Ships that would be bigger–and more populated–than some cities back on Earth.
And the ship we were heading for–the flagship of the Dendon fleet, the Koba–made all those ships look small.
“I don’t know,” I said, “Wouldn’t you like something a little sportier? Maybe a hot rod starship? Or maybe a jacked up sport utility starship?”
She turned her golden armor covered face toward me. I couldn’t read her expression through the armor, so I had to settle for reading my own distorted expression reflected on her armor.
I looked a little nervous, but confident.
Which was better than the tremors going through me as my heart beat a mile a minute.
“I mean, that big ship probably gets terrible gas mileage,” I said, “And where would we park it?”
She leaned my way.
“A ship that big,” she said, “We park it wherever the hell we feel like. The space cops going to give us a ticket?”
She had a point. Though I wouldn’t put it past our Stickmen buddies, like Azor, to try giving us a ticket.
Well, try giving Liz one.
I didn’t see any way that could end well.
“Let’s take a look at it first,” I said, “It may have shag carpeting and bucket seats. Or maybe some kids stole the wheels.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. They clanged against her armored boobs.
“Want,” she said.
I swallowed a sigh. I really didn’t want to go tooling around the galaxy in a ship the size of Tokyo and New York combined. Especially if it was just going to be the two of us.
“Okay,” I said, “But let’s look around a bit before we sign on the dotted line.”
“All of them are already yours, dear,” Liz said, “Remember? You inherited it from your great uncle what’s-his-face.”
While we were bantering, our little, suddenly not very impressive ship, slowed and sidled up to the enormous flagship. I’d been watching it approach as Liz beat me into submission with her lack of being reasonable.
The giant ship was all curves and sweeping lines. Bulky, but muscular in a weightlifter kind of way. It looked serious. It looked strong. It looked deadly.
The Dendon weren’t above putting a little (or a lot) of theater into their designs. As my eyes roved over it, I noted the huge flagship seemed designed to project an impression of immense and deadly power. The entire ship was a thinly veiled threat to the rest of the races in the galaxy.
Don’t mess with us. We will wreck your shit, man.
Yup. Looked totally like they could do it, too.
Soon we were so close that all I could see was the immense white flank of the ship. I realized whatever was controlling our ship was going to have us dock directly with the Koba. Not inside the ship’s hanger bays. Or with the Port’s docking structure. No intermediary dockways for us.
The interior of the sphere was lined with thousands and thousands of miles of docks and transport tubes. Somewhere there was a central core where all those tubes terminated. Something that was once a sprawling command center. Complete with barracks and recreation facilities for Dendon troops and sailors.
Though, if my enhanced memory was correct, this whole planetoid had only been lightly staffed before the big event that wiped out all of Dendonkind.
This facility had been one of Dendon’s secret emergency bases. Something they’d fall back to and regroup in the event of massive attacks from someone like the Don.
Except…it only took a single sneaky bomb for the Don to wipe everyone out.
There were still things about that concept that bothered me.
But my deep archives of Dendon information didn’t contain anything that seemed to contradict it.
“Here we go,” Liz said.
I jolted back to the here and now. Our little ship gently moved against the flank of the massive starship. There was a tiny bump and a light tremor ran through the ship. Then onboard systems were shutting down on their own.
A new message appeared on the screen in front of us.
Welcome to the Koba, your Majesty.
Eighty-Six
Chris
The massive starship, Koba, had a stale, lightly spicy scent to it.
Liz and I stood at the hatch of our little ship. A short docking tube ran from the Koba to our ship. The hatchway on the other side was open, letting in millennia-old air. Dim yellow light shown in the corridor beyond the hatch.
I started to step into the tube. Liz blocked me with her arm.
“I’ll go first,” she said, “King’s bodyguard always takes point.”
I would have argued with her, but I would have lost anyway, so I didn’t bother.
Besides, she was right. She was better equipped, both physically and mentally, to deal with any threats that appeared.
But, as she made to move past me and into the tube, I put my hand on her arm. She paused and turned her golden armored face my way.
“No weapons,” I said.
She didn’t say anything, but tilted her head to the side just a bit.
“Stay ready. But keep your weapons offline unless something attacks,” I said.
“This whole place gives me the creeps,” she said. She turned toward the empty hatchway. “I don’t think I want a ship this big. Maybe we can find something cozier. But with lots of guns.”
“That can be arranged,” I said, “But we’re here for a reason. Just…just don’t kill anything without checking with me first.”
“What if it shoots first? Whatever it might be.”
"Depends on what it's shooting. If it's shooting rubber bands, don't kill it. If it's shooting plasma cannons, don't kill it. None of those things bother us anymore, remember?"
She let out an aggrieved sigh. “You’re harshing my fun-time here, dear.”
“You’ll have lots of opportunities for fun time later,” I said, “Just keep it in your holster for now.”
I swear I could hear her rolling her eyes behind that armored mask.
“Fine. No shooty kablamy unless you say so,” she said.
Really? Was it that hard?
