Chapter Three - Feleena

Alternity - Chapter 3

Feleena

Harper finished his bath and left the hotel, heading for McMurty's, nodding and waving to familiar faces as he walked. He was pleased to see that neither Wister nor any of his ranch hands were anywhere in sight. Owen Wister's 'Lazy W' ranch, was the the largest duroc ranch in the area. In addition to the ranch, Wister was the, mostly unwanted, silent partner in the majority of the towns businesses. He also ran the local gambling and prostitution rackets. The town constable and mayor were firmly in Wister's pocket. In short, Wister owned the town, and ran it like it was his private fiefdom.

The last time Harper had been in town, he had had a run in with the ranch owner that had nearly resulted in gun play. He, Wister and a rider from one of the smaller ranches had been playing poker in one of the town’s saloons when, Harper caught Wister cheating. Angry words had escalated into Wister reaching for his sidearm, only to have Harper beat him to the draw. Unfortunately for Harper, two of Wister’s men had been drinking at the bar and came to their boss's rescue, with weapons drawn. Things would have gone badly for Harper except that the other man at the table threw in with Harper. A three on two standoff ensued, the standoff ending with the arrival of Beka, Vexpeg and Rev. Harper and the rider had split the money on the table and left, leaving Wister raging in humiliation and vowing revenge. On the day that the Maru had been scheduled to leave the planet the bullet-ridden corpse of the duroc wrangler who had helped Harper was found at the foot of one of the Maru’s landing struts.

While Harper wasn’t afraid of another meting with Wister, he hoped it could be avoided. Unlike Beka, Harper didn't believe that superior technology always meant victory. Back on Earth, when he had been a member of the Resistance, he had killed more than one Uber using less sophisticated technology than was available here on New Texas. Despite what Beka seemed to think, a round from a revolving cylinder pistol or a lever-activated rifle could kill you just as dead as a nova bomb.

Putting such gloomy thoughts out of his mind, Harper concentrated on Feleena, and what he was going to say when he saw her. Contrary to what Beka thought, Feleena and Harper spent most of their time together in the vertical position. Harper had seen too many women back on Earth having to sell themselves to survive to look down upon women who practiced Feleena's profession. She, in turn ,was one of the very few women Harper knew who seemed to like him for himself, in spite of his general awkwardness around women.

As he was walking, he ran a hand through his hair and decided that he might as well get a haircut. Trance was his barber while on the Maru, and while she could give a trim that kept his hair from falling into his eyes, her barbering skills weren't sufficient for anything more complicated. There was a barbershop on the route to McMurty's, so Harper took a slight detour. The barber was named Hillerman, Harper wasn't sure of the first name. There were two others ahead of him, so Harper took a seat and began to listen, and then join in as the barber, whom one of the patrons called Tony, exchanged gossip and lies with his customers as he wielded his scissors and comb. They talked about duroc stampedes and roundups, of riders being split from crotch to sternum by the tusks wielded by the male durocs, of life aboard a starship and the difficulties of competing with the large corporations sponsored by the Free Trade Association. The talk eventually drifted to a discussion of the falling value of duroc meat and hides, the high cost of importing goods from other systems, and the fact that fewer and fewer independent freighters were making the trip to New Texas. Forty five minutes later Harper, now freshly shorn and smelling faintly of a local cologne, paid for his haircut with some of the coinage he had kept from his last visit to the planet. He was in a thoughtful mood as he left the barbershop; during the course of the discussions he had learned that no starships had visited New Texas since the Maru’s last visit here

Arriving at McMurty's saloon, Harper pushed open the batwing doors and stepped inside, pausing to let his eyes adjust to the dimness. The drinking establishment was unchanged from when he had last visited it. The saloon being basically a long narrow building with a bar running along one of the long walls and a scattering of tables and chairs on the sawdust covered wooden floor. Behind the bar was a painting of a naked women reclining on a couch. There was a door in the back wall, that Harper knew from experience led to the outhouse that served as the bar's sanitary facility Somewhat to Harper's surprise the only other person in the in the saloon was the bartender, McMurty, McMurty was in his late sixties, his skin was tanned almost black and he had a permanent squint from the days when he rode as a herder; at present he was wiping the bar counter with a rag and whistling tunelessly as he did so. As he walked along the counter he dragged his left leg. A duroc had gored him in the leg and the leg had never properly healed.

"We ain't open yet for another hour," said McMurty without looking up from his work

"Hello Larry."

McMurty looked up and his weathered face broke into a snaggle-toothed smile. "Harper, you scoundrel," he exclaimed. It's been a long time. How've you been?"

