Free Utopia Gone by Zachariah Wahrer Page B

to hunt him down.
    The man froze with indecision. If he went back
down into the cave, he would be trapped. Running away was equally
dubious because the moon was very quick.
    Just as he was about to decide between hiding
and fleeing, the choice was taken from him. Several black shapes
came rushing out of the scrubby undergrowth. They circled the spot
the man stood on, cutting off any escape. At first he thought they
were animals, but then he realized there were no creatures like
this on the planet. Just before the forms reached him he realized
they looked much as he did, with the requisite arms, legs, hands,
and feet. Although he was filled with terror, the man felt a
kinship with them.

Part Four
    “Sitrep,” Captain Dent ordered, his voice steady
and demeanor calm.
    “Sir,” a junior officer said, turning to face
Dent. “DNA has positively confirmed the man's identity. The doctors
have run all tests ordered by Nex-Delta. Currently, the man is
being held in a secure room in the infirmary and is still
sedated.”
    “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Dent replied. The
officer snapped a quick salute and turned back to his station. Well, that's some good news at least, Dent thought. There
had been a bit of a situation when they
had tried to take the man off the pleasure moon.
    The ground team had done a good job on the
pickup. Dent supposed “capture” was probably the better term in
this particular situation. The guy had tried to run, but the team
reacted quickly and had taken him into custody. Thankfully the UENN
Wake Darmekus was able to get underway quickly after his capture
and would be planet side before their deadline.
    Captain Dent let out a sigh of relief as the
vessel continued to accelerate. He would be happy to get this guy
off his ship and into someone else's custody. Perhaps his next
mission would be something he could really pour his heart into,
something more honorable than being a taxi service.

Part Five
    The man awoke inside a cold metal cave, his head
groggy. What is this place? he wondered, unable to control the ever present fear that now defined
his life. The confinement and the abnormality of the situation ran
against everything he knew.
    A portion of the wall moved to the side and a
man walked in. He was in drab, unfamiliar clothing. Before the man
could resist or flee, the newcomer stuck him with a needle, forcing
a bluish liquid into his body. The man jumped back, nervous the
newcomer would try to stick him again.
    “That's the last injection. You'll be on New
Terra soon.” The newcomer's voice was flat, inflectionless. “Try to
be calm.” The man was shocked he could understand this other human. He wondered if he could speak back, but decided
against trying. He' d used his voice in wild singing on the
planet, but outside that, he'd always been silent.
    After a short time, the newcomer left and the
man was able to relax slightly. He looked around, seeing a small
hole in the side of the cave. He walked over to look at it and was
amazed to discover the moon he had seen every day was beginning to
grow closer and closer. This caused a small measure of comfort to
blossom. He understood the moon, it made sense. Soon, the large
amorphous shapes began to resolve into tall, tightly packed
structures with small wedges speeding all around them. Those are
transports, he thought losing his reassurance. How do I know that? The sense of foreboding
he'd had when he saw the moon that was not a moon returned. It
was never a moon, he thought,
despondent, it's a starship.
     
    ***
     
     
    The air felt cold and foreign to the man as he
was lead down the ship's ramp. It violated him, crawled along his
skin in a way that made him feel sick. He was in shock, all the
sensory input from the past few hours overwhelming him. Once at the
bottom of the ramp, he was taken to one of the transports.
    Once the man and his escort was inside the
transport, they flew quickly through the tightly packed buildings.
The speed terrified the