“So you want me to follow you around and not draw attention,” James said.
“Correct.”.
“Why not take Bhakat? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier?”
“Yes,” Rauph replied. “And no.” He scratched at his cheek for a moment, thinking. “You’ve seen how ... protective of me Bhakat is. One slight or show of aggression toward me, and he’s liable to do something rash. This would not be helpful. Plus, as his Master, I must also protect him from outside influences. Believe me, there are plenty of bad influences aboard the space port. I was ready to tell you all about it in the meeting earlier, but Gianni said you wouldn’t be interested. Do you understand what your duties would be?”
“Yes,” James said.
“Follow my lead. You won’t understand what’s being said, but we cannot take the translating device with us. Please stay nearby, and I’ll let you know if your assistance is warranted.”
“Fine,” James said. “How long until we arrive?”
“Oh, we’ve been docked for a short time already.” He pushed a button next to the airlock door, and the inside door opened to a square room measuring about ten feet on each side. On the far side of the room was the outside hatch, round, and tall enough for a Rajani to walk through without stooping. Inside the room, there was a cargo storage net connected to the wall next to the outside hatch and one emergency space suit for outside repairs, as well as a small bench to sit on when donning the suit.
James was surprised to learn they were already docked. He hadn’t felt anything to suggest the ship was no longer moving on its own through space. He’d have to remember to compliment Janan when they returned. It couldn’t be easy to maneuver a large ship in such close quarters.
“Now,” Rauph said, “if you could turn invisible ...”
James did as he was asked, powering up and then cloaking himself with invisibility. It was almost natural now, and almost instantaneous. He’d been practicing, so it was second nature, though he was still amazed he could do it at all. He had also learned that he could make the covering over his head turn invisible on its own, while the rest of him was shielded by the almost opaque power suit. He’d thought it had something to do with his power of invisibility, but he had shown Kieren, and after a few tries, she had been able to do it as well. He wondered if the potential power of the stones was greater than even the Rajani knew.
“Splendid,” Rauph said, bending over to turn off the translating device.
They walked to the opposite side of the airlock, and Rauph pushed a button next to the outer hatch. The inside door closed behind them, sealing them in the airlock. Then he pushed another button, and the outside hatch opened with the hiss of air pressure equalization. Rauph stepped through, and James quickly followed, feeling the heavier gravity of the space port weigh his body down as he did so. Rauph closed the outside hatch and walked slowly down the corridor to a security station, as his body was getting used to the increased weight.
The security station turned out to be a simple guard booth set up outside of a wide closed door leading from the docking area to the space port’s main level. James could see moving sidewalks and escalators lead up to the level they were on from various lower and upper levels of the docking area. There was a short line of aliens waiting to enter the station, and Rauph walked up and stopped at the back of the line.
The security station had one lone occupant, and James could only stare as they came to the head of the line and Rauph began to speak to it in Talondarian Standard. The alien had a multi-faceted head—at least, James assumed it was a head—like the eye of a fly. It was about four feet tall and dressed in a shimmering gown that covered its body and six appendages.
There was a translator device set up at the station, though this one was much more advanced than the one on the Tukuli. The alien made a low buzzing sound, and Talondarian Standard was broadcast from the device. Although he had started learning the language, James found the alien talked too quickly, and he soon realized he couldn’t understand any of the conversation between it and Rauph. The conversation ended and Rauph bowed slightly. The alien pushed a button opening the doorway to the station, and James quickly followed Rauph inside.
Again, he had to stop a moment. The place was cavernous. There were walkways and stairways and blinking signs everywhere. The signs had Talondarian Standard but also various other alien languages and pictures. And everywhere, everywhere, there were aliens. Crowds of them; all walking or flying or slithering or hopping about in a wild mishmash of shapes, colors, and textures that assaulted his eyes wherever he looked.
