{2}Chapter 5 Paul Masters felt the fine stinging sensation of the suit’s Auto Doc administering drugs and injecting tissue and medical repair Nanites into his back. He tasted blood in his mouth and opened his eyes. He lay sprawled on the vegetation covered ground of Green Hell. He saw the wrecked skimmer not far away, a smoking and twisted wreck. Then he saw something he had never wanted to see up close, hundreds of Dragon Ants crawling over the faceplate of his helmet. The suit must have automatically sealed itself and that was why he was still able to open his eyes. Would the suit hold long enough for help to arrive? His next thought was about Helen, “Suit can you connect me to Helen Masters?”
“Helen Masters is trying to call you, Sir. I will connect.” He heard the voice of his wife, “Thank heaven the Auto Doc was able to stabilize you.” Her voice, for the first time in years, reflected real emotions and he knew she still cared for him, on a level other than just being a good researcher and assistant. He cleared his throat and said, “What happened? Are you alright?” He could not move his head for some reason and still watched the Ants with their scary mandibles trying to bite through the transparent metal of the now rigid helmet. She said, “I am stuck to my waist in a mud bog and a Burrow Digger is trying to chew my leg off. As long as I have Suit energy I think I will be all right. You have a broken back and the Auto Doc immobilized most of your muscles so you don't move and kill yourself doing it. Mortimer is alright too, he is nursing broken legs and a few bruises.” The voice of Dr. Evans came on, angry and annoyed, “It was your foolishness that got us in this mess. We will all die here! I can see the Ants are already making progress on your suit and I am stuck in a Trappers palm with Buzz Saws swarming all over me.” Martha did not sound too confident as she said, “I called for help, but there are no Marines in town at the moment. I was told that they left for Harper's Junction for some RR. They are alerted and will come back, but it will take a while. Paul watched as a small stream of Ant acid begun to eat into the transparent metal of his folding helmet. There were hundreds of them and eventually they would get through. In all this he somehow remembered his own words to Roy, when he called the marines ‘dumb brutes’. He wondered what he should say to his wife before they died. He was afraid of dying, but it was the drugs that kept him pain free and immobilized that made him somewhat lethargic. Paul heard Martha say, “I don't believe it...” Before he could even ask her, he heard a new deep voice, “Not to worry, I’ll have you out of here in no time!” Paul could see a man wearing a much lighter combat suit without a helmet, he was tall and dark skinned and with him were two tremendous looking war machines. Roy's father of course recognized Charles the robot as one of them, so the other must have been Henry, the other Cerberus on this world. Charles bathed Paul in a bright ultraviolet light that scanned all over his suited body and then the robot picked him up, despite the 3 ton armor suit and said with his warm voice, “Master Paul, one has destroyed the ants that infested your suit. One will fly you to the city for medical attention. Henry will assist Mistress Martha and the third person. The man who Roy called Uncle Sam grinned and said, “I came as fast as I could when I heard about the accident. There is nothing faster on this planet than a Cerberus doing a ballistic jump. So don't worry, we’ll be in space only for a few seconds and you’ll be at the hospital in no time.” Martha watched as the impulse jets in the robot’s legs glowed sun bright and air, heated to a million degrees by hot energy plasma, burned, charred and blasted the ground. Charles disappeared into the sky like a rocket with her husband in his arms, his aggressive Trans Dim Battle shields punching a hole through the foliage of the trees and everything else that might have been in the way. She could hear the loud boom as Charles broke the sound barrier a heartbeat later. Martha was pulled out of the muck by the other robot with one of its arms while another arm grew meter long razor claws out of its fist’s knuckles and cut the burrow digger away from her with machine speed and precision. Military hardware she despised, soldiers she thought of as mindless, lesser beings that now rescued her and her husband.
***
Hovering only four meters above the water surface, facing the rocks, the front hatch opened and Ranger Solomon climbed out and stood on the bow of the tank, his fists stemmed into his sides and looking over them with unveiled disbelief and amazement on his face, “I don't believe what I see with my own eyes!”
His hand darted to his service weapon as he saw the big spider rearing up behind his son and he screamed, “Son, duck there is a Moolax behind you! I have to shoot!”
Bob spread his arms, “If you want to shoot my Wobbler you have to shoot through me, Dad!”
The Ranger slowly lowered his gun and after a long moment he said, “It is true, I didn't really believe it but it is true! I knew you guys went outside, but … but you are out here completely without armor suits! And now I see you play with … with life forms no one has ever survived seeing close up!”
“Armor suits are stupid and for Off-Worlders!” said Norm, repeating the words all kids used a lot when talking among themselves. Then he pointed with his chin towards the lake and said, “Zisch's Mom is watching over us better than a Platoon of Marines could!”
The ranger noticed the big snake slowly coming closer, clearly alerted and ready to strike, “Good Lord!” He shook visibly and knew even his powerful side-arm would do him no good if the snake had tried to kill him. It would have been too late to try to get back inside the tank. If the snake spat fire, or used her thorns, he would be dead long before he managed to get inside. He finally found words, “The snake is protecting you?”
