by J. K. Mabrey
“Just wait till tomorrow," Zavik said defensively. “It’s going to swell.”
“We don’t hurry up, we won’t have a tomorrow. We need to find that computer.”
Zavik looked around the large room, surrounded by rubble from the collapsed wall. Pieces of framed art littered the floor where they had been knocked down by the blast. The two story room showcased dozens of other artifacts, most in glass cases, still stationary on podiums around the room. “Are we even in the right place?”
Brax ignored Zavik's question. “Vaulted ceilings, impressively decorated. Look at this art,” he said as he was engulfed in inspecting the walls that were not destroyed.
“We can marvel at his interior decorating skills some other time, don’t you think?”
“Yes," Brax said snapping out of his infatuation. "I’m just saying it’s a shame that we destroyed so much precious artwork.”
"Do all Chokmnd have a fetish for art like this?" Zavik asked.
Slightly annoyed, Brax said, "I can't help it if we happen to share an appreciation for the finer things in life, unlike you unrefined humans."
Surrendering the point, Zavik said, “Ok, can we at least agree we’re in the right spot?”
"Yes," Brax agreed. "This has to be his office. Let's get that device in his terminal."
The two headed for the desk positioned near the wall to the right of the blast. Brax took control of the computer and brought up a screen.
Zavik pulled out the device Dani gave him. "Ok, so Dani said I just insert this into a port. Do you know what port she means?"
"Give it to me," Brax said. "Looks like a common universal port." He scanned the terminal and found an upload spot on the side of the tower. Brax inserted the device and the terminal screen flickered.
Random code, indecipherable by Zavik or Brax, trickled down the screen. It suddenly stopped all movement and froze the screen.
"Uhh, Dani?" Zavik said over the comm.
"Kind of busy right now," she said with an air of impatience as the two could hear a laser shot hit the ship. "We had to bug out, started taking too much fire."
"Well, this thing just stopped working. Is that good?"
"Did it run code down the screen?" she asked.
"Yes, for about a minute," Brax said.
"Good, then it found a possible file."
"Are you sure?" he asked, very skeptical of the situation.
"Of course!" she shouted. "I set it up to freeze the screen until you give it directions on what to do next.
Alberan opened the partial file and confirmed to Dani that it appeared to be what they were hoping for. Dani told Zavik to pull out the device, "It will automatically turn off the terminal, masking our reason for being there."
"I think the large hole in the side of his office might betray our intentions," Brax said.
"Maybe he'll just think it's collateral damage from the attack," Zavik said. "Dani, looks like we're done here. Can you pick us up?"
"Give me one minute. We’re not that close right now. The Blue Blazes are getting thoroughly wiped out. I don't see many left. We're going to be taking heavy fire when inbound, so be ready."
"Roger that," Zavik said.
"Zavik!" Brax suddenly shouted. "The door, over there." He pointed to the entrance of the office that was being pounded against in an effort to open it.
"Dani, we got trouble," Zavik said over the comm. "They're trying to get in, they must suspect something's up in here. You've got to hurry, that door's not going to hold very long."
"Take cover!" Brax yelled, "They're coming through."
The door burst open and a half dozen men poured through. Zavik and Brax had time enough to take cover behind a fallen table before being seen. Once the Rinada was in position, they would be easy targets trying to get to the ship. They were going to have to fight their way out. Zavik turned his gun over the table and fired several shots at the incoming group. Two men collapsed to the floor and the rest let loose a barrage of fire on their position. The table took a beating and splintered at every edge. This cover was not going to hold for long. The Rinada pulled up to the exposed office and hovered next to the hole.
"Zavik!" Dani cried into the comm. "Hurry, we're taking heavy fire." The ship was being assaulted from all fronts. A direct shot from a fighter made the ship graze the building, shaking it to the core.
Zavik and Brax were thrown to the floor. "Brax, here!" Zavik threw the device containing the file to him. "Go for the ship, I'll cover you."
