Serpents and Vipers

by Donald Nicklas

  When they were all back at the table, Tavia was the first to talk, “I’m not sure I like this place. For some reason most of these spacers think I want to take tours of their rusting freighters.”

  The Slones looked at each other and smiled. Tavia was a strikingly beautiful girl with bright red hair and a light complexion. Training and missions was all she cared about and she had no idea of the effect she had on the opposite sex. “They were just trying to be friendly,” Alaya said as she tried to suppress a smile. “From what I gather, Captain Wingate was right. The serpents are not keeping up their end of the trade agreement. We need to report this to the Consul.”

  The others were of the same opinion, based on what they gleaned from the patrons. The group finished their drinks and headed out of the tavern. Whereas the tavern was hot and humid from the number of patrons, the corridors of the three century old station were cooler and almost empty, except around the tavern. They walked the short distance to the VIP quarters and knocked on the door of Consul Lorenzo. The Consul opened the door and let the group in. “So, how was the tavern. If there hadn’t been a large amount of correspondence waiting for me, I would have joined you.”

  “I wish you had,” Alaya responded and told him what they had discovered. Lorenzo sent Tavia to get Sly, and when she returned with the serpent, they repeated what they had learned to Sly. The serpent was visibly concerned about the news.

  “Sss. This is not right,” Sly said. “This is not what we do when the World Mother dies.”

  “I thought not,” Lorenzo said. “Even if both of the Romani Consuls died, trade would not be affected. This must be intentional.”

  “Sss. Yes, I agree,” Sly said.

  “Let’s turn in and leave as soon as possible tomorrow. The sooner we get to our destination, the sooner we’ll find out what’s going on,” The Consul said and dismissed them all.

  Sly and the emissary returned to the room they shared with Tavia. Though most humans were neutral towards the serpents, she looked at Sly as her friend. The serpents curled up on the carpet and Tavia was in the bed. The night was well advanced when Sly suddenly awoke. She sensed a change in the makeup of the room. Serpents had the ability to notice subtle changes in air pressure that indicated movement. If the movement was very slow, they may not notice it, but move just a little too fast, and they were aware. She opened her eyes slightly to form a slit and looked around. She could see well in the dark, so she knew there were no strange humans in the room. The only human was Tavia, who slept soundly. Serpents had the ability to camouflage themselves and disappear into the background, like a chameleon. Sly kept her eyes open and her muscles started to grow taut, in case she needed to move fast. She could also sense that the hatchling was aware of a change. Serpents were warm blooded but when hidden, they could shut down their heat radiation, so Sly’s infrared sense was of no use. She slowly stuck the tip of her tongue out of her mouth and pulled it back. This allowed her to sample the molecules in the air and these were very informative. They allowed Sly to build a picture of the room, both past and present. She picked up the scents of the Slones, who had been visiting with Tavia earlier and had brought her back from the tavern. There were also the smells of the tavern. She could also follow the movements of the hatchling during the day, as it moved around the room. Nevertheless, there was something else. The distinct chemical signature of another serpent, yet Sly knew she and the hatchling were the only serpents on the station.

  As she was analyzing this last information, there was a sudden, rapid movement and claws came slashing out of the dark, tearing at Sly’s back, and left side. The wounds were deep, but not fatal due to Sly’s alertness. Had she been in a sleep state, she might be dead. She now leapt up, just in time to see the flash of a tail tipped with a spike, a weapon favored by the serpents for killing. Sly caught the tail in her mouth and bit down, hearing bones crushing and a deep hiss from her opponent. Sly now slashed out with her talons and scoured the arm of her opponent. By now, the hatching was up and attacking the legs of the intruder. The intruder kicked hard and the hatchling flew across the room, into the wall. Sly now tried to bite the neck of the other serpent but missed and found she was moving past the attacker, who side stepped. The intruder knew how to fight and tripped Sly then jumped on her back and prepared to bite down on the back of her neck to finish the deed. The enemy never had the chance. A sword suddenly came down on the back of the intruder’s neck, at the base of the skull and severed the spine. The assassin went limp and fell on top of Sly, who rolled over and pushed the body off. She looked up and saw Tavia standing there with her short sword dripping with serpent blood. She had saved Sly’s life.

  “Are you ok, Sly?”

  “Sss. Yes, Tavia. How is the hatchling?”

  Tavia then ran over to the hatchling and saw it had a broken, right lower leg and was trying to stand up. She picked up the hatchling, which weighed about 30 pounds and brought it over to the bed. “Lights,” She said and the computer brought up the lights in the room and the carnage became visible. Tavia wrapped the hatchling in a blanket and put a pillow under its head to make it comfortable. There was a pounding on the door now and Tavia asked who was on the other side.

  “It’s Christopher and Alaya. We heard something crashing into the wall between our rooms.”

