Derette replied, “The shortest tournament match on record is eight minutes. It was a lopsided affair after six starters had been injured in collisions the game before. The boards have been modified since, and I don’t think we’ve seen a game of less than nineteen minutes. Typically they run thirty to forty minutes. I believe the longest, a defensive struggle for sure, lasted over two hours.”
The players all skimmed back into the opened side doors. Seconds later, a long horn sounded. The players shot out of a team doorway into the arena as ten short bursts of the horn followed. As the side doors closed, another blast signaled the two demis coming into the arena, one with a red glow, the other blue. The demis were captured and the maneuvering began.
The Forks Rangers, dressed in dark gray with yellow trim, were the home team, and the team Jenny and Mace had wagered on. The away team, the Durnis Bolts, the favorite of the farmer clans, were dressed in all black with green lightning bolts adorning their arms and legs.
“I kind of like those black uniforms,” Jenny said.
Derette turned with a scowl. “Only lowlanders would wear black.”
Jenny turned and whispered to Mace: “They take this stuff seriously.”
Two minutes into the round, a Bolt, after building up tremendous speed, captured a pass on the fly, spun, and hurtled it toward a goal. Kons Vakka was there for the stop.
Mace raised his fist. “That’s my girl!”
As the Rangers set up for a pass from Vakka, she left her position at the goal, raced up a wall and then down towards the floor. As she moved up another wall and passed over the top of the arena, she leaned hard forward, almost touching the visor of her helmet to the floor. Her hoverboard raced to an insane speed as it came down the wall. Kons Vakka turned hard at the bottom, heading toward the opponent’s goal.
Derette stood. “This is not possible!”
The opposing team, unready to counter the assault of a goalie, was in complete disarray. The blue demi sailed past a goalie, striking and sticking in a funnel in the inner ring. A five point score. Viewers in the surrounding rooms could be heard through the walls as they screamed in delight. Derette was jumping up and down in her chair.
Kons Vakka had raced in, spinning on her board as she wound up for a release. The iron demi left her clench at lightning speed, soaring past the right side goalie and into the five point circle, where it clanged into a funnel. Falling from her chair, Derette Golese convulsed and collapsed. Neighboring viewers were screaming, stomping, and banging on the walls.
Derette opened her eyes almost a full minute later. “What happened?”
Jenny smirked. “I think you got a bit too excited and fainted.”
Derette pulled herself up, assisted by Mace. “I must apologize. That’s never happened to me before.”
Mace laughed. “Don’t worry about it. So long as you’re OK, it just added to our entertainment.”
Derette looked up at the scoreboard. “Wait… we have fifteen points?”
Jenny nodded. “In the confusion that ensued, the Rangers managed to bag another five-pointer. Was an impressive move.”
Mace looked at the wager board. “What the… I thought I had a hundred eighty to one odds?”
Derette shook her head. “That was for a two point wager, though you selected one. Your wager was good for just over a forty to one payoff, it seems you’ve had a good night at the tournament, Mr. Hardy. Four thousand credits is quite the haul.”
Jenny slapped him in the back. “Guess who’s buying dinner?”
Derette pointed. “Your own wager has paid as well.”
Jenny laughed. “Great. I wonder what I can get for fourteen credits?”
The game continued, with the Rangers winning after the twenty-second minute, going on to win the match four games to two. Derette led the two Humans to an upper class restaurant, where the hideous-looking Humans were offered a private booth. Derette apologized profusely for the bigoted behavior.
Mace laughed it off. “Not a big deal. This isn’t our world and the people can think whatever they want.”
Derette sighed. “Still, you are business clients. What happens if I bring in a client who is offended?”
Jenny asked, “How many of them have you had?”
“Well, none. But it would be appalling nonetheless.”
Mace waved his hand as the menus were brought around. “Not an issue for us. Now, what would you expect a Human to want to eat here?”
Derette frowned. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with Human customs or habits. I have tried one of your delicacies though. A friend offered me a sampling of honey. It was quite good.”
