Star Wolf (Shattered Galaxy)

by David G. Johnson

  “But what about you? You never told me how you cleared your record.”

  “Once the mission was over, the GalSec director fixed that, putting out a statement affirming that I had been working undercover with GalSec the entire time and the arrest was part of a ruse to establish my cover. Heck, they even gave me a medal.”

  “How’d that fly with High Archon Zarsus?”

  “Zarsus had no choice but to go along and amend my record to an honorable discharge with full retirement benefits.”

  “And that’s when you took up the mantle of mercenary?”

  “Yep. Twitch also resigned her commission in the Scouts to join me. A few months later, Voide showed up. She left GalSec and started tracking us when her deputy director, the guy who put together the whole undercover operation and my vindication, wound up dead, poisoned in his own home.”

  “Fascinating!” John said, tentatively testing the waters with the captain once again. “I have to say, though, I’m still fishing for how this relates to your agreeing to return to Ratuen with me, and I’m coming up with empty nets.”

  “It relates because running this merc crew was never about the money for me, John. When I mustered out I was set for life. If I sold Star Wolf, I’d be set for a life of luxury. But I have no intention of retiring.”

  “Why not? Why continue to risk your life? I’d think you’ve just about used up all your luck and then some, Molon. You sure you want to keep rolling the dice?”

  “Because, I left the service to do whatever I could to restore Humaniti space to rightful rule. There was honor and purpose in the Old Empire. Zarsus and his lust for power have ruined the remnants of the Empire of Humaniti. So, I pointed Star Wolf spinward searching for a way to help set things right.”

  “So then you headed where, exactly?”

  “Seth Halberan had joined forces with his sister Phoebe. They were claiming to be the Halberan Empire reborn. Two of the rightful Halberan heirs allied against Zarsus; that sounded hopeful.”

  “Let me guess what shattered that hope. Alpha Pack?”

  A fire lit behind Molon’s eyes. His answer came as a deep growl in the back of his throat as he gazed somewhere far beyond John.

  “Yeah, Alpha Pack.”

  Molon took several deep breaths, returning his gaze to John before continuing. “Sorry. Sore subject.”

  “I understand,” John replied.

  “When Ghost Fang pulled together a Lubanian uberpack and allied with Seth and Phoebe’s New Halberan Empire, I was elated. Lubanians and humans fighting side by side; it seemed like an ideal setup for me. Or so I thought.”

  “I’m guessing you weren’t on board with Ghost Fang’s whole rape, loot, and pillage plan, huh?”

  “You could say that. When Ghost Fang began seizing Fei colonies, I realized he was a thug using the humans to advance his own ends. When the New Halberan Empire started launching scorched earth attacks against Enoch Halberan and the Theocracy of the Faithful, they proved themselves no better than Zarsus.”

  “In all fairness,” John objected. “Seth and Phoebe have denounced Alpha Pack’s invasion of the Fei and have called for a cessation of hostilities against civilian targets. The Halberans claim Ghost Fang and the officers who carried out the scorched earth attacks acted of their own accord. Many of those human officers had historical, anti-Faithful family ties going back a hundred and forty years to the Parvisian Dynasty.”

  Molon gave John a skewed look.

  “Were those officers ever prosecuted?” Molon asked.

  “Not as far as I am aware,” John admitted.

  He knew what Molon was implying. In fact, he had often wrestled with that fact as he spoke with Faithful who saw the New Halberan Empire as no better than the anti-Faithful Dawnstar sympathizers.

  “So what happened to those officers, John? Do you know?”

  “According to the news reports,” John replied, “they were dishonorably discharged.”

  “That’s comforting,” Molon said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “I’m sure they feel duly chastised.”

  “Okay, so they got off light. I see your point.”

  “Oh, that’s not even close to the point, John. The real point is does the New Halberan Empire alliance with Alpha Pack still stand?” Molon asked, rhetorically.

  “It does.”

  “Well there you go.”

