Captains Malicious (The Liberation Series Book 1)

by T. R. Harris

  Drake stepped forward on the platform, his face dark and hard as stone. He only took a second to peer into Kincaid’s eyes before turning his deadly gaze upon the still-silent gathering of crewmembers.

  “What the hell’s wrong with you?” Drake’s voice echoed off the walls and penetrated every corner of the landing bay. “Let the Captain speak, or by God I’ll shoot you down where you stand.”

  Kincaid took a deep breath and then sent a small nod Drake’s way. He then turned to address the crew. “Thank you Mr. Drake. That was unexpected, but I guess this is the day for the unexpected. I will make this short. First of all, that broadcast came as a complete surprise to me and my staff. It appears as though our efforts here must be having an impact, since I’ve never before heard of such actions being taken against a group of loyalists fighting against a savage enemy. It’s as if Earth has forgotten who their true enemy is.”

  “That may be so, Captain, but it’s still our lives and property they’re going after.”

  Robert could make out the speaker as Demetrius Franco. As with nearly all the crewmembers in the chamber, Franco was from Ione and Robert had known him for nearly twenty years. The people in the room weren’t just a bunch of nameless faces without a history; they were his friends, his associates, his comrades-in-arms.

  Now what could he say to make things right?

  “I know what you’re feeling, Dem, and that’s why I say any of you who wish to take the amnesty offer are encouraged to do so. Many of you have a lot to lose, including the legacies most of us have built as the founding families of the Reaches. That should be preserved if at all possible. But you must realize we are still under Vixx’r occupation and any accommodation that may exist now between Earth and the Sludgers could be easily withdrawn. And once you proclaim yourselves as former members of the pirate resistance, you will be watched. Whatever peace you may find now may not last.”

  “It’s a risk we have to take!” said another voice from deep in the crowd. Waves of agreement filled the room.

  “As I said, you’re free to go. All I ask is that you let the rest of us—those who will continue the fight—not fear you as informants.”

  “Ten mil is a lot of money, I don’t care who you are,” said another voice above the din.

  “It is indeed,” said Kincaid. “And I wouldn’t fault any of you from trying to get your hands on it. Yet will that help liberate our worlds from the aliens? Or will it only put your greed and disloyalty to the Human race on public display for all to see?”

  “The reward is coming from our own government. Besides it’s been your greed that has brought all this upon us.”

  “None of what I have done has been for the money—”

  “—Because you’re already rich!”

  “And he’s made the rest of you rich, too!” Drake said, injecting himself into the debate. “He’s had the rights to the captain’s share of all the bounty we’ve taken, yet he’s passed all that along to you—and to me. So don’t question his motivations and dedication. He’s about the only one here who is doing this for a cause beyond himself.”

  Robert turned to stare at Drake. This was indeed a day of surprises.

  “Thank you again, Mr. Drake. I appreciate your words of support and encouragement, yet I do understand the grievances of the crew. So leave if you must. Those of us who remain will carry on, and now that Earth has taken the steps they have, the Human population of the Reaches should now be safe from Vixxie reprisals, since they’ve all become deputies for the aliens and their efforts against us.”

  Robert Kincaid hung his head as if in silent prayer. When he looked up again he shook his head. “I find it hard to believe that our own government would choose to assist the occupiers as they’ve done. We didn’t create the demise of the Reaches, the Vixxie did. Our economy suffers because of them, not us. Our families go without proper food and utilities because of them, not us. We have lost so much from the occupation, and yet our own Human brothers and sisters have turned us into the enemy.”

  Robert looked out at the crowd. They were calmer now, more resigned to reality rather than like a rabid animal ready to strike.

  “There is three million dollars’ worth of bounty still to be disbursed. I will get that out to all of you immediately, and then you can follow your own calling as you see fit—”

  “Why don’t we give it back?”

  The sentence was spoken by an anonymous voice near the center of the room and immediately created an angry backlash.

  “Give it back, are you crazy? The aliens stole all this wealth from us…and you want us to give it back to them!”

  “No! Not to them, but to us—to the people. After all, it really belongs to us, not the Sludgers.”

  There was a stunned silence in the room, as minds sorted through the possibilities.

  Robert looked at Bondel—who, to his surprise, gave him a wink.

  Kincaid stepped into the silence.

  “I find that idea to be intriguing. And you’re right; all the wealth of the Vixx’r here in the Reaches has been stolen from us. So what we really have here is our money, not theirs.”

  “We didn’t steal nuthin’!” a voice cried out, followed by a chorus of agreement.

  “So spread the wealth around,” Javon Steele called out from the stage, speaking for the first time, a look of hope now on his chocolate-colored face.

  “Just like Robin Hood!” an anonymous voice stated boldly.

  “Like Robin Hood!”

  “Who?”

  Kincaid smiled. There was no blaming some in the crowd for their lack of knowledge of ancient history. But now his mind was a jumble of possibilities, and he did his best to put them into some coherent form before speaking, not wanting to ramble when next he spoke.

