They had chained him to the cook stove. Viktor grabbed another handful of berries and somehow punched them into the mash of potatoes before him. It wasn't what he'd usually call a meal, but it was the best any of them could do. They had taken turns with cooking at first, but both Derek and Mushinto had turned out even more terrible at the job than he was. In a situation like this, the lesser evil prevailed.
As long as they don't bother me.
They had gotten quite a lot of work done in the past few weeks, Viktor decided. Everyone had their own rooms, his kitchen was a nice enough place, and their crops were looking promising. He hadn't seen the use of building an infirmary, though, but Derek had insisted they needed a separate space for emergencies.
The metallic door at the far side of the room slid open. "Berries," Mushinto simply said and stashed a basket full of them away. He left without another word.
The way it should be. Viktor didn't like people. He had never liked people, or rather, talking to people. He had learned how to do it, or at least he hoped he had. He just took no pleasure in it. Smiling was key. A mixture of well-timed smiles, laughs and nods gets you through pretty much every conversation. The thought made him grin.
"What are you so happy about?" Derek asked. He hadn't noticed the kid coming in.
"An old joke," he said. "You got some new project in mind already?"
"Sort of." Derek's hand was hovering above one of the few packaged meals they had left, until he decided for one of Viktor's creations in the end. "Mushinto scouted another steam geyser we could use."
"We already got one generator running, hell knows how we managed that, what do we need two for?"
The kid made a face while poking through his potatoes. "Redundancies," he said. "Having power is one of the key advantages an early settlement can have over nature. We don't want to lose that to some ill luck."
He sure got more confident around us after a couple of days. Comes with being the only one who actually has a clue what we need to do here, I guess.
When Derek had finally decided on a particular berry to start his meal off with, Viktor was already gone. Enough chatting for now. Got our stockpile of meals up anyway. The kid's plan seemed obvious enough. Redundancies for their little power grid would need metal, and for that they'd have to continue mining out the little hill they had found east of their shacks. Shit tons of work, moving all that stuff through the jungle. Viktor usually already started sweating and cursing by just rolling over in his bed. Hauling stuff around didn't improve the situation.
He was steering towards exactly that little quarry to check the support beams they had rammed into the rock the day before when he heard some bushes rustling behind him. Mushinto at it again? The man had stalked Viktor a couple of times ever since they had crashed, as if still contemplating whether to kill him or not. Like always, Viktor acted like he didn't notice. Gonna be a nasty surprise for him when he finally tries something.
Mushinto had good reasons for being suspicious, of course. Viktor was a known criminal and news about their little band had travelled across at least two star systems by now. Guess he won't see the benefit of having me around.
A twig cracked behind him. He isn't that careless. Who then...
Derek didn't seem like the type to tail him. The kid was content with distracting himself with work and had stayed out of any argument that had erupted between Mushinto and Viktor. Not that there had been many. They would need to talk to each other for that to happen first.
Viktor made a sharp turn to what he thought would be north, crouched down behind some rocks and waited. Not a minute later, a man stumbled through the undergrowth, clad in nothing but some furs and carrying a simple spear.
What the hell... The three of them had agreed early on that they probably wouldn’t be the only humans on the surface. Inhabitable planets weren't exactly the most common of celestial object, so most of them had been settled by someone at some point in time. Remains of the civilizations that had come before them might still be lingering around. Raiders might be using the planet as a base or an outpost. We had a couple of those backwater planets to fall back to... but never in a jungle. Not worth the trouble. A group of humans that resembled cave men more than anything else, though, hadn't been anyone's guess.
There are always stories of planets bombing themselves back into the Stone Age but... I never considered the saying to be so... literal.
The man's eyes, set deep into his skull, were darting from side to side. Viktor resisted the urge to reach for his gun. Movement would just give his position away.
What is he doing here?
For a moment, Viktor considered his options. Stone Age or not, that spear will rip through my shirt all the same. Was he following me? Or scouting out our settlement?
The figure started sneaking up the path to the hill again.
Wait for it... wait... As soon as Viktor considered the distance between himself and the man great enough, he got up out of the bushes, rustling, and drew his handgun. "Stop right there." Is he going to know what a pistol can-
The enemy turned and, without hesitation, charged at him with a war cry on his lips.
Viktor's single gunshot startled up a couple of birds nearby. They took flight in response, screeching in anger. "You better stay down," he said.
