by Kal Spriggs
“Of course,” Pixel nodded. Honestly, he didn’t trust anyone but a female to talk with Mandy. Or perhaps Anubus or Rastar, neither of them would be affected by her attributes, he imagined. “Well, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Sure,” Mandy said. “And thanks for the cereal bars.”
Pixel waved at them as he walked past. He did not entirely trust himself to look back. He definitely needed to get out more, he decided. He hadn’t felt so flustered since his freshman year in high school. Thank god he had buckled down and graduated right after that, he didn’t want to think about what three more years there would have been like.
Pixel stopped and stared at the aquarium for a moment to collect his thoughts. He rested one hand against the glass and peered into the tank. The soft blue colors calmed him, right up until the three meter long predator stirred from the bottom of the tank. Pixel gave out a shout of surprise and jumped back as the eel’s jaws slammed against the glass of the tank right where his hand had rested.
“What is that?” Pixel said.
“It’s an Arcavian Fighting Eel,” Crowe said from his seat on a couch nearby. “Beautiful isn’t it? Can you believe they’re illegal on over thirty worlds?”
Pixel shook his hand, suddenly grateful that he hadn’t decided to let his fingers trail in the water. “Yes. I can. That thing scared the crap out of me.” He watched as the eel went through a dozen colors, some of them brighter than Rastar’s Hawaiian shirt. It finally settled on a mottled blue that made it seem almost invisible in the water.
“Yeah, they’re vicious predators,” Crowe said. “But the fights are why they’re illegal. The fights are amazing to watch, way more complex than dog fights or the like. They put two in a tank, and you won’t believe the shit they do. It starts with them stalking each other, shifting colors and patterns…that can go on for hours or even days before one feels it has the advantage and attacks. Then the blood really flies…”
“You seem very interested in that,” Pixel said. “I don’t see the enjoyment of two animals killing each other for someone else’s pleasure.”
“Oh, I just like to see predators at work,” Crowe said.
Pixel stepped away from the aquarium, suddenly certain that if he wanted to find peace, he’d need to search elsewhere. “What’s the matter?” Crowe called out after him, “Scared of what you see in there?”
His words echoed those of Jack, and Pixel felt his memories return even as he stepped out of the lounge. He had definitely chosen the wrong place to try and forget.
* * *
”I’m telling you, there’s only one way to break through the public’s apathy,” Jack said. “We’ve got to show them the cost that comes with their lack of involvement.”
“Yeah,” Kevin rolled his eyes, “You’re talking violence. Terrorism, really. Scare them into doing… what exactly, getting involved in politics? That sounds sort of counterproductive. Especially since the people doing the violence are the ones that you want them to vote for.”
“Sure, in theory,” Jack said. The shorter man rolled his head around and Kevin heard his neck crackle and pop. “But what if they didn’t know who did it… or what if it seemed like the people in power let it happen or even arranged it themselves? We could have a change over night, planet wide, if that violence got enough attention.”
“You’re talking a lot of people dying,” Kevin said. He shook his head, “I can’t agree that this whole thing is worth it. I mean, we’ve had elections before, the people in power are the ones that our planet chose. You and I know they’re idiots, but the people seem to want idiots in charge.”
“That’s because only fifteen percent of the population bothered to vote,” Jack snarled. “Worse than that, there were no real candidates, the guys who get elected are just the public face. Everyone knows the bureaucrats have the reins now. That’s the other reason no one votes.”
“Yeah, but that won’t change,” Kevin said. “Not without something that would really need to shake things up, and I don’t think the shake up would be worth it. You and I both ran simulations on that, and I didn’t look afterward because I knew how bad it would get.”
“What’s the matter?” Jack said. “Afraid of what you see in there?”
“Frankly, yeah,” Kevin said. “The simulations we worked deliberately went for decapitation strikes, Jack, but they still would kill millions easily.”
“That’s what happens when intelligent people think about terrorism,” Jack said softly, “Numbers like millions and tens of millions become easy to bring up. Who ever thought that a revolution could be gamed in a university lab by a couple of engineering students?”
