Flash Fiction #491 -- Earth Bound (Catchin)/4

 Tana could hear the sound of Captain Dundas mumbling to herself as she accepted the call. Lisel moved a couple more steps away, and even the medtechs looked worried.

"Hello, Captain Dundas," Tana said in her best neutral voice.

"Honest to God, I ought to drop kick the three of you out an airlock at my first chance. We haven't even been here a day, and the three of you --"

"We --"

"Bombs! Damage to historical buildings --"

Hearing the word historical set Tana off. She threw herself off the bed and shook the pocketcomp as though she tried to shake some sense into it.

"People tried to kill us! They threw bombs. They shot Krisin, and he's in the operating room --"

"Shot Krisin?" Dundas said, her voice suddenly much softer.

"Yes, ma'am. With one of those damned historical projectile weapons. I don't know how he's doing. It seems to be taking a long time. There are crazy people up here. Can we go back and fight the were? At least I can recognize them as enemies."

"Tana --"

"Sorry, Captain."

"Where are you?" Dundas asked.

"Aspen."

"Huh. I'll be there in a few hours."

"People are throwing bombs at us, Captain," she repeated. "They shot at us --"

But the line was dead.

Tana turned to Lisel with a shake of her head. "You were no help."

"Thank you. I didn't think you noticed."

"She is coming here."

Lisel winced and then gave a steadier nod. "Good. She'll come with her guards. You might want to warn people, Tom."

Tom gave a nervous nod. Tana realized that colonists made him nervous. Or maybe it was colonist warriors with Catchin crew.  

Or maybe they were not acting the way he expected. Tana had noted that everyone else was angry and showing it. Tom expected rage and didn't realize she already felt it. However, being a fighter pilot meant she had to keep her temper in times of danger, which they faced here.

Tana was sure she couldn't explain it to the man. He expected an outburst, and probably all the more so since she'd been over the top talking to the Captain.

Dundas understood, though.

Why didn't Medtech Ret come back out?

Tana sat on a chair as close to the room as she could get. Lisel brought one over to sit by her, and the others left them alone. Tana knew Tom was handling problems. Earther troubles, and she was glad to leave it in his hands.

However, if that door didn't open soon, someone was going to be sorry --

And the door opened. Medtech Ret stepped out, saw her, and gave a quick nod.

"Sorry, sorry. We got into a discussion about styles of ski equipment, and I just lost track of time. Krisin suggested I get out here before Tana tracked down a fighter and shot her way in."

"Ski equipment," Tana replied.

"Don't attack him," Krisin said from inside the room. "Let's try not to make enemies of every human we meet."

Ret stepped out of the way and let Tana go into the room. Lisel followed. Krisin didn't look bad at all, except for a medpad over his side.

"The Captain is on her way," Lisel warned. "And she's not happy."

"For some reason, she thinks this is all our fault. Like we make trouble everywhere we go."

"Oh stop, stop -- don't make me laugh --"

He had a hand to his side and kept baring his teeth, obviously an attempt not to laugh too hard. Tana would have thought it funnier if Captain Dundas was not on her way.

Tana suspected Ret had given drugs to Krisin.  Maybe she should ask for some and hope to survive the Captain's arrival.

Lisel paced. Tana wanted to as well, but her leg hurt a bit now, and besides, she didn't mind sitting with Krisin right now. He slept. She had never seen him relaxed before. Was that a purr?

Tana smiled. He couldn't see --

And something blew up -- something big -- and far too close. The room shuddered. Krisin woke and leaped from the bed and nearly knocked her down. Then he grunted and went to his knees.

Medtech Ret rushed into the room. "Yeah, that was close and big ... and I fear I know what blew up. That would be the old medunit before this one was built last month. They're trying for you people. Fools."

"Someone is going to point out they missed the new location," Tana said. She helped Krisin back to his feet. "What do we do?"

