A Planet Called Sanctuary: The Lost Patrol: A Planet Called Sanctuary, #2

By Don G Highmore

After killing Emperor Zhao of the Chinese colony, Major Robinson is stripped of his rank, dishonourably discharged, and ostracized from the colony of Sanctuary. With nothing more to lose—except for his life—he decides to search for his son and the lost ranger patrol. Aided by the Reverend Hertz and people he meets along the way, Robinson finds his son and the lost ranger patrol, who are being held captive by a man named Indra. Robinson must play Indra's sick and twisted games to save their lives and win their freedom, battling alien creatures and overcoming physical challenges. Using his training, Robinson hopes to turn the tables and rescue the person who matters most to him, but will time run out before he can? And will he and the other men be sacrificed to the gods of the bloodthirsty Mayza people?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Don Highmore
• Release date: Oct 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223121374

Don G Highmore

Don G. Highmore currently resides in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. He has far too much wasted education, with degrees in History and Education and diplomas in Computer Programming and Criminology. He retired from a life in Information Technology then the enforced idleness of the Covid Pandemic forced him to do what he always wanted to do—write. He dreams of the day when he can enter an alternative universe where diabetics can eat all the butter tarts that they want.

Book preview

Prologue

Robinson and his men were trapped between hundreds of Mayza warriors led by Manco, their leader. In front of him were about 300 cavalry troops of the Indian army led by General Khan. General Khan was not going to assist Robinson, no matter what, or allow him to enter the sovereign territory of India. So he was stuck between a powerful army bent on killing him and the Indian army, which would remain stubbornly neutral.

There was nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide, and no way to fight and win. He held a laser to the head of King Indra, who was the fulcrum of this standoff. Robinson thought, If I make the wrong decision now, we’re all dead. But what the hell is the right decision?

Chapter 1

Robinson paced around his compound, breathing hard, muscles rippling, and sweating like a horse that had just run a mile or two flat out. He had completed his homemade obstacle course. It consisted of running ten two-foot-high hurdles (branches wedged between rocks at either end), climbing up and down a twenty-foot-high knotted thick vine, running flat out back down the hurdles, then dropping and doing fifty push-ups. He jumped up, ran the hurdles, and climbed the vine again. Once he was down the vine, he reran the hurdles and completed fifty stomach crunches. He then went back down the hurdle course, up and down the vine, and finally reran the hurdle course for the final time.

It was tiring, but he needed to stay in shape. Next week, his routine would consist of stretching and using improvised weights (rocks tied to branches). This was a dangerous world, and he had to be ready for anything at any time. Besides, there wasn’t much else to do. Now he was waiting impatiently for the Ranger patrols regularly scheduled three-month wellness check. They were a couple of days late, by his reckoning. His coffee had run out a week ago, which didn’t help his mood. His hair was getting a little too long for his military demeanour to tolerate, and he wanted it cut. The fact that a narrow but noticeable white streak had developed in his black hair, along the line where he had suffered a severe head injury months ago, also didn’t help his mood.

The Commonwealth of Sanctuary conducted wellness checks for anyone they had ostracized. These checks consisted of members of the military paying a visit to see if the person was alive and healthy. If needed, a medic would provide treatment or medication. Otherwise, they would replenish supplies, deliver mail and gifts from loved ones, and perhaps assist with shelter repairs.

Robinson stopped pacing; he heard the unmistakable sound of horses galloping toward him. Finally, he thought.

Sergeant Savard rode up to Robinson, halted a couple of feet from him, and vaulted off his horse, landing on his feet.

Major! Savard smiled and saluted. Robinson had been stripped of his rank, given a dishonourable discharge, and ostracized. As such, he was no longer entitled to be addressed by his former rank or saluted. The dishonourable discharge bothered Robinson more than the ostracism, and it bothered many members of the military as well. Robinson was held in high regard by many. He had formed the Rangers, a special forces group within the Commonwealth military, and he had set up a network of espionage agents within the empire of Emperor Zhao. That was before he had singlehandedly killed the Emperor, who had started an undeclared war against the Commonwealth. Savard had served with Robinson; he admired him and felt he had been unduly punished. He insisted on addressing Robinson as major and saluting him as a matter of respect.

Sergeant, it’s about time you got here. I’ve run out of coffee, Robinson groused while smiling.

No problem, Major. We have coffee and other gifts from your wife and Jian and Mei.

Are they all well?

Yes, they’re well. Jian has started Ranger boot camp.

Robinson nodded approval. He’ll be an excellent Ranger.

Robinson greeted the other four troop members, including a medic named Cohen. After Cohen gave Robinson his obligatory medical check, they all settled down to a meal and fresh coffee.

