The Starfarer

by Petra Landon

  They were on the Juntafeyore. The Henia had rendezvoused with it near a small planetoid to pick up Zoran and Saakshi who had been off TF124 during the attack. It had been Commander Jolar who had very capably commanded the Juntafeyore in Zoran’s absence. In the immediate aftermath of the Ketaari attack, Commander Kerovac had asked Jolar for an audience with the two Captains.

  “The Emperor believes that a joint initiative between us might help bring the war to an end” the Alliance Commander explained in his precise manner.

  “The Emperor lost his marbles a long time ago.” Zoran did not mince his words. “The Imperial Forces run the Empire in his name.”

  The Commander’s electric blue eyes rested on the mercenary. “As always, you are well informed, Zoran of Hadari’Kor.”

  Zoran’s eyes wandered the Commander’s impassive face.

  “You’re going to bite” he exclaimed, taken aback.

  The Commander moved his lips in the semblance of a smile, his bright eyes glowing. “I’m fairly sure the Ketaari discovered TF124 by sheer chance, Captain. However, if there is even the slightest possibility that they suspect us of collaborating with the Budheya, I’d like to know.”

  As an added layer of protection, the station had been disguised by a modified cloak made available by the Ur’quay. In the past few weeks, the cloak had been affected by electrical storms. Hampered by the need for secrecy, the Ur’quay technicians had left it to TF124 personnel unfamiliar with the technology. The prevailing theory was that a passing civilian craft engaged in prospecting materials from the asteroids had caught a glimpse of a gigantic ship stranded amidst the asteroid belt. The craft had either reported it to the Imperial Forces or the Ketaari had heard reports of it. Either way, they had sent their battleships to investigate the matter. The Ur’quay monitoring the modified cloak had been the first to note the attack on the station and had warned the Juntafeyore who had alerted TF124 to it.

  “How can the Ur’quay help, Commander Kerovac?” the Star Captain inquired, cutting to the chase.

  The Commander inclined his head to acknowledge the Ur’quay Captain’s offer. “They propose that I meet with the Emperor’s envoy at a location of our choosing in neutral territory. I have suggested two ships each and will ask the KiRart to keep their distance.”

  The Alliance Commander resided on his ship — the Ishtralaya. As he traversed Sector Araloka on Alliance business, he was protected by the KiRart, an entourage of powerful Iovac warships.

  “If the Juntafeyore were to accompany me, a cloaked Henia might be able to learn much about the Ketaari from the meeting” the Commander remarked. It was clear he had given the matter some thought.

  The Star Captain cocked his head. Trap or not, Kerovac was being clever at using the Ketaari’s offer to his advantage, he mused with approval. The Henia’s sensors could glean much from a Ketaari Brutaniyr. “This is an opportunity for the Ur’quay to assess Ketaari capabilities” he agreed, pleased by the prospect.

  Zoran let out a chuckle, appreciating the Commander’s strategy. “They will send a Brutaniyr with their latest tech to the rendezvous” he interjected with a grin.

  He turned to his Ur’quay counterpart. “The Emperor must be seen to uphold his exalted position, Zh’hir. What better way to rub the nose of the Alliance in it than show his best battleship off to its Commander.”

  “Yes.” Commander Kerovac’s expression lightened with an answering gleam of humor. “As you say Captain, this is an unexpected opportunity.”

  “The Juntafeyore is at your service, Commander Kerovac” Zoran agreed with alacrity.

  The Star Captain merely inquired. “Where would you like the Henia to rendezvous with you, Commander?”

  “Thank you.” Kerovac inclined his head. “ADC Tirovac will transmit the rendezvous coordinates to both ships.”

  As the Commander signed off, they looked at each other.

  The Star Captain was the first to state the obvious. “Kerovac believes it’s a trap.”

  “But doesn’t want to pass up the opportunity to turn the tables on them” Zoran countered. “The Henia gives him an advantage, both to gather intel and in case of an ambush. And the Juntafeyore is the natural choice to accompany the Henia.”

  The less people knew about a secret, the easier it was to keep it. The Commander was being careful to hide the Ur’quay even from his own entourage.

