“Yes, sir, of course.”
Stahl put the whiskey down. “If you can, find out what the Red Dragon and the Sinister Alliance are planning and, if you can, find out the location of their secret meeting place.”
“I am heading for Sin 4. Maybe I can pick up some Intel there.”
“Yes, that is where I would go, too. Once you’ve neutralized the Red Dragon, I think we can give you guys a break and you can come home to Richter Base and take that vacation we promised.”
Chapter 9: White Fur
The USS Shadowrunner was another Chimera unit, a disguised ship. On the outside, an old Mega-Poodle operated by a privateer and on the inside, a state-of-the-art Union ship.
Just like a regular Poodle, only three times as big and better armed, this Poodle also had bigger cargo holds.
We transferred the pirate crews and much of the loot of the Swift Profit, as we hoped it could be returned to the families of the victims.
As we wanted to transfer the alien device, the captain of the Shadowrunner refused to take it. “Command changed their mind on that one. The admiral wanted me to inform you that the Golden made an identical device available to Union science and the one you discovered might become useful to you, detecting other gates.”
He handed me code-verified orders as well.
We transferred what needed to go Union side. In return, we received our first real Wolfcraft fighter, not another Gazelle. It was the first and, so far, only one equipped with a smaller version of the Janus Device.
Along with the Wolfcraft came a few containers of fresh food supplies.
Not that we were anywhere near running out. We weren’t gone all that long and just restocked pretty much everything at the secret NAVINT base. Of course, we also had molecular reconstitution systems that recycled 99.99 percent of our waste, but it was nice to have fresh things and a larger variety.
I was in the cargo hold where I had been talking to the captain of the Shadowrunner, who was from Holstein Planet.
Holstein was in the same neighborhood as Nilfeheim, and it was nice to exchange some non-important local gossip. He had sent over a crate of Holstein Pilsner, my favorite beer, and to the delight of our chef, a supply of Holstein butter.
While I was standing there, a large Battle Robot, bigger than a Fenris and more massive than a Cerberus, came through the freight tunnel that connected our ships and stomped toward me. The machine saluted and remained in that position.
Then a hatch on its chest opened and three hand-sized men appeared, and they saluted again. I noticed they wore Union black, and I recognized them as Mini Terrans.
A magnifying field screen established, and one of the men said, “Lieutenant Charles Bergdorf and two specialists of the New World Commonwealth reporting for duty, ma’am. Admiral Rutherford personally sends this Terror Mech. He thinks you might be able to use it and us.”
“Welcome aboard then. I am delighted to have you. Your machine looks impressive.”
“Yes, ma’am, it is the pinnacle of NWC technology and rivals one of our battleship’s firepower. It was conceived to answer possible invasions by large enemies and the Terror-Machine-Suit series is the latest. We have been briefed about the Tigershark’s true mission and volunteered.”
Har-Hi walked around the towering machine and said, “If this thing equals the firepower of one of these spheres, then it exceeds a Fenris for sure.”
Lt. Bergdorf said, “It is also a fully functioning spaceship, capable of reaching destinations of over 1,500 light years. It maneuvers almost as good as a Wolfcraft and can operate in full robotic mode, but when I am connected to it, it can move like a Human, pick up feathers, or crush steel.”
I said, “I think you will be a nice addition to our marine detachment. Lt. Pure will get you situated.”
Pure came running, as SHIP had heard me and summoned him. I filled him in and the three Mini Terrans returned inside their machine and followed the Attikan marine.
While I watched the battle robot thing stomp away, I noticed Sobody talking to Har-Hi, and he repeated that strange move he had done in the tavern, killing one of the pirates.
I could tell my Dai friend was deeply impressed.
I joined them and asked, “How did you actually cut that Thauran?”
Sobody pushed back the sleeve of his robe and revealed a metal wristband with a little hump. “This is a monofilament whip. It shoots a strand of a metal wire only a few molecules thick and invisible to the naked eye. The thing is highly flexible and there is a little weight ball at the end. It is so thin it cuts through nearly everything and it can be electrified or heated to 4,000 degrees if the cutting alone doesn’t do the trick. It isn’t useful against a fully armored person in a Union battlesuit, or against shields, but in close quarters or hand-to-hand situations, it is deadly. It takes quite a bit of practice, as it can be very dangerous to the user. It’s a very old Golden weapon, and I have had this one now for a very long time, and it turned out I am still good with it. I haven’t used it in anger in almost 500 years, you know.”
Har-Hi said, “Can you get me one of those? I think I could fit one above my dart launcher and below the bomb pellet dispenser.”
Sobody smiled proudly. “This is a great compliment coming from a Dai. I have a spare one, and I’ll show you how to use it, too.”
I said, “Above the dart launcher and below the bomb pellet dispenser. Are we talking about the arsenal you carry on just one arm?”
Har-Hi shook his head. “No, only what I carry between wrist and elbow. I’ve got a bigger list if we talk about the whole arm.”
I rolled my eyes. “Thor’s hammer, I had to ask!”
The captain of the Shadowrunner handed me a PDD in clipboard mode. “I think that is all. I got the sleeping beauties and the loot and you got the walking doll house, complete with real life action figures.”
