She rose and stepped over to the sensor station, hovering above the work of the tech there. In the schematic of his sensor-screen she could see a three-dimensional representation of the alien ship. The tech was still pressing buttons, bringing up the ship in greater and greater detail. Even as she watched, one of the amber crystalline illuminations representing the power gems inched away from the central core.
“I see only the life forms from the Leviathan on board the alien ship,” she said to the tech. “Therefore they must be taking the gem to the Leviathan.”
“Indeed, Captain.” There was a smile of anticipation on the tech, mirroring the attitude of all on board. This treading of time and space, awaiting the return of the crew of the Leviathan, had not been misspent. The crew was not merely rested, but ready and eager. Captain Sutt had kept it no secret that these power gems would bring them not only promotions, but most likely riches.
“As soon as the beings board the Leviathan,” Sutt commanded, “the DarkWind will dock there as well. I want a party of eight prepared for boarding. All will bear full inter-ship assault gear and be prepared to kill everyone on board if there is any resistance. We will demand surrender, of course, but I have no patience for lengthy negotiation. Am I understood?”
She was.
* * *
The trek out of the Hole in the World was arduous, but the group was buoyed by the exhilaration of having restored control of their destiny to the Nokmadi. Rygel hovered beside the group as they toiled upward, zooming ahead on his ThroneSled whenever the slow pace became tiresome to him. Behind D’Argo, Aeryn, and Crichton came the Queen, deferential to Crichton and his control of her power gem, which he kept firmly in his hand, and still adoring of Rygel. Trailing after them was the army of DRDs, who had set the Nokmadi computers and engines to rights in record time.
When the group emerged from the mountain pass they found Pahl and Leff, having reconstituted themselves, as promised. Each had a dragon to ferry the voyagers and the DRDs back to the edge of the World and the passage back to Moya.
They flew over the lush and beautiful Nokmadi landscape, the strong wings of the dragons beating. As they flew, Aeryn noticed that the shimmering form of Pahl, sitting ahead of her, was gradually growing denser, full of color and life. It was as if color were suffusing a bowl of clear water.
By the time they landed, the Nokmadi were fully enfleshed. Pahl and Leff threw themselves on the ground, feeling the soil, testing the textures of earth and grass and stone, the sheer sensual joy of being alive. Throngs of Nokmadi came to give their thanks, bringing great loads of fruits and delicacies, foods they had cultivated on the ship for millennia, in memory of the homeworld, but which, for all those millennia, they had never been able to taste.
Then the two Nokmadi led the visitors up a set of stone steps and into the sterile corridor that ringed the Nokmadi World. Rygel and the DRDs went ahead to Moya while the rest stayed behind to parley.
“We have restored order to your world,” said D’Argo to the two Nokmadi. “Now it is time you fulfilled your end of the bargain. Will you provide us with a map that will lead us to our homeworlds?”
Pahl shook his head sadly. “It is a great tragedy. We no longer have such a map on our ship.”
“What?” cried Crichton. “You’ve spent millennia mapping the universe, and you don’t even have a map of this very galaxy?”
“Yanor promised us the map,” said Aeryn.
Pahl’s face was clouded with sorrow. “Yanor was the map,” he said. “Each of us embodies the map of a galaxy. Yanor was the map of your galaxy.” In a flash Aeryn remembered him, trailing with stars across the sky of night. “The Queen killed one of our number, and the one she killed was Yanor.”
Now Aeryn knew why she had felt a rush of emotion when the Queen had destroyed the gem and the globe of flesh, and why the wisp of ghost that had appeared and faded had brought tears to her eyes. Yanor had read her mind and fashioned his appearance to appeal to her; he had embodied her memories.
“You never made copies of your maps?” Crichton was saying.
“We were made to be immortal, and our maps in us,” said Pahl. “We do not have copies aboard this ship, but we have always sent copies back to Nokmad, our homeworld. We will need no maps to return there: the way is imprinted on our hearts.”
“May we follow you,” asked D’Argo, “and obtain a copy of your maps?”
