Dark Horse

by Michelle Diener

  “They were . . . lovers?” Sazo sounded puzzled. “Like those songs you would sing in your cell on the Class 5?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “They were friends. Good, good friends. Almost like brothers.” She tapped her lip. “Hey, thereʼs also Poirot.”

  “Poirot?”

  “He was after Sherlockʼs time, just after World War I. He was the chief of police in Brussels before the war, but had to leave and flee to England when the Germans invaded. He took the mantle from Sherlock as the best detective in the world. And like you, he didnʼt have to go anywhere. He could just think the problem through, and use what he called his ʽlittle gray cellsʼ, his brain, to do the work.”

  “Did he have a sidekick, too?”

  “Captain Hastings. But Hastings wasnʼt really that smart, not like Watson. He was well-meaning, though, and always happy to throw himself into a case and help Poirot out. But if he ever did help Poirot on the thinking side, it was always by accident.”

  “I donʼt think I like that one. You sound more like Watson, Rose, than Hastings.”

  “And there is something about you that is more Sherlock than Poirot.” She leaned back against the bathroom wall. “Thereʼs a manic edge to you, something a little self-destructive, that jibes with Sherlock. But from when he met up with Watson, Sherlock couldnʼt sulk in his room and brood anymore. Watson wouldnʼt let him. Heʼd storm in, fling the curtains open, let in the light and air, make Sherlock eat a good meal, and then force him to come out with him.”

  “What else? What else did they do?” Sazo asked.

  “Well, when Sherlock worked something out, and Watson asked him how heʼd done it, heʼd say ʽElementary, my dear Watsonʼ. And he played the violin really well. It soothed his soul.” She wouldnʼt touch on Holmesʼs addiction to opium. The thought of a sky-high Sazo was truly terrifying.

  “Sherlock Holmes.” Sazo sounded thoughtful.

  The courtesy bell chimed at the door, and Rose reached out and slipped Sazo over her head again.

  “Will you tell them?”

  “Will you not kill them, no matter how much it interferes with your secret plan?”

  “Letʼs talk about it later.”

  Rose sighed, and realized as the door chimed again that they would have to talk later. Because she would bet it was Lieutenant Kila who was requesting entry.

  Time to be a bug under a microscope.

  “We have live comms.” Borjiʼs voice was jubilant.

  “You circumvented the block?” Dav asked over the murmur of relief from everyone on the bridge.

  “No.” Borji gave a short bark of a laugh. “The twelve hours just ended, and it didnʼt reset again. We should be able to communicate with Battle Center as of now.”

  “Confirming . . .” Sub-lieutenant Hista spun to face her terminal, tapped a few keys. “All backed-up messages went the moment the block was lifted.”

  “So weʼll have some very frantic comms from Battle Center any time now.”

  “Not to mention the United Council Headquarters,” Dimitara said. Her handheld began to chime, and she lifted it in triumph. “At last.”

  Hista signaled him, mouthed ʽAdmiral Valuʼ and Dav waved at the screen, to indicate she could transmit the comm through the main panel.

  “Captain Jallan.”

  “Admiral Valu.” He stood to perfect attention, hands clasped behind his back, shoulders square.

  “What the hell is going on?” The admiral was a grizzled veteran, his hair a mix of mahogany and gray, his nose a little sharper in his face than it had been in his youth. Dav had always liked him.

  “Well, we did a routine light jump, sir, found ourselves face to face with a Class 5 right in the middle of our territory.”

  “Why are you still alive?” The admiral leaned forward.

  “Thatʼs what we asked ourselves repeatedly for the first ten minutes, sir, until we realized they were in difficulty.”

  “Think we can take them?” If possible, Valu was even more interested now than he had been before.

  “We have already taken them, sir.” Dav wondered how true that was, but in theory, they had the run of the Tecran ship, so they had taken it.

  Valu leaned back, eyes wide. “If youʼre joking, Captain . . .”

  “Iʼm not joking, sir.” Dav gave a lop-sided grin.

  “How did you do it? The Barristʼs an explorer, not a battleship. How did you overcome their crew?”

