Survivors

 

 

The room was silent for quite some time.  Then Mayor Andorn looked straight at Douglas. "What do you boys think we should do?"

 

"Well, I’m glad you asked us,” Douglas answered, “because we’ve come up with a plan.”

 

"We're asking you because we have no experience at warfare.  We think your former shipmate seems to be coming up with plans of his own.  I don't think the raids are being totally planned by the Shkah.  You're kids, but you showed us what you're made of when you went to rescue your friends and when you saved the Building of Life.  The governor is spending time fooling himself that he can buy peace.  A lot of us don't agree with him. We think the Shkah have to be stopped now!"

 

"Like I told you, we have thought some about it, and we do have a plan. But first we have a question to ask you."

 

"What's that?"

 

"Why don't you use the flier against the Shkah?  You can find their raiders and stop them dead.  Or go attack their villages in the small valley."

 

"The flier is under the control of the governor.  I got away with taking it over once, but my cousin isn't allowed near its hangar now.  And I don't think the other pilot is ready to cross the governor."

 

"Why won't the governor use it?  I mean even he has to have sense enough to see what it can do. Air power kicks ass.” Alex was drawing on his knowledge of history as well as his own experiences playing video war games.  “We’d beat the Shkah before they even knew what was going on. He's gotta be stupid to not use the flier.” Alex had never been one to mince words. Scooter gave him a questioning look, then proceeded to translate Alex’s words for the mayor.

 

"First, the Shkah, or your friend, have been very clever,” the mayor replied. “They go into the woods painted green.  Even their unicorns are painted. They would be very hard to see from the air.  And there are three raiding groups so we don't know where they will leave the woods to go on a raid.  We would need to have the flier in the air almost all of the time.” Douglas and the other boys knew that the mayor’s take wasn’t entirely true. They would just need to have the flier on the ground ready to take off and attack as soon as the Shkah started a raid, but they kept quiet and let the mayor go on.

 

“Second, it's the usual shit the governor tosses around.” Scooter wasn’t sure if the mayor actually said shit, but he thought shit caught the mayor’s meaning perfectly. “The governor doesn't want to make the Shkah any angrier.  He still believes turning you over to them will end all of his troubles."

 

"So there is no way we can use the flier even for a quick mission?" Douglas asked.

 

"What kind of mission?"

 

"The 'Moonduster' has weapons, and we need more laser guns for our plan" Douglas told him.

 

"Douglas, Robert Charles had a laser gun with him.  Where to you think he got it?" Ryan pointed out.

 

Shit, Douglas thought, maybe I should find out what's going on before I jump the gun. He wondered why nobody else had brought up that fact when they were making their plans.

 

"So, then they've gone back to the 'Moonduster'," Douglas said with disappointment.  For their plan to work they needed more weapons.

 

Then an unlikely voice popped up.  "What about the 'Sundancer'?  Did you think there might be laser guns there?" Warren asked.

 

Now it was everybody's turn to look at Warren.  Douglas held a lot of group meetings, but when it came time to make final plans, it had been him, Mike, Scooter, and Alex who made them.  Maybe he needed to include everybody.  He made a note to get all opinions before they did anything.  Somebody was sure to find some flaw or come up with a good idea.  He still needed his small cabinet, but their ideas better get talked over by everybody from now on before he decided to act on them.  Not that he planned on deciding anything without their vote, but just having their plans talked about would help before they discussed them with somebody else.  The only big decision the group hadn't voted on was exiling Robert Charles.  That was his responsibility only. Maybe now it would be different, but then, on the side of that hill in the hot sun with everyone tired and hungry and thirsty, it had to be his.

 

"We didn't, Warren," Mike said.  "We found those two guns but never really looked for all of them.  Maybe that's the place to go.  Robert Charles never knew exactly where it was.  He probably got those guns from 'Moonduster' rather than 'Sundancer'”.

 

"So what do you want us to do?” Mayor Andorn asked. “Even at our fastest it will take four or five days to get there and back.  And we still have to hide most of you.  And I'm sure tomorrow the raids will get worse.  Or even worse, the governor will surrender power to the Shkah.  It wouldn't surprise me."  The mayor sounded desperate.

