by T. L Smith
“For your ship.” Huracid leaned forward, forcing his image upon Carl. “Within our field, rendezvous point achieved in forty-eight hours.”
“What field? How? I don’t like you controlling our computer, or our ship.”
“Our ship exceeds your FTL, capable of reaching the coordinates in the time required. Your ship will be protected.”
Carl’s doubt still clawed at him, but his fear for Kali made him surrender. “I’m putting a hell of a lot of faith in you. I swear, if this is some trick, I will find a way to kill you.”
“I fear deceit would result in more than my death.” Huracid nodded his dark head. “Computer, adjust gravity for boarding.”
Huracid’s image faded, then blinked out. Carl felt his body go lighter and quickly strapped Kali to the table. “Please let this be real.” He didn’t understand Huracid’s explanation of how they’d do this, but he barely understood FTL. Somehow they would carry the Tamanni at some immeasurable speed, faster than FTL, twelve days reduced to two days. Could they? He leaned over Kali. “I have to do this.”
He felt the undeniable heavy thud of docking hooks, then the sound of boots running through the ship. The aliens appeared in the med lab, then two small figures swirled past the soldiers and up onto the surgical table.
Carl watched as these little suited creatures flitted about, amazed with their agility in such light gravity. He could almost visualize wings, if not for the tiny environmental suits. He took a step away from Kali as their short legs latched onto the rails and their thin bodies perched over her. They didn’t have wings, instead long arms reached out to touch their patient with little sensors on the tips of their gloves.
They chirped to each other, then to the creature that stepped up to the end of the table.
Huracid’s real voice jarred Carl from his fixation on Kali. “You are not physiologically familiar to them, but they have studied the data we downloaded from our prior encounter. They will attempt to reduce pressure and monitor her until this med-evac ship arrives.”
“I won’t refuse help, but I won’t leave her either.”
Huracid nodded and the critters started surgery.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“This is Med Evac Cruiser, C345, identify yourself.”
Carl couldn’t believe they were waiting at the jump point, the spot the computer arranged for the rendezvous. Barely forty-six hours, as promised. “C345, this is the Tamanni… Carl Lambert, engineer, IGF registered freighter.”
“I don’t know who you are, but you’re clearly not a freighter or IGF. Identify yourself.”
“Damn!” He turned on Huracid. “Your ship…” Even as he said it the clamps holding them to the alien craft released and controls were back in Carl’s hands, letting him pull away. “This… is… Carl Lambert, engineer of the Tamanni. The other ship you see only provided us assistance reaching you.”
“I am Major Adkins, Captain of Med Evac Cruiser C345. We recognize the Tamanni now, but request the identity of your companion ship. Identify yourself.” The stern face of the med-evac ship’s captain filled the screen, but Carl knew the man had to be freaking out inside. The IGF ship was overshadowed by this monstrosity that probably appeared out of nowhere.
Carl looked over his shoulder to Huracid, then back to the screen. “I don’t have time to explain. The captain’s condition is critical. She needs medical assistance or she’s going to die.”
“As your companion ship refuses to identify themselves, we refuse aid in order to protect our crew.” The link was broken and the image replaced of the med-evac ship changing course and starting to enter FTL.
Before Carl could respond, Huracid stepped forward, speaking quickly and harshly. “Med Evac Cruiser C345. We will not allow departure.”
Whatever Huracid did, the cruiser stopped moving. The screen lit up again in less than five second. “What the hell is going on? What did they do to us?” Behind the major was chaos. Carl saw red lights flashing and people scrambling. “Release us immediately or we’ll be forced to use weapons.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t—"
Huracid pushed Carl away from the com center, revealing himself to Maj. Adkins.
“What the Hell?” The rigid expression of the major disappeared at the sight of Huracid. The man jerked his hand in a silent order to open fire, but a stunning flash made the major cover his face. Light rolled through the cruiser, replaced by emergency lighting.
Huracid’s voice overpowered his raging. “We intend no harm, but will not allow departure, communications or the use of your weapons upon us or this ship. You are a medical ship. Kalpana Ghiya is endangered. Allow the Tamanni to dock. Send armed security with surgical team. We will release your ship when care is provided.”
