The Council of Hhearn Trilogy Box Set

by P F Walsh

  As you order Captain, it will be done.” Martin responded

  Sean left the bridge to go to his cabin and change into his ship suit which bore the name of the ship and his Captain’s stripes on both sleeves as well as the stitched overlay of the diplomatic box symbol.

  Staff Sergeant Kerikl of the Orbital Security Force went on break, found a quiet bench outside headquarters and made a call to General Tommar brining him up to date on the new development.

  “She did what?” as he heard she had assumed command of the Orbital Security Forces under the wartime laws. The General was as surprised as anybody and began to scheme on how he might be able to recover the ship from this new interloper. He must make sure he is in the greeting party when they land.

  “Surely there must be a rule of recovery somewhere we can press.” He thought, as he reached for his comm to contact Colonel Yasto Belmint his accomplice in the recent assassination no one knew about.

  The Discovery set down and the crew began preparing for a diplomatic party made up of Captain Flynn, Doris Lang Security Officer, and Rookt-Nab ship’s counselor and linguist. Each was equipped with a translator, now updated with the language of Denknish by Martin. Martin had also equipped Rookt-Nab with an ear bud providing communication directly, similar to Captain Flynn’s implant communicator.

  Sean reminded the remaining crew on board to protect the ship and allow no access. Stun weapons were set to ‘free.’

  The diplomatic party assembled in the cargo area. Welly was on hand to unload the original cargo on demand but the cargo hatch would remain closed until those orders came from Sean. All crew was reminded that the ship was the diplomatic territory of Earth.

  “Captain, I see that there is a reception party assembled outside the ship near our cargo hatch.” Said Martin.

  “Very well, Martin. Welly, stand by to open the hatch” Welly was fully armed and in their earlier planning all agreed it would be wise to display arms within the ship right away to discourage anyone rushing the hatch to gain entry. They had opened the concealed panel in the ship’s main hall and retrieved the weapons hidden there. These were detected earlier by Allister’s scan of the whole ship looking for secret data ports and hidden compartments. They found five hand weapons of various makes and types and two short barreled rifles with a very large bore that shot needle clusters. Welly said it was known as a “crowd pleaser” among weapon dealers. He didn’t comment on how he knew that. Sean didn’t ask. Welly slung the ‘crowd pleaser’ over his shoulder, but in visible sight.

  “Martin, open the laser port above the hatch at the same time you open the hatch. This will be a standing order to do that until countermanded.”

  “I understand Captain, shall I open now?” Asked Martin.

  “Yes, let’s do this.” Sean said.

  Speaker Nool stood in the center of the small group awaiting the ship’s hatch to open. It included her Diplomatic Director, two diplomatic staff members, two security personnel in the immediate party, and a representative from Central Explorations an agency that had migrated from exploration into intelligence collection. The General while demanding to be included, was told in no uncertain terms that this was a diplomatic event and no military would be invited. The Speaker insisted this would send the wrong message to a new contact. The General was so angry when he heard this, he threw the comm unit against the wall where it broke into pieces.

  The cargo hatch of the Discovery opened in sync with the laser port.

  The Speaker’s party noticed this immediately. Only one took a step back. The Speaker said in a low voice,

  “They are being cautious after having seen the rubble outside our defense net. Stand easy.”

  The hatch now fully opened with a ramp extended allowed Sean and his party to descend to the end of the ramp where Sean asked,

  “Permission to visit your world?”

  The Speaker answered immediately,

  “Permission granted and welcome to Denknish.” as she approached Sean with her arm forward and her hand vertical palm forward in the Denknish version of a handshake. Sean had been schooled on this ‘high five’ greeting gesture by Rooky who had spent days reading up on Denknish in the ship’s files.

  Sean stepped forward and touched palms holding it for just a few seconds. The cargo hatch closed and the ship’s shields went up.

  Sean began,

  “Permit me to introduce our party, I am Captain Sean Flynn, the person to my right is Doris Lang Ship’s Security Officer, and to my left is Rookt-Nab ship’s Counselor.” They each did a brief bow as they were named.

  The Speaker picked up at that point and said,

  “I am Speaker of The Assembly Doreem Nool, in Denknish that is the highest Office and I can meet with you on any issue that comes to our mutual interest.”

  She then proceeded to emulate Sean and introduced all the persons in her party. A slight rain began to fall which prompted the Speaker to suggest that they all go inside to a prepared meeting room. All agreed and moved to the nearby building, a combination of air and shuttle craft hangers and business offices.

  Once inside, they were guided to a conference room. As they walked through the building, Sean noticed that there was a large number of Security Officers in and about the building securing various entrances and doors. Doris had already noted that and that they were well armed. Doris as usual carried ‘Henry’ her Smith and Wesson .357 revolver. It was discretely out of sight in her shipsuit holster. Extra rounds were in her pockets.

  Only the Speaker’s party and Sean’s party were allowed in the conference room. The guards stayed at their posts.

  Inside the room a large conference table accommodated the whole group with a few chairs left over. Along one wall was a refreshment center with stacks of glasses, pitchers of iced water, and various canned drinks the labels of which Sean couldn’t read.