 

"Well," said Douglas, "here is the first part.  Can you find an excuse to get the flier to take a trip over the plateau where the shuttle crashed?"

 

The mayor and the doctor both thought.  It was the doctor who came up with an idea.

 

"Mayor Andorn, do you know if we have anyone out checking the atmosphere sensors?"

 

"I think two inspectors were sent out a week ago.  But I don't know where."

 

"It doesn't make any difference.  I see what your idea is, son.  Because it just so happens one of them forgot to pick up his prescription.  And I think he is going to need to have his medications out there and could be in big trouble if he doesn't get it."

 

Douglas smiled.  The doctor had it figured out exactly.  He said he would arrange to have the flier ready in the morning, with the Mayor's cousin as the pilot.  He would be requested for the mission since he was the most experienced pilot.

 

Douglas then told the doctor and the mayor their entire plan.  It would work best if they could get the flier again, but if they couldn't then he had an alternate plan.  Either way they would need to move now. The Mayor agreed.  He and the doctor both thought it was a good plan since they didn’t have a plan of their own.  And it was obvious the Governor wasn't going to do anything to stand up to the Shkah.

 

 

The next day turned out to be a quiet one as the Shkah stayed holed up in the forests. They felt that doing nothing for a day would increase the tension and fear among the Hakaanen residents of the Big Valley. Robert Charles ended up hanging around with Vordkan while Jordan hung with Orzano. They younger boys had to stay close to the older boys, however, because Robert Charles needed Orzano to be his language relay.

 

It was that night that Robert Charles and Jordan learned about what Hakaanen sex was all about. While the “pure” Hakaanen boys of the Big Valley were completely open about their sexual exploits, the Hakaanen Shkah boys were more secretive. They had been told by their parents that the sexual lifestyle of the Big Valley was wrong, but being the horny boys there were, they experimented anyway, even though they knew they would be punished if they were caught.

 

For their part, the Shkah male adults knew what the boys would do, because they had done the same thing as boys. If any boys should be so foolish as to be caught, their punishment was a mild one; its intent was to remind the boys of what was right.

 

Robert Charles learned that giving up his ass to Vordkan didn’t mean he was ceding power to the older teen. Instead, it meant that he possessed the power to create intense sexual feelings in the Shkah boy. He learned quickly how to use his ass to satisfy his partner as each of them climaxed three times before collapsing to sleep in a puddle of human and Shkah semen.

 

Jordan, on the other hand, topped Orzano. He didn’t think of the alien boy as sexy, but he loved the feelings having sex gave him. When he fucked Orzano, he closed his eyes and imagined he was fucking Matthew.

 

While the two pairs of boys were on opposite sides of the room, they often stopped to watch the other pair fuck. The twelve-year-old Earth boy came once on Orzano’s ass and pulled out and shot over his smooth white chest for a second orgasm. Orzano, whom Jordan called a “freaking cum machine,” had five orgasms. One of them, to Jordan’s surprise, was in his mouth as he sucked the Shkah boy. Just like a pubescent human, Orzano’s emissions were watery and sweet.

 

Jordan and Orzano fell asleep with their arms and legs tangled together, their bodies wet with sweat and sticky with cum. Jordan hadn’t felt this liked by anyone, even Robert Charles, in a long time. The sexual contacts between Hakaanen and Earth boys had made another leap, even if most of them didn’t know it.

 

It was still dark when Robert Charles woke up.  The men were already wake. Robert Charles woke up the other boys so they could eat and be ready to go raiding when the sun rose.

 

Robert Charles had tasted blood and wanted more.  He had shown the Shkah how to use guerilla tactics, just like in the games he had played on Earth and in a lot of the Earth wars. Even taking the day off to raise the fear in the Hakaanen had been his idea. The Shkah were fast learners and becoming quite good at the tactics of war.

 

When the sun rose a raiding party set off for a nearby farm they had scouted. When they arrived, Robert Charles went into the house with Jordan and Vordkan. It was empty. The upper story of the house was empty as well, but the beds were unmade.  Robert Charles went back downstairs. 