Carl wanted to claw Huracid away from the com center, but with the prevailing silence from the med-evac ship, he also wanted to reach out and grab them. He saw no movement from the other ship as the computer slowly navigated the Tamanni towards the IGF cruiser. As they got closer the silence was broken. The major’s glare shifted from Huracid to Carl. “Tamanni, you may dock, but prepare to be boarded.”
Carl resisted the impulse to channel Kali and point out that the implied threat came off a bit lame. “I will meet your security team at the docking doors and surrender to them.” Carl squeezed past Huracid and out of the cockpit. He dodged around Regurak soldiers. When had they come aboard?
It didn’t matter. Carl made it to the airlock portal and watched as engine thrusts aligned the ships. The docking tube snaked across the narrow gap and magnetic clamps took hold. A similar tube ran in reverse through the first, a secondary protective layer.
Yellow lights filled the panel as tethers from both ships found their targets. The tubes recoiled, drawing the ships closer, making the transition tubes rigid. Joined, both ships oxygenated the tube and Carl saw their portal open. His side cycled open simultaneously.
He stepped through with his hands up. “I’m Carl Lambert, engineer of the Tamanni, retired IGF. I surrender to—"
“IGF? Then you should know better.” A huge man took long steps to meet him, his silver eyes narrow and angry. A laser rifle pointed at Carl’s chest. “I don’t know how you disabled our ship, but I’m prepared to defend her.” His finger stretched from under the trigger guard and Carl could see the safety was disengaged.
Carl pulled his eyes away from the weapon and back to the man behind it. An EH major. More EH soldiers in body armor flooded the tube and over the threshold of the Tamanni, weapons primed. Their eyes glowed, a sight he’d only seen when these men were prepared for battle. Carl looked to the medical team behind the officer. “Please, she has a cerebral embolism. The pressure is growing despite our efforts.” He stared back into the major’s eyes. “Please… she’s… she’s one of you, an EH.”
Those were the magic words. The light in the major’s eyes shifted and he waved the medical team forward, giving Carl a push to lead the way. The light gravity slowed the soldiers down, but only for a second as they adapted and followed Carl through the ship. He ran into the med lab, to Kali.
The medical team skid to a stop halfway across the room. Staring at Kali, then at the creatures perched over her.
“Don’t worry about them. They’re… they’re doctors too.”
The team leader broke the standoff, stepping to Kali’s side and running a quick scan while the others waited. “Diagnosis confirmed. Get over here!” The team rushed forward. Through the computer the little alien doctors gave a detailed history of Kali’s case. The humans gave them brief wide-eyed stares of disbelief, but doubled their urgency.
Carl found himself pushed further and further from her side, until he clung tightly to the wall beside the door, EH soldiers on either side. He didn’t budge as they suddenly jerked stiff and nearly tripped over their own feet backing away from him. Huracid took a place next to Carl. The EH major glared from the other side of the doorway, the displaced guards joining him. Now they only watched the mas
sive Regurak.
If the medical team noticed the new arrival, they didn’t show it. Kali’s condition was far too critical. Carl understood enough of the terminology to know she really could die any second.
Gravely the doctor left the patient, hesitating a moment when he saw Huracid, but approaching Carl all the same. “We’re about to start surgery. There’s no guarantees we can save her, but we’ll try. I need you to leave…” His eyes swung across the line of soldiers. “… all of you. Please.”
“No, I can’t… I can’t leave her.” Carl pressed his back against the wall as he refused. “I promised I’d nev… Let go!” Carl kicked and swung his arms as Huracid lifted him by his uniform collar and carried him out of the sickbay. “I can’t leave her.”
“The doctor requires you do.”
The Major and EH soldiers followed closely behind Huracid and the doors to the sickbay closed. Carl twisted free of Huracid’s grip. Driven by the wall of soldiers, he ineffectively stomped into the dayroom, past lines of Regurak and EH soldiers.
