Jatouche (Pyreans Book 3)

by S. H. Jucha

  “Here,” Harbour said, exchanging cups with the young empath. She poured two more, handed Aurelia a third, and downed hers. It took several more rations for Harbour to feel her headache fade and for Aurelia’s color to return.

  “Facilities,” Harbour ordered Aurelia. She was pleased to see the young woman rise under her own power. Nonetheless, she kept a close eye on her.

  Aurelia made for the room’s exit, but Harbour steered her toward their room’s facilities. She pounded on the door, calling out, “Dottie, vacate the premises.”

  The door slid open. Dottie stood in the entrance, her face wan and pale.

  “The soldiers will find an alternate room for you to lie down and rest,” Harbour remarked, and Dottie pushed past her.

  Harbour glanced toward Tacticnok, who issued the necessary orders.

  In the facilities, Harbour helped Aurelia strip out of her suit. While Aurelia stepped into the mister cabinet for a wash, Harbour rid herself of her suit.

  “If a pale, hairless alien makes you gag, hide your eyes,” Harbour yelled out to Tacticnok. Her remark elicited a giggle from Aurelia. Harbour triggered the facilities’ door, dumped the suits outside, and slid the door quickly behind her, but not before catching Tacticnok’s bared teeth.

  We’ll all need our sense of humor before this is over, Harbour thought.

  “There’s room for two,” Aurelia said from the cabinet.

  Gratefully, Harbour joined her. She couldn’t wait to rinse off the stink of sweat, fear, and fluids. The latter had splashed her face, when she mistakenly opened her helmet’s visor. She had mentally created a list of changes for the Jatouche engineers and surmised that her list was probably half that of Jessie’s.

  While Harbour and Aurelia were enjoying the mister, Tacticnok piled clean skins and deck shoes inside the facilities. Having stopped to absorb greens, the empaths were the last to join the team in a larger dorm room.

  Kractik cradled her recorder in one hand, while she greedily spooned paste with another. “Who knew near-death experiences could make you so hungry?” she commented.

  Devon managed a brief mumble around a mouthful of paste but hoisted a utensil in agreement.

  Mangoth had four portions of the paste in front of him. A wide, flat tongue issued from his mouth, and with one motion he swiped the plate clean. As fast as he consumed them, Tacticnok placed others in front of him. She paused in serving him to bring two plates for Harbour and Aurelia.

  When everyone was satiated, Tacticnok cleared the table.

  “Your attention to our needs, Your Highness, is appreciated,” Mangoth said.

  “It’s nothing of the sort, Mangoth. This team looked like they would take forever to get food. I merely hastened the point at which I could hear the story,” Tacticnok replied.

  Mangoth started to roar, but a huge belch escaped him. After a second, smaller burp caused those around him to chuckle, he added a rumble of pleasure to the mix.

  Harbour glanced around. Henry and Idrian had joined them, but Dottie was nowhere in sight. She assumed the woman wasn’t coming.

  “This is the entire team’s story, but I’ll start it,” Harbour remarked. “The rest of you should jump in to fill out what I’m missing.”

  Tacticnok was fascinated and distressed by the tale that unfolded. There were many facets of the story that were difficult to process. At one point, she asked for clarification, “You’re saying that you … you … eliminated the sentients, not merely knocked them down.”

  “I think the word you’re looking for is killed, Your Highness,” Devon said.

  “Your concern is understandable, Your Highness,” Mangoth added. “I’m a witness to these events. None of our adversaries were eliminated within the Colony dome, during both passages. It was at the second dome where we fought to defend our lives against the invading Colony.”

  “Were many eliminated?” Tacticnok asked.

  “As many as it took to get clear of that dome and by any means at hand,” Jessie stated. “Personally, I haven’t been so proud of a team since my crew accidentally activated the Triton dome, trapping us.”

  “And without the efforts of Pyreans, Jatouche, and the assets of a Crocian, we wouldn’t be alive to bring back this incredible discovery,” Jaktook opined.

  The team continued telling their story until they’d exhausted the facts and themselves. As the tale wound down, eyelids began to droop.