 

The men were looking in the barn and outside.  Robert Charles looked in the pantry.  As he was closing the door he noticed a handle on the floor, which he lifted up. He saw a ladder leading down into a basement.  He found a light switch and turned on the basement lights and he climbed down the ladder.  He saw the farmer, his partner, and a boy who looked to be around thirteen.  He pointed his gun at  the trio.  Vordkan ordered the three of them to go up the ladder.  He went up first, then the farmers and the boy followed, and Robert Charles brought up the rear.

 

The Shkah men came in and led their captives out of the house. Jordan and Vordkan set the house on fire as the farmers watched.  One of them started crying, and so did the boy.

 

"Tell them to shut up," Robert Charles said.  Orzano translated and Vordkan said it loudly.  The boy kept sobbing as he watched his home going up in flames.  Robert Charles walked up to the boy and slapped him across the face.

 

"You wussy Hakaanen.  A weak cry baby like all of them.  You've just found out where the power is."  The boy didn't understand the words, but he got the idea.  He couldn't stop crying though, so Robert Charles punched him in the stomach.  Then he stood there and laughed.

 

The men set fire to the barn and then mounted their unicorns.  As they started riding out, Robert Charles aimed his laser gun at the man who had started crying and fired it.  The beam hit the man in the chest—the gun had been set to kill.

 

Robert Charles looked at the boy, who was crying loudly now.  "That was for you, boy.  I see you again, you weak crying son of a bitch, I'll pop you." He shot a beam over the boy's head and laughed.  This is fun, he thought.

 

 He wished yet again that he hadn't been interrupted when he was tormenting the little twin. After raping him he would have slowly sliced him up and listened to him scream. But he knew he would get another chance at the boy, either by finding him or having him turned over by the Hakaanen once they’d been defeated.  Either way the little shit was his.  And what he would do to him was nothing compared to what he would do to that fucking Douglas.

 

The raiding party hit two more farms and the outskirts of Awanstor, Mayor Andorn's village.  Farmers and villagers were in hiding.  The governor knew he would have to find the round ears or surrender the valley to the Shkah. 

 

The three raiding parties had burned six farms and damaged two villages. There were many injuries and three known deaths. Many of the Hakaanen had gone into hiding during the strange lull the day before. More damage would have been done that day, but something happened toward the afternoon that had the southern raiders changing some plans.

 

 The night before, Douglas, Mike, and Alex had hidden themselves on the flier.  They sat low in their seats sleeping, ready for their mission. Scooter was left in charge of the group.  When dawn came the pilot, who was the mayor’s cousin, came on board. He carried a bag that had the "pills" the doctor had given him.  He was ready now to do whatever it took to defeat the Shkah quickly, and that included the second part of the round ears’ plan.

 

Dawn was coming to the valley.  Douglas peeked at the two large hangars at the other end of the field.  He wondered if there were space shuttles in there. If there were, it had been over twenty-five years since they had last been flown.  There was no reason to fly them until now.

 

The flier took off from the airport and went straight toward the eastern plateau.  The three boys sat up and watched the mountains go by underneath them.  It was hard for Douglas to imagine that they had crossed that range in the two sleds.  When he saw how the mountains stretched out and how easy it was to miss the Big Valley, he could see what a miracle it was that they made it.

 

They flew over Matthew's horsey rock.  It looked even more like a horse from the air.  It didn't take long for the flier to get to the small plateau where the "Sundancer" had crashed.  The pilot hovered over the site looking for a flat place to land, then finally set the flier straight down.

 

Douglas, Mike, and the Alex climbed down to the ground.  The three boys got out and started looking through the wreckage.  The wind was blowing hard.  The decomposing bodies were still there.

 

The boys went to the area where the two laser guns had been found.  Hopefully they would find more weapons. The boys looked through the wreckage of the front of the shuttle, trying hard not to get sickened by the dead bodies.

 

“Douglas, there is something under this piece of wreckage,” Alex called out.

