Gone Where the Goblins Go by Matt Betts

Author:Matt Betts [Betts, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781958370100
Publisher: Manta Press, Ltd.
Published: 2023-05-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The soldiers on board were less lackadaisical as the two remaining boats continued upriver. They also lacked enthusiasm for their general duties. They were too occupied watching the skies for additional surprises that might fall on them. Harrison and the captain allowed a pair of the U.N. crew to hide below deck in the small quarters. The pair were in more shock than the others, unable to talk, in fact. They jumped at the slightest sound, twitching at the possibility of the return of the winged bear-things. They refused to drink water and wouldn’t accept food, so their friends got them settled below at the mouth of the cargo hold, wrapped in blankets. Tilly watched them set up, hoping Mingmei could keep quiet.

Once they were underway and had a few minutes under their belts, the tense silence broke when Tilly inched closer to Harrison. “You really have no idea what to make of those things?” she asked. “None?”

The company man smoked idly as he stared out at the water and trees covering the shore. “You think you deserve some other answer than the others? Are you special in some way? No. I don’t know what to make of those things.” He aimed his monotone answer at the shore.

“You said the guy we’re here to scoop up is a scientist. A conservationist, I think you said? Right?”

“And you think he stapled some wings on a grizzly bear and made it fly? Don’t be stupid,” Harrison said.

The venom with which the man called her stupid made Tilly’s attitude change quickly. “I didn’t say that. You need to look around and see what’s happening here. We lost a helicopter to rebels, and then a boat and some soldiers to huge flying beasts. We haven’t been out here but a few days, and your resources are dwindling almost as low as the morale. You really should be a little more aware of your need for friends right now.”

Tilly walked away, shoving past the few men in her way. She settled into a nest of ropes and equipment at the boat’s aft and pulled her hat over her eyes. Even if she would not be able to sleep, Tilly had no intention of getting into a deep conversation with anyone. She was unconcerned with pissing off her employer anymore. She patted the pistol still strapped at her side, the clasp still secure.

Nothing was worth the hassle or money. Not getting back to America, not paying off debts, and certainly not the thrill of flying again. She’d done her best to keep her father’s business afloat, but the constant barrage of things that came at her was more than she could handle. She tried to learn the language, figure out bookkeeping, marketing and more, but it all crumbled with her feeble attempts to care for her ailing father. Suppliers were unreliable, inventory dwindled, customers came and went. In the end, if they hadn’t closed up shop when they did, it would have driven her mad. The Air Corps didn’t teach her much in the way of advertising or publicity.

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