Star Force 10: Outcast

by B. V. Larson

  Marvin did as I asked, and I turned to face the main viewscreen. Senior Lomm appeared as crestfallen as before.

  “Senior Lomm,” I said, “I have an idea, but I need someone high enough in your military and industrial hierarchy to be able to make decisions without others contradicting him—or her. I have no real idea as to the nature of your governing structure, and I don’t have time to learn about it. I need one person who can get things done, fast. Is that you?”

  I suspected it would not be as Lomm seemed uncertain. This council before us was probably akin to the World Joint Chiefs back home—ponderous and prone to inaction. I needed the field officer in charge of the fleet, but I’d already seen that “commander” wasn’t necessarily a complimentary term—or at least not prestigious enough.

  “No, Commander Riggs. I have no energy for such matters. The one you want is called Klak. He is Senior Field Director, and he commands the home fleet.”

  “Thank you for your time, Senior Lomm. I’ll confer with Klak.”

  “It does not matter. We are doomed.” The channel with Lomm closed.

  “Makes you wonder if they’re worth saving, eh?” Hansen remarked.

  “Yes,” I admitted, “but it helps me to think of this effort as sticking it to the Lithos and saving ourselves, not just helping these killer birds.”

  “We could always run,” Hansen suggested. “We already helped them a lot. It’s their fight.”

  I thought it over for a moment. Hansen had a point. Did we want to die for these people?

  “I think we can give them a chance to win and still come out intact. You’re right, it is their fight. But it’s ours, too.”

  Hansen shoved his chair over to mine, the smart metal of the floor obliging him with a weird undulating movement.

  “Riggs,” he whispered, “we lost six good people in the last battle, and we don’t have many to lose. Okay, we had to get through the ring, and you wanted to get resupplied from these people, I get it. But if we fight again, more frigates will probably be destroyed and even Valiant. If we lose this battlecruiser and the factory, we’re all screwed. Now’s not the time to play hero!”

  “You want to let this whole system fall to the Lithos when we might be able to tip the scales?”

  Hansen hissed in exasperation. “You wanted me to think big picture, right? Here it is: we have to get home and tell Earth, no matter what.”

  “Even if we all die, I bet Marvin can get home with all the intelligence. In fact, I’ll tell him to do that at my next opportunity.”

  “I heard you, Captain Riggs,” Marvin said from the console in front of me. Apparently he’d still been listening in. He probably eavesdropped whenever he could. “As a member of Star Force, I pledge to do my utmost to return the intelligence I have gathered to Earth—assuming my personal safety is not compromised.”

  “There you have it,” Hansen said sarcastically, his voice rising again. “The robot will save the day as long as there’s no risk involved.”

  “Hansen, you seem to be arguing both sides. You want to run from risk, and then you mock Marvin for wanting to do the same. Maybe the robot is braver than you are.”

  Hansen turned angrily back to the helm, but I didn’t care. I was getting fed up with his whining.

  “Listen up, everyone,” I said to the bridge watch, knowing they would pass on my words to their buddies. “I want to help these people, but I’m not leading us to some stupid heroic suicide. We have to take a few chances to make it home, and the Raptors may provide valuable assistance if we earn their gratitude. So do your jobs the best you can. I have a plan.”

  -36-

  After several abortive tries, the Raptors finally connected me to Senior Field Director Klak. An impressive specimen of Raptorhood, his multicolored uniform had numerous decorative threads and dangling metallic beads hanging off it. I guess military organizations were the same everywhere.

  I expected another frustrating conversation, but Klak immediately suggested we meet aboard Valiant. I agreed after making sure there was to be no feasting involved.

  Klak arrived half an hour later on a fast courier shuttle accompanied by two aides. I met him with Kwon and six marines as an honor guard—a fully armed and armored honor guard, just in case—and greeted the Raptors on the launch bay deck.

