Escape from Endeavor by Daniel A. Jones
***
Faust was tired and sore from carrying all of his packs and trying to jog over the uneven ground. He had been too excited to sleep and had only rested a few hours during the time it was too dark to travel. He figured he was only a few miles from his house and from there it was only a ten-minute run to town. The problem was, he was feeling his age. He wasn’t the twenty-eight-year-old marine he’d been when the Rift first opened. He had worked at staying in good shape but time and the higher gravity of the planet wore down even the strongest. He had already been forced to stop to catch his breath more times than he wanted.
He was walking now to relax a little and give himself a few minutes to think. There were a lot of things that could go wrong with his plan, but he had to try. Angelica didn’t deserve to be stuck here with the Rift gnawing away at her good nature until she was as mean and bitter as everyone else on this godforsaken planet.
And if Angelica lost her calming aura, there would be nothing stopping Daemon from losing control of his temper, and he’d have to be put down—if that were even possible.
Faust’s train of thought was interrupted when he became aware of something running through the woods. He immediately stopped and took cover against the nearest tree and brought up his rifle. It wasn’t long before he saw Daemon running through the underbrush in his direction. It still amazed him how agile his son was for his size. He could move with the speed and agility of a forest cat. He was carrying his ax on his back and what looked like a rifle in his hands. Daemon stopped about ten meters away and started yelling for his father. Faust stepped out from behind the tree, shaking his head in amazement at how easily Daemon had found him.
“What are you doing here?”
“Angelica sent me to bring you the big rifle. She had a feeling that you needed it. Is there trouble? Are you being chased by a bear?” Daemon asked as he handed his father the rifle. Daemon unlimbered his ax and scanned the area for any danger. He couldn’t feel any aggressive creatures nearby, but that didn’t mean much in these woods. A normally harmless creature could turn aggressive in a heartbeat.
“Thanks, but I’m fine. The trouble is in town; I’m going there now to help.” Faust shouldered the gauss rifle. “Here, take these.” Faust handed over his packs and bedroll. “I want you to go back to the farm and protect your sister until I get back.”
“But I can help! You know how good I am in a fight—” He stopped the protest when he saw the look on his father’s face.
“I know, but I need you to guard your sister and make sure nothing happens to her.” Faust didn’t wait for Daemon to say anything else instead he started jogging to town. He knew Daemon would do what he was told, especially since it involved protecting his sister, no one in town had ever seen Daemon in a fight and if Faust had his way, none of them ever would.
6
Captain Stevenson flew over the town in a slow arc to get a look at what was there. It didn’t look very modern at all, more like pre-industrial-age houses, with a few modern items scattered around. The town was made up of about three dozen buildings with a wall surrounding the center of town and a cluster of buildings inside it. Captain Stevenson could see what looked like a store, a meeting hall, and possibly a bar. He decided to set the skimmer down on a dirt road on the east side of town.
“No sign of any energy weapons or missiles on the sensors,” Sara observed. “I got about a hundred fifty to two hundred people, most moving to the central buildings.”
“Let’s give them some time to calm down. I don’t expect they’ve had many visitors.” Stevenson relaxed back into his seat. “Alex, let me know when you see the greeting party coming our way, and try not to scare them too much.”
“Sure thing. Cap,” Alex said. They both knew the advantage of a little fear-induced respect but too much fear and things could get ugly. Alex kind of hoped things would get ugly; it had been awhile since he’d had a chance to kill anything.