The man was moaning and clasping the leg Viktor had shot him in, but one hand was still gripping the spear.
"What happened?" Both Mushinto and Derek came running up from the settlement with their weapons drawn. Much like the intruder had done earlier, Mushinto's eyes darted back and forth to assess the scene. "Who the hell is that?"
"I suggest you ask him," Viktor said. "But mind the spear. I think he likes to stick it into people." He flashed a grin while holstering his weapon.
"What do we do with him?" Derek asked.
Mushinto was wiping his forehead clean of sweat with his sleeve. "Exactly what Viktor just said. Haul him back to camp and ask him some questions."
Viktor was nodding. "Put him into that infirmary of yours. About time we get some use out of that."
***
"You shot him," Derek said.
Viktor shrugged. "He was trying to gut me. And never forget-"
A scream from the nearby infirmary interrupted him. The kid flinched and turned his back to the noise.
"Never forget that, according to Mushinto, I'm the bad guy here." He grinned. "Anyway, he's only doing what we all agreed on had to be done."
Viktor was about to return to his cook stove when their interrogator walked into the kitchen, his fists and shirt dotted with patches of red. "Some local tribe, nomads," he said. "Calling themselves the Buca something, couldn't make it out. They saw us coming down, he was sent to check it out."
"That was weeks ago," Derek said, trying to avoid looking at his fellow colonist, "what took them so long?"
"No idea. Maybe the tribe wasn't in a position, not close enough, or whatever. Doesn't matter. What matters," he said while washing his hands in a bowl of water, "is that they know we're on the planet, and they know roughly where we are."
"And they might not be the only ones who noticed us,†Viktor said.
"He mentioned two tribes they are clashing with occasionally , on top of some other groups he didn't quite know how to describe."
"More survivors?" Derek asked.
Mushinto shook his head. "Sounded like they've been here for a while. Survivors, maybe, but not from our transport."
"They might be raiders," Viktor said.
"That's good news, isn't it? Other... normal people."
Viktor and Mushinto shot each other a glance before the cook answered. "They might not be friendly."
"Ah. Of course."
"In any case," Mushinto said, "we need to decide what to do with the prisoner."
For the first time during the conversation, Derek turned around. "I won't like the sound of that, will I?"
"We got limited options," Viktor said. "Send him back, keep him imprisoned or get rid of him." And we all know which one we'll choose.
"Why not try to make him join us?" Derek asked. “Surely we can offer him a better life than what he’s used to?â€
"He wouldn't be any use." Mushinto had settled at the table with both of his hands curled together.
Probably what goes for business like in his mind. "No useful skills whatsoever?"
"He can slit your throat in a dozen different ways if you let him get close. He certainly tried often enough with me before I had him tied up. That a skill you want around?" No one answered. "Thought as much. He'd be another mouth to feed and I'm not convinced our food supplies will hold up anyway, so keeping him imprisoned is not an option either. Hopefully I don’t have to explain why the same goes for sending him back."
Derek swallowed. "That... that doesn't leave us with much leeway."
"None whatsoever, actually."
Time to play my part. Viktor walked out on them without another word. They wanted to talk it through to ease their conscience. Make it look like they were considering other options. Even Mushinto doesn't like executing an unarmed prisoner, lawful man that he is.
He pushed the infirmary's door open. Inside, the stench of sweat, blood and an untreated wound assaulted him. The heat isn't helping that hole I left in him. Their prisoner lay moaning in the bed furthest away from the door and was writhing around the best he could in his restraints. Mushinto had put a gag into his mouth.
It was the first time Viktor got a good look at the intruder. It's just another kid. Barely older than Derek, if older at all. Good thing Mushinto didn't mention that earlier.
For the second time that day, Viktor fired his gun.
***
Derek didn't show his face much after that. On the few occasions they sat together, mostly in the kitchen, he kept to himself. Under the kid's tight-lipped supervision, they had managed to finish the first of two prison cells by now.
Mushinto, on the other hand, showed no such change. He started just as few conversations as before.
They can all just stay silent for the rest of the week at least. Viktor was chewing down yet another bite of potatoes. Never again. Once I'm off this rock, I'll never eat potatoes again. Or cook, for that matter.
Heavy rain was falling outside, drumming on the roof over their heads. "We need to talk defences," Derek said.
He's scared? Or trying to be sensible? Not actually making sense in any case. "There's not much we can do in that regard."
