The Project

Chapter 20

The Project Chapter 20

The moment Alex's head hit the pillow he was out, and it wasn't until he woke with someone yelling in his ear.

"GET UP ALEX! WE HAVE TO GET GOING."

At first he thought he was on the Karla-Ann and there was something wrong. Jumping out of bed still in the clothes he'd worn the night before, he saw an angry Bria glaring at him.

"Get the "Jank"up, what's the matter with you?" Alex also became aware of four more young dwarves standing around smirking at him.

"Bria! Is that you? Is there a fire or something?" The next thing he knew hands were grabbing him and he was being picked up. When he plunged into ice cold water reality smacked him across the face. Coming up out of the cold water he started swearing and flailing his arms.

"Ailof, you and Gnam get him dried off and dressed Bjoin Aurjalf and I are moving out try and catch up with us."

"Lemmie go, lemmie go, I can get dressed by myself," exclaimed Alex

"Well get a move on," said one of the dwarves, "Bria in a foul mood anyway, you don't want to anger her any more than she already is." He quickly got into his "cammie's" tee-shirt and jacket. For the most part his backpack was already packed, so it was just a matter of stuffing some more ammo, a couple MRE's an extra knife into it. While he was doing all this, he kept up a dialog with the two male dwarves who introduced themselves as Gnam and Ailof, friends of Bria.

"What's the matter with her?" Asked Alex, "Is she always this "PO'ed"

"She's mad because you told her you would be ready bright and early, the sun's been up for close to an hour."

"Funny" he thought, "I don't remember telling her that, but she seems to think I did, better just keep my mouth shut."

As they started out the door, he grabbed his AR and pump shotgun,

"What are those things?" the dwarves asked,

"Protection!" was all he would say. With a lot of jogging, they caught up with the females just as the city street met the country road.

"Well are you ready to join us?" Snapped Bria, Alex jumped in front of her and shot back.

"Hey look I don't know what your problem is but no one said anything about this being a "death" march, I thought it was going to be fun. If you're going to start this thing in a damn big huff, than I'm outta here!"

Bria stood her ground and continued to glare at him,

"Why did my mother want you to sit with her and father last night?"

"Oh boy, here we go," he thought, "Because they wanted to ask me something but now that I see your true colors you can just forget it, hopefully Arna hasn't left yet, maybe she'll let me tag along."

"Forget it off worlder," replied Bria, her tone of voice now mellowed.

"They left a long time ago, all right, you win, I'm sorry, I had no right to do that, let's just get going. In case you want to know why I'm in such a hurry it's because I want to make Skeerdor pass before dark." Alex shrugged and said no more, falling in with the group. For dwarves, they moved right along. Each wore what looked like khaki colored rucksacks and carried stout walking sticks, of which Gnam made mention.

"Since you don't have a walking stick we'll cut you one once we reach the forest."

The group pushed on for the rest of the morning, Bria remained silent, leaving the "tour guide" duties up to Gnam and Ailof. She chatted amiably enough with Aurjalf and Bjoin, but remained moody towards Alex.

Other than asking about his weapons, Gnam and Ailof didn't say much to him; however they spent a lot of time making wisecracks about people they knew, and the passing scene. Alex spent a lot of time thinking about Bria and her attitude.

"Do I really want to put up with her every day especially in the cramped confines of the Karla-Ann? I mean, Kelly can be a pain at times, but she's got a good sense of humor and she stays focused." Later that afternoon they stooped to take a break. So far he was doing pretty good, he wasn't used to carrying a backpack this far, but he'd packed it right, and with a waist belt it wasn't bothering him too much. Alex was munching on a trail bar when Bria suddenly plopped down next to him,

"Whatcha got there?" She asked.

"A trail bar," opening one of the packs side pockets he took one out and gave it to her.

"What's this?" She exclaimed, turning the wrapped snack over in her hands.

"It's called a wrapper Bria; don't you people eat stuff that's wrapped?"

