Star Viking (Extinction Wars Book 3)

by Vaughn Heppner

  “They lack courage,” I told N7 as we took off our helmets in the patrol boat’s locker room.

  The android nodded. I wondered if he thought I lacked foresight. I’d been so sure Baba Gobo would join us. It had been obvious to me.

  After leaving the Epsilon Indi system, I sat morosely in my cabin. The odds against humanity had turned horribly long again.

  Several hours later, I stalked through the corridors into the cargo hold. There, I wrapped my fists. I began to smash the heavy bag, thudding blow after blow.

  What do you what to hear? I bet I know—Zoe Artemis came to talk to me, we made passionate love, everything cleared up in my head and I saved the day. No such luck, I’m afraid. Real life doesn’t often work like that.

  I hammered the heavy bag until my arms hung at my sides. Sweat soaked my t-shirt. My hands ached.

  Standing in front of the swaying bag, I realized this was our problem. Humanity had to gather its paltry number of ships and hightail it elsewhere. For a time in his life, Genghis Khan had done exactly that.

  No. That wasn’t quite right. He’d become a sneaky young man, but he’d kept the nucleus of his Mongols on their ancestral lands. Some things were worth dying for. Ras Claw had shown me that. The tiger strangled himself rather than reveal the location of the Purple Tamika Hall of Honor. Or had our Shi-Feng captive slain himself out of shame? Maybe he had given us the right location though.

  Raising my fists, I whacked the bag another few times. Then, I stood flat-footed and began to wail on it. I did so until I staggered backward and slammed down onto my butt. I sucked down air. Sweat dripped from my face.

  Slowly, my breathing evened out.

  The Shi-Feng had started this mess. The exploding tigers had tried to take me down in Wyoming. I closed my eyes, listening to my heart thud.

  Maybe that’s how this one had to go down. We were in a game of commando raids. The Lokhar Emperor had used the Shi-Feng. I planned to hit back with the Star Vikings. I’d done it once already, and it had given us more ships, more guns and more information through Ras Claw. It had also given us a more direct problem: a genocidal Lokhar holy crusade.

  Climbing to my feet, I began to unwrap my hands. Maybe I’d lost my touch. How long could someone continue to pull a rabbit out of the hat? I wasn’t a stage magician, but a combat soldier.

  No, you’re a Star Viking now. If one avenue fails, you try another one. The Starkiens aren’t going to help you. That means everything rests on raiding the Hall of Honor.

  Grabbing the bandages, using a forearm to wipe sweat from my eyes, I headed for the exit. It was time to closet myself in my room and come up with a better plan.

  ***

  A week later, I sat with Rollo, Dmitri, N7 and Ella around a dinner table in Ceres Asteroid. We ate steak kabobs with rice pilaf and pineapple slices. Afterward, we watched an old Avengers movie in the next room.

  The credits finally played and I said, “Lights.”

  We sat in big easy chairs, sipping our favorite alcoholic beverages.

  “It’s time to decide,” I said.

  “Do you mean what to do against Purple Tamika’s Hall of Honor?” Ella said.

  “That’s right.”

  “You realize Ras Claw may have given us false directions?” she said.

  “That’s coloring my idea on how we should attempt this,” I said.

  “Oh?” she asked.

  I rattled the ice cubes in my glass and sipped the last of the Scotch whiskey. “I don’t know if Horus is the Lokhar planet of origin or not,” I began.

  “I don’t believe it is,” Ella said. “But for reasons we haven’t divined yet, the planet Horus is important to Purple Tamika.”

  “What can you tell us about it?” I asked N7.

  The android shrugged.

  “You don’t know?” I asked him.

  “I do not, Commander. I am sorry.”

  “I’ve discovered a little,” Ella said. “While under the Jelk machine, Ras Claw gave away a few hints. Horus is a swamp world, dismal with thick fogs and giant snake-creatures. Vast trees grow there. Chopped down and cured, the wood is almost as tough as steel. From what Ras Claw said, the hall is fashioned from such lumber.”

  “Did you learn anything more?” I asked.

  “After that, no, nothing concrete.”

