“Since you left your room,” Dempsey replied. “These guys are acting too ... I don’t know, nice. Something doesn’t feel right.”
Rauph thought about telling the Human about the Talondarians and their apparent similarities, as well as Zazzil’s ability to see Officer Dempsey, but then thought better of it. Why complicate the situation further? Besides, he was too out of breath to go into any long explanations, and he still wasn’t sure of Zazzil’s intentions concerning the Humans. If the Cauterfan really thought Dempsey and his fellow Humans were Talondarians, then Rauph didn’t want to get caught up in any type of politics that might go along with it.
“Help me up,” he said, instead. “Zazzil will be true to the agreement we struck. The Cauterfans are known for their inability to lie. He will honor his side of the bargain. That’s all that matters.”
“Do you need help back to your room?” Dempsey asked.
“I am not going back to my room,” Rauph answered. “I’ve been in my room for long enough. If you would assist me to the bridge, I would appreciate it.”
#
Ries had been in the Alliance Society for Peace long enough to know that sometimes officers made enemies. He started his investigation of the riot by calling in all of the officers involved in the fight. They met in the ASP office aboard the port. Usually he would meet them in his private suite, invite them in and provide a little luxury to keep them loyal by showing them preferential treatment, but not this time. They all knew what meeting in the office meant by now. Someone was likely to get fired. Or worse.
The ASPs were not an organization they could easily walk away from. They knew what they were getting into when they signed up. It was usually worth it to them to gain special privileges throughout the Alliance. If they had to give up a little personal freedom, then so be it.
His first appointment of the day was with Shinto Gwe’ll, the Asnurian who was first assaulted in the riot. Shinto had only been on the Mandakan Space Port for a short while. Ries had met him when he was first assigned and had not spoken to him since.
Ries’s assistant, a small Esbian named Tmal, showed Shinto into his office and then closed the door behind her. He wished she hadn’t. Shinto came from a species that believed bathing stole part of their life-force. His stench was barely tolerable in the larger open areas of the port, but it was almost overpowering in the closed confines of Ries’s office.
Ries pushed a button on his desk that opened the large picture window behind him, which looked out over the main concourse from four stories up. Clean, purified air flowed into the room, and Ries breathed deeply, while also pouring himself a drink. One of the benefits of having four arms was having a dual set of brains, one to control each set. He finally turned his attention back to Shinto, who had been left standing in the middle of the office while he waited for Ries to take notice of him.
Ries could see the dark bruising on the Asnurian’s face and his still-swollen lips from the fight. He slowly took a sip from his drink while still appraising the officer standing before him. Make him sweat, and he’s not likely to lie.
“Sit down,” he finally said, turning to look out of the open window at the lights and life scattered below.
“Commander, I—” Shinto began.
“Silence!” Ries did not even look at him. “Sit. Now.”
Shinto did as he was told.
“Tell me exactly what happened, from the beginning,” Ries said, turning back toward Shinto, who had the appropriate look of fear on his battered face.
“My partner, Vidro, and I had finished our patrol of the upper level,” Shinto began.
His breath is worse than his body odor, Ries thought with an inward shudder.
Shinto plowed ahead. “We saw a group of fellow officers on the main concourse and decided to compare notes with them on the status of port security,” he said, looking down at his feet.
“You decided to take a break and gossip on company time,” Ries said matter-of-factly.
“No, sir,” Shinto began, leaning closer to Ries’s desk. The smell almost made him gag.
How can his partner and the others put up with this? Ries thought. Then he remembered that the officer named Vidro was a Nefarian, a species that could close their nostrils at will. Ries wished he could as well. He gave Shinto his coldest glare, and the other stopped and sat back, ending his protestations.
“Continue with your report,” Ries said.
“We’d been there a few minutes when a Xerbian approached from one of the hydrolifts.” ASPs were taught to recognize every known species in the universe, or at least the ones that were officially recognized by the Galactic Alliance. Because of this, Ries formed a mental picture of a large creature with a bad attitude.
“It walked over to our table,” Shinto continued. “That’s all I remember until I woke up in the infirmary. I’m told the Xerbian never spoke a word; he just started swinging. That’s all I know, honestly.”
“You had never seen the Xerbian before?” Ries asked him.
“No, sir,” Shinto answered.
“You were approached by an unknown individual,” Ries said, “and you took no precautions. You let him walk up and lay you out cold. That’s great. The finest, most highly trained security force in the galaxy, and that’s the best you could do.”
Shinto stared at his paw-like hands and kept quiet. A wise move, as it turned out.
“Well,” Ries said after a moment, “I suppose you’ve learned your lesson, at least. Get out of my sight.”
Shinto stood up quickly, backing away toward the door to Ries’s office. “Thank you, Commander. Thank you. I thought ... I mean ... I’ll do better. I promise—”
“Get out,” Ries said, knowing what the Asnurian thought. Shinto knew what happened to ASP personnel who failed under his command.
Ries stood and leaned out of the window, breathing deeply through his large nostrils.