  “Do you intend to take Saakshi of Budheyasta to a meeting with the Imperial Forces?” Zh’hir asked his friend. Hunted by the Imperial Forces, Saakshi was vulnerable to the Empire.

  Zoran did not hesitate. “Absolutely! She is safer with me. The Juntafeyore and the Henia are more than capable of defending her. And the Ishtralaya is no slouch. Kerovac can fight like the devil when he needs to, though his time is usually spent mired in messy Alliance politics.”

  Zh’hir concurred with the mercenary. TF124 had not protected Saakshi from the Ketaari though she had been off the station with Zoran during the attack. It would be a while before Commander Kerovac had a new Training Facility up and running. In the meantime, the rebels had been placed on Hadari’Kor ships that had defended the station, to continue their training until a new facility could be configured for them. Also, TF124 had been located outside the Alliance’s security net to keep the collaboration with the Budheya under wraps but after the attack, Commander Kerovac would need to come up with a different plan.

  “Sila?” Zoran inquired.

  “I’d like her to stay with me” the Star Captain admitted.

  Aware of the potential difficulties Sila faced aboard the Ur’quay starship with her special abilities, Zoran offered his ship. “She’s welcome on the Juntafeyore, my friend.”

  d

  “Zoran” said the urgent voice in his ear. “There’s something wrong with Sila.” Saakshi hung up without waiting for an acknowledgement.

  The Juntafeyore, with the Henia and the Ishtralaya, was on its way to rendezvous with the special envoy of the Ketaari Emperor. Zoran glanced cross the room to catch Jolar’s eye before hurrying out of the Control Center. They had been friends and comrades for so long that Jolar and he required no verbal cues to communicate.

  Zoran hurried into the guest chamber assigned to the Star Captain. Sila perched at the edge of the large bed, her body twisted in agony and her head clasped in her hands in an attitude of despair. Saakshi stood beside her, worry writ large on her face, unsure of how to comfort her friend.

  The Budheya girl looked immensely relieved to see him. “Zoran” she breathed.

  At the exclamation, Sila opened eyes glazed with pain. Zoran hurried to her, sliding into a crouch before her.

  “What is it, Sila?” he asked urgently.

  “Danger … ahead” she whispered, her voice so soft that he had to lean closer to decipher the words.

  “Danger” he repeated, attempting to understand. “Who, Sila?”

  Sila’s green eyes met his with an effort. “Trying to get into my head. Hurts!” she gasped out.

  For a moment, her words puzzled him. But only for a moment. Her cryptic warning could mean only one thing.

  He sprang to his feet. “Hang on, Sila.”

  To Zoran, incredulous at Sila’s secret, it would be shocking if she were the only Aralokan with the ability. In the back of his mind, he had known that the telepaths, if they chose to play a role in the war, would change the nature of it. Now, it seemed that his fears were coming true.

  Zoran moved a few paces away to ping his deputy on his COM. First things first, they had to get away from the telepath. Then, they could devise a strategy to neutralize him. In the background, Sila beckoned an anxious Saakshi to whisper something to her.

  “Jolar, patch me to both the Henia and Ishtralaya and stay on the channel. When I’m done, turn the Juntafeyore around” he directed precisely.

  “Got it, Zoran” responded Jolar’s steady voice. “Hold on.”

  In seconds, the COM channel crackled with more voices.

&nb
sp; “Starship Henia” acknowledged the Star Captain’s voice.

  “This is the Ishtralaya” acknowledged vaguely familiar tones that Zoran recognized as the Alliance Commander’s Aide-de-Champ, Yaneou Tirovac.

  “This is Zoran Hadari-Begur-Kor” he said briskly. “There is danger ahead. Please turn your ships around to follow the Juntafeyore. We will retrace our route back for fifteen standard minutes at current speed and come to a full stop. I repeat, there’s danger ahead — we must turn back. I will explain everything once we come to a stop.”

  “Acknowledged, Henia to Juntafeyore.”

  “Acknowledged, Ishtralaya to Juntafeyore.”

  “On it, Zoran” reiterated Jolar’s voice. “Turning the ship around.”

  The channel echoed with muffled communication in the background before Zoran felt a tiny jolt as the Juntafeyore came to an abrupt stop.

