by F. E. Arliss
“Weirdly, yes,” Arc murmured back. “Yes. I should be terrified instead, but I’m not. He seems so sad. So aware of what a responsibility he has. I trust him.”
There was a long pause.
“Me too,” her father replied quietly. “Yeah, strangely, me too.”
Neither were aware of the slight relaxing in the tense back in front of them. Energy carried all manner of things back to its source. One of them was sound.
General Apollo understood now his mother’s reliance on Captain Sasha Kelty’s gift as an honor detector. She clearly knew what she was doing. It was a relief to him. As his mother said, proof was in the pudding. Apollo wasn’t exactly sure what pudding was, but he got the gist of it.
Chapter Fifteen
The Game Is Afoot
Stepping onto the bridge of the Lance was an impressive experience in superior technology and immersion into an alien culture all in one fell swoop. The lighting had a slightly pale green and blue aura to it that was at once calming and energizing.
Pale, lanky Idolum warriors worked diligently over consoles shaped like the table-mushroom they’d dined at on Geboren. A low whirring noise, unintelligible to human ears, droned back and forth as they communicated. It sounded to Arc very much like cricket songs from back home.
Suddenly she saw the comparison in their strangely elongated legs and thinly-jointed bodies: the Idolum were some sort of insect hybrid. This is why their habitats were organic. They’d blended nature with technology in order to thrive and evolve in a world full of predators. Casting an excited glance at her father, her look conveyed that she would fill him in later on whatever had dawned on her. He nodded gently, a smile briefly lighting his weathered face.
Over the next hour, Apollo monitored the conversation between the two groups of ships. Sitting in his command chair he appeared almost asleep as his crew relayed information to him through what appeared to be telepathy. Arc and Quirke sat quietly while an Idolum mite named Notch, most likely due to the sharply formed gouge in his left shoulder armor, translated information to them.
The Arachnians were a group of mercenaries, nothing more. That wasn’t surprising, as most Arachnians liked to fight and had little discipline. Those not in the military of their own species often hired out as enforcers capable of anything. Since they preyed on other species for food, this made them especially terrifying. On the negative side for the ones hiring them, Arachnians were easily agitated, prone to flying into rages at a whim, and often turned on each other.
The Idolum, on the other hand, turned out to be a group of nests acting as an intermediary agent for a supplier of humanoid food stuffs. In other words, slaves for sale to be slaughtered for Arachnian consumption or used over and over again as Idolum energy sources. The latter, of course being highly preferable to the first.
What was most terrifying to Arc was that the transactions taking place were simply business. It was clear that somehow these Idolum had an enormous source of human slaves for sale to anyone who would pay the price of the party they represented.
The Arachnian vessels divided into four groups of five ships, accompanied by one Idolum nest ship, then departed on different trajectories, possibly in order to contact prospective clients. Clearly, the Arachnians were acting as ‘muscle’ and the Idolum ships each contained an agent for the source, on whose behalf they would haggle for terms in the sale of the slaves. It was revolting.
A few minutes after the other ships vanished into nothingness, the Clyde was once more underway to Valoria. General Apollo agreed with Commander Quirke that it was best if the Clyde gained the safe harbor of Valoria. General Monsav and his nest would offer the protection of numbers. Apollo would proceed to Geboren, where he would brief his parents, then await instructions.
Before he departed, General Apollo had conferred for an hour with Commander Quirke behind closed doors, then bowed slightly to Arc, took her small hand in his and gently brushed his large, warm lips over the back of her hand, as she’d seen her father do when he’d met Queen Altum Juls.
She couldn’t help it, she blushed from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. When he rumbled, “It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I look forward to our next meeting,” Arc’s stomach did a series of wild flips and she could only manage a curt nod in return. She suspected that he knew darn good and well that her heart was fluttering wildly, and her hormones wouldn’t seem to behave. Firmly removing her hand from his, she simply turned her back and walked away. Slamming the door to her quarters, she flopped on the bunk only to hear Dag’s gentle chuckle.
