The shrubbery parted and George, apparently alone, stomped into the clearing. Relief must have been a billboard across my face. His first words were, ”Relax it's just me. Did you Get to gab at our buddy Bi...Oh. Whats all this?” He hooked his thumbs in his belt and took in the bodies, scattered clubs and squinted at Segudson, who was a little hard to recognize beneath all the damage.

“Well I'll be. If it isn't Josef. Josef Segudson himself. So you were in on this business. Guess I can cut you out of the elections. Damned firebug, this guy.” He talked quietly with John looking at his damaged arm, then came away angry. He squatted next to Segudson, who who hadn't said anything, and still grimaced in pain.

George looked closely at the damage, nodded and stood. “He'll live. John, its back to camp for you. Get that arm looked at. Renny and I'll stay and watch these two for a bit more.”

Then, to me, “Henry told me everything he knew, of course. Clacks, was it? Your bug was good as his word. Rouk is off ship and just chock-full of information, names and faces, got a shiner on him,” George pointed at his left eye, “but otherwise Okay. Clacks is chatty, for a bug, so word's getting around about returning to Earth. He wants to talk to you about it, for some reason, so you go back with John. Learn anything?”

“Yeah. I got the big picture, from I-know-nothing Bill here. Details are a little foggy. Didn't try to take on Segudson though. He's probably more of the detail guy. Came here with his thugs to bring on the quiet, didn't quite happen. You can probably chat them both up better than me, If you like.”

George shrugged, and grinned mirthlessly at the pair. “Got nothing better to do.”

I looked around for the cat, who'd wandered off. “Reems!”

Almost soundlessly, the tom wound back out of the bushes. “Ve go back now? Ist tired.”

“Right now. John too.”

The camp was busier than usual. Several residents were knocking down their tents, leaving me to wonder what kind or rumors had started up. A few folks I'd never met pointed to me, and waved, a bad sign. Wasn't hard to pick out Clacks, who towered over his kin. He, er, “stood” horizontally like a regular bug, before the Kreeb's dome. Smaller kin came and went before him. John wanted to go off and find a “Medic” but I convinced him to stay close until I saw Clacks. Don't know what kind of supplies his medic had, but bet Clacks could come up with better. We managed to avoid the queue and gain the attention of the giant bug.

Clacks swiveled his head, and shifted a little to face me. “Apologies Tom-as. Is a little easier this way. Should stand, but the gravity...”

I shook my head. “No big deal. At your current size, surprised you can stand at all. How's that going for you, by the way?”

A static filled crackle came from the translator around its neck. Behind it, the bug's aspirations really needed no translation anyway. “Was, how do you express... a three sphere entertainment?”

“Three ring circus. Before my time. Anyhow, stuff worked out?”

“As foretold. Am leader now. Former number one told me all of Reese Corp deal. I am not beholden to these agreements, only to ours. Can transport when you are ready. Found Mr. Rouk. Two other men kept him in a cabin on ship. Tried to order me away...” A gassy expression of bug mirth exited Clacks. “Those two are now in the room, replacing Rouk. Rouk was glad, said you would want this. Is Okay​​?”

“Sounds good to me. Henry know about these guys?”

Clacks lifted an appendage, pointing to the ship. “Is visiting with them now, Tom-as.”

I smirked, imagining it. “Well, no one is leaving just yet. I'm supposed to see Rouk.”

“This one, position is unknown to me. Like yourself, was not chipped with locator.”

Clacks took care of John while I waited. John came back out of the dome in a better mood, with a professional looking cast on his arm.

“Bugs gotta actual bone fuser unit aboard that boat. Be good as new, inna few.”

I asked John to stay with me for a while.

“No problem. Nothing to do till I heal up. I wanna see where this all goes anyway.”

The line for Clack's attention had been growing while we spoke, so excusing myself, we went off to find Rouk. He wasn't at his campsite, but Lisa was crouched in front of hers, stuffing a duffel-bag with assorted personal things. She greeted me with a cheery wave.

