Waking in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 2)

by D Patrick Wagner

  “No, none are as large, or as fast, or as strong as Sir Mahajani, Captain Marston. Maybe watch a while. Then decide. Sir Mahajani, that is an exceptional recommendation. I will add that to the discussion I will be having with Captain Kakkarna.”

  “This should be interesting.”

  “For you, Mack. Me, I’ll be the fish in a barrel.”

  “That’s a colloquialism, Your Highness,” Mack stated.

  “Our planets have bodies of water with animals the live under the surface. Many varieties are called ‘fish’. The effort to catch them is called fishing. This is done for food or sport. A fish in a barrel is a fish that requires no effort to catch.”

  “Thank you, Ambassador.”

  “My Princess.”

  “Yes, Sir Mahajani?”

  “I think that Ambassador Suzume’s tea is affecting me. It is as though I am back in the arena, preparing for the next battle. I have a need to attack.”

  “Are you alright, Maha?” Princess Analyn’s concern for her bodyguard came through in her use of his shortened name and her tone.

  “Yes, My Princess. I just feel very aggressive, ready to fight. If I may, I shall take a position by the hatch and watch as I practice my reflection.”

  “Of course you may. With your approval, ambassador.”

  “Will he be alright? Can we do anything? The tea I served contained a chemical we call caffeine. It is a stimulant for humans. Too much and it makes us nervous, anxious. Could this be effecting Sir Mahajani?”

  “Vidhee, would you check Maha?”

  “Of course, My Princess.” Vidhee hurried over to the bodyguard, extended her sensor and poked him in his paw.

  “His fight chemicals in his blood are extremely high. It is as though he is being attacked. I do find some of the chemicals I identified in the tea.”

  “Hey, Big Guy. You’re not going to go all crazy-killer on us are you?”

  “No, Mack. You are safe. I am just anxious. Is that right? Anxious? ”

  “Ya, anxious.”

  “I do need to withdraw and reflect.”

  “Is Sir Mahajani in any danger, Vidhee?”

  “No, My Princess. But no one should show any aggression towards him for a while.”

  “I am so sorry, Your Highness, Sir Mahajani. I should have thought about the caffeine.”

  “You are not a scientist or an Elonian physician, Ambassador. You could not have known. It is good that we learned of this, now. And it is good that it is only a small surprise.”

  Princess Analyn’s bodyguard stoically strode to the hatch, turned to face the room, pulled his scimitar and carefully placed the tip on the deck, exactly centered between his foot-paws. Placing both hands on the pommel, he went quiet.

  “As we discussed earlier, we Elonians are a warrior race. Doctor Roshnak, would you explain a little more about us?”

  “Certainly, My Princess. The majority of the Elonian evolutionary path consisted of survival on a very hostile world. Even though we developed intelligence, tool making and finally civilization, we never lost the survival traits of our more primitive ancestors. In a sense, each of us has two sides. The animalistic survivor and the civilized, societal being. Without constant awareness of our emotional state, we can flip into our primordial side very easily. From the time we are born, we begin our training to keep our primitive side under control.”

  “It must be a constant source of stress,” Keiko commented.

  “For some, more so than others. We are what we are.”

  “I am truly sorry for having subjected Sir Mahajani to this discomfort.”

  “The error is partially mine, Ambassador Suzume,” Vidhee stated. “I saw the chemical in my analysis, but I deemed that it was benign, being such a different molecule, without any effect. Since it is composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, it appeared inert. Sir Mahajani’s discomfort is more my fault than yours.”

  “Thank you for your kindness, Vidhee.”

  “Mahi, are you truly alright?” Princess Analyn mind-sent.

  “Yes, My Princess. This is a very interesting reaction to this caffeine. I would think that it could be used with our warriors, instill battle lust as needed.”

  “That is something we need to discuss with our medical people. I will keep it in mind.”

  “It seems we have a short meeting today,” the princess stated. “I need to get with the captain of Wisdom Seeker and plan your tour. You need to discuss your presentation about your jump drive. Also, I think food sampling should wait until we do more testing. Is that agreeable?”

