by Petra Landon
Commander Kerovac accepted the offer without hesitation. With this, they had a good chance of unmasking and studying the Ketaari telepath.
“The Henia will have to go uncloaked, Commander” Zh’hir reminded him.
“I will call the Ketaari and insist on just one ship each at the rendezvous instead of the two previously agreed upon” Kerovac remarked. “That will buy us a little time.”
The cobalt blue eyes met the Star Captain’s gaze.
“It is time we gave the Ketaari something to ponder” the Commander said woodenly. “Jam their sensors, Star Captain. I want them to fear the Alliance’s new ships.”
The Star Captain acquiesced. This would be the first time an Ur’quay starship would go eye-to-eye with the Imperial Forces.
His mind busy sorting through the possibilities and probabilities, the Commander raised another concern. “At the rendezvous, I will be engaged with the envoy. Including someone else with knowledge of the Ketaari to direct the Henia’s sensors would be enormously beneficial.”
Zh’hir mused on the matter. Kerovac had it right. With the Ur’quay’s lack of knowledge of the Ketaari, they would be blind, even with their powerful technology.
“The Henia’s medic kit includes helmets to shield the minds of those temporarily incapable of it” he suggested. A few were always kept for those sick and unable to guard their thoughts.
The Alliance Commander turned to Zoran “You have the most knowledge of the Ketaari, Captain”
“I would be happy to join you” Zoran agreed promptly. His familiarity with Ur’quay technology and the warriors, after months working together would come in handy on the mission.
Sila allowed herself to finally relax as the Commander thanked her for her efforts.
TWELVE
Sila watched with rapt interest as the big Imperial Forces Brutaniyr spit out a rectangular pod the size of a small chamber. The viewer on the Ur’quay personal craft they rode in was too small to note the details until the Star Captain, at the controls, asked the computer to magnify the pod.
“I see a docking port” Commander Kerovac remarked from beside her.
To her astonishment, Sila realized that the space pod was meant to serve as the venue for the Alliance Commander’s conference with the Ketaari envoy.
The Ur’quay craft changed course to the docking port on the pod. The viewer reverted back to the unmagnified and distant view of the pod as a small blur descended from the Brutaniyr to move towards it. She had a quick glimpse of it before it disappeared behind the pod. Sila guessed that it was the shuttle carrying the Ketaari envoy.
“Three life-signs from the Ketaari shuttle have boarded the pod” the Star Captain noted, glancing up from the craft’s control console. “The space pod is clean. No weapons detected on it or on the Ketaari.”
Zh’hir’s gaze tangled with the Alliance Commander’s cobalt blue eyes before moving on to Sila. Strapped in, she stood braced against the back wall of the personal craft. Like the Ur’quay starship, there were no seats in the smaller craft, since the warriors preferred to be on their feet.
“Ready?” the Star Captain asked her.
Sila managed to nod with an air of confident self-possession.
“I’m ready.” Her glance encompassed both the males in the craft.
“Torfa to Henia, headed to the pod” the Star Captain directed into the craft’s COM.
“Acknowledged, Torfa. Their sensors are jammed” responded First Commander D’raar’s voice.
The small craft glided smoothly towards the space pod. Sila could see the docking port more clearly as they approached it. The Star Captain aligned their craft perfectly with the port to efficiently dock with the space pod. As the craft’s port clicked into place, the rear door slid open.
Commander Kerovac unstrapped Sila.
“Here goes” he murmured to them, before striding out.
Sila cast a glance at the Star Captain. She knew what he wanted to ask her. His shields had been extended to her and Sila assured him mutely that her mind was protected. She heard no stray thoughts and more importantly, felt no attempt to breach her mind.
With the Star Captain bringing up the rear, Sila followed Commander Kerovac into the space pod. They walked through a small foyer into the main chamber.
Sila pulled the folds of the gray cloak around her, grateful for its warmth. From an ice planet, the Ketaari eschewed heat when they could. The space pod was almost as cold as the Henia. Inside, the medium-sized chamber was furnished with simple, utilitarian furniture welded to the floor. A long table divided the room with seats on either side. The three life-signs the Torfa sensors had identified waited for them on the other side of the table — three Ketaari males, all attired in the distinctive navy blue uniform of the Imperial Forces. Rumor had it that the all-encompassing uniform helped regulate body temperature and moisture, allowing a race of ice-dwellers to acclimatize to warmer environments and aspire to galaxy domination.
