When his eyes dilated, the same three questions were once again asked of Dan’L. He answered each question identically, as he had done so before. Then Duma Wat stooped down, nose to nose with the seated Dan’L, and asked a new question, “Do you know how and where your Father, Master Commander K’Ser, was killed?”
Dan’L answered with red eyes, “By plasma disrupter arc fire, I was told, sir, in the White Belt, on the ruins of SB5.” A few tears silently rolled down his cheeks.
Duma Wat eased up, and casually asked, “Have you ever personally witnessed plasma disrupter arc fire, Novice Dan’L?”
He replied while shaking his head, “Oh no, sir. It’s too dangerous. But I’ve seen vids of them in training. We don’t get those guns issued to us until our second year.”
The Rebels chuckled at his answer. “Would you expect to find in-tact remains of a human body killed by such a weapon, young Ranger?” Duma Wat asked, strolling in front of him.
“No, not very much. The vids showed much damage,” Dan’L answered. Then he looked directly at Duma Wat and asked, “Are you going to kill me this way? Or are we going to SB5, to investigate the scene of my Father’s death?”
“Perhaps we will go to SB5. I have not decided yet,” Duma Wat answered.
Dan’L asked, “We have to travel near the White Belt to go home to K’Halon Prime, don’t we? An investigation would take us how far off course, sir?”
Duma Wat smiled at his question, and answered, “A day and a half. But why do you want to go to K’Halon Prime, Dan’L? M’Wati is beautiful with a warm climate, and not as cold as K’Halon Prime.”
“It’s my duty station, and my home. Mother will be very angry I missed roll call this morning. I should be going now,” Dan’L responded, and tried to get up. He was forced to sit again by a Rebel.
“Spray him again,” Duma Wat ordered. He kept the temper of his questioning light, keeping the young man conversing freely without fear. For over an hour the interrogation continued. But the information Duma Wat was searching for did not surface. “Either you’re hopelessly honest with nothing to reveal, or you’ve been trained in deep submersion techniques. Which is it, Novice Dan’L?”
The young man’s eyes lit up, and he excitedly sat bolt upright. “Submersion? I’m a certified diver, sir! Are we going diving today?”
That was too much for the Rebels. They burst out laughing, even Duma Wat. “Oh, Dan’L, Dan’L. I think I paid too much for you, Novice. One last question: do you know why I brought you here?”
“To go diving on M’Wati!” Dan’L quickly replied, and they all laughed.
Duma Wat threw his hands in the air in frustration. He had used every ounce of patience with the young man. “Prepare our command destroyer. We will leave as soon as it is fueled and provisioned. Everyone prepare to depart in three hours.”
The Rebel destroyer and its support vessels departed in three hours, on course for the floating, abandoned wreckage of SB5 in the White Belt. Duma Wat reconsidered his options regarding the young Ranger. He had initially decided to interrogate him and get the answers to his questions, then demand a large ransom from the Emperor for him. Duma Wat was prepared to torture the boy to get answers, but perhaps another path had opened for him. After the last interview, he determined silently to turn Dan’L to his side. The Novice was open and honest with him, and seemed to have nothing to hide. They had a good repartee going.
No one was sent to rescue the boy, either, highly unusual. Rangers were the top tier of their warrior class, and their training was worth more than a million credits. He would use that fact to convince Dan’L his Emperor had given up on him, and left him for dead. The Emperor P’Lau would be furious to lose one of his treasured, young Faithful Sons to the Rebellion. Converting a Ranger would be a victory for Duma Wat, and a direct hit to the gut of his half-brother, the Emperor P’Lau.
XIII
Home World
A full Imperial Battleship group and several support vessels were deployed to M’Wati, escorted by two squadrons of fighters. Comm. Bok and M.C. T’Anh traveled with the battleship, on direct orders of Emperor P’Lau. Novice Kayla was sent with T’Anh, for reasons never fully disclosed to the senior Shi’Lon Ranger.
“You are to negotiate for the release of Novice Dan’L, Master Commander T’Anh. I want my Faithful Son returned to me unharmed,” Emperor P’Lau ordered. “We are sending Novice Kayla to assist you in this endeavor. She is showing great promise. Her talents may blossom even more while under your expert guidance. It is my will,” he stated, noticing T’Anh’s disposition change when he mentioned Kayla’s assignment to her. T’Anh bowed and quickly left the Main Court for her mission.
