For Christmas, here is a bit of a different chapter, or the start of it anyways. I hope you like it.
Part 2 below ========
COMPLETED below ++++++++
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Tagor shook his head. “Can you just not do that for the next stazura or so? The chip fab has been completed, everybody has their instructions and Arox is in charge of security. There is nothing to worry about. You need a change of scenery. Now give yourself a break!”
It was the third time in ten mizuras that Val had pulled out her data pad to check on the status of her ships and stations and Tagor started to regret suggesting this planetary break.
Val blushed briefly and slid the data pad back into her pocket. Waiting for their luggage really was straining. Why did it take so long? There were only a dozen or so people on the shut tle. Nobody appeared to have any business on this planet, an agricultural M class congregation of rock and ores. According to Tagor, rock formations in the more remote places were breath taking. So that is what they had planned. Planned? Val did not believe there was a plan other than get to the surface and then find means to leave civilisation behind.
“Finally, here they come.” Tagor said when a Teladi came towards them, carrying their bags.
“Ssssory for delaysss. Cusssstomsss found weaponsss in bagsss. No fire amrssss allowed. Gunsss will be held for pickup on your return. Have pleasssant time.” With these words he handed over their luggage and walked away.
“Great, I hope nobody else is carrying a gun either.” Val cursed.
“Don’t you worry, I am sure we’ll find a place where we can pick up a gun or two.” Tagor reassured.
The arrival hall had already been somewhat sparse and primitive; leaving it was a major cultural shock. It appeared the inhabitants of this world had yet to learn the meaning of sealed road. Carriages were passing by, pulled by … by what actually?
“Do you know what these creatures are?” Val asked Tagor pointing at one of the animals that pulled the carriages through the street.
“Horses. Apparently these have been introduced by Terrans hundreds of jazuras ago. That is, if you believe what the Goners say. Look over there, they are not just for pulling carriages but you can also ride them and they make decent means of transport. Which brings us to our next item of the to-do list. We need to get a couple of those.”
It took them a few mizuras to find a stable. Like all the other buildings, its base was of stone, the rest made of wood. Its small windows had a thick dust cover and made it impossible to get a clear look inside. The place did not look too upmarket. The horses, however, made a very different impression. Either the owner did not care about the state his building was in or the animals had been stolen. Their quality was clearly much higher than one would have expected.
“Hello, anybody at home?”
A young woman with bright eyes and long curly hair came around the corner. “Oh, welcome. What can I do for you?”
“We’d like two of these … uhmm …. horses.” Val responded.
The woman laughed. “You aren’t from around here, are you? No problem. Have you been on a horse before?”
Both, Tagor and Val, shook their head.
“Uhh, care for a lesson? Riding isn’t hard but it is also not that easy. I don’t know where you are going but anything beyond the borders of this town would benefit from a lesson or two.”
Tagor looked at Val. “What do you reckon? Can’t hurt, can it?”
“Ok, we are in no rush, so might as well.”
The lesson turned out to be anything but a walk in the park. Being used to the comfort of a pilot’s seat, the hard leather of a saddle took its toll.
“How about we take a room in the hotel over there and see if we can walk again in the morning.” Val suggested with a grin that reflected the pain she felt.
The woman from the stable watched them crossing the street stiff-legged and smiled. Happens to all these yuppies that come to the planet. There hadn’t been a single one that didn’t think they could do without any introduction. And all of them had ended up in the hotel across the street, her hotel.
Val and Tagor used the following two tazuras, or days, as the people on this planet called them, to improve on their horseback riding skills. Then they felt ready to depart. The horses they bought were two dark brown stallions. They looked beautiful in Val’s eyes but she would not be able to tell breed or quality of it. It had been Tagor’s choice and he selected them for the energy they eradiated.
Once they had left the town, Tagor and Val rode towards the rolling hills in the West. The town had been barren; there was no indication of recent rainfall. Now that they had left this outpost of civilisation, Val started to wonder why these people would build a settlement in such an area in the first place. The surrounding land was dry, the soil cracked and apart from a few small bushes of Tussock grass, there was no vegetation.
“Why would somebody live in a place like this?”
“It is said that this planet was the first to be colonised by the Terrans when they explored our universe. I believe all they were after back then was a foothold outside the Sol system. The settlement we arrived at dates back from then. Don’t be deceived by the barren vegetation of this region. Once we have crossed the weather barrier imposed by the hills we are currently heading towards, it will look considerably different.” Tagor responded.
