Tobath (Heroes of the League Book 3)

by Frank Carey

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  COPYRIGHT

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Tobath

  Heroes of the League Book 3

  By Frank Carey

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2015 by Frank Carey

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This story appeared previously in the League Foundation Trilogy 1.

  League Tale #3

  CHAPTER ONE

  It was late evening aboard the LTV Melete, and its owner sat at her desk with a cup of tea next to her as she went over a minor glitch in her bookkeeping.

  Nersa Musae was puzzled by a pile of invoices sitting in front of her. Each one was from a company called Elven Industries, Ltd. for an incomprehensible piece of equipment with descriptions which spanned several pages, yet all of them were for zero credits and all signed-for by Tobath. Curious, she asked the computer for Tobath's current location.

  "Tobath is in Engineering, Room E-3, mistress," the computer replied.

  Grabbing the pile, she headed aft to find out what was going on in Engineering.

  When she walked in, she found the room transformed with the deck and consoles scrubbed spotless while every light fixture was functional. On her last visit she had to tiptoe through a dark labyrinth of lubricant puddles, half-fixed equipment, and packing boxes strewn about the floor. Now, it looked like a well-lit showroom at a space ship dealership. Nersa walked over to one of the control consoles and marveled at the complete lack of coffee rings on its surface. She noticed one of the instruments--a transtator monitor--labeled "Elven Industries, Ltd." She checked and saw its invoice in her pile. Nersa looked around and found other pieces of equipment from the same manufacturer, each with an invoice in her pile. After a short search, she had found every item on her invoices except one--something called an "AI NAVComp 001."

  Hearing voices, Nersa walked over to a small room marked "E-3" and poked her head into the doorway. She found Tobath talking to a large device in the center of the room.

  "Nersa! I was just going to call you," the young Martok engineer said as he wiped his hands on a rag. "I would like you to meet Silvestri, the newest member of the crew."

  Nersa looked at the device Tobath was standing next to and marveled at its beauty. It was ten-foot square with odd-shaped metal boxes surrounding a three-foot diameter transparent sphere filled with swirling streamers of plasma. The rest of the room was bare. She remembered a Navigation computer had once filled this space.

  "Greetings, Mistress Nersa. I am Silvestri, your new Navigation Computer System."

  "Excuse me?" was all she could say as she stood there mesmerized by the dance of the streamers within the sphere.

  "He's our new NAVComp. Our old one was getting a little long in tooth."

  "How, how can we afford this?" she asked, stunned.

  "We got it as part of a testing program. Elven Industries needs real-world data and we're in a unique position to provide it. Our travels from gig to gig are perfect for generating the data they need, so we get to keep everything in return for data. Pretty neat, huh?"

  She looked at him in shock. She estimated the invoices covered at least fifty million credits in value.

  "Oh, and Elven industries is picking up the tab for insurance and licenses. Our rating has been bumped up two grades, so we can now visit twenty more stations and outposts."

  Nersa found a chair and sat in it, hard.

  "Hey, mom, you okay?" Tobath asked, running over with a glass of water.

  "How?" was all she could ask between swallows.

  "Yeah, about that. I know you don't want to have anything to do with the League types, especially OffSec and the Cube, but I owe them everything. If it hadn't been for them, my head would be hanging on the Martok Queens chamber wall, so Gloria and I put our heads together and created Elven Industries, Ltd. to make it possible for us to test this stuff without hurting you.”

  “Gloria? As in Gloria the mysterious AI who runs around in a synthetic body?”

  “Yes, that Gloria. I hope you aren't angry with me, but we really need a new NAVComp. On the flipside, Gloria and John have a backlog of stuff that needs testing, so I was happy to oblige."

  “John, as in John Taggart, the head of Biocybernetics Division at the Cube? That John?”

  “Yep. He was working on a high-density computer design when Silvestri appeared in the system. He thinks he hit some minimum complexity level needed to spawn an AI. Right, Silvestri?”

  “Yes, Tobath. Dr. Taggart hit the mark the first time. Very impressive.”

  Nersa looked at him and just ran her palm down his cheek, unable to even say thank you. He smiled, understanding how difficult this had to be for her. The Storen were a proud people, not ones to ask for handouts. Tobath was a refugee Martok, a race at war with the League. He had a price on his head, put there by his once-future mother-in-law, he had little pride left.

  Composing herself, Nersa handed him back the water glass and said, "Show me this wonderful device."

  He held out his hand and had Silvestri tell her about himself.

  "Mistress, I am a true artificial intelligence conceived and created at the OffSec Biocybernetics Research Facility located in the Cube by Dr. John Taggart, Dr. Serena Markle, and Dr. Gloria. I'm recognized as a sapient being by the League of Planetary Systems, the Goranthi Empire, and the Erdexi Empire." He went on to describe his computational power and storage capacity. "I'm responsible for all ship's systems and can fly this ship in an emergency. I know all League, Goranthi, Erdexi, and Martok languages fluently. I am at your service, Mistress Nersa."

