As I spotted, Rollo breathed heavily as he lay on the bench. He reached up with his paws, the palms covered with chalk dust. He tested his grip several times, finally settling into the right spot. Then he braced himself while taking a deep breath. With a grunt, he shoved up as I helped him lift the bar off the rack.
As he lay there on the bench, the crazy man balanced one thousand pounds on the bar. This would be a new max for him. With an intake of air, he lowered the bar so it touched his muscled pectorals. Then, Rollo strained, his face turning red. He actually raised the weight. I watched spellbound. My best had been seven hundred and fifty pounds, and I’d considered myself Hercules because of it.
To my amazement, Rollo shoved the one thousand pound barbell up to the rack, slamming the metal into the slots. Then his arms collapsed and he lay there on the bench, breathing hard and grinning like an idiot.
The intercom buzzed.
“What now?” I asked. Stepping to the intercom, pressing the button, I said, “Creed here.”
“Commander,” Ella said. “You’d better get to the bridge.” I heard the fear in her voice.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Dmitri just came through the Pluto gate,” Ella said. “He said the entire Lokhar Fleet is heading our way.”
“What?” I asked. “You’re kidding, right? How many ships does he mean?”
“Dmitri said he stopped counting at three hundred. That was a little over half in his estimation.”
A cold feeling erupted in my chest. “Is he counting space fighters?”
“Cruiser class or bigger, Commander,” Ella said. “We have a situation on our hands.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll be there in a minute.” I clicked off the intercom.
“Trouble?” asked Rollo. He sat up, mopping his sweaty face with a towel.
“Looks like its hitting the fan,” I said, “and the Lokhars want to stop here before they go do whatever it is they planned.”
“What’s that mean?” he asked.
I regarded Rollo. “I think we’re going to find out.”
***
I figured I should do something with Dmitri’s heads up. Clearly, we couldn’t face hundreds of Lokhar capital ships. Why would the tigers come to the solar system with an armada? Did they mean to annihilate us? Remembering the Shi-Feng, I thought, Maybe.
Anyway, I ordered the Thomas Aquinas to Earth. Through autopilot, Rollo sank it deep into Lake Erie.
As Dmitri raced from Pluto to Ceres, I gathered my two cruisers. As fast as we could, I had people cart our missile launchers and beam cannons off the big asteroid. I had them bury the ordnance on smaller asteroids. I didn’t want the Lokhars to know we’d raided a Jelk Corporation star system.
Why would the tigers care? Good question. They were aliens, and they were coming with far too many starships. Maybe they were here to steal our artifact.
The days lengthened, and finally the first Lokhar cruisers and battleships appeared through the Pluto jump gate. They radioed with the special system, telling us Admiral Saris of Purple Tamika came to inspect our Sol Object.
She’d been here more than seven years ago when I’d returned from hyperspace. In fact, she’d traded us our three cruisers. I asked her what she wanted. She smiled and requested a face-to-face meeting in four days.
What could I do? I said, “Yes. It will be my honor.”
***
From the bridge of the Aristotle, Ella counted their warships as the mass swarmed toward the Forerunner artifact. Five hundred and sixty-four Purple Tamika vessels moved toward us. The armada had six times the mass of the Starkien fleet that had been here before. There were cruisers, battleships, carriers and missile-ships in abundance. Clearly, we were fleas compared to the elephant.
The bulk of the Purple Tamika armada took up station near Jupiter. Fifty battleships came on toward Ceres. I had Diana and the rest of the Earth Fleet stay near the freighters.
Thus, I waited near Ceres with two former Lokhar cruisers.
Finally, the fifty battleships braked nearby, stopping. The admiral requested my presence aboard her flagship. I went alone, with my trusty .44 beside me. The idea of coming by my lonesome was to shame them and in a sense, give them as a subtle insult. Saris was the great admiral. I was Commander Creed, and I walked alone.