 

Douglas walked over, waving to Mike, who came over to join him and Alex. A big piece of the fuselage was sitting on top of a smashed metal box.  They could see that the piece was too heavy for them to move.  Douglas and Mike walked to the flier and told the pilot what they had found.  They quickly formulated a plan for moving the heavy piece of metal.

 

The pilot got under the flier and disconnected a piece of cable with a hook on it.  Then he climbed back into the flier and lifted off.  He hovered over the fuselage section.  Mike grabbed hold of the hook, which wasn't easy since the flier created even more wind around him.  He jerked down on the hook, pulling out more cable until he got it hooked through a hole in the piece of metal fuselage. He got out from underneath the flier and waved to the pilot.  The pilot lifted the flier until the metal was lifted off of the storage box.  He flew off away from the boys, flicked a switch that opened the hook, and dropped the metal piece to the ground with a huge crash that startled the three boys.

 

The storage container was badly smashed.  Mike got a metal bar from the flier and used it to pry open the container.  The boys grinned when they saw the contents. Inside were laser rifles. Some of them were bent and smashed, but they were able to pull out eight rifles that looked to be intact.  They turned the solar chargers on and then packed the rifles into the flier.  When they got back to the valley they would test them to see if they actually worked. They looked to be in good shape and the boys were confident they would be in working order.  With the eight rifles along with the two laser pistols, they had ten guns, almost enough for each boy.

 

The flier came back to the north end of the valley.  The pilot dropped the boys off and then flew south back to Orkyl, the capital city.  As far as the pilot was concerned he had possession of the flier now and he was going to do with it whatever needed to be done.  He'd deal with the governor after he helped the mayor and the round-eared boys.

 

The boys were dropped off outside of one of the farms that had been burned.  They didn't know if any of the Shkah raiding parties had seen them.  They wanted to be seen, but not just yet.

 

Suddenly, some unicorns with riders rode into the field from the surrounding woods. Douglas and Mike both raised their rifles, but the riders were Hakaanen. The mayor of Awanstor had been talking half the night to the mayor of Grastano, whose village had been attacked.  The rest of the men were farmers and villagers from the area.  They were angry and ready to do anything and follow anybody to defeat the Shkah.

 

The flier returned quickly.  It came in from the plateau again instead of flying directly over the valley.  This trip had to be as secretive as possible.  The flier set down in the field.  Logan, Ethan, Warren, Ryan, Scooter, and Enghar got out and the flier was off again with Douglas, Mike, and Scooter on board. The group was ready for action.  They all knew what to do.  

 

The flier headed back over the plateau, and then to the north. The pilot came in low and landed on a mesa to the east of the little valley where the three boys got off.  The flier took off again. 

 

The three of them waited patiently for it to return.  Everything was almost ready to go—they just needed everybody to be in the right place.  Everybody, even Matthew, who still had his cast on, had a job to do.  Matthew’s job was to man their home radio.

 

When the flier returned, Brandon, Stevie, Jeremy, Travis, and Bandar disembarked. There were now eight of them on the mesa, and they each were armed with a laser rifle.  They were going to wait until it started getting dark, then they would take the trail into the little valley with Alex in charge.

 

 

The flier went back over the Big Valley, and flew to the field at the north end.  However, the pilot made it look like he was arriving there from the south.  He hovered high and landed slowly, trying to make sure he was seen. 

 

The unicorns with their Hakaanen riders were heading west up the long trail, going up the south hills and then to the small valley.  They moved slowly and kicked up a lot of dirt and dust.  It was the middle of the day, the sun was at its highest point and the sunlight reflected off of any metal they were wearing or that was on the unicorns.

 

One of the southern Shkah raiding parties saw the flier land and then later noticed the group heading up the trail.  The leader got his radio and radioed to Arkron telling him what he saw.

 

"It looks like the Hakaanen flier is dropping people off.  A raiding party is heading up into the north hills.  I think they're heading for our valley."

 

"Which trail are they taking?" Arkron asked.

 

"The long trail.  It's less steep."

 

"Fools!  Less steep, but much longer.  You all take the short steep trail. You'll beat them to the valley easily.  How far off is Sharman's group?"

 

"Two hours south."