I checked the list, just skimming it, because it was nice to do something that was Fleet routine. Something normal captains would do every day. I loved our current mission, but once in a while, I wished we could be a Union ship openly. I stopped and read over the list more carefully and then turned to Har-Hi, who was still next to me. “The Togar female isn’t on this list. Aren’t we transferring her, too?”
“She is still at sickbay. Cateria hasn’t released her.”
I thanked the captain and wished him a good trip home. After our ships had separated and we were back on course to Sin 4, I went to our sickbay.
I found it strange that the Togar female was still here; she hadn’t looked that badly wounded and, as far as I knew, Togar were biologically similar to many mammalian species. I also remembered Narth’s ominous thoughts and wondered why he hadn’t come back to me about it.
Out of thin air, Narth appeared next to me as I turned into the corridor of sickbay. “Apologies, captain. I have not updated you, as I am still missing certain information that I am not sure how to obtain.”
I stopped. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I am morally hampered to proceed. It has partially to do with your sense of fairness and, as I said, the Hugavh share goes both ways.”
“Narth, I am not complaining or expecting you to have all the answers for me all the time. I just think we are not the right environment for these Human flesh-eaters, and sending her along with the Shadowrunner would have been a good idea. However, I am curious what my sense of fairness has to do with all of this.”
“You bought her, acting out of that very sense, and I must tell you that the Togar female was tortured and raped in the most horrible ways aboard that pirate ship. Her psychological condition is fragile and very difficult. Cateria is trying her best with old-fashioned counseling and medication to help her. She didn’t think having her treated like an enemy by uncaring Union authorities would be good.”
What he said touched me somewhere deep. Egill had transferred me somehow into the body of a female to teach me what hell could mean, and I had almost been raped by Harkun. I
had not thought about this for a long time but now it returned as a vivid memory.
Narth nodded. “You see, all your past experiences have formed your personality, and we shared this with the Hugavh. The Togar female has a mental shield, preventing me from probing deeper and finding out more details. I could easily break it, of course, but I would basically commit the same crime on her as these men did.” He lowered his head. “With my increased understanding of Human emotions, my own approach to things changes. I would have broken her shield without hesitation only a year ago. I will, of course, proceed if you order me to do so.”
“Narth, this is not a bad thing, it is what we call a conscience, and it tells us what is right and what is wrong above any laws or any rules. We Humans can differentiate between good and evil, and this opens a whole can of worms on such subjects as ethics and religion.”
“I am still at the beginning of trying to understand all this, but I fail to see why opening a can of worms is of any significance to this discussion? I am certain we have no can of worms in our freight manifest.”
“Go ask Shea about that one later. Let us check on the Togar and see if we can get her home somehow.”
“That is the problem I mentioned earlier.”
I went through the double doors of our sickbay. It had the symbol of Aesculapius over a six-pointed star etched into semi-transparent material. The lobby behind was white and blue and everything looked brand new and sparkling clean. Cateria wore a light blue coat over white pants. Her usually short-cropped hair was now a little longer and gave her a somewhat gentler appearance. Her slight smile also helped.
“Hello, captain, what can I do for you? Is it an inspection, or are my services required? Back issues perhaps, walking day in and day out in these murderous heels or carrying that rack you decided to have must do a number on your back.”
“No, Cateria, my back is fine, and I am not here for an inspection either. I am here to inquire about the Togar female.”
Cateria lost her smile. “Her name is Jolaj Grotha and, physically, she is as good as new. She comes from a matriarchal society and has been raped not once but many times and not by members of her own kind but by aliens to her, which makes it even worse. She is young, barely adult in her society, and she is also perhaps the most wanted person in the Togar Empire.”
Narth said, “That is what I meant. If the Togar Empire becomes aware that she is alive and aboard our ship, they will try to capture us and kill her.”
I said gloomily, “I didn’t make a big secret out of buying her either. In a tavern, of all places. Chances are the Togar already know we have her. What has she done?”
Narth said, “That is the information I was unable to obtain.”
Cateria said, “All I know about the Togar society is what I could find on GalNet. I am trying to win her trust so she opens up on her own. Captain, I simply could not release her. What would they have done to her on Union side? She doesn’t belong there. They know as much about the Togar as I do, and she belongs to a society that eats Humans. I asked Narth and the others not to mention her, and I hoped you would forget her for a while.”
She looked at me intensely. “I know why you bought her. To impregnate her with a virus or something and make her the instrument of her own kind’s demise, and half the ship agrees with your idea.”
“I said what I said as I stood in a cargo hold with thousands of dead Humans, slaughtered and butchered like Fangsnappers. I saw Humans herded and separated in slave pens destined for the spits of Togar grills while I was in a slave pen on Alvor’s Cove myself. So, my general opinion of the Togar society isn’t very favorable, but I don’t buy sentient beings for any purpose whatsoever. I bought her to get her out of the situation she was in. I wonder what kind of monster you think I am?”
“I don’t know you as well as the others do. I know you are fair and straightforward. I know I can trust you with my life, and I am here because you showed me mercy, but I also remember how it is to be your enemy.”
