The Helavite War (11 page)

Tim O'Malley, Dusty Wilson and Watts had
joined them. Tim said as soon as they got the place back to ship
shape they'd have one hell of a party to make up for lost time.
After all, it was Jake's Big Four-O.

The factory had shut down, the staff
evacuated, until the planet was secure again. The mercenaries moved
into the plant, but the operation was really a guerilla affair, go
out kill some Narnon and hopefully some lizards, then retreat to
the factory to regroup. The Narnon were not very bright, just
fighting machines. They didn't even want the planet or its useable
slime. They were a force like the mercenaries, hired by another
interested party who wanted the little planet and its multitude of
green ooze. They were limited in number. That's why they added the
lizards to their forces. They thought this time they might have a
chance to win.

Arr, Jake and Tim sat around the space heater in the
factory lounge. At least there was a shower here. Once their watch
was over they could wash off the green slime that seemed to ooze
into every crease and pore of their bodies. Dusty and Watts were on
look out. The other three were just finishing their coffee before
turning in.

Arr was just sitting and listening. As usual
when you got Jake and Tim together that was the only alternative
you had, listening. Tim was a big man, though not as big as Jake.
He had flaming red hair and always talked as though he thought you
were hard of hearing. He seemed always to be smiling and quoting
old sayings from earth's past. Most didn't make sense to Arr. Tim
said if you had to explain them it took all the punch out. Arr
liked Tim even if he didn't seem to speak English at times.

Dusty and Watts were old friends of Jake's
too. Dusty was built like a dar-dolf with two legs. He didn't talk
much, but that could have been the company he was keeping. Jake
said he was one of the best men in a hand to hand combat he ever
saw. Jake saw him take on as many as five guys at once and win. He
carried a thinly shaped, razor sharp knife. Dusty told Arr it was
really made for filleting fish but, he added with a wicked grin, 'I
find it useful for filleting other things too.'

Watts was a large black man. Jake told Arr
that Watts wasn't his real name. He killed a man once in a bar, at
a Trading Post. He managed to get past the Guardians and escaped.
He had to change his name as a consequence and chose a name from
earth's 20th century history. Jake said he was the kind of man you
wanted on your side.

Tim had just given Jake a tantalizing clue
to his birthday present when Watts came running in with Dusty close
behind.

"They're making a run on us," he shouted,
just before the factory exploded and everything went dark.

Arr struggled from under the debris. He saw
the Narnon coming over the top of the rubble toward the survivors.
He raised his blaster and killed two before scrambling for cover
behind a wall, which was still partially upright. Tim was already
there. He was sitting with his back against the wall just before
the explosion. Dusty was obviously dead. The Narnon stepped over
his body coming in. Watts was behind a metal locker that was tipped
over. Arr didn't see any sign of Jake.

"Have you seen Jake?" he asked Tim, as he
scanned the debris frantically for any sign of his friend.

"Not since the Big Bang!" Tim exchanged
rapid fire with the Narnon, bringing one down in a wail of
pain.

There were eight of them. They advanced past
the place where the mercenaries had all been sitting, to press
their excellent odds advantage against the three. There was nowhere
to escape! The only way was through the opening made by the Narnon.
The Narnon knew they had won this time. They advanced further.

All at once, Jake rose up out of the rubble
behind the invading force and opened fire. They were caught totally
off guard and between the mercenary forces. They didn't have a
chance. The incident was over in a matter of minutes.

After the rough night at the factory, the
Narnon, as Tim said, 'Tucked their tails and ran.' The worst part
of the job was the clean up. The Tuldavian Swamp Lizards were left
behind in the Narnon's rush to retreat. All the lizards had to be
found and liquidated. You couldn't have a factory slime collector
lose a leg or two. Jake and Tim devised a way to drag the slime.
When the lizards were lured up to the bait they became so much
'swamp slime.'

When the factory staff returned they said
they would take care of shipping Dusty's body to his kin. Usually a
mercenary was buried where he fell, but the four of them agreed
that Dusty deserved better than Gligula.