The oldest of the military officers stepped forward while the younger two retreated to flank the door that faced the foyer connecting the space pod to their docked shuttle. The older Ketaari male clicked his heels formally together to direct an old-fashioned bow across the table. Stocky and somewhat pasty-faced, he had prominent forehead ridges on his blue-hued skin and the ice blond hair of the Ketaari. His thinning hair, streaked liberally with gray, was brushed fastidiously back with generously applied pomade. Coupled with his overly formal manner, his fastidious appearance gave him the aura of an unctuous snake oil salesperson. Watery blue eyes and a potbelly jutting over the close-fitting uniform completed the picture. It was a picture that did not fool even a Terran with only a few months at an Alliance station under her belt. To Sila, the image didn’t quite jive with that of a dangerous mastermind who had set an elaborate trap, one so implausible that even the shrewd and canny Alliance Commander with his augmented abilities stood little chance of escaping it.
“I’m Dik Kesh, Special Envoy of Hetaayu-Ketaar Ino Pulok Tanksh, Emperor to the Budh-Ketaari Empire” he announced solemnly in Ketar.
Commander Kerovac returned the Ketaari officer’s greeting politely. Sila had assumed the Commander’s courteously correct manners to be a consequence of his noble upbringing. But she was starting to note that at times, he seemed almost unemotionally mechanical like it was a part of his programming.
“I’m Rayeou Kerovac and these are my associates.” He gestured at Sila and the Star Captain, without introducing them by name.
The Special Envoy stared at the Alliance Commander with undisguised curiosity. Very few officers of the Imperial Forces would ever have the opportunity to meet Un Kieto Maal. Their interest in him was not due to his command of the Armada or his far-reaching influence as a powerful scion of an Iovac Noble House. It was because he had been bred and enhanced by his accomplished race to be the scourge of the Empire and had proved a worthy adversary. As far as the Ketaari were concerned, Rayeou Kerovac was the sentinel who guarded the keys to what they desired — Alliance territory and control of Sector Araloka itself.
The Ketaari officer had to look up at the augmented Iovac male. Though not built on the generous lines of the Hadari’Kor, the Iovac were still a fairly tall race. The envoy’s watery eyes passed over Sila without much interest to pause on the Ur’quay Captain. The pale eyes opened wide in comical astonishment and his jaw went slack as he gawked at the massive, exotic-looking male who stared implacably down at him. Sila bit her lip to hide her amusement. With his huge well-built body, the braided rust-colored hair, the unusual gold-colored irises and the pale stripes over his dark bronze skin, the Ur’quay male presented quite a commanding presence. The skin-tight body armor Sila remembered from before added to the aura. The Ketaari were one of the few races in Sector Araloka who preferred the cold, allowing the Star Captain to don his armor without discomfort. The tiny, scale-like pieces that formed the armor rippled subtly with every movement as light reflected off it, adding to the overal
l intimidating air. At first, the Ur’quay male ignored the Ketaari envoy’s stare, his attitude one of disinterest. But as the officer continued to stare up at him in dumb-founded shock, the gold eyes with the darker elongated pupils took on a distinctly hostile glare.
The flash of aggression seemed to rattle the Ketaari envoy. Intimidated, he took a hurried step back before pulling himself together.
“I’ve never heard of his kind before” he directed at the Alliance Commander with a sidelong glance at the large and vaguely threatening presence beside Sila. “Are his people new to the Alliance, Commander Kerovac?”
“He comes from the outer perimeters of the Calaidon Expanse” the Commander said suavely, successfully drawing the envoy’s attention back to him.
The plan was to make the Ur’quay Captain appear, to the Ketaari, as a large, brawny bodyguard along solely for the Commander’s protection — one not likely to provide much intellectual contribution to any discussions or thwart any well-laid traps.
