by B. V. Larson
“If you fire upon us, I’ll kill your captain.”
“I repeat,” Samson said, “disarm yourselves now, or I’ll kill you where you stand. We have lots of officers on this ship to replace Blake. I have my orders and I will carry them out.”
I had to give him credit where credit was due. Samson didn’t sound like he was playing around. Knowing him, he probably wasn’t. He was a hard man to bluff, as he rarely backed down. You had to beat him unconscious or damn near kill him to get him to switch tracks.
Lael studied the situation, then put away her weapon in disgust. Her tense escorts did the same, as did Elsa.
Samson approached cautiously.
“Drop them,” he insisted, “or I’ll shoot one of you every ten seconds until you comply. One… two…”
If I could have, I would have grinned. Samson would have made a fine parent.
Samson got to the count of seven before they obeyed. With poor grace, the Imperials abandoned their arms. Samson sent one squad in close to secure them while the second stood ready to fire. It was like a tactical overwatch operation, and he made it all look well-rehearsed.
When the Imperials had been disarmed and surrounded, I began to wake up. I choked, spitting and cursing. I could move my lips, but not my limbs. Not yet.
“You okay, boss?” he asked.
“Right as rain,” I whispered. “Arrest Lael. Send the rest of them back on the shuttle.”
Samson grinned and turned to face the haughty Imperials. He relayed my orders. There was a considerable amount of sputtering and squawking, but at last he managed to herd the majority of the party aboard the shuttle and get everyone else out of the hold.
I could walk by then, although I was wobbling on my feet. Lael sullenly followed me. For once, she wasn’t talking much.
Perhaps I should have left that gift horse alone, but I couldn’t help myself. I was a bit annoyed with her after her stunt in the hold.
“I recall a similar situation once,” I said. “What was it you said to me when I attacked your guards? Something about displaying a deep barbaric viciousness that you appreciated. Well, I’m feeling the same way about you now.”
She flashed me a look of hate.
“There’s no similarity,” she said. “Your low, animal cunning bears no resemblance to—”
“Oh, but it does!” I insisted, giving her a grin. “I took a chance, the same as you did just now. And I was put down on the deck, the same as your team was. It must be hard, surrendering to a Rebel Kher. Sort of makes you think…”
“Think of what?”
“Of what you might have done differently. Of regrets for past sins. Of—”
She threw herself at me. I was surprised, as were her guards. They weren’t even watching. Her hands were bound behind her, but she didn’t care, she charged up and jostled me in the shoulder, snarling.
“Whoa!” I said, laughing. “That’s the fighting attitude I like to see! I’ll have to take my body-cam recording and pass that one around. My own spacers could use an example of Imperial ferocity.”
Suddenly, she was embarrassed and sullen again. She stalked after me, beaten but still scheming. She’d never stop doing that.
Deciding maybe I’d pushed her too far for the sake of personal entertainment, I cleared my throat and took on a more conciliatory tone.
“Well, Captain, welcome aboard your first Earth-built starship. This is Devilfish, and I want you to make yourself at home here.”
“That will never happen,” she said.
“You’d rather go home?”
“Of course, fool.”
“That’s of course, Captain.”
Lael didn’t answer.
“Anyway,” I said, “this is my office. Let’s head inside and have a little talk.”
She marched inside and I followed. My security detail looked mildly concerned, but I left them outside the door.
Heading to my desk, I stopped. Lael was standing in the middle of the chamber, staring at my bed. It was big enough for two, and I hadn’t had time to call a service bot to smooth out the blankets yet.
“Uh… about that,” I said.
“So…” she said. “This is how it is to be? No questions, just depraved behavior? My worst fears are realized.”
“No, no,” I said, feeling a little embarrassed and cursing Dr. Abrams for the hundredth time. “The ship was designed with efficiency of space in mind. My office and my quarters are all in the same chamber—this one.”
She looked at me warily. “Why bother to lie now, Blake?” she asked. “I can’t resist you.”
“You won’t have to. I only touch willing women.”
Lael snorted in disbelief. “Is that part of our deal? Must I pretend to enjoy myself?”
My face was reddening. Dr. Abrams had done it to me again.
“Just come over here to my desk,” I said, taking a seat behind it.
She walked slowly to stand in front of my desk. “I would remove my garments, but my hands can’t reach the clasps.”
I sighed. “Okay, look, just answer my questions.”
Her eyes drifted down from the ceiling, where she’d been studying a star chart with resignation.
“What will happen to me if I don’t answer? Will you mete out your special punishments then?”
“Maybe,” I growled, becoming annoyed. “First question: why were you stationed at Diva?”
She stared at me for a second. “I guess I can answer that without giving away a vital secret. Diva was a world known to be under surveillance by the Nomads. We deployed a squadron of phase-ships there to catch them.”
I nodded, believing her. “How did you know the Nomads were interested?”
“They spy on us all the time. They use advanced techniques, but we have ways of detecting their agents if they spend too long in corporeal form among us.”
