Family Law 2: The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet

by Mackey Chandler

  "First, you don't have anything to drink," Lee noticed. "If you want some coffee, it has been cleared for Badgers. You can get it from the big stainless steel urn there. Just put a mug under the nozzle and pull on the black lever."

  "I'll do that, I've tasted vodka and what they are calling rum, which Fargoers assure me is a pale imitation, and something called rice that didn't impress me at all." He chose a mug and filled it without being too clumsy. He returned and sat across from Lee again. He sniffed at it cautiously.

  "It smells like..." he had to stop and use the pad again. "We have something you'd call a nut. It can be eaten raw, but too much of the raw will give you digestive distress. We roast it by stirring it in a heavy metal pan until it gets browned a bit and the oils start bleeding out. It is eaten out of hand or put in breads and soups. Never in a beverage to my knowledge."

  "Coffee is roasted too. It's the seed inside a berry and the pulpy part is thrown away. Then it is ground up to let the water extract the flavor and color better. It is a mild stimulant too."

  Talker tried to lap some up. "Nope, still too hot for me."

  "Steward!" Lee called. "Do you have a minute?" A Fargoer appeared wiping his hands on an apron. "Do you have a zero G container handy? If it's buried away and going to take you too long don't bother, but Talker here isn't suited to using a mug. I should have figured out he doesn't really have lips. I think a sippy-cup would be much easier. An insulated one preferably."

  "I know right where they are Ma'am," he promised her and disappeared.

  "If I were hunting Mammoth I would never surround it like in your picture," Lee assured him. "I know I'm not going to stick a spear in it and have it fall over dead. It's going to be pissed off or scared and take off either to get away or to trample one of these little creeps irritating it. Surrounding it just guarantees no matter which way it moves somebody is going to get squished."

  The steward returned and displayed a cup with a handle much like he already had, but of a lighter material, thick walled and having suction tube reaching to the bottom of the cup from the cover that sealed the top off. He filled it with one deft motion from the ceramic mug. The skill with which he transferred the coffee from a mug with a rounded top edge surprised Talker. He sealed it closed so Talker would see how he did it, but offered no verbal instruction, not wanting to interrupt Lee.

  "Be careful," Lee did pause to warn him. "It's easier to burn your mouth sucking it up a straw than sipping it from an open cup." He nodded an acknowledgement, thoroughly comfortable with the Human gesture now.

  "If it were me, I'd send one young clueless male, who could run like crazy to stick the Mammoth with a really heavy spear, then run for his life. Something with barbs behind the head so the Mammoth couldn't rub against a tree or something and get it out. Then I'd let it get weak and slow from the wound before finishing it off. You might have to follow it a few days, but that's a lot of meat, so it would be worth it."

  Lee looked at Talker funny. "OK, I'm not stupid. I know that is your amused look. Worse, I think it's your amused look but busting a gut not to show it look. You get little dimples around your whiskers even if you can keep your mouth straight," she accused. "What's so funny?"

  "It's involuntary," he said smoothing his whiskers flat down both sides oh his muzzle with both hands. "I fear you'll take offense." He took a sip carefully from his cup.

  "So what? You think we'll never offend each other?" Lee said with a shrug.

  Talker took a deep breath. "It amused me, that you suggest getting someone to hunt young and lacking a clue? Clueless? To go recklessly in harm's way. Yet you are quite young. Is this an indictment of your age group or an immodest statement you are a superior specimen of your age group? You did say male. Are the males really so different?"

  "I'm told young males my age are a hormone driven horror of recklessness." She stopped and cocked her head over and frowned, thinking. "I remember when we were on Luna, Earth's moon, Gordon got shot in the head and there was no Derf doctor to attend him. They called in a veterinarian. You understand what that is?"

  "Indeed I do," Talker said checking his pad. "We also separate the treatment of Badgers and their livestock and research animals." He read a bit more and held up a finger to forestall her a moment. "We do not have what I am reading here though. Animals kept for companionship."