“Got your goat a bit, did he? Or is that romance I sense bubbling beneath the surface?” Dag asked, a smirk lining his chiseled lips. “That’s quite a bit more reaction than that poor Vanguardian, Caja, got from you,” he added thoughtfully. “I think you’d better cut Caja loose, if this is any comparison.”
“There is nothing going on between Caja and me. He’s an attractive man. I flirt with him. End of story,” Arc said defensively. Then shrugged, sighed, and said, “Oh Dag, it was embarrassing. I couldn’t keep from practically drooling on him,” she wailed. “I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. Well, maybe a couple of times. But not by my reactions to a man!”
“I think, sister, that you’re supposed to be pleased at the reaction you had, not dismayed,” Dag said grinning. “I see I’m going to have to work with you on this. Come on, girl. Perk up. You just met a man that makes your heart do the tango. Celebrate it. Don’t flee in terror,” Dag scolded her. “Buck up. This will be great!”
“Yeah, well remember when you fell for that cute bartender on Gateka that made your heart do the tango?” Arc demanded.
Dag’s face fell. “Yeah, I remember. I still lust after that piece of deliciousness,” he added with a dreamy sigh, then sobered a bit to add, “It really bummed me out for a long time though, too. Still, the adventure and wild passionate occasional fling does make life worth living,” he kidded her, grinning. “Make the most of this one while it lasts!”
Chapter Sixteen
Weapons Test
They were only a day out from Valoria when the long-range sensors pinged once again. An ‘All Stations’ alert went out over the comms. Now that they knew there were Arachnians and unaffiliated Idolum in the area, Quirke wasn’t taking any chances, he raised the cloak.
Entering the bridge, Arc met her father’s anxious eyes. “Did they spot us?” she asked, keeping the dread she felt out of her voice.
“I believe so,” the Commander said regretfully. “We’ll know soon enough. I’ve sent a hail and request for assistance to Valoria. Hopefully, with their fold-space technology they can be here in time, if the convoy turns on us.”
Arc simply nodded. There was nothing to do now except wait, prepare and hope. “I’ll get Birdie, Dad, and prep the fighters. Comm us if you need us,” she said. Stooping suddenly, she dropped a fleeting kiss on the old man’s weathered cheek. A second later she was gone.
The Commander touched his cheek softly, his face wearing a rarely glimpsed smile.
Within minutes it became clear that the Clyde had indeed been spotted. Though cloaked now and invisible to the grouping of ships, the whole convoy of six ships had turned towards where the Clyde had been spotted last. Trying to conserve energy, Clyde traveled without cloaking most of the time and the cloak was engaged only as an emergency precaution. Like now.
There was no way they would be able to outrun them, so they’d have to try to hide and hope aid from Valoria reached them in time.
For the next several hours, the Commander played a clever game of hide and seek with the six ships. The Idolum cruiser was clearly running the show, sitting calmly in one place while the Arachnian vessels made slow burns through the most likely hiding places. They obviously knew the cloaking had to be dropped in order to fire and so were trying to drive them into revealing themselves.
Quirke hadn’t come from a long line of miscreant smugglers for nothing. He was ing
enious in the way he had Clyde glide along under the belly of one of the Arachnian vessels, using their signature to mask his own. A risky proximity, but so far it had worked like a charm.
The Arachnians were getting angry and frustrated. They wanted a fight and were beginning to argue amongst themselves. The Idolum cruiser, demanding that they keep calm and execute the orders given them, was succeeding only by degrees.
The Commander brought Clyde gently up as close as he could to the least erratic of the Arachnian vessels. Arc wasn’t sure what he was doing but trusted him implicitly. “Coates turn your turret gun up toward their engines and get ready to do a one/two strike on the engines and weapons arrays. We won’t have much time before they spot us, as we’ve got to drop the cloak. But I want to use the body of this vessel to hide us as long as possible,” the Commander explained.
