Metal Boxes - Rusty Hinges

by Alan Black

Jay said, “They say go away. They say go away, please.”

  Butcher said, “Tell them we can’t without getting access to one of their jump points. Will they allow us to use a navigation point?”

  Jay said, “They say, go away or they will make us go away. They are sorry, but it won’t be pleasant if they have to make us go away.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Stone said, “Captain, can we try running for a nav point?”

  Butcher shook his head, “Without proper calculations, jumping into a random navigation point is just as dangerous as jumping out of hyperspace without a destination in the equation. Calculations will take more time than those warships will give us.”

  Numos asked, “Jay, ask Shorty if he knows what weapons those ships have.”

  Jay said, “The last time Shorty was here, they didn’t have ships like these. They only had freighters and exploration craft, nothing that massive.”

  The XO said, “Captain, if we back out of this system we’d have to backtrack months to get to another system that may or may not have usable jump points.”

  Butcher said, “I’d rather not plan on months that could turn into years or generations if we can work something out. Maybe we can convince them that we aren’t a threat?”

  Shorty said through Jay, “That might not be possible since we are in a Hyrocanian ship. They’re more than familiar with the Hyrocanians.”

  Butcher said, “Are you willing to try talking to them for us?”

  Shorty said, “That is why I’ve asked Sissie to join me. A female, even a slave, will show them we are not on a mission that is a danger to them.”

  Butcher said, “Comms, on Shorty’s command.”

  Shorty said, “Show a video of just Sissie and me. No one else, certainly not Jay. No sound, please.”

  In three heartbeats, a return video flashed on every bridge monitor. A lanky, red in the face piglet glared hatred at Shorty and Sissie. Suddenly, spittle hit the video pick up.

  Jay interpreted and Stone repeated for the humans. “Pribit! How dare you —”

  A second voice said, “Enhance your calm, Captain, my friend.” Another piglet stood at the angry piglet’s shoulder, a light hand on the piglet’s shoulder.

  The first voice replied, “But you don’t understand what he did, Priest.”

  The priest said, “I understand that this pribit stole from you and threw your home farms into turmoil.”

  Stone made the connection that pribit was a piglet word for a criminal or pirate. He liked pirate better and began correcting Jay’s translation.

  The piglet captain replied, “My elder greatfather lost his lands and now works as a lowly field hand for his cousin. This pirate did that and he flaunts his piracy even now.”

  “Calm, Captain. You will do more damage to your eternal heart by this anger than the pirate ever did by his theft, kidnapping, rape, and plunder.”

  Stone couldn’t help but smile as he repeated the conversation through Jay. Jay’s voice quivered at the word rape as she’d experienced it firsthand. It wasn’t Jay’s response that amused him, but Shorty’s shrug. The way he rolled his eyes said wonders about what he thought of the charges. Stone patted Jay on the head and told her it was going to be okay. He wondered if things were really going to be okay. Apparently, letting Shorty speak for them was making things worse.

  “Tactical, Captain. One of the warship’s weapons just went hot. They — no. Scratch that, sir. They’re cold now. What the —? Weapons hot, sir. We’ve been targeted — no, cold again.”

  The piglet captain’s face lost some of its redness. From the looks of it, he dissipated his anger by sheer willpower. “Pirate, you should have stayed gone. There are those who have not forgiven you. Your piracy against other races was atrocious. Your actions brought the Eaters into our system to plunder and kill us worse than you ever could. That could be forgiven, but your kidnapping and enslavement of Sissie is unforgivable by my family and by hers. You must leave with your Eater friends now or we will be forced to take action. Now!”

  Sissie said, “I will say two things, Char-tim-Lous.”

  Stone was surprised that she knew the man, but her tone made it obvious they’d met more than once. He was also surprised that she spoke. She rarely spoke unless spoken to by Shorty or Stone. He realized that was probably due to her status as a slave. Her tone now was anything but submissive.

  She said, “The ones running this ship are not Eaters. These creatures are not my enemies nor yours. They’re from a great warrior race who has beaten the real enemy and wrested this ship from them. They hunt them, even now, in their own ship. It’s only by their hands that I and many more piglets are alive.”

