“She’s close to the latter.”
“Yes, she is. Speaking of saints, thank you for coming with us to Vega.”
“I haven’t said yes yet.”
“I know you, Logan. In addition to the sweetness Jaclyn detected, you have your own type of innocence and a chivalric ethic. You’re a White Knight.”
She leaned back on the desk and stuck the cigar in her mouth. “So how many men will you need?”
“Wait a minute. There—”
“Besides, there’s another reason to make our voyage.”
“Ever sought a career as a travel agent, Belen?”
“No, I already have a full-time job. If I’m not mistaken your latest quest was helping the Deltans in their war with the Critterrans. Vicious little creatures. Although they’re not that little, are they?”
“Not at all.”
“Why are you helping the Deltans?”
“They have a nice little planet. Very pleasant people. I didn’t wish to see them exterminated. Besides, I don’t like the Critterrans. They have this very nasty habit of exterminating groups they dislike, and they dislike almost every other race in the galaxy.”
“And you offered your services for free?”
“The Deltans do not live on a rich planet. They don’t have a lot of money to spare and wars are expensive.”
“As I said, White Knight. The Lancelot of space. After they recover, the Critterrans will attack again. How would you like to guarantee a Deltan victory?”
I shifted in my seat. “I would like that very much. How exactly would I do that?”
She went behind her desk and rolled the chair out. She wheeled it right in front of me and sat down. “What if I told you that at one time there was a highly advanced civilization on Vega? Now it’s beneath the wind, ice, deserts, and storms, but it was more highly developed than any current civilization we know. It had exceedingly high-tech weapons - more than enough to wipe out the Critterrans next time they attack a peaceful planet.”
I rolled the cigar around in my fingers. “Belen, I trust your word. You’ve never lied to me. So when you say something, I assume you know what you’re talking about.”
“I’ve never led you astray, have I?”
“No, so I will just ask once. Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Ninety-five percent sure. There’s always the unexpected and always a slight chance of error. But ninety-five percent is pretty good odds.”
“Yes, it is.”
She reached over and touched the beard stubble. “So how many men do you need?”
“About a dozen, if I go.”
“There’s one other reason you should join us, if you need one. You can make the most unique and amazing discovery in the history of man if you come with us.”
“Just how would I do that?”
“Have you ever seen anyone like Jaclyn? I’m not changing the subject. One question is directly related to the other.”
“No, I haven’t. There is something about her presence. A type of human magnetism. It’s like goodness has a power and it exudes from her.”
“Exactly, and you know why she’s like that?”
“Have no idea.”
She leaned over and stared directly in my eyes. Her lips moved close to me and she whispered. “She is an Aristolan. She has never fallen and her race has never fallen. They are the humans we were meant to be. The Adam and Eve on Vega never sinned. They are perfect in body, in spirit, perfect in DNA. They are, to use a word never used today because we’ve forgotten what it is, righteous.”
Belen paused for a moment, then whispered again. “Do you understand the implications for mankind?”
I nodded, although I wasn’t sure I did.
“So…”
I let the word hang in the air for a minute. “So… perhaps I will mosey along to Vega with you, after all.”
After a time of silence, I sat back and matched her steely gaze with mine.
“Have anything to drink?”
She snapped her fingers. “Edward, get Mr. Ryvenbark a drink. What would you like?”
“Whiskey sour.”
“Whiskey sour, Edward.”
A pale figure in a dazzling black and white butler uniform had come into the room. He walked to the bar, mixed a drink and brought it to me.
“Tell me he’s not a Synthetic” I said.
“No, he’s a robot.”
“Good.”
“You don’t like Synthetics?”
“No, they’re treacherous. You can’t trust them.”
“Then I’m glad I don’t have any around.”
I sipped my drink. “A half-dozen men might be enough. But I’d prefer twelve.”
“Hire them. I will pay them a hundred thousand apiece. I assume you will want a second-in-command. I’ll pay him a quarter million.”
“It’s always nice to have rich friends. How much time do I have?”
“The Aristolans don’t have much time. I’d like to leave in two weeks.”
