by Marc Stevens
Advantage or not, I was really getting sick at the interference from our supposed ally. I’m sure this was a universal practice, even on the planet of my birth, but I did not have to put up with this backroom bullshit here. Sael stood staring, wondering what I would say next.
“This is about the derelict ship isn’t it? Your council is only interested in gaining access to the technology that might be recovered and don’t like the delays my other missions might entail.”
I could tell she was carefully thinking about what she should say. “Your assessment is most likely correct, but you left out the part about your death-defying behavior. I believe that more than a few council members think you will meet your maker sooner than later. If that should happen, we will be back to searching the galaxy in hopes of recovering small quantities of useful trinkets.”
What a load of crap! The Chaalt were looking out for me for my own good, or more aptly, looking out for their future good. Our technological discoveries were turning into a hindrance to goals that would benefit all races. I needed to get a handle on this before it turns into something more undesirable than what I was currently dealing with. But first things first!
“Sael, I am going after Eiger whether the council likes it or not. The Sig would be more than happy to come along without attaching any strings to the adventure. I would readily share tech with an ally that had no interest in interfering with my goals.”
Sael cringed at my statement, but I knew it was theatrics. She knew exactly where this was going, and I was sure she somehow steered me in this direction. We were surprised when she turned and headed for the hangar door. I called after her.
“You are a lot of things, but I never thought a quitter would be one of them.”
She turned, momentarily looking confused at my words. She then made a noise with her mouth and a dismissive wave with two of her arms.
“You mindless Throgg. I am going to spin this in such a way my superiors will not think I used duplicity to ensure this outcome. When I am done, they will believe it is what they wanted all along.”
“We will be jumping to outpost 6854 and see what we can develop on Eiger’s location. If we find actionable intel, we will move on it quickly.”
Sael stopped short of the hangar door. “Let me know what you find. If you need my help, I will back you, no matter what the council has to say about it.”
That was good enough for me, and it managed to knock the edge off my irritation. “Justice, take us to the coordinates the Zaens gave us.”
“Affirmative, Commander. DEHD core transition in three minutes.”
“Klutch, get that crate off our ship!”
Klutch grabbed the slave crate and threw it out the hangar door. As he walked by to stow his armor he made it a point to stop and talk to me. “Unless you have further need for me, I will be in the galley finishing my meal.”
I let him know what might lay ahead. “I suggest you eat while you can and get some rest. If we manage to find Eiger, there will be no time for a nap or a lunch break.”
Coonts and Tria were conversing then turned to me. “Commander, we must make an effort to locate the Zaens. Coonts and I agree they would not be foolish enough to interact with the Murlak if it becomes known that several of Eiger’s siblings went missing at their former place of business. We should investigate the Zaen market outlet and determine their whereabouts.”
I was going to say I agree, but my hearing muted and everything around me turned bright white, then faded away. When my awareness returned, Justice was talking to us.
“Commander, I have engaged our stealth systems and do not believe our transition has been detected. I am doing a passive scan of the outpost and the nearby dust nebula. There is light spacecraft traffic around the outpost and I have detected power plant emanations coming from the dust cloud. I believe closer scrutiny will reveal the true number and identity of the spacecraft loitering in that location.”
“Okay Justice, take us into the nebula and let’s get a hard lock on the opposition. Once we know for sure what is there, we can formulate a plan of action.”
Coonts had another idea, and it involved him exhibiting a trait not common among his people. “Commander, I volunteer to go to the outpost in an attempt to find Broza and Hylet. It would be extremely unusual if the Zaen place of business was no longer operating. If I cannot locate the business, I will try to confirm the Zaens operating it, have been detained.”
I could not argue with his reasoning. Tactically, it was the smart thing to do. Tria thought so too and volunteered as well. Unfortunately, I was going to piss her off. I would try to dampen her anger with a factual explanation as to why.
“Tria, all too often, our combat actions were associated with a Grawl accompanied by a Tibor Troop Master, or a Chaalt warrior, or an unknown biped alien. I know you have to realize that a Grawl by himself is not considered a threat to anyone.”
Coonts, in a display of his inordinately large nads, helped me out of a tough spot. “Tria, if I go alone, I will draw very little attention. I will wear a standard issue Grawl cloak suit that will hide my identity. Most will overlook me as just another possible customer for goods sold on the outpost. Should I run into unexpected trouble, I will not hesitate to call for your assistance.”
Tria stood with her arms crossed but nodded in agreement. Coonts gave us a thumb up. “I will alert Klutch to our new mission considerations before I board the shuttle.”
I was sure Klutch would join us shortly to offer going to the outpost in Coonts’ place. I shook my head and prepared my response to his request. I gave Tria a small smile in hopes she would return it, but that was not the case. The warrior in her wanted action, and I could not blame her. This might prove to be a chance to even the score with the bastard that had brutalized her. I knew that I would do everything in my power to make sure Eiger did not slip through my fingers once again. Right on cue, I heard thumping footsteps rapidly approaching. As Klutch stopped in front of us, it was apparent he had not finished his meal. His attempt at speaking included a sprinkling of food bits on my feet. He hastily wiped the remainder from his face and apologized for the well-chewed barrage. Coonts and Xul came out of the ready room discussing the mission. Coonts was wearing one of the Grawl cloak suits from our large supply. He was holding a smaller version of a Tibor fighting knife in his hands. His face mask was transparent and you could see the less than attractive smile on his face.
“Look what Justice has presented to me. He has down-sized one of the fighting knives so I am able to conceal it with my sidearm.”
