by S. H. Jucha
“Define remuneration?” Jessie requested.
“It would be whatever you request, within reason,” Mangoth supplied. “We should be thankful the Tsargit didn’t decry our use of deadly force at the unknown dome.”
“And if they had?” Henry asked.
“They would have ordered the Jatouche to end their relationship with humans,” Mangoth replied.
Harbour glanced toward Tacticnok and Jaktook. They wore disgusted expressions. Obviously, they believed the Tsargit’s dominance over the alliance members was too invasive.
“I’m not sure I care for the Tsargit,” Harbour said quietly. “What if we, the Pyreans, chose not to further our exploration?”
Mangoth’s jaw dropped open as if the concept was too incredulous to conceive. Then he bellowed to the overhead. The idea of sentients ignoring the Tsargit delighted him.
* * * *
Harbour wanted time to think. The team had valuable ideas about new suits, equipment, and second-generation weapons with which to take on the Colony. However, the broader question was: What direction should she take as envoy?
It seemed an appropriate time to visit the Pyreans who had undergone repair, and a guide led Harbour and Jessie to visit them. Meanwhile, Tacticnok sent a lengthy message to her father, updating him on events.
At the Pyreans’ room, the door slid aside, and Harbour and Jessie stepped across the threshold.
Olivia Harden glanced up and a cry of, “Envoy Harbour,” escaped her lips. She hurried to get a hug from Harbour, who had thrown open her arms. After a warm embrace, Harbour held Olivia at arm’s length and carefully examined her face.
“Careful, Envoy,” Bryan Forshaw said. “She’s still embarrassed by her fresh looks.”
“Bryan,” Harbour said, enthusiastically greeting him. “And where’s handsome Pete?” she asked.
“Here, Envoy,” Pete said, winding through the group from the rear of the room.
“Looking pretty, Pete,” Harbour teased, noticing the lack of scarring on his face, neck, and hands.
The eighteen Pyreans, who had recently been repaired, were anxious to greet Harbour and Jessie. When it was a young woman’s turn, she rushed forward and embraced Harbour. “Thank you,” she said, over and over. “I’m Tracy,” the young woman said, stepping back. “This is my brother, Dillon,” she added, gesturing toward a young man near her age.
Each of the eighteen ecstatically displayed their new limbs and chatted about the complete recoveries from their injuries. The gratitude that poured off every man and woman in the room threatened to overwhelm Harbour. In response, she tightened her gates.
“I understand Captain Flannigan’s first mate, Nelson Barber, is here,” Jessie said.
“Nelson’s one of the two still undergoing repair,” Tracy said. “Medical services spent some time stabilizing him before they could deal with his injuries.”
“So, all twenty of you are safe?” Harbour asked.
“We’re all safe, Captain,” Dillon replied, “thanks to your efforts and those of the Jatouche.”
“You’re welcome,” Harbour said. She opened her gates and sent a wave of contentment flooding through the room.
Tracy’s smile was in full bloom from Harbour’s power, when she asked, “Did you come to Rissness Station to visit us?”
Harbour regarded Jessie, and he signed, “It’s your choice.”
“Sit,” Harbour invited the eighteen and the three engineers, “and we’ll tell you what’s been happening.”
Harbour chose to share in detail their consultations at Na-Tikkook, and Jessie wondered about her strategy. It became apparent when Harbour spoke about the domes and the Colony. The spacers and the engineers began speaking all at once, talking over one another. Harbour laughed at their enthusiasm. Then she quieted them and entertained their questions, one by one.
The questions intrigued Jessie. These individuals were adept at solving problems. Their lives often depended on their ability to tackle obstacles and solve them swiftly and efficiently. Now, Harbour had laid the greatest challenge in their laps that they’d ever heard, and they were eager to pit their wits against it.
“If we presume that these Colonists —” an older spacer said at one point, addressing Harbour.
“Colony,” Jessie corrected. “The collection of species is known as the Colony.”