“Well, it’s all just a game, anyway,” Kevin said. “I mean, neither of us could do something like that anyway.”
“Yeah,” Jack said, and something about the set of his shoulders suggested that he hadn’t given up the argument. “But I bet someone else would, and I really don’t trust anyone else to do it right, you know?”
“You stubborn idiot, come on, let’s get back to work, say have you talked with Bridget lately?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah, that’s over,” Jack said. “She got a little too clingy, and after that whole deal with her parents, well, I broke up with her.”
“Shit,” Kevin said. He rarely swore, but he meant it, Jack had seemed far happier than normal when he and Bridget hit it off. He felt a little nervous his friend might slide towards one of his morose depressions, yet Jack gave him a smile instead.
“Hey, let’s finish up this work, and you can tell me about your night with Christyne.”
* * *
Pixel stepped onto the bridge just as Mike, Anubus, and Ariadne and a tall blonde woman stepped out of the lift. “Oh, hey guys, how’s the lift working?”
“Good, why?” Mike asked.
“Oh, I thought I cut power to it, so I’m just surprised to see it works,” Pixel said. “Now I have to find out what I did cut power to…” he frowned. I really need to get Rastar to translate those schematics, he thought, some of this guess work might cause issues later on.
“Okay,” Ariadne said. “Well, let us know if it was anything critical please?”
“Sure,” Pixel nodded. “Oh, hey, Mandy and Miranda wanted to talk with you. I think they want to join our team. They mentioned someone else…”
“Elena?” Mike asked and hiked his thumb over his shoulder at the tall blonde woman.
“I guess,” Pixel gave Elena a nod. “How are you?”
She gave him a crisp nod, “I am well.” She pronounced her words with a strong Eastern European accent, which Pixel figured placed her from Centauri or somewhere in the Confederation. “Mike has said I will be an associate member, until the team accepts me to full membership. You are engineer, yes?”
“Sure am,” Pixel said with a smile. Something about her cold blue eyes chilled him. It might just be that he knew she was a bounty hunter, he thought. He looked at Mike, “What are you guys up to?”
“Mike forgot about the Chxor prisoner,” Anubus growled.
“I didn’t forget,” Mike said. “We just had other stuff going on. And its not like she had anywhere to go.”
“Uh, where is she?” Pixel asked.
Mike pointed at the supply closet hatch. “It locks from the outside. So I put her in there to cool off. So, shall we see what the prisoner has to say?”
Pixel shrugged, “Go for it, I’m going to check out some of the power usage here on the bridge.” He paused, “That reminds me, I’d like to talk with you about that when you finish up with her.”
“We should call Rastar,” Ariadne said. “He’ll want to be here.”
“Good idea, he’s pretty intimidating, especially with those riot guns of his,” Mike said.
“What am I?” Anubus growled and flexed his claws.
“You’re absolutely terrifying,” Pixel said.
“You say the nicest things,” Anubus growled. “When the others turn against me, I’ll l
et you live.” From someone else, Pixel would have considered it a joke. From the deadpan growl of the Wrethe and the way his dark eyes glared at Mike and Ariadne, Pixel figured it a fifty-fifty shot that he really thought that way.
“Run would be useful,” Anubus growled. “In case she doesn’t understand English or a more civilized tongue.”
“What do Wrethe speak anyway?” Ariadne asked.
“Whatever we want,” Anubus growled.
“I’ll be over here,” Pixel said, as he pulled out tools. He just hoped that things did not devolve into violence as they tended to do around Anubus and Rastar. If for no other reason than the fact that Pixel didn’t want to have to clean blood out of the panels he had open.
He had just traced out the conduit he had cut power to, and realized it went to the waste water system, when Rastar and Run arrived on the bridge. He glanced up as Run walked over, “Here is my end of the bargain. We are even now.” The little Chxor passed him four vials.
“Thanks,” Pixel said. He put the panel cover back on, and started to tighten it down by hand, but he let his attention drift to the interrogation.
