by Daniel Gibbs
"Your protest is acknowledged, Captain. We will inform you of any further issues."
"Thank you." Henry cut the line and turned on the intercom. "Everyone, be ready for either a scramble or a firefight. Someone's up to fishy business."
An hour, maybe less. That was how long Drisk gave Kepper, and he knew better than to push it. If anything, it aggravated him that he couldn't employ this kind of gambit more thoroughly by actually forging an entry for the mark in the slavery database the local authorities kept. It wasn't impossible, but it was notoriously difficult and exceedingly dangerous, as the Harr'al were understandably sensitive with anyone messing with their slave database—after all, anyone who could add someone illicitly could also remove someone. It was, in short, incredibly expensive to make stick. More costly than his payment for the job made worthwhile.
But he would have taken the blow to his accounts had he known how the job would go. His mark was about to leave the planet, and he had no idea where they were taking her. Sektatsh only required flight plans filed for in-system travel, not ultimate extrasolar destinations. If he didn't want to fail, he needed to know where they were going.
Or even better, where they would be.
That was why he went straight to his helicar and flew to within a kilometer of the hangar where the Shadow Wolf was berthed. After grabbing his gear from the trunk, he rushed his way to the hangar on foot. An unguarded side entrance had no active life signs near it, so it seemed his best option. There was a security lock, of course, but it was a cheap one, and Kepper had the necessary means to bypass it. He didn't let the door open on its own but set it to manual mode. With that done, he widened the door only a tad, just enough to fish a fiber-optic cable through while remaining out of sight.
The Shadow Wolf was not a bad ship by independent standards. Rundown a bit, certainly, but she was maintained to an acceptable degree. He wasn't familiar with exact models of vessels, but he suspected it was one of the Holden-Nagata lines by the frame. From his angle, he was looking mostly at the ship's rear, where four big engine nozzles sat side-by-side. They looked irregular, modified in some way, although he wasn't sure how.
It wasn't the only modification. From where he could see, the ship had two quad pulse gun turrets mounted on the starboard side, and thus likely on the port as well. The housing for a tracking plasma cannon and three auto-turrets was also visible. Kepper approved of the practicality of the ship's captain, if not for what it meant for him. Independent trading could be dangerous, given piracy and privateer activity. Captain Henry expected some trouble.
That the Shadow Wolf was well-armed ruled out Kepper's plan of hiring mercenaries to chase the ship down and disable it. Had the vessel been only minimally armed with a few auto-turrets, a couple of heavy gunships would have been more than ample means to compel her obedience or cripple, but the quad mounts and plasma cannon would make short work of the mercs he had means to employ. No, he didn't have the funds to hire anyone with sufficient armament to defeat the Shadow Wolf, and he doubted Li would agree to advance him anything to that scale. There were drawbacks to working alone and at the level he usually did.
So as always, he adjusted. Kepper would give Li a shot at arranging a space intercept, since Li probably had the means he lacked, and even if it weren't a personal capture, his reputation would remain reasonably intact. If the League couldn't manage it, Kepper would follow and try again elsewhere.
To accomplish this plan, Kepper brought out a medium-barreled mag-rifle and a clip of unique, costly ammunition. The rounds within were not lethal rounds but micro-QETs: Quantum Entanglement Transmitters. He'd acquired them months prior as a side bonus to a demanding job and used them sparingly, knowing he would never likely afford more. They were tracking devices that, like all quantum entanglement technology, connected across interstellar distances. They'd last for a couple of weeks or so and allow him, or anyone he gave the QET signature, to track the ship across space.
As he finished loading the weapon, he heard a growing mechanical whine. The hangar roof was opening. The Shadow Wolf was about to depart, and he was out of time. He brought the weapon up and lined up the Shadow Wolf on the crosshairs. As the ship's launching thrusters began firing, he looked for a point where his micro-QETs wouldn't get roasted by plasma or thruster exhaust. Steady… steady… there!
