Free the North! (Free Trader Series Book 5) (2 page)

              Pik Ha’ar – Lizard Man from the ship RV Traveler and friend

              Tup Dal – Lizard Man from the ship RV Traveler, supporter of Pik

The Rabbits

              Ferrer & Brigitte – a Rabbit couple moved from the ship to Vii

              Patrice & Delavigne – a Rabbit couple moved from the ship to Vii

A Helping Paw

“Shoot it!” Braden yelled, waving his arms frantically as the wild boar raced toward his children and the baby Rabbits. An arrow flew from the bow of a young villager whose job it was to watch the fields.

The arrow sailed high as the young man panicked, then fumbled with his quiver, trying to get off a second shot. 

The boar ground to a halt as a small orange ‘cat jumped in front of Braden’s son Axial and stared down the larger beast. It seemed the two were locked in a struggle that Braden couldn’t hear or understand. He stepped to the side to clear his line of fire and pressed the trigger. A narrow beam from his blaster tore through the side of the wild boar. Both Ax and the small ‘cat dropped to their knees. The toddler grabbed his head.

Micah sprinted past Braden, high-stepping through the fields as two fuzzy white Rabbits, waist-high to her, bounded past toward their own youngsters.

Micah slid to a stop in front of her son and kneeled to better look into the eyes of the nearly two-cycle old boy. The small Hillcat strolled by, pausing to rub its face on the boy’s pants before continuing on. It sat nearby, using its paw to scrub at its whiskers.

Braden arrived and took his place next to his partner. Their daughter De’atesh sauntered up, a fuzzy calico ‘cat following her closely. Ferrer and Brigitte, the Rabbits from the spaceship, were hugging their babies, the first of theirs to be born on the planet.

A Hawkoid flew over them, flaring to allow the Golden Warrior to jump from its back and land softly next to the small orange ‘cat. Skirill beat his wings to gain altitude as he headed for a branch nearby.

“What were you thinking?” Braden asked his son.

‘Klytus and I had him, did you see?’
the boy said excitedly in his thought voice, the headache having mostly passed.

Braden and Micah both turned to look at G-War. The large Hillcat sat and stared back at the humans as he casually licked a paw and washed his face, mirroring the complete indifference of his half-Hillcat son.

Micah let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head at the ‘cats.

“Klytus said it’d be okay that both of them take on a wild boar. Because, Klytus…” Braden said sarcastically, letting the statement hang.

“They are both their fathers’ sons. I doubt we’ll ever be able to leave them out of our sight. Ever.” Micah smiled as she tried to be mad, but she was proud of her children. They were fearless, being raised by a menagerie of intelligent creatures who treated others with equal respect, regardless of whether they had fur, skin, or feathers. They were blind to physical differences.

‘Tesh looked at Micah as Ax, once over the short headache and freed from his mother’s embrace, bolted away.
‘Can we go to the river?’
De’atesh asked clearly in her thought voice. By ‘we,’ she meant herself and her bonded half-Hillcat Shauna.

‘If an adult goes with you, sweetheart,’
Micah answered, looking deliberately at Braden.

He took his daughter’s hand and she skipped as he walked toward the nearby river. Shauna ran along behind, her long hair flowing as she raced to catch up.

Seeing the Trade

Greentree had become prominent as the center of all trade in the south. Braden expected that Dwyer should have been since they had the forge complex and were producing steel implements, items that everyone seemed to be begging for. But the Free Trader lived in Greentree and people flocked to him.

Micah was the President and people accepted her as such, even though they didn’t know what it meant. She didn’t intrude on their lives and neither did Braden. He was pleasant at all times, giving instruction about trade and reinforcing the need to read and write. He stored numerous blank journals to share with anyone who wanted to ply the trade routes as a Free Trader.

With nearly every daylight, a wagon was coming or going. The village had quadrupled in size, which required a new Market Square with nice stands for any trader to use. People in the village seemed to be in constant motion, tending the fields or picking up Aurochs droppings for fertilizer, because the Rabbits said there was nothing better on Vii or on the spaceship.