“We shall be delighted to lead you to Nokmad,” said Pahl, folding his hands together in a gesture of honor. “It is the loveliest planet in two thousand galaxies, as you can see from our copy of it here. Now that our engines have been restored, we can be there in less than ten solar days. If you like, I and some other Nokmadi will travel aboard your ship to ensure that you get there without difficulty.”
They made ready to return to Moya. At the last moment, Crichton pressed the Queen’s power gem into Leff’s hand. “Here,” he said, “you take it. Keep her in line this time, will you?”
CHAPTER 23
Zhaan, Rygel and the DRDs greeted them when they stepped across the threshold of the Leviathan’s docking bay.
“Behold the return of the triumphant voyagers, the companions of Rygel the Magnificent!” announced Rygel, waggling his eyebrows. “Now to the important matter. Did you bring those delicacies they gave us?” The diminutive monarch’s fingers fluttered and his nostrils twitched expectantly. He cast a fond look down at his little friends, who gazed up reverently. “And you doubted my powers! Do I not deserve a reward for my efforts?” His eyes gleamed.
“Very well,” said D’Argo. The big warrior actually smiled. “Yes, we brought quite a haul, Rygel. Have a look.” He towed a hovercart behind him, and pulled up the tarpaulin flung across it, exposing piles of magenta and blue fruits.
Rygel’s eyes bulged. He scurried over and dived into the fruits, coming out with two handfuls and chomping away madly. Juice ran down his face and onto his chest. “Oh, excellent! Wonderful! Succulent!”
“The elkaberries alone make me remember how good it was to have an appetite—to say nothing of taste buds,” said Pahl. He had brought two other Dayfolk with him, as well as complete coordinates for finding their way to the Nokmadi homeworld.
Crichton oversaw the closure of the docking-bay door, then turned to his companions. “I’d like you to meet our guests,” he said. He introduced the Nokmadi first to Zhaan and then to Rygel. When he was finished, the Nokmadi bowed deeply. “Hail to thee, O Promised One!”
Rygel laughed, showing a maw full of bright purple pulp. “There! You see! Someone finally appreciates me.”
“We must head back to the bridge now,” said D’Argo, “and see about getting Moya into action.”
“That’s right, Rygel,” said Crichton. “We appreciate your excellent efforts on our behalf, to say nothing of your new Promised One status. However, we’ve got a few of our own promises to deliver on.”
The ghosts followed them mutely as they made their way up to the bridge. They examined the interior of the Leviathan coolly; their only reaction was a lift of their eyebrows when, back on the bridge, the holograph of Pilot appeared before them, greeting them on behalf of Moya and himself.
“Moya thanks you for her current good health,” said Pilot.
The Nokmadi bowed. Pahl said, “Our greetings to our esteemed fellow-sentients. We are honored that Moya will accompany us Home.”
“The detachment of filamental fibres and probes is nearly complete,” said Pilot. “The tractor beams, of course, have long since disengaged. However, the strong tensile projections from the hull of your ship—”
“We are safely aboard now,” said Pahl. “Retraction has already commenced. If you turn on any screens, I think you will see what you request.”
Zhaan strode to her station and turned on the vu-screens. Crichton turned to look at them. Sure enough, even as he watched, the huge tentacle-like projections around Moya began to move, slowly undulating to release their captive. In a very s
hort time, he could hear the hull fall loose of its mooring. Moya was once again free in space.
“Thank you,” said Pilot. “All is in order. I am entering the coordinates for the planet Nokmad now.”
“If we’re taking these creatures to some faraway planet I’ve never even heard of,” said Rygel, hovering at the side of the bridge, “I think we ought to be compensated for the inconvenience. I, for one, feel very inconvenienced. Where did that hovercart go? My DRDs are quite willing to unload more of the foodstuffs, which would be a satisfactory start to my personal compensation.”
“Calm down, Rygel. You’ve had your share for now,” said Aeryn.
“But I am the Promised One,” retorted Rygel.
“That’s all very well in the Nokmadi ship, Rygel,” said Crichton. “Too bad you couldn’t stay on board and soak in some more of the adulation you so enjoy. Now you’re just a member of a desperate crew of an escaped prison ship again.”
