Torian Reclamation 2: Flash Move (6 page)

“There’s a guard blocking the exit,” Alan said.

“I see him there. Let’s ram him. He’ll jump out of the way.”

“How do you know that? And he’s armed.”

“That’s how I know he’ll jump out of the way. Hope he’s a bad shot.”

Jumper pushed on the steering column hard and the hovercraft sped up quickly. The guard stood in the middle of the compound exit with a hand up. Jumper increased speed even more. The guard’s rifle remained strapped to his back, thankfully.

He didn’t jump out of the way. He stepped out, calmly, at the last second.

“That could be trouble,” Jumper said. In a few moments they were at the river bank, but Jumper turned east instead of crossing it.

“That spot was where we crossed it coming in,” Alan said, pointing to the place Jumper turned away from.

“I know, but we’re too easy of a target there. We’ll cross upstream a ways.”

Sure enough, a laser beam connected with a boulder alongside them to the left, sending an explosion of fiery splintered rocks around them. Some bounced off the side of the vehicle.

“Good, that’s only a laser rifle,” Jumper shouted. “If it were a REEP gun, we might be swimming right now.” He increased their speed.

The body of the cruiser then turned orange in color and the temperature increased significantly.

“Out of range already,” Alan said, “but barely. Let’s get across.”

“Okay.” Jumper turned the wheel and the big cruiser was instantly out over the water, kicking up a sizable wake on both sides. Jumper and Alan were thrown forward and a large wave of water splashed them from the front.

“You hit it too fast, man,” Alan choked.

“I know. Extat.”

Jumper was well aware that hovercraft were supposed to ease out over water—especially rivers—but in the frenzy of the chase he had failed to slow enough. Fortunately, the cruiser kept going—but at a pace which now felt like crawling. The laser beam stayed on them. By the time they reached the opposite bank, Jumper and Alan were both pulling on the necks of their float suits and wiping sweat from their eyes.

But the cruiser held up and the beam broke as soon as they veered around a small grove of trees growing near the bank.

“We should be all right now,” Jumper said.

Alan looked behind them. “As long as this thing keeps holding together.”

It held together. With the immediate threat gone, Jumper drove slower, especially over the rough terrain they were now over. Lots of rocks and uneven ground gave way to high grass and then the swamp. When they cleared that, and came upon flat land again, Jumper increased their speed and turned southwest. The vehicle was running smooth now and they began covering ground fast.

“I hope they didn’t send out chase cars due south to intercept us,” Alan said.

Jumper shook his head. “Seems unlikely. They had their hands full back there, and I didn’t see any other vehicles near the compound exit. They could have some patrols out here, but we can see them from a distance and possibly outrun them. I’ll bet I can get us back to the Midlands before they catch us—assuming they don’t have anyone in front of us yet. If they do, we’ll head back to the mountains, lose them on the slopes there, and take Hol4’s suggested route home.”

Alan didn’t respond so Jumper looked over at him. He had the front compartment open and some field glasses up to his eyes. Good boy.

“I don’t see anyone out here at all, Jumper. These are strong scopes, too. Can almost see the out-towns. I think we’re home free.”

“Good. What’s happening with the battle back there? Haven’t heard anything in a while.”

Alan turned back and scanned the sky with the field glasses.

“Nothing. No more ships in the air. All gone. Some on the ground still I think, but the ridge is partially blocking my view. What in Erob was that all about? An alien battle inside our atmosphere? Who could that have been, and why? I mean, why there? Why not up in space? And why in Tora space at all?”

“I guess we’ll find out when we get home,” Jumper said. “I have a feeling something important is happening. Remember the strange light in the sky next to Cardinal-4 last night? And the red Sheen leader was talking about a tournament. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.”

“A polwar tournament? Out in that central valley somewhere?”

“That’s what I think. From what the agritent foreman said, it sounds like they’ve built a special facility for it. If it’s that big of an event, they may have invited aliens to it.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible,” Alan said. “Amulen is governmentally dispersed, and no longer possesses interstellar travel capability.”