  After glancing at Krag and getting an affirmative nod, Keiko answered, “Yes, Princess. That would be acceptable.”

  Everyone stood. Following Keiko’s example, the human fivesome, including Buster, formally bowed and waited for Princess Analyn’s nod of acceptance.

  “Thank you for accepting us, treating us with acknowledgement and respect.”

  “No ‘thank you’ is needed, Ambassador Suzume. Our whole culture is based upon equality and recognition. We welcome you.”

  “Not everyone is going to be so accepting, My Princess.”

  “No, Doctor Roshnak. Many powerful people are going to want to exploit our guests for personal and political ends.”

  “We must shield the humans from them.”

  “That is a discussion we must all have back on our ship.”

  After the crew of Griffin escorted the Elonians off the ship, they returned to the galley and proceeded to concoct their various lunches before the conversation began. The meal remained quiet throughout as each individual sat, deep in thought. Once everyone finished and cleaned up their clutter, they all waited for someone to begin.

  “Thanks to Keiko, we are still in the Elonian’s good graces, or they are very good at deception. I think that will change if we do not give them the jump drive.”

  “Actually, Cap, I think that is our ace in the hole.”

  “Mack?”

  “We may not be as technically advanced as these cats. But we have something they want.”

  “True.”

  “And, they don’t know if this is the only one. Did you notice the ear flicks when we mentioned that we have multiple planets and billions of people? If you were a single world civilization, without interstellar transportation, what would you think about a billion aliens with jump drives?”

  “So, Keiko, comment?”

  “I think Mack is right. For some reason, I’m not sure why, they are being very careful with us. I think he hit on it. They don’t know how many jump drives we have.”

  “I may have let something leak,” Sue interjected.

  “What’s that?”

  “When we were moving Buster to his avatar, I commented that we didn’t get the artifact running, but we did get it activated.”

  “That could be a problem. Keiko?”

  “It’s less to work with, but I think I can still work with that.”

  “What about telling them the truth? There are ruins, what did they call them? Ballison ruins all over our systems. We have found multiple artifacts.”

  “Right, Lassie. We just don’t tell them which ones, or that none of them work.”

  “Good. Growing up, my father taught me chess. He taught me that an implied threat is sometimes worse than the actual one. I think that applies here. We let slip that we have a lot of artifacts and say nothing more. I’ll do that during the demo.”

  “Ok, Keiko. That’s your area. But, about the demo. What’s to stop them from simply taking our jump drive?”

  “I’ve been working my brain about that ever since you volunteered me and Lassie to do a demo. We booby trap it. And let them know. But we don’t call it a booby trap. We say it is to safeguard the ship.”

  “How would you do that, Mack?”

  “A kill switch. An acid bath. Ya, an acid bath. We submerge the artifact in one component of a bi-compound acid. X-rays will go right through. We place the other bi-compound component in an o
uter shell. Push a button, the two chemicals mix. Bob’s your uncle! Super acid. No more artifact.”

  “If it goes off, we’re stranded,’ Sue almost wailed.

  “If it goes off, Lassie, that means we’re royally screwed anyway.”

  “How do we safeguard an accidental activation?”

  “Just, brainstorming. I rig it to our communicators, your cranial web, Cap. I set a specific activation phrase. Anyone of us says that phrase, Boom. Gone.” Mack brushed his hands together and showed them as empty.

  “Ok. You’re on it.”

  “During the demonstration, I’ll point out the failsafe but not its means of activation.”

  “In summary, we hint that there are a lot more human ships with jump capabilities. We build a booby trap around the artifact and sell it as a failsafe. They’ll figure out that it is untouchable. Sue, you put together and present the demonstration. Does that work for everyone?”

  “Sue wrinkled her brow and chewed on her lower lip. “Yeah. Yes, I can do that. It’ll be like when I presented my work at the Federacy development center.”

  “I’ve already figured out how I’m going to build the trap, Cap. I’ll need Sue to program the switch, though.”

  “Ok. Just let me know when you need it.”

  “Mack, you got Keiko’s chameleon suit repaired?”