"Out the back door. The rest of you get out of here. No, go, go. Keep away from any of the zealots. Put on your coats and act like panicked tourists."

"The panicked part will be easy," the woman who had treated Tana said.

And then they were quickly gone.

"Let's go," Ret said. He looked at Krisin and said nothing, but Tana could see he was worried.   Lisel moved up to help the Catchin when he needed it, and Tana moved to the other side. Ret led the way to a spot behind some equipment and storage cabinets. Tana didn't see the door until Ret opened it.

"Take coats and hats," he said, pushing open a closet. Just do it. You'll look more like locals. Yes, even you, Krisin."

None of them argued. Tana could hear people yelling in that cold hell beyond the door, though none of them seemed too close. If they could get away from the building --

She pulled on coat and hat. Ret did the same, and he took a cautious step out. Tana followed, still wishing she had a laser pistol. She pulled out her pocket comp.

"Captain, don't try to contact us. More trouble. We're on the move, and Krisin is on his feet. I strongly suggest you don't come here."

She not only shut down but also shut off the pocket comp entirely.

They were on their own now.

Flash Fiction #490 -- Earth Bound (Catchin)/3

 

Tana screamed so loudly she scared the man with the gun as she leapt forward.  She couldn't reach that weapon, so she threw herself over Krisin.

Krisin grunted.  "Honest to God, Tana -- I was doing fine until you sucker punched me in the kidney."

"Quiet.  I'm saving your life."

It was Lisel, in fact, who was doing something worthwhile.  He had jogged up around the trees and come up behind the man, who started to turn but got distracted by the snowballs Tom lobbed at him.

Lisel tackled the man and put him down.

The gun went off, and Tana felt a brush of fire along her left leg, but they had the fool and his weapon in hand.

"Will you get off me now, so I don't look like a discarded rug thrown out in the snow?"

Tana scrambled off as Krisin started to sit up.  She could see more blood in the snow, and an ugly wound on his lower right side, and her leg bled a bit as well.  Neither of them was happy.

A short, round man with a shock of white hair, no coat, slippers, and a backpack in hand, raced out of the veil of snow.  Tana rushed to her feet and would have leapt and attacked, but the poor man yelped and fell backward into the snow.

"Medtech!" he gasped and held up his pack with the requisite bright red cross in place.  "Told me someone was shot."

"That would be me," Krisin said with a slight gasp as he moved.  "Is that a problem?"

"Only if your friend here doesn't get out of the way."

Tana backed off and moved over with Lisel, though she still didn't trust the man.  However, he did seem competent and kind.

"Damn stupid people with their historical weapons," the medtech grumbled.  "We need to get you to the hotel and my unit there so I can dig it out."

"Dig what out?" Krisin asked and sounded worried for the first time.

"Bullet.  Small caliber, so it shouldn't be too difficult, but you don't want it moving around in there.  Besides, they don't worry about spreading infection --"

"Oh."  Krisin started to get to his feet.  Tana and Lisel both rushed to help him.  He swayed.  "Damn."

"Careful.  I've got a patch to stop the bleeding, but it won't hold for long."

"I'll keep watch for more trouble," Tom promised and sounded apologetic.  "I have people checking the woods around us.  Let's just get inside as soon as we can."

Tana had the feeling that he didn't trust all of his own people.  Tana wasn't sure if she trusted him.  After all, he'd not kept an eye on Sally, even though he must have known about her attitude.

And what about the medtech?  She wanted someone from the ship to take care of Krisin -- not that she trusted them all that well, but because they took her seriously if she threatened them.

"Stop growling, Tana," Krisin said and put a hand to his side.  "You'll scare them off faster than I will."

Krisin did not sound steady.  Tana looked up to see his eyes fluttering --

"Lisel!" she warned.

Somehow they kept him from falling.  The medtech called for a stretcher, and Tom called in a few people to carry and others to protect them.