“And how come you know these things? Have you been here before?”
“Nope, but I bought this in one of the shops of the settlement.” Tagor pulled out a book and handed it over to Val.
“What is that?”
“Open it.” He smiled.
“Interesting. Script on …”
“… paper. The material is called paper and bound as it is, the whole thing is called book.”
“Hmm, wouldn’t it be better to hold this all in digital format and replay it on a data pad?”
“Sure it would. But you have seen how these people here live. They are either technophobe or simply have no interest in modern technology. Bookmaking dates thousands of jazuras back. I would be curious to see one of the printing machines they use in the production but apparently there is none in the settlement back there.” With these words Tagor pointed over his shoulder. “Though, with a little bit of luck we may find one at the other side of the desert. That is if we find the next settlement.”
“Shouldn’t be too difficult, should it? I have a map on my data pad.”
“A map without a working positioning system, yes.”
“Err … yes. That could be a bit of a problem.”
“Welcome back to the roots.” Tagor unfolded a paper map and showed it to Val. “I thought I’d get one of these, too. Who knows how long the batteries of your pad will last.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’ll be a problem, unless we won’t have any light for the next five tazuras. I adapted the technology the Paranid implemented in the station in Red Glow to generate power for the station. They have come up with some great stuff to utilise what little light is in that system. Quite amazing. So my pad will almost be able to recharge in my pocket.” Val grinned.
Tagor skewed his face and folded the map up and slid it into his jacket. “Well, I’ll still hang on to this one.”
“So there are people living at the other side? Yes, apparently it is a mixed settlement of Argons or Terrans and Teladi.” Tagor flicked a few pages in the book. “Although the hills look relatively close. It’ll take us the better part of two tazuras to reach them. The desert ahead of us is described as extremely dry. However, Just before nightfall we should reach a small oasis with a well. So water shouldn’t be the problem and we have enough food for almost a wozura.”
The two of them followed the prints of previous travellers towards the hills. With every metre the horses progressed the soil got dryer. After less than a stazura in the saddle all vegetation stopped and the dry soil changed to fine sand. Trails of previous travellers drew a more or less straight line through the sand. Either this area did not have a lot of wind or there must have been a caravan taking the same way not long before them. Tagor frowned.
“What is it?” Val asked.
“Oh nothing. Just wondering about these tracks.” He pointed to ground. “We started very early already, yet these people must have left even earlier.”
“Couldn’t it be that these are old tracks?”
“Possible but unlikely. I would assume wind wiping them out after a few tazuras. But even if there hasn’t been any wind, the prints are still sharp and clearly visible. The change in temperature between day and night and with it the change in humidity would have caused the walls of the prints to collapse to some extent. No, these prints are fresh.”
Val looked at him. “Huh? Do they teach this stuff at the A.S.S?”
Tagor laughed. “No. My father used to take me out to the countryside on Sonra 4 every summer. Not sure where his inspiration came from but he taught me a lot of useful things. Useful while you are on a planet, that is.”
“Well, he didn’t teach you to ride a horse. You should complain.” She smiled.
“In actual fact, he tried to get me to learn it but I resisted successfully.”
“Bad boy.”
“I have heard that one before but not from him.” Tagor grinned.
After another stazura Tagor leaned forwards and stared straight ahead. He then looked up at the sky and pulled out his vision enhancer and looked through it. Without saying a word he put the scope back into his bag and they continued on their way.
“Is that what you looked at back there?” Val pointed at the three birds that circled several kilometres ahead of them. Tagor nodded. Now Val also looked up and noticed the two birds that were accompanying them. Tagor had noticed them almost ten mizuras before her. What eyes must he have.
“Do you have a vision enhanced implanted in your eyes or what?” Val asked.
Tagor smiled. “No, though my vision is very good. But again it will also be experience. When I voiced my concern earlier, my mind didn’t rest in peace. Suspicion made me more aware and I simply looked for anything out of the ordinary.”
“I wouldn’t call these birds out of the ordinary. We have got two of our own.” She pointed to the sky.
“Indeed. And have you observed them for a while?”
Val thought for a moment. “Well, they keep circling over our heads, and every now and again one of them veers away and then returns.”
“Correct, now what is different with those birds over there?” Tagor asked pointing in the direction they were riding.
“Hmm, they just circle and maybe at a lower altitude.”
“Yes, they just circle. None of them makes the effort of taking a wider birth every now and again. We are also approaching them rather quickly. That means they are stationary.”
