Dragon Wave

by Valerie Emerson

  The station was full of life, from the traders and smugglers below to the galactic elite gathering above. He could sense the station’s power core, the ships in dock, but he couldn’t tell one species from another or read anyone’s intentions. He was wasting his energy.

  Steven guided them to a lift, then bid them farewell as the doors closed.

  “What have you sensed so far, Mike?” Nanami asked as the elevator began moving.

  “Nothing useful, sorry to say.”

  “Keep trying.” Gilchrist adjusted his collar, tugged at his cuffs. “I don’t want any surprises.”

  “I’ll need to find a quiet place to do that. I don’t scan well on my feet.”

  “Then do it. Admiral, I heard three Yeti clans would be here. Which one do we approach first?”

  The lift door opened at the center of a large domed chamber. A tantalizing smell caught Dante’s nose, and soft music played just below the volume of the buzzing crowd. Nanami and Gilchrist linked arms and went one way. Following Gilchrist’s curt nod, Dante went the other.

  There were no dark corners, but an empty bench against the wall looked inviting. Dante claimed it and assumed a relaxed pose with his arms draped across the back of the bench to discourage visitors.

  A diminutive robot paused at his bench. It held a large tray overhead with a selection of different foods. Three small banners adorned the tray. Dante wasn’t familiar with two of them, but the third was the Earth Fleet flag.

  “What’s this?” He pointed at the flag.

  “This selection of food has been marked as ideal for human, Yeti, and Pirr consumption. The barefruit in particular has been popular among the humans tonight, sir.”

  “Pirr, you said?” Dante took what he assumed was the barefruit, a purple orb that looked like a peeled grape. “Are they here?”

  “Yes, they are invited guests. Good evening.”

  The robot left before Dante got out another question. He popped the fruit in his mouth and wished he’d grabbed more than just one. He hummed a little as he chewed, trying to place what it tasted like. Not strawberries or melon. It called birthday cake to mind, but that was wrong too.

  “Do humans usually make mouth noises when they chew?”

  The icy tone startled him out of his reverie. He’d been joined by a Pirr female. She wore an ornate mask woven from copper and silver-colored wires. He could see the shape of her face, but the pattern made it difficult to pull the pieces into a whole image. Her dress was plain, though, and looked like it was woven from the roughest wool they could find.

  He was intrigued, but a twitch of her lips reminded him that he was staring.

  “You’re a Pirr.”

  “An astute observation. You are from Earth. Why aren’t you with your masters?”

  “No one is my master. I’m a Mystic. My role is to sit here and keep an eye on things.” He looked around for another servant robot, hoping for more of that fruit. “Why aren’t you with yours?”

  “I am in my rightful place. If you are a Mystic, you are the one I am looking for.”

  He sat a little straighter. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be talking to strange aliens, yet she’d started the exchange. Gilchrist might not see it his way, but he’d already gotten tangled in this conversation. Backing out now would be rude and possibly compromise their mission.

  “You were looking for me, specifically?” He searched the crowd looking for Gilchrist and Nanami.

  “The Mystic, yes. If you seek peace, we will speak to you. There is a private balcony on the floor above. Two hours. Come alone, so you may speak freely.”

  “I’m not the ambassador, you know. You’ll need to talk to him if you want any binding deals.”

  “If I wished to speak with your ambassador, I would.” She walked toward the crowd, which melted away from her like ice from a blowtorch. Two other Pirr appeared, putting themselves in protective positions between the female and the crowd. The party guests closed around her, and she was lost to his sight.

  ***

  “Absolutely not,” Gilchrist hissed.

  Nanami glanced at them both, eyes narrowed. She was acting as crowd control, keeping strangers from wandering too close. This conversation needed to be private, but Dante wondered how it looked, the three Earth delegates whispering in a lonely corner.

  “You said it yourself. The Pirr are dodging you at every turn. Have you gotten a single other being to talk to you about the Pirr or about an alliance against them?”

