“You think they bred their own race?” Tom asked. This was a startling new theory. Most of them assumed the Talent was innate in some children and the Ugna sought these out, bringing them into their fold, training them in their mysterious ways. It was peculiar how little anyone really knew about them.
“I do think so, at least at the start. Something happened for them to have so many members, though. And for a race to hide the fact that they were spread across the Concord and amassed in the millions, with a fleet to challenge the Concord itself, makes me worry.”
“Worry how?”
“They’re tricky, and good at keeping secrets. Do you want my advice?” Constantine asked.
“You bet I do.”
“Watch them carefully. Never in the history of the Concord did such a group exist right under our noses without us finding out about it,” Con said.
“What about the Assembly?” Tom retorted. “They were pretty bad and infiltrated us with ease.”
“The Assembly was dealt with quite handily by your accomplished crew. No, this is different. They seek solidarity within the Concord, and from what I’ve seen, they have Admiral Jalin Benitor, as well as Prime Xune, wrapped around their fingers. Not to mention the fact that your very own executive lieutenant is basically Elder Fayle’s son.” Constantine was giving Tom a lot to consider.
“What did you say?”
“He was raised by Fayle. He follows her guidance like a mother…”
It gave Tom an idea, and he dismissed Constantine with an assurance he would indeed remain vigilant. The AI vanished, and Tom sent a message to a friend in Nolix. He’d be able to do some digging, using his contacts to find the details Tom sought.
He wanted to find out who Ven Ittix’s real parents were, and what their side of the story entailed.
____________
The trip to the deep recesses of the Border took another two days from the already distant Vaxiar. As it turned out, Yunrio was a pleasant passenger, and he spent hours regaling them with tales of his people, the Seeli, and all they’d overcome on their desert planet over the last few centuries. It was actually inspiring, and Treena found she was extremely interested in the fables. He seemed to thrive on sharing them with her, and even Reeve played along, asking about their technological advances since they’d found the crashed generation ship under the ocean.
Treena piloted the expedition vessel ever toward their destination, and she almost expected Shu to beat her there, but when they arrived at the outer edge of the system, the radar was silent; no other ships were within range.
“Sending probes,” Reeve said from beside her, and they watched as the tiny dots blink onscreen, ten probes scattering around them, using the Nek drives to shoot forward with intense speed.
“Where is the station?” Yunrio asked, but they’d already expected it was gone, since Reeve’s attempts to communicate had failed. Treena was grateful they hadn’t been greeted by the bulky ten-kilometer-long black vessel that appeared to be behind the station’s destruction. She felt there was a lot at play here she didn’t understand, and hated going in blind to any situation like this.
“It’s gone,” Reeve confirmed. “It was…here.” She tapped the radar map, showing Yunrio. There was nothing but empty space. “Probes confirm it was there. The entire region is filled with pieces of their dreadnaughts, as well as the Minon station. I’m sorry, Yunrio.”
The Seeli man’s head hung forward, his squat neck bending as deeply as it was able. “All those lives. This system was once a safe haven.”
“We’re going to learn what happened,” Treena assured him. “I’ve sent communications to Talepen. Awaiting response.”
None came.
“We need to move there, see for ourselves,” Yunrio claimed, but Treena shook her head.
“We wait for our backup. Shu will arrive soon. In the meantime, I’m going to move us toward the Border. Doctor Nee, are you awake over there?” Treena asked. The man hadn’t said a word in a couple of hours.
“I was only resting my eyes,” he said with a yawn.
“What’s the nearest occupied system to here, outside of Concord space?” Treena asked, hoping Yunrio knew.
He reached for a clear tablet, tapping away on the screen. “The Ralicks are the closest, but they haven’t been hostile in centuries, not since we banded together to fend off their advances. We came to an agreement with them, and have even partaken in trade.”
Treena frowned at the comment. “You do realize that trading with outside worlds is illegal? You’re not permitted to barter with unsanctioned planets.”
