From the Black (Free Fleet Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  I now knew where the majority of the Syndicate’s forces were, which made at least Boot and Cheerleaders jobs easier.

  I approved Min Hae's request for more operatives in his area to try and find out where the damned Kalu were.

  He would have some wait in Avapor as he went in search of the Kalu spymaster. Min Hae thought that he would either know where the spymaster was in a few weeks, or where the Kalu fleet was, possibly even both if everything went to plan.

  I stared making a plan for engaging the Kalu and what the rest of the fleet would do if we were successful, or not. Planning for failure was hard, but I fleshed out three rather simple, but hopefully effective plans.

  “We’re one hour away,” Milra said, snapping me out of my planning. I had been working for five hours without noticing it.

  “Very well, we’re just here for trade. We’ll wait eight hours before moving off,” I said, not seeing the confused looks from everyone. I felt that it was time to see Worshun and then Avapor for myself. I had promised Foshunti and hopefully I would find out how to get this thing started, maybe I could turn it to my advantage.

  ***

  Min Hae knew how dangerous what he was doing was. He had gone against everyone in doing it. None of them openly tried to stop him.

  He knocked on the door of the shuttle, everything that came down to the planet had to drop a shuttle to get their supplies moved. If someone didn’t then it looked suspicious. The fact that this ship had done everything to go unnoticed had made Min Hae notice it. The ship this shuttle came from looked beaten up and old. Though a contact with the board of trade and inspections on the planet had said that the ship had paid a handsome amount for people to look around a bit but not in-depth and not in the quarters.

  The bribe was large enough that no one was going to say anything. Well that was unless Min Hae had his claws into them.

  Nothing happened, Min Hae knocked again.

  “I am here to talk to the Kalu spymaster,” Min Hae said. “I want three hundred thousand platinum to keep quiet, or I’ll tell the Syndicate that you’re here.”

  There was a pause, the ramp lowered and Min Hae saw his first Kalu in the flesh. They were sleek long creatures with eight limbs. They had a set of smaller manipulators in their faces, their faces looked like that of a squid and a dog. A dog with the teeth and snout of a squid. The skin flared out around the snout in rage, or breath, Min Hae could not tell for sure. The eyes contracted as a whole, not just their pupils as humans did.

  This particular Kalu was wearing black scarred armor, weapons were raised over its shoulders and pointing at Min Hae.

  “Come inside, or be nothing,” It said simply.

  Min Hae followed the Kalu’s orders, walking onto the shuttle.

  “Take us up, the creature seer will want this specimen,” the Kalu said to someone unseen. Min Hae studied the Kalu more. The armor was fused to their bodies, just like it was recorded in the battle logs of Resilient and the other AI. It acted as their second skin and augmented everything that they did.

  The armor could be closed around their limbs, manipulators, and face. Again off of the data Min Hae had, the Kalu would only activate their additional armor if they found the enemy worth the honour of dying against the full might of the Kalu.

  The shuttle closed and shot off into the sky. The Kalu barely shifted as Min Hae had to grab a wall to not fall down. The Kalu’s weapons followed him without pause.

  It was a few minutes later that a door opened, a light signalling that the airlock was sealed.

  “Move,” the Kalu said, Min Hae not thinking it best to argue did as he was told.

  The ship’s walkways were wider than the ships that Min Hae had been on previously, probably to accommodate the bulk of the Kalu. On their limbs, they were still about five foot tall.

  The Kalu prodded Min Hae in the right direction. He didn’t see anyone. Though he did see the types of relays the Kalu used, he tried to figure out the mix of their air and assessed his captor.

  Min Hae was prodded into a room. It had one door and an audio-visual sensor.

  It was a few minutes later that another Kalu, looking nothing like the first glided into the room. This one didn’t prowl like the first. This one had been attached to his armor with more than just the neural and muscular grafting that the first had been. This Kalu had gone through something horrific, and somehow survived.

  Its limbs were mangled into uselessness except for one manipulator and two claws on a limb.

  It’s squid like orifice opened, and even that was scarred and melted. One eye was missing, the opposite remained sharp and intelligent.

  “Why should I not just kill you?” The Kalu asked.

  “If you do, then my friend on the ground will spread the message to every merchant here and send it via fast-ship to Lady Fairgate,” Min Hae said.

  “Why would giving you money make this issue go away?”

  “Because me and mine will be leaving known space. We know what is coming, what would make Lady Fairgate flee as soon as she got word from ‘the line’? Only you guys. I’m going to use the money to get supplies and get the hell out of here.”

  “What if I was to get you the supplies you will need to leave here, but then I pick where you wormhole to?” The mangled Kalu asked.

  “I would prefer if I was the one able to get the supplies so I can assure their quality.”

  “You may be allowed to do that, though it will take some time,” the Kalu said.

  “The sooner is better. No funny stuff,” Min Hae said.

  “As you say. Though I do have some questions for you. Who do you work for?”

  “Well I used to work for Lady Fairgate, but since she ran off I thought that job might not be the best. I’ve been able to lay low and trade, well till I realized that you were making the people on Avapor work for you,” Min Hae said, taking a risk that the Kalu would think it odd that a person trying to flee from the Kalu would follow them.

