pungent odor followed the large animals as they lumbered past. The thick-headed, long-nosed creatures with their floppy ears made David chuckle. That’s a strange looking animal. Looks like a small mutated elephant.

Continuing their stroll, David said, Yes, I’m really worried about her. She is a strong and capable woman, but when I think of Vala’s reaction, I fear she’ll be left damaged in ways that cannot be fixed. I keep thinking of the training vids showing what happened to the men that landed on the Sc’fad planet. There was not enough left of their bodies to fill a scavenger bird’s belly.

Troy shuddered. I refuse to think of that.

As they ambled down the hill from town, the rover came into view in the meadow that had been so beautiful before animals, wagons, and soldiers rutted and crushed it during the war with the Ssh’fah. Troy leaned over, picked up a bruised piece of greenery, and held it to his nose. At least it still smells of lavender even with all the animal leavings.

David crawled into the rover and sat behind the controls. Troy settled in the seat beside him and fidgeted, an anxious look on his face. It’s not necessary to scare the hell out of me flying this thing; after all, I’m doing you a favor.

The flight went smoothly until they came to the dangerous wind currents of the Keenan Mountains. David’s knuckles whitened as he strained to hold the rover steady. Thank Creation. It is not this difficult to fly in space. He glanced over at Troy who watched the ragged heights and for once seemed relaxed, unconcerned about safety. He turned to David and asked, How are we going to get back across this turbulence without it injuring the baby unicorn?

There’re soft rags in back. We’ll tie her legs so she can’t stumble about.

You said ‘her’ and ‘she.’ Are you telling me, not only do we have to find a unicorn, we have to check if it’s female?

Well, Eres’ foal is male. David laughed inwardly at Troy’s ignorance. Another male will cause problems. He winked suggestively. But in time, a female will make him a very happy boy.

The sexual innuendo caused Troy to raise an eyebrow. When we get back to the ship, we should hold a seminar for the pilots on the many creative ways to use a rover. Can you imagine the reactions we’d get if we landed on ship with a unicorn on board?

No, I can’t. But a male rhosynhorn would make a great impression, wouldn’t it.

Abruptly, they left the mountains behind. David leaned forward and pointed. Look. To starboard, a pristine meadow came into view. A cluster of lakes nestled near its center reflecting the cloud-filled blue sky.

Magnificent! It is beautiful. Like the meadow around the Nairne River, but so much more expansive. I wonder why it isn’t settled.

I don’t know, but if I get to stay I’d like to build a ranch here and raise goldenhorns.

You could do that; after all, the King promised us land. You could choose this area.

I’m going to land as near the biggest lake as possible. David flipped a few switches and the vehicle gradually dropped. Where there’s water, animals will come to drink.

The rover settled on the ground and tall grass almost covered the windows. Look at that! Troy stared all around. This would feed more herds of animals than exist on this whole planet. What now?

Grab some water jugs and get out. We’re going to do a low crawl to that small mound by the lake.

Once on their bellies in the grass, David had to snicker while Troy heaved and struggled to keep up, often stopping to scratch. David whispered, What’s the matter with you?

This is damn uncomfortable. And, itchy. I’m not a snake.

No, you’re a big-game hunter—no longer a mild-mannered lab rat.

Oh, shut up.

At the top of the mound, David murmured, Try to make yourself as comfortable as possible without stirring the grass.

Creepy-crawlies are on me.

Quiet.

Time passed slowly and the sun dropped to the west. David rubbed his eyes and kept watch. He‘d seen fourteen species of small animals he could not identify, but no unicorn. He was grateful that Troy, in spite of his misery, fell asleep. They lay there so long, he also began to nod off. His head slumped, causing him to jerk awake and view the lake. Jaw dropped, he fumbled for his weapon. Damn, I left it behind. Oh, Creation! Of course, there are predators. On Argel, it is easy to think everything is perfect. The war with the Ssh’fah should have hammered that out my head. Please stay asleep, Troy.

