Baldwin's Legacy: The Complete Series

by Hystad, Nathan

  “We’re being contacted, sir,” Ven said, and an image of a being appeared on the viewer.

  “Welcome to Malrun XBH, Constantine. We’ve been expecting you,” the being said in Standard. Its lips were spread open over sharp teeth, a tail twitching behind it.

  Tom had heard of the Vralon before, but had never met one. He stood front and center, trying to get a read on the being. “We were told there was an attack.”

  “Our mining vessels were assaulted and taken a few days ago,” it said. “This will be much easier if you come and speak with us face to face.”

  Tom saw Ven mute the conversation. “Sir, I don’t think this is a good idea. Something feels off about the Vralon.”

  “I agree. Unmute,” Tom said. “What is your name?”

  “I am Oquid of the Vralon. I speak for my people.” The Vralon’s tail swayed lazily behind him.

  “Do you feel you’re in danger? We don’t take kindly to false beckons,” Tom said forcefully.

  “This is no false beckon, Captain. We’re in dire need of your assistance.” His black eyes went wide, the skin over his elongated face pulled tighter. “I’d prefer to discuss the details in person.”

  Tom appraised the being, wondering what it was he was being pulled into, and he made a decision. “You’ll be invited to my ship for a meeting. If we decide what you have to say warrants our assistance, we’ll do everything in our power to help your people.”

  Oquid stared through the viewer and nodded once. “Very well.” The screen went dark, once again showing Malrun XBH in the distance, a tiny speck against the backdrop of space.

  “What do you think?” Tom asked anyone listening.

  Brax spoke up first. “I think you were right in being wary. Ven was too. There’s something off here, but I couldn’t tell you what. If it were up to me, I might suggest turning around and heading home.”

  Tom accepted the advice and glanced at Reeve. “I never disagree with my brother,” she started, getting a laugh from Brax, “but this is a difficult time for the Concord. We need to be a strong force out here, protecting the weaker planets from attacks. If they have something serious going on, we have to stay and assist them.”

  Tom smiled, looking at Ven. “And what about you? What do you suggest?”

  Ven was staring at the viewer, and Tom thought about being with the man at his home in the Ugna village, and the vats of En’or being produced. He only hoped Ven could keep it under control. “The chief engineer is right. We need to protect them, should they need it.”

  “Okay, let’s rendezvous with this Oquid. Set up the meeting room,” Tom told a JOT at the rear of the bridge. She hurried from the room, and Tom took his seat, waiting for the appointment with the Vralon leader.

  It was a couple of hours later when Brax led Oquid, along with another Vralon, inside the large room, urging them to sit opposite Ven and Tom. They nervously glanced at one another at the sight of the tall albino beside Tom, and chattered in their native tongue momentarily before speaking in Standard once again. “Thank you for heeding our call, Captain Baldwin.”

  “You’re welcome, Oquid. Who is this?” Tom asked.

  "Nomin is my second in command. She bore witness to the attack,” he said. “In a manner of speaking.”

  “Pleased to meet you both.” Tom peered at Ven, who’d be attempting to decipher the thoughts of the alien pair. “Tell us about the attack.”

  Brax sat at the head of the table, watching the two with interest.

  Nomin replied, her voice pitched slightly higher than her leader’s. She was thicker than him, powerful in the arms and legs; her tail twitched behind her as she spoke. “I had to see it for myself. The mining vessel was returning from the Tingor Belt, and they sent word ahead of the treasures they’d discovered. Have you ever heard of Nek?”

  “I can’t say that I have,” Tom replied. “What is it?”

  Nomin fiddled with a glass on the table, her skin going a darker shade of green. “It’s rare. Very rare, but we’ve been searching for a source for decades. When we found a tiny amount in a sample returned from Tingor three years ago, we thought it prudent to send most of our mining ships out to retrieve more. They set up a base camp on one of the largest planetoids in the Belt.

  “They never returned. When we heard from the last remaining vessel, I hopped into a transport container and met them past the Border,” she said.

  “What is it?” Brax asked.