  “No.” Gilchrist pursed his lips. “This is some sort of game. I’m the ranking delegate. If they won’t speak with me, they’re already playing games.”

  “Better to talk to me than no one,” Dante argued.

  “He does have a point.” Nanami edged a little closer. “Rumor has it that all Pirr are Mystics. Maybe they respect him more.”

  Gilchrist rolled his eyes, and Dante didn’t blame him. Maybe he’d earned his rank among the Mystics, but his reputation wasn’t the healthiest. He wasn’t there to throw political weight around. He was there because he was strong and, if pressed, could manage without backup.

  “Got it. You’d rather go home empty-handed than give me a shot at this. I might not be a diplomat, but I’ve handled delicate situations before.”

  “We’ve been here for hours, and people will only talk to you about tariffs.” Nanami inclined her head toward Dante. “He can listen to what they say, and report back. They just need to understand that this isn’t a negotiation. You can’t make any deals on Earth’s behalf.”

  “I know that much and already told them that.” Dante wanted to smile at the admiral, but Gilchrist’s expression was a little too stony. Maybe that meant he was thinking hard, nothing else.

  “Very well. You can go, but you will wear an earpiece and leave the moment I tell you to. Don’t say one word without my consent, Mike. Do you understand me?”

  “Perfectly.” Dante reached out and plucked a barefruit from a passing robot. “You can count on me, Ambassador.”

  “For our sake,” Gilchrist muttered, “I certainly hope so.”

  ***

  Dante stepped onto the empty balcony. He checked his earpiece, making sure it was firmly in place.

  “Testing,” he said.

  “You’re coming through just fine, Mike.” Nanami’s voice was as clear as if she were standing next to him.

  “Remember. Don’t say a word I don’t approve first.”

  “Understood.” Maybe if he said it one more time, Gilchrist would believe him.

  Dante leaned on the balcony, looking at the wheeling and dealing going on below. He had to guess fifty people were down there. Some were politicians, some were there purely on business. Not one of them would talk to Gilchrist.

  Either their ambassador was terrible at his job, or the Pirr were scarier than he thought. Earth Fleet had a lot to offer. They had resource-rich planets, Mystics, power; anything an ally might find valuable. They shouldn’t get blown off this easily.

  The door opened behind him, and the masked alien stepped through. Her lithe movements told him she was either an excellent dancer or very dangerous in a fight. Hell, maybe it was both.

  “Evening. Glad you could make it.”

  Her gaze swept down his body. Her expression never changed as she looked at his hair, his clothes, his boots. Her attention returned to his head, or maybe it was his throat she was glaring at.

  “Your device. You will remove it.” She tapped her ear.

  “That’s a very bad idea,” Nanami said into his ear.

  “What? This?” His finger brushed the earpiece as he scrambled for a story that would let him keep it.

  “Yes. Your paid liars are not worthy of my speech. You will discard the listening device or our meeting is at an end.”

  “Mystic First Class Dante. You will not –” Gilchrist’s warning cut off as Dante removed the earpiece. He hadn’t actually heard anyone say no.

  “I guess I don’t really have a choic
e.” He turned off the device and shoved it into his pocket. “Now what?”

  “Now I will tell you how to make peace with my people before more lives are lost.”

  Dante’s eyebrow twitched. “I thought your people didn’t take responsibility for pirates.”

  “We do not, but we could stop them if we wished. Return the Key to me, human, and I will stop the corsairs from attacking your vessels.”

  Dante tried to get a read on her the way she had him, but her mask was just as confounding as before.

  “Maybe you could start by telling me your name. I’m Dante, Mystic First Class.”

  Her lips twitched downward. “I am Commander Xoa. Answer my demand, human. Will you return that which is ours?”

  “I don’t know that I can. What does it do? Why do you need it back?”

  “None of that is your concern. It is an artifact from ancient days, and your kind stole it from us.”

  “From what I hear, it came from an empty planet.”

  “Tell me, how do humans feel about taking heirlooms from your graveyards, your sacred places? No one lives in them, yet is it acceptable?” Xoa took a step closer. It wasn’t an overt threat, but there was something menacing about the way she stared at him.

