by Doug Hoffman
Several previously unseen species were in the crowd: long-legged insectoids, a mollusk with hundreds of crystal eye-spots in its craggy shell, and a creature that looked like a moving haystack. A good crowd, but still representing fewer than half the species inhabiting the station. The Captain figured it was a start.
He and the three other partners ascended the raised platform at the center of the plaza. Those assembled looked at the four Earthlings, two matched sets, one noticeably taller than the other. All wore swords at their waists, samurai fashion. Mizuki's idea to distinguish the officers from the other personnel—armor tended to make the crew all look alike. Billy Ray stepped forward and, after giving the crowd a moment to settle, began to speak.
“I am Captain Billy Ray Vincent, master and commander of the Orion Arm Trading Company starship Peggy Sue. We came to this station in peace, seeking contact with other sentient beings for the purpose of trade and mutual cooperation. Before contact could be established with the residents of this station we were viciously attacked and two members of my crew were kidnapped.”
The audience shifted nervously. They had no idea where this strange being's speech was leading. Billy Ray continued.
“We drove off our attackers and retrieved our personnel from captivity. Finding no honor in our foes we have driven them from the rest of the station, confining them to their own habitat. I have not decided what to do with them and I seek your counsel on the matter.”
Those assembled were astonished. This was not what they were expecting. Conquerors came and went, but never in their long history had one asked the conquered their thoughts on the matter.
“Is it your intention to stay here?” asked an Orloo, among the more forward of the resident species.
“Yes. For now.”
Whispers and murmurs rippled through the crowd. An unusually brave Hoon spoke up.
“Are you going to rule over us?”
“We intend to bring order to this station.”
“By what right?” demanded the moving haystack.
“By right of conquest and right of salvage. When we arrived the Karf were running the place, running roughshod over the lot of you. That is over. The Karf have been neutralized and we claim possession of this station.”
“It never changes,” complained the Hoon. “We were slaves of the Karf and now we are to be your slaves.”
The crowd fell into disorder, with much shouting and waiving of appendages. After a few moments, the Captain had enough. He signaled JT standing at the base of the platform, who in turn motioned to Inuksuk, sitting on his haunches behind the stage. The polar bear rose to his full, armored height towering over all present—a visual reminder that the Earthlings did not need the residents' permission.
Quiet descended. The Captain continued.
“We have no need for slaves. And unlike the Karf, we will tolerate no violence among species, no murder or other harmful activity. As long as you follow the rules you will be free to live your lives and engage with each other peacefully.”
The Orloo that had spoken earlier asked the question that was on many minds. “What are these rules you speak of?”
Over suit-to-suit, Beth said to her husband, “I didn't know you were prepared to play Hammurabi, dear.”
Ignoring her, Billy Ray gave the alien crowd his best cowboy squint and laid down the law. “You are now bound by the cowboy code: If it ain't yours don't take it; If it ain't true don't say it; If it ain't right don't do it.”
Once again the crowd erupted in bedlam as creatures shouted at each other in their own languages and several versions of the common trade language. Eventually, as things quieted down, a particularly rotund Kieshnar-rak-kat-tra stepped forward seeking attention. Seeing the large collection of gold rings in the creature's left ear Billy Ray made a guess as to who he was.
“Yes, Station Trader?”
If the old trader was surprised he didn't show it. He made a surprisingly graceful bow and replied.
“August Captain, are we free to engage in commerce? To trade with each other and any future visitors to this station?”
“Certainly, Honored Trader. We came here looking to trade ourselves.”
“And if there are disputes?” asked the some what crotchety haystack creature.
“They will be adjudicated by one of the ship's officers, with myself the final court of appeal. I know this is all a bit disorienting for you, but you'll get used to it. One thing I promise, the Karf will not resume their tyrannical reign over this station.”
This prompted shouts of “Kill them! Kill them all!”
Billy Ray raised his hands and motioned for silence. His new subjects figured out what the gesture meant immediately and quieted down.
“We aren't partial to genocide where I come from. So for now we're gonna keep the Karf locked in their spire until I can figure out what to do with them. What I want you folks to do is set about getting your lives in order. Just remember: no stealing, no fighting, no killing, and that includes the whooboo. We will talk again but for now we have things to do, so y'all should mosey on home.”
From the Braggitt delegation a deep base voice croaked. “And what if the Others come?”
This time, the assembled creatures were dumbstruck; several physically cringed while others gasped. The Others were a subject never discussed, as though the mere mention of them would summon horrors from the void.
Billy Ray smiled and gestured dismissively. “If they show up I'll have a talk with them. It's our understanding that they brought the Karf here in the first place. Maybe we can convince them to do the right thing and take 'em away.”
As one, the Braggitt delegation blinked slowly, then turned to leave. In small groups, talking in lowered voices, the rest of the crowd filtered out of the plaza. Some thought the Earthlings were crazy; others hoped they would deal with the almost mythical Others as they had dealt with the Karf; most didn't know what to think.
