The Riss Gamble

by C. R. Daems

  I heard footsteps fading away.

 

  * * * *

  When I finally regained consciousness, I felt relaxed and had no discomfort.

 

  I felt Thalia laugh and had to agree. When I sat up, I felt dizzy for a minute, but it passed quickly. I found myself in a small room with two beds. Terril lay in the other bed, looking at a holograph her SID had created.

  “How are you doing, Terril?”

  She jerked around and dropped her SID.

  “Ma’am, you’re alive. You’re sitting up. It’s a miracle. You should be dead,” she rambled on.

  “Sorry to disappoint. What day is it?” I had no idea how long Thalia had required to repair my lungs and whatever else she’d done. I smiled at Terril to let her know it had been a bad joke.

  “Ma’am, I didn’t mean... You know that. You’ve been in a coma for two days. I’m to be released later today if my test results are good. You’ve had all sorts of visitors over the two days. Gunny and the other Chiefs, Colonel Quentin, and several Commanders.”

  “I’m glad you got them in the correct order of importance.”

  Terril turned red. I laughed until tears ran down my face. “Relax, Terril. Everyone knows who keeps the ship running.”

  When the Doctor arrived, he seemed shocked to see me up. I allowed him to give me a physical examination and to take a blood sample.

  “How? The Riss?” he asked. I nodded.

  “Yes, Doctor. Thalia, my Riss, put me in a comatose state to eliminate the need to breathe. Even so, I did inhale a small amount of the gas. She’s been cleaning out the poison for the past two days.”

  “Thalia seems to be quite the doctor—but why no medical treatment?”

 

  I smiled, which the doctor probably assumed was meant for him.

  “We can’t be sure that a procedure harmless to you or me wouldn’t damage Thalia. It’s better to err on the side of safety.”

  If the machines kill her to save me, I’d rather die too. Neither of us could exist without the other.

 

  Before I could get out of bed and get dressed, I had several visitors. My eyes were moist when the last one left. I’ve made good friends, I reflected with choked up emotions. To them, I’m not a freak.

  * * * *

  “How are you feeling, Lieutenant? I can put you on inactive duty if you need more time to recover,” Jordanno said. I sat in his office with a cup of kaffa, being treated like a recovering invalid.

  “No, Sir. I’m fully recovered.” I’d slept for two days and was ready to get back to work.

  “Your Riss must be some doctor.” He had his full attention on me, as if to monitor my every move. “Everyone tells me the gas was a form of cyanogen chloride. You should be dead.”

  “Yes, Thalia saved my life—twice. She stopped my breathing immediately and put me in a comatose state, so that I could survive long enough to be rescued, and she cleaned out the little poison I did inhale.”

  “Why refuse medical help? There maybe situations where only our medical equipment can save you.” He took a sip of kaffa and leaned forward.

  “I don’t want to take the chance that the equipment could kill Thalia. If she can’t repair me, we’ll be too damaged to live. I know you’ll have trouble understanding this. She can’t live if I die, and I would rather not live if she dies.” The minute I said it, I wish I could have taken it back. Not that it wasn’t the truth. I felt the need to clarify in terms he could relate to. “Each of us has a right and left side to our brain. They’re separate, yet they work together. You could separate them, but you wouldn’t have the same person. I know that’s what would happen if Thalia died.”

  “What if for some reason you were sent back to Saipha to return the Riss?” He didn’t seem repulsed or upset, just interested.

 

 

  “Thalia just said we’re one for life. We’d stay together and live there until we died.”

 

  Thalia laughed sending waves of pure joy through my system. Of course I couldn’t help smiling.

  “That smile at inappropriate times takes some getting used to. Thalia seems to have a good sense of humor.”

  Yes, Thalia had a sense of humor, but I wasn’t sure everyone enjoyed it.

  “Yes, Sir. She enjoys everything and finds it fun.”

  The Captain nodded and changed subjects, apparently satisfied with my physical and mental health.