  “Rest,” Tacticnok said, “I’ll make arrangements for the shuttle to Rissness Station.”

  Harbour nodded in approval, as she collapsed on a pallet. Except for Henry and Idrian, who exited the room with Tacticnok, the others quickly imitated Harbour.

  “You better not snore,” Jessie challenged Mangoth, who had the pallet next to him.

  In reply, Mangoth lifted his snout and displayed his plugged nostrils to Jessie. But, as Jessie later, much later, discovered, a Crocian doesn’t snore but rumbles. But this time, Jessie was too tired to be disturbed by anything, as he quickly fell into a deep slumber.

  * * * *

  It became Tacticnok’s responsibility to wake the weary team members. The shuttle was ready, and it couldn’t occupy one of the Rissness transport slots forever. There was a constant demand for the four tubes and often the shuttles carried exalted members of the alliance.

  Tacticnok’s concerns about the explorers’ reaction to being disturbed were unwarranted. The eyes of the Pyrean empaths and the Crocian popped open before she could creep across the room. Their reactions underlined her citizens’ insularity. The Jatouche knew a great deal about the medical aspects of every alliance race, but they knew little about their intimate behavioral and social mannerisms.

  “Everyone, up,” Harbour ordered crisply into the stillness, and instantly the others struggled awake.

  “We must board the shuttle soon, Envoy,” Tacticnok said. “I let you rest as long as I could.”

  Jessie was about to ask about their gear, when soldiers entered the room and began packing their equipment. It didn’t take long before a troop of soldiers stood in the corridor with the team’s suits, equipment, and duffels.

  Forgoing the morning’s amenities, Tacticnok led the way, with Jaktook beside her. They picked up the other three delegates at the end of the corridor and ascended the ramp to the second level and the dome’s exit.

  “Your Highness, I must send a message,” Mangoth said. His tone was polite but firm.

  Tacticnok gazed at Mangoth and checked her chronometer. There remained a small window of time. “Kractik, assist Mangoth to send a cube and procure an officer to expedite your travel to the shuttle.”

  “Yes, Your Highness,” Kractik replied. She glanced at Mangoth and then hurried for the ramp to the deck.

  At the console, Kractik used the controls for gate five. She set up a cube and cued Mangoth when she was ready. Kractik expected Mangoth to update family, friends, or the Logar clan head. Instead, he addressed his message to the Norloth, the supreme Crocian body. He delivered a terse summary of the Pyrean–Jatouche arrangement, the exploration team, and its exploits through the Colony dome to an unknown location.

  When Mangoth finished, he said, “It’s a priority message, Kractik.”

  Mangoth’s request required Kractik to add a code to the cube. On arrival at each platform, the cube would flash continuously, requiring console operators to immediately recover the cube, read the priority destination, and send it on its way.

  “Ready, Mangoth?” Kractik asked. She’d handed the cube off to an assistant operator to deploy. Mangoth assented, and Kractik hurried for the ramp. An officer met her and the threesome used the soldier’s access level to speed through the tunnels.

  The team’s transport was the premier shuttle reserved for Tacticnok’s use. The humans settled into the recently installed seats, which had been exclusively crafted for them.

  Mangoth spotted an expansive seat with a cutout for his tail. He rumbled softly as he inserted his thick tail into the seat
’s slot and sunk into the generous padding.

  “Your generosity toward my magnificent bulk is appreciated, Your Highness,” Mangoth said.

  “Your efforts on our behalf are appreciated Mangoth of the Logar, and we like to demonstrate our appreciation,” Tacticnok replied, flashing her teeth. “Were the arrangements for your message satisfactory?” she asked.

  “It was a priority to the Crocian Norloth,” Mangoth replied.

  Tacticnok was taken aback. Her question was meant to be polite conversation.

  “There are priority cubes?” Jessie asked, from the seat across the aisle from Mangoth.

  “There are many classification codes for cubes,” Tacticnok replied.

  Jessie and Harbour stored that little gem of information for later.

  “A priority message, you say,” Tacticnok queried.

