The Starfarer

by Petra Landon

  “They are not soldiers, Star Captain” Kerovac’s voice gentled subtly. “They will not stand up to Ketaari interrogation for long. Every minute counts.”

  Something flashed across the Ur’quay male’s face, an expression that had Zoran glance at both males watchfully.

  “Our agreement with the Alliance is to fight the Imperial Forces, Commander” Zh’hir reminded him. “Not to protect your secrets.”

  The Commander said nothing, simply meeting his gaze with the unworldly eyes.

  “The Ur’quay will give you your victory, but not at the cost of sacrificing either the Ambassador or Saakshi of Budheyasta.”

  Commander Kerovac said nothing, the cobalt eyes steady on the Ur’quay warrior.

  “You should know this” the Star Captain continued. “Sseela Gatherer is more than an Ambassador to the Ur’quay. She is my …” he paused as if searching for the right words.

  “Beloved” Zoran gave him the word in Alliance Standard.

  “I will not abandon her to the Ketaari or anyone else” the Star Captain stated with a quiet determination that was hard to miss.

  Those exotic gold eyes shot an enigmatic glance at Zoran. “The Henia will get them both out, before we blow the Brutaniyr to protect your secrets.”

  That was one puzzle solved, Kerovac mused — the mystery of the Ur’quay and their strange obsession with the rustic, agrarian planet of Terra Agri. He sighed. A few weeks ago, he would not have understood the Star Captain’s resolve nor appreciated his sentiments. Now he did, for he had begun to understand that sometimes duty had to take a back seat. Some things were more important than keeping the secrets of the Alliance; more precious than life itself. He wondered with grim humor what the reaction of the Alliance citizens would be to this evidence of Un Kieto Maal having an actual heart as opposed to a mechanical device that performed its functions with utmost efficiency.

  “You had better hurry then, Star Captain” he said impassively. “If you can get there in time, our secrets will die with the Brutaniyr.”

  The Star Captain inclined his head in response. But sheer astonishment flashed crossed Zoran’s face. Had Un Kieto Maal just given them his blessing to let their personal feelings supersede the best interests of the Alliance, he wondered. Zoran had come prepared for some aggressive bargaining from Kerovac. That the Star Captain had the upper hand in this argument had helped keep him from losing it. But from what Zoran knew of the Commander, this capitulation shocked him. Kerovac had been bred to ignore everything except the best path to victory over the Empire, never allowing his personal feelings or any emotion to come in the way of the destiny he had been engineered for.

  “We will make sure of it, Commander” Zoran assured him grimly. There was no way those Ketaari murtobak were getting their hands on Saakshi. Not under his watch.

  “Good luck and Divine speed” the Commander bade them in his deadpan way.

  The Star Captain lost no time in pinging the Henia to ask for them to be autoported to the starship.

  On the Henia, First Commander D’raar had everything in hand. “The Brutaniyr is still heading into Empire territory, Star Captain” he said.

  “Pursue them, First Commander. Set the StarDrive to maximum and keep us cloaked. I don’t want them to see us coming.”

  “They will not, Star Captain.”

  Jolar hurried to them, as D’raar turned away to give the command to engage.

  “How many protection helmets do the Ur’quay have?” Zoran asked his Second-In-Command. They could not creep up on a ship carrying telepaths unless they protected the minds of the crew.

  “They were able to scrounge eight, Zoran. We asked Dr. Uish to join us, so that left us with seven. I chose mercs with the most familiarity with the latest Brutaniyrs.”

  The Star Captain had agreed that having Hadari’Kor along to mount an assault on the Ketaari battleship was a good idea. D’raar and Jolar had hurried to get the Henia and an assault party ready for the upcoming mission while the two Captains conferred with the Alliance Commander.

  “What’s going on with Kerovac?” Zoran murmured to his Ur’quay counterpart, once they were speeding towards the Brutaniyr.

  The gold eyes turned to him. “He is still organic where it counts, Zoran. The augments might have reduced his dependence on emotional responses, but the emotions exist. He does not lack feelings though he might choose to ignore them or shove them away more easily than the average guy.”