They seated themselves on their side of the table and the Special Envoy took a seat across them. Sila was careful to seat herself between the two males as per the plan they had hastily concocted. She had her Alliance COM and the Star Captain wore an Ur’quay tech wristlet instead of the usual arm-band around his bicep. The wristlet would make it easier to surreptitiously communicate with the Henia.
“Hetaayu-Ketaar has commanded me to convey his best wishes to the Alliance” the envoy stated in his formal manner.
“The Alliance thanks him for his wishes” Commander Kerovac responded courteously.
“He is concerned by the course of this war between our peoples. He is revered in the Budh-Ketaari Empire for his appreciation of the sacrifices his subjects continue to make for their Emperor. He would like to inform the citizens of the Alliance that Hetaayu-Ketaar is also aware of the hardships wrought upon them by this war.”
“The citizens of the Alliance appreciate his concern” Commander Kerovac said evenly, his voice a little wooden.
The Special Envoy responded with a little pompous nod to imply that the Emperor expected nothing less from the citizens of the Alliance. If the great Hetaayu-Ketaar could rouse himself to notice the hardships wrought by his military on their enemies, then the adversaries could do no less than appreciate his notice.
Flabbergasted by the envoy’s surreal opening remarks, Sila stared at the pasty-faced Ketaari officer with a mixture of disbelief and fascination, unable to tear her eyes away. The Star Captain’s webbed palm brushing discreetly against her hand under the table recalled her to her surroundings. Reminded thus of what was at stake and her role in this crucial mission, Sila clasped his palm, holding on for dear life. It was the pre-arranged signal for him to start lowering some of the shields he had extended to her, to allow Sila to try and detect the presence of the mind-reader.
Events had progressed speedily after her fateful meeting with Commander Kerovac. The Ur’quay, hastily briefed on the mission, had displayed little emotion when told about the presence of the suspected telepath, though Sila sensed that they were surprised. Perhaps, she was learning to discern the inner Ur’quay under the emotionless masks. Neither had they evinced much curiosity at Sila’s presence in the Alliance Commander’s entourage. Informed that Commander Kerovac would confirm the presence of the telepath at the rendezvous, they had accepted it without questions. The Ur’quay, much more technologically advanced than Sector Araloka, took Commander Kerovac’s augments in stride, considering them the Iovac’s natural attempt to preempt evolution.
On their way to the rendezvous, Sila had been offered an Ur’quay helmet to protect her mind, much like the one provided to the Hadari’Kor Captain. It was only then that an expression of mingled astonishment and shock had flashed across First Commander D’raar’s face when the Star Captain explained briefly that he would be bolstering Sila’s mind. The expression had been fleeting but Sila wondered whether his shock had been at his Captain’s willingness to extend such a courtesy to her or if he suspected her part in the unmasking of the mind-reader. If it was the former, an extension of mental shields must be considered very intimate indeed, Sila mused, for the First Commander, like the other Ur’quay on the Henia, knew that their Captain was keeping company with the Terran Ambassador.
Zoran Hadari-Begur-Kor had been enthusiastically welcomed aboard the Henia, his ease with the Ur’quay clear. With all the frenetic activity and discussions around her, Sila had been glad that the journey to the rendezvous was short. It had not allowed her time to dwell on the upcoming task. The Alliance Commander had tactfully made sure to give the Star Captain and her a few moments of privacy in the small Ur’quay personal craft before he joined them. Sila didn’t know whose idea it was but she had been grateful all the same. It had allowed the Star Captain some privacy to fortify her mental defenses. At first, she’d found herself tensing subtly, the memory of the entity attempting to force itself into her mind still fresh. The Star Captain had surprised her by gathering her close for a passionate kiss. When they had disentangled, their breathing heavy, Sila had been astonished to discover that she could feel his unobtrusive presence along the edges of her mind.
