This Starry Deep

by Adam P. Knave

  There was a ton to work out. Dad was pleased, though. He practically beamed at me. I’d proven him right, was why. He’d brought me in as someone who could solve a problem and I’d given them the biggest idea they’d had yet. That reflected well on him.

  Which sounds like bitterness. No, just acceptance. This was who he was. He was the hero. The guy who found answers, or found people who could find answers. Every time it worked out well, it just added to the belief people had that he could be counted on.

  I stood up to stretch my legs, pacing around a corner of the room while everyone else debated how best to go about getting the Hurkz to play along. That wasn’t a discussion I wanted any part of. It’d be hard to distance my own feelings toward them, even with the fate of two species hanging over it. Not something you admit to a room full of strangers.

  The more they tossed around opening diplomatic channels to the Hurkz again, the more I felt my skin crawl. The pinch of the needles going into my skin, the pain of the tattooing, all of it just kept flooding my senses.

  I had to get out. The room grew smaller and smaller. I left quickly, without another word.

  Chapter 35 - Jonah

  MUD BOLTED from the room. I think he meant to be subtle when he started pacing, but he moved like a lion in a cage and I knew it was a matter of time till he gave in and left. My question was why. I stood to follow.

  “Jonah,” Mills said over my headset, “latest on the fleet issue is—”

  “Hold that, son, dealing with something else.” Outside of the room, the guards started to salute again. Did they intend to do that every time I walked by? It made me want to get up to hit the bathroom every five minutes. Pushing past them, I spotted Mud turning a corner up ahead. I sped up to catch him.

  He managed to not flinch when I put my hand on his shoulder, but I could see a twitch in his neck.

  “Hey, kid,” I said gently, “what’s eating you?”

  “Nothing, Dad, it’s…nothing. I just needed to stretch my legs.”

  “You’re not a bad liar,” I told him, “but that was pretty sad. If this is going to affect us here, we need to know. At the very least, I do.”

  He sighed, his hands clenching and unclenching. “You know how I’ve been off and about recently?”

  “Sure. You like your space, it’s good for you.”

  “I’ve been on the run.” He looked at me with shame.

  I fought down my first reaction, which was to ask who and why and then go and smack them around for trying it. This hurt his pride, though, and that would just set him back. He needed to deal with this like an adult, so that he could make his own peace with it. I couldn’t just jump in and save him, even though I wanted to.

  “Oh?” I asked. I couldn’t ask him if he’d deserved it, or what he’d done or anything like that. I wouldn’t mean the questions to be accusations, but I knew they’d play that way. He was a teammate, sure, but he was also my son. My son who was starting to laugh.

  “That’s your reaction? All you can do is go ‘Oh’ and leave it as a question for me to jump into? You don’t want to ask what I did, or if it’s connected to you?”

  “Is it?”

  “Not at all. This is all me.” He held up a hand, asking me to let him finish. “Not something I did. Stupidly enough, it’s all just about who I am.”

  “You’re my kid,” I said.

  “Yeah,” he laughed, “but the Hurkz don’t care about that.”

  “We could fix that, you know.”

  He laughed again. Good, he was calming down at least. “Not what I meant. They’ve been sending Reclaimer squads after me.”

  “For what? For how long?” I asked in quick succession.

  “For being tribleless. For still being alive after all this time, without my original markings.”

  “Wait, that?” I sighed at him. “You said that whole thing was dealt with almost a year ago. Right after you turned legal age for Hurkz. They contacted you and you told us you’d straightened it all out. That it wouldn’t be an issue.”

  “And then I took off to wander—”

  “To get your own space and find your way, you’d said.”

  “To hide and work out how best to deal with the problem, without dragging you or Mom into it.”

  “And how’d that work out for you?” I asked. Maybe I should’ve been nicer, but finding out my kid has been on the run for a year without telling me put me in a mood.

