by Frank Carey
"There is no sapient life anywhere within this space. That's why it was chosen as the site of the prison. This universe is also much smaller than normal."
"Sir, we have a locater frequency embedded in the beacon signal."
"Give it to me," Harm said. He typed the frequency into the ship's comm system. A beep came over the speaker system. "Good. Roscoe, set course for the source of that signal and proceed at maximum speed. Once we're underway, activate the stealth system, then initiate a low-level, long-range scan along our heading. Make it look like a cosmic ray burst."
"You can do that?" Ciara asked.
"Yes," Harmon and Roscoe both replied in unison.
"It's an old smuggler's trick," Harm explained.
The Mariposa moved away from the portal, disappearing from sight and scan as the stealth generators came online. In moments, the small ship dropped into other-space.
"Sir, we are on course. Scans shows the Spindrift approximately three hours ahead of us at current speed. This gap will close to one hour by the time we reach our destination."
"Good. Continue scans until further notice." Harm walked over to the lounge area and sat down next to Tannith, who was neck deep in the copy of the book Thia and his group had stolen. "Tani, any idea what we're going up against?" Hearing this, Ciara, Losira, and Xura joined them while Bartholomew and Regis, the two weresheep guards, played a video game.
"According to the book, a sort of operator's manual for the portal and prison, there are only seven inmates: Nochmar, his three wives—Aetna, Marna, and Jotel—and his three lieutenants—Lax, Sop, and Rom. By the way, the three lieutenants are eunuchs."
"Ouch," Harm commented while crossing his legs. "I thought eunuchs were lousy fighters."
"Not these guys. The number of people the three have allegedly killed is staggering. Must be something in their diets."
"We got a map of this joint?" Harm asked.
Tannith pressed a button and a hologram of the prison formed above the tables. "Most of the prison is empty. The seven prisoners are held in this wing here," she said while pointing to a circular section around the building's core. "Just to be clear, the building is on a lifeless asteroid."
"Is it ever easy?" Ciara asked.
"No. That's why it’s called work," Xura quipped.
"What do we know about the building itself? What kind of control systems does it utilize?"
"According to the manual, the prisoners should be in stasis while the building is ninety-nine percent in standby mode," Tannith explained while pointing out features on the hologram. "The prison will 'go live' the moment any sapient enters an airlock. Access to the prisoners is granted through any of the encrypted terminals scattered throughout the complex."
"So, we either prevent Thia's group from defrosting the Nochmar Seven or we kill the unkillable," Harmon mused. "Lovely. I just love choices."
Chapter Seven
At the Prison
Once docked to the prison, the forward ramp lowered allowing their guests to disembark while the crew of the Spindrift unloaded the cargo from the forward and aft bays. Everything proceeded as normal except there were passengers with guns keeping watch on the crew.
"Capt. Mrantz, you and your crew will remain aboard the Spindrift while my people and I continue with our work on the station. We've interlocked your NAVComp and will lock you inside the ship for your own safety. Oh, and Ms. Aymar will be joining us..."
"No freakin way. Aerith stays with us..."
"No, you are mistaken," Dr. Thia said as he took out his weapon and aimed it at Kestra.
"Stop! I'll go with you, just don't hurt anyone," Aerith said as she was escorted down the ramp. "Captain, really, it's OK, I'll be fine," the young woman said bravely, though her body language read pure fear.
"Thia, you hurt her and we're going to have an issue between us, one which you will not like whatsoever."
"Honey, you forgot this," Rock said while walking up to her with a small pendant. Thia intercepted it and examined it.
"Princess Nayla, patron of knowledge. You are a believer. Excellent," he said as he gently placed the necklace around Aerith’s neck.
"Thanks, Rock," she said with a confused look, which rock replied to with a wink.
"She will be fine, I promise," the historian said as he led his people down the ramp. The ramp closed and sealed once the passengers and Aerith had cleared the area.
