Dominion-427

by Blaze Ward

  Wildspace didn’t allow that sort of intellectual superiority complex to remain for long. He might be unique on this station as a Mondi, but there were a number of Urlan around, as well as Sh’Vaadig, Viddhu, and Daicia, just along the stretch as he had made his way back to his ship. The Gazetteer had listed forty-plus species in residence at Chatosig-Six, splitting all the Variant Humanities into their own flavors based on ability to interbreed.

  This Athanasia woman was sharp, he had to give her that. But arrogantly specist in the worst ways, assuming he was too stupid to work a seven-layer betrayal into his plans. She was expecting to triple-cross him.

  Seriously, a Mondi?

  Glaxu was almost insulted enough to just ambush them with guns at some point and splatter the decks with their blood. He would have to do something like that indoors, because Station Security would take an impatiently-dim view of him flying up to their Dominion ship and hammering it with cannon fire from Outermost.

  Chatosig-Six might be a civilian station, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t command a broad swathe of orbit with their heavy cannons. As much fun as it might be to try, Glaxu doubted that even he could successfully evade ground fire long enough to make it to the buoys and escape. Plus, Valentinian wanted to return to this system and this station at a later date, and wouldn’t appreciate having to make allowances for a stubborn Mondi who had to park his ride elsewhere and catch a boost.

  Still, he would have grinned, had his beak allowed it.

  18

  Valentinian

  “I’m just concerned,” Valentinian griped, looking around the room at the smiling faces as everybody ate dinner.

  “You don’t think he can handle it?” Dave asked, taking a sip of stew.

  “Oh, I think he can,” Valentinian answered. “I just have a hard time trusting a relative stranger with all our lives, even if he has been pretty good up until now.”

  “You think Glaxu would sell us out?” Kyriaki’s eyes bored in on him.

  “I’m pretty sure they’re going to offer a tremendous amount of cash to him,” he said. “Or worse, they figure out he’s a spy and threaten to kill him, and he has to roll over on us to buy his life, if he can. Either way, we’d be deep in trouble with not a lot of time to react.”

  “He’s done nothing to justify burning him, Vee,” Dave said carefully.

  “Which is why I haven’t changed our schedule, or moved the ship,” Valentinian said. “You asked why I was so nervous and I answered you.”

  “True,” the Big Guy shrugged. “Are you that worried?”

  “Everything worries me, Dave,” Valentinian laughed harshly. “Welcome to the life of a tramp ship captain. Every single thing I do has to be geared towards keeping the ship and the crew running at best efficiency with the amount of funds and time I have available.”

  “He’ll be fine,” Bayjy jumped into the conversation. “Deadly, little bird had Truqtok’s people afraid of him before we came along. He might have been junior varsity, but the Widow can’t be that deadly, can she?”

  That last was spoken in Dave’s direction. All the heads came around and the Big Guy stopped eating long enough to look around.

  “The woman I abandoned on Cronus Prime would have chased me at least this far, I think,” Dave said succinctly. “Since Glaxu hasn’t shown up in the first window, we can presume that she made it as far as Chatosig in the expected time. Had we just flown the long ways across Wildspace from there, we probably would have lost her, and then the only time she ever showed up again in our lives becomes a black swan event so improbable as to be incalculable. But she’s got to be running out of rope, at least as far as the Dominion is concerned. I would have thought her crew would refuse orders after Kryuome, but Glaxu’s not here, so presumably she’s there and he’s dancing with her.”

  “What orders would her crew have gotten?” Valentinian asked with his head turning sideways. He had an idea that really didn’t make him happy.

  Dave had gone pale and still, like the big guy hadn’t really given it a lot of thought until now. Valentinian had.

  “Keep her out of Dominion space,” Dave said slowly. “Probably however they thought they could reasonably do it, without killing the woman.”

  “Assault Courier is an expensive ship to maintain, right?” Kyriaki leaned towards him.

  Valentinian noted how much drawl had entered her tones now, as well.