  Char-tim-Lous dipped his head in acknowledgement. “You wouldn’t lie to me, Sissie. You never did when we were children, and I doubt you would now if you could help yourself. How do I know you aren’t under the Eater’s control?”

  Skipping over to the table, Sissie grabbed Stone by the arm and tugged him into video pickup range. “You’ve seen Eaters. They are not as ugly as this creature, but —” With strength Stone didn’t know she had, she spun him in a slow circle, mainly by grabbing his butt because she couldn’t reach much higher. “You can easily see this creature only has two arms, not four. Look! His ears, if that is what you call those strange flaps, are not hinged. Show them your teeth, Boss.”

  Stone obeyed her command, happy that she was too short to reach into his mouth and hold it open for inspection. He peeled his lips back, giving Char-tim-Lous a clear view showing he only had two sets of teeth, not the four sets the Hyrocanians sported.

  Sissie said, “You may be angry with Shorty, but these humans have rescued not only us, but hundreds of our fellow piglets. Hundreds, Char-tim-Lous. Hundreds that are on this very ship you wish to send back into deep space to be lost again in the stars. Shame on you! I know that is not the way your family priest taught you to behave.” Jay managed to get Sissie’s emotional content translated to Stone, but he didn’t do as well translating Jay’s interpretation into Empire Standard.

  Char-tim-Lous looked at the priest at his shoulder. The priest piglet nodded back. He sighed and waved a hand.

  “Navigation, Captain. Two of the warships are peeling off. They appear to be heading back to the nearest moon base.”

  Char-tim-Lous said over his shoulder, “Get me a communication line to base. Have them hook me into to the Thrizlet Farmstead on Home.” He glared back at Shorty. “Whatever the outcome with Sissie’s elder greatfather, pirate, I will see you arrested and in your family’s own humiliation stocks. Piracy of other races is one thing, but the kidnapping and rape of Sissie is unforgivable. Nor will I have truck with any who protect him.” The last was addressed pointedly to Stone.

  Sissie said, “I said I had two things to say. I have said one. You will forgive me if I point out that you are judging another without hearing all the facts. You have already found Shorty guilty and passed sentence, yet you’ve never given him leave to explain. You condemn these humans without learning their heart or seeing their actions. Is this our way now? Have we so lost the path to harmony in my absence?”

  Shorty shrugged and looked up at Stone. “I ain’t got nothing to say, Boss. Turn me over to them. I can take the humiliation stocks if that is what it takes to get you home again.”

  Stone was about to say something when Butcher spoke up. “Shorty, we don’t give up our own without a fight.”

  Shorty said, “Thank you, Captain —”

  Sissie interrupted him, “Shut your mouth, Shorty. You too, Char-tim-Lous. I wasn’t kidnapped. I was —”

  She was interrupted by a screech as the monitor split showing two pictures. The piglet captain was on one side and the other showed a trio of piglets. “Sissie! You’re alive? It has been so long.”

  Sissie sighed at the interruption, but was obviously pleased to see the group. “Mother, I am more than pleased to see you well. Greatmother, you are looking blessed. Elder greatfather,
I am sorry to see your body hasn’t been fed to the compost pile.”

  The elder greatfather snorted in a typical Earth piglike manner. “Impudent as always.” But everyone could tell he was happy to see her.

  Sissie said, “I was just —”

  “Pirate!” the elder greatfather shouted, pointing at Shorty. “Someone arrest that piglet. He kidnapped my younger greatdaughter and raped our land.”

  Stone put a hand on Shorty’s shoulder. “You really are a popular fellow.”

  Shorty pointed at Stone’s hand. “That’s one more time, Boss. I’m still keeping count.” He smiled in a bizarre imitation of a human grin.

  Stone said, “Wait! You raped their land?”

  Shorty shrugged, “That was the only thing I could think of as a distraction when I kidnapped Sissie.”

  The elder greatfather shouted, “Even after all these years that land still doesn’t produce fruit.” He appeared to harrumph exactly like a human politician. “Well, not like it used to anyway.”

