Freedom Omnibus Read online

  She kept close to the right-hand wall as the group descending passed her.

  “We gotta keep hold of that rope,” one of the men was saying, “cos the current’s fast according to the Cat.”

  “God, what I wouldn’t give for a razor!”

  “Sharpen your knife, buddy,” someone else said with a laugh. “That’s what pioneers did.” When Kris found her way back to her sleeping place she saw that Patti Sue was the only one there, and still asleep. She dithered to herself about bringing some food back and making sure the girl ate, but maybe sleep was more important. The way the hunters had been bringing in game there’d be some for her when she did wake up.

  Only how long would the game remain stupid enough to hang around and die? There were a lot of people to be fed.

  That was when she heard a lot of noisy shouting and glad cries.

  She made her way to the main cave again and tried to figure out what all the shouting was about.

  Everyone seemed very pleased. Bart was grinning like he’d just won a lottery.

  “What’s up, Bart?”

  “They found food. A mountain of it.” Then he recalled himself to his duties and turned the pieces cooking on his fire before they were reduced to char.

  “Where? Things we can eat?” Kris found herself regarding the french-browned food hungrily.

  “I guess so, or why roar so much?” he said with a shrug.

  Kris took herself where she could hear what was being roared.

  “Mountains of food!”

  “Some kinda storage cave. Like a silo.”

  “And other doors we couldn’t open . . . yet!”

  “They’d have to be saving for centuries. “”No-one near, no footprints, just cracks in the stone, like something real big stood there.” She worked her way through the excited people towards the front of the cave, hoping to see someone she could ask for specifics. The storage cave bit worried her. It suggested that Zainal’s information had been incorrect.

  You don’t store things, especially food, where there’s no bodies to eat it.

  Scratch tests will give you a quick idea,” an Asian was saying in a firm voice. “They worked on some of the game you guys caught, as well as the roots and berries.”

  “Can we use the same method for the Rugarians and the Deskis, Matt?” she heard Mitford’s voice ask.

  “Gee, I don’t know, Sarge. I was paramedic for human types.”

  “Zainal, can you ask “em?” Mitford switched to Barevi.

  “Yes. I will ask,” and Kris saw a movement among those crowded around Mitford as Zainal left to make his enquiries.

  “OK, listen up!” Mitford’s voice assumed parade ground volume. “I need some volunteers - you, you, you and you. Roll up your sleeves.

  We got samples we need to test.

  Suddenly the press of bodies thinned out as many decided not to be “volunteered’ for any other bright ideas Mitford had in mind.

  “Was food all that was found?” Kris asked as she moved towards Mitford.

  “Isn’t that enough?” a woman asked in an irritable voice.

  “It’s a help, surely, but we need so many things to set up a habitable place .

  “Habitable? That’s a laugh,” the woman said and moved away from Kris.

  “All that food could be a laugh, too,” Greene said, appearing at her side, “if we can’t stomach it.”

  “Anyone got any idea why there are such stores?” Kris asked him. “And what will happen if the Three Bears find Goldilocks?” She gestured to indicate they were cast as Goldilocks.

  “Nope. Zainal hadn’t any idea either. He insisted that the Catteni survey said the planet was uninhabited “With sentient life-forms?” “Mmmm. Yes, he did make that distinction,” Greene replied and then grinned. “Scared the hell outa even the sarge when they came across metal doors, fer God’s sake, across the cave entrances.”

  “How’d they get in, then?” Kris asked.

  Greene chuckled again. “We got guys in this outfit with some very interesting skills.” Kris grinned back at him. “Where are these sesame caves?”

  “A good half-day’s trek from here, so don’t worry. And no road in or out. How’d they get crops in there without something that makes big tracks is puzzling.”

  “Stray mechanical things are more nervous-making than some honest-to-god alien creatures,” Kris said.

  “If you say so. Only the sarge has sent a detail to scout about and see if they can figure out how and from where the silos got filled.

  He’s calling a meeting this evening, anyway, to explain everything.