“Hey Champ! Owe you an apology, Yea? I hear we can go home pretty soon. Gettin' my stuff ready. Not everybody wants to leave though. You got the weather guy back too.”

I thought about that. Some of the people here likely did come with the purpose of settling, and would have no intention of returning to Earth. Understandable. If there turned out to be no solution such as Bill mentioned, people looking down the road for their children's sake would think twice. Me, well, I like my digs near the bay, and if there was a chance to turn things around for the old blue ball, figured I owed it one. Besides, Crandall would never forgive me if I didn't try. “Probably won't happen today, but Yup. We got enough of it figured out, so that any who want can get home. Wasn't just me though. I just ended up in the middle, sort of. You've seen Rouk?”

“Yah. He's In th' community center tent with Miss Bogen. Wanna walk over there, I'll tag along.”

I mentally punched myself. The center; Someplace I should have thought to look first. “I'd like that, thanks.”

Rouk looked up as I pulled the tent flap back. Lisa crowded in behind me. Both Crista and Rouk were looking over some sketches he had laid out on the crate/table affair. The four of us really crowded the tent.

Rouk smiled. “The Calvary arrives! 'Bout time. That's one giant bug you made, Tomas. George filled me in. Thought I was a goner, for sure.”

“Had us worried for a bit. Glad we could get you free.”

Rouk half stood to take my hand. I shook it saying, “George said you got an earful after getting snatched. Anything to share?”

Rouk snorted. “I'll say. You first though. George told me what he knew, and that Kreeb of yours, ah, Clacks, told me a little, how you “promoted” him. You've been a busy boy. George said you were going to grill Bill over a slow fire.”

I winced at that. “Well, it wasn't that extreme, but he had to be nudged a little. Then Segudson attacked us with a bunch of toughs, and...”

Rouk waved me to silence. “Maybe you had better start with Clacks and fill me in.”

I went over current events, and the violence in the woods. Christa and Rouk, though depressed, both kept quiet until I wound up to date, giving each other occasional glances as I covered some things.

“So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. What's your part of it?”

Rouk pulled at his chin. “Well, after you headed back to camp, I hiked up over the ridge top, and sighted along the flight line of that ship. Your cat and I followed along in the same direction a bit, and were surprised to see the Alien's flier reappear and descend right on top of us.”

Rouk pointed at Reems, who had more or less followed me back through the camp, and now sat on his tail in one corner of the tent. “Your cat, ah, Reems jumped into the bushes, and I followed, believe me. But a bug rushed out of the flier, followed by Segudson and one of his thugs. The bug netted me, and Segudson pinned me down until his thugs finally sapped me a good one. Woke up aboard it. Segudson apologized at first, and tried to recruit me. Went on about a shipment of mining and other equipment. Said his company had the Kreeb under control, and could use me to set up operations.”

Sounded to me like something Segudson would try. “I don't suppose slave labor entered the discussion?”

“Wasn't born stupid. Didn't have to. Told him what I thought of his company, and ended bundled off into a room on the big ship. I think he felt I might still come around.”

Crista shook her head. “Bastards.”

“Well,” I noted, “Given that money amounts to so much burnable fuel these days, I can sort of see it. Has to be some way to get people's motor running again. Survival is certainly one substitute.”

Christa made a face. “There are other ways. And other means. And other options. This was just to advantage a budding aristocracy. Shameful.”

Rouk continued. “I know they have some equipment ready to ship, and commitments from some machine yards, for a lot more, dependent on crop import contracts. Reese Corp is expected to start shipping product within a year, less than two seasons here. So they are pressed for time. Thus the rush for elections. Segudson is expected to have the colony prepared to accept the landing of heavy equipment ASAP. They were staking out cultivatable sites and mining areas for the colonists. The cane was just a first need. To keep control of the Kreeb. They hadn't any intention of telling anybody anything save that the cane was a successful test crop, and only then if it got stumbled on early. We're lucky Segudson is such an egomaniac, and believed he'd win, or other forms of “persuasion” would be underway by now. He intended to begin shipping in equipment right after the elections. As a section rep, he already has enough influence on council to get that ball started. It is after all, a primary step in colony building. The Corp scraped together tractors, equipment, hybrid seed, fuel, all that ready to go.