  Sean took a chair in the center of the table and Speaker Nool the opposite chair.

  “Well Captain, what brings you to our planet?” She asked.

  “Madam Speaker I like direct dialogue and I am glad we didn’t waste time with diplo-talk, there will be plenty of time for that. First, I would like to pass to you a packet of my credentials as Senior Field Officer of Earth’s Interplanetary Relations. That is Earth’s diplomatic resource to off world relations. While Earth is a Member of the Council of Worlds in good standing, I do not speak for the Council of Worlds itself.” Replied Sean.

  He then proceeded to describe to her how they found the critically disabled and sabotaged Denknish ship drifting in ‘no-space’, discovery of the deceased crew, the transfer of command by the AI, repair of the ship under salvage laws, and its re-registration as an Earth ship now called Discovery.

  He then explained to her he felt an obligation to return the former crew’s personal affects and cargo, since on his planet that would be ethically expected.

  She nodded as he spoke, realizing that such a generous foray would never be done by Denknish and a tiny spit of embarrassment slipped through her. “War makes people crude and uncivil,” she thought, “what have we lost?”

  “Captain Flynn, I would like to express my world’s appreciation for you act of kindness, but surely there must be other reasons?”

  “Speaker Nool, there is always the hope for trade and cultural interchange which would have been my secondary reasons, but I see you are engaged in a war that has lasted a very long time. We did not know this when we set out to come here.” He answered.

  “I have no other agenda except benevolence and how we might help. However, I refuse on behalf of my planet and the other Council of Worlds Members to become involved in your war and caution you that I cannot take sides. What I might do for you would generally require me to offer similar relief to the other party. It’s likely that some of your staff or military won’t like that. In fact, depending on the request, I might have to impose conditions.”

  “What kind of conditions occur to you Captain?” She asked.


  “Perhaps an example would help. If the request for assistance were to somehow enhance the ability to continue the war, I might have to ask both sides to sit across from each other and agree to some abatement in return. I won’t subsidize a war nor would my planet or the other members allow it.” he said.

  She thought on this for a bit and then said,

  “Captain I am glad you have come to visit with us. How can we arrange the collection of the former crew’s personal effects and the cargo?”

  “You have but to ask and it will be done.” He said.

  “I think this sad event will best be done by our religious community. I will have the Chief Priest of our Shrine to come and assume responsibility for the personal effects, and my administrative manager to accept the cargo. Do you know what the cargo is?” She asked.

  “Yes, Madam Speaker, there are several crates of soil collected from various planets with, I believe, some exotic minerals. There is also a couple of very large crates with machinery parts, but I do not know what they were intended for, except they do not appear to be weapon oriented. Lastly, there were some crates of food stuffs which had long since gone bad. Those were discarded.”

  “Very well, I will arrange a time for those. In the meantime, I would like to invite you to my office where we can relax and you can tell me about the Council of Worlds and perhaps some mid solar food? It appears we have a great deal to learn about the galaxy that we did not know.”

  Sean nodded his assent and they all left the building to board a small 12 passenger bus which took them through the city to the city center where the Government offices were located. The buildings were amazing in how they all sparkled in various individual colors. Each building had been cased in a stone of uniform color that contained particles that reflected tiny bursts of color when passing by. Elegant carvings swept up the sides of the building that had no windows, and ornate entrances invited entrance through glass-like doors which also had a shade of color. It was a happy visage when built, but now everywhere that Sean looked there was damage of some type. The Government Center had thus far seemed to have escaped damage and stood tall cased with some more of that intriguing stone This building was laced with strips of glasslike insertions that allowed the color to shoot up the side of the building in a random pattern depending on the viewing angle.

  Sean thought, “How sad that art seems even more injured when the scars of war are nearby. While the art is impressive and pleases me, I can’t forget this may be a war of attrition I’m in the middle of. Must be careful here.”

  Chapter Four

  Book Two

  Kastm’n the Elder, a Zakarian on a blood hunt for Captain Flynn had turned around in Missouri after learning Flynn was now back near Hhearn. He had switched vehicle license plates one more time and was back to Washington without knowing that earlier he had placed truck plates on his car. Those were now gone and conventional stolen vehicle plates were now on his car. He drove and parked a few blocks from the construction site where days before he killed a construction worker, stole his car, and wallet. He used the cash while traveling for food and fuel but that ran out quickly. He reverted to brute force and robbed fuel station attendants late at night of both fuel and funds to continue his quest.

  Now, he was walking through the construction site and found the section of fence he had slipped through before. He began to stroll casually toward the temporary spaceport shuttle landing area. He planned on mixing with the traders arriving by shuttle. It was very busy today and it encouraged his hopes of finding passage back to Hhearn using his stolen funds and an offer of labor. He brought with him a large garbage bag of stolen Earth snacks which he knew were valued by those that had tasted Earth food fare. He spoke with four arriving and departing traders without luck. They recognized him as a Zakarian and while prejudice was not common, Zakarians were known for their rage and aggressiveness and the traders he spoke with declined.