  We might even have more to eat then, too.” Greene licked his lips and Kris found herself- doing the same thing as the tantalizing smells were wafted towards them on the breeze. “I could’ve eaten a whole one by myself.”

  “You didn’t finish off your bars, did you?”

  “Hell no, and watch yours, will ya? As I said, we got guys, and gals, with taking ways as well as interesting skills.”

  “Oh, Lord, Patti Sue,” Kris said and, ducking around Greene, started back to where the girl still slept.

  She paused long enough to ask Bart if she could take Patti’s share to her.

  “I can count on you to give it to her and nobody else?” Bart said, fixing her with a stern eye.

  “Yes, you can,” Kris said solemnly, and found herself a rock on which to carry the hot meat.

  Patti Sue was still asleep. Her food packet was gone.

  Someone had rolled the girl over to get at it. Kris fumed and then decided that Patti Sue would just have to take some responsibility for herself. She leant over, careful not to tip the hot meat onto the dirty floor of the cave, and shook Patti Sue’s shoulder. The girl’s reaction - flailing about with hands and kicking out with her feet was so unexpected that Kris ended up juggling the hot meat from hand to hand, trying to keep it from dropping to the floor.

  “Hey, Patti. Easy now, gal. Don’t make me drop your food. It’s hot,’ she cried, trying to duck away from the girl’s windmill of limbs.

  “Kris?” Patti’s voice broke and she stopped her battering.

  “Ohhhh, you scared me.”

  “Didn’t mean to. Sit up, will you.

  This’s hot! Use your sleeve Patti rolled down the overlong cuff and, using it as a pad, took the piece from Kris, who set about licking her fingers, as Patti regarded her portion suspiciously.

  “Don’t ask what it is “cos no-one’s named the thing yet but it tastes pretty good and it is hot.”

  “I don’t think I could eat anything - - -) Patti said and held it out to Kris.

  “No way, gal. You eat it. Think of it as the fried chicken your mother

  used to make - - -“

  “No’m, I won’t, “cos she couldn’t cook worth doodly,” Patti said in the only personal comment yet to pass her lips.

  Eyes closed, she then pulled her lips from her teeth and took a tiny and tentative bite. “Oh! It isn’t bad, is it?” And opened her eyes, eating with more relish. “Or maybe it’s “cos I’m so famished.”

  “Patti, you didn’t think to hide your bars, did you?” Kris asked gently.

  Patti looked up at her and her face fell. “No, why should I?

  No-one would . . .” and with one hand she felt anxiously beside her and under her blanket, her face falling into tragic lines as she realized that her packet was gone. She started moaning and nearly dropped the meat.

  Kris propped her drooping hand back in the direction of her mouth.

  “So eat that, and we’ll share. It’s not the end of the world because they’ve found a storage cave with food in it.”

  “Cave? Food?” Patti seemed to shrink in on herself with fear. “There are Catteni living on this world, too?”

  “No, not according to our live Catteni expert Patti’s eyes got wider

  with her fright. “A Catteni - - “Eat!’ Kris said urgently. “There was

  one Catteni dropped along with us an
d he’s not a bad guy. He won’t

  bother you -“

  “Oh, oh, oh,” and Patti moaned all the time she nibbled at the meat.

  Kris had heard about dainty eaters but Patti took the prize.

  Kris stayed with Patti Sue then, as much because the girl was so preternaturally frightened of every footstep in the corridor outside, every shadow that interrupted the torchlight into their cubby, as because she was also tired. Her hands and arm muscles ached from her stint at dressing meat and she had a couple of little nicks from kife cuts which were annoying. Then she remembered her first-aid kit and dabbed them with the yellow liquid It stung briefly but she knew that the Cat disinfectant would reduce any chance of infection.

  She suggested a dip to Patti Sue but when she had to tell the girl how to get there and the primitive conditions, Patti just curled up, hugging her knees to her chest, and moaned.