  “Yes,” Dave nodded. “DropShips are raw metal inside, but Couriers are for important people, so lots of extra fittings and such.”

  “She’s smart enough to see the end of the rope coming quickly?” Bayjy asked.

  Valentinian leaned back a little, just because maybe the other three were coming to the same spot he was already at in his calculations.

  “She is,” Dave nodded slowly.

  Everything was in slow motion now.

  “Chatosig was closest to Kryuome for an industrial hub,” Bayjy said. “That’s why I picked it for us. Just also happens to be shipyard heaven, for reasons we don’t talk about in polite company.”

  “Piracy,” Dave agreed.

  “Pirates need ships,” Kyriaki spoke up.

  To Valentinian, it was like the two women were completing each other’s thoughts aloud, in a bizarre harmony that brought home to him how much those two had turned into friends instead of coworkers or rivals.

  Dave nodded. So did Valentinian. So did Bayjy.

  “Good place to buy a ship with a lot of guns and armor,” Bayjy took up the thread. “If you have funds handy, and maybe a crew getting restive to go home.”

  “Not everyone is going to be as persistent as the White Hats, or the Widow,” Kyriaki spoke in turn.

  “So we suspect that Athanasia is going to Chatosig to buy herself a replacement for Dominion-427?” Dave asked. “Recruit as much of the old crew as she can turn into pirates, and keep coming after us in a new vessel none of us know?”

  “Glaxu probably knows,” Bayjy said serenely. “Or will, soon. Y’all don’t give that boy credit for subtlety and guile like you should.”

  “Okay, Vee, I really do owe you an apology,” Dave nodded deeply. “It’s just crazy enough of an idea that I could see her doing it. And we’d be in a bad spot, if some random ship could just sail up to us and open fire. Do we need to sell the Longshot Hypothesis in the near future and find something else to hide in so they don’t know it’s us?”

  “That’s not my preference, Big Guy,” Valentinian said. “But we might not have a choice.”

  “Do we stop the work aft on the new deck?” Bayjy asked.

  They had been here eight days now. If Glaxu had decided the Widow wasn’t coming, he might have arrived as early as yesterday.

  Valentinian considered it.

  They had made a hell of a run at the job, turning the gravity off for four hours at a time so they could move big plates and structural beams around and then tack weld them into place. None of it would stand up to hard maneuvering or incoming beam damage, but they would have the frames good enough by tomorrow that they could move on to plumbing, wiring, and rooms.

  “No,” he decided. “In for a gersh, in for a drachma. But I’m going to program the overdrive with an escape course I can trigger from back here, if we get pinged by anybody while we’re working in zero gee and can’t get to the bridge quickly.”

  “Is that paranoid enough?” Kyriaki asked.

  “Which takes me right back to where Dave started this,” he grinned at her. “Do we trust Glaxu’s competence and loyalty enough to not move the ship from where we are right now? Do we hightail it clear across Wildspace as the only way we can escape the Widow, and not come back to look at Kryuome for at least a year?”

  “I got a good feeling about the Mondi,” Dave offered. “And I’ve had to judge a lot of people accurately over the decades, frequently on the flimsiest of evidence, when I was the most feared warlord in space. But yeah, let’s move some black swan plans up in our priority list. Sham
e we didn’t go ahead and buy that surplus gun turret Ozzo’s friend had for sale.”

  “It might still be there when we get back,” Kyriaki said. “If not, we’ll find something else. It wasn’t that great a deal, with the amount of work I would have had to do before I was comfortable firing it. Old and neglected, off a paranoid captain who installed it, and then maybe never fired it again for years, even to test it. We can do better.”

  “Understood,” Valentinian agreed with everyone. “After lunch, I’m going to abandon you for a while and spend some serious thinking time up on the bridge while you weld stuff aft. Goal right now is sturdy enough to handle maneuvers. We’ll make it pretty later.”

  “I don’t know about y’all, but my shit’s already pretty, thank you very much,” Bayjy huffed at them.

  Valentinian joined the others laughing. It felt good to release some of the tension that had kept him up at night.

