Night Song (The Guild Wars Book 9)

by Mark Wandrey

  “Your baseless accusations are meaningless,” Ifka said. “You will attack again, immediately, or I will hold your contract in violation, seize your assets, and demand the guild cancel your license!”

  Alan looked at the Zuparti for a long time, and Shadow wondered what his father was thinking. Veska slowly got up and fell into a chair, massaging her ankle, which was visibly swollen now that she was out of her armor. Captain Anderle had been on the far side of the meeting room, quietly watching everything. Shadow saw her whisper something into a radio and he caught the word backup. His senses tingled. This was an important moment.

  “No,” Alan said and lowered himself into a chair with a sigh. “Get stuffed.”

  “What?” Ifka said.

  “He said get stuffed,” Rex said. “Piss off, arsehole. We’re done fighting for you.”

  “You’re ruined!” Ifka screamed. Her assistants gawked and shook their heads. As if on cue, the Lumar Ulan and his assistant commander Iban came in next to Anderle. She nodded, and they took up positions by the door. Nobody else seemed to notice. “I will send a message to the guild—”

  “How?” Alan asked.

  “What?”

  “How are you going to send a message? You can’t get a ship to the stargate, and even if you could, it’s locked out. The Vergola control it.”

  Ifka snorted and waved a dismissive hand. “Then your downfall just comes later. Nothing has changed.”

  Shadow caught another movement from the door and wondered if more Lumar were arriving. Instead he saw an Aku shuffling in. Shadow smiled. The Aku fixed Shadow with its big black eyes and held up its old battered slate so Shadow could see; it was displaying a clear Mercenary Guild logo.

  Shadow moved away from the confrontation. Ifka was yelling into a communicator, calling for Lumar troopers without realizing two were already in the room by the door. Anger could so blind the unready. When Shadow reached the Aku, he knelt, keeping his voice low in case Ifka suddenly became aware of her surroundings. “Niss?” he asked.

  “Yes, I am Niss. You cannot tell?”

  “No, sorry,” Shadow said. “You all smell…remarkably similar. In time, I should be able to tell you apart.”

  “This is fair,” Niss replied.

  “What did you find out about our contract?” Shadow wasn’t sure, but he would swear the big turtle-like being was smiling. He held out the slate, which Shadow took and skimmed while the Aku spoke.

  “The details of my analysis of the contract are based on what you told me,” Niss explained.

  Shadow scanned and found page after page of notations, all in English. The writing was a little hard to read. Niss didn’t have a perfect grasp of the use of English nouns and verbs. It took him several minutes of rapid reading to get the gist of Niss’ conclusion.

  “You’re sure about this?”

  “Positive,” Niss replied.

  Meanwhile Ifka had finally noticed the Lumar. She bounded across the room and stood in front of Ulan, pointing at Shadow’s father.

  “I want him arrested, immediately.”

  “Why arrest Human?”

  “They have violated their contract with us; they refuse to fight.”

  Ulan looked from Ifka to Alan and back to Ifka. “Not want to fight?”

  “We refuse,” Alan said. “We would fight to protect ourselves or even to protect you. But we’re not fighting for this bloody weasel anymore.”

  Ulan listened to his translator grunt and huff the English into Lumar, his head cocking as he tried to make sense of it.

  “You no fight because Zuparti bad?”

  “We won’t fight because they’re sneaking scumbags,” he said.

  “Dad?” Shadow said.

  “Not right now, Shadow. In fact, you five better take Veska and go to the barracks.”

  Shadow knew his father was worried about them. His brothers and sisters were growling low in their chests, hackles rising as they prepared to fight.

  “Dad, you need to see this,” he said, keeping his attention firmly pointed at Alan and away from Ifka as he held up the battered slate.

  “What is it?” Alan asked and took the slate. Being much more familiar with the language of contracts, his expression changed as he instantly recognized a detailed analysis of a merc contract. He read for a bit, then twisted the slate in his hand to examine it. “This isn’t your slate?” he asked, tone too flat to really be a question. Shadow shook his head. “Who did this?” Shadow turned and pointed to Niss.

