by J. L. Curtis
Nicole asked, “Where are the females?”
“Bridget is in the cockpit, Cedar is in the forward compartment.” Nicole and Boykin were up and in the shuttle before he could finish the sentence, Grayson following closely behind. He said, “Ton… Ton, if he’s still alive, is in the aft compartment. He… he gave his parole.”
Fargo said, “We’ll get you some water. Klang, can you get the Dragoon?”
Klang nodded slowly, “Get him, I will. Place him where?”
“Med comp.”
Klang stepped lightly into the shuttle, and Fargo turned to Jiri, “Can y’all go with him?”
Jiri nodded. “No problem. The med comp is automatic, right?”
“Yes. See if you can find a shipsuit that might fit him while you’re at it. Ask one of the crew.”
Klang stepped out, the young Dragoon lolling loosely in his arms, “Good shape, he is not. Grayson says rush.”
“Med comp.”
Jiri and Devi headed for the hatch and had it open before Klang got there, as Nicole yelled, “Fargo, need a little help here!”
Lherson was mumbling, “We made it, can’t believe we fucking made it.” Tears rolled down his face, and Fargo patted him awkwardly on the shoulder, “I’ll be back, and get you some water, and a fresher, along with a clean shipsuit.”
Hopping into the shuttle, he made his way forward in the dim lighting, and saw Nicole and Grayson bent over a young girl. “Can you carry the other one, she’s in the cockpit with Boykin? She’s, hell, both of them are still unconscious.”
Fargo picked up the older female after he and Boykin got her out of the copilot’s seat. As they came back, Grayson picked up the young girl. “I have this one. She needs hydration… she may need more.”
Fargo said, “I had Klang put the Goon in the med comp. Do we need to pull him out?”
Grayson shook his head. “Not right now. He’s the worst of them.” I need these two to medical and I’ll get IVs and nanites going.”
***
Three divs later, Fargo, Captain Jace, Jiri, Boykin and Astrogator Bridget Solly sat in the crew’s mess. Solly had just finished the story of their escape, since Lherson was still sedated in the med bay while the nanites and rehydration did their work, alongside Cedar. Solly twirled the bulb of liquid, “I still cannot believe we’ve survived. We were to the point that we were talking about dumping atmo, and just ending it all. I don’t think Ton would have lasted another two days, and Cedar was failing rapidly too. Dean was just amazing. He did all that with at least one or two broken ribs. And managed to set Cedar’s arm, and get Ton to not try to kill us.”
Captain Jace leaned back, “Amazing story. In many ways, simply amazing. I can’t help but wonder if that was an accidental attack, or on purpose, to kill Ton’Skel. We won’t know until somebody examines what the matriarch has in her craw. We might do an x-ray, but somebody is going to have to…”
Solly saw nods around the table, “Her craw?”
Jace replied, “If Ton’Skel really is heir to Ton’Mose, she would be carrying something that proves both her and his patrimony.”
“Is he important? I mean…”
That generated laughter around the table, and she blushed, as Jace continued, “Ton’Mose is… literally the head Dragoon. He is their equivalent of the president.” Turning to Fargo, he said, “The only thing we can do is go to Star Center, now. Effectively, we’ve just become a Diplo mission. But we’re going to have to go in quiet, in case there are others that might want to finish the job. Don’t know what, or who the destroyer was working for.”
“Oh, I had no… I mean, maybe the Captain knew who he was, but the crew didn’t.”
Grayson came in, dialed up a bulb from the autochef and leaned against the next table, “Captain, I am happy to report the Dragoon will live. I estimate another eight divs of treatment and we can pull him out and put the young girl in. I have them both sedated right now, and she is in a new plascast for her broken arm, with an IV of hydration running. Ms. Levesque is sitting with her now. Whomever set it, they did a good job.”
Bridget colored, “We both did it.”
Grayson smiled. “Well, you did good! She will only need about four divs of treatment.”
The IC popped on, “Hyper in fifteen segs. All crew report to stations, all pax report to your cabins.”