  “Yet you are still heading spinward,” John remarked. “If you are disillusioned with the New Halberan Empire, where are you going?”

  “I’m convinced that the best hope for restoring any vestige of the Empire of Humaniti lies with Enoch and the Theocracy.”

  John was surprised to hear that. Given Molon’s coolness in the Faithful discussions with Brother Martin, John had assumed Molon was an anti-faither. To learn Molon intended to join the Theocracy’s war effort just yanked whatever tentative grasp John thought he had on Molon right out of reach again.

  “You are in the minority with that opinion, Molon.”

  It was Molon’s turn to look shocked. He furrowed his lupine brow and cocked his head slightly sideways.

  “That’s a surprising sentiment,” Molon replied, “coming from one of the Faithful at least.”

  “I’m a realist,” John replied. “I am not sure Enoch is any more capable of uniting the factions of Humaniti than Tubal is.”

  “Enoch is a good man,” Molon replied. “Despite the scorched earth attacks against him, he refuses to respond in kind. That says a great deal about his character.”

  “So,” John asked, thinking he finally was tracking with Molon’s motivation, “you see helping me as somehow helping Enoch?”

  “In a way.”

  “In what way?” John asked. “I’m a Faithful, but I have no ties to the Theocracy or Enoch beyond our shared faith.”

  “Helping you is a way to stick my finger in the eye of Tubal and his Dawnstar Technocracy. By extension, messing up Dawnstar’s plans indirectly works against Zarsus. If there is even a remote possibility that Faithful guerilla fighters like the Brothers of the Lion are also turning against Enoch, then helping you will put a twist in their tails as well.”

  John smiled and shook his head.

  “And that’s why you agreed to risk your life helping me? To twist a few tails?”

  Molon laughed.

  “Sounds petty when you put it like that,” Molon replied. “Whether Elena is still alive or not I don’t know. Lifting a leg on the collective plans of Tubal, Zarsus, and that deceitful Brother Martin is a nice bonus, and I help the Theocracy in the process.”

  “So you are helping the Theocracy. Are you a member of the Faithful, Molon? Because I got the impression you weren’t on the same page theologically when we met with Brother Martin.”

  Molon laughed as he stood up, walked to a cabinet in the corner, and pulled out a decanter and two glasses.

  “Brandy, John?”

  “No thanks,” John declined with a raised palm.

  “That’s right. A hermit-worlder and genuine Faithful. Teetotalers through and through.”

  Molon replaced one of the glasses in the case and filled the other with the amber liquid. He swirled it in the glass, giving it a loving sniff as he returned to his seat.

  “Abstinence from the joys of drunkenness for the rest of my life might be enough to keep me from ever being one of you.”

  John frowned at Molon’s flippancy. He was used to dealing with anti-faithers when traveling away from Tede, but it was never pleasant no matter how accustomed one grew to the attitude. Molon’s jibes, at least, were much milder that what John was used to dealing with.

  “Joke if you want to,” John said. “It was a serious question. Few outside the Faithful have any desire to see Enoch take power, even those who disagree with the rabid anti-faith movement.”

  “True enough,” Molon said, taking a deep draught from his glass.

  “Enoch is a clergyman at heart,” John continued, “not an emperor. He has no desire to asce
nd his father’s throne.”

  “That fact,” Molon replied, “might be precisely why he is the only one of the Halberan heirs worthy to sit upon it.”

  John nodded. Molon was right, of course. The problem with Zarsus was his lust for power and refusal to relinquish it. The main issue with Seth and Phoebe was Seth’s dogged insistence that he was to be named the rightful heir. Tubal was simply a sycophant who would do anything for the chance to rule, even as a puppet. Enoch was the only Halberan heir who had chosen to fight to establish a safe zone for the Faithful fleeing the anti-faithers. He had no desire to rule beyond it being a path for establishing security for the Faithful dispersed throughout the reaches of the Old Empire.

  “Now,” Molon continued, “to answer your faith question. I don’t know for certain what I believe.”