Tana almost complained that he should have done this from the start, but she soon realized how difficult it was to carry someone -- let alone a rather large Catchin -- in this icy terrain.  They somehow kept from dropping him in the snow, though a couple of the men did fall.

There were shots and shouts behind them as they reached the impressive front door to the building.  Tana would have stopped to study the intricately carved surface and colored glass, but a window to the right exploded from a gunshot.  They all rushed inside and away from the openings.  People inside ran in all directions, shouting and wailing.  Tana wondered how they ever survived.

The medtech ignored the others, though a few noted the Catchin on the stretcher, and some even made sounds of dislike and distrust.

They didn't know how lucky they were that she didn't have a weapon.  Or even a big stick.  

The medtech pushed a palm lock on the wall, and a door opened to a short hall. They were quickly inside, and the door closed, with no one else getting in with them.  The sudden silence startled her.

"Idiots.  They're all idiots," the medtech grumbled.  "Why am I still here?  I hate snow!"

They turned a corner and stepped into a large, very modern medunit.  Tana was surprised to see two assistants ready to help out. In a moment, they had Krisin off into a side room, and the door closed.

"Let me look at your leg," a woman said and waved Tana toward a bed.  "Don't argue.  It will help you pass some of the time."

She still would have argued, but Lisel picked her up and put her on the bed before she could protest.

"Don't do that!"

Lisel pushed her back when she started to stand.  The medtech went straight to work, mumbling apologies whenever Tana winced.  She wanted to curse, but it wasn't about her leg.  What was taking so long with Krisin?  She wanted to get up and pace or go to that closed door and pound on it.

"That should do," the woman said.  She patted Tana on the shoulder. "And don't worry.  Medtech Ret does excellent work.  You would be surprised at the kinds of problems that show up.  He's not even the first shooting victim.  Idiots with toys who don't even consider the damage they could do."

"Krisin is a Catchin."

"We did notice," she said.  Then she patted Tana's arm again.  "Relax."

That wasn't going to happen, and not just because of Krisin.  Her pocketcomp beeped, and she pulled it out with a grimace.  "Captain Dundas.  This won't be good."

Flash Fiction #489 -- Earth Bound (Catchin)/2

 Something exploded.

Tana, Lisel, and Krisin jumped for the closest cover, a waist-high brick fence to the right.  They landed in a dune of snow, which turned out to be hard on the top and damned cold underneath.

Something else exploded.

"Maybe they just want us to feel at home," Lisel suggested.

Krisin growled some answer.  By then, there was a range of yells and shots, so the three of them just stayed in their not-so-cozy hiding spot and waited for things to calm down ... or at least until they could sort out the good guys from the bad guys.

"I think we were set up," Krisin offered.

"There is a wonderful thought," Tana replied.  She snarled up at the sky as it began to snow, as if someone had just opened a door and shoved the white stuff out.

"I think we should move," Lisel added.  He looked up over the fence and dropped down again.  "There are a lot of angry people heading our way."

"What the hell did we do to them?" Tana demanded.

The voices grew louder and closer.  The three of them scurried away on their knees but left a trail behind that anyone could follow.  The only thing that stopped them from being tracked was that first, the Earthers were clueless, and second, everyone else was doing the same thing and leaving much the same trails.  Tana heard people yelling, but no one seemed to know what was happening.  Something else exploded.  More people fired.

"We changed our location three times today.  How the hell did they even know we were here?" a familiar voice demanded.

"I am sure I don't know," a squeaky and also familiar voice answered.

"Oh hell, Sally.  Tell me you didn't --"

"That I didn't what, Tom? Call some of my friends who are more interested in Earth than any of these outsiders? How dare the Earth Council assume we want to bow down to this group when they should be thanking us for even letting them step on this world."

"You consider this letting them step on the world?" Tom demanded. "And your friends are doing damage to your precious historical buildings out there. You are responsible for this disaster."

"I didn't set those bombs are fire those lasers!"