  "Yeah, pets. It seemed weird to me at first too. I helped care for animals on our exploration ship. We kept them to test the suitability of living worlds. But this veterinarian, who seemed pretty smart to me, said her experience was that male Humans, dogs, which are Canines, and even aliens such as Derf never grow up. She wasn't joking and she was directly applying it to crazy risk taking behavior. Take that bit of folksy wisdom for whatever you think it's worth," Lee offered.

  "I'd find that hard to accept since I'm male. However, Gordon was shot in the head? How is it he's still alive." Talker asked.

  "If he were Human he wouldn't be alive. It was an older gun, a genuine antique, of what I'd characterize as a medium caliber. The round grazed his scalp and ricocheted off his skull with enough retained energy left to vent the corridor to vacuum. Trust me, Derf are hard headed beyond belief. If you are going to shoot a Derf use a big gun with a full magazine."

  "Thank you, I think I am well advised on that, but it's not an action I am contemplating. But what of you again?"

  I'm not typical," Lee insisted. "It's not just ego. I grew up on a spaceship, isolated socially and in the company of adults, my Human parents and Gordon. When my parents died Gordon took over for them raising and protecting me. He's not entirely done yet. It turns out I learned lot more for my age than what other kids learn back in so called 'civilization'. They weren't surrounded by things that if you 'played' thoughtlessly with them killed you. In fact I find it sort of repulsive how they are coddled and protected to the point they fail to do for themselves long after they could if properly guided."

  "I like speaking with you because I felt you have a bluntness that perhaps your adults lack. But you're telling me it isn't a product of your age?" Talker asked.

  "No, more likely my upbringing. I grew up with people I could trust. There was no advantage to deception. It might be fatal. Gordon had to teach me not to just blurt out anything I wanted when we visited Human society. I still see blunt honesty as safer and less trouble in the long run if you are dealing with decent honest people. I really believe if I deceive you it won't last forever and it will come back on me worse in the end than if I am forthright in the first place."

  Talker sat silent for awhile, thoughtful, Lee guessed by his expression.

  "And if you deceive me I won't be nearly as forgiving as people raised to regard it as a fun game to see how much they can fool you. Fair warning to you," she said lifting an index finger for emphasis.

  Talker tried out the gesture, but didn't ask the meaning. He seemed to get it.

  "I was sort of extrapolating from what you said, I was pretty close to figuring that out on my own. But you haven't told us everything," Talker reminded her.

  "Like how we burnt the butt off the Biter ship?" Lee asked. "No, but that's not deception, we're just not ready to share that information with you. We aren't covering it up or lying about it. We value a certain amount of privacy. Look up how that word is used. There's a hundred other things we haven't shared. Some because we're embarrassed by them. Humans have done some pretty awful things. At least a lot of them were to other humans. It's not like we are just cruel to outsiders. I'm not at all happy how Earth Humans treated me when I visited. If you think I was unhappy, well, Gordon started a war over how they treated me."

  "This coffee is interesting," Talker allowed, "but it has a bitter edge to it that is a little strong to me. I can't quite ignore it. Badgers aren't big on bitter tastes."

  "The little paper packets there are sugar. It's been cleared too, but we already know if you eat too much it gives Badgers diarrhea. I'd suggest maybe a quarter or a third of a packet in the
coffee might please you. The other stuff is cream. It isn't cleared and it might be dangerous. It has a lot of odd proteins and enzymes and not even all Humans can digest it. In fact it's a Human food that Derf have less trouble with than Humans. The Derf have cast iron guts."

  "I find that very doubtful," Talker said frowning at his little computer.

  "Hyperbole," Lee explained. "Exaggeration to make a point."

  "Ah, that's a Bill thing, although we show some talent in using sarcasm.

  "Human cultures vary too. Sometimes I understand Derf better than my own species," Lee said.

  "This internal division...It worries me. Exactly how are you different than these other factions? Gordon has warned me that New Japan may seem as different from Fargone as Derfhome is even though they are both Human worlds. Why did you have so much trouble going to Earth? And yet we don't see you abandoning their claims system after you even fought a short war with them. That surprises me."