  “Hey, I’m here, right? They haven’t been able to catch me.” He puffed out his chest a bit. He wasn’t wrong, a year on the run like he’d spent wasn’t a small feat. It was still, though, a stupid one when not necessary.

  “That’s not the point, Mud. I could’ve helped. Your mom could’ve helped.”

  “By blowing them up?”

  “Diplomatic means. I have favors owed.”

  “Uhm. Dad? Do those favors include Mom getting kidnapped to try and force you to do things? I think maybe you’re further off the reservation then you like to think these days.”

  “I may be, all right, I admit that. But we still could’ve helped and you know that. But even with that problem, why is it going to factor into this? We just don’t have you ask and we’re fine.”

  “I don’t think so,” he said. He’d been thinking this over. There was still information I was missing. Great. “They probably know I’m here.”

  “How?”

  “I dodged a Reclaimer crew right before I headed here. They wouldn’t dare try to get on board one of our ships or even ask the Government to hand me over, but if they tracked my ship, then they know.”

  I saw red for a second. “Wait, your escape plan with your mother had to include going back to your ship. How was that going to work for you and not against you?”

  “I had no choice or time!” he yelled. “I was working with what I had! What would you have done?”

  “Not put the people I was trying to rescue into more danger by rescuing them!” Shouting wouldn’t help either of us, I knew. I couldn’t stop myself, though.

  “Oh, really? Like that ship of people you had out on the front lines? They’re well trained, are they? You do what you have to when the situation needs doing, Dad! You and Mom both! How can you act surprised if I do it?”

  I ran a hand over my hair slowly, thinking. “No, you’re right. I’m sorry, kid. But we still need to hash this out in full later. But, fine, damn it, here and now. How does them knowing you’re maybe here hurt us?”

  “They know who raised me,” he said, relaxing some himself, “who my parents are. By now the information that you’re here and in charge has spread. You think they won’t monitor the channels to make sure of that sort of thing? So they know I’m here and you’re here. A request comes through asking for their help. What’s their first move?”

  “To demand you in return.”

  “To demand me in return, exactly,” he agreed. “And that’s fine, I’m even all right with that, but I don’t think they’ll bother with the ‘in return’ part at all. They’ll just demand me and still refuse you, on principle.”

  “They’re that bad? I knew when we adopted you they were harsh, but that seems cold even for the Hurkz. To be willing burn two species over one person?”

  “Trust me.”

  “I do. So what’s our next move? If you’re right and the tech exists, then we have to ask. So how can we swing it to get them to agree?”

  “I don’t know that you can,” he said, sounding defeated.

  “Everyone wants something. But we need a clue.”

  “Permission to hunt outcasts in the human territories, even across Government ships?”

  “There aren’t that many.”

  He thought, thumping the wall with a hand rhythmically. “You’re right. I don’t know. They don’t expand their spaces.”

  “And maybe that’s it. What if we offer them a nearby world. We leave it and they move in.”

  “Can we even do that?”

  “If we
had to? Yes. If it comes down to two races versus one planet, when we can relocate the population? I don’t see why not.” I didn’t want to have to try and sell that to the Council. I couldn’t even remember the name of the planet I’d be selling out. Still, if that was the only card I had to play, I’d play it.

  I decided that we’d have to go through with this and the negotiation would have to be lead by me. That way any fallout would also hit me. Technically I still carried rank - the worst they could do would be to throw me out and cancel my pension. Well, no, the worst would be jail time, but I doubted that. I also didn’t care about the pension.

  So I’d have to make the call. Which meant it was time to think sideways. I’d dealt with the Hurkz once before, which had ended up with us adopting Mud. If their memories were as long as it seemed now, they’d go into this with a grudge. Hunt my kid down for a year or more, and I walk in with a grudge, too, though.

  “So that’s the move, then?” Mud asked me, the uncertainty in his voice making him sound much younger than he was.

  “That’s the move, unless you can think of another.”