The place was packed with aliens, all of whom were going about their business as if this was a trip to the local supermarket, which it might have been, for all James knew. As he looked at them, something occurred to him. For every one of them with eyes, James could see when he looked at them, they all had that appearance in their eyes of ‘sentience.’ These weren’t animals, but self-aware, cognizant beings.
James had to sidestep a creature that looked like a cross between a hippopotamus and a turtle yet walked on its two rear legs, and quickly followed Rauph as he headed determinedly through the concourse and toward a large corridor, ignoring the multitude of life-forms around him.
After walking down the corridor a short distance, James saw what looked like an elevator. He followed Rauph as the Rajani stepped onto one of the cars of the device. As James stepped through the doorway of the car, he saw it was, in fact, an elevator, except when the door closed, the car traveled sideways. It was occupied by two other aliens besides him and Rauph. One looked like a walking squid with deep blue cat eyes standing out of the top of its head on short stalks, and one appeared to be a robot with a clear abdomen containing a small salamander-like creature swimming in it that was hooked up to wires. The two aliens were speaking to each other in a language seemingly made up of wet burps.
Rauph paid them no mind, and they quickly exited at the next stop, each looking at Rauph while their speech became increasingly animated. James thought they sounded almost panicked, but he couldn’t be sure. The doors closed, and Rauph quietly said “Dempsey?” in English. He had learned to say all of the Humans’ names with little of his usual accent in their time aboard the ship. James tapped him lightly on the shoulder twice. Rauph nodded, and this time the car did go up after the doors closed, and Rauph pushed a button on the console.
When the car stopped and the doors opened, James followed Rauph and found they had entered a different part of the station. There were no crowds here; no flashing lights or beckoning aromas. The light was dimmer, and the doorways along the corridor looked more like rooms than shops. These must be for lodging, James thought as he saw the doors were spaced evenly along the corridor like any other hotel he had ever seen.
Rauph walked down the corridor and stood for a moment, looking at a digital monitor set into one of the walls. Then he was off again, turning right when another corridor intersected the one they were walking down. Things progressed this way for a while, with Rauph checking directions on the monitors he found and then making a left or right turn until James had lost all sense of direction. He hoped he didn’t lose track of Rauph, because he’d be utterly lost on his own.
Finally, Rauph found the door he was looking for. He pushed a button next to it, and a voice came over the intercom. Rauph replied, stating his name, and the door opened. James barely had enough time to avoid the door before it closed. Inside, he was once again stopped short, his mouth wide open in awe.
#
Bhakat didn’t know how to feel about the presence of the Humans aboard the Tukuli, even after they’d been on the ship for so long. His first priority, however, was to return to Rajan and make sure his Master stayed safe in the process. When Rauphangelaa told him he was taking the Human named Dempsey aboard the space port, he couldn’t help but think of it as a question of his own honor. Rauphangelaa either didn’t trust Bhakat to ensure his safety, or he did not trust him to uphold the tenets of the
Kha. Either way, it was a blow to Bhakat’s faith in his Master, as well as his own ego.
It was a great honor among the Rajani to be taken as a Pledge by an Elder, and Bhakat was grateful he had been chosen by Rauphangelaa. He did his best to study the teachings of Ruvedalin and live his life in peaceful meditation, as Rauphangelaa had taught him. It was difficult, though. He did not have the temperament for it. Because of this episode with the Krahn, he wasn’t sure if it was a loss of faith in the Kha or a realization he had never had faith to begin with.
Rauphangelaa had told him to go pray in his room while he and the Human were aboard the port, but Bhakat found once he got there, he had no desire to recite the words of Ruvedalin or to sit quietly. He was too anxious about his Master; he knew the creature Rauphangelaa was planning to visit.
Interlude
Steve Montgomery was stumped. The Infinity Killer had not harmed anyone for weeks. The investigation was falling apart as the political pressure began to take its toll on everyone involved.
After a month with no progress, the FBI had finally been called in to take over the investigation. The Detroit Police Department was still assisting, but had taken a back seat. The chief and mayor were both beside themselves at the turn of events.
