“Your home?”
The TriRusk turned to her and snorted before stepping into the river and jumping to a larger rock several meters away. Jessica smirked.
Show off.
Jessica stepped into the river. Her waterproof boots kept the moisture out, giving her traction to climb up on a flat rock and stand. The TriRusk was already most of the way across. Part of her wanted to vault across the rocks just as quickly, showing the observing TriRusk just how good a Human could be. The cautious part, the one reminding her of her injury and warning her about the swiftness of the river, won out. Every shuffling step was a revelation. Her leg felt as good as it had during her workout the morning the mercenaries arrived. At the mid-point of her crossing, Jessica had to stop herself from digging into the makeshift dressing on her thigh to investigate. She pressed forward, stepping lightly, jumped a full meter and a half from the last rock to the far bank, and gasped.
The four TriRusk males dwarfed her companion. They stood in a half-circle between her and the female, who vocalized a soft ‘errr’ and made her way down the hill. For every ounce of power in the male’s stances, the female exuded grace and agility. Jessica knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the female was as deadly as her male counterparts. Maybe more so.
The two males in the center of the formation shuffled aside when the female approached. Her elongated face appeared thinner than the males,’ and her eyes were dark but very expressive. She studied the Peacemaker for a long moment and looked at Jessica’s companion. She groaned deep in her chest and lungs.
The TriRusk, who’d carried her for so many kilometers, looked from Jessica to the female in charge. “She knows.”
A grunt erupted from the female, and she swung her head toward the Peacemaker. “You are a Human.”
Jessica nodded. “I am Peacemaker Jessica Francis.”
“There are no Human Peacemakers.”
“I was the first. There are two now,” Jessica said. “Who might you be?”
“Nurr,” The TriRusk responded. At least Jessica thought that was her name. Without Lucille, or a translator familiar with this species, there was no guarantee.
“How do you know Standard? Or know that I’m a Human?”
Nurr looked at her, then the male who rescued her. “Come with us. I will answer your questions tonight, and you’ll leave in the morning.”
“Go where? Back to the MinSha compound? It’s probably been leveled by now.”
Nurr turned and started to walk up the hill toward the cavern entrance. “They are still there. As are the Human mercenaries. Perhaps you can throw yourself on their mercy and have them escort you off the planet? Your species has a reputation for such things, much like the Veetanho. As such, you are not welcome here. We will dress your wound further, give you food and water, and then you’ll be brought back to where we found you.”
Jessica bristled, but fell into step behind Nurr. Remaining composed and professional meant everything in an early, diplomatic conversation. “If you can speak Standard, and you know I’m Human, you’re most certainly not the docile species the MinSha think you are.”
“The MinSha know precisely who we are. They want our assistance, and that will bring you vile Humans into our dens after our children. You know as well as I do they will not stop.”
The climb to the cavern entrance was steep and slippery from the heavy moisture around the river. Jessica struggled to gain hand and foot holds while the TriRusk flew past her like mountain goats. A powerful hand caught her under her left arm, and she looked up at the familiar face of her traveling companion. “Thanks. You got a name?”
“Kurrang.”
“You could have saved us a lot of time if you’d spoken to me in the first place.”
The TriRusk snorted as they moved up the slope. “I am undoubtedly in trouble for doing so, but your behavior annoyed me long enough. Getting you safely out of a combat zone and repairing your damaged skin wasn’t enough to stem your impetuous desire to rush back in without knowing what was happening. Are all Humans as unpredictable as you?”
Jessica wasn’t sure what to say. He’d taken most of the words right out of her mouth. “We’re not all that unpredictable or impetuous. We do the things we feel are necessary.”
“By whose standards? Yours as a Human, or yours as a Peacemaker?” Kurrang asked. He looked at her for a long moment. She realized she’d made a potentially catastrophic error. An experienced Peacemaker would have willingly gone with the TriRusk to learn and apply their understanding of the situation to the current conflict, especially as the Human mercenaries possessed a valid contract, regardless of its intent. She’d been thinking as a Human.
Is that such a bad thing?
“Fine, I was thinking like a Human being. It’s kind of hard not to.”
“Maybe that’s why Humans were avoided for so long.” Kurrang let her go, and she scrambled on the relatively flat ground, managing to get her boots under her. The word “avoided” irritated her. Humans, for all their faults and foibles, were a much more decent species than many she’d run across in her years of traveling the galaxy. That alien civilizations would avoid contact smelled of conspiracy. There were plenty of reasons in the history of the Union to keep alien races from interacting with the Sol system. Once found, humanity seamlessly integrated into the many guilds, but none more so than the Mercenary Guild. Humans were efficient and unpredictable killers, after all.
Still, the idea that Earth was singled out as a “no-contact” zone for hundreds of years before being brought into the full folds of the Galactic Union—even down to having Peacemakers—made little sense. Nothing in Human history changed the culture of Earth in the last hundred years. Climate changes, severe weather, and widespread antibiotic-resistant diseases did not break the Human will or violent streak.
Nurr waited at the entrance. “Where is your badge, Peacemaker?”
