by S. L. Viehl
Once the weapons stopped firing, something picked me up from the deck. I regained my balance and looked around me.
Monsters surrounded me. Ten-foot-tall, six-limbed, nasty-looking monsters. One of the giant reptilian beings stepped toward me. The grey uniform it wore over its monstrous frame bore the insignia of what appeared to be a high-ranking command officer.
A Hsktskt officer.
One sinuous limb aimed a rifle at my head. Huge, lidless yellow eyes inspected me. Just like old times, I thought, and held out my empty hands.
“I’m not armed,” I said.
The Hsktskt removed something from an inner fold of his uniform and tossed it to me. It was translation gear, to be worn on the head. I slipped it on, and positioned the tiny receiver in front of my mouth. The fate of Joren depended on what happened in the next few minutes.
“I’m not armed,” I repeated. “Stop pointing that thing at me.”
The Hsktskt warrior’s enormous jaw dropped open, and a thin, sinuous black tongue lashed out. “You haven’t changed, Doctor.” He barked out a series of orders and the bulk of his troops disappeared into the bowels of the ship. He made a curt gesture with his rifle, and Colonel Shropana was dragged in front of me. “The fleet leader?”
“Yes. Colonel Shropana. League Troop Commander.” I looked at the Colonel’s colorless, twisted features. No one had bothered to strap a translator on his head. “I’d introduce you, Colonel, but I don’t know how to pronounce this Hsktskt officer’s name.”
“These vessels are now property of the Hsktskt Faction,” the monster announced. He jabbed the end of his rifle into Shropana’s belly. “I am OverLord TssVar. Tell him to remember the name or die.”
I told him.
“What have you done?” Shropana said, this time choking the words out in a raw croak. He was forced on his knees before me by the soldier holding him.
Diplomacy time. I checked with the monster in charge.
“May I speak with this one, OverLord TssVar? Just to explain things.”
The Hsktskt nodded.
I turned to Shropana. “You came here, attacked my people, held them hostage by threatening to destroy their world unless I surrendered. I’ve just returned the favor, times sixty.”
“Sixty?” The Colonel closed his eyes. “The other refugee launches.”
“Bingo.” I pointed toward the external viewer. “As we speak, your entire fleet is being boarded and taken over by OverLord TssVar’s soldiers.”
“But they are Jorenian launches!”
“OverLord TssVar and his soldiers needed a way to infiltrate the Fleet with minimum resistance. Jorenians are a very hospitable people. They invited the Hsktskt to land on the opposite side of the planet a few hours ago.”
“The Hsktskt will invade Joren anyway,” Shropana muttered.
TssVar’s gear picked that up, and he didn’t like it. I could tell from the way he stuck his rifle barrel into the Colonel’s face. “Does this fool think he speaks for the Hsktskt?”
“The OverLord wants to know if you’ve appointed yourself spokesman for the Faction,” I said to the Colonel. I never thought diplomacy could be this much fun.
Shropana gulped and shook his head.
“Tell the coward a Hsktskt does not violate his oath.”
“OverLord TssVar has given his oath he and his troops will not invade Joren,” I said. “He wants you to know the Hsktskt keep their promises.”
TssVar walked away to consult with one of his officers reporting back from the initial occupation assault.
“You see, Colonel, League cruisers are a valuable commodity,” I told Shropana. “The Hsktskt were happy to negotiate with me for them. They’ll get more for sixty of your cruisers than they would for whatever was left after the attack on Joren, slaves included. The bonus is they won’t have to kill the entire crew. They’ll keep them alive to pilot the vessels back to the Faction.”
“Why would the butchers negotiate with you?” the Colonel growled. “You’re nothing but a Healer! You know nothing about war!”
“Patril, Patril. Rule number one: Never mess with a Hsktskt. Rule number two: Never mess with a Hsktskt’s obstetrician.”
That really confused him. “What has that got to do with this?”
TssVar trudged back over to us. The deck shook with each heavy footfall. When he reached Shropana, the viewport-sized eyes revolved toward me.
“I do not need this one,” TssVar said. “I will kill him.”
