by M. Garnet
That was the only warning Poly gave him as he turned around to scan the sky. There in the distance, bobbing over other roofs and coming toward him, was the light and the short part of a rope ladder. It was surreal as if the ladder was floating in the air, but it slowed down as it got close. Keenan made a short jump and was climbing the ladder above the invisible portion before anyone watching from the ground saw him disappear.
Climbing up a ladder while a ship is moving over an enemy military camp was not his first choice. Keenan moved fast like a silly child's toy. Looking up, he saw the ugly face of his friend Bruno that never looked prettier. It was at this point that the ladder also began to move upward into the ship.
"I help." It was Poly who was having the ship roll up the ladder into the open side exit. Keenan just hung on and was soon inside with his crew.
"Is Thea on the bridge?" Keenan started pulling off his boot with the holes in it.
Picking up the boot and putting his finger in the hole in the sole, Bruno looked over. "What the hell happened down there?"
"Nothing much; as usual, I took care of fucking business." Keenan hung his jacket on a hook by the inside wall near the door.
Still holding the boot, Bruno stepped back and frowned. "From the smell of you, that word describes what you were doing." With those words, he let out a deep laugh.
Nodding, Keenan did know he needed a shower and change of clothes. He headed to his cabin, as he asked Poly if the ship could see the action below?
Poly was bouncing right behind him. "We are higher. We can see action. Some locals and off-worlders come. They fighting the Transformed troopers."
Shaking his head as he reached his cabin, at Poly's short language, Keenan felt he needed to find out why anyone would rebel against the military Transformed. He also hoped that Poly would continue to learn so that in time it would be able to speak normally.
The hot shower felt great, but he cut it short to get up on the bridge to find out what the hell was happening down on the ground. How close were they to the big guy?
Coming up to the bridge, he found Thea in her favorite spot, the co-pilot's chair.
"I've got the ship floating over the disturbance down below, and we are in full stealth." Thea pointed to a couple of screens that showed what was happening in the fight.
Before sliding into his own Captain's chair, he looked at the beautiful woman who had become part of his crew. She looked too sweet with that turned-up nose and those full cherry lips. Natural blond hair that she wore long and most of the time allowed bits to drop down into her gorgeous blue eyes with long lashes to accent that pale rosy skin.
She was like the beautiful flower that had started on old Earth and was now found on most inhabited planets and known as Foxglove. It was a beautiful flowering plant that was deadly to the touch or in food. Thea was deadly in hand-to-hand combat and could kill with most weapons, including the long slim heels of the black shoes she wore.
Keenan had seen the tiny full-figured Thea take out males who were more prominent than him with strange kicks even with bare feet. In a surprise, she had taught girls in a very expensive private school how to protect themselves. She had also been fired from that job for reasons that had never been disclosed.
In a battle, she could use her beautiful looks as a distraction. It would make a man forget to protect himself right before his ass hit the floor.
Not getting distracted by his unusual crewman, Keenan began to study the scenes on the screens of the people fighting. There were some airships, but most of the action was on the ground. He could see a slight demarcation line that the two enemies were fighting over, and his guess wasn't worth anything.
The line was just a place where both sides had finally met in bulk to shoot and fight and brawl. A lot of it was just destruction. With the smoke and fires and the ground bombs, it was hard to tell if anyone was going to live through the battle on either side.
Getting into the comfortable pilot's chair, he heard Bruno come in and find his favorite place on the bridge that was a seat at the console that handled the weapons and other parts of the ship. Poly softly floated between the seats, answered any question immediately in its female voice, but in short sentences.
"Okay, listen up," Keenan looked at the screens with the fighting below. "I need an idea of how it might look like we have helped the Transformed, but without killing any of the people who are fighting them. I'll take anything, no matter how wild."
"Well, we could drop a lot of smoke bombs on the rebels." This came from Bruno.
Thea snorted. "Can't you see all the smoke down there already? We could send out some drones with electric shocks and hit the rebels and knock them out along the front lines."
"But won't the Transformed troops then take the unconscious fighters, prisoners? I don't think that will work. We need to scare off the rebels." Bruno sat back and brought up some schematics of the various weapons on the Adamant.
"Make big noise." Poly floated close to Keenan's chair. "Sound dangerous."
"Silly bot." That came from Thea
"Don't pick on Poly, even if the idea is funny." Bruno always stood up for Poly.
"Wait," Keenan raised his hand. "Poly may have an idea. What would happen if a really shiny strange ship with a huge noise—appeared over the heads of the rebels? Let's say so loud, almost to break eardrums, and so close as to almost touch their heads. What do you think a person would do under that situation?"
"Run" was the answer of both Bruno and Thea.
Looking at the dash and deciding what direction would be the best to come in between buildings, Keenan had a wicked smile. "Poly, get all the outside audios we have pointed downward and at the highest volume. Then search through the Universal Thread for some of the worse and scariest sounds of animals and crashes you can find. Combine them and have something to make the fighters drop their weapons and run."
"Yes, Captain." The bot turned and bobbed out of the bridge to go somewhere that Keenan didn't want to guess, to do as he had requested.
