Termination Shock

by Gillian Andrews

  His eyes flashed. “Do not presume to tell me what I should and should not do, Spacelander! You are speaking to a spokesdesignate of Tyzar!”

  “Yes. The last one I spoke to left me … and Zenzara … to die. I suspect that if they had not been able to retrieve Bull Cunningham, Terran forces would have spared no expense in searching for him. And I would have been just one of the people in their way. You really can’t expect me to take it all lying down.”

  “You should never have let this Bull Cunningham individual escape!”

  I looked at the floor, feeling my face redden. I wasn’t proud of that. Hindsight had proved me very wrong to have considered him a friend. The wave of chagrin that swept over me surprised me in its intensity.

  The spokesdesignate moderated his tone. “But I thank you for informing me of the situation now. I shall take immediate steps to get this intelligence to my superiors. They will no doubt wish to speak to both of you, and your group.”

  Why did that not inspire me with confidence? “We are happy to co-operate.” I gave a half bow, thankful I didn’t sport a crest which would have given away my reservations.

  He pushed past me, signaling to the waiting medical staff to return to the medical bay. I followed him out, passing the two Enif as they made their way back to Zenzie’s cot, where they stationed themselves again on either side of her as sentinels. One of the medical staff was holding a large syringe with a long needle. I shivered, glad it wasn’t about to go into my own skin. I hate injections. Judging from her face, so did Zenzara.

  Later that day Sammy and Mel got back to me. Mel was clearly excited about something. Her face was glowing.

  “I was right!” she said, thumping her own chest with her fist. “There is no way the Tyzaran authorities can overturn Codex 452 of the Tyzar Authority Civil Legislation. The Savior Protocols, once instigated, cannot be withdrawn!” She smiled at me. “They made it like that because so many of those bound by the Protocols wanted to go back to their own family, and there have been endless lawsuits brought by families reclaiming their children. There is no way of breaking a Savior Protocol. None!”

  I frowned. “I think Spokesdesignate Denaraz’s point is that I am an alien and therefore Tyzaran law is not applicable to me.”

  “He can claim away all he likes, but eighty-five years ago the Tyzarans won a court case against a Terran who had obtained Savior Protocols. Bilateral agreements were signed upholding several System laws. One of those referred to the Savior Protocols.”

  “Yes, but Terrans and Spacelanders are not the same thing.”

  She shook her head. “That is the great thing. In the judgement, the word ‘Alien’ was used instead of ‘Terran’. The Tyzarans signed off on it and I think it would be impossible for them to retract that agreement now. It could threaten all the trade agreements in place between them and the other eight species.”

  “Good work, you two! How can we persuade them?”

  Sammy pulled a face. “Unfortunately they might choose to oblige us to go through their courts, which will take a lot of money. We would have to retain attorneys and a defender. We would win the case, but it would still cost us time and money.”

  “Hmm. How much money?”

  “Everything we have left. All the money we took from the Vaer ship.”

  Great. That would leave us with nothing for the future. I thought about it. “We will have to take a vote on that. That money belongs to all of us.”

  Sammy shook his head. “For my part, she can have it.”

  Mel nodded. “For mine too. Neither Sammy nor I lost anything to the Vaers. We were lucky. We would have given the money to the four of you who did anyway.”

  “Would you?” I was absurdly pleased by their loyalty. “Then I shall speak to Seyal and the Enif. I am pretty sure I know what Zenzara would say about it.”

  “But, Rye,” Mel’s expression had become suddenly serious. “We really need to get the right spokesdesignates on our team. We need to present a motion before the Tyzar Authority as fast as we can. It could take a month for the case to be heard.”

  I was already walking away. “I will get back to you within the hour. If I get the go ahead from the others, we can use Sammy’s contact on Tyzar to set the whole thing up before we dock there.”

  “That might be a wise move. Otherwise Zenzara could simply be spirited off to some inaccessible facility and conveniently disappear. You know what governments are like.”

  True. The Tyzarans might decide to take things into their own hands. She was right. We would have to move fast.

  I made my way to the small eating facility, where I found Seyal munching without much enthusiasm on a Tyzar ration. She raised her head as I approached.

  “Anything new?” I kept my voice down, so as not to be overheard.

  She looked away again. “Navikkx.”

  I explained about the money. Her large eyes returned their focus to mine. “Seyal nikkx. Not want. You give Zenzara.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She patted her maternity bump protectively. “I sure.”

  “Thank you, Seyal.”

  She shrugged. “Is not problem.”

  I wondered what this strange female would consider a problem. She had lost her home, her husband, her planet, her ship and now the only money she had probably ever seen. These Avarak women were more resilient than they appeared. I was coming to admire her fortitude.

  I left her at the table. As I exited the space, I could hear the Tyzarans begin to talk amongst themselves again. They had fallen silent as I walked in, but Seyal was so self-effacing that they discounted her. I couldn’t help thinking that was a big mistake. I decided then and there never to do that myself.

  The two Enif were as convinced. I signaled to Didjal, who slipped out of the medical bay to talk to me. The decision was instantaneous. “Use the money. We believe the group must stay together. The money is unimportant to us. Use it for Zenzara.”

