Westworld Pyrrus and Kerk 2 E-Book

Stig Granfors

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Pyrrus and Kerk
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 276

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Pyrrus and Kerk become involved in a battle between poor farmers and a powerful ranch owner on the planet Westworld. The situation is sensitive as an escalating conflict could lead to war between the two countries North and South. With skill and luck the adventurers save a freedom hero and stop the evil rancher from conquering Westworld and becoming an oppressive dictator. However, a cruel act has catastrophic consequences. This is the second novel about the space adventurers Pyrrus and Kerk, whose motto is 'It will get better'. "The savage looked up at the ceiling and gave up a furious scream. At first it sounded like wolves howling, but the scream turned into something even more frightening. It was an unnatural sound, full of disappointment and repressed dreams. It was not a human cry." "A tale about ordinary people in somewhat familiar surroundings in a galaxy far, far away." "A tribute to Harry Harrison and his Stainless Steel Rat."

Leseprobe

Westworld Pyrrus and Kerk 2

Westworld Pyrrus and Kerk 2Escape from Death PlanetCattle thievesThe Bossom ranchNorth townThe refugeesFire and flamesThe ferry crossingThe prisonerNot a happy reunionThe centre of the stormThe planThe rescueThe letterThe hiding placeA daring escapeThe long rideThe battleThe tunnelSavage revengeLonging to returnFactsCopyright

Westworld Pyrrus and Kerk 2

     Stig Granfors/Marcus Granfors

 Science fiction

© 2021 Stig Granfors and Marcus Granfors

Original title: Västvärlden – Pyrrus och Kerk 2

Translation: Stig Granfors and Mathias Granfors

https://stiggranfors.jimdofree.com/

Publisher: BoD - Books on Demand GmbH, Helsinki, Finland

Print: BoD - Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt, Germany

ISBN: 9789528035992

It will get better.

Pyrrus and Kerk

Books by Stig Granfors

Non-fiction

Civilisationens gåtor (2005)

Skapelsens gåtor (2006)

Livets gåtor (2008)

En skön ny värld (2010)

Historiska gåtor (2019)

Biologiska gåtor (2019)

Fiction

Liv (2011)

Glimt av hopp (2012)

Skärseld (2013)

Strid (2014)

Botnia (2015)

Varningen (2017)

Hotet (2019)

Books by Stig Granfors and Marcus Granfors

In Swedish

Neodym – Pyrrus och Kerk 1 (2020)

Västvärlden – Pyrrus och Kerk 2 (2020)

Östvärlden – Pyrrus och Kerk 3 (2020)

Sydvärlden – Pyrrus och Kerk 4 (in March 2021)

In English

Neodymium – Pyrrus and Kerk 1 (2020)

Westworld – Pyrrus and Kerk 2 (2021)

Escape from Death Planet

It will get better.

That was Pyrrus’ first thought when he woke up. He was unsure of his whereabouts. He was lying on a hard bed and he saw nothing but bare concrete walls. He got up, went to the door and felt the door handle. The door was locked. He remembered everything now. The planet of death, where all life tried to kill intruders!

He and Kerk had landed the night before in the belief of spending a lazy life for a year, while waiting for the black hole to Earth to open.

Instead they were frightened out of their minds when they landed. Pyrrus had never before encountered such aggressive plants and creatures anywhere in the galaxy.

Pyrrus ran his fingers over the rough surface of the nearest wall. One brick was looser than the others. With his fingers he worked out a thick piece and began to hack on the door handle with it. The handle broke off after a few strong blows. The locking mechanism was then a simple match and the door suddenly flew open.

He came out into a long corridor, which he now remembered led towards the main entrance. This door wasn’t locked. The gate on the outside was open as well. Next to the gate was an apparatus which the inhabitants of the colony had called a flamethrower. With this one could burn away the plants that attacked the colony.

He needed the device to save Kerk. Kerk was still trapped in the spaceship outside the colonial walls. Pyrrus therefore grabbed the fuel tanks, opened the door and let a thin ray of fire spray out through the opening. There was no reaction from the hostile plants and insects outside. He looked around and didn’t detect any immediate threats. But the spaceship was covered in vines. The thick plants held it firmly in place.

Pyrrus rushed to the spaceship and let fire rays spray over the plants. He saw Kerk peering anxiously out of a window. Pyrrus raised his hand to signal that everything was okay.

But it was not okay.

