Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 42861 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42861 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
I do as I am told. Gruff has that expression on his face that tells me he’s losing patience with me.
Strumpet has mixed in with the herd but comes running when she sees me. Her little face lifts my spirits. She puts her head down and rubs it against my leg. It seems to satisfy her. I scratch her neck and between her horns. “We’re stuck here,” I tell her. “At least they’re not after you anymore. You’re…”
It occurs to me that she’s probably going to have kids. That puts a smile on my face, though I don’t know if this world will be able to withstand the impact of Strumpet babies. She is starting to look a little wide around the tummy. I thought it was all the native forage.
“Strumpet,” I say, crouching down to look her in her little goat eyes. “Are you going to have a baby?”
“She is in kid.”
Gruff has come up behind me. Maybe to check on me. Maybe because he truly doesn’t trust me out of his sight. Smart guy. I wouldn’t trust me either.
“When will she have babies?”
“Judging by the timing of our meeting, I’d say we have quite a matter of weeks left before she has her babies.”
“Babies? More than one?”
“I suppose it depends. Sometimes first timers have singles, and I’m not sure what your Earth stock are bred for, but I imagine she will have at least two. It’s the most common number, especially for a doe who has already kidded.”
“She’s already had babies?”
“Yes. See the udder development…” He stops and raises a brow at me. “Do you not know anything about goats?”
“No.”
“They didn’t… how… why do you have a goat you know nothing about?”
“It was a joke. They were mocking me.”
“They chose to mock you with a goat?”
He is confused. In his world, a goat is a precious and treasured creature. It is respected for giving life and milk and meat. Those who trained me had no respect for those that give. They only had respect for that which destroys and harms.
“We’re supposed to get a powerful protective animal to help us on our missions. Something with teeth and claws. Something that can kill in our defense. I got Strumpet. They were trying to embarrass me, and now I think they were trying to set me up too. Mission accomplished.”
“Their mistake,” he says. “They delivered you to me.”
“Yes, because what you really needed was a goatherd,” I say, sarcastically. “I can’t live my life here, like this.”
“Why not?”
“Because… because I’m supposed to have adventures, Gruff. I’m not a fucking domestic laborer.”
“Maybe that is what you are for now.”
Strumpet is pregnant. She has always been a little bit of liability. Maybe she’s happy here. And maybe it would be okay to leave her here with Gruff. He’d take good care of her. He’d make sure her babies were safe and happy. I could leave her, I could go and find this city, where they have the technology to get me off the planet. I could catch a ship and escape. And I could live a life of exploration. Like I intended to. Yes, there are wild bucks between here and there, but there will always be obstacles and dangers. I have worked a long time, dreamed a lot of dreams, and none of them ended in domestic servitude.
It is a dark night when I sneak out of Gruff’s house. He is sleeping soundly and does not stir as I leave. I can’t let my desire for him override basic sense, and the greater drives and purpose of my life. If I have been set up, I intend to do something about it. Gruff doesn’t understand. He thinks I should be happy just to tend goats and get fucked. Maybe that would be enough for some people. It’s not enough for me. If EET decided to betray me, they’ll soon discover it was huge mistake.
I go back to the dome. Yes, it’s a risk. I could encounter a buck or two along the way. I am still armed, though, and I am absolutely prepared to use my weapons. Perhaps they sense that. Or maybe I made a good enough impression the other day. Or maybe they’re all asleep. Either way, I don’t get the chance.
Until I reach my dome. And that’s when I realize it’s not empty. Someone is inside the tattered remnants of my dome. Someone who snores.
I level my weapon at the door.
“Who the hell are you?”
He sits bolt upright, startled from sleep. It’s a young buck. Teenage, probably. He looks skinny and scared, more scared of me than I am of him. I’d put his age at about eighteen if he were human. His clothing looks like it might have been expensive once. It’s silk, gold and green, but it is tattered, torn, and filthy now.