“He could be useful. Keep the others in line,” I said. Not that I cared, one way or another. I simply didn’t want to get League blood all over my tunic. “As you can see, he’s easily motivated.”
TssVar appeared to be thinking it over.
“Why is he listening to you?” Shropana asked.
“I told you.” I smiled. An insulting grin cuts deeper than displacer fire. “Never mess with a Hsktskt’s obstetrician.”
“You delivered one of these monsters’ whelps?”
OverLord TssVar took exception to the insult. One of his limbs lashed out and caught the Colonel across the face. Shropana yelped and cowered away.
“I wouldn’t talk about his children like that, if I were you,” I said.
“You mean—”
“Yep.” I turned to the Hsktskt Commander. “I meant to ask you, OverLord. How are the kids?”
The League Fleet surrender was rapid, nearly bloodless, and complete. All communications were immediately jammed, so no one got a message off for reinforcements. None of the other planets in the Varallan system was going to signal the League. They were quite happy with the arrangements we’d made. The Trojan horse had worked perfectly.
The Hsktskt stationed several officers on board each ship to supervise the jaunt back to Faction-occupied space. Crews were surprisingly cooperative. I discovered why when I overheard one Hsktskt giving orders to some captive League troops.
“You! Move this cargo bin or I will rip out your liver!” the Hsktskt bellowed. All captives were now wearing the headgear that allowed them to understand the Hsktskt language. “You there! Your flesh looks tender! Hasten your pace or I will dine on your fat limbs!”
After my startling revelation, Colonel Shropana had dissolved into hysterics. TssVar had him dragged off to detainment.
Soon after, I was summoned from the launch deck to the new command center.
TssVar sat behind a display, studying the schematics for each of his newly acquired vessels. The soldiers with him trudged out of the room, leaving us alone together.
He nodded toward the seat before his desk. “Sit, Doctor.”
By now I felt a little nervous myself. To TssVar, I might be just another commodity. The question was, did he know how valuable a commodity I was?
“My troops prefer battle, yet I favor an acquisition effected with little conflict.” TssVar blanked out the display he was studying and turned his huge head. Monster and Terran stared at each other. I tried not to fidget. “It has been some time since we last met.”
“Not so long. It seems like only yesterday you were jabbing a rifle at me and making a bunch of nasty threats.”
“The sharp tongue,” TssVar said. “That I remember of you, SsureeVa.”
“What does ‘SsureeVa’ mean?”
“Thin-skinned.” His jaw couldn’t bend into a smile, but I heard the ghost of humor in his hiss.
“What does ‘TssVar’ mean?”
“Fearless.”
Yep, that pretty much summed it up for me. “So—Over-Lord TssVar—where do we go from here?”
“League vessels will be taken to our space. Some crew will be sold with the ships. The others will go to the slavers.” He saw my tiny reaction and rubbed his claws against the side of his thick neck. “You knew their fate.”
“I knew. If you’re waiting for me to cheer with joy, don’t hold your breath, OverLord.”
My sarcasm seemed to amuse him more than anything. “You are a mystery to me, Doctor. Sma
ll, fragile, and bolder than any warm-blood I have known. You are . . . unique among your kind.”
“Thanks. I think.”
Two of his limbs lashed lazily around his massive head. “A Terran male has been demanding dialogue with me. He resembles you, uses some of your name.”
“My parent. Doctor Joseph Grey Veil.”
TssVar pressed a keypad on the console before him. “Bring in the Terran.”
I enjoyed watching the guard toss Joseph Grey Veil into TssVar’s office. His limbs flailed wildly until he landed on the deck and collapsed.
The OverLord sighed. “Your kind are too flimsy, SsureeVa. You there. Terran. Get up!”
Joseph awkwardly scrambled to his feet. His wrists and ankles were bound with short lengths of alloy chains. On his head he wore the same headgear I had. He didn’t so much as glance at me.
“OverLord TssVar.” He bowed as elegantly as his bonds allowed him to. “Dr. Joseph Grey Veil, Terran research scientist. Thank you for seeing me.”