“Cole, you get those cloaks re-engaged just as soon as you can once Coates has plugged those two targets. With any luck, they might think it was one of the other ships and start firing on each other,” he added. “The more confused we can make them, the better.”
“We’ve held off about as long as we can and still have fuel to make the burn to Valoria. We’ve got to take action,” he continued calmly. “Birdie and Arc, you take off in the fighters as soon as we drop shields. I want each of you to slingshot around that big asteroid, using it for cover.”
“Target the engines on the Idolum cruiser. We need to see if we can’t make it dead in the water, or at least give the brains something to think about other than corralling the Arachnians. If we can divert their attention, the Arachnians might start in on each other and do our work for us,” he concluded. “You all clear?” he asked.
“Yes, Sir,” came back the chorus of responses.
“Get in ‘n get out. You hear me, girls?” Quirke rumbled, concern lacing his voice.
“We hear you, Papa,” Birdie piped out, giving a little wave through her canopy at Arc, who returned it with a grin.
“Alright! Let’s do this. Dag drop the shields,” Quirke ordered. “Go Arc, Birdie! Coates blast those sons o’ bitches!”
In a matter of seconds, chaos reigned. Coates’ first two rounds with the turret gun punched a close-range hole in the main engine of the Arachnian sloop over their heads. The weapons array on their side also gave a massive whumping blast as Coates aim bore true on his second volley. The vessel began to list, as a series of explosions rocked it to the side.
“Keep us out from under and behind, Dag!” Quirke barked sharply, hoping to buy them spare minutes for the two fighters to get into position.
“Coates target the next nearest sloop. Let’s hope they’ll think it’s this vessel firing!” Quirke ordered. “As soon as you have a clear shot, fire!”
In the meantime, Arc and Birdie appeared to have escaped notice. Now rounding the far edge of the asteroid, the Idolum ship came slowly into view. It was facing forward towards a rather impressive series of explosions that were rocking two of the Arachnian vessels. Arc targeted the port side engine of the Idolum cruiser and accelerated upward rapidly. Birdie, appearing to read her mind, flew alongside.
Coming within range of the ship’s sensors, they had a window of only seconds to get off their shots and drop down below the asteroid again before Idolum fighters were deployed to engage them.
Commander Quirke was hoping that the Idolum-shaped fighters they’d reconfigured would confuse the lead cruiser and stop them from firing for the split-second that might make all the difference for Birdie and Arc to succeed.
Arc and Birdie arrowed toward the cruiser’s engines and both got off a very accurate series of shots from their cannons before following up with two missiles from each wing. They’d found their targets. Explosions rocked the engine room of the cruiser.
The two sisters hightailed it for the back side of the asteroid. Laser cannons peppered the space around them and impacted the asteroid, sending it spinning slightly off to the side. As it spun lazily in a gently arcing curve, the asteroid almost impacted the back of one of the Arachnian sloops engaging the now-visible Clyde. Sensors having undoubtedly warned them in time, the sloop pulled forward just enough for Coates to get a good shot at its starboard side. Clyde’s turret cannon belched again and again. The Arachnian sloop, firing wildly, plummeted slowly out of control, like a diving whale into the vast ocean of space.
Two other Arachnian sloops were firing on each other. The Commander’s plan had worked. The fifth Arachnian sloop and the Idolum cruiser were now being engaged by another Idolum cruiser. Arc supposed -- hoped -- it was from Valoria.
It had a completely different look about it. It was vaguely pale green, and shaped much like a mammalian bat, rather than the usual arrowhead shape of other Idolum cruisers. It was busily engaged with pummeling the remaining Arachnian sloop and the Idolum cruiser.
The Idolum cruiser, seeing no point in trying to aid its hired mercenary Arachnians, was turning tail and running, albeit more slowly than normal due to the holes punched in the port side engines by Clyde’s fighters.