  “You’re going to have to stop moaning, girl,” Kris said, driven to it. “I don’t mind, but there are others who will. We’re all in the same condition - smelly, scared and suspicious. So you’re not alone.”

  “But “Patti Sue began, her eyes wide and distressed, as she once again began to either apologize or explain.

  She shut her mouth for a long moment. “You’re right.

  I am chicken livered. I always have been and I guess I always will be. And I won’t say I’m sorry. I am what I am.” 9’ Kris began to regret her outburst. “Honey, we all are.

  Scared, I mean.”

  “Are you still my buddy?” And the piteousness of her tone and the beseeching look in her eyes touched Kris the way the constant stream of apologies hadn’t.

  “You got raped, kid?” Kris asked, hunkering down beside her.

  A convulsive shudder swept through Patti Sue’s slender frame and she shot Kris an anguished look. “It shows, doesn’t it?”

  “Not like a birthmark or a scarlet letter,” Kris said as kindly as she could. “The give-away is how you fiinch whenever you hear a man’s voice, or see a shadow or someone totally harmless, like Jay Greene, who only tries to help you. I won’t say there aren’t guys in this group who wouldn’t like to well, you know because you’re a very pretty and appealing person. But right now, hon, there isn’t anyone with much extra energy.

  They need it all to stay alive on this crazy world. So why don’t you buck up a bit? I’ll stick by my ol’ trek buddy as much as I can but I think I’m going to be getting some work assignments “or go nutty looking after you. . . Kris added to herself, “that’ll take me away from you, so let’s introduce you to a couple of other people . . .

  women who’ll keep an eye on you when I’m not here.” Patti Sue had become more and more agitated as Kris explained the situation and Kris could see that the girl visibly fought, and subdued, her immediate reaction to such news.

  “Now, c’mon. . . and take your blanket with you. Not that we don’t have others but it’s wise to keep your things together here.” With nervous hands, Patti managed to roll up her blanket and draped it over her shoulder as Kris had.

  Still anxious, she followed Kris out of the cave, glancing nervously about when she heard voices issuing from other openings and almost treading on Kris’s heels, she was so much her leader’s follower.

  She hesitated, gasping, when they entered the main cave, as she saw so many people moving about on errands, or squatting by fires to cook, chatting with those waiting for the hot meats. Others were making their way to the entrance.

  Surprisingly, Kris saw that the exit looked out on a darkness broken by the ffickering light of torches and a fire. She was somewhat reassured that Mitford felt illumination was safe.

  “We’re safe here, Patti,” she said, motioning to the opening.

  “Outside’s all lit up like Christmas. Let’s go grab some fresh air and get a good seat for the meeting.” The main cavern reeked not only of cooking odours but others which were not as savoury and certainly not appetizing.

  “Oh . . .” Patti moaned, cringing.

  “You might as well, honey, unless you plan on immuring yourself for ever in the stink.”

  “If you say so. . .” Patti Sue was not going to venture anywhere, even with Kris’s assurance.

  “C’mon, I think I know where we can sit,” and Kris hoped that the darkness would be enough to conceal the evidence that part of the ledge had been an abattoir.

  She walked, Patti so close behind her that she hoped the girl wouldn’t lurch into her and knock them both off the ledge, to a point just above the fire: a fair-sized one, its flames reflecting off the faces seated around it.

  “Hey, we’ll have a balcony seat to the events,” Kris said.

  “Front and centre.” Kris sat herself down while Patti Sue edged to Kris’s right, with no-one beyond her. Yet.

  Kris tried to identify the faces in the firelight: she spotted Zainal easily, sitting beside Mitford; Bass, Murphy, a Rugarian and two Deskis just beyond them, and then faces she vaguely recognized from the march but couldn’t put names to.

  Patti Sue’s fearful gasp alerted her to an approach and the girl gripped her arm with surprisingly strong fingers.

