Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2016 01:53:12 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Survivors (Revised) Chapter 40

      CHAPTER 40

IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHKAH

by Douglas DD


Welcome back. Robert Charles and Douglas finally meet again.

Please give generously to the Nifty archive and keep the stories coming.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The room was silent for quite some time.  Then Mayor Andorn looked straight
at Douglas. "What do you boys think we should do?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked us," Douglas answered, "because we've come up
with a plan."

"We're asking you because we have no experience at warfare.  We think your
former shipmate seems to be coming up with plans of his own.  I don't think
the raids are being totally planned by the Shkah.  You're kids, but you
showed us what you're made of when you went to rescue your friends and when
you saved the Building of Life.  The governor is spending time fooling
himself that he can buy peace.  A lot of us don't agree with him.  We think
the Shkah have to be stopped now!"

"Like I told you, we have thought some about it, and we do have a plan. But
first we have a question to ask you."

"What's that?"

"Why don't you use the flier against the Shkah?  You can find their raiders
and stop them dead.  Or go attack their villages in the small valley."

"The flier is under the control of the governor.  I got away with taking it
over once, but my cousin isn't allowed near its hangar now.  And I don't
think the other pilot is ready to cross the governor."

"Why won't the governor use it?  I mean even he has to have sense enough to
see what it can do. Air power kicks ass." Alex was drawing on his knowledge
of history as well as his own experiences playing video war games.  "We'd
beat the Shkah before they even knew what was going on. He's gotta be
stupid to not use the flier." Alex had never been one to mince
words. Scooter gave him a questioning look, then proceeded to translate
Alex's words for the mayor.

"First, the Shkah, or your friend, have been very clever," the mayor
replied. "They go into the woods painted green.  Even their unicorns are
painted. They would be very hard to see from the air.  And there are three
raiding groups so we don't know where they will leave the woods to go on a
raid.  We would need to have the flier in the air almost all of the time."
Douglas and the other boys knew that the mayor's take wasn't entirely true.
They would just need to have the flier on the ground ready to take off and
attack as soon as the Shkah started a raid, but they kept quiet and let the
mayor go on.

"Second, it's the usual shit the governor tosses around." Scooter wasn't
sure if the mayor actually said shit, but he thought shit caught the
mayor's meaning perfectly. "The governor doesn't want to make the Shkah any
angrier.  He still believes turning you over to them will end all of his
troubles."

"So there is no way we can use the flier even for a quick mission?" Douglas
asked.

"What kind of mission?"

"The 'Moonduster' has weapons, and we need more laser guns for our plan"
Douglas told him.

"Douglas, Robert Charles had a laser gun with him.  Where to you think he
got it?" Ryan pointed out.

Shit, Douglas thought, maybe I should find out what's going on before I
jump the gun. He wondered why nobody else had brought up that fact when
they were making their plans.

"So, then they've gone back to the 'Moonduster'," Douglas said with
disappointment.  For their plan to work they needed more weapons.

Then an unlikely voice popped up.  "What about the 'Sundancer'?  Did you
think there might be laser guns there?" Warren asked.

Now it was everybody's turn to look at Warren.  Douglas held a lot of group
meetings, but when it came time to make final plans, it had been him, Mike,
Scooter, and Alex who made them.  Maybe he needed to include everybody.  He
made a note to get all opinions before they did anything.  Somebody was
sure to find some flaw or come up with a good idea.  He still needed his
small cabinet, but their ideas better get talked over by everybody from now
on before he decided to act on them.  Not that he planned on deciding
anything without their vote, but just having their plans talked about would
help before they discussed them with somebody else.  The only big decision
the group hadn't voted on was exiling Robert Charles.  That was his
responsibility only. Maybe now it would be different, but then, on the side
of that hill in the hot sun with everyone tired and hungry and thirsty, it
had to be his.

"We didn't, Warren," Mike said.  "We found those two guns but never really
looked for all of them.  Maybe that's the place to go.  Robert Charles
never knew exactly where it was.  He probably got those guns from
'Moonduster' rather than 'Sundancer'".

