Heading back out to the ramp I saw Yagess still standing in the same place. I ignored him and went to the control room. As soon as he figured out what I was going to do, he disappeared back down the ramp. The warning alarm blared as the pressure dropped in the hold. I opened the hold and Justice moved out from the station and scanned for hostile contacts. The Legacy reappeared in front of the big hold doors. I overrode the airlock door controls and got another blaring alarm as the atmosphere from the control room blasted out into the empty hold. Grabbing the railing and pulling my self along the catwalk I felt the tug of the tow beam. I let go and Justice pulled me into the hangar of the Legacy. “Justice, take me to the docking arm so I can collect our new transport.” I pulled the other encryption key I had taken from Dema out of my pocket and waited as Justice parked us next to the gigantic hole he had blown in the docking arm. Pushing off the hangar doorway I floated into the docking arm. Grappling my way along the ceiling I came to the Grawl transport. Using the encryption key to open the hatch I brought the power plant online and hit the dock release. The transport floated free of the docking arm. I felt Justice latch on with the tow beam and pull the ship inside the Legacy. “Justice, take us to a safe distance and destroy the station.”
“Acknowledged Commander.”
I exited the transport and walked to the ready room. Taking off my armor I looked up at the view screen Justice projected on the wall. I could see the open hold doors on the station. Justice fired six closely spaced anti-matter missiles into the opening. The station blew apart in a blinding flash. “Justice, take us to Alpha base.”
“Roger Commander, transition in thirty seconds.”
I went to my cabin and spent eight hours trying my best to sleep. I settled on slightly less than five. With my daily routine out of the way I headed to the galley and joined several of my new guests. I got my tray and headed to a gathering of Grawl having a discussion with Jaran. The scientist saw my approach and politely slid down the bench and made room for me next to Jaran. “Mr. Myers I have been to the infirmary and have discussed what has come to pass with Xul, Graf and the rest of the scientist still recovering from injuries. It has been unanimously decided we all wish to remain with you in your journey to your base. Many wish nothing more than to study artifacts without fear of hostile intervention by criminals seeking profit from our research.”
“I am pleased you wish to join me but you know I have made a lot of enemies. While you will remain at my base of operations, you may be called on to find ways of helping me defeat the hostile forces standing against me. I have put my life on the line to stop the spread of the injustice corrupting honorable races. I plan to expose those who are in power that are making huge profits on the misery of others and will do whatever is necessary to stop them. There is hope for a better life for all races but the corruption must be stopped. If you join me, you will commit to a cause whose goal is to bring the powerful criminals hiding in the shadows out into the light. They will be judged and held responsible for their crimes.”
My speech must have been inspirational because the Grawl trickling into the galley crowded in close around me. I didn’t know what to think about what I was seeing so I slowly stood up and grasped each of their hands. The expression on the Grawl faces was the now familiar smile I had grown used to seeing from Coonts. Jaran was the final set of hands I touched and his look of determination said it all. “We are with you Mr. Myers!” I could only think of one thing to say. “Please call me Nathan all my friends do!”
I decided it was time to have a talk with the prisoners. It was going on three days they had been without food and water. I knew what I was doing was morally wrong, but it didn’t seem to matter to me right at the moment. I had Justice shut off the water to the sinks and the other fixtures didn’t require water. They were still getting better treatment than they deserved. I took two small bottles of water with me to the brig. The cell enclosures were blacked out so they could neither see nor hear any outside communications unless I allowed it. I walked to the cell Kergan occupied and sat down on the long bench facing the cells. I used my implants to make the enclosure transparent. Kergan was lying on the cot that hung from the wall. I could see him open his eyes and stare at me. I set the bottle of water on the floor in front of the cell. “How does it feel to have someone deny you your most basic needs? To deny you the things that will determine if you live or if you die. How does it feel to know at any second I may open the cell door and kill you and there would be nothing you could do about it?” The Murlak sat up and stared at me with hate filled eyes. “If you let me go my clan sibling Eiger will make you very wealthy.”
I laughed at the idiot. He still didn’t get it. “You’re a fool to insight my anger once again. If you have mistaken my mercy for weakness you are destined for a very painful death. I have no need for wealth. Each piece of sewage such as you gives up their credits in hopes of me sparing their lives. They die destitute. If I felt the need for additional wealth, I would have boarded your battleship before I destroyed it and forced the cowards aboard to give me their credits.” My statement stifled the Murlaks arrogance and put a look of despair on his face.
The Murlak turned his focus on the water bottle sitting on the floor. “What do you want from me?” I had to be careful not to tip my hand, so I needed to generalize my inquiries. I did not want the Murlak to think he had any cards to play concerning his fate. “You have a very extensive list of detractors who wish you dead. Admittedly I am one of them and at the moment I am in one of my more sane moods. I had brought the water bottle with me to insure I would not be thirsty in the time you took to bleed out after I pulled your limbs from your body.” The Murlak slowly backed into the corner of his cell. I had his complete attention. “You need to convince me you have something I might need. If you can’t, I will grant the Grawl you had imprisoned their wish. Surely even a moronic fool such as you will be able to figure out what they wished for.”