  “How does a man not know his own mind?”

  “Easy, when one’s mind is filled with more questions than answers. My adoptive parents were human Faithful. Growing up I studied the Bible right along with history, math, and science. One question I never found an answer to is why, other than the Angelicum and Daemi who are mentioned in quite metaphorical and allegorical terms, are none of the other races, worlds, or galactic empires even mentioned in the Bible?”

  John’s heart sped up. This was what every true Faithful hoped for; an encounter with someone genuinely seeking truth. John was no evangelist, but he felt he knew how to answer this question. Might this be a turning point for Molon? John knew that the Lion used all things for good for those who love Him and are called to His purpose. Could the chance to lead Molon to faith have been the reason behind this whole experience?

  “That is your barrier to faith, Molon?” John asked, his mind already working up his answer.

  “That’s not enough?” Molon asked. “That seems like a pretty big question to me.”

  John quickly crossed and uncrossed his hands, as if waving off the misunderstanding that had just taken place.

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “When the Bible was written,” Molon explained, “humans hadn’t even left earth, but Angelicum, Daemi, and who knows how many others already had interstellar empires. Lubanians and Fei even beat Humaniti to the stars. Other major races, Dractauri, Doppelgangers, Prophane, none of them are even hinted at, not to mention the races we haven’t encountered yet, or the thousands of minor races scattered across thousands of worlds. If the Lion of Judah came to redeem all of creation as the Faithful claim, then why aren’t they even hinted at in the Scriptures?”

  “That is a great question, Molon,” John replied, grateful that his verbal hiccup hadn’t shut down the conversation. “You know the Creator is revealed in the history and writings of every race known, except for the Prophane. Who knows, if we ever found a way to get them to stop killing long enough to talk to anyone, we might find Him there too in some form.”

  “I know,” Molon said, draining half his glass. “But then why do we only see three races mentioned in the Bible?”

  John took a deep breath. All his life, part of his training and study with the Faithful was to prepare him for this type of conversation. He lifted a quick prayer heavenward and began.

  “You said you studied the history of Humaniti, right?”

  “Yeah,” Molon answered, “so?”

  “Did you study what the homeworld of Humaniti was like before we reached the stars?”

  “It was a tiny world hell-bent on ripping itself apart. Until the discovery of voidspace opened the door to the stars, humans squabbled over one ball of dirt, willing to kill anyone who wanted to take their piece of it away from them.”

  “A bit of an oversimplification,” John laughed. “The point is there were ancient cultures, entire nations, and important people who profoundly shaped the course of human history. The Mayans, Incas, Aztecs, Zulu, Mauri, Chinese Emperors and Japanese Samurai. The Russian Czars, American Presidents, European Monarchs, and Viking Conquerors. Without all of these, Humaniti would never have learned how to work together to forge itself into a vast interstellar empire. Yet where in the Bible do you see any of these mentioned?”

  “Nowhere,” Molon answered after a thoughtful pause.

  “Exactly,” John replied. “These were people, nations, and cultures on the same ball of dirt that the Lion of Judah visited. The place where He lived, taught, and died for all of us. Yet there, in the book of His story, they aren’t mentioned.”

  “You didn’t answer the question,” Molon replied. “You just added another one to the list.”

  “Not really, Molon. It doesn’t mention these, or the interstellar races, because the book is His story, not all of history. God gave us the Bible to help us know the Lion of Judah, the Messiah. He told us what we needed to understand about Him. He left it up to us to discover what we needed to about the rest of His creation.”

  Molon sat quietly scratching the fur on his chin for a long moment. John could almost see the wheels of his mind wrapping around John’s answer.

  “I don’t know,” Molon said at last. “That’s a lot like a politician’s answer, it sounds nice to the ear but at the end of it all you aren’t sure if you heard anything at all.”

  “Please understand,” John replied. “The Lion of Judah loved and came for all the people and nations. All of creation suffered in the fall, and all of creation groans for His return. The promise is that whosoever believes can become one of the Faithful. Redemption is not based on genetics.”

