The Deadliest of Intentions

by Marc Stevens

  “You can stop trying to grease my orifices, you primate! You know my staff is not privy to my secure comms.”

  “It’s just that I was a little irritable during our last conversation,” I said. “I feel that I owe you a little more respect than that and a proper explanation.”

  “You can stow that scat! I have no desire to hear you try to explain your primitive antics. They may have been lost on my subordinates, but not on me!”

  Whew! The old battle-ax seriously needed to get laid.

  “Sael, I . . .”

  “Nathan! Do us both a favor and just stop for a moment and listen to what I have to say.”

  I guess I should have been happy that she was saving me the trouble of having to do any additional brownnosing. I was going to let her know what the Hivemind had told us but decided to hold off for the time being. I would let her have her way until I could no longer stand it. As it turned out, I was moderately surprised by her next comments.

  “Nathan, the mission data you sent me contains some stunning information,” Sael began. “I am not sure if it makes sense or not, but it is obvious in some of the data, the Prule machines fear you and your team. That runs contrary to the information we have been collecting for the last two hundred years. Some of my scholars are speculating the Hivemind somehow sent out a warning. We have no data to back up that assumption, but why else would the Prule fear an unknown without some prior warning of your capabilities.”

  I was more than a little dumbfounded by the Chaalt’s conclusions. I would need Justice’s input to verify their findings. The Operative and her people were competent investigators, so what she was telling me had a lot of credibility. At the time, I was only worried about getting our asses shot off and not what the Prule were doing while we were running for our lives. I was concerned only about surviving and didn’t give a crap what they were up to. Tria walked onto the bridge with a frown. She heard part of the conversation, and just like me, wondered what the hell. I threw my hands up and shook my head. Tria had seen those human gestures enough that she sat at her console to listen in on the rest of my conversation with the Senior Operative.

  “I can tell you firsthand, the Prule we encountered didn’t act like they were frightened,” I said. “I have to admit, they seemed shocked when they encountered us, but I never saw any indications they were afraid. All were trying their best to kill us. As for a warning, I guess there is a possibility they may have had prior notice.”

  “We are working on a theory the Fury made a stop at the base and revealed the outcome of the siege at our research facility. Unless you have intel, your mission video doesn’t reveal, it will remain a theory.”

  I made a crude motion with my hand and winked at Tria. She just rolled her eyes.

  “I was going to give you a briefing on what we had, but you insisted I shut up.”

  The silence that followed my statement implied I should carry on and Sael was going to keep a clamp on her piehole until I filled her in. I let the silence hang until Tria gave me the stink eye and waved me on. I kind of thought it was funny, but the scowl on Tria’s face said to quit screwing with Sael.

  “The location of this outpost came from information we extracted from the Hivemind,” I told Sael. “The Hivemind also stated the coordinates were passed on to the mutineers who stole the Fury. I would say that makes your theory valid. We are still developing information we collected during our mission. As soon as we have it decrypted, I will give you another briefing.”

  It must have been enough for the Operative to digest at one time, or she didn’t like the way I was yanking her chain any more than Tria did. She moved on to another subject.

  “Tria has already taken the necessary steps to certify your discoveries and salvage rights,” Sael said. “You will have exclusive rights to any future findings discovered on the planet. That being said, I am requesting your permission to move additional assets into the star system. Once it is secured, surveyors and salvage teams will begin documenting and cataloging your find.”

  “Sael, even though you have a habit of making me wonder at times, I trust you. I will leave you in charge, and you do whatever you feel is necessary. We have other information we are prosecuting and will leave this in your hands. I promise you if we come up with intel on the Fury, you will be the first to know.”

  “Thank you, Nathan. My people and I appreciate all you have done for us.”

  Even though I thought she was a little prompt in her thanks, I let it go. There was always the possibility the Chaalt might uncover another Prule base and choose to keep it a secret. Since we still had the Hivemind as a source of information, we had the possibility of discovering a lot more Prule assets. That all by itself would keep the Chaalt honest if they wanted continued access to our discoveries.

  “Justice, jump us to the Sig’s new base of operations.”

  “Affirmative, Commander. DEHD core activation in thirty seconds.”

  When the Legacy returned to normal space-time, I sat in my command chair, looking at the view dome. Justice highlighted seventy-two Sig warships with blue triangles. They were spread throughout the system and were patrolling in task forces comprised of nine warships each. There would be no doubt to any interlopers whose turf they were passing through. We were hailed by the Sig, and I was surprised that it was Sushi who made the call. If he made the trip from Haras just to brief me, it must be hot intel.

  “Commander Myers, you are cleared to make an inner-system jump to the planet’s orbit. I will meet you in the shuttle landing bay. I request that you wear your combat armor to keep your identity secure.”