Norm looked very proud and his voice was confident, “Yes Sir, Mr. Ranger. We are in no danger.”
Ranger Solomon sighed and then said, “Seeing all this made me forget the reason I came in the first place,” from the corner of his eye he still watched the big snake and then he sai, “Roy, there has been an accident. The Institute floater with your parents crashed in the Emerald Shade Valley.”
Before Roy could react to this news, the Ranger raised his hands, “No reason to worry, Sam Brown was actually not far from their crash site and called in the two Cerberus he owns. He rescued your parents and Dr. Evans. They are injured and are currently at the Ant Hill Med Center.”
Roy's mouth was open and he was still gasping as he asked, “How are they?”
The Doctors say they all going to be all right, your father suffered the worst injuries but is expected to recuperate fully.”
Bob put his arm on Roy's shoulders, to make sure his friend knew he was not alone and said, “They will be fine I am sure. Let's go and visit them.”
Bob's father gave his son a scolding look, “If you guys would ensure you had your PDDs on I would not have had to come out here and could have called!”
Norm, sheepishly clicked his PDD back on and explained, speaking for all of them. “We always turn them off when we come out here, so we can't be traced.”
Melissa stepped forward, “Please Mr. Solomon don't tell my parents about Silver, they’ll take him away from me! I love Silver!”
The Ranger made an apologetic gesture and sighed, “I’m afraid I can't do that, Melissa. I am out here on official business. I kept my eyes and ears closed to the rumors that kids sneak out of the city to be outside but during the last City Council meeting, concerned parents asked me to find out if it was true.” He sighed again, looking at the sad and concerned faces of the teenagers as he continue, “I knew about Roy sneaking out sometimes, but as long as I had no evidence, I could pretend not to know much about it.” He gestured across the small group with a sweeping motion of his right arm, “but I have that evidence now right before my eyes, not that I actually believe what I am seeing.”
Melissa started crying and Maria said defiantly, “There is no law that prohibits us from being here, Sir. What business is it of the City Council? You are a Federal Authority, local council meetings neither make law nor instruct the Ranger Service what to do!”
Bob's father had, of course, known Maria since she before she could walk and knew of her brilliant mind. He replied, “While you are correct in general terms, young lady. There is a City ordinance that requires all expeditions and intended excursions outside City force fields to be registered with the Ranger Station, ever since that unfortunate stunt of those Off-Worlders a few years back. I do have to report it.”
Bob squeezed a few tears and clenched his fists, “That’s rotten, Dad! We aren't Off Worlders and we have come here for years. Not one of us has been harmed or seriously injured in all that time and I know many other kids do it too, we are not the only ones.”
“Son, I am the Ranger and I must enforce the rules. I can't make exceptions, especially not for my own son.”
Roy had almost forgotten about his parents and stood with his friends while they all stared at the law man. Bob's father felt sorry for them and smiled, “I don't have to report it right away and that gives me time to think of a way to approach this situation. You didn't break any laws and I am sure we can work things out. I will talk to your parents and I think we can convince them to change their point of view.”
Norm barked, “No one is going to take Zisch away from me or tell me I can't have him.”
Roy looked gloomy and said, “No matter what you tell my parents, nothing will make them change their minds. They don't respect anything but their stupid science colleagues and they will want to dissect our pets. Tell my parents I love them but I am a Greenie and I will never go back. I can live in the jungle and no one will ever find me there!”
Roy turned and was about to leave.
The Ranger yelled, “Don't run away Roy, please! I would have to stop you! You and my son are good friends and I have always treated you as a part of my family whenever you were with us. So please trust me.”
Roy stopped and turned back, “I respect you very much Mr. Solomon, but not even you could find me out there.”
The Ranger sighed, “Given the fact that I have received a call from you once over seventy kilometers into the Jungle, I believe you. Just give me a chance. For now you should think of your parents and go visit them and let me work out the rest.” With these words he climbed back into the pilot seat, but stopped and looked around, “I don't see any floaters, that means you all walked here!” He shook his head, still in disbelief, gave the snake and the Moolax another look and then said, “I’ll keep it quiet for now, but I expect you all to be outside Ma Swanson's Boathouse tomorrow after school, and bring your animals, too.”
Melissa sniffed, “Then you arrest us and shoot our animals when you got enough fire power and the Marines are back from R&R?”
The ranger had already reached for the hatch-closing button, but he stopped and shook his head, “Of course not. You should know me better than that and know that I keep my word. I think that if your parents see you outside walking over a considerable distance and in the company of local life forms that not only don't harm you, but have somehow bonded with you, it will change their minds. If you can demonstrate that you have some control over your animals, I will issue the first pet-owner licenses ever on Green Hell.”
It was clear to the ranger that the kids did not trust him, so he delayed his departure a few moments longer, “I give you my word, no one will shoot, capture or dissect your animals. Despite the apparent dominance of the Science Council Institute, I represent the law and that trumps it all, so please be there. I trust in you doing the right thing.”