Nelson was nervously sitting on his stool, swinging his legs in a complex swinging pattern waiting for the Hunting Lodge Master. When he had arrived an hour ago all the construction crew, laughing and pleased with a job well done, left the facility on the ship that had brought him across space from the nearest GET terminal. He understood he was part of the first shipment of Hunting Tours Incorporated personnel to staff the latest HTI Hunting Lodge built on the far side of Dirt’s moon, and looking around he seemed to be the first one here.

  Nelson’s six month intensive training course was complete in which he had learned all the history of HTI, the correct use of the transmitter pads, basic weapons proficiency, a detailed understanding of all the products and gear supplied to the hunters and even detailed knowledge of the most famous beverages and cocktails provided at the famous Hunter’s Bar. Initially Nelson had thought six months would be too long but he found that it was barely enough time to have so much information crammed into his head. He enjoyed the challenge and was proud of the fact he wasn’t trained for just one job. The instructors told him his primary task was handling the transmission pad - the official job title was Transmission Technician, but every Transmission Technician was nicknamed “Matt” for convenience - but he had to learn everything so he could assist in all tasks on the base as needed. He even had to learn basic piloting skills for the special Hunting Tours Incorporated Shuttle which made the journey from the Hunting Lodge to the planet’s orbit, waited around until time for the recall and then transported the hunters back to the Lodge.

  “Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!” boomed a loud voice in Nelson’s direction.

  Nelson looked up and quickly stood to attention as he saw the Hunting Lodge Master approach. The Lodge Master was a huge green blobby thing about ten foot tall with huge grinning soft teeth and large white eyes. His huge red overcoat, proudly sporting the HTI logo on the left side, flowed around his blobby legs as his outstretched arms broadcast his greetings.

  “You are here!” he said, encasing Nelson in a great big hug, slowly squeezing the breath out of his body.

  “Oof!” said Nelson through his rapidly escaping breath, “Hello.”

  “I am Toff!” the Lodge Master said, releasing Nelson from the death hug, “You are Nelson?”

  Nelson rubbed his chest to restore the blood flow and answered, “Yes, Sir.”

  “Good! Good!” said Toff, grabbing Nelson by the shoulder and propelling him forward, “I am happy, yes? Come with me, please.”

  Not having any choice, Nelson was carried along and shown through the hunting lodge in great detail for the next two hours. Finally they stopped and Toff said, “You happy?”

  The last two hours had taught Nelson that the only response required was a nod or non committal sound and Toff would continue talking.

  “Good! Good!” said Toff excitedly, “Do you have question? Hmmm?”

  Before Toff could take a breath, Nelson quickly asked a question which had been nagging at him all the time he had been here, “Who will I be working with?”

  Toff beamed a huge smile and with arms spread wide, proudly said, “Me!”

  Nelson looked around at the empty corridors and tried again, “There are lots of jobs to do here. Who will do all of them?”

  “What jobs do you mean?” asked Toff, smiling encouragement.

  “Transmission Technician?”

  “First Class! You!” answered Toff, pointing at Nelson’s chest.

  “Equipment Supply?” asked Nelson.

  “You!” replied Toff.

  “Shuttle Operator?” asked Nelson.

  “You!” said Toff, still smiling broadly.

  “Bar staff?” said Nelson.

  “You!” said Toff.

  “Cleaning and maintenance?” asked Nelson, knowing the answer.

  “You!” said Toff.

  “Greeting the guests?” Nelson asked.

  “Me!” said Toff.

  Nelson paused mid breath and looked at Toff inquiringly.

  “Yes! Me!” said Toff, “I am the Hunting Lodge Master and am responsible for all the important jobs.”

  “And me?” asked Nelson sadly, seeing a busy future ahead.

  “You are my most valuable assistant!” said Toff, “We will be great friends!”

  Toff then reached forward and gave Nelson another huge breath crushing hug.

  “Now, go stow your gear in your room and be back here in an hour. I want to show you something special,” instructed Toff conspiratorially.

