Dangerous Rainbows

by James Ashman

  Chapter 5

  "Sir, my apologies," Terv Rend said. Alquin continued sitting, staring at the picture of Relos. He didn't hear the cry of girls in the background. He didn't see the commanders giving their respects. He mourned that Relos' funeral was held in space. Alquin thought it wasn't fair to the man who had given so much time and support to the cause. He deserved to be laid to rest on a planet, and remains that weren't scattered across the far reaches of space, but neither was an option for military men in space.

  "You have nothing to apologize for," Alquin said. He had taken a moment to respond, but Terv had waited patiently.

  "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know," Terv said. Alquin looked up with him, his brow knit.

  "You can start by not hawking after his position at his funeral. You won't earn any points with me for being nice," Alquin said. His left eye twitched, and he tapped with a finger on his right hand.

  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," Terv said.

  "Of course you didn't," Alquin said.

  "Don't be sarcastic," Terv said, his voice firm. "I'm not some thief. Take other's kindness or leave it! Don't think that everyone is out for themselves."

  Alquin's eyes widened. His shock wore off after a second.

  "You're honest, aren't you?" Alquin asked.

  "Of course. I know that's a rarity, but since it's true, I'm not going to hide it. Modest may be a different issue, though."

  "Then, Terv, thank you. I'll keep your words in mind. All of them. Forgive me, it's not easy for me to trust right now."

  "I know. Thank you sir." Terv saluted Alquin, and then turned and saluted the picture of Relos. "I'll see you again."

  Terv left the funeral, earlier than several others who were making great displays of mourning. In the back of his mind, he knew they existed, putting on exaggerated mournings to try and win Alquin's favor. It was notable that none of Alquin's normal fleet commanders offered more than a solemn salute each. Words weren't necessary for these men to communicate their intense feelings. Alquin started making a list of them in his head, but he stopped after a couple. He didn't want to entertain thoughts of a replacement for Relos. Terv had mad a good impression, whether on purpose in a double-sided act or honestly, which Alquin respected either way. He dropped the thoughts of allied deception and turned his mind towards enemy engagements.

  "That's right," Alquin said aloud to no one in particular. He was sick of the surroundings, and had remembered something that still required his attention. He stood, saluted the image of Relos for the final time in his life, and exited the room. It buzzed with whispers at his departure, but no one was going to stop the person most distraught.

  A little while and a walk later he had arrived at the brig, a group of empire guards doing their jobs in front of it.

  "Sir!" The guards all stood and saluted.

  "How are they doing?" Alquin asked.

  "Quiet, for the most part," the main guard said.

  "You treating them alright?"

  "Yes, sir. Though we can change that."

  "No, no, you're doing fine. They still deserve the empire's best. I've finally calmed down. I won't hold that against them."

  "Acknowledge, sir."

  "I want to speak with them."

  "Now, sir? It's late."

  "Yes, now. One at a time. A dozen, right?"

  "Yes, sir. Please wait in the interrogation room."

  Alquin took a seat in the room that was split by a large transparent barrier. After a few minutes, the door on the other side of the room opened. Two guards escorted a man in. He was dressed in a standard coalition uniform. He shook his shoulders each time the guards held him, but his singular and restrained efforts weren't going to deter the guards. They gripped him harder, and forcibly sat him down. He stared at Alquin.

  "When you get back, let your cohorts know there isn't a reason to resist. It won't help," Alquin said. The man didn't respond. "Why don't we start with something basic? Your name?"

  The man didn't respond. One of the guards slapped the man.

  "There's no need for that. Do it again and I'll have you executed," Alquin said. His voice was cool, but he was smiling.

  "My apologies!"

  "Good. Now, excuse my barbaric men for a moment. Aren't you going to tell me your name? No? I suppose not. Cannot get much easier than that, so the questions only get harder. What's the name of your commander? No? How about the fleet commander that took care of us so well in that operation? No? You're wife and children?" The man glared at Alquin for a moment, then spat. The glob of saliva made its way down the barrier. Alquin looked at one of the guards.

  "Not without permission," the guard said in response to Alquin's unspoken thoughts.

  "Well, that seemed to work better. But still silent. Do you think you will be freed if you're insubordinate? That you'll ever see your family again? That the coalition will recognize your deeds if you perish bravely in the hands of the enemy? There is an easier way. You can be free. Do you want to be freed and return to your country? Yes?"

  "Ha, I won't betray my country. I'd rather die." The man's first words were filled with all the sarcasm and arrogance that Alquin expected.

  "You don't have to," Alquin said. "But you're finally talking."

  "That's not an accomplishment," the man said.

  "Will I get your name now?"

  "No."

  "Fine. But tell me, honestly, do you want to go home?"