Braden was content. He and Micah had not fired their blasters in a full cycle. The children had passed the age of two and continued to grow far more quickly than normal. They looked to be four cycles old and had the ability to talk almost like a teenager. In some ways, it was scary; in others, it made their parents proud, except for all the problems created by having a teenager in a two-cycle old body. Their bonded ‘cats, although young, looked out for them and thankfully called for help when needed.

Braden thought G-War looked especially smug riding Skirill to the rescue of the boys. Still kittens, the half-Hillcats were maturing quickly, too. G-War expected them to be full size after only a few more moons, and then they could protect the human children themselves, leaving Prince Axial De’atesh out of mischief, mostly of their own making.

A welcoming yell awakened his drifting mind as a trader approached in a wagon pulled by one of the southern Aurochs. A second Aurochs walked alongside, as they always traveled in pairs, even though only one pulled at a time.

Brandt, King of the Aurochs had also decided with the rapid growth of the trade routes, his people would be partnered with a single caravan, becoming an integral and equal member of the team. If there were any issues, the trader would lose their support from the Aurochs herd. This had only happened once, but that solidified it for all. The humans went to great lengths to treat their Aurochs partners well. It helped the trade, too–the Aurochs and traders learned the route together, learned about each other, communicated better, and became good friends.

Friends will do more for each other than business partners.

Braden joined the others as they ran to the trader’s wagon hoping to see their favorite goods available. People cheered as Zeller the Free Trader waved. She was a favorite, being from Micah’s village. With Caleb and Mattie’s liberation of females following Micah’s return, she was the first to seek her fortunes elsewhere, vowing to be a trader traveling far and wide.

Zeller was close with her Aurochs. After spending time with the Golden Warrior, he’d helped her to hear and talk with Arnie, the friendly Toromont Aurochs.

On this trip, she was returning from Westerly and River Crook. She brought a wagonload of flour for the burgeoning bread trade. River Crook had started to grow beets for sugar, but they still needed chickens, for the eggs they produced could bake a better kind of bread. Until then, they counted on the traders to carry their special flat bread.

Each village was finding its market niche. Hand-carved wood, jewelry, and other decorative pieces were starting make their appearances.

Just like in the north.

Braden beamed. Three cycles to get to this point. It could have happened more quickly, but the war held them back. And when the people from the south finally understood and were free to explore the boundaries of free trade, there was no holding them back.

Micah sidled up next to Braden, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him to her. “It is always amazing to see how our world has transformed, thanks to the vision of one person,” she whispered in his ear.

Braden smiled and nodded. It was his view of what the world could become because trading was all he knew. That was why he’d traveled south in the first place, to find trade items and take them back north. Then he met Micah and everything changed, he changed. The world he knew became a bigger place and his role in it took on greater importance, as much as he wanted to remain a Free Trader. He remembered his old vision of clinging to a raft that raced downriver among the rapids and churning water.

‘I’m not sure any of that has changed,’
Micah said over the mindlink.
‘We’re still hanging on. Look at this! And we have kids, as do the rest of our friends. Have we gotten old?’
she asked out of the blue.

Braden looked at his hands, flexing his five fingers on one and three on the other. He dipped, bending his knees, then shook his head. “Nope. Plenty young here.” He looked accusingly at his partner.

She shoved him, almost knocking him down. Micah was younger than Braden, although scarred and hardened from numerous battles, as was he. The past cycle had been free from conflict, but she continued to practice her sword-play daily and improve her mastery of the bow. Chasing after the twins and the children’s minions took the rest of her energy, but neither she nor Braden would have it any other way.

Zeller stood on her buckboard and searched the crowd until she saw Braden and Micah. She pointed, nodded, and waved them to her.

“Who are we to deny a potential trade?” Braden said as he took Micah’s hand and pulled her through the crowd to Zeller’s wagon and where a small supply of smoked sweetened pork was waiting.

Back to New Sanctuary

Braden finished harnessing Speckles to the two-wheeled cart. His stalwart companion had been used by a number of people, but had been returned to him for this trip. Braden was taking his family to New Sanctuary, but the villagers thought they were going to meet their friends on the south side of the rainforest.