  Sissie shouted, “Everyone shut up.” Strangely, everyone became silent. “I have something to say and you will listen. Shorty did not kidnap me. I paid him to help me get away. He rescued me from you. That land he raped was mine. You gave it for me to garden on my thirtieth birthday when I became a young girl.”

  Shorty said, “You don’t …” He let his words fade away under Sissie’s glare.

  She continued, “Elder greatfather, you betrothed me to Char-tim-Lous’s elder greatfather; a man hundreds of years older than I am, a piglet too old to grant me children. All in exchange for a few more fields of gardens.”

  Char-tim-Lous sputtered, “Elder greatfather? I was told you’d been betrothed to me.”

  Sissie laughed, “That sounds like a face saving lie. Our betrothal wasn’t ever likely. You always said you wanted to go into space, as I see you have. You weren’t a farmer, a gardener, not even a rat rancher. You had no land to trade for my hand. As the youngest greatdaughter in the family, such a trade for land was the best my elder greatfather could hope for. I expected nothing less, but never to marry such a man. Such a marriage would take away my womanhood.”

  She looked up at Stone. “I don’t know your human laws, but the damaged land was mine to keep or to give. I gave it to Shorty in exchange for rescuing me from a marriage to an old pig. He raped the land for me and left it fallow for me.”

  Stone said, “Because he loves you, right? That’s what he means when he made you a slave.”

  Sissie looked shocked.

  Shorty sputtered and shook his head, “No, Boss. I’m even older than the old piglet she’d been betrothed to. I may be a pirate, but I’m not a pervert to take a child to my bed. Not that it mattered, the Eaters captured my ship and crew along with every piglet they could get their slimy hands on. I’m afraid I led Sissie from the compost pile into the manure.”

  Sissie said, “I asked to be his slave. That meant that any male who wanted to have sex with me would have to ask Shorty for permission. A female alone — without even a greedy elder greatfather to protect her — would be fair game for any male who asks. With Shorty’s protection, I could choose my mates as I wish.”

  Sissie’s mother spoke up, “Daughter, have you returned to us with heirs? The Eaters and the space corps have taken more of our young men than we can afford to spare.”

  Sissie nodded. Stone was surprised when she said, “I have a dozen children of my own with me, counting my own younger greatchildren. We lost a dozen more to the Eaters before this human set us free. A dozen more have stayed with humans on one of their homes.”

  The elder greatmother spoke, “Praise the harmony. You’ve come home with family to help us garden the land, to bless and keep it.”

  Sissie shook her head, her voice cold and hard. “Not freakin’ likely. I’m here with the humans to hunt down and kill as many of the Eater S.O.B.s as I can kill.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Stone looked around the farmstead. He didn’t know what to expect. This one didn’t look any different than Sissie’s family’s farmstead had. There were small buildings — too short for humans and too tiny for drascos — barns, sheds, well-manicured fields, and orchards as far as the eye could see. What made this different was that every piglet working wore colored sashes, indicating their rank in the piglet space corps.

  Ninety percent of the piglets on Rusty Hinges refused to do more than visit their family’s farmstead. Most of the piglets had heard only the rumors about Home, their species birthplace. They were born into the breeding pens for Hyrocanian consumption. Rusty Hinges was their home and had been their whole lives. A few elders who did remember, gratefully embraced their families and kissed the plowed fields of their home farmsteads. Some few, like Sissie refused to leave the ship. She even refused to allow Shorty to vacate her slavehood.

  Shorty, by necessity, was with Emily and Stone at the piglet’s space corps headquarters. Being an interpreter to a translator was numbingly boring. He managed to parrot everything to Butcher and Numos that Emily repeated to him. It didn’t take much for Stone to tell she was bored.

  “I mean, really, Mama, like, why did I try so hard at that soccer game. You know? Like, if I knew this was going to be such a snooze fest, I’d have blown that last goal, right? Like, you know what I mean?”