  Tavia ordered the computer to open the door and the Slones entered only to stop short as soon as they took in the scene. Sly was just moving into a sitting position. It was then that the Slones saw the deep, bleeding gashes on her left side extending to the back. Serpent blood was iron based and thus as red as human blood, but it clotted much faster. Sly’s wounds were deep and the Slones could see the muscles below. Tavia gave Sly a towel to cover her injuries. Slone went over to the wall communicator and contacted security to come to the room immediately. He also called into the Consul and the others to come over. Since there was no way of knowing, if the danger was past, Slone wanted their entire group together. Centurion Marshal and the Romani legionaries were the first to arrive. As soon as they saw what happened, they secured the area.

  They could see that Sly was badly injured, since she moved very slowly. The towel was bloody but the wounds were clotting. Tavia and Alaya went over to Sly and Tavia put a pillow behind her so she could lean against the bed. “Are you ok, Sly? Those wounds look deep,” Tavia said in a concerned voice.

  “Sss. Yes, Tavia, I will heal. You saved my life; I am now in your debt.”

  “You are my friend and I love you, Sly. Friends are always there for each other.”

  Sly would never fully understand this human girl, but at that moment, she realized that she loved her too as friend and she would always look on her as a member of her clan.

  “Who is this serpent? Where did he come from?” These questions were asked by the Consul Lorenzo, who had just arrived.

  Sly slowly moved over to the body of the assassin. She turned the body over and looked at the face. Then she sniffed the body and closely examined the scales. Everyone could see that the head was just hanging by front skin and the spinal column was severed. Tavia had struck well and deep. When Sly’s examination was finished, she looked up at the Consul and stated, “Sss. This is a member of the Mountain Clan. They have been against our treaty with the humans for over a century.”

  “But why would they want to kill you, or was the hatchling the target?”

  “Sss. No, she attacked me first. I do not know why she would want to kill me. The hatchling attacked and was then kicked. How is she?”

  Tavia responded immediately, “She is sleeping but her right leg is broken. If serpents heal the way we do, she will need a cast.”

  “How did he get here?”

  Just then, the station doctor arrived. He asked permission to examine Sly and was given it. After looking at her wounds he said, “These will need to be stitched up. May I ask if local anesthetics work on serpents?”

  “Sss. We do not need them. I can turn off my pain as you close the w
ounds.”

  “Quite the advantage,” the doctor said and went to work to close the wounds.

  Centurion Marshal looked at the wounds on the assassin, “Looks like quite a fight. There is a broken tail and deep claw marks on the arm. The neck looks like a sword cut.”

  “That was me, Centurion. I was lucky enough to get in a good cut.”

  “Well done, Tavia.”

  “Sss. She saved my life and the life of the hatchling.”

  Alaya could tell the Romani admired Tavia for keeping her wits about her. No one in memory had ever seen two serpents fight to the death. Moreover, to have that suddenly thrust into your room in the middle of the night, would rattle anyone. Yet Tavia had kept her wits and struck the fatal blow to save Sly. Alaya had a feeling she would go far on Nova Romae.

  When Sly was stitched up, the doctor went to check on the hatching and set her leg. From what Sly indicated, serpents heal fast and the cast could come off in two weeks, about the time they reach the serpent home world. The doctor asked who would be checking Sly’s wounds. Almost immediately, Tavia said she would be looking after the alien.

  As the doctor left, the station commander, Aksel Dahl, entered the room and looked at the carnage. “Is your serpent alright, Consul?”

  Lorenzo looked at the commandant, who seemed a bit slack in his duties and carriage. He had been out here too long and Lorenzo would make sure he is shipped back home for retraining. For now, he had to work with him. “Yes she will be. Thank you for your concern. Do we have any idea how this assassin got onto the station?”

  “We have interrogated the computers of all of the ships entering with a serpent identification code. As you know, only automated freighters, of human origin, are allowed to pass between the Rubicon station and the serpent station on the other side. The serpents then take off our exports, place their exports on the ship, and send it back. No serpents ever enter this system and no humans ever enter the other system. A ship arrived yesterday with indications it had carried a living organism that showed up on the intruder circuits. These circuits were quickly deactivated from within. We believe the intruder was this assassin.”

  He may look a bit sloppy, but Lorenzo had to admit, he ran a thorough investigation. “Excellent work, Commander.”

  Before the commandant was dismissed, Christopher Slone wanted to ask a question, “Commander, are there mooring clamps on the automated freighters going into serpent space?”

  “Yes, Captain. Sometimes these freighters deliver ships that have been ordered by the station. At least they did before becoming specialized to this run.”

  Alaya looked at her husband, “What are you thinking, Chris?”

  “After this incident, we have no idea what we may be running into on the other side of the slipstream. I thought we could piggyback on today’s automated freighter run and enter their system invisible.” Slone then turned to Sly, who was still sitting on the floor. “Sly, if we are invisible on top of the mass of the freighter, would it be harder for the serpents to know we were there?”

  “Sss. Yes. We detect invisible ships as an electronic signature. We would not see that signature if the ship is on a large freighter.”

  Now it was the Consul’s turn, “I think that is an excellent idea. What do you think Sly, at least until we have an idea of what is awaiting us?”

  “Sss. I agree with Captain Slone, we must look to safety.”