  “Consider this new strategy my friends,” he began. “We continue with our efforts in defiance of both the Sludgers…and of Earth. Yet now, we only keep a little for ourselves and then return the bulk of our recoveries to the people. This will have a much broader impact on the population rather than a few winners based on betrayal of their fellow Humans. The millions we have, and the millions more we will get, can make a big difference in the lives of our friends and families.”

  “And it will help us win the propaganda war with the Vixxie and Earth,” Steele threw in.

  “Exactly!” Robert concurred. “With our Robin Hood-like generosity, we’ll gain loyal supporters and allies in our fight. Where only moments ago there was a whole population aligned against us, we will now have a shadow army solidly behind us.”

  “But what about reprisals? Won’t the Sludgers now carry out their threat of genocide?”

  “There are a billion Humans in the Reaches and a little over one hundred thousand Vixx’r, so I think their threat of genocide was never a serious one. If a true effort at genocide was to take place, the aliens would be unable to stop the rebellion that would result—”

  “And that we would foment!” Drake added.

  Robert was feeling so ecstatic at the moment that he allowed a slight smile to escape his lips when Drake used the word foment. He would have never guessed the crude brute would even know the meaning of the word.

  “Indeed, Mr. Drake. We would foment the hell out of something like that, giving the alien bastards more trouble than they could imagine.”

  Robert Kincaid surveyed the faces of his crew. This was a different crowd from the one that had occupied the chamber only minutes before. There was excitement here, along with hope. The possibilities were obvious, even if it would require a shift in purpose and attitude. Kincaid’s mission had just changed, yet deep down inside, it was a change he could welcome with all his heart.

  He would still be a pirate, yet from now on he would be a good pirate.

  14

  ROBERT Kincaid had acquired eighteen small shuttles from his family’s shipping business over the years and he kept them either at his asteroid base or divvied up among the four starships currently in h
is tiny pirate fleet. They would now be used to ferry the wealth of his pirate activities to the surface of Ione, Sunderland and Freemont, the three major inhabited worlds in the Reaches.

  As it turned out, none of his crew deserted him—at least not yet and not publicly. It appeared they were willing to give this new strategy a chance and see what impact it would have.

  The first three million in stockpiled bounty was split amongst the planets, and consisted of cash, gold, silver and other precious jewels. Once distributed through friends and family, this wealth would circulate throughout the population, being traded and converted into cash where necessary and thereby multiplying the effect. The three million would eventually have the impact of five times that amount.

  It was a start, and the crew who made the first dangerous treks to the surface had to act fast, buying loyalty and silence before they could be informed upon. And they also had to stress that this windfall was being offered by Robert Kincaid and his pirates, thereby blunting the effect of the broadcast from two weeks before.

  Much to his satisfaction, the results were immediate. Thanks to mass media, news of his generosity spread like wildfire. At first some of the news commentators tried to downplay his efforts, stressing the obvious truth that this was just an overt attempt to buy loyalty and shield him and his pirates from capture. In the end, the underlying motive didn’t matter; the people welcomed the donations, and soon the media caved and began to support his efforts.

  The Vixxie, on the other hand, protested even more loudly, both locally and to Earth.

  And then there came a tense period four weeks into the campaign that tested the resolve of the Human population. After two more successful raids on alien cargo ships by Kincaid and his crews, the Vixx’r lined up thirty-five civilians on Sunderland and summarily executed them.

  Kincaid held his breath waiting to see which direction public reaction would take after the event. Without time to foment a protest movement to the tragedy, he was afraid the population might turn against him in light of the new terrorism campaign launched by the Vixxie. But then the local alien garrison near the site of the executions was overrun by an angry mob numbering in the thousands. Soon afterwards, Vixx’r representatives went on the air to condemn the original massacre and assure the Humans that no more events like that would take place in the future. All the Vixx’r wanted was peace among the species—or so they said—and that violence such as they’d just experienced was counter-productive on both sides.

  This did not, however, stop the aliens from trying to stop Robert and his pirates.

  And that was when Robert began to take the initiative.

  *****

  KASSIOS had become aware of the planned pirate landing scheduled to take place in a distant canyon outside his base near the Human settlement of Mountainview. The crew of the shuttle was to deliver a supply of gold ingots to loyalists who would then use the sacred metal to finance the growing resistance to the Vixx’r occupation. Kassios couldn’t allow the delivery to take place, so he embarked with eighteen of his Vandermont to ambush the Humans and confiscate the cargo for the benefit of the Whole.

  Now, as the shuttle’s exhaust cloud cleared from the landing on the dusty soil, his force revealed itself, plasma weapons leveled at the five occupants of the vessel and the eight others who had come to meet them.

  Kassios was nearing eighty, and he hated the harsh environment of this alien world called Freemont. So as an accommodation to the cold, he wore an irritating shield garment over his torso, which was simply a blanket with a hole cut so that his head was exposed. The cloth would become saturated with his precious lubricant by the time the mission was completed, and he debated whether or not he would wash it afterwards or simply throw it away. He knew the liberating answer would be to discard the garment, yet in deference to the term of his present assignment and the reality of the weather on the planet, he knew he would end up keeping the offensive cloth for future use.