The male lion lounged by the lake, picking his claws with a fang. From the distance David viewed, he looked like a beautiful, stuffed toy. Six females lay around him grooming one another. Huge black birds perched on branches waiting for the next delicacy left by the lions. David shuddered at the thought of goldenhorns providing food for these creatures. Hydds across the lake drank while keeping their eyes focused on the cats. Standing, the male grunted and yawned. The hydds bolted.

David held his breath. Please don’t come this way. The huge lion nonchalantly strolled in the direction of the fleeing hydds, his pride following.

The presence of lions confused him. Why were they here? The ship that discovered Argel must have been a regular zoo.

Almost ready to give up on the goldenhorns, he decided to return to the rover, but then the clean-limbed, elegant creatures came into sight. A herd of unicorns stepped their way down the small slope in single file. A mare in the lead, paused a short distance from the water. The rest of the herd stopped behind her as her careful gaze inspected the grass along the bank. She was a deep red-brown, almost mahogany in the red light of the setting sun. They were stunning, but did not appear as healthy as Llyr and Eres. Sunlight sparked off golden horns as they dropped their heads to the water.

He shook Troy.

What?

Careful not to disturb the grass—look by the lake.

Troy separated the grass in front of his face and stared. Beautiful. And look at the different colors. I assumed they would all be black or white. Shades of twirling asteroids, look at the gold one standing say off in the distance there on the hill. It seems to be watching over the herd.

That’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s the man of the house and guards his women. We’re in luck. I see at least five gravid mares ready to birth. David felt something trying to crawl on his back and brushed it back impatiently.

What’re we going to do, wait for one to be born?

Right, and maybe more than one. His visitor snuggled between his elbow and chest. Silky hair brushed his neck and David rolled over to investigate. Holy Creation, Troy, look at this critter.

Ignoring the excitement in David’s voice, still watching the goldenhorns, Troy said, Oh no, we’ll be here forever. Look, they’re leaving. He glanced over, finally realizing his friend sounded odd. What is that thing?

I don’t know, but it’s friendly. The foot-long creature’s belly barely cleared the ground—its legs were so short. Its big eyes glittered and it scrambled around investigating everything with which it came in contact. Standing on its back feet, it nibbled David’s ear.

You’re crazy letting that thing touch you. What are we going to do about the goldenhorns?

Wait. They’ll be back before dark. Horses in the wild tend to drop foals near the same time in the spring, and they like to be near water when they do. I expect the unicorns behave much the same. They’re gone now. Let’s go back and get comfortable in the rover.

They stood and he leaned over to pat the little creature. Goodbye, little fellow.

Unnoticed, as they meandered to the rover, the little animal followed in his back-humping gait. It leapt inside after them, its feet hitting the slippery plas floor and slid across the rover hitting the wall. It made a chittering sound and ran around to investigate every inch of the rover.

David felt grateful for the cool air in the rover and for the sandwiches they brought.

Troy spoke through a mouth full of sandwich. I didn’t know unicorns existed. Do you suppose they are some mutation from horses the first ship brought?

Maybe, I don’t know much about evolution or genetics. I guess after some scientist of that flavor gets here, they can check out that possibility.

Troy released a shuddering sigh and David asked, What’s wrong?

It doesn’t seem right to be doing this while Kyla is suffering, Creation knows what. I wish we could do something.

Yeah, me too. I don’t know if half of the horror stories we hear about what people suffer after being captured by the Ssh’fah is true . . . damn, I wish we could get help from the ship.

After the snack, they both napped until David awoke with a fur collar, his neck sweating. He pulled the sleeping animal from his neck and shook the snoozing Troy. Time to go. Bring your dart gun this time. I’ll bring binoculars.

When they reached their viewpoint again, Troy said, Hey, that wasn’t too bad. I could get good at this hunting business.

David looked at Troy with interest.

One eyebrow arched, a newly acquired affect. What?

Do you realize your whole personality has changed?

Troy looked thoughtful for a minute and then smiled. Right.

David could hear Troy busily scratching. Oh God! Oh, shit!

Jerking around, David muttered, Whisper. Then he saw a two-foot high creature staring into Troy’s face, not a hand-span