“That we know of.”

“That we know of, right. We sure as extat know the Banorian government wouldn’t be cooperative with an organized polwar event.”

“No,” Jumper said. “If it’s taking place in the Central Region, it must have been organized there. With the local militia groups being so disassociated, it’s difficult to envision them all participating. But if there’s one thing they would come together on, you know its polwar.”

“That’s true,” Alan admitted. “I still can’t figure how aliens could possibly have gotten involved, though.”

“Oh, there’s plenty of ways. Amulites not being able to travel to other worlds doesn’t prevent the aliens from coming here, as we’ve just witnessed. All they need is one race to act as a messenger—kind of like what that Belle-ub fellow asked me to do up in the mountains.”

“I guess you’re right about that.”

“Sure I’m right,” Jumper said. “Remember what Hol4 said, about Belle-ub organizing some kind of big interstellar meeting? If that’s true, how would he be able to lure them all here? Think about it. If the game has gone dog-wild on other worlds like it has here, a galactic polwar tournament would be the perfect thing.”

“You might be on to something there.”

“Bet you a case of argim I’m right. But it’s too bad about Hol4. I hate leaving him behind back there.”

“Man, you must to be joking. We barely got out ourselves.”

“I can’t help it. You saw what they did to him. I told him I would help him, and I need to keep that promise. Now I know where he is, and I’m afraid it’s going to eat away at me.”

“We aren’t going back there, Jumper. Count me out of any insane heroic ideas you have. He has a work contract. My guess is he just needs to fulfil it. Maybe it was a mistake on his part, but he has to live with the consequences. Why do you care so much about a native you’ve known for less than eighteen hours?”

“I don’t know.”

They drove in silence for a while. Jumper refused Alan’s first few offers to switch drivers, but after several hours finally had to give in. Alan really wanted to drive the off-trail cruiser. Jumper settled into the passenger seat and fell asleep. He was awakened a while later by the sound of fighter craft overhead. He looked up.

“Nine of them,” Alan said. “Ours this time.”

The Banorian fighters crossed the plains in a diamond formation overhead. Jumper loved seeing them do fly-by’s. It was something of a rarity on Amulen these days.

“Where were you guys a few hours ago?” Jumper mumbled.

Soon the area they were crossing started looking familiar.

“This is the way we came out,” Jumper said.

Alan pointed ahead of them. “Yep. Straight shot across from here. No patrols in sight.”

“How’s the fuel?”

“Barely touched it,” Alan said. “This thing’s amazing.”

Jumper couldn’t take it anymore. “Let me drive again, man.”

Alan reluctantly agreed. Jumper took over and drove the remaining distance of “no man’s land” between the Sinlo Mountains and the eastern Midlands. Soon they were halfway across the thin stretch of the Midlands Region they needed to traverse. Just as the out-towns came into view on the horizon, dust clouds appeared from the west. They approached quickly.

“See who that is with the field glasses,” Jumper said.

Alan casually turned his head towards Jumper. “No need. You know who that will be.”

Jumper slowed the cruiser and turned towards the dust clouds.

“You’re not going to try and outrun them?” Alan asked.

“No. Maybe they can tell us what’s going on.”

The convoy turned out to be bigger than Jumper expected. A dozen hover vehicles of different types—but none as big as the off-trail model Jumper and Alan were in—came into view. That was large for a Midlands Militia patrol. Jumper brought their cruiser to a full stop and settled on the ground. When the patrol reached them, the militia drivers formed a circle surrounding them. Jumper and Alan stood up on their seats and rested their arms on the top frame.

“Lakor5 is that you?” Jumper yelled as soon as the vehicles were on the ground and the noise abated some.

