The Magic Scavengers and The Seeking Compass

Transcription

1 Scavengers Of Ditbard The Magic Scavengers and The Seeking Compass 1/19/17 1 The Magic Scavengers and The Seeking Compass He scratched his cold head and looked around at the scene around him. There were bright lights everywhere in view except the moon that he stood on. There was life in every part of the galaxy except where he was today. He had arrived on this cold moon several hours ago and so far had found nothing of note except a growing headache brought on by the space weed. It was purely for medicinal purposes as it helped humanoids to breathe more easily in the thin Guinnotionian atmosphere. The fact that he had been here hundreds of times before and always been alone was of comfort to him in the past. Being alone had never bothered him and he had become an expert in motivating and entertaining himself. Now he had company and that worried him to the core. The biggest concern he had right now was whether the two shadowy figures he could see through the blue haze in the distance were aware of him. As a searcher and trader he had developed fantastic eyesight which allowed him to spot all the items he needed to sell and stay alive. He could pass over an area as large as five square miles and easily pick out the three coin-sized items that would make his day worthwhile and provide enough money to buy food and take a few drinks that evening if he needed. If the others on what he had come to know as his moon were scavengers, then there was every chance that they had seen him. Were they hostile? Did they follow him there? What was their purpose? Have we got the right place? said Peck. She and Chain were always close together. They were searching the moon for a customer and would leave nothing to chance. The two of them stood with blue mist swirling around them

2 Scavengers Of Ditbard The Magic Scavengers and The Seeking Compass 1/19/17 2 from the dust kicked up by the moon. The fact that they were even in this strange and remote place was testament to their dedication to their duty. Every time they were hired by a customer they delivered. It was why they were trusted throughout the Guinnotionian galaxy, especially the trading planet of Ditbard. Chain wasn t sure about where they had landed. It doesn t look like anyone has been here for centuries. I don t think we ll find who we want here. We must have received duff information. As the two of them looked at each other to decide what to do next, a movement caught the corner of Chain s left eye. She turned to look but the mist of the planet disguised anything except a slight break where the subject had come from. It was time to move quickly. They had been given information that the searcher they were looking for regularly visited this moon and was seen heading out here earlier that day but they didn t know much more about him. Except for the fact that he had something that they were paid to find and deliver. He could have a weapon, he could out-maneuver them they just didn t know what to expect. Just as they decided to move towards the area where Chain saw the movement a few moments ago, a sound rang through the air. It was as though there was another creature on the moon with them. Chain and Peck were confused. Should they follow the movement or the sound? The searcher was an expert in making himself difficult to find. It was an art form that he had perfected through years of picking up what others had discarded to make a living. Wherever he was in the galaxy there were always others that wanted what he had. If he got news of a recent crash of a spaceship on a nearby planet he would be the first on the scene, but there were always others to follow. If he used his contacts and speed to get the items of value first then others would try to get them from him with force. If there was going to be a battle then he, as a lone wolf, would inevitably lose against a better equipped team of hunters. So he had to find ways of disappearing. He used what was around him to get any advantage he could. If he had to drop into a dirty swamp or hide in the highest trees then he did so that he could protect his bounty and stay alive. One of his favorite tricks was to make noise travel as far as he could to put people off the tracks. That was his only hope now if the people he could see were after him.