The plants approached again and the large insects gathered to prepare for another attack.

Pyrrus however burned off the thickest vines, opened the hatchet and slid quickly into the spaceship.

Inside he was received by a very anxious Kerk. ”What’s happening here?” Kerk asked.

Pyrrus calmed him down. ”I don’t have time to explain now. We must leave before the cursed plants stop us. Look!” He pointed out the window at the vines, which were now rapidly crawling forward towards the ship. One of the giant insects hacked on the window furiously.

Kerk reacted immediately and sat down in the co-pilot’s chair. He opened the engine controls.

Pyrrus started the engine. It immediately ignited and burned away the undergrowth, which had invaded their landing site.

The spaceship lifted and burned the vines and insects that dared to approach the spaceship. Pyrrus sighed of relief. He had been afraid that the plants had done some damage to the exhaustion pipes but no; the navigation seemed to work just fine.

When they reached the outer atmosphere, Pyrrus told Kerk about his experience. How the plants had attacked him and how he had been saved by the young woman. He described the giant insects, the horrid eyes and the sharp teeth. And he told Kerk about the hostility that had he had sensed everywhere. The planet was filled with evil.

He told about the cracks in the ground and about the vines that had come out of the cracks and how they had twisted around his legs. He told how the thick and menacing forest had returned his gaze. Pyrrus remembered the forest rough and grey as old bark. He told of the lianas trying to block his way in the colony’s courtyard. However the woman who rescued him had skillfully avoided the attacks. It had obviously not been the first time she had dealt with lianas of this type.

Pyrrus told about the noise or rather the music, which was played at the highest volume to scare away the predators. That had apparently succeeded, because the beasts remained hidden in the forest.

Pyrrus didn’t want to get acquainted with the rest of the wildlife of the planet. The wing width of the giant insect of up to a hundred inches was more than enough to scare even a brave man. The insect had been almost too frightening to look at. It was death personified, a monster, a perfect weapon.

The signals the insect had sent were so obvious. Its only task was to kill its opponent quickly and immediately without mercy. The ugly and wide mouth had divided the head into two parts. The serrated and pointed teeth had looked like they could tear a prey into pieces in no time. The leathery wings had been as big as sails and the claws had cut deep scratches into the flat chunks of stone the insect had been standing on.

Pyrrus told about the music and the name of the musicians, whose song had been used to scare away the wild animals.

”Okay, I understand,” Kerk commented. “The name of the planet comes from the initials Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, CSNY quite simply. But why the number?”

”Because there’s a planet number one out there somewhere,” Pyrrus guessed. ”I had no time to ask. I wanted to escape as soon as I got the chance.”

Kerk glanced at the fuel tank Pyrrus had brought with him. ”What’s that?”

”They call it a flamethrower. It’s a life-threatening thing that sprays fire.”

”Did you borrow it?”

Pyrrus shook his head. ”No, I didn’t have time to ask.” He suddenly suffered from remorse but was able to repress the feeling. ”It just lay there, so I took it. And I’m not returning it. I don’t want to visit that planet ever again.”

“What about the colony members,” Kerk asked. “Did you get to know them? I noticed the beautiful woman, who rescued you. Who was she?”

“I didn’t want to get to know them,” Pyrrus answered with bowed head. His conscious bothered him a bit. “And they showed no interest in me. I offered the woman the possibility to escape in our ship, but she flatly refused. She was even annoyed by the whole idea, so I thought no more of it.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Anyway I don’t want to think about it. Let’s find another planet and a habitable one this time.”  

Kerk nodded, but his thoughts lingered a while on the beautiful woman. He would have wanted to make her acquaintance. But if Pyrrus said no, it was no. Anyway the planet lived up to its name, Death Planet. It wasn’t a joke but dangerous reality.

They wouldn’t return.

But they would.

It was a fate they couldn’t escape.

Pyrrus and Kerk didn’t know at this point that the planet would become their new home planet in the galaxy. They were linked to this planet, which would later bear the name of Pyrrus. Pyrrus’ task – even mission in life – was to liberate the planet and at the same time liberate the colony.

But at the moment the two space adventurers thought about completely other things. Kerk clicked on the navigator’s three-dimensional map. He flipped swiftly to the part of the universe where they were presently situated. He found several habitable planets with colonies.