Rygel grumbled to himself.
Moya quickly pushed away from the Nokmadi ship. The vessel loomed large in its screens as Zhaan and Crichton checked all vital signs.
“Right,” said Zhaan, turning to the Nokmadi. “We’re just about prepared. At last, you’re on your way home.”
Pilot’s image frizzled into view in front of them. “Moya says she’s being attacked!”
* * *
In retrospect, the undetected approach of an enemy ship seemed like an accident waiting to happen. Desperate to free Moya from the grip of the Nokmadi ship, they had been forced to leave her essentially unguarded, with only Pilot to keep watch. Zhaan had not even returned to her body and emerged from the pod until shortly before the others returned to Moya. They’d all been so busy with everything else, it was no wonder the small vessel had been able to sneak past their visuals and right up to the docking bay, where it had attached itself like a remora to the bottom of a shark.
“Attacked! Who?”
“A Peacekeeper cutter,” said Pilot.
“Peacekeepers!” said Rygel, nearly falling off his ThroneSled. “What are Peacekeepers doing here?”
Crichton could not help but turn to Aeryn, as though she might have an explanation.
“As I feared, they must have followed us from the asteroid cluster somehow,” said Aeryn. “We are many light-years beyond the boundaries of Peacekeeper space.”
“Whatever kept Peacekeepers within boundaries?” snarled D’Argo. In one quick motion, his Qualta Rifle was drawn and he was marching toward the docking bay.
“People called Peacekeepers,” said Pahl mildly, “should not be waging war.”
“Welcome to the new universe,” said Crichton. “This doesn’t make sense, Pilot. We StarBurst away from them. How could this have happened? How could they have followed us so quickly?”
“I was just asking myself the same question. Moya is reviewing past impressions—yes, she has something she had not noticed before. There was an anomaly in the last StarBurst. There was an explosion of some type of energy Moya has never encountered before. The Peacekeeper ship must have utilized that energy to travel after us.”
“Damn!” said Crichton. “That madman Crais must have sent a ship right up our tailpipe! Peacekeepers. Here!”
“This burst of energy occurred when we StarBurst?” said Aeryn. “That must have been the cutter that was pursuing us, the one that was with Crais when we eluded him. The DarkWind.” A cloud passed over her face. “I know the commander of the DarkWind. We’re in a bad situation. I should help D’Argo.” She grabbed up her weapon and was gone.
“Will this interfere with our plans to return home?” said Pahl. “Are we in real danger?”
Crichton looked over to Zhaan. “You’d better explain it to him. And keep things going here. Maybe you and Pilot can jog Moya’s memory on some kind of defensive possibility. I’d better go down and see what I can do to help D’Argo and Zhaan repel the invaders.”
Zhaan nodded.
Crichton grabbed his pulse pistol, took a deep breath and hurried down to join his crewmates.
* * *
When Aeryn reached the cusp of the docking-bay area, she could already hear the sizzles of weaponfire zinging through the great hallways of Moya. Cautiously she peered around a corner, keeping her rifle alert and her safety off, ready to let go a blast of her own if necessary. Mostly right now what she wanted was to reconnoiter and then decide the best course of action to take.
Sure enough, the Bay had been ratcheted open and an artificial Peacekeeper boarding door had been inserted. However, the invasive force had clearly run into D’Argo, because they’d quickly dived down for what scant cover they could find. From what she could tell there were around eight of the Peacekeeper invaders, which sounded about right for a force from a cutter the size of the DarkWind. This was the one positive element in this mess: the Peacekeeper force here was limited. And when you had a warrior like D’Argo on your side, you could bet that things evened out a lot.
Aeryn watched with admiration as the Luxan jumped out from hiding and used a new angle to blast across a slew of crates, keeping the Peacekeepers there down. He dodged a bolt easily and roared, slapping down onto the floor of the ship and rolling, lifting up his Qualta Rifle and snapping off a round that wounded one of the Peacekeepers in the arm. All the while, the big guy was cursing up a storm, sounding more like a herd of stampeding carnivores than a sole warrior.
