“Ki’Bara, your time is done,” said the new First among Equals. “I will leave you the dignity of leaving my ship on your own power, Primero. Understand this, though Ki’Bara; if you ever set foot on my ship again, I will personally order your execution by the lowest Centurion. Is that clear?”
Ki’Bara continued to stand still, staring at the other man through narrowed eyes. He took a step towards the other Primero, but then stopped, thinking better of the action. He pulled his leg back under him and stood up straight, trying to restore his composure in the face of his enemy.
“Ki’Bontri,” said Ki’Bara in a near whisper. “You will suffer the fate of all fools one day and I hope that I will be the one to twist the knife and watch you die.”
With that, Ki’Bara turned and strode back out the door and into the hallway. As he left, two Centurions hurried in and began cleaning the table. Ki’Bontri stood by his chair, seething at the absent Primero. He struck out his right arm, scattering food to the floor in a noisy clatter of dishes and flatware.
“Ki’Bontri,” announced a Quartero, entering the room and standing at attention. “I have your latest reports.”
“Give them here, Du’Mari,” ordered the Primero. “And ready the ship for M-Space. I want to be as far away from here as possible by morning. Our business is done.”
“Yes, Primero,” replied the Quartero. “What course should we follow, My Lord?”
“I don’t care,” he replied, grasping a half-filled flagon and throwing it at the young man. “Just get us away from this Empress forsaken planet.”
“Yes, My Lord,” replied the officer, turning quickly to leave, dripping with the strong wine that now adorned his armored hide.
“And Du’Mari,” said the Primero, stopping the other man with his voice. “If Ki’Bara’s cruiser follows us, have it destroyed.”
“Yes, My Lord,” replied the Quartero in a quivering voice. “Right away, My Lord.”
The young man practically ran from the dining hall as the stewards continued to clear the table. Ki’Bontri had given up on trying getting a Secundo that he could trust and now relied on the lowest officer ranks to serve him. Du’Mari had been efficient so far, but his hesitation in acknowledging the order to kill Ki’Bara might be a sign of disloyalty. Ki’Bontri would have to keep an eye on the young man.
The Primero held up the flimsy sheet and activated it with his finger. The script began to roll over the sheets and Ki’Bontri scanned the reports for useful information.
He saw that a Dreadnought and two cruisers had disappeared during a routine patrol. He slid his finger along the sheet to order a small fleet to recover the recorder and any further information. He had begun his plan to capture the last of the renegade humans and had no time for incompetent dreadnought commanders who could not keep their ships in good working order.
He noted a reply from the Camerlingo to his query regarding Ki’Bara. The priest-aide had sent Ki’Bontri strict orders not to kill the other Primero. Ki’Bontri made a mental note not to tell Ki’Bara about the order.
Everything was proceeding according to his plans. One of the slave ships that he had sent out to be rescued had yielded results. The Holkans, another humanoid race that reminded Ki’Bontri of the pink skinned Terrans, had proven vulnerable to the human fleet’s tactics and the prisoners had been taken. He knew that they were looking for the human named Heyerdahl and would seemingly stop at nothing to rescue their fellow man.
For Ki’Bontri, catching the humans would be just like fishing in the crimson sea back on Ch’Tauk. You baited the hook, threw out your line, and then waited for the long, slimy creature to swim to your watercraft. Then you tossed in your explosives and watched as the predatory animal writhed in pain from the detonation. He had baited his hook and tossed out his line. Now it was for the humans to swim up and be destroyed.
16
The Sweet Liberty
Pairing two space ships together while traveling through M-space was never easy. The fluidic energy of the electromagnetic membrane that separated our universe from the next could tear a ship apart that was not shielded correctly. When two ships entered together, however, the difficulties increased by a high order of magnitude. When the connection was a set of magnetic grapples and a thin transit umbilical, the task was nearly impossible.