  “Stay creative, Dad. That’s my only other move.”

  I grinned at him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Always.”

  We walked back to the conference room together. As we got close, my earpiece went off again. “Jonah. Mills. We need to discuss the fleet situation.”

  “What’s up, Mills?”

  “Shae says she thinks she’s got everything worked out now.”

  “All right,” I’d assumed she would handle it. “So what is there to discuss?”

  “Deep Water requests docking for her fighter group to get a break and send out some fresh pilots, at least a shift’s worth.”

  “Except she’s at the back of the fleet, and if we swap them all out we could spook everyone.”

  “Exactly, also they would be new pilots, not used to the situation. I wonder how much problem it could cause.”

  “Good point. All right. Tell Deep Water she can send in half her squad for this shift and then rotate out the other half next shift. But either her or Frogger remain with the squad for now. Her choice.”

  “Got it. I’ll pass it along.”

  “Thanks, Mills. And send my wife up to my location, and come up with her.”

  “Roger.”

  We sat back down and I explained to the room that we would shortly open communications with the Hurkz. I ordered them all out and told the Tsyfarians the same thing - this needed to be done small and simple. A minimal amount of people, so as not to spook the Hurkz or make them feel attacked in any way.

  No one liked it, on any side, but I wouldn’t budge. Hodges came down with Mills and Shae as the scientists left. The Tsyfarian screen shut off and Hodges looked mad. That made me want to laugh, but I decided against bothering.

  “You can’t negotiate on behalf of humanity with the Hurkz,” he said, anger simmering. “You aren’t authorized! I will handle the—”

  “Hodges,” I said calmly, “I’m in charge, remember? That will change when this is all over and done with. Which will happen after I deal with you.” I glanced at Shae slowly, so Hodges could note it. “Remember?” He paled and left the room. I’m sure he would tell the Council about this and they would balk. But by the time they did, it would be too late and all of this would be a done deal.

  I pulled Shae aside and told her about Mud’s troubles quickly. She grew angry as fast as I had but relaxed before Mud could catch it. We’d have to deal with that along with everything else, and she was sure to enjoy that part.

  We all sat and arranged ourselves for decent viewing of the screen, except Mud. He sat off to one side where he wouldn’t be seen. If they spotted him, everything could go to pieces. Assuming seeing Shae and I didn’t do that off the bat. Either way, I wouldn’t refuse him the right to be here and listen in. Even advise, if he felt the need, so long as he did it silently.

  Mills set up the call and we sat back while he handled the preliminaries. Basic diplomatic stuff, the sort of thing Mills could handle easily - I was sure of it, given his usual job.

  I sat back and fought the urge to put my feet up on the table. Despite what I’d been saying and heading toward, these guys had hunted my son for over a year. I was going to enjoy this little chat.

  Chapter 36 - Mud

  MY VIEWING ANGLE wasn’t the best, but when the first Hurkz diplomat came on-screen I still had to suppress a small twitch. Mills took care of him, flashing credentials and requesting to go higher up the chain.

  The first flunky was replaced by a second and Mills discarded him too, his language precise and professional. I started to see why Dad wanted him as an assistant. While obviously a bit unsure of himself, he focused when it counted.

  We went up the chain like that for about an hour until someone worth talking to finally came on. I recognized him and signaled Mom. I jotted down a note and got it to her without him noticing. This was the guy who’d signed my death warrant and forced me to flee in the first place. Not a friend.

  Dad read the note as Mom flashed it to him under the table, and he actually grinned. He ran his hand across his short hair, rubbing his scalp, and settled back into his chair. Spreading his hands on the top of the table, he ran them over the surface, looking for all the world like he was smoothing it down.

  “We need Hurkz help,” he said as a starting point. Brave tactic, just asking right off the bat. It wouldn’t work, and I think he knew that. Dad was playing a game, and had made some sort of choice that the rest of us weren’t aware of.

