by Petra Landon
He let go of Ghesh unceremoniously, and the male fell back to the floor with a thump and a cry of pain. Zoran raised his boot-clad foot to stomp down on the Ketaari as he lay on the floor. There was a small crack before Ghesh screamed out in pain again. His right leg now lay splayed out at an impossible angle. The Ketaari crew members gasped audibly, and their Captain’s expression grew pale with shock.
“Just something to remember me by.” Zoran’s attention remained on the Ketaari officer. “Perhaps next time, you’ll think twice before you prey on someone rendered powerless to fight back against you.”
Between gasps of pain, Ghesh swore viciously at the Hadari’Kor Captain in Ketar. Zoran straightened up to his full height to cast a last scornful glance at the Unta-Golar.
“Remember what I said before, Ketaari. I’m serving your Empire notice. The only reason I’m letting you live today is because I want you to take my message to your superiors at the Imperial Forces” he stated coldly before turning his back on Ghesh with casual disdain to make his way to Saakshi.
He nodded at the merc holding her up before meeting her eyes, his own softened with emotion.
“Hold on, tseriya” he said softly to her.
Saakshi felt herself swept up to be cradled close to his big warm body. She allowed her eyes to close wearily in relief, her body battered by sheer exhaustion, pain, cold and fear. Zoran strode out of the Cargo Hold with his mercs, their Captain and his precious burden well-guarded by a flank of Hadari’Kor. They made brisk progress towards the access hatch they had flamed to enter the Transport.
“Captain” Martuf said into Zoran’s ear. “Two Ketaari ships are headed here, a half hour away to interception at their present speed. They’re Imperial Forces.”
Zoran understood Martuf’s query. He was asking his Captain whether they were to stay and fight or retreat and regroup. It was a good question. Zoran would welcome a brawl with the Imperial Forces right about now, especially with the Hadari’Kor ships headed this way to back him up. But his saner instincts knew that it was not good strategy for him to pick a fight with the Ketaari military right now, especially a fight he could easily avoid. Soon, the Empire and the Imperial Forces would be under no illusions about who supported and assisted the Budheya rebels, but now was not the time to reveal his hand. They needed to bide their time until everything was in place.
“Scan for a good hiding place and inform the other ships that we will meet with them at the alternative rendezvous coordinates. Be ready to jump the drive the moment the strike team is back onboard.”
“Acknowledged, Captain” responded Martuf’s steady voice.
Saakshi remembered little of the jolting ride on the shuttle and their hurried entry onto Zoran’s starship. All she had was a vague memory of Zoran carrying her into the Medic Bay to leave her in the capable charge of Dr Uish.
“Rest, tseriya” he whispered to her. “I’ll be back for you soon.”
Saakshi slept through their mad dash into a neighboring gas giant, the medicines in her body lulling her into a deep healing sleep. Dr Uish informed Zoran that she would need a few days to recover from the severe trauma to her system due to her injuries and the early onset of frostbite to her weakened body. The Juntafeyore hovered in the gas giant, its sensors blind to wait patiently for the Ketaari Imperial Forces ships to leave, before departing to rendezvous with the other Hadari’Kor ships. One had agreed to detour and pick up Jolar and the two other mercs on Keeyor 9 before meeting up with them at the rendezvous point.
She slumbered through the preliminary set of conferences while the Hadari’Kor hammered out a set of engagement parameters that a majority could agree on. Zoran made sure that the Hadari’Kor spent their time wisely, lining up all the ducks in a row while their ships sailed to a meeting with the Alliance. Zatar had sent them the coordinates for a new conference with Alliance representatives. The broad agreement struck between the various Hadari’Kor groups would be used by their representatives for the upcoming negotiations with the Alliance. It hadn’t taken much persuasion from Zoran to attract a large enough group of Hadari’Kor to his cause. As he had suspected, there had been unanimous agreement that the Hadari’Kor did not want to join the Alliance. Instead, they would negotiate a long-term contract with the Alliance to continue as independent entities under mercenary contract to the Alliance Armada. Albeit a much longer contract than they normally signed up for, and with the agreement that their skills would be used for a specific cause. This was the Hadari’Kor way – a nomadic existence with the craft of combat as their means of livelihood, while resisting being governed by regulations cooked up by people who did not understand their way of life. The people of Hadari and Kor would not join the Alliance but would ally with them to work together for a common cause they believed in – just the way the Hadari’Kor liked it.
