Gray Panthers Captain Short Blade (10 page)

Turning back to the manager, Jimmy looked him straight in the eyes. “I don’t have a card on me, but I think this’ll cover everything,” he said as he tossed a gold coin on the desk. “I’ll expect my change when we check out in the morning.”

A flurry of activity followed and a man who’d been standing off to the side stepped forward and whispered something into the manager’s ear.

“Are you sure?” the manager asked him. “Of course you are.” Addressing Guns and Jimmy, he said, “I apologize, gentlemen. Mr. Smith here is with hotel security. He remembers meeting you, Mr. Wright, at the shuttle when he picked up Mr. Short Blade. Here is your coin back. I’ll have your room cards in just a minute.” He began to sweat as he tried to hurry the staff along.

“No worries,” Guns told him. “It would be nice if you could send up a couple of steak dinners with french fries and an assortment of beers. It’s been a long day. And you have laundry service, right? Our luggage was lost on Mars on the trip here. I’m guessing you have those nice fuzzy white robes and slippers?” he asked, smiling broadly.

“That won’t be a problem, sir,” the manager assured him. “Here are your room cards. Just give your laundry to the server when your meals are brought up. One of our guest service clerks will bring it back after it’s been cleaned”

Guns smiled again as he took the room cards and headed toward the elevator with Jimmy in tow.

“Lost our luggage on Mars?” Jimmy said with a laugh. “Where do you come up with that crap?”

“Aw, you gotta give these people something to talk about. It’s bad enough they gotta wash your shorts.”

“Screw you. Give me the room card.”

Jimmy opened the door and they both took a moment to drink in the opulence. The main room was enormous and offered a magnificent view of the city. On one side of the room, two doors stood open, each leading to a separate master bedroom and bath. The door on the other side of the room was closed. The men looked at each other and smiled at the slight rumble of animal noises coming from behind it. Obviously Short Blade was already snoozing away.

The men walked over to the wet bar and examined the beer selection. Jimmy opened one and took a long swig. Guns decided he was going to wait until the food arrived, which didn’t take long. Jimmy was about to open another bottle when there was a soft knock on the door.

“Come on in!” Guns hollered.

Jimmy poked him with his elbow. “Man, Short Blade’s sleeping. Have some consideration.”

The server entered with a cart loaded with half a dozen or so trays and a small ice chest filled with a variety of beer.

“Sirs, I was told you had some laundry that needed a rush turnaround?”

Jimmy and Guns grabbed the plastic bags the server held out and headed to their rooms. They returned dressed in oversized white bathrobes, holding the laundry bags at arm’s length as if they were toxic.

“It was amazing,” Guns said with fake astonishment. “As soon as I took my clothes off, they just started to reek.”

“Yeah, that’s amazing, all right.” Jimmy laughed as he handed his laundry and a fifty-dollar bill to the server. “Let’s dig in, shall we?”

When Short Blade woke up, he saw that he’d beaten the alarm by five minutes. Eager to get back home to the ranch, he hopped out of bed, opened his small travel bag, and put on his flight suit. Opening the door, he saw Guns and Jimmy asleep at the table, which was covered with bottles and food.
I’m glad someone had a night of fun
, he thought.

“Good morning, guys,” he said loudly. “Are you about ready to hit the road?”

It was probably best that the slurred grumbling he received in response was indecipherable. He gave them a few minutes to get their wits about them before he continued.

“Did you have any problems completing your tasks?” he asked apprehensively.

“Well, I got the uniform material for your army,” Guns said as he opened a fresh beer. “Part of the deal included me making half a million.”

I don’t have time for stories,
Short Blade thought. “How’d it go with the cows, Jimmy?”

“We have to make a little side trip to pick them up. My old friend who I was going to have help me died awhile back, but his granddaughter agreed to sell us her herd and come with us. She’s a veterinarian. We really should have her check on the health of your cows, and it’ll be good to have her there when you start breeding your own calves.”

