The Darkness: The Conglomerate Trilogy (Volume 2)

by William S Frisbee Jr

  "I hope your expedition into Conglomerate space is not as interesting as your last one," Luke said. "I will do my best to insure it is less eventful."

  Leonessa laughed. She got the joke. It was a Chinese curse 'may you live in interesting times'.

  "I certainly hope," she said and stepped aside.

  Luke wanted to stop her and talk more but Carmichael was standing there looking nervous and Bruce was glancing at Luke.

  Luke and Leonessa both noticed, and Leonessa moved on to greet Brita.

  "Congratulations on your promotion Lieutenant," Luke said to Carmichael. Gretchen? He could understand her wanting to be called by her last name. "I'm glad to see you here."

  "Thank you, Commander. So am I," she said glancing at Leonessa. Luke sensed that perhaps there was a story there.

  "Welcome aboard," he said as she moved on to Brita.

  Ensign One, Bruce's senior droid was present, along with other droids to help the new officers to their quarters. Robots entered the shuttle to get their luggage, and the group dissolved as people were shown their quarters or returned to their duties.

  Luke watched Leonessa go and wished he could go with her.

  "You don't have to do Captain things," Musashi reminded him.

  "She needs to get settled in," Luke transmitted. "There will be time to talk later"

  "Talk?" Musashi transmitted, earning a glare from Luke.

  "Watch it metal head," Luke said. "You are about to cross a line."

  Musashi nodded but didn't seem concerned.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The Dojo

  Luke looked around him. Musashi had done a decent job, but it wasn't home. It was basic, there were armored mirrors, soft mats, a few basic design rag dolls, weapon racks, weights and other exercise gear, but the dimensions were wrong. The ceiling was too low and there wasn't any of the oriental flavor Luke's dojo had displayed on the Ultio. This looked more like a gym than a dojo.

  "It is temporary," Musashi said, picking up a shinai, a semi-flexible stick he used to beat his students with. "Deal with it. You can't tear apart the rag dolls either since I can't replace them."

  Luke nodded.

  "I also have to go easy on you too because you don't have a healing pool," Musashi said, but then he smiled and perked up. "Although there is a good infirmary."

  "I want you to start with some kata work," Musashi said sweeping the shinai around to test its weight. "Let's go with Sochin for starters and then I will wear your lazy ass out with some Retzev. Once you are warmed up then we might do rag doll work, or do you have a hot date in the next couple hours?"

  Luke shook his head. Leonessa was sequestered with Commodore Morals, still debriefing.

  The Proud Infidel, escorted by both of Luke's frigates was still a day away from the wormhole to Bizzen. There would be plenty of downtime and Luke didn't want to spend too much time thinking.

  Luke was part way through his first set of katas when Bruce came in. Out of the corner of his eyes Luke watched Bruce pause at the entrance and looked around.

  "Wow," he said. "You've really re-arranged my gym."

  Luke finished his kata with a "Kia" that made Bruce flinch and then turned to face Bruce.

  "I like it though," Bruce said with a smile. "Less crew quarters."

  Luke smiled. It hadn't been easy re-allocating all the space so New Alamo, Athena or the Jupiter Alliance didn't saddle them with more observers or 'assistants', although Luke suspected that Admiral Harrison had something to do with that.

  "You are practicing hand to hand combat?" Bruce said raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that a little obsolete on a space ship where we have ranged weapons?"

  "It helps to hone the most dangerous weapon," Luke said.

  "The body?" Bruce asked walking over toward the weights.

  "The mind," Luke said.

  Bruce nodded and selected a weight, adjusting the setting which would increase resistance.

  "Enough talk," Musashi said to Luke. "That last kata was sloppy. Your zen kutsu stance was atrocious and a disgrace. You should know better."

  Luke nodded. There had been nothing wrong with his stance, Musashi just wanted to complain.

  "Do it again," Musashi said.

  Luke bowed and repeated the kata.

