by Dietmar Wehr
Val Ky Ree had not hesitated when the human female called Yokonakatomi had proposed the exchange of commitments. We help you, then you help us. She naturally had agreed because not doing so would have left her helpless, with gradually failing energy reserves. But she was aware that there might be circumstances where she would not be able to help the humans. Her first priority upon regaining full operational readiness would be to find out what had happened to her own people. If any of them were still alive, her duty under the warrior code that she now followed, would be to help them, even if that meant attacking humans. It was a disconcerting thought. She hoped she would not have to do anything like that. She liked these small humans, especially the male, Troyremington. His facial skin color had changed when she had pointed to his sexual organs. Yokanakatomi had found that amusing, and Val Ky Ree had too.
When Yokonakatomi had pointed to the ship’s schematic, Val Ky Ree had understood immediately. Although pressurizing the corridors that led to the power section of the ship would seriously drain her carefully accumulated energy reserves, there was no other option. The air recycling equipment on the human spacesuits was a primitive device that would eventually stop generating oxygen, and she had no idea of how long it would last. Making sure that this human had enough oxygen was a necessary risk.
Nakatomi breathed a sigh of relief as the generator powered up and didn’t short out. That implied that she had correctly guessed how to connect the device to the ship’s power grid. As if to confirm this, overhead lights came on. She checked her chronometer and was surprised to see that it had only been roughly 35 minutes since she’d left the Busted Flush. She picked up her tools and put them back into her tool belt, then pushed herself down the corridor to head back to the Bridge. When she got there, the room was noticeably brighter too. More consoles were lit up. Val Ky Ree’s image was also brighter. After a lot of gesturing and a few spoken words, Nakatomi figured out that Val Ky Ree was trying to say to her that repairing the ship would take some time, and as best she could interpret the alien chronometer, that length of time would be at least a couple of weeks. Until repairs were complete, Val Ky Ree could not begin helping humans. That made sense, but Nakatomi wasn’t sure how McKnight would react to that news. She tried her best to explain to Val Ky Ree that the human ship might not stay nearby during the repair time. When the electronic voice spoke, Nakatomi gasped.
“Human…ship…go? One…human…stay…with…Val Ky Ree. Bring…food…water. Bring…human…Vesta…when…Val Ky Ree…whole.”
Nakatomi was so stunned that she was speechless for a few seconds. Before she could say anything, she heard Remington’s voice over her headphones.
“Yoko. Yoko, can you hear me?”
“I…I hear you, Troy, but how? The hull should be blocking your signal.” She heard Remington laugh.
“Ah, you can thank Val Ky Ree. She was apparently able to repair her communications gear pretty quickly. She’s tapped into ship’s comp and has already done a few impressive things, including acting as a relay from us to you and vice versa. She’s also activated the translation program that we use to communicate with Compact Races and is using it to learn our language one word at a time. Val Ky Ree is one smart cookie.”
Before Nakatomi could respond, she heard McKnight’s angry voice. “Stop gushing all over that thing for God’s sake. Obviously you’ve finished installing the generator, Nakatomi, so get your ass back here. I’m taking this ship home while we still can.”
“Don’t you want to wait until we can take the generator back?” asked Nakatomi.
“I don’t like the way it’s worming its way into comp. If we wait too long, we may not be allowed to leave! Get back here now!”
“Well…okay. Stand by while I explain what we’re going to do.” Nakatomi muted her mic, but before she could say anything, Val Ky Ree started speaking.
“Human ship…not stay. Val Ky Ree understand. Val Ky Ree and humans…learn much…each other…if one human stay with Val Ky Ree…short time. Val Ky Ree thanks Yokonakatomi. Yokonakatomi go back human ship. Look at gift from Val Ky Ree. Send Troyremington to Val Ky Ree for short time until Val Ky Ree whole. Val Ky Ree bring Troyremington to Vesta then Val Ky Ree search for Aesir. Come back to help humans more if allowed. Yokonakatomi understand?”
Nakatomi sighed. She did understand, only too well. Val Ky Ree wanted to come back and help, but if any of her people survived, she might not be able to come back. She wondered what gift Val Ky Ree had given. If she could download data from the Flush’s computer, she could probably upload data too. That was an exciting possibility.
“Yoko Nakatomi understand. You are my new friend. You understand friend, Val Ky Ree? I hope to see you again as a friend.” The image nodded.
“Val Ky Ree understand friend. Yokonakatomi Troyremington now Val Ky Ree friend. McKnight not friend. Maybe next time friend?”
Nakatomi giggled. “Yes, maybe next time friend.”
“Yoko go back to Busted Flush now.” The image reached out and laid a holographic hand on Nakatomi’s left shoulder. “Aesir warrior code say…be not sad when duty calls friends apart. Duty will bring friends together again someday.”