  “Why are you this close to ‘the line’ if you want to flee and get out of this mess?” The Kalu asked.

  “Well the best survival stuff is here, plus I'm not going to head towards the line. I'm going to run parallel,” Min Hae said, Rosho was new since the Kalu had last been in Union space, it was also unknown by the free fleet. Min Hae was confident that his people would have found it before the Kalu.

  “Very well. It will take two weeks until we have your supplies. If we sense that you are sending a message from your ship Verslava we will destroy you,” the Kalu said with completely calm manner.

  “Understandable,” it looked like the Kalu knew what ship he belonged to at least. “May I ask what your name is? On my planet we deal in names as a sign of trust.”

  “Very well, what is your name?” The Kalu asked.

  “Malharva Herbert,” Min Hae said.

  “Ashota an agreement is struck,” Ashota said, “Leave my ship and tell your people. I will have my ship moved into parallel orbit, any moves and you will be destroyed.”

  “Understood,” Min Hae said. Ashota seemed to study him for a while.

  “I think that we will have a longer relationship than either of us will like,” Ashota said, Min Hae could swear he saw amusement in the Kalu’s manner, though he wasn’t sure.

  “Certainly,” Min Hae said diplomatically.

  Chapter, promises at the heart of the Union

  I had waved the flag, simply passing through systems. To go right up to a planet with a fleet ready for war was probably not the best bet. At least that's what I told my people. I didn't want to deal with another situation like I had on Daestramus.

  We had done laps through systems until we got to Quarst, the home of the Union and where Lady Fairgate had called her seat of power.

  “We're all clear,” Walf said a few hours of us being in the system. We weren't totally safe, but we would have days, to get ready for any attack, also Worshun was clear of any orbiting ships. Wrecked orbital stations still floated
around the planet that looked nothing like the pictures shown in my PDF orientation when I had been recruited.

  We went straight towards the planet. I was in my room with Yasu beside me, lying down and watching some television on Mecha Assault three. Earth's gaming community had recoiled after the Free Fleet had descended, it was even more interactive, closer to a simulator now for powered armor and mechas than just a video game.

  My communicator beeped and Foshunti’s voice entered the room for a private talk, “Salchar, umm, I was wondering if I would be able to go down to Worshun.”

  “We've heard nothing from the planet, and all indicators say that there's possibly nothing left alive down there,” I said, Yasu poked me, giving me a look that said I better allow the man to see his planet.

  “I understand but I still want to try,” Foshunti said with realistic hope still in his voice.

  “I will clear you to land, though you will take a security detail in full load out,” I said.

  There was a pause before he answered.

  “Alright,” he did not sound pleased with it, but was understanding.

  “Good, see if you can't rouse something out of them, we have limited supplies right now, but there are wrecks in the area, we can drop them a few shuttles and pull those wrecks in, maybe kick-start some factories to get them started. Also point out that the traders are mostly empty, we can give them free seats as we have them,” I said, getting a smile from Yasu. I'll take that as a win, I thought.

  “I will pass it on, thank you commander,” Foshunti signed off as Yasu cuddled up closer to me. For a few minutes I forgot about the Syndicate, the Kalu and how everyone seemed to be gunning for me. Then it dropped back on my shoulders as I felt an inexplicable weight on my shoulders and feeling in my gut.

  ***

  It took Foshunti three days of conferences, private meetings and speeches before we were officially contacted by the governor of Worshun.

  A Dovark appeared on the screen, the scenery around her looking spartan and utilitarian.

  “I’m told that you are Commander Salchar of the Free Fleet,” she said, as if she was a woman used to quick answers, much like a trainee commander.

  “That I am, and you are?”

  “I am governor Elisati, I have been told that you offer us aid and your protective services if we submit to a payment to you,” she said.

  “That is correct.” No need to sugar coat it.

  “What are your terms?” She asked.

  “We open up a Free Fleet recruiting facility, through that anyone can apply to be in the Free Fleet, then we work out something to make you money, and take a percentage of that, approximately two to five percent depending on certain criteria. We will have reduced payments depending on your situation,” I said, looking to my screen and sending the relevant data.

  I frowned for a moment, “my relations team is better at handling this side of things.”

  “And you are better at handling war?” She asked.

  “Been pretty good at it so far,” I said, shrugging. She seemed to weigh me with her eyes before she nodded.

  “Very well I will talk with your people, I don't trust you, but Foshunti has gone through a lot, he has the trust of the people and myself. If I find that you are lying to me, then I will make the Kalu look like a fairy-tale,” she said.

  “And I will make Fairgate look like a godmother,” I said, anger seeping into my voice as I ground my teeth. I was not going to have someone threaten me on my own damned bridge. “You do not want to piss me off, or let me find out that you have gone against the laws set down by the Free Fleet,” my eyes boring into hers, anger alight in both our eyes. “We will talk soon,” I said, my voice cold as I cut the channel.

  “Rubs you the wrong way a bit?” Rick said.

  “A little,” I growled, the anger still making my limbs tight from the restraint I placed on myself.

