by Marc Stevens
Coonts gave me a thumb up and said, “Yes, Commander. The IST scrambler and transmitter work flawlessly. We have the video from the possible Prule ship and everything on the Scrun base. The scientists have reviewed the spacecraft video with great interest. They are split equally on their hypothesis of its origins. Some side with Justice on the Prule theory, while others tend to believe it is an unknown race. All agree to the theory it is a surveillance and intelligence-gathering vessel of an unknown design.”
“Justice, are we ready for DEHD core operations?”
“Affirmative, Commander. We are ready to transition on your order.”
“Take us home, Justice.”
“Acknowledged, Commander. Transition in thirty seconds.”
I held Tria in my arms as we both faded away to nothing. It was comforting to return to normal reality and have her be the first thing I became aware of.
“Commander, Alpha system is secure and I have no scan returns of note. We will make a straight-in approach to base and I will be ready to make another DEHD core transition in seventy-one minutes.”
“Thank you, Justice. As soon as we land, offload the shuttle so Jaran can take care of the supplies we brought back with us. Klutch, make sure the weapons are transferred to the other shuttle. Throw in everything you think we might need for a complete assault package.”
Klutch turned to leave but stopped. “Commander, you once told us fortune would not accompany a vessel without a title. Perhaps it would be advisable to name the shuttles before they see combat.”
The Troop Master did not seem like the superstitious type. I smiled at his recognition of an Earth tradition. The shuttles were sleek, fast and deadly. I could only come up with one name that perfectly fit that description. Everyone stood waiting to hear what I would say.
“There is a bird of prey on my world that represents the symbol of my country. It is called an Eagle. I now christen the shuttles Eagle One and Eagle Two.” I got smiles all around then Klutch said, “We will make sure they live up to their namesake.”
I gave him a thumbs up and a solemn nod. “As soon as we have everything squared away, I want a crew meeting to fill everybody in on our new allies. I also have information we will be acting upon as soon as we have new armor.”
Justice made a rapid decent to our base and landed. As we disembarked, Felix ceased his prattling about the unique transition characteristics. He locked his eyes on the Chaalt replicator and made a beeline for it. Graf and Jaran met us and I filled them in on Felix. I told Graf to keep a close eye on the Zaen and supply him with the materials Justice specified for his armor design. Turning to Jaran, I let him know about the supplies that were on the Shuttle that Justice was removing from the Legacy. He was quite pleased the Grawl scientists would no longer have to eat processed protein concentrates.
I could see Felix frantically waving his arms and Graf patiently listening. Tria and I headed in that direction. I was hoping I would not see another bratty episode from the young Zaen. To my surprise, Graf put his arm around the youngster and was pointing at our stock pile of supplies. Felix seemed to be overjoyed. I purposely slowed my pace and asked Tria, “What do you know of the Sig?”
Her pretty face showed a little shock at the question. “Nathan, please tell me you have done nothing to make them our enemies.”
I smiled at her and her expression turned to consternation. “Commander, they are a predatory race. I have heard they are now civilized. Others look upon them with dread because, for the last several years, they have been rebuilding their military strength. They have shown no open hostilities toward others, but many fear they will return to their warrior ways.”
“Tria, please calm down. The Sig are the new allies I was going to brief everyone about. It seems they hate the Scrun and the Murlak pirates as much as we do. When they figured out we may have had something to do with Drayan and Lashmos meeting their ends, they granted us ally status. They wish for Eiger and his collaborators to meet with the same end.”
Relief washed over Tria’s face and then she cocked an eyebrow. “How could they possibly know of our connection to any of those events?”
“I have discovered another human. She has made it a goal to smuggle freed slaves to safety and the Sig help her do it. When we met, it did not take her long to figure out what I have been up to. If we encounter slaves, we now have a way to ensure their safety and freedom.”
I felt Tria’s grip tighten on my arm. “She?”
“Yes, she was taken from my world by the Grawl and sold to the Scrun. The Scrun then sold her to a corrupt Grawl. She waited until the time was right and ended the bastard’s life. The Grawl was going to reprocess the thoughts of two Sig warriors when Tam Lin intervened. She freed them and together they inherited everything the Grawl had ever stolen. Now she uses her new-found wealth and Sig allies to smuggle slaves to freedom.”
Tria physically relaxed but the look on her pretty face said otherwise. I looked her in the eyes and knew she was wondering if I was interested in a female of my own species.
I gave her my best Earth boy smile. “Tria, I have a thing for four armed female warriors and you seem to fill that description perfectly.”
Felix saw us making our way over to him and he rapidly closed the distance between us. “Mr. Myers, the Chaalt replicator is the latest generation and has never had a work cycle recorded.”
The young engineer looked like he could bust. He grabbed one of Tria’s hands which surprised her. “Since I am now in charge of your replicator, I formally request that I be the only engineer with access. It will ensure that the mindless tinkering of others will not damage my new equipment.”
Tria was going to comment, but I cut her off. “This is Tria, and she is the owner of the replicator. She is very concerned I made the wrong choice for the operator of her equipment. She thinks I have errored by selecting a young impetuous engineer instead of a seasoned veteran.”