  “No, ma’am, but you tried to kill my friends to get this thing from them. That doesn’t exactly call for a reward.” He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to look more certain than he felt. Her graveyard analogy bothered him, but so did her murder attempt.

  “They trespassed on sacred ground. They got better than they deserved,” she hissed. Dante leaned back as she loomed closer. “I am not surprised you would justify the theft. It is the only way you get to keep your treasure.”

  “I’m not saying that,” he protested.

  She stepped back and pulled off her mask.

  Recognition slapped Dante. This was the Pirr from the broadcast right after Cor and Jack got home. Commander Xoa, she’d called herself. If she didn’t run the pirates, she surely held their reins.

  “Tell me what it does,” he repeated.

  “That is none of your concern.”

  He shrugged and made as if to put the earpiece back in his ear. “Then I guess we have nothing to talk about.”

  She hissed something in an alien tongue, and the door slammed open. A trio of tall humanoids in concealing armor stepped into the chamber. They carried blunt weapons the length of their arms that glowed an electric blue.

  “If you will not be my emissary, you will be the message.” She spat, then vanished through the door as the newcomers rushed him.

  “Can’t we talk about this?” Dante called after her, but she was already gone. He backpedaled, but there was nowhere to go with the balcony ledge at his back. His attackers came at him in slow motion as his thoughts raced.

  He jerked back as the leader swung. The very tip of the stave caught Dante across the teeth. White-hot fire rippled through his body, yet his jaw was frozen shut. He couldn’t even cry out. He slumped against the railing, attempting to get his muscles to stop acting like gelatin and move.

  Jump.

  The impulse shot through his nervous system like an electric jolt. He shook his head even as he put his hand on the rail.

  “You must be crazy,” he muttered. “You’re the one with wings here, remember?”

  A stave came down on the railing inches from his nose. Dante hauled himself to his feet through sheer force of will. Sure, he’d jump. It was much better to go splat on the floor than get beaten to death with glowing ice clubs.

  Jump now.

  People were shouting below as Dante climbed up on the balcony ledge. A wound in reality rippled in the air below him, wisps of bright green and violet escaping it like smoke.

  He didn’t jump so much as roll over the railing. One of his attackers caught him with a parting blow, sending another jolt of pain through his midsection, but then he was gone, enveloped in the veil between worlds.

  “How?”

  He was wheezing, but he could at least manage that much of a question.

  Our bond strengthens by the day. The ritual is no longer required.

  “That’s one silver lining.” He looked around, rubbing his arms. The hole into the physical world was shrinking. “Am I going to get trapped here?”

  Only if your ship leaves without you. I will guide you, but you must hurry. When your biometric signature is gone, they will assume you are dead and leave.

  “We can’t have that.”

  He followed his dragon’s urgings and ran. Ribbons of light swirled around him as he passed through the in-between realm. When the light touched him, it felt like a warm ray of sunshine. Still, it was unnerving to see the light passing through him.

  He tumbled through the rent in the ground before he registered its presence. One moment he was falling through a tangle of violet and blue, the next he was face-down on cool metal.

  “I don’t want to leave him any more than you do, but the readings are indisputable. He is dead, Nanami. We need to protect the crewmen we have left.”

  “And I tell you that I won’t believe that man is dead until I see the body. Have you read his file, Ambassador? I won’t leave him behind. Not until I’m sure.”

  “You’ll get us all killed.”

  Dante groaned as every muscle in his body threatened to cramp up. He could feel the loss now; every ounce of energy had been stripped from him, body and mind. Even his heart beat slower, feeling as weak and fragile as a butterfly in slow motion.

  “What is that? Mike? How in blue blazes did you get in here?”

  Nanami turned him onto his back. The muscles in his back twitched painfully.

  “I’m going to guess your talk went poorly. You…Ensign. Go get the Mike’s drink. Captain, let’s get underway. If they’re willing to attack a member of the delegation, there’s nothing to gain here.”