"Bout a year, Larry. Can't complain, I'm still breathing."

"I heard that the Maru had arrived. Is she still captained by the blonde Amazon? How about that walking throw rug, and Vexpeg?"

"Beka is still calling the shots, and Rev is still giving her lectures. Vexpeg's no longer with us though, he had an accident."

"Bad?"

"The worst. But you have to meet his replacement. She has to be seen to be believed."

"That’s too bad about Vexpeg, I liked the guy… She? You sly dog you. Young and pretty, right?"

"Right on both counts. Speaking of young and pretty, is Feleena around?

McMurty gave Harper an odd ,somewhat embarrassed look. "Feleena's taken up with the Grey boy, Harper. She's quit the business."

"Grey? I don't think I ever met him."

"He used to ride for the Lamour holding."

"Ahh, I've met Louis, if the kid rode for him that's a good sign. Louis is picky about whom he hires. I'm glad to hear she found a good man."

"I'm glad to hear that, Harper, 'cause Feleena is in a pile of trouble. She could use a friend right about now.

"What sort of trouble."

"I think I'll let her explain when she gets here. When I heard you were in town, I sent word out to where she and Zane are staying. She should be arriving here shortly."

As if that had been her cue, Harper heard footsteps on the boardwalk. A moment later Feleena, and another girl wearing a bright yellow dress, whom Harper vaguely remembered was named Rose, entered the saloon. Feleena was slightly over 1.5 meters tall, had waist length black hair, flashing brown eyes and a mouth that in Harper's opinion was made for kissing. She was also in the advanced stages of pregnancy.

"Harper!" exclaimed Feleena. She ran awkwardly up to him, held out her hands to him, and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"You're looking good, Feleena," said Harper. In truth he thought her pregnancy made her look more beautiful than ever. "Why don't you sit down? I think we need to talk. Larry says you're in serious trouble."

Feleena sat down at a table and Harper took a seat beside her, while Rose went back to the bar to help McMurty prepare for the evening crowd. Feleena noticed Harper staring at her swollen abdomen. "It's Zane's, Harper. At least I think it is."

"I'm not jealous, Feleena," he said, then noticing the slightly hurt look in her eyes added "or at least not too much. Now why don't you start at the beginning?"

"It was right after you left, Harper," said the now mollified Feleena. "Zane started visiting the house and I became his favorite. After a while he was seeing me only and I liked it. He didn't care what I did for a living. He liked me for who I was, not what I did."

"That's easy to understand," interjected Harper

Feleena blushed slightly at the compliment then continued. "And then I got pregnant. It's different when you have a baby, Harper. I don't want my child to grow up in a sporting house. Zane offered me a way out, but Wister wouldn't let me leave. Then eight days ago. Zane came and tried to take me from the house to live at his place. I was going to go with him but some of Wister's men caught us. They beat Zane half to death, one of them holding him while the other two hit him, then after a while when he couldn't stand they let him fall, and took turns kicking him. They made me watch all the while they were doing it. They could've killed him, but they had orders to let him live, as an example to anyone else who might try to take one of Wister's girls. Somehow Zane made it back to his place. The next day I snuck out of the house and rode to his ranch. I've been there for the past week taking care of him."

"I'm surprised Wister and some of his men didn't come out to Grey's ranch and take you back over his dead body," said Harper.

"They did come by, Harper. Three days ago. He came by and told me I had three days, and if I didn't return by then he was going to come to the ranch and take me back to the house. He said he was going to finish the job his men started on Zane, and then he was going to make an example of me for all the other girls, so they would know what would happen to any of them who try to run away."

"So you came back to save yourself and Grey?" It was a question not a statement.

"I came back because McMurty sent word that you were in town. Harper, no one else is going to help Zane and me. The other men in town may have used me for their pleasure, but they aren't going to risk going up against Wister and his men over a common whore. I'm not going back to the house, Harper. If you don't help me I'll go back to the ranch by myself. Zane has a gun and I'll use it. On myself and Zane if need be, but I'm not going to let either one of us fall into Wister's hands."

"Do you love him?"

"I don't know, Harper. I know that I enjoy being with him more than I have with any other man, including you, and I don't want any man other than him to ever touch me again. I want this baby to be his, and if he wants more then I want to give them to him. He's as good a man as I'm ever going to find, and better than most. He's told me that it's not my past that is important it is our future. Is that love?"

"It's close enough I guess. Feleena, you stay here with McMurty. I'm heading over to the livery. I'm going to need a horse."