  Lorenzo looked at the commandant, “Commander, when does the first freighter leave for serpent space tomorrow?”

  “At noon, station time.”

  “Alaya, have your crew moor the Draco onto the freighter. Keep a minimum of people aware of what we are doing,” Lorenzo ordered.

  All were in agreement as to the wisdom of the plan and they would move onto the Draco for the rest of the night. Tavia and the legionaries helped Sly and the hatchling onto the ship and Tavia made sure Sly was comfortable on her rug and the hatchling she placed in her own bunk on the scout ship. Her bond with the aliens became closer with each act of kindness. At Sly’s request, the body of the assassin was placed in a cryocapsule. She wanted to take it to the home world as proof of the treachery of the Mountain Clan. As the noon hour approached, traffic control prepared the freighter for departure. Since it was unmanned, the automation needed to be updated for the current spatial relationship of the planet and Rubicon station with the outbound slipstream. This system was chosen as the trade connection for two reasons. First, it was on the border of serpent space requiring only one slipstream to its counterpart on the serpent side. Second, both systems had inbound and outbound slipstreams to each other. Only 2 percent of all systems had that advantage.

  Traffic control notified the Draco the freighter would depart in two minutes and Sly got up slowly, with Tavia’s help, and started the procedure to make the Draco invisible. The complex movements over the control panel, required for the procedure, and to maintain it, could not be done by humans. As a result, every human military vessel carried a serpent crewperson. After some movements on the panel, Sly reported, “Sss. The Ship is invisible.”

  “Thank you, Sly,” Alaya said. Since they were riding piggyback on the freighter, there was nothing for the crew to do but monitor the sensors. Sly would alert them if an invisible ship were in the system, just in case the Mountain Clan sent a backup. They passed through the force field separating the pressurized docking area from the vacuum beyond. Once clear of the station, the freighter picked up speed and headed to the outbound slipstream.

  “How long to the slipstream?” Alaya asked.

  “Twenty-Three hours. Freighters are slow,” Allyson Cartwright reported.

  “I know but it’s necessary to be safe. Tavia, go back and tell everyone to relax. I’ll stay in the cockpit during transit.” The rest of the crew said they would do the same. The flight seats were more comfortable than those in the mess-conference room were.

  As always, the Romani legionaries spent the time cleaning their weapons and took some of the time to go into the cargo hold and practice some close quarter fighting skills. They also asked Tavia to tell them about the battle in her bedroom between the serpents and her part in it. When she described how she delivered the killing blow, they were impressed. They knew the serpent’s scales were thick and it took a tremendous force to penetrate them. They had seen the body brought onto the ship and a single sword strike almost severed the neck. Tavia just said humbly, she drew on her strength when she saw her friend about to be killed. The Romani doubly admired Tavia for her close friendship with Sly. It was very difficult to develop a friendship with a serpent, since the two species, human and serpent, were so different. The humans also knew the serpents viewed them as a slightly less intelligent species.

  After a long and boring transit, they finally arrived at the outbound slipstream. The freighter entered the energy stream and deployed the slipstream sails. The Draco was clamped to the top of the hull, in front of the central frill sail. When the sails were deployed, the computer on the large vessel polarized them and the freighter with its small companion sped up to light speed and then achieved a slipstream speed of one light year per hour.

  “What is our slipstream transit time?”

  “According to the computer on the freighter, it will be 12 hours to travel the 12 light-years to the serpent system. The Draco could have done this in half the time,” Allyson pointed out.

  “I know but at least we can get some needed rest. I want everyone fresh and fully awake. If something is going on in serpent space, I want us to be ready.” With that, Alaya ordered the ship put on night status and did not set a watch, since they were not flying themselves. Within an hour, everyone had retired to their bunk and slept, even Sly, since invisibility was not needed in the slipstream. Tavia slept with the hatching in her bed and the juvenile serpent placed her hand on Tavia’s cheek and touched her face with its tongue. Tavia decided this was as close to a kiss as she was going to get from a serpent and gave the hatchling a smile. Th
ey both fell asleep then and the Draco sped on atop the freighter.

  Chapter 3 – Primary Jungle

  The freighter came out of the slipstream and furled its sails. The engines started up and the ship began to move. On the invisible scout ship’s bridge, the crew was at their stations. “What is the readout of this system?” Alaya asked.

  Albert Claudian examined the readouts on his sensor station. “The system has a class C carbon star with 4 planets, all gas giants. There is a station but I can’t get any readout on it.”

  Alaya turned to Sly, “Why would their station be dark?”

  Sly turned towards Alaya and her lips quivered, indicating she was about to speak. “Sss. It should not be dark. There are also four invisible ships in the system. We are passing them now. I think they are here to intercept someone, perhaps us.”

  “Can they detect us?”

  “Sss. They are not moving. They have not detected us.”

  Alaya thought for a moment. “Sly, are there any invisible ships between us and the station?”

  “Sss. No, Captain Slone.”

  “Good. Allyson, what is our travel time to the station?”

  Allyson Cartwright did a few calculations. “At the present speed of the freighter, it will be 15 hours, 21 minutes.”