"Walls," Derek said.
Viktor's chewing slowed down until it ground to a halt. He glanced at Mushinto. However much he wants me dead, he at least has some sense for these matters. More than the kid. Speak up, will you? The man made no attempt to react.
Slowly, Viktor forced down his food. "You want us to build a wall... around the whole compound?"
Derek shrugged. "Something needs to be done."
"We don't have the materials, or the time to do that. Even then, a wall without people to man it will just be torn down."
"Then we need to clear the trees. We need to see them coming."
Mushinto got up. "Going to look after the crops for a bit."
He doesn't even think the discussion is worth having. Viktor started grinning. Maybe that helps somehow. "You don't just clear a jungle away and even if we would, it probably grows back faster than the three of us can cut it down."
The kid pushed his meal away, his face contorted in agitation. "Then burn it down." He was getting louder with each word. "And if it grows back, we'll burn it down again, and again, and again."
Is he losing it? Did offing that prisoner bother him that much? "We don't have the equipment to-"
"Guys," Mushinto yelled from the outside. "Guys, you need to see this." He didn’t sound impressed or had bothered to put any urgency into his voice, but there wasn’t a lot Mushinto would call them for.
Viktor was halfway through the door, checking his gun, when he noticed Derek doing the same. At least he's learning.
The rain patted down on them, mixed with sweat and had them drenched in a heartbeat. Mushinto had turned on the lamps they had installed around the outer perimeter recently. It made for a dull glow through the downpour.
On the other side of the field, illuminated by one of those lamps, stood a single man in shredded clothes and with a thick beard. A short-sword was dangling loose in his right hand, the blade stained with dried blood.
"So," the man yelled over the rain and at the three guns pointed at him, "who's in charge here?â€
A/N: Part 2 in a separate post altogether due to character max limit per post. Also, there doesn't seem to be a [spoiler][/spoiler] tag function to keep the rather long post from stretching the page too much, or at least it goes by a different name here. If it's possible to use it here, let me know. (Same goes for a hidden "copy from Word" function in case I'm just missing that one.)
Thanks for the other comments, btw. Also rearranged the parts about when Viktor reveals his gun and the piece of location description in the first part, both were fair points. And Derrick, have fun seeing your Derek counterpart struggle.![Wink ;)](https://ludeon.com/forums/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
Have fun reading.
As long as they don't bother me.
They had gotten quite a lot of work done in the past few weeks, Viktor decided. Everyone had their own rooms, his kitchen was a nice enough place, and their crops were looking promising. He hadn't seen the use of building an infirmary, though, but Derek had insisted they needed a separate space for emergencies.
The metallic door at the far side of the room slid open. "Berries," Mushinto simply said and stashed a basket full of them away. He left without another word.
The way it should be. Viktor didn't like people. He had never liked people, or rather, talking to people. He had learned how to do it, or at least he hoped he had. He just took no pleasure in it. Smiling was key. A mixture of well-timed smiles, laughs and nods gets you through pretty much every conversation. The thought made him grin.
"What are you so happy about?" Derek asked. He hadn't noticed the kid coming in.
"An old joke," he said. "You got some new project in mind already?"
"Sort of." Derek's hand was hovering above one of the few packaged meals they had left, until he decided for one of Viktor's creations in the end. "Mushinto scouted another steam geyser we could use."
"We already got one generator running, hell knows how we managed that, what do we need two for?"
The kid made a face while poking through his potatoes. "Redundancies," he said. "Having power is one of the key advantages an early settlement can have over nature. We don't want to lose that to some ill luck."
He sure got more confident around us after a couple of days. Comes with being the only one who actually has a clue what we need to do here, I guess.
When Derek had finally decided on a particular berry to start his meal off with, Viktor was already gone. Enough chatting for now. Got our stockpile of meals up anyway. The kid's plan seemed obvious enough. Redundancies for their little power grid would need metal, and for that they'd have to continue mining out the little hill they had found east of their shacks. Shit tons of work, moving all that stuff through the jungle. Viktor usually already started sweating and cursing by just rolling over in his bed. Hauling stuff around didn't improve the situation.
He was steering towards exactly that little quarry to check the support beams they had rammed into the rock the day before when he heard some bushes rustling behind him. Mushinto at it again? The man had stalked Viktor a couple of times ever since they had crashed, as if still contemplating whether to kill him or not. Like always, Viktor acted like he didn't notice. Gonna be a nasty surprise for him when he finally tries something.