  ***

  Captain Dosa Quorn looked at the ship that had entered the system, it was trying to be stealthy, but the sensor platforms that Min Hae had ordered placed around the system picked it up easily.

  “It's a Star Warrior,” Folla said.

  “Alright, get the crew back on board, we're following this thing wherever it goes,” Dosa said.

  It took an hour to gather his crew and make their leaving look routine.

  They took off on a route away from the Kalu Star Warrior and the sensor buoys that Avapor had floating around. They had a few people in the control centres for those buoys, but Dosa was wary to use them else they might be compromised.

  When they cleared the buoys, they altered their heading towards but not right on top of the Star Warrior.

  The Star Warrior seemed to get bored of Avapor, turning and jumping away.

  “Plot jump to the system they were headed to,” Dosa said. Helm found the systems within jumping range of the Star Warrior, and it's positioning. Not many people knew that someone could face any direction when using a wormhole to get to another system, as long as it was in range then a wormhole could get you there, you didn't need to be facing it.

  It took some time for Dosa's ship to get to the jump limit, charge their wormhole generators and go charging after the Star Warrior. The entire time Dosa and his crew felt the excitement and anxiety that came with hunting down a worthy enemy.

  They entered the new system, now within the area called 'the line'. The sensor shadow of the Star Warrior showed it crossing the system. Dosa didn't need to say anything as Helm followed them and started looking at systems in the direction the Star Warrior was going.

  Light was a fickle thing, there was the laser sensors that travelled at the speed of light, hitting whatever was around and getting an image back from the reflected lasers. Arrays were tightly packed lasers that were able to get a high resolution and refined image, these were what sensor operators used mostly.

  Now lasers weren't the only type of light that could show a ship to another ship, starlight and sunlight could too. So while Dosa was seeing a shadow of the Star Warrior it was that light striking the ship and reflecting into Dosa's ship sensors. Dosa had turned off his sensors so that the Star Warrior would have a harder time finding his ship, it would also take them twice the time as they were using sensors and not the sun as Dosa was.

  The one issue with sun and star shadows was that they disappeared sometimes, if Dosa's ship wasn't lined up with the Star Warrior's reflection then he could lose them.

  It was a few hours before the Kalu reached where they needed to jump, thankfully the shadows had been on Dosa's side and he'd been able to see its direction.

  Dosa's ship followed, getting past the jump limit and wormholing away.

  Nothing came up on shadows in the next system.

  “Full sensor sweep,” Dosa said, he and the fleet needed to know where the Star Warrior had gone.

  “It seems that they jumped immediately, I sense disturbances in background radiation. One of the sensor operators said.

  Dosa pulled down a star map on his screens. He had done astro-navigation while in Parnmal.

  He input the Star Warriors believed wormhole limit and traced it from the jump limit of the system he was in. Three systems were reachable, all of them within 'the line'.

  “We're headed back to the nearest relay, we need to get this higher. Helm you are cleared for successive wormholes, use the capacitors as we can. Start plotting a least-time route,” Dosa didn't relax after giving his orders, he knew what would happen as soon as Salchar had those possible co-ordinates, he would test the Kalu and see if they were like the demons that the PDF had fought.

  ***

  Foshunti had finally made an agreement between his people and the Free Fleet. The people had not been happy with the fact that the fleet now worked with convicted criminals, the very criminals that had attacked Worshun and led to the fall of the Union and PDF within its ranks. Though Foshunti had pressed that if they had not done so then Foshunti himself would be serving in Parnmal, mining
an asteroid, and the fact that many had no other option.

  One person that was not happy about the Free Fleet was Foshunti's old teacher, Worshun's planetary governor, Elisati. Who now sat, looking at Foshunti, studying him.

  “What is it?” He asked after some time, bored with the looks that people gave him, the weighing the testing, it was the same looks he had been given throughout his childhood as he was trained to infiltrate the Syndicate.

  “You have changed, you are no longer focused and calm. You have become relaxed, lazy and slow..,” There was no emotion on her face as she leapt for him. Foshunti had seen the way her pulse elevated before she struck. He grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground, twisting her arm back and behind her as he used a knee to force her into the ground and elicit a surprised grunt.

  “All the better to hide my anger,” he said, those words coming out in harsh tones. Something dark lingered in his soul, aching to get free. He tightened his grip for a second before letting go and walking clear of her body.

  She stood, only wiping her face as a trickle of blood came from her snout.

  Elisati had been the one to train Foshunti and all of the candidates for the infiltration, she had gained the position of planetary governor to make the creatures of Worshun and the Union, abandon the planet above and make their living below. It had saved many lives, but people longed for freedom, even if imagined.

  “You do not have that fiery spark in you anymore,” she sat down, looking almost, concerned.

  “I have seen things and done things that not many would agree with. The Fleet has also shown me that action is the last resort, keeping a level head is the best way to understand whether that force is needed or not.” Unlike the force and killing I had to do so I could become Lady Fairgate's pet and retain my position as Captain Lord. Foshunti pushed his anger down keeping his thoughts to himself.

  “Like with Daestramus. They decimated the secret police force there, but left the people alive, even helped them,” she looked to Foshunti to fill in any blanks, or reveal a lie.