  “Nek? It’s used as a fuel. Have you heard of jump drives?” she asked.

  “Of course. Our probes use them,” Tom said.

  “Do you know why the technology only works in tiny machinery?” Oquid asked.

  “Because there’s nothing powerful enough to fuel anything greater,” Tom said, suddenly wishing he’d invited Reeve to the meeting.

  “That’s correct. Until now.” Nomin leaned away.

  “Are you saying this Nek can be used to fuel cruise ship-sized jump drives?” Tom asked. This would be a game changer. The Star Drives were powerful and could deliver them across systems in hours – days at most – depending on the size, but the jump probes were able to make the hops to the corners of the systems within minutes. This would change everything.

  “That’s what we’re saying,” she answered.

  Brax cleared his throat. “What happened? Who attacked you?”

  “We’d lost contact with the mining colony for three weeks. I never expected to see them again. When we heard back from one, and that it was returning with Nek, we were amazed. It told us the rest of the miners were destroyed in an attack. It escaped and ran for it,” Nomin said.

  “Who were they destroyed by?” Tom asked, waiting for her to say Reepa pirates or some other alien race not sanctioned by the Concord.

  Her answer couldn’t have been further from his expectations.

  “The Concord. It was a cruise ship,” the lizard-like alien woman said, her teeth bared.

  Oquid set a palm on top of her hand. “We aren’t saying it was the Concord Fleet, but it was one of their ships. My people swear by it.”

  “How can they be sure?” Brax asked.

  “It looks like the classic models of cruise ships. Similar to Andron or Remie from the War,” Oquid said.

  “And you have proof?” Brax asked.

  Nomin reached a hand into her heavy jerkin and pulled out a thin tablet, sliding it across the table to Brax. The chief of security groaned and passed it over to Tom, who instantly recognized the ship in the picture. The image was blurry, but he knew it well. It was Andron, his grandfather’s old craft.

  “How in the Vastness is Constantine’s old hunk of metal out there attacking Vralon mining ships?” Brax asked.

  Tom was running out of patience. “Constantine,” he said, and the ship’s AI flickered into appearance.

  “Yes, sir,” the AI said.

  Oquid and Nomin stood quickly, the female reaching for a weapon at her hip. Tom rose, raising his hands. “It’s okay. He’s not real. He’s an AI projection of the real Constantine Baldwin,” he told them.

  Oquid stepped forward, toward the motionless form of Constantine, and pressed a hand through the projection. “How do you do this?”

  “You’d have to ask someone more familiar with the technology than me,” Tom said with a laugh.

  The two guests appeared to calm, and they took a seat at Tom’s request. “Con, what happened to Andron?”

  “My ship was given to Adam Hudson after the Yollox Incursion, when I was promoted to admiral. From there, it was operational for another twenty years, mostly doing runs between Concord partners, until it was decommissioned after the new iteration of cruise ship was released,” Constantine said.

  “And where would it have been placed in storage?” Brax asked.

  Constantine was still. “From my understanding, they stored all the old vessels at Earon.”

  “The human home planet. At the station?” Tom asked.

  “That is correct,” the
AI replied.

  “It appears as though someone has pilfered the old ship and is using it to attack our Concord partners outside the Border. This is bad.” Tom instantly recalled his recent conversation with Constantine about the Assembly. He also wondered at Treena’s claim that a Concord cruise ship had been behind her vessel's destruction, and the death of Felix and the rest of her crew. It could all be related.

  Something was confusing Tom, though, and he asked them directly. “If you were aware it was a Concord ship, why did you contact the Concord to help you?”

  Oquid crossed his arms across his chest. “Because it was unsanctioned. The Concord wouldn’t do that to a partner.”

  You might want to think again. Tom pushed the thought away and slowly nodded. “Good. And the last operating mining ship. Did it return safely?”

  “It did, but they claim they were followed until they entered the Border,” Nomin said.

  “So they’re still out there?” Brax asked, glancing at Tom.

  “We think so,” Oquid replied.