Captain Jace stood, “Well, back to work. Another nine days to Star Center. I’ll put a note on the transit file for your folks Captain, to ensure they get paid for the extra days. It’s not like they have any choice. And I’m not going to declare us as a diplo. We will only use that if we have to.”
Star Center
When Ton’Skel came out of the med box, both Captain Jace and Fargo were there, along with Lherson. When the med box was opened, Jace leaned in and placed the portable GalTrans around Ton’s neck. He immediately looked at Lherson and asked, “My Matriarch?”
Lherson nodded. “She is aboard and safe. She has been transferred to a special compartment onboard with two of their troops who died.”
Ton started trying to sit up, and Fargo extended his hand. Ton looked up at him, then put his hand out. Fargo gripped it and said, “When you are ready.”
Ton pulled himself to a sitting position and asked, “Where are we?”
Jace answered, “We are on the way to Star Center. Our understanding is that was your destination before you were attacked.”
Ton nodded. “I… I was to get a medical… pro… procedure? There. I am prisoner?”
Jace looked at Fargo who said, “No. If your parole is still good, you are not a prisoner.”
“You make that decision?”
Fargo nodded. “I can, for the troops on board. The rest is up to Captain Jace and you.”
Ton stood shakily, then looked squarely at Fargo, “I, Ton’Skel, heir to Ton’Mose, do give my parole.”
“Parole is accepted. You are allowed anywhere on the ship except the bridge and engineering,” he replied with a side glance at Jace. “My troops will not harm you.”
Jace said, “You can eat in the crew’s mess, if that is more comfortable for you. That way you are not among the troops.”
Ton nodded in understanding. “Food?”
Fargo said, “AI, please page Senior Grayson to the crew’s mess. It’s not an emergency.”
The IC clicked on, “Senior Medic Grayson, Senior Medic Grayson, please go to the crew’s mess. Non-emergency.”
Fifteen segs later, Grayson was working with the autochef and Ton’Skel to come up with food that he could eat, as Grayson fed him bulbs of enriched water to keep him hydrated. Fargo had gone down to the troop mess and was sitting with Jiri, Horse, Nicole, Daman, and Barun. “Here’s the plan. We’re going to deliver Ton’Skel to Star Center. He’s given his parole, so I don’t want anybody reacting to his presence. He’s allowed the run of the ship, excluding the bridge and engineering. If he asks any questions, the troops are allowed to answer them, and if, big if, he wants to eat down here, he’s allowed to do so. Remember, he’s young, so he’s got to be curious. And if anybody gets info from him about anything related to his family or home life, let Chief Levesque know. And one more thing, the young girl Cedar considers him a friend, so nothing to see there, and no overt reactions.”
There were nods around the table, but Horse had to say something, “You do realize that GalPat is going to have slashlizards when they find out who we’re transferring, and they are going to want to take him.”
Fargo grinned, “Which is why we’re not going to tell them. This is now a diplo mission, which puts it out of GalPat’s hands.”
Horse shook his head and laughed. “Ekavir you have more balls than sense. They will hang you from the highest yardarm at the academy if they ever find out.”
Fargo laughed. “Which means they won’t find out, right?”
Jiri chimed in, “Not from us. What about the woman and spacer? Or the kid?”
“Star Lines has NDAs, anybody that
violates them will never work in space again. I think Cedar can be impressed that it would not be in her best interest to tell the story.”
***
Three days later, Ton wandered into the cargo bay as the troopers were working out. They were just finishing the kukri workout, and starting the hand to hand portion. Ton looked around and found Jiri leaning against a piece of equipment, coffee bulb in hand, and he walked over, “Jiri?”
“Yes?”
“I hear talk of honor and respect, but I do not understand.”
“What do you mean, Ton?”
“I hear people talk about Fargo, but with different name among troops. And respect.”
“Do your people not rule that way?”
Ton shook his head. and the GalTrans gave some sound that Jiri figured was laughter, “Oh no. Govern? Is right word? With power. Must be better than others. Honor is to powerful. Those who fight/kill.” He waved his arm at the troops, “They fight/kill?”