  The crewmen moved to obey in a flurry of activity. Dante lay still as he waited for the electrolyte drink to do its work. His muscles eased, but were still as soft as angel food cake.

  Things got blurry. When he opened his eyes in the medical bay, he had a needle in his arm and a few electrodes slapped onto his forehead. The pain was gone, along with his exhaustion. He felt nearly human again.

  “Dante.” Ambassador Gilchrist sat in the corner, hands folded in his lap. “I’m glad to see you with us again.”

  “Yeah? You were going to leave me.”

  “I thought you were dead.” Gilchrist came to stand over Dante. He looked a lot more concerned than Dante had imagined. “How do you feel?”

  “Like I went ten rounds with a tank. Less tired, though.”

  “I see. Did you learn anything useful?”

  Dante grinned. “I did. We have something she wants.”

  A smile cracked Gilchrist’s somber expression. He fetched his chair and dragged it over. “Now that is good news. Tell me. What is it?”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The shuttle dipped away from the E.F.S. Vaughan and sliced into Geneva’s atmosphere. It was packed with crewmembers on leave, with Julia Ronasuli and Jack Gagnon sitting together at the front of the cabin. They were surrounded by excited chatter. Geneva had gone from a renegade settlement to a legitimate Earth Colony and, from the sound of it, was a favorite place to go.

  Julia pressed her hand against the viewscreen as the shuttle slowed for landing. Geneva City had started out with buildings fashioned from spaceship parts. Its cobbled-together beauty had been just one part of what made Geneva feel like home.

  Now, years later, those unique buildings made up Old Geneva. The “new city” had sprung up around it as the colony prospered. As soon as Julia stepped out the door, the colony spread out before her, the gleaming white of prefab buildings in concentric circles around the center. Shady trees lined the narrow streets, and the only vehicles in sight were floating barges, pulled by large dog-like creatures with too many legs.

  A hand on her shoulder dragged her from her reve
rie, and a bearhug followed. Ephraim laughed gleefully as he lifted her off her feet.

  “Julia! It has been too long.”

  “I missed you too, Ephraim.” She tried for a hug in return, but her arms were pinned to her sides. “How have you been?”

  “Everything is wonderful, but we are missing four of our favorite citizens,” he chuckled.

  He released her and turned to Jack, giving him the same warm welcome. That was when she saw Nada hanging back, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Julia put an end to that by walking over with her arms out. Nada had all the time in the world to dodge or pull away; instead, she relaxed and returned the hug fiercely.

  “I’m glad you could come. We asked for you four specifically. The others could not come?”

  “One of us had to stay on Earth, and Cor drew the short straw. Dante’s on another mission right now, so you get us.”

  “At least we’re your favorites,” Jack cut in, grabbing Nada for a quick embrace. “You’re looking good. The city looks like a city, now.”

  “We’ve been lucky. Our technology has done well, and Nada here has negotiated some very good trade deals for us.” Ephraim smiled proudly at Nada. “But we should not stand here all day. What do you want? A tour? Rest? Food?”

  Julia heard his emphasis on the word tour and saw the way Nada’s expression sharpened as she looked at her partner.

  “What do you have for food around here?” Jack asked.

  “A tour would be great. It’s still early for us, going by ship-time.”

  “Both, then. Come. We have a sledge reserved just for you, our honored guests.”

  ***

  The sledge turned out to be a small floating barge with seats built into it, pulled by one of the creatures that looked like a greyhound mixed with a horse, with big doe eyes and a stubby, wagging tail.

  They climbed aboard and although Ephraim took the reins, they seemed to be for show only as he called out a command and the creature began to move. They glided past crewmembers on their way toward town, the creature’s tongue happily flapping out the corner of its mouth.

  “What is he?” Julia asked

  “He’s a mammal native to this planet. We found them on the southern tip of the continent. They’re smarter than horses, but not sentient. We made sure of that before we put them to work.” Ephraim called out another command and the creature slowed. “We call them Greys, after the man that discovered and trained them.”