  "You have time? It's not a short story."

  Talker nodded his assent, looking attentive and genuinely interested.

  "OK, this will take awhile. You might want another cup of coffee," she suggested. The one with a little sugar had gone down much quicker she noticed. "We went down to Earth to play tourist at a place in North America called California."

  Talker stirred some more sugar in his fresh coffee and nodded encouragement for her to continue.

  "I was stupid about local custom and hazard. I'd never been a victim of crime and wore a very expensive piece of jewelry that was a trouble magnet," she remembered, grimacing."I was terribly green about how to act in public places..."

  * * *

  "The Biters are boosting at two point four-three G, compared to our present one point one-one. I have no idea if that is physically easy or hard for a Biter," Einstein admitted. "My initial estimate is they could be within our missile range twenty two minutes before we jump. If we wish to see whether the shot is good before we jump we have to take it quickly. If we shoot later we'll be gone when they engage our fire."

  "I'd really rather you not expend another missile on them," Chance said. "We've used up two already. I have no hard data on their weapons range." He was still second guessing himself for having used two missiles on the Biter group. Sharp Claws only carried six of them after all... Maybe he should have told Captain Frost to see if one missile would do the job. But he didn't want to micromanage him.

  "Neither do I know their range," Captain Fussy on the Dart volunteered. "We've seen them fight each other, but they tend to come straight at each other with little finesse. Making a run to jump I've never seen one go more than about one point eight G, but they certainly don't look physically frail. I have no idea of their limits. We haven't seen then fire missiles at each other beyond twenty thousand kilometers. The shot they took at your drone was the longest one we've seen. But they must have to detonate much closer than yours to be effective." He didn't ask what their weapons range was.

  "Thank you Captain Fussy. Sharp Claws, update me immediately if you refine the intercept point or if they change acceleration," Chance ordered.

  "Aye sir. See to it Einstein," Frost ordered. Not offended at all that it was obvious.

  * * *

  "And that's how I escaped Earth, and how the war with North America ended," Lee told Talker.

  "A lot of that story I can't fully understand yet," he admitted. "I just don't have the mental images for a lot of the locations. I substitute something similar from my own experience. Our courtrooms probably don't look anything like yours. We always have three judges or five, not one. I suspect our hotels may be very different from your description of the lobby. A desert may be very different. I can think of three deserts I've know that are each unique. But I certainly got the general vision of your adventure. In honesty I have to say we have divisions among Badgers. Perhaps as strong as between Earth Humans and those who left the home world. It's complicated and I'll try to tell you when it affects how we treat you." He looked down at his hands and seemed alarmed. They were trembling slightly.

  "Are you OK?" Lee asked, concerned.

  "I thought I was just caught up in your story, but I seem to feel...odd. My heart is racing a bit and I feel, not scared, but something very similar."

  "How many cups of coffee did you have?"

  "Four? Maybe five. I was listening and lost track. It's really quite pleasant with the sweetener."

  "It has caffeine, a stimulant. Five mugs would leave me wired too."

  "There is a plant the long haired race of Badgers chew that has this effect. We make fun of them for using it," he said, visibly amused at himself. "How long does it last?"

  "For humans and Derf about four hours. I hope you were not planning to go sleep soon."

  "You story was honestly interesting, but I don't think I could sleep now if you were reading math tables, or my favorite aunt was telling me what my cousins have been doing since I was home."

  "That's the ultimate test of boredom?" Lee asked.

  "The ultimate test of courtesy," Talker corrected, laughing. "I could use this coffee instead of biting my tongue to stay awake. One cousin who she dotes on is an accountant. Need I say how exciting his life is? Another writes novels for single young females. The sort of novel in which something lurid almost happens with predictable regularity but not quite, because that would be vulgar."

  "Oh! Romances!" Lee realized. She was amazed.

  "Dear sweet gods, you have the same horrid sort of stories?"