  Molon drained the rest of his glass and set it on his desk.

  “I think you missed your calling, John,” he said with a wry grin. “You should have been a proclaimer.”

  “Every Faithful is a proclaimer,” John replied.

  “Well, now you understand me better, and I understand you better. Get settled into your quarters and get some rest. Whatever is waiting back on Ratuen, we’re all going to need to be at our best when we get there.”

  “But did I answer your question?”

  John sensed that he had gotten as far with Molon as he was going to at this point. The captain had suddenly erected a defensive wall barring further discussion and John wasn’t sure how to move past it.

  “You gave me an answer, John,” Molon affirmed, “but a lifetime of skepticism won’t disappear in a flash. You gave me something to chew on for now. We’ll talk again later.”

  “As you wish, captain,” John answered, wishing his words might have had a greater impact on the affable captain. Perhaps the seeds he had sown just needed time to grow. “Thank you for taking me back to Ratuen.”

  “Thank you for offering us a job,” Molon replied. “I like you, John, but don’t think for a second you are getting a discount on our rates. I’ve got a crew to keep from starvation and mutiny.”

  John laughed. There was something likeable about Molon Hawkins. Molon was searching for answers. John did not know if he was the man to provide them, but would do his best. He turned toward the door when Molon called out to him.

  “Oh, and John.”

  “Yes, captain?”

  “Give Voide a wide berth for a few days. She probably won’t kill you, but best not to find out the hard way I was wrong.”

  “Good advice.”

  “You might want to give Mel some room too, while you are at it.”

  John understood Molon’s warning about Voide, but Mel?

  “Really?” he asked, hoping Molon would elaborate.

  “You don’t know much about Fei, do you?”

  “Nothing beyond what I read in the medical journals on our trip back from Ratuen the first time.”

  “Fei are empaths. Nobody really knows much about the extent of their abilities, and the Fei don’t like to talk about it. Still, Mel has an effect on people.”

  “That’s an understatement,” John replied, thinking of the strange feelings he had every time he came near her.

  “Folks are a lot more agreeable when she is around,” Molon continued. “I don’t question Mel’s m
otives, but given you are pretty much an ion storm of emotions just at the moment...”

  “I’ll keep that in mind, captain,” John said as he exited and headed for his quarters.

  So Mel was an empath. That explained a lot. This might be a fascinating medical topic to explore at some point, but for now, heeding Molon’s advice seemed like a good idea.

  Nine – Friend in the Fold

  Before John went to settle in to his quarters, he took the elevator down to Star Wolf’s middle deck, heading toward engineering. He wandered into the room filled with control stations, monitors, and more gauges, dials, and digital readouts than he had ever seen in his life. His head was abuzz with recent events, but if he intended to remain on Star Wolf for any length of time, he would need friends. Molon was friendly enough, but he was also the captain. John understood that Molon would have to maintain a certain distance to reinforce the chain of command.

  With the mess he had made thus far of his interactions with the security chief, and Molon’s warnings about Mel, he was running out of options for allies among the command crew. Twitch was all business and by the book, plus—with what Molon had told him about their history together – talking to Star Wolf’s XO was no different than talking to Molon himself. That left Dub, Star Wolf’s malmorph chief engineer.

  Despite an awkward start, he had connected with Dub in their initial meeting. Cultivating that seed and growing it might be the key to at least one ally in Star Wolf’s command crew.

  The chief engineer was hovering over monitoring panels near the main engine controls. He looked up as John approached.

  “Hiya, Doc. Come to see how the freakishly mutated have adapted to work among real humans?”

  Ouch. Apparently, Dub had not forgotten John’s indelicate first impression. But the impish grin on the chief engineer’s face put John’s mind at ease that this was merely a manifestation of Dub’s overactive sense of humor.

  “How’d you guess?” John replied, gambling with a verbal riposte. “I was thinking of writing a paper on how the critically mutated can emulate human behavior, within limits of course.”