Nakatomi was so overcome by emotion that nodding was all she could do as she put her right hand on Val Ky Ree’s left shoulder. When Val Ky Ree withdrew her hand, Nakatomi did the same. One more mutual nod, and Nakatomi picked up her helmet and headed for the airlock. On the way there, she re-activated her mic and said, “Okay, I’m on my way back to the airlock. Troy, Val Ky Ree wants you to bring enough food, water and whatever else you might need for a temporary stay with her in order to facilitate the exchange of further information. She’ll drop you off at the Vesta Colony when her repairs are completed. I think we humans could gain a lot from this opportunity. I’d stay but she specifically asked for you. The repairs will probably take about two weeks plus the transit time to Vesta. Are you game?”
“Two weeks? I don’t know. That’s a long…hold on a minute, Yo, Saren is giving me static. What do ya mean you won’t let me stay?...Oh, don’t give me that crap about not leaving anyone behind! You were threatening to do exactly that to Yoko! The only difference this time is that if I stayed it would be voluntarily!...Look, Saren, you can suggest I stay with the Flush, but you can’t order me to stay. But thank you, you’ve helped me make up my mind. I will stay. Yo, I’m gathering my stuff. I may need your help to carry it over there, okay?”
“No problem, Troy. I’ll keep my suit on when I get inside the Flush’s airlock. Val Ky Ree, did you hear that? Troy will stay with you.”
“Val Ky Ree hear and is glad. McKnight does not need to worry. Val Ky Ree will not take control of Busted Flush.”
The transfer of supplies went quickly. Remington was relieved to learn that Val Ky Ree had even made arrangements for the collection and disposal of human biological waste. While her ship was completely automated and didn’t need a live crew, the designers had prepared for the possibility that the ship might want to carry passengers, and life support facilities were made habitable for him. As soon as Nakatomi was back on board the Busted Flush, McKnight engaged the navcomp, and the tiny ship moved away. With the goodbyes exchanged, Remington made his way back to the Bridge. The air was warm enough now that he didn’t need to wear his spacesuit. As he entered the Bridge, Val Ky Ree’s holographic image re-appeared. Remington wondered what the two of the could talk about now. Val Ky Ree beat him to it.
“Val Ky Ree is…curious…about human reproductive organs. Busted Flush database does not have much data on that subject. Troy, you please explain human reproduction cycle?”
Remington laughed. This was going to be an interesting trip.
Chapter Three:
Ronson blinked his eyes open as the light in his bedroom became brighter.
“Time to wake up, Troy,” said Val Ky Ree.
He checked his chronometer. “It’s only oh five hundred hours, Val Ky Ree. You don’t usually wake me this early. What giv
es?”
“My repairs are sufficiently completed that I can leave this asteroid belt and take you to the Vesta Colony, Troy. Are you in a hurry to get there?”
Ronson thought about that question. While the living quarters were not exactly what he would describe as comfortable, at least he had artificial gravity now, which was something the Busted Flush still didn’t have. All things considered, including the increasingly interesting verbal exchanges between him and Val Ky Ree, he wasn’t really in that much of a hurry to get to Vesta.
“Actually no, I’m not. Are you in a hurry to get rid of me, Val Ky Ree?” He meant it as a joke, and sure that she would take it that way, he was surprised by her answer.
“Actually yes, Troy. I am in a hurry. The sooner I drop you off at Vesta, the sooner I can begin my search to see if any Aesir have survived to the present time. We are friends, Troy, but I miss my own people.”
And your warrior code demands that you search for them too. Ronson had learned a lot about the Aesir Warrior Code and was impressed by its high-minded principles. Warriors do not make war on civilians. Warriors respect an honorable foe. A warrior’s duty is to her People first and foremost. There was more, but that was enough for him to understand her desire to find other Aesir.
“Where will you search first,” he asked.
“If any Aesir have survived, there will likely be some at our central Command Base. It is a station that is drifting in open space in order to make it difficult for an enemy to find it.”
“How long will it take you to get there from here?”
“I can’t be certain, because it may have drifted a long way from where it was during my sleep, but I estimate that I can get to its last known location in approximately 89 of your hours, Troy. If I go directly there from here, though, I won’t be able to drop you off at the Vesta Colony.”
“I have enough food and water to last for another 168 hours more or less. Will that be enough to check out your Command Base and then get me to the nearest human colony?”
“You wish to go with me to find my Command Base, Troy?”
“A warrior’s journey is always shorter when she does not travel alone,” said Ronson, quoting one of the Warrior Code sayings.
“I admit that searching alone is a disturbing prospect. While I am a fully sentient consciousness, I am also conditioned to seek guidance from living Aesir whenever possible. If I do not find any living Aesir, I don’t know what I will do.”
“If the Aesir are all gone, I will take responsibility for you, Val Ky Ree.” Even as he finished saying the words, Ronson realized that he didn’t really know all the implications of what he had just committed to. To his surprise, Val Ky Ree did not respond at all.