“This one uses mannerly speech,” TssVar said to me.
“He’s good at talking,” I replied.
“What do you want, Terran?”
“I beg a private audience with you, OverLord.”
“He begs, too.”
“Not for long,” I said.
Joseph stiffened and peered down his nose at me. “This Terran female is a habitual liar. She attempts to create a conflict between us before I can state my case to you.”
“SsureeVa, you are a liar?” TssVar asked me. “I thought you but short-tempered, arrogant.”
“Dr. Grey Veil would have you believe otherwise.” I wasn’t going to confirm or deny. Let my creator dig his own hole.
The Hsktskt Commander seemed bored. “Terran, beg or get out.”
“Very well.” He assumed a posture I was very familiar with. It was the same way he stood behind a podium when he was about to deliver a lecture or commencement speech. I yawned. “Two years ago . . .”
He gave TssVar a severely edited version of the facts. The OverLord listened with genuine interest. When he finished his summary of the events leading to my rescue by HouseClan Torin, Joseph gestured toward me.
“I have no knowledge of her activities during the past year, but with your permission, I will continue my analysis and turn all findings over to the Faction for their scientific advancement.”
Sure he would. When there were alien matchmaking agencies on Terra.
TssVar rose from his chair. “Terran, you may go.”
That surprised my creator. “Will you not grant my request, OverLord?”
The Hsktskt looked from Joseph Grey Veil to me. “No.”
“Why not?” Joseph demanded.
“You question me?” TssVar came around the desk so fast my creator fell backward on his posterior trying to scuttle away. With one limb the Hsktskt raised him from the floor, then off the floor. “You claim this female your test specimen. Your property. You wish freedom to experiment on her again. Have I understood your begging?”
Joseph nodded frantically.
“The female is the Designate of my brood. Do you understand me, spineless one?”
“Cherijo, what does he mean?” Joseph was frantic. I studied my fingernails. “What is a Designate?”
“Godmother to his children,” I said. “Good-bye, Dr. Grey Veil.”
TssVar tossed my creator out of his office and closed the door panel. He returned to his console and inspected me closely.
“How long did he experiment on you?”
I lifted my eyes to the yellow stare. “Twenty-seven years.”
“My condolences, SsureeVa.”
I had expected the Hsktskt to be heartless butchers, and here one was sympathizing with me. I would have laughed, but the image of a NessNevat child appeared in my mind. My good humor evaporated abruptly. “OverLord, may I ask what will happen to Dr. Grey Veil now?”
The Hsktskt towered over me. “I could have him gutted for you. I will allow you to decide.”
I thought it over. It was a tempting offer. Some small spark of humanity made me shake my head. “No. If anything kills him, it will be his own ambition. Will he go to the slavers along with the others?”
“No. That tongue of his makes him of small value. Less if I remove it. He will be my messenger to the League.” He moved to the desk and selected a data pad from the assortment.
I frowned. “I didn’t know you wanted the League to be aware of this assault.”
“We have captured sixty of their vessels. It is an indignity the League will not ignore. This time they will retaliate.”
I saw his motives clearly at once. “You’re trying to draw them out.”
The OverLord’s tongue lashed out quickly. “You claimed you knew nothing about war. You are a liar.”
“And bad-tempered. And arrogant,” I said. Time to find out what my future held in store for me. “What will happen to me, OverLord?”
He seemed startled by that. “I had assumed . . .” His yellow eyes narrowed. “Of course. I see the wisdom of it.”
“Maybe you could let me in on some of that wisdom?”
“You will be informed. Go to the ship’s Medical Facility. There are wounded you may tend to.”
I rose and bowed as I had seen the other soldiers do. He made a sweeping motion; I turned and keyed the door panel open.
“Doctor.”
I hesitated.
“My debt to you is satisfied.”
He was telling me I would get no preferential treatment from him anymore. “I understand, OverLord.”
There were no wounded Hsktskt soldiers, only battered League troopers with broken bones, pulse burns, and plenty of lacerations and bruises. I sterilized and went to work.
