Chapter 1
Elliot Murdstone glanced in his rearview mirror. The amount of dust kicked up by the ATVs had conspicuously lessened. He slowed the motor on the six wheeled machine and shifted his position in order to survey the landscape behind him. His daughter should have been right behind him. He fought the glare of the setting sun and spotted her standing over the the saddle of her ATV, on the crest of the hill he had recently ridden over.
She shielded her eyes from the waning sunlight and scanned the the area for some unseen quarry in the cereal. Long black hair held tightly in a plait, escaped strands fluttered about her tanned face. A proud father watching his little girl; almost grown. Minutes passed, she lowered the gun,
“It’s gone, just couldn’t get a good shot.” She raised the Pioneer V pulse rifle once again, sighted down the scope and began to scour the moving fields.
“Come on Eliza. I’m starving! Let’s get back.”
Elliot knew she worried about their livestock being taken. They had already lost a few birds to the resident scaly dogs in the past week. Known locally as hell hounds, they were a solitary, but persistent, hunter. If one decided to target the animals on your farm, it would continue to plague your farm until it had taken every last one of them. Killing them was the only real solution to the problem.
Eliza had stepped up to be the champion of their livestock. The boys would be competing for the role soon enough now they had had their first shooting lessons.
“They’re all growing up so fast,” Elliot reflected to himself. He did not doubt that moving here had been the right thing to do.
A gentle breeze caused the oceans of barley to dance; small white clouds speckled the deep blue skies.
With the discussion over, Elliot shifted back around, gripped the handlebars, and pulled the throttle on his ATV. The electric motor thrummed quietly to life and he drove off.
#####
Elliot and his family had been round this star five times now, he had realised he wanted to stay here after the third orbit. It was a paradise, despite the local fauna’s reluctance to grow in abundance on its own accord. Hard graft at times but the automated harvesters helped. Another couple of good yields and they could afford an upgrade on the planting systems. If their success continued he could envision...
He didn’t dare get that far ahead of himself…
The galaxy always threw something in the way.
A blinking dot from the motion tracker on the ATVs nav system showed him that Eliza had given up on her prey and was following him home. A dependable girl, she surprised him at how easily she had adapted to their new way of life, so far away from the centre of Corporation space. The colony had been well established when they’d arrived. However, because of the distance and urgency in their departure from Tilune, it had not been cheap securing the trip and the contract for the farm.
But it had been worth it.
“No, not worth it. Essential,” Elliot mumbled to himself as he glanced up at the panorama of brilliant hues of red, orange, yellow and amber in the late afternoon sky.
Their previous life had become too threatening, too violent. The situation developed into a nightmare of vicious thugs, corrupt police and dead friends. No one should be forced to raise a family in a world like that.
He pushed these unwanted memories away and brought himself back to his present reality. The happy, contented reality of family, farm, beautiful landscapes, wonderful weather and the small but lucrative profit they enjoyed.
A dirt track led up a steep slope. Cresting over the hill, Home spread out in a valley below him. It always gave him a wonderful sense of belonging. He vowed long ago he’d never tire of this view. It hadn’t been easy in the beginning. The circumstances in which they had been forced to leave didn’t provide much financial support. A prefabbed colony house -- really nothing more than a double-wide shipping container with paper thin walls and the most basic of utilities -- and a plot of land large enough to eek out a living on the land. The money trickled in until the turning point came when a wooden-framed farmhouse replaced the colony shack.
The addition of their own personal livestock in the form of pigs and chickens was one of those life changing events the family would never forget. The children had enthusiastically built both the hen house and pig sty themselves. After months of tinned, dried or long-life food, fresh eggs had been a heavenly treat. The recollection brought a smile to his face.
The next stage of progress had been to mechanize the farm. He and Elisabeth had spent two whole months assembling, programming and troubleshooting the robotic harvesters. It had been a hard focused period, all for the better. He still found it amazing that, before packing up and leaving everything behind, all they had known of farming they had learnt on the voyage out here. He would never forget the months in that shit-hole of a carrier. Somehow they had made it work.
The sun’s rays caught the upper windows of the house as they began their descent towards the farmstead. A magical reflection of the sunset, the clear waters of the lake in the western corner of the valley gleamed in a ruddy hue; the boys fishing haunt. Elliot found himself wondering what might be for dinner, the twins had planned a fish grill, and he hoped their plan was in full swing.
####
The two dogs came bounding to greet them as they turned into the yard; following them enthusiastically into the prefab that served as a barn and general storage building. The two giant schnauzers almost knocked Elliot out of the saddle as they leapt at him in welcome. Before he could fuss them they jumped on Eliza; who in the spirit of fun dived to the floor and vanished in a maelstrom of black furred limbs. Elliot watched in delight.