  Zoran shook his head in consternation. “I never expected him to give in that easily.”

  The Star Captain’s lips quirked. “Don’t look so surprised, my friend. It happens to the best of males.”

  “You think he’s …” Zoran looked shocked.

  “Why would he escape the fate that has befallen us?”

  “I’m surprised that he’s even capable of it. Un Kieto Maal is notorious for his lack of emotion amongst allies and enemies alike.”

  “I guess there is enough Iovac in him to fight back against the implants that reduce him to a machine” Zh’hir remarked.

  FOURTEEN

  It took the Henia a little under two hours to catch up with the Ketaari battleship. The Ur’quay scanned the Brutaniyr as a cloaked Henia tailed it.

  “It is the Ketaari battleship from the rendezvous, Star Captain” D’raar verified. “The scans confirm it. We are checking for Budheya and Terran life-signs on board.”

  The Henia had Budheya life-sign readings from before to compare with and Dr. Uish had supplied them with the data to identify Terran life-signs.

  “Could you pull up the ship-wide sensor data from before, First Commander” Zoran asked, gesturing at the central console he stood before with the Star Captain.

  Jolar, with a helmet like all the non-Ur’quay, joined the two Captains.

  “Of course, Captain.” D’raar punched in a few keys into his hand-held device and the console blinked into existence to lay out the detailed scans of the Brutaniyr.

  Zoran ran a quick eye on the crude blueprint of the Ketaari battleship.

  He pointed at a section. “This is propulsion. If we hit that, it will force the Brutaniyr to a stop.”

  “Good.” The Star Captain looked pleased. “What must we hit to effectively blow up the ship, Zoran?”

  “Ketaari battleships have a distributed power generation system. If we plant explosives on a few strategic power generators, it will cause an overload. That should be enough to blow up the ship.”

  “What powers the battleship?” the Star Captain inquired.

  “Brutaniyrs of this size usually have Budheya Teharan Engines” Jolar interjected knowledgeably.

  “Those are plasma engines, correct Commander?” Zh’hir confirmed.

  “Yes, Star Captain.”

  The Ur’quay male turned to Zoran. “If we hit their stored plasma, the heat will generate secondary explosions.”

  “Good strategy, Zh’hir” the Hadari’Kor Captain agreed. “That way, we have to target fewer power generators.”

  “I’ll have the warriors scan for plasma, Star Captain” D’raar said promptly.

  “Assuming they have minimal plasma reserves left, how many power generators should we hit to guarantee complete disintegration of the Brutaniyr?” the Star Captain asked both Hadari’Kor males.

  “Four should do it.” Zoran glanced at his deputy who nodded. “We must choose generators that cover a wide area in a ship this size.”

  “And the explosions should be set off simultaneously to prevent any life pods from launching” Jolar added. “Or we’ll have to chase after them individually and take them out.”

  “Agreed.” They had promised the Alliance Commander that neither the Brutaniyr nor its crew would escape to relay any information they had gathered about the Alliance to the Ketaari military or the Empire.

  The First Commander’s communicator beeped. “The sensors have detected plasma at the tail section. Here” he pointed at the battleship on the console. “There’s a ha
lf getaara of plasma reserve.”

  Zoran pursed his lips as Commander Jolar voiced his concern. “It’s too close to the propulsion system.”

  They had to bring the Ketaari battleship to a stop before attempting a rescue. Using the Autoporter or attempting to board it with a shuttle would be a difficult endeavor with a ship at speed. The ideal way to bring the Brutaniyr to a stop was to destroy the ship’s propulsion system. But if the plasma was stored close to that section of the ship, they’d have to be very precise with taking out propulsion.

  “We can do it, Commander Jolar” D’raar assured him confidently, understanding the mercenaries’ concerns. “We have done similar operations before. Our warriors and target cannons can handle it.”

  “The First Commander is correct” the Star Captain seconded his deputy. “We have experience with such fine targets. But we must plan carefully for it, Zoran.”

