I glanced back. “I don’t have idio … things!”
Narth said, “You do have quite a few, captain.”
Circuit giggled. “Getting us in situations like this, captain, is one of them!”
With an almost angry tone I responded, “And you should get into the habit of respecting your captain more. I bet no one ever says anything like that to Captain Harris.”
I had reached the last container and pointed to the large Karthanian freighter that was turned into a dedicated slave transporter. “There it is. Let’s take it over without anyone noticing; they’re going to load the slaves in almost exactly one hour.”
Narth said, “How can something be almost exactly? Either it is exact or it is not.”
Circuit explained, “One second less than an hour is in Human terms almost exactly an hour, for example. Yet Humans are very flexible with that and even 45 minutes could still be almost exactly an hour.”
I turned again. “You two don’t take all this very seriously, do you?”
Circuit shrugged. “Our mission and us trying to end misery and slavery, yes, I take this very seriously; us sneaking between containers like port rats, not so much.”
“What a fine crew I have.” I once more pointed at the ship. “Do you think you can open this flying silver flicker can, without them noticing doing it?”
“No, captain.”
“You told me you could.”
“Because it’s already open. They didn’t lock it. There is no force field and only two—” He paused a second then said, “Correction, only one—” Again, he paused for a heartbeat and then spread his arms. “I mean there are no guards awake. Krabbel is already there, and he sent them sleeping.”
While we rushed over the concrete surface to the actual ship, I said to him, “It must be nice to have android eyes and see everything.”
He said, “All you have to do is pull the multi-spectral goggles over your eyes, captain.”
“Smartass.”
Narth looked at Circuit’s behind and said, “I was under the impression X101s had their positronic component in their heads. Do certain X101 series have their brain there?”
I grinned. “You are a smartass, too!”
I rushed over to the ship and there in the dark shadows I noticed Krabbel and two tightly packed Drak-shaped cocoons.
To Krabbel I said, still smiling, “When I said recon the area, I didn’t mean you should go ahead and turn the guards into Christmas presents for Archa kids.”
I was poking one with the tip of my boot and asked my eight-legged friend, “Are they actually alive in there?”
Krabbel raised his front legs. “I didn’t use a lot of poison, I promise. I am sure they are only stunned, not dead, at least for now. If you want them alive, we better cut them out in an hour or so before they suffocate.”
Shea peeked around the landing gear and pointed her gun inside the open ramp door. Circuit was right, the ship was wide open.
She made the okay sign and said. “Clear.”
Narth floated right next to her inside and she complained, “Narth, I am having fun here! When do I get to do this secret spy stuff? You must duck and walk sneaky and then say clear.”
Narth stopped and turned in his smooth turntable manner. “Oh, right!” His shroud moved like a living thing and constricted around his body, until he, too, looked like he was wearing a cat suit.
He said to me, “Can I have a gun? I didn’t bring one. One needs a gun to be an authentic sneaker spy agent.”
I handed him my TKU and said to my friends while rolling my eyes, “This isn’t a virtu-novel you know.”
Shea said, “We know, captain, but it is you who had all the action lately. We sat in the ship more or less the entire time. Besides, doing things as the Olafson Gang again is simply making us giddy a little, I think.”
I didn’t really know what to say to that. She was right; having my friends around me was very reassuring as I knew I could trust them blindly.
The Karthanian Transport was basically an unarmed version of the Silver Streak. Unlike my ship, this one was, of course, Karthanian on the inside as well.
It reminded me of the Velorian slave transporter. It was cleaner, bigger, and better maintained.
The rows of steel-link cages with lock doors and the perforated reddish-painted floors, shimmering wet from the last hose down; the chains and the neatly stored rows of prods and whips made this vessel’s purpose all too clear.
A half-naked, leather-clad, oafish-looking Oghar stepped out of an overseer guard room right before me and stared in my masked face with wide-open yellow eyes as my old fighting knife buried deep into his guts. He gargled and drooled blood over my arm as I twisted the blade and pushed him aside and went on to the ship’s main elevator shaft.
The elevator access was coded and secured, but it took Shea less than a minute to hack into the ship’s system.
Narth stood behind me while she did her thing and said, “There are 19 individuals aboard. Three of them are on the bridge.”
I said, “All right, Circuit and Krabbel, neutralize them. Narth, Shea, and I will take care of the bridge crew.”
Circuit pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. “You want us to take care of them like that?”
I did not feel any guilt and said, “He startled me and besides, he was a slavemaster. He probably whipped and maltreated thousands in his career. Neutralize them as you see fit, as long as they can’t interfere with our plans.”
I heard Krabbel say to Circuit, “Remind me never to startle the captain; she’s awful quick for a Human.”
That this was not a Union ship became very apparent. There was no way intruders would have found it so easy to reach the bridge, not even intruders as talented as my friends.
