Previously.../...

Patreon .../.... Project Dirt

The alarm went off after three hours, and they both groaned and looked at the screen, which showed a small caravan, three beasts of burden that looked like a mix between an elephant and a camel, with a small hut on the back. There were two adult boarmen riding each, it looked like three families. They looked at each other. 

“Ship! How long until they arrive?”  Peter asked, and after a few seconds, the screen showed they would arrive in about 3 hours.

“We can sleep one more hour,” Kiko said as she pulled him back to continue sleeping.

When Peter woke up, she was sitting in the bed watching the screen. Three families of boarmen had set up camp at the bottom of the rock formation. They seemed friendly, and the grown men played with the children as they ran around.  The men were lightly clothed, and the women were a little more decent, but not completely covered.

“shit, we have to get away.” He said as he got up, but she put a hand on his arm.

“No need, they are the Bynasop, they are vegetarians. Strong but normally peaceful.”

“How do you know that?” He asked, confused, and she handed him a pad.

 “The communication link is fixed on peppermint as well as the pathway to the galactic library. The language update woke me up. Why did you guys add all the languages in the database?”  She looked at him as he looked at the file, There was no doubt, those were Bynasop, a vegetarian species and known for being peaceful. They were a spacefaring people, but were more common closer to the center of the galaxy. An area mostly avoided due to anomalies.

“Do they speak their language?” He asked, and she shook her head. “No, they have their own language. So the update didn’t help me. So why so many languages?”

“That’s Kerion MacGully's fault, he is the reason we have so many books and media. He wanted to know everything. Spent all his spare credits on improving the library; he was horrible to play ‘random knowledge’ with.”

“Random knowledge? What is that?”  She turned her attention to him, ignoring the screen.

“You never played Random Knowledge?” She shook her head, so he continued. “It’s a pretty simple game. You have the computer pick a random subject, and then everybody has to tell something about it. If you can't, you have to drink. If you get caught lying, you have to drink three times. If you say something that shocks, surprises, or makes everyone laugh, then everybody else has to drink.  When we played with Kerion, we all got pretty drunk.”

“Even Kerion?”

“he drank for the hell of it, and when he got drunk, his knowledge got weird and very naughty. I have learned things I wish I could unlearn from him.” He chuckled, thinking about it. Kiko saw it, and the curiosity got too much.

“Like what?”

“The Hunfus species have no concept of privacy or modesty, and sex is as normal as handshakes.”

She just stared at him. “Wow, I guess many go there to visit.”

“Well, they look like a spiked humanoid lizard, and their skin is poisonous to humans. As Kerion said, many have died with a happy smile on their face.”

“Jesus… okay, well that’s not too bad.” She replied, and he laughed.

“That was a mild one, it's getting worse from there. Do you want more?” He replied with a smile, and she held up her hands in defeat.

“Nope, I get the idea.” Then she turned her attention back to the families outside. “What about them?”

“Well, if they don’t bother us, then we don’t bother them. When do you want to leave?”

“Let's wait for the sunset, we can fly through the night, they won't see us leave. You know you should have transferred the controls to the screen here, and then we wouldn’t even need to go outside.”

He just stared at her for a few seconds and then slapped his own face. “I’m an idiot! I can do that. It will take me a few hours, so can you stand guard?”

“Sure, but I don’t think there will be any problems.”

‘Well, the problem is that while I do this, we can fly or control the bikes, so if they suddenly change, then we have to fight.”

“Okay, I will get the weapons ready. You got more of those cryo grenades?” She asked as he started to get dressed, then grabbed the tool belt, a pistol belt, and a helmet. 

“I used two for the rescue. I'm pretty sure I packed a few more. Check the closet.” Then he walked outside and activated the suite's environment control. The alarm immediately rang out, and he turned his head to see two Bynasop kids frozen by shock seeing him. He looked at them and sighed.

“You’re a good look out, two kids saw me.”

“No, there are four of those cute little rascals. No weapons on them, just sticks.  I’m keeping an eye on the adults.”

“Well, I'm not starting now, they might come up to investigate.  I will do a light check-up for now. But be ready for a takeoff.”

He could hear the kids shouting as they ran down to the camp. He looked after them, and curiosity was getting the better of him. “They have no weapons?”

“Not that I noticed, a few tools, probably a sling or bow. Nothing to worry too much about. If they are vegetarians, then they have no need for hunting.”

“Are we sure they are vegetarian. They might just look like the Bynasop, they could be cannibals for all we know.”

“I have not seen any meat in their camp. I have seen dried fruit and something that looks like rice.” She replied, and he stepped to the edge and looked down at them. They immediately noticed him and stepped in front of their children. The men stood first, holding spears, looking scared and protective.

“They got spears. But that’s about it.”

“Ehh we got incoming, and these guys don’t look friendly.” Kiko suddenly said as she transferred the video from the drone. A large group of Fushan was riding lizard-like horses, they had short bows and bright green nomadic desert clothes. They did not look friendly.