She also slept through the surgical procedure as her implants were extracted from her body, the skin around the wounds carefully healed and her ownership bracelet cut open where it encircled her wrist.
When Saakshi finally awakened from her healing sleep, she felt refreshed and little pain. Dr Uish did a final examination before declaring her well along the path to complete recovery. She was discharged from the Medic Bay with Dr Uish cautioning her to get plenty of healing rest for the next few days. Jolar, who Saakshi welcomed with a joyous smile, waited to escort her to a chamber much smaller than the Captain’s, but furnished comfortably enough for her needs. He surprised her with an affectionate hug before asking her soberly to be ready in a standard half hour in the clothes laid out for her in her chamber. Interpreting the urgency in Jolar’s request correctly, Saakshi hurried through a sonic shower. Although eager to ask about events since her rescue from the Ketaari Transport, Saakshi understood that matters of more urgency and higher priority needed to be attended to first.
A simple Budheya dress in the colors of flame and honey and a pair of sturdy walking boots in her size awaited her in the chamber. It was a simple dress with a fitted bodice that fell in soft folds to mid-calf, reminiscent of the attire that Budheya village folk wore to their religious ceremonies. The round neckline was modest while the three-quarter length sleeves were fitted at the top but widened to a bell shape at the cuff. To her joy, her tenar mesh armband lay neatly beside the dress. Saakshi had hunted for the armband on the Transport to hold on to it, clutching it in her hand when the Unta-Golar had felled her before Zoran and his mercs had charged into the Bay. She was glad that someone had had the foresight to keep it safe for her. Saakshi dressed quickly, ready by the time Jolar announced himself to escort her.
Jolar gave her a reassuring smile as he escorted her to the Shuttle Bay. A crew member used a small hand-held RCD Scanner to add temporary tags onto her ID chip to allow her access to Alliance ships and other facilities. That was when it struck Saakshi that the Juntafeyore sat docked somewhere inside Alliance territory. Jolar steered her to a small pre-programmed shuttle and waited for it to start traveling away from the Juntafeyore before he spoke.
“I have a message for you from Zoran, Saakshi. He was hoping to talk to you before you met with the representatives, but he couldn’t get away.”
Jolar continued after an intent look at Saakshi.
“We’re on our way to board an Alliance warship, where you will meet with representatives from the Alliance. They will ask you questions about Budheyasta and the Budheya resistance. Do not be fearful – answer what you can. Zoran will be in the chamber as part of the Hadari’Kor presence and will make sure that you’re not asked any questions that make you uncomfortable.”
Saakshi nodded slowly, taken aback by Jolar’s words. Her mind whirled with a thousand questions but she sensed that this was not the right time to ask them. Zoran's words from their last night together flashed through her. She guessed immediately that this had something to do with his ambitious plans to create a new coalition of Alliance and Hadari’Kor against the Empire.
“Zoran asks you to trust him on this,
Saakshi. Hmm?” Jolar added softly as their shuttle completed docking procedures.
Saakshi nodded more confidently this time, oddly reassured by his words. She took a deep breath, preparing to step on to the Alliance ship with Jolar.
Ten
From his seat beside the other Hadari’Kor, Zoran watched Jolar usher Saakshi into the conference chamber. Elegant and poised in the simple Budheya dress Jolar had bought on Keeyor 9 at his request, her only adornment was the armband on her left bicep, identifying her Pura or religious house. To Zoran, she looked beautiful despite the air of fragility that hung over her. He could tell that she was nervous, despite the composure she projected.