"So what do you want us to do?" Mayor Andorn asked. "Even at our fastest it
will take four or five days to get there and back.  And we still have to
hide most of you.  And I'm sure tomorrow the raids will get worse.  Or even
worse, the governor will surrender power to the Shkah.  It wouldn't
surprise me."  The mayor sounded desperate.

"Well," said Douglas, "here is the first part.  Can you find an excuse to
get the flier to take a trip over the plateau where the shuttle crashed?"

The mayor and the doctor both thought.  It was the doctor who came up with
an idea.

"Mayor Andorn, do you know if we have anyone out checking the atmosphere
sensors?"

"I think two inspectors were sent out a week ago.  But I don't know where."

"It doesn't make any difference.  I see what your idea is, son.  Because it
just so happens one of them forgot to pick up his prescription.  And I
think he is going to need to have his medications out there and could be in
big trouble if he doesn't get it."

Douglas smiled.  The doctor had it figured out exactly.  He said he would
arrange to have the flier ready in the morning, with the Mayor's cousin as
the pilot.  He would be requested for the mission since he was the most
experienced pilot.

Douglas then told the doctor and the mayor their entire plan.  It would
work best if they could get the flier again, but if they couldn't then he
had an alternate plan. But either way they would need to move now. The
Mayor agreed.  He and the doctor both thought it was a good plan since they
didn't have a plan of their own.  And it was obvious the Governor wasn't
going to do anything to stand up to the Shkah.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next day turned out to be a quiet one as the Shkah stayed holed up in
the forests.  They felt that doing nothing for a day would increase the
tension and fear among the Hakaanen residents of the Big Valley. Robert
Charles ended up hanging around with Vordkan while Jordan hung with
Orzano. They younger boys had to stay close to the older boys, however,
because Robert Charles needed Orzano to be his language relay.

It was that night that Robert Charles and Jordan learned about what
Hakaanen sex was all about. While the "pure" Hakaanen boys of the Big
Valley were completely open about their sexual exploits, the Hakaanen Shkah
boys were more secretive. They had been told by their parents that the
sexual lifestyle of the Big Valley was wrong, but being the horny boys
there were, they experimented anyway, even though they knew they would be
punished if they were caught.

For their part, the Shkah male adults knew what the boys would do, because
they had done the same thing as boys. If any boys should be so foolish as
to be caught, their punishment was a mild one; its intent was to remind the
boys of what was right.

Robert Charles learned that giving up his ass to Vordkan didn't mean he was
ceding power to the older teen. Instead, it meant that he possessed the
power to create intense sexual feelings in the Shkah boy. He learned
quickly how to use his ass to satisfy his partner as each of them climaxed
three times before collapsing to sleep in a puddle of human and Shkah
semen.

Jordan, on the other hand, topped Orzano. He didn't think of the alien boy
as sexy, but he loved the feelings having sex gave him. When he fucked
Orzano, he closed his eyes and imagined he was fucking Matthew.

While the two pairs of boys were on opposite sides of the room, they often
stopped to watch the other pair fuck. The twelve-year-old Earth boy came
once on Orzano's ass and pulled out and shot over his smooth white chest
for a second orgasm. Orzano, whom Jordan called a "freaking cum machine,"
had five orgasms. One of them, to Jordan's surprise, was in his mouth as he
sucked the Shkah boy. Just like a pubescent human, Orzano's emissions were
watery and sweet.

Jordan and Orzano fell asleep with their arms and legs tangled together,
their bodies wet with sweat and sticky with cum. Jordan hadn't felt this
liked by anyone, even Robert Charles, in a long time. The sexual contacts
between Hakaanen and Earth boys had made another leap, even if most of them
didn't know it.

It was still dark when Robert Charles woke up.  The men were already
wake. Robert Charles woke up the other boys so they could eat and be ready
to go raiding when the sun rose.

Robert Charles had tasted blood and wanted more.  He had shown the Shkah
how to use guerilla tactics, just like in the games he had played on Earth
and in a lot of the Earth wars. Even taking the day off to raise the fear
in the Hakaanen had been his idea. The Shkah were fast learners and
becoming quite good at the tactics of war.