  I tilted the glass to my mouth, sucking on an ice cube. After crunching it, I said, “Tell us what you surmise about the place. What seems likely?”

  Ella swirled the wine in her goblet, staring at it. “There will be war-pickets in orbit and surely ceremonial guards on the surface. I suspect the Shi-Feng will guard the hall. They will no doubt prove deadly.”

  “This is going to be a commando raid,” I said. “That means stealth is going to count for as much as hard fighting.”

  “How many assault troopers and ships will you use?” Ella asked.

  “One transport,” I said, “along with one hundred Star Vikings.”

  “Why so few?” Rollo asked.

  “We’re not going to fight our way down because I think we’d fail if we tried it like that. We have to slip into the hall, steal what we can carry and run away as fast as we can. That’s why we’re taking a patrol boat along.”

  “Won’t that look suspicious?” Ella asked.

  “The patrol boat will be in the transport. After the strike, we unship it and run back for Earth as fast as we can.”

  “Patrol boats are fast,” Dmitri said. “But that’s about all they are.”

  I nodded.

  “I want in,” Rollo said thoughtfully.

  “Me too,” Dmitri said.

  “You’ll need my expertise,” Ella told me.

  I pointed at each of them in turn and said, “No, no and no. Someone has to stay here in case my plan backfires.”

  Rollo scowled in an angry way. In the old days, I wouldn’t have cared. These days, the big guy had become scary. “You’re not thinking this through,” he said. “In the past, you’ve grabbed the dice of fate and placed everything on one wild gamble. And you’ve won big.”

  “I know,” I said. “That’s why you’re staying back this time. Sooner or later, the dice are going to roll against me. Look at what happened aboard the Starkien flagship. I failed. If I fall on my face out there, I want you people to carry on back here.”

  “You’re wrong about this, Creed,” Rollo said. “We’re staking everything on grabbing the articles in the Hall of Honor. If we fail, humanity has to run away from the solar system. Practically speaking, we’ll have to flee to the Jelk Corporation and hide there.”

  “That would probably mean the end of our freedom,” I said.

  “Which is why I’m coming along,” Rollo said. “If this is our only chance, we have to front load the dice.”

  “I’m going too,” Dmitri added. “On this, my mind is made up.”

  “I already lost Jennifer,” I said. “I don’t want to lose any of you too.”

  “That is touching,” Ella said. “It is also uncharacteristic of your decision making. You cannot use your heart in this. You need us because we have worked as a team for a long time. No one is better than the five of us together.”

  “She has a point, Commander,” N7 told me.

  Maybe the whiskey did the thinking. Maybe I didn’t realize how beat down the Starkien refusal had left me. I didn’t have enough fight left to disagree with the four of them.

  “Okay,” I said. “You’re all in. It’s probably just as well. I have a feeling we’re going to have to do a lot of on-the-fly-thinking if we’re going to pull this one off.”

  “I have a question,” Ella said.

  “Shoot.”

  “Do we have enough time to reach Horus, loot the hall and return to Earth before the Emperor’s fleet arrives in the solar system?”

  I snorted quietly. That was yet another problem. Even if we got the needed articles, we might not make it back in time to save humanity.

  “I don’t know
,” I said. “Let’s call it a night so we can start first thing tomorrow morning. We should have left a week ago already.”

  ***

  Storing Achilles in the transport took longer than I expected. Then I had to choose the one hundred Star Vikings.

  I debated skimming the heroes from each zagun. Soon I realized that was the wrong way to do it. I studied the records and decided on one of Dmitri’s zaguns. It had the best combat record. Unfortunately, it only had eighty-seven effectives. Still, they would be the commandos, the Star Vikings I used for the strike.

  Zoe would have a zagun of troopers to run the transport. Dmitri’s led the assault team. I wanted a unified battle group where the members implicitly trusted one another. A well-led combat team became greater than the men and women in it.

  Three days later, the Peru jumped through the Neptune gate, beginning our expedition against Purple Tamika’s Hall of Honor.

  -23-

  Until this mission, I hadn’t needed precise information regarding the size, shape and extant of the Jade League. It was going to make a great deal of difference now.