Jenny scowled. “Bee vomit.”
Mace stared in silence for several seconds. “You don’t like honey? How is it possible for someone to not like honey?”
Jenny shook her head. “So a bee harvests nectar, swallows it into a honey stomach. It then carries it back to the hive, where it’s vomited up for other workers who chew on it for a half hour. They spit it out and let it dry to a goo. That’s your honey. You still like that?”
Mace laughed. “You’ve never even had it, have you?”
Jenny scowled. “And I’m not going to.”
Derette smiled. “It really was quite good.”
Mace looked Jenny up and down in a sarcastic manner for several seconds before turning his attention to the menu.
“Flossal? What is that?”
Derette replied, “It’s a small creature that moves along on its belly. It leaves a sticky trail as it goes. Plays havoc with vegetable and flower gardens.”
Mace returned a disgusted look.
Jenny said, “What’s the matter? You don’t like snails?”
“Thank you, but no. Sounds more like slugs. What’s this one? Klovaxi?”
“Klovaxi is a fish. It’s native to this planet. I’ve not had it, but I’ve been told it’s excellent.”
Mace nodded. “Fish. I can handle that.”
Jenny asked, “Quopa?”
“That is a fruit dish covered in a sweet gravy.”
Jenny winked. “I’ll have that.”
Derette opened a second menu. “Might I suggest a Novian wine?”
Jenny nodded. “Yes, you might.”
Mace closed his menu. “Sounds good. I’ll have that, too.”
The Novian wine was high in alcohol, which brought about an inebriated host and two tipsy Humans. From the restaurant, the guests were taken to the most expensive hotel on Canto. The room, a suite, had a balcony with a tremendous view looking out over a local lake with mountains in the near distance.
After a quick break in the restroom, Derette dismissed herself, apologizing for her behavior and lack of self control.
Jenny stood in the main room. “I like those curved couches.”
Mace laughed. “Really? They look like something out of a pimp’s playhouse from the 1970s.”
Jenny put her hand on Mace’s chest, pushing him back onto one of the couches. A heavy makeout session followed, ending with them passing out in each other’s arms. Jenny rose a few hours later for a run to the restroom. She returned laughing hysterically.
Mace asked, “What’s so funny?”
Jenny waved him toward the bedroom. “You have to see this.”
Mace stood as he smiled. “OK. I’m game.”
Jenny led him into the bedroom. “Tell me that’s not hilarious.”
Mace walked to the center of the room, pushing on a sling hanging from the ceiling. “It’s a giant hammock. No bed?”
Jenny laughed. “That is the bed.”
Mace tilted his head. “The Kohamians all sleep in hammocks?”
Jenny smiled. “Apparently so. Want to give it a try?”
Mace nodded. “Sure, I’ll give it a rock.”
Jenny climbed in first, Mace followed. The giant sling-bed was soon swinging from side to side, with Jenny laughing hysterically. After a particularly hard kick from Mace’s right leg, the heavy Humans brough
t the hammock swing to an unexpected end. The rope leading to the ceiling from behind their heads, snapped, dumping the two mischievous Humans on their heads.
Mace rolled over to Jenny. “You OK?”
Jenny offered a pain-filled laugh. “I think I just lost a kidney.”
Mace rubbed the back of his scalp. “I’ve got a knot coming up.”
Mace stood, helping Jenny to her feet. “May I offer you a position on the curved couch, ma’am?”
Jenny nodded. “I believe you can.”
The next morning came early with a knock on the suite’s main door. Mace walked to the door to answer.
Derette stepped in with a tray of beverages. “I apologize for being late.”
“Late? What time is it?”
Derette paused. “I’m sorry. Are Humans not early risers?”
Mace chuckled. “Some are, some aren’t. What’d you bring us?”
Derette smiled. “A cure for last night.”
Mace took a sip. “Hmm. Not bad. What is it? Wait… I probably don’t want to know.”
Mace took a cup to a still groggy Jenny. “Drink this. It’s supposed to help.”
