He nodded to the grey-haired man standing in the middle. That one, he knew on sight. They’d spoken many times while he was in human custody and then even more often after he’d been freed to return home.
“General Hereford. It is good to see you again,” Garul said, speaking the words slowly. English was still new to him. Wrapping his mouth and tongue around the words was sometimes a challenge, and he wanted to make a good first impression.
Apparently, it worked. Hereford's eyebrows shot up in what Garul had come to recognize was a reaction of surprise. He held up a little electronic box. “You speak our language very well. I've brought a translating device, but maybe you won't need it?
“I've been practicing, but my warriors are not fluent yet. It would be good to have it nearby,” Garul replied. “Thank you for thinking of it.”
Shouting caught the Naga's attention, drawing his eyes across the airfield to a metal fence. Beyond it were a vast number of humans. Garul squinted, trying to get a better look at them. Many of them were holding signs in their hands, but he didn't think they were welcoming the Naga to Earth. Quite the opposite, if he understood their tone correctly.
“Not everyone is happy to see us here,” Garul rumbled.
“No,” Hereford replied. “Did you think they would be? Your people did attack us. Many humans died.”
Garul opened his mouth to speak, unsure what words he should say. He believed in this truce and hoped for a real alliance between their worlds. His impression had been that Hereford felt the same. Was he so wrong?
Before he could say a word, Hereford gestured dismissively at the crowd of protesters. “Don't worry about them. They're fools. We need each other.”
Hereford reached out his hand. Garul only stared at it for a moment before recalling the human custom. He reached out with his own clawed digits and carefully took the general's hand into his. Their eyes met. Garul saw understanding there, along with a fierceness that reminded him of the Naga. These humans were so like his people. Never was that more clear than in moments like this.
“I'm glad you feel that way, General Hereford. Would it help if I spoke to them? Assured your people that we are here to help, not hurt?”
Hereford looked startled again, then thoughtful. He rubbed his chin before shaking his head. “No. It's a good idea, but I don't think now is the right time. I'm concerned about how they knew you were coming in the first place. In fact-”
A loud crack interrupted him. Something slammed hard into Garul's shoulder. He grunted under the impact as it turned him sideways, but he managed to keep his feet. Pain blossomed a moment later. Gunfire. He'd been shot! Was this some sort of treachery? Garul took a step away from the general and his men, but that wasn't where the gunfire had come from. It was fired from someplace else, someplace distant.
“Get down!” Hereford shouted. He rushed forward and pulled Garul down, using his body to shelter the Naga while his security force turned and faced outward, guns up.
These humans were risking their lives for him. But there was at least one human out there who'd prefer it if Garul was dead. Unsurprising, really. He checked his shoulder. The armor he wore stopped the bullet, but the scales beneath were tender. He'd be sore for a few days, but the wound would mend quickly enough.
“Are you all right? Can you move?” Hereford was shouting in his ear.
“I'm fine. Should we retreat into the shuttle?” Garul asked.
“Better plan. Armored car is on its way here. See?” Hereford pointed at a heavily plated vehicle roaring across the runway toward them.
The car screeched to a halt in front of them, blocking the direction the bullet had come from. A door on the side of the vehicle slammed open and a human stepped out, shouting. “Move, people! Let's get the ambassador to safety!”
Hereford's security pushed in close around Garul, ushering him forward into the car. But his protege! Garul half turned. “Owen!”
“He's right behind you,” Hereford snapped. “Move!”
Owen McInness was indeed just a step behind the general. Garul heaved a sigh of relief at seeing him. Taking the boy on had been a rash act. Also one he didn't regret for an instant. Small things like the bond he was creating with the young man might turn out to be the glue which held their two worlds together, in the long run. Garul was convinced that separately they were all doomed. Together they might have a chance.
But that still left him feeling responsible for McInness. That, too, was part of the bond between master and apprentice. He wasn’t going to lose the young warrior so soon, not if he could do anything to prevent it!