Run walked back over to the group. Pixel saw Mike wave at Anubus to open the closet hatch.
A moment later, the female Chxor officer stepped out. Her brown uniform looked positively garish for other Chxor, with a number of marks along the sleeves and four white pips on the collar to denote her rank.
“I assume that you have decided to interrogate me?” she asked. Pixel’s eyes widened as she spoke with clear, unaccented English. Better, in fact, than that of Elena. “Force will not be necessary. It is only logical that I tell you what I know in order to preserve my life.”
“No loyalty to the Chxor Empire?” Mike asked.
“For my capture, they would sentence me to death, along with any genetic offspring of mine that survived your attack on Logan Two.” She looked around at the group. “What is it you wish to know? I am Fleet Commander Krann, commander of Fleet Two One Four.”
“How many ships in your fleet?”
“Most were docked at the Logan Two Orbital Ring, however prior to that, I commanded sixty four dreadnoughts and two hundred and fifty six cruisers,” Krann said.
“Two hundred and fifty cruisers?” Mike said, and Pixel didn’t need to look over to see the shock on his face. “Sixty dreadnoughts? Was this a major offensive fleet?”
“No, this was the system defense fleet for the Logan system. It is the standard size for a Chxor fleet. Much like the one we sent to capture Danar from Nova Roma.” Krann looked around the room. “In fact, it was my fleet which captured this ship, after it dropped out of shadow within our defensive perimeter. I personally brought the vessel back to Logan Two for scrapping.”
“What happened to the crew?” Rastar asked.
“After we discovered that they had wiped the navigation data and erased their files, we processed them,” Krann said. “The remains were used for fertilizer on Logan Three.”
“You bitch,” Rastar went dark red. “You just killed them without even a thought of what they’d gone through…”
“Rastar, that’s enough,” Mike said. Mike took a deep breath, “Why did you have them killed?”
“They had military training and from my previous experience with Ghornath, I knew they would be more trouble than they were worth as labor on a prison station or camp,” Krann said. Her monotone almost seemed to have an edge of something, though, Pixel noted. Not quite smugness, but close, he thought. Her yellow eyes seemed bland enough, but something about her voice made him wish he could open her up as easily as a machine and look inside.
“Alright,” Mike said and Pixel saw the other man had clenched his fists. Evidently he didn’t like that she killed prisoners out of hand, either. “So why do we need you alive?”
“I know Chxor pass codes, both those for their military ships and their freighters, to include a handful of licensed human civilian ships. I know their patrol and convoy schedules. I know military tactics, both for space combat and ground combat. I can act as your adviser in regards to these areas.”
“What’s your military experience?” Mike asked
“I participated in the pacification of Ghornath Prime, and acted as a field commander for the fifth pacification battalion-”
“You massacred Ghornath civilians!” Rastar shouted.
“Rastar, buddy, calm down.” Mike said.
Pixel winced though when he saw that Rastar’s hide had gone bright red, “No! I will not stand by while this Nakarta Shothu brags about her Grath noctu Mrabra!” Rastar took a step forward and brought his arms up, ready to smash the Chxor officer.
“Rastar!” Ariadne shouted. Pixel saw the big Ghornath shake his head, almost as if a fly buzzed around his ears. But he continued forward.
Over the enraged Ghornath’s bellows, Pixel heard a distinctive ping. He looked over to see that Run had fired his new tranquilizer gun.
The big Ghornath paused. He looked down and pulled the dart out of his back. “You little Pthara Mragath! I Hrath Nranta Morbus!” The Ghornath changed direction and started towards Run. He brushed past Mike and didn’t seem to notice as he knocked him over. Ariadne scrambled out of his way.
Pixel saw Run look down at his dart gun. The little Chxor lifted it up and fired again. The dart struck Rastar directly in the neck. The big alien didn’t so much as slow as he went after Run.
Pixel started to come to his feet, not sure what he might do, but certain that he had to stop Rastar’s attack on Run somehow.