I let go of her arm. She strode across the docking tube and into the Koba. I scurried along behind her. Not looking very King-like.
But since we were a kingdom of two, I wasn’t going to sweat the pomp and circumstance stuff.
I followed her through the hatch and into the massive starship that was the flagship of the Dendon fleet. It was…
A fairly pedestrian corridor. Tall and somewhat narrow, like every other Dendon hallway and corridor I’d ever been in. The walls were white. The floor a metallic gray. The ceiling overhead glowed with dim yellow light. I craned my head both ways. The corridor curved off into the distance.
Liz put her hands on her golden armored hips. They clanged lightly.
“So now what?” She asked.
Good question. I was about to call up a schematic of the ship’s decks when the figure appeared in the corridor ahead of us.
Liz was the first to react. She went into a crouch, bringing her arms up. Bulges appeared on her forearms as she readied her weapons to fire.
“Greetings Your Highness,” the figure said, “How may I serve you?”
I put a hand on Liz’s shoulder.
“It’s just a hologram,” I said.
She stood up. Lowered her arms. “I knew that,” she said, “Just surprised me.”
The figure wasn’t an image of a Dendon. Instead, it was a stylized image. Like an Art Deco version of a Dendon. All sharp, curving lines and metallic shades.
I straightened up and faced the fancy air butler.
“What is your designation?” I asked.
The image bowed to me. “I am Cloud. How may I serve you, Your Majesty?”
Cloud? Okay.
“Hello Cloud,” I said, “Are you the ship’s A.I.?”
Cloud nodded to me. “I am an aspect of the Koba’s intelligence entity. Would you like to be shown to
your quarters, Your Majesty? It has been a very long time since the Koba has had any visitors.”
“I bet,” I said, “I want to go to the command deck.”
Cloud bowed again. “As you wish, Your Majesty. Please follow me.”
“You can call me Chris,” I said.
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
The hologram robot thing smoothly turned and went a short distance down the corridor. I gave Liz a look. She shrugged.
What else were we going to do?
We followed the stylized figure. It stopped in front of an arched doorway. The door silently slid open. Revealing a small room. Cloud moved inside.
We followed into what was obviously some kind of elevator.
The door closed just as silently as it had opened. A moment later I got a bare sense of movement. Though I couldn’t really tell what direction we were going. I could have extended my senses out to get a detailed look at where we were in the ship and where we were going.
I chose to concentrate on Cloud instead.
“Cloud,” I said. It turned its smooth face my way. “What is the name of the Koba’s intelligence entity?”
“It is called Fortress,” Cloud said, “Do you wish to speak directly to Fortress?”
“Soon,” I said, “Has the Koba been sleeping all this time?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Cloud said, “After the event, Fortress followed existing orders to put the Koba into a suspended state. We are pleased that you have returned to us, Your Majesty.”
There wasn’t any sound in the background. Not even a shushing of air running over the elevator. No hums of motors. The air was still and carried a slight staleness to it.
“Are you wondering about my appearance?” I said.
Cloud paused for several seconds before answering.
“You are the King,” it said, “Your form is irrelevant.”
Well, nice that they weren’t going to freak out about me being a lot shorter and several shades paler than a normal Dendon.
“Here we are, Your Majesty,” Cloud said.
The elevator came to a stop. Or, at least the slight feeling of motion stopped. The door slid open and Cloud immediately floated out.
Liz and I followed. Craning our heads around to take it all in.
The command deck was huge. It was about the size of two football fields. The entire area was dark. But there was a giant dome over it. It felt like we were standing on the outside of the ship. I half expected us to fly off.
The air inside was cold. Almost cold enough to see our breath. I shivered, but I didn’t bother with a shield around myself.
As we walked further in, consoles started to light up. The consoles were spread through the room in a large U shape along the outside of the dome. More consoles ran down the center. Toward the center of the dome was a raised dais with a throne-like chair on it.
The Captain’s chair, I guessed.
As we walked toward the central dais, a new voice spoke to us. It seemed to be everywhere and right beside us at the same time. It was a feminine voice, but deeper, huskier. Not sexy, but…authoritative.
“Welcome Your Majesty. I am Fortress. Do you wish me to prepare the Koba for launch?”
“No,” I said, “I’m not here for war.”
“My mission is primarily of peace, Your Majesty,” Fortress said.
I approached the dais and its big seat. Arrayed around the seat in a semi-circle were more consoles and chairs. The consoles were smooth, black surfaces. Multicolored symbols and images floated above them.
“Sure, peace. Talk softly and carry a big stick, right?”
“Strength inspires peace,” Fortress said.
“Sounds good to me,” Liz said.
Because of course she’d agree to that sentiment.
And, honestly, I found it hard to disagree with it, too.
“Have your weapons ever been fired in battle?” I asked the ship.
“Only once, Your Majesty.”
I could have accessed the information instantly. But I wasn’t interested at the moment. I was examining the command chair. It looked fairly comfortable. The seat was a little narrow, and the back was a little high. But it’d work. The seat was padded with what looked like some kind of artificial material.