I nodded. “I think that will have to be continued, somehow. Not all the colonists want to leave. They will need all of that, and more.”

Rouk set his jaw. “You aren't suggesting we let Reese Corp go ahead with this, are you?”

“No, but well need to wrest that shipment from them somehow, and get it back here. Somehow I doubt they were planning on shipping equipment only, since they intend to dominate this settlement. I'll talk to Clacks about the Space rock idea, see what all that comes to. If we can save the planet, we have to do it. But go or no, those as stay here have to be supported.”

Crista sighed, throwing her hands in the air. “So where do we start?”

I thought for a second. “Well, first get the colonists back on Earth, which is not a problem. But those as stay will need Reese Corp's stuff. Somehow, we have to load up the ship with it, and get it back here.”

John, quiet till now, piped up. “There's an armory I know about that's still intact, north of Frisco, or was before I got snatched. Its underground, sheltered reserves. It was still sealed up, and nobody who cares anymore knows where it is. The local base just kinda got depopulated.”

“Riots?” I asked.

“Lack of paychecks and food.”

“Oh.”

“So we could arm up there, If enough people wanna bully Reese Corp.”

“I'm hoping it wont come to that, but maybe its a good idea. Reese Corp has to have intended boarding some sort of enforcement group. We might have to contend with one. Then we need someone savvy about the space rock idea, and see if planet saving is on the table.”

Rouk interjected, “I may know someone, if they haven't moved on, and I can get a hold of her. Would mean another detour though.”

That was good news. “Where?”

“New Mexico, but small jumps on that thing”, Rouk waved a hand in the direction of the ship,“shouldn't take any time. Just a matter of finding her.”

“What,” argued Henry, “makes you think the bugs will go along with all this? Its a big program, everything considered. Everything you've put on the table jibes with what I found out from the two on the ship, though.”

I shrugged. “Took me a while to put it all together. The Kreeb have no conception of deceit, as we understand it. As I made Clacks big, I'm sort of a surrogate queen to it. The queens lay the eggs, don't directly supervise hives. Think about the Queen of England versus Parliament. The big bugs they make seem to be genetically programmed to work in their interest, and run their colonies. Clacks showed absolutely no independent thought about that absolute. The real queens, I guess, don't move around much, once they start on keeping the hive populated, so it's evidently kind of an essential aspect of being, eh, bugish. So, until Clacks gets fully established and the colony rates it's own queen, I'm it. Maybe longer – I don't think queens make bugs as big as we artificially made Clacks. Almost killed him. The rest of 'em just all go by size. An egg grading type of pecking order, if you will. I'm pretty sure a colony has to depend on another hive to get a queen made. Clacks didn't exactly make it clear, but it follows from the concerns he raised. Pleasing other hive queens, and such. Likely keeps inbreeding under control, serves to maintain order between hives, and stuff. That's a guess, I'm no scientist. But if these guys here could make their own, they probably would have.”

Henry harrumphed. “I suppose its unimportant to point out that Clacks is larger than you – to state the obvious.”

“Queens don't need to be bigger. You're thinking of Earth ants and such. That need not apply to the Kreeb.”

“And after he gets his own queen?”

“Cross that Rubicon when we get there. Won't be until way after we get the equipment back here, that's sure.”

Henry shook his head. “It's not a plan, more of a fantasy, we don't have enough specifics for a real plan.”

“Yah, snorted Lisa. But tell ya what champ, I gotta admit, you pull off a lotta stuff I'd never guessed could happen, so I'm gonna start betting on you. You have my interest.”

I blushed. “Thanks. But I was just oriented on getting back, and ended in the right place at the right time. Wandered into half of it. Reems is the real hero here. He uncovered the bulk of it.”

Reems scrubbed around my ankles. “Vell den. Maybe I shoult run for leadership unt stay here.”

I snorted. “At least we get folks repatriated, and we'll just have to see how far we can take the rest.”