Life was just good.
The dogs, like the other farm animals were descended from the clones brought out by the first settlers. Comparisons to native creatures could be made, but most colonists preferred the familiarity of the old faithful breeds were kept. As humankind spread through the galaxy its symbiotic relationship with kindred Terran species ensured the astronomical distribution of Earth evolved genetics. To protect the indigenous creatures colonies had long established practises that created large nature reserves. This did prevent mass extinctions, however said creatures did not always comprehend that they were supposed to stay within these boundaries. Hence the hell-hound problem.
Elliot unloaded the gear from the ATV, his Westor Model 12 Scattergun loosely held in his left hand. The brace of large lizards he’d bagged hanging over his shoulder. Their tails flapping lifelessly around his knees. The ugly looking reptiles constituted nothing more than a minor pest, no direct threat to the crops, but they dug huge shallow burrows under fields. These excavations could collapse when driven over by an automated harvester, expensive to recover. Unpalatable and tough to eat, the whoop-dragons were destined for the dogs. Not so the skin, it made an excellent material for mending and make clothing. Elliot was becoming quite a cobbler. he’d already made every member of the family a pair of whoop leather boots. He had plans to move on to gloves with this current catch.
“I’ll lock up the guns” his deep voice cut through the playful fight of daughter and dogs.
“Okay, Dad. Come on you two, come on!” Eliza ran out of the large open barn door, two ecstatic dogs hot on her heels.
The expedition was finally unpacked, whoop-dragons hanging in the cold store, ATV’s recharging. Laser rifle on one shoulder, scatter-shot laser in the other hand. Murdstone made his way to the back entrance of the farmhouse.
The gun cupboard stood in the large farmhouse kitchen. Always glad to lock the guns away; he felt uncomfortable with weapons, especially around his family. Necessary for this country life. He had been relieved that Eliza was such a good shot. She made up for his inability to shoot straight. A scatter-shot gun was the best he could do. Hand eye co-ordination had never been one of his strong traits. They would have to invest in a couple of new rifles soon; the twins were going to want one each. More guns to worry about. Preferable to the life they would have had if they had stayed on Tilune. At least it was only the wildlife they were aiming at, it didn’t tend to shoot back.
“I thought I heard those crazy mutts saying hello. You’re back then?” Elisabeth Murdstone jolted him from his ruminations.
“I am,” he replied matter-of-factly, “and in need of some lovin’, come here and give us a kiss!” Elliot made a grab for his wife, a cheeky grin across his face and a glint in his eye. Quite familiar with her husband Elizabeth stepped backwards out of the way.
With a knowing smile she shook her head. “Nothing for you Murdstone, not while you are covered in that filth. Get cleaned up and maybe I can help you.”
“But Beth!” he protested in mock injury. Elliot looked down at himself; he was surprised to just how dirty one person could become in a relatively short amount of time. Mud, grime, oil, lizard blood, and they were just the most obvious.
“Fair enough” he shrugged and ran his hand through his curly brown, grey flecked hair, dislodging a cloud of dust as he did so.
“Go on, get washed, the boys have lit the barbecue. They caught a huge Rothan Trout. It’ll feed half the planet, I have no idea how they landed it. Where’s Eliza? Did you have much luck?”
“A brace of dragons, nothing else. Eliza had a scaly cur in her sights several times, but no joy, it lives still. Thor and Sif are now chasing her. I think we are close to harvest on the far western slopes. They get the most sun; I reckon on a week at most, the analyser agrees with me too.” Elliot enjoyed playing the expert. They both knew he was totally dependent on technology to tell him when to harvest. Elisabeth, as always, humoured him.
“I’m sure you are right darlin’. I’ll prep the harvester programmes tomorrow. Now go and get ready for dinner. Your sons have been working very hard on it.”
“Okay, I’m on my way, and I haven’t forgotten your promise!”
“Promise! I don’t think so. I said maybe...” Elisabeth answered with a wink over her shoulder at him as she left the kitchen. Elliot admired the homely curves of his retreating wife. With the contented glow of a family man, Murdstone took himself off for a wash and change of clothes.
####
The entire family ate dinner of the veranda. The twins had prepared everything, from catching the gigantic fish, digging up the potatoes and picking the salad. A jug of Elisabeth’s finest ale set to accompany the meal. The feast was presented with no small amount of pride. The fish itself was worthy of a news item.
“How did you manage to get it in the boat? We’ll be eating this for days.” an impressed Eliza asked.
“We had to keep swapping over the rod. We were exhausted. Josh got it in, in the end,” said an unusually talkative Marcus.
“It was great fight,” Josh added, “we were just relieved that the line didn’t break.”