Major, have you noticed any unusual activity?

Only a sergeant who keeps addressing me by a rank to which I’m no longer entitled. What’s going on?

We made our wellness checks on two other people who were ostracized. First, we stopped to see David McBride. Do you remember him?

Robinson shrugged. Yes, he was ostracized for what they called ‘incorrigible behaviour.’ He kept stealing and conning people. There were also assaults and public drunkenness. Mostly petty crap like that. He had served multiple jail sentences, but his behaviour never improved. Everyone finally got fed up with him after he beat someone up over a poker game or some such thing. Correct?

Right. He was almost banished after delivering that beating. For some reason, the court decided that perhaps ostracism would mellow his attitude and didn’t sentence him to banishment. In any case, his settlement was about a hundred miles from here. He was our first wellness stop.

And?

His settlement was burned down; he was dead inside. Not a pretty sight or smell, I can tell you, Savard replied.

Robinson looked at his shelter. Well, the shelters are made of wood, so they’re flammable. However....

However, all you have are some candles for light inside your shelter; cooking fires are outside of the shelter. It would take some effort, or extreme stupidity, for you to burn your shelter down around yourself, Savard replied.

And to not wake up when it’s happening, responded Robinson.

Cohen is not qualified to complete an autopsy, and the body was badly burned. We couldn’t tell what the actual cause of death was, Savard responded.

Well, accidents happen. Perhaps he died of smoke inhalation or died of natural causes then tipped a candle over, Robinson suggested.

Savard shrugged, Sure. I suppose it’s not a big mystery in and of itself, but then we made our second wellness stop. Reverend Alfred Hertz’s shelter is located about fifty miles from here. His shelter was also burned down, but we didn’t find him. We searched all around and couldn’t find him or his body.

Well... quite the interesting coincidence, Robinson said. What about anyone else who was ostracized?

I know you well enough to know you don’t believe in coincidences that big. Only you, Hertz, and McBride are on our patrol route, so I don’t know about anyone else. You haven’t noticed anything unusual? Savard asked again.

Robinson shook his head. Well, I’d worry about it, but I don’t intend to hang around, he said.

You have a vacation planned I don’t know about? Savard asked, laughing.

No such luck. I intend on setting out in pursuit of the lost expedition, Robinson said. As you know, the only evidence we have that the expedition was in this area is the rock pyramid over there. Robinson nodded toward it. There’s only one reasonable explanation to account for that pyramid marker being specifically there that I can think of.

Chapter 2

When the Ranger expedition had been sent on their mission of exploration, they were to construct rock pyramids at least three feet high to indicate the direction they had taken. It was a bread crumb trail for them to find their way home or for a rescue mission to follow if needed. However, each rock pyramid was supposed to have a tree branch planted in the middle pointing toward the way they had gone and a line of rocks at the bottom pointing in the same direction. When this pyramid was found, it had been smashed.

All that anyone could do was speculate that it had been damaged by large animals. Perhaps a herd of horses had been panicked by hyenas or tigers and stampeded into it in a desperate bid to escape. Perhaps a couple of large animals, bears or giant sloths maybe, had been engaged in a mating ritual, and the pyramid got in their way. They’d never know. Whatever happened, the pyramid was badly damaged, the pointing stick had been dislodged, and the directional line of rocks at the foundation was not discernable. Too many rocks had fallen from the top of the pyramid and landed around the foundation. Nonetheless, the pile of rocks was clearly man-made. The Ranger patrol had been here.

Robinson continued, The expedition must have decided the forests and undergrowth were too thick to travel through with horses, which is obvious. So they would have explored around here and found a small river a day’s walk through the bush. It’s not much more than a creek, really. However, that small narrow creek eventually widens out into a navigable river. I figure they decided to abandon the horses, build the rock mound as per standard procedure to mark their path, then set out for the river. Whatever happened afterward is the big mystery.

So you plan to swim down the river till you find them? Savard smirked.

No, smart-ass, my plan is that you lot help me build a raft. I will travel as far as I can to try to find out whatever I can.

Robinson had been ostracized by the Commonwealth of Sanctuary, his home nation, or colony as he tended to call it, for five years. His offence was to invite an enemy ruler into Commonwealth territory. To kill him. Oh, the civilian government and his superior officers in the Commonwealth military didn’t mind the fact that he succeeded in killing Emperor Zhao. Zhao had infiltrated Commonwealth territory to kidnap or kill his son, Jian, and daughter, Mei.

