Star Runners

by Clayton J Callahan

  She really tried, but all she ended up doing was staring at her communicator and waiting for VanDer to report. Soon, she found herself sound asleep in her chair, dreaming of taking her kids out for ice cream of all things. For some reason, the ice cream shop was in a university library next to a beach, but otherwise, everything seemed pleasantly normal in the dream. The dream was shattered by the buzzing of her communicator. Manly’s face appeared on the screen, and his message was live.

  Hitting the contact, she said, “Robishaw here.”

  “Good evening, ma’am. Have you heard from the captain yet?”

  “Negative.”

  Manly smiled. “I’m not surprised. He’s been talking to Lady Nastya. She’s the local mayor or baroness or something like that. I’m still trying to get a handle on whether she got elected or inherited her position. Anyway, they’re treating us to a big dinner right now and have acrobats and musicians entertaining everyone, quite a show really. I just slipped out to give you a heads up on the general situation. They do carry weapons around here. Most of them wear knives, and some have swords. But no one has so much as shown us what their blades look like. They just seem happy to see us. Our arrival is probably the event of the decade around here.”

  “That’s great news, Manly. Have they indicated that they want anything from us so far?”

  Puzzled, he shook his head. “No.”

  Her old headache flared. “Visitors from outer space with advanced tech just landed in their back yard. Meanwhile, they are living in a cold climate and are scratching in the ground with primitive tools for food. I'll bet next month's pay they're drawing up Christmas lists even as we speak.”

  “Good point.” Manly turned away from the screen and said in a whisper, “not now.” Then he returned his attention to Robishaw. “I’ll keep an ear to the ground, but for all I know, the captain is discussing that kind of stuff with Lady Nastya now.”

  “Let’s hope.” She reached into her desk drawer for some modo-aspirins. “Anything more to report?”

  Manly seemed to think it over while female giggling could be heard in the background. “Not at this time.”

  “Fine. Good luck down there. Robishaw out.”

  She decided to make it official and go to bed after forwarding the recording of her conversation with Manly to Second Officer Yu. Her bunk welcomed her in its soft, warm embrace as she closed her eyes and invited sleep to come upon her.

  Naturally, it didn’t, and she spent the whole night tossing and turning.

  ***

  The next morning, as Robishaw staggered through the crowded beige and white corridors on her way to the mess deck her communicator buzzed to life. Knowing that whatever the news, it was going to delay her breakfast, she reached for it and read the text message.

  THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN DICTATED BY THE LADY NASTYA OF KAMIANETS TO HELEN ROBISHAW OF THE SHIP YANG-HE. KNOW THAT YOUR SHIPMATES ARE NOW HOSTAGES OF THE LADY AND WILL BE RETURNED WHEN OUR DEMANDS ARE MET.

  1) WE REQUIRE ONE HUNDRED OF YOUR RIFLES WITH TEN THOUSAND ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION.

  2) WE REQUIRE TWO HUNDRED KILOS OF ANTIBIOTICS AND TWO HUNDRED KILOS OF PAIN RELIEVERS.

  3) WE ALSO DEMAND DIPLOMATIC RECOGNITION BY THE GREAT CONFEDERATION OF KAMIANETS’ SOVEREIGNTY OVER ALL OF GAULISH.

  ONCE THESE DEMANDS ARE MET, YOUR PEOPLE WILL BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE.

  HER MAGNIFICENT HIGHNESS, THE LADY NASTYA

  Robishaw read and re-read the text as her blood boiled hotter and hotter in her veins. “Son of a fucking bitch!” she shouted, and crewmen who had been walking the same hallway suddenly disappeared from sight.

  She flicked her control switch and called her second officer. “Yu, meet me in my office right now. We have a problem.”

  “I’m having breakfast, why don’t you join me on the mess deck?”

  “Too sensitive,” she answered. “My office, now.”

  Yu arrived with a coffee stain on his tunic just as she was gobbling down another pair of modo-aspirins. Her headache was reaching a five on the Richter scale, and she needed to get it under control so she could think clearly.

  “What’s going on?” Yu asked.

  She showed him the text. “They didn’t give us a timeframe, but I’m willing to bet they want an answer to all those demands pretty damn soon.”

  Yu shook his head. “How did this happen?”

