The Whirlwind's Ride. Tom Boone's Anderson

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СКАЧАТЬ code for my fee, and get on a star transport back to Cocuru.

      This time started the same. I had my hangover and I wandered around until I was attacked. Four crocs attacked me simultaneously from four different directions. The Ride took over and managed to have my body avoid all four sets of claws and trip one of the crocs as it went by. The Ride managed to have one of my body’s hands hold on to the crocs head long enough at the proper angle to have the crocs body weight break its own neck. At the same time The Ride used the pull of the crocs head as it fell, combined with every ounce of strength and momentum my body had, concentrated into one knuckle of my body’s fist as it perfectly hit one of the rib bones of a second croc. Before The Ride could have my body deliver the fatal blow by striking one of the shards of shattered rib bone, the other two crocs shoved the injured croc out of the way and dragged him into a side corridor and out of sight.

      I couldn’t believe it. Two crocs had rescued an injured croc. Usually when a croc or crocs attack you they continue to attack you until you kill them or you are dead and they are eating you. To have two crocs realize an attack has gone wrong and to retreat taking an injured croc with them just didn’t happen.

      The next day when my hangover and I staggered back into the mine, I found the injured croc. The blood coming out of its mouth told me the croc had died of internal bleeding. While being dragged away one of the rib bone shards must have cut a major blood vessel. That meant there were two crocs left and there was no sign of them.

      The next day as my hangover and I staggered into the mine I was almost immediately attacked by both crocs simultaneously from opposite sides. The two crocs charged at me but swerved away from me at the last possible moment, never coming close enough for me to touch either one. The Ride had not begun.

      They did the same thing several more times that day. The next day was the same and the next day after that. The Ride continued to not take over each time I was attacked. The Ride seemed certain that I was in no danger. I had no such confidence. What if I had somehow used up my ability and The Ride would never come back.

      I stopped drinking. What finally drove me into the mine was my need to know if my special gift was over. I realized that my ability to have my body successfully fight anything that attacked me was the basis for my relationship with absolutely everyone I knew.

      I believed I knew what the crocs were trying to do. Somehow I found the courage to totally ignore the crocs when they attacked. I managed to ignore the crocs for four attacks. On the fifth attack the crocs didn’t swerve away. At the last possible instant The Ride took over and had my body jump out of the way as it pushed one croc into the croc charging at me from the other side. The two crocs went down together in a tangled mess.

      The Ride had my body run to the cave wall and then run as fast as my body could back at the two crocs. A fraction of a second before my body hit the two crocs, The Ride had my body jump off the ground and extend one leg with absolutely all of my body’s strength and momentum concentrated into the heel of that one foot as it perfectly hit the neck of the croc that was on top, cracking its spine and severing the croc’s spinal cord.

      The bottom croc threw off the body of the croc that was on top of him and charged me with mindless horrible fury. The Ride had my body avoid its claws and twist out of the way as my body tripped the croc and held onto the croc’s head as he fell. I heard the satisfying crack as the croc’s neck broke. The Ride left and I was in control of my body again.

      I didn’t search for grape vines this time. I took my payment code and hired a star courier transport to take me home. I just wanted to get into my own bed in my own bedroom on Cocuru. The courier transport had other business and had to drop me off on the planet Thracsis. From Thracsis I took a commercial shuttle back to Cocuru. I could not wait to get back to Cocuru. It isn’t the buildings that make a home; it’s the people waiting there that make a home. Cocuru was my home in every sense of the word.

      Usually when I was dropped off at the commercial spaceport there was someone waiting for me, usually Michael, Mildred, and Cedric. This time there was no one waiting. I called the estate and no one answered. I must have caught them at a very busy time. I was apprehensive, but not worried. Bad news travels fast. I hired a public land transport to take me back to my estate.

      I arrived in the twilight just after sunset. As I walked in the door I noticed Tim and Todd standing inside doorway to the great room. Tim and Todd were twins and two of the largest and most powerful field hands working on the estate. They were also two of the kindest, most gentle men I had ever met. It was good to be home. I walked over to them with a huge smile on my face.

      “Hello Tim, hello Todd,” I said feeling truly happy to see them.

      The expressions on their faces didn’t change as they said back to me in a monotone, “Hello Sir.”

      Todd moved around behind me and wrapped his huge arms around me pinning my arms to my sides. Tim bent over and grabbed my ankles and lifted them off the ground. The two men carried me into the great room and Tim put my feet down.

      Everyone was in the great room. All the men and women who ran my household, all my field hands, even Michael, Mildred, and Cedric were there.

      Fran, one of my housemaids and one of my favorite people in the whole world, undid my belt buckle and pulled everything down to the floor leaving me naked from the waist down. Todd hoisted me off the floor and Fran kicked my clothes away. When Todd put me down, Fran grabbed my balls and sank her fingernails deep into the soft skin around them.

      “Don’t cause any trouble Bob,” Fran said emotionlessly, “If you do I will rip your balls out and make you eat them.”

      Todd let go of me and Tim and Todd together pulled the rest of my clothes off. Then they handcuffed my wrists behind my back. Todd made a loop in the end of a rope which he put around my neck. Tim threw the other end of the rope across a hook buried in the ceiling. Todd pulled on the rope until I was standing on the balls of my feet, then he tied the rope off. Fran looked up at me with a snarl. “It’s too bad you didn’t cause a problem, I would have enjoyed ripping out your balls.”

      One by one, each of the girls working on the estate looked me over like I was something slimy and disgusting that had crawled out from the muck of a swamp. Then Mildred walked up to me and slapped me hard across my face. With each syllable she slapped me again. “You Should Be A-Shamed. How Dare You Touch Some One Who Is So Far A-Bove Your Sta-Tion That You Should Not Ev-En Dare To Look At Her. The Self Born Should On-Ly Be Hon-Ored, Re-Spec-Ted, And O-Beyed!”

      Self Born I thought, “Celeste, are you here?”

      Celeste sauntered in the room and smiled at me as Mildred went back to stand with the others. “I am so pleased you remember me,” Celeste said as her smile turned into a grin.

      “Celeste, you gave your word that you would have nothing to do with me or mine ever again.”

      “No, I gave my word that I would do as you ask. You only asked me to never harm you or those close to you.”

      “And you don’t consider what you are doing to me harm?”

      “No one is bleeding, no one is physically damaged. No, I don’t consider this harm.”

      “What are you going to do with me Celeste?” My feet were getting tired and if I let my feet go fully down on the floor the rope would not let me breathe. I didn’t think Celeste would let me die, but it was a chance that I was not yet willing to take.

      Tim loosened the rope so I could stand flat on my feet. Celeste looked me over. “You are an attractive СКАЧАТЬ