We made it unchallenged to the bridge. A big Oghar, a Drak, and to my surprise, a Human were present. The Oghar reclined in the command seat and made snoring sounds, while the Human, who I saw only from behind, had her feet on the console before her and was dozing. The Drak manned what I assumed was the helm position, saw us come on the bridge, and jumped out of his seat. I drew the Colt, because Narth was still carrying my blaster, and fired without a second’s hesitation. The projectile hit the Drak in the left shoulder. A spray of dark blood gushed over his console, while he spun around and went to the floor.
The Oghar and the Human bolted out of their seats, looking into the three-inch bore holes of my friend’s TKU blasters. Only now, as she stepped more into the light, I noticed the light-blue skin and the coppery hair of the Human. My trigger finger started itching, she was a Thauran.
Shea said, “I suggest none of you make any sudden moves. Our captain is in a bitchy mood today.”
I said, slightly irritated, “I am not in a bitchy mood or anything.”
She didn’t take her eyes from the completely perplexed-looking beings and said, “Tell that to the Drak or the Oghar below.”
The Oghar growled angrily. “What is the meaning of this?”
I focused on him. “Your vessel is now mine. Your cooperation would be welcome, but isn’t really needed.”
He said, “I am Heaz Xford, the Asgruhr of this ship. You must be out of your mind. You Instigators may have had a few good days in the plains playing with the weak Drak, but your silly revolution is coming to an end very soon. Put down your weapons and surrender and I will make sure you—”
He didn’t get further; I fired and perforated his ear. He was a tough Oghar but having an ear pierced that way was driving the point home. He yelped and reached for his injured ear.
Shea raised the gun and the muzzle glimmered in pre-discharge mode.
He froze.
I nodded. “That’s better.”
Narth stepped forward and disappeared along with the Oghar.
This frightened the Thauran woman even more and she made a step away from us. “Who are you?”
I said, “I am your worst nightmare, Thauran slaver scum. Now lay down on t
he floor, arms spread, face down. Hesitate even for a heartbeat and I’ll drill holes in you in places you would find very unpleasant.”
She dropped to her knees, the muzzle of my gun trained on her forehead. All I had to do was pull the trigger and the Universe would have one Thauran less.
Her eyes looked up and found mine. Whatever she saw made her lips tremble and her small chin quiver. She was young, perhaps my age.
How I disliked these blue-skinned traitors! Wherever I went, I met one of these bastards and almost always doing something despicable. I took a deep breath, remembered my Thauran officer and thumbed the safety and slowly uncocked the hammer of the antique weapon. “You are right, of course. We are not executioners.”
The Thauran woman knew how close she had come to dying and she started sobbing.
Just then there was a soft soundless voice inside my head. At first, I thought it was Narth, but the voice was different. It did not have the same warm and brotherly affectionate quality. It was a cold, inhuman voice. I heard it for the first time at least consciously and it was not the voice of a stranger or some outside influence, it was the voice of my own thoughts, utterly familiar. “Yes, I am the Executioner. I am the Devourer, and I am the Wrath of Death. Life is chaos. Death is order, I am Darkness Eternal.”
With all my anger, I yelled back, “This is not me! I will not go down this path and judge beings by their origin. I am a Union Fleet officer. Look for someone else to possess. I didn’t ask you to mess up my life!”
There was no response. It was no foreign influence, no external voice, but I swore to myself I would not become the slave of an entity that decided to make me its tool. Whatever I would become, it was my decision.
Shea looked at me as if I was a stranger. “Are you okay?”
I straightened my shoulders. “Yes, I am.”
I took a can of Stick and Fix and glued the blue-skinned Thauran to the floor plates.
“I am curious, Thauran, what are you doing here?”
She could not move very much as her hands and feet were bonded to the floor, but she tried to move her head to the side. “What do you think I am doing? CID and Federal Police are all over the Thauran kingdom, ever since it became known that our king had dealings with the Worm. I did do a few favors for the Worm. I have no desire to end up on a Federal penal colony or worse. Good navigators are in demand. I don’t care what the freight is, as long as I have a job.”
I knelt and put a generous helping of Stick and Fix across her mouth.
I patted her head and got up. “Maybe I’ll even let you up after a while, but right now I like you the way you are.”
Krabbel and Circuit came on the bridge and Circuit reported, “We got everyone; the ship is ours. My Archa friend produced a few more of those packages.”
Just as he said that, Narth also returned, along with the Oghar captain of the ship.
The Oghar captain said to me, “How do you like this get-up? I really look like an Oghar. That autodresser of yours is quite the machine.”
I grinned and said, “You look just like him, Mao. How about the mind dump?”
The disguised Mao touched his big teeth. “I am in direct contact with SHIP and should be able to answer all questions and know every code and procedure. Just tell me what these tusks are for?”
I laughed and patted his green shoulders. “Maybe it is better we don’t know.”
Narth pointed to the injured Drak and the incapacitated Thauran woman. “Do you want them to remain here or can I take them to Cateria?”
