“Nathan, all mission parameters have been achieved. It is advisable to evacuate the outpost. There is a high probability the Overlord is using deceit to delay our retreat so mercenaries can intercept our departure.”
Justice dropped a piece of reality into my soup. Drayen probably was playing me for a sucker just looking for an opportunity to stab me in the back. It had been a very profitable day, and I completed my mission without getting hurt. It was time to wrap this up. The thought of Drayen manipulating me, irked enough to throw the shifty card sharp one more nasty before we bailed out of here.
“I will take the prisoner with me and decide for myself what to do with her. This will finalize the deal between us.”
I could tell he did not like it at all by the murderous expression on his face. He was not going to bet his life on bitching about it. Take that you manipulating bastard!
Drayens hateful expression softened to what I perceived as resignation. “I agree to your terms and will make sure all interactions between us remain secret.”
It was time to go, but the Overlord did try to have me killed. I could not leave without trash talking him a little more. “I now believe you are not the stupid beast I decided to eradicate. Your continued operation of this outpost has become necessary after all. This will be your only reprieve. If I find any deceit on your part, no amount of beneficial treachery will keep me from destroying you and this outpost. As of this moment, I bind you to your word. If you break your word, I will tear your limbs from your body with my bare hands and set what is left ablaze. Your screams of agony will be heard across the galaxy before I turn this rock into a star. One more thing before I go, you will address me as Mr. Myers.”
The murderous looks I had gotten earlier paled in comparison to what I was getting now. “We have a deal Mr. Myers. I must tend to my wounds.” The screen on the wall blanked out.
“Justice, I need you to send Coonts back here. We are going to be having another guest leaving with us. Tell him to escort her back to the ship. If he has any trouble with her, let her know she will be back in Drayens care if she doesn’t go with us. I am going to get my credits. Lock everything down and prepare to get underway.”
“Nathan, The being you are referring to is a Chaalt female. I will prepare quarters for the two of them. Coonts is distraught at having to leave my presences. My speaking to him for the first time has given him a sense of euphoria, making him most compliant to your wishes. The ships holds and hanger are at capacity and freight locks are engaged. The ship is space worthy and power levels are sufficient for immediate hyperspace transitions once we are clear of the outpost.”
I thought Drayen was going to make me look for my credits. As the door opened to the cargo storage area, I almost ran over a heavily bandaged Grawl. He was standing in front of me swaying almost to the point of collapse. He had his head down and shakily holding a bright silver card up to me. I took the card, and the Grawl limped away as fast as his banged up body would allow him. Ten billion credits, I was not even sure what that was worth. I knew I could think of all kinds of ways to spend it. I was wondering if Justice would object to some custom paint and a badass stereo.
I ran the whole way to the ship hoping Drayen did not realize how bad he had been hornswoggled by the lowly Earth beast.
“Justice, get us the hell out of here! Plot a jump to a secure location and make sure no one is coming after us. If you know what Grawl and Chaalt like to eat, I would like to have a meet and greet over dinner with our guest. Make it three hours from now and I’ll have Elk steak and potatoes please.”
“Nathan, There are several large gaseous dust nebulae within 700 light years of our position. Most are dense enough to hide this vessel and will allow us to scan for pursuit.”
I headed towards the lift tubes and as I went by the science lab, I saw a huge pile of Grawl cloak suits and tube weapons lying on the tables.
“Justice we need the Grawl weapons stowed securely and I would like you to figure out a way to make a cloak suit in my size. I would like it to have concealed weapons storage.
“That is an excellent idea Nathan. I believe enlisting the help of the Grawl engineer will be to our advantage. It would be prudent to occupy his mind with something other than being a fugitive.”
“Good point Justice. Keeping him happy will help get him on board with our future plans. I wanted you to know your ammunition modifications were outstanding in combat. I managed to take control of the outpost after expending twenty rounds. The shock and awe factor was off the charts.”
“Nathan, It is my duty to do everything in my power to insure the survivability of command personnel. It is one of my prime directives to prepare all crew members for any contingency.”
“After the outcome of that escapade it’s nice to know you are in my corner. How is our guest behaving with the change in habitat?”
“I have briefed her on the dinner meeting and she seems very compliant. She has made no demands or inquires at this point in time and was extremely happy to have private quarters without Grawl spying on her every move. She is aware of my monitoring but accepts the fact without comment. Coonts is content just to be associated with this ship once again.”
“Do you think we can get the Chaalt to help us repair the ship?
“Unknown at this time Nathan, without knowing the circumstances of the Chaalts imprisonment I can only speculate on the amount of goodwill you will receive for freeing her.”
“I’ll have to tell you Justice, the Oolaran training made a huge difference to the way the mission turned out. When things started going bad, the more focused I was on successfully completing my mission.”
“Yes Nathan, some of the conditioning aspects of the training procedures gave me pause not knowing the effects on human psyche. The positive outcome of your mission gives credence to my training selections.”