He stroked the trigger and felt a slight kick as the rifle generated its firing field. Through the scope, he saw the micro-QET affix itself to the Shadow Wolf's hull, along the ship's stern below the engines. Kepper reached into his pack and found his QET receiver. He checked the signature of the round he'd fired. A smile formed on his face as he saw the return from the tracker. It was working.
A roar grew from the hangar while Kepper closed the door and reset the security lock. By the time he was done, the Shadow Wolf was disappearing into the twilight sky of Sektatsh. He watched it go for a moment before returning to his helicar. Once he stowed his gear, he activated the commlink and called Li.
After several moments, Li appeared. "What?"
"The mark just left Sektatsh aboard an independent trader. I've tagged them with a micro-QET," Kepper said, rushing the second line as a deep frown started to form on Li's face. "I'll send you the signature. I'm going to arrange the means to chase her myself, but if you want, you can make the grab. I'll reduce the fee for you."
"Very gracious of you, Kepper, to make amends for your failure," Li replied sourly. "I have indeed prepared my own means to intercept the ship. Provide the signature, and your services will no longer be required in this matter."
Kepper did so and hung up. He supposed he could have warned Li that the Shadow Wolf was not going to be an easy target, but the Leaguer’s attitude made him decide against it. The arrogant bastard probably already knew, and if he didn't?
Well, if he didn't, Kepper would enjoy his squirming when he inevitably asked for help.
21
The big liquid crystal display surface of the Shadow Wolf's bridge showed the planet Harron recede rapidly as the ship burned for the Lawrence limit. "Good riddance," Piper grumbled from her station. "I feel lucky we got out of there."
"Someone tried to stall us," Henry said, in full agreement.
"It was probably that bastard I ran over," said Cera. She didn't look back from her station. "Wouldn't be surprised if a man like that could bribe his way into a cloister."
"Sektatsh has that reputation." Felix provided that observation from Tia's usual place. Since she'd had to help clean the helicar, Henry had her off resting. The only reason Cera wasn't was because he wanted her at the helm if things went dicey before they left the system. He glanced toward Henry and asked, "So back to Lusitania?"
"That's the plan," Henry said. "I suppose it's a shame we don't have a cargo to run back. I always feel like I'm burning money when we make an empty-hold run."
"Like we did in that two-week run to Yan'katar last year?"
"Yeah. Even though Lou specifically paid enough for both ways," Henry admitted.
"There's still the matter of how we appease all of the people who want to see Gaon." Piper glanced toward her screens for a moment before continuing to speak. "You can't deliver her to Caetano and Vitorino at the same time."
"Knowing Caetano, she'll have people waiting at the hangar. Vitorino… maybe not." Henry allowed himself a wistful little smile as he looked over the holotank display showing nearby space. All of the markers for other ships were well away from the Shadow Wolf. "Although it'd be nice if they did. Caetano can't blame me for Vitorino hiring us too, can she?"
"She's a fascist dictator in the making, Jim. She'll do whatever she wants."
At Felix's remark, Henry nodded. "For the most part. But I do get the feeling that there's more to her than that."
"I never said she wasn't charming, Jim. She'd have to be." Felix's expression was hard. "But that doesn't change what she is. Or what she's doing to her world."
"You'll get no argument from me," Henry said. "
None at all."
Chantavit Li was enjoying a meal with Ambassador Salinas, although "enjoying" was too strong a word for him. She was a vivacious woman of American background, Latin and Anglo, and Li had no doubts as to her loyalty to the Society, although he greatly opposed her pacifism. She was one of the deluded members of Society who believed in peaceful expansion only, forgetting that by their very existence, they would provoke war from the reactionaries that still plagued the galaxy. Nor did they care that they would be abandoning countless generations of people to the chaos that persisted outside of Society.
"I have high hopes for the peace talks," she said to him. "Once we have peace with the Coalition, we can focus our resources on consolidating our colonies and presenting the best of Society to these poor people."
"So you say," Li replied, little warmth in his voice.
"Did you hear back from the Committee? About those visas I requested?"
"I am afraid they were denied," Li replied. He noted her disappointment with satisfaction. "You must understand, Ambassador, that in these times we must be careful about allowing the unsocialized to enter the Society on visits. They could be enemy agents in disguise."
