by Taki Drake
Placing the tray and pitcher on the table in the room, Techla started toward the door to wake grandma, only to stop in surprise when Ruth emerged dressed in leathers and with an unusual device on her shoulder. The children were stunned into immobility when Pawlik also came out of the bedroom wearing a refurbished uniform with the same device.
“Thank you for the thoughtful meal! I’m definitely hungry, and this is a pleasant surprise,” exclaimed Ruth. Troyer noticed that Pawlik had somewhat reddened cheeks but thought nothing of it. Techla began to smile but said nothing.
Breakfast was done and the children were trying to explain the rules of the new game they were learning to Ruth and Pawlik when Cal and the two sergeants entered the room. Cal called out, “Good morning, Mom! What is the plan for the day?”
Troyer and Techla came over for a hug from Cal as Ruth responded, “Today we are going to visit one of the ships that are in trouble. Cal, I believe you’re going to be staying here. The rest of you get your stuff together and let’s get going.”
Gray leaned closer to Cal and whispered, “How are we going to get there?”
“I have no idea, but I’m sure it’s going to be a surprise. And apparently, I’ll be waiting when you get back.”
Pawlik motioned Cal over closer and informed him that he now had two additional assistants. As the two men finished discussing the tasks that are on the priority list, Pawlik suddenly smiled at Cal and said, “You realize that you are now my XO, right?”
Cal just stared somewhat dumbfoundedly at Pawlik and remained speechless. Opening his mouth to try to say something, Cal is saved from whatever incoherent sentence was about to come out of his mouth by Ruth’s sudden reappearance. She is holding three uniform jackets in her hand. Each of them has the same device on the upper left chest and on the right sleeve that she and Pawlik have on their jackets. Giving one of them to Cal, she stretched up to place a soft kiss on his cheek. “Happy promotion, sweetheart.”
Turning, Ruth handed each of the other two jackets to Sgt. Gray and Sgt. Roebuck. Cal immediately doffed the tunic that he was wearing and replaced it with the jacket. It fit perfectly, as if a tailor had spent all night adjusting it to his body. The two sergeants also put on their new uniforms. Once again the garments fit extremely well. At their look of amazed confusion, Ruth burst into laughter. The clear musical peal of her amusement rang through the room and brought a smile to everyone’s face. “Hello, people! Remember? Mage here!”
As the four men moved to gather what they needed for their exploratory trip to the other ship and to announce Cal’s promotion to the rest of the crew, the influx of people needing to speak to Ruth began to line up outside the door in the hallway. At this point, things were moving pretty smoothly. The guard would control people coming in and out. The people brought what they needed to get signed or approved by Ruth, there would be a short discussion, and that person would leave. The next would enter. Repeat again and again. All part of the regular morning routine. After about an hour of this daily decision-making process, Mary came into the room and wordlessly collected Techla and Troyer.
Ruth motioned Mary to stop for a second, and asked, “I never found out from you how many total children we have. So how many are there and how are they doing?” Mary’s gestures communicated that there were only 11 living children other than Troyer and Techla on the ship. Ruth felt a hammer blow to her chest and sat there, unbreathing. Mary was unaware of Ruth’s reaction. Waving a silent hand at the Mage, she took the children out to their scheduled class with the rest of the young ones.
OMG, thought Ruth. One of the pieces of information that she had found recorded in the computer systems was how many people had been collected from each planet by the ship, and the numbers were appalling. The Insectoids had decimated their slave population for food and for entertainment. It had been bad enough when she found that of the 1200 people captured from Earth initially that fewer than 30 were left. She had seen numbers that accounted for children. When the Earth population had been added to the ship the children had totaled more than 500. The fact that there were only 13 left was both heartbreaking and vindicating. Her sense of justice and revenge demanded that they be avenged and that was what she had done.
Mary reentered the room as Ruth was bringing herself under control. The silent women held the hands of a pair of young children. The boy was of obvious Earth origin, Middle Eastern in appearance and about 10 or 11 years old. His sister was younger, approximately four years old. Mary signed to Ruth that they had no one to care for them and she thought it was best to move them in with Troyer.
“Are you willing to share a room with my grandson?” Ruth asked the boy. He nodded in response but did not say anything. The little girl just clung to Mary. “Okay, Mary. Please get them relocated in with Troyer and Techla and arrange the sleeping accommodations as best fits the kids.”
Once again Mary exited the room with children in tow. Ruth smiled briefly after them and turned to the next person waiting to speak to her. It was a middle-aged male quadruped with what appeared to be elaborately braided hair. He said, “It is so very sad about the boy’s mother. His father should be shot!”
“What do you mean?” Ruth asked. The man, whose name was Norm, told her that the mother sacrificed herself for the children. The Insectoids had taken the boy and were going to eat him when the mother bravely challenged the Insectoids to an exchange. The slavers were amused by her attempt and told her that if she died without screaming that her children could live. Unfortunately, the children had to witness their mother being eaten alive. The brave woman made no sound throughout her torture and death, biting through her own tongue to prevent any noise from emerging.