  In the flesh, the Raptors were impressive. Running around four hundred pounds each, they displayed about a zillion teeth and their heavily spiked tails were just as vicious-looking. I could see they would make formidable ground troops though I wasn’t sure how they could easily construct battle armor to fit.

  These three Raptors hadn’t bothered with suits. They came through the airlock with lightweight breathing masks that fit over their nostrils but not their snouts. They breathed in through these, and when they exhaled from their mouths I smelled ripe meat. I wondered if it was Panda meat, and I curled my lips in disgust.

  Forcing myself to show no fear, I stepped up to Klak and saluted. In turn, he lifted both of his four-digit hands and thumped the floor with his tail, bringing it forward between his feet to do so. That seemed rather awkward, but thinking about the origins of saluting back in Greek and Roman days—showing the hand held no weapons—putting the tail in a nonthreatening position might hold similar meaning.

  “Welcome, Senior Klak. I am Commodore Riggs.” I’d decided to give myself this title, meaning a captain that commanded a squadron. It was true and should more nearly equal his position as what we would call an admiral.

  “I greet you, Commodore Riggs,” Marvin’s running translation buzzed in my earbuds. The actual words sounded like sibilant hissing. Our words were beamed to the three via directional microphones on nano-tentacles here and there.

  “Let’s sit down, shall we?” I led them to a nearby conference room where Hansen waited. Despite his annoying manner, I wanted him to play devil’s advocate and judge our new allies firsthand if necessary.

  “May we examine your impressive ship first?” Klak asked.

  There was no way I was going to give them free intel before talking. I thought a moment before formulating an answer.

  “I’m sure there will be time for such pleasantries in the near future,” I said. “But first we must come to an understanding.”

  I waved them to Raptor-style seats. Those had been easy to program from their many public broadcast videos we had. I sat down and looked at my counterpart across the table. “I command and lead this squadron of Star Force ships from Earth. Do you command and lead the fleets of your people?”

  Klak hissed and withdrew slightly as if my question bothered him…but it was hard to read brand-new aliens. I might be misinterpreting his body language entirely. “I’m Senior Field Director of the fleet we attend. When the relief fleet arrives, I will be Subordinate Field Director to another, who is named Kleed.”

  “But the relief fleet is smaller than yours.”

  Klak hissed again. “You see the injustice, then! It is I who fought the Lithos, I who have spilled the blood of my warriors. Kleed is older but less deserving.”

  My eyebrows went up. “Your system gives command merely on the basis of age?”

  “Within a locality, of course. Yours does not?”

  Cautiously, I said, “Not always. It is only one of several factors. So…any agreement we reach might be countermanded by Kleed?”

  Klak cocked his head at me. “It might, at his whim. His honor is…questionable. But it will not matter. We will all be dead by that time.”

  “Maybe. What if you could avert that fate? What if I showed you a way to win?”

  The ruffs on all three of them flapped, and they hissed to each other too quickly to follow. At last Klak spoke urgently. “Tell us how.”

  I placed my hands on the table between us and leaned forward slightly. They didn’t back away but leaned forward as if to listen more intently.

  “I know of two ways to win,” I said. “One is more certain but carries a grim price. The other is risky bu
t may yield a great victory and save Orn Prime’s people.”

  “Tell me both.”

  “The first is simple. Fall back to the relief fleet before the Lithos arrive. Do what you can before that—use mines, long-range fire, and your orbital fortresses—but preserve your fleet. Then, when your ships join into one massive force, come back and defeat the Lithos. We will help you achieve a decisive victory.”

  Klak shook his head in a rolling motion, like a dog flapping wet ears. “I cannot. I would eat my tail first! Billions of our females would die. Not only that, it would dishonor me, and I would have to turn over my fleet to Kleed. To him would go the glory. If this is the only way there is to win…I would prefer to eat my tail immediately.”

  I frowned in confusion for a moment. What was all of this about eating tails? I figured it must be some kind of idiom, perhaps referring to suicide. He was saying he would rather die than retreat. I guess he really valued his honor and reputation.