"Oh, don't be so foolish," Salinas insisted. "They are young people full of optimism and hope that the Society can be brought to their world. What better way to encourage them than to show them how life is in the Society? How their world will be improved? An end to the poverty that our neighbors endure because of the capitalist class?"
You have not been to New Hathwell. Or many other League colonies he'd seen in his life, where standards were little better. The League only had so many resources to go around, after all, and so some worlds required Social Austerity and discipline. But Salinas was not the first silly official Li ever dealt with, nor would she be the last, he imagined. He pondered that if he ever wound up on the Committee of Social and Public Safety, he would promote adding this silliness to the list of anti-Social behaviors. It would not be keeping in the spirit of said list, of course, since Salinas was an enthusiastic advocate for Society. But the thought still had its appeal to him.
"I have heard disturbing rumors, Commander," Salinas said suddenly. "My counterpart on New Cornwall has been told that we are going to be accused of these terrible attacks on local shipping?"
"A rumor, or Coalition agitprop, Ambassador," Li said dismissively. "That is all."
"Of course, I am simply concerned about the damage this might do to our standing. We must do everything we can to prove it nothing but falsehood. A mistake, or a vicious lie by the Coalition."
"Agreed. And rest assured, I am doing what I must on that matter, Ambassador." Li grinned at her. "It will be handled."
There were several pirate bands that operated in the vicinity of the Trifid Nebula. Each had different characteristics to it. The Tokarevs of Cyrilgrad, for instance, allowed merchants to pay protection and not only left them alone, they protected them while openly attacking the League whenever the opportunity presented itself. Harr'al pirates raided ships for slaves as much as cargo. The pirate ships that operated out of Trinidad Station had varying codes of honor, but all agreed not to target each other and not to kill spacers out of hand, since independent cargo ships were necessary to the station's economy. A vessel known on Trinidad Station was typically left alone as well, pirate or not. Pirates from the Aland system, on the other hand, used kidnapping and ransoms to supplement their income.
And then there were the Tash'vakal.
The Tash'vakal were a reptilian species like the Saurians. But while Saurians were bipeds, the Tash'vakal were a hexalimbed species with a segmented body that allowed them to use their limbs as hands or feet. The species was a divided one, with no central government, and clans and tribes were still central to Tash'vakal social organization. Some of these groups became space-dwelling lifeforms over the centuries, acclimated to living in low-G and zero-G conditions, and so they became nomadic, going to planets only to pick up the materials needed to maintain their sustenance. For many of these nomads, the line between trader and pirate blurred, as most were willing to steal what they needed if it could not be easily acquired.
The Mek'taman Clan was closer to the pirate side, and threw in the willingness to be mercenaries while they were at it. And in recent months, they'd grown desperate.
Which was the only reason they'd accept a deal with Chantavit Li.
Ship-Lord Jastavi of the Pahknabi presented the offer to his fellows and to the Clan's Chief, the venerable female Lamat, Ship-Lord of the Vanarak. Lamat's reign had been long and fruitful, but recent setbacks were making it tenuous. The Mek'taman were likely to remove her if fortunes didn't change soon.
Which was precisely why Jastavi presented it to her first and won her support. He had every intention of succeeding her as Clan Chief and knew that her endorsement, and success with it, would go far in securing that title.
The Council meeting was aboard Vanarak, as was custom in the Mek'taman. The Ship-Lords, sixteen in all, were arranged around a circular table of green plastic construction, their segmented bodies resting on cushioned seats built to comfortably accommodate their forms. Their scaled skin tended to dark reds and browns, unlike planet-dwelling Tash'vakal who had lighter colors due to their frequent exposure to UV rays from stars. Each Ship-Lord had access to food and drink, provided as by custom by the Chief, with each Ship-Lord having a taster present to prevent poisonings—hosting Ship-Lords would be insulted to not see a taster, since it would imply a fellow Ship-Lord thought they were too stupid to think of poisoning food. The Vanarak's meat-vats provided fresh slabs of delicious, raw skamar, a mammalian food species from their homeworld, and even tastier slices of human-provided "bakhon." Aeroponically-grown tsham provided the vegetable nutrients to round out the scrumptious meal, and flavored sugar water would wash it down.