  "Of course. But I'm not doing anything for you."

  "Then go home." Alquin folded his hands and relaxed in his chair. "No conditions."

  "I don't believe that."

  "You said you want to go home. Then go home. Guards, remove his bonds." The two guards looked at Alquin. "Do it."

  "What's with this fake display of kindness?" the man asked as he rubbed his wrists.

  "I don't have time for this. I'm going to send you back to the coalition, no strings attached. No hostage negotiations. Nothing at all. You said you wanted to leave, so I've decided to let you go. All you had to do was say it. Take him away. Separate from the other prisoners. Take him to some private quarters, secured of course. Bring the next one in."

  The guards complied, even through their confusion. It wasn't their job to question Alquin's decisions. They soon returned, another man in tow.

  Alquin went through a similar routine several times, each with a new prisoner. A few of them were more reluctant to speak, and others were violent. Eventually, Alquin got them to talk and express an interest in going home. One by one, he sent them away, each with the promise of sending them home. Every man expressed disbelief, but they had all still said yes, which was what Alquin was looking for. The final person was escorted in.

  Alquin blinked a few times. He looked at the guards, who both nodded. Sitting down in front of him was a young woman. Her lack of uniform implied that she was civilian. Her skin was lightly olive and her hair was black.

  "You're civilian?" Alquin asked with some confusion. As expected, she didn't respond. "No name, of course. Should I just cut out the chase and ask if you want to go home? No strings, and you'll go back with the rest."

  She didn't respond. Alquin sighed. He wished that Relos were present, as he had always had a way with women. Alquin felt a prick of emotion, but it wasn't as strong as before.

  "I wish Relos was present. He's much better with women than me. Wait, no, he was. He died in that battle." Alquin stopped and wondered why he said that. He cursed himself. He realized he was just playing on a female stereotype by revealing thoughts and emotions to a stranger, simply because they were female. And it didn't seem like the woman was impressed by his intimate disclosure.

  "I apologize, you wouldn't care. I must have killed those you knew as well. It's war."

  He sat back in the chair and closed his eyes for a minute. He saw the woman's glare when he opened them again.

  "Speak or die," Alquin said. She didn't say a word, but she did raise her head slightly. It wa
s a small reaction, enough for Alquin. "The rest of your companions already made their decisions."

  Alquin went on for a while, going between pleading and commanding, but he was never overly threatening. His motive was simple, but even when he stated it, she wouldn't respond. He wanted her to speak and acknowledge a desire to go home, which he would then honor. If she didn't, he wouldn't let her go. But this honest explanation didn't seem to affect her, which annoyed Alquin to no end.

  "Oh come on," he said in a fit of exasperation. "We've been at this for a while, and unless you're dumb and mute, you know what I'm saying. I'll leave you alone, I swear on Relos' grave I will, if you just answer. Do you want to go home?"

  "No," she said. She added a smug smile to her first bit of expression.

  "You're lying. Fine, so you don't trust me. You still think I'll betray my words. But I swore I'd leave you alone if you answered. And so I will. But let me tell you one thing. Because of your stupid insistence, you're answer being no, instead of yes or nothing, means that I will not send you home, even if you ask in the future. You're now here willingly, whether you meant it or not. And I won't be waiting to see if you want to argue that, now that you've spoken."

  Alquin stood, turned, and then walked out of the room. The door opened and Alquin stepped through.

  "Wait," said the woman. Alquin heard. He turned where he was standing.

  "No." Alquin closed the door and left the interrogation room.

  "Sir, how was it?" one of the guards asked.

  "Acceptable for me. We have a new guest. I want you to do something for her. Prepare a room, executive quarters. Have it secured, locked from the outside, restricted access, and so on. Set it up so even the most vile of prisoner would be able to relax in it while still being restrained."

  "Acknowledged. Shall we move the prisoner there when ready?"

  "Eventually. For now, escort her to the bridge."

   

  Miku rubbed her wrists. The restraints were off her, but the rest of her situation was just as shackling. She was alone in the large cell, where there had been several comrades before. They had disappeared one by one, never returning. Yet here she was, alone. She became miffed at the thought, and annoyed that she was being treated so differently simply because she was a woman. But she couldn't stay angry. She was restrained, but she didn't feel oppressed. She hadn't been vilified or abused, contrary to her expectations. But she had decided that she wouldn't fall prey to the enemy's routine of pretending to be good to a captive to win their trust.

  "Come out," said one of the three guards that had opened her cell. She held out her hands to be cuffed. "That won't be necessary."

  Miku smiled. It was true. She wouldn't do anything drastic. She wasn't going to play the dramatic heroin who tries to escape. She wasn't going to be a martyr. She didn't expect to either live or die. She was calm.