"Hey guys, can we get the ship to look like flames on the bottom?" Keenan knew he could actually put flames out on the ship, but he didn't want to hurt anyone. He could draw in a great storm with lightning, but that would not be attached to the presence of the ship.
"I think I can control the colors in the stealth system. Let me work on this. Hell yes. There is something right here." Thea began working on some glowing buttons. Keenan and Bruno ignored her as she talked to herself, confident that she would not crash the ship. Adamant had a lot of fail-safes built into it to keep it from slamming into anything, even the ground.
"Captain, I make noise." It was Poly speaking to Keenan in the ear contact.
"Okay, Poly. Let's hear it." At that moment, the roar of the worst nightmare filled the bridge, and all three humans ducked, put fingers in their ears, and closed their eyes. "Stop, stop," Keenan ordered.
"What the hell was that? I think my ears are bleeding." Thea was speaking with her head against her knees and her hands on her head. Keenan couldn't even see the big bald head of Bruno as he had ducked under the console.
"I think Poly did too good a job coming up with a noise to scare people." Keenan shook his head, trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. "Remind me to tell the bot to either soundproof the bridge or get us earplugs."
After things had settled down, Thea nodded. "I have the red fire colors in the stealth system for the bottom of our ship. So, when do you want to go to war?"
All eyes on Keenan, he nodded. "Sooner is fucking better. I have control of the ship, and we are going down. Bruno, watch our top for any possible attacks. Thea, you got the stealth; I will give you the signal when we are in position. Poly, the same signal I give Thea, is also for you and the noise. I hope you have us protected from the sound."
"I understand, Captain," Poly answered as it bobbed in the open space of the bridge.
He began making a swing up and around to lose velocity and speed so that
he could bring the large shiny arrow-pointed ship down silently, directly over the battle. At last, he got the ship settled high above the action and cut off everything to allow the Adamant to slowly fall, controlled by the gravity alone. Keenan felt this would kick up no wind and not give away their presence.
He waited until there was actually ammunition bouncing off the bottom of the shield before he gave the signal and turned on the complete engines. This allowed all the heat and wind from the ship to add to the display of the silver ship that was reflecting all the bombardments and explosions. Then there were the flames on the bottom against the top of the people and their equipment. Everything began to shake as the noise from the outside speakers let out the noise Poly had created.
It was only a short blast, but along with the sudden sight of the ship so low and the red flames, it was enough and had the needed effect. There was pandemonium below among the rebels, as they all seemed to disappear suddenly.
No one had been harmed or killed; there weren't piles of bodies under the sight and noise of a view of a silver ship. There was silence as the rebels had retreated. Even the Transformed troops had hesitated and frozen in their tracks. It was an impasse with no one left to engage in the small war.
Chapter Ten
"We have contact from the ground, Boss." It was Thea who had picked up Bruno's habit for a name for Keenan. This was hours after the battle ended. Night had come and gone. The poor had come in and picked over the war area to find anything they could use.
With so many, not only poor people but greedy people, looking for things to sell or exchange, the area that had once held bodies and destroyed products of an engagement changed. It soon was just a scarred field, with holes and the dark regions. Everything could be used in one way or another, even the dead body of a warrior.
A body of a warrior that was not claimed by their groups would be picked up for other uses. Some of these would be for illegal medical needs, and some were for animal food. It was disgusting, but it did mean the war zone was clear and empty.
Everyone on the Adamant had seen a couple of dead war zones with the debris of demolished equipment and stains of bodies. None of that was left in this hungry area. This fringe area had drawn a lot of strange groups, not the usual leftover mining families.
There were families, but now the rebellion was because the youth were being snatched up into the Transformed. It was thought that they were not always volunteers.
"Boss, we have a contact holding." Thea made the announcement again, trying to get Keenan's attention.
The Adamant was in orbit high above the planet, waiting for just this type of attention.
"Okay, Thea. Put it through on the main screen."
The largest screen that was not floating came on and soon cleared to show the face of the Commander.
"I asked you to wait." The woman's face filled the screen, and she didn't look happy.
Looking at the woman, Keenan realized he had fucked this female and didn't know her name. "I always love a good fight. Couldn't resist jumping into one."
"Yeah, about that. My Commander wants to meet you."
Glancing over at his crew, Keenan wondered about the status of ranks in the Transformed. "I thought you were a Commander."
"I am a Sub-Commander in charge of a small local group. My Commander is over the situation decisions. He also can give me and others in my position orders and information on problems. We need to arrange for you to land so that he can meet you."
"Hmm, so how many so call Sub-Commanders are there?"
The woman on the screen shook her head. "That is irrelevant. We need for you to land that ship at Kinvue Mount and for you and your crew to dismount, to have a very important meeting. ASAP. Do you comply?"
Sitting back, Keenan knew that the Commander could see him in his chair. "What is the name of this Commander?"
There was a huff from the screen. "It is Commander Ereck."
"I need his full name."
Now the woman leaned into the screen, and her nose was out of shape. "What kind of game are you playing, Captain Keenan?"
"I'm trying to eliminate games. What is the man or woman's fucking name?"
