| Rekek | |
| |
| Fictional Character | |
| Chicxulub Asteroid Missed POD: 66 million years ago | |
| Appearance(s): | "Bonehunters"; "Junior and Me" |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct narrator |
| Nationality: | Unnamed |
| Species: | Greenskin |
| Religion: | World Egg |
| Occupation: | Guide, hunter, scout |
| Children: | Junior (adopted son) |
Rekek was a greenskin who made his living out West as a guide and scout. He'd adopted a brownskin native of the continent when the native was little, and dubbed him Rekek Junior or simply "Junior".
Finding Junior[]
Rekek was down on his luck when he left Dodge City. Sssue, a dance hall girl he was sweet on, wasn't interested in him because he was broke. Finally Rekek gave up and got out of Dodge, walking south towards Red River country.[1]
In the afternoon of Rekek's first day on the trail, a stagecoach drawn by four drosaws came from Dodge City and stopped beside him. It was driven by Havv, an acquaintance of Rekek's. Havv explained that Gafk, who usually rode blunderbuss was off sick and offered him the slot for the trip down to Newtown. Rekek accepted boarded the stage beside Havv and was handed a loaded blunderbuss.[2]
The rest of the day's journey went relatively well. They didn't see any rannos and only a few raptors which didn't attack. However, one drosaw developed a limp which forced them to slow down to nurse it along. They didn't get to Cycadia until a daytenth after sundown. Just before dark, Havv lit a lantern that gave off a little light which was better than nothing. Just outside its light, a large hairy critter lurked with its weird glowing green eyes rather than normal red. It seemed to want to go after the injured drosaw but lost its nerve and ran off with a howl. Rekek lit a cigar to settle his nerves and ignored Havv's complaints about its stink.[3]
They eventually arrived in Cycadia unharmed and the stage passengers stumbled off to the hotel while Rekek and Havv looked after the drosaws. The hotel was full when they got there but the old lady behind the counter offered to push some tables together and give them some blankets. The two took up the offer at half price and slept until sunup.[4]
The next morning, they set out travelling south with a fresh team of drosaws. Rekek passed the time watching a flock of huzzards soaring in the updrafts of forming thunderheads. Something suddenly upset them and the huzzards streamed off to the east. Rekek figured either bandits or natives had spooked them and warned Havv. He half-cocked his blunderbuss while Havv made sure his eight-shooter was handy.[5]
Rekek watched the area the huzzards had come from. He didn't see anything until suddenly four or five brownskins popped up and rushed the stage. Havv hollered to the passengers that if any were armed, it would be a good time to pull out their pistols. One native fired a crossbow and just missed Rekek's snout. Another native fired an old musket but also missed. Havv and two passengers began firing with their eight-shooters which panicked the drosaws. One crumpled to the ground with a crossbow bolt in the short ribs. Havv then notice some more brownskins on the other side of the trail and started shooting at them.[6]
Rekek knew he had one shot with the blunderbuss since reloading would take too long. He waited until the natives came close and then fired in their direction. The blast caught one square in the chest while a second went down thrashing from some of the shot to the side of the main blast. Havv then passed him a second blunderbuss, the sight of which, caused the remaining natives to flee. One was wounded as he ran, by a eight-shooter shot by a passenger, but got away. This was fortunate since the second blunderbuss was unloaded and Havv was running a bluff. Rekek was angry but since it worked, he didn't cuss out Havv as much as he wanted to.[7]
As Havv got the team under control, Rekek borrowed his eight-shooter and went to check on the two natives he had shot. The wounded native was dying since a pellet had gone though his eye but the the leg of the one that caught the main blast started thrashing, startling him. On a closer look, that native turned out to be a female and she had a hatchling tied to her leg. This was something the brownskins were known to do; a female with a youngster might want to join on a raid and would keep her child out of mischief by tying it to herself.[8]
Rekek wondered if he should kill the hatchling but decided to keep it. Havv had shot the wounded drosaw to put it out of its pain and Rekek called for him to give him a chunk of its meat. Havv said it was nasty eating but Rekek held up the hatchling and said it was for Junior. Some of the passengers called for him to kill it but Rekek pointed the unloaded blunderbuss at them and said he would keep it for now and see how the youngster developed.[9]
And that is how Rekek gained his adopted son.