  “Good as new, Cap. I did it during our vacation.”

  “Good. Keiko, can you wear it under your clothes?”

  “Yes. I’ll keep the cap and gloves in a shoulder bag. Why?”

  “Don’t know. It just seems like a good idea. And keep your batteries fully charged.”

  Keiko gave him a ‘Really?’ look.

  “I’m going to start wearing my mail. I’m sorry, Mack, Sue. But I don’t have any physical protection for you.”

  “Well, me and Lassie, since we’re the brains of this band of rogues, we’ll just need to use our wiles.

  Krag’s ‘yeah right’ look came through. “Suppose this all works out. We sell them on many more ships coming to Elonia. We let them know they can’t take the jump drive. What next? Do we barter or blackmail? We need to get our ship fixed. They have a parts manufacturing capability on their ship. We saw that with the tool they used to get into Buster’s casing. Speaking of which, Buster, comments?”

  “None. Well, I would recommend bartering. I don’t think that blackmail will achieve anything. In fact it might change their relationship with us.”

  “Keiko?”

  “That’s a very good observation, Buster. I agree one hundred percent. We barter. What is on our wish list?”

  “First, Griffin. Freedom to leave. Maybe supplies.”

  “Ok. I need some time to prepare for tomorrow, practice how I am going to slip in our talking points.”

  “Mack, Sue, you need to go to work. I need to put some time in with Buster, shake the rust off my wrestling.”

  “I promise not to hurt you, too much, Captain.”

  “You are so kind, Buster.”

  Aboard Wisdom Seeker

  After quick meals, the leadership congregated in the conference room next to Princess Analyn’s suite. Princess Analyn stood at the head of the table, still dressed in her royal robes and medallion of royalty.

  Captain Kakkarna and the commander of the Royal Guardsman, Commander Tarunga sat, respectively to the Princess’s right and left. Around the right half of the circular table sat Doctors Ganakin and Roshnak, Dame Srilin and Vidhee. The left half comprised the Wisdom Seeker’s bridge officers, Lieutenant Talwana – Bridge weapons officer, Lieutenant Banajin – Lead Pilot and Lieutenant Varrini – Lead Engineer.

  All sat formally, ears at attention, tail perfectly aligned with the spine, personal tablets squarely placed on the table. Princess Analyn flicked an ear towards Dame Srilin. The lead software specialist tapped an icon on her tablet, looked at her princess and flicked her own ear.

  Seeing the activation light glow on the halo-camera, Princess Analyn began. “Officers and crew of the Wisdom Seeker. By now you all know that we have discovered a spacecraft of alien origin. Before I continue, I must officially announce a Royal Decree of Secrecy from King Kaporine. I have been commanded to emphasize that this decree is inviolate. Any breach will be treated as a betrayal to the throne, regardless of any reason. Full prosecution of the guilty party will be immediate.”

  Princess Analyn paused to let that last statement sink in. “The alien ship we found is not Ballison. It is of a previously unknown race. And there are aliens on board. They call themselves ‘Humans’. We have succeeded in establishing communication with them and what we have learned is of monumental importance. We, you, are witness to an event that will forever change Elonia.”

  The Princess took another pause for emphasis. “These humans come from a system covering many stars with many inhabited planets and moons. Their populous counts in the billions. They travel between their stars. Tomorrow, we will give these humans a tour of Wisdom Seeker. I want you to welcome them as travellers from a different clan. Show respect. Answer any questions our guests might have. Be open. Be accepting. We must win over these human hearts.”

  Again, she paused. “I must re-emphasize. The Royal Seal of Secrecy is in effect. What happens, what you see, what you learn on Wisdom Seeker stays on Wisdom Seeker. Thank you for your time.”

  Princess Analyn flicked an ear towards her IT specialist. Dame Srilin touched an icon and powered of the holo-camera.

  “Well done, Princess.”

  “Thank you, Captain. Now that that is over with, let’s get down to business. Where are we with the asteroid? I thought we’d get the normal stuff out of the way before we tackle our guests and what to do with them.”