What do you want to hear? I docked my shuttle, walked corridors lined with hundreds of tigers in powered armor. Each held a rifle at port arms and stared with obvious hostility. Finally, I reached a hatch where the biggest tigers I’d ever seen waited. Without a word, the smaller of the two opened the way.
I walked through. Two hundred Lokhars waited for me inside. Most had lined up against the bulkheads. They all wore fancy uniforms with lots of purple, golden braid and medals. A big conference table was in the center of the chamber. Around it sat thirty tigers. Most were fleet officers, with a few robed adepts and some infantry generals. At the head of the table sat Admiral Saris. She was tall for a Lokhar, and she sat as if someone had surgically inserted a steel rod into her spine.
I only recognized one other tiger. He was a bluff combat officer with a White Nebula with purple trim pinned to his jacket. I’d seen him seven years ago.
Halting before I reached the table, I bowed at the waist. There was a stir among the Lokhars, whispering. Finally, Admiral Saris spoke.
“Where is the rest of your entourage?”
“I came alone,” I said, loudly.
That brought more whispering. The admiral frowned at the combat officer beside her. Good, I’d upset them. Their armada upset me. I knew it couldn’t be good for us.
“Very well,” Admiral Saris said. “You will sit here near me,” she said, pointing at an empty chair.
“Thank you,” I said.
“First, though, you will give up your sidearm.”
They must have heard what I’d done to the Emperor’s daughter-wife, Princess Nee. I dearly hoped the big dog hadn’t come along and just waited for me to be disarmed before he made his appearance.
I handed over the magnum. Then, as if heading for a gallows, I walked toward my spot beside the admiral and across from the combat officer.
After I sat, the admiral offered me refreshments. I nibbled on some Lokhar jerky and took a shot of tiger liquor. It exploded in my belly, spreading warmth. After I wiped my hands on a napkin, I figured it was time to get started. I didn’t really care to have all these tigers watching me. Maybe I should have brought someone else along. It’s hard being alone.
“I have to admit,” I said, “I didn’t expect to see you in our solar system so soon.”
“Those are my feelings as well,” Saris said.
“The Emperor is well, I take it?”
“He is,” Saris said. “I’m sure it would make him glad to know you care about his welfare.”
“We owe much to the Emperor,” I said. Meaning that someday I’d like to slit his throat and watch him bleed to death. I wondered what would happen if I mentioned the Shi-Feng. Nothing good for me was the likely answer.
Saris showed me her teeth in what might have been a smile. I’d never seen the lady do that before. She had to be the gravest tiger I knew.
“This is not a pleasure call,” she informed me.
“I didn’t think so.”
“This is a functional war fleet.”
“I hope you’re not here to wage war against us.”
Saris looked around as if surprised. The room erupted with tiger laughter. I wondered if this was what a gazelle might feel surrounded by snarling lions.
“No, no,” the admiral finally said. “We are neither at war with you guardians nor with the humans. Are you surprised at my distinction between the two groups?”
“Not really,” I said.
“The Emperor and his advisors view the humans as beasts,” Admiral Saris informed me. “You are something different, something higher on the evolutionary scale.”
“Is that supposed to make me gra
teful?”
“Yes,” she said flatly.
“Okay then. Thanks.”
“Admiral,” the combat officer said. “You should not tolerate his sarcasm.”
“You are wrong, General,” Saris said. “He has entered the hyperspace artifact. He spoke to the Forerunner object, and it told him its name.”
Halfway down the conference table, a robed adept rustled her garments. She had the most fur on her face of any Lokhar I’d ever seen. Maybe that meant she was old. “I would hear the object’s name,” the ancient adept said in a quavering voice.
“In a minute,” Saris said. She fixed her yellow orbs on me. “Doctor Sant stayed here for many years, did he not?”
Was that what this was about? I cleared my throat, saying, “The good doctor left some months ago.”
“In an Orange Tamika vessel, yes?” Saris asked.
“I think so. Why, is that important?”
The admiral’s eyes seemed to glitter with malice. “There is evil in the space lanes,” she declared. “It came on an ill wind of fate.”