  Things were completely out of his hands now, and would be until something happened. Then he might be too busy running for his life.

  Again.

  19

  Iulianus

  At least the creature had bathed. Iulianus was looking for small victories here, and the fact that the always-tardy M’Rai Captain, Butler Vidy-Wooders, had actually stepped into a shower with soap, and combed the mass of unruly hair and beard into something vaguely approximating orderly, probably qualified, based on the things Iulianus had heard about the man prior.

  And seen himself.

  Apparently, the Urlan Empire, at its height, had engineered any number of human sub-species into specific worker contingents. Captain Tarasicodissa of Longshot Hypothesis supposedly had a Pranai crewmember, designed with little body hair, higher muscle content than normal, and preference for extreme heat. Other designs did other things, based on the monstrous egos of the scientists, intend on maintaining slave species rather than developing technological automation.

  The M’Rai had been built as foremen and brutalitarians. Three meters tall, or just a shade under, so that Iulianus was staring at the center of the thing’s chest when both were standing. Massively muscled and bulky, capable of lifting feats normal humans could not achieve. And violent.

  The intellect appeared to be a bit lacking, but if Iulianus had been going to build brutes to keep the other slaves in check, he wouldn’t have made them all that smart, either. No reason to tempt a slave revolt.

  From what Iulianus had been able to ascertain, Vidy-Wooders was rather median for his species. Size and a bully complex had put him in a position to buy a ship, hire a crew, and then luck had let him make a huge discovery worth a tremendous amount of money.

  Then the M’Rai, in his stupid shortsightedness, had dumped his crew on a station back in Laurentia, rather than paying them their share, apparently unable to grasp the reputation he would build for himself overnight.

  They don’t call you Butler the Bridge-builder, do they?

  But that was probably a crudity uncalled for in this situation. The man was more or less hat-in-hand today, if Iulianus was interpreting the signals correctly. Bathed and cleaned. Fresh clothes lacking any food stains, at least so far.

  Even his attitude had improved from the semi-drunken aggression previously seen.

  Still, Butler the Bridge-builder.

  “Welcome, Captain,” Athanasia rose from her seat in the ship’s main salon as the man was escorted into the room. She gestured for Vidy-Wooders to sit on a chair specifically purchased on the station for the man’s size and bulk.

  Hopefully, he would see that as a positive sign on the Widow’s part, and not get any more objectionable than normal.

  The M’Rai moved carefully, aware that the ceiling above his head didn’t have much clearance in here, as the ship had been built for standard-model humans.

  The woman Stephaneria, the Librarian with the violent eyes, served the man a drink that was a rum punch heavy on the juice and rather light on the alcohol. Enough to put the man at ease, hopefully, but not push him into an out-of-control place.

  Iulianus noted the two White Hats carefully waiting in the inner corners of the salon, where they would be behind the giant if he got out of hand and needed to be put down. Athanasia was also not taking any chances today either, as much as she was trying to be accommodating.

  “Sorry I’m late,” the M’Rai mumbled as he tested his great weight on the chair carefully.

  As he was on time today, Iulianus assumed the man was referring to being behind schedule in warp, first to Kryuome, and now to Chatosig.

  Apparently, firing your mechanics meant you had to do all their work on the ship yourself instead. Who could have imagined that?

  “You are here, now, Captain,” Athanasia exuded a grace and charm wasted on the beast in the big chair, but Iulianus understood the need.

  They lacked the intimate knowledge of Wildspace that only a native could bring to the table, and there were few that the Widow could so easily put a leash on as Butler Vidy-Wooders.

  As an example of his kind, Iulianus was not impressed, but knew that the creature would take orders well, once she had broken him to her will.

  He suspected that she was actually looking forward to the job, from the way she smiled and carried herself.

  They sipped their drinks in companionable silence for a bit, eying each other like gladiators waiting for the next random draw to see who would fight next.