I was still in disbelief at what I had just done. It would be hard to keep my head from swelling knowing I could not just talk the talk but could also walk the walk. It was crazy I told Justice before the mission started that I was going to waltz in there and get Coonts and the outpost would give me whatever I wanted.
“I am aware of your preference to name the ship after The Grawl project name given to me years ago. Legacy is indeed a fitting name.”
“It is an old Earth tradition to christen ships with a proper name. It is considered bad luck not to do so. There is usually a formal ceremony involved but I think we will just stream line the process. I christen thee the Legacy.”
“I have made note of your command level decision and my records will reflect the ships new designation as the Legacy.
“Were you able to catalog the artifacts Justice?”
“Much of our cargo has packaging that resists scanning, so I was not able to pick and choose what may or may not be most suitable to your race. Manual cataloging of our inventory will be required in order to determine its usefulness or value as a trading resource.”
15
The jump to a huge multi light year dust and gas cloud was uneventful. Justice started a broad spectrum passive scan to determine if we had active pursuit. We had a significant collection of recently formed stars less than a light year from our location. The radiation and light emissions would help hide our position from most scans up to a certain level of sophistication.
Dinner had been served and my guests and I wolfed down our meals in silence. It was time to break the ice because my newest guest must have felt no obligation to volunteer information and Coonts was fidgeting like a three-year-old. I decided to try to practice a much gentler brand of diplomacy and dismissed Coonts to investigating his ability to reintegrate some of Justice’s missing systems if they were to become available again. He kind of gave me that strange Grawl quizzical look. Then he jumped off the bench like he was shot from cannon. I turned my attention back to my new guest and watched as she took small sips of water while trying to inconspicuously peek up at me at the same time.
“My name is Nathan Myers and I am commander of this vessel. I am interested in learning how a Chaalt citizen came to be in one of Drayens holding cells and why he felt it needed to be kept a secret?”
She slowly set down her water container and stared at me for a few moments. Her piercing gaze was starting to make me uncomfortable. I was getting ready to change gears on my diplomacy tactics.
“How is it that a human is in control of Oolaran technology? My limited information on your species is that you are still backward thinking children in a distant star system whose identification number eludes me at the moment. I am somewhat concerned for my safety. I can only speculate as to what kind of bestial behavior it took to get Drayen to surrender the outpost and a considerable amount of extremely valuable artifacts and equipment. Since you are obviously the only human and I am already familiar with Coonts plight, the implications are terrifying. What could you possibly want with me? There is little chance of our races interbreeding and you have an existing food source so am I a hostage?”
I had a little trouble clearing my throat at her bestial comment and realized I was the one being interrogated, instead of the other way around.
“First of all, I would like to properly address you. Do you have a name or should I just acknowledge you with a bestial grunt or two?”
Now we were getting somewhere. My line of questioning elicited an almost completely human smile and a noticeable relaxing of her posture. She pulled her lower set of hands from her lap and put them on the table then placed her other set on them. Her piercing gaze softened to what I could only describe as warm curiosity accompanied by a cute sparkle.
“My name is Tria and I am from the house of Burlor. Since you have identified my species I will assume you know the nature and background of my race. I find you very intriguing Nathan Myers. I sense you are capable of intense violence but also the gentleness of a child. I feel your strong aura of righteousness and your distaste for lawlessness. I also sense you are trying to hide your primitive background with the knowledge you greedily drink from the universe. You have been thrust upon a stage not of your making. Your ability to adapt to what dangers the void has presented you, speaks well for your race. You Nathan Myers have the ability to bring your species out of the shadows of primitive ignorance and into the bright starlight of endless intelligence.”
Holy hell! I was still stuck back at the righteousness part and this gal had me splayed like an old phone book. I had the distinct feeling I had somehow been violated, and all I got out of the deal was a name. The burning of my cheeks was giving her way to many confirmations, and I suddenly had the urge to pee. The only thing worse than really smart aliens was extra smartass aliens. I was wondering at what point I would start coughing up credits so I could get the rest of my fortune told.
“Your ability to maneuver around my questions and your fascinating speculations are duly noted. But other than your name I still haven’t heard a reasonable explanation as to why you were imprisoned by Drayen. I have no intention of dragging a criminal around the galaxy with me so would you please enlighten this primitive beast so I might have one less thing to keep me up at night.”