Opposition came from Ship-Lord Tresak of the Turavi. He was a distant cousin of Lamat, but there was no familial loyalty there. He was also a traditionalist. "We have remained outside of the human conflict so far," Tresak argued, his middle limbs bringing up a container of flavored sugar water for his upper right hand to grip. He drank from it, both to wet his throat and to provide the hydration he needed for the moment. "You would commit us to working with the outsider humans."
"They offer us new ships, Lord Tresak," Lamat said. "And resources. Pickings have been lean."
"Only because you insist on remaining in this area of space," Tresak countered. "We should move to the Pektak Nebula." By this, he meant what the humans called the Omega Nebula. "The hunting grounds there are fresh."
"And it is too near the Kal'gevak Clan," Jastavi countered. "They have more ships than us. We would be conquered or destroyed."
"The feud is old. They would lose too much in a fight."
"A compromise, honored Lords?" Now Ship-Lord Savakak of the Iltamak spoke up. She was a younger female, still capable of laying eggs, and Jastavi envied Ship-Lord Hektam of the Ses'shek for his marriage-alliance with her. "Our Chief is correct that the offer is most generous for the recovery of just one human. We can intercept and overwhelm this vessel Shadow Wolf with but a quarter of our ships. Then, upon payment, we depart for Pektak, with enough bounty to offer the Kal'gevak a peace-gift. Perhaps even this human ship will serve."
"The ship is too small to be of much use," noted another Ship-Lord. "They would be insulted. What would we do with it?"
"If they surrender the human we are being sent to claim, nothing," Jastavi proposed. "As you said, their ship is of little use. I doubt they have enough food to be worth the trouble of seizing it. And if not…" He grinned and let his tongue flicker, a pleased gleam in his black eyes. "It has been some time since I dined on human flesh. It is a delicacy to be savored, much like their bakhon." He held up a strip of the same.
"There would be too few humans to be worth the effort of slaughtering for food," Savakak hissed dismissively. "You know how they get about it!"
"They are as bad as Sauri
ans," Hektam pitched in, agreeing with his wife-ally.
"Few species enjoy the full range of meat," Lamat agreed. Undoubtedly she felt her silence until now to be sagacious. Jastavi felt otherwise. "But regardless of how we deal with the Shadow Wolf itself, the deal is sound. I call upon the Ship-Lords to concur."
Jastavi beat Savakak to seconding the call. Tresak, predictably, voted no, as did five other Ship-Lords. That left ten votes in favor of.
"Ship-Lord Tresak, Ship-Lord Jastavi, Ship-Lord Keshav, you will join me for the attack," Lamat said. "The Human Li has provided us the quantum entanglement signature his agent's tracker uses. We will ambush them before they arrive at the Lusitania system."
"So the Clan wills," Tresak said, a glare in his glittering gray eyes as he looked to Jastavi. "I will prepare my ship for combat at once. Victory for the Clan!"
"Victory for the Clan!" the entire Council echoed.
22
Henry waited until they jumped out of Harron's system before he went to bed. Given the day, he was tired enough to fall asleep almost immediately.
That didn’t guarantee a restful sleep, unfortunately. Instead, he found himself in the familiar dream about Phi Philomena and the Laffey. He spent the nightmare screaming at himself to not push the drives and listening to the deaths of his crew while fusion-heated plasma surged from section to section of the ship, killing everyone bit by bit.
He woke up and tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. As it always did, the dream left him too agitated to sleep. It brought back too many terrible memories, and with them, the horrible feeling he'd let them down. The fact he'd failed to get justice for their needless deaths.
With sleep evading him, Henry decided on a small meal to ease the grumble in his stomach. He went to the galley and put together a sandwich from the food stores, roast beef with slices of golden-hued New Virginia cheddar. With the food and a glass of water, he sat down to partake.
