Children of Steel (39 page)

"Are you sure you can walk in those things?"
I asked curious.

"Oh yes," she smiled and walked around the
room to show me.

"Well they do have an interesting affect on
your anatomy, I'll admit!" I walked up behind her and gave her a
hug and a kiss.

"Not now Raj dear, we'll be late," she chided
me.

We left the room then and headed to the
dinning room. It was nearly full when we arrived and the rest of
our group was already there, the girls looking radiant in their
outfits. Gabe and Dave both looked very good themselves, in outfits
similar to mine in cut, but with colors that matched them quite
well.

I looked around at the other people in the
room, there appeared to be about thirty present and about half of
them were animen. I found my seat and helped Kathy into hers, (she
had coached me on this before hand). Joshua made introductions
around the table then and I promptly forgot everybody's name. He
was sitting at the head of the table with Fran sitting at the
foot.

I did pay attention when he came to his other
children, Darell, Nick, and Stacy. Nick was human and obviously
younger than Karen. Darell and Stacy were Wolves; I think Karen had
said Stacy and Darell were both younger than her too. I guess that
meant Nigel was also a Wolf, because Karen had said that she had
two stepbrothers.

Dinner was a very interesting affair, mostly
because I had never seen humans defer to an animan before. I know
that it did happen, even in my own company. It was rare though;
there weren't too many animen in positions of authority over
humans.

The nice thing was that it really didn't seem
to bother anybody, and Joshua just acted like it was the most
normal thing in the world, which I eventually realized it
was
for him. He was the boss here and everybody knew it, he
didn't have to prove anything. That was the air about him I hadn't
been able to place, he was in charge and knew it. He was his own
master and that of quite a few others as well and saw no need to
flaunt it. He just exuded total confidence in himself.

I wondered if I could ever be like that? I
honestly hoped so, though I didn't think I’d ever end up owning a
huge estate like this one.

Dinner ended about nine or so and sure
enough, we all headed into town to go dancing. Most of those who
had come for dinner went as well, so it was a pretty big group that
rolled into the bar when we finally arrived.

It was interesting to see that the respect
Joshua commanded at the house extended into town as well. I asked
Karen about it at one point, just to make sure I wasn't imagining
it.

"They have to," she smiled, "he runs one of
the largest ranching operations on the planet, and at a nice profit
too. He's also not afraid to throw somebody through a wall if they
get out of line. He did start in the Corporations just like you,
you know."

"No I hadn't," I admitted, my respect for her
stepfather growing. "Isn't he afraid of getting sued for any of
that though?"

She laughed, "He controls a fortune, and has
an army of lawyers at his beck and call. Also he's very generous to
the local politicians, so while he can't vote, his endorsement is
very valuable." She looked at him as he danced with her mother,
"Even the Prime minister listens to his advice, my natural father
would be proud."

"You really think so?" I asked out of
curiosity.

"Yeah, I do. They were good friends, met
during the final stages of the Leverage War, or conflict, or
whatever it was called. Anyway, he worked for one of the companies
that were trying to take over some of the local farms. I think they
met during some minor conflict and Joshua made a big impression on
my father and they ended up friends.

"So they kept in touch and when he made his
buyout, my dad offered him a job. And the rest, as they say, is
history." She looked at me and smiled sadly. "I do miss my Father,
the one that died, but I don't think I could have gotten a better
stepfather anywhere. I really love him and consider him to be my
Father now."

This gave me a lot of food for thought. It
showed that anything was possible, that maybe there was more to
aspire to than just working for the company for the rest of my
life. That was what I had always figured was my only option, even
after buyout.

I glanced at Joshua as he left the dance
floor. I didn't think I'd end up in a position like his though, to
be honest I'd rather be poor with Cassandra, than rich without her.
But maybe I should start giving more thought to the future, so I
wouldn't have to be too poor. I bet Cassandra was, it was really
her advice that decided me on the shuttle training. I guess she was
getting ideas even then.

Kathy dragged me out on the dance floor then,
so I decided to think about it tomorrow and enjoy myself for now.
After all, this was a vacation! So I got into the spirit of things
and did my best to have fun. I could see everybody else was,
including the dinner guests. I gathered that they did this quite a
bit around here.

As the night progressed we all had a fairly
enjoyable time. I tried not to drink any alcohol, but made up for
it a little with some of the inhalants. I knew they'd wear off
quicker with a lot less side effects. By two o'clock, most of the
people had left for the night, and we were mostly just sitting
around talking. Kathy seemed to be enjoying herself in particular;
she confided in me that she hadn't gone out that much in a
while.

"Too busy with school," she told me.

We were down to about eight, the six of us
plus Karen's parents, when a group of people came in. I got the
impression that the evening was going to get fairly lively again,
real soon. I heard an 'uh oh' from Kathy and turned to her.

"Know them?" I asked.

She paled a little, "See the one with the
cattle prod?"

I looked them over, he was the leader and
looked middle aged, but in fairly good shape. "Yeah, who is
he?"

"That's my Father, and those others are some
of his friends from the farm."

I sat a little straighter in my chair and
made sure my feet were planted, I had a sneaking suspicion just why
they were here. "I thought your father didn't have any friends," I
joked.

"Not many, but the ones he does aren't very
nice," she lowered her voice, "and here they come."

They had spied us by this time and were on
their way over. Joshua had noticed them as soon as they had walked
in, and I could tell he knew what was up. He exchanged a quick
whispered conversation with Francis, then folded his hands on the
table and waited for them to arrive.

For my own part, I took an inventory of my
own condition. I had a slight buzz on, but as it wasn't alcohol
induced my reflexes should still be pretty good. The adrenaline
rush that was starting to build was also helping to clear out the
effects of the inhalers; the ones I had been using didn't last very
long.