Kestra looked around her and smiled. "They’re gone. Joshua, are you online?"
"Yes, mum. We’ve bypassed the interlock, though those morons will never know the difference. Engines and weapons systems are hot. Want me to shoot someone?"
"Not right now," she replied to the NAVComp. "Just monitor the situation and look pretty."
"Copy that, mistress."
"Rock, I assume there was a tracking crystal in that pendant?"
"Aye, just like the one in her watch, her shoe, and the cereal she had for breakfast this morning."
"Ewww! Well, that too shall pass. Maxine, what about that blip we had on sensors, the one you convinced our guests was a sensor ghost?"
"Ma'am, it’s a freighter, Joshua has interfaced with its NAVComp and has identified the ship as the freighter Mariposa out of Ventos Prime. Ma'am, Harmon, Xura, Cube Dir. Devlin, Queen Losira, Roscoe, and two members of Xura's flock are aboard, and they're armed to the teeth."
"Damn," Kestra replied as the crew spread out through the ship, preparing it for battle. "Activate holoprojectors on all external ports," she ordered, before anyone was allowed back on the Bridge or in the Lounge. In moments, all internal movement was made invisible to prying eyes outside the ship, a trick Harmon taught her a few weeks after Venecia "Merla, break-out the side arms and distribute them to the crew!"
"Aye, Captain," Merla replied as she and Rock opened hidden lockers, removed a wide variety of weapons, and then distributed them to the crew. There was a knock at the forward person hatch inset in the forward ramp.
"Did someone order pizza?" Kestra asked while going to the door. She activated the external security camera, gasped, and swung the door open. Seeing it was clear, she grabbed the person on the other side and dragged him and his load of tea cups inside before slamming the door shut.
"Sean!" she blurted out as the young elfling handed his tray to Rock. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Captain? I was going to ask you the same thing," he said while looking around. "Where's Aerith? Where's my fiancé?"
Chapter Eight
Preparations were almost finished aboard the Mariposa when the call from Spindrift came in through the secure link connecting the ships' NAVComps.
"Go for Harmon," Harm said as he checked the load status of several rifle power packs.
"Boss, this is Kestra. I've got someone who wants to talk with you. He's not happy."
"Ah, you must have found Sean. Put him on," Harm replied while waving for Losira to join him on the call.
"Captain Aymar, I mean My Prince..." Sean stammered.
"Harmon. I keep asking that you call me Harmon. What's up?"
"They have Aerith! Sir, these people are nuts. We’ve got to get Aerith out of here."
Harm moved over to give his sister some room. "Sean, this is Queen Losira..."
"My Queen! What are you doing here? You shouldn’t..."
"Calm yourself, young elfling. I am here to save my niece, but I need your help."
"Yes, My Queen. What would you have me do?"
"Get back into character, find Aerith, and let her know you are with her. Be ready to move when I command it. Fall back on your training and all will go well."
"Yes, My Queen. Thank you. I will not let you down."
"I know that, Sean. Good luck. We will be there soon," she said as the link went back to standby. "You guys get so emotional."
"Yes, but that's what makes us so lovable," Harm replied. "Hey, all kidding aside, you really have the queen thing down pat. Our people are lucky to have you in charge."
"Why thank you, little brother. That means a lot coming from you."
They touched hands, momentarily sharing a link and finding their centers.
"You two are just so damn cute," Xura said while her two companions gave tilty-head.
"Where are we with preparations?" Harmon asked.
"All weapons checked, double-checked, and triple-checked," Tannith reported.
"Roscoe, any security feeds we need to worry about?" Harm asked while he checked his pocket for his hacker ball.
"None, sir. All they'll see are two morons playing cards."
"Good, how long until we arrive?"
"One hour, sir."
Harm stopped for a moment and thought hard about something. "Losi, what the hell do we do after we save the kids and the crew of the Spindrift?"
"What, you mean with Thia and his group of miscreants?"