 

"Radio him and tell him to join up with you.  You will be in the valley defending it before they even know you are there.  Plus we will have men in the valley to help."

 

"Shouldn't we just go attack them when we get up into the north hills?"

 

"No.  They will think we are down here, moving and hard to find.  Catch them coming into the valley at Sopas.  It is narrow and we can trap them there.  How many are there?"

 

"I figure around twenty.  It is an excellent plan Arkron.  There will be no escape once they are at Sopas.  We are on our way. I can’t believe they are so stupid. It looks like our round-eared boys are far smarter than theirs, just like we are far smarter than they are."

 

Arkron put his radio away.  He started sending his thoughts through Orzano. "Your friends are fools, Robbachass."

 

"Why?"

 

"Instead of taking the difficult, but short, east trail, they are taking the easier, but longer, west trail.  By the time they get to the small valley most of our warriors will be there waiting to trap them."  Arkron told Robert Charles everything he had found out.

 

Robert Charles smiled.  This was more proof that Douglas was an idiot.  He couldn't plan his way out of a shopping bag.  And now Douglas thinks he can play the game of warfare against him.  Robert Charles was raised playing military games. 

 

He did have to give Douglas credit; he actually got the wussy Hakaanen     doing something, if indeed that was Douglas and his group going up the hill.  And he figured it was—after all, who else could it be? 

 

Once again to Robert Charles it was obvious who the real leader was.  He had shown the Shkah about guerilla tactics.  He had learned how to kill and had shown the Shkah that he wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger. Douglas couldn't even take the right trail for a raid.  Not only that but he was going up the hill on an exposed trail so that everybody on the planet knew what he was doing and where he was going.  Even the Hakaanen flier pilot was too dumb to do fakes with his flier. They were all so dumb that in no time at all the Shkah would rule all of Inferno.

 

"So, while they go to defend, we should keep the Hakaanen off balance with even tougher raids” Robert Charles said.  “We need to capture a village and burn it to the ground and kill as many as we can.  Make them so scared they will call off their own raiding party while they piss their pants. The next thing you know, all of the Earth boys will be turned over to us.”

 

Orzano translated the conversation back and forth.

 

"No, Robbachass.  You've been right in what you've shown us.  But I think we should ride hard down the Big Valley and over to the small valley.  I want to be part of the battle and part of our triumph.  I want to tell the idiot governor I have captured the round ears he sent after us and now we are going to crush him!"

 

Robert Charles smiled even more.  He liked it. Arkron was his kind of guy. Once Douglas was defeated there would be nobody around to stop them. Douglas might be a fag and stupid at war, but at least he was showing some balls.  Today, the little war would probably be be over and Douglas would be his to do with what he wanted.

 

"Arkron, if we come across any farms along the way can we, you know, like, burn...."

 

Arkron laughed hard.  "You make me laugh, Robbachass.  I promise you, after our triumph you can take Vordkan, Orzano, and Jordaann and do your own raid on a farm—just you boys. But for now we need to ride across the valley as fast as we can, starting right now!"

 

Robert Charles could hardly wait for his own raid to happen—there would be nothing nice about it.  But for now, he was ready to get to the small valley so he could have his way with Douglas.  As they mounted their unicorns and headed north, Robert Charles thought about what he would do to him.  Rape him for sure.  Make him suffer for sure. Maybe rape him over and over in front of his foolish followers.  Maybe he would kill the twin he had on the hill in front of Douglas, after he raped him. He would kill the little boy slowly.  And then he would kill Douglas even more slowly in front of his queer friends.  Robert Charles had a king-sized erection thinking about it.

 

 

The climb up the north hill in the hot afternoon sun had them roasting.  Even on unicorns it was tiring.  Ryan and Logan remembered the last time they went up the hill.  They were tied up and were prisoners.  Ryan had wondered if Logan should take the trip up this hill with them, but Logan said he was okay.  He wanted to go.  He said his twin and his big brother would be with them and he would be okay because he knew how much they both loved him.  Last night Ethan had slept with him in his sleeping bag.  He had told only Ryan what they had done together, but it was like everybody knew anyway. But only Ethan, and of course Ryan, knew that Ethan had been the bottom during their first time making brotherly love. All Logan knew was that he was loved like never before and that was already helping get rid of his nightmares.