  Stone nodded. He didn’t want to say so, but he was just as bored. The negotiations were going so slowly it was almost like Butcher and the space corps commander didn’t really want to get to the point. He was here under orders to assist in translating, not to help in the negotiation.

  The piglet commander said, “This may not be the best time to entertain guests. The ander nut harvest won’t be with us for another three months. Maybe you should come back then.”

  Butcher said, “Sir, let’s take a break for a few moments and I’ll consider going away and coming back.”

  Shorty rolled his eyes to the sky. He whispered to Emily.

  She giggled. “Shorty is so funny.”

  Stone said, “What did he say?”

  Emily said, “Like, I’m not supposed to tell. It’s a secret, you know.”

  Stone said, “Emily Jay Drasco Stone. You tell me right now.”

  “Okay, okay, okay. You don’t have to get your tail in a knot. He said we should tell the piglet commander that his trouser fly is undone.”

  Stone shook his head, “He isn’t wearing any trousers.” The older piglet got up from the table and wandered into a nearby garden to help pull a few weeds. His bare fanny wiggled in the hot noonday sun.

  Emily rolled her eyes, “Well, yeah! That’s what makes it funny.”

  Whizzer and Emmons were already in the garden, enjoying the sun rather than working. At least Whizzer seemed to be doing little to nothing. Emmons was studying the piglets looking for behavioral patterns. She stood, wiped the dirt from her bottom, and strolled back to the human conference. Whizzer leaned back against a fence post and appeared to sleep.

  Stone said, “We should do something to get the ball rolling. We seem to be stuck at an impasse. All we want is to get access to the jump point that gets us home.”

  Butcher shook his head, having overheard. “Ensign Stone, we have two options here. One is we go home with our tails between our legs, failing our mission.”

  “But, it isn’t a failure, sir. We’ve clearly determined that the Hyrocanians found Allie’s World by accident and with the piglets new repulsar technology, they can’t duplicate it.”

  Numos said, “That was only part of our assignment, Ensign Stone.” He leaned against a fence rail, propping one foot on it, looking for all the world like anything but a marine.

  Butcher nodded as he walked over to a table and gulped down a cold glass of some fruit juice concoction the piglets set up as refreshments. He nibbled on a small cookie-like confection. “I think these folks could use a good infusion of coffee and chocolate.”

  The captain looked at Stone. “Sure, we could go home, but is that the be
st course of action?”

  Shorty answered through Emily, “It wouldn’t be my choice, Captain. Look, Boss, we’ve got an opportunity here to get a little payback.”

  Numos said, “I’m not thinking revenge, but we may be able to strike a blow against the Hyrocanians and stop this war.”

  Butcher said, “That is my thought exactly. We have a Q-Ship that might get us deep into enemy territory. Maybe close enough to find their home world. Maybe close enough to disable their fleet in this region of space. Maybe close enough to find some way to stop them from attacking human space all together. We don’t know, but if we go home we’ll never know.”

  Stone nodded, “Yes, sir. I got it. Forward, not back.”

  Numos grunted, “Ooo-rah!”

  Butcher said, “This old coot may be beating around the bush, but if you listen between the words you can hear a lot. The piglets were a space-going race, but they never went far. Shorty was more explorer than pirate. He’d visited a neighboring solar system though a navigation point. Apparently, he jumped into the system just after the Hyrocanians arrived.”

  Shorty said, “In all of the confusion, there were a few pieces of odd technology laying around. I took them and scooted home. I’d already been labeled a pirate for taking Sissie, so I thought that a little extra tech might be a good thing with unfriendly cannibals in the area. Unfortunately, I was followed home and scooped up.”

  Butcher said, “That little excursion into this system started fifty years of Hyrocanian raids. The four-armed freaks were so busy with the neighboring system, they didn’t bother coming here in full force until it was too late. By then, the piglets had developed their repulsar mines.”

  Emmons joined the conversation. “The piglets have almost a religious belief that hurting another intelligent creature will do them more harm than they commit.”

  Numos said, “As a marine, I can understand that belief. I don’t agree with it since some creatures just need to be put down, however, I do understand it.” He hadn’t moved from his resting position at the fence.