The question puzzled Jessica, but she reached for the zippered pocket of her coveralls and pulled out the slim black case. She opened it and watched as Nurr look down thoughtfully at the platinum shield. She brought up a large hand and extended a finger to ever-so-gently brush the shield.
“Very well. You may enter our dens,” Nurr said. “You are not permitted, however, to reveal our secrets without penalty.”
Jessica nodded. She’d studied the protocols beyond First Contact. Most of them reminded her of a combination of a physician’s “do no harm” mantra and strict codicils for privacy. The affairs of a culture, city, or civilization were private to outsiders. A Peacemaker, in the conduct of an official mission, could get whatever information they needed, but the information wouldn’t leave the guild without the consent of the civilization in question. Nurr’s words clarified Jessica’s position. She was a Peacemaker, but they would give her nothing she could use to solve the situation at hand.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Jessica replied. She meant the words honestly, but Nurr snorted with derision.
The TriRusk stared at her intently. “Let me be clear, Peacemaker. You are here on an official mission, and we will provide you supplies and an escort back to your headquarters. That’s all. The affairs of the MinSha and their pseudo-science mission are not our concern. Kurrang should never have brought you here.”
Jessica shook her head. “Kurrang showed compassion and respect for the Peacemaker Guild. For a species that’s been gone for a few hundred years, it’s an interesting development, don’t you think?”
“Kurrang is impetuous and brash.” Nurr looked over Jessica’s shoulder at the young alien. “He acted foolishly.”
“Sounds to me like he’s the only one around here acting as if there’s a universe beyond this little cavern.”
Nurr walked deeper into the cave. Jessica hesitated until the TriRusk turned toward her and growled. “If you want food, water, and answers, you’ll follow me now, Peacemaker.”
Jessica didn’t say a thing. She stepped forward, Kurrang at her side. He looked do
wn at her and nodded slightly. It was enough. Small blue plasma torches, no more than six inches long and barely a half-inch wide, lit the deeper interior of the cavern. Water ran down through numerous cracks, but there were no limestone formations in the exposed rock. Blue light was good to see by, but it played hell with the shadows. Staring at a nearby wall, she saw excavation marks.
“Our ancestors built this cavern,” Kurrang said softly. “The idea was that we’d have everything necessary inside, except for exposure to the sun and the elements. It was to be the perfect hiding place.”
They turned abruptly left, right, then left again as the trail descended deeper into the ground. Jessica recognized the design as a light trap. She’d seen them as a kid touring an old aircraft carrier in Mobile Bay. Anything with a significant amount of light inside could trap that light with a series of opposing right-angle turns. Another series of turns brought her to a passageway lit dimly in golden light. Outside the trap, she stepped into a cavern space unlike anything she’d ever seen. The ceiling was more than twenty meters high as far as she could see. On closer inspection, she saw beams holding up the ceiling, and those beams generated the golden light of dusk across a city of adobe structures. Most were single-story dwellings, but a few were two or three stories high and meshed perfectly into the ceiling at what Jessica thought were structurally important points. While the adobe stylings were prevalent, the architecture was more representative of the artistic, curving walls of the cities of the Mediterranean she’d never bothered to see up close and personal. Posters in the medical centers and office buildings of Earth portrayed it as a place so different it would take her breath away. Standing in a cavern with a species that hadn’t been observed in the Union in more than 300 years caused Jessica’s knees to buckle. Not only had the TriRusk known about Earth—they’d been there.
From what she could see, their technology rivaled anything she’d seen in the distant reaches of the galaxy. The plasma lights indicated their ability to work with lighting, so the cavern wasn’t that much of a surprise. She saw vertical holding fields with agricultural crops alongside clever pumping systems using hollowed logs from the surface like something out of the twenty-second century Swiss Family Robinson. None of it made sense.
“Who are you people?”
Nurr turned to her. “When you leave here, Peacemaker, we will be a figment of your imagination.”
“Like hell.”
“Get her food and water. Provide her a place to rest, Kurrang. You’re responsible for bringing her here, so you will meet her needs. At first light outside, she is to return to the MinSha compound. You will escort her there alone and return for punishment.”
“You’re going to punish him for rescuing me?” Jessica asked.
“You’re not wanted here. You may be a Human Peacemaker, but we do not want outsiders here. That the MinSha found us was troubling, but not cataclysmic. Your Human mercenaries are a dire concern, and you are forbidden from bringing them to us,” Nurr said. “As for Kurrang’s punishment, you have no jurisdiction over how we police our citizens, Peacemaker. I shouldn’t need to remind you of your charter and duties.”
Jessica flushed. “I don’t need to be reminded of what it is to be a Peacemaker, but I think you do, Nurr.”
“You’re not wanted here, Human. You’d best watch your words, or even your status as a Peacemaker will not save your life.”
“Is that a threat?” Jessica pointed at Nurr’s elongated face. “Let me make this as clear as I possibly can, Nurr. I don’t care who you are or why you chose to run and hide in this cavern while the Union moved on. My guild, though, was there for you. Your choice to hide rather than seek the protection of the Peacemakers tells me everything I need to know about your leadership and the culture you now oversee. The MinSha believe you are something very different at your core. Hell, that’s probably what you want them to believe, so you can disappoint them and disappear back into your caves instead of fully taking your place in the Union.”