T’Anh stood on the observation deck of the battleship, contemplating her upcoming task with the Rebel Leader, Duma Wat. She met Duma Wat twenty years ago, when he was a favorite of the Court, prior to Emperor P’Lau being crowned. This was a dangerous assignment, made even more so by having to babysit a Novice. The girl talked every hour she was awake, or so it seemed. T’Anh was not the talkative type of woman, and “friendly chatter” annoyed her. She socialized infrequently, had only a few close friends, and kept to herself most of the time. The senior Ranger felt put-upon by the Emperor’s decision to have Novice Kayla accompany her. The Emperor obviously favored the young, raven-haired Novice.
“Is that the White Belt ahead, Master Commander T’Anh? It is beautiful!” Novice Kayla exclaimed, suddenly next to her. This was her first flight beyond K’Halon Prime and its moons. The young Novice was fascinated.
T'Anh answered, “Yes, it is the White Belt, full of asteroids, broken planetary matter, many sizes of ice rock crystals, and mercenaries. From here, it is beautiful. But travel inside the White Belt is very dangerous. Even experienced pilots lose their way; have their ships damaged by wayward asteroids; or fall prey to ruthless mercenaries. A course we fortunately do not have to take for this mission, Novice Kayla.”
Kayla listened to her senior Shi’Lon Ranger describing the While Belt intently. She turned her gaze from T’Anh, to not make T’Anh feel compelled to correct or chastise her for some reason. Kayla could feel the woman’s constant irritation with her, like a pebble in her boot. T’Anh could not hide her resentment towards Kayla, for her being assigned to tag along during this important mission. But fortunately, the battleship was very big with many places to explore, and many people to converse with besides T’Anh. Kayla thanked T’Anh and left the observation lounge.
The next day, the comm link on T’Anh’s breastplate beeped from C.S. Bette, who said, “The DNA tracking now shows our package is on a trajectory towards old SB5, near the White Belt. The battleship group will change course soon. Be prepared to launch in three hours for SB5, in stealth mode. You and your Novice and Commander Bok will hold in orbit near SB5 and await further orders, Master Commander T’Anh. Bette out.”
“My Novice,” she mumbled to herself. Novices were usually assigned to Commanders or First Commanders, not Master Commanders. T’Anh notified “Her Novice Kayla,” and packed out of her room on the battleship. The ES warbirds were super-fast, but small. The chatty Novice asked about everything. You can’t understand everything on your first mission, T’Anh knew. Novice Kayla walked quickly to the hangar deck, where M.C. T’Anh was already at the controls, readying her ES warbird.
While performing her pre-flight systems check, T’Anh looked at Novice Kayla, busy documenting the test results. Kayla was young and strong, with smooth, porcelain-white skin, bright green eyes, and a very pretty face. No wonder the Novice was the new favorite of the Emperor. Looking at her own reflection, T’Anh saw the hard face of a mature woman. Many freckles helped hide the lines at her eyes and mouth, but the wrinkles showed when she smiled, or frowned. Her red hair was in its usual long braid. Once upon a time, I was P’Lau’s favorite, she mused. T’Anh felt suddenly tired; she was now a babysitter to his newest pet.
By the time Duma Wat’s Rebel command destroyer was in range of abandon
ed SB5, Commander Bok and M.C. T’Anh were hovering around the station, concealed in stealth mode. Only the ES warbirds had the new stealth defense system. A shuttle launched from the Rebel destroyer towards SB5. Bok and T’Anh were ordered to follow the shuttle, and land on the same deck with it, still in stealth. Their ships’ stealth mode kept them undetected, but it would have to be disengaged before they could open the hatch and leave their ES warbirds.
The Rebel shuttle landed on the damaged main hangar bay of SB5 carefully. Dust and debris from the earlier plasma disrupter arc explosion swirled around the landing shuttle, keeping the Rebel occupants from seeing much of anything until the dust clouds settled. The swirling dust gave the ES fighters perfect cover, and they landed on the opposite end of the hangar deck. Their ships also stirred up dust and debris, but the Rebels did not notice. After ten minutes, the Rebels opened their shuttle hatch and descended, wearing their old space suits. They roughly pushed Novice Dan’L down the hatch. His DNA tracker onboard T’Anh’s ES warbird flashed brightly, and pointed at Dan’L as he walked slowly. He is clumsy in a full space suit, T’Anh noted. Another inexperienced Novice.
