Desert Planet (THE RIM CONFEDERACY Book 6)

by Jim Rudnick

  Bram knew it was here that he had to make a decision to tell Tanner about his input testing of the Enkians and his undercover work with the Master or to keep it to himself. He made the choice not to share it yet, and he nodded and instead made a small addition to the discussion.

  "Sir, we also know that they all pride themselves on their judicial system—I would doubt that there are any instances of the kind of cult vigilantism that we all worry about. So far, so good, but that still does not help our own issue with how we help to rig this election. So far, at least ..."

  All three sat quietly at that point as Bram had succinctly put their own issue into a few short words—how to rig an election.

  No one spoke for a few minutes. Tanner sipped on his tea. Bram drank his water, and Kondo bit a fingernail.

  All three knew that the probe metal was the prize and the entry fee was the rigging of the election to allow the Fine Arts Muse leader, Qig, to win the head juror position.

  "We need to think on this ... and yes, as you know now, I needed help with this, and I'll tell you why. When I asked Qig what he wanted done and he explained, my immediate thoughts were murder. He wants me to kill the leader of the Words Muse, Uigoeri Qor. After more talk, while he never ever asked for that to happen, he was pretty sure that he wanted to rig the election by being the best remaining candidate. So Qor must somehow not be on the ballot. Hence, I called you in to help, figuring that three heads are better than this single old noggin."

  He sipped his tea again and thought that was as honest as he could be.

  He needed help—he'd lain awake now for two nights now, trying to come up with any way to get Qor off the ballot short of murder. And he'd failed.

  Bram nodded and Kondo still chiseled away at that fingernail.

  Neither spoke for quite a while.

  Finally, fingernail defeated, Kondo spoke up. "Sir, we'll need to think on this. The election is still about three weeks away, and we need to come up with a great idea by then, but for the life of me, the only thing I can come up with right now is—well, murder, an accident, a landslide, a sandstorm—whatever the locals will buy. Sir," he said, and Tanner could tell that he too was not clear on what to do.

  "Fine, let's meet up for lunch—standing orders—every day 'til we come up with a plan. I'll tell my steward and we'll have it here in my ready room daily 'til we have an answer.

  #####

  "First, I would very much like to thank Stonecraw Qew for his help in arranging the transport for today," Resources head Iabisha Qed said, and he smiled at the Militia man who was seated in the Enkian shuttle back a few rows from the front. For some reason, Tanner noted, while he and Kondo had been given front row seats, there were four more rows behind them that were full of Resources members. His friend Qed was on-board at least but back several rows, and he smiled at Tanner and waved.

  "We have arranged, via the ambassador's secretary, to show Captain Scott and Commander Lazaro some of what the Resources section does here on Enki, so there will be a few stops along the way. First up today is a trip to a Youngling Center for you to see how Enki handles our new citizens, from hatching through to muse engagements. We are close, yes, pilot?" he asked over his shoulder and received a "Roger that" from the pilot, as the shuttle banked to port, and the brown desert below grew closer.

  As the shuttle settled and Tanner looked at the big view-screen, he saw a large pyramid ahead with its telltale blue levels every so often all the way up to the summit. Unlike all the other pyramids though, he could not see an access ramp on the sands around the single pyramid. Instead, it appeared that at grade level, right off the sands, there was a large, very long doorway that was now closed.

  Grade level access, he thought, which is good because the dang steps were hard on these old knees.

  Moments later, the visitors group of more than thirty moved off the shuttle and followed the tour leaders toward that long, wide door. As they approached, it slid up in its entirety, and the noise level from within was loud. While Tanner had had little experience with children of any species, he knew that unsupervised kids got loud quickly, remembering what he'd seen back on the Hospital Ship just a few months back. But this was louder—much louder.

  The Resources leaders waved them inside, and they were immediately recognized by the hundreds of younglings inside—and the noise stopped instantly.

