Rajani Chronicles I

  Her face broke into a wide smile as she wiped away another stray tear. “Shit. How am I supposed to stay mad at you?”

  “You’re not,” he said, serious now. “I promise you, I knew nothing about this.”

  “I know,” she said. “I wish we didn’t know about them at all.”

  “But we do,” he said. “Now we have to learn how to deal with that knowledge without anyone else getting hurt in the process.”

  She looked up at him and smiled. “Later,” she said, gently pulling his face down to hers.

  #

  “How long before we reach Rajan?” Rauph asked. He was seated in his regular chair aboard the bridge.

  “Two days,” Janan answered quietly. None of the Humans had talked to him in days. Not even David.

  “Notify me if anything happens before tomorrow,” Rauph said. “I need to get some rest.” He rose slowly and walked to the door of the bridge before turning. “Janan, I wanted to ... apologize to you. For not telling you about—”

  “You don’t have to—” Janan began.

  “Yes, I do,” Rauph insisted. “We should have told you. You’re my pilot and a member of my House. After everything we’ve all been through, you should have been told. I wanted you to know I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you,” Janan said as Rauph turned and left. He only hoped David would eventually understand. He had come to consider the Human his friend. Yet he also considered Bhakat his friend, and the Rajani had not told him about the first Humans taken aboard the ship. It was all so complicated. How could he hope to be forgiven by David if he could not bring himself to forgive Bhakat? And yet he felt so betrayed by his Rajani friend. Was this what David was feeling as well, this sense of disloyalty? Janan had learned in his time with the Humans they felt many of the same emotions. Their physiology might be different on the surface, but under it all, they were more alike than not.

  He made up his mind he would to speak to both Bhakat and David after his shift was over. He was also worried about what would happen once they arrived back home. With everything that had happened since they had left Rajan, it was strange to realize they were almost back. He was scared about what they might face once they reached the planet, and what he would have to face when he returned to what was once his home.

  #

  Bhakat was late for his shift on the bridge. His last shift aboard the Tukuli, most likely. Even if they were able to free their planet and repel the Krahn Horde, he thought his relationship with Rauph wouldn’t allow him to stay his Pledge. He didn’t think he could be a Priest of the Kha, or a Rajani Elder, for that matter. He wasn’t meant to sit around studying history and the teachings of Ruvedalin and ruminating on their meanings; he could see that now. Perhaps he would go back into practicing medicine, as he had before becoming Rauph’s Pledge. He felt almost free from the weight of expectations. He wasn’t sure what would happen once they reached Rajan, but he did know his life had changed forever the night the Krahn attacked. He arrived at the bridge and pushed the button to open the door.

  “Good night, Janan’kela,” he said as he walked onto the bridge.

  Janan only looked up at him from where he was seated in the pilot’s seat. “We need to talk about what happened,” the Sekani said. “Please sit down.”

  “Janan—” Bhakat began.

  “Sit. Please, Bhakat,” Janan said, motioning toward the empty captain’s chair.

  Bhakat sat down. “I knew you would be angry,” he said quietly, looking at the control panel instead of his friend.

  “Angry is not a strong enough word for what I felt when I heard what had happened,” Janan said. “You knew about the other Humans, yet you didn’t tell me?”

  “Rauph—” Bhakat began.

  “I don’t want to hear about Rauphangelaa!” Janan almost screamed. “I want to know why you wouldn’t tell me. Are we friends or not? Am I not trustworthy enough? What’s the reason for not telling me?”

  Bhakat sighed. “Yes, I knew about the Humans. I performed the physical examinations on them. We needed to know, before we wasted any more time and energy researching them.” The big Rajani stood up and began pacing. “I knew you would be angry, but I also knew it wouldn’t matter, in the end. All that matters is we’re almost home. We—no, I did what I thought needed to be done to get us here. I don’t feel right about it, but it was my choice. I was trying to spare you from this rotten, guilty feeling I’ve had inside of me since then, but I made things worse, and for that, I’m sorry.”