Billy Ray switched off his external speakers and commented to his wife on suit-to-suit. “How was that, Number One?”
“Brilliant, dear. My heroes have always been cowboys.”
Captain's Quarters, Peggy Sue
Since the town hall meeting, the station's residents started coming out of hiding. The shopkeepers in the Mall reopened their stalls and stores. Slowly at first, creatures began to seek out the ship's officers to settle disputes. Remarkably few violent incidents occurred. A Hisstow attacked a Hoon, prompting a Marine to fling the offending cat-lizard off the second level balcony and into the spire's crystalline wall. The Hoon was thankful and Dr. de Bruin was overjoyed to have an alien patient to work on.
The station was settling in to a less terrorized existence as the four partners met in the Captain's in-port cabin to prepare for the arrival of the feared and mysterious Others.
“So where do we stand with our preparations?” the Captain asked his officers.
The First Officer spoke first. “We've checked the other major spires and all the minor ones that showed signs of possible habitation. There are no signs of Karf outside of their own habitat. We've strategically placed battle bots at major intersections and embedded signal repeaters in the tunnels to ensure we have good comms everywhere inside. We have recon drones out among the spires and snakebots and other sensors throughout the interior. Without locking down the residents we are as secure as we can get.”
“Very good, and the Tcist is cooperating?”
“Yes, Captain,” Bobby answered. “Once we returned its missing parts—and explained what was likely to happen when the Others arrive—it decided to cooperate fully. It was more than happy to give us the fuel containers.”
“And the AM containers are OK? They are compatible, not rigged to explode or malfunction in someway at an awkward moment?”
“Hai, Captain. Chief Engineer Baldursson and I checked them over before transporting them to the ship. These standardized antimatter containment devices have been around for millions of years, they
even predate the T'aafhal as far as we can tell. We don't know how to make them, and the only time we tried to open one it was a spectacular failure.”
That attempt had been several years ago. A team of scientists and engineers tried to slice open an empty type three container using a remote control laser cutter. The result was a vaporized asteroid in Jupiter's Trailing Trojans.
“We know they can be destroyed but nobody knows how to make them? That's just brilliant, the whole galaxy is dependent on technology no one can replicate.”
“Least of our current worries, Number One. So Bobby, we are all tanked up on antimatter and ready to rumble?”
“Aye, Captain, that we are. I still wish we had more D, just in case, but we have reserve supplies enough to get us home, though a bit more slowly than we came.”
“Speaking of home, has the messenger probe left the system?”
“Yes, Sir. It entered alter-space on the transit line for Aldebaran five hours ago. Still, it will take close to a month for it to get back to Earth.”
“Well, at least they will know what became of us if this goes sideways. Have we gotten any new intel on our prospective adversaries, Number One?”
“According to the Tcist and some of the older resident species these 'Others' are about man sized, bipedal and wear armor similar to our own. They came in a fleet of ships and took over the station in a matter of days. Not much to go on I'm afraid.”
“Captain, Mizuki and I were talking last night about neutrinos.”
“That's the best thing you could find to talk about, alone in your quarters?”
Mizuki smiled at the jest. Once back on board the ship, following the excitement of their abduction and subsequent rescue, she and Bobby had been spending a lot of time in their quarters.
“What Bobby is trying to say is that we were talking about the ship's reactors and how different classes of ship have distinguishable neutrino spectra. As you know there are three types of neutrino: electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos, and tau neutrinos. These can be detected by the way they interact with other forms of matter through the weak nuclear force.”
Billy Ray raised his eyebrows questioningly.
“Antimatter annihilation creates a much different neutrino emission spectrum than does, say, fusion in a star. For different reasons, our muon catalyzed fusion reactors also emit a different spectrum, but one that is closer to that of stellar reactions than antimatter reactions.”
“OK, and this is leading to what?”
Bobby picked up the explanation.
“What Mizuki told me last night was that—assuming these Others are not familiar with our fusion technology—they might not recognize our ship against the background neutrino flux. Our fusion reactors are well shielded and very efficient. As long as we aren't burning antimatter, it may be possible to hide from the enemy even while underway—as long as it is at low power and with the shields in stealth mode.”
Mizuki, ever the scientist, offered helpfully. “I can send you Feynman diagrams of the various reactions if you are interested.”
“No, that's quite alright, Mizuki. I'll take your word for it. So what you're saying is we could maneuver for an optimum attack position without tipping them off. That's good information to have. Thank you. What else do we know about our prospective foes?”
Bobby nodded. “We won't know what the enemy looks like until they enter the system and we can get some readings on how much AM they are burning. Like Beth said, from what little we can gather, the last time they came in a fleet of ships, best guess between ten and twenty vessels. How capable these vessels are we can't say.”
“All right. Let's get things as prepped as we can. Number One, continue to rotate the Marines out by squad so they can have some down time. And schedule gunnery and damage control drills for the crew.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” The First Officer made notations on her arm display.