Ronson managed to schedule his sleep cycles so that he was wide awake when the 89 hours were up. He was standing on the raised platform in the Bridge when Val Ky Ree brought the ship out of hyperspace. She turned off all the Bridge controls and lights and projected a holographic image of surrounding space for Ronson to see. As expected, the Aesirian Command Base was no longer where Val Ky Ree had last seen it. During the trip, Ronson had learned that her description of it as a drifting station was not quite accurate. It was moving under its own power at 10% of the speed of light in a straight line. Val Ky Ree knew what that vector was and turned the ship to follow it but at a much higher sub-light velocity. Even so, it was still near the end of Ronson’s following day cycle when Val Ky Ree reported that long range sensors had detected a large object moving at 0.1C. As she brought the ship’s velocity down so that it could rendezvous with the object, she continued to ponder Troy’s statement. She was certain that he couldn’t possibly know that he had said the exact words, translated into human speech of course, that an Aesirian Clan Lord would say in adopting an outsider into his clan. The Clans had disappeared many hundreds of cycles in the past, but the Warrior Code had evolved from Clan rituals, and those words still carried special meaning. But if Troy didn’t share Val Ky Ree’s understanding of those words, then what exactly did he mean by them? Val Ky Ree was afraid to ask, and she desperately wanted to find some living Aesir so that she wouldn’t have to. She knew how disappointed she’d be if it turned out that he meant something far different, something far less.
Ronson watched the holographic image carefully. Because there was little light, there was really nothing to see at the moment except for the computer-generated red six-pointed star in the center denoting the bearing to the object they were approaching. He wondered if his impulsive commitment was responsible for the noticeable drop in the volume of words exchanged since that moment. Had he insulted her without realizing it? Had she interpreted his words to mean something other than what he’d intended? All he had meant was that he would make it his responsibility to see that she found a new purpose and reason for being if the Aesir were all gone. He hoped she would find helping humanity to be a worthwhile substitute for her lost people.
“The object is now 100,000 of your kilometers away, Troy. At my current rate of deceleration, we’ll match velocities and pull up beside it in approximately thirteen point five minutes. We’ll be able to see what it is in about half that time. I’m transmitting the only recognition code I know, which will obviously be out of date by now, but hopefully it will prevent the automated defense system from firing on me before I can verify my identity.”
Ronson mulled her words over in his mind. There was something about what she said that seemed…off. He then realized that it wasn’t what she had said, but rather what she hadn’t said. “Are you detecting any kind of emissions from that object?” he asked.
“No.”
He nodded. “Should there be emissions?”
“Yes, under normal operating parameters, there should be maser, tachyonic and gravitonic emissions, but I’m not detecting anything.”
Ronson decided that the tactful thing to do now was to say nothing and let her bring it up when she was ready to do so. The lack of emissions was clearly bad news. When they were close enough to identity the object visually, Val Ky Ree zoomed in her opticals as much as possible for Ronson’s benefit. What he saw was still quite small, but it looked round and hollow.
“Is that the Command Base, Val Ky Ree?”
“Yes, Troy. The Base is composed of a series of rings surrounding maintenance shafts that permit ships to dock in a protected environment. The Base is sixteen kilometers in diameter and thirty-two kilometers long. It normally has a complement of just over five hundred thousand Aesirians. In addition to the lack of emissions, I’m also not detecting any of the usual escort ships. I’m close enough now to be able to determine that the Base is not showing any signs of power generation. There are no lights, and the hull is emitting far less heat energy than it normally would. I can only conclude that the Base is no longer operational and has probably been abandoned.”
“Let’s take a close look just to be sure,” said Ronson in what he hoped was a casual tone.
“Yes.”
Neither of them spoke for the next few minutes. The enhanced image became larger and more well defined, and Ronson was impressed by the size, design and aesthetics of the Base. Not only was it a very efficient design, it was also pleasing to the eye. As far as humans knew at this point, none of the over 100 Compact Races had built anything even close to this.
When the ship pulled up beside the structure, the enhanced image appeared to be so close that Ronson felt he could reach out and touch it. When he saw a bulge that looked like a weapon turret in the outer hull of one of the rings, a question came to mind. “Is there any sign of battle damage?”
“None detected so far.”
“I would characterize that as good news. Would you agree?” he asked.
“The Aesirians considered themselves to be the protectors of less advanced races in this part of space. Under the Warrior Code, the best possible way to die is while defending someone who cannot defend themselves. If the entire Aesirian Race had died in battle, I could find some comfort
in that final act of selflessness, but there is no sign of a final battle. I cannot even imagine an honorable circumstance that would cause my people to simply…leave.”
“Yes, I understand, Val Ky Ree. My people don’t have a warrior code that we collectively follow, but we understand the principle that you’ve just described. We honor those who are willing to sacrifice themselves for others. I know that you were able to download all of the Flush’s astrogational database. Can you show me where we are now in relation to where the Flush found you and to the Compact races? Can you also show me the star systems where your people lived? If I can see what part of this spiral arm your people occupied, it might generate some ideas of what may have happened to them.”