“Thank you, Captain,” the spacer said. “It sounds as if the Colony is a devious lot, and from what you’re telling us, the forward hatch, the direct route, has been closed to you. Are there any more hatches on this ship of yours, Captain?”
Jessie interrupted. “Some more corrections. In the presence of the Jatouche or other alliance members, I’m Advisor Cinders, and this,” he added, indicating Harbour, “is the Pyrean Envoy.”
“I’m confused. Do we salute, tip a cap, or bow?” a female spacer asked, which tickled the group.
“You’ll see the alliance members tip their heads to Envoy Harbour,” Jessie explained. “Me, they just pass by.”
The group chuckled appreciably at Jessie’s humor. He understood that these men and women liked their routines. They depended on them. The change in titles combined with the unusual nature of the alliance members had an unsettling effect on them.
“Back to what you were saying about another hatch,” Harbour interrupted. “We know that the Colony dome has five gates. As you’ve heard, one gate connects to Rissness. According to Jaktook, two of the five gates connect to alliance members who’ve built defenses against the Colony’s incursions. We’ve journeyed through one of the two unidentified gates. The destination of the other one is unknown to us … to any alliance race for that matter.”
“That leads me to my next two questions,” the older spacer said. “Is it possible to reach the Colony dome via the two gates that connect to the other alliance members? Next, if it’s possible, do you think the Colony would have negated their access?”
“We’d have to ask Her Highness Tacticnok about permission,” Harbour replied. “From what I understand, alliance members travel freely through the gates. However, we aren’t alliance members.”
“You said that Mangoth has been requested to support you,” Bryan said.
“Yes, the Tsargit has drafted him as a delegate,” Harbour replied. “By the way, he remembers you three fondly,” she added, pointing to the engineers.”
“Don’t know why,” Pete remarked. “We spent most of the time insulting him.”
“I think he enjoyed your challenge,” Harbour said.
“What are you intending to do, Envoy?” Bryan asked.
“Good question, Bryan,” Harbour replied.
-23-
Decisions
When Harbour and Jessie left the dorm room of the repaired Pyreans and engineers, she requested a private space from their guide. The medical tech took them to a small room. It was well appointed and had a view of the stars.
The guide touched a key pad on a chair, and its structure and cushions underwent a series of shape changes. She manipulated the other chair in the same manner.
“We haven’t programmed this room for humans, Envoy,” the guide apologized. “This format is the closest approximation for your structure.”
Harbour smiled at the Jatouche and said, “They’ll do fine. How do I get in touch with you when we’re finished?”
“That will be unnecessary, Envoy. I’ll be waiting outside for you and will take you wherever you wish to go on station,” the Jatouche replied.
The door closed behind the guide, and Harbour sank into the comfortable chair with a sigh.
Jessie gazed out the one-meter diameter, round viewport. “I work among the stars, but I never get tired of looking at them,” he said in wonder. “So, Envoy Harbour, why are we in this intimate little setting?”
“Take a seat, Advisor Cinders,” Harbour replied, with a tired smile. “I have need of your counsel.”
Harbour waited until Jessie settled into the other chair. Then she s
aid, “I’ve never had to make life-and-death decisions like this.”
“Didn’t you make one when you decided to accept Rictook’s offer to investigate the Colony dome?” Jessie asked.
“Hmm … I suppose I did,” Harbour murmured. “It didn’t seem like one, at the time.”
“That’s understandable,” Jessie replied gently. “We see this many times on our ships. Newbies hear the warnings, and most of them survive their first emergencies. Occasionally, they don’t. But for those who do make it through, suddenly, all the warnings, the dos and don’ts, become real.”
“You’re saying that even if you’d warned me of the potential danger, I wouldn’t have heard you,” Harbour accused. The words sounded harsher to her ears than she intended.
Jessie rose abruptly and walked back to the viewport. Staring at the stars, as a shuttle cut across the scene, he said, “I’ve dedicated my entire spacer life to taking care of my captain, then my ship, and then my company. I’ve been successful in my endeavors, but I’ve led an isolated life. When Aurelia hid on my ship, everything changed for me.”