I raised my glass to her. “In two weeks I can get you the toughest, smartest, meanest grunts in the galaxy.”
Edward brought her a drink. She smiled as she sipped the liquor.
“So what are our chances if you have your tough, mean colleagues with you?”
“Of surviving Vega? About ten percent.”
She raised her glass and clinked it against mine. “Only ten to one odds. That’s not too bad.”
A few minutes later she escorted me into her command center, and it was impressive. High-tech computers, scanners, military equipment, communications. There were three large, color-filled screens. Belen’s homeworld was on one. Her current planet of residence was on another, and a third screen showed what Vega looked like. An ugly place.
A great deal of the planet, at least the northern half of it, was covered in blue ice. The polar regions had grown and invaded the three continents. All had long stretches of blue that slowly faded and became a light, then a dark, green. Below the equator, there were two vast forests, hot, humid, and deadly. A large desert stretched above and below the equator on one of the continents.
Belen tapped a computer. “Betsy, this is Logan Ryvenbark. Say something, Logan.”
“Hello Betsy, how are you?”
“Fine. And you Mr. Ryvenbark?”
“So good I can hardly stand it. Please call me Logan.”
“I shall, Logan.”
“Betsy, if you would, please respond to Logan’s voice as if he were me. He will be asking you questions about the planet Vega.” She tapped the computer again. “I have all the information there is on Vega which, to be honest, isn’t all that much, stored in Betsy. She can also send out any communications you need.”
I nodded. “The civilization you say exists-where is it?”
She flicked her hand at a screen and a circle of green marked a small area on one of the continents. The area was south of an ocean. A green circle was surrounded by angry blacks and reds. Traveling a thousand miles south, another red circle was drawn. This one was in a midst of dull yellow.
“The green spots are where the civilizations were buried, and I mean buried. The top one is where the Aristolans are located. The circle below is a desert. A few miles underneath are cities and whatever else is left of a race that might have ruled the galaxy for centuries. A rather enlightened race, we suspect.”
“Who is 'we'?”
“A few scientists and other experts I engaged. They all signed confidential agreements. I wanted to keep it secret. We didn’t have a chance to do a first-hand inspection, mind you. There was no one walking around the planet, and certainly no one below ground. We sent in probes and some were able to penetrate the surface.”
She tapped on a computer and her finger showed up on the screen. The nail rat-a-tat-tatted the upper, smaller green circle.
“There are other cities here, we believe ‘Here’ meaning way below the surface.” Belen tapped the green spot inside the red again. “We bel
ieve there are two races on Vega, and perhaps more. Our probes did not go all over the planet. We aimed for very specific areas. The Aristolans are centered here. From all indications, they are rural in nature but not primitive. No advanced technology, though. Comparable to Europe in the 1400s. Before industrialization. Their weapons are only spears, swords and arrows. Although they are a peaceful, enlightened race, they need those weapons.”
“That’s surprising. Until now, science offered no opinion on whether the planet was populated. Because of all the bad weather, it was assumed all sentient life, if there ever was any, was dead.”
“Until now, science paid little attention to the planet.”
That was true enough. At the Academy I did my dissertation on the history of Florida, my native state. Back in the 1950s, it was still a sparsely populated place. A highway ran down the east coast and through the middle of the state, with starts and stops along the west coast. There was a small road running from the coastal town of Vero Beach west. Ultimately it crossed a state road heading to Orlando. Thirty miles before the crossroads was a little shack of a town, where nobody went, called Yeehaw Junction. Not really a town, just a few buildings. It was the ultimate out-of-the-way place. Vega was the Yeehaw Junction of the galaxy.
“The Aristolans are surrounded by a more hostile race we named the Molochs.”
I looked at the gold cross around her neck again. “Biblical reference?”
“Yes. I thought the name fit. Think of Genghis Khan and his hoards. They seem almost subhuman and they are determined to exterminate the Aristolans.”
“So you want to do a rescue mission?”
She shook her head. “Yes. If the Aristolans have preserved, or at least kept the technology from previous civilizations safe, we can at least help them out a bit.”