Jenny took a sip. “I have a smashing headache. No more Novian wine for me.”
Mace smiled. “I think that’s two of us.”
Derette looked at the couch. “You didn’t sleep here all night, did you?”
Mace pointed. “Yeah. I’m afraid we wrecked the bed in there.”
Derette walked over to peek in the room. “Goodness, I haven’t seen a rekka come down since my time at university.”
Jenny stood, putting her hand on Mace’s shoulder. “Yeah, well we Humans know how to party.”
Mace shook his head. “We’ll pay for any damages.”
Derette replied, “Nonsense. The corporation owns the hotel.”
“What’s on the agenda for the day?” Mace asked.
“We can revisit the tournament, or perhaps have a tour of current corporation assets?”
Having seen what the corporation owned on Canto, the tournament was again selected. The wagering that followed did not go the way of the Human guests.
By mid-afternoon, Frado Knuttin was available. “Mr. Hardy, I was able to free up four hundred tons of the gatrellium resource. In exchange, our government would like the top forty worlds on our short-list to be explored and claimed.”
“That’s one tenth what I was asking for. Not that great a bargain for our time and effort. Tell your contacts that we would be willing to take their team to the first twenty on the list.”
Frado smiled. “Excellent. I was given authority to negotiate. When can we begin?”
Mace scratched his goatee. “Well now I feel like I underbid. Anyway, have your teams meet where your dreadnoughts stopped the Rogers on our way in. We need to return to drop off our shuttles to make room for yours.”
Frado nodded. “They will be waiting. Mr. Hardy, if this goes well, it could be the first step in expanding relations with your people.”
Mace replied, “Well, my people are all on the Rogers. Other than that we have Jasper Collins. Earth is now ruled by another.”
Frado frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that, Mr. Hardy. We’ll keep that between us for the time being so as not to cause any uncertainty.”
The Rogers returned to Divinia, dropping her two shuttles. Once back at Canto, two UF shuttles were waiting. As they landed in the docking bays, their crews stepped out onto the deck. Mace was called to docking bay one.
Frado Knuttin was standing with a smile. “Mr. Hardy.”
“Wasn’t expecting you,” said Mace.
“It was a last moment decision. I decided I could not afford to miss out on such an adventure. These twenty worlds will be claimed as United Front territory. It will by far be the single biggest expansion of our holdings in our history. Think of it, twenty new worlds within a week.”
Mace smiled. “Will be more than that, Mr. Knuttin. This is twenty new star systems, not just worlds. I’ll be dropping a shuttle in a system, then moving to the next. Once the second shuttle is away, I’ll return and wait for the first. You should be able to cover most systems in a day or two. The week figure won’t happen unless you only want to claim each identified planet, which I don’t believe you’ll want to limit yourself to. If you prefer, we can just do those twenty and be done in a few days.
“Or I have another option. If you ready another eighteen shuttles, I can pick them up, drop them off, and reclaim them in a couple days when they are all done. You could have all twenty systems covered in two to three days.”
Frado grinned. “I do like that option.”
Mace nodded. “And I’d be willing to do it for say… another five tons of gatrellium per system?”
Frado agreed. “I’ll give the order. The shuttles will be here in the next few hours. Shall we begin?”
Mace slowly shook his head. “Just one thing missing, Mr. Knuttin: gatrellium… five hundred tons of it.”
“It is on its way. Unfortunately, it’s a three week journey from our storage facility.”
Mace sighed. “OK, how about this. See if you can authorize having a wormhole opened to wherever your transport is. We could take delivery of the resource immediately and be on our way here.”
Frado said, “You could do that?”
Mace crossed his arms. “Might take fifteen or twenty minutes to set up, but yes. Contact your people and give me the coordinates. And none of this is because I don’t trust you. I do. I don’t trust your government. Governments have a way of negating deals once their goals have been reached.”
Frado frowned. “I know of what you speak. Let me see what I can arrange.”