Mei’s offence was to reject Zhao’s insistence that she become one of his concubines. She refused him, so he raped and impregnated her. Jian helped her escape to the Commonwealth of Sanctuary, an act that Zhao considered treason and punishable by death. Zhao had sent many soldiers into Commonwealth territory to find them, to kidnap or kill them. They hadn’t succeeded, but they took the lives of many Commonwealth soldiers in the attempt—a clear violation of Commonwealth sovereignty and a clear act of undeclared war.

In any case, Robinson’s successful plan to kill Zhao, which nearly cost Robinson his life, was not the issue. Luring an enemy ruler into Commonwealth territory without authorization was an act of treason. The politicians considered it unacceptable and dangerous to democracy for someone in the military to act independently in sovereign matters without their knowledge or permission.

Robinson was found guilty of treason, given a dishonourable discharge from the army, and sentenced to ostracism. Anyone ostracized was sent outside of Commonwealth sovereign territory to survive on their own for ten years. In recognition that Robinson’s actions had succeeded in preventing a larger and bloodier war with Zhao’s empire, his sentence was reduced to five years.

Some attempts had been made to locate the lost patrol in the past, but they were feeble and minimal in Robinson’s mind. The colony had a collective mindset to play it safe. After all, the ships that had transported the colonists to this planet had been sabotaged. All the mother ships and most of their technology had been lost. About a third of all settlers had died before even landing here, and the colonists faced numerous challenges trying to survive.

Many colonists would eventually die from disease, accidents, and animal attacks. Discovering that there was indigenous intelligent human life on this planet was a shock. Not all of them were friendly, and the colonists themselves had split permanently into various factions. In addition to the Commonwealth, there was the Caliphate, settled by mostly Arab Muslims. Uhuru was a colony created by African colonists and those of African descent. The Indian colony, settled by people from India, had effectively disappeared. And most infamously, there was the Chinese colony, which Emperor Zhao had led. The fear of war with Zhao had been prevalent throughout most of Commonwealth history.

Robinson felt, all in all, this had created an overly cautious and fearful psyche in his fellow colonists. The politicians didn’t want to take chances. They didn’t want to risk lives or be responsible for the lives lost. They also didn’t want to interfere in the lives of the indigenous peoples. All of which was anathema to Robinson. Life on this planet required exploration and discovery. Life itself was about taking risks.

The politicians failed in their duty, Robinson said. Their rescue attempts were inexcusably feeble. The search and rescue parties were restricted to fourteen-day searches. They had to return home if they couldn’t find any more markers or bodies or any evidence of campsites. I don’t much like being ostracized, but this is an opportunity I won’t shirk from. I’m going after them. Even if I don’t find them, I need to find more evidence of where they went. I can leverage whatever evidence I find to get the politicians to mount a significant and more realistic search.

You’re preaching to the choir, Major, Savard responded. Bugger the politicians. Tomorrow morning, we go to the river and build you a badass raft.

Chapter 3

The lost patrol’s mission was to explore, see whatever there was to discover and try to find where the Indian colony had settled, then contact them to determine if they wanted to formalize relations with the Commonwealth. The Indians had wanted a nation-state based on their religious beliefs and cultures. They had travelled in a southerly direction from the Commonwealth through difficult terrain and were never heard from again.

After the Ranger patrol had been overdue for a few months, a few search and rescue operations were sent out. However, as Robinson made clear, they were severely handicapped by tight time constraints and thus failed. The patrol included Robinson’s son Brock. Robinson had decided to utilize his time in exile to determine their fate—and find his son.

Robinson’s wife, Maggie, had blamed him for filling Brock’s head with visions of adventure and glory. When Brock disappeared, it seemed to mark the beginning of the end of their marriage. After Robinson had been badly wounded in the ambush that had killed Emperor Zhao, Maggie was part of the medical team that managed to put Robinson back together. This led to a reconciliation, but that was soon interrupted by his sentence of ostracism.

He spent the first three months of his exile looking for additional evidence of where the patrol would have travelled. He concluded that they must have built a raft and utilized the river system to move about. Robinson and the Ranger patrol travelled through the deep undergrowth, picked a spot by the creek, and started constructing a raft.

They spent the next few days cutting up tree branches and turning vines into ropes then lashing the thick branches together to create a rather rough-looking raft. A rudder was also constructed in anticipation of eventually entering swifter water. They also had a small supply of hemp rope to supplement the vines. Together, they seemed to make a durable raft. Ugly but durable.

I wouldn’t want to bet my life on this raft, Major, Savard said.

Well, that’s a comforting thought, Savard. In fact, my life will be dependent on this raft.

"You realize that however far you travel on this thing, you must come back. If you manage to get on a fast-flowing river, getting this raft