  "Yes, it's amazing how much we are alike," she repeated. "We call a class of stories like that a genre and Romances are a big, seller. I tried reading a few, but I didn't grow up properly socialized. I don't think I have the right responses programmed in me to appreciate them. I never was able to finish one."

  "My cousin is perfectly suited to writing them. I fear she has never experienced a real relationship with a male, so she couldn't write the implied scenes if she had to. She is a stereo-typical long unmarried female. Do you have a term for those too?"

  "Yes, we call them old maids, but it is an old slur held to be very offensive now. Things have changed and unmarried females are not to be pitied. Nor told they are wrong to choose that life."

  "Indeed, there is a fruit, tu-tir-id is the sound of the word, and we call such old maids green tutirids because the fruit is very sour unripened."

  "I'll be careful how I use that then," Lee agreed.

  "I'm a bad influence I'm afraid." Talker said the words but seemed unrepentant.

  "What are some other Badger jabs and insults then?" Lee asked.

  Talker looked over his shoulders to see who might be lurking about, and he got dimples again on his snout. "Well the Bill's customs practically invite jokes. A Bill, a Badger, and a Cat went into a bar..." He started, leaning forward.

  * * *

  "Sir. The Biters in pursuit have spread a little. I'm not sure if they are anticipating their jump or some other reason," Einstein on the Sharp Claws informed his captain and Chance.

  "I'm not certain either," Chance said, looking at the data feed off Sharp Claw's better sensors.

  "Commander, unless you have some objection, I'm going to battle stations early."

  "You are responsible for your vessel, Captain Frost. Do what you think prudent. I have no problem with going weapons manned and hot right now."

  "I have a gut feeling. When I don't understand things it makes me nervous."

  "As well it should. Dart, I'm putting Roadrunner crew in suits and secure conditions for maneuvering. I suggest you do the same."

  "We are securing nonessential operations and putting off duty crew in their bunks secured. I'm also suiting up and prepositioning damage control," Captain Fussy agreed readily.

  "Good. I had an itch I couldn't scratch too," Fat Ortega admitted.

  "I order you to advise me anytime you have a non-specific unease," Chance told Fat. "As much command experience as you have I value any such uncomfortable feelings.
Sometimes these things fester in our hind brains and we don't become fully conscious of why in time to act on them. If it turns out it was just a bit of indigestion this time we are still well served to pay attention to them."

  "Aye, sir."

  "Acceleration change on the Biters," Einstein called out. "They uh, hang on a second, this doesn't make any sense. I have conflicting... Ah! One jumped his boost up to three point two G. The other dropped his off to point eight-seven."

  "One is pushing to engage us. If he doesn't succeed and isn't destroyed himself he will end up insystem from us on jump as I hoped. The other will not engage us in this system but will follow us into the next. They could end up bracketing us in the next system. I have to admire their strategy," Chance allowed. "It's more difficult to deal with than having both one in front and one behind."

  "The bastard is going to force us to use a missile on him," Chance complained. "We can't use the Greaser to the rear without cutting acceleration and turning the Sharp Claws sideways to him up close and right before jump. I won't risk it. But I..."

  "Entry radiation!" Einstein called out. "Six light minutes ahead and not five degrees off our course. Another! A bit further off beam and overtaking. He's got to be really big! Or a group. That was a bright entry burst."

  "Ping them both, but not at levels to damage them," Chance ordered.

  We will have confirmation if it is a known Biter hull shape in three minutes," Einstein said.

  "Greaser hot to track first vessel to enter and fire on my word," Frost ordered. "I'll try not to use those missiles up," Frost promised Chance. They had four left, but it was a long way back for more.

  "The Biter in hot pursuit of us has dropped back to their original acceleration," Einstein noted.

  "So he has no idea what is happening either. I was starting to wonder if they somehow got ahead of us to lay an ambush, but I couldn't see them having time to get word out and move ships," Chance said.

  "We are illuminated," Einstein informed them. "Biter radar and now the other ship. The second ship is radiating at much higher power density than the first.