Now the Commander sat back, and Keenan could see the veins in her neck expand. She was losing face in front of the people who were in the room, hearing the conversation from her end.
"Well, Captain, I will understand that you are from a different system with different customs. Just this once, I will comply, but you will have to learn new ways as you travel through the vastness of space. My Commander's full name is Fra Ereck, but you will address him only as Commander or Commander Ereck. Now when can I tell him you and your crew will meet with him at Kinvue Mount?"
Smiling at Thea, Keenan answered and turned off the connection as he spoke. "We will be there in two standard minutes." He knew the time would be a shock and that they would not be able to set up a welcoming committee of a large group of soldiers. That was the whole idea, as the great ship slipped through the atmosphere almost instantly and almost faster than Thea could put in the location.
In the same amount of seconds, Poly was running through archives and the Universal Thread on the name of Fra Ereck.
"Captain, Ereck from planet Vacons, system twelve. Listed missing number years. Small warrant on the name in two areas. System nine-dash seven forty-four. Question minor theft and a missing person."
Listening as he walked to the side exit, Keenan gave a couple of orders. "Thea keep the ship in stealth mode. Bruno keep us covered with small weapons. The only crew going off the ship with me will be Poly."
"Okay, Boss. They are going to love Poly." Bruno nodded at Thea, and they both sat back to watch the show. In the screens, they could see vehicles racing across the fields around the small hill titled Kinvue Mount, heading for the flat area.
As the soldiers rushed around, what they finally saw was a hole opening up in the air and the inside of a ship. A ramp stretched out and dropped down on the ground. Taking his time, a tall, impressive man with a leather jacket and a weapon on his hip began descending. Following close behind him was a floating robot without any weapons that anyone could view.
At the bottom of the ramp, Keenan stopped and let anyone who approached see the inside of the invisible ship. There was not much to see, as the inside airlock side of the door blocked out almost everything except for some metal walls and various equipment.
Speaking quietly to Poly as they waited for the troops and equipment to come to a stop and advance. "Protect yourself from all contact."
"Comply, Captain."
Now with dust rising from all the vehicles and even with some drones overhead, at last, quantities of soldiers unloaded, and there were all types of weapons pointing at Keenan. There was also an unusually large area where dust was not touching—it was the circle of stealth protection for Adamant.
A truck with a lot of armament and protective metal shields built all over along with a soldier who could be partially seen on top, manning a movable weapon. It was a large and impressive vehicle. There were some additional aerials and rods scattered on the outside.
Although there were many troops on the ground, when the large side door of the truck opened, only one man stepped out. He was a small but hefty male with broad shoulders and a gun on each hip. He gave off a cocky attitude of a small man with a chip on his shoulder and the power to push people around.
Keenan thought that this was a motherfucker asshole. All before the man had even said a word.
"Get me some water." Those were the first words the man shouted as he stopped in a pose with hands-on-hips and feet planted far apart.
Before leaving the ship, Keenan had worked out several secret motions he could give to Poly without speaking. He raised his hand, and with speed, Poly opened a slot, extracted a water bulb, and moved toward the man, with it extended in a metal hand.
At the quick action, the man flinched, and dozens of weapons jerked up to a point at Poly. "Your water
, sir." Poly's female voice announced, and there was silence except for all the motions of the troops. Then a soldier came out of the truck with a bottle of water and froze with one foot still inside the door up above the ground.
"Didn't mean to surprise you, Fra Ereck. You indicated you wanted to meet my crew. This is Poly, who is completely familiar with my entire ship." Keenan still kept one foot on the ramp, as it would close when he stepped off, letting the entire ship seem to disappear. If these fucking idiots wanted to play games, he was into the entertainment.
The small man frowned at the use of his name, and he refused the water from Poly's metal extension. Snorting, he held his hand behind him, snapping his fingers. The soldier, who had stopped at the door of the truck, jumped and soon had the bottle of water into the held-out hand.
Smiling, Keenan held out his hand. "I'll take the water, thanks, Poly."
Poly swung around and extended the metal hand out further on the metal rod to reach her Captain.
"I am Commander Ereck. I will address you as Captain. I need you and your…ah…crew to accompany me so that we can have a discussion."
"Of course." Keenan stepped forward, and the ramp withdrew, with the ship disappearing. With that action, Thea and Bruno took the ship up silently, and the dust moved in its place. It was at that point that two older spaceships came in, their cannon out and ready. They were initially small freighters that had been converted.
Looking up, Keenan spoke to Poly. "Hey, those small things have good engines for small ships. Do they have limited AIs on board?"
"Yes, Captain. Limited AIs."
"Enough." The Commander Ereck's voice was sharp, and he almost stamped his foot in anger. "Where is your ship?"
"You didn't ask for my ship; you asked for my crew, Fra."
"I AM COMMANDER FRA." The man was spitting as he yelled.
"Sir, er, Commander Ereck, your ride is ready." A different truck had now pulled up. For the troops that were close, it was very quiet, and the weapons were pointed down. Nothing was said, as finally there was the sound in the sky, as the two ships got closer.