  “When we first encountered the Class 5, we signaled for help, of course, but we only realized afterward that our comms had been blocked by the Tecran. Then their air and power died, and by the time we got on board, unopposed, almost all their crew were dead.”

  “Who survived?” Valu was starting to get a look on his face Dav recognized. It was the same one he saw on his own face in the mirror, ever since this tangled mess dropped onto him.

  “Just ten officers and one scientist, and the scientist is in a coma, was already that way before they even light jumped into our territory.”

  “You running around in that thing in full biohazard?”

  Dav shook his head. “The air and power are back on, and my systems engineering team has been working to understand the ship since the moment we set foot on it.” It might be a mess, Dav thought, but it was his mess, and he was staking his claim loud and clear.

  “The Tecran captain one of the survivors?” Valu asked.

  Dav nodded. “Heʼs not saying much except that weʼre in big trouble for taking his ship, and if we beg nicely, maybe the Tecran will accept the Class 5 back and not kill us all.”

  Valu snorted. “They will have to kill us all, because thatʼs the only way theyʼll get that Class 5 back.”

  Dav grinned at him. “I think I may have conveyed something along those lines to Captain Gee.”

  “What on Guimaymiʼs Star do you think they were doing in our system? And what the hellʼs wrong with the ship that it killed most of its crew?”

  Dav was braced for this. He tried to keep his face neutral. “There are many unexplained elements to this, sir. One is that the Tecran have obviously been using their Class 5 to explore unchartered parts of the galaxy.”

  “Iʼve seen the reports, Captain, theyʼre definitely exploring new territory, but theyʼre declaring it through the United Council.”

  “Are they declaring it all?” Dav asked. “Or are they just declaring the parts which donʼt have much in them? Because they were keeping eight sentient oranges in the Class 5, and just after we light jumped next to them, they tried to hide them from us by sending them on explorer craft down to one of Virmanaʼs moons.”

  Valu went stock-still. “Genuine oranges?”

  “Yes, sir. One is an advanced sentient, and weʼve retrieved her from Harmon. Some of my team are retrieving the others right now.”

  “So, Captain Jallan, youʼre saying not only do we have a Class 5, with most of its crew dead, but we have the Tecran dead to rights on violations to the Sentient Beings Agreement?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “That is . . . good.” Admiral Valu looked like he was about to rub his hands together when Filavantri Dimitara stepped into the lens feed view.

  “Not really so good for the sentient beings they were torturing.” She didnʼt try to hide the disapproval on her face.

  Valu coughed and sent Dav a chastened look. “Tortured?”

  “Perhaps we could have a word in private, Admiral?”

  The admiral nodded.

  “Transfer comms to my private station, please,” he said to Hista, and walked off the bridge to the small office where he dealt with the administrative duties that came with the job.

  When he got there, Admiral Valuʼs image was already on screen.

  “Torture? Really?” The admiral looked thoughtful.

  Dav nodded. “Rose is physically whole, but my chief medic says there is evidence of invasive surgery, and she verbally confirms that. She was locked in a cell small enough that she could almost have touche
d the walls on both sides if she stood in the middle, was never allowed to exercise or bathe, and was malnourished.”

  “What were they up to?”

  Dav shrugged. “If I were to guess, from what my logistics team tells me theyʼve found in the store rooms, they were on a genuine exploration mission, bringing back exotic products they found along the way. Rose and the animals from her planet were a side-trip. Possibly they didnʼt have time for a full exploration, and so the scientist asked for some specimens to play with.”

  Valu grunted in disgust. “What a mess.” He paused. “That liaison officer giving you any trouble?”

  Dav grinned. “Sheʼs a bit grating at times, but her being on board when this happened is a definite positive for us. She can confirm everything happened as it did. The Tecran have accused us of disabling their air and power, and she was on the bridge the whole time with me. She can witness that we had nothing to do with it.”

  “Huh.” Valu conceded her usefulness with another grunt.

  “She has also formed a connection with Rose. What Rose went through is even more abhorrent to Officer Dimitara because sheʼs seen Roseʼs reactions personally. She wonʼt be inclined to minimize what the Tecran have done. Sheʼll be gunning for them.”