The Murlak made his way to the front of the cell. “I heard the Grawl call you Mr. Myers. If you are indeed the alien known as Mr. Myers, you do not have much longer to live. Eiger has told me Mr. Myers is worth fifty million credits dead and one hundred million alive to anyone who can turn you over to him. You have become the most hunted alien in the galaxy.”
That piece of information while alarming, didn’t bother me enough for it to register on my face. I knew at some point it would be an eventuality. If Kergan thought it was valuable information, I was going to burst his bubble. I shrugged my shoulders and laughed at him. “I am losing count of the races that have tried to collect!” The Murlaks eyes widened at my lack of concern for his last statement. I used my implants to open the door to his cell. “I find you have no value whatsoever. The thought of you being on my ship sickens me and I believe it is time to remedy the situation.” I got up from the bench and took a step towards the open cell. The Murlak screamed. “NO! I CAN TELL YOU MANY THINGS! I CAN TELL YOU WHERE EIGER CAN BE FOUND!” I stopped in front of the cell. “You have my interest momentarily but your time is running out swiftly!” The terrified Murlak was wild eyed and panting. “Eiger has gone to the Chaalt home worlds! He has been sent to capture Chaalt scholars!” Now the pirate had my attention. I didn’t want Eiger anywhere near the Chaalt home worlds. Even the smallest possibility Tria and her father might cross paths with Eiger was alarming.
I needed to be very careful not to let the Murlak know how concerned I was. “Who would send him on such a foolhardy mission? He cannot enter the exclusion zone. You are wasting my time!” The Murlak was desperate and was practically begging. “He has made an alliance with a very powerful Grawl who has allies in the Galactic Union. How do you think we obtained our Union warships! Eiger is able to take his flagship in and out of the blockade at will. No one will stop him!” The ramifications of what I was hearing sent small shots of nervous uncertainty to my heart and from there to my brain. I was not scheduled to arrive at our designated rendezvous location for another two
weeks. There was no way of contacting Tria until that time. Coonts and Klutch would be at the Coram outpost until the shuttles were ready. I could go to the outpost and contact them but I did not think it would help in communicating with Tria. My pause gave the Murlak hope because he stopped his begging. I stared at him with my most menacing look. “Who is the Grawl with enough power he can order Eiger to do his bidding?” The look of hope quickly vanished from the Murlaks furry face. I knew by the look he did not know. Kergan got the desperate look back and started grasping at straws. “I do not know who the Grawl is but if you monitor the blockade, you should be able to find my clan sibling!” Kergan’s useful information had dried up. He still might be a small bargaining chip if my concerns didn’t become reality. None of our contingencies included interference by Eiger. I kicked the water bottle into the cell and with a thought closed the door and blacked it out. “Justice what are the odds of Eiger interfering with our plans?”
“There are numerous unknown variables Commander. Given the fact he is in the area the probability of him being at the right location and on the exact date you have chosen are quite small. The overall average is plus or minus thirteen percent. That includes the wild card variables added because there is a very small percentage of traffic that goes into the Chaalt home worlds and an unknown amount that goes out.”
The uncertainty of the coincidence and my growing concern for Tria made me feel helpless. “On Earth thirteen is considered a bad luck number. Right now thirteen of anything will not make me feel any better about our odds of not having a run in with Eiger. I am still pissed at Kergan it’s up to you if you want to feed him or not Justice. He already got all the pity he will get out of me today.”
“I will take it into consideration Commander. We are currently twenty three hours from Alpha base. I sense your concern for Tria’s safety. I will expedite the unloading of personnel and equipment upon our arrival at base. My subsystems will sort out any difficulties they might encounter moving into their new residence. Setting up the new labs will take considerable time and should keep everyone occupied until we return with our crew. On a lighter note, I have released the last of the Grawl from the medical bay and all are doing well and are in high spirits. Xul and Graff would like to speak with you when you are available.”
“Thanks Justice, as soon as we offload. I want to jump to outpost 655 and try to contact Coonts and Klutch.”
“Roger that Commander.”
Moving to the other end of the brig I sat the other water bottle on the floor in front of Demas cell. I wasn’t really sure why I had bothered to bring him at all. The shifty Grawl would be a much harder nut to crack than Kergan. I had hopes of attaining information about Arn’s criminal associates. Turning the lights on I cleared the view into the cell. The Grawl was sitting on the floor facing the door. I guess at some point he knew I would be by to talk to him. “I will make you the same offer I made Kergan. Prove you are of some value or you get to take a walk in hyperspace.” Dema was staring at the water bottle. “Give me water and I will answer a question. If you give me food, I will answer another!” It didn’t take the little shit long to figure out I wanted something from him. Thinking about it for every bit of two seconds I decided I had never seen interdimensional space through the open hangar doors before. I suddenly had a burning desire to do so and felt it would be important to share the view with Dema.