“OK, we can save the race. But would it be better to land in the desert?”
“Not really. There’s no guarantee the Molochs wouldn’t attack there, too. They control the rest of the planet and they are not neighborly.”
“Well, since we don’t have an army, it might help to have the Aristolans on our side.”
“That was my thought. And in return, we can provide them with some help. They are hopelessly outnumbered.”
I sighed and lit another cigar. It was a great comfort that cigars actually benefitted smokers nowadays instead of releasing toxins.
“You have security forces, Belen. How many men will be coming with us?”
She didn’t hesitate. “About a hundred.”
“Trained?”
“Not as well trained as Logan Ryvenbark and his private crew, nor as well trained as his friends Commander Cleed and Lt. Jade. But my men are competent and courageous.”
“OK, Belen. But tell me this. I know why I’m going to Vega. I know why you’re going. Jaclyn is going because…”
“She’s going home. She was born there.”
Chapter 2
Three days later, the robo-car swirled around the mountain peaks again and deposited an old acquaintance at the house. The robot servant ushered him into my temporary command headquarters. He had black hair, a mustache, and a wry grin when he saluted.
“I understand you need a master sergeant” he said.
I answered with my own salute.
“I sure do.”
I stuck out my hand and he put it in an iron squeeze. “How are you, Rab?”
“I get lazier every day.”
“Just the way I remember you.”
He laughed. “To be honest, I was a bit down until I heard about the job and the money. Then I perked up considerably.”
Ian Rabaleis Stone was a veteran of too many campaigns to mention. I had never met a tougher, or more intelligent, soldier. He was a master of languages and a master of weapons. On more than a dozen planets, many enemies of mankind died because Rab had shot or knifed them. He had a closetful of medals and deserved every one of them.
“Our mission will be very dangerous” I said.
“Gosh, I thought you’d be paying that much money for a Sunday school picnic. When can I get the initial ten percent?”
“Any time you want it.”
“Right now would be fine.” He chuckled. “A few gambling debts I need to clean up before I leave.”
“You didn’t draw to an inside straight, did you?”
He shook his head. “Opponent had a jack high flush. Surprised the dickens out of me. But it was an honest game, so I couldn’t complain. And I don’t welsh on my debts.”
I walked Rab down to Belen’s treasurer, a slim, petite woman who seemed to know everything about finances and computers. In a matter of minutes, she had dispatched the money to pay off Rab’s debt and sent the rest of the ten percent into his bank account.
“So what’s the job?” he asked as we walked back to my office.
“Come in. I will show you.”
As we entered, I switched on the screen of an overhead computer and hit a few buttons. The outline of a small continent on Vega popped up. I drew a blue circle on my screen and it showed up overhead.
“This little plot of land, about the size of Belgium, is occupied by perhaps 200,000 folks known as the Aristolans. They are surrounded by some very nasty, hairy savages, which we are calling the Molochs. They are determined to be the sole race on the planet. There is something we want inside the Aristolan territory. It may take a while to get it.”
“So we have to defeat the Molochs, or at least keep the Aristolans alive until we get what we need.”
“Yes.”
“How many enemies are facing us?”
“After discussions with Belen and looking at a few aerial photos, I’m guessing about two million.”
Rab didn't usually display much emotion. Emotions can get you killed in battle. But I did see a twitch of his lips.
“How many men do we have?”
“Twelve” I said.
“Oh, so the odds are about even.”
“But we have technology and weapons.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Plus we have the strength of ten because our hearts are pure.”
He roared with laughter. “Your heart may be pure. I can’t say that about mine. Besides, I’m not sure even pure hearts would be enough against two million opponents. Let’s hope our technology is good.”
He looked at the overhead screen. “Our allies have their backs to the sea.”
I nodded.
Rab shook his head. “There’s no place for them to run. After we pick up what we need, do we just leave them there?”
“We are going to take transports and take them with us when we leave.”
Deadly Voyage (Logan Ryvenbark's Saga Book 1) Page 2
