Neverwylde (The Rim of the World Book 6)

by Linda Mooney

  Sitting up straighter, Pfeiffer consulted the monitor on the table again, then cleared his throat. “What we will accomplish now is to get your individual testimonies on record, in order to bring this case to a satisfactory conclusion. Lieutenant Kelen Chambliss, please stand. We will begin with you.”

  Chapter 13

  Conclusion

  “No! Wait! I object!” Kelen jumped to her feet, in shock at the revelation.

  “Objection overruled,” Pfeiffer stated in a bored voice. His eyes remained focused on the table’s surface.

  “You can’t do that!” she persisted. “You can’t arbitrarily condemn us without a fair hearing!”

  The colonel rolled his eyes up at her. “You were tried in absentia, which is duly allowable under the law, Lieutenant.”

  “But you don’t know the facts.” She tried to calm herself, but her instincts were telling her time was of the essence. These men weren’t concerned about learning the truth. All they cared about was getting rid of Kyber and the other Seneecians as soon as they could without causing any diplomatic mayhem. And because of the warning Duruk had sent out, they had the perfect out by notifying him of their location. “How can you make any decision when you haven’t been told the truth?”

  One of the officers, a lieutenant colonel, sat up straighter in his chair. After giving her a quizzical look, he turned to Pfeiffer. “Excuse me, Colonel. I’m curious to hear what she has to say.”

  Pfeiffer raised an eyebrow at the man. After a second of consideration, he gestured for the lieutenant colonel to continue. “Go right ahead. You may begin the interrogation.”

  Giving the colonel a quick nod of thanks, the man addressed her directly. “Let’s begin with you stating your name, rank, and assignment.”

  Kelen curled her fingers into fists and pressed them against her thighs. Taking a deep breath, she gathered her wits about her, ready to do verbal battle if it came down to that.

  “Lieutenant Kelen Chambliss, former pilot of the Manta.”

  “Former pilot?”

  “Yes, sir. The Manta crashed landed on the neverwylde planet we came to know as Ganj.”

  The man pursed his lips, glanced at Pfeiffer, then back at her. “And, pray tell, what is a neverwylde planet?”

  “It’s what the Seneecians refer to as a planet that has been through a cataclysmic event, yet still maintains the ability to support life.”

  “And this planet you crashed onto, how was it a neverwylde?”

  “Half of the planet was gone.” She held up her hands, cupping her fingers into a ball, and made a slicing motion through the middle of it. “The planet appears to have been divided in two, right down through the core. We’ve stood on a precipice overlooking that division. All you can see is space, sir. It’s quite an incredible sight.”

  The lieutenant colonel appeared surprised. “The planet has a vast chasm through its center?”

  “No, sir. I’m saying one entire half of that world is gone. Like it was cleaved in two.”

  Another officer scoffed at the description. “There are no such worlds.”

  “Pardon the lieutenant’s remark, but there is.” It was an effort to keep her tone civil. “Our ship and the Seneecians’ lifepods crashed on it, and we remained there for several weeks until another Seneecian warship latched onto our distress signal and came to rescue us.”

  Pfeiffer leaned forward, placing his hands on the table. “Lieutenant, there is no record of such a planet in existence.”

  “Then where do you think we’ve been all this time?”

  Making another disparaging sound, the third officer commented, “That’s what we all would like to know.”

  “I’m not lying to you.”

  The lieutenant colonel crossed his legs and rested an arm on the back of his chair. “Lieutenant Chambliss, why don’t you give us a brief rendition of how you arrived on this so-called half of a planet?”

  She gave them the same version she’d given the Seneecian Triumvirate, adding, “Without the joint cooperation between us and the Seneecians, we would not have survived as long as we did.”

  “How so?” the third officer questioned.

  “With one exception, everything we encountered on that world was dangerous. The creatures, especially.”

  “Are you saying there were lifeforms on that planet?”

  “There were many. Some large and monstrous, and some as small as your hand.”