  I was starting to get antsy. Whatever they found must be crazy good, or why the cloak-and-dagger routine. We would give the place a proper shaking when we jumped into orbit. They either didn’t give a crap, or it was for the benefit of someone else. Justice alerted the crew we were changing our mission profile. Coonts, Klutch, and Xul joined Tria and me on the bridge. They were wondering as much as I was what the Sig discovered. We went down tube and armored up while Justice jumped us into a stationary position in orbit above the former pirate base. We boarded Eagle One, and Klutch piloted us into the void. He nosed us into a steep descent and took us down fast. I was standing behind the Troop Master as he skillfully lined us up with the base’s shuttle hangar and made a picture-perfect landing. Sushi had an honor guard awaiting us. They stood with weapons extended and lined the walkway all the way to the pressure doors securing the base. I was kind of wishing that the Operative was here to witness how the Sig treated us. She might be less inclined to be a pain if she knew we were better appreciated elsewhere. When we exited the air lock, we were met by Sushi. We retracted our helmets and gave the Sig a customary bow.

  “Commander Myers, it is good to see you again. After the failures of our last meeting, I hope this one will restore your faith in me and my people.”

  That explained part of the drama surrounding our meeting. Sushi was holding himself responsible for Cralmo getting away after his attempted assassination of Tria and me. It would be a waste of words to convince him otherwise. I was getting to know the Sig pretty well. Sushi wasn’t about to let that smudge on our relationship go without terminal closure.

  “Sushi, I in no way hold you responsible for Cralmo’s escape,” I assured him. “He obviously had a well-thought-out getaway plan. His luck will not hold out forever. One day we will meet again, and he will pay for his misdeed.”

  “Perhaps it will be as you say, Commander, but until that day comes, the Sig will not rest until we have rectified our miscalculation.”

  “I have had the same misfortune. Eiger, who is said to be the king of the Murlak pirates, has eluded me on more than one occasion. It is admittedly hard to put behind me, but sometimes there is no other choice.”

  The smile spreading across the Sig’s face gave me a rush of adrenaline.

  “There is a very good chance you will no longer have to put it behind you. We have uncovered information t
hat may give you advance notice as to where Eiger will be.”

  Hot damn! I sure hoped the big Sig wasn’t getting his crank yanked by some lowly piece-of-crap pirate. We had heard stories like this before, only to have them proven false. Sushi must have seen the doubt on my face.

  “Please follow me and you can verify the information by any method you see fit,” he said. “We have two undamaged freighters in the loading docks and prisoners that have yet to prove their worth.”

  Sushi led us deep into the complex, and we took a lift to the lower levels. Our final destination was a room lined with chairs and a large monitor on one wall. Sushi approached the monitor and touched it. We instantly got a view of twenty holding cells made of a clear composite. The first seven were occupied. I recognized six of the aliens, but the one in the first cell was an unknown. There was three Murlak, two Grawl, and one Ilor. The prisoner in the first cell wore an atmospheric suit that was similar to the Ilor’s. His ample girth alluded to the fact he, like Klutch, came from a world with higher than one gravity living conditions.

  “Commander, the prisoner in the first holding cell is a Rugerian,” Coonts told me on a private channel. “They are an advanced race that are closely associated with the Galactic Union. Why he would be at this location would require a noteworthy explanation.”

  “Commander Myers, you are free to interrogate the prisoners. With the exception of the Rugerian, the rest will be joining their victims in the mass grave we discovered not far from here. Once you hear the Rugerian’s story, you will know why I recommended disguising your identities.”

  I looked at each of my teammates. They were feeling the same as I was. This might be the break we were looking for. If we knew where Eiger was going to be in advance, we could take steps to ensure he would not slip through our hands and escape. Sushi showed us to the holding room door. The exterior entrance was a heavy-duty armored piece of work. The interior door not so much. We saw a quickly gathering crowd of Sig file into the observation room. They were wanting to see how the demon warrior took care of business. If the information was as good as the Sig stated, we would corroborate it by any means necessary. Klutch pushed in front of me before I could take the lead. It was his usual spot in our combat formation, so I didn’t bitch about his light use of elbows to get out front. We closed our helmets and blacked out our visors.

  Klutch’s entrance surprised me. It probably got rousing cheers from the Sig who gathered to watch. The Troop Master was eyeballing the lighter interior door and then took a couple of running steps and smashed it into the cell block. The reaction of the prisoners was priceless. They pushed back into the corners of their cells and slid down the wall. I guess they thought if they could somehow make themselves smaller, we might overlook them. Sushi added to their terror by opening all of the cell doors. I guess he wanted to see if they would find the courage to attempt an escape. If that was the case, he was going to be sorely disappointed. They all stayed put with the exception of the Ilor. He immediately stood at the opening to his cell and started offering up credits, artifacts, and information he claimed would bring us riches beyond belief. Klutch marched right up to him, and the vents in his armor locked into the open position. I knew for a fact the Tibor was going to shut the pirate up, which might leave the alien unable to speak for an extended period of time. I was actually kind of interested in hearing what he had to offer. I commed the Troop Master before he did anything nasty to the portly alien.

  “Klutch, we can save him for last,” I said. “He might actually have information we could make use of.”

