“Someone will pay,” Sslolg muttered to himself as he bent over the wash basin. He unhinged his jaws and pressed his upper fangs against the basin lip. Purging venom was painful without the benefit of an opponent’s flesh. Sslolg vowed to remember this pain so he could visit it upon the idiot who made what might be a fatal error likely to expose the entire secret war fleet. He stood up and ran his claws along the length of his long snout, counting teeth that ached for revenge.
***
Senate Prince Abhay Nautiyal slipped into the back seat of the Skimmer and pulled the skirts of his Greatcoat over his lap. The gold embroidery and diamond threads sparkled in the artificial light of the landing pad. He hated such finery with a passion bordering madness, but his position demanded he wears royal garments when addressing the Government.
His three bodyguards piled into the vehicle with him. Two sat on either side, and the third took the rear-facing seat in front of him. Although the bruises and lacerations of his sparring session with his guards were healed, the dull ache of their presence remained. He hoped his men felt the same. Abhay needed the reminder that he was a first a soldier, then a politician.
The skimmer pilot lowered and sealed the gullwing doors and announced departure. The hull vibrated as delta wings retracted into the rounded triangular shape of the Skimmer’s body. The craft was too small to use a Boson field, so it relied on ion repulsors to fly. Their evening flight would be ballistic so that the skimmer wouldn’t need its wide wings for the ascent. They would fly up into the stratosphere like an ancient earth missile and descend on the other side of the planet to the Governmental City of New Delhi.
“Proceed when ready,” Abhay replied to his pilot, then closed the communication channel. He deployed a small console from the low, upholstered ceiling and entered a code on the alphanumeric panel that would isolate the passenger compartment from any eavesdropping. The pilot would only be able to communicate with him in the case of emergency.
In addition to being his bodyguards, the three men in the skimmer with him were his dearest friends. This wasn’t the preferred arrangement for servants to a Royal Senatorial Family, but these three men grew up with Abhay. They’d fought off-planet together as well as engaging in civil conflict at home. Abhay had saved their lives as many times as they’d saved his. While Abhay’s command over them was absolute, he loved them as if they were his blood brothers. He often had trouble counting that as a weakness or strength.
“You look troubled, Senator,” Malik said as he folded his arms across his broad chest and studied his Master with a furrowed brow. Malik was the ranking officer among the three guards who were, in turn, the ranking officers of the larger body of House Troops. These were the heads of his family’s army. Abhay got the impression Malik took the seat in front of him precisely to make this observation.
Abhay studied Malik in return. There was no use hiding his thoughts from this man. It was a side effect of friendship that Malik knew what was in his heart. “I am troubled,” Abhay admitted. “More to the point, I am worried. I’m not accustomed to worrying. I do not like it.”
“I will also admit worrying,” Malik said. “Nobody who knows what we know could feel otherwise.”
Malik was two years younger than Abhay but always seemed much wiser than his years. That was why Malik had a real chance of earning a place in the Ruling Caste one day. Malik’s high achievement earned his family an elevation of three Caste levels already. Most citizens could count on at least one Caste rank increase in their lifetimes. Abhay had hardly used any of his influence to make the promotions happen. Malik was going places. He was also Abhay’s closest friend.
The other two officers, Jaabir, and Madhuk, sat silent and observant. They looked through the skimmer portals into the dark, starlit sky, and Abhay knew they were contemplating every word and the situation before them. The tight group met challenges together in nearly every aspect of their lives.
As if to underscore the ominous developments among the stars, the skimmer hull rumbled as its engines ignited. The automatic seat restraints deployed and fastened the passengers in place. They were pressed back into their seats as the skimmer shot forward and pitched its nose straight up. The aircraft soon leveled out as it reached the stratosphere at the top of its long arc.
“I told my wife of the situation today,” Abhay announced casually. Jaabir and Madhuk slowly turned their faces from the portals with raised eyebrows. Malik just stared at his friend and commander impassively.
Jaabir, the more sensitive of their group replied, “How did that go?”
