Chapter Seven of A Reporters Nightmare

      The man called Baxter took the shovel and began digging. Smoky stepped past the wall Aragon was hiding behind and walked stiffly to the pickup. Baxter slammed the shovel towards the ground and hit his foot instead. He yelled and started hopping on one foot while holding the other in his hand.

     The other man jumped at the sudden sound and dropped the crate he was toting. It split open and diamonds spilled out. A shout came from the pickup and Smoky came running back. “Gates is gone!”

     The other men didn’t notice and Smoky gaped at the scene in front of him. And then his phone rang. He snapped it open and answered sharply. His eyes grew wide as he listened and his hand began to shake. When he hung up his face was white.

     “Get those crates buried!” he shouted. “The fire isn’t doing the trick; the police are on their way!”

     Baxter, Smoky and Tate flew to their jobs, Baxter limping due to his foot injury. The hole was big enough to bury at least three men side by side and stacked up by three.

     The men dropped the crates into the hole and hurriedly dropped the spilled diamonds around the crates; there was no time to put them back in an extra crate.

     Aragon watched as they threw dirt over the crates. It was then that he noticed that there were several trunks lining the edges of the unit and a truck load of antique junk, old wheelbarrows, tricycles, chairs, tables and other antique junk.

     Finally Baxter and Tate finished covering the hole and began lining the storage unit with the junk. By the time they had finished Aragon could hear the sirens and see the lights. The men ran out of the unit and slid the door down, locking it with an antique lock that was probably brand new.

     Just as they began to run to his pickup Aragon called to them. “Hey, over here!” he called.

     The men turned to look at him and he snapped a picture on his phone. The picture was slightly fuzzy but clear enough that the police would be able to identify them.

Chapter VIII of Lands Beyond

     My glorified imprisonment might have lasted indefinitely if not for an unusual occurrence that earned the gratitude of the ruler, whose name was Sialkot. It seemed that he had a daughter who was always running away and throwing tantrums. Leuven was the only one who could reason with her, but he was not always successful.

     On this particular day, he had been sent on a short mission and I was confined to the palace grounds. I had never met the young princess, only heard about her, so I did not recognize the little brat when I saw her.

     She was dressed plainly and even had dirt on her face. I would not have paid any attention to her if she had not been bullying two little children. She was laughing at their fright and was waving a stick to frighten them even more.

     I might have let it be and gone on my way if she had not involved me. I was passing rather close by and she moved quickly. Hitting me squarely on the back with her stick, she began to yell and scream, berating me for ignoring her.

     I continued on my way, but she jammed the stick between my legs, tripping me. I landed hard, for it was unexpected. The ensuing attack was also unexpected.

     Raising my arms to protect my head, I shoved off of my knees, ramming her in the middle. I can only describe what happened next as a cat fight. She used her teeth and nails and had no inhibitions about fighting dirty.

     With my face and shoulders scratched up and several places sore where she had hit me with rocks, I decided that enough was enough. She was not going to get away with this!

     Pinning her arms to her sides, I picked her up and sat down on a barrel, where I laid her across my knees and removed my belt. She was still screaming angrily, unaware of what was about to happen. She found that out with no further delay.

     After giving her ten solid whacks, I set her on her feet and stood up. She immediately ran to three guards who had just come up, demanding shrilly that they arrest me. One of them I knew, for I had whipped him aboard ship. He took one look at me and backed up a step.

     With a start, I realized that I was still holding my belt, and that I was tapping my leg with it. Knowing me as he did, he knew that I was mad clear through, and that I could hold my own in an altercation. He wisely decided that he wanted no part of it.

     Turning to the girl, he said, “I think that you will not get your way this time. If I were you, I would leave this lady alone. You are no match for her, and you know it.”

      Astonished at this blunt refusal, the girl stared at him, and then at me. I gave the belt a little shake and her eyes grew round. Without another word, she turned and ran. Without really meaning to, I laughed. The guard stared at me. I shook my head and slipped the belt back around my waist.

     It happened that Leuven was delayed in getting back by several days and Sialkot left suddenly on urgent business. Therefore, neither of them knew about the fight. The girl involved me in several more such fights, and she always came out on the losing end, with a solid spanking to top it off.

     With a healthy dose of newfound fear after the last one, she obeyed me promptly when I ordered her to clean herself up. She presented herself to me an hour later wearing a clean and neat dress, her hair combed, and her face and hands scrubbed. Realizing that I could now influence her, I praised her for cleaning up and complimented her on her choice of dress.

