Klutch did not give the Captain a chance to regain his footing from my vicious kick. He grabbed the Captain by one of his long legs and dragged him towards the lifts that would take us to the cargo hold. The images of all the dead natives were coming at me over and over. I was shaking with rage and on the verge of losing control. I now felt I had slipped over the edge of an abyss. The abyss had a name, and the name was murderer. I felt myself being shook and my eyes refocused. Tria was gripping me. “Commander, Nathan! You must stop what you are doing to yourself!” She reached down and scooped up a hand full of the shiny trinkets from the gore covered floor and held them up. “These are rewards and decorations for successful slaving missions Commander! There are hundreds! I have never seen or heard of such numbers!” She held me in a tight embrace and I could feel the open fire of my fury ebb to a smoldering anger. She released me and pulled me along to catch up with Klutch and Coonts.
The Scrun was on the floor of the lift with its arms wrapped around itself. We crowded into the lift around the Scrun. I drew my fighting knife. “Get off the floor and operate the lift or I will cut your hand off and do it myself!” The Scrun struggled to sit upright and put his fingers in the control slots. The lift made a rapid decent to the hold. Tria was still holding on to my arm. I looked into her eyes and put my fighting knife back into its sheath. I took some small comfort in the thought that if the Scrun’s fancy suit did not protect it from vacuum when the door to the lift opened, it sure would suck to be him. The door to the lift opened with a burst of atmosphere out into the vacuum of the hold. I was disappointed when the Scrun suffered no ill effects from the exposure to vacuum.
“Justice we are ready for pickup.”
“Commander, the shields on the Scrun ship failed shortly after our last communication. I will come alongside for extraction.”
I turned to the Scrun Captain. “OPEN THE HOLD DOORS NOW!” The Scrun wailed. “You said you would let me live!” I drew my fighting knife and started towards the Scrun. He quickly put his hand on the door control and the door started a grating screech as it attempted to open. Our high explosive blasts had sprung the door, and it only opened about ten feet before it shrieked to a halt. I put my knife away, and we crowded in close around the Scrun Captain. Justice appeared beside us as he uncloaked the Legacy. The Legacy’s hangar doors opened, and I felt the tow beam grip us. We were pulled into the hangar of the Legacy and the doors closed behind us. I switched over to our private comms.
“Justice, destroy the slaver ship and then take us to the native settlement.
“Acknowledged Commander.”
Our H.U.D.s changed to an exterior view. We could see the Slaver ship move up in front of us as the Legacy slowed and maneuvered to the ships rear. The Scrun ship started pulling away from us as Justice slowed the Legacy to a stop. Our displays momentarily whited out and a bright flash appeared just above the big blue green planet.
“Target destroyed Commander.”
The planet filled our displays and then switched to our normal view. “Justice, I want to be twenty feet over the settlement and open the hanger doors.”
“Acknowledged Commander.”
The hanger doors opened and revealed the chaos we created. The natives were trying to drag their dead with them as they were running for cover. Many threw rocks and sticks at the Legacy. Then the screaming panic stopped. The fleeing crowd slowly came back towards us when they finally recognized us. They put their arms up to us and reared up on their hind legs and as one started the single note howl. I jerked the Scrun up from the deck where he had been cowering and dragged him to the open door. He screamed. “You said you would let me live!” The howl from below abruptly stopped as I held the slaver at the edge of the door. I looked at the pathetic piece of shit. “I let you live, maybe you can convince these people to do the same!” He was still pleading on the short trip to the ground. It mildly surprised me how high he bounced. “Justice, get us out of here.” As the doors closed, I could see the slaver trying to crawl away as the mass of natives encircled him.
I looked at my crew. “If you need me, I will be in my cabin” I went to the ready room and stepped up into my armor crate and extracted myself from my armor. I felt spent and somehow covered in a filth that could not be washed off. I again looked at my crew as they stowed their gear. “Take a ten-hour rest period and I will see you at next meal.” I walked away still lost in the horrors of the last twelve hours.