3 Scavengers Of Ditbard The Magic Scavengers and The Seeking Compass 1/19/17 3 He set off in the opposite direction to the noise that he had made to head back to his ship and safety. Then he remembered the ship. They must be aware that there was someone on the planet because of his ship. His best bet was to escape as quickly as he could and hope that his ship could outrun whatever it was that was following him. It was time to muster up all of his energy and move as fast as his legs would carry him. In his earlier years as searcher he would have been able to move twice as fast as he was now, even with a full load. Here he was with nothing to show for his time on the moon and running for his life but he couldn t muster up enough speed to get away from the creatures that were following him. It was easy for Chain and Peck to catch him up when they saw his movement. The noise had distracted them for a few seconds but it wasn t enough to stop them from catching up with their prey. Chain used her power to hold him to the ground while Peck took what they needed from him. The searcher felt strangely calm. Even though he knew that one of the creatures stood above him was searching through his mind for something, there was a feeling of euphoria as though the space weed had been notched up a few levels. The blue mist swirling around his face as the bright lights of distant planets and moons that were inhabited seemed to glow brighter, pulsing before his eyes before receding and being replaced by another light from an alternative source. The searcher could make out each one as it glowed in a slightly different manner and showed an ever-so-slightly different shade. Whatever it was they were taking from in his mind it certainly wasn t his eyesight. That remained as sharp as ever. The transfer of powers was almost instant. As soon as they found the magical abilities they took it. As it left him, the searcher felt a strange sense of loss, but it was for something that he never knew he had. He had no idea that he was the holder of magical abilities but the person who had paid Peck and Chain a handsome sum to knew all about him. Not only did he have the magical abilities but the experiences of the last few days would come with them. He had seen something that he couldn t know the value of, and the paymaster wanted to know exactly where he had seen it. He had overlooked it too because it didn t look like anything that he could trade or barter with but he was wrong. It was one of the most valuable pieces in the Guinnotionian galaxy and it could have made him a lot of money. And a lot of enemies. Perhaps it was best that he didn t recognize it and pick it up. There would have been more

4 Scavengers Of Ditbard The Magic Scavengers and The Seeking Compass 1/19/17 4 than a pair of scavengers after him. And they would want more than just a small part of his mind. As they left him on the floor to recover from his ordeal, Peck and Chain drained the power of his ship so that he wouldn t be able to follow them. This would give them a couple of hours, long enough to pass the magical powers on to their customer and go back to their hidden home. They worked on recommendation and word of mouth. They had enough work to keep them going for years on end if they wanted but only chose the interesting jobs. And of course the ones that paid the best. This client paid them handsomely and came back time and time again so it was in their interest to work quickly, deliver the goods and please their client. The better they worked for the client this time then the more likely it was that they got more work from the same customer and better pay. It was a virtuous circle, just so long as you were not the creature that had something the client needed. As they sped out of the swirling blue winds of the moon that they had been directed to earlier that day the two scavengers were pleased with their work. They had only been given that assignment earlier in the day and had efficiently got what the client needed. It was a client that was shrouded in mystery. Although they had worked many times for the same customer they had never met. Everything was done through a third party and the third party was different every time. Never had they been approached by the same person but the code words and way of working showed that they were dealing with the same customer. Little did they know that their client used different go-betweens every time because each was killed after they finished a particular job. The client wanted no links and no trace to the work that he was carrying out. It was dangerous, even for someone who had vast contacts and wielded great power. But the fact that he paid a high price for quality work was usually enough for Peck and Chain. But something didn t seem quite right with this particular assignment. Why do you think our client wants with the magical powers of a humanoid? asked Peck. She was always the more inquisitive of the two. She felt that this wasn t the assignment that it was presented to be. Anyone could have picked this guy up. He s getting on and follows the same patterns every week. From the information we were given he visits that moon almost every day. It wouldn t be difficult to find him. And I don t feel a great deal of magical power from this one either.

5 Scavengers Of Ditbard The Magic Scavengers and The Seeking Compass 1/19/17 5 So we re handing over not a lot, that cost us almost nothing in fuel and very little effort for a huge fee, replied Chain, so I don t see why you are complaining. I wish that every job was like this. But every job has been becoming more like this from the very start with this same customer, said Peck with an annoyance in her voice. She wanted Chain to understand that there are motives behind every job they did rather than just cold hard cash. As she began to speak there was a laser shot across the bow of their ship. There was no time to think. Peck jumped across to the laser cannon seat and tried to use the targets to find what was firing at them. Chain continued to fly the ship but went into a defensive pattern where she jolted around from left to right, up and down to make them a difficult target to hit. If there was someone out there after them then they would be less likely to hit their ship if it acted like a Ditbard rabbit and freaked out at the first hint of danger. The fact that the ship was moving at high speed in many directions made it difficult for Peck to get a fix on what was behind them but she could make out that it was another ship. The strange thing was that she recognized the markings on the ship. They were the same markings on the people they had met as go-betweens when dealing with this client. All she knew was it was time to get out of there. Chain was one of the best pilots in the Guinnotionian galaxy and was able to stay out of laser sights as well as slowly put more miles between them and their chaser. The air was clear the further they got away from the moon so they were a sitting duck unless they could get away. As they neared their home planet of Ditbard and were surrounded by more ships the two knew that they would be safe. Home. It had always felt safe with a dangerous edge to it but never more than today. Chain and Peck knew so little about the client they were working for but it appeared that the client knew a great deal about them. It was like they were being hunted. It was as though the client had what they needed from the two scavengers and was ready to dispose of them. Was this last job something that the client needed? Or was it a dummy run just to set them up for attack? Peck decided that their usual home wasn t a good idea. It was time to lie low for a few days at least to see if they were safe, to see if the markings on that ship were just a coincidence. Chain agreed that they needed time to think this over and make a decision on what they had to do next.

