Koban (44 page)

“Plus, when I cut off the flow the process was too slow. The
fire drew back down to the nozzle, which was also wet by then, and caught that on
fire. Luckily, I could use my gloves to smack out that flame. Those gadgets need
more testing and adjustment before we ever try to use them again.”

Mirikami nodded agreement. “I hate to say we were lucky today,
but there was some luck on our side, because things could have gone much worse.
I thank all three of you for being there, and taking on a larger and longer share
of the risks.”

Some of the Fancy’s complement had gathered around them to listen,
and more were making their way inside through a smaller door off to the side.

Rigson sat on a box there, covering the doorway with a Jazzer.
He waved over to his Captain, but continued to watch the door. The Smart Bandages
apparently were still feeding his wounds painkillers.

Seeing the expectant chattering faces around him, he realized
these were all “his” people, but that the majority of his passengers weren’t in
the large maintenance area, nor were their dead or injured. They must have gone
deeper into the dome.

He saw there were ten dirty faces he didn’t recognize. From their
mismatched clothes and sullen faces, they were obviously the previous Krall captives.
None of them would make eye contact with him, looking away quickly when they saw
him glance their way.

Mirikami raised his arms, hands out, to quiet those near him.
“Well done Gentle Ladies and Gentle Men, this was a hard dangerous day and you came
through better than I think the Krall expected. But not better than
I
expected,
because I
knew
you were prepared, and could do what had to be done.”

“We suffered some losses and injuries, true, but less than we
could have suffered if not for advance preparation. However, we have harder days
coming, so please try to get some rest when night comes, and we will have some simple
foods brought over shortly. The pallet here,” he pointed, “has boxes of pillows
and blankets, and a dozen and a half table cloths we can use as wide blankets. More
will come if we have the time.” He added.

“Keep secure control of the table cloths, they are Smart Fabric,
and we know now they will protect us somewhat from bites and stings. Until we can
make coverlets or some sort of outer clothes from them we can use them to hold over
us when we go back to the ship tomorrow.”

At that comment, he saw most of the ten dirty faces look sharply
in his direction, then away when he returned their looks. Some shook their heads,
and a few smirked knowingly. The wrecked ships outside the dome entrances proved
how skeptical they were of that happening. He hoped Telour would help him prove
them wrong.

“I’m going to have Doctor Martin and his Fireballers show me
around a bit, so help distribute the bedding so Mister Balduchi can make another
run.” He no longer needed Dillon’s people to unload, so they may as well help show
him around.

Dillon and his volunteers made a lane through the press of people
by the hauler, and Mirikami went with them towards one of four doors out of the
maintenance area into the next part of the dome. He saw the windows Chack had mentioned
earlier, and saw a lone warrior on the other side, watching the humans.

As they went through the door, the warrior approached in their
typical fast smooth strides. Mirikami was careful to look at a spot at the center
of his crossed belt harnesses.

Although he was dressed in black, he surprised them by speaking
in crude Standard. Mirikami noticed that his throat tattoo was slightly more elaborate
and colored than those of the novice warriors he had seen on the ship, but less
so than for Parkoda and Telour.

He spoke in a bass growly voice, “You human ship clan…,” he sought
for a word, “boss? Is human word or not?” he demanded.

“The other translators say ‘clan leader’ in our language, but
‘boss’ is another word that means almost the same thing.” replied Mirikami.

“You clan leader, or not?” He wanted a straightforward yes
or no answer. He had picked up a new word on one hearing. They had previously noted
the Krall had an extremely quick ear for learning new words.

“Yes, I am the human clan leader from the ship.”

“I Train be translator, for high status,” He explained, something
a Krall didn’t seem to do often. Perhaps this was the best brag he could manage
in Standard. He added “Dorkda comes speak you soon.”

Then he smoothly turned on his bowlegs and glided back to watch
through the window again.

“That solves the problem of contacting Dorkda. I guess he’ll
seek me out.”