Steve didn’t take it personally. He’d never wanted to head the investigation. His only regret was the fact that James’s reputation had taken a huge hit throughout the time he’d been missing. He didn’t deserve it. If he was still alive, Steve doubted James would ever be able to return to the force again.
Chapter Seven
Rauph had been to the Mandakan Space Port before and knew what to expect. He was not daunted by the sheer size of the port, nor the immense crowds of aliens found there at any given time. Most of his past visits had been to meet and work out a deal for the few items they didn’t produce themselves on Rajan, but a few times had been to meet with distributors of various technologically advanced items; mainly ships for the Elders or devices such as the translation implants he, Bhakat, and Janan had been outfitted with.
As an Elder, Rauph was one of the few privileged enough to own his own ship and have the ability to travel off-planet. Because of this, he’d made contacts on the station, and it was with one of them he hoped to meet now, though he had become more and more nervous as he wound through the maze of corridors, nearing his destination.
The being he was going to see was a Cauterfan named Zazzil. He could be trusted, for the most part, to keep things confidential, and what Rauph needed at the moment was just that—someone who could be quiet for as long as it took to repair the ship. He had no worries about afterward; he doubted he would be returning to Mandaka any time soon, if ever.
He had moved slowly through the intersecting corridors to make sure the Human could keep up. He had checked once, on the hydrolift, to affirm Dempsey was still with him, and had been satisfied the Human wouldn’t lag behind.
Showing up on the Cauterfan’s doorstep, though, was going to be tricky. Zazzil was not fond of surprises, and his species was generally not known for adapting to changes easily. Rauph hoped the price he was willing to pay would be worth any inconvenience the Cauterfan experienced. Otherwise, he might have to find someone else, which would waste even more valuable time. Zazzil was the only one Rauph could think of who could provide the equipment he needed.
When the door opened, Rauph was stopped by one of Zazzil’s bodyguards, a Makerfy. The creature walked on two muscular back legs and was covered in long black fur. If Rauph had ever seen a picture of an Earth gorilla, he may have thought the Makerfy was some type of distant relation, if not for the creature’s almost equine head, which had sets of eyes both at the front and the side.
There was an intake of breath behind him from Dempsey. He should have warned the Human the Cauterfans were a species from a cold, gaseous planet, where they floated through the atmosphere on amorphous wings. He had told the Humans very few organisms could survive on a planet so much different than Earth or Rajan. The Cauterfans were one of the exceptions, and Zazzil had brought a little piece of home with him to the station. The room they had entered was forty feet high and twice as long. Most of it was filled with a large transparent enclosure. Inside the enclosure were billowing clouds of white gases.
As he was patted down for weapons, Rauph saw Zazzil pass by inside the tank and look at him before moving on, disappearing once again into the white gases. The Cauterfan’s bulbous eyes held no expression, but Rauph had not been instantly expelled from the creature’s room, which was a promising sign.
The Makerfy smiled, showing large, sharp teeth, and made a motion toward the meeting room, inviting Rauph to follow him. Rauph had been in the room before, but it still made him shiver to enter it, and not because the temperature was a full thirty Standard degrees colder. Cauterfa was a gas giant, and its temperatures were much lower than most inhabitable planets. The meeting room was basically a bubble in the side of the tank, surrounded by the sides of the enclosure. It subdued the light from the outer room and gave him the feeling he was sitting in a fog bank. Rauph sat on a chair, though it was slightly too small for his large frame, and waited. A tiny speaker near the chair crackled to life as Zazzil’s voice filled the confined space.
“I don’t recall us having a meeting scheduled for today,” the flat, emotionless voice of the translating device intoned.
Rauph looked up but couldn’t see the Cauterfan through the roiling gases. “I apologize,” he said. “We did not, but I am here on a matter of some urgency.” He waited a moment, but there was no reply, so he continued. “I’m in need of some repairs to my ship, as well as some ... alterations. I was hoping we could do business together concerning these matters.” Another quiet beat and Rauph was thinking perhaps he should try somewhere else, when Zazzil spoke again.