As Arc and Birdie landed in Clyde’s bay, the last of the Arachnian sloops exploded, leaving only floating debris in the midst of what had been a heated battle, moments before.
When Arc arrived on Clyde’s bridge, Commander Quirke was having an intense communication with a tall, thin, heavily-scarred Idolum General. Arc assumed this was General Monsav, the first Idolum General to serve Queen Altum Juls.
Arc’s brain had to work fast to keep up. The two grizzled veterans of many a space battle, were agreed on the next plan. The cargo hauler would continue on to Valoria for repairs and a reload of Soclaued ore products. A representative from the Clyde would board the cloaked Centurion and accompany General Monsav as they followed the limping Idolum cruiser. Hopefully, they would be able to see where the cruiser ran to, or at least gain a valuable connection. Each strand they unraveled in the web of this insidiously evil enterprise led them closer to discovering the controlling hub of the mammalian slave ring.
“Well, girl, don’t just sit there gaping! You’re my daughter. Get a move on! You’re my representative to the Centurion. Make sure they listen to ya’. Got that?” the Commander barked at Arc. “Good job on the Idolum cruiser, girl. You and your sis done good,” he added with a grizzled grin. “We’ll see you on Renegar.”
“Yes, Sir!” She saluted him, winked, and skipped out of the bridge to grab her go-bag and board the Centurion. This was going to be interesting.
Chapter Seventeen
Tragedy Tracked
Boarding the Centurion had Arc feeling a little overwhelmed. She was the only human. And, of course, shorter than any of the crew by almost a foot. It was a seriously disconcerting feeling. Almost all of the Idolum warriors onboard the Centurion had a mixed grey and white head of hair. Very unusual for Idolum, as most had solid white hair.
General Freux, Queen Altum Juls’ mate and General Apollo’s father, was considered an oddity because of his black hair. His squarely filed teeth added to his ‘other-worldliness’ in the eyes of the Idolum, whose jagged, pointed rows of teeth reminded Arc of her urge to jump back when General Apollo had smiled at her. It had been as though an enormous shark was about to swallow her whole.
Arc’s pale-blonde head stuck out like a sore thumb. She wondered who was on board feeding these Idolum. Was there an Osmir aboard? She sincerely hoped so. Arc had no urge to be a food source for anyone, let alone an entire crew.
As she followed the Idolum warrior who had appeared to greet her at the docking tube, Arc took in the crew who passed her with polite nods of acknowledgement.
Unlike the Idolum she’d seen occasionally from afar, these crew members were not dressed in the somber black and immaculately cut uniforms of the un-allied Idolum. Instead, they wore clothing that looked to be made of linen or wool and most were draped with some type of animal pelt. The pelts were often scarred or barren of hair in places and Arc made a note to herself to inquire about the different m
ode of dress.
Eventually, they reached the bridge. As on Geboren, little tendrils of some type of vining plant whispered over her hair and face, cataloging her for the Centurion’s files, she assumed.
General Monsav turned out to be the Idolum version of Commander Quirke, though taller, he was no less wizened. Gnarled and with a deeply grating voice that practically obscured the whirring antecedents of his lineage. To her astonishment, he scooped her close in a hug. Shocking herself even more, she hugged him back. When released, she huskily thanked him for hosting her aboard the Centurion and tried to suppress the tears that had risen unbidden to her eyes.
There was something about him that felt like her dad, Commander Quirke, and she had been unable to dampen down the tidal wave of relief that had swamped her at his gregariously personal greeting.
“Don’t go getting all teary on me, dear,” the General said with a smile that belied his words. “Juls gets that way when I hug her, too. And she’s the one that taught me how to do it. Hugged me the first time before I sent her into the Knotted Abyss for a year. Just about the hardest thing I’d ever done in my whole life, aside from losing my queens,” he added. “Something about that hug made it seem better that I was sending her in. I’ve learned now that those hugs convey much that the spoken word cannot.”