Brax caught it and nodded. He took off in a sprint for the Rinada. Zavik stood up, exposing himself to give the attackers a better target and unloaded his blaster in their direction. They ducked for cover long enough for Brax to escape onto the ship. Brax dived for the bay door and slid into the corner, covered by the side of the ship. He turned back around the wall to give cover for Zavik but laser fire rained on him. His gun was knocked from his hands and fell from the ship, he was forced further back behind the hull of the Rinada.
Zavik knew he couldn't hold off the attackers alone. "Dani," he said calmly, "you might have to take off without me. I'm pinned down and can't get to the ship. You're risking getting shot down by waiting."
"We're not leaving without you," she said without thinking. "Brax, help him!" she demanded.
"My gun was shot from my hand," he said. "It's out of my reach. There're four guys moving on his position. I can't provide cover."
"Can you make a run for it?" she asked as a tear ran down her face. The ship took a hard shot and swayed further from the building.
"You can't hang around here much longer!" he yelled. "Just get that data to the ambassador."
"Dani?" Alberan said over the comm. "Get us closer to the building."
"You don't have time for this," Zavik argued.
The ship moved back into position. Alberan appeared at the open bay with three rifles in hand. He tossed one to Brax and started laying down heavy cover fire on the attackers. They dived for cover, one didn't make it in time and was gunned down. Zavik saw the rounds blasting out from the hull of his ship and made a run for it, dodging the cover fire as well. He jumped for the deck just as the ship was struck again on its underside. The ship rocked away from the building and Zavik landed with his arms on the deck and legs dangling below. The bay began taking fire from the few members of Red Moon still alive in the office as it pulled away. Alberan continued to lay down suppressive fire with both rifles as the ship moved out of range.
Brax struggled to pull Zavik up as the ship lifted away. With Alberan's help, he was dragged onboard. The Blue Blazes had abandoned their attack after being decimated by Red Moon. All of the ships still in the air focused their attention on the Rinada. Alberan shut the bay as the Rinada gained altitude.
"Dani," Brax cried. "Get us the hell out of here."
"That was one of my top priorities, on top of not getting blasted out of the sky."
The ship raced from the compound. Right on their tail were a dozen Red Moon ships, firing heavily at them. Dani knew that if they could reach the portal to Cedona they would be away from the Red Moon threat. The portal was on the other side of the planet and these fighters weren’t losing ground even to a full throttled Rinada. The rear of the ship took fire, but the shields held firm. Dani aimed the bow up and raced to get out of the atmosphere. These ships would chase only so far before they realized it was futile. At least that was her hope.
“Brax, can you man the upper cannon and open fire on them?” Dani asked.
Brax broke off from the others who were headed to the cockpit. They joined Dani to assess the situation.
“How long until we reach the portal?” Zavik asked.
“It’ll take another two minutes, the shields won’t hold that long if they don’t back off.”
Brax fired up the cannon and levied a few shots to the rear of the ship. The Red Moon vessels pulled back, but only slightly. In manual mode, the cannons weren’t as accurate, but they could be fired in
any direction. The ships were maintaining their distance and keeping their shields at full strength should Brax make contact. A blast caught one of the ships square in the bow, but it only pulled back behind the others to let its shields regain strength. The Rinada continued to take fire on its rear, the shields began to falter as they overheated.
“Brax, we’re gonna need you to take a few of them out quick or were in big trouble,” Zavik said.
“It’s not as easy as it looks," he shouted over his fire. "I don’t know when the last time you tried to manually fire these was, but they’re pretty pathetic actually.” He continued to fire while complaining about the cannons. “I mean they move slow, they’re underpowered-“
The radio went silent. “What happened?” Zavik yelled.
“Oh, I got one,” he said.
Zavik looked at Dani and shook his head. “You were saying something about them being underpowered?”
“Umm, no, you must be mistaken.”