  “Yes, Your Highness, a message to the Crocian Norloth,” Mangoth said. “After reviewing my report, I would expect the Norloth to contact the Tsargit.”

  “Who are these individuals or organizations?” Harbour asked. She was seated next to Jessie.

  “The Norloth leads the Crocians. It comprises the leader of each clan,” Mangoth replied, “and the Tsargit governs the alliance.”

  “Oh,” Harbour muttered quietly. She exchanged glances with Jessie. What seemed to have started out as a simple exploratory mission for them was escalating out of control, and the question was: What role would the Pyreans play in the future?

  Soon after launch, the team was asleep again.

  Dottie regarded the explorers and whispered quietly to Henry, “They’re sleeping so hard, but they weren’t gone that long.”

  “The challenge was extraordinarily physical, and it was also mentally exhausting,” Henry replied. “Emergencies aboard a mining ship produce the same results. Brief periods of overwhelming anxiety and adrenaline followed by a desperate need to sleep and regain equilibrium.”

  -22-

  Messages

  After landing aboard Rissness Station, Harbour notified the Pyreans, who had finished their rejuvenation. They were relaxing in a dorm room, while they waited for the final two to complete their repairs. Her message was that Captain Cinders and she had arrived aboard the station and would speak to them later.

  Tacticnok commandeered a data center and instructed the operator to display the images that Kractik had captured.

  After the poor operator experienced a few moments of the Colony species rushing toward the team, she was too overwrought to exercise precise control of her fingers.

  “Kractik, please relieve our operator,” Jaktook requested, and as soon as the support individual was replaced, she hurried from the data center.

  The team carefully examined every scene. The Pyreans were shocked at the detail that was available, even when Kractik enlarged the images multiple times.

  “I reach only one conclusion,” Jessie said, when the review of the newly constructed external dome was completed.

  “It’s the same for me,” Jaktook added.

  “A shuttle,” Mangoth concluded, and Jaktook and Jessie agreed.

  “The Colony must have been working on this project for a long time,” Henry said. “Think of the effort that was expended to move everything in small crates from their home planet to their satellite and then to this second dome.”

  “The better question to ask ourselves is why?” Harbour posed.

  “The Colony has to have discovered something valuable about the planet,” Dottie suggested.

  “If the planet has sentients, more than likely they haven’t achieved spaceflight,” Jessie said. “That would mean the Colony thinks they can overrun them.”

  “Expansion for what purpose?” Idrian asked. “It’s difficult to move goods through the gates. I think that’s a concept the Messinants incorporated into their grand plan.”

  “What if the Colony has consumed their planet?” Aurelia suggested.

  “That’s a distinct possibility,” Henry acknowledged, “especially if they exhausted resources by overpopulation or there was some environmental catastrophe.”

  “Kractik, display the imagery of the crates that broke open,” Jaktook requested.

  “You had time to stop and open crates?” Dottie asked. She’d been horrified by the images of the nightmarish creatures, most certainly the red-black ones.

  “It wasn’t necessary,” Jaktook remarked, flashing his teeth at Mangoth.

  “Quite unnecessary,” Mangoth remarked, with a rumble.

  While Kractik loaded the next recordings, Henry said, “I wonder how far the Colony has gotten? We see the dome and the shuttle tube but nothing of the shuttle.”

  “Ready,” Kractik announced.

  Jaktook nodded, and Kractik ran through the scenes of the crates’ interiors.

  Jessie and Henry, the most experienced of the Pyrean spacers, looked at Mangoth and Jaktook for explanations. The pieces of shiny metal that were exposed meant nothing to them.

  “Engine components,” Mangoth concluded.

  “Or generators,” Jaktook added.

  “That would suggest there’s a shuttle’s aft end framework in that tube,” Jessie hypothesized.

  “That’s a fair conclusion, Advisor,” Mangoth said.

  After the viewing finished, the group was escorted to a dorm room, with extensive conference space. They took a few moments to eat and use the facilities.

  Seated around a large table, Aurelia said, “I was just thinking. I know the Colony species look and act ferocious, but they’re sentients, right?”

