Part 5

  Carlo rode atop a tall fathier towards the mountains near Utopia. The Czerka slugthrower rifle was slung across his back and he was wearing the hooded cloak that he’d found in the desert. A hunting knife —also borrowed from the old man, Walt— was tucked in his belt at his waist. Of course the lightsaber was concealed in a pocket inside the cloak. He’d just not been comfortable leaving it behind.

  The old prospector had given him a single shooting lesson with the Czerka. Unfortunately, they had only the few slugs in the box the old man had squirreled away in his cabinet. His lessons had ended after three shots. At least the last one had been close enough to the old water can they’d used as a target to knock it over. Walt had declared that if he hit that close to a mountain sheep, it would be close enough.

  Carlo remained skeptical but his desire to repay Lucy for her kindness and to help feed the other members of the community spurred him onward even toward a seemingly impossible task. A task like hunting in unfamiliar territory, using an unfamiliar weapon, all while riding an unfamiliar and unpredictable beast. It was fair to say he had a bad feeling about this.

  Anga, the old woman who also lived in the community, had lent Carlo the fathier. It was a large, tall four legged creature with large ears and a curious smell. Anga had rescued this particular specimen from an off-worlder she’d met in Eden, the next village around the mountain. Apparently the beast was too old and slow to be competitive in the races, a popular pastime in Eden. She’d assured Carlo that the animal was docile but she did warn him to secure the fathier before shooting as it might startle easily.

  Walt and Anga had directed Carlo to take the main road until it forked off toward the town of Eden and up towards the mountain peaks. That had been easy enough. He was now on the smaller trail heading toward the peaks. It was still early in the day. He’d noticed that it was cooler as he approached the peaks. He also took note of some similarities to the terrain he was used to hunting in the north near his village. They had mountain sheep there as well. Maybe this would not be as difficult in spite of everything.

  The trial climbed higher and the scrub bushes of the high desert gave way to coniferous trees. Finally Carlo reached a series of sheer cliffs, perfect for finding the mountain sheep, if they kept true to the form of their northern cousins.

  It was nearly midday when Carlo reached the cliffs. He stopped and dismounted.

  Finding a stout tree, he tied a lead line from the fathier’s halter to it.

  He sat in the shade and took in the scenery. It did remind him of the hills above his home village. A cool breeze blew in and Carlo allowed his eyes to close. The fathier snuffled. The branches moved gently. Carlo could feel the peace.

  And then his eyes snapped open! Sheep! His head whipped around toward the cliffs and his gaze fell on a small herd leaving the shelter of the trees and starting up toward the cliff face. They were not that far, clearly within range of the Czerka if old Walt was correct in his assessment of the rifle.

  Carlo moved from a sitting position to kneeling and pulled the Czerka from his back, shouldering it with a smooth motion. He opened the breech and loaded a slug from a pouch at his waist.

  As an experienced hunter Carlo was able to keep his excitement and breathing under control. Reflexively he calmed his mind and his emotions. Knowing that he had limited ammunition gave him the desire not to be particularly wasteful. He needed to make every effort to make the shot count. He picked one of the larger sheep and placed the Czerka’s sights in the center of the target just as Walt had taught him.

  Carlo waited until he believed the sheep was in the best position. He squeezed the Czerka’s trigger just as the old man had instructed.

  Carlo was unprepared for the report of the rifle. The crack split the peaceful quiet like a lightning bolt hurled by the gods themselves.

  Several things happened at once: the fathier bucked at the noise, snapping the lead line, the mountain sheep scattered, and Carlo had to throw himself out of the way of the fathier.

  His mount —frightened at the noise— bolted. Carlo could do nothing but watch it disappear into the woods.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  He shook his head and laughed at the almost comical moment.

  Carlo recovered himself and stood up. He slung the rifle back across his back and removed a pair of macrobinoculars from his pack. He scanned the base of the cliff for his quarry. He saw nothing but he was fairly certain he’d been on target. He made the decision to check up close before attempting to track the fathier.

  Carlo made his way to the cliff face and sure enough, there was a sheep there; a clean humane kill.

  Carlo set his equipment aside and efficiently, with the skill of the practiced hunter that he was, cleaned the animal.

  Carlo stood back for a moment. He still had to transport the animal home and since the fathier was long gone, Carlo needed to improvise. The community needed the food and he wasn’t about to leave it behind even if it meant carrying it himself.