Jake's birthday was wonderful. Arr had never
experienced so much warmth and friendship before. He wasn't the
only one who loved Jake. He was lucky Jake chose him as a
partner.

The best part of the celebration was when
they brought in the cake. It looked to Arr like a round building
with several floors each one smaller than the one below it. They
put forty candles on it and it was studded with Red Raspberry Goo
Chews. Tim found out about Jake's wayward dar-dolf's addiction,
during one of his rare quiet periods when Arr told him about how he
made friends with the beast.

Tim's gift was a brand new Magnum Class (MC)
Blaster with a new light weight scope attached. It was not the
usual gag gift and it was very warmly received by Jake. All the
other gifts were rude and obnoxious, but fun.

Arr waited until they returned to the
cruiser before he gave Jake his present. Jake thought the
festivities were over and he was ready for a good night's rest. He
had too much to drink. Oh well, you only had a birthday once a year
and a fortieth one only once in a lifetime.

"I couldn't think of anything as funny as
your friends' gifts," Arr said, as he stirred restlessly in the
doorway to Jake's cabin.

Jake came up to Arr smiling down on the boy,
he put his hand on the Henu's shoulder. "That's okay. I don't think
I could stand another gag gift."

Arr pulled a piece of rolled paper tied with
a ribbon from behind his back. "Happy birthday, Jake." He was a bit
embarrassed that it was so small. He handed it to Jake and
retreated briskly, walking back to his own cabin.

When Jake unrolled the sheet it was one of
Neena's pictures. The only one Arr kept out of the dozens she drew.
Arr's favorite. The Henu in the picture smiled back at him from
under a tree by the lake.

"You're under arrest for the murder of Bola Terga of
the planet Athos."

They were Galactic Officers all dressed in
their blue with gold braid. Jake could see six of them, behind him
and Arr, in the mirror above the bar.

Jake took the gamble and lost. If he were by
himself he would try fighting his way out, but the kid was with
him. Jake had his own code of ethics and pulling a friend into a
fight, maybe getting them killed, was against the rules when that
friend wasn't given all the information and the choice up front.
Jake didn't bother to explain to Arr that he was taking a risk
coming here. He convinced himself that after over fifteen years the
incident on Rigil Four would be forgotten. He was sure no one would
recognize him with a beard. After all, he only took the chance
because of an emergency.

It wasn't often that Jake underestimated his
opponent. How the Guardians got a whiff of his presence on the
planet, God only knew, but they were tenacious. They probably were
following them all day. Probably took his prints off the prod he
picked up at the repair shop.

Jake turned slowly around. "I believe you've
made a mistake gentlemen." He raised his hands to show that he had
no intention of going for his blaster.

"You are Jake Harcourt of the cruiser
Calpernia, are you not?" The leader of the six asked.

"Yes." Jake gave Arr a gentle nudge, to put
him out of the line of fire.

"Then there has been no mistake," the
lieutenant stated. "If you'll just hand over your blaster and come
quietly no one will get hurt."

Jake slowly removed his blaster from its
holder and gave it to the officer.

The GO leader indicated with a head movement
for one of his men to cuff their prisoner. When the man took the
cuffs off of his belt and headed toward Jake, Arr started to go for
his blaster and a low rumble emanated from Kay-o.

"Don't!" Jake protested forcefully to the
two. "This is my business! You stay out of it. Go find Tim. Tell
him what happened."

The officer locked the cuffs securely. They
hustled Jake quickly out of the bar. Arr and Kay-o trailed along
like lost puppies.

As they pushed Jake into a transport craft
he called back over his shoulder, "Take care of yourself, kid."

Arr paced the pilot platform in agitation. He had
been waiting four days. He called Tim as Jake instructed the moment
he arrived back on board the Calpernia. Tim advised him to 'Sit
tight and stay out of trouble,' until he got there. Arr glanced at
the onboard time line for what seemed like the umpteenth time. By
his best calculations Tim should arrive sometime tomorrow
morning.

