Scrapyard Ship 3 Space Vengeance Read Online Free PDF Page A

beautiful eyes, with their flecks of violet and amber, he realized there was something different in the way she looked back at him.
    Chapter 4
    Chapter 4
     
    Traveler entered the camp with his quarry draped over his shoulder. No one was in sight and there was a stillness in the air that raised the small hairs on the back of his thick neck. Up ahead three furry carcasses hung from a low-hanging branch. The tree, similar to a large oak, stood tall and dominated the center point of the rhino encampment. Blood pooled, thick and viscous in the soil. Traveler, tired from a two-day hunt in the forest alone, stood silently before the large tree. As he watched the three magnificent Furlong Bear carcasses sway in the late afternoon breeze, first shame, then guilt, and then anger filled his thoughts.
    Eventually, with Captain Reynolds’s blessing, they had been allowed to hunt whatever they needed—with one exception, the Furlong Bear. Why do this now? he wondered. There was plenty of other game. Traveler had given the ultimate oath—one based on his prowess as a male warrior, the Oath of Strength. To deviate from this oath required an offering of something most precious—one of his testicles. Instinctively, he reached down and cupped his maleness in one hand.
    He turned and slowly surveyed his surroundings. Large mud-packed domes encircled the camp. A fire blazed nearby; soon, it would be hot enough to cook the Furlong Bear. Four large rhino-warriors emerged from the largest of the domes, domicile of their leader, the one called Three Horns.
    They approached slowly and spread out. Dressed for battle, they wore thick leather breastplates and gripped heavy hammers in their fists. No energy weapons were strapped to their wrists. A large buck was still draped over one of Traveler’s shoulders. He made no effort to move. Three Horns stopped ten feet in front of Traveler; the others also stopped.
    “ Your hunt was successful, my friend?” Three Horns asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.
    “ Yes. Though there already seems to be more than enough meat available here.”
    “ We now hunt the Furlong Bear, Traveler. For too long we have succumbed to the wishes of the humans.”
    “ Humans that saved us from the Craing. Humans that gave us a home,” Traveler said.
    “ And at what price? How many of our kind must die for their cause? Are they so different from the Craing? And now, where we once were thousands, a mere one hundred and seventy of our warriors are left. It is time to go home, return to our mates and offspring. We will leave this habitat and take control of the space vessel. Will you join with us?”
    “ I will speak with Captain Reynolds.”
    “ No, you have aligned yourself with the humans. Gone so far as to give an Oath of Strength to those puny beings. I am the leader here, Traveler. For too long I have let you speak for our warriors.”
    “ No one has stopped you from being a leader—other than yourself, perhaps.”
    The breeze stopped, as if on command; smoke from the fire hung thick and dark in the air. Traveler let the carcass around his shoulders fall freely to the ground. Blood stained his broad shoulders and glistened in the afternoon sun. His own heavy hammer still hung from a leather thong at his belt. The four rhino-warriors charged at once.
    Two of the rhino-warriors came at him low, heads down, with horns leveled at his lower extremities. The other two charged with hammers held high, going for his head. Behind him, the fire raged, making a retreat backwards impossible. Traveler barely skirted the first of the low-charging beasts, who, unchecked, was carried by his own momentum forward headlong into the fire. Red-hot embers filled the air as the fallen rhino thrashed about, attempting to get back to his feet. Simultaneously, Traveler ducked down as a heavy hammer missed his head by inches. With both hands, Traveler grabbed at a low oncoming horn. With his outstretched arms locked,