 

When night came they stopped to camp.  They were up in the hills now.  Alex was the leader and he set out guards.

 

Enghar could help translate for the Hakaanen men, because being with Matthew had taught him a little English.  He missed Matthew so much.  They hadn't been separated a single night since Matthew had come into his life.

 

On the southeast hill over the little valley Douglas and his group made their camp.  The two southern raiding parties had made it into the hills above the small valley as it was getting dark.  They had beaten the Hakaanen raiding parties by quite a bit, just like they had planned.

 

Travis was the lookout for Douglas at the time and he quickly came back into the camp to report what he had seen.  The Shkah raiders, at least the southern ones, were in the valley.  They had arrived before the Hakaanen group.

 

"Damn, that makes things tougher," Mike said.  "I hope this works, because if it doesn't we won't get another chance."

 

"I know," said Douglas, quietly.  He knew that their plan would need some luck to be successful. He had to wonder if their luck was running out. He ate with Scooter. He was worried that Scooter was overextending himself, but his boyfriend had insisted on taking part in their raid.

 

Alex got his group up before dawn.  He got Warren, Logan, Ethan, and Enghar together.

 

"Enghar knows where to take you.  He's been to the little valley a couple of times, plus he's looked at the maps.  His dad helped with the layout.  You guys are small and can hide easily behind what rocks and shrubs are there.  You know what to do, right?"

 

The four of them were quiet.  Enghar only understood every other word, but he knew what the plan was.  Warren was now in the charge of the small group.  It was the first time anybody had put him in charge of anything.  He was scared of it, but excited at the same time.  Their job would be simple but very important to the plan.

 

As the morning sun rose it lit up the west side of the small valley.  Douglas and his group started down to the valley in the shadows on the east side.  They should make it down to the valley easily before the sun got too high up. The shadows hid them well.  They crept through a field and hid in some brush close to where the pass through the hills into the small valley was.

 

Now they all waited, except for Alex's group, which included Ryan and the Hakaanen men.   The three groups knew what they needed to do. Matthew relayed Douglas’s radio signal to Alex and Warren. It was time for the plan to unfold.

 

The battle didn't take long.  Alex led his group into the pass that opened into the little valley.  There were Shkah up on the hills on either side of them. Douglas's group could see them and let Alex know where they were.  Douglas's group was behind the brush next to the meadow.  Most of the Shkah were in the meadow at the end of the trail that came down from the pass.  The Shkah on both sides of the meadow started moving.  Douglas could see them and warned Alex.  Alex turned his group around and started retreating.

 

The Shkah who were in the meadow started cheering and got up from the grass to get their unicorns and help chase them.  As the whole group got up, Mike aimed his laser rifle.  It was set to heavy stun, which could burn, hurt, and knock a guy out depending where he got hit.  He hit a Shkah in the back on his first shot.  They stopped and turned around to see where the shot came from, but it was too late. Douglas, Travis, Scooter, Brandon, Stevie, and Jeremy got up from behind their hiding places and started firing.  When it all settled there were twenty unconscious Shkah in the field and not one human had been touched.  The Shkah never thought that somebody might come and get them from behind.  Douglas had faked them into thinking the attack would be straight on, when all the time that was a fake attack.  The real one was a sneak attack from behind.

 

Meanwhile, Alex's group was heading back out onto the north plateau.  Four Shkah had been hiding on each side, but Alex knew they were there because he had been warned. The way out became a narrow canyon.  Some small rocks and shrubs were on the side. 

 

The four small boys were hiding to one side. They were small enough to be hidden there even though the Shkah could see into that area.  When Alex and the Hakaanen men rode past, Warren gave the signal and he and Logan ran across the opening. They each had a metal wire which they pounded into the ground on one side. It was on a spool that unwound as Warren and Logan ran it across the path. The Shkah came riding through , chasing Alex's group,. But they hit the cable and their unicorns tumbled and spilled the Shkah on the ground.  Only one of them stopped in time, but before he could do anything Alex turned and fired a laser shot at him, knocking him off of his unicorn.  The Battle of the Valley of the Shkah was over.  The Shkah had been defeated except for one small group.