  In broad terms, the Jade League and Jelk Corporation touched the solar system at one of their far corners. The bulk of the league was in the direction of Rigel, while the bulk of the corporation was in the direction of Deneb.

  What I hadn’t realized was the extent of the unease among certain Jade League members. With the removal of the main Saurian fleets from the border regions, the old quarrels among league members had reignited. We found out that meant a lack of Jade League guardians at the jump gates nearest Jelk territory.

  Maybe that’s another reason Baba Gobo’s Starkiens had been at Epsilon Indi. As nomads, they moved into power vacuums. They went where enemy warships were thinnest.

  We had occasion to speak with other trading crews and a few picket officers at a key jump gate. Four years ago, a league race known as the Ilk had begun an accelerated warship-building program. They controlled twelve star systems behind the border region. The Ilk had longstanding grievances against the Eiljanre and the Gitan. Several “incidents” had already taken place: ships firing on other vessels. Maybe as telling, the Ilk had purchased large numbers of troop transports.

  In the worsening atmosphere, and with the removal of Lokhar warships from the border, the Ilk, the Eiljanre and the Gitan had pulled the bulk of their battle cruisers from jump gate duty. Those vessels now guarded their home systems and key colony worlds.

  For us, it meant we had to answer a few questions at some jump gates, but that was it. Since we were a trading vessel, and a small one at that, it was clear we presented little danger to anyone. Fortunately, for the time being, the Jade League remained intact. That was important because the pickets could have acted as pirates, hijacking the Peru and stealing our cargo. Instead, the questions directed at us implied a desire for a continuation of interstellar trade.

  For fifteen days, we made headway toward our destination of Horus, which was deep within the Jade League. With the relocation of the Saurian fleets, we dared to use several Jelk Corporation jump gates. That allowed us to enter the league at a different angle than if we’d headed straight from the solar system.

  On the sixteenth day after leaving Earth, we had our first crises. The Peru jumped into the Octagon star system.

  On the bridge, I toweled my face with a wet rag. I’d found it the quickest way to get me thinking again after a jump.

  Using a clicker, I studied the system on the main screen. A bloated red giant sat in the center with three terrestrial rock-balls orbiting it, making up the inner system. The outer had a single Jovian planet with swirling green cloud cover. The gas world was one hundred thousand kilometers from the jump gate.

  “Star fighters,” Ella said from her station.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “I’m picking up a trio of star fighters,” Ella said. “Let me give you higher magnification.”

  She did something to her board. On the main screen, three triangular-shaped fighters leaped into view. I sat forward, squinting. Lokhar pilots sat under bubble canopies. Each of them wore a red-crested helmet.

  “Those are tiger fighters,” Ella said.

  My spine turned cold. Had we jumped into a trap? “Is there any indication as to their Tamika?” I asked.

  “Look!” Ella said, tapping her panel. A yellow circle highlighted a red fireball beside the Lokhar numbers 312 on the side of the closest fighter.

  “I recognize the symbol,” N7 said from his station. “The fighters belong to Crimson Tamika.”

  “Do we know if Crimson stands with Orange or with Purple Tamika?” I asked.

  “Oh-oh,” Ella said. “This isn’t good. I’m counting nine spaceships heading for us. Let me try the recognition codes so I can tell you what kind of warships they are.”

  I disliked the wait. I wanted to know now why Lokhar warships headed for us on an intercept course. From my conversations with other freighter captains, I’d learned the Lokhar didn’t own any star systems in this region. They had fleet outposts, but most of the flotillas had abandoned them. The Peru had swung wide around the only known Lokhar-manned station. Two captains had spoken about the tigers choosing sides in what appeared to be a possible civil war. The growing rumor was that Orange Tamika led a secret rebellion against the Emperor.

  Would the heightened tensions make our raid impossible? Maybe the brewing insurrection would keep the Emperor from Earth. I doubted it, though. It seemed the source of Doctor Sant’s authority came from Holgotha and his ride on the artifact. If Felix Rex Logos could discredit Sant by annihilating us and regaining control of Holgotha, might that cause Orange Tamika’s rebellion to fizzle?