They came up to where Kathy and I were
sitting, which didn't surprise me tremendously. I had moved my
chair around so I wouldn't be hit from behind, and looked them
over.

There were six of them with him and they were
all wearing cattle prods on their belts. This was definitely going
to be interesting, maybe even fun, if I didn't get shocked too
bad.

"Yes, Mister Vanderzyc," said Joshua from his
seat. "Just how may I help you?"

"By minding your own business!" He spat back.
"This doesn't concern you; it's between my daughter and me." He
turned to Kathy, "I though I raised you better than to hang around
with dirty animals like this," he jerked his thumb at me, as his
voice raised. "I can't believe that you'd do this on your own, it
must be those professors at that so called school of yours that
teach you this kind of behavior!"

It was really kind interesting to watch him,
I though as he continued his tirade for the next minute or two. I
found the things he had to say about animen and myself in
particular, even though we had never met mind you, quite
enlightening. However he also reminded me a lot of the Colonel back
at Arboral and I could feel my fur standing up along my body as I
got angry thinking about that. I doubted anyone else noticed
however with the clothes I was wearing.

"So you're going to come back to the estate
with me young lady!" he finished, glaring at all of us.

"No," she said, looking right back at
him.

"No?!" he said amazed, "What do you mean
no?"

"What part of no didn't you understand?" she
asked calmly. "No means no! Just that. You don't own me and I'm a
legal adult now, so just go away. I've had it with your anger and
your cruelty, and if the truth be known, I curse the accident of
fate that made me your daughter!" she said the last very loudly and
spat at his feet.

I myself was somewhat taken aback by all of
this. I had known she didn't like her father, but I hadn't realized
that she totally despised him. I wondered what he must have done to
earn such animosity. He was also clearly taken aback by such a
vehement response.

"I think you had better go now," said Joshua
calmly, "before there's any trouble."

"I told you to keep your furry nose out of
this!" He said then turned back to Kathy, "You're coming with me!"
and reached for her.

He looked a little confused when his hand
stopped just short of touching her, then he noticed my grip on his
arm and looked at me. I just smiled innocently.

"Get your hand off of me, you filthy
bastard!" he grabbed his cattle prod with his free hand, and
started to draw it.

At this point Joshua, Dave and Gabe all
started to rise, I waved them back down as I stood, "Gentlemen
please," I smiled, not at all pleasantly. "There are hardly enough
here for me! Anyway I think the man's grievance lies with me."

Okay, so I like to show off and have a big
ego, but if I couldn't handle this mob Herza had definitely been
wasting her time on me. I watched as he brought the prod around
towards me, and I checked my grip on him.

"You know," I said as if making normal
conversation, "if you use that thing, you're going to get hurt a
lot worse than me."

"Go to hell!" he said and he stuck me with
the prod.

It was an interesting experience, I don't
know if any of you have ever been exposed to a shock rod before, I
had in training and one thing they always told you, 'make sure the
person you're using it on isn't touching you'. I guess nobody had
ever told him that.

It hurt like hell for a second, but that
passed pretty quickly and I heard him yell. He had just gotten
about as good of a jolt as I had, through the grip I had on his
arm. I had also dislocated his shoulder due to the muscle flex that
happens when one gets shocked. Another thing he should have thought
about. I had.

I bent over and picked the cattle prod up
from the floor and examined it, after letting him go.

He wasn't doing too well, and the several
seconds that everybody hesitated while looking at him moaning on
the floor allowed me to gather my own wits. While I can take a
shock like that without any real damage, it still stuns me for a
couple of seconds.

"Here hold this," I handed the prod to Kathy.
I looked around at the rest of his group. They were still looking
at him groaning on the floor, definitely not the brightest of
crowds. Having regained my own composure I reached behind me and
grabbed my chair. This got them going again, and they all drew
their own cattle prods and started spreading out to encircle
me.

I decided I didn't want any part of that and
started swinging the wooden chair like a scythe, as I charged their
right flank. I have to give them credit for organization, the ones
on the left charged in to try and get me from behind. I was able to
cut through those in front of me before they got in range however,
but broke the chair into useless fragments on the two in front of
me in the process.

I turned and kidney punched both of them as I
went by, just in case the chair hadn't had the desired effect. They
went down. I let the remaining four back me up against the wall, so
they couldn't get behind me. I almost regretted not having any
throwing stars or a knife with me, but then I wasn't planning on
killing anybody, yet.

Using a pair of crescent kicks, I was able to
clear a path long enough to get into the middle of them. I had
noticed that all of the prods were long, with electrodes on the end
only. That made them pretty useless close in and I quickly went to
work around me with elbows, knees, and the occasional claw. I got
three of them pretty good then, but I also got zapped in the back
myself.

Luckily, he wasn't able to hold it on me for
more than a second, but I jumped clear across the room from the
shock as I hadn't been ready for it. I had enough presence of mind
to tuck and roll when I landed, even managing to get up on my
feet.

The first one to make it to me had lost his
prod, so he started in with his fists. It took me a couple of
seconds to clear my head, but I was able to block most of his
punches. By then two more were closing in, the others were getting
up off the floor themselves.

I jumped the one who had been punching me,
hitting and kicking him as many times as possible before the other
two got there. When I turned away and went after the one on the
left, knocking his prod out of the way first, I saw him collapse to
the floor out of the corner of my eye.

The next one had too much confidence in the
cattle prod and once I was past it he turned to run. I grabbed him
by the hair and pulled him back 'til I could get a good grip on his
shoulder too, then I spun him around and threw him at the one
coming at me from behind. Right into his cattle prod, which
discharged nicely I might add.