 

The next morning, Arkron led his raiding group into the narrow canyon towards the pass.  Warren and Jeremy were up on the hill on the east side so they could look down without the sun in their eyes.  When they saw the unicorns and their riders enter the canyon Warren radioed Douglas.

 

"They're here," he said quietly.

 

The canyon was short and the riders stopped when they got to the end.  They were at the top of the pass.  From there the road was wide and went down into the small valley.

 

"They stopped," Warren radioed.  Warren was so happy that he was given responsibility.  It helped that his medications were working and he was healthy.  He had felt kind of helpless since the time he helped to keep the power chips from Robert Charles, but it was from there he started getting sicker.  Yesterday he had led the group that tripped the Shkah.  Today he and his love were the lookouts.  Not only was he feeling good because he was healthy, he was feeling good because for the first time in a long time he was helping everybody instead of holding them back.

 

Douglas had the raiders in sight now.  He was watching them through binoculars.  He recognized Robert Charles and Jordan.  Robert Charles looked weird with his blue/green Shkah colored hair.

 

"It's quiet down there," Arkron said.  "I wonder if they have captured the round ears.  They must have."

 

"We never heard anything on the radio," Robert Charles said.

 

"Our radios are so old they don't always work.  I tried to raise him earlier, but couldn't get anything.  Everything is falling apart here.  Let's go down and see where they are keeping their captives."

 

"I don't know," Robert Charles said.  "It doesn't feel right.  Somebody should be coming up to meet us.  It's too quiet.  I think some of us should wait here."

 

"Nonsense.  Your round-eared friends went right into our trap.  You saw yesterday how stupid they were.  Your Dooglass knows nothing of fighting. You are far better than him."

 

Robert Charles smiled.  Arkron was right, of course.  He was ten times the leader Douglas was.  But it still didn't feel right.  They rode down into the valley.  Warren got on the radio and let Douglas know the Shkah was coming down. Arkron had them stop when they arrived at the meadow where Douglas launched his sneak attack on the Shkah.

 

"Arkron, I just don't feel right about this.  Let's have our pistols out."

 

Arkron couldn't argue with that.  They got their pistols out and rode into the village.  They got to the square and stopped and looked around.  Robert Charles and Jordan hung back some.  Vordkan and Orzano noticed and went back to where the two Earth boys were.

 

Suddenly, the men rose up and were standing on the roof tops on both sides of the square. They were armed with laser rifles.  Mayor Andorn looked down at the Shkah.

 

"Drop your weapons!" he said.  "It's all over."

 

Bazel raised his gun, but Alex was ready and shot him, knocking him off his unicorn.  Arkron tried firing back but Douglas hit him and knocked him to the ground.  Robert Charles took off, with Jordan, Vordkan, and Orzano following him.  The two Shkah boys weren't sure what was going on, but they knew they didn't want to be where the shooting was going on.

 

Robert Charles stopped briefly.  "You're dead, Douglas!” he screamed. “I hope you understand that!  YOU ARE FUCKING DEAD!!!!"

 

Then he and the other three boys rode out of the village, up the hill, and out of the little valley.  Warren and Jeremy were still up on the hill and watched the four boys ride by past.

 

The Shkah leaders and raiders were all captured now.  Only the four boys had gotten away.

 

Robert Charles stopped his unicorn.  He looked back toward the small valley. He meant what he said.  Douglas was dead.  Before he killed Douglas, he was going to make him hurt and suffer in ways he could never believe.  He was going to destroy Douglas's friends and his whole world.  Douglas had crossed him for the last time.  When they met face to face again, the power would be his. And Douglas's fate would be sealed.

 

Robert Charles looked at Jordan.  "Douglas is about to die. I’m gonna need you to help me make sure his life is shit before it happens."

 

Jordan smiled at the older boy.  "Whatever you want, I will do."  Jordan knew, right then in his heart, that he loved Robert Charles.

 

NEXT:  DEATH OF A BOY