“So what, they are having a rest.”
“Quite a possibility but did you notice that single bird over there?” Tagor directed Val’s view towards her left. Indeed, there was a single bird that appeared to be somewhat uncertain what to do. It always flew a short distance back towards the other birds before turning around flying in the other direction.
“It looks like that bird is flying away from the others. Does that concern you?”
“It does. Open your map and check out what is in that direction.”
Val pulled out her data pad and looked at the map. “Does not look too inhabitable. From what I can see on here our destination is the only reasonable one apart from the settlement we came from.”
“That is what I thought. Who would travel that way? And look!” Tagor had turned his head to look again straight forwards. The three birds were no longer circling high in the air. Occasionally one of them lifted up from the ground but only to land again. “Let’s hurry, I have a bad feeling about that.”
========
They pushed their horses to a fast gallop and soon could see the silhouettes of the caravan, or what was left of it. Bodies of dead horses and men were scattered around but nothing indicated a violent fight. It appeared they had been taken by surprise.
“Probably tourists like us.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, just thinking aloud.” Tagor explained. “They haven’t put up much of a fight, which means that either they knew the other group or they did not expect hostility.”
“Or their murderers simply out-numbered them significantly.”
“Yeah, good point. Looks like they have taken quite a few hostages. Let’s see if there is still somebody alive. If you find water and food, take it, we may need it.”
“You aren’t intending to follow this group, are you?”
“I struggle to ignore the fact that they not only killed these people here but also took several others hostage. So yes, my intention was indeed to chase them down and see what I can do to help those in need.”
“May I remind you that we have nothing but knives? How do you plan on fighting them if they try adding us to their collection of trophies?”
“Look for guns and ammunition then.” With these words Tagor turned away and walked towards the closest body.
After half a stazura they met in the middle of the battlefield, each carrying several items.
“Ok, so we have weapons and supplies. Have you got any idea how these guns work?” Val held one of the rifles up. It appeared to be semi-automatic but she simply could not figure out how to use it. Tagor had a quick look at it and explained it.
“Here, see this slit at the bottom? This is where you insert the cartridge - like so. Here we have the safety, flick the switch and the trigger will be unlocked. After that, just aim and fire. Since this is a solid projectile weapon, it will eventually run out of ammunition, similar to a Massdriver cannon. So you have to use it carefully and avoid wasting lots of bullets. Alright?”
“Yes, Sir!”
“Excellent, so let’s pack what we can carry and be on our way.” Tagor grinned. “If we leave slowly at first, we may even be able to lose our winged companions, which should help following unnoticed.”
*
Tagor’s prediction had been correct. The abundance of carcasses at the battlefield had gotten them rid of the vultures, a circumstance that allowed them to travel as fast as they could in their attempt to close in on the robbers. It had taken three stazuras through dull rock desert until they could make out the vulture that still followed the caravan. The tracks weren’t as clear-cut anymore, as the surface was now much harder. Only occasionally they passed through a shallow dune at the lee side of some larger rocks.
“Let’s slow down a bit, we don’t want to get too close just yet.” Tagor slowed his horse to a fast trot and Val followed suit.
After another two stazuras Tagor and Val slowed down even more to match the speed of the caravan. They had now come as close as they felt comfortable with. Any closer and they’d risk being discovered.
“The sun will set in a couple of stazuras. I wonder when they’ll stop for the night.”
“Well, let’s have a look at the map.” Tagor pulled out his map and opened it up. “It isn’t exactly very detailed but over there it looks like a cauldron subsidence or something like that. They may seek shelter in there. It is bound to be easy to defend with only one entry and one exit at the other end.”
“Sounds more like the perfect trap to me.” Val threw in.
“Depends on the height of the side walls, really. We’ll find out.”
As predicted, the sun slowly set and after two stazuras it was nearly dark. Tagor and Val continued slowly on their way with nothing but the trail of the caravan for guidance.
“I wish there was moon like the one circling around Sonra 4. At least we would be able to see something.” Tagor muttered.
“Shhh.” Val interrupted him. There it was again, a faint metallic jingle. Quickly they guided their horses off the trail and between the rocks the silhouettes of which could be recognised to the north. They tied them up and quietly hurried back to the main track. A few mizuras later three riders passed them.
“… sure … wrong … no birds … stupid … desert … no water”
Val and Tagor could only pick up a few words before the group had passed them. Carefully they headed back to their horses.