When the sun rose a raiding party set off for a nearby farm they had
scouted. When they arrived, Robert Charles went into the house with Jordan
and Vordkan. It was empty. The upper story of the house was empty as well,
but the beds were unmade.  Robert Charles went back downstairs.

The men were looking in the barn and outside.  Robert Charles looked in the
pantry.  As he was closing the door he noticed a handle on the floor, which
he lifted up. He saw a ladder leading down into a basement.  He found a
light switch and turned on the basement lights and he climbed down the
ladder.  He saw the farmer, his partner, and a boy who looked to be around
thirteen.  He pointed his gun at the trio.  Vordkan ordered the three of
them to go up the ladder.  He went up first, then the farmers and the boy
followed, and Robert Charles brought up the rear.

The Shkah men came in and led their captives out of the house. Jordan and
Vordkan set the house on fire as the farmers watched.  One of them started
crying, and so did the boy.

"Tell them to shut up," Robert Charles said.  Orzano translated and Vordkan
said it loudly.  The boy kept sobbing as he watched his home going up in
flames.  Robert Charles walked up to the boy and slapped him across the
face.

"You wussy Hakaanen.  A weak cry baby like all of them.  You've just found
out where the power is."  The boy didn't understand the words, but he got
the idea.  He couldn't stop crying though, so Robert Charles punched him in
the stomach.  Then he stood there and laughed.

The men set fire to the barn and then mounted their unicorns.  As they
started riding out, Robert Charles aimed his laser gun at the man who had
started crying and fired it.  The beam hit the man in the chest—the gun
had been set to kill.

Robert Charles looked at the boy, who was crying loudly now.  "That was for
you, boy.  I see you again, you weak crying son of a bitch, I'll pop you."
He shot a beam over the boy's head and laughed.  This is fun, he thought.

 He wished yet again that he hadn't been interrupted when he was tormenting
the little twin. After raping him he would have slowly sliced him up and
listened to him scream.  But he knew he would get another chance at the
boy, either by finding him or having him turned over by the Hakaanen once
they'd been defeated.  Either way the little shit was his.  And what he
would do to him was nothing compared to what he would do to that fucking
Douglas.

The raiding party hit two more farms and the outskirts of Awanstor, Mayor
Andorn's village.  Farmers and villagers were in hiding.  The governor knew
he would have to find the round ears or surrender the valley to the Shkah.

The three raiding parties had burned six farms and damaged two
villages. There were many injuries and three known deaths. But many of the
Hakaanen went into hiding during the strange lull the day before. More
damage would have been done that day, but something happened toward the
afternoon that had the southern raiders changing some plans.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


The night before, Douglas, Mike, and Alex had hidden themselves on the
flier.  They sat low in their seats sleeping, ready for their
mission. Scooter was left in charge of the group.  When dawn came the
pilot, who was the mayor's cousin, came on board. He carried a bag that had
the "pills" the doctor had given him.  He was ready now to do whatever it
took to defeat the Shkah quickly, and that included the second part of the
round ears' plan.

Dawn was coming to the valley.  Douglas peeked at the two large hangars at
the other end of the field.  He wondered if there were space shuttles in
there. If there were, it had been over twenty-five years since they had
last been flown.  There was no reason to fly them until now.

The flier took off from the airport and went straight toward the eastern
plateau.  The three boys sat up and watched the mountains go by underneath
them.  It was hard for Douglas to imagine that they had crossed that range
in the two sleds.  When he saw how the mountains stretched out and how easy
it was to miss the Big Valley, he could see what a miracle it was that they
made it.

They flew over Matthew's horsey rock.  It looked even more like a horse
from the air.  It didn't take long for the flier to get to the small
plateau where the "Sundancer" had crashed.  The pilot hovered over the site
looking for a flat place to land, then finally set the flier straight down.

Douglas, Mike, and the Alex climbed down to the ground.  The three boys got
out and started looking through the wreckage.  The wind was blowing hard.
The decomposing bodies were still there.

The boys went to the area where the two laser guns had been found.
Hopefully they would find more weapons. The boys looked through the
wreckage of the front of the shuttle, trying hard not to get sickened by
the dead bodies.

"Douglas, there is something under this piece of wreckage," Alex called
out.