  “I don’t know. I also don’t know if our people have all been captured or if some escaped. I checked the trackers on the communicators, and all are still transmitting from within that setelment. However, just because the technology is working doesn’t mean anybody’s alive.”

  “We can ask this Lady Nastya for some proof of life. Then, once it’s established that our people aren’t harmed we can try to negotiate in good faith.”

  Robishaw almost laughed. “Good faith? We haven’t got the things they’re demanding. All twenty of our ACRs are already down below with the landing party. We might have the medicines they want, so that’s not a problem, I guess. But as to diplomatic recognition, we have no authority to grant it as far as I know.”

  “If we can’t give them the weapons, however, the rest might not be worth discussing.” Yu took a seat next to her desk. “After all, that was the demand they made first.”

  She rubbed her forehead. “Also, the very fact that they took our people hostage implies that they don’t intend to act in good faith toward us. I need options.”

  “Only one comes to mind, but it’s far from my Buddhist traditions.”

  “And what’s come to your mind, Mr. Yu?”

  Folding his hands in his lap, he replied, “Keeping in mind that we want to resolve this peacefully but knowing that may not be an option, I’m reminded of a saying from ancient Rome; Si vis pacem, para bellum.”

  ***

  Unfortunately, most of the crew with military backgrounds had volunteered for the landing party in the first place and were thus now the hostages. Nevertheless, shipmates were eager to step up knowing that their friends below were in danger. Robishaw picked the eight most able and issued them snub pistols.

  She handed the last pistol to Chief Sanchez who’d once been a cop. She put him in charge of the squad, and he immediately started training them so that when the time came they could move and fight as a team.

  Meanwhile, she attempted to negotiate with the Lady Nastya of Kamiantesvia over video link. And after watching the lady babble in Ukrainian for a moment, the translation scrolled across her image.

  WE EXPECT NO SOLDIERS AT THE EXCHANGE. ANY SIGN OF ARMED MEN AND WE WITHDRAW ALL PROMISES.

  Robishaw nodded. “There will be no soldiers. We will land in the field you have designated and give you the Proclamation of Recognition by The Great Confederation in exchange for one-third of our landing party. I’ve no intention of doing anything to spoil goodwill at this stage, and hope your intentions are similar.”

  Robishaw waited for Lady Nastya to read her translation as she sipped her coffee. She was still not convinced by VanDer’s assertion that tea contained more caffeine, and besides, at times like this, she needed her comfort beverage.

  The Lady replied. YES, WE INTEND TO DO NOTHING THAT WILL HAMPER RELATIONS. THE FOLLOWING DAY WE WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER THIRD IN EXCHANGE FOR MEDICINS, AND THE DAY AFTER THAT THE FINIAL HOSTAGES FOR RIFLES. GOODBYE.

  For a brief instant, Robishaw caught a glimpse of Manly as he reached around Lady Nastya to shut off the communicator for her. “At least Manly’s alive,” she whispered to herself.

  Yu spoke up from his seat behind her, “What did you say?”

  “Oh, nothing, just that they haven’t killed Manly yet.”

  “The proof of life video they sent showed everyone in good health,” Yu replied. “However, I couldn’t help but notice that all the trackers show our people in a wooden cottage but in the video there all in a room with stone walls.”

  Taking a sip of her coffee, Robishaw considered his point. “Likely Lady Nasty dumped all their commo
gear in some poor farmer’s shack thinking that if we attempted a raid, the guns would blaze in the peasant’s direction, not in hers.”

  “Lady Nasty?”

  She shrugged. “So, I have a petty side. Sue me.”

  He let out a small laugh. “Sorry, I couldn’t afford a lawyer in the first place.”

  She smiled at that. “We’re making pretty good money up here, you know?”

  “I have ten children.”

  Robishaw blanched. “Oh, boy. I’ve got two, and I thought they were expensive.”

  Yu shrugged. “So, we’re going to do the exchange in good faith.”

  Putting down her mug, she said, “If you call giving them a meaningless scrap of paper in exchange for human lives the answer is, ‘yes.’ I talked to the medical staff too. By this time tomorrow, they will have all the drugs ready for our second exchange. Apparently, the folks down there didn’t have a clear idea of what kind of drugs they wanted when we pressed them for details. However, we have a broad selection of painkillers and antibiotics to offer, so the medics simply decided to give them a little bit of everything.”