I opened the cell and when the piece of crap reached out to grab the water bottle, I snatched him up off of the floor and walked out of the brig into the short hallway that leads to the hangar. The little prick seemed to be dumb struck I would treat him this way. As soon as I entered the hangar he had the decency to turn a nice shade of pale white. “STOP I WILL ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE!” I kept up my slow casual pace as I nonchalantly walked across the hangar. When the doors opened and the dark gray shimmering dimension that is hyperspace appeared before us the Grawl thrashed around wildly and screaming incoherently. Dema's frenzied flailing grew progressively weaker than ceased altogether when I stopped in front of the doors.
“I have found that most of your race is extremely intelligent but no matter the race there is always one exception. You inevitably run across one that makes you think what the hell happened to this one to make it the stupidest idiot you had ever met. Dema you are the exception to the rest of your race. After all you have witnessed and all that has come to pass you still believe you somehow have the power to bend others to your will. One of your own species a Grawl named Drayen had once called me a mindless beast when there are some such as you, displaying those characteristics much longer than I have been around.”
The look of burning hate suddenly left Demas face and was replaced with surprise and shock. “YOU ARE THE HUMAN THAT ATTACKED DRAYEN!” The Grawl started a wretched cackling. “You have no idea how powerful of an enemy you have made when you meddled in Drayens affairs. You will soon die a horrible death human! Eiger is Drayen’s enforcer, and he has been ordered to search the galaxy for you until you are captured or killed. There is a one hundred million credit bounty on your head for any who brings you to Drayen alive. He wishes to dissect you a piece at a time until you finally perish. It may take a solar rotation or more for you to die!” The little shit must have seen the surprise on my face. “You do not understand the forces he commands. Eiger’s pirate fleet is actively hunting you. Eiger’s Fleet master Vermic, has the battleship Celestial Radiance searching the galaxy for you. You will soil yourself in fear when you lay your primitive eyes on the mighty Murlak Warbringer! Drayen’s closest allies the Scrun are also in the hunt! The Scrun’s most powerful warlord King Lashmos has vowed to cage you like the beast you are. There will be no place for you to hide. You and this relic you somehow managed to reach the stars in will pay the ultimate price for interfering with the balance of power we have worked so hard to put in place. If you release me now and turn this ship over to me, I might be able to talk Drayen into sparing your miserable life! I can make no guarantees because your meddling has infuriated many of Drayens closest business associates.”
The beast that is my rage was straining at the cage I had been desperately building to contain it. My realization the sequence of past events which had brought the beast to light was now tied together by the hand of my creator. Tria telling me my maker had set me on this path was ringing true. There could be no other possible explanation for the actions that brought me here. The shock of the epiphany soon faded and with it the look of surprise on my face, I replaced it with an evil sneer. “Justice, don’t we have video we would like to show this Grawl!”
A view screen appeared on the bulkhead next to the hangar doors. I jerked Dema around and walked to the wall and held him at arm’s length in front of the projection. He struggled again but ceased when the screen came to life. On the screen was a shot of the Legacy destroying Kergan’s frigate. “No Justice, I know we have much better video than that.” The screen shot was replaced with the picture of the monstrous Warbringer battleship filling the picture. I could not help myself and had to do a little narrating. “Well isn’t that a coincidence, that looks just like the mighty battleship Celestial Radiance!” I turned the Grawl around to face me. "Isn’t that what it looks like to you?" The look of utter shock and surprise had Dema’s mouth gaping open. I could not stand it and jerked the Grawl around behind me. “Nope, no soiling going on here!” I swung him back around and pushed his face within a foot of the screen. The screen stuttered and the shields of the battleship were ablaze with fire. The Legacy’s missiles leaped out at the target. “Damn Dema, it looks like the antique we’re traveling in, lost some of its anti-matter missiles.” Six of the missiles were shot down by point defenses outside of the huge fluctuating hole in the Warbringer’s shields. The seventh entered the hole in the shields. It detonated directly above one of the big cannon emplacements, ripping it from the hull. The eighth missile disappeared into the hole and the picture went blank because of the transition we had made. The vid
eo started again as we made our second pass. Justice added the proper finishing touches with a magnified view of the ship breaking in half.
I turned Dema around so I could laugh in his face. Drool was starting to drip from the Grawl’s gaping mouth and he was white as a sheet. “Come on now Dema get yourself together because you will really like the next video. I’m sure it is going to be my favorite from now on!” The video started again with explosions peppering the back of the Scrun slave ship. Dema’s eyes squinted at the screen trying to decipher what he was seeing. Justice fast forwarded to the point I was standing in the Scrun’s trophy room. It would never get a PG rating. I saw myself killing the last of the Scrun command staff and then jerking the Scrun leader off of floor. Justice made it a point to get a good close up through my suit display. You could make out the face of the Scrun clearly. “Justice, freeze the frame please. Dema, could you tell me if that is King Lashmos? It would be nice to know so I can show all of my friends how you should properly treat royal pieces of slaver sewage.”
First of my Kind Page 46