Arr went down to the planet's surface at
least a half dozen times to try to see Jake, but the Galactic
Officers refused to allow him any visitors. Arr did everything he
could to get them to change their minds, short of blasting his way
in, which Jake and Tim both forbid.

Arr had experienced very little rest in the
last four days. He spent his time wearily prowling the corridors of
the ship day and night. Only when he was too exhausted to lift his
head did he fall into a troubled sleep. He had a lot of time to
think, a lot of time to remember.

He was with Jake five years now. He had been
with Jake through five Christmas', five birthdays and nineteen
missions. He battled everything from Andruvians to Hydras to
Basha'a. He had been kicked, stomped on, bitten, beaten and shot
at. He lost count of all the beings he shot at, much less killed.
He fought to secure everything from slime, used to make air
breathable, to quillanium, the strongest metal known used for the
hulls of space vessels. He endured extremes in heat and cold,
thirst and exhaustion, and.... he saw wonderful, truly marvelous
things. Things that he never guessed existed in his wildest
imagination. He met some incredibly diverse people and shared their
traditions and celebrations. And, he had Jake through it all.

Arr sat down in exhaustion in his co-pilot
seat. Kay-o came to lie at his feet.

Jake was family now. He was the father Arr
lost at the early age of four. He was the brother he buried on the
Henu planet. He was teacher and mentor. He would never leave Jake.
To leave Jake was to leave part of himself behind. These last four
days would have been totally unbearable except that he kept telling
himself it would be over soon. Tim would get here and straighten it
all out. Jake killed before, they all had, but Jake was not a
murderer. Tim would somehow make it all right. Jake said Tim could
'Talk a Darill into buying a sand box.'

It was night aboard the ship. Jake set it up
for a twenty four hour cycle of lighting changes. The temperature
dropped 15 degrees, also due to Jake's settings. He said you slept
better in a cooler room. Arr slid down out of his chair on the
pilot platform to the floor by Kay-o. He hugged the dar-dolf,
softly purring.

"It's going to be all right," he said, as
much to reassure himself as Kay-o.

Tim parked his cruiser in orbit next to Jake's. He
pulled his pod into the extra bay on Jake's ship exactly 104.32
hours from departure. He made record time. He hopped through two
space windows and three solar systems to get here.

Arr was waiting when he crawled out of the
pod. He'd never seen the kid like this. He'd seen him sick, hurt
and exhausted, but this was different. It was like his best friend
and his mother had died on the same day. He looked as though he
hadn't slept much in the last four and a half days and the sleeping
he'd done must have been in his clothes. Arr once tried to tell Tim
how he was bound to Jake, but it didn't make much sense to him.
This must be the result of being separated. So, this was Henu
bonding. He'd have to get Jake sprung as much for the kid's sake as
for Jake's.

"Got a cup of coffee, kid? It's been a long
trip," Tim asked, as he pulled himself wearily from the pod.

"Sure, in the mess." Arr acknowledged
leading that direction.

"I'm glad you're here Tim." Arr poured Tim a
cup. "They won't let me see Jake. I don't even know if he's all
right."

"Oh, Jake'll be fine. He's probably doin'
less worrying than you and he's the one accused of murder." Tim
noticed that Arr's hand shook as he finished pouring. "How long has
it been since you ate?"

"I don't remember. It's not important." Arr
sat down dejectedly across from Tim.

"It sure as hell is important," Tim bellowed
in his usual blustery manner. "If I'm going to get Jake out of this
jam I'm going to need all the help I can get. I don't need you
folding on me in a crunch."\

Tim rose heartily from his chair. He started
to rummage about the mess for a meal for the kid. He remembered the
Henu liked greens so he piled a plate full of the 'Rabbit food,' as
he called it.

"What were you and Jake doing in this solar
system?" Tim asked, as he sat the over flowing plate in front of
Arr.

"We broke a landing prod on the pod at the
last job. Jake attached it, but he couldn't get it to retract. We
came here for parts." Arr looked at the plate of food with disgust.
He wasn't the least bit hungry.

Tim picked up a carrot and thrust it at the
young Henu testily. "Eat!"