  “My mission in Wildspace has changed, Captain,” she addressed herself to the M’Rai as Iulianus watched with Dominion patience. “I will still be hunting Valentinian Tarasicodissa and his crew, but the time has drawn nigh for me to change vessels. Dominion-427 will be sent home, while I and some of the crew will remain behind.”

  Iulianus was expecting more of a reaction from the captain, so he couldn’t tell if the beast was already drunk or drugged beforehand, or just so nervous that he wouldn’t react to any provocation.

  Perhaps he had understood the significance of Dominion Security troopers in the corners, after all?

  Instead, he nodded, slowly, like he was afraid his head would fall off if he wasn’t careful.

  “Going forward, I must make plans, but I need some level of interest and commitment from you, Butler Vidy-Wooders,” she intoned like a church deacon calling the cadence of a prayer.

  “Me?”

  She had surprised him. Probably not that hard to do, but then, the man was probably growing desperate as his condition deteriorated, and captains and crews shared the tales of life under the M’Rai captain.

  “It is my intention to commission or purchase a warship at Chatosig, Captain Vidy-Wooders,” Athanasia ground on, turning wheat kernels to flour beneath her wheels. “Before I do so, I wish to know if I should plan for three meter decks, or four.”

  Even he was bright enough to catch her meaning now. She was offering him a job, a lifeline perhaps, since the kinds of crews he would be able to hire in the future were going to be more and more the dregs.

  Was it worth it, my friend?

  “That would involve me selling Hard Bargain, yes?” he asked. “If I joined you?”

  Oh, my. You’re even smarter than a goat, aren’t you?

  “Most likely,” Athanasia hedged. “I expect to be chasing the man hard through warpspace, and Longshot Hypothesis is already too fast for almost anything but a dedicated courier. Even Dominion-427 cannot keep up, but it was never designed for speed. Only my comfort.”

  Iulianus liked the way the implications of Athanasia’s needs seemed to send a hot needle through the man’s flesh. Stephaneria had ended up opposite Iulianus, on the far corner of the square. Her fleeting grin spoke volumes as well.

  But Athanasia was a senior power of the Dominion, or at least had been until events conspired. That she could play a barbarian like Butler Vidy-Wooders as if he was a violin was almost a given.

  “I will need speed and power, Butler,” she continued, oozing a sensuality over her words like frosting glazing a piece of fruit. �
��And people whose rage equals mine, so that they will serve me as we seek our vengeance.”

  Iulianus was used to suppressing all external emotion in public, especially around the Ambassadors he transported. Athanasia was stroking parts of the man’s mind and ego he probably didn’t even know he had, truth be told. The Librarian had managed to turn herself in the chair in such a way that she almost appeared to be offering herself to the M’Rai, daring the brute to ravish her, without ever doing one thing that would actually invite it.

  Iulianus wondered what either of them would be like in the privacy of a sleeping chamber. Or across the sofa in her personal suite. He would probably find out at some point, so Iulianus made a note to have exterminators come in and spray everything regularly for bugs and whatever else the M’Rai might unknowingly carry with him.

  Lice came to mind.

  Butler Vidy-Wooders seemed to be having problems breathing.

  “I need a hunter,” Athanasia let the words dangle in front of the man like a carrot on a long pole. “A tracker. Someone who knows their way around and can teach me things.”

  Iulianus kept the derisive snort inside as he watched the Widow seduce the fool with her words.

  “An officer who can focus on hounding Valentinian Tarasicodissa to the ends of the galaxy, without having to stand watch shifts or do maintenance,” she said. “Leaving him time for other endeavors, as I might need things done.”

  Iulianus was just glad that he hadn’t eaten anything recently, as the thought of that M’Rai rutting with one of the two women, or perhaps both of them at once, so they at least achieved orgasm along the way, didn’t cause him to be queasy now.

  He had looked up the genetic specifics of the M’Rai in a medical database, when they updated it for Variant Humanities, at the time Stephaneria came aboard. Athanasia could easily fornicate with the giant, as they had been designed to be compatible with species half their size. That just told Iulianus that his own cock was probably bigger than the M’Rai’s.