6 Scavengers Of Ditbard The Magic Scavengers and The Seeking Compass 1/19/17 6 The home of Peck s mother had been abandoned since she had died and Peck knew that it was far enough off the grid for it to be safe. They travelled there separately to be less noticeable. When they arrived they scoped the area to ensure that it was clear from anyone that might cause them harm. Once inside they looked over the magical powers that they had extracted from the humanoid. It seemed strange at the time that they were taking magical powers from one of the least magical creatures in the galaxy and now it was even stranger as the two of them sat in hiding after being chased and shot at by a ship that appeared to belong to their client. There s almost nothing there, said Chain who was now realizing that the client paid well for a reason. She was scanning the magical powers that they had been asked to extract and could find little that couldn t be extracted from a baby of most creatures. She decided to look through the recent memories in case here was anything there. It was unlikely with a searcher that had spent most of his time on the remote moon with the swirling blue mist but it was worth a try with their lives being potentially on the line. She saw it instantly. The searcher had been to another planet the day before they had caught him up. He had been scanning an area with the naked eye, which was a skill that most in the galaxy could never master, and as he looked there were several items he picked up. But one that he missed was clear to Chain. It was The Seeking Compass. But now she needed to know where he had been. The images were clear but it could have been any planet in any galaxy. They had to get back to the moon, hope that the searcher s ship was still there and check the logs to see where he had flown the day before. Earth! said Peck. Of all the planets that The Seeking Compass could be found on and it s Earth. The two scavengers had made the decision to take their ship out again and try to find the searcher. It was the only way that they would be able to find The Seeking Compass. It was the first step on a long journey towards finding The Jewel of Ditbard. Peck read all about the planet Earth from the on-board computer as Chain navigated her way towards the plant Earth. They had drained the charge from the searcher s ship again so that there was no chance he could be able to follow them. He was just coming round when they arrived and the last thing they wanted was another ship following them.

7 Scavengers Of Ditbard The Magic Scavengers and The Seeking Compass 1/19/17 7 Earth was a peaceful planet from all that Peck was reading and it shouldn t be too difficult to take what they wanted without the need for a battle. The primitive people of the planet Earth had no weapons or craft that could deal with anything the two scavengers were capable of from their ship so they envisioned an easy extraction and a quick return to Ditbard. That might be where their troubles would begin. The images that were taken from the searcher centered on vast mountains and from the research that Peck was able to do they headed for the Himalayas. There were almost no people around but Chain put the craft into stealth mode so they could land undetected and seek what they had come for without fear of interruption. The quest along the side of the mountain was an easy one for the two scavengers. Both recollected the scenes that they had watched from the searcher and were sure they were on the right path. Just as they turned a corner and looked up the steep mountain that was now throwing snow in their direction by the ton it was obvious that they had found the right place. They removed the snow from the area that had fallen in the day since the searcher was there and found what they had travelled for. The Seeking Compass was now on the ground in front of them. It was around three minutes before either of them could break from their amazement to pick it up. Chain stared in shock as Peck bent down to pick up The Seeking Compass. They had arrived here by chance and were now going to leave with one of the most prized possessions in all of Ditbard and the Guinnotionian galaxy. They knew that they were flying home to danger. Copyright 2017 by Fay Michelsen All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing by Fay Michelsen.

8 Scavengers Of Ditbard The Magic Scavengers and The Seeking Compass 1/19/17 8 Peck and Chain, Magic Scavengers The Seeking Compass Visit scavengersofditbard.com for more stories