  Zoran’s mind worked furiously as the Juntafeyore changed direction. The Ketaari must not suspect they knew. And the Ur’quay had the most advanced technology of all the three ships in the entourage.

  “Zh’hir, jam the Ketaari sensors if you can” he said urgently. “I’d rather they not know we have turned away from the rendezvous.”

  “We can, Zoran” the Star Captain assured him confidently. “They won’t see us.”

  Before long, they were on their way again, picking up speed to reverse their route.

  “Henia to Juntafeyore, we are tracking you.”

  “Ishtralaya to Juntafeyore, we’re on your tail.”

  Zoran shot a glance at Sila. She held a vaguely familiar device in her hands, her eyes closed in an attitude of fierce focus — the posture reminiscent of Utruscasian meditation. Saakshi stood beside her, her concerned gaze alternating between Sila and Zoran.

  “She will be fine, tseriya” Zoran reassured Saakshi, holding out a hand to her. She hurried to him and he put his arm around her.

  “Looking good, Zoran” Jolar announced in his ear. “Our friends are right behind us.”

  “Get me the Star Captain on a secure channel.”

  “Hold on, Zoran.”

  “Starship Henia” greeted the Star Captain’s guttural tones.

  “Are we private, Zh’hir?” Zoran inquired.

  “Give me a minute.”

  Zoran waited, his eyes on Sila.

  “What is it, Zoran?”

  “Sila felt someone try to touch her mind. That is why I ordered the ships to turn back. Someone infinitely dangerous awaits us at the rendezvous.”

  There was pregnant silence on the COM channel. Saakshi stirred in his embrace to shoot him a shocked look.

  “Is Sseela all right?” the Star Captain inquired.

  “I believe so. She’s using the device you gave her on Keeyor 9. When we stop, use your Autoporter to come aboard. We’re in your chamber.”

  “We need a plan before we talk to Kerovac, Zh’hir” the mercenary reiterated quietly in the ensuing the silence.

  “Yes, we do, Zoran” the Ur’quay Captain’s voice changed subtly before he signed off.

  Zoran kept watch over Sila with his arm around his tseriya as the Juntafeyore put distance from the rendezvous and the dangerous threat that waited to greet them. This war, perilous as it was, had taken a deadlier turn. As they moved further away, Sila seemed to revive, the tension in her body slowly draining away, though she continued to focus on the device in her hand.

  When the Juntafeyore came to a stop, Saakshi, who’d kept an anxious watch on her friend, turned to him.

  “I’ll leave you to it, Zoran. Let me know if Sila needs my help” she said quietly. There were secrets at play here, she sensed. Sila would be safe — Zoran and the Star Captain would take care of her. Saakshi knew her friend worked closely with the Ur’quay Captain and trusted him.

  Zoran pinged his Second-in-Command again. “Jolar, let the Ishtralaya know that the Star Captain and I would like a word with Commander Kerovac in person.”

  “Will do.” Jolar, confident his friend would tell him all, kept his curiosity in check. “Shall I prep a shuttle, Zoran?”

  “Yes.”

  It took the Star Captain seconds to autoport into the guest chamber on the Juntafeyore — he had been transporting to it from the Henia so frequently at TF124 that the Ur’quay Autoporter had the calculations down pat. His keen eyes took in a somber Zoran standing watch over the still figure perched on the edge of the bed. He strode to Sila, lowering his mental shields. Nothing seeped through to him, not even her thoughts. Approaching the bed, he knelt gracefully before her.

  “Sseela” he said softly.

  She opened her eyes to meet his concerned gaze.

  “Star Captain” she whispered.

  “I checked. You can let go.”

  She relaxed, the fingers clenched around the Examiner loosening.

  “Tell us what happened, Sila?” Zoran asked, stepping closer to the duo by the bed.

  She took a deep breath, her mind in turmoil. “Saakshi and I were talking in here when I felt something strange. At first, I wasn’t sure what it was except that my head hurt unaccountably. Then suddenly, I realized that someone was trying to probe my mind.”

  “Are you sure, Sila?” Zoran inquired, his voice gentle.

  “Yes” she said firmly, her green eyes steady.

