The Encounter (10 page)

              He stepped outside and looked around. He looked at the body. He'd killed deer and other game animals before. As he looked at the dead man, reality began to set in. This was a man, not human, but close enough. He sort of wished it would glow and disappear.

              Her voice came from behind him. "Here..."

              He turned to face her. She was wearing something that looked like a one-piece flight suit.

              "I guess this is it." He said.

              "I guess..." She held out her hand with four gold disks.

              He took them and moved them around in his hand. "What's this?"

              "Four ounces of pure gold," she said. "That should cover the damage to your truck."

              He looked at the coins. She watched his face. The desire to mate with him was still there, but the fact that she would probably never see him again had taken the edge off.

              "Well, I gotta go." She said.

              "Can I kiss you good bye, again?" It was something he really wanted to do. "After all, you've completely screwed up my whole vacation."

              She tilted her head to the side. "How? New Mexico and those mountains are still there."

              "Yeah well, after today the next two weeks are gonna seem sorta dull."

              She smiled, stepped up and put her arms around his neck. He put his arms around her and they kissed. This was something they
both
wanted to do and it lasted for several moments. She stepped back and faced her ship. With the remote she brought the ship on-line.

              “Take a look around. I’d rather not have to cloak it.”

              Lawrence stepped outside, looked both ways and then motioned her out. She and an intergalactic spacecraft moved out into the sunlight.

              A loud pop startled them. They jumped, faced the noise and shaded their eyes from the huge ball of bright light. It faded and all that remained of the truck was a concave dent in the ground. The coins dropped from his hand.

              There was a huge ground rush of air as the cloaked Bounty Hunter's ship settled in next to the house. Even Lawrence could sense its presence.

              Margaret didn't hesitate. They had one chance. She pulled Lawrence with her into the ship. The opening closed behind them.

Lawrence was left standing just inside the hatch. Margaret disappeared into the central chamber. He ran his hand along the wall. It was smooth to the touch. There were symbols. From their groupings, he surmised they were instructions of some kind in her native language.

              "Larry, hurry..." Her voice came from the chamber ahead of him. A slight vibration set up in the ship.

              Several Bounty Hunters approached the barn. One broke off toward the body. The Leader raised his weapon. The large one pulled his arm down. An argument broke out between them. A loud exchange ensued.

              Lawrence entered the flight deck. It was round, more or less. At the far side were two seats. Each had its on heads-up display. All the instruments were just outlines on a flat surface. There were symbol groupings at various locations around the wall. Margaret occupied the left seat. Her hands moved over a cluster of heat sensitive controls. Her eyes moved back and forth between two displays.

              The two Bounty Hunters were still having their difference of opinion. A corona began to form around Margaret's ship as her shields came on line. The small ship lifted off.

              This was hastily pointed out. The Leader said something in a loud, cursing tone and fired his weapon. The shell exploded on the energy field forming around the little ship. The partially formed shield had a filtering effect; it wasn't enough to prevent some of the destructive power of the weapon from reaching the ship as it accelerated away from the surface.

              The argument had been about the salvage value of Margaret's ship. Now, the ship and the female were both gone.

              The Leader didn't mince words. He turned and fired. For an instant the large Bounty Hunter's mouth still moved, but he had no lungs to power his vocal cords.

CHAPTER SIX

The ship shook violently from side to side. Lawrence grabbed at the wall to keep from falling.

              Margaret quickly glanced over her shoulder. "Get in the seat. Hurry I can’t maneuver with you standing."

              He started for the seat. The ship jerked again. He managed to grab the seat back to steady himself.

              She was having trouble. That much, he could tell. He took the seat. It changed its shape to conform to his body. He looked at the controls. They were just patterns on a flat surface. He leaned forward for a better look. The ship jerked again. He grabbed the console. Controls lit up around his hand.

              "Don't touch anything!" She was breathlessly. "I'm having enough trouble on my own."

              He leaned back. "What trouble?"

              "I’m loosing power. I'm gonna have to shut us down."

              There was a trace of panic in his voice. "Is this thing gonna blow up or something?"

              She glanced at him. "I certainly hope not. I can’t transition out. The portal... We have a chance if I can make the portal.”

“Portal? What’s a portal?”

“A tear in the fabric of space.”

“A tear.” He looked at the forward monitor. “I don’t see anything.”

The monitor was filled with nothing but black. A slight ripple came and went.

She glanced at him. “When we penetrate the boundary things are gonna seem a little strange.”

“Compared to what?”

              The little ship streaked away from the planet. It was trailing a particle stream from the right side. It made a tight left turn and disappeared. The bounty hunter’s mother ship de-cloaked to empty space. It was too large to pass through the tear.