”Find a planet with a positive name this time,” Pyrrus instructed. “Preferably a planet with a pleasant climate all year round. We will have to spend one or maybe two years there. The black hole to Earth seems to be closed for a long time.”

Kerk nodded. “If we go west, we will come to Westworld in a few days. It’s a suitable name, I guess.”

”Yes, it sounds a lot better than the Death Planet anyway,” Pyrrus replied. “Enter the coordinates and I’ll switch on the autopilot. I want to rest for a while. My nerves are still shaking after the recent experience.” He shook his head. “Those cruel insects, they will give me nightmares for several months to come.”

Kerk looked at him accusingly. ”It was your decision. You thought the name Death Planet was a joke. And what a joke it was! It was about to cost us our lives.”

”We all make mistakes sometimes,” Pyrrus replied leaning back in the pilot’s chair and closing his eyes. He raised his hand when Kerk was about to say something. “A couple of hours of rest are all I ask for. Full silence, thank you!”

Kerk muttered something inaudible and clicked on the navigator again. Maybe there was valuable information about the planet they were headed for. But the only thing he found out was that the planet had been colonized almost two hundred years ago. It was in other words one of the oldest colonies in the galaxy. He got a close-up of the planet, zoomed in and examined the view at ground level. It showed mostly desert with wild trees and shrubs here and there. On the horizon something resembling oases appeared. The planet also had an ocean and several lakes. He flipped through the information with his fingertips. Near the lakes there was lots of green grass where cattle grazed. It was a typical settler society, which provided other colonies with food. Ranch buildings appeared on the satellite image at regular intervals. The lands seemed to be divided between the ranches. Maybe the ranches were jointly owned and run by employed foremen and workers called cowhands? Kerk had heard of similar colonies before.

He quickly ran his finger over the satellite image approaching a city. It was actually a village with as it looked dusty streets and simple wooden buildings. He ran his finger down one street and swung the image around in different directions. There was a restaurant, a bar, a hotel and a sheriff’s office with a prison. The city was called North. It was a typical cattle town.

Kerk licked his lips. The prison the town folks could keep for themselves, but the restaurant and hotel looked attractive. And the bar. It has been a long time since I have had a strong drink, Kerk thought. The spaceship storage room had none of that. Pyrrus was an absolutist. What a fool! But above all else Kerk saw in front of him the giant steak he was going to order.

Close to North town there was a landing place for spaceships. It seemed to be in frequent use. This pointed to an open-minded and dynamic society, a symbiosis of new and old. The best of both worlds. The inhabitants were probably humble and peaceful people friendly to foreign visitors, because they were dependent on them.

Kerk flipped through the data on the planet. There were ten more cities on the planet. The planet was divided into two countries, the border of which consisted of a long and wide river. Kerk found no bridges but quickly noticed two ferry crossings, which connected the two countries with each other.

The southern country seemed to be more of a desert region with high mountain ranges, which divided the landscape. But here and there were also green pockets mainly around small lakes and streams. But mostly there was sand, a lot of sand. Kerk assumed that dangerous sandstorms occasionally occurred. But now the satellite image showed a somewhat wild but beautiful area.

He ran his finger over the navigator and came to a large city. A sign outside the city read in two languages ​​”Welcome to Ortiz”. One was the universal language spoken in all the colonies. But the other seemed to be a mix of Spanish and Chinese. It said ‘Bienvenida’ added with strange signs.

It looked as if only poor people lived in Ortiz. The houses were simple and the restaurants, hotels and shops didn’t look that inviting. The signs often hung at an angle and swayed in the wind. Ortiz was clearly not as attractive as the other city on the north side of the river. But Ortiz had at least a proper name, Kerk thought. Ortiz sounded significantly better than North. He decided to visit Ortiz at some point.

He found no information about either the governing body or about the colony leader. But that didn’t concern Kerk that much. He only wanted to order a steak now and then. And he would get a temporary job. In a cattle town there was always a need for temporary labor. He glanced at the sleeping Pyrrus. Pyrrus had to decide for himself how he would spend his stay of one or two years. Pyrrus enjoyed playing cards. Maybe there was a poker gang regularly gathering at the bar? Kerk suddenly felt thirsty. He wanted something stronger than water. On Neodymium alcohol had been banned, but there had been access to moonshine now and then. Pyrrus as a leader had, however, eagerly tried to stop all attempts to distill spirits.

The dutiful Pyrrus?

No, the joy-killer.

Anyway, those days were over now.