"Them, Nochmar, and his companions? We have seven individuals who, if we believe the historical narrative, are dictionary definitions of malignant. Do we leave them here? Execute them, or bring them back to Ventos Prime in chains?"
Losira leaned against a counter and thought hard before responding. "I don't know. It seems our ancestors have left us quite a mess to clean up. Well, there's only seven of them..."
"Make that three hundred of them, My Queen," Roscoe informed her. "Joshua has run covert scans of the facility and has found over three hundred life signs stored in stasis chambers located in this section of the prison." A section of the prison hologram near the central storage ring turned blue. "Sir, Joshua also reports finding a problem with the prison's main power converter."
"What kind of problem?"
"It's failing. There is a massive drain on the system, and he estimates the station has only a few hours of power left."
They all looked at Xura.
"What? I set up the damn gate. It was your people who built the prison!"
"Tani, you're the historian. Who the hell are these people?"
Tannith shrugged. "I haven't got a clue. There is no mention of anyone else stored here other than Nochmar and his six buddies."
"Roscoe, how many people do you and Joshua estimate can fit inside Mariposa and Spindrift, assuming we only need to get them back into League space?"
"Working, sir. Three hundred seventy-five souls, including the two crews."
"Close, but doable. OK, have Joshua brief Kestra and her people. Meanwhile, we have to figure out who these people are."
"And I thought this was going to be an easy in-and-out operation," Losira commented.
"First rule of smuggling: Nothing is ever easy," Harm replied.
"Copy that. You need to write a book, you know, for the rest of us mortals."
"I did. The Ventosian council banned it. Something about it promoting sedition. If memory serves, yours was the first signature on the decree," he said before breaking out in a large smirk.
"Damn you! I believed you," she said after cuffing him big time. With the bonding moment out of the way, they went back to work prepping the ship for potential visitors.
###
The two guards played cards on a crate outside the Spindrift's berth. Actually two acolytes of Dr. Thia, the guards had no formal training in guarding anyone, only guns and instructions to shoot anyone trying to escape the freighter.
"Hey, wasn't the elfling supposed to bring us some food?" one of the guards asked.
"He probably got lost finding the personnel hatch. Give him a break, being half-human has addled the lad's brain," the guard on the right replied with a chortle.
Their musings were interrupted by a female voice. "My niece is half-human," the voice said, filled with anger and disgust at what she had just heard. The guards turned to find a pair of blasters aimed at them, one being held by Queen Losira herself.
"Her niece, my daughter," Harm added as he and Losira fired their weapons, stunning the two guards senseless. "Damn, I hate bigots."
"Damn, Skippy," Losira said as the Spindrift's ramp lowered, disgorging Sean and the crew. She picked up one of the guards hand of cards and noted, "They were cheating as well."
"You two are a sight for sore eyes," Kestra said as she and Rock walked over. While rock disarmed the two unconscious men, Kestra conferred with Losira and Harm. "What do you want me to do with these two?" she asked, eying a nearby airlock.
"I thought Marta had a temper," Harm said. "Tie them up and lock them in one of the Spindrift's cargo containers, preferably one with a head." Harm surveyed the placement of the crew around the perimeter of the two ship's berths.
"Your Highness, what the hell is going on here?" Kestra asked.
"I wish I knew. Harm?"
"I need to access the computer system. Roscoe, any chance I can tap into the computer system from here?" Harm asked as he checked his weapons.
"Yes, sir. We have a secure link established with the central core."
Great," Harm said as he ran back inside the ship only to return with a terminal and Tannith. "Let's see what they were up to," he said as he began to type.
"What, no hacker ball?" Ciara observed.
"There's one built into the terminal. It's a prototype. Hmmmm. That's not good."
"What isn't?" Losira asked.
"Tani, am I translating this correctly. Does that say clone?"
"Close. It’s plural."
"Oh boy, really not good. According to this, this complex isn't a prison," Harm said as he moved to let Tannith have a closer look.