Brax caught another ship that spiraled out of control and exploded a second later. The chasing ships began to fall back after seeing their comrades destroyed. The greater distance hurt their accuracy and allowed the Rinada’s shields to fully restore themselves at last. They finally pulled back for good as Dani blasted through the portal to Cedona.
Persuasion
The ship ripped through the portal and raced around the planet of Cedona. The automatic fee was paid using a new alias Dani set up. She meant to put distance between them and anyone who might follow as quickly as possible. By the looks of their radar, before entering the portal, the Red Moon ships had cut off their pursuit just before they left the system.
Brax took the reins of the ship while Dani analyzed the entire set of data they collected. She grabbed the device from Brax and went to hug Zavik. A flash of surprise struck his face by her gesture but he embraced it and hugged her just as tight. Brax continued to stare straight ahead while they continued to hold each other, only slightly clearing his throat after it went on too long.
She let him go saying, “I’m glad you’re alright.”
“We are too,” Brax said a little louder than he meant to.
“Thank you, Brax,” she said clutching his arm. She moved over to the terminal to analyze the device and began scrolling through the data.
“It’s heavily encrypted."
“Can you break it?” Zavik asked.
“Yes," she said, "but it will take more time than I realized. I need to make sure it doesn’t have any firewalls that will delete or corrupt the data if my unauthorized tampering is detected.”
Dani worked on the file while Zavik made for a landing on Cedona. They decided to make for a port away from the capital city, Eturyn. With the bounty on them still in place, they would stick out sorely in a capital teeming with opportunistic thugs. Zavik landed the ship as Dani broke through the barriers set on the file. She began to explain what it took to get the raw data, all of it too technical for Zavik or Brax to understand. Alberan seemed to follow her precisely, though. Zavik just wanted her to explain, in layman’s terms, what they had found.
“It’s the list!” she exclaimed. “All of the people who could confirm Varin as the leader of Red Moon. Looking at the data, each person has an attachment to their name. It appears to contain information on their background, how they know of Varin, and in the case of this one diplomat, some details about an affair he had with a young Sequoia about fifteen years ago.”
“Why would he record information about an affair?” Zavik asked.
“Because the diplomat is Rovun,” Dani revealed.
“Oh…” Brax said. “Rovun’s do not like interspecies relationships. If that got out, his career, perhaps his life, would be over.”
“So it’s blackmail material?” Zavik asked.
“Appears that way,” Alberan said. “A way to sort of buy their silence. Anyone reveals his identity and he has the means to ruin your life as well.”
“Dani, can we search this document, and find out if someone is on the list or not?” Zavik asked.
“Yeah, that’s possible.”
“Who are you trying to find?” Brax asked.
“Let’s search for the Council," he said. "See if any of them know who he is, especially Paquiko.”
Dani did an inquiry on the file for the five current Council members. Not one showed up in the file. The idea was tossed around that perhaps Paquiko was left off out of loyalty and trust. This hypothesis was dispelled when a top General in the Chokmnd Fleet was on the list, with enough dirt to bury half the fleet with him. If Varin kept this much info on a loyal General, he would at least keep something on Paquiko.
They agreed that Paquiko probably had no knowledge of Varin’s true identity. Their current best hope in ending his madness was to reveal his true nature to the councilor. Brax and Alberan assured them that he would listen to reason and accept this information as true and credible. The tough part was going to be showing him the file. When you’re some of the most wanted people in the galaxy, even if it is by a criminal organization, you can’t just walk into a councilor’s office and demand a meeting. They were going to have to sneak in, an action they had gotten more used to, if not the idea.
***
The plan was simple, if not dangerous. They would convince Ambassador Hains to set up a meeting with Paquiko and they would accompany her. Then they would reveal that Varin was leading Red Moon and provide the evidence to support such an audacious claim. For now the trick was getting in to see the ambassador without being detected by anyone undesirable. They decided to split up; Zavik and Brax would travel together, and Dani and Alberan would travel together. Traveling in a pack of four might rouse some suspicion; two humans traveling together definitely would. Red Moon would have spread Zavik and Dani’s faces throughout the galaxy. The two groups would take public shuttles but depart at separate times. Zavik and Brax arrived at Embassy Street first and went to a local pub for a drink to wait for the others.