T’Anh selected her full space suit from the three types stored onboard her ES warbird, and stepped into it. She watched Kayla put on her own space suit and check the seals. They attached each other’s heavy jet pack to the suits, and tightened their helmets’ seals. With all suit seals tight and breathing apparatus unobstructed, T’Anh signaled Commander Bok they were ready. In precisely three minutes, both ES warbirds disengaged stealth mode, and the Rangers quickly left their ships.
“Close and lock hatch. Shields on half power,” T’Anh said to her warbird. The three Rangers walked carefully well behind the Rebel landing party, aware their presence on SB5 was now known to Duma Wat and his Rebels. They kept some distance from the Rebel landing party. Only Bok was armed, his laser rifle slung over his left shoulder.
SB5 was over one hundred years old. It had been the victim of far too many errant asteroid impacts. The largest, most destructive asteroid knocked SB5 out of orbit, into the edge of the White Belt, and into the paths of many asteroids. The crew and civilians aboard were evacuated after another errant asteroid “bomber” tore off half its main docking bay, and caused many explosions from ruptured fuel and oxygen storage tanks. SB5 now floated along the edge of the White Belt with all the planetary fragments and other space junk. The Rangers were told SB5 had been restored to partial functionality several months ago, but the previous plasma disrupter arc explosion and crash landing of an alien ship on the main hangar deck sealed SB5’s fate, once and for all. No one could live there now, at least not full time.
The Rebels took Dan’L with them into the adjacent cargo storage bays, where M.C. K’Ser died in battle. K’Ser traced Rebel spies there and uncovered their hidden lair of stolen fuel cells, and a large cache of field weapons and ammunition. K’Ser also reported discovery of several autonomous androids in the crash of their alien ship. The androids were highly advanced, non-violent towards him, and definitely not of Imperial origin. They were alien androids, over two meters tall, and looked very futuristic in design.
The Rebel Captain told Dan’L, “This scorched bay is where K’Ser met his fate. Our plasma disrupter arc fire destroyed nearly everything, including the ES, and one of our own Rebel fighters. A few of our men beyond the security door were able to evade the battle, and stayed hidden until they could be rescued. But everything in this cargo bay was annihilated.”
“By Petrov,” Dan’L stated. He walked about carefully. The destruction was in a clear arc pattern: emanating from a tight, narrow point of origin, then spreading out to cover a very wide angle. Cargo boxes and storage locker doors were deformed from the intense blast. Well-defined body shadows out from the point of origin still lie undisturbed on the floor. One of those body shadows belonged to his Father, Dan’L realized. He stared at the body shadows, and his emotions swelled inside him.
Now Dan’L realized why C.S. G’Rosk and Duma Wat questioned the authenticity of his Father’s remains. K’Ser—or someone else—must have put his belt, knife, and his wallet in some type of container, planting them safely before the battle. Or, K’Ser survived the battle and destruction, and left the artifacts behind for the Space Cadre troops to find. But why? And, if he was still alive, where was his Father? Was he hiding on board SB5, still alive? Dan’L looked around the cargo bay, and wondered how anyone could have survived the battle, or still be alive in this wrecked heap of metal.
The Rebels watched their “guest” walk slowly through the burned-out bay, recording his every move for Duma Wat. Dan’L suddenly looked up, and used his space suit thrusters to fly to the top of the bay. Watching silently from the opposite entrance of the storage bay, the three Rangers notified C.S. G’Rosk when Dan’L flew to the upper area of the bay. G’Rosk ordered the Shi’Lon Rangers to follow, and for Bok to hide and give them cover, if necessary.
Dan’L caught the twisted rail of the upper catwalk, and guided himself to the top corner. It was completely scorched and black, except for a small, blinking green light. He slowed his forward movement significantly, and then stopped. “It’s an android head! His eyes are blinking! Look!” Dan’L exclaimed. “He’s blinking at us!”