“Hmm, sounded almost like they had seen us.” Val was the first to speak.
“Indeed. Thanks to your good hearing, we avoided a fight. But it doesn’t make things easier because now we have them in front of us and behind. What the presence of these guys suggests is that they must be camping not too far from here.”
“Perhaps your guess was correct after all. I don’t think we are too far away. If memory serves right then there should be a small valley leading towards the ditch from the side. If we can find it we may be in with a chance to sneak up on them without having to worry about a bullet from behind.”
Finding the entrance to that particular valley was anything but easy. They had no way knowing if they hadn’t passed it already. Finally, after more than half of a stazura they eventually entered what appeared to be the desired depression. When they had followed it for nearly a stazura the valley started to climb up to a ridge, which gave them final confirmation that they had chosen the correct entrance. Just before the top of the ridge Tagor stopped his horse and motioned Val to do the same. They tied them up and continued on foot. Carefully approaching the edge, they lay down and looked into down into the neighbouring valley. It was smaller than it appeared on the map and could possibly provide space for fifty people and their horses. Tagor’s assumption had been correct. There they were. Approximately twenty people, some of them tied up at the right side, the others busy preparing food over two small open fires. Right below them the horses were tied up, to the left appeared to be the space for the leader of the caravan. At least it was the only tent they had erected.
The valley was somewhat asymmetric. While a straight and steep wall marked the western boundary, the eastern side formed a semi-circle. Close the southern entrance water appeared to run in a narrow stream from the sidewall.
“So there is water in this desert, must be artesian.” Tagor whispered, pointing to the left.
As far as they could see, there was no simple way of getting inside other than through the two notches in the northern and southern sidewalls that marked entry and exit. Val and Tagor could not quite make out of there were guards placed.
“Right, here is the plan.” Tagor said quietly. “You move to the southern entrance, I go to the northern one. Be careful that you don’t make any noise. Try to find out how accessible the valley is from there, how many guards there are and where they are positioned. I will do the same at the other end. We meet back here in half a stazura.” With these words he vanished.
Val was almost scared by the ghost-like disappearance of her friend. Awkwardly she moved along the rim, trying not to make any noises. After ten mizuras she had reached the southern entrance. To her surprise there were no guards. These people had to feel very safe. She scouted around the proximal area of the notch and then made her way back to the meeting point.
Tagor reached the northern entrance after only a few mizuras. He had always enjoyed playing hide and seek with his friends, mostly because they never managed to catch him. When he approached the notch in the valley walls he noticed a guard casually leaning at on side of the track. He could only see him due to the light coloured clothes that reflected as little light of the fire as reached this far out. Tagor’s dark clothes, on the other hand, made him almost undistinguishable from the brown rock. At this time of the night, he could consider himself almost invisible. This would, however, change as soon as the light of the fire could reach him.
The entrance to the valley was approximately ten metres wide. At Tagor’s side there was like a small furrow in the ground, possible carved out by the occasional but rare rainfall. While he took in his environment, a brave idea sprang to mind. What if he could sneak into the valley and get a quick glimpse at the prisoners to see if there was an easy way to free them.
He pushed himself up on his fingertips and toes and moved slowly forwards. Small beads of sweat formed on his forehead, as he passed the guard. One careless move, the slightest noise and he could be discovered. The next metre would be the most difficult one, the furrow became shallower and a hint of light reached into it. Tagor turned his head slightly towards the guard. When he saw him face out into the dark he moved smoothly forwards and around the corner. Exhausted he let his body sink to the ground. After a few sezuras he continued on and moved closer to the prisoners. There were seven of them, five women and two children. This was not good news. Even though two of them looked strong enough to put up a fight, there was no way they could overcome their tantalisers. Tagor did not get the time to think any further. The loud noise of a collapsing valley wall caused everybody to stir and look up. And there she was, with a literal landslide Val slid down into the valley.
++++++++
Everybody reached for their weapons and ran towards her. In a matter of sezuras more than ten men pointing their weapons at her surrounded her. Even the guard from the north entrance had left his post. Tagor had no time to waste. He quickly cut the ropes restraining one of the women and pulled her towards the horses. Quickly he grabbed one by the bridle and moved towards the northern exit. When the woman followed hesitantly, Tagor reached for her hand and pulled her along. They could clear the valley before anybody noticed and hasted in a wider arc towards Tagor and Val’s horses. Tagor quickly removed all valuables from Val’s horse, mounted his and the two rode away leaving Val’s horse behind. With a little bit of luck their opponents would think Val was on her own.
