Talia felt herself flush with embarrassment but both men were too much a gentleman to make a remark concerning her actions. So she busied herself by wrapping her silk handkerchief around Jay’s head.
Iaido asked, “Can we make it to Haven?”
“We should be able to,” Jay said, “as long as the O2 generators are working. Of course, without Pax we have to do all the calculations by hand but since we will be using a jump point, the calculations are almost a moot point. I’m sure we can manage it.”
“Good. Make the jump soon as possible. Once we are safe in hyperspace, we need to talk.” Turning toward the exit, he added, “But first things first, I’ll go see if Xerxes needs any help.”
“Iaido!” Talia said taking an involuntary step towards him.
Pausing in mid-stride, Iaido looked back. “Yes?”
Talia chewed on her lip slightly before saying, “Be careful.”
With a grin Iaido added, “Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.”
* * * * *
Less than an hour later when they were safely in hyperspace, the small crew gathered on the mess deck. The Nemesis was still listing slightly to starboard but only about five degrees off center.
Talia had kept herself busy by straightening the mess deck. She had moved several large crates to the center of the deck to act as a table with smaller crates for chairs. It was the best they could do until access to the upper or lower decks were restored.
Iaido was the first to arrive. Pausing at the access panel, he studied her handiwork before entering. Shifting his gaze to Talia as she worked at tidying up the room, he couldn’t help but notice the gentle curves of her body. Talia had removed her black leather jacket which revealed the green silk blouse she was wearing; it was loose fitting but still provided an ample view.
Clearing his throat to announce his arrival, Iaido dropped in from the access hatch above deck. Landing cat-like he said, “You know, I should apologize for the rough accommodations. I wasn’t really expecting company.”
Talia was in the process of moving a small crate when he entered. Setting it down, she turned ever so slightly enough to pull the fabric of her shirt tight over her breasts.
“It’s not a problem. We Sylvans don’t all live in the lap of luxury like you Terrans think.”
Swallowing hard at the vision of her loveliness, Iaido knew he needed to change the subject. Pulling out an old brass whistle, he cupped it in his hands and blew three notes; low, high, low. The clear sound echoed through the ship.
Tilting her head slightly Talia asked, “What is that?”
“It’s a bosun’s pipe,” he said holding the instrument up for display. “It was used in ancient days to call muster on sailing ships. This one was a gift from Major McDowell. It was supposedly a gift of consolation after the loss of my brother.”
“What do you mean supposedly?”
“Hector didn’t die in a starship accident like I was told ten years ago.”
Jay came rolling in from the infirmary and asked, “Really? That’s what I was told.”
Iaido sat down at the makeshift table as his friend rolled up beside him. “Let me ask you a question Jay.”
“Shoot.”
“Do you recall an Operation Lodestone?”
Jay looked off into the distance for a few seconds before answering. “Not that I remember. Of course, Omega was a long time ago and we ran so many missions, I’m not sure I even knew all the codenames.”
“It would’ve been the mission where the Major, the Sgt. Major and the Ten were pulled off for some special mission. Only myself and the two commanders returned alive.”
Jay nodded his head. “I do recall that mission, well sort of. I wasn’t involved in any part of it but I do remember how fast it was organized. The orders came in and in less than an hour later, you guys were gone.”
“That’s the one. What do you remember about it?”
Pulling out a pinch of snuff, Jay packed his lower lip. Swirling around the juices for a moment, he spit in his cup before continuing. “You guys were gone for almost a month. I recall that time well, we spent it on leave in Hawaii. Damn, surfing was fun.” Jay grinned at the memories but seeing the serious look on Iaido’s face he came back to the subject at hand. “When you four returned you were more dead than alive, the Sgt. Major walked with a limp and the Major always had a haunted look in his eyes.”
“Four? I was told only three of us returned.”
“Only three of you were alive but Aeneas’ body returned with you. I’ll never forget the look of his body; it was so full of holes, tiny… like those of a needle and his skin was waxy green. Evidently, Aeneas shielded the Major from some sort of needle bomb that injected him full of some sort of alien poison.” Jay paused for a moment. “There was never an explanation concerning his or the rest of the team’s deaths; just the ‘official word’ that they died during a starship accident in a remote region of space.” He paused before adding, “Why?”
Iaido rubbed his neck, “Here’s where it gets weird. The General told me that everyone associated with Operation Lodestone has been systematically hunted down and killed over the last few months. Only the General, the Major and I are left alive.”
Jay glanced over his shoulder as Xerxes entered the mess deck and sat down on the far end the mess hall. “Okay, so someone has a vendetta about Operation Lodestone. What was so important about it?”
Iaido shrugged. “I don’t know. Evidently my memories were erased during the debriefing. I have no recollection of the mission.” Iaido cocked his head to the side. “Well, not really.”
Talia perked up. “What do you mean by that?”
“It’s just when I was trapped in the gun turret and it was filling with smoke, I must’ve been knocked unconscious because I had a dream that I was on that particular mission.”
Talia shook her head. “I bet it wasn’t a dream but old memories struggling to resurface.”
Iaido furrowed his brow. “But I was told they wiped my memory. How could I recall them?”