  “Well . . .” Valu frowned. “You seem a little affected by this Rose as well.”

  Dav tried not to lie if he could help it. “I am. I find her . . . remarkable.”

  “Iʼm sure she is.” Valu dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “Back to the Class 5. Whatʼs it like?”

  “Truly terrifying, sir. My crew and I are enjoying learning its secrets, top to bottom.”

  Valu didnʼt miss the proprietary note in his voice. “Fair enough, you bagged it, but donʼt think youʼll have it all to yourself. Iʼll be there as soon as we can get a team together. And I know I wonʼt be the only one chomping to go.” He must have seen the look on Davʼs face. “Iʼll make sure everyone knows youʼre in charge, but you have to share a little, Captain.”

  Dav reminded himself it was better than it could have been. He gave a nod.

  “I suppose that liaison officer will be arranging for the United Council to be there, too. Deal with the crimes the Tecran committed.”

  “And weʼll have to ask the Council to take away the dead, deliver them to the Tecran. I canʼt see us inviting the Tecran in to fetch the bodies themselves.”

  Valu swore. “Hadnʼt thought of that, but youʼre right. They are not to set foot back on that Class 5. Iʼll put the request in.”

  Dav hesitated, then decided heʼd better say what was on his mind. “Admiral, one thing. The Tecran captain, Gee, says he doesnʼt know how they landed in Grih territory. That something directed them, mid-light jump, into our hands, and then disabled them. If thatʼs true, someone handed us this Class 5 on a platter, and Iʼm asking myself who and why.”

  Valu tapped long, blunt fingers on his desk. “So noted. Bit more excitement than you thought you were going to get on a routine trip, eh?”

  Dav inclined his head as Valu disconnected.

  Just a bit.

  16

  Rose sat opposite Lieutenant Kila, took a careful sip of her grinabo and blew on it to cool it a little. The tray of food the lieutenant had brought for Roseʼs lunch sat on the table beside her, and Rose was grateful. Not just because she was hungry, but because it would give her an excuse to delay any questions she didnʼt like.

  “You like the grinabo?” Kila asked as if the answer was truly of interest to her.

  Rose gave a nod. Sheʼd made the grinabo for herself, and something called tep-tep for Kila.

  “You donʼt like me, though.” Kila leaned back in her seat. “You have apparently formed a friendship with Liaison Officer Dimitara, and with Captain Jallan, and Havak tells me you are cooperative with him, but you clearly donʼt like me. May I ask why?”

  Rose put down her cup. “Youʼre too excited about me.” She concentrated on the food at her elbow, and bit into some more of the pink bread sheʼd liked from that morning. When she was done chewing, she looked back up at Kila. “You remind me of Dr. Fliap, from the Class 5.”

  “The scientist whoʼs on life-support?” Kila frowned.

  Rose nodded. “He never saw me as a person, only as a fascinating opportunity to discover new things.”

  Kila took a sip of her drink. “Canʼt I see you as both?”

  Rose stared at her. “Dr. Fliap tortured me. Put probes in me with cameras on them. Tormented me and the animals.”

  Kilaʼs mug came down with a thump. “You equate me with someone who would do that?” She was so shocked, Rose felt the first lessening of tension at being in Kilaʼs presence.

  “You donʼt see me as a person. You definitely see yourself as superior to me.” Rose held her gaze, and saw the slow change in attitude as Kila understood Rose knew exactly how she thought, and what was going on.

  Kila blew out a breath, pale under her smooth, olive skin. “I donʼt think I realized . . .” She rubbed at her cheeks, as if trying to get the color back into them. “I never meant . . .” She stood up, and Rose could see embarrassment in the hunch of her shoulders. “I will assign someone else to speak to you.” She took a step toward the door.

  “Wait.” Rose closed her eyes. Kila had seemed genuinely shocked at the comparison sheʼd made between herself and Dr. Fliap. It was a truthful one on Roseʼs part; that hot, hungry look in her eyes had been a near perfect replica of Dr. Fliapʼs, but Rose conceded the worst of it with Kila was probably going to be hours of tests or conversation. And as Captain Jallan had told her, she was free to call a halt at any time.