  Alan walked over to the Aku and pointed at the slate he was holding. “You did this?”

  “Yes.”

  “How did you learn about mercenary law?”

  “I read it.”

  “Read what, mercenary law?”

  “All mercenary laws, regulations, and governing messages stored on the GalNet.”

  “That’s gotta be petabytes,” Alan said.

  “He’s actually read a big chunk of the GalNet,” Shadow told his father. “Read it and understood it.”

  “What is this about?” Ifka demanded. “Why is this slave in here instead of the mines? Lumar, return this creature to where it belongs.”

  Alan ignored the question and waved off the command, glancing at the slate. “Hold on, Ulan. This concerns you, too. Ifka, Engineering Guildmaster, I hold our contract as invalid. This erases all commitment between us, and ends any power you think your threats hold.”

  “Ridiculous,” Ifka said.

  Alan cleared his throat and read, “Mercenary Guild law on contracts, Section 11, Parts 3 and 4, state a unit may not be compelled into a contract.”

  “Section 5 makes an exception if the mercs enter an area of active conflict,” Ifka replied, almost before he’d finished talking.

  “Section 8, extenuating circumstances, lays out what is considered a valid conflict. Mercenaries being trapped by an interdicted stargate are excluded.” He turned to look at Shadow and Niss. “I must have read this bloody contract a dozen times, and didn’t know about the Section 8 exclusions.”

  “The interdiction wasn’t intentional.”

  “Yes it was,” Niss replied.

  “Shut up!” Ifka barked at the Aku.

  “You had me write the code to trigger the interdiction.”

  “Oh, ho,” Captain Anderle said, a grin spreading across her face. “The game is afoot!”

  Alan continued, “Under Section 3, remuneration of false employment of mercenaries from cancelled contracts, we demand payment in full for an invalid contract, and under Section 6, in regards to safe passage and billeting of non-combatant mercenaries, we demand to retain our living spaces, defensive capabilities, and starship until such time as we can leave, when under the same section you will guarantee our departure from the E’cop’k system.” Alan lifted his own slate and showed Ifka he’d been recording the entire exchange.

  Ifka quivered with rage, her tail and facial fur bristling with it. She spun and spoke to her assistants, too low for the translators to pick up, all three of them furiously paging around on their slates.

  “Bravo, Dad,” Shadow said.

  “All I did was read,” Alan replied. “You realized the Aku could help.”

  “Bloody good job,” Rex said and slapped Shadow on the back.

  “Ripper,” Ripley said.

  “Hell, yes,” Sonya said.

  “Good job,” Drake said.

  “Fine,” Ifka said, turning around finally. “I’m certain you are wrong, but this is hardly my most pressing concern.” She looked at Ulan. “They won’t fight, you will.”

  “We fight.”

  “All of your troopers. Gear them out. I want a direct assault. Overwhelm their base.”

  “Many Big Strong Fist die…”

  “That’s your job,” Ifka snapped, but fixed her eyes on Alan as she said it.

  “She can’t do that,” Shadow said, “can she?”

  “I have not seen the Lumar contract,” Niss said, blinking his huge eyes. �
�I cannot say.”

  “Do it or forfeit your bond.”

  Alan flinched. Any merc threatened with forfeiture of bond tended to have a visceral reaction. The amount wasn’t overwhelming on most contracts, a few thousand to a hundred thousand usually. It wasn’t the credits—it was the black mark on their Mercenary Guild record. Employers didn’t look into the reason; they only saw the stain of a bond forfeiture. More than a few Human companies had ceased to exist because of a bond claim under the shadiest of reasons.

  Ulan slowly nodded. “We fight,” he said, and turned to go. Before he could take a step out of the meeting room, another Lumar entered. Shadow’s eyes went wide as he processed the differences; it was a female.

  * * *

  Alan liked to think he’d passed the point of being surprised. The arrival of the strange Lumar educated him to the contrary. Unlike Ulan, the new arrival wore a purple fur jacket with a hood. The face underneath had the same qualities, but somehow softer. It was also only 2/3 the size of Ulan. Somehow, he knew this was a female. He’d never seen a Lumar female before. Other mercs joked that there weren’t any, that Lumar were grown in Mercenary Guild vats.