Trance leaned back in the bathtub and closed her eyes.. The water was warm and relaxing, but her mind was racing furiously. She was trying to analyze why she was so upset over the fact that Harper might have a girlfriend in El Paso. It wasn't as if she had any claim on him. In all the time she had known him, despite his sexual come on lines, he had always treated her as a good friend and nothing else. He had been to New Texas several times before, so it shouldn't surprise her that he would know some of the inhabitants. He was a normal, healthy male, so why should she be surprised if he had a girlfriend? She had no right to feel jealous, so why was she feeling that way?

Her reverie was interrupted by a yell from Beka, followed immediately by the sound of a gauss gun discharging. She jumped out of the tub prepared to assist Beka against whatever or whoever was attacking her, only to see Beka, with gun drawn, staring down at the corpse of a dead animal. When it was alive Trance estimated that it might have weighed as much as a kilo. It was four legged, covered with grayish brown fur, with a pointy snout covered with long whiskers. It had a long furless tail that looked scaly. As she examined the corpse, another one of the creatures ran out from under the bed and scurried behind the dresser that was against one of the room's exterior walls. There was a scuttling sound and the creature disappeared from sight.

Beka motioned for Trance to go over to the dresser. "When I give you the word," she whispered, "move the dresser, and I'll kill the other one." She aimed her weapon at the base of the dresser and nodded for the younger woman to move it. Trance gave the dresser a push and moved it away from where it was resting against the wall, but instead of revealing the animal, it revealed a hole in the wall just large enough for a creature the size of the one she had seen to squeeze through. The sound of small scurrying feet could be heard coming from the other side of the wall. Apparently the walls were hollow and the animals were living within them.

"Do you have any idea just what that thing was?" asked Beka.

"I think it was a rat. Harper told me about them when he was telling me about his life on Earth."

"What did he say about them?" asked an obviously nervous Beka.

Trance gulped. "That they live in colonies, eat anything, can live just about anywhere and that at night he could hear them coming out of the walls. Sometimes they attacked sleeping people, and that they carry diseases."

"Put your clothes on, Trance. We're leaving this place and going back to the Maru. There's no way I'm going to be able to sleep here knowing that things might come out of the wall and eat me alive."

Trance didn't put up any sort of argument. She wasn't all that fond of the idea of swarming rats either.

The livery was at the opposite end of the town from McMurty's. There was a faded sign over the entrance that said 'Evans' Livery'

"Howdy, Max," said Harper as the owner came out of one of the stalls.

"Howdy yourself, Harper," said the stableman. "I saw you when you were offloading the Maru. But you looked too busy to spend time in idle talk. What can I do for you?

"I need a horse, Max. I'm heading out to the Grey place."

The stable owner hesitated a bit, then gave the engineer a hard look. "The boy has enough problems right now, Harper. He doesn't need you riding out to his place to start a fight over Feleena."

"It's not like that, Max," Harper assured the livery owner. "I had a talk with Feleena. I know what's going on between her, Grey, and Wister. I'm going out there to bring Grey back here. He and Feleena can stay on the Maru until things cool down a bit."

The stable keeper nodded approvingly at Harper's words. "In that case you can ride Champion. He's not much for speed but he's steady and I've seen you ride. You're not bad for a greenhorn but most of my stock would be more than you could handle. Wait here and I'll saddle him up for you."

"Thanks, Max. While you're doing that I'll get Feleena and bring her over here. She's going to have to show me the way."

Harper left the stables and headed back to McMurty's. As he neared the establishment he saw something that raised the hairs on the back of his neck. There were a number of horses tied up in front of the saloon. He inspected the brand on one of the horses. It was a 'W' leaning slightly to the right, the 'Lazy W', Wister's brand.

He drew his pistol and quietly stepped into the bar. McMurty was at his usual station behind the bar, but he had a twin-barreled shotgun out, the business end of which was pointing it in the general direction of six 'Lazy W' riders. Feleena and Rose were standing against the back wall of the establishment with frightened looks on their faces. Several of the riders had their hands on or near their pistols. Their attention was focused on McMurty, and they didn't notice Harper's entrance

"Feleena's going to stay right here if that's where she wants to stay, and this shotgun of mine agrees with her."

"Do you really think that you can drop all of us with that scattergun before we take you down McMurty?" asked one of the ranch hands?

"He doesn't have to drop all of you," announced Harper. 'Just the ones I don't take down. All of you put your weapons on the floor. Now"

Caught between two fires, the ranch hands complied. Harper was relieved that it hadn't come down to gun play. The girls would have been caught in the middle of the shoot out.