The nurses and staff physicians weren’t openly hostile—they were furious, not stupid. We were all watched closely by a heavily armed Hsktskt guard.
It took most of the day to treat the injured troopers. I neither saw nor heard from Dhreen. I finished updating the last of the charts. While I worked out a temporary shift schedule for the jaunt ahead, Dr. Grey Veil made his entrance.
The bonds on his wrists and ankles were gone. His escort stood by the Medical Bay guard and exchanged a low series of grunts and clicks. Probably speculating on how to best prepare a Terran flank roast, considering what an ass my creator was.
The great man wasted no time but came directly at me. I put down the chart I was annotating and picked up a syrinpress. In plain view, I dialed an overdose application of sedatives and held it out like a weapon.
“Back off.”
He halted several feet from me. “You persist in this hostility, even now.”
“You wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for me,” I said. “Don’t push your luck.”
“I am being sent back to the League to inform them of this incident. Your OverLord TssVar intends to provoke a war.”
“Have a nice trip.” I held the syrinpress steady. “Don’t bother to write.”
Behind him, I saw the door panel slide open and Dhreen walked in.
“Dhreen!” I smiled and waved to him. “Don’t let me keep you from your journey, Dr. Grey Veil.” I allowed myself a small, triumphant sneer. “Send my love to the League.”
The Oenrallian stopped when he saw Joseph turn around. Dhreen would have made it back out the door panel, but one of the guards stepped in his path.
“No, Oenrallian. Come here,” my creator said.
I glowered at Joseph. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
Dhreen trudged over to us. He had a miserable dark-yellow flush on his face. His eyes wouldn’t meet mine.
“Hey, Doc.” He gave my creator a disgusted look. “Grey Veil.”
“Dhreen. It’s good to see you again.”
My breath caught in my chest. A terrible thought came to me, and I dismissed it at once. Not Dhreen. No.
Joseph watched the dawning horror on my features with immense pleasure. “Yes, Cherijo. I
know your friend here very well. As a matter of fact, I hired him to work for me, two years ago.”
A cold, numbing dread settled over me.
“Dhreen?” It came out of my mouth like a whimper. I tried again. “Dhreen, tell me he’s lying. That it’s just another one of his games.”
Dhreen opened his mouth. Closed it. Hung his head.
I went from numb to pain. This was how it felt to have your heart broken. It felt like dying inside. I wanted to scream. Throw up. Weep.
“We came to a very amicable agreement, Dhreen and I,” Joseph said. “It cost a great deal of credits to set up the meeting. I had to buy off all the independent pilots in New Angeles. When you went looking for transport from Terra, Dhreen was waiting. I paid him to take you to K-2, become your friend, and track you.”
“Doc, I never meant to hurt you,” Dhreen said.
“How could you?” I whispered. Anything louder would have ended with a shriek. “You were my friend.”
“Why do you think he took you to Caszaria’s Moon? Why would a trader give up a lucrative route to join the crew of a survey vessel?”
“I stopped reporting to him after the Bestshot crashed!” Dhreen said. “I—I—”
“How do you think we were able to track the Sunlace?” my creator asked.
“Don’t lie to her!” Dhreen shouted, and jumped at Joseph. One of the Hsktskt guards moved quickly, and pulled the Oenrallian back just before his spoon-shaped fingers reached my creator’s throat. “Let me go!”
I walked up to Dhreen, and stared at his contorted face. So young. So innocent. So deceitful. “Take him with you, Dr. Grey Veil.”
Joseph nodded. “He has been assigned to me as my pilot. When we return to the League, he will get his payment for a job well done.”
“He’s lying, Doc! I didn’t do it for that—I never—”
“Get him out of here,” I told the Hsktskt guard. “Please.”
I turned my back and waited until I heard the door panel close. I looked at Joseph. Saw the pleasure he took in savoring my pain. “You can go now, too.”
“I wanted you to know,” he said. “Only I cared what became of you. Now I will return to Terra, and begin work on the eleventh trial. You will remain a Hsktskt’s slave.” He laughed in my face. “A fitting end to this farce.”