  Amazed, Tanner looked out at the young Enkians and noted they had all stopped their play of whatever they were doing and were forming up into lines and rows. Not a word was being spoken to them or by them; it was as if this was a standard practice that occurred at times, this being one of them.

  At the end of the side wall of the large rotunda area, there was a small raised dais or stage and a single Enkian stood on it. He appeared to be in charge of the hundreds of younglings in front of him, and that was a surprise at least to Tanner. One adult for hundreds of youngsters was a ratio that would mean disaster, he thought, but obviously here on Enki, it worked.

  As the visitors all arrived at the dais, the Resources leader, Qed, smiled up at the Enkian on the stage. His feathered crest of black and lavender rippled with importance, and he mounted the dais. He pointed to the row of chairs arranged in front of the dais between him and the rows of younglings, and his helpers got them all seated, with Tanner and Kondo right up front.

  Ahead of them, Tanner noted the younglings were all standing and waiting for whatever came next. Each, he could see as he inspected Enkian youngsters for the first time, was thin and rather awkwardly built. Not a single feather on any of their heads had any color but white, not a single additional color. That was odd, he thought, but it was apparent he had much to learn about Enkian younglings. They also wore a jumper that covered their bodies but left those scaly legs and spurs bare.

  "We welcome to Youngling Center Number Six the RIM Confederacy representatives, Captain Scott and Commander Lazaro, and we welcome them with open hearts. I ask that each of you, younglings and citizens, be as honest and as open with our visitors as you can be ..." he finished off, and Tanner was surprised that in front of him hundreds and hundreds of white feathered crests rippled in agreement.

  "We have prepared a small program for you too, so you can see what the first dozen years of a youngling's life is like at one of our Centers," he added.

  In front of them, the rows of younglings dissolved. The younglings reformed in a squared U-shape. A group of eleven younglings took the empty center of the square, moved up closer to the dais and the seated visitors, and took up their positions.

  Moments later, music sounded throughout the huge rotunda, and the eleven began to dance—at least that was what it looked like. The music had a driving sort of rhythm, and they stamped their feet in the same tempo, their arms twisting in time. It appeared that there was nothing more than that dance to celebrate, as nothing else happened for more than five minutes. At the end, the eleven younglings formed a row across the top of the U shape, forming a square, and bowed as a unit. The seated visitors applauded, and Tanner noted all the fluttering feathered crests among the younglings.

  After the Dance Muse presentation, the visitors sat through the Words Muse presentation. Eleven pieces of all kinds of scripts and humor and drama were read. Tanner didn't get the humor but noted many of the Enkians roared with laughter. After the Words Muse presentation, the Music Muse presentation came, and those eleven youngling musicians played instruments Tanner had never seen before though some looked violin-like. The actual work they played ran a bit longer than others, but Tanner rather enjoyed it—it was a cross between what he'd call a college football fight song and a funeral dirge. How they merged, he had no idea, but he liked their works. He clapped loudly and longer than most.

  The Performance Muse presentation was next, and the visitors were treated with an act from a larger work. It looked interesting, though why some of the Enkian younglings were hiding under furniture was beyond him. Fine Arts Muse offered a simple look at how their muse was c
ourted—each of the eleven younglings worked on their art for their short performance. Some painted, some carved in marble, and others worked in clay. It too received a large applause to end the five muse presentations.

  "We Resources section leaders would like to thank the staff here at Youngling Center Number Six for their hard work in the planning and presentation of the program today. We would also like to thank the fifty-five younglings who presented too and would offer that they are surely going to excel at the upcoming graduation day next week, which is Enki-wide. Dismissed, younglings," he said, and the room exploded with younglings, noisy, running, and traipsing all over.

  Tanner rose as did Kondo, and they stood with the others. Tanner waved Stonecraw Qew over to them.

  "This was great, so good to see, Stonecraw. My thanks for this to you, and please pass that along to the Resources team too, never seen anything like it!" he said, and he was being as honest as he could be. It had been interesting, although it made him want to ask a whole host of further questions.