  Janan stood and walked up to his friend. “I know you are, now. I’d hoped that you were, anyway. I hope we can still be friends when we get back home.”

  “Yes, we’re still friends,” Bhakat said, placing his hand on the diminutive Sekani’s shoulder. “If you’ll have me.”

  “Good,” Janan said. “Now that we have that out of the way, I need to get some sleep.” He turned and headed for the door.

  “Good night, my friend,” Bhakat said, his mind already preoccupied by the thoughts of what lay ahead.

  #

  Janan headed toward David’s room, wondering along the way what he could say to the Human that could let him know he wasn’t some kind of monster from space. He was disappointed to find David wasn’t in his room. He thought about turning and going to his own room, but he needed to settle things between himself and the Human, or he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. He’d left the bridge feeling much better about his relationship with Bhakat. Now he wanted to fix things with David as well, if he could.

  It occurred to him David might be in the common room the Humans had set up, so he walked in that direction. When he finally arrived, he pushed the button that opened the door. He was surprised to see all five of the Humans were there, and they weren’t happy. He could sense the tension in the air, but all of the conversation stopped abruptly when the door opened to reveal him standing there.

  “I am ... sorry,” he said in English. “I was looking for David.”

  James stood and walked toward him. Janan looked up at the large Human, wondering if he should be afraid. What were they doing here at this time of night?

  “Janan,” James said, “we’re kind of busy right now. David will come see you when we’re finished, okay?”

  Janan nodded as the door closed in front of him, wondering if the Human actually would come to see him that night. He’d caught a glimpse of David’s face when the door opened, and could see how upset he was. He walked to his room, the ebullient feeling from his earlier conversation with Bhakat now forgotten.

  Interlude

  Senator Manidoo was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. With a vote scheduled on the passage of the Democratic president’s new appropriations bill coming soon, it was his job to come out against it as forcefully as possible, both in the press and on the floor of the Senate. His mind wasn’t on his speech or the partisan wrangling that would come with it as he made his way toward the podium to stand before the gathered reporters. It was on the realization he’d had that morning. His daughter was gone. His baby. His only family outside of a creepy uncle who lived somewhere in the Upper Peninsula and thought he was a scout for Lewis and Clark.

  He’d done everything within his considerable powers to find her, whether she was alive or dead, but it was as if she had vanished. The FBI and Secret Service had told him he should be prepared for ransom demands, but nothing had ever come. He’d waited as long as possible before accepting the inevitable. She was gone. It hit him almost as hard as his wife’s death all those years ago. Not knowing for sure was like a knife twisting in his chest.

  On top of that, some sleaze from a popular paparazzi website had the nerve to stand up at a news conference and ask him about his wife’s murder, an event that had happened when Yvette was fourteen. As if it had anything to do with the present situation at all. He’d become so angry, he almost attacked the man physically. He’d heard the whole incident was a popular video on the Internet, but he didn’t care. He h
oped no one asked about Yvette today. His broken heart couldn’t take it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It was early in the morning when James arrived at Rauph’s room. He was still tired from the night before. They’d all stayed up late, each arguing for and against abandoning the Rajani to their fate, whatever it might be. In the end, cooler heads had prevailed, and they’d decided to finish the job they’d traveled all that way for instead of demanding to be taken back to Earth. Now he needed to speak to Rauph about the plan for arrival at Rajan. He had the collar translating device affixed around his neck, with the earpiece in his right ear. When the door opened, James noticed how much healthier Rauph appeared. He was out of danger, at least for now. “Good morning,” he said in Talondarian Standard. “I pray your rest was peaceful.”

  “Much better pronunciation, Officer Dempsey,” Rauph said. He returned to sit on his bed and continued braiding his hair. “I must say, when I heard the knock on the door, I was worried it was going to be all of you, informing me you were taking control of my ship.” He smiled before becoming serious again. “You’re not here to tell me that, are you?”