Yunrio nodded slowly. “Perhaps ‘traded’ isn’t the proper word. We’ve exchanged ideas.”
“How so?” Reeve asked as they moved toward the empty space the station used to occupy.
“They’re a philosophical bunch, happy to have heated discussions about things like the Vastness, as well as science. We appreciate this and gather with the Minon on this very station once every five Standard years for a meeting on such topics. It’s been quite the draw of late.”
“And when was the last one?” Reeve asked.
“It was supposed to occur last week, but we postponed it due to our current situation,” he told them.
“Interesting,” Treena whispered.
“Do you think they’re related?” Reeve asked her.
“No idea, but we’ll have to take it all under consideration.” The viewscreen flashed red, and Treena changed trajectories to avoid hitting a large piece of a dreadnaught’s hull. “Whatever happened here, the attackers meant business.”
“We need to see if the asset has been compromised,” Yunrio told them.
“The asset?” Nee asked, finally coming over to the bench behind Treena. “Do you mean the girl?”
“That’s correct.”
“Do you think that’s what they were after?” Treena asked, feeling like they might be getting somewhere.
“I can only assume. My people need her to survive; so do the Minon.”
“Then we’ll do our best. We have to be patient while we wait for Shu and Captain Bouchard to arrive. Can you tell us when your people first realized that there was an issue with reproducing?” Treena asked, aware that Yunrio had already gone over this with Doctor Nee on Vaxiar. She wanted to keep the Seeli man preoccupied until the Concord cruise ship arrived.
Five
Charlan slept soundly, as she always did. Gotran, not so much. A few days had passed since their first visit from the captives, but a lesser guard had come by twice daily to bring some food and water. The water was clean, at least, and the food nearly palatable. There was some kind of meat, with a soft, grainy mush. Everything had some crunch inside it, reminding Gotran of insect shells, but he really hoped it was something else.
His stomach growled, and he thought the guard was past due with today’s rations. Charlan’s robe was still mostly clean, and her chest rose and fell as she slept on her back, eyes twitching to the sides behind her closed lids. She was quite beautiful. Even Gotran, a relic compared to the genetically perfected specimen, had to admit that.
She gasped and cried out a word he was unfamiliar with, sitting up on the cot. She peered at him, eyes wide with fear, and she scrambled away, moving for the far corner of the cell.
He rose, hands up in peace. “You’re okay. It’s only me, Gotran.” This was new. She’d never exhibited any odd behavior while sleeping before. It wasn’t like she had a lot of memories to dream about. The mere fact that she dreamt at all shocked him.
“Gotran?” she asked, her scowl dropping quickly. “What happened… why is my heart racing so?”
He reached a hand for her, and she took it, allowing him to help her to her feet. “You were having a nightmare.”
“A nightmare? I don’t know this word. What are they?” She blinked quickly.
“Sometimes our brains have a story to tell us, and they do it while we sleep. Don’t worry about it. Happens to me all the time,” he t
old her.
“And what does a strong soldier like you have nightmares about?” she asked.
He took a deep breath, trying to block the incoming images into his mind’s eye. Space battles. Drop troops being blasted by angry insectoids. The smell of burning hair. The taste of iron on his lips. Her dead eyes begging him for mercy. Him pointing the blaster at her, knowing there was no other way.
“Nothing important,” he answered softly.
The doors at the end of the corridor slid open loudly, and the footsteps of two guards carried through the space, past the red energy barrier and into the cell. Gotran understood what this meant. The elderly captor had returned.
He instinctively moved in front of Charlan, unwilling to let her die like Saara had. He hadn’t pictured her in years, and now she was all he saw when he blinked.
“Are you ready to let me talk to my people?” Gotran asked.
The older one shook his thick head, grinning over his plate of teeth. “Will you bargain?”