  This time Brita walked in, wearing nothing more than a thin sports bra and shorts that could have been panties. She made a bee line for the weight equipment before Musashi could accost her.

  "Will you be doing unarmed combat today Major?" Musashi asked, almost sweetly. Luke saw Brita shudder.

  "Not today thank you," she said. "I'm just going to do cardio and weight training."

  "I am saddened," Musashi said, without sounding like it. "We will have to work extra hard later then. You have a lot of potential and it will help you a great deal."

  Brita bowed to Musashi, "Thank you," she said tactfully. "I appreciate your concern but I don't need a visit to the infirmary today. I have things that need to be done."

  "Such as?" Musashi asked innocently. Luke wanted to shake his head. Musashi thought the martial arts were more important than anything else.

  "I'm working on a new algorithm for the warbots based on Jupiter Alliance Commando techniques. We need to change their programs and responses for dealing with Caliphate soldiers."

  "We won't be fighting the Caliphate for months," Musashi said. "Perhaps you should go put on your gi?"

  "I also want to see how those tactics work against the Bronkaw," Brita blurted.

  Bruce chuckled and even Luke could see through that.

  "I've never known you to avoid hand to hand combat training," Bruce said. "You really enjoyed it last time you were here."

  "I'm sure Musashi wouldn't mind another student," Brita said pleasantly to Bruce.

  "An excellent idea!" Musashi said, his eyes falling on Bruce.

  Bruce was quick to shake his head. "I just enjoy a little exercise to get the blood flowing. I prefer to do my fighting at extreme long range using buttons, sliders and a control stick. My mind is my primary weapon."

  "Your mind is your only weapon," Musashi said. "Everything else is just a tool. Martial arts is one of the best methods to unify the mind and body. You should try it."

  Bruce shook his head as Musashi whacked Luke's back leg with his shinai.

  "Straight!" Musashi said as Luke continued his kata. His leg had been straight but now it stung.

  Once he was done Luke went over to the towels. Brita was pushing weights with her legs and Bruce was in the middle of a bench press.

  Falla Shum entered with his staff. He looked around him as everyone stared at the over tall alien. Shum had to duck to go through the hatches and he wouldn't have had to reach up high to touch the ceiling.

  "Am I interrupting?" Falla Shum asked without emotion.

  "No," Luke said, wiping the sweat from his face with a towel. "You are fine."

  "This is the largest area and I need to practice my combat forms," Falla Shum said evaluating the gym.

  "Be my guest," Luke said stepping off the mat to get water.

  "Don't tell me that such an advanced, technological race such as the Pral practice unarmed and hand to hand combat?" Bruce said.

  Falla Shum looked at Bruce.

  "Captain," Shum began slowly. "Close range combat is the best method we have found to unify the intangibilities of the mind with the physical aspects of our world. The mind has no substance, nothing to touch and shape but the body does. The melee arts are one of the most effective methods of integrating the intangible mind with the tangible body. It provides instant feedback and punishment, it is healthy, and can be measured. Weapons extend the body, which extends the mind. Before you can master the warrior arts, you should have a good base, a center from which to extend from."

  "Shit," Bruce said and looked at Luke. "You sound like someone else I know. The mind is the primary weapon, everything else is just a tool, right?"

  "Exactly," Falla Shum said with a nod
, missing Bruce's sarcasm intentionally or unintentionally. "You understand."

  "Do all Topa fight with staves?" Bruce asked.

  "I'm sorry, there may be a slight misunderstanding," Falla Shum said. "The Topa are a class within Pral society. They are the leaders, the directors, the guides. I was a Tal, one of the warriors, the defenders and the aggressors. Now, I am Falla and am no longer suitable for the role of Topa or Tal, nor can I return to Pral society until I am redeemed.

  "To answer your question," Shum continued with a bow. "The Pral fight with a staff analogue. This is a multipurpose weapon. It can project beams of energy, a force shield and a short, localized, beam that can cut through any material. We do not use rifles, pistols, clubs, swords and other weapons as you are familiar with. Our staff, we call a Surfa embodies our warrior skills. Before we are given a surfa we must learn to control our bodies. As our skills grow, so do the functions and range of our surfa."