The old adept with her purple robe struggled to her feet. She was shorter than any Lokhar I’d seen and her head thrust forward. Trembling with age, she pointed a clawed finger at me. “The ill wind came upon his return,” the adept said. “It came as he rode the artifact to the solar system. We must return the object to the Altair star system. It is blasphemy for it to reside in the abode of beasts.”
“Your words are blasphemy,” I said.
The room grew deathly silent. The adept turned wild eyes onto me. She gnashed her teeth until foam flecked her mouth.
“Who are you to speak against an adept of the third degree?” she asked in a quavering voice.
“I am Commander Creed,” I said. “I am he who closed the portal planet and halted the Kargs from invading our universe.”
“Lies!” the adept shouted.
“Yeah?” I asked. “What part specifically are you referring to?”
“Lokhars closed the portal planet. This is a proven fact.”
“You’re dead wrong,” I said.
The adept turned to Admiral Saris. “I claim—”
“Silence!” Saris snarled.
“No!” the adept shouted in a reedy voice. Others around her took up her cry.
Admiral Saris pressed a button, and a loud klaxon blared. No one could speak until she removed her finger.
“Sit down,” Saris said. “I rule here. I will decide the agenda.”
The adept looked as if she wanted to argue. Finally, reluctantly, the trembling adept resumed her seat.
The interchange so reminded me of Prince Venturi and his adept on the Indomitable that I wondered if this was some sort of ritual the tigers went through during every big meeting.
“Commander Creed,” Saris said. “Orange Tamika has raised the flag of revolt against the Emperor. Did you know that was the doctor’s intent?”
“I wondered about it, yeah,” I said.
“You admit to this?” Saris asked in wonder.
“I have nothing to hide.”
“This is a grave breach of trust,” Saris said.
“I don’t see it that way,” I said. “Your lovely Emperor caused my planet’s destruction and billions of humans to die. I saved his bacon some time ago. To my way of thinking, he and you Lokhars owe us big time.”
Once more, silence filled the chamber.
“You are not very diplomatic,” Saris said.
“I figure you’re going to do what you came here to do. It hardly matters what I say.”
“Force him to tell us the artifact’s name,” the adept rasped from down the table.
“Yes,” Saris said, staring at me. “It is time for you to reveal the artifact’s name.”
I made of show of looking around the room. The Lokhars seemed to edge toward me, to wait expectantly for the great secret. They hungered for it. Settling back into my chair, I regarded the admiral. Did any of the Shi-Feng sit among them? I dearly wanted to know more about these holy assassins.
“Let’s think about this for a minute,” I said. “Many years ago, the artifact fled the Altair star system—”
“Listen to me,” Saris said, interrupting. “We are not here to relate old exploits. We know what happened at Altair and at the portal planet. It is inconceivable that a human knows the artifact’s name. What makes it more galling, is that no Lokhar has shared such a profound knowledge with a Forerunner object before. There are those among us who view this as a grave breach of protocol.”
Did she mean the Shi-Feng? Hmm, surrounded by all these tigers, with all these warships ready to attack the last humans, maybe I should speak delicately for once.
“Who am I to decide such things?” I asked. “I’m just a man, as you keep pointing out. If the artifact felt inclined to tell me and no one else, I’m going to keep it that way.”
“You must tell us,” Saris said. There was something new in her voice. It almost sounded whiny. Was the admiral desperate?
Maybe it was time to try a new tact.
Once more, I cleared my throat. Then I asked, “Do you believe in the Creator?”
Lokhars cowered and cried out, some shielding their eyes from me with their arms.
“I’m taking that as a yes,” I said. “If you wish to profane this ground, attempt to force me to speak. Otherwise, quit asking me because I’m not going to tell you. The artifact chose me. It didn’t choose anyone else. That must mean something, right? Maybe it’s even the Creator’s decision.”