     Deciding to test her, I invited her to eat with me. I was pleasantly surprised to find that she had good table manners. Finding that I was not completely overbearing, she pushed it a little to find out how much she could get away with. I promptly put her in her place with a move towards my belt.

     By the time Sialkot and Leuven returned, I had the girl acting like a perfect lady. She still tried to act like her old self whenever she was away from me, but since I had nothing else to do, I trailed her. Consequently, I knew whenever she did something and confronted her about it later. She found that she could hide nothing from me and gave in to my leadership.

     Her name was Daniela, and she had just turned thirteen. Leuven arrived home before Sialkot did. He noticed the difference in Daniela, and was surprised, but made no comment. By this time, I had learned of her relation to Sialkot, but I did not let that change my behavior towards her. Both Daniela and Leuven noticed this fact, although it seemed to irritate him for some reason. Maybe I wasn’t showing her enough respect or something. I don’t know, but I ignored it.

     The day that Sialkot returned, Leuven was teaching us to dance. Their style of dancing was much different than the basic waltz that I knew. It included several leaps and spins that required careful timing. As a result, I found myself tripping and falling into Leuven on more than one occasion.

     He was not amused with my lack of coordination and ordered me to sit on the sidelines while he taught Daniela. She was not much better at it than I was. He did not seem to mind this however, and kept on patiently explaining the steps to her. To my surprise, it was Daniela who scolded him for being more patient with her than he was with me.

     Unbeknownst to all of us, Sialkot had been watching us the entire time. He now strode forward, a stern line slashed across his mouth. “What is this?” He demanded. “What have you done to my daughter?”

     Daniela, her eyes wide, grabbed my hand and pressed close to me. “Please father, do not be angry with her.”

     Sialkot stopped, shock flitting across his face briefly before he smiled gently at her. “Of course not, darling. Whatever she has done has improved you greatly. I dare not be angry about that.”

     After dismissing Leuven and I, Sialkot led his daughter away, speaking quietly and listening intently to whatever she had to say. Once they were out of earshot, Leuven whirled around and glared at me, his golden brown eyes flashing.

     Growling angrily, he said, “Do not think that you can get away with throwing yourself at me. It won’t work.”

     This accusation astonished and confused me. “What do you mean? Why would I want to throw myself at you?”

     “Don’t play innocent with me, Brunhilda. I know better than that.”

     Giving me no time to reply, he stalked away, his back rigid. I stared after him. I had begun to like him, and even considered him a friend, the first and only one that I had ever had. Now however, I began to think that I had made a very poor choice.

Chapter Six of A Reporters Nightmare

    

     Aragon woke up to find that his pickup was empty and that he had been tied to everything that couldn’t move. When he had fallen forward he had cracked his head and knocked himself out.

     He tried to wiggle himself free of the ropes but they were tied to tightly. Aragon saw that some of the glass from the broken window had fallen onto the seat, only a few small chips but hopefully enough to cut the rope.

     Moving carefully he grabbed a shard of glass and winced as it sliced his hand. He maneuvered the sharp end to the rope and began sawing. The rope was very thick and it was strong. Unfortunately, it had come from the back of his pickup and he preferred only the best of ropes.

     Finally he cut through the rope and yanked his hands apart. The rope loosened enough for him to slip his hands out. He started to open his door but it was locked and if he opened it the lights would turn on.

     The hole in the back window was rather large and it had been enlarged with the bumps on the road. Aragon carefully removed the glass shards until he was able to crawl out.

     A dim light shown from somewhere and muted voices echoed. Aragon knew the best thing to do would be to start his pickup and get away, but Smoky had his keys.

     So Aragon moved to the danger.

     He heard the men saying stuff and yelping in pain. Aragon moved quietly until he was just outside the unit. He saw Smoky was shoveling dirt at a frantic pace while the other two men carried crates to the edge of the hole. Aragon wondered why the floor to the storage unit was dirt.

     Smoky stopped and stretched. “Baxter you take over the shovel, I’ll go check on Gates.”

Chapter Five of A Reporters Nightmare

     Smoky stared at the pitiful excuse for a man. His wailing had gotten on Smokey’s nerves but the mixed up story was wound together rather skillfully. He shook his head. “Maybe we should just dump him off somewhere, he’ll be likely to drop the crates and break or scatter everything inside of them.”

