Michael Cobley - Humanity's Fire book 1

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by Seeds of Earth


  the Roug, who was still talking.

  '... but has a new environmental unit and sufficient

  basic supplies to keep us nourished for the maximum

  estimate of six days. Ah, and I believe that this craft's

  Henkayan designation translates as Castellan, and

  although we are not armed we possess some detection

  countermeasures .. .'

  His voice tailed off and his head dipped a little. By

  now they were both strapped into the cockpit couches,

  while a rumbling came from outside as the massive inner

  doors closed to seal off the dockside. A whine of servos

  then a thud and hiss signalled that the hatch behind

  them was closed.

  'My apologies, Pilot Kao,' the Roug said, his voice

  subdued. 'But I must confess to a certain anxiety about

  the task ahead.'

  Kao Chih stared at him. 'I'm not sure I understand,

  noble Tumakri - you have flown one of these before,

  yes?'

  'Oh yes, my appraisal was more than satisfactory. It

  is just that I have never travelled beyond the borders of

  our system, and my briefing suggests the possibility of a

  perilous voyage.'

  'In what way perilous?'

  'Due to the clandestine nature of our mission, we

  cannot proceed via the main tier-ports. Sendruka agents

  and machines will be alert to any Humanlike species,

  and even the presence of a Roug may be enough to raise

  suspicions, therefore the authorised hyperspace conduits

  will be closed to us, which means that we have to use

  illegal ports and purchase course schemata from un-

  licensed dealers. I have been given several detailed

  itineraries and a few linguistic enablers, as well as the

  names of trusted intermediaries who have been told to

  expect us. Our onboard navprocessor is already imbued

  with our first destination and the autopilot will guide us

  out. Hopefully, this is sufficient preparation.'

  There was a sudden roaring rush as the outer bay

  doors cracked open, venting the atmosphere in a pale

  burst of flash-frozen vapour. There was a slight jolt,

  then the sensation of motion, acceleration pushing Kao

  Chih back as the scoutship Castellan shot out from the

  great irregular mass of the Retributor. Seconds away,

  attitudinal thrusters came to life, sending them along a

  shallow trajectory away from V'Harant. Once they were

  a set distance from the gas giant, the flight systems

  would bring the hyperdrive online and take them into

  the many-tiered continuum of hyperspace.

  'So, Tumakri,' Kao Chih said with forced cheerful-

  ness. 'What is to be our first port-of-call?'

  The Roug took a small oval documenter from a waist

  pouch and read from its screen. 'Blacknest: an illegal

  way-station engaged in illicit commerce and the har-

  bouring of a variety of outlaws, pirates and other

  transgressors. It is located in the Qarqol deepzone just

  beyond the Erdindeso border, and we are to exercise ...

  great caution at all times.'

  'Ah yes, standard operating procedure,' Kao Chih

  said casually, ignoring the nervy panic that seemed to

  radiate from the Roug. 'Nothing to worry about - when

  we get to this Blacknest we probably won't even have to

  leave the ship. I imagine your people's contact there will

  have everything in hand. Just sit back and relax ...'

  And I'll try not to think about what Great-Aunt Mei

  said to me earlier ...

  Less than an hour ago, in his parents' house, he had

  just finished a bowl of rice and vegetables and was dig-

  ging his old kitbag out of a chest when a finger had

  prodded his shoulder. The finger was attached to

  Great-Aunt Mei, who studied him with her hawkish

  black eyes.

  'I heard that old fool Wu got up and singed Tan Hau

  in front of the Roug - is that true?'

  'Indeed it is, Great-Aunt, and quite a sight it was . ..'

  To his surprise, her stern, wrinkled face had then

  broken into a gleeful, gap-toothed smile.

  'Heh, he always knows too much, old Wu, so all he

  can be is the wise fool!' Then her features had grown

  sombre. 'And how are you feeling, boy? Frightened?'

  'I'm excited, Great-Aunt! - it's a great adventure . . .'

  'Adventure, hah! The young always fail to see the

  whole of the road ahead, so off they rush. But then, you

  don't know enough to be scared, which makes you a

  young fool.' Then she had grasped his shoulder, pulling

  him closer. 'Listen to me, boy - pain will come to you,

  hurts and wounds the like of which you have never felt

  before. You must fight and kill them or they will eat you

  up, like hungry river serpents!'

  Leaning back in the copilot couch, he watched a

  shielding layer of hexagonal platelets roll out across the

  cockpit viewpane, preparatory to the hyperdrive jump.

  His first hyperdrive jump.

  He leaned back, hands gripping the armrests. Well,

  Great-Aunt Mei, I may not have been scared then, but

  be assured that I am now!

  19

  KAO CHIH

  On approach, the rogue port Blacknest looked vaguely

  intestinal, like the digestive tract of some huge,

  grotesque monster. Within spidering meshes of metal

  frameworks, silver, grey and blue flexitube corridors

  spread in coils and undulations, connecting polyhedral

  modules of various sizes that were embedded in the

  mazy tangles like geometric tumours. The blocks and

  cylinders of the original station were still visible beneath

  the improvised accretion of past newcomers, and it

  was from the largest conglomeration that a substantial

  docking hub protruded on a squat tower.