My words made several adepts cringe. One tiger standing at the farthest wall watched me with hot eyes. He looked tense. I felt certain that Lokhar belonged to the Shi-Feng.
I bet they’re everywhere.
“Oh, by the way,” I said, “Doctor Sant dearly tried to learn the object’s name as well. I didn’t tell him, either.”
“The doctor claims you did tell him,” Saris said.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Kill him!” the adept screeched. “Boil him in stem oil and eviscerate him.”
“Silence,” Saris told the adept, “or I will have you removed from the chamber.”
The old adept breathed heavily and eyed me with wild eyes. Even so, she held her tongue.
I glanced at the far wall. The tiger I’d seen earlier wasn’t there. What did that mean?
“Look,” I said. “I think we should work together. We have been for some time, and it has been beneficial for both of us. What kind of alien is attacking the Jelk in the core worlds?”
“Your only concern is in telling me the name of the Forerunner artifact,” Saris said.
“John F. Kennedy,” I said, promptly.
A gasp went throughout the chamber. Tigers stared at one another in awed wonder.
“This is the artifact’s true name?” Saris asked in a soft voice.
I was tempted to say yes. Instead, I shook my head. “Sorry, no, it’s the name of a human leader.”
The wonder turned to outrage.
“He mocks us,” the combat officer said. “Let me kill him. His ways are profane, an insult to the Lokhar race.”
“Hey, I’m the object’s guardian,” I said. “You need to start giving me some respect. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to let you view the artifact or not.”
“How can you stop us?” Saris asked.
That was the rub. I didn’t have a powerful weapon. I needed one, all right. If I had the Purple Lokhar armada, ah, that would be something. Then things would be different around here.
“You do not yet understand your place in the scheme of existence,” Saris informed me. “Perhaps it is fortunate for you that I am about other matters at present. We came here for your cruisers and starships. You will return them to Purple Tamika.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“The two cruisers facing us and the Earth Fleet warships, we’re taking them back,” Saris said.
My gut tightened with
rage. I had bought those with the most precious commodity in the universe: human lives. It took an act of will for me to refrain from launching myself at the admiral.
In a shaking voice, I said, “We humans earned those warships with our blood.”
“Times change,” Saris said, pretending not to notice my anger. “Unknown aliens appear to battle the Jelk Corporation. Can the Jelk stop these invaders? If not, the Emperor might have to do so with the might of the Lokhar fleets. I, as the Emperor’s representative, will ruthlessly put down the Orange Tamika rebellion before that. Thus, I demand every warship I can lay my hands on. You have ten.”
This was a disaster. I had to use my wits, and use them now. Despite the seething inside me, I said, “Nine warships not ten.”
“What happened to the tenth vessel?” Saris asked.
“I sent it out on a raid,” I lied. The tigers no longer deserved even an approximation of the truth. “The cruiser never returned.”
Saris sat utterly still. Finally, she shrugged. “I will take the nine.”
“No!” I said. “How am I supposed to defend the Forerunner artifact without warships?” When Saris didn’t answer, I said, “What if Baba Gobo shows up again and takes the object?”
“Before that happens,” Saris said, “I have no doubt the object will disappear as it did before in the Altair system. It will not allow Starkiens to hold it.”
“How will the artifact know what’s happening?” I asked.
“You are a dense beast,” the adept said. “The artifact knows, of that you should have no doubt.”
I sat stunned. Despite my efforts to use cunning, I found it too hard to concentrate. “You’re not taking our warships,” I said. “We’ll fight to the death to hold them.”
“Perhaps that is so, Commander Creed,” Saris said. “If that is true then you will die, and all humanity will die with you. Is that worth a noble but futile gesture?”
I studied the admiral as wheels turned in my mind. Finally, I concluded she was telling the truth. We’d have to give up our cruisers. That would leave us practically defenseless. Just when we’d begun as Star Vikings, Admiral Saris came and took all our dragonships. Was this going to be the fatal handicap that ensured our extinction?
Star Viking (Extinction Wars Book 3) Page 11