  “And the one hundred advanced combat rifles with ammunition?”

  Casting a forlorn look at her cold coffee, Robishaw answered, “I’m still working on that.”

  ***

  Shuttle Two set down upon the frozen field at the exact time specified by Lady Nastya. The landing was perfect, but that didn’t surprise Robishaw. After all, she piloted the damn thing herself. Behind her stood Sanchez’s team—with pistols concealed under their jackets. The chief himself held the aluminum case which contained a fancy looking piece of meaningless parchment that supposedly recognized the supremacy of Lady Nasty’s little scrap of land over all others on this planet.

  Unbuckling her safety harness, Robishaw cast her eyes out the canopy for signs of life. A few cows munched the stubbly alien grass that barely poked through the snow, but that was it. She zipped up her white coat and turned to her team. “Well, folks, now we wait. I suppose their sundials are running slow or something.”

  That got a chuckle from the nervous crew. The prospect of killing probably scared the life out of each and every one of them, and frankly, it ruffled her too. Killing was a thing she’d never gotten used to, and if this exchange went badly that would leave few peaceful options for getting the rest of her people back.

  She closed her eyes. “Mom said I should have been a dentist.” And when she imagined herself spending a career hovering over somebody’s mouth, she snorted, “I’d hate being a dentist.”

  “Ma’am,” Chief Sanchez spoke up, “I think we got something.”

  Sitting bolt upright, she looked out the canopy to see about a fifty people, all in the local garb of tunics and trousers. A tall man with a long beard in a red outfit seemed to be in charge. No sign of Lady Nastya, however.

  “Okay, people, its show time.” She stood up and marched to the main hatch. “Keep those handguns concealed. Nobody draws a weapon until there is an immediate threat to life or I give the order. We play this cool, and we get our shipmates back.” Punching the control she opened the hatch, letting in the chill arctic air of Gaulish.

  Stepping down the gangway, she watched the locals form a semi-circle around her. At first, she wondered where the hostages were, and then she noticed that they were clumped in the middle of the semi-circle. Stripped of their uniforms, they wore the ragged clothes of medieval peasants. The hostages were also the only folks in the crowd not carrying crossbows or wearing swords. Lady Nasty obviously did not entirely trust the Yang-He’s spacers to come unarmed, which meant she wasn’t a fool.

  “Well, I’m not a fool either,” She whispered, then stuck out her chin and announced, “I am First Officer Helen Robishaw of the Confederation Explorer Corpse Ship Yang-He.”

  The man in red stepped forward. “I am Ruslan, Minister of Defense for the Lady. She has delegated me to represent. Do you have recognition we seek?”

  Although the guy had a slight accent, Robishaw was impressed with his Common English. All the same, he was not the person she expected to be dealing with. “And where is the Lady?”

  “She wishes to remain with her subjects at moment. If this transaction goes well, you may have the honor of her presence on later occasion.”

  Behind her, Robishaw heard Chief Sánchez mutter, “So, she’s not risking her own butt even though she expected you to risk yours on this trip. Commendable.”

  “Fine,” Robishaw said in a loud, clear voice. “Now send our comrades forward, and we will present the documents you require.”

  The hostages shuffled forward but when they had reached the edge of the gangway, Ruslan shouted, “Halt!”

  Everybody froze as the bearded minister said, “The documents please.”

  Sanchez nodded to Robishaw and proceeded forward, handing the case to Ruslan. The minister fumbled while with the latch and required a little assistance from the chief. However, when he had the chance to inspect the continence he seemed satisfied. “Good, the Lady will be pleased. I look forward to seeing you for next exchange tomorrow, Helen Robishaw.”

  Waving the hostages into the shuttle, she said, “Tomorrow, same time, same place. Bring the Lady if you wish, minister. But it’s my crew I’ll be coming to see.”

  The hatch closed and Robishaw allowed herself a smile. Among the rescued was her pal, Third Officer Manly, and she couldn’t wait to hear what he had to tell.

  ***

  Back on the Yang-He, Robishaw poured coffee for Manly and tea for Yu as they clustered around her office/stateroom. Yu claimed the chair in front of her desk while Manly sat on the edge of her bunk.