  “There is another way,” I said, meeting Klak’s flinty eyes. “In fact, I would prefer this other way. But as I said, we might be risking your entire race because if we lose, your system will soon be overrun.”

  “Tell me. I will judge.”

  I brought up a display of planetary space on the conference table. The image encompassed both the Litho and relief fleets.

  “How far does your authority extend?” I asked him.

  “I direct this fleet only.” Klak tapped the seventy-odd ships grouped near the planet.

  “How about the orbital fortresses?” I caused those eight to light up.

  “No. They are commanded by another.”

  “What about the shipyards?” There were four of these where many vessels of his fleet waited for their turn at repair.

  “No. The Ministry of Production supervises them.”

  “The second strategy requires cooperation among these forces,” I said, straightening my spine. “You’ll have to convince or command those agencies to take unorthodox actions.”

  I proceeded to lay out my plan, describing the levels of energy I’d need fed into Valiant and what our weapons could do with an entire world powering them.

  Klak stared into my eyes, and I wondered what was going on inside his strangely shaped head. Now it was time to see what value this guy placed on his honor. In my opinion, a real hero would do whatever was needed regardless of personal cost as my dad had often done. Not only had he killed millions to save the human race, he’d risked his own life countless times. He’d never worried about what people thought of him.

  These Raptors reminded me a bit of the medieval Japanese culture. If a samurai found he was in an intolerable conflict between something he absolutely had to do and his own honor, the usual solution was to do it anyway and then commit ritual suicide—seppuku—to atone for it. If a samurai couldn’t bring himself to commit seppuku, he was branded an outlaw and killed on sight.

  If Klak was a truly honorable being, he would take one of my two offered solutions. If he was more pragmatic, he would probably try to convince the commanders of the orbital fortresses and the shipyards to go along with the plan and then bug out to join the relief fleet.

  “All right, Senior Klak. Which will it be?”

  Klak looked at me with those beady eyes for a long moment. “I will do what is necessary to implement your second plan. If that means discarding my honor…so be it.”

  The other two with Klak drew back for a moment as if astonished. He looked at each in turn. One of the subordinates lowered his head, apparently a sign of acquiescence. The other gave the Raptor head-shake and began to stand.

  Suddenly, Klak’s tail flew high in a vicious arc, crashing into the neck and head of the dissenter. The long spikes penetrated the back of his skull instantly killing the creature. When the dead Raptor sank down and sprawled on the deck, Klak turned his eyes upon the other and shook his bloody tail free of the corpse. The one who had agreed kept his head down still saying nothing. After a moment, the Senior grunted in approval and turned back to me. “As I said, I will do what is necessary.”

  For my part, I’d sat frozen with my arms and legs tensed to spring away. I’d managed not to appear outwardly fearful.

  I could not help but glance down at the dead creature on my deck. Had that one been the more honorable of the two? It was hard to say. I reminded myself that their ways were not ours. Maybe summarily executing subordinates was common practice here.

  “Excellent,” I said, turning my attention back to Klak. “Let me explain exactly what I need.”

  Klak listened.

  * * *

  Minutes later we’d exchanged secure communications protocols, and the Raptors left, abandoning their dead comrade on the floor.

  Hansen turned toward Kwon and his marines. “Get out,” he said.

  Kwon looked at me, and I nodded. “Take the dead Raptor with you and put it somewhere cool and safe. Preserve it, Kwon.”

  “You sure you don’t want some Raptor steaks?” Kwon guffawed. Then he and his marines lifted the dead creature onto their shoulders.

  When they’d filed out, Hansen turned to me and glowered. His expression was a mixture of disbelief and anger.

  “Are you insane, Riggs? You’re backing a military coup? We only just got here!”

  “It’s hardly a coup. All action will take place in orbit. It’s not like Klak is deposing the government on the ground. He’s only willing to do what’s necessary.”

