Free Balance of Terror by K. S. Augustin Page B

before contemplated…or wanted to again. If there was a simple or a difficult way to do things, it appeared that Gauder preferred the difficult way. Fighting gravity, they rolled heavy barrels into the rear holds of each tank, tipping them upright once they were in position. Almost every step of the way, they had to mark off their inventory against one or other of several checklists before moving on. They stowed ropes, large hooks and pulleys, harnesses, boxes, trunks and enough anachronistic equipment that Moon thought the tank should be driven into a museum rather than on a planet’s surface.
    By the time the work was done to Gauder’s satisfaction, the sun was edging towards the horizon. Srin had taken to catching frequent rests in the hold, but he was far past his endurance limit. Moon tried to make up for it but caught Gauder’s occasional glances towards them.
    “That’ll do,” the merchant finally declared. “Yer should get cleaned up, we’ll have a meal then get goin’.”
    Moon lifted a finger. “Before we get ready for a meal, I’d like to know where the nearest shops are.”
    Gauder frowned at her. “What did yer say? ‘Shops’, you say?”
    “I always travel with a medical kit,” she replied, her voice even. “It needs re-supplying.”
    “ I carry a med-kit, and it’s fully equipped.”
    “ My med-kit is a little more specific,” Moon insisted.
    Gauder grinned at her. “Is it now? Is this for yer friend’s ‘illness’?”
    “For his recuperation, yes.”
    “Well then, I s’pose you’d better go get whatever ‘medication’ you need.” He gave her directions then his gaze softened. “Yer not a bad worker. Still soft, but ye’ll harden up. Better than yer friend nappin’ in the hold. If yer want to cut him loose before we get goin’….”
    “He’s still very ill,” Moon replied with a snap in her voice, “and recuperating. He’ll be fine in a couple of weeks.” She suppressed the childish gesture of crossing her fingers behind her back to mitigate the lie.
    Regardless, Gauder didn’t look impressed. “Whatever yer say. Jes’ be back before we leave, or I’ll leave yer behind. Clear?”
    “As always,” she answered through gritted teeth.
    He laughed and turned his back on her.

    The two giant gates that Moon had noticed when they first approached Gauder’s compound was not the only way to leave. She had wondered how their host was going to manoeuvre a pair of ungainly vehicles out of Colken South but shouldn’t have worried. With a flash of his teeth, Gauder whipped out a small control unit, pointed it towards the opposite fence and pressed a button. The entire border slowly sank, the metal disappearing into the ground. And beyond it….
    The Velvet Storm’s shuttle didn’t have sightseeing on its mind when the crew dropped Moon and Srin at the Toltuk docking pad. All the pair had seen of Marentim was a patch of fast-approaching urban centres, joined by ribbons of rails and commerce. They hadn’t known anything else about the planet and, frankly, hadn’t cared.
    But, as the fence slowly disappeared into the ground, Moon gasped and took an involuntary step forward. A little right of centre, Marentim’s sun was slowly disappearing behind the horizon, throwing red streaks into a huge bowl of darkening sky, and turning the undersides of thin streaks of cloud into pokers of fire. But the wonder of it was, there appeared to be nothing between her and the planet’s primary star, merely an expanse of ground so flat and even that it could have been the surface of a reflection pond, broken up in the distance by the dark jagged silhouettes of mountains. It was primal, savage, and indescribably beautiful.
    She hadn’t noticed Gauder moving up to her until she heard his characteristic growl close to her ear.
    “Magnificent, ain’t it?” he murmured. “Marentim in the raw. Disrespect her and she’ll chew yer up and spit yer out like so much clawfoot fodder. Once she