  'Is that where we're going?' Kao Chih said, studying

  the hub's busy traffic on the long-range imager, com-

  paring it to the Roug orbital, Agmedra'a.

  Tumakri, his Roug companion, peered closely at the

  multicoloured symbols on his small console screen, hes-

  itantly touching a few with one dark, spindly finger. 'It

  seems not, Pilot Kao,' he said in his dry, papery voice.

  'At first we were, but now we have been redirected to a

  secondary landing stage. Our syncsystem is already plot-

  ting a new guide-path.'

  He looked round at Kao Chih, who smiled and

  nodded. 'That sounds reasonable - the main docking

  hub looks pretty busy,' he said, trying to sound both

  relaxed and businesslike. Soon after exiting hyperspace

  in the Blacknest vicinity, Tumakri had given him a lin-

  guistic enabler, a package of Human-configured nanobio

  receptors in the form of a translucent golden pill. In half

  an hour he was able to understand and respond in the

  Roug tongue, and by the time the illegal port was in

  visual range he was bordering on the fluent, with the

  result that Tumakri's erratic mental state became even

  more apparent.

  'So tell me, noble Tumakri, who is the intermediary

  we are supposed to contact here?'

  'One Rup Avriqui, a Voth procure
r - I have since

  determined from our notes that in addition to providing

  the course data for the next stage of our journey, he will

  also be accompanying us. I have already sent three

  advice requests on the frequency tag shown in the itin-

  erary, but thus far no response. This does not seem

  normal to me . . .'

  Kao Chih shrugged. 'Perhaps their protocols are dif-

  ferent in these matters, or custom ...'

  He was interrupted by a brief staccato chime from

  the comm panel, then a string of syllables whose into-

  nation varied between flat, nasal and flutelike. There

  was a momentary jarring sensation in his mind, like

  sounds and symbols colliding, then suddenly he was

  hearing the Voth's words and understanding them. Most

  of them.

  '... again to present my egremini apologies for this

  lapse in finsterral communications. Disturbance between

  rabble factions is the cause but our mezgurid business

  remains viable. If this addresses to the noble Tumagri

  and Gowshee, please to respond.'

  Kao Chih and Tumakri looked at each other for a

  second before the latter spoke.

  'Have we the honour of speaking with Rup Avriqui?'

  'This is so, exalted clients-of-unrivalled-lineage.'

  'Do you have the .. .'

  The Voth cut him off. 'Forgiveness I beg, exalted one,

  but it is not wise to speak of important matters over an

  unsecured channel. Once you disembark, my lugosiva-

  tor will bear you both safely to my hold, where we shall

  continue our dialogue. I bid you the short and tempo-

  rary farewell.'

  The channel abruptly switched to the ready-cycle's

  bland, atonal warbling, and Tumakri blinked.

  'It seems that he is expecting to meet both of us, Pilot

  Kao.'

  'Indeed, friend Tumakri,' he said. 'But the truth is

  that my appearance is distinctly un-Rouglike, and we

  cannot take the risk of my being recognised as Human

  in a place like this.'

  'Yes,' said Tumakri, slumping down into his couch. 'I

  was hoping to persuade you to undertake the encounter

  by yourself, somehow ...'

  Kao Chih leaned forward, amused. 'In that case, we

  shall have to be creative, perhaps even inspired. What

  did you bring in the way of spare clothing?'

  'A standard long-excursion miscellany,' the Roug

  said. 'But almost none of it will fit you...'

  'Not to worry,' Kao Chih said, getting up. 'It's the

  details that matter, so we'll have to have a good rum-

  mage through the storage lockers . ..'

  Nearly an hour later grapple-nets were hauling the

  fast-courier Castellan in beside two larger vessels that

  were moored to a gimballed docking duct. A flexitube

  concertinaed out to fasten its mouthlike seal around the

  smaller craft's hatch. On opening the hatch they found a

  prismoid dock ID tied by a length of finefibre to an eye-

  hook, drifting in zero-gee. After a weightless clamber

  through the grubby, much-patched transfer tube, then

  along the docking duct, squeezing by all kinds of pas-

  sengers coming and going from other ships, Kao Chih

  and Tumakri finally emerged in some kind of lobby. The

  Roug wore an ankle-length, sleeved cloak of a thin, grey

  material that clung from neck to waist, while Kao Chih

  had opted to don the emergency environmental suit but

  without the helmet. Around his head he had wrapped

  bandages from the medikit, being careful not to obscure

  the dark, faceted goggles he had put on beforehand.

  And since Tumakri's itinerary notes had warned of

  Blacknest's imperfect eco-cleanliness they were both

  wearing small breathing masks. For Kao Chih, heavy

  gloves and boots completed the hopefully convincing

  non-Human picture.

