Space Knights: The Arrival by Gregory Samuelson (buy e reader .TXT) 📕

Every two months there was a week that people could go and get a license to hunt a certain breed of animal. Trance had been brought up to appreciate hunting by his parents. His father had never gone hunting, but had taken Trance and his brother and sister fishing several times. Trance’s grandfather and some members of his mother’s side of the family did go hunting. They had taught him that hunting was fun and okay with the understanding that you respect the animal that you are hunting. You could only bag one animal, and you have the animal prepared for food. One uncle in particular argued that when you hunt you only kill one animal for yourself and your family. Thousands of cattle, pigs, chickens, and turkeys were killed daily. They were packaged and sold in grocery stores.

Trance had learned to shoot a bow and arrow in his youth but hadn’t shot at more than a round target. He was fairly good, he could hit the target, but he’d never had time to go and practice on a regular basis to get very good. Now he had lots of time to practice and new things to shoot at. Martin had shown him how to correctly hold the bow and aim so he could hit what they were after. With Martin’s help he gradually improved.

Chorus and Martin were excellent hunters and every time they went out on a hunting trip they always got their animals. They went after afflors, an animal resembling a very large elk, and velops, which were large antelopes with cow horns. They also hunted a variety of birds, some which resembled large pheasants and some others that were like large flying turkeys. It was always an adventure when they went out. There was so much to be seen that was all new to Trance.

Trance also learned that Chorus was a member of the Public Militia. This was a loose defense organization made up of many of the men in town that were seventeen years old or older. The members of the Militia met once a month on the second weekend for organization and practice. Being in the Militia gave the member a license to carry a weapon and required them to help defend the town in case of invasion. They were to be under the regular military and take orders from them. They were also to come out and help only when they were needed and requested by the captain of the knights at the outpost guarding the town.

Martin was not yet qualified to join the Militia. Chorus asked and found out that Trance couldn’t join yet either. He was old enough, but he had to be a citizen of Cator first. To become a citizen Trance had to live in the kingdom for six months. After the six months were over he would have to take a test on Cator and Althora. Trance looked forward to being eligible for citizenship in another two months. Chorus found out that he could of course show Trance how to use a weapon to defend himself. The Militia’s leader believed that it was better to be prepared in the event that he was needed to defend the farm.

Martina on the other hand made sure Trance attended some of the town’s social occasions to meet and socialize with the other kids in town. She in particular enjoyed introducing him to her friends. Trance had always been a little shy when it came to girls and hadn’t had a real girlfriend since second grade, and that had only lasted three weeks. There were some very nice looking girls, but none really got his attention. He tried not to be picky, but he didn’t see any that got his heart racing. At these socials he was as polite as possible, danced with many of the girls and got to know quite a few of them. He also learned more about school and classes and what to expect when they resumed. He thought he learned a lot at these functions and started to enjoy them more.

Even as these happy and carefree events took place Trance noticed that everybody in town was also starting to get slightly nervous. It was as if they were sensing something that Trance hadn’t picked up on. He watched the knights and pawns in town start acting more serious and anxious. Then one day, Chorus came home from a Militia meeting and told the family that an army of Boulthorian troops had landed just a few miles away. Nobody knew why the Boulthorians were here.

Chorus had reported events like this before, and Trance had come to learn that the Boulthorians had a main castle and some small outposts on Althora in various places. These were tolerated to a small degree. As long as the Boulthorians stayed five miles away from any Althorian towns or settlements and didn’t provoke any violence they could stay. But if they started any military action they would face the possibility of all-out war between the two planets. In the event of such a war, all of the other worlds would join in the fighting. So the peace in the area depended on the Boulthorians staying where they were.

Trance had learned that small battles between Althorian forces and Boulthorian troops sometimes took place. These battles usually didn’t escalate very far and peace was restored shortly, but tensions were always very high afterward. Yet the threat of the Boulthorians was steadily growing worse. There was a rumor that a war was coming; yet nobody knew when and dreaded what it would cost.

It was midmorning and the air was quiet and warm. Trance was out on the plow almost where he’d been found in the deep sleep chamber when he heard the town alarm erupt from the emergency tower. He turned the plow around and quickly went back to the farmhouse. As he arrived, Chorus and Martin were coming out of the house. Martin was carrying an