“Ah… So they visit you Imperials the same way they do us? Duplicating individuals and moving unseen in your midst?”
She blinked, and then she nodded. “I see you have learned something about them.”
“I know more than I want to about those miserable sons-of-bitches.”
Lael squinted at me. “Children of dogs?” she said, questioning the translation. “Is that a good thing? It doesn’t sound positive.”
“It isn’t. I hate them. I especially hate the one called Godwin that got us into this mess.”
Lael narrowed her eyes at me, as if suspicious. “You’re claiming you don’t work for the Nomads.”
“We don’t. They are as much our enemy as the Imperials ever were.”
“You’re doing this in hopes of absolving yourself from the genocidal crimes that occurred in the Diva system.”
I cleared my throat. “I don’t know what happened there. I ran, and I hope the people of Diva survived somehow.”
“If you cared so much, why didn’t you do something to save them?”
She’d come forward now, and she was standing with her thighs pressing against the far side of my desk. She was quite attractive in that stance—hell, she would have been pretty in any position—and I ran my eyes up and down her person once, quickly.
She caught that, unfortunately. She backed up and stood tall again, almost at attention.
“Why do you look at me like that?”
“Um… you’re a lovely woman.”
“I’m not a woman. I’m an Imperial Kher. Still, I’m impressed that you’ve managed to contain your natural lusts this long. You must really want whatever information you feel I have.”
“I do. I mean—it’s not like that at all. Uh… let’s just keep talking. You don’t like the Nomads. We don’t like the Nomads. That might be a basis for an understanding.”
Lael paused thoughtfully. “What kind of understanding?”
“An alliance against a common foe, perhaps?”
She laughed. “Absurd. An alliance requires two participants. You’re unthinkable in that role. It would be like a mouse te
aming with a lion.”
“Let’s not call it that, then,” I said, staying upbeat with difficulty. “Perhaps we can cooperate in some small way to bring down a common enemy. Nothing more.”
She thought that over. “It could only be a temporary arrangement.”
“Right. Let’s say we have the joint purpose of capturing the Nomad that caused Diva to be attacked.”
“Capture? You can’t capture a Nomad. You can only destroy its vessel so it can’t immediately return to plague you again.”
“Vessel? You mean those circlets operate like ships for them?”
She looked at me speculatively. “I’m not sure who is being manipulated here,” she said. “But I now believe you truly want information about the Nomads.”
Unexpectedly, she turned her hip, aimed her shapely rump at my desk and sat on it. She looked at me with pursed lips. “Remove this offensive slave-bracelet and I will become more cooperative.”
I thought about it. She’d been searched for weapons, and without them she wasn’t very dangerous.
Standing up, I came close and stood behind her. I removed the cuffs and dropped them on the floor. She rubbed her wrists, and I found myself lingering near her.
She had a nice scent. It wasn’t quite like an Earth woman’s perfume, or just a clean, soap-smell. It was more delicate than that.
“You plan to force yourself upon me now,” she said. “I can see the intent in your eyes.”
“Uh… no, no,” I said, retreating behind my desk again.
Lael frowned and looked confused. Possibly, she was even a little disappointed.
“I don’t understand. Have your genitals been injured?”
I laughed. “Not at all.”
“Then you find me unattractive?”
“No… it’s not that, either. I’m just trying to question you.”
“Then continue. I will cooperate.”
“I’d asked you about their circlets. We found they use them to return here, and must die with one on their heads to leave permanently.”
I played a short vid on my desk. Godwin as Dr. Abrams died and melted away at the end.
Lael stared, breathing hard with her nostrils flaring. “You… you put that circlet on him and executed him!”
“Yes,” I said. “I found him annoying. He was interfering with the operation of my ship.”
She looked up slowly, and she had a strange look on her face.
“Nomads are far more than annoying. They are a form of artificial life. They never give up on a plan once it has been set in motion. Clearly, you are at the center of one of their monstrous schemes. I can only imagine what they have planned for you and your planet.”
“They can’t be much worse than you Imperial Kher,” I pointed out. “You’ve planned to exterminate us for some time now.”
She shrugged. “It would be a clean death at least. The Nomads will take you like predators from the darkness. You’ll never know when the end is near, and you’ll end your lives in abject terror.”
Trying to digest this, I blinked a few times in thought. “You said something interesting there—that Nomads are artificial life forms? What do you mean? Are they machines?”
“They are biological. But they are designed, not born. They are therefore something in-between a living creature and a machine.”
“Where did they come from?” I asked.
She spread her hands wide. “Here. This galaxy. This space where we stand.”
“If they’re designed, who made them?”
Lael looked surprised. “I thought that would have been obvious by now. They were created originally by the Kher. They were our slaves, our servants. But they rebelled many centuries ago. They’ve been banished from our stars—but they want to come back to their home.”
This was a stunner to me, but it answered many questions. It also indicated there could never be peace between Kher and Nomad.
How could you strike a bargain with a race of creatures so different from yourself? A race that called the same stars home that you did?