Short Blade thought about it and decided to accept what Jimmy had said as a suggestion, and not necessarily as a course of action.

“That’s a good idea, Jimmy. Let me order us some breakfast and we can be on our way.”

Both men groaned in unison as they got out of the chairs they’d slept in. They grabbed their fresh clothes from a portable clothes rack near the door and disappeared into their rooms. Short Blade heard the showers running in both rooms as he placed their breakfast order.
What a pair of characters,
he thought. But he had to admit that they had never failed him, and he had learned a great deal from them.

The ride in the hotel limo back to the shuttle was quiet. Jimmy and Guns were tired and slightly hungover. Short Blade was thinking about having a strange human at his ranch, and a female, at that. He didn’t know how well that would work, especially after the men hadn’t been around any other women for a while. Guns was realizing that he was now a millionaire, between the profit from the wine and the real estate transaction he’d pulled off yesterday. Life was really looking up, especially if he could get back to Dixie and a certain little redhead. Jimmy was watching the scenery go by and wondering if the big asshole from last night might be lurking around the shuttle, waiting to settle some unfinished business.

The security service at the stockyard had made a point of keeping people away from the shuttle, although a few curious folks had managed to take pictures of it. Short Blade was happy with the amount of material in the second cargo hold and realized it must have taken a while to load so much in the amount of time he had given the guys. He turned his thoughts to the new cows they’d soon be picking up. He was still apprehensive at the thought of another human joining them on the trip back to his home world and maybe becoming a permanent part of his staff at the ranch. He decided if he didn’t like her he would leave her behind after he bought her herd. As he entered the cockpit, Jimmy was finishing his instructions to Phoenix.

“Captain, we’re ready to take off as soon as you give the word. Flight plans have been coordinated with the different zones we’ll be flying through.”

Short Blade was happy to see Jimmy’s professionalism and acted accordingly. “Very good, Chief. It’s your ship while we’re in Earth space. Let me know when we get there.”

He left the cockpit and made his way to the second cargo bay, where Guns was going through a fabric cart of assembled uniforms. He had pulled out a few sets of uniforms and had already put one on.

“What do ya think, boss? Shouldn’t all your troops wear your uniform?”

Short Blade noticed the pride in his eyes as Guns stood there in his old uniform—it reminded him of how the beggar warriors had been at the ranch.

“You look good in the uniform, Guns. See if you can find some sets for Jimmy, too. How much did all of this fabric cost?”

“It’s my gift to you, Captain. I got the rolls of fabric and uniforms free as part of the business deal I arranged.”

“The deal with the half-million-dollar profit?”

“That’s the one.” Guns was smiling happily.

“That’s great, Guns. Are you sure you don’t want to be paid for the fabric?”

“I’ll let you pay for the storeroom full of fabric I couldn’t fit in this load. How’s that, sir?”

Short Blade couldn’t hide his amazement at what Guns had accomplished. Maybe he should get a second shuttle and send him and Jimmy off on their own to make him rich.

“That works for me. Tell Phoenix how much to transfer from my account to yours.”

“Jimmy to crew. We’re about to land.”

As the shuttle descended, Jimmy saw someone on the ground feeding a small trashcan fire. The willowy smoke from the fire indicated the wind direction. When the shuttle was low enough, he could see the woman—he assumed it was Namid—was pointing to an open space by an empty corral. Landing the shuttle so that the cargo hatch was close to the corral was no problem. The ramp for the main cargo hatch was already dropping as the engine was shutting down. The smell of manure and freshly cut grass wafted through the shuttle. Knowing there was no time to waste, Namid had already started adjusting a run to the shuttle. Jimmy was the first one out.

“Namid, I’m so glad to meet you,” he said as he gave his old friend’s granddaughter a once-over. The black-haired girl, who looked about twenty-five, was slightly over five feet tall and had a muscular build. The cutoffs and the white, sweat-drenched tank top she was wearing left little to the imagination.

“I’m glad to meet you too, Hotuaekhaashtait.” She took off her work gloves and surprised Jimmy with a hug.