Zavik ordered his usual concoction, a Farlinese Sour, a variation of a whiskey sour made with Farlin liquor, horrid stuff to say the least. Though he admittedly preferred liquors from Earth, they were near impossible to find on other planets, even one as diversified as Cedona. Brax ordered a Chokern, a strange drink consisting of Chokmnd hard liquor and a thick syrup from their home planet, garnished with what looked like an orange peel, but there were no oranges on Chokmna or Cedona. It smelled like citrus-coated asphalt and tasted like dirt, but Brax swore it was a delicacy to his people and was pleasing to their pallets. They waited for their drinks while keeping a watchful eye on the other patrons.
“What chance do we have of convincing Paquiko?” Zavik asked.
“From my understanding," he said keeping his voice hushed, "he is a reasonable councilor. The evidence is sufficient. The real question is what means does he have of stopping Varin. We don’t know how many people in the Chokmnd Empire he has under the influence of Red Moon. It would be very dangerous for the Galaxy if he were to succeed in displacing the Council and exerting control.”
Zavik took a sip of his drink as soon as it was sat in front of him. The drink bit at the sides of his tongue. He savored the cool liquid as the aromas burned his nostrils, bringing back distant memories of his service with Mike and being stationed on Walkulam. He shook himself back to the task at hand. “Wouldn’t the other races fight against that? I mean the Rovuns don’t want to be controlled by the Chokmnd.”
“It depends on how big of a fleet he can amass. If he truly has the Chokmnd fleet at his disposal, that, along with what Red Moon already has, could be enough to usurp tentative control of some important systems. Red Moon has definitely been gathering a large private fleet the last few years. Blindly, no one thought to make anything of it. Now it may be too late. ”
“It would never last," Zavik said with authority. "He couldn’t indefinitely control them all. They would band together.”
“While that is possible, he could still si
phon control of many territories to the Chokmnd in the mean time. I believe that is the ultimate goal, and the only one really attainable. He wants to destroy the Galactic Council and give more power to the Chokmnds. He’s a Chokmnd supremacist, no doubt, but also a realist. He doesn’t care about total control, just more control. He'll be cautious, that makes him even more dangerous.”
They finished their drinks while waiting for Dani and Alberan to arrive, then cautiously walked across and down the street to the Earth Embassy. As was usual, it was near empty, save for a noticeable increase in security. Once inside they were relatively safe from outside harm. They approached the front desk and were immediately stopped for questioning. The fact that a Chokmnd and Iriquios were trying to see the ambassador set off red flags to the security team. She had just survived an assassination attempt after all. More in-depth background checks for all visitors were now in the protocol.
The receptionist said, “If you all want to see the ambassador, we will have to do a check on your identities." There was no chance to argue with armed guards flanking her desk.
The fact that Brax had worked for Red Moon would show up on his report. That would not go over so well with an embassy that is already suspicious of Red Moon’s involvement in the attack. Zavik pleaded that they just inform the ambassador that he was there. Hesitantly the secretary called up to the office and informed the ambassador’s new head of security of Zavik’s name and request.
A moment later a call came back that elicited many nods of ‘yes’ and ‘I see’ from the secretary. She hung up and in amazement said, “You may go and see the ambassador now. I will mark your meeting down, Mr. Smithers, here to request a permit to extract iron ore from a newly discovered deposit in the Northern Hemisphere of Mars, please sign, Mr. Smithers.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Zavik replied and signed. The group was pushed up the stairs to the office.
They entered the familiar office and were greeted by Ambassador Hains. “I’m so grateful that you made it here alive, Mr. Khan," she said walking over to the group of four with a noticeable limp on her left leg. She had a deep gash across her right cheek and her right arm was wrapped in an advanced nano-tech mesh that kept the bone straight while providing maneuverability.