Pyrrus had told Kerk that he was about to seek a different direction in life. Pyrrus was to become a New Messiah on Earth. Kerk didn’t give much for that prediction.

But it would turn out that he was wrong.

Cattle thieves

They had been up in the mountains for four weeks. Pyrrus and Kerk already hated the job. But it was well paid and they needed the money, because they would spend at least a year on the planet. The cold wind picked up speed from the snow-capped peaks down to the deep valleys and went through marrow and bone. The cows and bulls didn’t seem to care about the ice cold wind, but Pyrrus and Kerk froze constantly when they were out guarding the cattle.

”This planet should be called Iceworld and not Westworld,” Kerk stated one day as his teeth chattered from the cold more than usual.

Pyrrus nodded. ”At least we earn our pay,” he commented pulling his jacket tighter around him. On this day the icy wind blew harder than before. But they had also occasionally enjoyed warm days, when the sun spread its yellow rays all the way down to the valley and cast the rays glimmering on the steep cliff walls. But right now it felt like they had not seen the sun in a very long time.

That night, when they went to bed in the modest cottage, Kerk said: ”This is a monotonous life. I’m tired of this shack.” He knocked on the wall as if to silence the stubborn wind outside.

The cottage didn’t care about the wind although the wind howled and tore and tore at the roof. The cabin was firmly built, but the stove was not enough to heat the whole inside area. Therefore they had pulled the two beds closer to the stove to get at least that much heat that they had time to fall asleep before the insidious night cold struck.

”Yes, a planet with that many green valleys and plains should have a warmer climate than this,” Pyrrus replied and put on an extra shirt. His hands got stuck in his sleeves and for a while he looked like a ghost trying to scare away intruders. ”Luckily Kloss gave us extra clothes anyway.”

Kloss was the cook of the Bossom ranch. He had distributed necessities to them for the six-month stay in the mountains. Their task was to make sure that the cattle became thick and fat during that time. And then push the herd back, when the contract period ended.

”Five months left in this miserable cottage,” Kerk stated gloomily looking around the ascetic room. The cottage consisted of only one room with a small kitchenette with dishes hanging on the wall, a square table with three chairs and two beds. ”I think they have better furniture in the prison cells in North town.”

”Yes, but this is an easy job,” Pyrrus stated. “The cows mostly take care of themselves and I have time to meditate.”

Pyrrus practiced daily to refine the new doctrine he was to spread on Earth. He would become the new Messiah, the new prophet, whom the people of the Earth didn’t yet know they longed for.

”To me this is just boring,” Kerk replied. ”I think I will go on an excursion in a few days, to the south, where it’s hopefully warmer than here. You don’t mind that, do you?”

”Yes, I do mind,” Pyrrus replied. “It’s forbidden. We have orders to stay here with the cattle. You can’t run away yet. But in five months you can travel wherever you want. Ride around the entire planet if you wish. But you hardly have time for that. Earth is waiting. You do remember that, don’t you?”

”Okay, I remember our agreement,” Kerk replied with deep disappointment in his voice. “And I guess I signed the contract with the Bossom ranch and will have to keep it. By the way, how far have you come with the new doctrine? Neo, was that what it was called?”

Pyrrus nodded. ”Yes, the basic texts are already written. They only need to be checked and improved. There is a printing house in town, where we landed. I will have the book printed there, the first part of it. What do you think? You have already read the introduction.”

Kerk looked awkwardly down at the floor and mumbled something inaudible.

”What was that?” Pyrrus asked.

Kerk cleared his throat and thought desperately of something to say. “Well ... the text is interesting, if you like that kind of philosophy, that is.”

”But you don’t like it?”

Kerk shrugged. “I’m only a simple mechanic. I have never showed that much interest in other people’s ideas and thoughts.”

Pyrrus sighed deeply but ended with a positive tone. ”I guess I have time to work on you. Another five months in this isolation and harsh climate and you will throw yourself over my texts in the end.”

Kerk shuddered at the thought, but guessed that Pyrrus was right. It was just that he was not used to reading philosophical texts. They were difficult to digest. Maybe if Pyrrus would lighten the tone a bit. Kerk decided to simplify the texts while reading them. He didn’t know how Pyrrus would react to the changes, but if the language became easier to understand he should have no objection.

Pyrrus blew out the candle. ”Time to sleep. We have about ten bulls that have deviated from the herd and are on their way to the southern valley. We pick them up early in the morning, before they disappear for good.”