“Our dealings in the past have been honorable,” came the voice. Rauph looked up and saw Zazzil floating above him, the large gills below his wings opening and closing in a stately rhythm. The Cauterfan continued talking. “If you have brought trouble to my home, you will regret it, Rauphangelaa.”
Rauph stood. “I assure you, the only trouble is my own. But my need is more about the lack of time. Would your employees be able to repair the ship and perform the necessary alterations in a day or two, at the most?”
“Depends on the condition of your ship,” Zazzil replied. “And the nature of these ... alterations.”
Rauph sat back down on the edge of the chair. “The ship’s repair bots made emergency repairs, but we need to be sure the ship can make the journey to Rajan without breaking down again.” He spent a moment thinking, choosing his words carefully on this part of his explanation. “As to the alterations,” he continued, “I am willing to pay for those, as well as for your discretion. I need a training room set up, to my specifications, aboard the ship.”
“A training room?” Zazzil asked. He was now floating nearer the floor, across from Rauph’s face.
“Yes,” Rauph answered, not volunteering anything else.
“And what do you propose to pay me for these services?” Zazzil asked. “This type of work does not come cheaply, as you well know.”
“The ship’s lander,” Rauph said. “It’s in pristine condition; hardly ever used, actually. It should be worth more than enough to pay for your services.”
“We shall see,” Zazzil said, now rising once again above Rauph’s eye level and fading out of sight into the fog of gases. The Makerfy entered the room and motioned toward the door. The meeting was over. Rauph stood to leave, disappointed at the meeting’s outcome, when the speaker crackled back to life.
“I have looked over my records,” Zazzil said. “Your ship is Talondarian, correct? V series?”
“Yes,” Rauph replied.
“Then the lander is a model XJ40, correct?” Zazzil asked.
“Yes,” Rauph replied.
“Then we have a deal,” Zazzil replied, though he had not reappeared from the fog. “My workers w
ill arrive at your ship in one Standard hour to collect the lander and begin work on your alterations, if you have the specifications ready.”
“Wonderful,” Rauph said. “Thank you.”
“We are always happy to help the Rajani,” Zazzil said. “And the Talondarians.”
Rauph stopped for a moment before making his way out of the meeting room and exiting the Cauterfan’s living area. Talondarians? he thought. What does this have to do with them? He puzzled over this as he headed back to the ship, but other circumstances caused him to quickly forget about the conversation until much later.
#
James and Rauph had only been gone for a few minutes when the argument started. It had been brewing for days; weeks, really. David, Yvette, Kieren, and Gianni were all in the common room, passing the time as they had been doing since coming aboard the ship; mostly trying not to be bored out of their skulls.
“Man, what I wouldn’t give for some real music,” David said, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes while he stretched. Although Janan had loaded some music onto the ship’s central computer, they all soon found most of it was either classical or country.
“What do you like?” Kieren asked. “I’ve always been a Beatles fan. Most of the stuff I listen to is classic rock from the fifties and sixties, with some early seventies thrown in.”
“AC-DC, GNR, AIC,” David said.
“Alphabet rock?” Yvette asked, smiling and looking up from her tablet. She was reading an old article in one of the trashy women’s magazines Janan had downloaded about Brad Pitt’s beard, and hoping James’s wouldn’t turn out half as ugly if he continued to let his grow. She didn’t know if she’d be able to kiss him if it did.
“Funny, David,” Gianni said. “You always struck me as a Streisand fan. Maybe Liza Minnelli.”
“Oh, piss off, Gianni,” David said. “I suppose you only listen to Andrea Bocelli.”
“Guy’s a hack,” Gianni said. “Can’t hold a candle to Pavarotti or Domingo.”
Rajani Chronicles I Page 11