“Garul, you’re bleeding,” McInness said.
The Naga looked down at his shoulder. Sure enough, a trickle of blood flowed down his arm, leaking out from between two of his armored plates. The body armor he wore had absorbed most of the impact, but apparently not all of it. The wound was painful, but he could still move the arm.
“I’ll take care of it once were safely inside. This small flesh wound isn’t going to slow me down,” Garul replied.
He slid into the welcome shelter of the armored car, then beckoned for Owen to join him. But the young man hesitated, pushing General Hereford inside ahead of him. Only when both were safe did Owen step inside.
Garul approved. Owen had courage to spare. So long as it didn’t get him killed, it would likely enable him to become a great warrior, in time.
“Drive!” Hereford snapped.
The armored car spun into sudden motion as the driver accelerated off the airfield toward the safety of the base buildings. Not the best new beginning for diplomatic relations between their worlds, he had to admit. Clearly not all humans were interested in making peace.
He would need to find a way to win them over. Too much was riding on this mission for Garul to allow it to fail.
Four
“I want those people cleared out, sergeant. Make it happen,” Hereford said. He’d gotten Garul and McInness off the tarmac and into the relative safety of the central tower on the base. It was as secure a place as he had available. But the best way to deal with a threat was head-on. Hiding in the tower wasn’t a solution. If someone outside wanted to cause harm, there were myriad ways to do so.
The hapless NCO bolted away to get the task accomplished. If he'd only ordered that sooner, maybe the attack wouldn't have taken place at all. But he was trying to balance his duties to the newly minted Space Force with placating an already frightened public. Hindsight was only useful to inform future decisions, he reminded himself.
Hereford was furious. An attack on a crucial diplomat. On a base under his command. On his watch, so to speak. It was mortifying.
But it could have been so much worse. Garul seemed to be all right, at least. The armor he wore must have soaked up most of the bullet’s energy. As Hereford watched, the Naga stripped off the damaged shoulder plate, revealing the wound beneath. Hereford knew bullet wounds. He’d seen enough of them to know this one was going to require medical attention.
“The slug is still in there. We’ll get you to the base hospital where they can take it out,” Hereford said.
Garul glanced over at the general and smiled. It was still unnerving to see a Naga smile. Something about all those sharp teeth made the primitive parts of a human brain chitter with ancient fear. Hereford shoved such thoughts aside without much effort. He’d seen scarier shit.
The Naga commander took a device from his belt and applied it to his wound. “No need. I brought a healing tool down with me.”
“You thought something like this might happen?” Hereford asked, surprised.
“Not this incident in particular, no,” Garul replied. “But it never hurts to be prepared, yes?”
“Very true.”
“Besides,” the Naga went on, “this device has been reprogrammed to better interact with human physiology as well as my own. I hoped we might have a chance to test the programming at some point.”
Hereford watched with interest a
s Garul ran the tool over his injury. The broken flesh knit itself back together with more speed than he would have believed possible. Just before the wound closed entirely there was a soft pop as the bullet was pushed out of his skin. It pinged against the floor when it fell.
“Is that the device you used on Colonel Wynn?” Hereford asked.
“The same,” Garul replied. “But where it caused Wynn much pain, this new program should account accurately for the differences between humans and Naga.”
Hereford eyed the small box Garul held with a mixture of hope and skepticism. He'd read the briefing Dan Wynn had written about his brief captivity with the Naga. They'd tortured Dan for information, hoping to learn the whereabouts of his homeworld and how his species had come by a wormhole drive, technology the Naga believed to be lost until the Satori showed up. It was Garul who'd overseen Dan's captivity and questioning. After each round of pain they inflicted, the Naga used the healing device to repair the damage Dan had sustained. The device caused enormous pain as it healed, something about their biologies only being semi-compatible.