Kerk sighed. ”I guess we have to. The foreman threatened to deduct the salary for every bull we lose.”

”It was probably an empty threat. Why should we be held accountable for every cattle that gets lost? There are no fences here.” Pyrrus shook his head slightly. ”That would be unfair.” He hit the cushion to soften it. A fine cloud of dust flew up into the air and landed on the bed frame. Pyrrus ran his finger over the frame and dropped the dust on the floor. ”We should clean up tomorrow. It’s starting to get dusty.”

Kerk muttered something inaudible.

Pyrrus wished him good night.

”Sleep well,” muttered Kerk already half asleep.

But it became a troubled night. Kerk was the first to wake up. What was that? The cows roared more than usual.

Kerk kicked Pyrrus and woke him up. Pyrrus stared questioning at Kerk in the dark.

”I think we have company,” Kerk whispered pointing to the door.

They heard slow footsteps outside the cottage and someone was now approaching the door. Pyrrus and Kerk groped for the laser pistols they had received from the foreman of the Bossom ranch. They had not used them before, but maybe it was time now. The steps got closer and closer and Pyrrus and Kerk both aimed at the door. But no one opened the door, they only saw a glimpse of a sombrero in the window and then the steps disappeared running down to the valley.

”Who was that?” Kerk asked.

”I don’t know, but considering the sombrero I think it’s thieves from the south. The foreman warned us about them. They usually steal cattle in this area.”

”Bad luck,” Kerk said. ”For them, I mean. We should stop them, right?”

”Of course.”

They quickly got dressed and opened the door wide open. They saw no thieves nearby. But further down the valley the cattle roared wildly and clearly indicated that something unusual was happening.

”I saddle the horses while you sneak up to the edge over there and take a look,” Pyrrus said. ”I want to know in which direction they are riding.”

Kerk nodded and climbed up to the edge of the mountain. From there he had a view of the whole valley. Five shadows far down there gathered the little flock that had been deviated from the rest of the cattle. The bulls went south. The thieves all wore wide-brimmed hats and blankets thrown over their shoulders. Typical clothes of people from the south, Kerk thought.

Kerk went down to Pyrrus, who was waiting with the horses ready. Kerk told what he had seen. ”They are on their way into the southern valley. We can catch them easily down there.”

”Why do they go into the southern valley,” Pyrrus wondered. ”Don’t they know that it’s a dead end?”

Kerk shrugged. “Who said criminals are intelligent? It’s rather the opposite.”

”Come on, we’ll follow them from a distance,” Pyrrus said jumping up in the saddle.

They followed the tracks and hid in a grove, where the two valleys branched out towards the plain below. A ten yard wide ravine was the only way out on the plain, if you were not keen on climbing over the mountains of course.

”Why didn’t they choose the gorge,” Pyrrus wondered. ”They must have come that way.”

”Maybe they got lost in the dark?”

”It’s not that damn dark. I can clearly see the ravine even at this distance.”

Kerk shrugged again. ”Maybe they are nervous?”

Pyrrus nodded thoughtfully. After a while they heard cattle moving in their direction again. Five men with sombreros drove the bulls forward but now through the ravine out towards the plain.

”Shall we shoot them now?” Kerk asked.

”No, wait a minute; I want to know where they’re going. Maybe they have other companions nearby, who plan to take the rest of the herd. We follow them for a while. Keep your eyes open!”

No one noticed as they followed the thieves from a long distance. They rode for about half an hour. In the middle of the plain the cattle thieves paused and started a fire.

”Who makes a fire in the middle of the plain, where they can be seen miles around,” Pyrrus wondered.

The thieves each lit a cigarette. The glow from the cigarettes shone as small dots against the black night sky. The bulls continued their journey across the plain. The thieves didn’t seem to take any notice.

Kerk poked Pyrrus in the side. ”Look the bulls are leaving. These guys are not really wise!”

”No, it’s best we save these thieves from themselves,” Pyrrus said. “And pick up our bulls, before they reach the Bossom ranch. It would be difficult to explain that to the foreman.”

They spurred the horses and took the cattle thieves by surprise. The culprits didn’t even have time to lift their rifles.

”Don’t shoot,” whined the tallest of the five thieves stretching his hands high in the air. ”Please, don’t shoot! Thank you, gringos.”

