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All characters are over the age of eighteen
Chapter Two
(Decker)
Decker was woken when a perimeter alert sounded, a small beeping noise. He looked at his watch. Red lines flashed. The briken pen. Falling back, he sighed. "You big fucker," he muttered, rolling and getting to his feet. He walked to stand over the ranch security page on his console. Calling up the schematic, he frowned, enhancing the image. There was nothing wrong with the fences. The alert still beeped.
Something could have gotten into the pen from outside. Something that could climb a fence. Maybe it was a briken rustler. He huffed a laugh, deep in the room, and reached for his jeans. He was awake now anyway. He had the sat-reader. He'd know if Bane and the herd were close. But just to be safe, because it was Bane he'd have to deal with if he had to go into the enclosure, he squatted and got the locker from under his bed.
There wasn't too much energy one could put toward one's own survival. Taking risks should be strategic and planned. It was how he'd stayed alive, the life he'd lived. Putting in the combination, he grabbed a percussion grenade. The colonists had wiped out most of the brikens of Sur with these, disorienting them so they could slaughter them with cannon fire. He'd swear Bane remembered all of it and held it against Decker personally.
The horse tossed his head, not happy about being woken up. Decker looked down at his sat-reader. The briken herd wasn't far. The reader began giving him more clear information as he approached the briken enclosure, a jolt going through him when he saw the figure on the readout.
There was actually a person in the briken enclosure. It wasn't Coby. Decker knew that. A hot ball began to grow in Decker's chest. If some bastard messed with his brikens, Decker would bury him. He'd feed him to Bane alive.
Everything was quiet. He swept the field. Sure enough, a person was in the distance, a figure coming toward the gate, low and walking fast, the image rendered on his screen as blurred green light.
Tension rolled across Decker's shoulders. He was going to kill this space turd. His eyes shifted from the sat-reader to the enclosure. There was a silhouette against the dawn horizon on the ridge behind the figure. Bane was vigilant. He had other brikens with him this time, how he usually ran, a hunting party of five. It looked like that big fucker was going to take care of Decker's problem for him.
On the screen, the figure looked behind himself and then straightened, abandoning stealth and breaking for the gate, running. The brikens immediately chased, being predators. On the screen, Decker measured the distance from the figure to the gate and then the distance from the brikens to the figure. On foot, he wouldn't make it. Not even close. That was fine with Decker. Sometimes natural consequences just worked. Decker watched the show, a half-smile on his mouth.
The figure cried out somewhere in front of him in the real world and Decker's grin vanished. Dropping his sat-reader, he ran for the gate, pulling it open and returning to throw himself onto the horse's back. The gate would close slowly. Before it had a chance to do so, his horse was through it, carrying Decker. They came through the opening to the enclosure at a dead run, the horse blowing. Decker got low and urged Cote faster.
That had been a woman. The brikens had surged at her fear-cry, their feet across the field a distant thunder, their hunting cries floating over.
One of them screamed. Bane had seen Decker.
She was still ahead, a shadow against the lightening sky. Decker was finally to her. A woman, yes. No mistaking the tits as she ran. He blew past her and got Cote turned around. His horse agreed with this idea, running fast as Decker arrived at her side and leaned. She was still fleeing, looking back at him. He lowered his hand as she sensibly reached up for his, given what was not far behind them. Grasping her forearm, he pulled a very naked wiggling woman with wild hair and a beautiful ass onto the horse across his lap.
Behind them, the five broke into their charging gait, a briken attack. Bane was coming for him. In no time, the horse was lathered and panting. Decker was a large man and Cote was carrying two people. The briken were fast once they got going. Decker looked back. They'd make it, sure, but he didn't want to be dodging Bane while he was trying to get the gate open and the woman through. Time to change tactics.
Slowing the horse, who didn't want to slow, the animal tossing his head, Decker turned him in a tight circle and dropped her. She lost her balance and sat down under his horse's feet.
"No," she cried like he was going to leave her there to get eaten while he escaped.
He wasn't going to do that. Well, not while he still had other options. Decker landed on his feet beside her, grabbing her arm and hauling her up. "Hold still."
But she was as bad as his horse, her eyes fixed on the charging briken and her flight response sending her in the other direction regardless if she could escape or not. She began struggling as he tried to catch the horse's reins. He kept hold of her, but the fucking horse evaded him, backing up and then bolting for the closed gate, voicing a brief trumpet of fear.
There went their ride. "Stop fighting me, dammit," he spat at her.
She didn't even glance at him, crying out again as the brikens came at full speed, their grunts and hoots. Decker put her in front of him where he could see her. Brikens liked to snatch, and he wanted to bring her home if he could. She was a prize. He reached into his duster and pulled out the percussive grenade. Brikens really didn't like these. It messed with their ears. He would pull the pin and toss it and they would scatter and keep going, giving him and the woman enough time to get to the gate and through it safely. Hopefully, since he didn't have a horse anymore.
"Get ready to run," he yelled at her, the thudding hooves of the brikens becoming impossibly loud, the ground shaking. He waited and then put his hand on the pin, releasing his breath and timing it as two brikens reached them and parted.
The smell of them, like incense, alien and compelling, rolled over him. Their great sides were heaving, and if he had stretched out his hands, he could have touched them on either side. A third went by, being Bane, and then a fourth, and a fifth on the other side.
His fingers were still on the pin, un-pulled. They had nothing in front of them. Decker turned them around, both of them in the same position. The brikens were now between them and the gate. He realized Bane wasn't taking any chances. He was an intelligent animal and Decker had escaped him too many times.
Five brikens turned in a tight arc and came back toward them. They slowed to their awkward swaying walk and then they stopped not far, going still, a solid line. Quiet descended except for their blowing, the animals winded.