From the galley he removed Kali’s scotch from the cabinet. He drank from the bottle, watching as Regurak and EH faced-off. The EH Major stood an arm’s distance from Huracid. He studied his alien counterpart, seeming impressed.
“This must be a first.” Carl snarled. “I bet the EH never came up against someone actually uglier.”
“Don’t be so sure.” With a flash of silver, the major glanced at Carl, then back at Huracid. “I suppose anyone in their right mind would be intimidated, but it’s often said we EH were bred without fear. Respect however…” The major slowly nodded his head.
Carl took another swig of scotch, fuming at this reaction, but it shouldn’t have been a surprise. He’d seen Kali’s defiance in the face of danger. In the alley the night they met, here on her ship as Huracid gripped her face, she never flinched, but she did know fear. He’d seen it. Fear of the unknown fate awaiting them. Was this part of that fate?
No, it couldn’t be. He’d read the book. All her lives were subjected to the fate of her decisions, not some horrible accident. The encounter in from of him was some satiric twist. Huracid had gone to such lengths to erase evidence of their first encounter, but he’d never be able to erase this, short of destroying everyone, which made saving Kali pointless. Their secret was out, whether they wanted it to be or not.
It wasn’t a comforting thought. If this was their destiny, then this had to be the tipping point. Everything would start escalating. It made the human Carl nervous, but not the creature inside him. Huracid’s prophecy was focused on Kali, because she was EH. Now Huracid had a whole ship load of them. Carl really wanted the thing in his head to come out and join the party. Give him answers. Not that Kali needed anything weirder to make a bad situation worse.
The silent scrutiny between the two sides went on. Carl had no doubt the EH were using that weird mind-reading thing in them. Not that it was real mindreading. More a sense of presence. Of intent and emotions. It lasted a few more seconds before he saw a shift in attitudes.
It was all in the shoulders, just a fraction of give. The EH major took a step back. “So, what, or rather who exactly are you?”
“I could ask the same thing.” Huracid sounded just as interested in his counterpart.
The EH soldier laughed unexpectedly. “You could, but we’re no surprise to you, though I don’t get the rest of your feelings as clear in my head.” In an action surprising Carl, he heard simultaneous clicks of safeties being engaged on the EH weapons. “I am Major Brant Everett.”
With what looked like a bow, Huracid answered the major. “I am Huracid of the Regurak.” The alien went on to tell the same story he’d shared with Kali, how they came in pursuit of invaders and encountered the Tamanni. Encountering Kalpana Ghiya. They’d been observing humans more closely since, before making any further judgments.
“Any further judgments?” Carl jerked upright from the counter he’d been leaning on. “Ceris Median.” Heads turned to look at him. “It’s the same place you attacked us before. Only this time… was what happened at Ceris M. part of your judgement?”
The EH major narrowed his eyes and Carl could feel a… tickle at the base of his neck, spreading upwards. This man was a high-level EH. “What did you find at Ceris M.?”
Carl stared back at the major. “Nothing. No one. Not a soul anywhere. My last cargo drop was still on the landing pad, the crops are overgrown and the colonists are… gone.”
“Why didn’t you notify the IGF?” He tapped at the com link on his chest several times, then remembered the blackout. “Damn.”
Carl extended a hand to Huracid. “Exactly. I got back to the ship and found Kali unconscious. That’s about when Huracid made a miraculous reappearance. We’ve been in some hyper FTL for the last two days and I seriously didn’t have time to worry about the colony.”
“What? Wait! Two days?” The major turned back to Huracid. “You transported this ship from Ceris M., to here, in two days? Can you transport something larger, like our ship? If something happened on Ceris M. we need to get there.”
“What?” Carl fumed. “Shouldn’t you ask about his involvement before asking for help?” Carl glared at Huracid. “You attacked us in the same area, right after our last drop. And then you come upon us again, in the same sector. Tell us, Huracid, what do you know about Ceris M.?”
Huracid crossed the room until he stood on the other side of the counter from Carl. “You ask are we responsible? No! We tracked the most recent energy signatures, finding this ship.”
