“Why me?” she asked. “I’ve been on Ulliam for two years. I thought I’d be going back.”
“You’re a hero to the Regals. The president thinks it would be wise to send you as either a sign of good faith or to show them what they’re missing.”
She chuckled. “My reputation is the reason I went there the first time. It was really the start of the Arwen’s second life. Before that mission I thought she was going to be decommissioned.”
“I kind of wished it was,” Payton said dryly.
Chapter Thirty-One
The Arwen exited wormhole space into the Regal system. Marjorie clearly remembered the last time she came into the system. The Arwen was ambushed by the Plick, a group of religious zealots who thought the destruction of Regal by comet collision was a good thing. She knew the Plick had been wiped out after their attempts to destroy the planet came to light, but she also knew most religions don’t die easily.
“All clear,” Commander Pippleton said. “Shields are fully charged; energy cannons are on standby.”
“Thank you, Commander,” Marjorie replied. Commander Pippleton had replaced Kel a few months after his promotion to captain. Kel’s heroics and his many years as commander of the Arwen gave him top priority when a new commission became available. It wasn’t long until the newly built Peter Wiggins was finished and Kel jumped at the chance to take over a brand new ship, even if it was a light cruiser and not a battle cruiser like the Arwen. “Communications, contact Ambassador Ling. Tell her we’ve arrived.”
Commander Pippleton waddled up to Marjorie and handed her a report. Pippleton was one of the few Ulliam officers in the Earth fleet. Most Ulliam preferred to serve on Ulliam ships while most human’s preferred Earth ships. Marjorie understood why there was such segregation in the fleet. Human and Ulliam were physically alike in a lot of ways but there were some major differences. Ulliam was smaller, which means less gravity, and most Ulliam found Earth gravity ships uncomfortable. It was also a hotter planet most of the time and most found Earth vessels too cold, reminding them of the brutal winters they would endure. Marjorie looked over the report. “Get the shuttles ready to evacuate all the Earth personal.”
“Yes, Captain!” he answered with a salute and walked away.
The Arwen moved into orbit around the planet. Something seemed odd to her as she looked at the scans. Where was the Regal fleet? She saw a few space stations and a few transports flying from the surface, but no battle cruisers, no defense ships. If the intelligence she had was right, they could be off meeting with their new allies.
“Captain, Ambassador Ling Mia would like to talk to you.”
“Thank you,” Marjorie said to her communications officer. “I’ll take it in my office. Commander, you have the bridge.”
~*~
“Captain Cook, it’s been a long time.”
“It sure has,” Marjorie replied with a smile. Ling’s childlike face hadn’t changed much in three years. She still looked too young to be an ambassador. She also looked thinner, as if the baby fat Marjorie noted the first time she had met her had finally evaporated away. There was something different about her. Something Marjorie found appealing. Her eyes and the way she sat told of toughness she was lacking the last time they had talked. “How is Thomas?”
“He’s doing well,” she replied. “We’ve been married for a year now.”
“It seems like only yesterday you two met. Any children in the future?”
“Yes!” she yelled with great joy. “In fact, I’m two months along even as we speak.”
“Wonderful!” Marjorie said. “That’s great news. I’m so happy for you.”
“I wish I was seeing you under better circumstances.”
It was time for business, Marjorie thought. “Can you tell me now or do you want a secured channel?”
“I’d like to think there was such a thing,” she replied, “but there isn’t. I’ll tell you what I know now.”
“Okay, start at the beginning.”
Ling took a deep breath to gather her thoughts. “Looking back, I think it all started about two years ago. I started to get odd reports from a few of my coworkers about Regal ships heading to secret destinations. I dismissed it at first, foolishly believing my friends when they told me it wasn’t anything to worry about. Just some military experiments into the use of wormhole technology. Then, the reports stopped coming in.”
“They stopped using wormholes?”
“No, they stopped reporting incidents. It wasn’t hard to tell when a ship entered or exited a wormhole. Those things are pretty bright even in the daytime. I knew they were still doing it, I just couldn’t get anyone to tell me what was going on. They stopped lying and just decided to shut me out completely.”
“That’s never a good sign,” Marjorie said.
“The only one who was even willing to tell me anything was Rulla Plooma. Do you remember him?”
He was someone Marjorie would have a hard time forgetting. Rulla Plooma was a warrior to the core. He openly challenged the Arwen more than once during her attempts to stop the Gyssyc comet. He also saved her and the lives of everyone onboard when the Plick attacked a second time. She owed him her life. It was a debt she could never fully repay. “Yes, I don’t think I’ll ever forget him.”
“He couldn’t give me any details because he knew he was being watched. He was able to tell me that representatives from both Regal races were meeting with someone on the other side of the wormhole. He didn’t know who. I guess we now know it was the Hellamites and probably the Ecollites. A few weeks after one of our meetings, we got word of the alliance followed by the request to remove all non-Regals from the planet.”
“Where is the Rulla now?”
Ling looked off camera for a moment and then looked back. “I don’t know,” she said, winking. It was such a human jester she was sure any Regal watching wouldn’t know what it meant.