Connor Jakes strode across the long bridge of the Sweet Liberty, staring at each console as he passed. The command center of the converted yacht was a strip of deck only a few meters deep, but spanned the width of the upper deck of the ship. It was equipped with a visual projection screen that superimposed an advanced and augmented view of the galaxy over what was actually there. As a converted privateer, the ship was also equipped with many aftermarket modifications. One of which allowed the smaller ship to extend its jump engines across the slave ship and maneuver it through the energy barrier as if the two ships were one.
As Captain Jakes reached the end of the row of consoles and stations, he turned and began to pace back to the other end of the row. The ship, which had become home to his crew and others, was about to exit from M-space into the real galaxy and the procedure could result in the destruction of both ships if his pilot was not careful. When Jakes reached the central command chair, halfway down the row of consoles, he sat down and tried not to hold on to the armrests.
“Bonnie,” the captain said. “You are sure that the Red Sweeney is not going to rip us apart when we leave the jump exit, right?”
“Captain Jakes,” replied the woman, trying not to sound insulted. “I was trained at the Pilot Academy. I can fly these ships through the eye of a needle if you ask nicely. Now shut up and let me concentrate.”
Chastened by the pilot, Jakes continued to stare out of the long window at the blue-brown haze of M-space. Despite living his entire life in space, he hated the bruise colored area of space that allowed him to travel from one end to another so swiftly. It reminded him of flying through the lining of a coffin.
The view screen dimmed as Jakes witnessed the familiar swirl of energy that told him that they were exiting the membrane. A wispy blue vortex swirled open, revealing a dark space beyond that was dotted with distant stars. As they approached, Jakes could see the formation of the fiery corona as excess energy built up along the ship and surrounded it. This part of the journey was where the two ships would be buffeted the most by the ferocious energy as the ships made the transition to normal space.
The Liberty seemed to shudder as the view screen almost blacked out completely. The filters that projected the false images onto the window struggled to keep the blinding light of the corona from damaging the occupants of the bridge. Jakes kept his eyes riveted, waiting to see if his ship would survive.
When the corona dissipated into normal space, Jakes could still see the edge of Red Sweeney on the starboard side of the window. He let out a breath that he hadn’t realized that he was holding and tried to relax. As he watched the pilot slow the ship, he saw a series of data points begin to pop up on the screen. The images began to be identified by the ship’s computer as Ch’Tauk patrol ships.
“Damn,” he said. “The bugs are still hanging around.”
“Well what did you expect,” said a voice from behind him. “We knew they were bringing Heyerdahl here for something.”
Connor turned and saw Melaina Petros standing in the open doorway behind him with Tuxor just behind. The large amphibian had needed to duck down to enter the bridge and looked uncomfortable waiting for the woman to move. Jakes stood and walked around to the other side of his command chair. Unconsciously, he reached up and ran a hand through his long, dark hair.
“Miss Petros,” he said, waving her into the command area to allow Tuxor easier access. “Tuxor, we have arrived at Karisia, but it seemed that we are not alone.”
Tuxor watched the screen as Bonnie brought the bright green planet into view. The big alien’s large eyes seemed to mist over as he stared at his home world through the glass and filtered projec
tion. Jakes remembered that the scientists had needed to leave in a hurry and he wasn’t sure if the Karisien had ever seen his own world from space before.
“Captain,” Bonnie announced from the pilot’s station. “I’m reading another ship incoming. It looks like another slave ship.”
“Bring it up on the screen, Bonnie,” Jakes ordered, returning to his seat. “Let’s see if it’s our boy.”
On the view screen, a ship, almost identical to the Red Sweeney threw of its fiery corona and began its own deceleration from a jump exit. Jakes could see the markings on the ship that betrayed it as another Holkan slave vessel. The short man monitoring communications suddenly leapt out of his seat and onto the floor.
“Captain,” he exclaimed. “It’s the Gilbert’s luck! She’s trying to hail the Ch’Tauk patrol boats.”