“I am not an expert by any means but the Empire has been using memory modification for over a millennia. It is used during the re-education process.” Pulling out her tarot deck, she absentmindedly played with the cards, shuffling and cutting the deck at random as she spoke. “You see memories for Sylvans and Terrans are just a matter of particular neurons retaining a specific code at a certain time. When we want access a certain memory, our minds generate a particular code which unlocks that certain memory. Our minds continually update and maintain a master code for all our memories. The re-education process erases the master code or at least part of it. The information is still in your mind but you have no way to access it.”
“If I understand you correctly, the Coalition didn’t actually erase my memory just my brain’s way of recalling the information?”
Talia nodded. “Yes. The only way to actually erase a memory is to destroy the cells which contain it; which in turn would leave the subject in a coma or dead.”
Iaido stroked his goatee for a moment before asking, “So that is why when I was stuck in the turret, the conditions must’ve been similar enough to something I went through during Operation Lodestone that my mind found the right pattern for those missing memories?”
“Absolutely, that is one of the greatest fears of the Empire when doing re-educations.”
“Is it possible to rediscover the codes for these erased memories?”
Talia chewed on her lip for a moment before answering. “Theoretically, yes; there are forms of regression rituals which could allow one to remap those codes but it isn’t certain.”
“Is it something you could do?”
Talia shrugged. “I am unsure. I mean that I understand the rituals involved but it is more than that. Sylvans are a very mystical race. We are more than just this piece of flesh you see before you. We are spirit made flesh and it is the spirit which would have to travel the myriad paths of your psyche to guide you to the cor
rect path.”
“Are you saying that to help me remember, you would have to enter my mind?”
“Yes. All our powers stem from our spirit.” Talia formed a triangle with her hands. “The mind and body exist to serve the spirit but the spirit cannot exist without the mind or body; the perfect trinity.”
Iaido gazed into Talia’s emerald orbs and asked, “Would it be something you would be willing to attempt?”
Talia felt herself drawn to Iaido’s steel grey eyes and hesitated for a moment before forcing herself to look away, “Only as a last resort. The ritual is very intim…demanding.”
Iaido could tell that wasn’t exactly the adjective she wanted to use to describe the procedure but let it pass…for now. He turned his attention to Jay. “How’s Pax?”
Jay took a deep breath and said, “Heavily damaged. Parts of her matrix have been damaged beyond repair…”
Iaido groaned.
“But there’s hope. Diana is also badly damaged but both matrixes are damaged in different areas. It might be possible to merge the two and return them both to life.”
“Will it work?”
Jay shrugged. “I don’t know. It should, in theory at least. The problem is that I will need some parts and equipment that are not available on the Nemesis to even attempt it.”
“I don’t care how much it cost, when we get to Haven find what you need. Buy, beg or steal it but get what you need.”
* * * * *
They were less than an hour out of Haven when Jay turned the operations chair to face his friend. They were alone for the moment; Xerxes and Talia were aft doing something which gave the retired Master Chief a chance to speak his mind. “Okay, I need to ask you something.”
Without taking his eyes off the panel, Iaido asked, “What is it?”
“Now, don’t get me wrong, I like Talia but why is she here?”
“She’s Eve’s Aunt and her only living relative as far as I know.”
Jay shook his head. “There has got to be more than that. She’s a civilian. She has no idea what we are getting into and that will make her a liability. You know that and I know that.”
Iaido paused in his reading of the Nemesis’ damage reports and turned to face his friend. “You’re right. She doesn’t know and in some ways she will be a burden but somehow I feel that she is connected to all this. I really can’t explain it more than that but it feels right that she is along.”
Jay raised one eyebrow. “It has nothing to do that she’s a real looker?”
Iaido cocked his head to the side. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“Liar.”
Iaido grinned at the rebuke. “Besides, somehow she’s connected with all this. I don’t know how and I don’t know why but she’s connected. Of that I am sure.”
Hearing the sounds of someone coming up the central passageway to the bridge, the two friends turned back to the task at hand just as Xerxes and Talia entered the bridge. If she was going to say anything, it was forgotten as the Nemesis came out of hyperspace and the marvel of Haven was displayed in front of them.
“Welcome to Haven, my friends,” Iaido said as he guided the Nemesis to the waiting stardock.
CHAPTER 17
Haven was once known as Starbase Sigma to the Coalition and Checkpoint Charlie to the Confederacy. It orbited a remote star known to the Terrans as Wolf 359. Technically, there was nothing really unique about that star system, no habitable planets, no spectacular gas giants and only minimal mining resources but as they say in real estate, location…location…location.
Wolf 359 came to be known as the crossroads of intergalactic travel during the war. At first the Coalition just anchored several large supply ships in the area and a floating stardock. Eventually, since so much traffic flowed through the area, they built Starbase Sigma. It wasn’t completed until the height of the war and became a highly contested commodity that actually switched hands several times. After the war, neither the Coalition nor the Confederacy wanted the starbase due to its dilapidated condition and the amount of space debris in the immediate area. Enter Leonard Vetter, entrepreneur and risk-taker.