“Me too,” Elliot mumbled through a mouthful of succulent grilled fish.
“Elliot really! Talking with your mouth full, shame on you. What are you teaching the children?” Their Mother’s playful scold brought a smile to the young Murdstones around the table.
“Sorry,” Elliot deliberately spluttered through his next mouthful. Bringing a giggle from Eliza and raised eyebrows from Beth.
“It’s a wonderful meal boys, thank you very much” Elisabeth praise caused the boys to glow; another year and they would be squirming in teenage embarrassment.
“I agree. To the Murdstone twins. The galaxy’s best fishermen!” Elliot raised his glass and swigged his ale in toast, “And that’s a fine brew love, a really good one.”
####
A white vapour trail cut across the fading pink glow of the setting sun, the roar of the engine reaching them moments later. The chickens began squawking in annoyance, Thor and Sif barked a warning. Elliot frowned,
“A drone. Low flying, strange. Excuse me I’ll check the net for any news.” He got up from the table to find his net-link.
“I’ve got mine here Dad, there’s no net. Just our own.” Eliza was surprised.
“A problem with the satellites… perhaps a solar storm or something.” Beth’s tone did not come out as reassuring. A lack of any global communications network was unheard of, even on a colony this young.
“Could be. They are normally predicted though. I’ll check my link, maybe yours is playing up.” Elliot went indoors.
When he returned he spoke in no more confidently than his wife. “There’s nothing, none of the networks are up, only ours. What is it with those dogs?”
The dogs were now going crazy, trained not to leave the farm area, just protect it. It could only mean one thing. An unwelcome notion of impending danger he just could not ignore caused his heart rate to increase. Memories of Tilune.
“I’ll go and check the motion tracker, Eliza get your rifle and position on the porch roof, and boys get the food inside. Then go with your Mother and lock in the chickens and the pigs. Elisabeth when you get back inside lock the door behind you. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Really? Don’t you think you are over-reacting?” Elisabeth’s shock and concern had dealt the final blow to any amount of gaiety that still lingered at the table.
“I know those dogs, something is happening. And there’s no net, a defense drone has been scrambled; we have never seen one fly past here before. Better to be safe than sorry. All of you switch to the farm’s own com-channel.”
Elliot left it at that, he went in to check the motion detector. At least the farm’s computer network still worked. The motion detectors out in the fields usually only indicated whoop-dragon or hell-hound activity. However, not this time.
Flashing indicators filled the screen.
“Son of a bitch!”
Elliot resisted the temptation to smack the side of the monitor in the hopes of a malfunction and not an invasion.
The screen switched to a video communications channel, lots of static preceded the fuzzy image of Tony Drake, his closest neighbour. He owned the farm ten kilometres on the other side of the lake. It bordered the nature reserve.
“...thing crashed in the reserve, its ablaze... hell-hounds everywhere... network is … stay...”
“Tony, Tony,” Elliot tried to re-connect, the signal was gone.
“Bloody Hell!”
Somehow Drake had managed to patch into his net. At least he knew why the dogs had gone bonkers. Now they could prepare a defence if the wild animals came their way. The motion detector showed that most activity was about five kilometres away. Panic gripped the edges of Elliot’s thought process.
Hell hounds can’t move that fast.
Something, or someone, was heading straight for them.
“Dad! Quick! A man, I think, is coming.” Eliza called from the porch. Elliot rushed up the stairs and out on to the roof, following Eliza’s pointing hand he aimed the infrared binoculars she gave him. The heat signatured showed Murdstone the wavy outline of a man as he forced their way through the tall cereal, running like mad.
“I’m not sure in this light but it could be Tony’s son. I just got a garbled message from Drake, something has crashed in the nature reserve. I’m going to pick him up, he’s still got a couple of kilometres or so to cover.”
“I’ll come too, Dad. You may need a hand.” Murdstone thought for a second,
“Okay, but you do exactly as I say.”
####
The rest of the family came in the front door as they left. Elliot gave them a quick low-down on the situation while he took his scatter-shot gun out of the locker.
As an afterthought he added, “Get the bows boys. Beth take your rifle, keep watch from the porch, boys take the windows covering the barn. Use the com-links’ headsets. We’ll be as quick as we can.”
Archery had become a family hobby for a while last summer, they were all reasonable shots. Well, maybe not Elliot.
Father and daughter Murdstone left the barn on their ATV’s, powerful headlights dancing in front of them in the twilight. They raced towards the running figure, following the track until nearly parallel to him then turned and drove through the obscuring crops.
Beth’s shocked voice came through the earpiece.
“He’s gone down, there are loads of them, come back! My god! Hell-hounds! So many…”
Elliot glanced at Eliza eyebrows raised, he knew she had heard the same message. Every neuron synapse in his body told him he should turn around, go back home, protect his daughter his family. However, he knew in his heart that he had could not leave the lone runner, whoever he may be, to such a fate.