“Too early to tell,” Abhay said. He couldn't look Jaabir in the eye, and that’s how Jaabir knew his friend and leader was upset.
“Does she know about the operation?” Jaabir asked. He probed on the edge of what was appropriate even for such close friends.
Abhay shook his head. If Margaret ever found out how Abhay came to know her, he feared their marriage would end. How could he explain that he found her via a covert operation? He was not supposed to fall in love with an objective, but he did. Then he married her, even as his operatives pursued her father. His absent father-in-law disappeared without a trace with the knowledge of the Keystone Ship. Marrying Margaret had the potential to destroy Abhay’s political career and shame his House, but he did not care.
Back on solid ground, Margaret Nautiyal looked up at the night sky and watched her husband’s transport streak into the sky on a trail of ionized xenon gas. The sight of high technology stood in jarring contrast to her surroundings in the Paradise Gardens that surrounded the Government Palace.
Margaret turned back to the path and set her sandaled feet to a slow pace against the sandstone pavers. The white marble spires of the Palace Complex rose up over her right shoulder. Jasmine and poppies filled the planter boxes between symmetrical stands of cypress and mango trees. As the smells of flowers and fruit trees filled her head with sweetness, her memory drifted back to the old freight ship that was her childhood home.
Her life with Abhay was like a fairytale. As the business manager and navigation officer of an interstellar shipping company, it never entered her mind that she would marry an Indian Prince and live in a palace. Growing up, she was never interested in ancient earth fairytales and stories that ended happily ever after. Like all Human children raised in space, her outlook was strictly practical. At least, it was until she met Abhay.
They forged their relationship across hundreds of lightyears. Their first conversations were tough business negotiations. They fought over government shipping contracts and pay schedules when Abhay was still a Junior Province Representative. That was when Margaret’s father was still Captain, and Drex was still subordinate to First Officer Mumlo.
Their relationship went on like that for nearly a decade. They only saw each other via distorted holo images across the tangler channels. Then one day, the Fleetfoot Interstellar Freight Company scored a contract to deliver agricultural equipment from an FA city ship to Kerala 2. When Margaret saw Abhay for the first time, she felt dizzy. She’d never experienced anything like the attraction she found in him. She didn’t think it was possible
By that time, Margaret’s father was gone, and Drexler was Captain. Business was falling off, and the newly-elected Senator Abhay could no longer directly intervene in commercial matters. But he was there that day for the ceremony when the Fleetfoot I pulled into space dock. He stood in all his Royal Senator Finery to greet the latest shipment of goods what would help the farmers of Kerala 2 produce much-needed crops for the planet’s hungry population.
The Fleetfoot I crew was paid to appear at the ceremony. They stood on the loading deck like the uncomfortable stage scenery they were as cargo hovered through the central portal of the planetary spaceport. Margaret was one among a crew of 200, but even at 20 meters away, she and Abhay could not stop looking at each other.
Abhay did everything he could to keep contact with Margaret, and Margaret did the same. She found herself signing
the freighter on to less-profitable jobs just to steer the ship parallel with Abhay's official travels among the Trade Union worlds. It wasn’t long before Drexler found out. Brother and sister argued about the situation, but Margaret knew Drexler well enough to know his harsh words against the relationship were bluster. In the end, he threatened to fire her if she didn’t accept Abhay’s marriage proposal.
Looking up at the sky again made Margaret worry for her husband and her brother. Abhay carried the burden of war preparations while Drexler operated blind to the danger. She decided right there on the garden path that she needed to warn her brother, whether Abhay approved or not. She hoped to convince her husband, but she was willing to risk her marriage for her family.
Margaret searched the eastern sky until she found Polaris, 20 light years distant. Although Polaris was only visible twice a year from the Northern Continent of Kerala 2, she still followed the ancient tradition of Earth by calling it the North Star. It was considered good fortune to live on a planet within the sight of Polaris.