Pyrrus noticed the five thieves were all Chicanos from the south. Scared and confused. They had taken on something they couldn’t handle.

The other four thieves followed the example of their leader. They were not as talkative; they only looked with respect at the newcomers, the tall riders, whose clothes seemed too small for them. Swelling arm muscles filled the jacket of the tallest of them. The one who was a head shorter had an equally impressive physique. He had an Iroquois hairstyle.

The Chicano thieves were impressed. The sudden encounter made them completely speechless. They knew they had met their superiority already from the fact that the tall riders were almost twice their size.

”Senor, por favor, we don’t want any harm,” the tallest Chicano said. “We only borrowed the cows for a while. We thought of returning them later.” His teeth gleamed, a metal filling of some kind. But then Kerk noticed that all the teeth glimmered in the same way. The man had apparently replaced all his teeth with implants. The implants seemed to be poorly inserted because the teeth pointed in different directions. The clothes the Chicano thief wore hung in rags and his hat and blanket had also seen better days. The other thieves were, if possible, even worse equipped.

”They are bulls, not cows,” Kerk said pointing to the bulls who continued their solitary journey across the plain. Bulls have horns.” He turned to Pyrrus. ”What a poor bunch,” he said referring to the Chicanos.

”Please, senores,” nodded one of the thieves. He pointed to the small herd of cattle, which had now stopped and grazed calmly. ”We have taken good care of them.”

”I notice that,” Pyrrus commented dryly. ”Where are you heading with the cattle?”

“Across the river, senor, to our small village. Our children are starving. They have not had food for several weeks.”

”Why?” Pyrrus asked.

”Garcia stole our harvest and when we planted new plants, captain Xaoping and his men came and let their horses trample down the crops. Now we have no food for the winter. We are desperate, senores.”

The other thieves agreed with the words of the leader. ”Madre mia,” said one Chicano making the sign of the cross.

”Who are Garcia and Xaoping?” Pyrrus asked. He had not yet dismounted and the laser gun was still aimed straight at the thieves. But he knew he wouldn’t shoot. This was only a bunch of poor dirt farmers. They were miserable people living in the wrong country on the wrong side of the river.

”Senor, Jesus Garcia is the boss in our country and captain Xaoping is…well he is captain,” the tall thief replied. “Garcia owns all the land and we get a little money every now and then, when we work in his fields. But that is not enough and we have little time to take care of our own farms. And we also rent our farms from Garcia at a hefty price.”

One of the thieves spat on the ground and shouted in a voice full of anger and contempt: ”Bloodsuckers.”

The Chicano leader shrugged helplessly. ”It has always been like that in our country. South is bewitched. It has always suffered from bad luck. You must have heard that, senores?”

Pyrrus shook his head. ”No, we are newcomers here. We are only responsible for this herd, which you tried to steal.”

”No senores, we just borrowed them!”

Pyrrus shook his head again in despair.

”Why don’t you get rid of the bloodsucker?” Kerk asked. He sympathized with the miserable thieves in front of him.

”We can’t fight, senores.” The tall Chicano showed them his rifle. ”Our rifles have not worked for a long time. They are of no use.”

”It looks like you’ve been unlucky,” Pyrrus stated. ”And your bad luck continues, we’re taking the cattle back now.” He raised a warning finger. ”And don’t try to steal again. You leave now, you hear. Understood!”

The thieves nodded resignedly. The tallest of them said: “We have not borrowed cattle before. It’s just that this time we saw no other way out. Forgive us, senores. We will not repeat the mistake.”

It was probably a blatant lie, but Pyrrus accepted the explanation. ”Okay then, let’s forget this.”

”By the way how were you going to take the bulls across the river?” Kerk asked curiously.

”We were of course going to let them swim to the other side, senores.”

”Don’t you know that the currents are extremely strong at this time of year,” Kerk said. ”The bulls would all drown. Was that how you came over here, swimming?”

”No, senor, we took the ferry a bit further up. The ferryman is polite and lets us pass for free. He knows we have no money.”

”So, you have found a decent ferryman. We will visit him at some point and put an end to the illegal traffic.”

”No, senor, por favor, he’s a kind man. We don’t want him to get into trouble.”

”Okay, get going now,” Pyrrus said already tired of the sad bunch in front of him.

Kerk looked at Pyrrus. ”Can’t we give them three bulls? I mean, think of the starving kids.”