But the device hadn't just healed the injuries the Naga inflicted. It had also repaired older damage to Wynn's spine. The Air Force's best doctors had sworn Wynn would never walk again, yet he was out there not only walking but running once more. That was thanks to the Naga's healing tech. If they could truly adapt it for human beings, it could be a game-changer for all of humanity. If the thing could repair a shattered spine, what else could it do?
“You programmed it for humans?” Hereford asked.
Garul stood and nodded. “As a gesture of goodwill. I hope to find someone willing to try it while I am here. If it works, I will leave the device with you. We can send more as well.”
“That's incredibly generous.”
The Naga flashed his teeth. “No. It is good sense. We fight a common enemy, but we must build trust between us or our alliance is doomed before it begins. This is one small step. Whoever that was out there today, the shooter? They were likely not alone in their feelings. It is that sense of hatred we must overcome.”
Hereford raised his eyebrows. It was much the same way he felt, and he had to say he was relieved to hear it. Not long ago he'd been preparing Earth for another devastating attack by Naga battlecruisers. Everything had changed, but not all the people involved had changed with the situation. “It's a good plan. Come, I need to bring you to meet some people.”
“Not warriors like you, I am guessing?” Garul asked.
Hereford chuckled. “No. Politicians. Not my favorite people to talk to, but they are the ones you will have to reach an accord with. Damned politicians have been a pain in my ass for so long it feels like forever. But they have their uses.”
“I will go have words with these politicians, then. But General Hereford, I want to say this. It is you and your people I trust. It is you and your warriors who have won the respect of the Naga.”
Hereford sucked in a deep breath. “I hope we can be worthy of that trust and respect.”
A knock at the infirmary door broke into their conversation. Hereford glanced at Garul. The Naga already had his armor back in place. Good enough, but neither of them were armed. That was something he’d need to rectify. He had guards posted outside the door, of course, but he’d feel better with a sidearm on his belt. These were dangerous times, if he was considering himself unsafe without a weapon on his own damned base!
“Enter,” Hereford said. The door opened and he relaxed as McInness stepped in. The general’s eyebrows shot up. Seeing the young man gave him an idea. “Garul, mind if I borrow your protege for a special mission?”
“Not at all. He is your soldier as well as my student.”
“Good enough. McInness, I’ve got a job for you.”
The kid straightened his spine and stared into Hereford’s eyes without blinking. “I’m ready, sir.”
“My men should be clearing that little protest from the gate, but I doubt that will stop our shooter. Whoever took that shot was a damned fine marksman. That was no amateur, not at that range.” Hereford frowned and rubbed his chin. “Someone is very unhappy about the Naga delegation arriving on Earth. Mad enough to kill over it. I think you’re the ideal man to find out who that might be.”
“Me, sir?” McInness looked surprised.
“You. You’re my secret weapon now. Far as the rest of the world knows, you still hate the Naga with every fiber of your being, right?” Hereford hoped the kid could handle this. It wasn’t going to be an easy assignment or a safe one. But he needed to get someone he could trust on this. McInness fit the bill better than anyone else he could think of.
“But that’s not me anymore.”
“No, it’s not. You know that. I know that. So does Garul. But you didn’t exactly make your dislike of the Naga a secret, did you?” Hereford asked.
McInness looked down at his combat boots. “No, sir. I did not.”
“Which is exactly what we need,” Hereford said. The kid glanced up at him, confused. He was ashamed of how he’d acted before, which was a damned good thing. Hereford had bet on McInness being able to learn, and that gamble was paying solid dividends. But now he needed the old McInness back, or at least the appearance of that. “I want you to go into town. Chat people up. The protesters will probably stick around. So will our shooter. If anyone here can win their trust, it’s you. I need eyes in their camp. Find out who was behind this attack and what they will do next.”
“Understood, sir,” McInness said. His eyes looked sharp again. Hereford could see the gears turning in there, the kid’s quick intellect already thinking up ways to accomplish what he’d asked of him.