  Even though the weather was cold and breezy, he still chose to wear four sacred gold chain necklaces and a pair of silver wrist bands measuring five inches in length. He also had a pair of gold ankle shields and an assortment of rings carrying diamonds and other gems. Others of lesser rank were also adorned, yet none as ornately as he.

  Kassios now gathered all the criminals before him.

  “Who is the leader here?” he asked of them all. Kassios was a graduate of the Human Language Institute on Vixx, so he functioned quite well in contact with the sub-beings. When no one answered, he stepped up to the first Human he came to—one from the shuttle—and placed his plasma weapon under the male’s chin.

  “Need I appoint you leader, just so I can kill you to make a statement?” He grinned widely, something that showed off the double rows of inch-long, pointed teeth all Vixxie possessed. He knew their teeth were intimidating and frightful to the Humans, so he went out of his way to display them at every meeting he had with the frail, mostly-pink creatures.

  The Human showed no fear, which bothered Kassios to no end. He pressed the weapon further into the soft flesh of the alien.

  “I’m not the leader,” the Human finally spoke. “Our leader is Captain Robert Kincaid. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?”

  “Of course I’ve heard of him, Human. He is known to be the leader of all you renegade savages. Yet what I meant is who is the leader of this mission? Is that you?”

  “No, it isn’t. Like I said, the leader is Captain Kincaid.”

  Even the Vixx’r were known to frown when confused or frustrated, which Kassios was now both. “Are all Humans as stupid and blatantly uncomprehending as you? I ask a simple question—”

  “And I gave you a simple answer. I am not the leader—but he is.”

  The Human looked over Kassios’ shoulder at a point somewhere beyond.

  “I’ll take it from here, Mr. Devlin,” said a voice from behind Kassios. He turned quickly, only to find a row of fifty or more Humans as they emerged from the nearby tree line. They were also armed with plasma weapons, just many more than his Vandermont possessed.

  The Humans rushed in and disarmed Kassios and his brothers, after which he came face-to-face with the Human called Robert Kincaid.

  “It was really kind of you to join us here,” Robert said. “What’s your name?”

  “I am First X’er Kassios of the Ninth Vandermont. You must know your actions here—and elsewhere—are a direct violation of the Occupying Protocol Agreements signed by both our species over six years ago?”

  “Oh you mean the documents my people were forced to sign under threat of death?”

  “It was our right as victors to demand such of your species.”

  Robert looked around at the scene surrounding the shuttle and smiled. Kassios had met literally hundreds of Humans in the two years he had been assigned to the occupation Vandermont, and he often wondered how they were able to devour their food with such small and dull teeth? Yet his attention was now drawn back by the words the alien was speaking.

  “It would appear, Kassios, that in this small theater of operations, the Humans are the victors. So can we also demand your unconditional surrender under threat of death?”

  “You are being ridiculous, Kincaid. You can claim no such victory in light of the much larger conflict we are engaged in.”

  “So it appears an example must now be made of you and your Vandermont.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Simple. There’s a lesson to be taught here, one that the Vixx’r must be forced to take to heart.” The creature stopped talking and turned to one of his associates. They seemed to pass a mental message between themselves, because the other Human suddenly began to bark out orders. Other Humans now rushed forward and began to strip Kassios and this kind of all their adornments, even removing the shield garments they wore. Already their weapons had been confiscated, but now they were stripped near-naked and insulted with the removal of their sacred adornments.

  Now shivering in
the obscene cold of this savage world, Kassios and the others were forced to march on foot back to the Human settlement called Mountainview, a journey that would take four local hours. As Kassios departed, he glanced back at the creature known as Kincaid and was greeted with a wide grin and a wave of a hand by the insane alien.

  Kassios knew a few of his Vandermont would succumb to the elements before arriving back at their base. He also knew word of the humiliation would spread—especially since Kincaid and his Humans had recorded much of the insult for public broadcast.

  Kassios also suspected his kind would pay a high price for his failure this day, as other such raids on Kincaid’s pirate activities would be met with fear and uncertainty as a result. He began to wonder if the effort to subjugate these strange, unreasonable creatures was worth the trouble.

  *****

  THERE were only nine Vixx’r of higher rank than Gaolic Baett in all of the Confederation, and as luck would have it, three of them had just spent the last hour berating him until he felt about two inches tall. Fortunately, Supreme Mahala Havic Vazs had already indicated he had another meeting to attend and so would soon be leaving the communication link. It was Gaolic’s hope that the other two would then loose enthusiasm for the verbal fisticuffs they were inflicting on him once the great leader moved on to more important matters.

  Yet before he left, Havic Vazs had one last order to pass down. “Put an end to this budding rebellion by whatever means necessary, First-Master. Our plans are too crucial for any disruptions, especially since your province has been chosen as the staging and assembly area. We are too close to an agreement with the Humans to have negotiations fall apart now.”

  “I will follow your orders, Mahala Vazs; by Rebala I swear it.”

  Havic snorted. “Just get it done; save your proclamations to the almighty for when you have positive results. I will now leave this link.”

  The expressions of the other two Vixx’r leaders softened somewhat once Havic Vazs was gone. Each had been the recipient of his wrath at one time or another, so they could relate to what Gaolic had just experienced, even though they had both been willing participants.