Jakes leaned forward in his chair, trying to peer across space to see if the ship was one of the other two that had been transporting slaves. The rescued humans had told them that all three ships were nearly identical and that the missing scientist had been transported on one. A young woman, not much older than sixteen, had remembered that one of the ships had been named Gilbert’s Luck.
“Signal the Sweeney,” ordered Jakes. “We’ll need to detach and board that ship.”
“Like hell you will,” said another voice from behind his chair. “We can’t risk killing Heyerdahl.”
“Mister Moore,” Jakes said, turning around and glaring at the man. “If you have a better idea of how to get to that man, then please feel free to let us know. In the meantime, if you ever countermand an order on my bridge, I will personally tear your tongue out and shove it up your…”
“Gentleman,” interrupted Melaina. “This is not the time. Mister Jakes, how do you intend to get Erik off that ship without killing him?”
Henry Moore stalked onto the bridge, fuming at Jakes. He had been locked in his quarters when the Red Sweeney had been captured. Jakes had claimed that it was a malfunction in the yacht, but Henry didn’t buy the explanation. This time, it seemed, he would be sticking to Jakes like glue.
“I think the best thing is not to pop the hull like we did with the Sweeney here, but to get that little lady to open her legs all on her own.”
Melaina looked at Jakes with an odd expression. She had spent additional time with him on the journey to Karisia and had found him charming, but odd in his own way. He could be brutally efficient when working with his crew, but vulnerable when he opened up to her. The crude comments seemed more and more like a shield to keep other people away from him, and she wasn’t sure it worked on her any more.
Jakes left his seat and pushed past Henry on his way off the bridge. The group from Resolute followed him down the corridor and deeper into the ship. He seemed to be heading to the boarding umbilical, but kept silent on the trip. Henry Moore was the first in step behind the pirate captain as the four moved through the corridors. Melaina and Tuxor followed behind the security sergeant, with the tall alien bent over and trailing behind.
As they reached the umbilical connecting the two ships, Jakes tapped the circular hull plate that had been cut from the slave ship. There was a pop and the cut piece of metal separated from the outer hull and pulled away, allowing the group to walk inside. Jakes walked into the ship trailing the other people quickly, not stopping to address the crewman who was holding the metal door up.
As they took the stairs up to the bridge deck, Henry became agitated at the lack of response from his repeated questions to the captain. Jakes, for his part, continued to ignore the sergeant as they moved. Tuxor was able to stand to his full height in the slave ship and seemed to be much happier as he strode the ship. When they reached the bridge, Jakes turned.
“So here’s what we are going to do,” he started. “We’re all one big happy family of scumbags and we’re going to signal that ship and tell her we got a hull breach and need to transfer prisoners. The Holkans will pull up alongside and open her own airlock to us, for a negotiated fee, of course. When she does, the Sarge and his men will board her and find that fellow you think is so important. Me and my team will secure the Gilbert and use it to land on your swamp, mister Tuxor. If all is well, I’ll tell Bonnie to wait for us. If not, then she will high tail it out of here and back to Perigee.”
Without waiting for Henry to voice an objection, Jakes turned on his heel and strode onto the large bridge of the slave ship. Henry stared at Melaina, who blinked back at him, not knowing what to say. Both humans followed Jakes onto the bridge with Tuxor following behind, looking slightly excited.
“I will finally go home,” Melaina heard him whisper.
By the time the Resolute crew had made it to the bridge, Jakes had already issued orders for the Liberty to disconnect the umbilical and hide in the shadow of the Red Sweeney. The ship seemed to vibrate as his crew sealed the breach with a temporary patch and disconnected the tube that connected the ships. One the screen, Jakes could see his pirate vessel dip and come back up behind the slave ship, masking their presence in the echo from the M-space engines.
Jakes opened up another channel and opened negotiations with the Gilbert’s luck. The slavers did, indeed, ask for a hefty fee to dock with the Sweeney, which Jakes agreed to pay when he came on board. He had claimed that the damage was due to a debris collision and that the same debris had damaged his ability to transmit an image from the bridge of the Sweeney.