Felix did not take my comments well. “Mr. Myers, I can assure you I am the only logical selection for operating the replicator. To believe otherwise would be foolhardy.”
It was time to put the little Zaen peckerwood in his place. “We were just discussing what the penalties for failing to live up to her expectations might turn out to be. I am sure you are aware Chaalt females are warriors of the highest regard. They would rather die than face failure of their objectives. She believes you should fully embrace her philosophy.”
I was rewarded with a sharp jab from one of Tria’s elbows. I did, however, get the desired response from Felix. His fine scales roiled and he gulped. “If you will excuse me, I will begin entering the program sequences to build your new armor.”
Tria gave me a disapproving look. “Why would you say such a thing? He is but a child.”
“On my world, it is a ploy called good cop, bad cop. It is used to achieve an intended goal from someone less than willing to cooperate. You are now the bad cop.”
Tria frowned. “I have no intention of being bad at anything.”
I was going to explain further but Tria grabbed my hand and started pulling me along toward the Legacy. I was pretty sure I was about to get her interpretation of bad cop. There were still a large number of tasks that needed to be completed. I am thinking my schedule was getting ready to be FUBAR. Klutch attempted to intercept us and held up a hand. Tria never slowed down. If I had stopped she would have dragged me to the Legacy. The look on Klutch’s face went from puzzlement to a huge toothy smile. I could hear his croaking laugh behind me.
Justice called out for all to hear. The tone of his voice had a distinct edge to it. “Commander, a Chaalt battle cruiser has just transitioned into the system. The IST system is now active and I will transfer the signal to your Backscatter receiver.”
The look on Tria’s face was not of amusement. She let go of my hand and stalked up the ramp of the Legacy. I was not absolutely sure, but I could have sworn I heard her threaten to kill the Operative.
“Mindles
s primate, it is not amusing finding you here, rather than our agreed upon meeting place.”
“Old witch, I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it is to hear you chewing on my ass once again. We were off loading our supplies. We were going to jump back to meet with you.”
“There is no need! Your Oolaran jump signatures gave me your location once you jumped away from the outpost. I would like a briefing on your less than forthcoming communication. I have broken several laws I had sworn to uphold, so pardon me if I sound less than pleasant at the moment. My shuttle will be landing shortly. Please do not keep me waiting.”
This was getting better by the minute. I would now have two pissed off Chaalt warriors on my hands. “Justice, set up the conference room for a meeting and please do not screw around with the seating arrangements.”
I felt a tremor and knew the Operative was pulling out the stops. She had her ship jump into orbit.
“Commander, the cruiser has dispatched a shuttle. Do you wish to give it access?”
Great! Make it two pissed off warriors and a cranky A.I. “Justice, please make this as painless as possible for everyone.”
I hollered at Klutch and told him to get Xul and meet me in the briefing room on the Legacy. I considered letting Felix sit in on the briefing so he would get an idea of what was really going on in the galaxy. I saw Graf and him moving material containers to the replicator with gravity jacks and decided to leave them to their task. I watched in fascination as a much larger version of our new shuttles came down the tunnel entrance and made a noiseless landing next to the Legacy. The Operative was not kidding when she said their production shuttles would be of a different profile. There was nothing subtle about the Chaalt assault shuttle. It was larger than our prototypes and loaded with external weaponry. It insinuated that it was a very sharp stick in every aspect.
The Operative approached me with an urgent demeanor. “Please tell me the crimes I committed to find you were not for some fruitless adventure.”
“Sael, at no time have I told you to commit crimes on my behalf. I asked you to meet me, not go on an unlawful rampage to seek me out. I take it the leadership of your military counsel has restricted your access to military assets.”
“Nathan, I have been relieved of command, pending an investigation that shows no sign of competence or a timely conclusion. When it became common knowledge that I had gone off-world, I was recalled until my future could be decided. I have chosen to ignore their requests. Your ominous communications inspired me to abscond with a ship and crew of my most ardent supporters. I have great hopes that whatever you have discovered will vindicate my actions. If that does not turn out to be the case, there is a very real possibility I could be executed for my crimes.”
I hooked my arm in hers. “Never going to happen!”
22
When we were all seated, I called the meeting to order. I was trying my best to ignore the look Tria was giving the Operative. “Justice, give us a hologram of the ship we discovered.”
The room went quiet as everyone studied the derelict ship and, then to my bewilderment, everyone started talking and speculating.
I held my hands up for silence. “If any of you have ever seen something like this, please enlighten us. If not, I will ask that you study the image. Each of you will be given time to explain what you are thinking.”
The silence in the room and the incredulous expressions told me those not present when the behemoth was discovered had no idea what it was.
“OK, anyone with data concerning the object, please explain to the rest of us what that thing is.”
You could have heard a pin drop. All were looking at each other for clues. Finally, I looked at the Operative. “Your thoughts?”
“I have never seen anything like this before. What did you find when you went aboard?”
