Black Harvest

“How is he?” J.B. asked, as he and Mildred exited the room.

“Sleeping like a baby now.”

“He’ll be all right, then?”

Mildred nodded. “He’ll have some pain in a few hours, and there’s always a risk of infection, but he should be as good as new in a couple of days.”

J.B. entered their room and put down his blaster.

“Were you expecting trouble?” Mildred asked.

“Not really. Just didn’t want you to interrupt Ryan and Krysty while you were looking for a room for Jak.”

“Uh-huh,” Mildred said skeptically. She listened closely, and beneath the sound of Doc’s snoring, she could hear the soft moans of pleasure coming from next door. “That sound been giving you any ideas?”

J.B. just smiled.

Mildred began to get undressed.

AFTER A SEARCH of the residence, Katz found Baron DeMann tending to some of his open-air plants behind the mansion. These were special projects that the baron was experimenting with. Most of them were new plants he’d grown from seeds traded for on their last trip to several eastern villes. Half the seeds had been planted in the glasshouses, while the other half had been planted outside in an attempt to see which conditions best suited which plants.

Based on the size of the outside plants, growing them inside the glasshouses seemed the only way they could be grown large enough to extract sufficient amounts of active ingredients.

Katz cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Baron.”

Baron DeMann steadied himself on one knee and looked up from the leaf he was examining. “What is it, Katz?”

“I’ve just come from the clinic.”

“One of the guests was wounded, right?”

“Yes, Baron, a shoulder wound. He was tended to by another one of the outlanders.”

“And he’s doing fine now, I take it.”

Katz nodded. “The dark woman who looked after him…”

“Yes?” The baron got up to his feet.

“I think we could use her talents.”

“She wants to stay with us?”

“I made suggestions about it, but she politely resisted.”

The baron considered this, then smiled. “Not to worry. They’re not going anywhere for a while. I’m sure you’ll have the chance to ask her again under more favorable conditions.”

Katz smiled at that. “Thank you, Baron.”

Chapter Six

“Time to go,” the voice said.

Ryan stepped up to the door and pulled it open enough to look out. A sec man was standing in the hallway, one Ryan hadn’t seen before. “Time for the baron’s reception.”

The one-eyed man nodded and closed the door.

Krysty stretched lazily on her cot, getting the blood circulating again after a short but contented sleep. She turned to Ryan and said, “Can’t we stay here a bit longer, lover?”

“Yeah, but I’m curious to meet this baron, and to find out how he keeps his ville running.”

“I sure could do with something to eat,” Krysty said. She rose up off the cot and ran her fingers through her long red hair as if they were combs.

Ryan moved out into the hall where J.B., Doc and Mildred were already waiting.

“What about Jak?” Ryan asked.

“Sleeping,” Mildred said. “He’ll be out for another couple of hours. I’ll stay with him if you want.”

Ryan considered it.

“We’re just going down to the basement,” the sec man offered, overhearing their conversation. “You’ll be free to come back and check on your friend anytime you want.”

“I’ll come down with you to meet the baron,” Mildred said. “Then I’ll come back and stay with him. Maybe bring him some food.”

Ryan nodded, then noticed Doc shifting nervously from side to side behind J.B. He looked strange, different, as if he’d just passed a comb through his hair, then pasted it back with some sort of grease. His frock coat also looked cleaner, as if he’d hung it on a line and beat it with a stick to get all the dust out of its fibers.

Krysty was studying Doc as well. “Lookin’ good, Doc,” she said, joining the others in the hall.

“Thank you for noticing, my dear Krysty.”

The sec man gestured to Ryan’s SIG-Sauer and Krysty’s Smith & Wesson and said, “You won’t be needing your weapons.”

J.B. shook his head as if to say he knew the story would be changing.

Ryan looked hard at the sec man. “We don’t go anywhere without our blasters.”

“All right by me.” The sec man shrugged. “But the baron might have something to say about it.”

Ryan said nothing. The baron could say all he wanted, but they wouldn’t be giving up their blasters without a firefight.

The sec man led them down the hallway.

AS PROMISED, they were led into the basement of the mansion and into a large room that was set up as a dining hall. Paintings hung from the walls, and the floor was covered with a carpet around the edges and a hardwood floor in the center. There was a long, rectangular table on one side of the room with settings for twelve people.

On another table off to one side were pitchers full of fresh water and juices, and carafes of both red and white wine. There was also a series of small finger bowls, each one filled with different colored tablets. “Make yourself at home,” the sec man said. “The baron and the others will be here shortly.”

When the sec man was gone, the friends went to the table and sampled the water and wine. Both were clear. The water was tasteless, while the wine seemed a bit strong.