by B. V. Larson
The spines on top were wicked. I realized as I studied them they’d been the things it had fired at us. They were huge, like lances of metal longer than any building ever built in Earth’s history. Even as I watched, new spines were slowly extruding from the central mass. It was growing replacement spines.
I shivered slightly, unable to control my visceral reaction.
How could we hope to face such a nightmare? It seemed hopeless, and I found myself empathizing a bit with the morose attitude Ursahn had adopted over recent days.
=34=
We entered the womb-like embrace of the rift, and upon doing so, I felt a sense of well-being.
We’d escaped the monstrosity that was consuming worlds behind us—at least for now.
“We’re back, Captain,” Miller prompted me.
I woke up from my reverie, looking around. Eyes were expectantly glancing at me. They wanted orders.
“Dalton, all-ahead slow. Take us up to Killer and hug her like mama.”
“On it, sir.”
We glided away from the rift. I’d expected Ursahn to contact me and demand a report—but she didn’t. Maybe that was because she knew what I’d seen out there.
I requested a personal audience with Ursahn, and she granted it. We moved in closer to dock with Killer.
“Sir,” Gwen said, working the communications boards. “You’ve got a channel incoming from Admiral Fex. He wants to talk to you.”
“All right. Transfer him to my sym. I’ll talk while I’m heading to my meeting with Ursahn. XO, you have the watch. Miller, Samson, come with me.”
They knew they were bodyguards, but neither of them complained.
Gwen took my chair and guided the team through the docking process.
Because I couldn’t put it off any longer, I opened the channel with Fex.
“Good afternoon, Admiral,” I said brightly. “What can I—?”
“Treason!” he barked. “Not just insubordination. No, no, no. This goes far beyond that. What are you doing in my system? Why have you not set off on your assigned mission? I demand to hear your cowardly excuses. They’ll warm my ears.”
“And there’s plenty there to warm, sir,” I said, thinking of Fex’s oversized, conical ears. “We’re engaged in the first step in our mission. If you could excuse Ursahn and I, we have an urgent planning mission to—”
“No!” he snapped. “I’ll not excuse you for anything. I’m moving legally against the both of you—for dereliction of duty. You have one hour. After that, I’m going to execute a warrant for treason, as it will be duly logged.”
I frowned, not liking the sound of this. My usual bullshit wasn’t working today.
“Admiral Fex,” I said, “I’ve already scouted the enemy, and I returned with a detailed report on the target in the Ral system. I’ll download that for your consideration. The automated Hunter is quite impressive.”
He cackled. “I know what a Hunter looks like, you fool. The timer is running, Blake. You’ve got your orders, and I’m within my rights to take action if you don’t engage the enemy. Consider this to be your second warning. Fex out.”
My mouth was dry as I climbed into a docking tube and crossed over to Killer. This time, I’d opted to dispense with a shuttle pilot. I didn’t have a lot of time for another incident with “Gref” or one of his relatives.
Stepping off with my two companions when we reached Killer’s end of the chute, I was the first one to be ejected into the receiving room.
I stumbled, having a bad landing. My helmet starred. For a brief moment, I thought I’d struck something with it.
But then I realized that something had struck me, not the other way around.
Crewmen encircled me. I would have been knocked out already if I hadn’t been wearing a sealed vacuum suit.
Among the group were two that looked like Grefs, and one that looked like a Terrapinian. I didn’t have much time to react before two more clubs cracked into my back and another landed on my kneecap, knocking me flat.
Fortunately, Miller and Samson came through the chute a moment later. Say what you want about Miller’s loyalty, he could hold his own in a fight. He began jabbing at eyes, elbowing guts and genitals, and doing it all with cold efficiency.
Samson’s fighting style was the polar opposite of Miller’s. He was as hot-tempered as Miller was cold. He laid into the group, roaring and punching them with his limbs in a blur.
From the deck, I was surrounded by struggling forms. I could see more coming in, too. They were talking to a screen on the wall, and the image of Fex was unmistakable.
I even caught a snatch of dialog. “I authorize this breach. This is a special exercise. All of you will be awarded double-points, and rank restrictions are rescinded!”
There was more, as he egged on a half-dozen burly combatants, urging them to beat us down.
The plan was clear, and it seemed almost foolproof—put us down and blast our ship when the hour was up.
I tried my sidearm, but it had been disabled. Every captain decided when such weapons were active aboard ship. That was intended to prevent conflicts like this one from escalating into a deadly melee—but it was having the opposite effect now.
“Captain Ursahn!” I called using my sym. “We need help in docking chute eight! Your crewmen are attacking us!”
“I’m well aware of the situation. It is an approved exercise.”
“Approved by Admiral Fex, not you!” I said. “It’s illegal.”
“Admiral Fex outranks me. This star system is under his command, and therefore I’m under his command while I’m here.”
“But he’s rescinded the rank restrictions!” I called out, desperate. “I’m being attacked by recruits!”
Miller was down on his knees. Two combatants were beating him enthusiastically, while a third lay sprawled underneath.