30
I felt Justice transition us back to hyperspace. It was a bitter pill to swallow knowing what reality was turning out to be. A feeling of despair swept over me. The thought I was now tainted by a sickness that was an epidemic throughout the universe had me feeling physically ill. Since I had journeyed to the stars I had been forced to take so many lives I felt like my soul was being ripped from me. The human morals I had once cherished were being washed away by a dark tidal wave of murderous rage. I was now the judge and the executioner. The rules of survival left no time for a jury to consider verdicts other than guilt and death. I was twenty years old and for all I knew I had taken twenty times that number of lives. I had been away from home for almost a year but it felt like an eternity. The things I had done and the things I now knew as facts would make it difficult or perhaps even impossible to ever go back. When the people of Earth finally make it to the stars, I wondered if they could survive the reality they will find.
I took a long hot shower hoping to forget the pictures that were rolling non-stop in the back of my mind. I could still see myself wading through the dismembered bodies of the inhabitants of Beta one. There was no solace in the fact I had saved many of the natives from death and slavery. I kept reliving my rage and the blood thirsty revenge that culminated with me committing cold blooded murder. Stepping out of the shower I hopelessly wished that the air dryer could somehow blow away the sins I had committed along with the water that still clung to my skin. As I walked out of my bath, I found Tria wrapped in a blanket and sitting on my couch looking at the many pictures of Earth cascading across the view screen. The darkness of my mood and the remorse that was tearing at my sanity quashed any thoughts of modesty or embarrassment at my nakedness. I walked over to my bed and pulled the blanket off and wrapped it around my shoulders then sat down next to Tria. She leaned her head on my shoulder and I held her in a tight embrace. She whispered. “Nathan the darkness of your emotions and the doubt that brings you pain, are the consequences of your humanity. What has come to pass was the righteous will of the maker who has put you on this path. You must come to terms with your destiny and put aside all doubt that what you do is right. Your aura shines brightly and is now the shield that protects us from harm. The whispers of our deeds have spread into the void and I sense the fear of those who will try to stand against us. Even now many seek to hide from their impending judgement.”
My tense anxiety started to ebb and the ill effects of my stress faded. The healing touch of Tria’s closeness was the antidote to the poison that infected my will to go on. My sense of purpose was renewed, and I started to relax. “Tria, we need to find a way to get Beta one on the protected species list.” She looked into my eyes. “Nathan, I plan to bring the discovery to the attention of the academics on my home world. They will enter Beta one as a Chaalt expeditionary discovery. The Union usually acts on our data releases quickly. The Union will number the system but will defer to the race of discovery for the name.” I felt little relief knowing some good would come from my homicidal actions. “Thank you Tria, I do not want those people to suffer at the hands of others ever again.” The Chaalt put both sets of arms around me and held me in a tight embrace. “Nathan, the Scrun would have kept coming back until no inhabitants remained. We saved an entire planet from slavery or worse. Do not anguish over the sewage you destroyed to do so.” I was feeling like I had not slept for a week. The last thing I remember seeing was the video footage of my climb out of the wilderness in the Legacy. I woke up to Justice talking to me.
&n
bsp; “Commander, we are currently ninety light years from outpost 655 and eighty seven from Tria’s home worlds.”
I sat up and looked around thinking Tria might still be in my cabin, but I was alone. “Justice you normally let me know when guest wish to see me in my cabin. I am curious why that was not the case with my most recent visitor.”
“Commander I find the therapeutic qualities of your interactions with Tria have a profound effect on your psyche. Your stress levels drop significantly and your general sense of wellbeing is elevated. I also find your interactions bring my awareness and sense of self to higher levels of understanding. Your emotional state at the conclusion of your last mission adversely affected my sense of self. When Tria told me she wished to see you, I found I was compelled to accommodate her. I also felt on some level of my awareness it was your desire as well. I would like to point out you are not capable of producing offspring but the process that both of your races engage in to do so are fully compatible.”