I nodded. “Take them, of course; we don’t want to mess up our schedule.”
The solvent can floated all by itself around the Thauran woman and freed her.
“Who are you going to be, the Thauran or the Drak?” Narth asked me.
Mao sat in the command chair and I donned the blue skin and coppery hair of the navigator. As much as I disliked the Thauran, she was Human in shape and form and the disguise was more comfortable. Narth impersonated the Drak, and Shea remained out of the visual sensors.
A high-ranking Drak officer was hailing us just moments later and he said, “Our mighty friends requested that we transfer the criminals we have right away. Prepare for lift-off, while we herd the scum into your freight bay.”
Mao responded with the correct codes and acted his part. This slave transport’s crew was now ours. The local authorities kept their word and herded almost 10,000 slaves into the freight bays. Stacked in inhuman little cages, filling the cargo bays. There was the occasional sigh, and I could hear pleas for mercy. The smell of 10,000 naked unwashed beings, along with the sharp stench of excrement wafted through the open doors and made me gag. To see the sad eyes from behind the cage bars and the hopelessness was getting to me. It reinforced my commitment to end this practice wherever I could.
Everything went just as I had planned and with the first light of day, we lifted off. Shea was certain that the orbital sensor grid was still offline and the Drak had no means of tracking the slave transport once it was in orbit. Har-Hi, who was flying escort in one of our Wolfcraft in full cloak, verified that there were no sensor activities detectable.
I still took the ship down as fast as I dared and landed it among the other wrecks close to the Tigershark. Rebels under the lead of Ninety came aboard and started opening cages and removing the control collars. At first, the slaves and prisoners did not believe and trust their own luck, but they recognized Ninety and the lethargic acceptance of their fate most of the prisoners displayed changed instantly into a joyous frenzy. It took us some time to get the former slaves clothed and fed. Cateria and her team worked hard to check them over. I noticed that my med team was no longer alone. I saw Ithe wearing med-uniforms who helped triage and treat the mostly minor injuries.
One of the Ithe in med-uniform waved at me. “I know you have a hard time recognizing individuals, I am Naroma. I was just a seamstress but I know a little about first aid. As soon as we are Union, I am going to join the medical services.”
The half-naked former slave she was treating looked at the derma-patcher on his arm. “I was a Drak doctor and sent to the Smelter Moons because I treated Ithe with the same care and with medicine reserved for the Drak. I, too, want to help as soon as I can.” He took my hand. “Thank you for my freedom, Captain Velvet. Is it true we are going to be Union members?”
I sighed. “That is a question you need to answer once this planet is united. It is not something I can decide for you.”
Naroma pulled the derma-patcher and the Drak doctor stared with amazement at the barely visible patch of lighter skin. Then his fingers grazed over it. “How could we possibly decide otherwise? What good could I do with technology like that; this is a surgeon’s dream.”
I let them be and looked for Ninety, finding him standing with a large group of Ithe. “We don’t have too much time; do you have enough volunteers?”
He wrinkled his snout and showed me his formidable teeth. By now, I knew it was a Togar smile. “We have enough to fill 10 ships.”
A Karthanian pushed himself to the front of the group. “Remember me, Captain Velvet?”
“I am sorry but I am not able to differentiate between Karthanian Individuals.”
“I am Grtonner Icylemh; I knew you would not turn your back on Ithe. I am here to go with you to the Smelter Moons and then to Karthania to wake the First Engineer.”
“Mr. Icylemh, we need to do things one at a time. I hope we can free the slaves on the Smelter Moons and get the ball rolling, but I don’t think we have the resources or the time to go to Karthania itself. Besides, the First Engineer wasn’t too friendly toward the Union while he was in charge. What makes you think he will change his mind even if we manage to wake him?”
The Karthanian said, “That is not true and there is much misunderstanding. It is not the Union the First Engineer objected to, quite the opposite. It is the Mega Corporations, especially Schwartz Intergalactic, that he objected to. We are engineers and build
ers and the Union is a huge market where we could sell our products, but as long as SII and the others manage to paint us as an outsider and an enemy, we can’t.”
Har-Hi joined us. “We don’t even know who or what this First Engineer is.”
Icylemh turned his bony head to Har-Hi. “The First Engineer is the minds of 2,000 Guild masters, linked to a computronic and melded into a new being over the thousand years it has existed. It is your famous Mothermachine who helped create it, long before the X101 became Union Members.”
I said, “Somehow, I expected something like that, especially since we met those towering war machines with brains of Karthanian soldiers.”
The Karthanian space dock owner said, “Spaceships need very advanced computronics, and we are not as successful creating completely artificial AI components as your Union tech. We always used biotronic components based on living minds.”
Har-Hi gave me a long look. “Well, as it may be, I am ready to take on the local weapon mystery. Shea, Narth, and I need to go and meet the chauffeur.”
I wished him luck and I wanted to join them, but I had an appointment with the overseers on the Smelter Moons.
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 7 Page 148