     Baxter nodded in agreement. “The way he is if he woke up in the middle of nowhere he’d waste all his energy wailing about it.” 

     Tate, the man in the back, rubbed his ears theatrically. “I can’t stand this Gates; whoever he is he isn’t worth a lot unless he works on the stage.”

     Smoky studied Gates again. “Okay, we’ll make him unload a few crates but if he even wobbles a little bit we’ll drop him somewhere where he’ll most likely kill himself trying to get out of.”

     Each of the men agreed. Just then Smokey’s phone rang. He snatched it up. “Wilson here.”

     “Where are you men at?” Came a bellowing voice that made Smoky hold the phone away from his ear.

     “We had a problem but we’ll be over there in fifteen minutes or less.”

     “Well hurry it up, I’ve changed the delivery time to twelve at night, that gives you less then four hours to get the storage unit ready.” The man on the other side yelled and hung up.

    Smoky turned to Baxter and Tate. “Boss says he changed the delivery time to twelve tonight, we only have four hours to get the storage unit set up.”

     The other men groaned. Their boss had stolen some diamonds from several people and had robbed several other banks. The storage unit would be the hide out for the money and diamonds until the police had calmed down their search a little bit.

     Then the money would be recovered and the four men would leave to live their lives in style and comfort. That is, if they could keep the police and reporters away from what they were doing.

    

Chapter VII of Lands Beyond

     The commander was waiting for me at my cabin when I arrived later. He carried a small leather pouch which appeared to be stuffed full. I glanced at it curiously. He smiled and held the door open for me, following me inside. I sat down on the couch and waited to see what he was doing here. It did not take long.

     Leuven sat down next to me and began to pull books out of his bag. He sorted through them until he found the one he wanted. It was like a child’s picture book, only bigger. It had a picture for nearly everything, with a word next to it. He pointed to one of the words and said it slowly and clearly. I repeated it back to him, careful to get the pronunciation just right.

     I had already learned a little bit about the language from my ship, so I was able to understand it fairly well. The syntax was different from English, but it went together in an understandable fashion. I suppose the best way to describe it would be archaic. If translated directly, with no concessions for modern usage, it would sound very old fashioned.

     The commander seemed determined for me to learn as much as possible in one sitting. There was no way I could remember that many words at once. When I saw that he would not stop unless I did something, I closed the book and shook my head. He frowned and reopened it. I closed it again, more firmly this time. This time, he got the message.

     He stood and bowed slightly before leaving the cabin. I went and lay down on the bed, my head swimming with all of the new words that I had learned that day. I fell asleep rehearsing them in my mind.

     Commander Makkedah came often, staying for several hours as he taught me his language. Sometimes we walked around the ship and talked to a few people here and there. Whenever we needed to talk about something that was beyond my grasp, we went to my shuttle.

     With such a persistent and thorough teacher, it did not take long for me to become fairly fluent. In the process, I managed to teach him some English. He claimed that it was a difficult and backwards language. I laughed and told him that everyone thought so when they first learned it.

     By the time we reached his home planet, we were on a friendly footing. I had learned much about him, some of which he did not know that I knew. It would take a very long time before I knew everything about him, and perhaps not even then, for he was a very complex and puzzling man. From a few of his comments, I gathered that he thought the same thing about me.

     When we reached the planet, Leuven escorted me to a viewing window so that I could see it. I have seen Earth from space before, but there was something about this planet that drew me to it. I stared in rapt amazement until a touch on my arm drew me back to reality.

     “What do you think of it?”

     “I love it. I have never seen anything so beautiful before. What is its name?”

     Leuven looked out the window, a gentle smile playing across his face. “It is commonly called Hespides, but we who live there call it Adena.”

     “A beautiful name for a beautiful world.”

     “Yes it is. Wait until you see it up close on the ground. You only think you love it now. When you see it up close, you really will fall in love with it.”

     I did not doubt him for an instant.

     It turned out that I did not get to see anything of the planet for several days. The ruler of Adena was a suspicious man and believed my story to be a preposterous tale. I had to tell my story to five people, at different times and under severe questioning. When they finally decided that I must be telling the truth, they released me into the care of Commander Makkedah.

     We were not allowed to go far, and were under surveillance the entire time, but he did show me several landmarks and other sites that proved his claim. I fell in love with Adena at first glance.

     My shuttle was left aboard the Burning Starlight. The commander forbade anyone to go near it and a guard was posted to make sure his order was followed. Even I was not allowed to go near it. Of course, if it had been up to Leuven, I could have gone anytime I wished.