  Nelson sighed, picked up his bag and went to his room located towards the back of the area containing the restaurant, bar, equipment supply and transmission room.

  “All the better for getting to work without walking too far, eh?” Toff had explained helpfully.

  His room was comfortable and spacious but Nelson suspected that he may not get to spend too much time actually enjoying its comforts.

  An hour later he returned to Toff who smiled as he approached and in what was becoming a familiar gesture, grabbed Nelson about the shoulders and propelled him forward as Toff walked and talked.

  “This tunnel will take us to the viewing room, yes?” Toff said as he placed his hand against a security panel and the door in front of them swished open, “We are located on the part of this moon where the planet cannot see us. Clever, eh?”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Nelson nodded and Toff quickly continued, “So they can’t see us, but at the end of this tunnel is a special room with clear, very tough roof. Very strong. No meteors will break the roof. That would be bad, yes?”

  “Meteors would be bad,” Nelson agreed.

  The doors at the end of the corridor opened automatically and they entered into the viewing room. Nelson gasped as he looked up directly to the planet Dirt above him. He remembered looking at this same planet so long ago when he, Heron and Byron had discovered it.

  “Ahhh,” sighed Toff, “It looks so pretty. Pity it is NC, no?”

  Nelson didn’t reply as he watched the planet Dirt slowly spin, unaware of its fate.

  *****

  Patter examined various lists displayed on his tablet, tapping a name here and swiping a name there. He enjoyed this part of the job. It was one of his most important duties and it could make or break Hunting Tours Incorporated.

  Who would be selected to participate in the first six hunts on a new Hunter Planet? These slots were the most prized as the new inhabitants never understood what was happening. One moment they are leading their normal lives and the next they are part of the hunt.

  Patter paused as a thought strayed from his well controlled subconscious. “Isn’t it interesting that we avoid calling hunting what it is and just use euphemisms instead? Instead of saying we kill innocent inhabitants of strange planets we just say we ‘hunt’ and the innocents are just ‘targets’ or ‘prizes’ or ‘Non Compatible’.”

  Patter grunted and pushed those unhelpful thoughts aside and concentrated on the job at hand. Now was the time he could give some well deserved rewards to all those that had helped HTI. There were politicians, members of the Imperial Outer Court, corporation heads, weapon and equipment suppliers, media executives and personalities, important people in the Imperial Exploration Service and once there had even been a few members of the Imperial family itself.

  With a satisfied series of taps he soon had a list of thirty or so candidates. Now he had to winnow that number down to twenty four and rank them in the order for which they would be allocated to hunts. Normally a hunt had six team members, but these early hunts all had four members with two Hunt Masters to guide and assist the hunters. Experience had taught HTI that new planets tended to have some surprises and having Very Important People killed while hunting reduced the incentive of the first hunt considerably. To ensure the full enjoyment of all the hunters they also sent down special preliminary HTI scouting parties of four trained hunters to check the location for any nasty surprises.

  All the official information about hunting on a Hunter Planet, especially the special Hunting Tours Incorporated owned planets, emphasised that anyone could hunt with no experience being necessary. HTI went to great efforts to ensure that only hunters with no military experience could go down as hunters.

  Unofficially, those with military experience could join HTI as scouts or hunt masters or a number of other titles and still help with the hunting program.

  Once he had his list complete Patter called in his secretary.

  “Honey. Can you prepare our official ‘Invitations to The Hunt’ for this list?” Patter said as he handed over his tablet to her, “I’ll call the first four personally and tell them the good news.”

  “Yes, Sir,” answered his secretary as she wiggled alluringly out of the room.

  Patter sighed, spun around on his hover chair to gaze out his window at the glorious view and pressed the first contact name on his list.

  The communicator was answered and a hard, feminine voice putting on a tenor of friendliness said, “Hello, Patter. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

  “Lady Penelope. It is a pleasure speaking with you again,” Patter lied smoothly, “I have been very busy preparing for our latest Hunter Planet.”

