by Ryan Vermont
In addition, there were a few other interesting facts about them. One, no one had ever seen a male Angelika. Every single one encountered was female. No one knew how they reproduced, and they refused to discuss it. And, two, they possessed wings.
These were small, feathered wings that extended from their back and could expand to a good 10 feet across on adults. Most of the time, they kept their wings folded and hidden under cloaks. No one knew what the wings were for since they weren’t used for flying. Some theories were bounced around as to how they might be used in low gravity, but the Angelika homeworld possessed standard Terran gravity. Once again, the Angelika didn’t discuss the reason for their wings with anyone.
I reached down and extended a hand to the nearest child. “Take it,” I told the little girl, who couldn’t be more than six standard years, "I’ll get you out of that stinking hole.”
She looked up at me and stared. I didn’t speak their language. Did they speak Galactic Standard?
I was overcome with a sense of relief from her. She trusted me. The sensation overpowered me. All those kids trusted me. Me, the dude who’d skewered a grown man a few minutes ago.
It only took a few more minutes to get them up on our level. Soon, I had all 12 naked children shivering in the passageway. Who’d done this to them? I was determined to find out and make them pay. I’d done many bad things in my life, but I’d never abused a child of any species.
Drez, for his part, didn’t help me one bit. He paced back and forth around the iris and went on about what a clusterfuck this was and how pissed the boss would be about what we’d found.
“Dammit," Drez swore, “I better get a fat bonus out of this. The nerve of that Airedale dropping us into this mess.” Several of the kids backed away from him, as they could sense his anger.
I could see the early stage of wings on their backs. Apparently, they grew as the Angelika increased in statue.
“Come along, children,” I told them as Drez shut the hatch in the deck. “There’s a washroom on the other side of this passageway. You can all get cleaned up while I figure out what to do.” We started to move back in the direction Drez and I’d come.
“You wait a fucking minute!” I heard Drez swear from behind me. “Where the fuck are you headed?”
“I’m going to get these kids cleaned up,” I said to him as I turned around. “Then I’ll try to find out if there’s anything in this ship for them to eat. Can’t you see? They look half-starved." I wasn’t sure what the healthy version of an Angelika child was, but these kids looked famished.
“Are you serious?” Drez yelled at me. He was in my face now. “Didn’t you hear the boss’ orders? He didn’t want anyone left who could identify us!”
Then he made the mistake of grabbing the collar on my exosuit. We had left our helmets back in the master control room with the bodies, as we didn’t need to wear them anymore.
Drez forgot for the moment that I was 70 pounds heavier, even though he was four inches taller than I was. He was one tough lob, but I was a bigger one. Plus, I’d grown up with bullets whizzing past my head, and I’d learned to trample people who got in my face.
I shoved Drez in the chest and sent him flying down the passageway. His knife fell to the deck, but he bounced back up and grabbed it.
“You Terry motherfucker!” he screamed at me. “I’ll kill you for that!” He walked at me slowly with his knife extended. I didn’t care; my short sword was already out and level. The Angelika kids huddled behind me.
“The only mother I ever fucked," I said as we faced off, "was yours. And she took it up the ass.” I was beyond rage. All I wanted to do was kill this little asshole. If I didn’t, only Mother Tara knew what might happen to those kids.
“You just signed your own death warrant, Fixer,” he said. “At least now, I have a way to keep the boss happy. He’ll take your blood over mine.” Drez took another step forward.
“You’re welcome to try, metice," I sneered back at him. The line was about to be crossed.
Two seconds later, everything changed.
“Attention unregistered starship,” a voice boomed over a PA system we didn’t know existed. “This is Commander Peshawar of the Imperial Irunian Destroyer Ghostmaker. Prepare to be boarded. Do not attempt to show resistance. If you do, we will be forced to act. Everyone on your ship is ordered to meet us in the master control room unarmed. Show no resistance, or you will be terminated.”
Drez and I lowered our weapons and looked at each other. The line would not be crossed, after all.
Drez spat on the deck. “Guess we got a bigger problem now.”
Chapter Two
Drez and I put our weapons away and tried to figure out what to do. No more fighting against each other. Not for now, at least. We had to work together if either of us ever wanted to see Nyx Station again. So far, we were the only adults, of any species, on the ship. If anyone else was hidden away, it did us no good in our present situation. The Irunian Marines would kill us without hesitation. But I was thankful they’d given us a warning this time. They weren’t known for doing that.
“We’ll take this up later,” Drez said to me. I could feel the terror in the Angelika kids decrease a fraction. They didn’t know what was going on outside the ship.
I smiled at him. “As always, Spinesnatcher.”
It wasn’t the first time we’d gone at it full throttle. Nor would it be the last if both of us survived the Irunians. Drez and I were famed for our running duels that took place every few months. He’d say one thing, I another, and we’d go at it with whatever weapon was handy. Most of the other enforcers for Boss Korth knew about this and kept their distance. It always ended the same, with both of us ready for another round, just as Korth sent word about another job to do. We’d glare at each other, wipe the blood away, maybe seal up a wound or two, have a beer, and continue to the task. We’d act as if it was in the past, but sooner or later....