     This order was from the ruler, who was still suspicious of me and feared that I would attempt to escape. His fears were not entirely ungrounded, as I later confessed to Leuven. Even though I was treated as a guest for the most part, I was still a prisoner, and felt like one too. I might have tried to escape if they had been less than courteous.

     As it was, however, the novelty and excitement were enough to keep me satisfied. The fine company was a plus. (Leuven stuttered slightly when I told him this. I loved catching him off guard.)

Chapter VI of Lands Beyond

     By the time a guard came to escort me back to my cabin, my head was swimming with everything that I had learned. It was still a mystery as to why the shuttle now had a defense mechanism and somewhat independent intelligence, but I now knew that the foreign computer systems had reacted to the current system in a strange and unpredictable manner.

     The engines, as well, had reacted strangely to the new additions. The engine, of course, was the energy source of the force-field. According to the computer’s calculations, the engines now had five times their original speed, as well as a higher fuel capacity and far lower fuel consumption.

     The new metal sheeting was of an extremely strong and durable alloy, specially designed for craft that would be constantly entering and exiting atmospheres. It was also designed to withstand under severe enemy fire with minimal damage. This alone made it quite valuable, and it was in high demand and hard to get hold of if you were not rich.

     Of course, this begged the question of who exactly was Leuven Rhys Makkedah, and what was his part in all of this?

     The guard showed up before I could research this, however, and I decided that it was probably for the best. If my captors were criminals on the run, then I would find out sooner or later. The same if they were a military escort or patrol, or even pirates. There was nothing I could do about it if they were any of these, and besides, surely I was smart enough to draw accurate conclusions from my own observations.

     Three days later, as I was inspecting the fuel lines, a warning klaxon began to sound. I carefully put everything back in place before turning to see what was going on. Several guards and pilots were running everywhere, speaking into little handsets as they ran. My guard motioned me inside so that we could talk.

     As soon as we were inside, he said, “We need to move your ship into a corner and line the fighters up in front of it.”

     “Why?”

     “Just get it moved and I’ll explain.”

     Sensing the urgency of the situation, I did as I was told. I underestimated the power that my shuttle now had, and we shot forward frighteningly fast. I had to bank hard to avoid hitting the wall. Slowing down, I managed to ease it gently into a corner. The guard exhaled in relief as the pilots began to maneuver the fighters into position in front of us.

     I turned to him for an explanation. He obliged as soon as he had made a report to the commander.

     “There is a foreign government dignitary coming aboard. We are currently very near their territory, and if they caught sight of this strange contraption, they may try to confiscate it from us. They are just touchy enough to start a war over it, even if there is no reason for it.”

     “Ah, I understand. Where I come from, we have had a civil war started over a disagreement. Even though it happened a very long time ago, there is still a line separating one side from the other.”

     “That is sort of what happened here. I believe that they are still trying to fight a war that ended centuries ago.”

     Nothing more was said as we sat and waited for the dignitary to arrive. When he did, I was surprised to find that he was a very young man, and from the looks of him, very petty, sullen, and highly disagreeable. My lip curled involuntarily. The guard smiled.

     “I see that you share my opinion of our distinguished visitor.”

     I turned to him. “Was he chosen for this position because of his rank, family influence, or personal ability?”

     “I believe that the answer would be family influence. They have no rank to speak of, but they are very rich and own a large number of businesses and are in control of at least two shipping companies and three mines. They are powerful enough that even Commander Makkedah is wary of upsetting them.”

     This was something to think on and I said nothing more.

     I do not know how long we sat there, but it was a very long time. I was beginning to wonder if we would have to stay the night in the shuttle when I saw the dignitary appear in the landing bay. He appeared to be very upset about something. The commander followed closely, apparently contrite and trying to appease and satisfy the boy. I frowned in distaste at the unseemly display.

     When the foreign ship was safely away, Commander Makkedah straightened and began to bark orders. Soldiers and crewmen alike scattered to do his bidding. One crewman came forward with a mop bucket and appeared to ask him something. The commander laughed heartily, nodding to signify his acceptance. At once, the crewman began to meticulously clean everywhere the ship and dignitary had touched.

     I would have laughed, but the situation was far too serious to be taken so lightly. I know very little of politics, especially foreign politics, but even I knew that this could be dangerous and possibly even foolhardy. It is never a good idea to make fun of those in power. Especially if they are touchy and eager for a fight.