  Klutch grumbled something ugly about pirate scum and pushed the Ilor back into the cell.

  “If you speak again before we ask you a question, it will be the last mistake you ever make,” he threatened.

  It’s hard to say whether the Ilor heard Klutch or not. He was acting bizarrely and it looked like he might have been fondling himself. Klutch gave me an incredulous look and tapped his helmet with his finger and then pointed at the Ilor. When I turned away, I saw Tria staring at one of the Murlak and giving off a deadly vibe. She was a Chaalt with a keen memory. If this was one of Eiger’s enforcers that had brutalized her, he was about to have a bad day. She stalked into his cell and jerked him off the floor. She shook him like a ragdoll and pulled him up to her helmet. She cleared her faceplate so he could see her face. He started screaming out all kinds of nonsense. A lot of it had to do with how important he was and how wealthy he could make us.

  “I bet you thought this day would never come,” Tria said, cutting him off. “You broke one of my arms with the butt of your weapon and then kicked me in the face twice. You were laughing when you did it. I don’t hear you laughing now!”

  The Murlak’s eyes were bugging out and his mouth hanging open. He must have recognized her. Tria extended a climbing hook and cut the pirate’s arm off at the elbow. She threw the pirate to the floor, where he lay screeching. She reared back with her armored boot and kicked the Murlak in the head with such ferocity, it partially decapitated him. It was deathly quiet in the cell block.

  “Isolate the cells so we can compare notes,” I called out to Sushi.

  All the cell doors closed except for the one I was standing in front of. The Grawl that was sitting in the corner of it peered up at me.

  “Do you know who I am?” I asked him.

  “Yes, you are the alien many call the demon warrior. It is said that you killed Drayen and destroyed his outpost.”

  “Now that we have established who I am, I want to know who you are and why the Sig found you useful enough to spare your life.”

  “I am the captain of the ship that was disabled and left to drift in the void.”

  “I still don’t see why the Sig wasted their time saving you. You attacked and illegally boarded vessels doing legitimate commerce. You killed the crews and stole their cargo. It is my understanding you are now subject to galactic law. If I am not mistaken, the penalty for your crimes is death. I am going to ask you one more time. Why did the Sig spare your life?”

  “I have knowledge of those who are responsible for sending freighters to this location.”

  “You have one choice, and that is to tell me who would knowingly send thousands of innocents to their deaths,” I threatened. “I will decide if the information is worth turning you back over to the Sig. They may have other uses for you.”

  “Give me my freedom, and I will reveal the names and their locations.”

  The Grawl was in no position to bargain. There were way too many bodies in that mass grave for the little asshole to dictate terms to me. My anger at his arrogance quickly made up my mind. A three-second burst from my needle gun scattered his upper torso back into his cell. The macabre abstract painting on the cell walls would either loosen the lips of the next pirate, or their bowels, before they met their maker.

  “Coonts, bring the other Grawl!”

  Coonts carried the Grawl into the cell by his neck. He threw him beside the splayed remains of his captain.

  “Your captain had a chance to bargain with the Sig for his life in exchange for information. You now have the same choice. Who was responsible for sending freighters to this location?”

  “Genda Binar. He is the freight manager for Carsoon Galactic Shipping. He is also the captain’s clan sibling.”

  “I want to know how to find Genda Binar, so that I can personally give him my condolences for his brother’s passing.”

  The Grawl stood wringing his hands and staring at what remained of his captain. He hastily shook his head in acknowledgment.

  “He can be found at Carsoon Shipping,” he said. “It is one of the top ten shipping corporations in the galaxy. It has twelve shipping hubs. Genda resides at hub eight. The Sig will know the coordinates. You should also know he was handpicked for his job by the owner of the corporation, Bren Carsoon. Bren is clan sibling to Warla Carsoon, who is a level six Galactic Council member. You can verify what I say is true by asking the Rugerian. He is
a level nine Galactic Council member and the covert intermediary between certain members of the council and the leader of the Murlak pirates.”

  Now we were getting somewhere. If what this Grawl was telling me was correct, he might get to leave this place upright and breathing. My crew had gathered around listening. Now that we had someone who seemed to be giving us the straight dope, Klutch had a good question for the Grawl first officer.

  “Why would the Rugerian risk coming to this location?”

  “When we had possession of the last freighter sent to us, we were to gather all the cargo and artifacts from this location and take them to a destination only known to Illam Pove. The Rugerian is present to validate the accountability of shares.”

  Tria weighed in with the next obvious question. “Who is Illam Pove?”

  “He is one of the Murlak the Sig spared. I did not see whom you chose to kill. If it was Illam, the coordinates of the place the Murlak call Shurmosk died with him.”

  The Murlak word “Shurmosk” roughly translated to fortress. It had to be where the Murlak and other nefarious members of the illicit artifact trade stored their ill-gotten gains. We gave Tria a questioning look, and she shrugged her shoulders. She had not asked the pirate his name before she sent him to hell.