“You better appreciate what I’m about to do for you, Drexler Fleetfoot,” Margaret said to the North Star.
10
The boot between Drex’s shoulder blades released its pressure, letting him breathe a bit easier. It was a long 20-minute descent to the planet’s surface with a boot on his back and a rail rifle pointed at his skull. The blood from the rifle butt strike was thankfully dried by the unusually dry cabin air. These security guys were not messing around. It gave Drexler time to think. Something was exceedingly wrong with this situation. These security units behaved more like soldiers than space station police. What they were doing was illegal by Trade Union Protocol. The number of rules they violated gave Drexler a decent indicator of how much trouble he was in. He could only hope they were criminals and not some kind of paramilitary force. Drexler knew how to negotiate with criminals.
The shuttle touched down with a rumble of ion thrusters and the groan of landing struts as its Boson field dissipated and the planet’s gravity took hold. The gravity on the shuttle felt a bit less than earth standard, but the weight of this planet felt a little greater. The release of the boot from Drexler’s back didn’t relieve all that much weight. Drexler moved to stand, but the twitch of a rifle muzzle told him to stay where he was.
“Bugs out first!” one of the security goons barked. He was closest to the rear shuttle door and appeared to be the leader. There was a hiss as the door released and folded down to form a ramp.
The sun of this planet made the surface bright and warm. Its atmosphere was thin and allowed a great measure of solar radiation to reach land. Drexler noticed that his pale-skinned captors took turns pushing their hands into the built-in gloves at the ends of their uniform sleeves. Now Drex understood why their hats included wide brims. They couldn’t take the sun. These people were either not Human or belonged to a Human space faring people. They had the muscle tone of people who evolved on a proper planet, though. He just couldn’t place where they were from.
The soldiers poked at the Insectoids with their rifle muzzles. Gajrup made a furtive motion to aid his crew mates. That drew the attention of several more rifles.
“We will comply,” Tara said, holding up one of her hands to Gajrup. The soldier sitting across from Gajrup gave a sinister grin and leaned forward in an apparent dare for the chubby engineer to try something. To his credit, Gajrup glared back. The Insectoids dutifully filed down the ramp.
Samuel was strangely silent and deadly still. Drexler followed the Doctor’s eyes as they covered the action with slow deliberation, then settled on the bulky forms that appeared at the end of the ramp. Lizards. A group of four Reptilians appeared.
“Oh shit,” Drexler said. He couldn’t help himself. The Reptilians wore full military uniforms and carried combat rail rifles. Combat troops inside the Trade Lanes were not permitted. In fact, no sentient race was allowed to maintain troops inside Trade Union territory, only on their homeworlds.
“Bring them out,” the lead security goon said, waving his gloved hand at the four remaining security units.
Drexler stood up with as much dignity as he could muster and smoothed the sturdy material of his flight jacket. He shook his legs a bit to loosen the material of his trousers as well. He wanted his clothing free and flowing if he had to make a move.
Samuel didn’t stand until he was forced to do so by the poke of a rifle muzzle in the ribs. His brown eyes looked nearly black as he rounded his face to the security guard like a tank turret. The slab-like countenance on that familiar face gave Drex goosebumps. Drexler understood the deadly potential there.
“Move!” the goon closest to Drex barked. Drexler moved.
The ground at the end of the ramp was spongy with lush, green grass. It was earth grass by the looks of it. It certainly smelled that way. The shuttle had landed in a large clearing. A low domed building stood a few hundred feet distant. It looked like a standard agricultural building, but given everything else he’d seen, Drex guessed it had some other purpose.
“Well,” Drexler said, smiling broadly at the security lead. “Thank you so much for the invitation.” The smile made some of the dried blood from his scalp wound flake off and settle on his shoulder like rust. “This certainly is a lovely planet, but would you be so kind as to tell me the purpose of our visit?”
The Lizards looked at one another and hissed an exchange of words that Drexler’s translation implant didn’t convey. It appeared there was also a system in place down here that disabled personal communicators. The hole that was this situation grew deeper still. Drexler struggled to remain calm.