  “Alright.” Zoran was relieved. He wasn’t sure that he could find a more strategic way to bring the Brutaniyr to a stop. At least, not without letting the Ketaari know something was amiss. If the Ketaari suspected anything, they would not hesitate to use the hostages they held to gain the upper hand.

  The First Commander’s communicator beeped again. “We have the results of the life-sign scans” he said. “One Terran and four Budheya life-signs are present in this chamber the Captain identified as their Medic Bay. Two Ketaari are with them.”

  “Have fifteen warriors and the Hadari’Kor join us in the Strategy Chamber, First Commander” the Star Captain directed.

  Within minutes, the two Captains faced a roomful of Ur’quay and Hadari’Kor. First Commander D’raar pulled up the Brutaniyr’s schematics on the large console in the chamber.

  “This is the plan” the Star Captain announced. “We will autoport a small quantity of explosives to their propulsion system. That will bring the Brutaniyr to a halt. It will be a delicate operation — we want to force them to a stop without raising their suspicions of our presence here. Captain Hadari-Begur-Kor thinks that if we are able to target the propulsion cleanly, it will buy us just enough time.”

  He glanced at his Hadari’Kor counterpart.

  “Once the Brutaniyr is halted, we will have ten minutes to plant explosives on it, get our people out and blow it up before the Ketaari get suspicious” Zoran chimed in. “Remember, if they suspect anything, they will rush to guard their captives and our mission becomes complicated and messy. It will need perfect timing and precise team work to get it right.”

  He glanced around the room. “This team has collaborated together for a while now. I’m hoping that today is where our last few months of working closely comes in handy.”

  “I don’t have to tell you what the stakes are today” he said soberly.

  Determined Hadari’Kor and resolute Ur’quay faces stared back at him silently. Everyone knew about the Hadari’Kor Captain and the Budheya ex-rebel. Many Hadari’Kor and some Ur’quay, especially their First Commander, suspected a similar bond between the Star Captain and the Terran Ambassador.

  The Star Captain took over from Zoran.

  “A support team on the Henia led by Commander Jolar will stay on the communicator with the assault teams, updating them with intel from live scans of the Brutaniyr. Once on the battleship, the assault teams will be operating blind and will depend on information from the support team to complete their mission. Timing will be critical. So, we must make sure that everyone knows their roles before we commence the mission.”

  He stepped towards the display screen.

  “We will plant five sets of explosives on the Brutaniyr. Here, here, here, here and here.” He pointed them out on the ship’s schematics blown up on the screen. “The first four are power generators and the last one is their plasma storage. Once we bring the Brutaniyr to a stop, five teams will autoport to each location to plant the explosives. Make sure to hide them well. Secrecy is of the essence — the Ketaari must not find the explosives. That is why we cannot use the Autoporter to transport them.”

  “We will operate in teams of two for the power generators — one to plant the explosives and a second to keep guard. Each team will have one Hadari’Kor member. The Hadari’Kor can identify a Ketaari power generator quickly without using a hand-held scanner to search for its power signature. The support team on the Henia will scan the target area to make sure the coast is clear before autoporting assault teams to the Brutaniyr. But once aboard, you will need to know the layout to hide from Ketaari. Let your Hadari’Kor teammate guide you on this. Get in, plant the explosives and get out as quickly as you can.”

  He glanced around the chamber.

  “For the plasma storage, the team will have four members. This one is close to the propulsion system. The chances of encountering Ketaari checking on the system will be high. We will attempt to get this team in first before the Ketaari send their people to check on their propulsion. If we are not quick enough, this team will go in last and might have to fight its way through to plant their explosives. The Henia will jam all communication from the Brutaniyr but we have promised Commander Kerovac that the crew will not be left alive to report to the Imperial Forces. For that, we need the plasma storage to blow. It will cause a huge secondary explosion.”

  “A sixth team of four will attempt the rescue. They are both in the Medic Bay, which makes the job a little easier. Zoran and I will lead this team. The First Commander will direct the mission from the Henia.”