  Tom felt justice was near. If he could strike a blow against the Assembly while returning with their stolen hero ship, it would do a lot to strengthen the Concord. They needed to restore faith into the planet partners, and having Constantine return with the original Baldwin vessel in tow would be a powerful symbol. With the Zilph’i staying on as Founders, and the Ugna joining the ranks, things were finally looking up.

  “Ven, see that our guests are given accommodation until we decide the next steps,” Tom said.

  The two Vralon stood, walking to the door. “Thank you for understanding. We’re glad you came, Captain Baldwin.”

  Tom grabbed Ven’s arm and held him back. “So?”

  The Ugna spoke quietly. “They are truthful.”

  “Good. Thank you, Ven.” Tom watched them leave, Constantine included, and soon he was alone in the room with Brax.

  “This got interesting,” Brax told him. “What do you make of it?”

  “I have my suspicions,” Tom said.

  “Meaning?”

  “Have you heard of the Assembly?” Tom asked.

  “Sure. Some group of nuts that try to mess with the government, right?”

  “Something along those lines. Constantine assumes one of them is on our ship,” Tom told him.

  Brax stood up straighter. “You didn’t think to tell this to your chief of security?”

  “He only just told me his theory. He thinks it’s related to the dead maintenance worker, Yur Shen. He’s confident that someone higher up in this Assembly is part of our crew,” Tom said.

  Brax inhaled deeply. “That actually makes sense. As if I didn’t have my hands full as it is.”

  “What else is going on?” Tom asked.

  “I didn’t tell you this, because I had no real evidence of harm, but Basel is dead,” Brax said.

  “The man from the distress call? What happened?” Tom wished someone would have told him sooner.

  “Tarlen met him in the dining hall, and he tried to persuade the kid onto his ship. Tarlen picked up on his strange energy and made a dash for it. When he finally decided to warn someone the next morning, they found Basel dead. Only it wasn’t like he’d been shot.” Brax filled him in on the mucus and the match Doctor Nee had found, dating back to centuries ago.

  “There has to be a mistake,” Tom said.

  “That’s what we thought, but we learned that Ginn, one of my team, left Constantine with the supply run and didn’t return,” Brax told him.

  Tom was filling in the dotted lines. “And you think she had something to do with Basel’s death?”

  “She may have. At the very least, I want to know what happened to her. The delegates say there’s no sign of her, even though the tracking chip shows she’s in their tower,” Brax said.

  “That’s all very interesting. Keep at it, Brax, and make sure your team is on alert. Someone on this ship might still be working for the Assembly, and we need to ensure no funny business transpires while we’re searching for Andron.”

  “Consider it done.” Brax moved for the door. “Sir, can you believe this?”

  “Which part?” Tom managed a smile. “You’ll have to be more clear.”

  “Andron. I mean, she went to the Vastness and found her way back three times during the War. Your grandfather was a legend, his ship right there beside him,” Brax said.

  “We’ll do our best to detain them quickly,” Tom said. Andron. The irony of the mission wasn’t lost on him. Here he was aboard Constantine, chasing a ghost. He had a lot to think about.

  Eleven

  Shengin walked the halls of the temple with purpose. This was great. After so long hibernating inside a dank cavern on a planet devoid of intelligent life, he was in the middle of all the action. He’d managed to consume an idealistic young scientist and pass over to a brash, burly trader, eventually stealing the body of a human officer.

  Nothing had prepared him for meeting with Shengin, luring him into a room, and passing into his mouth. It had been too soon after his transition from Basel to Ginn then to Shengin, but the circumstances gave him no choice in the timing. The first few hours, even days, had been confusing, his memories melting and stretching over one another.

  He’d walked around in a daze, the other delegates often wondering what was the matter with their new leader. They called him Prime, and this excited Shengin, more than he understood at first. Once the mind merge was completed, Shengin realized he’d somehow become the most powerful being in the Concord, perhaps in the universe.

  There was a purpose behind his actions; there had to be. He’d been found in that cavern on Metron VII because of this eventuality, of that he was certain. The lives lost in his journey here were but a small price to pay for his rise to the top.