  “It was my fault, ma’am,” Manly began. “I allowed myself to get…distracted.”

  Robishaw took in a deep breath. She wanted to agree, but this wasn’t the time for recriminations with so many problems right up in her face to be solved. “Just tell us what happened, Mr. Manly.”

  He nodded. “They threw this big party for us. Everything seemed on the up and up. The captain didn’t want to reject their hospitality so he let them take us into their castle. Lady Nastya was extremely gracious. I did notice that everybody down there wears a knife or a sword on their belt, children too. I thought of it as more of a cultural expression than a threat, really. I mean, when a pretty gal is pouring you wine, you tend not to notice the blade in her scabbard.”

  Yu pressed Manly. “And as to your blade, did you manage to keep it in your scabbard?”

  Manly’s eyes darted guiltily to Robishaw. “Uh, that would be a ‘no’.”

  Shaking her head, Robishaw sat down behind her desk and said, “Please, continue your report.”

  “Well, apparently I wasn’t the only one that got…distracted. Either by sexual enticement or by other means, the locals managed to split us up. When we were good and isolated from our shipmates, Nastya’s goons jumped us and threw us into the dungeon—and yes, they have a dungeon. We were stripped of everything we had and given native clothing. After that, they took us out of the dungeon one at a time to make us explain how our communicators, medkits and rifles worked. I pretended that I didn’t know how to work the ACR, claimed I was a file clerk, but others must have told ‘em because we caught a glimpse of their soldiers target practicing in the courtyard.”

  “I see.” Robishaw rested her elbows on her desk. The headache was back, but she chose to ignore it for now. “And where did they get the idea we had a hundred ACRs to give away?”

  Manly blinked. “A hundred ACRs?”

  Nodding, Yu answered, “That’s one of their demands. Tomorrow we exchange medicines for another third of the hostages. The day after, they want one-hundred rifles and a pile of ammunition or we don’t get our shipmates back.”

  Burying his face in his hands, Manly groaned, “That stupid sod.” Looking up, he said, “The captain tried that marine bluff you’d used with Dr. Apple on Lady Nastya. I was in the room when he told her that we had a hundred marines in orbit
ready to attack if she didn’t release us.”

  “Well fuck,” Robishaw sighed.

  Yu asked, “Not that I expect to hear an answer I’d like, but do you know what Lady Nastya intends to do with all these guns?”

  “Yes,” he replied. “They took our communicators, but I’d already learned enough Ukrainian to piece together what our guards said when they thought I couldn’t understand. Apparently, warfare between groups is more or less a constant of life on that planet. They expect their settlement to be attacked in the spring, and I imagine the ACRs would prove quite a surprise for their enemies.”

  Robishaw commented, “So, Lady Nasty intends to use our rifles to defend her subjects?”

  With a shrug, Manly replied, “At least at first. Who knows what she’d do to other settlements once she’d gained the upper hand? By the way, her name is pronounced ‘Nastya’.”

  Smiling Yu said, “She knows.”

  “Oh, I get it.”

  “Manly,” Robishaw asked, “who exactly among those people have had the opportunity to learn about our ACRs first hand?”

  Manly seemed puzzled. “What do you mean, ma’am?”

  “I mean, has she passed the rifles around so all of her troops can learn about them or…”

  “Oh, no, ma’am,” Manly interrupted. “She gave them only to her elite guard and it’s those soldiers that have been carrying them or practicing with them. By the way, you can tell the elite from the rest of her troops by the red ribbons they wear on their chests. The other guards just wore brown tunics without decoration. I once saw a regular trooper ask a red ribbon guy about the ACR, and he got a butt stroke across the face for his inquisitiveness.”

  Turning to Robishaw, Yu asked, “Did any of those red ribboned troops show up at the hostage exchange?”

  Robishaw’s face burst into a wide, unfriendly grin. “No,” she said. “And that’s the best news I’ve had all day.”

  ***

  A day later, Manly occupied the pilot’s seat as their one remaining shuttle descended through the clouds toward the rendezvous site while Robishaw sat in the co-pilot’s chair and listened to the comm. Over the speaker, she could hear Yu saying, “The engineering department did an excellent job, if I do say so myself. We should have the last replica done by suppertime.”