I looked at the display on the left sleeve of my exosuit and brought up the image from our shuttle. Good thing I’d remembered to patch into it before we boarded the Byzantium. I enlarged an image of something moving into position over the horizon of the starship and focused on it.
“Oh, shit," was all I could say.
“What do you see?” Drez asked, his ice-white eyes changing to a shade of red.
I held up my arm for him to see.
It wasn’t just one Irunian Destroyer that was in position around the starship. I counted three more in orbit around us. The Ghostmaker was docked to the port alone, but the Irunian Navy had sent enough heat to keep us from running off. Provided we could figure out how to operate this thing, of course.
“We need to hide,” I informed Drez. “There’s all manner of empty rooms in this place. We’ll take the kids and find some place to chill out until we figure a plan.”
“Why do we need the kids-?” Drez started to say, but my "Not up for discussion!” look shut his mouth.
I felt something enter my mind’s frame of reference and closed my eyes for a minute. In most cases, I needed to be in visual range of someone to do a mind probe, when it works at all. However, there are exceptions to every rule.
I counted 13 presences as they entered the ship. This would be the first assault squad of the Irunian Marines, elite troops ready to do battle with anything that moved. As in most beings, the young and male provided the best recruits. Once again, evolution made the most expendable also the most aggressive.
I saw them through the vision of their commander as he led his squad forward. Silver hair, eyes to match, and ears that fluted up into a point. They were slender but still deadly. Elven, someone once described them, whatever that meant. Each wore a special exosuit with armor that clanged as they walked. I was convinced the noisy armor was meant to strike fear into their enemies. Once you hear the metal rattle of the Irunian Marines as they board a ship, you never forget it.
They were headed to the master control room by the shortest rout
e. Somehow, the Irunian Navy knew the layout of this strange starship.
I opened my eyes and looked at Drez. “Forget about hiding in this ship,” I informed him. “The Irunians know its configuration and will find us quickly. And forget about making for Nyx in that supply shuttle; there’s plenty of destroyers around us to vaporize it the first time we try to leave. No, we’ll have to go meet them in the master control room and hope for the best.” I looked down and signaled to the kids that they were to follow us; most of them seemed to understand.
Drez swore and shoved his knife in the holster that hung from the exosuit’s belt. I did the same with my short sword.
“There’s a squad of 12, plus an officer,” I informed him as we made our way back. “The marines carry bucklers and swords for close range fighting. I didn’t see any projectile weapons on them. At least, they’re not stupid enough to bring them onto a starship.”
“That we know about,” Drez snorted. “I’ll bet gold that the commander has one hidden on him.”
As we approached the door to the master control room, Drez had another thought.
“What about those girls?” he brought up with a gesture to the group who followed. Most of the younger ones held hands with the older.
“They can come in behind us,” I replied. “No reason to hide them.”
“I thought you were so concerned about those kids,” Drez snorted.
“I am. But no way in hell will the Irunians hurt them; they’re not that stupid.”
“Appears to me someone already did. Look at the condition they’re in.”
“Then thank Mother Tara the ones who did it are laying dead on the deck in that control room.”
I walked up the vestibule entrance and tossed my short sword inside. I heard the rapid clang of armor as the marine squad snapped into formation. I glared at Drez. He took his knife out and tossed it inside too.
“There’s two of us," I yelled through the entrance. “A Terran and a Morbashi.” I could feel the tension increase from the other side. They didn’t believe us.
“Come in here and show yourselves!” I heard a voice cry back. “Keep your hands out so that we know you’re not trying to fuck with us.”
One wrong move on anyone’s part....
“We’ve got 12 Angelika children with us,” I called out again.
The tension dropped down a few meters. I decided to walk inside.
The marines were in a cup pattern that faced the door. They’d been through this scenario before and expected a horde to storm into the room. With this formation, they could take down anyone foolish enough to stage a surprise attack. I’d used that defensive maneuver myself a few times.
I held my hands up as the officer walked over to me. He was an older man, with the rank bars on his exosuit armor shoulders. He held a sword to my throat and stared at me. This had to be our Commander Peshawar, the man we’d heard over the PA.
“Where are the others?” he demanded.
“Drez," I yelled, “get your ass in here and see that the girls come with you.”
I stared forward and could hear the sound of Drez’s boots on the deck as he entered the room. Behind him came the patter of tiny feet. The look on the commander’s face told me Drez had actually listened and did what I told him for a change.
We might make it through this alive, I thought.
“You don’t look Morbashi,” the commander spoke to Drez. I could see my companion’s eyes change shade; he was pissed.
“My mother was Terran,” Drez snapped back. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“Explains your light shade,” the commander sneered. “And why your front teeth don’t show. Never met a Morbashi yet who didn’t polish those fangs so everyone could see them.”
That did it.
Drez took a step forward with his fists balled up. He was ready to punch the commander, no matter what happened.