Guiding Ontinil[]
Once when Rekek and Junior were looking for work, the pair traveled to Fort Ironclaw, an army outpost that served as the so-called Gateway to the Black Hills.[10]
Upon their arrival, Sgt. Snegor told them about Ontinil, a paleontologist from back East who'd arrived to dig for bones in the Black Hills. When Rekek expressed interest in guiding Ontinil, Snegor took them to Lt. Diffi, who in turn took them to the fort's commander, Captain Jawj. He approved of Rekek and Junior guiding Ontinil, and then dismissed them from his presence.[11]
Diffi then took the two to the stables to meet Ontinil, who proved to be respectful to both guides. He did confirm that neither were associated with his rival, Trinka. He also explained to Rekek and Junior that he had a formal agreement with King Red Cloud, who ruled a domain in the Black Hills.[12]
The group set out two days later,[13] reaching the initial fossiliferous bluff just before sunset.[14] The spent the remainder of the day digging, then ate, and went to bed. When they awoke, the brownskins of Red Cloud had surrounded them; Ontinil defused the situation by explaining why they were there, and Red Cloud himself arrived to greet the group. Red Cloud and his chieftains were impressed that Rekek had raised Junior when he could have killed him as a hatchling.[15] Ontinil then invited Red Cloud to view the dig, and the Rekeks joined in as well. Ontinil also gave a brief explanation of the scientific method. After a time, Red Cloud and his fellows went on their way.[16]
After a few days, Rekek set out on his own, and stumbled upon another greenskin bonehunter, Sterba, who worked for Trinka. Rekek confirmed that Sterba and Trinka did not have Red Cloud's permission to be there. When Sterba protested that they had permission from Fort Ironclaw, Rekek reminded Sterba how little that mattered, and that without Red Cloud's permission, Trinka's presence might start a war. Sterba said he'd share this with Trinka.[17] Rekek returned to camp and altered Ontinil, who was furious. While he initially didn't intend to tell Red Cloud, Red Cloud had already found out and confronted Ontinil, who confirmed Rekek's report.[18]
Rekek told Red Cloud about his contact with Sterba, and Ontinil pointedly reminded Red Cloud that he'd secured permission to dig, but that Trinka had not. Red Cloud commanded that Rekek and Junior accompany him the next day to confront Trinka, acting as witnesses.[19] The band, along with Rekeks, found Trinka and Sterba, and Red Cloud commanded Trinka to leave while his warriors all pointed their muskets at him.[20] They seized the bones Trinka's expedition had recovered, and gave them to Ontinil, and most of their firearms and ammunition. When Trinka protested, Red Cloud informed Trinka that if they protested, his men would kill the intruders. Trinka and his people returned to Fort Iron Claw before the day was over.[21]
Ontinil was pleased with the bounty, and pledged to tell the world of Red Cloud's role. Before he took his leave, Red Cloud spoke with the Rekeks, specifically to Junior. All agreed that Junior was better off remaining with Rekek than joining Red Cloud's people.[22]
References[]
- ↑ Straight Outta Dodge City, pgs. 69-70.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 71-72.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 72-74.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 74-75.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 75-77.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 78.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 78-79.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 79.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 79-80.
- ↑ Analog, May/June 2019, Vol. CXXXIX, nos. 5 & 6, pg. 10-11.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 12.
- ↑ Ibid. pg. 12-13.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 14.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 16.
- ↑ Ibid. pg. 18.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 18-19.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 20-21.
- ↑ Ibid. pg 21-22.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 22.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs 23-24.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 24-25.
- ↑ Ibid., pg. 26.
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