  “Were any of them sentient?”

  “Yes, sir. Two, as far as we know.”

  “How were you able to maintain a breathable atmosphere?” a fourth man asked.

  Kelen turned to him. “The planet had its own atmosphere, but don’t ask me how. That is beyond my knowledge. It also had water and indigenous plant life, which we were able to eat.”

  The third officer chuckled. “So, let me get this straight. You want us to believe that your ship chased the Seneecians through a wormhole, where you all crash landed on this fictitious half planet, and made a pact with each other in order to protect yourselves against the lifeforms that existed there? Do you realize how fantastical that sounds, Lieutenant?”

  “It is the truth,” Kelen repeated.

  The man bent over the table. “Lieutenant, there…is…no…such…planet. Now, there may be a wormhole, which could explain why your ship disappeared without a trace twelve weeks ago. And why no one was able to raise you on the comm. But inasmuch, the rest is all circumspect.”

  She frowned at him. “How so…sir?”

  “What concerns us more is this alliance you claim to have formed with one of our deadliest enemies.”

  Kelen turned around to check the worried expressions on her fellow crewmembers’ faces. The Seneecians, however, appeared resigned. She addressed the officers again. “So what you’re telling us is that, because we became allies in order to survive, that’s made us criminals and traitors?”

  “No. It’s lying to us that’s condemned you,” Pfeiffer answered.

  “How have I lied?”

  The third officer snorted. “First off, your fanciful story about a half planet. Secondly, the fact that you were found aboard a stolen Seneecian shuttle.”

  “We’ve never denied we stole the shuttle,” she confirmed. “But we had to. The Seneecians were about to put us into lifepods and eject us into space, to let us die out there.”

  The lieutenant colonel pointed in Kyber’s direction. “Those Seneecians?”

  “No. My brother,” Kyber responded.

  The officers paused to stare at him. Taking the opportunity, Kyber rose to his feet.

  “The D’har of my ship also survived the crash. He detested the alliance we had made with the Terrans, and tried to kill them outright. I challenged him according to the laws of our people, and I bested him, but he continued to cause havoc.

  “Before we were drawn through the wormhole, our ship sent out a distress signal. That signal was picked up by my people, and my brother, D’har Duruk, was assigned to the rescue mission.” Kyber pointed at Dox. “Dox was able to rig up another distress signal, which Duruk was able to trace through the wormhole. He and his men landed on the neverwylde planet, and tried to leave Kelen and the other Terrans behind, but I intervened. He reluctantly took us all aboard his ship, but on our return to Seneecia, he planned to have the Terrans, and me and my men, dispatched before reaching it.”

  “Why?” Pfeiffer questioned.

  Kyber gave a slight shrug. “That is what we have been asking ourselves ever since we managed to elude Duruk. My brother wants us dead, which leads me to only one conclusion.”

  “Which is?”

  “Either it is the planet itself, or there is something on that planet my superiors do not want anyone else to know about. And they are willing to kill anyone who threatens to reveal its existence and location, including those of their own kind.”

  Chapter 14

  Proof

  The officers declared a short break and left the auditorium. Kel
en resumed her seat next to her husband as they waited for the men to return.

  “Look at it this way,” she heard him murmur. “We have made them unsure about their previous decision.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “They did not dismiss my claim outright, and I am the enemy.”

  She glanced up at him. His dark green eyes bore into hers, and his expression softened until his love for her was unmistakable. Never did she want anything so badly as to draw his face down to hers and kiss him. Instead, she settled for reaching over to place her hand over his. That simple touch, and his reaction by grasping her fingers, gave her renewed hope for them.

  “What do you think will happen?” she whispered.

  “Of that, I have no idea. They have already condemned us.”

  She squeezed his hand. “What will happen to you if they send you back to Seneecia?”

  The partial smile he gave her held no warmth. “If we manage to make it all the way home.”