This wasn’t technically untrue. No, they hadn’t told people about New Sanctuary yet. That was why they wanted to go, talk with those who lived there, and put the controls in place in case strangers started to arrive, trying to steal the Old Tech.

Braden couldn’t allow that to happen. The survivors from Cygnus VI were unable to defend themselves from a violent attack. One person like Old Man McCullough could overwhelm all of them. The Security Bots were an easy answer, but Braden and Micah didn’t want to risk injuring a trader or a visitor who had no ill intent.

“We’ve always said that people should be able to become the best version of themselves. I’m sure there are people here who would want to learn about the stars, work on building the spaceship, man it whenever it’s ready to launch. We’ve held them away from the Old Tech long enough. I think it’s time we have to trust them, trust that Aadi and Holly have come up with a test that worked.” The Council of Elders had been established using that standard, but it depended on G-War and Aadi together looking deep within each person, looking into their very souls.

It would work as long as they always had a ‘cat and a Tortoid available to act as honest brokers.

Maybe it was that easy. Hillcats would be the final arbiters of someone’s fitness to visit New Sanctuary or to be on the Council of Elders. They needed Hillcats in the south.

‘We’ve been down here for three cycles of the seasons and you’ve just now come that realization?’
G-War said with a sneer in his thought voice.
‘And to think the other humans consider you the smart one. Humanity is doomed, so the sooner we can get some lady Hillcats down here, the better off I will be as I assume my rightful place as the leader of the free world. Hahahahaha,’
he laughed forcefully.

Braden and Micah looked around, finally spotting him on a tree branch near Skirill and Zyena. His four legs dangled as he sprawled, looking as if he were asleep. The Hawkoids had been privy to the conversation and bobbed their feathered heads as they chuckled.

“You are such an ass! I know an old lady with a broom who’s still looking for you, little man,” Braden suggested, drawing his finger across his throat. The ‘cat struggled to lift a paw and shake it at Braden. The human returned the one-finger salute. Then Ax and ‘Tesh started waving their middle fingers in the air, while Shauna and Klytus stood on their back legs trying to look over the cart’s tailgate.

Micah raised her eyebrows at him and nodded toward the children. “Okay, you two, enough of that craziness. We don’t do that in public,” he scolded with a half-smile.

‘You just did,’
‘Tesh stated clearly over their mindlink.

“That’s a special way that G and I communicate. You aren’t old enough yet because it looks bad.” He gave the twins a stern look, but they could see into his mind. He was embarrassed and they caught him. They giggled while their ‘cats used their long claws to latch onto the wood of the gate and pull themselves up, perching precariously on the narrow board. Shauna was small and was able to stand on top, while Klytus was much bigger and not as agile. He toppled out the back of the cart, leaving a long scratch down the wood of the gate. But he landed on his feet as if he meant to do that. Braden scooped him up and tossed him back into the cart before Ax climbed out after him.

“Hey! Watch that,” Braden yelled as the thin line scratched across his wrist started to bleed. He heard G-War’s soft laugh in the back of his mind. “Time to leave! Everyone in who’s going,” Braden barked as he wiped the blood on his pants.

The Hawkoids leapt into the air, gliding downward over the cart and beating their wings once past as they headed for the rainforest road. Aadi floated upward until he could swim into the back of the cart with the twins and their ‘cats. G-War ran down the tree, bounded to the wagon and with one leap, cleared the back gate and landed softly inside the cart. The young ‘cats immediately pounced on their father, the three becoming a single rolling fur ball.

Brandt stood nearby, ready to travel with them. It had been a long time since he pulled a wagon. None of the other Aurochs would allow it since he was the King. He enjoyed his status, but with the additions to his herd came more responsibility. His people were spread along the Plains of Propiscius from nearly one coast to the other. They’d organized themselves into sub-herds out of necessity. A single Aurochs could eat a lot of grass, and nearly four hundred of them could strip a valley bare in no time.