Douglas walked over, waving to Mike, who came over to join him and Alex. A
big piece of the fuselage was sitting on top of a smashed metal box.  They
could see that the piece was too heavy for them to move.  Douglas and Mike
walked to the flier and told the pilot what they had found.  They quickly
formulated a plan for moving the heavy piece of metal.

The pilot got under the flier and disconnected a piece of cable with a hook
on it.  Then he climbed back into the flier and lifted off.  He hovered
over the fuselage section.  Mike grabbed hold of the hook, which wasn't
easy since the flier created even more wind around him.  He jerked down on
the hook, pulling out more cable until he got it hooked through a hole in
the piece of metal fuselage. He got out from underneath the flier and waved
to the pilot.  The pilot lifted the flier until the metal was lifted off of
the storage box.  He flew off away from the boys, flicked a switch that
opened the hook, and dropped the metal piece to the ground with a huge
crash that startled the three boys.

The storage container was badly smashed.  Mike got a metal bar from the
flier and used it to pry open the container.  The boys grinned when they
saw the contents. Inside were laser rifles. Some of them were bent and
smashed, but they were able to pull out eight rifles that looked to be
intact.  They turned the solar chargers on and then packed the rifles into
the flier.  When they got back to the valley they would test them to see if
they actually worked. They looked to be in good shape and the boys were
confident they would be in working order.  With the eight rifles along with
the two laser pistols, they had ten guns, almost enough for each boy.

The flier came back to the north end of the valley.  The pilot dropped the
boys off and then flew south back to Orkyl, the capital city.  As far as
the pilot was concerned he had possession of the flier now and he was going
to do with it whatever needed to be done.  He'd deal with the governor
after he helped the mayor and the round-eared boys.

The boys were dropped off outside of one of the farms that had been burned.
They didn't know if any of the Shkah raiding parties had seen them.  They
wanted to be seen, but not just yet.

Suddenly, some unicorns with riders rode into the field from the
surrounding woods.  Douglas and Mike both raised their rifles, but the
riders were Hakaanen. The mayor of Awanstor had been talking half the night
to the mayor of Grastano, whose village had been attacked.  The rest of the
men were farmers and villagers from the area.  They were angry and ready to
do anything and follow anybody to defeat the Shkah.

The flier returned quickly.  It came in from the plateau again instead of
flying directly over the valley.  This trip had to be as secretive as
possible.  The flier set down in the field.  Logan, Ethan, Warren, Ryan,
Scooter, and Enghar got out and the flier was off again with Douglas, Mike,
and Scooter on board. The group was ready for action.  They all knew what
to do.

The flier headed back over the plateau, and then to the north. The pilot
came in low and landed on a mesa to the east of the little valley where the
three boys got off.  The flier took off again.

The three of them waited patiently for it to return.  Everything was almost
ready to go— they just needed everybody to be in the right place.
Everybody, even Matthew, who still had his cast on, had a job to do.
Matthew's job was to man their home radio.

When the flier returned, Brandon, Stevie, Jeremy, Travis, and Bandar got
off. There were now eight of them on the mesa, and they each were armed
with a laser rifle.  They were going to wait until it started getting dark,
then they would take the trail into the little valley with Alex in charge.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The flier went back over the Big Valley, and flew to the field at the north
end.  However, the pilot made it look like he was arriving there from the
south.  He hovered high and landed slowly, trying to make sure he was seen.

The unicorns with their Hakaanen riders were heading west up the long
trail, going up the south hills and then to the small valley.  They moved
slowly and kicked up a lot of dirt and dust.  It was the middle of the day,
the sun was at its highest point and the sunlight reflected off of any
metal they were wearing or that was on the unicorns.

One of the southern Shkah raiding parties saw the flier land and then later
noticed the group heading up the trail.  The leader got his radio and
radioed to Arkron telling him what he saw.

"It looks like the Hakaanen flier is dropping people off.  A raiding party
is heading up into the north hills.  I think they're heading for our
valley."

"Which trail are they taking?" Arkron asked.

"The long trail.  It's less steep."

"Fools!  Less steep, but much longer.  You all take the short steep
trail. You'll beat them to the valley easily.  How far off is Sharman's
group?"