“Thank you, Ambassador. Your shuttle should be landing in a few minutes. I’m looking forward to seeing you and Thomas again.”
Ling nodded and turned the monitor off.
Marjorie leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. The situation was worse than she thought. The Regals formed an alliance with two other races. Races that were openly hostile toward the Corps. War seemed to be the only reason to do that.
~*~
Marjorie waited in the empty hanger with her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on her heels. Crew members saluted her as they walked by. She nodded back and smiled. Crews ran around readying the hanger for the shuttle’s return. She was happy to see how much of the ship could run without her input.
“Shuttle’s ready for landing,” boomed a voice over the intercom. “Lower the shield and open the door.”
There was a loud snap as the shield lowered and then a grinding noise as the door opened. She watched as three shuttles flew into the hanger, each landing one next to the other.
“All shuttles accounted for. Shields up. Close the door.”
After the shield snapped back into place, Marjorie walked into the hanger and up to the last shuttle. The ramp lowered to the ground and Ling, with Thomas holding her hand, walked out. Thomas looked at the captain. “Captain Cook, it’s good to see you again.”
“Same here, Thomas.” She walked over and held out her hand. He took it and they shook.
“Thomas, honey,” Ling said, “can you take my bag to the room? I need to talk to Captain Cook.”
He grabbed her bag and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Captain, I hope we have time to play catch-up. I’d like to know how Fran is doing.”
“What about Professor Ricter?” Marjorie asked with a large smile. She knew Thomas and the professor didn’t really get along.
Thomas laughed. “Him too, I guess.”
Ling waited until Thomas had walked out of earshot before speaking. “Sorry, I don’t want Thomas to know what’s going on. He’s a great man but if he knew the danger I was in he might kill
me with his protection.”
They started walking away from the shuttle. “Was there something else you needed to tell me?”
“It’s about the Rulla. When I told him you were coming into the system, he seemed pleased. He wanted me to tell you to meet him here,” she handed Marjorie a small data disk. “He said you and only you.”
Marjorie looked at the disk; what could be so important he needed to speak to her in person? She knew the Rulla well enough and knew he wouldn’t do anything like this unless it was important. “Okay, I’ll get a shuttle and head out there now.”
~*~
The autopilot took the shuttle far beyond the Regal home planet. Marjorie glanced out the shuttle’s window and looked around. There was nothing anywhere near her. Taking over the controls, she spun the shuttle around to look back at the planet. The planet Regal was a small, white speck. The sun seemed no larger than the light in her room. Her isolation concerned her.
A sensor on her shuttle beeped; another ship was approaching. She spun the shuttle around again and pointed it toward the source. There she saw the Rulla’s battle cruiser. It looked like the same one she encountered the last time she was in this system, only not as well kept. The neglect showed on its surface. Black scorch marks scarred the ship in many areas. Bright particles floated from the engines, a sure sign they had not been well maintained. Several cannons were bent or melted by powerful energy bursts. Her concern continued to grow.
The Rulla Plooma she remembered would have done a much better job of keeping up his ship. Marjorie was about ready to make a run for it when she got a communication. With some reluctance, she answered. “Captain Cook,” Rulla Plooma said, she had turned the video on but his image did not appear. “Please forgive my appearance. A lot has happened since I last talked to Ambassador Ling.”
“Rulla, you’ll have to forgive me if I seem paranoid, but how do I know you’re coming to me in peace?”
He gave a humorless chuckle. “I understand your concern. I have no way to express my intentions other than to give you my word of honor.”
She knew his character well enough to know his word of honor wasn’t something he just threw out there to get his way. “Okay, Rulla, prepare for me to dock.”
“Thank you, Captain, the docking bay doors are opening now.”
The docking bay doors slowly opened. Like the rest of his ship, they were dilapidated. It seemed as if there was some reluctance to open. They stopped for a few seconds as a gear slipped. Moments later it started up again but opened in a cockeyed fashion. It took a bit of time before Marjorie found a section she felt save landing on. Most of the floor seemed rusted and not properly taken care of. When she finally landed, she sat in the cockpit looking out. The walls were dirty, rust colored. The crew worked quickly to get her shuttle secure but there seemed to be a sadness to them. She made sure her uniform looked clean and wrinkle free. When she opened the door, her senses were assaulted with the smell of fuel, as if there were something leaking. She slowly walked out, careful not to step on or into anything.
She saw the Rulla from a distance walking tall and proud, just like she remembered. He looked like most Regals, large bulb-shaped head, thin legs and arms which swung without much grace. She had to remind herself he was a Jerassic, one of two intelligent species on Regal. The only real difference between the two were the eyes and shape of the head. She could see his dark, charcoal black eyes from across the room. His uniform was in tatters. She noticed many new tattoos, a sign he had killed since the last time they met. Marjorie had to look up to see into his eyes. She had almost forgotten how tall he was. Seeing a powerful alien standing at around seven feet was a real sight to behold. “Permission to come aboard.”
“Permission granted,” he held out his hand. “Please, accept my hand in an offer of friendship.”
She took the hand and shook it, impressed at the gesture. “Has Ling been teaching you human customs?”
“Yes, she has,” Plooma replied.