  “Is it working out to your satisfaction?” asked the IES Director hopefully.

  “Indeed it is,” said Patter, “And I wanted to call you first. Are you interested in going on a little hunt?”

  The phrase ‘Are you interested in going on a little hunt’ was the first line of a song made popular over a century ago during a media campaign unofficially funded by HTI when there was some pressure being put on the legitimacy of hunting. The campaign successfully softened the whole image of hunting, and combined with the emphasis on non military hunters, served to relieve all the pressure.

  Director Hiss smiled broadly, revealing a scary amount of sharp teeth, and answered, “Why Patter, you shouldn’t have.”

  “True, true,” he said, “I shouldn’t have. But you have been such a great help I persuaded the board with all my resources to ensure you were rewarded in an appropriate way. This is just my way of saying thank you.”

  “I appreciate your consideration and am always glad to help,” Director Hiss said smoothly.

  “Your official invitation will arrive by personal courier later today,” said Patter with a sinister smile, “We look forward to providing you with an enjoyable hunt.”

  “Thank you,” said Director Hiss.

  “My pleasure,” lied Patter as he cut the connection with another smile and looked on his list for the next person to call.

  On the other end of the connection, Director Hiss chuckled in delight. Finally she would be able to go on a hunt. For years she had been providing information and communications with HTI hoping she would get the privilege of hunting. In her prestigious circles it was not done to actually pay for a hunt. One just had to receive the rare ‘Invitation to The Hunt’. That invitation plus the actual experience would improve her standing in the rarified social circles she had been circling for many years. Her future position would now be ensured.

  She was going on a little hunt!

  ****

  Toff stood next to Nelson in the luxurious reception room outside the airlock of the entry bay. The last week had seen Nelson busily cleaning and organising everything inside the Hunting Lodge under the ever cheerful and watchful eyes of Toff. Never a harsh word was spoken by Toff, but sometimes the encouraging hugs were a little too encouraging. Nelson rubbed some of his slowly healing multi coloured bruises carefully as he peered through the clear blast shields separating him from the entry bay.

  The ship that arrived was a standard HTI transport ship but it was immaculately maintained. The HTI Logo was bright and the landing had been made very professionally.

  “Who is coming?” asked Nelson, “Our first hunters?”

  “No, no, no,” said a smiling Toff, “These are the special service providers for the first hunters!”

  “Aren’t we the service providers?” asked a confused Nelson.

  “Yes!” boomed Toff, “We are the best. But not for the first hunts. They are special and are cared for specially!”

  Nelson rubbed at his ears and watched as the bay re-pressurised and the ship doors finally opened. Out of the ship progressed a procession of rat-like creatures walking tall and dressed immaculately.

  “Are they related to …” started Nelson before Toff quickly slammed his pudgy arm across Nelson’s face.

  “Shhh. Shhhh!” said Toff quickly, “Do not mention this. These are experts at their trade.”

  Nelson pushed the hand away from his face slowly as he watched the dozen creatures walk towards the airlock. They looked just like Patter - but taller and fitter. He looked up at Toff to ask another question but Toff pointed at the airlock silently telling Nelson to pay attention.

  The airlock opened and the new visitors walked in and gathered in front of Toff. In contrast to the effusive welcome he had given Nelson, Toff stood tall and bowed stiffly towards the creature in front.

  “Welcome to our humble Hunting Lodge,” said Toff formally, “We trust you will find everything in order.”

  “Indeed,” said the leader, “As it should be.”

  The leader then gestured to his people to move on and in moments they had all moved down the corridors and left the reception area without another word.

  Toff looked down at Nelson and said, “They take care of the special first hunters. We will just be watching and keeping out of their way as much as we can. Be good, yes?”

  Nelson realised that keeping out of the way would be a good idea and nodded his head.

  Toff patted Nelson almost gently on the head and said, “Good. We be good.”