The children had been catatonic for a period of time. Some of the other women had made sure that they had food and tried to help them, but the shock had been too much. The boy at least had started to come out of his numb state and interact a little bit, when the women that had been providing care were also killed.
The little girl had retreated further and further from reality, hiding in corners and under any available cover. The boy had become aggressive in protection of his sister and would not allow anyone close to her.
Then Ruth had transformed to Mage. The activity and turmoil that accompanied that transformation somehow got through to the children. In the weeks that Ruth was in the shroud, Mary had worked on providing some security and care for them. She was slowly getting them to interact with others.
Norm was positive that part of the problem was concealed in the actual capture of the small family. Since the Insectoids had kept video records of all captures and all deaths, he and Mary had tried to see if they could find out where from the children had come. What they found was horrific.
The slavers’ shuttle had landed in an area of dense Middle Eastern population. The Insectoid harvesting crew had trapped and was securing captives when the children’s father had picked up the small girl and thrown her at the Insectoids. As they grabbed the child reflexively, the man turned and ran. Without hesitation, the mother had dashed toward her daughter. And the brave boy had run after his mother. The video showed that the man had never looked back.
Ruth flashed into incandescence. The smell of burning paper and melting metal filled the room. Norm took one appalled look and ran for the door. He was almost trampled in the hallway as Pawlik charged into the room at incredible speed. Giving a comprehensive glance around the room and not seeing any immediate threat, Pawlik dove for Ruth and placed one hand on each of her shoulders. “Breathe, just breathe! Center yourself and relax. Loss of control will not help anything.”
Ruth caught her breath in a sobbing hiccup, whispering, “It just makes me so angry…”
Chapter 11 – Field Trip
It had been about an hour since Ruth finished with the daily tasks and had prepared herself for their field trip. She and Pawlik entered the command deck of the ship.
The skeleton crew was busy with the usual operation of a spaces
hip. To Ruth’s unaccustomed eye, the command deck looked crowded. After the sparse furnishings in the majority of the ship, a room, even a large one, with a captain’s chair, two helm stations, offensive and defensive weaponry positions, sensor and communications controls and navigation posts seemed to overfill the room.
In addition to the duty crew, the boarding party that Pawlik and Cal had assembled was waiting. It was not possible to put together a large group since they didn’t want to leave their ship unable to navigate or defend itself if necessary. Pawlik had made sure that the crew knew that they reported to Cal in Pawlik’s absence.
The boarding party was all armed. Even Ruth was armed with a gun, although she was pretty sure she would not remember when to use it. However, if it made Pawlik feel better, she was willing to carry one. She started the briefing. “The first ship that we’re going to visit is in distress. They appear to have adequate life-support and the food production machines are operating. However, it seems that there is some form of inter-ship conflict going on that needs to be resolved.”
One of the officers on the deck crew interjected, “How do you know?”
“I just know.”
The men in the boarding party and some of the bridge crew looked skeptical. With an irritated wave of her hand, Ruth Drew a large rectangle in the air. Solidifying out of the air was an omnidirectional vision tank. “Will that help?” she asked, “that shows the situation on the ship. The highlighted areas are those of conflict, while the green ones show working life-support, and the blue ones are active food production.”
Pawlik asked, “Could you please keep the vision tank up while we get our boarding party leader to come closer and look the situation over so everyone knows what we are getting into?”
Reluctantly, the members of the boarding party crowded closer to the vision tank. What they saw quickly involved them, and they soon calmed down and focused on the effort of committing what they saw to memory. The bridge crew was still rattled. Pawlik glanced around and leaned forward toward Ruth. Speaking loudly enough for everyone on the deck to hear, he said, “They are all a little freaked out by what they see because they’re not used to a Mage. Which when you think about it makes sense since it’s been over five millennia since we’ve had one in the Alliance.”
Pawlik studied the vision tank himself for a bit and finally turned away and looked at Ruth. “How long a journey is it going to be, Ruth?”
“They are multiple light years away.”
“That’s gonna take a long time to get there, even with the stardrive on the ship.”
“Not as long as you think. Why don’t you just point us in the right direction and we will go?”
Pawlik started laughing helplessly. His men look at him in confusion and irritation.
Ruth grimaced over at him and said, “I am not sure why you think that is so funny but I’m glad I can amuse you.”
Taking a deep breath, Ruth extended one hand toward the vision tank. A beam of braided light, colored black red and white, shot from the palm of that hand and touched the image of the remote ship. Ruth’s other hand was held flat with an extended index finger. Using that finger to draw a circle around the entire boarding party in a brilliant green light, the bridge seemed to pulsate once, twice, thrice. An even brighter light of many colors appeared, connecting the entire boarding party with the image of the ship on the vision tank. The light seemed to fold in on itself briefly, before exploding into a tunnel of coruscating colors. A soundless wind pulled on each of the boarding party members and crew. The very fabric of the ship hummed in harmony with the wind. There was a feeling of movement and a great force pressing on them. The tunnel extended until it appeared to encompass the entire bridge, perhaps even the entire ship. The wind became audible, and there was a feeling of upside down and inside out as the ship folded up and rushed through the tunnel. There was a momentary disorientation and all was calm.