  "More questioning?" she asked. She had already spoken once, so she didn't see why she should remain silent anymore.

  "I don't know. Alquin wanted you on the bridge now," a guard said.

  "Who?" she asked.

  "Alquin, our general. That man who had been questioning you earlier."

  "He was a general? His name is Alquin? Is that a common name?" Miku asked. She had heard the name before.

  "No. He's a young general, though we all look up to him. He's given your people more trouble than you'd expect, so he was promoted quickly."

  "Is he the one responsible for conquering Exoquis?"

  "No. He's the one who liberated Exoquis."

  "Was he the one who did the defense of the relay as well?"

  "Not entirely. His friend was the commander during that battle. It was only after Relos was killed that Alquin took over. A shame. He was a good boy."

  Miku fell silent. Her mind was racing. She had heard of Alquin through Gim's report. She had seen the progress of the battle around the relay first-hand. She had noted the tactics and strategies used. And she had lamented the painful loss of the battle.

  She sighed and wished that Alquin's strategy hadn't been so thorough. The ship she and Yue had been on was damaged to the point of imminent destruction, necessitating its evacuation. Yue, as the commander, was whisked away and taken to a shuttle that prioritized his life. Miku ended up on a separate shuttle, thus leading to her current predicament. She was thankful that the only blast that had hit the ship had only damaged it instead of destroying it, but it was a blow nonetheless. Yue must have retreated, or been forced to retreat, soon after.

  The guards led Miku through various hallways until they reached the bridge. The sight of Alquin made Miku anxious for a moment. He had been transformed from a strange inquisitor into a fleet commander, solidified by the sight of him ordering others.

  "Ah, you've arrived," Alquin said.

  "I have, Alquin," Miku said. She had tried to sound imposing, but wasn't.

  "So you know my name!" Alquin said with a broad smile.

  "I asked," Miku said.

  "And you're talking," Alquin said.

  "Think nothing of it. Why was I brought here? Why to several things, as well," Miku said.

  "I'll answer them with your name."

  "It's Tenraijin Miku."

  "Ah, Miku. Or should I call you Tenraijin-san?"

  "So you are slightly cultured, good," Miku said.

  "So then, Miku, I have an interesting show ahead. If you'll look at the screen, you'll see where your comrades have ended up."

  Miku looked at where Alquin was pointing. On the screen was a coalition shuttle in the hold of another ship. In the corners of the screen were images of people inside the shuttle. Several coalition men, the other prisoners, were visible. Another screen showed the main ship, also of coalition origin.

  "What is this?" Miku asked.

  "It's freedom. Hold on. Terv!"

  "Yes sir?" Terv asked.

  "Send the message and authorization now. Switch the relay to coalition control long enough for our allies to drop off the package and get back. They are using coalition wares, hopefully that'll keep them safe for just long enough."

  "Yes, sir," Terv said. He left Alquin and started telling different stations what to do.

  "Is this an act?" Miku asked.

  "No. Honestly. We are, in fact, sending them home. As they asked," Alquin said.

  Miku felt a flash of anger. She thought that her allies had sold her to the enemy for their own freedom. She clenched her fists and gave a glare of disdain to Alquin.

  "You traitors. And you, you're a manipulative opportunist," Miku said.

  "They said yes. You said no. I didn't manipulate that, did I?" Alquin asked.

  "Yes? No? To what? It doesn't change anything. What did they give to you for them to win their freedom? Was it because I was a civilian? Or did they tell you something else? Like who… well what was it?" Miku asked.

  "No. I asked them if they wanted to go home. Some didn't answer, but they all said yes, eventually. No one said no. No one but you. You specifically said no. It's as simple as that," Alquin said. He wore a large smile of the mischievous kind.

  "Liar."

  "No, Miku. Did you think I would have gained anything from just getting an honest, heartfelt answer? They were scared. And you still are. But they, even though they thought it may entrap them, didn't deny that they wanted to be elsewhere, home, wherever that was. But you said no. Don't you think that says something? Why would you say no to such a simple and innocuous question?" Alquin asked.

  "I thought you were lying, of course," Miku said without much thought.

  "And so you lied."

  Miku didn't respond. She wasn't sure if she could believe Alquin. She decided to not say anything for the time being. She saw the shuttle on screen again. The main ship was almost in range of the relay. Its main engines had stopped long ago while inertia carried it onwards. The image started to distort as the ship prepared to enter relay space.

  Miku still thought there was a possibility it was al
l an elaborate trap. But she couldn't understand why that could be true. She couldn't see the benefit in Alquin tricking her. She did consider that Alquin had shown great strategy in battle before, but that didn't mean he was using that tactile thinking on her. There just wasn't any benefit if he didn't know who she was. She wasn't sure if Alquin knew or not either. Or if he even cared that he had a war hero's daughter. Though he might, Miku still knew that her personal value was little, even as a Tenraijin hostage.