This young businessman from Texas saw an opportunity and used the simple logic that if it was such a desirable location during wartime then it would be a valuable investment during peace time. Gathering a small group of investors, Vetter bought the salvage rights from the Coalition for the rock bottom price of a half-million credits and set out to create a Haven in space.
However at the end of his first year, Vetter had towed and mated the largest wrecks in the area to the starbase and sent the rest into the closest star but he was nearly broke. Finding workers willing to risk life and limb on his dream was proving difficult. The idea of an independent city in space orbiting a distant star on the edge of adventure sounds romantic when you are sitting in a bar in New Atlanta but the reality of the hard work, the dangers and enormous costs were completely different. All of Vetter’s investors were backing out and his bank had called in his loan. He was taking one last trip to Starbase Sigma to say good-bye to his dream and to retrieve the few faithful followers that had stuck with him over the last year.
Vetter answered a distress call while enroute and found a Mantodea colony ship with a damaged star-drive and major structural damage. The Mantodeas were swarming along the ship’s hull fixing what they could with their limited resources. It seems that the mantis-like race could work outside in the vacuum of space without any type of environmental suits due to their exoskeleton and physiology. Vetter realized that his luck had changed. After a lengthy conversation with their queen, he towed the beleaguered ship to Haven and Vetter was ecstatic; he had found his main workforce. With the assistance of the Mantodeas, Haven became operational in less than six months and proved to be a gold mine for Leonard Vetter. Now after eight years, Haven had become the busiest starport outside of Sol with over a quarter million permanent residents. Being unaffiliated with any government, Haven drew outcasts from every society and race.
It became an open port to all, a place where anything can be purchased or arraigned for the right price, as long as Vetter and associates got their cut. However, slavery was the only illegal trade goods. That is not to say it didn’t happen; it just didn’t happen in the open. Deals of assassinations and slave-trading took place in the dark areas of Haven and those caught were punished severely. Most intelligent life forms consider being ejected into space on a trajectory to the nearest star as severe.
As the Nemesis came to rest in the stardock, Iaido called his friends together for a conference in the galley. “Okay people; Haven is a dangerous place. Anything can be bought here, including us. I am sure that news of our bounty has reached here, I would be extremely surprised if it hadn’t.”
“Do you expect trouble?” Talia asked.
“I always expect trouble,” Iaido replied as he checked the power settings on his pistols.
Jay pulled out a sawed-off double-barreled pump-action shotgun and grinned at the look Iaido gave him. “Yes, this is the same shotgun from Gilese.”
“I thought you got rid of that thing?”
“Get rid of ol’ reliable? Never,” Jay patted the ancient ballistic weapon lovingly. “She’s never misfired and at close range she is more deadly than a blaster.”
Iaido nodded. He had seen the shotgun in action on Gilese and Jay was right, its blast was devastating. Pulling out a couple of cred-stix, he handed them to his friend.
“Get whatever parts you need to fix Pax and Diana; while Xerxes will arrange the repairs of the Nemesis but stay together as much as possible.”
“And this is for you.” Iaido handed Talia a small silver box. The look of surprise on her face was unmistakable. “Don’t read anything into it; this is simply for your protection.”
Talia cocked her head to the side before opening the box. Inside was a black pistol with a very slender frame. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
“Thank you comes to mind.”
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She flashed him a crooked grin. “Thank you.”
Iaido shrugged. “It’s a Rapier X-10. It has less recoil than my Graver Mk7 that you used in Underground New Atlanta which should help your accuracy and it packs a terrific punch for a small weapon.” Handing her a shoulder holster to wear under her jacket, he added. “You stick with me. We have several errands to run. We will meet back here at 1900 hours local time. Keep your wits about you and watch your backs.”
As the companions disembarked from the Nemesis, Xerxes was the first to exit and moved up beside the worker Mantodeas. When standing next to the other bugs, it was obvious how large and intimidating Xerxes must be; the smaller bugs bowed at the onset of the meeting. Xerxes chatted to them for a brief moment before the workers rushed off to make the repairs. Jay waited for the large Mantodea before they headed off into the depths of Haven.
Since this was Talia’s first time visiting Haven, Iaido gave her the grand tour. As they moved through the crowded thoroughfares he began to describe the space station.
“Of course, the primary population of Haven is human but there is a large contingent of Sylvans and Mantodeas. I am not sure why the elves or bugs want to live here but the humans are those that don’t like the rules of the Coalition or the Confederacy.”
Talia felt overwhelmed at the amount of people living on such a small starport. The more she thought about the fact, the more the walls felt like they were closing in on her. As she forced herself to focus on Iaido’s voice, she felt the walls slowly fade backwards.
“Even since the cease fire, several colonies have broken away from the Coalition. They haven’t joined the Confederacy yet…but as the two major governments become increasingly controlling, more will leave and once again we Terrans will be at war with ourselves. It’s inevitable.”
“But why?”
Iaido shrugged. “It is the curse of mankind. To be civilized means a governing body, which means controls, which means some liberties must be sacrificed, which means someone will feel oppressed, which means that one day…war. It is known as human nature.”
The Last Spartan: Different Paths Page 15