  She’d suspected as much, but to hear him suggest it made her stomach clench. “I’m beginning to think that staying on Neverwylde would have been the lesser of two evils.”

  This time there was a shadow of humor in his smile. “I concur. What is this Orboros that was mentioned? I am assuming it is a prison facility.”

  “It’s a prison moon located in the Deca Hydronis system. It’s for low-level offenders.”

  “Low level?”

  Fullgrath leaned over in their direction. “People who are considered more of a threat to their government than to the people. Listen, if I’d known for a split second that we’d be treated like pariahs once we got off that godforsaken planet, I’d have suggested we stay and take our chances with the clickers and eyeworms.”

  “That is exactly what Kelen and I were thinking,” Kyber admitted.

  They were interrupted by the return of the officers. The men resumed their chairs, but it was the lieutenant colonel who spoke. “Lieutenant Fullgrath.”

  The weapons master stood. “Sir.”

  “Are you and your crewmates willing to undergo a serum evaluation?”

  Fullgrath didn’t check with them before replying because he didn’t need to. He already knew what they would say. “Yes, sir.”

  “Por D’har, we would ask the same of you and your men. Are you willing to undergo a serum evaluation?”

  He stood to answer. “Yes.”

  It was a reprieve, albeit a small temporary stay of execution. But the outcome of them being grilled with questions while under a medically-induced trance could have serious ramifications.

  “You do realize that whatever we uncover during the course of your interrogations will not have any effect on you and your men eventually being released into the custody of your people?”

  “We understand.”

  “It’s just that we have a huge problem with your story,” the third officer commented. “We did a thorough search of all available databanks, including those we’ve managed to obtain in the course of our dealings with the Seneecians, and nowhere is there a mention of a neverwylde, a half planet, or anything remotely resembling such an anomaly.”

  “We did not make it up,” Kyber insisted.

  “That remains to be seen,” Pfeiffer remarked.

  Once more, the officers rose from their seats, but this time Kelen and the others were signaled by the guards to stand. From here they would be ushered into separate holding cells until it was their turn to be escorted into the medical bay where the questioning would take place.

  Kelen watched as, one by one, a guard latched onto each of them. When one of them approached Dox, the young man tried to avoid being touched, but the guard persisted.

  “Hold on. He’s an isotope,” she told him. “Isotopes don’t like being touched, or having their personal space invaded by someone they don’t know.”

  The guard ignored her and reached for Dox a second time. He managed to grasp the young man by the arm, and forcefully dragged him forward. Dox let out a yelp as he struggled to free himself from the man’s grip.

  Kelen tried to protest the guard’s roughness, when the man suddenly gave a cry and shoved Dox away from him. Swinging his weapon up, he aimed it at the center of Dox’s chest. At the same time, Massapa whirled around, knocking the blaster away with his arm. The shot went over the heads of the officers still gathered on the stage, and everyone froze.

  “What the hell!” Pfeiffer roared.

  The guard pointed at Dox, who was crouched on the floor. “He started to attack!”

  “Attack, hell!” Mellori converged on the man. “Isotopes don’t carry or even use weapons! Your training should have told you that!”

  The guard insisted. “I saw him reach inside his uniform! Something moved inside his uniform!”

  As soon as he said it, Kelen knew what the man was talking about. She rushed over to help Dox to his feet as the young man shoved his hand back inside his jumpsuit.

  “He’s hungry,” Dox tried to explain, giving her a pleading look.

  “It’s all right,” she reassured him. “We’ll get him something to eat soon.”

  The colonel and several others angrily strode over to confront them. “What the hell happened?” Pfeiffer demanded and turned on the guard. “You were not given orders to fire at will!”

  “He’s hungry,” Dox repeated, withdrawing the small furry from where it had been hiding.

  The officers and the guards stared in shock and amazement at the little creature that climbed onto Dox’s shoulder and grabbed his ear.

  “What the hell is that?” the colonel inquired in a softer tone.