  Luke looked more closely at Shum's surfa. It seemed simple enough, like a heavy pole, the top and bottom both had thicker cylinders that looked almost like a thin layer of padding. Otherwise there were no buttons, dials or controls of any kind.

  "How do you control it?" Luke asked.

  "My mind is linked with it," Falla Shum said.

  "How do you aim it?" Bruce asked sitting up and looking at it more closely.

  "My mind is linked with it," Shum said again.

  "Hmmph," Bruce said pondering it. Then he sat back to do another repetition.

  "I'll stick with long range battles, thanks," he said. "When you can successfully engage a nuke in hand to hand combat, let me know and I will re-evaluate."

  Falla Shum nodded at Bruce before going to the center of the mat to kneel and close his eyes. Musashi had moved back and Luke watched carefully. If Shum minded he would not have come when others were present.

  At first Shum just sat there but Luke could see different muscles tensing and relaxing in different areas of Shum's body. After several minutes, Shum leaped to his feet and began a dance with his surfa. Few of the moves made sense to Luke, but he imagined they incorporated capabilities of the surfa, perhaps using different aspects of it.

  Luke was fascinated as he watched Shum. Here was a fellow warrior, an alien martial artist, who was just as focused and intense as himself.

  "Don't end up on the wrong end of that surfa," Musashi transmitted to him. "I can detect that Falla Shum is in some kind of virtual world based on the opacity and eye focus."

  "Are you familiar with any of that?" Luke transmitted back.

  "No," Musashi replied. "I have nothing about surfa combat in my archives."

  "Interesting," Luke replied. "Find out more. I would like to dabble in it, also see what you can learn about getting a surfa for training."

  "I will, even I am interested in this," Musashi said. "I wonder about his mental links and how hardened they are."

  Luke nodded.

  Shum only practiced for half an hour before nodding to the empty wall and then departing. As near Luke could tell Shum did not sweat.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Debriefing

  "Why do you think the Topa like Commander Kishi?" Commodore Morals asked again. Leonessa had lost count of how many times he had asked that question. Changing the words of the question didn't change her answer though.

  "If I knew I would have told you the first time," she said, frustrated. Morals just nodded.

  "Is he always that belligerent to the Topa?" he asked.

  "He doesn't kowtow to them," Leonessa said. "But I haven't seen him be outright rude and disrespectful on the few occasions I've seen him interact."

  Morals nodded looking at his data pad. An interrogator device sat on the table by them, scanning Leonessa, her facial queues and body language. It was a squat featureless glowing blue dome with a simple on/off switch that likely fed data to Morals' notepad and InnerBuddy. It was common in Jupiter Alliance facilities, in meeting rooms, interrogation chambers and offices. Leonessa had never liked them but their presence encouraged honesty.

  "He must have blackmail material or know something about the Topa they fear," Morals said, skimming his notes.

  Leonessa raised an eyebrow at him.

  "Or, they like his refreshing, non-subservient attitude," Leonessa said.

  Morals shrugged, his dismissal of her opinion obvious. It irritated Leonessa, she was a line officer, not a slave to the finer points of politics or intelligence operations. Maybe his attitude was meant to get a reaction out of her?

  "No," he said distracted. "These are rulers, and make no mistake, they rule with a merciless, iron fist. They have ruled for a long time. We are still trying to figure out how long, but right now the estimates are a few million years. You don't take control of a series of alliances like this by tolerating species that are not subservient or cannot be manipulated."

  "You are thinking along human lines," Leonessa said, why couldn't he believe and leave her alone. Didn't he have anything better to do?

  Morals shook his head, dismissing her opinion.