  “You are the criminal Jonah Madison,” Slon said, his sneer crystal clear even from my angle of sight. “Why would we ever consider helping you?”

  “Because you don’t want to be responsible for the loss of life that will occur if you turn me down,” Dad said smoothly.

  “What do we care for your lives?”

  “Diplomatic ties, for a start. But no, really, what you care about is the material you buy from human-governed worlds. If that took a substantial hit, you would feel it, too.”

  “We would adjust. Criminal, we will not deal with you.”

  “That’s twice you’ve called me a criminal—”

  “Because you are,” Slon said, cutting Dad off. “You refused to return the one named Mud, the tribeless, to us. Instead you raised him as your own and denied basic Hurkz law.”

  “I saved his life, you mean?”

  “Criminal—”

  “That’s three. And twice you’ve interrupted me. I don’t think you get how diplomatic talks are supposed to go,” Dad said.

  “Do not lecture me on—”

  Dad leaned forward, slapping the table with both palms as he did. He got that look in his eye, too. The one that none of us liked being on the receiving end of. “I will lecture you on anything I damn well please!” he shouted. “You wanted to kill a child for the bad luck of his being tortured. I refused to let you. You branded me, my wife, and my child as criminals. And make no mistake, I don’t consider him anything other than my kid. We agree on that one thing - he isn’t a member of your people anymore. But you will not continue to try and reclaim him, or make a move against me and my family.”

  “This is how you ask for help?” Slon looked faintly amused. “Throwing threats around and posturing? Am I supposed to cower and give you what you want now?”

  “Naw, I’m just saying hello.” Dad leaned back again and folded his hands behind his head. “Now, to business.”

  “There shall be no business with you unless you return the tribeless one to us.”

  “We need hibernation tech. I’ve heard rumors you have some.”

  “Did you not understand me?” Slon shook his head in disbelief.

  “Yeah, I did. Let’s assume for now it’s on the table.” Dad smiled at Slon and sat there.

  I blinked, hard. He couldn’t mean it, could he? Mom looked at me subtly and we locked eyes for a second. No, of course it wasn’t what it seemed
. Still scared me to hear.

  “Excuse me?” Slon asked, seemingly as taken aback as I felt.

  “You heard me fine. Assume it’s on the table.”

  “This is a trick.”

  “No, it’s diplomacy. I’ve made my feelings on my son clear, so you’ll understand how important he is to me. So when I offer him up to you in exchange for this consideration, you’ll realize how much I am giving up and, hopefully, part with the same in return.”

  “This must be a trick,” Slon repeated.

  “Nope,” Dad told him, and my blood turned to ice. I knew it had to be a trick, but Dad was selling this. “It’s one life for countless lives. Even an old fool like me can do that math. So let’s move this along before I lose my nerve and can’t go through with it.”

  “Yes…you were asking about…,” Poor Slon didn’t know which way was up anymore.

  “Hibernation tech. We need some. Not for us, but for a reptilian species. We’re hoping they’re close enough to you that this might work.”

  “It would not. The adjustments would be large and unpredictable.”

  “Willing to go with that. Do you have the technology?”

  “Confirming or denying state secrets is not something I am prepared to do right now.”

  Dad sighed heavily. “We don’t have time. If we did, fine, go upstairs and make some calls. But there, quite seriously, is not time for this. Do you want to be known as the man who bested the criminal Jonah Madison? Not many have. On top of which, bringing in the longest-escaped tribleless Hurkz? It would be an incredible coup for you. But it’s on the table now, not later.”

  “I…” Slon looked down. He ran the numbers in his head, I’d guess, and muttered something we couldn’t hear. “Yes, we have this technology,” he said at last.

  “Not in testing, but working technology?” Dad pressed him.

  “Yes, it is in normal usage when required. But I do not think even for the price offered I could give such a bounty to you.” Slon actually sounded sad.

  “So what could you give it to me for?” Dad asked, face serious. “What else could I provide?”