Samuel inched forward and pressed his shoulder against Drexler’s and muttered, “Not the time for bullshit. This is not something you can weasel your way out of.”
“I’ve weaseled out of worse,” Drexler whispered back. Samuel hung his head and shook it.
“I very much doubt that,” the largest Lizard said, stepping forward. His words rumbled and hissed from his broad, sharp-toothed face. His muzzle was short, and the direct Tradespeak issued from it like the groan of the wind through a dark cavern.
“My compliments on the excellent hearing abilities of the Reptilian Race,” Drexler said, stepping forward. The soldiers didn’t budge. They allowed Drexler to stand an arm’s length from the group leader. “What is your name, Alpha Reptile,” Drexler asked.
The big Lizard cocked his head and looked down at the Human who was nearly a foot shorter. His bifurcated tongue tasted the air between himself and the pink-skinned creature. He tasted fear, but also anger.
“You are the first Human I’ve seen so close,” the Alpha said, ignoring Drexler’s question. “I thought you would be much smaller.”
Drexler noticed Samuel had fixed his eyes on Tara. The Insectoids stood in a straight line facing the bulk of their captors. Two soldiers flanked them with rifles pointed at their thoraxes. Drex turned back to the Lizard when the large male spoke again.
“I also did not expect you to be so bold. Your interrogation may be a challenge. Perhaps you will honor my torture skills.”
The sly smirk fell from Drexler’s face like a mudslide. His skin prickled again and grew cold. The soldiers moved in, three towards the Insectoids and another five towards the Humans. The reptiles stood impassively. It was obvious that these pale humanoids with the guns were their creatures and took orders from the Reptiles.
The air around Drexler exploded with motion. Three blurred forms, two black and the other green, seemed to be everywhere. Drexler found himself looking into the round face of his engineer, that grew rounder with surprise. Drex felt the same surprise registered on his own face.
Captain and Engineer stared at each other stupidly as Samuel slammed his thick fist into the nose of the pale humanoid closest to him. Huey had already taken down two of the security guards while Tara and Dewey attacked the Lizards. One Human and three Insects tore through the crowd like a tornado.
Somehow, Samuel had a r
ifle in his hands and used it as a club instead of a firearm. Drexler was vaguely aware of incongruent gratitude for this. If his crew managed not to kill anyone, Drexler figured he had a slim chance of getting out of this without going to prison. He still believed this was some misunderstanding.
The rest of their captors were on the ground either bleeding or with their faces covered in some foul-smelling black goo. Everyone with goo in the face also screamed in pain, even the Lizards. To Drexler’s great surprise, it was the Insectoids who spat the thick substance, then used their hard wing covers and multiple arms to knock down or otherwise incapacitate their foes. They nearly moved too fast for Drexler to see, but he perceived more than enough to understand the efficient acts violence that the insects performed.
And then Drexler was flying. The flight was preceded by a buzzing sound that resonated in his chest as if his rib cage contained an entire section of bass horns. Huey had his upper arms hooked beneath Drex’s shoulders and his lower arms wrapped around his waist. The Insectoid brought his knees together, bent them, and pressed them up into Drexler’s crotch like a bicycle seat. The insect was attached to his back like a very strange flying backpack.
Drexler looked left and saw Samuel being carried away in a similar fashion by Tara. The good Doctor cradled a stolen rifle across his chest. Drex looked left and saw Gajrup looking back at him with the same comical look of surprise present while they were still on the ground. Drexler was only afraid the same comical look hung on his face as well. He looked away when Gajrup started laughing hysterically.
The laughter stopped a few seconds later when the sound of sonic booms reached them. The sound of projectiles whizzing by followed the booms as the soldiers below drew beads on them. The Insectoids were already 100 feet off the ground in a matter of seconds. They kept climbing but began to weave serpentine patterns in the air.
Fleetfoot Interstellar: Fleetfoot Interstellar Series, Book 1 Page 8