The Rebels used their space suit thrusters and flew to the catwalk where Novice Dan’L was holding on to the damaged support rail. The remnants of a large android head and partial shoulder lie on the catwalk, and the android’s eyes were blinking green light. M.C. T’Anh flew in front of the Rebels and Dan’L, cautioning, “Stand back! Do not approach it! I am Master Commander T’Anh, Shi’Lon Ranger, sent to observe. For your own safety, do not go any closer to the android. It is of alien origin, and its capabilities are unknown.” The Rebels were briefly taken aback to see the two Shi’Lon Rangers in their black space suits, but they quickly raised their laser rifles at them when T’Anh began speaking. T'Anh and Kayla raised both their arms, showing they were unarmed, and the Rebels did not fire at them.
“The android is signaling, sending some sort of communications, Master Commander T’Anh. His blinking pattern is repetitive,” Novice Kayla noted. “He is calling for help.” She touched her helmet vid cam to zoom in and record the android and his blinking green eyes in greater detail. The Rebels motioned with their laser rifles, indicating the group was to return to their shuttle.
The only armed Ranger, Commander Bok, watched the scene from his hidden position. Bok saw the Rebels point their laser rifles at T’Anh and Kayla. When they motioned for the Shi’Lon Rangers and Dan’L to move to the Rebel shuttle, Bok silently disappeared into the wreckage. He waited for the Rebel shuttle to depart SB5, then quickly flew to his ES warbird, and called the situation in to his Commander Superior. G’Rosk ordered Bok to engage the stealth mode, remain on SB5, and monitor the Shi’Lon Rangers’ movements through their suit vid cams. He did so, and connected the Shi’Lon Rangers suit vid cams to his comm link, enabling them to be monitored both on his ship and at the Ranger High Command on Home World and K’Halon Prime.
The Rebels delivered the Shi’Lon Rangers to Duma Wat immediately, and removed their helmets while the two women stood with their hands in the air. “We have been sent to observe your expedition to SB5, and to ascertain the health and well-being of the Borgund Ranger Novice Dan’L,” T’Anh explained to Duma Wat. “We carry no laser rifles. We made no aggressive moves against your men, although we surprised them with our appearance in the cargo bay of SB5. We come in peace.”
Duma Wat stared at the senior Shi’Lon Ranger cautiously, with his brows deeply furrowed. He said, “I am fully aware of a Shi’Lon Ranger’s hidden weaponry. You are never unarmed.” He looked at Kayla, noticing her calm demeanor, and made a mental note of the young woman’s face, and her lack of fear of him. “Your presence here is an unwelcome surprise. We claimed the right of salvage for the abandoned Space Base 5 several years ago, and do so, again. This property is ours. You are trespassing on our property.”
T’Anh buried her emotions, and calmly said, “I am Master Commander T’Anh, the Emissary of the Great Emperor P’Lau. You and I met many years ago in the Royal Palace, Duma Wat. Our Emperor authorized me to negotiate the peaceful return of his Novice Dan’L. I come in peace.” She looked at Dan’L, standing beside Kayla, watching and listening.
Duma Wat looked directly at Kayla and asked, “And why are you here, young Shi’Lon? What is your duty?”
Kayla replied, “I am Novice Kayla, sir. I am to assist Master Commander T’Anh, in whatever way she deems necessary. We want Dan’L to return with us, sir.” She bowed her head a little to him.
Duma Wat motioned towards Dan’L, and said, “Novice Dan’L is my guest. He and I have business to discuss. You are both trespassers, and are now my prisoners. Enjoy the comforts of our brig,” Duma Wat said firmly. “Be careful not to touch the Shi’Lon Rangers,” he cautioned his men. “They are never unarmed, and their garments will shock you.” He whispered something to one of the Rebel officers next to him. Kayla felt a sudden chill down her spine; she instinctively knew Duma Wat just ordered their execution.
Before his men came forward to take them down the corridor, Kayla boldly asked, “Sir, may this Novice ask one question of you, please?” Duma Wat nodded. “The alien android is signaling for help. What will you do when his rescue party arrives?”
Duma Wat jumped up from his seat and yelled, “Alien android? What alien android? Take them to the brig now!” He turned in anger to his men as the Shi’Lon Rangers were led down the hall to the brig. The women were ordered into an empty cell. They heard the adjacent cell door close loudly with a bang. Soon, they heard light tapping.
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