Beyond Galactic Marshal
by
Hilltopper

Chapter 9

“We have to get out of here, now!

“You think they’ll come here?”

“The alarm indicated that we’ve lost connection to the base. Those pictures were recorded yesterday. I think the base is gone and we’re next!”

“Shit!”

We grabbed all the supplies we could carry and headed downhill. When we reached Rosco’s cabin, Lilly rushed inside and I followed. Rosco looked up startled.

“I thought you two were going to stay at your home up yonder?”

“You need to hitch the wagon and fill it with as much as you can. We may have some visitors and they aren’t friendly.”

“You mean Marshal Slago? I ain’t afraid of him.”

She had printed off a picture of the aliens and gave it to Rosco.

“Holy shit! What the hell are those?”

“Just do as I say. We haven’t much time.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Rosco hitched the wagon and we started carrying supplies to it. When it was about full, Rosco leaned against the side.

“We better stop. Them mules can’t pull much more. John, saddle up my roan. You ride it and Lilly can sit in the wagon beside me.”

“OK”

I hadn’t ridden a horse since on the moon of Broadskye. It is not my favorite mode of transportation. We started down the two track. Rosco was pale as a ghost. We had gone maybe 5 kilometers when there was a bright light and then a loud boom. I looked back at the hill. There was a large cloud of black smoke rising from it. I sighed.

“Well, I guess we’re really on our own now.”

Lilly shook her head.

“Not quite but, right now, we need to get back to Hilltown.”

I stared at her.

“Are you crazy? We just barely got away from there last time.”

Rosco was really scared.

“Are those things coming after us?”

Lilly put her hand on his arm.

“No, we’re safe. They just annihilated our observation site from orbit. I’m real sorry about your cabin.”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t much of one and I’ve still got all my things that matter.”

He grinned.

“Including my silver and gold.”

I was beside myself.

“Stop the wagon! We need to talk now!”

Lilly flashed a hard look at me.

“Nobody’s making you stay. Ride on if you want.”

Rosco spoke up.

“But not with my horse.”

“Look, I’m not running out on anyone. I just want to know what the plan is. Going into Slago’s clutches doesn’t sound good to me. Besides, your house is probably gone.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

She pulled a small device from around her neck.

“This would have informed me if that had happened. We’ll slip back in after dark.”

I look closely at the pendant.

“What’s that thing?”

She smiled.

“My protection.”

Rosco perked up.

“Oh, like John’s underwear?”

Lilly laughed.

“Not quite but it will let us know if it senses danger.”

We made camp under a stand of trees and fixed some stew. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. After eating, I pinned Lilly down.

“OK, what is so important about going to Hilltown?”

“I need some things hidden in my house. My people hid a ship just in case. The only problem is I don’t know exactly where it is.”

“Oh, that’s just great!”

She shot me a look.

“Don’t get on your high horse. I have a map of sorts at the house. I believe we can locate the ship.”

“That’s assuming the house is still there.”

She just glared saying nothing. I don’t know why I was being so obstinate. After all, she was offering a possible way out of here. I guess the destruction of the observation site had caused me to almost give up. It meant that Mary and Karen could not now come to my rescue via the gate. I was totally on my own and very lonely. I sat brooding for a while. Rosco came over and squatted down in front of me.

“I know how you feel but don’t give up. I’ve seen these women do some amazing things.”

I nodded.

“Yeah, I guess I’m just a little down and feeling sorry for myself. This all has been quite a shock and I miss my wife and child terribly.”

Lilly walked over.

“We might as well go. It should be dark when we get to town.”

She looked down at me.

“Are you going to be a help or a hindrance?”

I sighed.

“I’m sorry for before. Everything has hit me hard.”

She smiled.

“Me too but at least there is some hope.”

“OK, lead on I’m with you.”

Rosco jumped up.

“OK!”

It was dark when we approached Hilltown. We went in a back way and drove up to the rear of Lilly’s house which was still there. No one seemed to be around. Lilly opened the back door and we walked in. I was a bit hesitant. Marshal Slago might still be watching the place.

“Don’t put on a light.”

“I won’t need one.”

Lilly went to her bedroom, flipped up a rug, and pried up some floor boards. She removed a case about half a meter square.

“OK, let’s get out of here.”

We went back outside. Rosco had stayed with the wagon. Lilly placed the case in the back and climbed on. I was about to mount my horse when I heard a distinctive clicking sound. I dove to the side as a shot rang out. The wagon took off and I scrambled behind some trees. I heard Slago’s voice.

“What’s going on?”

One of his deputies walked behind the house.

“I think I saw that Harper fellow. He might be hit.”

Slago snorted.

“Not likely.”

“Anyway, he crawled over to those trees.”