They found themselves still on the bridge and in their same positions. However, every alert on the navigation board had lit up. Somehow in less than five seconds time they had transported to an area that was directly beside their target ship. The entire bridge crew sprang into action. Privately, Ruth thought this is a fairly well-choreographed freak out dance by a spaceship crew in a very professional way. To avoid laughing at the mental image of previous weddings and chicken dances, she stayed totally silent. Only a slight quivering of the muscles around her mouth betrayed the deep-seated urge to laugh.
Pawlik said, “Comms, hail the other ship.”
“No response, sir.”
“Try again.”
The second attempt to communicate with the ship got a response. An obviously rattled voice demanded to know who they were and how they had gotten this channel.
Without prompting, the communications officer said, “This is the Mage Ship Dragon Flame carrying the Lady Mage. Prepare to be boarded. Gather all former slaves in the audience room so that the Mage can address them. Have an appropriate group meet the Mage and her party at the main transport bay.”
The voice from the other ship stammered slightly before exclaiming, “There are no former slaves here. You must have the wrong ship. This is an independent trader and if you board you will be acting like pirates.”
Before Comms could respond, Ruth flung up a hand and drew it across her mouth. She turned to Pawlik as he was getting up from the captain’s chair, bursting into speech, “He is lying!”
It was obvious that Ruth is becoming more and more angry, with tendrils of light running up and down her body. Keeping a concerned eye on her, Pawlik called the Marine lead and Sgt. Gray up onto the deck to try to figure out a strategy for boarding the ship. About the time that the two men joined Pawlik on the bridge, the lights running up and down Ruth’s body seem to merge, and a pulsing light exploded away from her hands. The Dragon Flames bridge crew heard Pawlik’s voice from inside the light, saying, “hold on!” The light flashed even brighter and Ruth, Pawlik, and the other two men were gone.
Chapter 12 – The Mandrake
A brilliant flash of light heralded their entry onto the command deck of the Mandrake. It was a bridge similar to the one on the Dragon Flame, different in crewing but not set up. Ruth had brought not only Pawlik and Sgt. Gray and the Marine lead but had somehow pulled every one of the boarding party with her. They were stunned by the abrupt transition but had at least been introduced to the whims and ways of their volatile Mage over the last few weeks. The people on the Mandrake bridge lacked that reference.
Where the Dragon Flame crew had made an effort to maintain a professional level on the ship, this group had no such direction. Trash was everywhere. There were six people on the command deck, sprawled in various postures of relaxation, looking like pirates. Two additional huddled bodies were in the corner, motionless. The large man that had been stretched across the captain’s chair lurched to his feet, shouting inarticulately and drawing his weapon. He fired at the Mage. It was the last mistake he would ever make. The sound of weapons firing slammed through the room, assaulting the hearing sense just as badly as the energy bolts Ripp through bodies. The Mandrake’s crew was no match for Pawlik’s handpicked boarding party. Five minutes later all of those that had fired on Pawlik’s men were dead. Their bodies lay in disarray as if a child had a temper tantrum with its dolls.
Ruth walked over to the two bodies in the corner that had not moved during the battle. Bending down, she brushed the hair back from the dead woman’s face, the signs of recent torture apparent on her body. The second body was a man, with similar wounds and the same look of painful death. Straightening with resolution, Ruth turned to Pawlik and said, “I am going to freeze all of the people on the ship until you get it under control. There will be no more innocents killed on this ship today.”
It had been a rough few hours. The Mandrake was secure, with a crew cobbled together from former slaves and a command group from the Dragon Flame. Pawlik had selected people to travel back with them to replace t
he personnel that were transferring to the Mandrake. Ruth had examined the entire population of the Mandrake and passed all but two. Those two were guilty of torture and murder. An impromptu Mage court tried, sentenced, and executed them. Pawlik commented in an aside to Sgt. Gray that the trial would be an unforgettable lesson on the price of disobedience.
The structure that Pawlik and Cal had built allowed them to seed the Mandrake with staff members who were familiar with Ruth’s expectations. The advantage of having a good organization and a competent team is that you can delegate and trust that your wishes will be carried out. Pawlik was comfortable with allowing the new combined crew of the Mandrake to sort out their issues and resolve most of them.
Among the people rescued from the pirates that had seized control after all of the Insectoids had mysteriously disappeared, was a fairly large group of experienced spacers. Pawlik happily sorted through them, tagging more than 80% to return to the Dragon Flame with him. The rest would remain with the Mandrake and it would be up to the new captain to organize. After extensive discussions with the experienced command level personnel on the Mandrake, Pawlik named one of the boarding party as the acting captain of the Mandrake and a former mercantile captain as his XO.
A meeting with the combined command group allowed Ruth to go over her expectations about the necessary census and the general plan for later rendezvous. Feeling like the day had marked a job well done, Ruth transported all of them back to the main meeting room on the Dragon Flame where Cal was waiting.
He had positioned tables and people around the perimeter of the chamber. Others directed the new crew members to specific tables for room assignments, duty stations, and orientation. It all seemed to be working smoothly.