“Well, when will these guys arrive?”  he asked.

“Within an hour at that speed, I don’t think they are together with these guys.  Should we leave?” She replied.

“Should we? If we leave and they are bandits, then these families are gone for good.”

“I knew you would say that. I’m suiting up, and I found the cryo grenades. We have four left. So don’t use them unless you have to. I’m bringing one out. Should be enough to scare them off.”

“Naw, keep it, we might need it later. There is... Let's see only thirty of them. A couple of shots should scare them away if they attack.”

“As you wish, my knight.” She replied, and he stepped back from the edge as the drone kept an eye on them. They seemed scared, and when a guard came running into camp a few moments later, there was clearly some panic. The children were quickly hidden in a small cave, and the men and women got ready.

“I don’t like the looks of it. Are they willing to let the kids starve to death in those caves if they die?” She asked, and he just looked at the screen, then at one of the women who looked up at where they were and started to run up. She looked desperate, and soon she was up on the plateau and saw the container and Peter leaning on the bikes watching her. She moved over and dropped down in front of him. Her palms were up and her head touching the ground as she was saying something. No, it was a prayer of chant, and it seemed like desperation.

Kiko walked out all suited up and looked gorgeous, like a female god of war.

“I think she is the mother of the three naughty kids who kept jumping in the water.”  She said as she walked over. The woman could not hear them as they spoke over the radio.

“She is clearly desperate and knows what will happen. The problem is. We don’t know if they have done something, and those chasing them are the law.” He replied, and Kiko put her hand on the woman's shoulder. The woman looked up, and Kiko offered her a hand to raise her up. When she stood, she pointed towards the dust cloud and spoke words that had no meaning. Peter walked back to the edge and looked down at the group; they had not moved but seemed worried, then he looked back at the incoming group. All of them were clearly warriors. He looked back at the group. The oasis looked like a crescent moon with a pool of water in the middle. It was connected to an underground river and was cold and fresh. It was a nice place, but not easy to defend. It was easy to climb over the rocks from almost all sides, so they could not funnel attacks into a single place.  Well, it did not matter. It would be arrows against blasters. It was not a fair match.

“We watch, and if they attack, we scare them away.” He said to Kiko, and she nodded, then led the woman to the edge and pointed down to her people, and tried to indicate for her to go down as Peter moved along the ridge to find a better defensive place.

She looked at them, confused, then suddenly realized and ran down to the others, shouting something.

“I think she believes we will fight for them,” Peter said as he looked between the people and the invaders.

“Well, we are going to protect them. I’ll stay with the bikes in case everything goes south.”

“Good idea. Well, let's wait.”

“Sure…  So..”  She started but stopped herself.

“What?”

“What do you see in me? I mean, I know what I see in you. You're just.. well, a real good guy and nice looking, you're handy and .. well you know.. You got the right experience.  So am I just the girl around? or .. you know.”

“No, no, no.. you're not going to play the insecure one now. You're not insecure. You know why men like you. And besides that, you have a great sense of humor, and your heart is in the right place. You might think you became a cop to piss off your dad, but I think you also wanted to do the right thing. And I like that. Besides, you're smart, smarter than me, and I like that. And you blow my mind in bed.” He replied.

Kiko didn’t speak for a while, but he could see her heart rate had increased slightly. When she spoke, it was softer. “You really think so?”

“Yes, I don’t know, but something about you just makes me forget the rest of the world, maybe it’s just your perfume. No, you do it to me now.  You just feel right. I don’t know how else to explain it. I was scared to lose you back in the city. I mean, really scared.”

He only heard her breathing, and it made it hard to concentrate, and he was glad when the AI alarm went off. The group was a mere thousand meters away.

“Get ready.”

“Oh yes, yes.. I’m ready now.” She replied and whispered to herself, forgetting he could hear her. “You have to stop doing this to me.”

He took a deep breath and aimed at the group. They didn’t seem to slow down; instead, they got their bow ready, and once they got within range, they fired.

“shit!” Peter said as he immediately fired back.

The raiders stopped in panic as two of their men got hit by lightning from a clear sky and burst into flames. They looked around and didn't see anything. One of them lifted up some symbol, and again they charged, now some with drawn sword. One of them fired again, so he fired twice. One at the archer and one at the man holding the staff with a symbol. It broke them, and they spread out and vanished into the desert. 

“I think they got scared away.” He said.

“You think so? They are definitely thinking you’re god now. That was some damn fine shooting, are you sure you're not a sniper?”

He laughed, “Naw, every farm boy needs ot know how to shoot. We have to keep the pest off the property.”

“Well, I’m impressed. Let's wait until nightfall just to make sure  they don’t return, and then we fly off.”

“Yeah, but I’m not doing the change now. We need to be ready in case there are too many of them.”

“I agree.  Oh, they are getting the kids out now. They look happy,” she said as he was making his way back.

“Well, I'm going back inside. I don’t think we should interact too much with them.”

“You just want to spend time alone with me, don’t you?”

“And are you complaining?”

“no…”