Looking around, he saw the room he had entered was sort of an
open storage area for a mix of Krall made items he could not place a use for right
away. Some were human made things, like collapsible tents, assorted military cooking
stations for troops in the field, stacks of metal pots, pans, utensils, tubs or
basins, and cafeteria bench-tables stacked on one another. It looked like a supply
ship with kitchen equipment had made its way to Koban.

Dillon, seeing him look around, said, “I was told one of the
early ships they captured was a transport, headed for a mining outpost that had
bought military surplus equipment from before the collapse. There’s more stuff like
this near all of the main entry points. It got stacked like this until it has a
use.”

“Living quarters for humans are normally several more rooms and
doors into the interior, in case a bug or bat gets inside. There are living areas
we can use on almost every level but the top. Some levels once had large spaces
reserved for Krall exercise and training, crèches where eggs were laid and hatched,
and the young raised themselves there I hear. These are locked off from human use,
but can be seen from interior windows. I haven’t been there, of course, except for
what used to be a Krall garden area. That has Jimbo excited.” He let the other man
explain.

“After hearing about this from the original captives, we went
up to level twenty one; they have a lot of elevators here by the way, which we can
use. They’re huge.” Realizing he had jumped off subject he promptly jumped back.

“Anyway, that floor was their equivalent of a garden that must
have held plants that may have been native to their home world. It’s all dead now,
but the exciting part,” he almost gushed, “is that it is almost ideal for a hydroponics
section. It has the light, water, and soil we could use to have an indoor supply
of fruits and vegetables. All of which we brought on the ship for Midwife. That
was my department!” He was ready to start right now.

“Jimbo, that’s great news, but,” Mirikami butted, “we have a
lot of things we need to have established before we can devote time and resources
and manpower for that. We might need Krall permission, for one thing.”

“It isn’t off limits to us Sir. We could walk right inside and
look. Couldn’t we guys?” He appealed to the other Fireballers.

“He’s right captain,” Ray agreed. “The other captives go up there
and use a small part of it. However, they had no way to take full advantage of it
except for a modest vegetable garden in one corner. That was started by a captured
farmer headed for a Rim Colony, before he was killed in testing. It’s neglected
now, despite their need for the fresh food.”

“They mentioned they didn’t have food to spare. The Krall hasn’t
let them starve, and they presumably have some food. I recall they had farm animals.”

“I asked about that Captain. They didn’t all want to talk about
it, but there is a heavily protected covered corral. There they have a few cattle,
goats, and pigs, and even some kangaroo. They feed them grass from Koban, which
sometimes makes the animals a bit sick, and feed them scraps from their own food,
and the garden leaves from upstairs.”

“But what do the people eat most of the time?”

Dillon had that answer too. “A lot is frozen military rations
from a stockpile the Krall raided. One of the ‘collaborators’ as they called him,
led the Krall to where there was huge stockpile on a Rim world’s moon base. Naturally,
there were no human survivors from that raid. That particular collaborator had an
‘unfortunate accident’ later, as apparently all of them have had. But the people
here manage to ‘choke down’ the food he obtained for them.”

“It appears to be a sensitive subject for them,” added Jimbo.
“The Krall sought out and killed anyone they thought caused the accident. Except
for two that were killed by another human. They wouldn’t say why or who killed those
two. Seemed afraid to do so.”

“Telour described something like that.” Then Mirikami was discussing
food again, “So frozen military rations is it? That must get old.”

“Sir, they do have one more source of meat, but they’d almost
rather die than go get it. Or it almost amounts to dying just to go.” Dillon added
mysteriously, letting the statement just hang in the air.

“Son, you are starting to talk just like Doctor Fisher accuses
me of doing. How about you just tell me what you are talking about!” Mirikami complained.

“Buffalo meat,” he announced with a huge grin on his face. Which
quickly switched to serious when he saw the look the Captain gave him.

“That’s the closest Earth analogue Sir, honest. However, the
captives here decided to call them a rhinolo. They’re grass and leaf grazers that
roam the plains in big herds, and sometimes show up near the compound.”