Harbour wasn’t sure how Jessie’s confession related to their discussion, but this didn’t seem the time to ask.
“Since you and I’ve become involved, I see the future differently and that goes for my role in it,” Jessie continued. “Right now, I’m thinking of Pyre … of our small group of humans, who’ve been hanging on to a hot piece of rock for nearly three hundred years. We deserve something better.”
“My problem is that I’m the newbie who’s survived her first life-threatening encounter,” Harbour said. “I see death no matter which way I decide to go. If our exploration continues, it will be sooner but for only a few of us. If I decide to go home, the deaths will come slowly, but surely, and be more numerous. Pyreans will die unnecessarily without the support from the Jatouche, which we might have had.”
Jessie turned around and leaned against the viewport. He wore a grin. “In each stage of my life, I thought the job I had, at the time, was the toughest one. It didn’t matter whether it was as a newbie, an officer, a captain, or a company owner. Right now, I’m tickled that I’m the lowly advisor and not the envoy.”
Harbour wanted to be angry at Jessie, but she couldn’t. Instead, she laughed. In that moment of release, her gates slipped open, and she inundated Jessie with her affection for him.
“Well, Advisor, do your job,” Harbour challenged, a broad smile on her face. “Tell me what you think.”
“I say we’ve got an opportunity to do more for Pyre than anyone in our history, and I say we take it,” Jessie replied. The wry grin faded, and his expression turned grave. Moments later, his face softened, and he momentarily ducked his head before he looked Harbour in the eye and said, “Yes, I’m voting for continuing our exploration. But, personally, I’m choosing to go wherever you go. The things you do give my life meaning.”
Harbour stared at Jessie, tears forming in her eyes. She blinked them back, stood, and crossed to face him. She studied his face. Then she leaned in, placed a gentle kiss on his lips, and in a husky voice said, “Come with me, Advisor. I’ve an idea.”
* * * *
In the corridor, Harbour said to the guide, “I need a room that can accommodate about thirty-five individuals for a conference. It should comfortably seat Jatouche, a Crocian, and Pyreans.”
“That can be arranged, Envoy,” the guide replied.
“It must be able to display recorder material that a console operator captured,” Harbour added. “Then I need you to request Her Highness bring the explorer and delegate group to that room. In addition, I need the Pyreans from the dorm room we visited.”
“If you’ll wait in this room, Envoy, I’ll make the arrangements,” the guide offered.
“Thinking thirty or more heads are better than two?” Jessie asked, when they returned to the small room.
“Another lesson from Dingles,” Harbour replied. “I can hear him saying now, ‘You don’t have to think of everything, Captain, just ask us what you want. We’ll figure it out.’”
“Captain Mitch ‘Dingles’ Bassiter,” Jessie said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I never thought to hear that title applied to Dingles, when I had to put him on station. Have you ever had a bad rescue?”
Harbour thought through all the individuals who she’d accepted from security incarceration. “None that stayed with us aboard the Belle,” she said. “A good percentage returned to the JOS. I didn’t keep track of them after they left. So, I don’t know what happened to them.”
“Makes sense,” Jessie said. “I’ve never seen my people more contented since you and I hooked up.”
“Yes, I still consider you my best rescue,” Harbour replied. She gave Jessie a wink. It seemed to halt the retort that was on his lips.
They sat quietly with their thoughts after that exchange until a soft tap at the door. The Jatouche guide opened it and said, “All preparations are complete, Envoy.”
“Time to be adventurous, Envoy,” Jessie whispered to Harbour.
They were led to a room that functioned as a medical conference center. The chairs were similar to those in the small room, and medical techs stood by to program them for individuals.
Tacticnok, Jaktook, Kractik, and Mangoth, followed by Harbour’s delegates, were the first to arrive. The Jatouche and the Crocian adjusted their chairs at the middle of the three-quarter circle. Techs adjusted the chairs for the Pyreans.