  “Do you know any person or reason someone would want to kill you, Reese?”

  “Sir, I don’t believe it was personal. The individual stole my SID. When I was attacked before, it was personal. That attacker wanted me to know who was doing it before I died. This attacker wanted me dead but made no attempt to identify himself. He or she wanted me dead for some other reason. Taking my SID proved that.”

  “So, you think it was to get your SID?”

  “Oh, the attacker wanted me dead; however, he also wanted the SID. He’s going to find out it doesn’t contain any useful information, even if he could get past the password lock. It seems like someone wants me dead, but it isn’t personal.”

  “Personal or not, we’re conducting a thorough search, hoping he hasn’t gotten rid of it. What concerns me is how someone was able to open your door. The system controls access through an individual’s SID. Since your SID was in your room, someone had access to the system; however only senior officers are supposed to have such access. I’ll have the system checked. It should reveal the name of the person who opened your door.” He stood, signaling the end to our discussion.

  * * * *

  The physical search failed to find the missing SID, and the system search revealed nothing. They issued me a new SID with all the necessary links to the ship and Intelligence’s computer.

  * * * *

  A beeping sound woke me. I rolled out of bed and turned on my new SID. Lieutenant Iglis’s face appeared.

  “I know it’s late, but the raiders struck at Lingwood. They knocked out their defense system, killed a lot of civilians, stole their store of Ling Wine Reserve, and seized the merchant ship Farsee.” Iglis paused. “The Captain has changed course to Lingwood. Commander Wang would like to see you, if you aren’t required on the bridge.”

  I could understand her excitement. We now had an attack that could possibly help us determine the raider’s new strategy and their next target.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can get dressed.”

  I dressed in work blues as it was faster. In my haste, I almost ran past the guards, stopping just in time. Running past them wouldn’t have been a good idea. They had no sense of humor and probably would have shot me. They knew everyone in the Intelligence group but still checked their ID every time. When I reached Commander Wang’s office, Iglis was already there. Before I could say anything, Wang waved me to the other chair. Wang’s office had two overhead monitors mounted on adjacent walls. They were filled, with pictures on the top and running text on the bottom. The pictures told of the devastation the raiders had wreaked, while the text provided more comprehensive information.

  “I’ve asked the Captain to detour to Lingwood. He agreed, although we aren’t equipped to provide much assistance. I’m hoping this attack will provide us with enough information to extrapolate the raiders’ new strategy.” Wang leaned back in her chair, watching the monitors like they contained the answer. “We’ll arrive in Lingwood three days from now.”

  Iglis and I left to begin analyzing the information.

  “What do you think, Reese? It doesn’t seem worth the effort just to steal Ling Wine. Unless they considered the slaves and wine combined worth it. The Farsee was probably a lucky break.” Iglis paced back and forth while voicing various options. I sat in one of the conference room’s chairs quietly staring at a monitor. The ra
iders had destroyed all of the docking station and much of the town. The dead were everywhere. I could imagine that Corona looked just like this after the raiders had struck there. I knew we were missing something. The raiders had military-grade warships and had in the past gone after high value prizes. This didn’t seem to fit the pattern.

  A search of the movements the Compton had made revealed it had stopped in Lingwood several months previously and fifty cases had been purchased. Iglis and I had come up with several possible scenarios. None felt right. Exhausted, I returned to bed several hours later.

  I returned to the bridge on time and began working on the projectile problem again. Although Thalia and I had achieved a seventy percent hit rate, we were determined to improve the accuracy. Each time we changed one of the equations, we tested it in the simulator.

  Kollar gave me another reading assignment and sent me off to study or rest as I saw fit.

  * * * *

  Three days later we orbited Lingwood. The medical team grabbed the first shuttle. The second and third shuttles had Scorpions to keep order and help with the cleanup. Commander Wang had insisted that she, Iglis, and I be part of the landing party. Two Scorpions were assigned to accompany each of us. We split up almost immediately. I headed for what I thought to be the poorer part of town, for no other reason than it seemed right to me. As I did, I noticed two Scorpions peel off with me. I recognized Master Sergeant Terril and waved them closer.