  “Undoubtedly,” Mangoth agreed.

  “We used our empaths’ power and a sonic weapon on them,” Aurelia continued, “and I was wondering what we’d do if the roles were reversed.”

  Mangoth harrumphed and said, “The young one reminds us that we’ve not given due consideration to our adversaries.”

  “And here I’d been planning to make the audio generator my first defensive tool,” Jaktook lamented.

  “It might still be useful,” Jessie commiserated. “Keep it handy.”

  “Think about what Aurelia is saying,” Devon pursued. “Aboard the station, we found criminals often employed one of two options in response to new security procedures we implemented. They either demonstrably negated them or created a surreptitious means of circumventing them … aggressive and passive, offense and defense.”

  “Hmm,” Jessie mused, “meaning, in this case, we could have an audio generator tested on us or they might be wearing hearing protective gear. I did see membranes, of a sort, on the sides of their heads.

  “Based on our experience with these sentients, I would suggest the Colony will choose the more aggressive response,” Mangoth said. “Our suits should be prepared for a sonic attack.”

  “Our suits?” Jessie queried, offering Mangoth a wry grin.

  “I might have been hasty believing that my natural gifts were all the protection I needed against the Colony,” Mangoth replied to Jessie. “In which case, Advisor Jaktook, I’m requesting a suit for myself. However, I’ve suggestions for my version, which my teammates might wish to hear.”

  “Each of us probably has thoughts for version two,” Devon said, getting a round of verbal agreement from everyone.

  Jessie regarded Harbour, who appeared lost in thought. He tapped her knee under the table to draw her attention.

  “Hmm,” Harbour murmured, “sorry … this feels all wrong.” Suddenly, she understood what was bothering her and became galvanized. “Kractik, contact Rissness. I want to know the status of gate five.”

  Kractik leapt from the table and placed a call to Rissness Station control. She requested the information in Tacticnok’s name.

  “Okay, what are we missing?” Jessie asked Harbour.

  “Think back to the plumerase attack at the YIPS,” Harbour explained. “We were caught off guard because we couldn’t perceive of our adversaries being that devious and that insidious. I think we’re making the same mistake
here.”

  The comm console buzzed and Kractik answered. “Envoy, gate five is offline,” she announced,” and there is a priority cube for Delegate Mangoth of the Logar.”

  Everyone skipped over Kractik’s first statement and focused on the second.

  “When did you become a delegate?” Jessie asked, as Mangoth rose from the table to hear the message.

  “Apparently recently, Advisor,” Mangoth replied.

  Kractik handed Mangoth a headset, and the group heard him request the cube’s message be relayed via an officer.

  “Did you expect the gate would be offline?” Devon asked Harbour.

  “I thought it was likely,” Harbour replied. “What Aurelia said made a great deal of sense to me. I think the Colony is ambitious, and we’re not giving them enough credit. I don’t have any idea about their intentions, except to build a shuttle, as you surmise. What I do believe is that they’ll work harder to prevent another incursion by us, and I think they’ll hasten their efforts in the unknown secondary dome.”

  Mangoth replaced the headset. He faced the group, and, despite his alien features, the Pyreans thought he didn’t look any too happy.

  “I’ve been delegated to the Tsargit,” Mangoth said.

  “Can they do that without asking your permission?” Henry asked.

  “The Tsargit never asks,” Mangoth replied. “However, there is a potentially bright outlook. If I survive this duty, I will have my pick of a mate.” Mangoth had attempted a cheery note, but his demeanor was one of an individual who had received a death sentence.

  “What have they requested you do?” Harbour asked.

  “The Tsargit believes the issue warrants further investigation and requests more detailed information,” Mangoth replied. “I’m to assist your efforts, Envoy, to determine the Colony’s intentions.”

  Jaktook snorted. “Typical Tsargit response,” he said. “Study the issue to death until the events have passed and a decision is moot.”

  “There is opportunity for you, Envoy, and your citizens,” Mangoth said. “The Tsargit offers the exploration team remuneration for their efforts.”