  Later on the Enkian shuttle back to their home base on Enki, the capital city, he sat with the Resources leader, Iabisha Qed, asked his questions, and received answers that made him sit back and ponder.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The CN Pollux winked back into normal space a little more than a half light year from Enki and immediately went to full Impulse power in an attempt to get to its goal, which was to get to the planet as soon as possible.

  Captain Abu al-Hasan turned to his XO and said, "Scan for RIM ships, please, XO—and if you see any Enki ships too, let me know soonest."

  His Ramat XO smiled and nodded as he stared at his console and began to flip buttons and toggles as his scans went out. The Pollux was a Caliphate ship, a full destroyer that went along at two lights a day, and they'd just pulled into the Enki area on a major rush trip from Halberd. They'd been sent here on an emergency basis by the Caliph and had orders to be the first of many RIM ships to come. "And yes, they'd been first," al-Hasan said to himself.

  As the ship moved towards high orbit, they were immediately challenged by the Atlas via Ansible, and the captain said to ignore the messages that they needed to check in and the planet was no-contact according to RIM statutes. And they drew closer.

  The Ansible stopped buzzing, and they still cruised on at top speed.

  A full five minutes later, the XO spoke up with a hint of urgency in his voice. "Sir, long-range sensors report that there are missiles inbound—ETA of three minutes. Not known what they're carrying but can't be good, Sir," he said as his hands still flew over his console.

  Abu al-Hasan sat for a moment in his captain's chair and then he sighed.

  He nodded to his Ansible officer, and they placed a call in to the Atlas, which was answered but only after a full minute went by.

  Appearing on the Pollux's main view-screen, Captain Tanner Scott was busy with something and didn't pay attention to the new connection for a bit, and al-Hasan finally had to speak.

  "Captain Scott, have you launched missiles to greet a RIM Confederacy member ship? You do realize that I will have to report this affront to a full Confederacy member by just another member—you're not in the RIM Navy anymore, Scott."

  "Oh, not entirely, Captain. The Atlas has been the nominated RIM Navy vessel for this member candidate mission for almost two months. The Caliphate knows that like the rest of the Confederacy. The missiles, which are still on their way, were automatically launched to intercept an intruder. Soon as we verify that you are who you say you are, we'll call them back. XO, any issues with verification?" Scott said to someone off screen, and a few seconds later, he nodded.

  "We've recalled them, Captain. Take up a high orbit near us, please, and then come over to see me via shuttle. You are not allowed to set down on-planet either under any circumstances. You have been instructed, and we will not stop any further missiles. End conn," he said, and the view-screen went to black.

  "May Allah damn his drunken soul," the XO of the Pollux said loudly, and the comment received nods and sounds of agreement all across the Pollux's bridge. All the crew agreed with that, and yet they also knew the Barony Navy captain was correct.

  No one was allowed to set down on Enki on their own, as the diplomatic mission was still in progress. Anyone was allowed to orbit, but they had to check in first. And they'd been caught, but good. So now, they had to play a different kind of game to get down to the planet and see what they could do to find access to the probe metal on their own—for the Caliphate. They had a mission, and if you were in the Caliphate, you understood what would happen should you fail.

  #####

  Tanner knew most of the information Gallipedia presented on the UrPoPoi. The UrPoPoi were a bipedal species and were generally considered to be “humanoid” despite numerous pronounced anatomical differences. They were shorter than humans of average height and had slender bodies. Their faces were characterized by large, bulging eyes, pronounced lips, and a lack of any protruding nasal structure. They were omnivores, feeding mostly on plants and mollusks. And because the UrPoPoi skin was very sensitive to changes in humidity and quickly dried out, they preferred to spend as much of their time as possible in or near water and away from the sun. On their heads, they had the faintest of what might be called feathers but so tiny as to be almost un-noticeable.

  Dryness of the skin was extremely painful and even dangerous to an UrPoPoi, and they quickly succumbed to the effects of dehydration. Their natural habitats included shallow river deltas, swamps, and rain forests.