  D’raar directed a sharp glance at the Star Captain but stayed silent. Protocol dictated that he lead the assault team while the Star Captain directed and coordinated the mission from the Henia.

  “I am counting on you, First Commander” the Star Captain said to him.

  “You will not regret it, Star Captain” he responded soberly.

  d

  Help us, Sila. We’re prisoners of the Ketaari.

  Please help us.

  The voices cried out in unison, creating a cacophony of noise in Sila’s head. It was all she could do to not cry out herself at this invasion of three minds simultaneously into her head. Sila shot a glance at the Budheya. They lay comatose in their water tanks, their eyes closed and bodies immobile, even as their minds screamed for release.

  “Can you hear them?” asked the Ketaari leader. Vark Doresh - he had finally introduced himself to Sila. He was a Gelimnek in the Imperial Forces.

  Sila focused on him, ignoring the screaming voices in her head with an effort. She had been at this for hours. It had taken her a good half hour to convince the Ketaari to not give her the drug that they insisted would focus her mind-reading abilities. Eventually, Sila had managed to convince Gelimnek Doresh but only by communicating with one of the Budheya. At first, it had been easy to communicate simple commands to one willing mind. The Budheya telepath had surprised Sila by communicating with her in fluent Alliance Standard. But as the other two had sensed Sila, they had resorted to screaming in her mind together. They were panic-stricken and desperate, yet Sila knew that they would all be doomed unless she could control them.

  Calm down. I can only help you if I get him to trust me.

  “Yes” she answered. “Their thoughts are chaotic and their minds unable to control their ability. They will get you useful information only once they’re able to focus.”

  “Without the drugs, they’re dangerous” the Gelimnek retorted, intractable on this. “The drugs are what keep their physical bodies out of commission.”

  Help us.

  Our bodies are trapped on this ship. Please help us!

  “It is also playing havoc with their minds” Sila insisted, trying to convince him. “The drugs leave them unable to focus on anything specific for long. Mental abilities like these are all about concentrating on a particular thought or mind to the exclusion of everything and everyone else.”

  “First, I must know that you have truly managed to communicate with them” the Ketaari said intractably, ignoring Sila’s words.

  Si
la shot a reassuring glance at a wide-eyed Saakshi who sat in the corner with her hands tied behind her back. True to her word, Saakshi had stayed silent though the shock on her face had been a good indicator of her thoughts. The presence of the unmoving Budheya on the Ketaari battleship had flabbergasted Saakshi but the somewhat cryptic exchange between Sila and the Gelimnek had made her realize that the Budheya were prisoners, just like them. Saakshi was starting to worry about her friend, for she sensed the increasing strain on Sila.

  “They are cousins” Sila recounted as the three voices stumbled over each other to give her information that would convince Doresh. “Tirana, Tiruluk and Berniyal. They come from the Jeraakta province in Budheyasta. You have held them prisoner for nearly a year now.”

  “I want you to tell them something, Terran female” Doresh directed.

  Do not believe anything he says.

  He has hurt us before. He will hurt you too.

  “I will try” Sila attempted to say composedly.

  “Tell them I will let them go once they have given us what we want.”

  He lies! He will never let us go.

  You must help us, we beg of you.

  Sila stayed silent. She knew that the Ketaari didn’t mean what he said. Even the Budheya could read that bit from him, drugs or not.

  “They can read your mind, Gelimnek” she said stoically. “There is no point in lying to them.”

  It was getting hard for Sila to answer the Ketaari’s questions while the three minds bombarded her with their voices, despair, desperation and grief.

  Send him soon, O Goddess. I’m not sure I can hold on much longer.

  “I see” the Ketaari said grimly. “They can read my mind and yet, you say that their powers are useless because of the confusion caused by our drugs.”

  Who are you expecting? Will he help free us too!

  “You do not possess the ability to protect your thoughts, Gelimnek.” Sila’s voice held strain. “If all you want is for them to read such people, they might be able to manage it. I have the ability to protect myself and they could not read me even with their combined powers.”