Samson wasn’t doing much better. He’d put down two of them through sheer cussedness, but his suit was torn, his helmet was off, and there was blood everywhere. He had the look of a cornered berserker in the middle of his last stand.
“Can you confirm this violation?” Ursahn asked me with maddening calm.
“I confirm it!” I shouted.
Even as I spoke, I jabbed with a fallen metal club, striking a Gref unfairly. He barked in pain and beat my shoulder with flailing limbs.
I almost went down, and as I did so, with my ears ringing, I heard Ursahn say something.
“Say again?”
“Your weapons have been activated. Fex has no jurisdiction to rescind rank-on-rank dueling restrictions on my vessel. If you require—”
She kept talking, but I didn’t listen to anything else she said. I clawed out my disruptor, pushed it up into the guts of my assailant, and burned a hole through him.
I killed him. Right then and there.
No, it wasn’t fair, but I didn’t think I had any choice. It was either this ship had one less Gref aboard, or both Killer and Hammerhead were going to be blasted to pieces with all hands lost.
The rest of them didn’t get it right away. They surged forward into the cramped chute of the receiving room. It was padded and dimly lit. Samson went down, knocked out on his feet.
But fortunately, I didn’t have to kill anyone else. I stung their feet and legs, mostly, burning holes in them to give them a deterrent they wouldn’t soon forget.
With their cells blown apart from the inside, which caused searing pain and horrific blistering, they soon retreated in a humping, staggering mass.
As quickly as they’d come, they retreated, cursing and lamenting their wounds—except for the one dead Gref, of course.
“Are you in need of emergency assistance?” Ursahn asked.
I looked around at my fallen officers. They were both breathing.
“Nah,” I said. “Just send us down some of that healing salve. We’ll be fine.”
=35=
We didn’t have much time to recover, so we were still pretty banged up wh
en we dragged ourselves to Ursahn’s office on the command deck.
The best part about that arduous journey was the looks we got from other spacers and fighter crews.
“Look at ‘em,” Samson sneered. His words were slightly garbled by his swollen lips. “They’re steering well-clear of us. Word has gotten around fast. The humans weren’t to be fucked with today!”
“You think they know you killed a Gref?” Miller asked me.
“Yeah, probably. That kind of news travels fast on a ship.”
We got into the lift without being assaulted again, and I breathed a little easier.
Miller looked at me. His expression was an odd one, and not just because one eye was a purple lump of flesh.
“Did you know that was going to happen?” he asked.
I shrugged. “It stood to reason. But I didn’t have time to worry about specifics.”
“That’s why you brought us along, isn’t it? You knew they’d be waiting for us.”
My lips twisted, and I looked disinterested. It was best to play this off as all-business.
“There are often small attacks among the Kher,” I said, “but this one was unusual. Fex really unleashed his dogs on us this time—a clear breach of etiquette.”
“How so?” Miller asked, honestly curious.
“Glad to see you’re taking an interest in Kher culture.”
“I hardly have a choice. We’re living in their midst.”
I pointed a finger at him. “Exactly. Humans are rare in the universe, extremely rare once you get out here into space. We have to know everything we can to survive—but we can’t look cautious and weak.”
“They’re like dogs,” Samson said. He sounded like he was only half-tracking our conversation. “Think about it, sir. Dogs! If you run from a barking dog, he chases you. If you charge one—he might back off.”
“That’s right,” I said. “So Miller, try to look mean.”
“Am I doing it wrong?” he asked.
“Yeah… Straighten your back. Ignore the pain. Walk smoothly, don’t limp.”
“But… But we’re going up to the command deck. Surely—”
I shook my head. “Doesn’t matter. The rules are shifting under out feet. Fex might try again. A legal duel, officer-on-officer, could have been arranged for rank. That sort of thing isn’t unusual among the Rebel Kher.”
The lift stopped moving and let us off. Miller was alarmed. He came out of the doors last, looking everywhere at once.
There were some of Ursahn’s guardians waiting for us as we stepped off the lift, but they didn’t do anything. We walked past them as nonchalantly as we could.
Ursahn wasn’t in her conference room, however. She was on Killer’s bridge instead. We were summoned there and met her on the deck.
The carrier’s bridge was impressive. I’d only been up here a few times before. The projection technology was far ahead of the earthly sub-systems and displays we had aboard Hammerhead.
Ursahn greeted us with a touch. She brushed each of our knuckles with her own. I hadn’t seen that gesture before, but I went along with it.
“Welcome, humans. You have been wronged today. I have prevented another attack, right here on my command deck.”
I looked around her crewmen, and they stared back with hard eyes. No one spoke, smiled, or even nodded.
“Who was it?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter. Offers were made. They were illegitimate, and I was able to convince those who pondered accepting them of that fact.”
I turned back to Ursahn and smiled at her. “Thanks, Captain. What’s our next move?”
“Move? You mean when do we depart? Almost immediately. Are you ready?”
Hesitating, I looked around the group of listening officers. There were several commanders and lieutenants within earshot. I’d planned to discuss my idea with Ursahn privately, behind closed doors.