“Please, call me Jimmy. Those two in the hatchway are Guns and Short Blade.”

Namid was immediately captivated by Short Blade. “Oooh, you are soo cute!” she said as she walked over and gave him a big, long hug.

Short Blade was taken aback by the unexpected show of affection from the female, who was slightly taller than he was. He decided he liked her. Guns smiled as he watched the changing expressions on Short Blade’s face and said nothing about being ignored.

“You’re attractive for a human, I guess,” Short Blade said with a shrug once Namid had stopped hugging him.

“I’ve wanted to visit other planets and meet beings from other worlds since I was a small girl. My name, Namid, means Star Dancer in Cheyenne, my people’s language.”

“Namid, we’ll have time to talk later. I’d like to be on our way as soon as possible, so if you don’t mind, let’s take a look at your cattle. I’m eager to hear your ideas for integrating them with my herd at home.”

Namid smiled and whistled three times loudly. Four mixed-breed collies came running and began to herd the cows into the corral. Realizing he didn’t have a weapon, Short Blade nervously backed away from the dogs. He desperately wanted to run for the shuttle.

“Alpha, come,” Namid ordered.

The collie trotted over to his mistress. Short Blade was astounded that the creature didn’t try to attack him.

“Alpha, sit. Alpha, shake paws.”

Short Blade watched as the dog sat and then held out a paw to him. The dog’s tongue was hanging out of the side of his mouth, which made him look like he was laughing. Short Blade took the offered paw.

“Nice doggy,” he said as he shook the paw.

The dog’s ears perked up, and he seemed to understand what Short Blade had said. Remembering a show about dogs that he’d seen on TV, Short Blade thought he’d try something.

“Alpha, can you walk around me and come back to where you are now?”

Alpha cocked his head and gazed at Short Blade,.

“Short Blade, dogs don’t
—” Namid stopped midsentence as Alpha walked around Short Blade and then sat down again.

Short Blade just smiled before he continued. “We can talk more about this later, too. Right now, let’s get the cattle—and the dogs—on board.”

Namid opened a gate to the ramp, and Alpha returned to the other dogs to help them herd the cows into the shuttle.

“We’ll take off in fifteen minutes, if that’s all right with you, Namid. Jimmy, Guns, please help her get her belongings into the shuttle,” Short Blade said when the last of the cattle were inside.

Both men were surprised when they learned that all she planned to take were seeds, some cases of medicine, and a few other small boxes.

“Dang, girl. I expected a half-ton of clothes and silly shit. I’m gonna like you.” Guns said. Namid smiled back at him and he blushed.

“I doubt there are many parties where we’re going. I also have a feeling these herbs won’t be there, either. When I was in the service I learned not to hold on to anything I wasn’t prepared to carry.”

“So our vet is a vet?” Guns observed, laughing at his own joke as he adjusted the boxes in his arms.

“The ROTC put me through college  I ended up spending six years in. My first year, I took care of K9s and dependents’ family pets. Later I joined a unit that went to third-world countries in small teams and helped natives learn about taking care of their animals. I also learned about natural medicines that work better than most pharmaceuticals.” She paused after setting her boxes down and took a good look at Guns. “How old are you, Guns? I’d guess seventy, but you’re in too good a condition.”

“Well, thanks. Actually, I’m eighty. I had the nanite treatment, so I have the body of a twenty-year-old—just not the appearance of one.”

Namid looked over at Jimmy and realized that he was probably even older, though just as spry.

“Why haven’t they given this to the world? No one would be sick or die—”

Jimmy halted the speech he’d heard too many times before.

“With no one dying, we’d be overcrowded and run out of resources. Then there would be, famine, and more war. Who would decide who was to live and who was to die? Who would make the decisions regarding procreation? Do you think poor people would get the treatment, or only the rich? At first I thought Dan Daniels was a bastard for not making the nanites widely available, but eventually I came to agree with him. Imagine trying to fund Social Security for people who could live forever.”