Jiri smiled. “No, they practice to fight/kill. Only fight/kill enemy. Not among ourselves.” He took a sip of his bulb, then continued, “Fargo, or Ekavir in our culture, is admired for his bravery and willingness to do everything we do. He does not set himself above us. He leads by example.”
“Then what honor?”
Jiri shrugged. “It is like another word for respect. Meaning much respected. We are honored he is our captain.”
“He does not rule by fear? He does not punish? Did he fight you for lead?”
Jiri laughed. “No, he does not want to be the leader. We forced him to do it.”
Ton cocked his head in amazement, “Not leader, leader? How?”
“Because he does not like to kill. But he is very good at it. And does not want troops to die.”
“But tr… fighters are meant to die for glory of leader.”
“Not in our culture, Ton. Not in our culture. Now you might want to leave, we are going to increase the gravity levels to two gravities to practice.”
“Twice gravity, why?”
“We never know what kind of environment we may have to fight in. So we practice in different environments. Hot, cold, thin air, high gravity.”
Ton nodded. “Smart. I leave now.”
Jiri made sure to catch up with Nicole as soon as the practice session was over and reported the conversation to her. She laughed. “Nice job Warrant, you’ve probably just confused the hell out of that young Dragoon. What you’ve just told him goes against everything he’s probably been taught.”
Lherson and Solly sat in the crew’s mess each lost in their own thoughts, even as they shared a table. Cedar, now out of the cast, sat at the far end of the table, playing with a puzzle that Klang had made out of bits of metal for her. Lherson finally said, “Sol… Briget, what are we going to do?”
“I’m not sure, Dean. We’ll have to report in. I’m pretty sure there is either an agent or an actual Star Lines site at Star Center. The captain was good enough to salvage the shuttle, so we’ve got that, but there is so much neither of us knows about what happened…”
Lherson shook his head. “Nothing we can do about that. All we can report is what we did. At least we survived, which is…” Glancing at Cedar, he continued softly, “the best we could do.” He toyed with the coffee bulb, “Do you think we’ll be met?”
“Well, the captain told me he’s not telling anyone what happened to us, in case they try to… finish the job. Said he would report it after they got Ton off the ship somehow.”
“Isn’t that illegal? I mean in GalPat, our skippers immediately reported incidents to higher as soon as they could.”
She shrugged. “Commercial isn’t necessarily that way. Lots of stuff, both good and bad, stays in the company. They don’t want competitors to gain any advantage.”
“Even for safety things?”
“Well, maybe not safety.”
“I would have thought they’d report the destroyer they killed.”
“Why? They killed it. And this ship is a little strange…”
Lherson laughed. “I think this is an old military transport. It’s got all the markings. Lots of what I’d guess are reconfigurable holds, space that could be turned into billeting, and there are some suspicious bulges on the hull that make me wonder. And the extra bays.”
Klang tromped into the mess, another thing with dangly bits in his hand, “Miss little, puzzle you like,” He asked as he crouched next to Cedar.
She smiled at him, “It is hard, Klang. Can you show me? I can’t get past here,” she said, shoving the puzzle at him.
Klang took it gently, and rotated it in his massive hand, then said, “This piece, you see?” He picked one up and slid it into the center, “Like this it goes. Piece next.” A few seconds later, he’d demonstrated and explained it and Cedar clapped.
She reached out, “Let me try now!” He put it back to where she had been, and she repeated his moves, tongue sticking out the side of her mouth as she concentrated. Once she completed it, she crowed, “I did it! I did it!” She set it on the table and turned to him, “You have another,” she said excitedly.
Klang picked up the pieces and dangled them in front of her, “Once you I show. Harder.”
He carefully did one piece at a time, as Cedar concentrated intensely, then said plaintively, “One more time, please?”
Lherson and Solly both grinned at her tone as Klang promptly undid and redid the puzzle. Solly said softly, “Got every man in the crew wrapped around her little finger.”