Mushinto had good reasons for being suspicious, of course. Viktor was a known criminal and news about their little band had travelled across at least two star systems by now. Guess he won't see the benefit of having me around.
A twig cracked behind him. He isn't that careless. Who then...
Derek didn't seem like the type to tail him. The kid was content with distracting himself with work and had stayed out of any argument that had erupted between Mushinto and Viktor. Not that there had been many. They would need to talk to each other for that to happen first.
Viktor made a sharp turn to what he thought would be north, crouched down behind some rocks and waited. Not a minute later, a man stumbled through the undergrowth, clad in nothing but some furs and carrying a simple spear.
What the hell... The three of them had agreed early on that they probably wouldn’t be the only humans on the surface. Inhabitable planets weren't exactly the most common of celestial object, so most of them had been settled by someone at some point in time. Remains of the civilizations that had come before them might still be lingering around. Raiders might be using the planet as a base or an outpost. We had a couple of those backwater planets to fall back to... but never in a jungle. Not worth the trouble. A group of humans that resembled cave men more than anything else, though, hadn't been anyone's guess.
There are always stories of planets bombing themselves back into the Stone Age but... I never considered the saying to be so... literal.
The man's eyes, set deep into his skull, were darting from side to side. Viktor resisted the urge to reach for his gun. Movement would just give his position away.
What is he doing here?
For a moment, Viktor considered his options. Stone Age or not, that spear will rip through my shirt all the same. Was he following me? Or scouting out our settlement?
The figure started sneaking up the path to the hill again.
Wait for it... wait... As soon as Viktor considered the distance between himself and the man great enough, he got up out of the bushes, rustling, and drew his handgun. "Stop right there." Is he going to know what a pistol can-
The enemy turned and, without hesitation, charged at him with a war cry on his lips.
Viktor's single gunshot startled up a couple of birds nearby. They took flight in response, screeching in anger. "You better stay down," he said.
The man was moaning and clasping the leg Viktor had shot him in, but one hand was still gripping the spear.
"What happened?" Both Mushinto and Derek came running up from the settlement with their weapons drawn. Much like the intruder had done earlier, Mushinto's eyes darted back and forth to assess the scene. "Who the hell is that?"
"I suggest you ask him," Viktor said. "But mind the spear. I think he likes to stick it into people." He flashed a grin while holstering his weapon.
"What do we do with him?" Derek asked.
Mushinto was wiping his forehead clean of sweat with his sleeve. "Exactly what Viktor just said. Haul him back to camp and ask him some questions."
Viktor was nodding. "Put him into that infirmary of yours. About time we get some use out of that."
***
"You shot him," Derek said.
Viktor shrugged. "He was trying to gut me. And never forget-"
A scream from the nearby infirmary interrupted him. The kid flinched and turned his back to the noise.
"Never forget that, according to Mushinto, I'm the bad guy here." He grinned. "Anyway, he's only doing what we all agreed on had to be done."
Viktor was about to return to his cook stove when their interrogator walked into the kitchen, his fists and shirt dotted with patches of red. "Some local tribe, nomads," he said. "Calling themselves the Buca something, couldn't make it out. They saw us coming down, he was sent to check it out."
"That was weeks ago," Derek said, trying to avoid looking at his fellow colonist, "what took them so long?"
"No idea. Maybe the tribe wasn't in a position, not close enough, or whatever. Doesn't matter. What matters," he said while washing his hands in a bowl of water, "is that they know we're on the planet, and they know roughly where we are."
"And they might not be the only ones who noticed us,†Viktor said.
"He mentioned two tribes they are clashing with occasionally , on top of some other groups he didn't quite know how to describe."
"More survivors?" Derek asked.
Mushinto shook his head. "Sounded like they've been here for a while. Survivors, maybe, but not from our transport."
"They might be raiders," Viktor said.
"That's good news, isn't it? Other... normal people."
Viktor and Mushinto shot each other a glance before the cook answered. "They might not be friendly."
"Ah. Of course."
"In any case," Mushinto said, "we need to decide what to do with the prisoner."
For the first time during the conversation, Derek turned around. "I won't like the sound of that, will I?"
"We got limited options," Viktor said. "Send him back, keep him imprisoned or get rid of him." And we all know which one we'll choose.