  “You are not thinking of going back to Enifa?”

  Didjal’s whole body extended upwards and tightened. “We cannot go back. Eshaan needs time to try to produce more art. There is no place on Enifa for those who have no art.”

  “Do you not need to ask Eshaan?”

  Didjal quivered as if laughing. “There is no point. I know what Eshaan thinks. I speak for both of us. In any case, I cannot disturb my faliif at this time.”

  I realized that Eshaan was in the process of creating art at that very moment. I had not looked closely before, as the Enif’s body had been blocking my view. Now, I realized, I could see the edge of a large board that it was using as a canvas. Enif paint on any surface, because they can retain a pattern of every movement that is undertaken in the creation. This is then sent to Enifa, where it can be used to create an identical piece. Didjal had told me that the real ‘painting’ was considered to be the pattern. This is then licensed in one artwork at a time which may be sold for a period of seventy to a hundred years, after which that artwork must be destroyed and a new copy will be made on Enifa. Apparently the pattern includes every stroke, every nuance of pressure and of angle. Patterns for one painting can take up many Terabytes of storage. Such patterns are considered high priority for all Enif, and are transmitted regularly to the vaults on Enifa for evaluation. True experts are able to see the finished painting only from the data of its creation.

  As I peered in I saw that several of Eshaan’s long digits were extruding a sort of thread. The shapes and forms on the painting were emerging out of a frantic dancing of the Enif fingers. Eshaan itself seemed to be almost in a trance as it worked, the darting, dragging movements holding no doubt whatsoever. My mouth dropped open. “How is it possible to produce those colors?”

  Didjal’s voice could not express pride, but I co
uld feel it in the stance and the posture. “It is innate. Those who are artists among us possess the ability, through chemical reactions within our bodies, to add three basic colors to the strands. So it is possible – after long training – to weave the other colors from those three.”

  I couldn’t tear my gaze away. Eshaan was creating what appeared to be heavy links of golden rope and he was depositing them in swirls on the canvas. As I watched, a harsh Vaer face emerged. The Enif painter had captured the Vaer querulousness and greed perfectly. The avian could have stepped out of the painting and I would not have been in the least surprised.

  “I … I have never seen anything like it!” My voice was hushed.

  Didjal shone. “My faliif is very … very talented.”

  The golden thread had become a crimson so rich that you could not look away. Multi-faceted gems were appearing. The crimson became emerald, the emerald a flashing diamond.

  I tore my attention away. I could see why Enif art was so highly valued. Zenzara had not even noticed my presence outside her cubicle. She was mesmerized by Eshaan’s work too. Good. It would take her mind off her own situation.

  I thanked Didjal and made my way back to the quarters we had been assigned. We needed to contact Tyzar ahead of docking there.

  Chapter 8

  The Aurynth came in slowly to the docking port at the space station above Tyzar. I was standing towards the back of the bridge, together with Spokesdesignate Denaraz. He was looking worried. I asked him about it.

  “It is nothing,” he replied.

  Sure, I felt like saying. And your crests are standing out at right angles because you’re chilly. I toned down my answer. “Really?”

  He gave me the Tyzaran equivalent of a smile. “It is hard to hide your feelings when you are Tyzaran.”

  “It is.”

  He gave a shrug. “Your news was worrisome. We have been aware for some time of a splinter group on Tyzar. They call themselves the Enclave. They are strong nationalists and believe that Tyzar should keep its technological advantage secret. They are very much against the sharing of new breakthroughs with the other Major Shell races.”

  “I see. And you believe they may be prepared to act against Zenzara? That doesn’t seem to fit in with such aims, does it?”

  He scratched one of the ridges across his forehead. “It shouldn’t. However, recently the Enclave have become more and more active. They disapprove of all aliens. They would certainly disapprove of an alien recipient of the Savior Protocols.”

  “You think they may try something here?”

  His crests rippled. “I sense danger, yes. But I cannot see exactly what that danger is.”

  “You are talking about Tyzarans fighting Tyzarans?”

  The ripples became waves. “I am.” His expression was grim. “I wish I weren’t.”

  I raised one eyebrow. “We have arranged for a security detail for Zenzara.”

  “Yes. I am aware of that. However, I am unsure of the support the Enclave has garnered amongst my people. I think we should be prepared for any happenstance.”

  His quiet tone was chilling. I couldn’t tell him that I was equally wary of his own actions against Zenzara, that I also thought his peers might want to secrete her away from prying eyes and put her somewhere where she conveniently couldn’t be found. I just hoped we could protect her from both sets of opponents. I edged away back and left the bridge. If any attack was about to take place, I wanted our small group to be near Zenzara. She was the target; that is where we needed to be.

  I found my friends by the medical bay. None of us had any armor to put on, and we had few weapons between us. However, we could form a barrier between Zenzie and any aggressors. It would be better than nothing. It would have to be.

  Zenzara was lying on a wheeled trolley, surrounded still by the Tyzaran medical staff. She lifted a hand at me. I nodded to her as the cavalcade began to move out. We began the long trek towards the outer hatches as the Aurynth finished her mooring protocols.