  "No," he said again. "Evolution. You can't evolve to intelligence without a desire to control your environment, it all goes hand in hand. A desire to control one's environment leads a species to reach for the stars and to dominate others. The Topa appear to be subtle in the way they control others, and they tolerate Luke's attitude, even preferring him for lucrative contracts. He knows something, if not blackmail material, then he knows something he is not sharing. This could be the key to the survival of the human species and it could allow the Jupiter Alliance to become a dominant force in the galaxy. The colony of Athena, and the Jupiter Alliance is well situated to take advantage of this, and I guarantee you will benefit if you help us figure it out."

  "You think I'm holding back?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm and her fists from clenching.

  Again, Morals shook his head, like her opinion was irrelevant.

  "No," he finally said, still distracted by his notes. "Not intentionally. I believe you are trying to help. The answer is there but neither of us are asking the right questions."

  "Thanks," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, but Morals just nodded, not catching it or not caring.

  "He seems to like you though," he said, still not looking at her. "Perhaps we can use that to find out his secret."

  We?

  It would be easy to stand up and kick him in the face. She was glad to hear from someone else that Luke liked her, but she had no interest in using any 'influence' to pry secrets out of him. Using his interest seemed too dishonest, and she liked him, maybe more. If only they were more equal.

  "I don't have to tell you how important this could be to the future of the human race," Morals said, looking up at her and giving her a gentle smile. "And it might be that Luke isn't even aware of what he knows. He seems like a good man, just not disciplined or reliable enough to be a good officer. New Alamo must be desperate to have promoted such a person from ensign."

  His smile made her want to squirm. She could see the smile for what it was now and there wasn't any warmth there.

  "Do you know why I was selected to accompany this mission?" Morals asked and Leonessa shook her head. No polite responses came to her mind though.

  "I get results and I am absolutely loyal to the Jupiter Alliance. I will do anything for the free people of Jupiter and the human race. Anything. I know you are the same way. You have a strong sense of duty and you are incredibly smart, capable and beautiful. As a team, I think we can do amazing things and I look forward to working with you Lieutenant Commander."

  "Thank you," was all Leonessa could think to say without letting her emotions betray her. She kept her pleasant smile in place, bolted onto her armor.

  Morals reached over and turned off the interrogator.

  "I think we are done here for the day," he said sitting back and putting down his notepad to fix his gaze on Leonessa.

  "What do you like to do for fun?" Mora
ls asked, staring at Leonessa.

  "Musashi is teaching me karate," Leonessa said standing, eager to escape this wretch.

  "Good," Morals said thinking. "Commander Kishi seems to be into the martial arts. Good approach."

  Leonessa turned and left before she could say anything else that would look bad in her evaluation, or get her in trouble with a ranking officer.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Falla Shum

  Falla Shum sat in his quarters staring at the featureless wall wondering what he had done to deserve this punishment. He had reviewed his mission logs, his communication logs, anything and everything over the last several cycles. The Tal of the Topa had not gone to war in hundreds of year cycles so it hadn't been a failed mission, or poor execution. Pral warriors did not interact with the other species except to make war. Other species and their weaknesses were studied but Pral warriors preferred to spend more time training in the warrior arts or testing and familiarizing themselves with the weapons and capabilities of potential enemies.

  Shum had not seen an actual alien in almost a hundred cycles, but there was nothing wrong with that. Most of his team members, officers and subordinates, were the same. It wasn't the Tal way to interact with non-Pral except in a violent manner.

  He didn't know how many times he had gone through is his logs. Could it have been something he said or did in person? Most Pral lived focused lives, the Tal more than others.

  Closing his eyes, Shum sought to quiet his thoughts, his fears and his doubts. His body ached from his workout. He wished he could have shared the visuals of his workout with the others, especially Commander Kishi. The others seemed impressed, but the Commander had seemed more interested in what he didn't see. The way the Commander's eyes had followed a move but stayed there as Shum moved on to the next move told Shum that the Commander was contemplating the purpose and focus of each maneuver as someone who would understand.

  Perhaps later he would be more open. Right now he was having a hard time keeping his emotions and thoughts under control. He felt he was sliding from the path of the Tal, losing something.