Nurr whirled at her. “Get out now! If you’re so sure about our place in your Union, you don’t need to maintain a presence here. We will not acquiesce to a Union that wants to use our children to manipulate their currencies.”
“Why did you run instead of bringing this matter to a legal proceeding?”
Nurr twitched her head and snorted. “Human, laws are only binding to those who abide by them. The rest of the galaxy teeters on the edge of anarchy and fear. All they require is a nudge in the appropriate direction.”
“Who are you running from?” Jessica asked. “Why won’t you let the Union help you?”
Nurr roared in her face, “The Union does not want us! They let the Mercenary Guild destroy us, Human. They came to us and promised wealth and unimaginable worlds. All we had to do was fight their wars, settle their scores and reap the benefits for our future generations because they didn’t want to bloody their own hands. Our forefathers believed them and set up mercenary units to help resolve the conflicts within the Union for considerable funds. They let us believe that being a mercenary was the right and proper thing to do, and our younglings signed up for company after company, never to return home.
“The Mercenary Guild kept coming, though. Their recruiting didn’t stop until they discovered our stricken children and used them for financial gain. Our pain and suffering did not matter to the guilds because we had what they wanted. They took our best warriors, our best fighters, and killed them to try and take our homeland and subvert our species! We ran to save ourselves, Peacemaker Francis. We ran to live as we were meant to live. We recognized the guilds and their promise of riches only filled the pockets of those in charge. They’ve killed species after species since the dawn of time. TriRusk. Dusman. And now, your species has been cast out to die to weaken your planet’s ability to fight off the guild and their need for resources. They never wanted your species. They wanted your world.”
Jessica took a deep breath to control her anger and tried, as much as possible, to maintain a Peacemaker’s detached approach to Nurr’s theory about the actions of the Mercenary Guild. As much as her dispassionate thoughts flared, Jessica knew the TriRusk female knew precisely what she was talking about. “What are you afraid of? I know you can fight. Kurrang showed me that in the jungle yesterday. Why not take a stand and fight back?”
Nurr lowered her head and walked down the slight slope into the city. “You’ll learn soon enough that the ones you believe will stand with you would rather stand on your shoulders and rub your hide in the mud. Until you do, you’re no good as a Peacemaker. Enjoy your time in our dens, Miss Francis. At daylight, we’ll take you back through the gates and leave you to your own kind. We want nothing to do with you, your guild, or your Union.”
“You’ll send me back to a situation where I’ll die? What’s to keep me from breaking my vow and bringing the Human mercenaries here?”
“Nothing,” Nurr said. “That you can ask that clearly illustrates my point. We can’t trust Humans, even a Human Peacemaker.”
“That’s not—”
“Say one more word, and you’ll no longer have my hospitality. The night is a dangerous place in the jungle. A cocky little Peacemaker might last an hour or two at most.” Nurr said. “Kurrang will take care of your needs. At first light, he will take you back to the MinSha.”
Jessica watched Nurr walk away at the same doggedly, slow pace all the TriRusk used. Everything was a secret for them. Kurrang shuffled over to her as they watched Nurr descend to a narrow street. Colorful flags and tapestries hung from the buildings. Children played in the streets, and adult TriRusk watched them from quiet porches. The scene was idyllic but disconcerting at the same time. A proud race that had once been respected and feared in the galaxy trying to quietly let time pass them by without a care—it made no sense.
“How many other cities like this are there, Kurrang?”
He snorted, but it sounded like a sigh. “Only this one, Peacemaker. There are barely nine
hundred of us remaining. That’s by design, so we do not overpopulate our cavern and are not forced to spill out into the jungle. We must remain hidden as much as possible, except for hunting and gathering parties.”
Jessica let her mind piece together everything from a different perspective. “Your party was hunting and gathering when the MinSha found you?”
“The first time, yes. Unfortunately, we lost a little one not long after. One of our tribe, as you would call it. She was one of the sickly ones Nurr spoke about. I’m reasonably sure you’ve seen the child the MinSha are holding.”
Jessica nodded. “I have. They’ve treated her well and tended to her injuries.”
“They should have released her immediately. By now, though, they’ve discovered her condition’s biochemical issues and the byproducts. All of our fears will come true again.”
The scent of something rich and fatty cooking wafted up the slope, and Jessica felt her stomach quiver. She had not eaten in at least a day. Her stomach gurgled loudly, and she blushed. She turned, looking up at Kurrang’s face, and could have sworn he was trying to smile.
“There’s much you need to learn, Peacemaker. The best tales are told over a meal.”
Jessica nodded. “I need to know everything, Kurrang. That’s the only way I’m going to figure out what to do next.”
“We,” Kurrang said. “The child at the MinSha compound is named Maarg, and she is my daughter, Peacemaker. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Jessica clenched her jaw in sudden anger, but she didn’t direct it at him. “Too bad Nurr doesn’t share your confidence in my ability.”
Honor the Threat Page 18