  "Nersa," Tobath said as he remembered one last detail. "He needs to access the library computer system. Can you give him permission?"

  "Of course," she said as she pulled out a hand terminal and tapped in a code. "Done. Silvestri, you are now officially part of the family."

  "Thank you, mistress."

  She looked at the young Martok and saw someone beaten up by life, yet willing to do wondrous things for people he'd only met a year ago. Her adopted son Relay--a Space Marine assigned to the Cube--told her Tobath's story when she first met him, and she was dumbfounded that any rac
e could be that callous toward sapient life, but then she saw the news feed of the execution of the Tralaskan and Erdexi prisoners. It was at that moment she believed the Martok's life was in danger, and she and the family would protect him. She wondered if it weighed as heavy on his narrow shoulders as it did on hers.

  "Tobath, never be afraid to tell me anything. Okay?"

  "Yes mistress," he said with a small smile.

  "The others should be returning from their show soon. Is the lounge ready for them?"

  "Yes, mistress."

  She patted Tobath on the shoulder as she turned and left the heart of the ship to return to her duties, leaving him with the NAVComp and his thoughts.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Tobath was waiting in the lounge when the others returned from their gig.

  First up was Kaylon, their Tyen lead singer and guitarist. She stormed in, her blue eyes glowing more than usual. She threw him her guitar while running to get a drink from the fridge. Tobath connected her axe to the diagnostics system of its storage cylinder as she plopped down in a chair where she sat and simmered, taking gulps of the cold beverage.

  "Rough set?" he asked as he set the guitar's cylinder to clean and tune. Its door rotated closed as it started its cycle.

  "We sounded like shit, I tell you. Erik was off tempo and Glit had as much finesse as a glyptar wearing rubber gloves," she said between gulps.

  Tobath said nothing. He knew they sounded fine and Kaylon was just being Kaylon. He also had no idea what a glyptar was, so he made a mental note to look it up on the InterWeb.

  Next was Muusta, their Storen drummer. He lofted his stack of e-drums into the air as he ran over and started pulling ingredients for a sandwich from the fridge and nearby cupboards. Tobath deftly caught them and connected each dinner plate-sized e-drum unit to diagnostics before placing them in a rack running the C and T cycle. "Yo, brother. Missed a good set you did. The babies were purring tonight." A revelation which elicited an eye roll from Kaylon.

  Next through the door were Erik, their human bassist, and Alby, their Venlanten rhythm guitarist. They were passing a new song back and forth while Erik recorded it on his commlink. Tobath deftly caught their axes in mid-air and set them into their cylinders, setting them to clean.

  Right behind them was Glit, their Torsan keyboardist and ship's pilot. She carefully handed Tobath her keyboard, which he connected and placed into its own cylinder. With that, the system started all cylinders while diagnosing any problems, which he would fix after cleaning.

  "Anyone else?" he asked. Before he could sit down, three more people walked in followed by Nersa.

  "Tobath, could you set up three more rooms? This is Silk, Miriam, and Tolk; they're coming with us to our next gig. It seems they had problems with their ride.

  "Cool, Ms. Musae, thanks for the lift. Yoh, we go by RDF."

  "Hello. I'm Tobath and I go by Tobath. Welcome aboard," he said with a smile as he nodded to Nersa on his way out. Glit jumped out of her chair and ran out behind him.

  "Tobath, thanks for doing this for them. Isn't Silk kinda dreamy?"

  He turned and looked at her, a smile as wide as the rings of Jupiter. "Yes, xe is dreamy, he said using the preferred non-gender-specific pronoun one used when referring to the third Torsan gender known as a midlin, and it's no trouble at all. Just be careful, little sister. You know how you musicians are."

  "You worry so much. Do all your people worry as much as you do?"

  "No, but perhaps they should. I assume you want me to get us out of here and on course to our next gig."

  "Could you? Thank you. You are such a great brother," she said as she kissed him on the forehead before running back to the lounge. He hoped that this one would work out. He hated when her relationships didn't.

  "Silvestri, got a minute?" he said to the empty air.

  "Always, sir."

  "Prepare rooms ten through twelve for occupation. One human female, one Tralaskan male, and one Torsan midlin.

  "Yes, sir. Anything else?"

  "Set security level two for our guests."

  "Lack of trust, sir?"

  "Experience."

  "Yes, sir."

  "We're going to be leaving just as soon as Nersa gives me a destination. Start preflight, please."

  "Yes, sir. Very good, sir."

  CHAPTER THREE

  Tobath sat in the cockpit doing last-minute checks when there was a knock on the door followed by Nersa walking in with their flight plan. He took the pad and looked it over.

  "Northcal Six Mining Operation. Isn't that rather close to the war?"