The Peacekeepers were so intent on bringing down D’Argo that they didn’t even notice the arrival of Aeryn. She fully intended to take advantage of this. Carefully, she drew a bead on a foot sticking out from the side of a crate, safe from the position of the Luxan, but not safe from her. She’d always excelled at both artillery and target practice, and her battle nerves were absolutely chilly. She squeezed the trigger, and her bolt connected with the Peacekeeper trooper. There was a howl of pain.
Chalk up one out-of-commission Peacekeeper, thought Aeryn.
D’Argo rolled back to safety, then gave the new arrival a grin. “Our numbers have increased, fools!” he bellowed. “Return to your ship and escape with your lives while you can.”
A woman’s voice called out, deep and firm and with a sting at its tail. “Impressive display of initial defense, Luxan. But no matter. We are on board now. We have time. You do not. Surrender now, and we may consider showing you mercy.”
Aeryn recognized the voice. Yes. It was her. Captain of the DarkWind—previous friend, old rival, fierce enemy.
“Private Sutt. You are on a Leviathan. Abandon all hope!” she spat.
“Captain Sutt to you and anyone else, traitor Sun!”
“I am no traitor! I am an excommunicated Peacekeeper!” spat Aeryn back. “Now a Peacekeeper no longer! Commander Crais betrayed me.”
“Crais betrays no one,” came the answer, the rage in the voice apparent. “If you have what it takes to be a Peacekeeper, then prove your mettle. Kill the Luxan and you shall take your rightful place again.”
Instead of glaring at her, as Aeryn had half-expected he might, D’Argo stood back away from any possible fire from the Peacekeepers. He grinned and he puffed out his chest. “I make a handsome target, Aeryn.”
Aeryn laughed. “Shut up, you overgrown pukka-monkey. We’ve got Peacekeepers to kick off our ship!”
“Crais was right!” came the voice of Sutt. “You are a traitor! How easy it is to abandon the glib allegiance you gave to our cause, Aeryn.”
D’Argo let go another burst of fire, which almost caught the captain before she ducked lower behind a bulkhead.
None of the other Peacekeepers seemed eager to show themselves. When Crichton arrived a short while later, it was still a standoff.
“Good. Standoff, I see,” said Crichton, moving forward to join Aeryn against the wall.
“For now. I can’t help but think that they’ve got other plans that they’re going to implement at any moment.”
“We’ve got to keep them preoccupied,” said Crichton. “Peacekeepers!
This is John Crichton of the planet Earth. I believe it is me that you want. I shall surrender if you promise to leave the others and this ship alone.”
“Crichton!” said Aeryn.
“Don’t worry. Old Earth diplomatic trick,” whispered Crichton. “Stretching the truth.”
“It matters not. We shall have you all alive or dead soon enough,” returned Sutt.
“Better not!” cried Crichton. “I know for a fact that Crais wants me and he wants me alive.”
“Commander Crais will be more than happy to accept you dead, Earthman. And I’m more than happy to make you that way.”
“OK, dammit. Then come on and do it!”
Crichton stepped out and blasted.
He dodged a hail of fire and was back soon enough. “That’ll show them,” Crichton said.
“I’m sure they’re very impressed, John,” said Aeryn. She nodded toward another crate. “Why don’t you take up position there? That’ll be about as much crossfire as we’re going to be able to manage.”
“Right.” Crichton scuttled over to take up his place. He dodged enemy fire along the way but made it safely.
Now then, Aeryn thought. We look like we know what we’re doing. That’s half the battle.
* * *
Shortly after Crichton had safely made it over to the crate, things got very quiet amongst the Peacekeepers.
Crichton knew they must be changing tactics. Obviously, though, their placements had been noted—and would be assaulted. It would be up to them to repel all attackers. It was tough travelling through the universe of danger on a ship without any kind of armaments or defenses to protect its crew. Just about anybody who had the engineering and weaponry could board and assault. The trick was staying one step ahead of pursuit—and because of the delay with the Nokmadi ship, Moya obviously hadn’t been able to do that this time.
Ship of Ghosts Page 20