  She expected that Alquin would actually destroy the shuttle and kill off the prisoners he had captured. She decided he was going to do that without letting her know. The ship she was watching disappeared.

  It had finished forming a field that disconnected it from universal gravity while entering the relay's area. The relay was connected to other relays by twin particles that shared information instantly across the universe. This connected them, allowing the command to send and receive ships to be received by both. They each formed a de-gravity tunnel that connected them in an instant. The ship would travel through the tunnel in another instant.

  It was possible because the universe had been discovered to be closer to the standard model than previously thought. As a result, it had been proven that space-time and gravity were interrelated so thoroughly that disconnecting an object from external gravity, which was a part of space, not a particle, also disconnected it from space-time itself, allowing instantaneous travel by means of the relays that had been designed to create de-gravity tunnels.

  A minute after disappearing, the ship returned. The captain of it hailed Alquin.

  "Sir, they were dropped off safely. Managed to avoid getting blasted by the sentries that were there. It was a good idea to take a coalition ship. Suggest we switch the relay to only let our side use it."

  "Already done," Terv said.

  "Excellent. I suppose they will be changing coalition relay codes now, so we wouldn't be able to use it again anyways. I'm somewhat surprised they hadn't done so already," Alquin said.

  "It takes a council time to draft a proposal and then the members have to vote on it. Then the codes will be changed," Miku said.

  "Oh, of course, your government has that process. Ridiculously time consuming," Alquin said.

  "It moves along fast enough. They probably had an emergency decree, it just takes time for each relay station to receive and comply," Miku said.

  "So, it still has a process, and a slow one."

  "Faster than having a single emperor try to make a universe's worth of decisions."

  "Notice how I'm the one who changed how the relay works? Without waiting?"

  "Part of your orders, though."

  "Oh fine, just think however you want. I wasn't the one comparing our systems of government. I just said your government has these useless time wasting ideas. It does. It doesn't matter if I think there is something better or I view it as the best. It's still a waste of time," Alquin said.

  Miku rolled her eyes. But she didn't want to argue the idea as well. She wasn't going to get an enemy to view her nation's ideas as better. She turned her attention to the screen again. She was surprised at what she saw. There was a recording of the shuttle being delivered. Video of the men she knew, showing that they had made it away safely and into the comfort of allies. She looked at Alquin, who had a smug grin.

  "I told you, they were to be freed. And I made sure you'd have proof to know what I said was true. What do you think?" Alquin asked.

  "Is this how you mock me?" Miku asked. She finally believed several of the things Alquin had earlier said. She realized that she hadn't been betrayed by allies. She breathed a small sigh of relief, and then turned her anger on Alquin again.

  "Again, I'm not mocking you. You chose."

  "You are ridiculous. But you haven't kept prisoners. You are ruthless, yet kind, so I will thank you. It is almost unheard of, for a person such as yourself to let hostages go because they want to," Miku said.

  "It was nothing. It wouldn't happen again. Today was special. And I feared that if I did keep them here, I'd do something despicable in retaliation. Fortunately, someone brought me to my senses before I could even think of that, but I still think of what might have happened," Alquin said.

  "Was your friend the reason you decided?"

  "Yes. I couldn't add more grief to his day," Alquin said. He rubbed his temples with one hand.

  "You were right. War. It cannot be helped. My apologies wouldn't be enough, nor would it be honest. Though that is true, I am still sorry for your loss," Miku said.

  "You're quite chivalrous," Alquin said. He chuckled lightly.

  "Ha," Miku said. "You seem to be as well. So please ready my shuttle. It's been enjoyable, though. At least one of the relays has to still be open. The coalition can be a bit slow, fortunately."

  "Oh? What shuttle?" Alquin asked. He was smiling in a way that Miku didn't like.

  "For me to leave here. Like the rest. You've had your fun in pulling my chain long enough," Miku said. She was polite and smiled softly, now that she thought that Alquin had been annoying her purposefully.

  "No. You're staying. You won't be returning to the coalition. I already warned you. I was only giving you one chance, and you said no. You don't, or didn't, want to go home, therefore you won't. You're still a prisoner. Not a hostage, a prisoner, not of war either. Simply put, you're stuck here," Alquin said with all seriousness.

  "Are you still joking? You have to be. That was a different circumstance!"

  "No, Miku. As unfair as you think it is, and it is unfair, you're bound to it. I don't take my word back when I've been honest. Get used to your new room. It's near mine, so I'll see you later. Guards, take her away."