Tmal entered his office holding a hand to her nose. “Sir?” she asked.
“Send in Vidro Glor,” Ries said. “And a fan,” he said after a moment, regretting his choice for the first interview. It was going to be a long day.
#
James was beginning to get antsy. The Tukuli had been docked at the space port for a week, by his count, and no one had been allowed to leave the ship. Ever since the events had transpired that first day, Rauph had made it clear no one would leave the ship again while they were docked. Zazzil had been true to his word. Repairs to the Tukuli soon began, as well as the upgrades that Rauph had requested, as Janan and Bhakat supervised and scrutinized everything done aboard the ship.
James had been surprised to find out that Zazzil’s workers brought three crates of clothing made for the Humans aboard the ship, though not exactly of a style or cut they were used to. He’d been informed by Bhakat they had left the crates in the cargo hold with express instructions from Zazzil’s head of security that they were to be given to the guests.
James had distributed the clothing according to size, noting all five of the team members received at least a set of shirt and pants. They were comfortable enough, though simple and unadorned, and all the same khaki material. It occurred to James it wasn’t coincidence there were clothes for all of them, not only the two who had left the Tukuli, but he could worry about the implications later.
Finally, the workers had pronounced the work finished, and Rauph called all of the Humans together to let them know they would be leaving as soon as possible. James had then held his own meeting with the others and made a last-minute plea to them regarding the battle that lay ahead.
“If anyone has had any last-second thoughts about any of this,” he told them, “now is the time to voice them. We can leave you here and pick you up on the way back to Earth.”
James had felt a small amount of pride in the fact none of them had volunteered to stay. Now, a day later, he sat and waited for the ship to finally begin undocking from the space port. For all he knew, they could already be on the
ir way to Rajan, and the Humans hadn’t been told yet. It wasn’t like there were windows in his room he could look out of and see their location. He eventually couldn’t stand it anymore, and made his way to the bridge. He pushed the button next to the door to announce his arrival, and the door opened. He stepped through and saw by the viewscreen they were still docked. It occurred to him then he could have punched it up on his tablet, but by then he was already there.
“What’s going on?” he asked. He felt somewhat stupid when the three looked over at him, and it occurred to him the translating device was not in the room. He couldn’t understand them if he wanted to. Janan smiled and pointed to the viewscreen. James saw a large, intimidating ship floating a short distance off the space port’s docking station. Its colored stripes made it look like some type of predatory fish.
“ASPs,” Janan said.
James felt his heart sink. It looked like the police were still keeping all of the ships from leaving the station until they sorted through the events leading to the full-scale riot involving their officers. He didn’t need a translator to guess that. It’s what he would have done. The question now was how to leave without being stopped by either the police or the Mandakan Imperial Warship that was still patrolling the system somewhere. As he was thinking about their dilemma, there came another chime at the door to the bridge. The three aliens turned to look at James. He smiled and went to the door. Outside in the corridor were Gianni and Kieren.
“What’s going on?” Gianni asked. “Weren’t we supposed to leave by now?” He stood on his tiptoes to look over James’s shoulder, trying to see onto the bridge.
“The cops are stopping everyone from leaving the station,” James told them, pointing toward the viewscreen.
“No shit?” Gianni said, smiling. “Guess they’re a pain in the ass way out here too.”
“Gianni,” Kieren said.
“What?” Gianni asked. “I was only kidding. Big J knows that.”
“Big J?” James asked. He wasn’t sure if he should be offended or complimented by the nickname.
“So why can’t we tell them it wasn’t us and ask to leave?” Kieren said. “I mean, we haven’t done anything wrong, have we?”
“I’ve found speaking up only tends to lead to trouble,” Gianni said. “Cops want to find things out on their own. You come to them, and all that happens is they get suspicious of you, and the next thing you know, you’re in an interrogation room and they’re playing good cop/bad cop while you wait for your lawyer to show up. It’s not worth it.”
“I wish I could go over the finer points of police procedure with you,” James said. “Except in this instance, you’re probably right. Best to keep our heads down and not draw attention to ourselves, if we can.”
“What’s going on?” asked a voice from the corridor. They all turned to see Yvette walking toward them.
“Looks like we’re stuck here for a little while longer,” Kieren said.
Rauph rose from his chair and wordlessly directed them all to follow him. The four Humans were led to a nearby room, and they saw the large translating device sitting on the table inside. Rauph turned the device on and then spoke. “I would ask you not congregate on the bridge at this time. We’re doing our best to figure out how to expedite our departure.”
“Hey,” Gianni said. “We wanted to know what was happening. No reason to get all pissy with us.”
“I am not being, as you say, pissy,” Rauph replied, not really knowing what the expression meant, but knowing if it came from Moretti, it couldn’t be good. “I only ask that you stay off the bridge until we are on our way.” He nodded to James and then left the room.
“Well,” Yvette said. “Diplomacy strikes again.”
“All I’m saying,” Gianni told her, “is we’re not prisoners here. We have a right to know what’s happening. Right?”