He nodded. “And she’s got a lot of daddies now. A bunch of daddies I wouldn’t want mad at me. You do not want any Ghorka pissed at you, that’s a terminal illness.”
***
Captain Jace slid the Hyderabad into her docking bay without a bump and said, “Release the passengers.” As the call was going out over the IC, he turned to Fargo, “Can you set an armed guard? I just squirted a routine encrypted report to the local GalPat office, and I’m putting Solly on line with the Star Lines office now. I’ve also requested the ambassador from the Dragoon embassy meet the ship immediately with equipment to receive a Dragoon casualty.”
Fargo nodded and keyed his wrist comp, “Jiri, can we post a four man watch? Side arms only two in, two out on the main hatch?”
Jiri answered, “Not a problem. They will be at the hatch in fifteen.”
Jace nodded. “It will take that long to connect the umbilicals and position the module and pressurize it.”
“That’s good Jiri, thank you.” He looked at Jace, “So you’re betting the ‘Goon will get here before the Star Lines or GalPat people?”
Jace grinned, “I might have given the Dragoon the diplo code…”
“So how long do you figure we have?”
“A half div before the Star Lines folks, and a full div before GalPat gets here. Ton’Skel and his mother should be long gone.”
Ton’Skel sat disconsolately in the bay adjacent to the main hatch, his hand resting on the casket containing his matriarch on the raised platform. He looked again at the small space underneath the casket, and shivered as he thought about having to crawl in there again, but he also understood that there might be another attempt on his life here, and the humans were doing everything they could to protect him. Lherson and Solly, both in new Star Lines uniforms stood off to the side, with Solly holding Cedar’s hand. Captain Jace and Fargo had agreed they needed to be present, and available to answer questions if the ambassador had any.
Five segs after the main hatch was opened, the Dragoon ambassador and three others with a grav sled were seen approaching the hatch. Captain Jace told Khalil to immediately admit the ambassador only. After a little bit of back and forth, the ambassador walked stiffly through the hatch and bowed to Captain Jace, his GalTrans growling, “What body do you have?”
“And your name is?”
The Dragoon visibly restrained himself, “I am Ser’Mose.”
“Are you related to Ton’Mose?”
“He is
my brother,” the GalTrans snarled, as the ambassador took a step forward.
Jace said, “I am Captain Jace. We picked up a shuttle from the Star Lines mission…”
“Get on with it!”
Jace nodded. “Come with me, please.” He turned and walked to the bay hatch, “There is something you should see.”
The ambassador was on his heels as Jace dilated the hatch, and he took three steps into the bay before Ton’Skel’s presence registered. The ambassador’s steps faltered and he reached out saying plaintively, “Ton? Ton!”
Ton’s head came up, and he rushed toward the ambassador, knocking the chair over as he ran into the ambassador’s arms. There were quiet words, not meant for anyone else, then the ambassador asked, “Who is in the casket?”
Ton answered, “My Matriarch. She… She saved my life, along with these three.” He said, pointing to Lherson, Solly, and Cedar. “We are the only survivors. My Matriarch lived for… a while, but we ran out of medication.”
The two of them walked slowly to the casket, and the ambassador put his hand reverently on it. Jace said, “It’s not sealed. You can open it.”
Ton stepped to the side, and Cedar ran to him, hugging him with tears in her eyes, as the ambassador slowly opened the casket, looked in, and bowed his head silently. Then he gently closed the casket and turned, surprised to see Cedar holding Ton’s hand. She said, “You can’t be mad at him. He did everything he could to save his mama. Mine… my momma and daddy died…”
The ambassador looked around in anger, “Who, how?”
Jace answered, “We believe they were attacked by a rogue destroyer, which we killed. Neither Solly or Lherson know for sure what happened, but they got Ton’Skel and his mother out, along with Cedar. They drifted for over thirty days before we dropped into that sector and were attacked.” He handed the ambassador a package with six data cubes, “Here are the details from the shuttle and from our ship. I apologize for the quality of our ship data, we are a simple merchant with only basic defensive armament and sensors.”