  After confirming what he knew about the UrPoPoi in Gallipedia, Tanner was even more surprised by the story that the Enkians were descendants of the UrPoPoi. According to the story, more than ten thousand years ago, the UrPoPoi had found Enki and moved a small colony there. It was beyond belief to imagine the Enkians had evolved from the UrPoPoi with the UrPoPoi's climate requirements, intolerance of sunlight, and need for water.

  Tanner knew the UrPoPoi never went to hot planets like Enki, and yet, here they were, as the UrPoPoi ship the UN Andiya dropped out of light speed and took up a picket position with the rest of the RIM group of ships that lay above Enki in low orbit.

  Lieutenant Irving, the Atlas Ansible officer, had told him there was going to be a communal Ansible, and they had been invited as a blind copy so they could hear the conversation but not be seen by the UrPoPoi side.

  He nodded to instruct his lieutenant to comply, and in a few moments, the big view-screen was lit up with the face of the UrPoPoi caller, whose name on the sidebar was Ambassador Nathan Ritchie.

  He had no nose and the big bulging eyes, a mixture of black and brown with no white at all that he could see dominated his face. His protruding lips looked very wet with saliva or something like that, he thought. The ambassadors was pitted and looked damp with large pores that perhaps held water or sweat or some kind of liquid. All in all, an alien, he thought, that looked just a bit out of place on a planet that was more than a hundred degrees at midnight. This might be interesting, he thought, and he sat back like the rest of his bridge crew to see what the UrPoPoi wanted.

  "What we want, Mr. Ambassador, is for you to verify with your watchdogs up here in orbit that we—our small UrPoPo diplomatic team—can come down by shuttle to speak to you directly, in person, on this whole RIM membership fiasco. We want to make our presentation in person, Ambassador Harmon—from one diplomat to another, Sir."

  The UrPoPo ambassador certainly knew his way around diplomacy, and Ambassador Harmon granted his request. Tanner nodded to Lieutenant Irving, as he watched the Ansible meeting.

  "Go to private, please, XO," he said, and the UrPoPoi feed was put on mute and a direct-in connection formed to the ambassador only.

  "Captain Scott, please allow the one UrPoPo shuttle to transport down to the current RIM offices here in the Words Muse pyramid. I would like there to be no more than a dozen, let's say, of them, and I will make that known to them. But also be very aware, Captain, that yo
u monitor their ship and any other in-out traffic too, please. Let me know immediately via private EYES ONLY to my PDA, please, should that occur."

  Their ambassador turned away from the screen, and it went to black.

  Tanner looked over at Kondo, his XO, and smiled.

  "So UrPoPo weighs in—they should'a been here a month ago, I figure," he said, and he looked for an answer from his XO.

  Kondo nodded. "Sir, they surely have an arguable case—they sit one orbit away from the same sun as Enki; the Enkians have been trading partners for them for over a thousand years; they offer up some specialized products to them—fine marble, I'm told, and a host of other art supplies. But they did nothing. We've been here almost five weeks and they—well, as far as I know—have never even contacted us let alone the Enkians to offer up their own sponsorship to a full RIM Confederacy membership. Personally, I think that's odd—or maybe they know something we don't—yet here they are, today. And the fact that they'd dry up and fade away in five minutes down on Enki obviously hasn't affected their wants to get in on the talks."

  Tanner nodded and they talked on the topic for a while.

  "Sir, shuttle away from the UN Drastic, and there are ... only eleven life signs onboard. Oh, one is not an UrPoPoi but a human. No idea who though at this point, Sir," the Atlas helm officer, Lieutenant Cooper said. His hands flew on his console, and from quite a few feet away, Tanner could see some flashing icons.

  "Sir, a quick look shows us that whomever this human is, their heartbeats are raised, breathing elevated too. Seems that whomever it is, they are anxious about this trip or nervous about the Enkians—no way to tell that, Sir," Cooper added, and that got him a nod and a "Nicely done, young man" from his captain.