Gotran tried to understand what the man was really asking. He’d already agreed to the terms, even if he didn’t know who or what Keen was. “Yes. We will bargain. Our lives for Keen. I can’t do this without speaking to my people.”
The leader elbowed the other guard in the chest, and he set his gun on the ground, pulling something from a belt around his waist. It was akin to a tablet, and he used a code to deactivate the energy field. The red beams disappeared, and Gotran recalled them in his vision as he watched his captors.
He fought the urge to rush over and throttle the being, who was over twice his size. Gotran wasn’t a young man, but he had absolute confidence he’d win in a hand-to-hand battle with this enemy. The grunt set the device on the floor and reactivated the bars, Charlan releasing a small hiss of disappointment as the barrier reset.
“Wait, what about our food?” Gotran asked, but they left without so much as a glance.
He waited until they were gone before moving for the device. He’d never seen one quite like it, but it appeared to be targeted to a location he recognized on Talepen. Good. He might really be able to talk to his people. The Advisors would know what to do.
“What is that?”
“Our ticket home. I hope.”
“Will they find us?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I imagine they’ve prepared against that.” And any message I send will also be scrutinized by these bastards. Gotran had to think long and hard about what to send.
He used the odd keyboard on the screen. Standard letters glowed on the tablet. Have the asset. Captors want a trade. Her for Keen. Please confirm.
That was all he typed, and he set it down, the screen going blank as soon as the communication was done.
“What now?” Charlan asked, sitting on the cot once again.
Gotran stretched in his standing position and saw their meals being delivered. “We wait.”
____________
“Captain, we’re exiting hyper,” Ven said, and Brax sat at ready, knowing there might be some dissent around the controversial move.
They slowed, snapping into regular thrusters, and Brax instantly saw dozens of lights on the radar. “Ven, come to a halt!” he called, ordering the executive lieutenant to reverse thrust. They were still a hundred thousand kilometers from Driun F49, but there were at least thirty ships blocking their passage.
“What in the name of the Vastness is going on here?” Captain Baldwin asked from the center of the bridge. He rose, crossing over to Brax’s console. “Were we expecting a welcoming committee?”
Brax shook his head. “No, sir. These aren’t Concord issues vessels. This isn’t our fleet.”
“Then who are they?” he asked.
Brax let the sensors read over the ID tags, and the information dropped onto his console’s screen. “Freighters, ice haulers, mining ships, luxury transport vessels from as far out as Alabos 7.”
“Captain, Vastness is pinging us,” Ven said.
“On screen,” Captain Baldwin said, and Elder Fayle appeared on the viewscreen.
“Captain Baldwin, what is happening here?” she asked, the anger evident on her normally impassive face.
“We’re trying to find out. Stay behind us. And that’s an order, Elder.” Baldwin walked through the bridge.
“Don’t presume…”
Brax watched as Baldwin raised a hand, silencing her. “According to protocol, I am in charge here and technically still have the title of Fleet Captain, so don’t test me, Fayle. Constantine stays between us until further word.” He nodded to Ven, and the image dropped, giving way to the zoomed-in image of the mixed fleet near the world of Driun F49.
“She’s not going to like that,” Brax told the captain.
“I don’t really care what she likes, as long as we resolve this and bring them to the surface as ordered,” Baldwin said.
Brax waited for someone to send a communication while he searched the ships, finding out what kind of artillery was loaded on these vessels. Nothing on file caused Brax to worry, but he was fully aware that most modifications done to spacecraft were never submitted for approval. He was willing to guess at least one had some real firepower, but which one?
He moved through them on the radar, single-file. Their specs appeared, and he stopped at the largest of the luxury transports. This one was marked as belonging to a doctor from R-emergence, and that in itself was a little odd.
“Captain, what is an R-emergence founder doing out here?” Brax asked.
Ven spoke first. “Captain, that very vessel is attempting communication. Would you like me to put them onscreen?”