  Sila directed her attention to the Star Captain. “It felt a little like when you extend your mental shields to me except it was incredibly forceful and ungentle. The pain blindsided me.”

  A savage light flamed in the exotic gold eyes.

  “Someone tried to force you?” he asked with deadly intent, the big body going still.

  Sila could feel the rage emanating from the Ur’quay warrior. A fleeting glance showed the Hadari’Kor Captain’s eyes steady on her. Safe now, her mental shields had relaxed. Perhaps, the rage she sensed in the Star Captain was being communicated through their shared sixth sense. Like once before when she had felt his rage through the vast distance as she lay delirious in the cage the slavers had placed her in.

  The green eyes tangled with his. “I know how to protect myself” she said quietly. “You taught me well, Star Captain.”

  Zh’hir contemplated her, making an effort to tamp down his rage. She seemed to gauge when it had it under control.

  “Whoever it was didn’t seem to know how to go about it” she said slowly.

  The Star Captain cocked his head at an angle in the familiar way Sila loved.

  “Untrained?” he asked.

  Sila tried to think back to it. As the agony and alarm receded from her mind, she was able to think clearly about the experience.

  “Or improperly trained” she said thoughtfully. “The more I attempted to stop him getting into my mind, the more it hurt for he pushed harder and became even less careful and unsubtle about it.”

  Despite his efforts, Zh’hir’s rage flared again. “He?” he repeated.

  “I sensed it was male, Star Captain. I can’t explain it, but I believe the person trying to read me was male.”

  She stared at him, wishing she could share his rage. It was a safer emotion than the conflict and dread roiling in her like a black cloud that Sila worried would pull her under.

  “Sseela, did he get anything from you?” he asked her, his voice gentling.

  “No, I’m pretty sure he didn’t” she said confidently. “He was so bad at it that I caught him almost immediately.”

  “When did you first feel him?”

  Sila mused on the question. “I had Saakshi call Captain Hadari-Begur-Kor within minutes.”

  The Star Captain arched a brow at his friend.

  “I’d say we were five minutes away from the rendezvous” Zoran responded.

  The Star Captain sprang to his feet. For a moment, no one said anything.

  Zh’hir tried to clear his mind. They must get to the bottom of this — the consequences for the war, the Alliance and the Ur’quay were enormous. As for Sila, he would have to make sure she didn’t pay
for this, like she had once before. “Are we sure it was the Ketaari, Zoran?” he asked.

  “Unless your sensors noted any other ships or planetoids in our vicinity” the mercenary said promptly.

  “There is nothing here except us and the Ketaari convoy” Zh’hir stated with conviction. The Ur’quay sensors had seen nothing else. Unless Sector Araloka suddenly had a race with technology capable of hiding from the Ur’quay, which he doubted.

  There was a reason Commander Kerovac had chosen this bit of neutral space for the rendezvous. It was sparsely populated and rarely travelled. The less hiding places in the vicinity, the harder it was for an ambush.

  “Has to be the Ketaari, Zh’hir” his Hadari’Kor counterpart reiterated, his expression hardening. “I give them credit. A very effective trap, if not for Sila.”

  Sila roused herself, from the blackness threatening to drown her.

  “The Ketaari envoy was waiting at the rendezvous to read us all?” Sila looked astonished. They were three ships. Even with the Henia cloaked, that would be too many people to attempt to mind-read for anyone.

  The Star Captain, who knew exactly what puzzled Sila, explained. “Just the Alliance Commander.”

  “Ray Kerovac is the Alliance, Sila” Zoran expanded. “If they read the supreme commander of the Armada, the Alliance’s entire strategy would be laid bare to the Imperial Forces.”

  “At that point” he said evenly. “This war is effectively over.”

  Sila’s eyes widened as she grasped the clever trap that had been sprung for Commander Kerovac. Mired in her own despair, she had failed to appreciate the threat to Sector Araloka.

  “Don’t forget that Kerovac is augmented” the Star Captain reminded them. “It means that unlike most, he needs no data pod or tablet to keep track of fleet movements or strategy. Every detail, the position and strength of each fleet in the Armada, their individual weaknesses and strong points, is available in his mind.”