"Why not try to make him join us?" Derek asked. “Surely we can offer him a better life than what he’s used to?â€
"He wouldn't be any use." Mushinto had settled at the table with both of his hands curled together.
Probably what goes for business like in his mind. "No useful skills whatsoever?"
"He can slit your throat in a dozen different ways if you let him get close. He certainly tried often enough with me before I had him tied up. That a skill you want around?" No one answered. "Thought as much. He'd be another mouth to feed and I'm not convinced our food supplies will hold up anyway, so keeping him imprisoned is not an option either. Hopefully I don’t have to explain why the same goes for sending him back."
Derek swallowed. "That... that doesn't leave us with much leeway."
"None whatsoever, actually."
Time to play my part. Viktor walked out on them without another word. They wanted to talk it through to ease their conscience. Make it look like they were considering other options. Even Mushinto doesn't like executing an unarmed prisoner, lawful man that he is.
He pushed the infirmary's door open. Inside, the stench of sweat, blood and an untreated wound assaulted him. The heat isn't helping that hole I left in him. Their prisoner lay moaning in the bed furthest away from the door and was writhing around the best he could in his restraints. Mushinto had put a gag into his mouth.
It was the first time Viktor got a good look at the intruder. It's just another kid. Barely older than Derek, if older at all. Good thing Mushinto didn't mention that earlier.
For the second time that day, Viktor fired his gun.
***
Derek didn't show his face much after that. On the few occasions they sat together, mostly in the kitchen, he kept to himself. Under the kid's tight-lipped supervision, they had managed to finish the first of two prison cells by now.
Mushinto, on the other hand, showed no such change. He started just as few conversations as before.
They can all just stay silent for the rest of the week at least. Viktor was chewing down yet another bite of potatoes. Never again. Once I'm off this rock, I'll never eat potatoes again. Or cook, for that matter.
Heavy rain was falling outside, drumming on the roof over their heads. "We need to talk defences," Derek said.
He's scared? Or trying to be sensible? Not actually making sense in any case. "There's not much we can do in that regard."
"Walls," Derek said.
Viktor's chewing slowed down until it ground to a halt. He glanced at Mushinto. However much he wants me dead, he at least has some sense for these matters. More than the kid. Speak up, will you? The man made no attempt to react.
Slowly, Viktor forced down his food. "You want us to build a wall... around the whole compound?"
Derek shrugged. "Something needs to be done."
"We don't have the materials, or the time to do that. Even then, a wall without people to man it will just be torn down."
"Then we need to clear the trees. We need to see them coming."
Mushinto got up. "Going to look after the crops for a bit."
He doesn't even think the discussion is worth having. Viktor started grinning. Maybe that helps somehow. "You don't just clear a jungle away and even if we would, it probably grows back faster than the three of us can cut it down."
The kid pushed his meal away, his face contorted in agitation. "Then burn it down." He was getting louder with each word. "And if it grows back, we'll burn it down again, and again, and again."
Is he losing it? Did offing that prisoner bother him that much? "We don't have the equipment to-"
"Guys," Mushinto yelled from the outside. "Guys, you need to see this." He didn’t sound impressed or had bothered to put any urgency into his voice, but there wasn’t a lot Mushinto would call them for.
Viktor was halfway through the door, checking his gun, when he noticed Derek doing the same. At least he's learning.
The rain patted down on them, mixed with sweat and had them drenched in a heartbeat. Mushinto had turned on the lamps they had installed around the outer perimeter recently. It made for a dull glow through the downpour.
On the other side of the field, illuminated by one of those lamps, stood a single man in shredded clothes and with a thick beard. A short-sword was dangling loose in his right hand, the blade stained with dried blood.
"So," the man yelled over the rain and at the three guns pointed at him, "who's in charge here?â€
A/N: Part 2 in a separate post altogether due to character max limit per post. Also, there doesn't seem to be a [spoiler][/spoiler] tag function to keep the rather long post from stretching the page too much, or at least it goes by a different name here. If it's possible to use it here, let me know. (Same goes for a hidden "copy from Word" function in case I'm just missing that one.)
Thanks for the other comments, btw. Also rearranged the parts about when Viktor reveals his gun and the piece of location description in the first part, both were fair points. And Derrick, have fun seeing your Derek counterpart struggle.
![Wink ;)](https://ludeon.com/forums/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
Have fun reading.
![Smiley :)](https://ludeon.com/forums/Smileys/default/smiley.gif)