"What is it, then?" Xura asked as her look went from curious to angry.
"It’s a cloning facility. Those three hundred-plus souls we're detecting are iced Nochmar clones ready to be foisted upon an unsuspecting League," Tannith said in disgust. "These records indicate that Nochmar is still alive, but stored in another part of the facility and only he has the codes to revive the others. Wait a minute, this can't be right."
"Damn straight this ain't right. Those fools played me..." Xura growled.
"No, I mean the elapsed times on these records. They indicate over fourteen thousand years have passed since Nochmar and his circus were put on ice."
"What?" Harm exclaimed. "That would mean that Atlantis was destroyed ten thousand years earlier than we thought."
"Which means Ventos Prime was colonized ten thousand years earlier than originally thought. Damn, that's a hell of a discrepancy," Tannith noted.
"Yeah, but we can't worry about that right now," Losira said. "We've got over three hundred Nochmar knock-offs to deal with."
"And one twisted original," Ciara reminded them.
Chapter Nine
"This way, my dear. I want to show you the future of our people," Dr. Thia said as he led Aerith into a room.
"Have you seen my eyes lately, Doctor? They're human, like my mother's. I'm only half-elf, remember?"
"Yes, but to many of us, elflings, such as yourself, are sacred, so you shall reap the same benefits as pure-bred elves."
"Look, if you want my help, you need to drop this holier than thou shit," Aerith admonished the historian. "Humans and elves are the same damn people except for a few minor physical traits. If they weren't, then we wouldn't be having this conversation.”
"You are so quaint. I find it odd considering your mother is a soldier and your father royalty."
"My mother is a marine and my father is a damn fine smuggler, you pompous ass."
"Such language," Thia replied, as if he were talking to a simpleton. "In here."
They walked into a large room filled with cryostasis tubes. Technicians were busily checking each tube with a variety of scanners and instruments.
"What the hell?" Aerith exclaimed. "What have you done?"
"We have done nothing. These tubes have been operating for thousands of years. They contain the clones of Nochmar.”
"I think I'm going to be sick. You must destroy them," she pleaded.
"Destroy them? Are you insane? We were planning to use Nochmar's remains to return hi
m to our world. Instead, we found this," Thia said while indicating the room filled with Nochmar-sicles. We were beyond overjoyed when we found the other room."
"What other room?"
"The one which contains Nochmar himself, stored in his own, personal cryotube, waiting for us to revive him and his minions."
Aerith looked at the good doctor with deep, deep pity. "You and your people are truly insane. Nochmar will lead Ventos and the elves into a war they have no hope of winning. Millions will die to satisfy Nochmar's bloodlust. I implore you to forget this insanity. Return your people to the Spindrift, and we can leave this place of madness."
"You are mistaken, Princess. Nochmar will lead our people to the prosperity they so greatly deserve. We will rule the League and conquer any who oppose us. Atlantis will rise once more and take its place amongst the pantheon of gods from ages past," Thia said while in the throes of religious rapture. "Now, come and meet the master himself," Thia said as he led Aerith back out into the hallway.
Thia entered the storage room followed by Aerith, two elves wearing lab coats, and two more elves wearing fatigues and holding weapons. At the center of the room stood a tall, glass and metal cylinder holding what looked like an elf inside a block of ice.
"Aerith Aymar, Princess of the Realm, Meet Nochmar, the savior of the elven people.”
Aerith walked over to peer into the cylinder. "I will not help you. I suggest you destroy this abomination while you still can."
"Tsk, tsk, such language. On the contrary, we plan to revive our master and his clones, and take him back to our universe where they will take over from your aunt and run things the way they were supposed to be. Now, we've been able to get past the first three security layers, but the last one has us stumped, which is where you come in. I want you to defeat the last layer. Once you are successful, we will return you to your ship. Easy-peasy, nothing to it."
"No. Not going to happen. I will wheel this thing over to the furnace room and throw it in if you want, but I will not help you free that creature."