Frado walked back aboard his shuttle, and returned almost an hour later. “Our leadership has agreed, but with conditions. One quarter of the gatrellium will be made available for transport now, with another quarter moving after each set of six shuttles have been delivered.”
Mace nodded. “Acceptable. You have coordinates?”
The coordinates were given and passed back to Divinia. Jasper, using the full wormhole generator of a Muhatha, took possession of the first ore hauler, confirming its cargo.
After a short comm from Divinia, Mace said, “Looks like we’re set, Mr. Knuttin. By the time you strap yourself in, we’ll be at the first location on the list.”
The Kohamian returned a broad smile as made his way up the shuttle ramp.
Mace opened a comm to the bridge. “Mr. Hobbs, jump us to the first target.”
Seconds later, the Rogers slipped through a wormhole to the first of twenty worlds. Scans relayed nine planets surrounded the red sun.
Mace opened a comm. “Mr. Knuttin, you are free to go. Planet four looks like it might even be habitable. If you want, we can stick around for a few minutes to make sure you’re safe.”
Frado replied, “That will not be necessary, Mr. Hardy. Our scans show only natural signals occurring. We will be fine. And thank you again for making this happen.”
“The locations on your list aren’t anywhere near Earth space, so it wasn’t a problem for me. That and the fact your people haven’t shown aggression. I can see the protection of Canto being strategic and not aggressive. Its proximity to the rift gives it value to the UF.”
Frado said, “Yes, we are strategists. However, we are not all saints, so I would warn you to continue to be as cautious as you have been.”
With the first shuttle away, the Rogers made a jump to the second system. A return to Canto had two more UF shuttles exploring planets. Three hours later, the last of the explorers were released.
Chapter 11
*
Liam asked, “Where to?”
“Take us back to Mr. Knuttin’s shuttle. I want to make sure everything there is OK.”
The jump to the star system they’d designated as Gellos was completed in seconds. Scans indicated four ships in the area of where Frado Knuttin’s shuttle was expected to be.
Mace yel
led, “Mr. Hobbs! Take us in! Mr. Mueller, prepare for defensive fire!”
Three minutes passed as the Rogers raced in from the edge of the solar system. The UF shuttle, her engines disabled, tumbled with a slow roll, three unknown vessels surrounding her. A hail was sent but not accepted. Two of the ships turned and began firing at the incoming cruiser. Hans Mueller returned a set of plasma rounds, first disabling the weapons of the two ships, followed by their drives.
The remaining vessel turned all its weapons on the UF shuttle, shredding her hull and breaching the containment of her fusion reactor. With a bright flash, she disintegrated completely. The third ship turned to run.
Mace yelled, “Target her engines! Don’t let them escape!”
A pair of quick bursts from the microwave cannons knocked the ship’s propulsion offline. The Rogers circled the alien vessel, taking out her weapons one by one.
Mace looked over to where Johnny was already looking at him.
“Got my back?”
Johnny nodded as he stood.
Mace opened a comm. “Miz Taub, meet us in bay one.”
Jenny replied, “Where you planning to go? We don’t have any shuttles.”
Mace rocked his head back. “Mr. Hobbs, take us in and connect the grapple. We’ll be floating over.”
The assault gear was gathered and the three Humans got to the task of cutting through the enemy hull. Twenty minutes passed before they were greeted with a hail of laser fire. A combination of plasma rifles, AR-15s, and Johnny’s thunder glove were used to first gain a foothold and to them force their way into a main hallway. The fighting was fierce, ending when the Humans reached the bridge.
The alien attackers were holding Frado Knuttin and his crewmen at weapons point.
Frado said, “Careful, Mr. Hardy. They obviously don’t show mercy.”
“We have a language translation for them?”
Frado shook his head.
Mace sighed. “I guess we do this the hard way.”
An hour after the tense standoff had begun, the translation algorithms had a lock.
Mace said, “You will release our people immediately.”
The captain of the vessel scowled. “You have invaded Korvan space, attacked our vessels, and killed many of our crew. Our fleet will soon be here to deal with you.”
HADRON Chaos Page 10