"Umm not like this," came her reply. He took the bar and tore off the foil wrapper handing the snack back to her. Stuffing the wrapper into his pocket he grimaced and said,

"Just eat it OK." Bria began to eat indicating that it was good,

"What are these things made of?" She asked.

"I'll tell you later," replied Alex, "Now was there something you wanted?"

"I'm sorry for being such a b***h but you sitting with my folks and sleeping in when I specifically told you we would be leaving early just pissed me off, I'm sorry. By the way, what was it my parents wanted to talk to you about?"

"So that's why she's trying to make up to me," he thought.

"Well Bria, in a nutshell your parents want to get rid of you, and they want to dump you on all of us aboard the Karla-Ann. At the time I was kinda for it, but now that I've had a chance to see your true colors I don't think so."

The news seemed to stun her, after a moment she stood up and whispered something in Gnam's ear, then she spoke with her girlfriends before taking off across a nearby meadow.

"Where the hell is she going?" Asked Alex, Gnam frowned,

"Well I guess this hike's over, come on, there's a little village not far from here, we can catch a ride back to Brookliyah from there."

"What's her problem?" He asked, "Was it something I said?"

"I don't know what you said to her," said Ailof, "But she's damn mad." The two females joined them as they headed towards the settlement. They too wondered what Bria was so pissed about, Alex then entered a discussion about her uncontrolled temper.

"So does she start throwing stuff around?" He asked.

"Not usually," replied Bjoin, she's just spoiled. So what was it you said that set her off?" She asked.

"I just told her that her folks wanted to dump her on my friends and I, as we travel the galaxy. I think the general idea was that she becomes well-traveled, visiting other cultures, and places that trade with Doradus." This brought surprised responses from everyone, both Ailof and Aurjalf stated that they would be more than happy to take Bria's place.

"Well thanks guys," replied Alex, I'd love to take all of you but I'm afraid there's already four. Five would be a little crowded but I told Bria's parents we'd take her, my pilot agreed as well." Then Bjoin said,

"We may want to take our time getting back, if I know Bria, she's headed for Stanglot and there's usually a few centaurs hanging around there. She'll pay one to get her back to the palace quick so she can unload on her poor folks."

Something about all this didn't seem right to Alex,

"You mean she'll start yelling at her parents, the king and queen?" Bjoin shrugged,

"You are new here so you don't know, and what I'm about to tell you stays between us you got that?" Alex nodded,

"I swear,"

"Bria had two brothers and even a sister, none of them lived past their fifteenth birthday. They don't know whether it's some sort of disease or possibly even a curse, word is that Bria's mother can't have any more children, Bria is their last hope. The fact that they want to get her off planet surprises me but if it is a curse I guess I'd want my only living child away from here as well."

"Actually their wish to have her off-planet does make sense in it's own way," added Gnam, "We hear that there are other planets that have some very advanced medical treatments, maybe her folks a re hoping you'll be at or near one if she stats showing symptoms.

"And what are they?" Asked Alex.

"Don't know," replied Gnam, "The whole thing is rather hush-hush."

"So what's Bria's take on all this?" Asked Alex.

"She's scared all the time, why do you think we take these hikes, someone told her folks long walks would toughen her up make her body more resistant to disease, maybe there's some truth to it but who's to say," said Aurjalf.

Alex thought about everything that had been said, then added,

"Has anyone ever looked into the possibility that her parents have some inherited disease or genetic disorder. On my home world we have diseases like Cystic Fibrosis, Tay-Sachs, and Sickle-cell Anemia." Aurjalf shook her head,

"One of the main reasons we started trading with Oxynia was so that they could bring in specialists, but all that takes a lot of coins, the more I think of it, the more I think that's why they want Bria to go with you. Then Gnam offered another grim reason.

"I think there's something else at work here as well my friend.