  “No, I’m not,” James said, remaining serious. “I need to know what is going to happen today so I can get my team ready for action. What’s the plan?”

  “The plan is to hide behind one of Rajan’s two moons until we can determine the location of the Krahn Horde’s colony ship. Hopefully, the colony ship and most of the other ships will be bunched together and we’ll be able to get past them to the planet’s surface.”

  “That’s your plan?” James asked, surprised. “Try to outrun them?

  “You must understand,” Rauph said. “The Krahn Horde’s fleet is made up of ships that are either stolen or created from scrap parts. The Tukuli should easily be able to outdistance them. The colony ship, however, is a different thing altogether. We must use the element of surprise if we hope to achieve our goal. It’s our only choice, I’m afraid.”

  “That’s not very encouraging,” James said, thinking over the implications of what Rauph had told him. He forgot sometimes he was basically dealing with interstellar monks. He couldn’t count on them to know anything about fighting—or in this case, avoiding a fight.

  “Once we land on Rajan,” Rauph continued, “we must make contact with the other Elders, if they’re still alive.”

  “And if they’re not?” James asked.

  Rauph was silent a moment, thinking. “I don’t know. What would you suggest we do?”

  “We’ll have to see if there are any pockets of resistance,” James said. “If there aren’t any, we’ll have to create them ourselves. There’s also the question of medicine, sanitation, food, and clean water. If things are as bad as you’ve said, we could find they are lacking in all of these.”

  Bhakat’s voice came over the ship’s communication system. “Rauphangelaa and Janan, report to the bridge immediately.”

  “Oh no, now what?” Rauph said, finishing his braiding and standing up. “Walk with me to the bridge, if you would, Officer Dempsey.”

  “Sure,” James replied.

  “I have thought quite a bit about what we may find when—”

  The Tukuli shuddered wildly, almost throwing both of them to the floor of the corridor.

  “Rauphangelaa!” Bhakat screamed over the ship’s communication system.

  James’s power field appeared instinctively as he ran. It felt like the ship had been hit by something. When he reached the bridge, he saw Bhakat frantically pushing buttons and pulling desperately on the steering yoke.

  Bhakat glanced over at James, a look of panic on his face. “Where is Rauphangelaa?” he yelled.

  “I passed him in the corridor,” James said. “What happened?”

  “We’ve been fired upon,” Bhakat replied.

  “Krahn?” Rauph said, breathlessly, appearing at the doorway to the bridge.

  “No,” Bhakat said. “I came out of nullspace on the outskirts of the Rajani system, as planned. I was met by an ASP patrol ship.”

  “What?” James asked.

  “Where’s Janan’kela?” Bhakat asked, ignoring James’s question. “I’m doing my best to outmaneuver them, but he’s much better at this.”

  “I’m here,” Janan said as he ran into the room and sat down in the seat vacated by Bhakat.

  “How could they have arrived here before us?” James asked Rauph as the Elder entered the bridge.

  “They didn’t,” Rauph said, out of breath. “The ASPs regularly patrol the outskirts of our system. They must have called ahead and told them we were coming.”

  “Is that even possible?” James asked. “I thought you said you couldn’t communicate over long distances in space.”

  “I said we couldn’t,” Rauph said. “The Galactic Alliance has the capability. It has something to do with cosmic ray technology, from what I understand. Up until this point, the Rajani have had no need for it.” Nor would they give it to us, even if we asked for it, he thought.

  “This is all very interesting,” Janan interrupted, “but what am I supposed to do now? Our heading is taking us away from the Rajani system, and the ASP ship is still in pursuit.”

  There was another shudder, milder this time, as the Tukuli was hit again.

  “Hull integrity at sixty percent on the rear panel,” Janan said. “They’re aiming for our engines.” There was a loud beep as the communication system light lit up on his panel. “Rauphangelaa, they’re calling us.”

  “Put them on,” Rauph said. Janan pushed the button.