"Two hours south."

"Radio him and tell him to join up with you.  You will be in the valley
defending it before they even know you are there.  Plus we will have men in
the valley to help."

"Shouldn't we just go attack them when we get up into the north hills?"

"No.  They will think we are down here, moving and hard to find.  Catch
them coming into the valley at Sopas.  It is narrow and we can trap them
there.  How many are there?"

"I figure around twenty.  It is an excellent plan Arkron.  There will be no
escape once they are at Sopas.  We are on our way. I can't believe they are
so stupid. It looks like our round-eared boys are far smarter than theirs,
just like we are far smarter than they are."

Arkron put his radio away.  He started sending his thoughts through
Orzano. "Your friends are fools, Robbachass."

"Why?"

"Instead of taking the difficult, but short, east trail, they are taking
the easier, but longer, west trail.  By the time they get to the small
valley most of our warriors will be there waiting to trap them."  Arkron
told Robert Charles everything he had found out.

Robert Charles smiled.  This was more proof that Douglas was an idiot.  He
couldn't plan his way out of a shopping bag.  And now Douglas thinks he can
play the game of warfare against him.  Robert Charles was raised playing
military games.

He did have to give Douglas credit; he actually got the wussy Hakaanen
doing something, if indeed that was Douglas and his group going up the
hill.  And he figured it was—after all, who else could it be?

Once again to Robert Charles it was obvious who the real leader was.  He
had shown the Shkah about guerilla tactics.  He had learned how to kill and
had shown the Shkah that he wasn't afraid to pull the trigger. Douglas
couldn't even take the right trail for a raid.  Not only that but he was
going up the hill on an exposed trail so that everybody on the planet knew
what he was doing and where he was going.  Even the Hakaanen flier pilot
was too dumb to do fakes with his flier. They were all so dumb that in no
time at all the Shkah would rule all of Inferno.

"So, while they go to defend, we should keep the Hakaanen off balance with
even tougher raids" Robert Charles said.  "We need to capture a village and
burn it to the ground and kill as many as we can.  Make them so scared they
will call off their own raiding party while they piss their pants. The next
thing you know, all of the Earth boys will be turned over to us."

Orzano translated the conversation back and forth.

"No, Robbachass.  You've been right in what you've shown us.  But I think
we should ride hard down the Big Valley and over to the small valley.  I
want to be part of the battle and part of our triumph.  I want to tell the
idiot governor I have captured the round ears he sent after us and now we
are going to crush him!"

Robert Charles smiled even more.  He liked it. Arkron was his kind of
guy. Once Douglas was defeated there would be nobody around to stop
them. Douglas might be a fag and stupid at war, but at least he was showing
some balls.  Today, the little war would probably be be over and Douglas
would be his to do with what he wanted.

"Arkron, if we come across any farms along the way can we, you know, like,
burn...."

Arkron laughed hard.  "You make me laugh, Robbachass.  I promise you, after
our triumph you can take Vordkan, Orzano, and Jordaann and do your own raid
on a farm— just you boys. But for now we need to ride across the valley
as fast as we can, starting right now!"

Robert Charles could hardly wait for his own raid to happen—there would
be nothing nice about it.  But for now, he was ready to get to the small
valley so he could have his way with Douglas.  As they mounted their
unicorns and headed north, Robert Charles thought about what he would do to
him.  Rape him for sure.  Make him suffer for sure.  Maybe rape him over
and over in front of his foolish followers.  Maybe he would kill the twin
he had on the hill in front of Douglas, after he raped him. He would kill
the little boy slowly.  And then he would kill Douglas even more slowly in
front of his queer friends.  Robert Charles had a king-sized erection
thinking about it.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The climb up the north hill in the hot afternoon sun had them roasting.
Even on unicorns it was tiring.  Ryan and Logan remembered the last time
they went up the hill.  They were tied up and were prisoners.  Ryan had
wondered if Logan should take the trip up this hill with them, but Logan
said he was okay.  He wanted to go.  He said his twin and his big brother
would be with them and he would be okay because he knew how much they both
loved him.  Last night Ethan had slept with him in his sleeping bag.  He
had told only Ryan what they had done together, but it was like everybody
knew anyway. But only Ethan, and of course Ryan, knew that Ethan had been
the bottom during their first time making brotherly love. All Logan knew
was that he was loved like never before and that was already helping get
rid of his nightmares.