“We can eat their meat? And not get sick, I mean?” the Captain
asked skeptically. “I can believe that the Krall might have been bred to eat almost
anything, but we haven’t.”

Alien animal meat often contained things toxic to people, or
were indigestible. At least they were inedible before they received gene modifications
to correct that.

“It seems we can eat most animals here, despite higher trace
levels of certain heavier elements or rare earth minerals. But notice that the wolfbats
and skeeters seem able to eat humans, or drink our blood, so it isn’t too surprising.”

“Then what’s the problem? Kill some and eat them, right?” Mirikami
hadn’t yet learned much about Koban, and should have recalled that even the Krall
found it dangerous.

“Nearly half of the people that have gone hunting haven’t come
back,” Dillon told him. “Part of the reason is how the warriors force them to hunt.
The Krall make the humans that go with them on hunts do so on foot, as the warriors
do. One of eight warriors might not come back either. And the humans only get to
keep what they kill; no charity from the Krall.”

“The humans are armed with rifles, I presume?” Mirikami asked.
“I see them carry pistols and rifles here. If they watch out for wolfbats and skeeters,
they should be able to kill a Koban buffalo easy enough. Only you said they call
them a rhinolo. Sounds like basic hunting, so what’s the catch?” Mirikami still
was puzzled.

“It seems a bit hard to grasp to me too Sir. But, the rhinolo
are said to run at over fifty miles an hour, and look something like a pale blue
humpbacked three or four ton rhinoceros. They have a thick armored hide and skull
that’s bullet resistant, and sport three horns, one long one like the extinct rhinoceros
had, and two shorter sideways horns on the nose like an Earth wart hog has, whatever
a wart hog is. I didn’t look up what that looked like.

“They told me the bulls will attack Krall or humans on sight,
and come to the defense of wounded or killed members of their herd.”

However, he wasn’t through describing the whole problem.

“Except the rhinolo aren’t the only danger on a hunt, they tell
me. The herd will eventually abandon a dead animal, or they can be driven off by
a shuttle flyover, so it’s mainly a matter of patience once you bring one down.

“It’s one of the predators that normally hunt the herds that
can even kill an armed Krall. They called it a ripper, a sort of giant teal colored
lion equivalent, and they hunt like lions in a pride. If you see one before they
sneak up on you it’s a distraction; there are at least five to ten more you don’t
see behind you. They come to take away your kill, or for the hunting party itself
if there’s been no kill. You had better get your ass to the shuttle or you are dead.”

“Why don’t guns scare them or hold them off?”

Dillon shrugged. “The only human survivors of a trip that experienced
a ripper attack never actually faced them. Those two said they barely managed to
get inside a shuttle before the last warrior leaped in and locked the other two
people outside to die, with several rippers roaring and thudding against the closed
hatch. Those surviving men and women were later killed in combat testing so we won’t
hear that story first hand.” He concluded, sounding skeptical.

“They claimed an armed Krall warrior ran from these things?”
The image of a frightened Krall appealed to Mirikami.

“The Krall always scout a heard from the air first, so usually
the only risk is from the rhinolo, which is significant in its own right. The people
here are free to try to hunt them if they want, but without a shuttle to scout for
them. They would have to drive one of the truck-like vehicles parked outside to
get out onto the plains to the south.

“There are thirty-two double gates in the thick outer walls and
outer electrified fence, but they aren’t guarded. You have to manually open and
close the gates one at a time, much like an airlock system. It isn’t the Krall
that keep us here it’s the dangerous animals that keep us inside the compound.

“I think we’ll have to ask a Krall if we want to know more about
rippers,” Dillon concluded. “But if they run from them, I’m not doing the asking.
When I asked Dorkda why they were leaving their beloved Koban, I nearly got my heart
ripped out. I’ll let someone else ask why they run away from blue-green kitties.”

“OK, you found out some useful information in a short time. How
about introducing me to some of the captives I saw walking around here. Ten isn’t
very many out of thousands. Are they spokespeople for the rest? They didn’t even
want to look my way.”