Should Bria remain here, and she falls ill or the curse activates if that's what it is, watching their daughter slowly die would simply kill her parents. King Valsung is tough, one of the toughest people here on Doradus, you have to be if you are going to be king, but Bria's the light of his life. If she's off with you and something should happen he could deal with it, not easily, but he could deal with it, you see where I'm going with this?"

What Alex had just heard put an entirely different spin on things, even with her temper, he still kinda liked Bria,

"So what you're basically saying is that her parents want us to wander around the galaxy looking for someone or someplace that can figure out what's wrong with her?" Aurjalf grinned,

"Something like that."

It was around late afternoon when they walked into Silveen. The village was built around a crossroads with a large green area in the middle creating a traffic circle. The main roads went off in four directions with another outer road outside of it which all the businesses and homes were located on, almost like the "service roads" he was familiar with from back home. There seemed to be a pub, a general mercantile shop a forge of some kind, as well as some sort of government building, with well-kept homes scattered in between.

"I'm thirsty," proclaimed Gnam,

"Me too," replied Bjoin, "Let's see what they have at that pub and maybe find out where we can spend the night." As they moved through town, Alex observed mostly dwarves, but there were centaurs, of sexes, as well as several elves, the first he'd seen here on Doradus.

The public house didn't have waitress service, so they had to order at the bar. Alex sprang for a lunch plate which consisted of sliced cheese, bread, and a couple types of cold cuts. There were also several large crackers that reminded him of hardtack biscuits. While the group enjoyed their repast, Alex noticed that both the meat and cheese were very cold, yet he say no sign of any sort of refrigeration. Regardless, the food and dark ale really hit the spot. He also noticed that these dwarves could really slop down the suds with no apparent ill effects. They continued to discuss Bria's situation, then after awhile Gnam went up to ask the bartender if there were any rooms available. Returning, he announced,

"He's only got one room, however he says we can camp out on the green, there's water and a "potter" out there, plus some firewood." They remained in the pub until it started filling up, then went out to the large grassy area surrounded by the circular road.

"This is a rather odd place for a campground," observed Alex,

"It's so the locals can keep an eye on us," replied Ailof, "And they know that we know."

"Are they that suspicious of strangers?" inquired Alex.

"It depends, I'm pretty sure the bartender knows us, we've all been here before just not camped out here. However it's an even bet they are all sitting around in that tavern wondering who you are," added Ailof.

Alex considered this as they put up a lean-to from a two piece canvas tarp Gnam and Aurjalf carried. With Bria now gone, everyone was just able to crawl under it. Everyone spread their bedrolls, while Alex rolled out his sleeping bag which drew positive comment. It wasn't the concept of a bag to sleep in, after all bedrolls were essentially the same thing, but the large zipper that sealed the whole thing. Both males carefully studied the zipper and how it was constructed, Gnam even taking out a piece of paper and making small drawings.

"There you go Gnam," said Alex, "Invent zippers and you could make some money." He then showed them the zipper on his jacket as well drawing even more interest."

"Believe me," exclaimed Gnam, Ailof and I are going to do something with this."

Bjoin built a fire while Ailof chopped more wood; Alex noticed his small axe and asked to look at it. The handle made a sharp turn at the end of the handle allowing for more force on the chop, the blade was wickedly sharp while the steel looked very well made. Alex then took over the wood chopping, and noticed that he was splitting wood with half the effort it took with his own hatchet. Showing it to Ailof, the dwarf studied it and pronounced it "junk."

"Before you do anything else Alex," he added, "Get yourself something decent, when we get back to town I'll take you to a place that turns out excellent blades and choppers like this at a very reasonable price, and it's all quality work too."

"It's funny replied Alex, this hatchet wasn't cheap, and it's made of the best steel by a well known company."

"Well they make "drek," replied Ailof.

In the morning, they caught a ride with a centaur pulling a wagon loaded with what looked like some kind of ore.

"It's Vulnite," said the centaur, "We haul it out of a mine not far from here." Spreading out the two tarps as well as their bedrolls over the lumpy load, the companions were able to endure the ride to Brookliyah.