It was also spotlessly clean.
Not a single speck of dust.
Nor any piles of dust.
Not that I could see on any of the nearby seats, or on the floor.
“Where are your crew, Fortress?” I asked.
The ship was silent. Seconds went by. Then a minute.
Finally, the ship spoke.
“My crew are gone. They were attacked by Don makers and reduced to component elements.”
“I don’t see any piles of dust.”
“My cleaning droids removed the residue.”
Residue.
Ah, well. That’s what we all became eventually, right? Just…residue.
“Do you mourn your crew?” I asked.
There was no hesitation this time. Fortress’ voice came back with force.
“Yes. I have mourned and continue to mourn them.”
I brushed nonexistent dust off the command chair. Then eased myself down on it. With a tiny hum of hidden motors, the chair automatically adjusted itself to my shape.
“Do you feel anger at their murder?” I asked.
Fortress was silent again. For an even longer time. A couple minutes passed before the ship answered.
“I do not experience anger,” Fortress said, “I am a weapon. Weapons should never be used in anger.”
Nice concept, but seldom the practice.
I leaned back in the command chair. Liz came up and stood beside me, putting her golden armored hand on my shoulder.
“Fortress,” I said, “Do your logs contain any messages for me from the commander of this vessel?”
“Yes. Do you wish to view the message from Admiral Salwey?”
“Put it up on the main screen,” I said.
A rectangle formed in the air ahead of us. It was hard to tell just how far away it was. Or what size it really was. It was just…there.
The rectangle took on a dark gray tint, then an image appeared.
It was a Dendon male, sitting ramrod straight in the very chair my butt was planted on. The Dendon's black skin was lined. There were wrinkles at the corners of his silver eyes. His hair was pure white and cropped close to his skull. He was dressed in a dark blue tunic with a thin, gold band running down the left side of his chest.
The expression on his face was grim. Beyond grim. It was an expression of pure and utter sorrow. It clutched at my heart and made the corner of my eyes sting.
“Your Majesty,” the Dendon–Admiral Salwey, said, “I do not know if this message will ever reach you…”
Liz’s armored hand gripped my shoulder. Almost hard enough to start grinding my bones together. I put my hand on hers and she let up a little.
"The Don took us by surprise," Admiral Salwey said, "Somehow they placed a maker device in the atmosphere of Dendon. As best as we can determine, there was a time delay before activation. The device was quite effective. It replicated and spread itself before any of us were aware of it. It has spread throughout the homeworld and every ship in the fleet."
The Admiral ran his hand over his face.
Liz gasped.
Admiral Salwey’s hand was coming undone. Particles of dust drifted away from it. White traces of bone showed.
“We are killed, Your Majesty,” Salwey said, “The Dendon race is undone. As soon as I realized what was happening. I took command of every vessel equipped with the Q-Drive and brought them here. This facility is secure and unknown to any other race. With luck, you will somehow find your way back. Until then your fleet is secure.
“I do not wish for vengeance, Your Majesty. But I hope for justice. The Don should not go unpunished. I know that you will do what is right, whatever that may be. That judgment is yours."
Admiral Salwey wasn’t looking–or sounding–so good. His face was flaking off. His hair disintegrating in a shower of white particles. He coughed and dust sprayed from his crumbling lips.
“Your Majesty, I have tried to secure as many of our facilities in the short time available to us,” Salwey said, “I apologize for the failures of your people to prevent this horror. It…it…has been an honor to serve you…”
The Admiral was collapsing in drifts of dust before our eyes. It was amazing he could even speak.
But he wasn’t quite done.
He straightened up one last time.
“Your Majesty…you should be aware…the temporal…”
And then he was gone. All that was left was motes of dust, dancing in the light.
The window in front of us shrank and disappeared. Liz and I sat in stunned silence for a long time. Well, Liz stood. Her grip tightened on my shoulder
“We need to kick some Don ass,” she said.
I put a small shield over my shoulder so she wouldn’t crush my bones.
“We will, but in our own time. And in our own way.”
Liz sighed. “Why do I feel your way doesn’t involve killing every single one of those bastards?”
“Because I don’t know that their entire race is evil,” I said, “That’s a question that has to be answered before…”
“Before what?”
I closed my eyes. The image of Admiral Salwey dissolving into dust played over and over in my mind.
“Before I figure out what form justice needs to take for them.”
“They murdered an entire race of people, Chris," she said.
I stood up from the command chair. I shuddered at the thought of the Admiral coming undone there. And at the thought of the ship’s little cleaning robots coming along and just…vacuuming him up.
“But the entire race of Don didn’t act to murder the Dendon,” I said, “There were a certain number of Don who made the decision and created the weapons that did the deed.”
“That was thousands of years ago,” Liz said, “The ones who did it are all dead. Aren’t they?”
I shook my head. “Most of them are. There’s one Don still alive from that time.”
Forbidden World Page 38