“Justice, I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing. I am also pleased with the fact you take good care of the crew. But I would like to point out there are times when you need to mind your own business. I am still in the process of embracing my false sense of privacy.”
“Acknowledged Commander.”
The thought big brother was watching my every move including those going on in my cabin was a little irritating to say the least. Justice was soaking up every single human emotion I unconsciously exhibited to him. The one he was currently trying to add to his collection might get him to pop a fuse or break something. I didn’t think I could handle another A.I. having a meltdown. Shaking my head, I headed down to the galley. I was surprised to find a good size stack of credit vouchers sitting on the table where I normally eat my meals. Then it dawned on me Klutch or Coonts must have picked up the vouchers before we abandoned the Scrun ship. I got my morning cup of imitation coffee and some toast. Reaching into a storage bin I dug out my last jar of Callie’s blueberry preserves and brought them to the table with me. I couldn’t bring myself to sit at the same table with the vouchers so I sat at the table across from them. Prying the wax seal from the jar I prepped my toast with a generous helping of the preserves. The stack of shiny cards was eating at me. I knew I could never come to terms with the taint associated with how the credits were earned. Coonts walked into the galley and looked at where I was sitting and then at the pile of cards. He came and sat next to me. “Commander I now see it was an error to recover the credit vouchers.” I gave the little Grawl a grim look. “Yes Coonts we have a term where I come from for currency gained through the misery of others. It’s called blood money.” The little Grawl bowed his head. “I apologize, Commander I thought we might do some good with forty billion credits.” The amount of credits the Scrun were carrying with them was considerable. The slave trade was apparently very profitable. “We aren’t in need of extra funds. I say space that crap.” Tria had been standing in the entrance to the galley waiting for us to finish our discussion. She heard my decision to throw the credits away. “Commander, Coonts is correct, there is much good that can be done with the funds.” I turned around to face Tria and smiled. “Tria, if you know of a way to spend the funds so they will benefit others, please tell me.” She sat down and looked at me with those beautiful emerald eyes. “Commander my people help fund the Galactic Union planetary protection fund. It costs more than sixty million credits to classify and protect a single primitive species. The most technologically advanced races voluntarily support the fund. I can assure you the beings in charge of the fund are beyond reproach. They insure there is complete transparency and absolute accountability.” As usual Tria was right again. It was easy to forget the fact someone somewhere had donated credits so my home planet could be protected. I silently vowed to not pass up the opportunity to take any funds I could from the corrupt races that were preying on the helpless. “All right Tria, you are now in charge of charitable contributions. You officially have forty billion to spend. Can you make the first donation in the name of races against slavery?” Tria and Coonts both gave me a big smile, one pretty and one not so much. I put my arm around the little Grawl. “Coonts you did well! Sometimes I lose sight of the bigger picture.”
I was wondering where Klutch was. “Has anyone seen Klutch?” Tria got up to get her meal then came back and sat next to me. “I saw him in the science lab Commander, he was not happy with the shortcomings of the Union rail weapons. He has been bothering Justice about it and I think they are working on another weapon system.” I nodded in agreement and took a bite of my toast it was like chewing card board! I started thinking what the hell and took a drink of my coffee. It was all I could do to keep from spitting it across the table. It might well have been gear oil. I unnecessarily yelled out, “Justice something is seriously wrong with the food processor!” Tria and Coonts didn’t seem to be having any problems with their food and were giving me blank stares. Justice came over the PA and unnecessarily broadcast, “My apologies Commander, it is very likely I might have been minding my own business when it came to processing your meal.” That evil freakin robot! The questioning looks I was getting from Tria and Coonts made me get up and excuse myself. I promptly threw the food in the recycler and headed to the science lab.