“Also, let's be extra nice to our polar bears. The earlier we detect the Others' entrance into the system the better, so their keeping a careful watch on the alter-space sensors is critical.”
“Roger that, Captain,” the Sailing Master agreed. “I just wish we knew more about these 'Others'.”
“Remember, pardner, 'the unseen enemy is always the most fearsome.'”
Armory, Peggy Sue
1st Squad had just returned to the ship, replacing 2nd Squad who rotated back to duty on the Starflake. First order of business after getting off the shuttle was to report to the Armory and remove their battle armor. After spending a week in armor, being decanted by the armorers was both a trial and a celebration. The suits' sanitary plumbing retracted, the Marines exited the backs of their armor clad only in skintight inner suits and the fragrance of their week's confinement.
“I don't mind being in armor,” commented Grits, pulling himself free of his domicile for the last seven days. “But I sure hate getting out of it.”
“Oh man!” exclaimed Vinny. “My suit smells like seven days of BO and ball sweat.”
“As long as you keep it to yourself, mate,” Brains replied.
“Now you primates know how you smell to me all the time,” Inuksuk growled.
“No room for shrinking violets in the Marines,” the Gunny bellowed at them, “so quit your bellyaching and get your asses to the showers.”
Grumbling, the Marines limped toward the exit. Wearing heavy armor forced bodily positions that required a while to wear off. Brains could not resist teasing his partner.
“So you don't want to wait and talk to your bird? You might catch her in a weak moment.”
“With me looking like something the dog drug in? Hell no I don't want to talk to Keti. What I want is a long hot shower, a meal with real food, and then about ten hours of rack time.”
Walking behind them Inuksuk rumbled. “You primates constantly complain about being on the hunt.” The he-bear looked as misused as the humans, with matted fur and a pronounced limp of his own.
“You'd rather be on the station than here, Bubba-bear?”
“I'd rather be on the pack ice. You monkey boys view the hunt as a chore to get done, so you can go back to lounging around on board. For bears lounging around is the chore. Being out on the ice, free to see what's over the next pressure ridge or across that open lead, that's living. Sitting in our quarters with nothing to do, that is living hell.”
“If you hate being cooped up on board so much why did you sign on in the first place?” asked Vinny.
“I told you before, it was this or stay locked up in that petting zoo you humans built for us on the Moon. Nothing to hunt, no place to explore, surrounded by females and cubs all the time. That's no way for a male polar bear to live. At least going on this voyage offers a chance to explore, and some prey to hunt.”
“And nothing about being back here on the ship appeals to you, mate?”
“I'll enjoy a plunge in properly chilled sea water, and I could eat a nice fat seal, but after that I'd rather get back to looking for things to fight.”
“Watch what you wish for, Nanook, you just might get it,” Vinny intoned. “See you when we are ready to head back to the Starflake.”
Inuksuk made a woofing sound and headed aft to the polar bear quarters, steak knife length claws clicking against the deck as he went. The humans continued forward toward the crew showers.
“I guess we are different, us and the bears,” Grits mused.
“I don't know, Grits,” Vinny replied. “I've known a lot of bears and Inuksuk seems grumpier than most.”
Brains shrugged. “He won't be happy until we are up to our arseholes in space monsters.”
“Bite your tongue, Bubba.”
Chapter 33
Captain's Quarters
Two days later the Other's arrived at Eudora. Naturally the event took place during Middle Watch, in the middle of the night ship's time. A gentle but insistent tone sounded in the Captain's quarters, causing both Beth and Billy Ray to stir.
Bil
ly Ray was one of those lucky people who could emerge from deep sleep fully awake. He answered the incoming call.
“Captain. Go.”
“Captain, Bridge. We have unknown ships emerging in system.”
“I'll be right there. Captain, out.”
Beth, not being one of the lucky people, stretched sleepily and asked her husband the reason for the disturbance.
“What's happening, dear? And what time is it?”
“It's 0317 hours and our visitors are arriving. I'm headed for the bridge.”
Reluctantly, Beth accepted that she needed to arise as well, after all she was the first officer. Throwing off the blanket, she sat up and placed one foot on the floor.
“You realize they won't be here for at least a week, maybe more? We won't even have full drive profiles until the light and particle radiation reaches our sensors.”
“Yer right, honey bunch, there's time to grab a shower first. Race you to the bathroom?”
“I was thinking that we could save time if we showered together,” she smiled mischievously. “After all, things are probably going to get busy and we won't have much time to ourselves until this is over.”
“Have I ever told you I love the way yer mind works, sweetheart?”
She stood up, kissed him, and as she passed him headed for the shower she grabbed his ass.
* * * * *
“Captain on the bridge!” shouted one of the bridge crew.
While OATC ships were not Navy vessels, many of the officers and crew had come from the service. Traditions were observed out of habit, even if their original purpose was obscured. In this case, it was to inform those on the bridge that the Captain was now present and giving the orders, not to make sure no one was caught napping. With the sighting of possible hostiles it was not as though any of the bridge crew were napping. All were paying rapt attention to what was happening.