“Be careful. This will be dangerous. They find out you’re spying on them, they could easily try to kill you, too. Report back the minute you hear anything worthwhile,” Hereford said.
“I won’t let you down, General. Or you, Garul.”
“We know you will not. Here, take this,” Garul said. He handed something the size of a pen to McInness. Hereford wasn’t sure what it was, but the kid - no, young man, Hereford reminded himself - seemed to recognize it. His eyes got wide as he took the thing and slipped it into a pocket. “Be careful. Be cunning. Be safe.”
McInness nodded, then turned and left.
Hereford breathed out a sigh. “He makes me feel old.”
“We are old, you and I,” Garul said with a chuckle. “And with luck we will live to be older still. Probably thanks to young warriors like him.”
“True enough. But we won’t survive much longer if we keep the political guys waiting. Let’s go introduce you,” Hereford replied.
Garul laughed and rose from his seat. “Oh, I think we could still handle a couple of toothless old mammals, you and I. But let us get this done. We have much to accomplish, and I am certain the Kkiktchikut will give us less time than we would like.”
The words sent a chill down Hereford’s spine. He hoped they weren’t true, and knew in his gut they almost certainly were.
Five
Owen went straight to his barracks room. It felt strange being back on the base where he’d been training to fight in the Armor unit. His class had been ‘graduated’ early for an emergency, leaving him to wonder if he was going to go back into more training or remain on combat status. Would he fight with the human forces or the Naga troops, now? So damned many questions left unanswered. There wasn’t any time to dig into those problems, either.
He supposed that was life: always handing you new things to deal with before you were really done with the last bunch. Like this mission General Hereford dropped in his lap. Hereford handed him the job because he was the best person for it, and Owen couldn’t disagree. He was pretty sure no one else on the base had his background of vocal hatred toward the Naga. If he went out there and told the protesters he was on their side, Owen was pretty sure he could get them to believe him.
The problem was he didn’t feel that way anymore. In fact, he was ashamed of how he
’s behaved. Oh, he wasn’t sorry for killing the Naga who’d killed his parents. He’d do it again if he had to. Just thinking about that day got his blood boiling again. The hot anger brought a flush to his face.
But there was a difference between fury toward someone who’d hurt him and hatred for an entire race. The former he felt pretty justified over. The latter wasn’t something he was at all proud he’d felt.
He was going to have to dig deep into those old emotions in order to pull this off, too. That was a dark part of himself, one he wanted to leave locked up. Going back into those thoughts and feelings was just wrong. He gritted his teeth as he stripped off his uniform and grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt. He’d just have to deal with it and worry about the fallout later. Hereford and Garul were counting on him to do the job. Someone had shot Garul. Could have killed him. If Owen didn’t find out who was responsible, they might well succeed next time. His personal feelings didn’t hold a candle next to that heavy responsibility.
Owen snagged a light jacket from his wardrobe to finish the look. It was good enough. No one would mistake him for a civilian with his haircut and bearing, but he wanted to be in civvies so as not to spook the protesters. There were a couple of off-base bars nearby. It was a good bet at least some of the crowd would be hanging out at a watering hole, drowning their frustrations. That’s where he’d find the sort of person he needed to meet. The sort of person he used to be.
He went outside and walked over to his bike, a Honda. It was an older model without a ton of horsepower, but it would get him into town and back safely. Owen tossed on his jacket and a helmet and kicked the motorcycle into motion. The gate was only half a mile away. He slowed as he approached it and nodded in appreciation at all the extra security in place. They usually had two guys pulling security there. Tonight, there were twelve. That might have been overkill, but given the shooting Owen was happy to see it.
A sergeant on gate duty called out to Owen as he slowed the bike. “Heading out? You heard we have some trouble earlier, right? Not sure it’s a good idea...”
Peace Talks (Adventures of the Starship Satori Book 12) Page 2