  In the here and now, Ella looked up with worry in her eyes. What had she discovered?

  “Four Lokhar battle cruisers and five frigates are heading straight for us, Commander,” she said. “The ships are accelerating from a habitat orbiting the Jovian planet.”

  I nodded, asking, “Are there any more star fighters?”

  “Yes,” Ella said. “I’m picking up six more. Oh-oh, it looks like there’s a carrier out there, Commander.”

  There went my notion of turning around and running away through the gate before the Lokhars reached our ship. Nine fighters would nail us before we could escape back the way we’d come.

  “Give me a wide angle view of everything,” I said. In a few seconds, I studied the six new fighters. Tigers piloted them, too. I assumed the nine warships would also have Lokhar crews.

  Turning my chair, I regarded N7. “This is bigger than a picket but much smaller than a fleet.”

  “Given our data,” N7 said, “I do not understand why a force of this size is out here.”

  “Commander,” Ella told me. “We’re being hailed.” She listened to her earbud. “Sir, a Crimson Tamika Lokhar demands to speak with our captain.”

  “Put the tiger on the main screen,” I said.

  A moment later, I faced the gaudiest Lokhar I’d ever seen. He was normal sized, which was to say seven feet tall. He wore a military cap with an ornate red badge on the bill. Crimson stripes ran up and down his black jacket. He had rows of medals on his chest. If he’d been an old-time Earther, I’d have figured him for a staff officer or a general trying to prove his manhood through the amount of tin he could pin on his chest. I’d never trusted such types.

  On the spot, I decided on some playacting. What else could I have done? Letting my shoulders deflate, I lowered my head as if awed by his presence.

  “Great war-leader,” I said in Lokhar. “This is an amazing honor. I am too dim to withstand the glory of your presence.”

  N7 stared at me in astonishment.

  “You know the great tongue,” the Lokhar said haughtily.

  “Yes, yes,” I said, bobbing my head. “It is good for trade.”

  His magnificence scowled. “Our noble tongue is used for war and to describe acts of valor. It is not used for trade.”

&nbs
p; “Yes, yes,” I said. “You are most assuredly correct. Please forgive my error.”

  The Lokhar raised an ornate baton, waving it imperiously. “You will prepare your ship for boarding,” he said. “Once my flotilla reaches you, I will send inspectors to check your holds.”

  “O Great One,” I wailed. “This is not good. No. It is bad. I have a priceless cargo. I fear some of your soldiers might steal from me.”

  The Lokhar became outraged, bristling. “Do you have any idea who you address?”

  “I am at a terrible lack, lord. I do not know. No, no, please forgive me.”

  “I am Senior Razor Dagon, the Lord Inspector of Crimson Tamika.”

  “You are allied with Orange Tamika perhaps?” I asked meekly.

  “By no means,” he declared. “We are in league with Purple Tamika. A vile species of…” He squinted at me. “What is your race, trader?”

  “I am from Alpha Centauri, Great One.”

  “You look like these humans we have come to destroy. Have you heard of Doctor Sant?”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “He is a renegade Lokhar of the vilest sort,” Dagon said. “He tells feeble lies that ensnare the simpleminded. During his stay with them, the humans warped Sant’s mind. By the species description, you appear to be human.”

  I gathered saliva in my mouth and spat on the floor. “I despise the humans. Yes, I know about them. They are a wicked race of upstarts. No, Great One, to our bitter shame we of Alpha Centauri resemble these filthy mongrels. I am glad you Lokhars have decided to capture them all.”

  “Foolish trader, we crusaders will annihilate the vermin.”

  “Genocide, Great One?” I asked.

  “We must cleanse these imps before they become demonic servants of the Jelk. How else can one explain their ability to warp a Lokhar of the oldest house?”

  I was beginning to see the Emperor’s propaganda angle. Sant’s contact with devilish human had deranged him.

  “Ah,” I said. “I had not realized humanity’s crime was so grave.”

  “Yes,” the Lokhar said. “The Emperor himself comes to sit in judgment of them. He will lead us to glorious victory over the vermin.”