I didn’t have any real response to that and said, “Well, I am not going to kill her or kick her out, but I’d still like to know what we are going to do with her. She isn’t a prisoner. Can I talk to her?”
Cateria shrugged. “I am not the best psychiatric expert and know next to nothing about Togar, so I guess you can.”
I followed her into a well-lit room with a bed and curtains on a window that simulated the view onto a green, sundrenched meadow. There was a desk and a chair as well. The white Togar female was on the bed, and she was restrained.
Cateria answered my unspoken question. “Partially to prevent her from harming herself and partially because she is a Togar with very sharp claws and teeth. Neither I nor my staff have the desire to become patients.”
The Togar was really pretty, looking almost like a Human woman with a skintight white fur suit, if it wasn’t for the four-toed, claw-like feet, the catlike face, pointed triangular ears, and the long tail. I wondered if the Pree or the UNI, who supposedly seeded Human life all across the Galaxy, had seeded the Togar. She looked straight at the ceiling and did not move or react as we came in.
I said to Cateria, “Deactivate her restraints.”
“You think that is wise, captain?”
“Deactivate her restraints and leave me alone with her. I don’t think I am in danger.”
Cateria reached over, and the restraints holding the Togar disappeared into the bed frame.
“Hi, Jolaj, I am Erica, and I am the captain of this ship.”
She did not move as she said, “You bought me!”
“Only to get you out of the situation you were in. We are on our way to Sin 4. I can even make a little side trip to Kaliment, and you are free to go. You are not my property, and you are not a prisoner.”
“You can kill me if you want, and you can use me.”
“I killed the man named Bloom, and his men are all going to be hanged for acts of piracy.”
She moved her head for the first time and looked at me. “You do not show your face, yet you are not pirates. The ship is old on the outside but inside it is like we think a Union ship might be. Why should I believe you?”
“You do not have to believe me. I am sorry for what happened to you, but I have a mission and the ship comes first. I will instruct my ship’s surgeon to do psycho-surgery on you. Afterward, you will remember nothing. My ship’s secret is safe, you will not remember any of the bad things, and we let you go on Kaliment, where you can reach the Togar side easily.”
“Then you are a coward and let others do your killing for you. Why not kill me right away? Any Togar who helps me is automatically sentenced to death. Any Togar who kills me will gain great fortune with the queen.”
“What could you have done that is so terrible?”
She turned her head away and said, “I was born.”
“I can understand that you don’t trust me or anyone, for that matter, and frankly, I don’t trust you. I don’t particularly like Togars, and I am not too fond of any species that buys and hunts my kind for food. But I hate unfair situations and yours is very unfair. So, I am asking you, what is it you want?”
“Kill me, please, simply kill me and all the problems are gone. The pain I feel, the trouble I cause, everything will be gone and you are rid of me as well.”
I sat down and touched her hand. Her pain and sorrow flowed through me. “Death comes to us all, sooner or later; there is no need to seek it out.”
She turned her head, and I could see the pain and the shame she felt in her big green cat eyes. Her fine whiskers quivered, and I saw the fine fur underneath her big eyes was wet.
“Just kill me, please!”
I touched her cheeks. “No worries, Jolaj, I give you my word I will find a solution and, while this is a warship and we will be in dangerous situations, I promise you no one will ever hurt you again while you’re aboard this ship and under my care.”
I took her paw-like hand in mine and squeezed it. “Do
you believe that?”
Tears rolled down her cheeks and she nodded. “Yes, I believe you.”
I was surprised by my own actions as I pulled the dangerous alien cat close and hugged her. She started sobbing in a strange mix of animalistic and Human noises.
“I am sorry for everything. I didn’t ask to be born, you know. I didn’t ask for white fur. I am sorry for being Togar and that I have eaten Human. I am sorry for being female and making them—”
Her fur was at least as soft as that of the little Holdian commander. I did not understand everything she said as she switched between native Togar and Freezone Squawk. Many of her words were swallowed between deep sobs, but I could feel her pain and hopelessness while I was holding her. I was once again reminded of Egill and could almost see him nodding with approval. I was certain I heard another voice say, “As long as he can feel compassion so strongly through the female persona I have given him, all hope is not lost.”
For a brief moment, I wondered about my own imagination but then was distracted by the white-furred Togar I was still holding. She was crying softer now, and I patted her back. I don’t know how long I sat there holding the alien female, but then I noticed she had fallen asleep and I let her down, covered her, and quietly left.
Cateria and Narth were outside the door. The Seenian CMO spoke first. “She hasn’t been able to sleep without sedation … I’m sorry for having misjudged you, captain.”
“Don’t restrain her anymore, and if she wants to get up and wander around, let her. SHIP will keep an eye on her so she isn’t wandering in restricted areas.”
Cateria looked back through the door window. “I’ll see to it, captain.”
Narth said, “I will attempt to learn more about the Togar and maybe I can find out why white fur would be of significance.”
Chapter 10: Sin 4
We had reached the Sin System and, as always, I had us drop out of Quasi Space in the outmost regions of the star system. I said, “Maintain course to Sin 4, and steady as she goes, Mr. Shaka.”
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 7 Page 108