Elliot pointed at Eliza with two fingers and then toward the direction of the farmhouse. She nodded and pulled away from him toward a flanking position on his left. Murdstone unslung the Westor, and set on its widest angle of scatter. With his right hand gripping the stock of the scattergun, and the other on the ATV’s handlebars, driving over this terrain forced him to slow down more than he would have liked. Tension rose in his stomach as he broke through the high growing barley.
Nothing would have prepared him for the scene of carnage that his full beam lights showed him. A mass of scaly dogs from the depths of hell, ripping and pulling at the flesh of some poor soul who had not long ago been fleeing to them for salvation.
There was no one left to save.
Murdstone felt he should do something. He fired the scatter gun several times into the heaving blood soaked pack of devils. He accelerated away as fast as he dared, not looking back. A laser shot flashed past his head. He didn’t stop, just drove towards the position of the shooter. Twenty meters away from him, his daughter stoed her rifle, turned and gunned it for the house.
Nothing but the rushing of the wind and the slap slap slap of sheaves of barley being crushed under the wide, knobby tires of their bikes lent itself to a moment of calm. A chance to focus and put as much distance between themselves and that grisly scene as possible.
The panicked scream of Beth in his earpiece nearly caused Elliot to lose control of his bike.
“Raiders! Elliot! Raiders!”
Murdstone looked up from the path directly in front of him to the farmhouse. Laser fire lanced around the house. The silhouette of a ship just visible behind the house, a very old, battered assault craft he thought.
Pirates or slavers.
His heart turned to stone and sank down into the depths of his soul.
What had happened? His family! The drone, no networks, crash landings, now all clear to see; a large well planned, bold slaver raid.
This wasn’t supposed to happen; they were in the safe zone, under Corporate protection. Fear, and anger, he could not give in to them. He had to pour all of his determination into a stubborn need to protect all that was dear to him. His resolve was solid. He opened up the throttle on his ATV.
A large ship flew directly overhead, as it past them it opened fire with powerful lasers. They were targeting the hounds. The blasts forced Murdstone and Eliza to slow down lest they lose all control and wipe out.
“The hounds aren’t following Dad. What shall we do?” Eliza sounded different, stern, hard, intimidating. Elliot found his voice.
“Eliza, find a position secure from hounds to snipe the farm, shoot anyone that is not in our family. I’m going in to get them out. Do as I say Eliza. Do not go back to the house. If I don’t come back, run and hide until the Rangers arrive.”
“Okay Dad” She responded calmly. She was cool headed, like her mother. He wondered if he would see her again.
Elliot Murdstone was a big man, strong and tough; shaped by manual labour and a rough street life in his youth. He had basic military training; planetary service had been requirement across remote Corperation planets for centuries. His time as a bar owner had proven his biggest lesson in hard knocks. Many a drunk had started trouble; he had dealt with it punch by punch. In close and personal is where he did the most damage.
The plan; get in close and and make this personal.
Fight for his wife, his sons, his daughter and his farm. He hit the dirt track and opened it up the ATV again. He switched off the lights. He could cover this distance in his sleep. Going in dark gave him an element of surprise.
“Beth! Josh! Marcus! If anyone can hear me, respond.”
“We’re in the barn Dad, Josh is hurt. Mum’s not here. They took her.” Elliot drove straight to the barn. Marcus called him over by flashing a torch. He lept off the ATV before it had come to a complete stop and ran to the twins. Elliot found the boys huddled behind a harvester. Josh was propped up against it. Blood soaked his left side. Marcus, a laser pistol in his hand, eyes wide, but he appeared calm. A bow and a quiver of four arrows lay next to him.
“How are you Josh? Where did you get that?” The second question directed at Marcus and the gun.
“I took it off the smelly ugly pirate that shot Josh. One arrow Dad, that’s all it took. I killed him.” The shock of too much adrenaline caused Marcus’ voice to quiver.
“Goddammit!” Murdstone wanted to put his fist through something. He had failed to protect his family and now at least one of his sons was a killer. The other one could be bleeding to death. A hasty examine of Josh revealed mostly flesh wounds. Admittedly he was no expert and truth be told he had an aversion to blood. It had a habit of making him faint, so he didn’t dare look too closely.
“I’m hurt Dad, it’s not terrible. It’s my arm, I can’t move it. But we have stopped the bleeding.” Josh sounded weak. Brave but weak.
“Put the guns down farmer and come out with your hands up.” A rough voice cut through the murky light of the barn, “If you want any chance at all of surviving the next ten minutes you will do exactly as I say.”