  “I cannot allow this,” the new arrival said.

  “Allow what, Yanow?” Ifka asked. “Allow Ulan to execute the contract?”

  “No, allow you to send my clan to its doom. Minus the combined arms the Humans provided with their CASPer powered armor, the Zuul and Pushtal will kill all the males.” She turned and patted Ulan on his shoulder. “It’s okay, my love, no fight.”

  “It okay, Yanow, we fight.”

  “No. Not this time.”

  “Okay.” Ulan shrugged and turned to leave.

  “I will not allow you to do this,” Ifka insisted. “I’ll take your bond. You’ll never work as a merc again, not even another shitty garrison contract like this.”

  “Garrison contract?” Niss asked. Ifka shot the Aku a withering glare, but Yanow replied immediately, ignoring the Zuparti.

  “Yes, this is a garrison contract. Big Strong Fist exclusively does garrison.”

  “You cannot compel a garrison contract to do a frontal assault. It is specifically forbidden under Section 2 of the guild codes for legitimate use of a mercenary force in the face of opposition.” Niss turned his head toward Yanow. “Unless there is a rider?”

  “No riders,” she replied immediately. “I never authorize riders on our contracts.”

  “Then you lack standing for such an order to Big Strong Fist,” Niss said to Ifka, waving his head in what seemed very much like Ulan’s shrug.

  “Looks like you have a problem,” Alan said to Ifka. “The Zuul and Pushtal will eventually realize you don’t have the forces for another assault, and they’ll be coming.”

  Ifka suddenly had a more familiar expression on a Zuparti face—fear. She looked back and forth, beady eyes flickering around as she appeared to be trying to think of a way out.

  “But there is a solution.”

  “What?” Ifka asked suspiciously. “You want more money?”

  “No,” Alan said. “I’ve had it with working for you. You’ve cost Silent Night enough already. No, I was thinking of a solution without fighting.”

  Alan explained his idea, his attention on Anderle, the female Lumar, the Aku, and his children. In a manner of minutes, Ifka, hovering around the edges, went from suspicion, to outrage, to denial, and eventually to resignation as she realized how limited her options were. By the end, Alan was grinning.

  Score one for the logical apes from Earth.

  * * *

  Veska composed the message as carefully as she’d ever done anything, up to and including placing the most finicky of hair-trigger bombs. She couldn’t speak plainly and risk having the Vergola or Pushtal overhear, in case they moved to intercept before her people were ready. Nor could she assume the captain would simply trust her. Calling the assault back in the middle of battle was more than she could have hoped for, and—

  “It’s sent?” Rex asked, hovering close behind her. He couldn’t read Zuul, nor did he know her clan’s codes, but the nearness of such a male kept a mostly-pleasant tension between her shoulders regardless.

  “I want to be sure it says as much as I can say,” she replied, her nose twitching as she breathed in his scent. “Enough that at least she will agree to talk to us.”

  “Their contract is invalid as well.” Rex growled in frustration and resumed pacing in the small cube of an office Anderle had given them. The group had discussed what information Veska would convey, but it didn’t require eight of them to oversee. Nor could she be unattended, as she was still, technically, an enemy combatant.

  So, with a great deal of elbowing and snorting from his siblings, Rex was detached to ‘oversee’ her. As she considered her words once more before sending, she flicked an ear back, swiveling it to follow Rex. She wondered if his approach to sex had been colored by Human mores, which then made her wonder what Human mores were, for the first time in her life.

  “I believe the captain will appreciate that, as well as confirmation of who you are. The combination should overcome any worry she has, in terms of where her debt of honor is owed.”

  “Is honor what drives Zuul?” He stopped pacing abruptly, and she felt the mood tilt.

  Knowing she couldn’t make the message any better or clearer, she sent it, then turned on the Human stool to regard him.