  He smiled as he crossed the room, watching himself in the mirror. The Zilph’i were a strong race, well-bred, physically powerful even when thin, symmetrical, and intelligent. By happenstance, Shengin was the leader of the Concord.

  He tried to recall his original name but failed. It had been too long ago; too many lives had passed. It didn’t matter any longer. All that mattered was the power he’d found himself with.

  “Sir, we have to discuss the announcement,” Delegate Xune said.

  He liked the man. “Very well. What will it entail?”

  Xune almost appeared surprised to hear him throw together a full string of words. “Good, sir. Are you feeling better?”

  “Much.” Shengin motioned the other man into his suite and pointed to the wooden chair across from his own. “I could eat, though. Can you send someone…”

  “Consider it done.” Delegate Xune played with a tablet and set it on the table. “As I was saying, the announcement will be in ten days.”

  “Why are we waiting so long?” Shengin asked, already growing impatient. He wanted to secure his position. He might give himself away if they delayed any more.

  “Well, there are a lot of factors to consider, sir. The delegates from each Founder planet must make the trip to Nolix. This alone will take five days, even if they leave now. Earon is the farthest…”

  “Very well… And then the Concord will name me Prime, correct?” Shengin smiled as the door opened, revealing a young serving woman carrying a wooden tray of colorful food. There was a strange assortment to choose from: some still, others wriggling. She set it down, leaving them alone, and Shengin began picking away at the options. He wasn’t a selective eater. You couldn’t be when you stole other forms your entire life. It helped that the real Shengin’s habits and memories were still there, and he ate the man’s favorites first.

  Delegate Xune watched him silently for a minute before speaking. “Are you sure you’re feeling well enough for this?”

  Xune slurped a worm, the sauce dripping down his chin. “I’ve never been better. Would you care for some Cronski?”

  “No, I ate already,” Xune said.

  “You didn’t answer me. That’s when
they will name me Prime?” he asked again.

  “That’s correct. This is a great honor for our people, Shengin. We should never have let the Callalay take so much power. Look where it’s brought our Concord. We need a strong hand, a smart man with a caring heart. We need you.” Xune stared at him, and Shengin wiped his mouth with a towel.

  “I won’t disappoint. I’ll make sure of it,” Shengin assured him. He’d say anything to convince the man he was Prime-worthy. He’d spent years trying to find his home, only to become more lost. With the power of the Prime and Concord behind him, he was confident he could find the way once again. He only hoped there was a home to return to.

  ____________

  Brax sat in the courtyard, the handheld communicator they’d found on Yur Shen gripped in his palm. He read the messages once more, but it did him no good. Baldwin was right. The notes had probably come from someone on Constantine, and it was up to him to find out who.

  He loved this part of the ship. It reminded him of visiting his grandparents in the country on Nolix. They lived an hour away by hovertrain, in the foothills of the mountains. It was always lush there, raining in the mornings almost daily, before growing sunny and humid every afternoon. He and Reeve would spend weeks at a time during holiday breaks climbing rock walls, playing with the local kids, and swimming in the mountain lakes.

  The courtyard brought it all back to him, and this was quickly becoming his place to think. People milled about the area, some pausing to admire the topiary, sipping steaming beverages. Others walked with purpose, using the courtyard as a shortcut to arrive at their next scheduled task.

  Brax watched them, wondering if he’d seen the Assembly spy on board yet. Or were they hiding in a room? He’d been through the manifest so many times, he thought his eyes would go crossed, but nothing felt out of the ordinary with it.

  The only name that kept standing out was Ginn. She’d left the ship, making her a prime suspect, but there was something fishy about that too. Basel dead. Could it all be related? Luca had said her eyes were the wrong color. Perhaps she was using lenses to hide her identity. It didn’t quite feel right in his gut. Had Basel been involved with the Assembly too? Had the entire thing been a ploy? Reeve had told him in confidence that the evidence suggested someone had damaged the Drive on purpose, but only after Basel had been found dead.