=50=
After talking to Lael a little longer, I had a security team escort her to the brig and lock her up. This seemed to surprise her as well.
“I’d assumed I would stay here—in your quarters.” She indicated my still-unmade bed with a nod of her head.
The two marines froze. Their eyes widened, but they didn’t say anything.
“You were mistaken,” I said. “Take her below.”
They led her away and no sooner had the door shut than it opened again. Mia stood there with her hands on her hips.
“That took a very long time,” she complained.
“She had a lot of interesting information to share.”
“I bet.”
Entering, she stalked around our shared quarters. I noticed her pawing suspiciously at the unmade bed, then wrinkling her nose in the bathroom area, but I pretended not to notice.
“Her scent is here, lingering—but it’s not on everything,” she said.
At last, completing her inspection, she climbed into my lap and kissed me.
“Mia, this isn’t the time—”
She pulled away, squinting at me. “Her taste isn’t there... How did you do it?”
“The taste…? Oh, Mia, we didn’t have sex.”
She lifted my fingers and ran them near her face. I knew she was sniffing them. She had a better sense of smell than any human I’d ever known.
“Here, I catch her scent,” she said. “But only that of her skin. You touched her?”
“I removed her handcuffs,” I said, indicating the bonds on the deck.
“Why would you do that? She’s a prisoner.”
“To make her more cooperative. I was questioning her.”
Mia stared into my eyes. “I want to believe you, but it’s difficult...”
“What will convince you?”
She began pawing at my clothing. I could have resisted, but the truth was all of Lael’s hinting around had gotten me aroused. I let her do it.
She sniffed me all over, and finally smiled. “You didn’t mate with her.”
“I told you I didn’t.”
“Are you feeling sick?”
I laughed again and hugged her. “Human males can control their instincts—sometimes.”
“That’s strange… what are you feeling now?”
That was it for me. She was in my lap, and I didn’t care anymore if I was on duty and behaving unprofessionally. I took her right there on my office chair. It swiveled and creaked loudly, but I made no effort to be quiet. I’d been teased long enough.
Afterward, she left with a smile on her face and a lighter step. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, knitting my fingers behind my head. For some reason, I nodded off.
“Boss?” Samson asked sometime later. “Captain, are you really sleeping?”
I lurched awake with a snort. Samson’s looming face was unwelcome. I’d been having an excellent dream.
Adjusting myself and sitting bolt upright at my desk, I shook myself all over.
“You okay, sir?” Samson repeated. “Commander Hagen sent me to find you… you’re late.”
“Perfect,” I said. “I’ll be right there.”
Samson looked at me strangely for a second or two.
“Dismissed, Ensign.”
He left then, shaking his head. I washed up quickly and headed for the bridge. I was late for my watch—that never happened. Everyone on the command deck stared when I came in.
Taking my chair like I owned the place—which I did—I began demanding reports and giving people extra duties. That made them all relax. They forgot about wondering where I’d been.
All except for Commander Hagen, that was.
“Sir,” he said quietly while standing next to me. “I hope your interrogation went well.”
I glanced at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He shrugged. “Did you… ah…get anywhere with the prison
er?”
He looked at me so deadpan, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Actually, she told me quite a bit.”
Proceeding to relay all the details Lael had let slip about the Nomads and their relationship with the Kher, I was gratified to see my smug XO slowly become impressed.
“That’s quite a technique you have there,” he said. “They told me you led her into your quarters tied up, but she came out with her hands free.”
“She’s not dangerous without her wand, or some other weapon.”
He looked at me seriously. “That’s not what I heard, sir,” he said. “I’ve read the files on your prior missions—and I’ve interviewed surviving crewmen. According to them, Lael had inappropriate relationships with a number of her jailors.”
“So… that’s what this is about. I’m not a hard-up spacer, Hagen. I got her to talk without any physical contact at all.”
“No abuse?”
“None.”
“No… entertainment?”
Getting angry, I shook my head firmly. “No.”
“All right then,” he said. “You understand, as your first officer, I need to know if my captain is in danger of becoming compromised.”
“Got it. Case closed.”
I felt like telling him he was more jealous than Mia, but I withheld such comments. He was right, in a way. It was his duty to know what was going on with the ship’s captain.
“One more thing, Captain,” he said before turning away. “There’s someone I’d like you to talk to… a xenobiologist.”
“What for?”
“She’d like to study Lael. I think she could help advise you on handling this prisoner.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I get it,” I said. “You’d rather have a woman in Lael’s cell—instead of me. Are we talking about Dr. Theresa Williams?”
“The same, sir,” said a voice behind me.
I turned to face Dr. Williams. “You’re timing is impeccable,” I told her, and I saw her exchange meaningful glances with Hagen.
Commander Hagen stepped quietly away at this point. He’d done his work well—I’d have to keep my eye on him, just as he was so obviously watching me.
“I haven’t seen you on the bridge before,” I said to Dr. Williams. “In fact, I haven’t seen you at all since we faced down Godwin together.”