  “Easy,” Kris muttered under her breath, for she recognized the newcomer. “It’s only Jay Greene and he’s decent. Hi, Jay. Don’t know if you’ve met my buddy yet. Patti Sue, this is Jay Greene and he’s a veritable Nimrod with boy scout snares. Join us. You can be our body-guard.” Kris regretted that ffippancy the moment it was out of her mouth for Patti Sue tried to get inside Kris’s skin, she sat so close.

  Kris sternly told herself that she might be as nervous if she’d been raped repeatedly, too.

  After all, that imminent possibility had prompted her to dare to steal the ffitter and secrete herself in the forest, hadn’t it?

  Greene sat down a couple of good handspans from Kris. She took the moment to turn to Patti Sue.

  “You’re about choking the circulation off in my arm.

  Relax!” she murmured and felt the clutching fingers ease their stranglehold. She could almost feel the effort it took Patti Sue to remove her hands from Kris’s arm. “What’s the scam, Jay? You heard anything?”

  “Yeah,” and the firelight glinted off his white teeth as he smiled. “I hear that we are not alone!” He spaced the words out so that they sounded like the voice-over of a video trailer.

  Patti Sue’s hands returned to crush Kris’s upper arm.

  “I knew that,” Kris said and this time just peeled the fingers off, putting the girl’s hands back in her lap and giving them a final pat to stay there.

  “No, I mean, we’re not the only flotsam that got planted on this planet,” Greene said.

  “Really? Hmm, makes sense, though,” Kris said in her most nonchalant tone. Why had she been saddled with such a nerd like Patti Sue! “There were only - what - five, six hundred plonked down in our field. I wouldn’t call that an efficient disposition of redundant personnel. That ship they herded us into could handle who knows how many more. I know there were two levels, if not more. Maybe they did a clean sweep of all the holding cells on Barevi.

  That would make the journey here economically feasible.

  Any more humans?”

  “Well,” and Greene shrugged, “I’m not sure anyone could tell.” Patti Sue let out little whimpers.

  “Look on the bright side, will you, Patti Sue?” Kris said. “You weren’t one of them and you’re safe with us.

  Isn’t she, Jay?”

  “Safe as houses,” he said in a warmly reassuring tone, for which Kris gave him a broad smile and a thumbs up with her left hand which Patti couldn’t see. “In fact, the more the merrier.

  So long as we can exchange information and band together to solve the problems this place poses.”

  “Any other scuttlebutt?”

  “Like what?”

  “Did that scouting party Mitford sent out find what brings in the grain harvest?”

  “No,” Greene said, shaking his head. “They
did find other storage caves, all hollowed out of solid rock. And more valleys of fields and stuff. That’s where - - -“ Kris gave him a quick flash of her hand to stop him saying anything that would set Patti Sue off again. “. . . Where they could see other heavy vehicles had been parked,” he finished off.

  They all heard the murmur of voices and saw that people were emptying out of the cave now and either making their way down to the bonfire level or finding spaces on the ledge.

  “Do we start off with a national anthem, or a prayer?” Kris quipped to Jay.

  “I doubt the good sergeant is religiously inclined,” Greene remarked.

  “For which I am deeply grateful.” Kris felt Patti Sue’s body stiffen with resentment at her fiippancy. “We need a realist.”

  “I second that!” Chuck Mitford had now stood up and raised his hands for quiet.

  “This is Mitford speaking, in case any of you can’t see me,” he said in his gravelly parade-ground voice that echoed slightly in the ravine. “We’ve had several teams out on recon - reconnaissance to those of you who don’t know army slang.

  “We’ve found storage caves with enough grains - which we humans at least can digest - to supply us for years. We don’t know who - or what - stored the stuff but they’re unlikely to notice what we have taken, and will take, once we get our commissary organized. We’re lucky to have some botanists among us, who’ve figured out what we can and cannot eat of the local stuff- berries and roots As you’ve all found out, the water tastes pretty good.

  “We’re also looking for additional quarters so we won’t be jammed in like sardines “Like those transport ships, maybe?” a man added with droll bitterness and got a laugh.

  Mitford’s grin was visible in the firelight as he held up his hand.