This wasn’t good. I continued into the trees as quietly as I could. The marshal didn’t seem too anxious to follow me. It was pitch black and I had no idea where I was heading. The one thing I did know, as soon as it was daylight, Slago would be trying to find me. After going about 100 meters into the woods, I came to an old stream bed. It was several hours until the moon would appear so I decided to sit here and wait. Rosco had headed the wagon back the way we had come. My only choice was to go that way as soon as I could see anything. I lay back against the bank and tried to dose a little without much success. I must have drifted off because I was awakened by something licking my face. The moon had come up and I could see a mangy dog panting beside me.

“Well hello there. Are you as lost as I am?”

I stood up. The stream bed seemed to be going in the right direction so I walked on up it. The dog happily followed along. After hiking for a few hours, I thought I saw a light off to my right and up the hill.

“That can’t be a campfire. It’s too white.”

The dog agreed. It could only be Lilly and Rosco. I headed up the hill and quietly peered into the opening containing the light. Lilly and Rosco were sleeping next to the wagon. A lantern of some kind was putting out a soft white glow. My companion, seeing Lilly and Rosco, bounded in and promptly started licking Rosco’s face. It seemed to be a habit. I walked on into the camp.

“Thanks for waiting.”

“Get this stupid mutt off me!”

Lilly sat up.

“We thought you were a goner. This is an old logging road I know. The only thing we could think to do was camp here until morning.”

She laughed.

“Of course, we had no idea what we would do then.”

“Well, Slago will be hot on my trail as soon as he can. He can travel a lot faster than this wagon. We can either wait her and confront them or try to sneak out if you know a way.”

Rosco spoke up.

“There’s an old Indian trail I know about that I’m sure Slago don’t. The only problem is this wagon can’t make it.”

“How far away is it?”

“It’s just over that hill yonder. We can follow the old creek bed to a rocky area and then climb up to the trail. No one could follow us.”

“OK, where does it lead?”

“To Wyoming Territory.”

Lilly raised her eyebrows.

“Aren’t there a lot of Indians there?”

“Yeah, there’s Crow and Northern Cheyenne. We could run into trouble with them.”

I nodded.

“Well, it can’t be worse than we already have. OK, I’m for it.”

Lilly was fiddling with a device she had pulled from her case. I looked over her shoulder.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a tracker to find our ship. I believe it is west of here but I don’t know yet how far.”

“OK, we better get together what we can carry and start out. I’d like to be at that trail by daylight.”

Deciding what to take with us was tough. Rosco, of course, wanted to take his gold. Lilly needed her case of toys. That left me to carry the essentials. We let the mules loose and hid the wagon the best we could. Myself, Lilly, Rosco, and the dog headed toward the old Indian trail.

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George called Sam and let him know the situation. The future women were a shocker. He said that he would pass on the info. I imagine we will have military company very soon. I looked at George.

“What do you think the Planetopolis will do?”

“I don’t know, Mary. This is not part of their territory but nobody really claims it. I guess they can do whatever they want.”

“I was thinking more in terms of what they will do with us; meaning Karen and I.”

George looked thoughtful.

“I hadn’t thought about that. You two are the only ones that have met those future women. Plus, you both are well acquainted with the aliens that left here. This could be bad.”

“The military will certainly want to talk with us.”

George sighed.

“They will do more than that. Karen, if I dropped you two at the resort, can you hide from them?”

Karen grinned.

“Not a problem.”

“Good, let’s get to the shuttle.”

George took us to the resort and went back up to his ship. We went to Karen’s apartment.

“How long do you think we’ve got?”

Karen thought a minute.

“Probably a day or so but I don’t want to risk it. Freshen up and we will go to my ‘office’.”

I had some of my things and Raylan’s here at the apartment. We packed up what we needed and left the rest. We didn’t want to look as if we had run off. Karen took Raylan and me to a part of the resort I had never seen. We faced a building that looked like a private club. However, once inside, we took an elevator down several levels.

“This is my operation center. We do a lot of, uh, traffic control from here.”

I laughed.

“Don’t tell me more. Technically, I’m still a cop.”

“Yeah, well, we will be safe here. Plus, I can monitor all radio signals close by.”

I nodded.

“Thanks, Karen. I hope George and Linda don’t get in any trouble over this.”

“No, I don’t think they will. All George did was take us to the resort to freshen up. It’s not his fault that we disappeared.”

“Is that gate the only way to Jonnie?”

“I believe so unless those future people somehow contact us. It bothers me that the ruins have disappeared but the gate is still there. I’ve got a pretty good physicist on my staff here. Let me go talk to her.”

Karen left and I sat down with Raylan.

“Well, little fellow, you sure have had an interesting start to life. I’ll get Jonnie back if it’s the last thing I do.”