"Good, now step away from your weapons, and take your boots off."

"No way am I going…" one of the duroc herders began to protest.

BAMM. Harper fired a shot between the complainer's legs. "The next one will be aimed higher," warned Harper. "Now, take your boots off"

This time there were no complaints. As soon as they had removed their boots, Harper had the ranch hands march outside into the middle of the street. By this time a crowd had gathered. Word had gotten out about the arrival of Wister's men and a crowd had formed, expecting a clash between them and Harper. There was a general murmur of approval as they saw Wister's men being herded out of the saloon, weaponless and bootless. The townspeople may have been afraid to stand up to Wister, but there was no love for him and his men.

"Start walking," Harper ordered the ranch hands. It's a long walk, and if you want to get back to your ranch before full dark you had better get started."

"But," one of them began to complain "without our boots our feet well be torn to ribbons. We'll be half crippled by the time we get to the ranch."

"Sort of like what you did to Grey then. Live with it."

Harper watched until the men were out of sight then he reentered the saloon. "Come on, Feleena, get your horse. We need to make a visit to the Maru."

Feleena mounted her horse and Harper led horse and rider to the livery. To his surprise, instead of a saddled horse there was a wagon with a team hitched to it. Max was standing by the wagon. "I figured that Grey probably wont be able to sit his horse, so I decided that a wagon would be a better idea than lending you a horse," Max explained. "Feleena can drive, and you can ride shotgun."

"Thanks, Max, that's a good idea. Feleena, do you want to leave your horse here with Max?"

"No, Harper, I can tie Buttermilk to the back of the wagon, and she can follow us. Who knows, we might need an extra mount."

When Harper and Feleena arrived at the Maru, Harper was somewhat surprised to find Trance and Beka in the common room.

"Feleena, this is Beka Valentine, the captain of the Maru, and Trance Gemini, our environmental systems technician. Beka, Trance, this is my friend Feleena. We're going to take a ride, then she's going to have to stay here aboard the Maru for a few days."

If Beka hadn't been so upset with the planet, she would have thought before speaking, and asked her engineer why it was so important that Feleena be allowed to stay aboard for a few days. But she was angry, and Feleena became the target of her wrath.

"Harper, how dare you bring one of your whores aboard this ship? And a pregnant one at that. I know you have no consideration for my sensibilities, but how about Trance. She dotes on you, and you slap her in the face by bringing a crib girl aboard. I don't care how important you think it is, that tramp is not going to stay aboard the Maru."

Harper didn't bother arguing with Beka. As soon as he saw her start to wind up he walked aft to the Maru's weapons locker. He removed a gauss pistol, a rifle, and extra clips of ammunition for each weapon from the locker. He briefly considered including a holster for the pistol, but decided against it. Feleena was too swollen with child for the holster to fit. Instead he rummaged around until he found a drawstring bag, and put the pistol and the ammunition clips in the bag.

Beka stopped her tirade in mid word when she saw Harper carrying the rifle. Harper took the pistol out of the bag, and after making sure that it was unloaded handed it to Feleena. Beka recognized the weapon, it was what was sometimes called a lady's gun, it had a smaller handgrip to accommodate a woman's hand. Harper had bought it for Trance, but she had refused to have anything to do with it.

"Here, hold it like so," Harper told Feleena, still ignoring Beka and Trance. He adjusted her hand so that her pointer finger was lying alongside the barrel of the weapon and her middle finger was over the firing stud. "This lever is the safety, move it up so the red dot is visible and you can shoot. When you need to shoot, point your finger at the target and press the stud. The magazine holds fifty rounds. Just make sure that if you do shoot someone you kill them."

Feleena nodded her head in comprehension. Harper let her dry fire the weapon a couple of times, then took it from her and inserted a magazine into the magazine well in the grip of the weapon and made sure the safety was set. "It's loaded now. Just remember, don't use this unless you mean to kill who you're pointing it at."

By this time it had finally sunk in to Beka that something was seriously amiss, while Trance was staring at Harper in a horrified sort of fascination. This was not the man she had spent nearly half a year with. "Harper," said Beka, "just what the Hell are you up to?"

Harper didn't even bother to look at Beka as he checked to make sure the mechanism of the gauss rifle was operating smoothly. "Something I should have done the last time I was here," he said. He inserted a magazine into the rifle, put another one into the pocket of his jacket, and walked off the ship with Feleena at his heels.

Chapter 2

Chapter 4