  “We are on target to reach orbit around the asteroid by the end of three days from now.”

  “Thank you, Captain. It is very frustrating that we must stay out here, at the rim. I don’t disagree with my father, but it is frustrating. Doctor Ganakin, being the archaeologist, what are your plans once we arrive?”

  “Once we hit orbit, I propose that we do a complete aerial survey. This will help us define our landing zone. I think a six person team will do for the initial set-down. I, my assistant, Mr. Shukilar, and four guardsmen. All in full hazard gear. After meeting aliens, I’m a little paranoid.” The doctor gave a humorous flick of an ear.

  “Understood. We all seem to be walking on slick ice at the moment. Commander Tarunga, is releasing four guardsmen to the good doctor acceptable?”

  “Completely, My Princess. And I have four in mind that will fit in perfectly.”

  “Thank you. Doctor, I suppose we won’t know what we will do next until we get there.”

  “Just like all the other times, My Princess.”

  “Obviously, this time I won’t be accompanying you. I seem to have a distraction here, on board.”

  “That’s just as well. There’s no reason to assume that we will find anything there. But, we can always hope.’

  “Ah, yes. Hope. Our great motivator. Captain, how long do you plan on staying out here?”

  “Until The King says that we can come home, My Princess.”

  “That has to be very hard on the crew, no communication, no end in sight.”

  “Without bragging, this crew is the best. With Your Highness on board, there would be no other. We will perform our duty.”

  “And discussing the crew brings us to the ship tour. Ideas?”

  “My Princess. You mentioned that the human technology is about three hundred years behind ours.”

  “That is correct, Lieutenant Varrini.”

  “How much of our technology should we reveal to them?”

  “I’m not sure. Especially in your department, engineering. Doctor Roshnak, what do you think?”

  “We want to win their trust. I think we should give them a high level view of everything. For example, we have artificial gravity, gravity drives, gravity-driven energy collectors. They still run on nuclear and fusion energ
y. We’ve already displayed that our algorithmic technology is superior to theirs. And we want their jump drive technology. I think we can trade with them.”

  “So we show them the meal but we don’t let them eat.”

  ‘That is the general idea, My Princess.”

  "Captain?”

  “I agree. But with a military escort. And no access to our internal network.”

  “Dame Srilin, can you insure the safety or our network?”

  “Against their current level of processing, yes I can, My Princess. But, if they bring Buster, he is an unknown. After his upgrade, he is a hybrid of both Elonian and Human processing logic. We have no way of knowing what he has self-generated in terms of new algorithms and logic modules. I don’t know what I would be protecting us against.”

  “Vidhee, could you add something?”

  “Yes, Princess Analyn. Instead of trying to protect our network against Buster, we simply stop all access capabilities. But I will need to receive permission from Buster to allow me to temporarily disable his wireless capabilities.”

  “Would you contact Buster and ask if he is amiable to having his communications blocked during his tour of Wisdom Seeker?”

  “Certainly, My Princess.” Vidhee froze for almost a twentieth of a sedeca while everyone watched”

  “I apologize for the length of time, but Buster needed to receive permission from Captain Marston. They both approve, as long as it is temporary.”

  “One roadblock down. Now, about the fact that Wisdom Seeker’s internal temperature is much colder than Griffin. Lieutenant Varrini, what can we do to keep our guests warm?”

  “Our cooling screens. We’ve never needed to have them generate warmth. But there is no reason that I can’t modify four of them to generate heat, rather than dissipate it. I can have them done by tomorrow. “

  “Excellent. Now let’s plan on what we are going to show them.”

  The meeting lasted a full two sedecas. Everyone seemed happy with the results.

  Sasania Headquarters Survivors

  Rain. Heavy droplets rattled the leaves of the forest canopy, drizzled off and formed a constant fall of water, turning the leaf-covered ground to sludge. If not for the water-tight armor the six-person squad wore, they’d be drenched to the bone. Just after nightfall First Sergeant Boulos led his team into the forest, the racket of the rain hiding the sounds of his men as they created distance from the last hold-out of the survivors of Sasania Space Force headquarters.