  “How you doing, Terril? Are you planning on saving my life again? I couldn’t have lasted too much longer in that room without oxygen.”

  “Fairs fair. You saved our lives back on Saipha,” Terril said with a small chuckle. “This is Corporal Beal.”

  Beal nodded when I looked in his direction. He was being far more attentive to the surrounding area. Terril looked at ease, but I would have bet she hadn’t missed the smallest detail. I stopped to talk to people as we walked along. This area hadn’t taken the same destruction as the other side of town because they didn’t have significant weapons to put up much of a struggle. I learned that this was one of Lingwood’s busiest times of the year, as they prepared for the Farsee’s semi-annual pickup of the Ling Reserve Wine. The Farsee stopped every six months to buy their total inventory of wine and stayed for the semi-annual Ling festival.

  Chapter 26

  The day dragged by slowly. By its end, I had a splitting headache from the pain and suffering I’d witnessed. Even Thalia remained quiet. Everywhere I went, death, despair, and destruction greeted me. Loved ones had been killed, or captured and taken away in the raider’s ship, the Cobra. Adding to their misery, their humble shacks had been destroyed. They were poor and had no money to build new homes and barely enough to buy food. I wished there was something I could do to ease their pain, but there wasn’t. Maybe the ones who had died were the lucky ones.

 

 

 

 

 

  The Captain had decided to stay a few extra days to give the medical staff time to help with the wounded, the crew to repair Lingwood’s systems, and the Scorpions to help with cleaning up. I went to the mess hall but found I wasn’t hungry. I decided to retire early. I undressed and lay down but couldn’t get to sleep. Scenes of destruction keep flashing before me.

 

  The last thing I heard was Thalia.

 

  * * * *

  I woke rested, if not enthusiastic. I had no duties on the bridge and didn’t feel like working on anything, so I wandered down to the Intelligence section. By now Iglis and Wang should be looking at the stops planned for the Compton over the next several weeks. When I entered, I found Iglis with Wang in the conference room. Both looked depressed and exhausted. They were looking at streams of data scrolling across the monitor’s screen.

  “Good morning. Have you found the next likely site yet?” I asked. Surely the Compton had stopped at many colonies during the past two months. At least one or two should have potential targets.

  “No. We’d hoped this attack would give us a lead. So many died and are suffering, and we learned nothing,” Wang said without looking away from the monitor. “All that’s obvious is that they’ve changed their previous pattern.”

 

 

  “They’re after merchant ships,” I said into the silence. Their heads snapped up but they said nothing, just stared. I didn’t know if they’d heard me. I repeated my statement. “They’re after merchant ships.”

  “That makes sense, but how does that help us?” Wang asked hesitantly. “They also stole wine and kidnapped many of the locals, who they’ll undoubtedly sell at the JPU slave markets. What makes you think the merchant ship wasn’t an unexpected bonus?”

  I stood silent, wondering why they didn’t see it. Can I be wrong? It seemed so obvious.

 

  “The Farsee stops at Lingwood every six months to pick up wine and stays for the Ling Wine festival. They always stay five days. The wine and slaves were the bonus.”

  Wang vaulted out of her seat.

  “Iglis, get Phalan and Wunk in here with all the information they have on the Compton since it stopped at Lingwood. I want dates, length of stay, and cargo. Now!” she shouted, excited. The subsequent search revealed an interesting anomaly. The Compton seemed to disappear for weeks at a time. It would visit several colonies and then disappear, arriving at its next scheduled designation weeks late. Subsequently, the raiders attacked one or more of those colonies the Compton had visited prior to disappearing. The pattern was far too consistent to be coincidental. One of those mysterious disappearances occurred prior to Lingwood. On Lingwood they’d purchased fifty cases of Ling Reserve wine before proceeding on the to Earthtol, Sparrows Nest, Ossicwater, Port Lost, and Lords Landing. After Lords Landing, they disappeared again and Lingwood was attacked.