              The interior blurred for a second, and then returned to normal. Lawrence shook off the effect. She moved her hands to a different part of the console. The ride seemed to smooth out. She looked back to the gibberish flashing on and off the two displays. She made one final adjustment, leaned back in her seat, and looked at him.

              "Well?" He asked.

              She raised her hand, apparently waiting for something to happen. The entire cabin jolted raising Lawrence out of his seat.

              The ship came down at an angle tearing away the tops of the trees. It slammed into the ground throwing up dirt, rocks and debris and then slid to an abrupt halt on the forest floor. Despite its violent impact with the ground the shield kept the hull intact.

              She let out her breath. "We made it."

              She stood up. Her seat returned to its neutral shape.

              He watched her. "We made it where?"

              She walked across the control room toward the passage leading to the hatch.

              He got up and followed her. "We made it, where? Your place or mine?"

              She paused and waited on him. "This thing's fast, but it ain't that fast. Wyoming..."

              He wasn't sure he heard her right. "Wyoming?"

              "Come on, let's have a look outside."

              "You did say, Wyoming?"

              "Yes..." punctuating the answer. She stepped in front of the hatch. An opening appeared in the wall.

              "How do you do that?" He asked.

              "Magic”, she answered.

              It was dark outside. She stepped down. Lawrence followed her.

              It was night. The moon was three quarters full. They walked a few feet away from the ship, staying in the light from the open hatch. There were trees everywhere. The cover was so thick not much of the moonlight penetrated the darkness in front of them. The ground sloped gradually away. There were night sounds all around them.

              She was looking around. "Well, you wanted a trip to the mountains."

              "Yeah, well..." He looked around at the ship and jumped. The light from the opening was suspended in mid air. He walked back to the hatch and touched what should have been the hull. He moved his hand along the skin. He could feel it, but he couldn't see it. Even this close he couldn't tell there was anything there. He looked back. "This is fantastic. I don't suppose you'll tell me how this works either?"

              She started back to the hatch. "We better get back inside before someone sees the light."

              He glanced around. "Who? A bear..."

              She rubbed her arms with her hands. The truth was, she was freezing in the cool, night air. He followed her back in. The hatch closed and as far as the world was concerned there was nothing there.

              They walked back into the control room. He stopped just inside the entrance.

              "What's wrong with the ship? He asked. "What happened back at the house?"

              She paused, and then faced him. "Well, we absorbed an energy discharge from one of their weapons. Some of the navigational and propulsion systems were damaged. To put it simply, they broke it."

              "But you can fix it? Right?" Surely she could fix it, he thought.

              "Me? Not a chance."

              "Wait a minute, what’s wrong with this picture? You memorized fifty years of legal reference that means nothing to you, but you’ve never looked at the owners manual for the ride that got you here?"

              "How about, I fly it I didn’t build it. Not much we can do, but wait. I was supposed to meet someone. When I don't show up, they'll come looking for me.

              “It’s a big planet.”

              “Not that big”, she answered. “We left a particle trail all the way down. They’ll find us.”

              "Won't that help the bad guys too?"

              "Yes, that's why we can't stay with the ship."

              He glanced back at the hatch. "How did they find you the last time?"

              She started toward a control cluster on the wall. “I’m guessing they located my com-link.”

              “You can turn that off, right?”

"It is off but I give off a completely different bio-signature." She stopped at the wall. "As soon as they determine where in”, she hesitated, where we are, they'll run a bio-scan of the area. What's the phrase? I'll stand out like a sore thumb."

              She turned to the panel on the wall and keyed in something. Lawrence watched a section of floor in front of her transform itself into two side-by-side pallets, each about a foot thick.

              She looked at him. "You want a pillow?"

              He was still looking at the pallets. "Yeah, sure."

              She walked over to the replicater controls. He walked over to one of the pallets and sat on it. It conformed to his butt much the same as the seat. He bounced and pushed at it with his hands. She watched him playing like a kid. For the moment she was just glad he hadn't noticed the time. It had gone from noon, to night, in a matter of minutes.

              She keyed in a series of codes, and then spoke into the panel. "A pillow, king size... wait..." She looked at him. "You allergic to feathers?"

              "No. Why?"

              She looked back at the panel. "Down..."

              A moment later an opening appeared. A flat tray moved out with a pillow on it. She picked it up and tossed it to him. He caught it.

              "Do another one and we can have a pillow fight." He said, playfully.

              "I don't use one. Why would I want to fight with you?" Her tone was much too serious.

              "Lighten up. I was just joking. Besides, pillow fighting isn't really fighting. I thought you were up on stuff like that."

              She touched a place on the wall. The tray slid back and the opening disappeared. She walked across the room to the other pallet. The thought of sleeping next to him was uncomfortable for her. He was talking about pillow fights. She was sure certain other thoughts had crossed his mind as well.