"You just invited the people here who did so. That makes you responsible. They never would have found us up here in Aspen. I don't know why I thought you would behave politely for once. I should have known something was going on. You are going to be up on charges for this one, Sally."

"They wouldn't dare."

"Why not?"

"They just wouldn't. Why can't these people just go back to where they came from and leave Earth to those of us who were born here."

"Actually," Krisin said as he stood in all his furry glory, "I was born here on earth."

Sally shrieked as though Krisin had attacked her. By then, Tana and Lisel had stood as well, and Tana wanted to go over and slap the stupid woman.  When another bomb went off,  she decided getting clear of this area might be a better idea.

"I apologize for this mess," Tom said with a shake of his head and a glance at where people were yelling again. "Let's get up to the building. At least there's some shelter out of the storm there, and it sounds as though they've fought the lunatics back out of the area."

It did sound as though the battle moved farther away. Tana was happy with the idea of getting in out of the snow.

"They were spying on us!" Sally accused.

"Us and about 20 other people," Lisel said with a wave of his arm out toward snow around them.

Several piles of snow started to move as people stood all around them. Tana was grateful to see all the glares directed at Sally.

In fact, two people in the uniform of what must be the local police service marched straight over to Sally, cuffed her, and dragged the woman away before she could do more than sputter. Before long, however, they could hear her squeaky little voice complaining all the way to wherever it was they took her. Tom watched the retreat with a growing smile, and he even turned that smile on them.

"Again, I apologize for this mess. We had rumors that something was going to happen, so we changed location several times."

"Why didn't you just cancel?" Lisel asked.

"You were already in the system in your huge spaceship, and it seemed kind of rude at that point to say no sorry we changed our mind," Tom answered.  He shook his head.  "Despite how annoying Sally has been in the past, I really never expected her to do something like this. I wasn't surprised she was so rude, but for her to call in terrorists… that was more than I ever expected."

They were heading up toward a lovely wooden building that seemed to have gone untouched in the rest of this madness. Tana hoped they could get some food soon. She could still hear shouts. The snow fell in a heavy veil across the scene when she looked back. Even Sally's voice and faded into the background noise.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. It would be warmer in the building, and they left most of those stupid reporters back in Denver hours ago. The little bit of trouble probably didn't bother her as much as it should. Tana supposed that she had just spent too much time in battle.

Someone stepped out from behind a tree to the right. Tana reached for a gun that she didn't have and started to curse, but it was Krisin who shoved Tana, Lisel, and Tom down into the snow.

"Traitor!" The man yelled and fired his weapon.

Krisin gasped and fell. Blood splattered the snow, and he didn't move.

Flash Fiction #488 -- Earth Bound (Catchin)/1

 "The Earthers want to see you," the Captain said when the three had barely entered her office. Tana shook her head, Lisel took a step back as though to escape, and Krisin growled.  "Stop that, all three of you.  We are going to Earth, and you will not argue with me.  I have not been back to Earth in twenty years.  We are going.  You are going to stand in front of the council without shaking your head, backing away, or growling."

"What do they want with us?" Lisel asked and still looked likely to run.

"They think the three of you deserve recognition for what you've done."

"Done?" Tana asked with a frown.

"You have done more to keep the war at bay than any other fighter group.

"Couldn't they recognize us at a distance?" Krisin asked.

"We are going."

She waved them out of her office.

"I would have preferred a were fleet," Tana admitted as they walked away.

Krisin and Lisel nodded in agreement.  "How far out are we?"

"Twenty-two days and some hours," Krisin replied.  He brushed a hand through his mane-like hair.  "Maybe we'll get lucky and have a major were uprising before then."
They were not lucky.

When they were told it would be a bit cool where they headed, Tana had dressed in a single suit, well insulated, and Lisel wore the same, so he could adjust the temperature.  Krisin, for some reason, had gone Catchin on them and wore a vest and pants.  No shoes, no hat, no gloves. Tana wasn't used to seeing so much fur and claws.