  There was a small group of Aurynth’s officers waiting for us at the outer hull. There was also an armed guard of some twenty effectives. Ten of them fell in before us, ten to the rear. Denaraz was with them, his crests still at ninety degrees to his scalp. I noticed that Zenzara’s one crest was also fully extended. She, too, was aware of some sort of danger.

  It crossed my mind that we would present an easy target as we egressed through the airlock tubing. I made my way across to Denaraz.

  “Do you think it wise for all of us to exit at the same time?” I questioned.

  He considered my question, but then dismissed it. “I am under orders,” he told me. “The Supreme Council have instructed me to bring the Chyzar to them immediately upon landing.”

  I signaled to the others to close ranks around Zenzie’s trolley. I was not at all happy about this situation. It left us too exposed. Still, our own security detail could be seen waiting patiently on the other side of the station-side airlock. That would have to be enough. I just wished I didn’t have this uneasy feeling that seemed to permeate my whole being.

  We shuffled clumsily along the docking tube, though there was hardly room on either side for us to walk beside the gurney. However, as we finally exited the ship into the upper levels of a large hangar, it was easier to flank Zenzie.

  I was about to introduce myself to the private security guard that our lawyers had contracted when there was a commotion. Just as the gurney was being quickly ushered towards the hangar bay lift on our right, shouting broke out far below us.

  I ran towards the railing and peered over.

  The bay was enormous – big enough to allow for three docking bays one on top of another. That meant the actual space must have been over a hundred stories high. It was like walking outside onto a planet, it was so immense. I leant over the rail and managed to focus on the activities below me. My stomach churned at the drop straight down.

  From here the figures were tiny. There seemed to be many of them, however, and they were swarming up the steps alongside the lifts. That didn’t bother me. Even though they were heading directly for us, it would take them far too long to climb so many stories. We could be long gone before they reached us.

  “Turn back!” I shouted to those behind me. “Turn back. Back into the Aurynth!”

  We all did a ninety degree swivel, just in time to catch the flash of explosives out in the accordion-like passageway which snaked from the ship to the airlock. There was a sharp tug on each of us as air raced past us, and then the failsafes on the airlock clicked in, and the hatch door swung firmly shut. The passage tubing writhed in open space, shaking those trapped within it free. I saw one or two Aurynth crew members float slowly off into the darkness. I was close enough to see the horrified expression on one. We all stared for a heart-stopping second, before Denaraz grabbed out at the gurney where Zenzara was lying. “We cannot get back to the Aurynth. We will descend a full level, to the next ship docked. I am authorized to requisition assistance from any Tyzaran vessel. Do as I say!”

  I glared at him. His solution didn’t seem a particularly safe option. I opened my mouth to express an opinion, but Zenzara struggled to her elbows and began to swing her legs off the gurney.

  “Quiet, Mallivan Bell,” she told me, ignoring the open mouth she had left me with. “There is no time. I sense something worse than—”

  A flash permeated the hanger and we all ducked. Some few milliseconds afterwards there was a deep booming sound. I swear Denaraz’s crests separated for a moment from his scalp.

  I ran back to the railing. The bomb had gone off around a third of the way up the hanger. There was a frantic tearing sound and air began to whistle its way out of a hole in the triple skin somewhere. It couldn’t have been very big, for I could detect no particular change in p
ressure.

  Sammy and Mel, who were behind me, both gave a surprised grunt. The sound of guns being drawn out of holsters made me swivel around again. I was too late to prevent the shots.

  Our waiting guard of honor was firing on us. Quite openly. Quite directly. Two of the Tyzaran crew went down. Didjal was caught by a pulser, but much of the energy must have reflected off the shiny black Enif carapace. It staggered at the impact, but continued to return fire. Eshaan had thrown itself in front of Zenzara and was sheltering her from the attackers. Zenzie was muttering and unsuccessfully trying to push the Enif away from her, having already struggled fully to her feet. It was chaotic.

  I reached Zenzara and pushed her down to the ground, ignoring her yelp of surprise. Eshaan went down with her and covered her with its black body. All I could see were a pair of weakly thrashing Tyzaran legs.

  I turned to the honor guard. So. Now it was the Tyzarans who were attacking us. I wondered if it would be my fate to fight each and every one of the eight Major Shell races. I pressed my finger on the trigger of the pulser I had been carrying since the Vaer ship. It blazed obediently into action, mowing down my target in seconds. Pulsers are far more efficient than lasers. The beam spreads out in a much shorter distance, which can cause much more permanent damage to the target. Tyzarans, not being shiny and dark like the Enif, present good targets. The one I was aiming at simply crumpled into the decking as a huge hole the size of my head appeared in his chest with a rather sickening slurpy sound.

  Mel and Sammy had already accounted for another two of the attackers, and Didjal was throwing itself at three others, seemingly oblivious of the returning fire. It must be nice to be so reflective. In the shiny sort of way, I mean.

  I gulped for a moment, then precipitated myself at another group of three attackers, closing my eyes and wishing I had a shield in front of me. All I could do was prey that they would miss me. It seemed a pretty hopeless prayer.