Tagor headed back down the way he and Val had come. After just under ten mizuras the woman motioned him to follow her, as she directed her horse towards the mouth of a narrow valley branching off to the North. Hesitantly Tagor followed. As soon as they had entered the narrow track, the woman stopped her horse and dismounted. Tagor followed suit, looking at her quizzically. She put her fingers on her lips and pointed out into the main valley. Not two mizuras later more than ten men rode past, going in the direction they had just come from.
Tagor and the woman waited a few more mizuras to be certain that nobody else was coming and then continued their journey in the main valley.
“How did you know?”
The woman did not answer which Tagor put down to her perhaps not understanding his words. After riding ten mizuras quietly at her side, Tagor finally stopped his horse.
“Where are we going? I need to go back!”
After a few more steps the woman stopped and turned around. “They are all lost and if you go back, you will be lost, too.”
“What do you mean, all lost?”
“The men that passed us when we hid in the small side arm of the valley. They belong to one of the marauding tribes in this area.”
“But they did not kill you and your companions.”
“These are different men to those that captured us who were nothing but start-ups. Slave trade is a lucrative business on this planet. I know they are new to it because no experienced trader would keep men alive.”
“That sounds like you have experience in the trade.” Tagor replied scolding.
“We do what keeps us alive.”
“Anyway, I need to go back and free my friend.”
“It will be your certain death.”
“I’d rather die trying.” Tagor turned his horse around and rode slowly back in the direction he had come from, staying close to the northern side of the valley where he had noticed a number of narrow gorges branching off. The woman did not follow but neither did he care. His thoughts were focussed around Val and the words of the woman. Slavery. Death.
After twenty mizuras Tagor reached the ridge he and Val had left their horses without encountering anybody. To his surprise Val’s horse was still where he had left it. He had noticed that the tracks of the group of riders had veered off South some distance back. A careful glance over the edge into the valley showed it was empty. Well, empty was the wrong term. There were many bodies spread over the valley floor and the first vultures had already arrived.
It took Tagor almost a whole stazura to carefully circle the area, making sure this was no ambush. Finally he got the two horses and led them into the valley. There was no trace of Val. He wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or concerned. It should mean that she was still alive. But how would he get her out of the hands of the slave traders?
Not knowing how long his journey would be, Tagor filled his water storage at the spring and then followed the tracks of the caravan. Judging by the width of the trail they left, he would now be facing more than 20 opponents. The odds hadn’t exactly improved.
*
Tagor had followed the slave caravan for three tazuras, passing the carcasses of horses that had died of fatigue and wondering if the desert would end before he had run out of food and water. He had alternated between both horses to keep fatigue as low as possible, given the surprisingly high speed of the caravan. Over the past stazura the ground had changed ever so slightly. Desiccation cracks became more and more frequent and now he could occasionally even see solitary small plants emerging. Tagor took a deep breath. This trip had certainly turned into an adventure that he could do without.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his binoculars out. In the far distance he could see walls, high walls. It appeared to be a city of sorts. It was located in rolling hills and that was going to pose a problem. Tagor could see the caravan pass over the ridge of the first line of hills. However, not all of them vanished. A group of men stayed on the ridge. That meant he could no continue on this track but had to go around the city and enter it from the other side.
*
“My lord. We have received news that Ra t’Knk has not been killed when he lost the engagement with our enemy’s corvette. Our spies confirmed that he is going to be transferred to the prison colony in Antigone Prime in three tazuras.”
“That traitor, we cannot allow him to survive. Arrange for him to be either retrieved or neutralised.”
“But my lord, he still pursued your goal in destroying your enemy.”
“Be quiet!” Chin shouted. “He failed me and then just disappeared. His only motivation to fight the Argon scum was revenge. The only reason for retrieving him alive is to find out how much he told this Argon scum.”
The subordinate bowed slightly in consent, knowing it’d be prudent to agree.
After a short moment Chin continued. “This Argon is very resourceful, it seams. What does it take to clear space of this nuisance?”
“My lord could plant a trap and then capture or kill him.”
“A trap, haven’t we done that before? So far this scum always escaped and caused a great deal of damage.”
“It is quite clear, my lord, that the Argon is superior to our pilots in space.”
Chin looked up.
A good change from the other chapters.
Now corrected.
Have you posted any new chapters for red glow ? 
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