The conference chamber was split into two half-spherical seating blocks that faced each other. The blocks were designated for the individual negotiating parties. At either end where the two half-spherical blocks met, a seat had been built into the chamber. These were intended for witnesses, experts and others whose testimony was considered pertinent to the negotiation or conference in progress. The Hadari’Kor party sat watchfully at the head of one block, represented by Zoran, his brother Zatar, and Nektiyor, an experienced and battle-hardened older male, chosen to represent the group of mercenaries at the negotiating table. Two males occupied the block across from the Hadari’Kor. These two, in addition to the Alliance Commander, represented Alliance interests.
Alliance Commander Rayeou Kerovac, more popularly known in Quadrant Five by the moniker Un Kieto Maal which roughly translated to ‘The Machine Male’ in the Commander’s native language, was the highest ranking military officer in the Alliance. As the Alliance Commander greeted Saakshi with old-fashioned courtesy, Jolar withdrew after a quick look directed at Zoran and a final reassuring glance at Saakshi. The Commander ushered Saakshi to one of the seats reserved for witnesses that faced both sets of negotiators.
The Commander’s physical presence - general posture, the way his body moved and the occasional gesture - barely hinted at the depth of extensive mechanical and electronic augments made to his body. Rumor had it that his race, the mighty and accomplished Iovac, one of the original founding members of the Alliance, had created five such Kieto Maals as their latest attempt in a long string of experiments aimed at creating a super race of augmented life forms. The whispers also hinted that the Alliance Commander was the only one of the five to have survived the intrusive adaptations their bodies had been subjected to. Whatever the truth of these rumors, the Commander had not merely survived, but had flourished and thrived, leveraging his phenomenal physical strength, extraordinary intelligence and machine-like computational abilities to the role of Alliance Commander – Commander-in-Chief of the Alliance Armada. The Alliance Armada was a loose confederation of military contingents from the various planets that made up the Kampuchan Alliance. Their singular goal and only charter was to defend Alliance territory from being encroached upon by the expansionist Budh-Ketaari Empire. Each military contingent or fleet followed its own set of regulations, fighting style and individual strategy in battle, but the overall deployment and strategy of the Alliance Armada, including the positioning and mission of individual fleets, was directed by the Alliance Commander. It was widely known that after years of impasse with the Ketaari Imperial Forces, the Alliance had finally experienced some notable military successes since Un Kieto Maal’s appointment as Alliance Commander.
Saakshi clasped her hands nervously in her lap and concentrated on projecting an image of serenity. A quick sidelong glance had revealed Zoran seated between two Hadari’Kor males to the right of her. She could feel his intent gaze on her, as if willing her to turn her head and meet his eyes, but Saakshi was too nervous to make the attempt. She glanced instead at the other group of two males to the left of her. One wore the colors of the Alliance Armada, like the tall male who had greeted her before ushering her courteously to her seat. The second one looked like no race she’d ever seen or heard of. He was massive, even bigger than the huge Hadari’Kor, and attired in a long robe with a hood that obscured most of his face. What little she could glimpse of his face was a deep bronze marked faintly with what looked like pale vertical stripes.
“I’m Alliance Commander Rayeou Kerovac” the tall male introduced himself to her politely, his military bearing ramrod straight as he stood before Saakshi. “With your permission, the Alliance would like to ask you some questions.”
An expression of astonishment flitted across Saakshi’s face before she recovered to acquiesce to his request. She hadn’t realized that this courteous and self-composed male was the legendary Rayeou Kerovac. Un Kieto Maal’s reputation, as well as his strategic successes against the Empire, had reached even the rural hinterlands of Budheyasta.
“Could you state for the record if you’re amenable, please.”
The Commander’s polite and even tones seemed to steady Saakshi, and she replied softly in the affirmative, responding in Alliance Standard, the language he had addressed her in.
“Could you state your name for the record, please?”
His subsequent questions dealt with mundane details of her childhood, her parents, her village in Budheyasta, her recruitment to the resistance, her experiences with her resistance cell and her knowledge of the cooperation between various resistance cells on Budheyasta. With every question, Saakshi grew more confident in her responses, but her new found composure was fated to be short-lived.