Melaina marveled at how quickly the man could convince others of his sincerity. She supposed that his charm had come from years of hard living, but it seemed that he had a natural ability to deceive with his voice. She wondered if his charm had started to affect her in some way, but dismissed the thought as foolish. She knew herself far too well to be taken in by the pirate captain.
The Gilbert’s Luck maneuvered close to the captured Red Sweeney. Henry left the bridge quickly with Melaina in tow. He tried to tell her to stay behind, but she refused to obey. When they reached the airlock, Henry met his security soldiers. They spread out and prepared themselves for boarding the other slave ship.
As soon as the airlock began to cycle, Henry took a plasma rifle from one of his men and pressed his back against the bulkhead. When the door slid open, he leapt into the open portal, opening fire on the two Holkan crewmen who were manning the doorway. The soldiers surged into the other ship, firing at the Holkans who tried to resist their advance. Melaina kept to the rear of the group, trying to stay out of the line of fire. The conflagration reminded her too much of the attack on Karisia two years ago and the memory began to make her shake.
The firefight continued down the corridor until Henry came to the hallway leading to the slave cells. He ordered two of his soldiers to flank the corridor as he prepared a grenade for the assault. Tossing the explosive down the hall, he turned his head to avoid the bright flash. There was a scream from the hallway and Henry turned back to see a burning body at the other end of the hall. His men quickly raced down the corridor and took up positions.
One of Henry’s men ran to the panel beside the door and began to work the display. It took only a few seconds to hack the door lock and he waited for Henry to give him a signal. Henry braced himself in the center of the corridor and raised his rifle. As he nodded his head, the technician slapped the panel and the door opened. Henry unleashed a massive barrage through the now open door. As screams erupted from the inside of the room, Henry ceased firing and moved aside as his team stormed through the door.
The shooting continued for only a few moments and then tapered off as the soldiers secured the room. Cells lined the walls the same way they had on the Red Sweeney. Henry looked back up the corridor to see Melaina peeking her head around the corner. He waved her over and she joined him by the smoking doorway.
“When we go in there, I am going to need you to look for this Heyerdahl guy,” Henry asked. “None of us know what he looks like.”
“I think I can do that,” Melaina replied as Tuxor joined them. She was still shaki
ng, but the presence of the Sergeant seemed to calm her slightly.
The three walked through the door and entered the cell control area. Electromagnetic fields shimmered in the dimmed lights, indicating that the cells were mostly occupied. Henry began to walk down the row, followed closely by Melaina and Tuxor.
“Don’t get too close, Miss Petros,” Henry said. “Those fields can disrupt your brain waves or something.”
“I know, Henry,” Melaina replied. “I was an apprentice to the man who invented them.”
Henry snorted as they continued down the row of cells. The man had always been nice to Melaina, but she also knew that she intimidated him with her knowledge and expertise. She wanted to get to know the man better, but ultimately he would pull away from her and she would back off. She had heard about what had happened to his wife and hoped that someday he would be able to care about someone again.
They came to the end of the row and she shook her head to indicate that she had not seen Heyerdahl. There were prisoners in each cell and Henry’s men had begun to open the cells and try to give aid. Melaina rounded a corner and continued down another short area surround by cells. The third cell down stopped her in her tracks
Erik Heyerdahl had once been a brilliant scientist, tall and well-built with only the beginnings of a pot-belly the last time she had seen him. He had worn his blonde hair long and swept over a tall forehead that told of his vast intellect. What Melaina saw in the cell resembled Erik in only a few ways.
His hair had been cut close to his skull and seemed to have been torn out in some places. His skin was very pale and blotchy where the tattered clothing did not cover. As he looked up to see Melaina, his eyes seemed to lose focus.
“Open the door, Henry,” Melaina begged. “Open it now!”
Resolute Omnibus (The War for Terra) Page 35