  "A little, but the operation's Director assures me it's secure. I hope so, considering it's the largest adamantine mine in the sector. He told me they were assigned a squadron of patrol ships. We should be fine. What's the travel time to the mine?"

  "Three days. Don't mind me. I find my people scary, and sometimes that fear gets the best of me." He looked at the station feed and saw an open departure slot in thirty minutes. He tapped a button on the tablet which sent the flight plan to ops along with a request for departure. A second later they received clearance to use that slot.

  "Thirty minutes, mistress. Get'em ready."

  "Why isn't Glit up here?"

  "Silk," he said, giving her the look.

  "Oh," she said with a smile. "You can't fight biology."

  "I wouldn't know," he said enigmatically though she knew exactly what he was talking about. Rumor had it that royal females of his species killed and ate their mate's brains when they finished mating with them.

  "Call if you need help," she said as she ducked out of the room and sealed the door behind her. He reached over and typed a command into the console, syncing the ship with Departure Control. Once in the slot and counting down, he finished preflight before strapping into the command chair.

  Five minutes before liftoff, Tobath got an urgent message about a last-minute passenger. "Control, LTV Melete. You do realize we’re not a commercial liner, don't you?"

  "Sorry, Tobath, but she has priority clearance. She says she's from OffSec and says she knows you personally."

  "Fine, dropping ramp," he said as he flipped a cover on the console and threw the switch located underneath. "Nersa, we have a passenger. Get her inside and in a seat. We'll takeoff when you signal ready."

  "She's here," was all Nersa said. Moments later, "Go," came over the intercom.

  Tobath looked and saw the hatch was sealed and the board was green. "Departure control, LTV Melete requesting departure clearance on vector azimuth one-three-seven degrees by elevation 18 degrees."

  "LTV Melete, Departure Control. You are clear to depart on one-three-seven by 18. Good journey. Departure Control clear."

  Tobath pushed the throttles forward while firing the port-side thrusters to clear the station. Once on course he stopped the turn and pushed the throttles to one-quarter power. The ship started to accelerate. Once they were one click out from the station, he brought the conventional engines to idle then brought the FTL engines online.

  "Lounge, Cockpit. Prepare for FTL."

  A small green light on the console came on, telling him they were ready. He pushed the FTL throttle to full power and the LTV Melete dropped into FTL space. They were on their way.

  "Silvestri, status please," he said as someone knocked on the door and opened it. He could hear them walk in and shut it behind them.

  "Sir, all systems nominal."

  "Excellent. Maintain real-space engines at idle and inform our passengers that they can move around the cabin."

  "Very good, sir."

  Tobath checked the controls one last time. Satisfied, he turned to see who had walked in.

  "Hey there, partner. What's happening?" an elf woman asked as she plopped down in the copilot's seat with a bottled wine in her hand.

  He stared at her. “And you are?”

  She cocked her head while her tail swished back and forth. “Do I look that different?”

&
nbsp; “Gloria?” Tobath stared at his friend and business partner as he tried to process what he was seeing. His species were descended from insects on a planet with great extremes in light levels and wide ranges of frequency, so they had developed eyesight which ran from long infrared up to short UV. This meant that he could see heat as well as rays that caused sun tans. Right now, he saw a heat aura around Gloria which put her body temperature at ninety-nine degrees Fahrenheit, the body temperature of an elf, but damn well impossible for a bot body which ran about twenty degrees cooler. He also noted that she was missing her characteristic UV output from her power supply. The real kicker, though, were the two hearts he could see beating in her chest. He was talking to a real, living, elf woman.

  "Gloria, what happened? You're alive!"

  She smiled and took a drink. "Damn skippy, I'm alive, and I need a place to hide out."

  "Huh?"

  "Okay, I see you need a little context. All my other suits are out being evaluated by the Marines, search and rescue, the Navy, you name it, and Wood Elf got damaged, but John and Serena are off on assignment, so they can't fix it. I had a choice of spending three weeks in my hamster ball or pulling my organic body out of storage."

  "Storage? Organic body? Huh?"

  "Yeah, kind of a lot to digest. Let's just say for now that this body is the real me, and yes, I look just like my Wood Elf suit, though smaller and much less muscular. I need to hideout until it gets fixed, so I thought I would hang with my homie and his family, if he doesn't mind, that is."

  "You're real? Even the tail?"

  "Yes, even the tail, though this one doesn't have a laser unfortunately," she said, petting it while it hung down her shoulder.

  "Yes, of course. Sorry, I'm just not used to the idea of you breathing and all that. What can I tell Nersa?"

  "Oh, I already told her everything. She is a truly remarkable woman. Didn't even bat an eyelash."

  "Does John know?"

  "No and neither does Ciara or Serena. I guess I'll have to fill them in when I'm finished. Do you think they'll be pissed?"

  "No. They all adore you. It's just that... Wow!" he said as he touched her arm. "You're real. Damn, this universe is a wonderful place."