  “Many things drive Zuul, as I believe many things drive Humans. Honor, the gods, loyalty to clan.” Her tail waved softly behind her. “What drives you, Rex?” She cocked her head, letting her tongue loll as she steered them away from getting too serious. It was not for her to teach a Hosh the ways of the Zuul.

  But unlike what A’kef had told her back on the Paku, he was not so far out of her reach as a Hosh would be. No, she thought with delight, inspecting him again, all the other Zuul, anyone who might object, were far away. But Rex…Rex was entirely near at hand.

  “Drives me?” He barked something like a laugh, eyes locking on hers. “I wouldn’t have said honor before all this. But seeing how the Zuparti operate…” He shook his great head, dismissing them with a flick of an ear as he caught on to the signals she was sending.

  Raised by Humans or no, he couldn’t miss the rising pull of her interest threaded through her scent. Zuul didn’t bother to hide such things—a simple acknowledgement or rejection directed the next actions appropriately—but after his confusion on the ship, when they’d been interrupted, she’d resolved to go a bit more slowly.

  “The Zuparti often pay well, but have no honor.” She stretched on the stool and gestured behind her. “The message is sent. We have nothing to do but wait. If you wouldn’t have said honor before this, what would you have said?”

  He blinked before answering, and she dropped her jaw in a grin. He was such a well-made Zuul. Larger than she was, well-proportioned, fierce when he needed to be, creative in a fight, strong and clever at Eshtoo…Her tail swung behind her again, but she held to her seat.

  “Protecting my family. Competition. I used to play Hóngsè Niu as often as I could.” She gave a quizzical look, and he told her about the suborbital drop game. “So, being the best at that was…”

  “But you were looking for something more.” She reached out a hand, and he took it with an answering grin.

  “Was I looking for you?” he asked, the teasing thrum in his voice wrapping her spine in delicious heat.

  “Mates are not forever,” she said, flicking an ear dismissively. “But we are grateful when our path brings us to an impressive one.”

  “Am I so impressive?” He stepped closer to her, his legs touching hers.

  “Foolish pup,” she said, dropping her voice and tilting her head back in invitation. “I was speaking of myself.”

  He laughed and pulled her from her seat, wrapping his arms around her. “Is that what this is, Veska?” The rough growl under his words caught her breath. “I’m impressed by you?”

 
; “If you have any sense.” She nuzzled under his jaw, then nipped him for good measure. “I may not have single-handedly taken down a tank, but I did break your arm and end a battle for you.”

  “Hey!” His protest carried no weight, undercut by another chuckle. “That was my first time playing.” Before she could pull away, he settled her more firmly against him. “I’d have to judge you if you hadn’t kicked my ass.”

  “And now?” She hooked her leg behind his and gave a warning tug. “If I kicked your ass now?”

  “Don’t threaten me with a good time, Veska.” He leaned in and opened his jaws around her shoulder, the faintest touch of teeth on her fur.

  She shivered under the promise of it and pressed her nose into his neck again, breathing his scent deeply into her, reveling in the levels of it. “But I am so very, very good at following through with my threats, Rex,” she said, and knocked him off his feet.

  * * *

  Shadow had meant to go to the rec room after the successful meeting with Ifka. He replayed his conversations with Niss as he walked, amazed at how much the Aku as a whole, and Niss in particular, knew. For them to have so much knowledge, and still be essentially slaves…

  Something was fundamentally wrong in the galaxy for a race as potentially limitless as the Aku to be so deeply undervalued, and…

  His steps slowed, and he blinked repeatedly. He had been walking to the rec room. He’d meant to go to the rec room. Hadn’t he? Each blink made his eyelids heavier, which made no sense at all.

  Where had he turned wrong? What steps had led him to this unfamiliar corridor?

  The walls around him looked more like the Aku’s burrows in the mines than the Zuparti’s base, but he hadn’t been walking that long. Had he? Or in that direction, not at all.

  A tingling weight spiraled from the crown of his head toward the ground, dragging at him more than the dwarf planet’s gravity ever managed. He probably should have rested after his first proper battle, adrenaline crash was no joke, and…