I stormed into the lab trying to cool my temper. Justice had six arms extruded from the ceiling. All were working on a twin barreled weapon whose design characteristics were familiar to me. Klutch was studying the separate pieces of my cut down ten gauge shotgun that was spread out on the table. My curiosity put the brakes to my anger, but I still had to make a comment of some kind. “Justice you know that is my last jar of Callie’s blueberry jelly. Next time you feel like being a funny man, make sure it doesn’t involve wasting the last of my Earth supplies.
“OK.”
Klutch looked at me with mild amusement. “You look much better Commander perhaps a funny man is a good thing.” I needed to change the subject. “What are you doing to my shotgun?” The Tibor gave me his usual toothy grin. “Justice is replicating the auto loading design of your weapon and adapting it to a new twin barrel design. He has been working on some new projectiles as well. The new munitions have been reduced to half of the original length so they will be lighter to carry.” He picked up one of the shortened rounds and handed it to me. The ten gauge size shiny metal tube was the same length as a .44 caliber pistol bullet. He slid one of the magazines over to me. “The new weapon will have two of those that will hold twelve rounds a side. The explosive penetrator munition will be accelerated to a very high velocity with rail gun technology that is built into the barrels. Recoil will be less than fifty percent of the old munition. Since we have a generous supply of explosive rounds for our battle suits, Justice broke down several and put explosives into the new ammunition. The yield will be roughly twenty five percent of the suit munitions. The weapon will defeat most armor systems unless we come up against Galactic troops or other Zaen battle gear.” One of the extruded arms handed me the prototype weapon. It was amazingly light for its size. Klutch beamed at me. “The new weapon is manufactured entirely of hull alloys. They will weigh half of what the original weapon did. Fully loaded with twenty four in the magazines and two in the barrels, it is only slightly heavier than your Earth weapon loaded with five of the modified Earth munitions.”
I was considering shelving the mini rail gun and told Klutch so.
The Troop Master wasn’t keen on the idea. “I still think we can make use of the smaller Union rail guns Commander. The large magazine capacity in such a small package can still be useful in situations involving lightly armored targets. They are still a good back up weapon and a less destructive option than are our standard load-out.” Klutch fixed me with a knowing look. “More is always better Commander.”
Who was I to question the Troop Master’s experience? “If you need time to test the weapons do it. We will be moving forward with Tria’s plan. We need to get our mission briefs ready and work o
n contingencies. It is my desire to start the mission in forty eight hours from now.” Klutch gave me a good old Earth thumbs up. “Roger that Commander!”
Any thoughts I had about my crew being aliens, were long forgotten. By embracing my Earth euphemisms and emotions I had come to accept them as human regardless of what they looked like. Decked out in full battle gear their appearances would still allude to their origins. But their Earth mannerisms would make other races reconsider any theories on the subject.
Justice found a gaseous asteroid field about six light years closer to our destinations. He hid the Legacy in the densest formation and we started working on the mission with earnest. Since it wasn’t technically a combat operation, it took very little time to iron out the execution. Tria, Coonts and Klutch would take the Grawl transport and jump to outpost 655. Coonts and Klutch would then depart and seek an audience with the Coram in charge. Coonts would pay him a considerable bribe to insure smooth transactions if they did indeed find suitable shuttles to purchase. We would extend the mission as necessary to allow time for any necessary modifications and delivery. While they waited Klutch would see to it the additional funds I send with them would be transferred to the families of his deceased crew. Tria would hold in a loose orbit until she gets the green light from Coonts in which case she will either retrieve them and bring them back to the Legacy or continue on to her home world. If all goes as planned I would take the Legacy and jump to system 2456. I would attempt to bribe or convince several of the Grawl scientists to accompany me to Alpha Base and make it fully functional. Depending on the outcome of my endeavor, I had planned other contingencies if everything did in fact go my way. One such contingency would be to stop at outpost three and trade some of our artifacts for supplies. I would do so at a crappy exchange rate to keep Drayen interested in our little agreement. If all went according to plan we would meet at the abandoned mining facility and I would reunite with my crew. Hopefully Tria’s father would be present along with two new assault shuttles to work with.
First of my Kind Page 41