A few people had looked shocked as they boarded the shuttle at the station.  Tana tried not to glare or sulk but ended up doing a lot of both.  And she panicked.  They were coming far closer to the time and the place when they would have to face ... whatever waited for them.

"I want to go fight were," she mumbled as they landed.

Lisel and Krisin nodded.

Telling them it would be 'a bit cool' was probably one of those jokes they played on off-world visitors. They came down into a snowstorm when they landed at Port Denver.  The cold gave Tana an instant headache, and the blaring instruments of the band didn't help. Lisel, who had talked about sunny beaches and ocean waves, looked dismayed.  Krisin's fur puffed out to nearly twice its regular length.  Tana feared he might start hissing.

Officials met them along with a whole line of reporters. Everyone spoke at once as they pressed forward, and Tana didn't think those people took Krisin seriously enough. One impertinent woman even reached out and brushed a hand over the fur on his arm as though testing it for a coat.  Krisin's lips pulled back in what was not a grin -- not with those sharp teeth.

She got the idea and backed away in haste.

Tana said a few words now and then as they were herded into a long, black ground car of some ancient make that coughed when it started and slid slightly on the slick road as it began to move.

Tana didn't like the car, the road, or the fact she was not the one piloting.  She also didn't like the three people sitting on a couch in from of them, man, woman, man -- all with predatory stares and wearing nice, heavy coats.

"Well, I do hope you like the snow," the woman in the middle said.  She had a squeaky voice that automatically made Tana want to throttle her.  "We're heading up a historic road in a historic car to one of the most historic mountain towns in the area."

If that annoying voice said 'historic' one more time, Tana planned to leap the distance and take her down.  Lisel put a hand on her shoulder.  He knew her too well.

Damned Earther mentality that thought bouncing in a falling apart car on a stretch of narrow road with increasingly steep drop-offs was some kind of honor. She wouldn't show her worry or distaste.  She leaned back and stared across at the three.  The man on the right shifted twice.  No fighter there, but he recognized a threat posture.

He cleared his throat and moved again.  "So, how do you like Mother Earth?"

At least he had a better voice.

"It looked lovely coming in," Krisin replied.

They all three started as though they had not expected the Catchin to talk ... or maybe didn't know that he could.  That started to bring on a rage that was going to boil up out of Tana --

Lisel's fingers dug into her shoulder.

"The Rockies are a beautiful range, despite being so young," Krisin continued.  He leaned back.  "And yes, I do like snow."

They didn't ask any more questions.  The last man did point out a couple spots and managed not to use the word 'historic' hardly at all. The woman glared as though we had somehow tricked her.
 
They reached Aspen hours later.  Once the Earthers shut up, the ride wasn't too bad.  Tana would have preferred it in an aircar or her fighter, but the historic part started to take her attention. Other people drove up and down the road, too, even in the falling snow.  She imagined the wind currents were unstable with so many ups and downs. She almost asked if that was why they didn't use aircars here, but they might take that as an attack against their historic car.
The city was spread out over the valley and mountainside, and people were racing down mountains on boards of all sorts.  It looked insane.  And fun.

There was a word she hadn't used in a long time.  She had to admit that the long ride up the mountain had been pretty enough.

None of them had expected assassins and terrorists.

"Earth for Earthers Only!"

Flash Fiction #487 --Lost Treasure (Drabble)

 The scientists had agreed that humans could survive on the unnamed planet. They sent the chosen colonists who found a pretty but strange world.  It was habitable but also hostile.

Others followed them despite the danger.  The humans brought their belongings, their plants, their animals ... their bacteria.  No matter how hard they tried, what they were could never be thoroughly cleansed.  

The bacteria found a whole new world to explore.  They spread out, they mutated ... they destroyed everything in their path, except for what had come with the humans.

The colonists lost a jewel, but they gained a new home.