When night came they stopped to camp.  They were up in the hills now.  Alex
was the leader and he set out guards.

Enghar could help translate for the Hakaanen men, because being with
Matthew had taught him a little English.  He missed Matthew so much.  They
hadn't been separated a single night since Matthew had come into his life.

On the southeast hill over the little valley Douglas and his group made
their camp.  The two southern raiding parties had made it into the hills
above the small valley as it was getting dark.  They had beaten the
Hakaanen raiding parties by quite a bit, just like they had planned.

Travis was the lookout for Douglas at the time and he quickly came back
into the camp to report what he had seen.  The Shkah raiders, at least the
southern ones, were in the valley.  They had arrived before the Hakaanen
group.

"Damn, that makes things tougher," Mike said.  "I hope this works, because
if it doesn't we won't get another chance."

"I know," said Douglas, quietly.  He knew that their plan would need some
luck to be successful. He had to wonder if their luck was running out. He
sat with Scooter as they ate. He was worried that Scooter was overextending
himself, but his boyfriend had insisted on taking part in their raid.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Alex got his group up before dawn.  He got Warren, Logan, Ethan, and Enghar
together.

"Enghar knows where to take you.  He's been to the little valley a couple
of times, plus he's looked at the maps.  His dad helped with the layout.
You guys are small and can hide easily behind what rocks and shrubs are
there.  You know what to do, right?"

The four of them were quiet.  Enghar only understood every other word, but
he knew what the plan was.  Warren was now in the charge of the small
group.  It was the first time anybody had put him in charge of anything.
He was scared of it, but excited at the same time.  Their job would be
simple but very important to the plan.

As the morning sun rose it lit up the west side of the small valley.
Douglas and his group started down to the valley in the shadows on the east
side.  They should make it down to the valley easily before the sun got too
high up. The shadows hid them well.  They crept through a field and hid in
some brush close to where the pass through the hills into the small valley
was.

Now they all waited, except for Alex's group, which included Ryan and the
Hakaanen men.  The three groups knew what they needed to do. Matthew
relayed Douglas's radio signal to Alex and Warren. It was time for the plan
to unfold.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The battle didn't take long.  Alex led his group into the pass that opened
into the little valley.  There were Shkah up on the hills on either side of
them. Douglas's group could see them and let Alex know where they were.
Douglas's group was behind the brush next to the meadow.  Most of the Shkah
were in the meadow at the end of the trail that came down from the pass.
The Shkah on both sides of the meadow started moving.  Douglas could see
them and warned Alex.  Alex turned his group around and started retreating.

The Shkah who were in the meadow started cheering and got up from the grass
to get their unicorns and help chase them.  As the whole group got up, Mike
aimed his laser rifle.  It was set to heavy stun, which could burn, hurt,
and knock a guy out depending where he got hit.  He hit a Shkah in the back
on his first shot.  They stopped and turned around to see where the shot
came from, but it was too late. Douglas, Travis, Scooter, Brandon, Stevie,
and Jeremy got up from behind their hiding places and started firing.  When
it all settled there were twenty unconscious Shkah in the field and not one
human had been touched.  The Shkah never thought that somebody might come
and get them from behind.  Douglas had faked them into thinking the attack
would be straight on, when all the time that was a fake attack.  The real
one was a sneak attack from behind.

Meanwhile, Alex's group was heading back out onto the north plateau.  Four
Shkah had been hiding on each side, but Alex knew they were there because
he had been warned.  The way out became a narrow canyon.  Some small rocks
and shrubs were on the side.