  About three hours later, another shuttle landed from the CW freighter Aemiol and four traders disembarked, stretching their legs as they adjusted to Earth’s gravity. They saw Kastm’n as they approached and two of them nodded and smiled. He approached them with his hand held out for a greeting. The two who were smiling clasped his hand as he began to make his request. It was then that the other two who had passed him by shot him with two stunners. Kastm’n went down like a rock. The four men picked him up and carried him back to their shuttle where they handcuffed both feet and hands with unbreakable dura-metal binders. One man was left behind to guard Kastm’n and the other three went into the trading center to do business.

  Two hours later Kastm’n regained consciousness and discovered he was securely bound with unbreakable bindings that were also hooked to an anchor ring in the shuttle floor. He went into a rage full of screaming threats that increased as he watched the guard sit there out of reach, with a smile on his face, holding Kastm’n’s ceremonial dagger. When his screaming abated, as he sucked in enough air to begin again, the guard said,

  “Kastm’n, this is going to be a very profitable trip for us. The Council has set a 20,000 kalt reward for your capture and return to Hhearn. You’re wanted for all sorts of charges, including murder, and you’re going to get a free ride back.” Then he laughed and put down Kastm’n’s dagger while reaching for some of the snacks that Kastm’n had with him. The captive began another of his rages while the guard crunched on Fritos.

  “Senior Councilor Trakt-Men, pardon me for interrupting you, but there is a request from a Zakar shuttle in orbit with a Zakarian emissary to land and to meet with you. He claims it is a chieftain member of the Zakar Thulk Gild.” announced Hekt-Lar the Councilor’s aid with his head just inside the Councilor’s office door.

  “Really?” He responded quite surprised. “A Thulk Gild Chieftain never left Zakar that he had ever heard. This would be interesting.” He thought.

  “Issue permission for them to land, but only the Chieftain is to disembark. Provide him with security escort and transport him directly to my Office. He is not to go anywhere else including his Embassy building, that includes his return trip after we meet. Clear?” barked the Councilor.

  “Yes sir, perfectly. I will handle it.” Replied the aid and closed the door. The Councilor went back to work musing on how he would deal with what was likely to be some sort of belligerent demand.

  It was not long before his aid came into his office to advise him the Chieftain was in his waiting area.

  “Hekt, ask the interrogator and my Counsel to join us and then bring in the Chieftain.” He directed.

  “Yes sir, they are waiting as well, I will send them in now.”

  The Senior Councilor rose from his desk to receive the entourage while standing. As they entered, he motioned to each which chair to select. The large chair in front of the Councilor’s desk was set there for the Chieftain. His other attendees were seated alongside the wall to his right and behind him. He had the large chair brought in from the ceremonial hall. If the Chieftain was expecting lack of respect from the Council, he would be disappointed.

  “Senior Councilor, I am the Chief of the Clan Grak and I sit on the Thulk Gild. We find ourselves amid the stream of chaos created by some of our Clan brothers. I am here to acknowledge our errors and breaches and to speak truth.” As he ended that sentence, he withdrew his bejeweled dagger from his waist belt and placed it on the table with its point aimed back at him. This was the ceremonial acceptance among the Zakarians that if the Clan member does not speak truth, he is to be killed with his own dagger without resistance. The Senior Councilor knew this and was hopeful that the discussion would be absent diplomatic verbosity.

  “Chieftain, I welcome you to my office and I appreciate your personal involvement in these troubling issues. I assume you have come to discuss the circumstances related to our capture of the surviving Captain and crew of your warship.” Said the Councilor.

  “That is correct and to inquire how we may mend our bonding set forth in the Chart
er which we have signed in blood. I can inform you in truth that the Thulk Gild knew nothing of the plans to attack your Seeker and would not have given its sanction to do so. To break a pledge among us is grave and usually unforgivable.”

  “Chieftain, forgiveness is always available among the Council, but if you were not informed of the planned recent attack on our vessel which was on a diplomatic mission, it is possible you do not know the full extent of what we have found. I too, swear on my honor to speak truth.”

  The Councilor laid out the information discovered so far as he watched the Chieftain’s eyes grow bigger. The captured Zakar Captain, while under truthmed confessed to the destruction of an earlier Seeker as well as the attempt on the second Seeker that resulted in his defeat and capture. He also laid out the involvement of the Former Zakarian Ambassador Kastm’n which deepened the scope of the issues.

  The Councilor added that there was a reward issued for the capture and return of Kastm’n The Elder who had gone to Earth on a blood hunt.

  After a long pause, the Chieftain said in a quiet voice,

  “Our Gild has been dishonored, we knew nothing of the earlier destruction, nor would we have even considered sanctioning such a breach of our Gild pledge to the Council’s Charter. What will be your course of retribution to these men and to our Gild?”

  “Chieftain, the captain we have captured is charged with piracy and under the law he will be executed. His clan brother Kastm’n is a co-conspirator in that he instructed his clan brother to proceed with both attacks. He is also wanted for the murder of our former Senior Councilor. We have much of that event on vid. He will join his Clan Brother in termination once he is apprehended.” said the Councilor

  “And, the crew members you have?” Asked the Chieftain.