  “You say that so smoothly as if it wasn’t all your idea. Your daddy would be proud.”

  “Hey, Klak made his choice. I didn’t tell him which plan to choose, and I sure didn’t tell him to kill his buddy. We can’t judge them by our standards.”

  Hansen’s hands worked as if he wanted to grab me. “You’re one ruthless son of a bitch, you know that, Captain?”

  “Just like my old man,” I said. I banged my open hand on the table in front of him. “If this is what it’s going to take to get us home, then we’re doing it. And admit it: did you really want to see the Lithos bomb Orn Prime back to the Stone Age just to win the battle? Wouldn’t you rather put it all on the line for the whole stack?”

  I kept a wide grin on my face. Slowly, Hansen began to return it.

  He chuckled ruefully, without real humor. “I’m just glad it’s not up to me…sir. So what happens afterward?”

  “Afterward?” I hadn’t really thought about it, so I faked a casual lack of concern. “Either way, we’re covered. Klak will take the fall for any wrongdoing, and we save the planet. If he comes out on top, he’s our buddy. I’m sure they will be happy to send us on our way with goodie baskets running over.”

  “And if we lose the battle?”

  “Then we meet up with the relief fleet and make a deal with them. We have technology they need, and we’ll make sure to transmit evidence of all our efforts to help them to the other planets.”

  “Got it all figured out, have you?”

  “Yup,” I retorted.

  “Remember Murphy’s law.”

  “I know what it is.”

  “But you’re too young to feel it in your gut, kid.” Hansen poked his reversed thumb into his belly. “In here. You’re playing with our lives and millions more on the world below. Billions, maybe.”

  I let my happy-face drop. “Yeah, Nels,” I said, using his first name purposefully. “I get it. I really do. Between you and me, I’m as worried as you are, but we can’t let the crew know that. I’ve been in enough poker games to know the best way to play a hand is without fear. Otherwise, you might as well fold.”

  We returned to the bridge, and twenty minutes later a secure call came through from Klak. “The director of the orbital fortresses has accepted my usurpation of his authority, but the civilian in charge of the shipyards refuses. I will therefore depose him by force.” Klak shuddered as if this action was almost unthinkable. “We will implement the plan.”

  “Very well, Senior Klak. We await your word.” I pumped
my fist with jubilation after the channel closed. “Yes! Hansen, bring us down into a lower orbit.”

  I stood to pace around the holotank watching for Klak’s moves. Soon enough, I detected them.

  The orbital fortresses began to gradually speed and slowly rise. They also maneuvered toward each other for rendezvous. They were slow, never having been designed to do more than adjust their orbits. They weren’t really ships, but if we got them into the right place at the right time…

  Then I saw several of Klak’s ships move in on each of the orbital shipyards. Zooming in, I could see a platoon of Raptor marines from each ship leaping the short distance to the space docks and taking positions all over their spidery structures. Combined with the troops from the vessels under repair, Klak reported he had seized the structures within the hour.

  “Incoming call from Senior Staff Director Lomm,” Marvin announced.

  “Put him through, with video.”

  “What have you done, Commander Riggs?” Lomm demanded. He appeared to be all alone in a room, and he looked even older and more defeated than before. This time, however, his defeat was tinged with outrage.

  “Commodore Riggs, please,” I replied. “There was an error in the previous translation. To what are you referring?”

  “Commodore Riggs, then. We observed that you met with Klak aboard your vessel. Now he has rebelled against lawful authority! Somehow you have done this.”

  “Senior Lomm, do you really think I could force Klak to do anything? I merely pointed out some hard facts and let him decide what to do. However,” I smiled slightly, “what will you and your government do about it?”

  “At another time I would have ordered our ground-based installations to fire on Klak’s fleet. Then Kleed could arrest him when he arrived…but I’m not blind. With the Lithos soon to come, I cannot further weaken our defenses.” The old Raptor drew himself up. “Honor demands I must eat my tail.”

  “Stop!”