“Yes, Ven.” Baldwin sighed, and Brax knew the man only wanted to finish this mission, and be done with the strange Ugna fleet that was quickly becoming a thorn in his side.
The woman was striking. She wore a dull metallic jacket, a white shirt, and gray pants, with boots up to her knees. She was Tekol, but if she was a rich R-emergence doctor, he’d never heard of her before. He was sure he’d remember this face if she had been in the headlines at Nolix. Her hair was tied in thick dark braids passing her shoulders, and she stared at them with light brown eyes.
“Captain Baldwin, I presume?” she asked, her voice deeper than Brax expected.
“That’s correct. Can you please tell me what you’re doing here, and why you’re impeding my diplomatic Concord business?” the captain asked.
She had the gall to smile, and Brax almost laughed. He stifled it quickly when Baldwin shot him a quick glare. “Captain, my name is Doctor Aimie Gaad. I’m the head of the Association against Child Abduction.”
Brax thought he’d heard of this group before, usually referred to as the AACA.
“And what, pray tell, does that have to do with my mission?” Baldwin asked, but Brax already knew.
She lost her smile. “The Ugna have been stealing children from our Founders and other partners for decades—even centuries, if you ask the right questions. And without investigation, you’ve allowed them to join the Concord as full partners. They’re not even a race, meaning the Concord has set themselves up for a slippery slope of precedent here.”
“There have been no formal declarations of deceit against our newest partners, unless you care to enlighten me,” Baldwin said.
She nodded. “That’s because everyone is afraid of them. They’re monsters, evil entities from childhood stories, Captain. They are the things that go bump in the night, and we’ve let them into our front door. Is that what you stand for, Captain Baldwin?”
The captain remained silent for a moment, and Brax was curious how Baldwin was going to respond. “I think you may be blowing this out of proportion. The Talent is a real thing, and children are being born with it around the Concord. Now, how you think parents should deal with it is up to you, but I’ve been to one of their villages on Leria…”
The woman frowned again. “I see how it is. You’ve been bought too.”
“I have not been bought, and you�
�d do well to mind how you speak to a member of the Concord, Doctor.” Baldwin’s voice stayed calm, but Brax saw the little vein in his captain’s forehead begin to throb. He didn’t think he’d ever seen the man so angry.
“And you should turn around and return them to where they came from. We do not grant you access to Driun F49,” the doctor said.
“And you’ll stop us how?” Baldwin asked.
“We’re streaming everything that’s occurring to the people of the Concord as we speak. Not this conversation, mind you, but your fleet’s reaction will be shown to all.” The doctor smiled again.
“Ven, end communication.” The image vanished, and Brax left his fingers on the controls. He didn’t expect trouble right away, but he wasn’t going to be caught unaware.
Captain Baldwin sat down in his chair, the commander’s seat noticeably empty.
“What are the orders, Captain?” Lieutenant Darl asked from his seat beside Ven.
“I don’t know,” replied Captain Baldwin.
____________
Shu arrived a day later. Cleo wasn’t made for long-term inhabitants, but there were two cots stacked on top of one another near the far edge of the compact cargo hold. Treena, not needing sleep, was up front the whole time, thinking about the last couple of years.
As the massive cruise ship entered the system, Treena had been wondering about their young Bacal friend, Tarlen. She hadn’t heard from him since he’d returned home, and hoped he would find what he needed among his own people. It was rumored the Concord was adding an Academy base in Greblok’s capital city, and she was confident Tarlen would be the first enrolled.
The ping of the radar stole her focus, and she nudged Reeve on the bench behind her. The Tekol woman groaned, rolling over on the uncomfortable bed. “What? Time for my shift already?”
“Our friends are here,” Treena said.
She contacted the vessel, and Rene Bouchard’s familiar face appeared onscreen, her dark red hair braided behind her head.
“Commander Starling. Chief Engineer Daak. What are we looking at?” Bouchard asked.
Baldwin's Legacy: The Complete Series Page 90