”We may end up paying for missing livestock,” Pyrrus objected.

”Yes, but we can afford it. Think of the poor children!”

Pyrrus caught the eye of the Chicano leader. ”Okay, you can take three bulls. And take them across the river on the ferry. Forget about the swimming. That’s dangerous. Comprende?”

The leader’s face lighted up in a smile. ”Gracias, senores, you will always be in our prayers.”

”Are you a believer,” Pyrrus asked. He was interested in all beliefs as he intended to borrow features from them for his own new doctrine and new religion, Neo.

”Of course, senor. Everyone in our village is an Amine. We worship Saint Ami, who died for our sins. He was stoned to death many generations ago.”

”On this planet?”

”No, on Earth. Our ancestors have told us about this. There is also a scripture that tells the story of Ami and his teachings. He walked everywhere on Earth and had many disciples. But the rulers didn’t like him. They said he was a…,” the Chicano struggled with the words, “…an instigator of rebellion, and had him stoned to death.” The Chicano waved with his hand. “That happened many centuries ago.  But the words of Ami follow us everywhere. The prophet is our constant companion. Especially in these wicked times his teachings give us comfort and teach us to endure the trials of life.”

”I would like to read his writing,” Pyrrus said eagerly.

The leader took a worn print out of his pocket. It was really just a bunch of torn pages. The corners were angular and the pages had turned yellow. ”You can have these senor, if you want. I always carry the text with me.”

Pyrrus gratefully accepted the yellowed pages. “Thank you, I will only borrow the scripture and return it to you later, if you tell me where you live.”

“Oh, it’s a small village maybe fourteen miles from the river. Follow the road from the northern ferry crossing and then turn right when you reach the first exit. You can’t go wrong. The village is called Xao.” The leader suddenly lowered his gaze as if he remembered something embarrassing. ”Originally it was called Alvarado, after the village’s founder, but captain Xaoping forced us to change the name. He has renamed many villages in the area. The old Chicano names are no longer considered good enough.”

”That’s a shame to hear,” Pyrrus said. “I like traditional names. It gives character to a place. Or what do you say my long-time friend?” Pyrrus pointed at Kerk. ”By the way my name is Pyrrus and this is Kerk.”

Kerk greeted with a short nod.

Pyrrus raised his hand. ”Goodbye my friends. We will visit you in a few months to return the scripture.” Pyrrus waved the loose pages in his hand. Then he and Kerk separated the three fattest bulls from the herd and handed them over to the Chicanos. The rest of the herd Pyrrus and Kerk drove back to the valley.

The Chicanos continued happily their way.

” You can actually be nice when you make an effort,” Kerk said later as they sat in the cottage again over a hot cup of herbal tea.

Pyrrus flipped through the loose pages he had received and pretended not to listen. Some pages were missing and there were also gaps here and there in the existing text. But with a little good will and imagination he would probably get a grip of the doctrine. Maybe he could borrow something from the pages. All prophets did that. They presented a mix of old and new. It was also what ordinary people wanted to hear. Something that felt comfortable and reminiscent of old times.

”What do you think of that Xaoping,” Kerk asked. ”And Garcia?”

“Unpleasant villains,” Pyrrus said. “Not the kind we team up with. But they don’t concern us. We have an important mission on Earth. As soon as the black hole opens up we leave. We have enough of our own worries.”

”Sure,” Kerk agreed. ”I was just thinking.”

”Enough thinking,” Pyrrus replied and blew out the candle for the second time that night. ”We have a hard day ahead of us tomorrow. We’ll build a fence outside the gorge. That should keep the thieves away in the future.”

Kerk nodded. ”Yes, if they are as stupid as the previous ones, they will stumble over the fence and beat themselves unconscious before they get as far as stealing.”

”Good night!”

”Sleep well!”

While Pyrrus and Kerk slept the Chicanos still had a long way to go. The wind grabbed their rags and blew dust into their eyes. But persistently they drove the three bulls ahead of them.

”They were friendly amigos,” one of the Chicanos said.

”Yes and there are still many cattle in the valley,” the other said.

”Not tonight,” said their leader. ”We will not test our luck again. Let’s be content with what we have. But maybe another day?” He looked up at the dark blue sky and thought of the fat cattle in the valley. The one who owned such large herds was wealthy and probably didn’t care if a few cattle got lost now and then. For example if they walked over to the south side. Who could stop that? No one could predict what the future would bring.