“Most recent… You picked up other signatures in that sector?” The major pushed his way back into the conversation, ignoring the animosity between Carl and Huracid.
“Yes, but old. Strongest from this ship.” Huracid turned away from Carl. “Our choice changed many things.”
“Yes, it has.” Months of built-up frustration finally burst and Carl came over the counter, grabbing Huracid. “You’re the same creatures that attacked Kali… the other Kali.” He knew that made no sense, not to Huracid or Everett, but it did to him. “You’ve been sneaking around, stalking us, haunting Kali with your… what, holographic images? What do you want from her?”
Huracid towered over Carl, but another voice interrupted his reply.
“I’d like to hear the answer to that question too.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Major Adkins, the med-evac captain, walked into the dayroom, his teeth clenched. “Major Brant, you were ordered to stand ready against these assailants.” He marched across the room to stand nearly nose-to-nose with Everett. Or rather nose-to-chest, since Everett was a good foot taller than him, and wider. A normal human soldier stood behind him, his eyes busy darting from one Regurak to the next.
Everett’s eyes went to that cold deadly silver as he glared down at Adkins. “I perceive no threat from these individuals.”
“No threat?” Adkins didn’t disengage from Everett. “They’ve disabled our ship.”
Carl couldn’t help but wonder if Adkins, had a swollen self-image of himself, or was stupid, challenging any EH the way he was. Then again, he was hanging from Huracid’s arm. He let go and backed off before he got swatted like a fly. Again.
“They stopped us in an attempt to deliver a citizen for medical assistance.” Everett took a breath and the silver shifted to a pale grey. “They caused no harm to the ship or our personnel.”
“Nor will we.” Huracid looked from one agitated major to the other, then to Carl. “No…human…will purposefully come to harm by us.”
Carl took more steps to get out of Huracid’s massive reach. Moving closer to the human side of the room. “Just because you don’t sense malice doesn’t mean it isn’t there.” He jerked his head at Huracid. “You came to kill those who dared invade your sector.”
“Our colony was wiped out.” Huracid didn’t deny Carl’s accusations.
“As were the people on Ceris M.” Carl turned and seized a weapon from Adkins’ human
guard, pointing it at Huracid’s chest. “You know it wasn’t us, so what do you want?”
Around the room weapons shifted, safeties disengaged. Carl wasn’t EH, but he could feel eyes burning into him.
“Kalpana is our purpose, our answer. When she awakes—" A movement at the entrance to the dayroom drew Huracid’s attention away from the threat of Carl’s weapon. One of Huracid’s doctors stood quiet at the edge of the room. When he spoke Huracid turned and rushed out.
“Damn!” Carl ran after Huracid. There were shouts coming from the sickbay, human voices raised over alien voices and the computer trying to translate. “We need to monitor her aboard our ship, transport her to an IGF hospital.”
The little doctor scurried back onto the hospital bed, chirping loudly at the humans as they tried to move the hospital gurney out of the room. Huracid blocked the doorway. “The woman will not be moved.”
Carl tried, but couldn’t push past Huracid’s thick arms. “Get out of their way!” This time he used the butt of the weapon on Huracid’s back, hammering between shoulders, only to have it bounce off the hard shell of armor. “She needs a hospital.”
Huracid turned around, but did not move out of the doorway. “She will remain aboard her ship.” He looked at Everett. “Your kind will remain as well.” In a unified step, the corridors closed with the hard-shelled bodies of Huracid’s soldiers.
Before Huracid could explain, or Everett respond, Adkins pulled his sidearm. A sharp orange light flashed across the space behind Carl, aimed at the Regurak. The laser-fire splashed across one armored chest, then another, with as much effect as water evaporating. The energy dissipated on contact, but the longer Adkins held the beam, the hotter and more deadly the ray grew, shifting in color up the spectrum.
Everett lunged at Adkins, trying to wrench the weapon from his hands. The EH physically moved against the soldiers blocking their retreat, armor clashed against armor. In the distraction, Carl tried to slip past Huracid, only to be yanked back from the door. The fingers wrapped around his wrist were tight, crushing his bones to the point of breaking.