At the feel of the solid clasp of his webbed palm, Sila forced herself to ignore the obsequious little male before her and focus on the mission at hand. Zh’hir concentrated on lowering the shored-up mental defenses protecting Sila’s mind, little by little. At first, her palm lay slack in his, an indication that she sensed no attempt to invade her thoughts. After about ten standard minutes, he felt an urgent squeeze of her small palm. It was the cue that she sensed the presence of the mind-reader. Zh’hir made haste to bolster her mind again until her palm lay slack in his larger one. As a spike of rage surged through him, he vowed silently to make it his personal business to hunt down the perpetrator who had tried to force Sila. The Ketaari had woken a sleeping beast with this gambit. He would make sure they thought twice about invading anyone’s privacy again.
To Zh’hir, the pact with the Alliance had always been a simple transactional matter — their shtoal for Ur’quay warriors. He intended to win the war for his new allies, but it was about reversing the Ur’quay’s destiny. Plus, the pact had allowed him back into Sila’s orbit, for which he was grateful. And while Zh’hir didn’t agree with the Ketaari’s imperialistic ambitions or their treatment of the conquered, opposing them had never been personal for him, like it was for Zoran. Now, suddenly it was. The Empire had unknowingly made an enemy today — one who would make it his personal mission to raze it to the ground. Ur’quay felt strongly about the ability to communicate with the mind. It was cherished and had been guarded as a secret for centuries by them. But it was also a powerful ability in the wrong hands and therefore, carefully regulated under Ur’quay law. The Ketaari had misused it. And had done so by trying to force Sila.
Tamping down on his rage, Zh’hir used his wristlet under the table to discreetly signal the detection of the mind-reader to the Henia. Beside him, Sila interrupted Commander Kerovac’s conversation to whisper to him. They had agreed on a pre-arranged code to communicate with the Alliance Commander if they were able to confirm a mind-reader at the rendezvous. Commander Kerovac’s job was to engage the Special Envoy and keep him talking to allow the crew aboard the Henia more time to gather intel. With Zoran’s knowledge of Ketaari tactics and his familiarity with their ships, the Henia’s powerful sensors could be put to good use while at proximity to an Imperial Forces Brutaniyr.
On the Henia, the Command Chamber was a hub of frenetic activity, the Ur’quay keenly aware that they had limited time to gather data.
The First Commander and Zoran, with the protection of the Ur’quay helmet, stood at the central console, with D’raar directing his warriors to respective tasks as the mercenary provided rapid direction.
Weeks working closely with Ur’quay had given Zoran some understanding of their technology.
“Give me a dimensional frame scan of the Brutaniyr, First Commander” h
e directed.
D’raar signaled one of his warriors who applied himself to the task.
“Scan for all life-signs on the Ketaari shuttle, space pod and the Brutaniyr, First Commander” Zoran directed next.
D’raar signaled another warrior.
“We cannot identify life-signs as Ketaari, Captain” he said apologetically. The Ur’quay did not have access to the information and there had been no time to download it from either the Juntafeyore or the Ishtralaya in the mad scramble to get to the rendezvous without arousing Ketaari suspicions.
Zoran glanced at him. “We don’t have to, First Commander. The Ketaari are xenophobic and do not allow anyone not of pure blood to serve in the Imperial Forces. Any life-sign that deviates from the majority is non-Ketaari and hence, of interest to us.”
Commander Kerovac had agreed with Zoran that the telepath was unlikely to be Ketaari. Whoever he was, the Ketaari had discovered him fairly recently. Neither Zoran’s extensive contacts within the Empire nor the Alliance’s network of spies had detected even a whiff of a new Ketaari weapon. They had determined that unless the Ur’quay scans indicated no non-Ketaari presence at the rendezvous, Zoran should focus on others more likely to be the telepath.
One of the warriors signaled the First Commander and D’raar punched a few controls at the console. A rudimentary two-dimensional blueprint of the Ketaari Brutaniyr rendered slowly on the console as the Henia’s technology extrapolated it from the data collected for the frame scan.
Zoran studied it carefully, trying to match it with his knowledge of Ketaari battleships. He was confident that the Brutaniyr at the rendezvous was one of their most advanced — Commander Kerovac had it right about the Ketaari inclination to show off. It was thus easier to match what he knew of their various Brutaniyrs with the battleship on the console.
At a signal from D’raar, a few warriors crowded around Zoran to wait patiently while he studied the blueprint.