“We did not investigate. Justice has a theory it is of Prule origin. He did not want us boarding without heavy combat armor and plenty of backup. There were no power sources detected, but that does not necessarily mean it was unoccupied. We know nothing of Prule technology. I chose instead to contact you.”
The Operative nodded without taking her eyes off the hologram. “The ships location indicates it was purposely hidden. The extensive damage suggests it narrowly escaped destruction.”
“Yes, those were our conclusions as well.”
“You said Justice assessed the crafts origin? You told me you were aboard one of our prototype shuttles.”
“Our Eagles are now operated by Justice. Chaalt technology is very good, but in some cases, ours is better. We use tech we can fully trust.”
The Operative opened her mouth as if to comment, then stopped. We locked eyes. She looked away with a shrug of her shoulders and a shake of her head.
“We have every intention of investigating the spacecraft; preparations are being made as we speak. Until we are ready for a boarding mission, we will move on to other pressing matters.”
Sael’s face darkened with a frown. “What could possibly be more important than discovering the origin of this mystery ship?”
“Senior Operative, I am not implying the ship is not of high priority. I have already stated we are making preparations. I have uncovered actionable intelligence on two Scrun targets that will take much less preparation to address. One of the targets should be hit as soon as possible. We think it is a slave-staging area. Justice, show the Operative what we have on the Scrun base.”
Sael Nalen stared at the video Justice put up on the wall. The frown slowly faded from her face and a sinister smile replaced it. I looked at my crewmates and could tell they were ready for anything. Xul looked a little apprehensive. It would be his first combat mission.
The Operative turned her attention to me. “Were you able to scan a floor plan when they dropped their shield?”
“No, Justice was not confident that the shuttle’s Chaalt-designed scanning array was undetectable. The Legacy will have no such problem. Are you interested in going on a combat excursion?”
The dark foreboding expression on Sael’s face was the same I had witnessed the first time I had met her. The predatory look made the beast within me stir. Tria must have felt the change in me. She stood up and walked to my side, placing a hand on my shoulder. Sael must have felt it as well because the look on her face promptly changed to apprehension.
She tried to give me a look of confidence and indifference when she said, “If you cannot control the beast that lurks inside of you, I am unwilling to let my strike team participate.”
Before I could comment Tria cut me off. She stood behind me and placed all her hands on my shoulders. “Only our enemies need to fear Nathan.”
The Operative nodded, but I could tell she was still not convinced. “If it is a slave staging area, we could have hundreds on our hands. Many will be in atmospheric holding cells. How are we to evacuate them to safety?”
“I am sure you are familiar with a race known as the Sig.”
The Operative’s posture suddenly stiffened. “If the Scrun somehow managed to convince the Sig to guard their base, and I am skeptical that would be the case because they are the bitterest of enemies, we may need additional troops to secure the facility. They are very formidable adversaries. You must be careful, Nathan. You do not want them as your foes.”
The Operative’s dire warnings put a smile on my face. Sael was shocked at my expression. It seemed nobody liked screwing with the Sig. The Operative’s reaction and watching her rub her jaw where the disfiguring scar used to be hinted at the story behind her dread.”
“Lighten up Senior Operative, the Sig are now our allies, and yes, they still hate the Scrun and the Murlak with a vengeance.”
“How did you manage to secure an alliance with a race that was genetically modified to be rampaging psychopaths?”
“There is a saying on the planet of my birth. It is an eloquent connotation that covers what has taken place quite well. It goes like this: “Birds of the feat
her flock together.”
It was a cringe-worthy statement. When the Operative deciphered its meaning, that was exactly the reaction I got from her. My crew, on the other hand, found it amusing. I guess they thought I was just messing with Sael. They should know better by now.
Sael decided she had nothing better to do at the moment. “My crew and I are, in Mr. Myers. Let’s hear your plan for taking the base.”
All but Xul had a look of anticipation on his face. “First of all, we need to get the Legacy in close to get good scans of the opposition. It would be foolish to underestimate the Scrun. We have caused them a great deal of harm of late, and I think they have learned from the experience. Depending on what actually takes place at the facility, it could be heavily defended.”
The Operative raised a finger to me. “Go ahead, Senior Operative. I would not have invited you to our party if I did not want your input.”
Sael stood and walked to the image on the wall, then turned to us. “It has been my experience that bases similar to this have several mobile beam platforms and missiles batteries. Defenses such as those are not a threat to a capital ship but can be lethal to assault shuttles. If you can get the Legacy close enough for detailed scans, we will be able to locate and target them.”
“We will make that our first priority. Justice, do you have any reservations about going in close to the target and getting the scans we need?”
“No Commander, my confidence level is ninety-eight percent that we will be able to penetrate their defenses undetected. I foresee no problems in obtaining precision targeting data with one low pass over the area.”
The Operative again held a finger up to me. “You care to add something, Senior Operative?”
“Yes, if your scans are as detailed as you suggest, I would like a floor plan. It will allow me to insert my strike team into the facility if they drop their shield.”
“Justice, do you think that will be a problem?”