  He needed a pair of long poles to make a travois. There were plenty of trees around, but he’d have to trim them and cut them to the proper length.

  The lightsaber! It was still in the pocket of the cloak. He pulled it from its hiding place and it leapt to life.

  With the saber it took only a few minutes to cut a pair of long, stout branches. He used them and some cordage from his pack to fashion the travois.

  After a few minutes' rest, Carlo shouldered the point of the travois and he headed back down the mountain. The trail was easily located and it was wide enough to allow passage for both Carlo and his cargo.

  He kept his eyes open for the fathier but there was no sign of the big beast at all. It took a good deal of time to make it to the fork. Carlo stopped to rest at that point. He sat next to the sheep and took a drink from his water bottle. He was amused by the erent thought that only a couple of days earlier he was suffering from the lack of the previous fluid.

  Carlo picked himself up, arranged the travois behind him and continued on down the road toward the community. It took the rest of the afternoon and the sun was sinking low when he arrived.

  VP16 was outside crossing the center when he took notice of Carlo and his heavy load. “Master Carlo! Allow me.” The droid took over the load.

  Walt, the old prospector, heard the droid and immediately came out from his apartment riding his hover chair. An immense smile lit up his grizzled face. “Hot damn, lad! You did it! Meat!” He steered his chair past Anga’s place and beat his fist on her door. “Anga! The lad’s come back with meat!”

  Anga burst out and fell in with Walt congratulating the young hunter. “Thank the Force!”

  Walt screwed his face into a snarl. “‘Twasn’t the Force, ya ol’ biddy! It was Carlo!”

  By the time Lucy returned from the mercantile they had the remains of the sheep were strung up in VP16’s shed and portions of the meat were roasting in nearly every one of the community’s ovens.

  Carlo and Walt were chatting outside with Anga about the missing fathier as Lucy walked up. She immediately caught the smell of the roasting meat in the air.

  “What’s going on?” she inquired.

  Walt slapped Carlo on the back with affection, “You’re lad’s quite the hunter. Was up the mountain for half a day and brought us meat!”

  “Meat?”

  “A mountain sheep,” Anga supplied. “You didn’t happen to see my fathier on you way home?”

  Lucy shook her head, “No, I didn't.” She looked at Carlo. “A mountain sheep?”

  “I was lucky. But I lost the fathier.”

  Lucy just laughed and pointed behind him. Anga, Carlo, and Walt laughed as well when they saw the missing fathier lumbering into the square.

  *****

  Carlo stepped out of the apartment into the early morning sun which was just now creeping up over the shabby building.

  His belly was full. The community had eaten late into the night. There had been enough for all and Carlo had been the guest of honor. He was just as grateful for their help. If Lucy and VP16 hadn’t taken him in, Carlo was sure he’d be dead.

  He took a breath and for a moment relished the solitude. There was a slight breeze. It was warm. It would be very hot later but now it was just right.

  Carlo walked to the back of the building where Lucy had planted her tiny garden. He’d watched the way she’d tended the plants the day before and he resolved to help out in some small way.

  He retrieved the rusty water can and filled it from the spigot. He stepped to the row of pepper plants and knelt on the dry, cracked earth. There were a few weeds which he carefully pulled. He poured a small amount of the water at the base of each of the plants.

  When he reached the last plant he saw that one of the peppers hanging from the plant was ripe. He reached down to remove it from the plant and saw a beetle crawling over an adjacent leaf.

  His hand froze. The sound left the world and all fell silent. It was almost like at the cliffs, right before he’d seen the sheep.

  The hungry beetle scurried down the stalk of the plant and onto the ground. As it went Carlo could feel the texture of the leaf, the smoothness of the stalk as though the beetle’s senses were his own.

  As the beetle reached the ground it turned and faced the giant Carlo. It stopped and they each seemed to consider the other.

  Carlo’s vision blurred and then, when it cleared, he found himself looking up at: himself. The pepper plant at his side stretched into the sky. The ground was hard and packed beneath him.

  He was the beetle.

  The beetle was him.

  His head swam suddenly, the realization disoriented him. His vision blurred and then, Carlo was himself again.

  The beetle scurried away.

  But the connection, he could still feel it, a wispy filamentous concatenation.

  It wasn’t just the beetle though. He could feel a link with the pepper plant as well. In fact, he found he could intuit that same connection between the plant and the beetle.

  It was exhilarating and yet peaceful simultaneously. He recognized the feeling as if he’d known it from the moment he’d known his own existence.

  It was the Force