  “They call themselves Jeef,” Kyber replied. “We call them furries. His name is Ikko, but we dubbed him Five.”

  “Where did he come from?” The lieutenant colonel moved closer to get a better look. “I’ve never seen such a being.”

  “He came from that half planet you insist doesn’t exist,” Kelen answered, no longer masking her sarcasm. “He’s also highly intelligent. He’s one of those sentient creatures you asked about, and we believe he may be the superior species on that world. If it hadn’t been for him and Dox getting that transmitter to work, we would still be on that neverwylde.”

  “And we’d also most likely be dead,” Cooter dryly added. “Check and mate, guys. We dare you to continue to claim everything we’ve said is a fairy tale. Ball’s now in your court. What are you going to do about it?”

  Chapter 15

  Sanctuary

  Colonel Pfeiffer ran his fingers over his closely-cropped hair and stared again at the readouts on his display. Swiping a hand over the screen, he checked each set of answered questions. More importantly, his eyes kept dropping to the final evaluations inserted by the computer after each interrogation.

  ALL RESPONSES TRUTHFUL.

  NO DEVIATION OR DECEPTION NOTED.

  NO MENTAL OR PHYSICAL ADJUSTMENTS NOTED.

  The door to his office chimed. “Enter,” he snapped, and the portal slid to the side.

  Lieutenant Colonel Williamsburg strode in without pausing to salute. When one worked side-by-side for months on end, such formalities were often excused on a daily basis and only brought back into use for formal occasions. Williamsburg stopped by the side of the colonel’s desk and glanced at the screen. “I take it you’ve seen the reports,” the man quipped.

  Pfeiffer rolled his eyes up at the man. After a moment, he sighed and leaned back in his chair, motioning for the man to also take a seat. “Talk to me.”

  Williamsburg spread his hands. “What can I say? The reports speak for themselves. And frankly, Colonel, I was blown away by their story.”

  “Did anything in particular stick out?”

  “You want a list?” Williamsburg held up a finger. “One, and this is the biggie. These people all told the same story, and it is one hundred percent true. Two, the isotope named Dox allowed us to examine and scan the little creature named Five. There is no record anywhere, anywhere, of such a s
pecies. On top of that, Five is highly intelligent. Dr. Smallwood even noted Five may have an equivalent IQ of one hundred four. Tad, I personally know people I’ve served under who don’t have that high an IQ.”

  “Same here. Go on.”

  A third finger went up. “Physical scans show their bodies contain elements we can’t identify. Where else would they have gotten those elements if they didn’t consume native plants and animals from that so-called nonexistent world? In addition, the woman has traces of a poison in her bloodstream we can’t isolate. She was questioned about it, and she claims she was attacked by creatures called clickers.”

  Pfeiffer waved a hand. “Forget four and five. You’ve made your point. So what’s your opinion?”

  Williamsburg snorted. “You’re joking, right?”

  “I want your thoughts. Like the guy said, the ball’s in our court. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?”

  The lieutenant colonel leaned forward, propping his elbows on his thighs and lacing his fingers together. “First off, I’d grant these people clemency. I’d open this outpost to provide them sanctuary.”

  “What about the Seneecians?”

  “When they contact us again, tell them we’d refused to allow the escapees on board, and they left the sector.”

  “You do realize their shuttle is still sitting in Bay Nine,” Pfeiffer reminded him. “They could have a tracer on it. In fact, I’m betting they do. If we tell them we sent that crew on their way, they’d know we were lying.”

  “Then we tell them the Seneecians are our prisoners, and are being dealt with under Terran law.”

  “Again, we’re walking a very fine diplomatic line. Why not give them the Seneecians?”

  “Because you know as well as I do that they won’t be satisfied with just getting back their own people. They’re going to want the Terrans as well.” Williamsburg grinned. “Checkmate in three moves.”

  The door chimed again. At Pfeiffer’s response, Major Baffrey strode in and took the only other empty chair at Pfeiffer’s silent motion.