“I find your strange mannerisms perplexing and your discomfort with your destiny amusing. To relieve your anxiety over my imprisonment, I must tell you how it happened. I along with my mixed race crew was salvaging a large debris field in close proximity to a protected star system. We were being monitored by Galactic security drones during our operation. At no time did we come into conflict with them. Several hours into our recovery operation Galactic warships came out of jump space and began hailing us. They wanted to board us and do a close inspection of our recovered materials. We allowed them to board and after they took a quick look at what we had recovered, they declared it Galactic property and found us in violation of military law. They claimed we were in possession of debris from Galactic warships and were going to confiscate our entire haul. The Captain knew we were not involved in illegal activities. The situation quickly escalated into a shoving match between my Captain and an overzealous Galactic Officer. The Captain ended up in the med bay and I felt compelled to de-escalate the situation, which somehow ended with the Galactic Officer in the med bay as well. I was restrained and held for assaulting a Galactic Officer. I was removed from the ship along with the contents of the cargo hold. My ship was released, and I was thrown in the brig. I should have been dropped off at the first military garrison but a Grawl shuttle showed up and I ended up in Drayen’s care instead.”
I felt the Chaalt was being honest with me. She looked straight at me with those piercing green eyes all the time she was talking. Folks that spent much time lying had a hard time looking you in the eyes when they were doing it. Tria Burlor was cool as a cucumber and confident as hell.
“Drayen had to have a reason for keeping you sequestered in secret. I could tell he was a very unhappy Grawl when I decided to take you, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Would you care to elaborate on that?”
“The warmth and sincerity of your aura compel me to give you honest answers. Drayen while not a complete fool, is none the less a fool. My Father is a scientific scholar back in my home worlds and Drayen believes I have knowledge of my Fathers activities. There is an ongoing organized effort by several races to obtain advanced technology from my people, and that effort has moved beyond a covert operation. I believe the actions of the Captain on the Union ship were ordered by someone other than Galactic Command personnel. I am not sure if they were actively targeting me or all Chaalt trying to obtain classified information.”
I knew nothing of politics in the galaxy and what Tria said seemed reasonable. I was still wondering why Drayen felt she needed to be hidden from me. She could tell I was puzzled by her hidden incarceration.
“I come from a closed society Nathan Myers. Most all races actively seek information on our technological advances and achievements. There are many of my people that choose to be scavengers of the void rather than prisoners of our own society. Many like myself, leave at a young age and only return when it is required or if the nature of the salvage demands it. It is common knowledge my people have recovered artifacts and materials from unknown races. It is speculated by many that my race possesses some of the most advanced tech in the universe.”
I looked her in those pretty green eyes. “Is it a fact or is it just speculation?”
The corners of her mouth curled up in a small smile. It made the alien even more attractive.
“For reasons that I cannot fathom Nathan Myers, there are some who believe nomads such as I have knowledge of all advancements in my society. In the time I was at the outpost, it was made very clear the charges against me would be dropped if I supplied information on my Father’s endeavors. When that failed I believe they were attempting to trade me for technology. There is a reasonable probability once my Father found out I was being held, he may have indeed agreed to pay some small trinkets of information for my safe return.”
“I appreciate your candor Tria and am relieved I didn’t spring a dangerous criminal from a pit full of them. I have Drayen fearing for his life so I am not really worried about him causing any trouble over me taking you from the outpost. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you know this was an Oolaran ship?
“If one spends enough time salvaging in the void, you occasionally run across rare antiquities. None I might add that has ever been close to the pristine condition of this beautiful specimen. I noticed when boarding you have been stripped of your weaponry. I don’t believe that was by your choice so you either recovered the ship in this condition or it was stolen from someone who was actively dismantling it. Would you care to elaborate on that?”
“For now Tria, let’s assume I believe everything you have told me is true. While I am relieved, you say you’re not a snake of Drayens caliber, where I come from trust isn’t just given away it’s earned. I will concede to you your assumption I am a new kid in the neighborhood. Unfor
tunately in the short time I have been around, it has been brought to my attention on numerous occasions I have made many powerful enemies. I have yet to make a single ally. Coonts might be a distant possibility, up until he finds out what my next mission entails. Then it will be just me against the galaxy. The only entity I trust is the A.I. of this ship. What I am going to do will only make more enemies. It might be best if you were not on board when I commit to my mission. If you know a way to contact your crew, we will take you where it is safe for them to pick you up.”
Letting Tria go was not a smart idea from a tactical point of view. Her uncanny insight was alarmingly accurate. Even the small amount of information she had already surmised could cause me great difficulty if it was to become known to the wrong aliens. I was convinced with the right motivation I could talk Coonts into helping me repair the Legacy. I would like the Chaalts help but it was not a necessity. Perhaps a little veiled bribery would be enough to insure her silence or possibly her help. The unveiled kind sure slapped a lock on Drayens pie hole.
“Tria, if you have information on where I could covertly trade a good portion of my current cargo, I will compensate you sufficiently to offset the loss of your confiscated salvage. I am also very interested in bringing this ship back to its full capabilities. If you were to help me might find equipment of Oolaran design that I could make use of, the possibilities for much greater compensation would be considerable.”
The look on Tria’s face went from a hint of a smile to flat neutrality. So much for veiled bribery, I hope it was not an insult. When she had nothing to say about my comment, I decided to let it drop for now.
First of my Kind Page 18