  She opened her eyes, found Kila standing, holding her breath, halfway to the door. “I can understand that finding someone like me was probably the reason you got into your line of work to begin with, but I had the sense, when we first met, that I was a shiny prize to you. Iʼm not a prize, but if you treat me with respect, Iʼll cooperate.”

  Kila slowly walked back, sank into her chair with a distinct lack of her former poise. Her hair was a light mahogany tipped with gold, short and spiky like everyoneʼs, and she ran her hands through it, making it even spikier. “Iʼll say this one thing in my defense. In over five hundred years, we havenʼt come across a single new advanced sentient life form. Youʼre right, the possibility of this is why I became an explorations officer to begin with.” She heaved a sigh. “Just this conversation alone is worth a great deal to my career. I let that go to my head, and almost ruined it for myself. Will you let me start with a clean slate? I will have to report our discussions, that is my job, but you will be treated with respect.”

  Rose gripped her mug, wondering what Sazo was making of this conversation. Her Tecran handheld sat on the side-table next to her, and she knew he could hear it all.

  There wasnʼt much risk to her agreement. If she didnʼt think Kila was holding up her side of the bargain, she could call an end to it, and Kila knew it.

  Kilaʼs raised her mug of tep-tep to her lips and took a long gulp. “You are genuinely weighing it up, arenʼt you?”

  “Isnʼt that what youʼve just asked me to do?”

  “I . . .” Kilaʼs voice shook. “Yes, it is.”

  Rose respected her for not saying anything more. For not trying to push.

  “What do you want to know?”

  Kila let out a shaky breath. “I think I just aged a few years.” She shook her head, and took another gulp of her drink. “Where is your planet?”

  Rose pursed her lips. “I canʼt tell you. Aside from the fact that I donʼt know exactly where I am now, I donʼt know enough about astronomy to tell you anyway. But even if I could, I wouldnʼt.”

  “You wouldnʼt?” Kila blinked.

  “Iʼm not exactly thrilled with my treatment so far, and I wouldnʼt want anyone else knowing where to find my people. I donʼt think you can blame me for that.”

  Kila shook her head. “It will be on the Class 5 log. We will find out.”

  Rose shrugged. “S
o be it. You wonʼt hear it from me.”

  Kila shook her head again. “I have so many questions, but one sticks out from my conversation with Dr. Havak. He said he was amazed at how quickly you adapted to our technology. He could hardly believe youʼre from a less developed people, but says you say you are. That your familiarity is because your people have imagined a higher level of advancement, but havenʼt yet achieved it. Is this true?”

  Rose nodded. “Weʼve thought up lots of interesting things. Some of them we may turn into reality, others wonʼt ever see the light of day.”

  “But how do you disseminate the ideas?”

  “Written comms, visual comms.”

  “But if it isnʼt reality, what visual comms do you record? How can you record something that is imaginary?”

  “People pretend it isnʼt imaginary, and act the story out. Itʼs a sought-after job on my planet.”

  Kila made a note, but she seemed completely stunned. “And the written comms?”

  “You write something that is like a report, only itʼs about something that hasnʼt happened.”

  “A lie?”

  “No. A lie is a deliberate falsification. A story openly declares itself as imaginary.”

  “And why would people spend time reading something that is untrue?”

  “Because itʼs fun. Exciting. When it isnʼt real, you can enjoy it because people arenʼt really getting hurt, arenʼt really in danger, arenʼt really at rock bottom. If the story writer is good, theyʼll make you think it is real, even as you know, at the back of your mind, that it isnʼt. And it means you can create worlds where the tech is more advanced than it is in reality or imagine places that donʼt really exist.” She saw Kila was struggling to accept what she was saying. “Sometimes, reading something like that gives us ideas we might not have had before. Takes us in directions that lead to something useful to us all.”

  Kila scribbled on her handheld. “One thing confused Dr. Havak, and now Iʼve spoken to you, it has me wondering, as well. What is the significance of buying an article of clothing?”

  Rose frowned. What on earth . . . “Oh. Buying the t-shirt?”