“Were you a prisoner of the Ketaari Imperial Forces?”
Saakshi flinched from the simple query. Memories of being aboard the Ketaari Transport assailed her, rendering her temporarily incapable of a response. As she tried to gather herself, her eyes flashed around the room in desperation, only to collide with Zoran’s steady gaze. He lounged in his seat, outwardly relaxed but with a watchful look in his dark eyes. His eyes held her perturbed ones for a long moment, the expression in their depths helping Saakshi to compose herself again. She turned her attention back to the Commander, comforted and calmed by Zoran’s presence and the reassurance in the dark eyes. As she replied in the affirmative to the Commander’s query, she couldn’t fail to catch the brief but speculative glance directed at Zoran by the third male in the Alliance party – the only one not wearing the Alliance insignia. So far, he’d observed the proceedings silently. Thus, even this tiny reaction from him caught her attention.
The Commander asked her for details of the crime she’d been convicted of on Budheyasta, her experience as a Ketaari prisoner, the details of her contract being bought by Pik and her experience working on Keeyor 9 Trade Sphere. The only time Saakshi faltered in her response was when asked about her acquaintance with Zoran.
“The Ketaari Golar in charge of my village on Budheyasta walked into Trader Pik’s one day to recognize me from before. When he started harassing me, I asked Zoran Hadari-Begur-Kor for his assistance” Saakshi explained steadily, unable to stop herself from shooting a quick glance at Zoran. His eyes remained steady on her, a slight smile on his face.
“Were you acquainted previously with Captain Hadari-Begur-Kor?” the Alliance Commander inquired.
“He was a regular patron to Pik’s during the time I worked there.”
“You knew him casually from the alehouse.” There was the barest hint of a query in the Commander’s statement.
“I had no contact with the Captain before I asked him for assistance” Saakshi answered steadily. “I merely knew him as a customer from Pik’s.”
“Then why did you choose to approach him for assistance?”
“My boss, Trader Pik, advised me to approach the Captain. Pik believed that the Captain would be willing to help me on this matter and I felt comfortable approaching him for assistance” Saakshi said composedly. As far as Saakshi was concerned, the genesis of her association with Zoran was a private matter between them, and not something for public consumption or discussion. Zoran’s advent into her life, no matter the circumstances, was a fortuitous event Saakshi credited to her Pura. Pura Bedana had been looking out for her
in more ways than one by gently nudging her faithful follower towards her Hadari’Kor Captain.
“You discussed this matter with Trader Pik?” the Alliance Commander probed gently.
“No, Pik had heard about the Ketaari officer through the station grapevine. He knew that I was in trouble. Pik advised me to go to Zoran for help, since he was powerless to assist me on this matter.”
The Commander’s brow arched faintly in inquiry, although his expression remained unchanged.
“Pik does not allow his customers to harass his servers” Saakshi explained, her voice matter-of-fact. “But a Ketaari prisoner on contract to him being constrained by a Ketaari commander is beyond his purview. He also warned me that the Ketaari Unta-Golar could have my contract revoked prematurely, and he was proven right.”
The Alliance Commander directed a searching glance at her before moving on to another line of questioning.
“In your opinion, is the Budheya resistance making any impact on the Ketaari occupation of your world?”
“Not in any substantive way yet.” Saakshi’s response was immediate. “But we’ve always known that it will take a long and inter-generational struggle before we’re able to overthrow the Empire from Budheyasta.”
“Why do you believe that it will take such a long struggle?”
“This type of resistance does not come naturally to the Budheya. We’re still learning how to effectively fight an occupational force. They have superior weaponry and technology that they stole from us. On top of that, the Ketaari make sure to keep the Budheya people uneducated and too preoccupied with feeding their children to fight back in any effective way against the oppression.”
At her frank but well-articulated response, the Alliance Commander directed another penetrating look at her before continuing.