Cowboys & Aliens: Bonus Story

AN ITEM OF INTEREST

The limousine was all but silent as it rolled to a stop in front of the mansion. The driver, dressed in a simple suit, white as the vehicle itself, jumped out and walked briskly to the passenger door.

His passenger, too, was dressed all in white, but her most striking feature was her smooth, hairless head. She climbed from the limousine, slinging a black leather carrying case over her shoulder as she did so.

“I should go in with you,” said the driver.

The woman stared coldly at the driver, saying nothing. He turned away, chastened. He returned to his seat while she climbed the stairs to the mansion’s main entrance.

The massive oak doors swung open, revealing a bulky figure in a smoking jacket and black silk pyjamas. He leaned forward, supporting his weight on an elaborately carved walking stick, looking the woman up and down. “Good evening. I’m guessing you are Dawn?”

“I am,” she said. “And you are Mr. Shepherd?”

“My father’s Mr. Shepherd, my dear. You must call me Thomas.”

“If it’s all the same to you, Mr. Shepherd, I’d rather keep this formal.”

The fat man chuckled. “All business, eh? Come in, then. The item awaits.”

THE GUN - 1873

Zeke knew he’d regret opening his eyes.

He tried opening just one, hoping he’d only regret it half as much. It didn’t work.

He was lying in tall grass bleached almost white by the Arizona sun. The sky above him would have been clear blue, if it weren’t for the gargantuan metal machine hanging in it.

Memory and physical sensation returned simultaneously, and neither was welcome. The memories, at least, had some things to recommend them, a golden-toned woman named Kai Chak Ra foremost among them. Unfortunately, she accompanied less pleasant recollections: the monstrous alien warlord Rado Dar, the battle for Silver City, Verity’s inexplicable attraction to Warhawk of all people.

Zeke took an accounting of body parts that didn’t ache. It didn’t take long. Somehow, he’d survived yesterday’s trials, and last night’s, too——almost miraculous considering how much hooch he’d poured down his throat.

Then again, the miraculous wasn’t quite as impressive this morning as it might have been a week ago. Zeke had lived his entire life on the American frontier. What once seemed vast and all-encompassing now felt small, insignificant compared to the sky above it.

The earth trembled as the alien craft descended. Zeke took a moment to make sure it was different from the one that started all the trouble (well, not all the trouble——the Injuns had been a handful, but that was behind them now, a bond between the Settlers and the Apache having been forged in battle against a common enemy.)

Zeke was only halfway back to Silver City — how he’d ended up so far from town was a mystery, lost in the fog of the previous night’s revelry — when the ship landed on its outskirts, or so it seemed.

As he drew nearer, Zeke realized that, rather than setting down the ship had stopped about ten feet above the Earth. It hovered, suspended in the air, defying all natural laws. The sight brought home just how much the Caste’s arrival had changed his world.

A ramp had descended from the ship’s underside. Several tall, silver-clad creatures—Kai’s people, from the look of them—stood at the ramp’s end, surrounded by Silver City’s surviving populace.

The humans mostly stayed a respectful distance from the new arrivals. Warhawk and Verity alone stood shoulder to shoulder with Kai, within arm’s reach of the aliens. Zeke pushed to the front of the crowd. Kai looked at him, smiling uncertainly, as though unused to the expression. Zeke felt his pulse quicken.

“What’s goin’ on?” he asked Kai, his voice casual, giving the impression people from another world were a typical part of his.

“You are the one they call Zeke, yes?” said one of the aliens.

“Yeah,” said Zeke. “And you are?”

“Kai’s superior. I am told yours is a strong species, with an indomitable will.”

“Dunno about that. Some of us are, I suppose.”

“You defeated a Caste warlord in battle.”

“If you say so. What about it?”

The alien paused, uncertain how to respond. “We are retrieving Rado Dar’s ship. No Caste technology can remain on this planet.”

“He needs your gun, Zeke,” said Kai.

“What? But it’s mine-“

“It wasn’t yours two days ago.”

“But it’s mine now!” cried Zeke.

“Don’t be such a baby,” said Verity. “Warhawk and I had to give ‘em our stuff, too.” She seemed no happier about it than Zeke. Warhawk probably felt the same, but it was hard to tell. In Zeke’s experience, the Apache brave pretty much always looked angry.

“Understand this, Earther: thus far, your planet has escaped the Caste’s notice. We wish it to continue doing so. So should you.”

Zeke pictured a fleet of ships, all commanded by creatures like Dar. He sighed. “Yeah, all right.” He reached for the alien gun he’d found, then frowned. He looked down at his holster. His empty holster. “Huh. We may have a problem, here.”

THE PRESENT

The mansion’s main hall resembled a museum exhibit devoted to human conflict. Dawn looked at the nearest murals, one of which featured mushroom clouds, the other a firing squad. “What do you think?” asked Shepherd.

“Not to my taste,” said Dawn.

“Nor to most people’s, or even my own. I keep this display to remind myself what it cost to build my fortune.”

“The item?” Dawn asked, pointedly. She was clearly uninterested in Shepherd’s fortune or anything else about him, with one exception.

“Yes, indeed. The item. Tell me, what do you know about it?”

“I know I want it. As soon as I see it, I’ll transfer the sum we agreed on.”

“It has quite the interesting history,” said Shepherd. “Did you know, for instance, that it’s been in existence in excess of one hundred and forty years?”