  “Obviously, they visit four to six colonies, looking for targets and collecting information. When they find one or two targets, they rendezvous with the raiders,” Wang said, summarizing what Iglis, Arnet, and I had discovered after combing through months of records. Now we sat searching for some piece of information that would suggest their next target. We were all tired and sat drinking taffa in an effort to stay awake. It had been over twenty-four hours since anyone had slept.

  “If we’re right, Lingwood was the first of Compton’s stops after the rendezvous. That means it’s very possible one or more of the colonies on its subsequent stops, up to and including Lords Landing, is a potential target,” I said, thinking out loud.

  “Unfortunately we don’t have any information to suggest which one it might be.” Iglis shrugged.

  I conceded Iglis was right. Those five planets had little to justify a raid. We could find no obvious scheduled merchant activity. Merchants tended to be somewhat random and unpredictable, which worked to their advantage.

  “I’ll talk to the Captain about visiting those colonies. Hopefully, we can find something that will help us determine their next target, before the raiders attack,” Wang said.

  * * * *

  The next day on the bridge, I sat with Kollar while the Tiger prepared to leave Lingwood for Earthtol. Eden had been notified of Lingwood’s needs and the Gyrfalcon scheduled to arrive in four days. I sat watching Kollar go over the pre-departure checklist. Using her SID, she’d walked through each item with Senior Chief Luckist to make sure the weapons systems were functional, munitions counted, and locked down. Then she verified her weapons panel was in working order before reporting “Weapons ready” to the XO.

  “Normally, I would have a trainee, like yourself, watch the Chief verify the status of each item on the ch
eck list; however, I know you’ve had a three-day tour of the Weapons section. I doubt there’s anything you don’t already know. Yes, the Senior Chief and his crew do ninety-five percent of the work. A weapons officer is only necessary when the space-dross hits the fan.” She paused for several moments. I wasn’t sure if she was waiting for me to say or ask something. “By the way, I’ve loaded your projectile algorithms as another firing option. You may update them any time you create a new version. Just leave me a note of the changes.”

  “Yes, ma’am. We’re working on improving the accuracy and reducing the time to execute. The two are related. The longer it takes the computer to calculate the enemy ship’s course the less accurate it becomes. The computer’s rather slow.”

  Kollar laughed, causing most of the crew to look in her direction.

  “If this keeps up, we’re going to have to rename the ship the Laughing Tiger,” Jordanno said and shook his head. A twitch of his lip ruined the rebuke.

  “Sorry, Sir,” Kollar said, although she didn’t look sorry. “So our computer’s slow, is it, Lieutenant Reese?”

  “Well, I suppose it’s more the human interface—” I knew immediately that wasn’t the appropriate answer, although true.

  “So, Lieutenant, your superior’s slow? Perhaps you think I’m so old I should retire, while I can still remember what to enter?”

  “No, ma’am—”

  She finally smiled. “Stop talking, Reese. When you’ve managed to say the wrong thing to your superior, it’s best to stop talking. Continuing to talk only makes it worse. We’re through for the day. Go study, or work on the projectile equations, or report to security. Actually, do all three.”

  * * * *

  We arrived at Earthtol two days later. Wang, Iglis, and I were on the first shuttle down. Like on Lingwood, our task was to find information that would indicate a merchant would be arriving within a predictable time period.

  Earthtol descendents were originally from the United States of America and had originally settled on Eden. As Eden grew, some found the environment too restricted and decided to form a colony more like earth. Earthtol’s topology might be considered similar to old Earth, mostly water with a couple of continents; however, the weather was harsh. It was either scorching hot or freezing cold, depending on the continent and the season. A hundred years later, the cities had migrated underground, where the temperatures were consistent the entire year.