The moment Drez started to take a run at the commander; four of the marines stepped forward and brought their bucklers up. With their other arms, they raised their swords into a strike position. Drez would be chopped to bloody meat if he took another move forward. He knew it too.
Drez did a rare, sensible thing and took a step back as he raised his hands.
The commander looked down at the kids, who’d moved back to the bulkhead when the tension started. Funny how they could sense things like that about to happen.
“Ah, the Angelika children,” the commander spoke. “This is why we’re here. They’re to come with me so that they can have proper care. I assume these men are responsible for their wretched condition?” He swept his hand at the bodies on the deck.
“Yes, they are,” I spoke up. “We killed them when the ship was taken. We’re here to rescue those kids, and they tried to prevent us.” There was some truth in what I said.
“I appreciate your sense of moral duty,” the Irunian commander replied, “but I will have to bring them with us.”
“Why do you have such an interest in these kids?” I demanded. Although I had a difficult time probing his mind, I knew the commander was hiding something from me.
“We received a distress call two days ago,” he explained. “We were given the location of a ship in interstellar space that held 12 Angelika children. Of course, we had to investigate the charge, since, according to the Treaty of Ranamator, Angelika are considered neutral parties in all galactic disputes. We’re all morally responsible to see they come to no harm.”
“I’m sure you sleep very well at night, Commander,” I told him. “Who sent out the distress signal?”
“That’s classified, Terran,” he snapped back. “As a matter of courtesy, you might tell me how it is that you came to be on this starship. You two are to be commended for the attempted rescue of the children, but how did you know they were here?”
“Classified too, Commander,” I tossed back at him. Let old Commander Blimp chew on that.
“This ship...” he started to say, “such a mess. Oh, well, we’ll tow it back to the nearest naval station, and they can deal with it. I’m sure you two will have no trouble returning home in that robust shuttle we spotted docked outside.” The marines behind him chuckled.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” I responded to the Irunian in front of me. “If you’re up on interstellar law, you’ll know that any rogue ship is the property of whoever finds it first. My friend and I took the starship; therefore, it is ours. By the same treaty, we are the ones responsible for the passengers. Those kids count as hostages and, therefore, are not subject to any rescue operation you tried to mount. As your empire has a treaty with Nyx, they should be transferred to the station with all due haste.” Drez turned his face from the marines and stared at me, unable to process what I had in mind.
“Which we can do with ease, Mister!” the commander snarled in my direction. “Don’t test my knowledge of naval law! I know those kids are supposed to be taken to the nearest place where they can be reunited with their people! I have every intention of doing that!”
“So you say, Commander,” I replied, doing my best to stay calm. “But the treaties written are specific in who has what duty. They don’t go anywhere unless I allow it.”
I watched a cloud materialize over his face. “I think we can take care of this matter in seconds and worry about the legalities later,” he popped. “I’ve got 12 men with sharp blades behind me. What do you have?”
“Treaties and law, Commander,” I let him know. “Want to provoke an interstellar war, Your Honor, go right ahead. Makes no difference to me. Because we both know word will get out of what you did.”
We were both at a stalemate, and he knew it. It would be easy for him to kill me and Drez. But what happened would travel, and then what? Wouldn’t look too good the next time he was up for a promotion.
“However,” I spoke again, “I am willing to make a compromise.” I felt the sensation of curiosity from the Irunian Commander. I had him hooked.
“I
’m willing to let you take these children to safety on your world as an officer in Her Imperial Majesty’s Forces,” I continued, “provided you don’t give my associate and me any trouble when we leave with this ship. By treaty law, the ship is ours and the children our responsibility, but I’m willing to allow you to leave with the kids if you guarantee me no harm will come to them.” I looked at the commander to see if I could sense a response.
“You disgusting Terry,” he growled at me. “How dare you suggest I want those children for anything nefarious? In olden times, I would have you both skewered for suggesting such a thing. I can’t do it because of the laws, but I...I...”
Perfect. I’d found the screw to turn on his thumb, and he had responded to it.
“Escort those children at once to the Ghostmaker!” he yelled at his marines. “Keep your distance; I don’t want this pervert thinking I have anything in mind he might like!”
The little girls looked up at me. I nodded. They understood and walked out of the master control room with the marine squad behind them. The soft sound of their feet led the way, followed by the stomps of the marine boots in the rear.
“You," the commander spoke to me, one finger outstretched in my direction. “I’ll see you again. Be happy I’m going to let you live. If it wasn’t for those children...” He gritted his teeth and followed the rest of the group.
We were silent for a good two minutes after the Irunian marines left. I had no way to monitor their progress through the starship, but I could reach out and sense their frame of mind. With non-Terran beings, that’s not easy. They don’t have the same thought patterns as someone who hailed from Earth does. But I’ve had plenty of contact with the sentient beings of the galaxy, so I know what to watch for in the way they think. I could feel the group as it moved further away. I felt hot, but restrained, rage from the commander. Plenty of disappointment emitted from the marine squad. I guessed they were pissed none of them got the honor of cutting us down. Not psychopaths, those Irunian lads in armor, but they do take a lot of pride in their work.