“Jumper?” The voice came from the right. Jumper and Alan turned their heads. Lakor5, the captain of the Midlands Militia Eastern Patrol, stepped out of a medium-sized vehicle. He was a dull-bronze colored Banorian who loved his work. It was a rare occasion when Jumper and Alan could sneak through the region without being seen by him.

Lakor5 walked up to their cruiser and began glancing back and forth from the emblem on the side door to Jumper and Alan. Jumper and Alan were both smiling smugly. Finally, he shook his head for a long moment.

“Where did you steal this?”

“From the south gate of the Northern Plains agritent compound,” Jumper answered. “They tried to kidnap us and force us to pick fruit in the tents.”

Lakor5 started laughing. “You crazy Earth kids. Jumper, you always have a good story. Well, this is a military vehicle so I think it’s more suitable that we take it.”

“No!” Alan said. “It’s way too cool for you guys. You have no idea what we went through to get it. And someone stole our cruiser.”

“You mean this one?” Lakor5 pointed to a small 2-seater behind the vehicle he had stepped out of.

Jumper squinted as the last of the dust settled.

“You took it! How could you leave us stranded in the mountains?”

Lakor5 held up a hand. “Easy, now. I wasn’t there. A couple new guys were out that way planting video scanners in the foothills and came across it. They didn’t know who left it, so they brought it in. We were on our way to return it. Lucky we came across you. Now we can trade.”

“Ahhhhh.” Jumper sunk down in the seat. “Come on, Alan. He wants it. There’s no point in fighting him on it.”

Alan pounded his fist on the front panel and the two of them got out.

Jumper heard the sounds of rotorcraft above and looked up. Three of the great machines flew low, directly above in the late afternoon sky, headed for the cities with a food shipment. These were the big ones, with two angled rotors on the ends and four smaller rotors across the upper sides. Their maneuverability, for being so large, was impressive. Watching them now had a new effect on Jumper, after having seen one of the food production areas where they came from. Knowing the produce he ate was the result of forced labor was bound to make it considerably less tasteful now.

When the rotorcrafts passed, Jumper asked Lakor5 what he knew about the air battle earlier today.

Lakor5 shrugged as he answered. “An alien fleet arrived in Tora space today, and shortly after that a different alien fleet also showed up, who were chasing after them. They may have been fighting somewhere else first, according to speculation on the news station, and then ended up here for some reason. The first aliens managed to land a few craft in the central valley. Their transport ships are now in orbit over Amulen, and the second group of aliens who were chasing them are now moored at Cardinal-4. That’s all we know, assuming even that much is correct. The newscasts from that university station of yours leave a lot to be desired.”

“Do you know anything about a polwar tournament?” Jumper asked.

Lakor5 looked back at some of his subordinates before answering.

“We’ve heard rumors of that, too. What do you know about it?”

Jumper shook his head. “Not much. We heard a couple references to it at the agritent compound, and then the alien battle started, which gave us our chance to escape.”

Lakor5 chuckled and climbed inside the big cruiser. “If I were you, I’d think about moving to Banor—all the rest of you Earthlings. Amulen isn’t much of a place to be these days if you’re not addicted to polwar. We can’t even get decent news anymore.”

“Think I’d be bored silly there,” Jumper said. “After all, you never went back.”

“That’s true, but I have my reasons. You better get going. It’ll be dark soon.”

Lakor5 started the engine in the stolen cruiser and then the rest of the patrol fired back up as well. The smell of fuel became unbearable. Jumper and Alan covered their faces with their elbows as they stood. The native who was in Jumper and Alan’s 2-seater vacated it and climbed aboard the big one with Lakor5.

“Sorry about the cruiser misunderstanding,” Lakor5 yelled. “Glad you got back okay.”

Several of the other cruisers backed away to make room for Lakor5. He drove off in the direction they came from and the rest of his procession followed. Jumper and Alan were left alone again.

Alan checked the central compartment of their 2-seater.

“Our clothes are still here.”

“I’d rather have that big off-trailer,” Jumper said. “Oh, well. Let’s go home.”