The Sheriff 5: A post-apocalyptic sci-fi western (Sheriff Duke) by M.R. Forbes

Author:M.R. Forbes [Forbes, M.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

“Are you comfortable back there?” Hayden asked, glancing over his shoulder at Corporal Kerrick. He was strapped to the wingtip Hayden cut from the aircraft with his microspear. He and Bennett had also managed to find several seat belts from wrecked aircraft littering the airfield that weren’t dry-rotted and had fashioned them into chest harnesses and tow straps.

“As comfortable as I’ll ever be strapped to an airplane wing,” the Centurion replied. “Not my idea of luxury travel, I’ll tell you that much.”

“You’re a clone,” Bennett said, tightening the last of the seatbelts he and Hayden had used to lash the injured man to the makeshift sled. “This should be luxurious compared to what Proxima usually gives you.”

“They support us just fine. Besides, I love being a Marine,” Kerrick said. “It beats the hell out of siding with the enemy.”

“The Custodians aren’t on the side of the Relyeh,” Bennett countered. “We’re for humankind.”

“You have a strange way of showing it, then.”

“It’s not strange; it’s practical. We can’t defeat the Relyeh or the Axon. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. It’s as simple as that.”

“You don’t believe that bull, do you?”

“I did once,” Bennett answered. “Not anymore.”

“Bennett, are you good to go?” Hayden asked.

“All good here, Sheriff,” he answered, shifting his weight, to test the makeshift skis they had fashioned from some of the aircraft’s sheet metal.

Hayden shifted his own feet back and forth on the snow just outside the hangar. He rocked his shoulders, adjusting his harness and dug his ski poles—cut from sections of the thin water pipes running around the base of the hangar walls—into the snow to gain enough purchase to begin shuffling forward. Bennett did the same beside him, although with his rib injuries, he was more awkward and obviously inexperienced in his form. Even so, they both managed to start making their way south from the hangar, pulling the wing across the snow behind them more easily than they could have slogging through the snow on foot.

“Where did you learn to ski, Sheriff?” Bennett asked as they turned south, skimming easily across the terrain.

“From a group of hunters further north, about two years ago now,” Hayden replied. “The skill had been passed down through the generations, along with fiberglass skis and poles that are a lot better than what we’ve got. They used them to range further from the settlement in search of game. The folks in that town saw them as heroes for keeping them well fed. They were happy to teach me to use them.”

“I didn’t see you carrying any skis on Zorro with you.”

“I still prefer horseback. You look like you’ve got the synchronization of your skis and poles down pretty well. Let’s try to speed up our diagonal stride so we can cover ground faster.”

“Just tell me what to do.”

Hayden guided Bennett through the motion, but once they had it down, they quickly doubled their speed. But no matter how fast they covered the snowy ground, they were falling further and further behind Natalia, who was covering hundreds of kilometers in just minutes in the starship.

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