The group directed expectant expressions at Harbour, but she stared quietly at the room’s entrance. A few minutes later, the repaired Pyreans and the engineers filed into the room.
Mangoth let loose a roar, and the engineers yelled in a chorus, “Mangoth.” The Crocian hurriedly left his seat to greet the threesome.
Harbour directed the Pyreans to take places around the circle, and Mangoth and the engineers soon joined them.
“It’s my intention to explore the viability of furnishing the Tsargit with the information they’ve requested Delegate Mangoth obtain, and I want this group to help me with that,” Harbour said. “But to make sure that we’re working from the same information, I want to have the newcomers see what we’re up against.”
When Dottie realized what Harbour intended to show the group, she said, “You’ll excuse me, Envoy.”
Harbour nodded her understanding and noted that Idrian accompanied Dottie from the room.
“Kractik, if you would?” Harbour requested.
The Jatouche console operator used the medical display equipment to run her recorder’s program. She played the scenes taken in the dome and of the broken, open crates, and Harbour verbally annotated what they were witnessing.
“Biggest bugs I’ve ever seen,” a spacer murmured, when the viewing ended.
“You’ll notice that these sentients, who you refer to as bugs, are the ones transporting, piece by piece, the material to construct an external tunnel, a dome, a shuttle silo, and, apparently, a shuttle,” Henry stated sternly.
The spacer tipped his head, accepting the reprimand.
“Their bites are poisonous, right?” a spacer asked.
“Deadly,” Jaktook replied. “During the Colony’s first incursion into the Rissness dome, none of the alliance members who were bitten survived.”
Harbour quickly shifted the subject. “You’ve seen our adversaries. They’re ferocious, deadly, and clever. However, we’re a pretty smart group too.”
The Pyreans cheered Harbour’s statement, which surprised the Jatouche, and Mangoth’s deep chortle joined the cheering.
“Envoy,” Tacticnok said after the noise died down. “It might be instructive to speak to why you’re interested in exploring this opportunity.”
Harbour acknowledged the point. “Her Highness reminds me that there is more at work here that you should know.”
Harbour proceeded to lay out the offers to Pyre and, specifically, the explorers from the Jatouche ruler, Rictook, and the Tsargit. When she finished, the
re was absolute quiet from the Pyreans. They eyed one another. More intravertors, more repaired injured, and more technical support sounded too good to be true.
“Envoy Harbour,” Bryan said, raising his hand. “Is there the possibility of some of us joining the exploration?”
Harbour smiled broadly. “I certainly think so, Bryan, but first I want to discuss the strategy. I’m not willing to commit us to this investigation, if we don’t think there’s any chance of us succeeding.”
“Your Highness, Jaktook, and Mangoth, this question is for you,” Harbour said. “We know Rissness gate five, which leads to the Colony’s dome, is offline. Our newcomers are aware that two of the Colony’s gates connect to other alliance members. Is there a manner of testing the other alliance members’ gates, which connect to the Colony’s dome, without alerting the Colony members?”
To Harbour’s surprise, the three individuals regarded one another and then turned to Kractik.
The console operator’s eyes unfocused, while she reviewed everything she’d learned about the Messinants console. What frightened Kractik was that it appeared that the Colony had become more adept at console manipulation than the alliance members.
Finally, Kractik said, “There are several means by which we can test the links between the alliance and the Colony gates, but I believe that every manner of contact will be detected.”
“Then, if we wish to attempt another journey to the dome, which has the external construction, we must attempt the passage only once,” Jaktook announced, “and we must be ready for every eventuality.”
“The corollary to that pronouncement,” Mangoth said, “is that there’ll be no going back the way we came. Once the Colony realizes what we’ve done, they’ll block every gate until they defeat us.”
“Envoy, doesn’t that make it likely that we’d be trapped in this unknown dome after we got there?” Dillon asked.
Tracy’s fingers tightened under the table. She’d asked her brother to remain quiet during the discussion. His habit was to challenge everything from a negative point of view. But, in this case, he actually had a good question.