“I agree,” James said. “But we’re also guests aboard their ship. There’s no reason to antagonize him in an already tense situation.”
“If we’re going to be stuck here a while,” Yvette said, “why don’t we at least try out the new training room?”
“An excellent idea,” came a voice from the doorway to the room, via the translator. They all turned to see Bhakat and Janan. “It’s getting late tonight,” Bhakat continued. “But we could start your training in the morning, when my shift ends.”
“We?” James asked, surprised the Rajani would ever attend the training session. He thought it was against the Rajani’s religious beliefs.
“Bhakat is the only one trained in the use of the room’s controls,” Janan said, smiling. “Rauph refused to learn anything about it, so I guess you’re stuck with us.”
“This should be fun,” Gianni said, sarcasm dripping from every word.
“Fun is not the word I would use,” James said. “We have a limited amount of time before we reach Rajan, and in that time, we need to learn the full extent of our new powers and how to use them as efficiently as possible. Our lives, as well as the lives of thousands of the inhabitants of Rajan, depend on us knowing what we’re doing before we get there.”
“Easy for you to say,” Gianni said. “You’re already showing your new powers. The rest of us still don’t even know if we’ll get any, let alone what they’ll be. Except for Kieren, I guess.”
“Patience,” Bhakat said. “They will come. From what Rauph has told me, sometimes they need a little ... incentive to manifest themselves the first time.”
“Then I guess I’ll see everyone bright and early tomorrow morning,” James said. “Has anyone seen David around? He should be told as well.”
“I’ll tell him,” Janan said from the doorway. “His quarters are near mine.”
“No,” James said, thinking it over a moment. “I think I’d better be the one to talk with him about it. Thanks anyway.”
#
After his meeting with the others, James went looking for David. It had taken a little while to figure out where everyone’s rooms were located on the ship—the Rajani had not set them up in a row of rooms, so it was a chore to seek each other out. James wasn’t sure if this was by plan or because the Rajani themselves were solitary in nature and had assumed the Humans would enjoy their own space as well. It was the reason he and the others had agreed they should have a common meeting room where they could hang out together if they wanted.
When he finally arrived at David’s room, he pushed the doorbell and waited. When there was no answer, he pushed it again. Finally, the door opened and David poked his head out. He was bleary-eyed and his hair was disheveled. He was in only a pair of boxers and a white T-shirt. Unlike Gianni, though, he had been brought aboard the ship wearing a suit and tie. James saw the suit was now in a heap in the corner of the room, next to a heap of the clothes provided by Zazzil.
“Sorry if I woke you,” James said. “Isn’t it a little late for a nap?”
“Oh, is it?” David asked, pulling his dark slacks on and tucking in his T-shirt. “My body clock is all screwed up out here.” He motioned for James to enter and tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. James could see he’d been drooling on himself.
“I wanted to come by and let you know we’re going to start our training tomorrow morning,” James said. “We’ve had a little setback, and it looks like we might be stuck here another day or two.”
“Repairs?” David asked as he took a drink of water from a glass that had been sitting on a small table near his bed.
“Cops,” James replied.
David raised his eyebrows. “Did we get caught? The Rajani, I mean.”
“No,” James replied. “But I have a feeling if we are caught, we might get stuck in quarantine for a while until they make sure we’re okay. Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Damn,” David said, closing his eyes and scratching his head. “So what type of training are we talking about for tomorrow?”
“I think we’ll take things slow at first,” James replied. “I want to
make sure we’re all physically fit enough for this. Powers are great, but I think we should all be able to withstand anything that may be thrown at us, and that means making sure we’re all able to build up our physical and cardiovascular endurance. We don’t know exactly what to expect once we get to Rajan. Hell, we might already be too late.”
“What do you mean?” David asked with a look of uncertainty on his face.
“The Krahn may have come and gone,” James said. “We might be stuck picking up the pieces after we arrive. I don’t think that’s how this will play out, though, to tell you the truth.”
“Why not?” David asked.
“I don’t think we’d be that lucky,” James replied. “Besides, what fun would it be?”
“True,” David said. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what does it feel like to use your powers?”
“It really doesn’t feel like anything,” James told him. “It’s not like you can feel the power around you. The energy field is there, but is almost like a part of you. You can do things naturally. It took me a little while to get used to turning invisible and staying that way, but after a while it was easy. I can still see myself, even though no one else can.”
“Cool,” David said, before looking contemplative. “I hope I’m not stuck with some lame power that’s no use to us.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” James said. “The important thing is getting everyone to work as a team.”
“Good luck with that,” David said, rolling his eyes. “I’m glad I didn’t get stuck as the leader of this ragtag group.”
“I’m still counting on you to be an important part of it, though,” James told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll be ready to go,” David replied. “I think.”
“Good,” James said, walking to the door. “It’s going to be a long day of training.” He smiled as the young man groaned. He was looking forward to seeing what his fellow team members could do. He was especially curious about the ones, like David, whose powers hadn’t yet manifested.
Rajani Chronicles I Page 15