But I could see now that it wasn’t going to happen. Ursahn had stepped in, going up against Fex. She’d declared an offer Fex had made for rank illegal. That took some serious guts. It put her own command status in jeopardy. If any members of her bridge crew were feeling ambitious, this would be a perfect moment for them to strike her down—then us afterward.
Putting two-and-two together, I figured she didn’t want to meet privately because her own crew might form up an opposing force against her if she left the bridge for a second.
“You stuck your neck out for me,” I said. “I appreciate that. May I address your command staff?”
She blinked at me in surprise. “Here? Now?”
“Yes.”
“All right. Do so with my blessing.”
I turned toward the officer team, who all listened closely while pretending not to.
“Fex has given us all a Devil’s choice,” I said loudly. “It’s all a matter of choosing how we die. Should we go through the rift to Ral and die there, fighting a ship the size of a large moon? Or, should we wait here sniveling until he guns us down for insubordination?”
No one answered me. I got the impression that neither of the options I’d outlined was popular.
My right fist slammed a console, and the projections above it danced.
“Right you are!” I boomed. “He can’t order us to die for nothing! He can’t kill us for disobeying an illegal order, either!”
Ursahn spoke up. “Actually, his primary cannons can take down our shields at this range rather quickly. Our complement of fighters wouldn’t even be able to reach the station before—”
I held up my hand, shaking my head.
“No, no,” I said, “you misunderstand the nature of my proposition.”
“I wasn’t aware you were making a proposition.”
“Well, I am. We should select a third option. One Fex isn’t banking on.”
“Why would he ‘bank’ on an unproven—?”
“It’s an idiom—my apologies,” I said quickly. Time was running out to convince these people we had to take radical action. “What I’m suggesting is we defeat the automated Hunter through tactics and maneuver, rather than direct attack.”
Ursahn looked confused. “That is a vague and disappointing statement.”
“The trick is—” I said aloud, then immediately regretted it. These people didn’t like the idea of “tricks” being played on anyone.
They swayed from side to side and looked worried.
“What I mean to say is that we should leave this system, but we shouldn’t go straight to Ral. We should go to another nearby, neutral star system.”
“What possible purpose can such an action serve?” Ursahn asked.
“Well, for one thing, we won’t die immediately.”
Ursahn gave me a hard look. “I had not counted you as a coward, but I’m beginning to suspect—”
“Hold on, listen further. There are Imperial ships operating in this stellar neighborhood, aren’t there? We’ve met and fought with some of them on the way here.”
“Yes…”
“So, as I understand it, the AI-driven Hunter isn’t supposed to be entirely independent. It might have a remote crew of operators. If we can find this crew in the area, we can force them to call off the Hunter.”
She looked at me like she was studying a bug. A stink-bug, maybe, or something similarly nasty.
“This doesn’t sound honorable,” she said.
“It’s extremely honorable,” I argued. “In fact, it’s the only way we’re going to accomplish this mission. We can’t fight that thing directly—you know that. But what we can do is find its operators and convince them to retreat. That way, we’ll be following our orders without dying.”
“But that isn’t what the admiral ordered us to do.”
“Ah!” I said, walking toward the consoles and laying my hands on them. “Are you sure about that? Maybe it’s exactly what he had in mind. He ordered us to do the impossible—at least, that’s what I thought at first. But apes are clever, and I had to think more d
eeply on it. There had to be a way to achieve the goals he laid out, or the order would be invalid.”
Pulling up several recordings, I played them for the bridge crew. I now thought it was a good thing they were all present. I was going to have to convince them all, and seeing as we only had about seventeen minutes left to take action, I didn’t have time to present my case to each of Ursahn’s people separately.
Ursahn and her crew pondered my idea as I replayed Fex’s words several times. He repeatedly instructed us to go to the Ral system and save it. In every case, the exact methods we were to employ were left out.
Ursahn nodded her big head at last. “All right. I will contact Fex and inform him that we’ve puzzled out his mad orders. Then—”
My hand closed over her larger arm, and I pulled her back as she reached for her console.
She whirled on me, eyes blazing. “You dare to make physical contact while I’m in command on my own bridge?” she demanded.
“Sorry,” I said, “but we don’t have time to confirm anything with Fex. We know he’s hostile to us. If we tell him we’ve figured out his orders, he’ll just come up with another seemingly impossible set of instructions.”
She stared at me for a full two seconds. Then she slowly nodded and sighed.
“I truly hate primates,” she said. “Even you are irritating for being able to think in this convoluted fashion.”
“On behalf of my entire branch of the Kher family tree, I apologize.”
“Very well. We will make a rift to a star near Ral. I hope honor can be served—but I doubt there is time to find the Imperial operators before we’ve failed in our mission.”
“You mean before the Hunter reaches Ral? You let me worry about that. We’ll make it with time to spare. In the meantime, I’ve got to return to my ship.”
Without wasting any more time, I led my battered sidekicks back to the docking chambers. With six minutes to spare, we reached Hammerhead’s bridge.
“Phase us out, Miller!” I ordered. “Dalton, the second we vanish, maneuver sharply at a random angle—but don’t line us up with Killer’s hull.”