  “Tukuli, this is Commander Thydosh Complin of the Alliance Society for Peace ship Waverider,” the voice said. “You are in violation of Alliance law. Shut down your engines and prepare to be boarded.”

  “I have to find Gianni,” James said. He ran from the bridge and headed for Gianni’s room. He met Gianni, Yvette, and Kieren heading toward the bridge. All three looked disheveled and in various stages of dress, having been abruptly awakened from sleep.

  “What’s going on?” Yvette asked.

  James dropped his energy field. “We’re under attack by an ASP ship,” he replied. “Gianni, I need a force shield put up behind the Tukuli.”

  Gianni closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened them again. “Done.”

  “Something tells me they didn’t appreciate our escape from the space port,” James said.

  “Imagine that,” Kieren said.

  “Kieren, I want you to go tell Rauph to stop the ship,” James said. “Gianni, concentrate on your shield. Yvette, come with me.”

  “Not again,” Gianni said.

  “Trust me,” James yelled over his shoulder as he ran down the corridor toward the airlock, with Yvette following close behind.

  Gianni looked at Kieren. She shrugged and headed for the bridge.

  #

  Yvette wondered what James was thinking as they arrived at the cargo hold. Gianni was right; they’d already tried having her pierce the other ship with her powers. She didn’t know how he thought this time would be different, especially if the other ship had a force field around it. They went through the doors of the cargo hold and closed them, then walked over to the airlock.

  James pushed the intercom button next to the airlock door. “Let me know when we’ve stopped,” he said. He turned to Yvette. “Believe it or not, I do learn from my mistakes,” he said, smiling at her. He took off the collar translating device and removed the earpiece as well. He looked around at the cargo hold before walking over to a small tool locker and placing them inside. “Thing isn’t very comfortable,” he said and walked back over to her, rubbing his throat.

  “We’re stopped,” Kieren said over the intercom.

  In the background, Yvette could hear Gianni talking. “I hope he knows what he’s doing,” he said. Yvette quietly agreed with him.

  “Acknowledged,” James said, pushing the button once again. “This is going to be a little dangerous,” he said to her.

  “Wh
at is?” she asked.

  “Power up,” he said, doing so himself. She followed his example. “I need you to grab onto the Tukuli with one hand. When I open the door, I want you to extend us both out into space and then extend me over to the ASP ship.”

  “You think that will work?” she asked, uncertain.

  “I guess we’ll see,” he answered.

  She looked at him a moment in doubt before searching the cargo hold for something strong enough to hold them. Finally, she settled on one of the support pillars for the training area. She wrapped a beam of energy from her arm around the pillar, and then wrapped her other arm around James.

  As the energy from their two fields came together, there was the same flash of light that had occurred the first time in the airlock. She nodded to James. “Got you.”

  James opened the outer hatch. There was a loud, extended whoosh as all of the air was sucked out of the cargo hold. Suddenly, the locker he had placed the translating collar in opened. The collar and earpiece flew out of the locker and through the open airlock door.

  “Um ... oops,” James said when he saw them fly out into the darkness of space. Like the last time they’d opened the outer hatch, the energy fields that surrounded them had trapped enough air for them to breathe. That also meant there was a finite amount of time before the air ran out, Yvette knew. They looked out and saw the ASP ship, this one smaller than the one that had pursued them from the space port. It was also farther away than the other had been from the Tukuli. They could see Gianni’s force shield between them and the ASP ship. Suddenly, it disappeared.

  That’s interesting, Yvette thought, not knowing if it was a good or a bad development.

  “Okay, extend us out,” James said.

  After the sound the air had made leaving the cargo hold, Yvette was startled at how loud his voice sounded in the vacuum of space. They left the airlock slowly, and then sped up as Yvette became more confident. She could hardly believe what she was doing. This trip is definitely one for firsts.

  She came to a stop, knowing she had extended the arm as far as it would go. “Now what?” she asked.