The four small boys were hiding to one side. They were small enough to hide
there even though the Shkah could see into that area.  When Alex and the
Hakaanen men rode past, Warren gave the signal and he and Logan ran across
the opening. They each had a metal wire which they pounded into the ground
on one side. It was on a spool that unwound as Warren and Logan ran it
across the path. The Shkah came riding through chasing Alex's group, but
they hit the cable and their unicorns tumbled and spilled the Shkah on the
ground.  Only one of them stopped in time, but before he could do anything
Alex turned and fired a laser shot at him, knocking him off of his unicorn.
The Battle of the Valley of the Shkah was over.  The Shkah had been
defeated except for one small group.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next morning, Arkron led his raiding group into the narrow canyon
towards the pass.  Warren and Jeremy were up on the hill on the east side
so they could look down without the sun in their eyes.  When they saw the
unicorns and their riders enter the canyon Warren radioed Douglas.

"They're here," he said quietly.

The canyon was short and the riders stopped when they got to the end.  They
were at the top of the pass.  From there the road was wide and went down
into the small valley.

"They stopped," Warren radioed.  Warren was so happy that he was given
responsibility.  It helped that his medications were working and he was
healthy.  He had felt kind of helpless since the time he helped to keep the
power chips from Robert Charles, but it was from there he started getting
sicker.  Yesterday he had led the group that tripped the Shkah.  Today he
and his love were the lookouts.  Not only was he feeling good because he
was healthy, he was feeling good because for the first time in a long time
he was helping everybody instead of holding them back.

Douglas had the raiders in sight now.  He was watching them through
binoculars.  He recognized Robert Charles and Jordan.  Robert Charles
looked weird with his blue/green Shkah colored hair.

"It's quiet down there," Arkron said.  "I wonder if they have captured the
round ears.  They must have."

"We never heard anything on the radio," Robert Charles said.

"Our radios are so old they don't always work.  I tried to raise him
earlier, but couldn't get anything.  Everything is falling apart here.
Let's go down and see where they are keeping their captives."

"I don't know," Robert Charles said.  "It doesn't feel right.  Somebody
should be coming up to meet us.  It's too quiet.  I think some of us should
wait here."

"Nonsense.  Your round-eared friends went right into our trap.  You saw
yesterday how stupid they were.  Your Dooglass knows nothing of
fighting. You are far better than him."

Robert Charles smiled.  Arkron was right, of course.  He was ten times the
leader Douglas was.  But it still didn't feel right.  They rode down into
the valley.  Warren got on the radio and let Douglas know the Shkah was
coming down. Arkron had them stop when they arrived at the meadow where
Douglas launched his sneak attack on the Shkah.

"Arkron, I just don't feel right about this.  Let's have our pistols out."

Arkron couldn't argue with that.  They got their pistols out and rode into
the village.  They got to the square and stopped and looked around.  Robert
Charles and Jordan hung back some.  Vordkan and Orzano noticed and went
back to where the two Earth boys were.

Suddenly, the men rose up and were standing on the roof tops on both sides
of the square.  They were armed with laser rifles.  Mayor Andorn looked
down at the Shkah.

"Drop your weapons!" he said.  "It's all over."

Bazel raised his gun, but Alex was ready and shot him, knocking him off his
unicorn.  Arkron tried firing back but Douglas hit him and knocked him to
the ground.  Robert Charles took off, with Jordan, Vordkan, and Orzano
following him.  The two Shkah boys weren't sure what was going on, but they
knew they didn't want to be where the shooting was going on.

Robert Charles stopped briefly.  "You're dead, Douglas!" he screamed. "I
hope you understand that!  YOU ARE FUCKING DEAD!!!!"

Then he and the other three boys rode out of the village, up the hill, and
out of the little valley.  Warren and Jeremy were still up on the hill and
watched the four boys ride by past.

The Shkah leaders and raiders were all captured now.  Only the four boys
had gotten away.

Robert Charles stopped his unicorn.  He looked back toward the small
valley. He meant what he said.  Douglas was dead.  Before he killed
Douglas, he was going to make him hurt and suffer in ways he could never
believe.  He was going to destroy Douglas's friends and his whole world.
Douglas had crossed him for the last time.  When they met face to face
again, the power would be his. And Douglas's fate would be sealed.

Robert Charles looked at Jordan.  "Douglas is about to die. I'm gonna need
you to help me make sure his life is shit before it happens."

Jordan smiled at the older boy.  "Whatever you want, I will do."  Jordan
knew, right then in his heart, that he loved Robert Charles.

NEXT: DEATH OF A BOY