  There were three turnstile gates at the lobby exit,

  each with a queue of arriving sophonts, most of whom

  were bi-, tri- or quadrupedal: did swimmers, crawlers

  and fliers have their own docking areas, he wondered. A

  buzz of conversation enveloped them, voices conversing

  in all manner of whoops, whistles and words, while the

  air was a swirl of odours. In a hubbub like this, Kao

  Chih's linguisitic enabler tended to lie partially dormant,

  only translating when he focused on a particular voice

  or when someone spoke clearly and from close by.

  He had prepared himself for a long wait, based on his

  observations of similar entry procedures on Agmedra'a.

  But it soon became clear that new arrivals were being

  processed with haste by three anxious Henkayans in

  dimpled blue uniforms. Each was using one pair of

  stubby arms to pass a fan-snouted sensor over each life-

  form while the other pair dealt with forms and charges.

  Then it was their turn. As the gate attendant began

  waving his handheld sensor at Tumakri, he took one

  look at the prismoid dock ID and said:

  'Smallboat berthnetted, minimum fee seventy

  keddro.'

  Tumakri produced a slender black credit stem,

  banded in gold.

  'You may deduct from this,' he said.

  'Nogood, nogood,' said the Henkayan, jerkily shak-

  ing his head. 'Creditransfer network offline, you

  mustpay keddro now or returnship.'

  'But this ...'

  'Nogood, nogood! Yellowfists here soon - pay now

  or leave!'

  Tumakri swayed on his feet and Kao Chih steadied

  him with an outstretched hand.

  'What's wrong?' he said. 'Don't tell me you didn't

  bring hard currency.'

  'I do have such, but it is supposed to be for later in

  our journey.'

  'If you don't pay the man, we won't be able to meet

  Avriqui and there won't be any more journey.'

  Clearly unhappy, Tumakri dug into a waistpouch and

  surrendered four glittering black triangles, three inlaid

  with gold, one with crimson. Their dock ID was

  imprinted with a strange curlicue pattern and they were

  each presented with a blue plastic tag embossed with a

  string of symbols before being hurried out into

  Blacknest Station itself.

  The corridor floor was covered in a dingy grey

  ridged matting, as was the ceiling, which was also a

  floor. A variety of sentient creatures was bustling along

  the gravplate pathway that ran the length of the ceiling,

  most of them, Kao Chih noticed, hurrying in the same

  direction. Then as he watched, several yellow-garbed

  figures leaped out from the overhead pedestrian flow,

  as if taking a collective nosedive towards the floor.

  Fearful cries went up from the gate attendants -

  'Yellowfists! Yellowfists!' - and Kao Chih then saw the

  tethered lines on which the newcomers swung through

  the air to land clumsily before the transit lobby

  entrance. Regaining their feet/paws/hoofs, they pulled

  out slot-nosed sidearms and gestured threateningly at

  the attendants.

  'Time we were elsewhere,' Kao Chih said, grabbing a

  near-paralysed Tumakri and draggin
g him along the

  half-deserted corridor. They had just reached the next

  corner when an odd, jingling voice spoke:

  'Masters Gowchee and Tumagri? ... up here, good

  sirs.'

  Kao Chih looked up and saw a boxy, yellow cart

  with six fat wheels and a telescopic pole tipped with a

  cluster of glittering lenses which were angled down at

  him.

  'Indeed we are,' Kao Chih said cautiously. 'You

  are ...?'

  'I am Master Avriqui's number 2 lugosivator - I am

  to take you to his hold straight away. If you step onto

  the sidepath and join me, we can be quickly under way.'

  The lens arm pointed to a strip of grey matting that

  curved off the main corridor into a recess and up the

  wall, joining the one directly above. Without delay, Kao

  Chih stepped onto the branch path, feeling his stomach

  bounce a little as he adjusted to walking up the wall

  then stepping onto the ceiling strip. Behind him,

  Tumakri groaned, holding on to the sides of the recess as

  he followed. The yellow cart had seating within a

  curved, transparent carapace. Flexible doors popped on

  either side and moments later they were strapped into

  sideways-facing bucket seats as the vehicle sped away

  from the chaotic scenes further back.

  'Apologies are tendered for the lack of proprieties,'

  said the lugosivator. 'Master Avriqui had intended to

  greet you in person but reports of incipient violence

  caused him to remain at home.'

  'Are such incidents considered normal here?' said

  Tumakri.

  'No, Master Tumagri, but unfortunately Blacknest is

  experiencing one of its periodic outbursts of interclan

  rivalry in which revenue sources, such as the embarka-

  tion gates, become strategic prizes to be defended or

  captured by force.'

  'Fascinating,' Kao Chih said. 'What about ships in

  dock? Are they also considered prizes?'

  'Docked vessels are inviolable, Master Gowchee,'

  said the cart. 'Certain categories of passenger, however,

  are seen as legitimate quarry at times like this.'

  Kao Chih and Tumakri exchanged a worried look.

  'Would we fall into that category?' he said.

  'Yes - you arrived in your own craft with no per-

  sonal bodyguard and no protection brevet. Data

  spotters will have already sent your profiles out to sev-

  eral gang bosses . . .'

  Tumakri hunched down in his seat, staring this way

 

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