Run looked down at his dart gun. He held it up to his face, and shook it and then turned it over once, as he peered at it in confusion. He seemed entirely oblivious to Rastar for the moment.
After one last shake, Run aimed his dart gun at Rastar. He fired five more darts in quick succession as Rastar charged him.
The drug finally had some effect on Rastar. The big alien stumbled. Then collapsed in an avalanche of muscle and bone. Pixel winced as Rastar’s head bounced off the deck plates with an audible thud. Run walked forward and prodded him with his toe. “I may need to adjust the dosage for further use against him.”
“Good job, Run,” Mike said, as he picked himself off the floor.
Pixel looked at Krann then, and he thought he saw the slightest expression of satisfaction on her face. He felt a cold fear then, had she manipulated that outburst, had she planned to get Rastar angry in the hopes that he might hurt someone? Is she that aware of others emotions that she can manipulate us, Pixel thought. That last idea scared him, for the Chxor’s only weakness so far had seemed to lie in their blindness to human emotion and reactions.
They already have the numbers and if they learn tactics that manipulate us, there’s no way that humanity can beat them, Pixel thought grimly.
Yet the moment passed and when Fleet Commander Krann turned her head to meet his gaze, Pixel saw no more than the standard Chxor. If anything she seemed slightly puzzled by the outburst, for all that Pixel could read her.
Mike rubbed at his face. “Right, well, I think we’re done for the moment. We’ll decide whether or not to… what’s the word you used, ‘process,’ right? We’ll decide whether or not to process you once we get a bit of time to think about it,” Mike said.
“If we process her, I request I be allowed to keep the remains to supplement my rations,” Run said. “It is important that I get sufficient protein in my diet to maintain a healthy metabolism.”
Mike nodded, “Of course. You can make her into puppy chow for all I care. After we decide, of course.”
“Your threats are illogical,” Krann said. “As is making a committee decision. My talents and the value of my information is obvious. You will want to retain me alive for those reasons. I will, however, wait your official decision. I assume I will be remanded to the closet in the meantime?”
“Yeah,” Mike said. He tossed her a plastic pouch with Chxor glyphs on it. “Run said this is the most tasteless and nasty glop in h
is rations. Enjoy. And don’t say we never gave you nothing.”
She stepped back and Mike shut the hatch. He turned to face the pile of Ghornath on the floor. “What do we do with him? Will he be alright, Run?”
“I am not certain,” Run said. “I might have given him too much of a dose of the pacification drug. There is the slight chance that his heart will stop and that he will die.” Run looked up. “If that is the case, I request—”
“You’re not cutting up Rastar,” Ariadne said sharply.
“But Rastar will be deceased, therefore no longer Rastar, so I will merely dissect a Ghornath corpse which no longer has an identity-”
“No.” Ariadne said.
“This is why I should receive more votes to become captain,” Run said. “Then I will not be limited by your minimal understanding of science.”
“Enough,” Mike rubbed at his head again. “And don’t resort to your ‘command voice.’ I don’t think I could take that, you’d end up in the closet with Krann.”
Rastar groaned.
Run scooted back a meter. “Very well. It appears that Rastar will awaken soon. As I have expended the entirety of my Ghornath darts on him, I will leave in the interests of maintenance of the peace,” Run looked around. “Especially as he will likely notice the darts in him, and may suffer memory loss as to their origin.”
“You don’t want to explain why you had to shoot him, have him get mad and pound you, without being able to shoot him again?” Mike asked.
“This is an accurate statement,” Run said. He stood on tiptoes and worked the door control, then scurried off the bridge.
Pixel stood up and went over to Rastar. He saw the big alien’s eyes come open slowly. “Hey big guy, how you doing?”
“I feel very bad,” Rastar’s deep voice sounded gruff. His hide had gone a deep, dark blue. “I dreamed… I dreamed of the refugee camps and of the stories from before. Of the genocide of Ghornath Prime…” His mirror eyes stared up at Pixel. “Have you ever wished that you could go back in time and change just one thing?”
Pixel looked down at the deck. “Every day of my life.”