“I wish I knew the Regal equivalent of a handshake. Forgive me.”
“Captain, we have much more to worry about. Please, follow.”
They walked down the dirty hallways. Wires hung exposed. The floor looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. She looked closer at the walls and noticed spots of dark red which looked as if it had been splattered. As if someone had taken a glass of red paint and threw it. She knew it wasn’t paint; it was blood and the corridor was stained with it. “You’ve been in a battle.”
“We’ve been in many battles over the past few weeks,” he replied. “We’ve been killing our own.”
“That’s not unusual. You’ve always been at war with one country or another.”
“This is different. We’ve tried to find common ground with our neighbors. After you and your crew risked your lives to save us, we decided it would be in our favor to find a way to peace. I was against it at first but have since changed my mind. The blood you see on the wall is not the blood of other countries. It’s the blood of my own countrymen.”
They walked into his office. Like his tattoos, his office was a testament to his warrior lust. Hand-to-hand weapons hung from hooks. Marjorie noticed several older weapons from Earth including an old musket, a few handguns, and several automatic weapons dating back to before the two races meet. Others she didn’t recognize but they looked just as old, perhaps from his planet’s past. A large bookcase located on the far wall housed many books. She could not read the one’s printed in Regal; however, she spotted a tattered copy of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. “Captain, not many have been in my sanctuary.”
“I’m honored,” Captain Cook replied. The smell of something that reminded her of incense filled her nose. In the center of the room was a large, stone tablet. A passage written in a language Marjorie didn’t recognize had been carved into the stone. She did not see any chairs and wondered exactly what went on in this room when he was alone. She knew he was strong, but could he stand for hours working in this office without sitting? Knowing how many hours she spent in her office, the idea was too strange for her to contemplate. She folded her arms behind her back and waited.
He lowered his head in a subservient pose. He seemed humbled, even sad. “I have many enemies and very few allies. I would like you to be my ally.”
She recalled how frightening he was the first time they talked. How even Kel, a man not easily intimidated, confessed to her if he and the Rulla had gotten into a fight, he would have lost within seconds. “Rulla, I’m honored, but I need more information.”
He shot his head up, rage behind his eyes. He nearly growled and for a brief moment showed his teeth. “I have given you my word. I have humbled myself in front of you. Isn’t that enough? What more do you want?”
“Rulla Plooma,” Marjorie said, emphasizing his rank, trying to show a sign of respect for it. “All I have seen so far is a tattered ship, a sign of a large battle, and you. You’ve given me hints and things to speculate but nothing that could convince me being your ally is a good idea.”
“I have important information. If you do not join me you will not know what I know. It will die with me.”
She considered this. Information about what was going on in this system was very important right now. With Ling being shut out and all the humans taken off planet, there was a very large black hole of the unknown. She was about ready to answer when alarms deafened her. The lights when from white to red.
Rulla Plooma yelled something in his language into a speaker. Seconds later someone answered. He listened before turning to Marjorie. “Come with me to the bridge; they’ve found us.”
Marjorie’s heart raced as she followed him down the hallways. The crew sprung into action and it was impressive to watch. Even if the ship was dilapidated, the crew was still a well-oiled machine.
She pulled out her communicator and when she turned it on she got static. “I can’t contact the Arwen.”
“They’re jamming us,” he said. “They have
some cruisers on an attack run. They will not compromise. They are here to destroy us.”
“Let them know I’m on board. Maybe that will help.”
“Captain, it won’t,” he said very matter of fact as he opened the door to the bridge.
The bridge crew stood looking at monitors. Most had communication devices in their ears, speaking back and forth in a langue she didn’t understand. Rulla Plooma jumped onto a platform and barked an order to someone. Marjorie stood next to him and looked up. He looked in control and calm. “Rulla, what is going on?”
“Forgive me, Captain; I do not have time to translate the information. We are going to try and get out of their jamming range. Once we do I would like you contact your ship and ask for help.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t mean I’ve decided to help, this is more a matter of survival than a truce.”
He nodded and gave a few orders. Marjorie felt the ship move forward, slowly at first but it quickly picked up speed. She glanced at a monitor and saw the enemy, two cruisers with a very similar design to the Rulla’s ship. He was being chased by his own people, just like he said.
Plooma calmly spoke again and the ship banked, then shuttered as some sort of projectile, mostly likely a missile, bounced off the hull and exploded. She looked at the ships and noticed flashes of light. They were firing energy weapons.
Smoke billowed out a vent. Plooma growled something into a speaker. He got a reply then yelled. She felt the ship slow down before picking up speed. She grabbed onto a computer to support herself.
“Captain, we are out of range. Quickly, call the Arwen.”
She pulled out her communicator, “Arwen, this is Captain Cook. Lock onto this signal, go to red alert. I am onboard the Rulla’s ship and we are under attack. Do not engage our attackers.”
“On our way,” the commander replied. “Weapons will be charged but we will not fire—” the communication went out and all she got back was interference.
Rulla Plooma looked down at her. “They are a threat.”
“I don’t know whose side you’re on and I am not going to kill anyone unless I’m sure they are the enemy.”
The Arwen Book one: Defender Page 25