He held it out and Klutch grabbed it, twirling it several times in his big meaty hand. “It is a little flimsy but will still do its intended job”
He handed it back to Coonts, who slid it into a scabbard inside of his suit. Any thoughts of a feud going on between Coonts and Justice were now allayed. While we were all gathered, Justice took the opportunity to notify us about some the armor modifications he had been working on.
“Commander, the results of my experiments have yielded new capabilities for your equipment. I have incorporated what I now believe is an effective cloaking system into your current generation battle armor. My initial experiments revealed numerous inadequacies in the backlighting devices that kept the cloaked battle armor from casting tell-tale shadows. I have now overcome those limitations. The newly designed emitter arrays will allow me to closely monitor all encountered backgrounds and compensate for the constantly changing conditions. The one limitation that makes the cloaking of the battle suits less than optimal is the sound emissions from the armored foot gear on rigid surfaces. The sound deadening qualities of the pads I have installed on bottoms of the boots will still require measured careful strides to negate sound propagation.”
I knew Justice had been working on the cloak system since he designed the new armor. The ability to cloak the large metallic monsters our suits have become, was an outstanding achievement. Although we would again find ourselves entering
combat with untested systems, Justice’s record of success spoke for itself. Tria and Klutch wished Coonts good luck and disappeared down the corridor into the ready room. When Coonts turned away from the shuttle, I knew what the topic would be. To my surprise, I was only half right.
“Commander, Xul has volunteered to accompany me to the outpost. Since we do not anticipate combat operations, I thought it was an excellent idea. While not unheard of, my people are not generally known to travel alone. I also believe it would be wise to purchase food supplies and other goods while we are there. It will further our ruse and make reconnaissance much easier if we are seen making purchases in several different locations on the outpost. I would also like to take my battle armor as a precautionary measure in case unexpected circumstances arise. Xul will be bringing his Zaen body armor as well.”
I nodded in agreement and waved them on, they both took off to gather the rest of their gear. I called to Justice. “Justice, give Coonts a credit voucher with a denomination on it that will not draw unnecessary attention. Please keep close watch over Xul — I know he means well, but he will be stepping way outside of his normal comfort zone.”
“Affirmative Commander, I have carefully selected the loadout for Xul’s battle armor and can take control of the Zaen systems at any time, should it require him wearing the suit.”
I should have known better. Justice looked after everyone under his care.
36
I suddenly felt a very familiar feeling that was always accompanied by Tria’s presence. I turned around and saw nothing. “Tria, I know you are close, I can feel your aura.”
My legs turned to jelly and I staggered forward only to be caught by Tria’s large armored arms as she appeared in front of me. The cloaking technology was indeed a masterful stroke of engineering. Klutch appeared just behind me with a croaking laugh.
“Commander, Eiger will never know what happened, because you can slit his throat before he knows you are near.”
I didn’t say it, but I wanted Eiger to know who was coming for him. I want him to feel the terror he is inflicting on others.
Justice alerted us that Coonts and Xul were ready to depart. He pushed the shuttle out of the atmospheric retention field then turned the Legacy on a course that took us into the dense dust nebula. We started picking out what we presumed to be Eiger’s fleet. There were twenty-two ships identified as three Union gunships, eleven Murlak-heavy cruisers, six Scrun motherships and two that Klutch identified as very dated Tibor shuttle carriers. The carriers were giant disks with four hangar bays around their perimeter. They normally carried sixteen assault shuttles with a dozen troops on each of them. We had no way of knowing if they had complete detachments with them or not. I already knew the Tibor assault shuttle was a formidable weapons platform. If the carriers had a full complement of mercenaries aboard, it could spell trouble if we mounted a rescue operation at the outpost. The one ship I had hoped to see was not present — there were no Warbringer class battleships detected in our scans. Justice continued scanning the entire dust cloud until we were sure we had tagged all the ships hiding there. We were now at the farthest point from the outpost and skirting the outer edge of the nebula. It was time to turn back when Justice alerted us to a new turn of events.
“Commander, I have an active transponder thread.”
“I have been wondering if the Guardian transponder quit working — it has been awhile since it has been active.”
“I have come to the conclusion that the device is unable to function while making DEHD Core transitions. I believe we have missed opportunities to make additional discoveries, had we made normal interdimensional transitions.”
“How long is the thread?”
“More than ninety light years and increasing. I recommend we let it run its course and map the destination before we return to the outpost.”
“OK Justice, show us the nebula and the ships you have located while we wait.”
We gathered on the bridge and Justice displayed the dust cloud. It was showing the positions of the twenty-two ships, each had a red triangle marking its location. If this was indeed Eiger’s fleet, his assets were dwindling along with his power base. Klutch was for taking a call from the Operative’s playbook and launching an immediate stealth missile attack. Tria, on the other hand, was the voice of caution.
“We should not take action until we hear from Coonts and Xul. Once we know what is taking place on the outpost, we can make our plan of action as well as any secondary contingencies.”
“Commander, Coonts and Xul report they are now moving to the market areas. I will relay their voice communications through the shuttle IST”
“Thanks, Justice. Alert me if anything changes. When you are ready, move us as close to the outpost as you can without putting us in danger of a collision with other spacecraft.”
“Affirmative.”
Since Coonts and Xul took our only shuttle, we needed to be close enough to bail them out in case scat finds its way into a ventilator.
“Commander, I have comms traffic from Coonts.”
Coonts’ voice came online. “Commander, there are a large number of heavily armed Murlak and Tibor mercenaries prevalent throughout the market areas. We have been shadowed by two Murlak from the moment we exited our shuttle. We will stop and make purchases to see if they will continue their surveillance.”
It sounded like the Overmaster of the outpost was expecting trouble or trying to dissuade anyone from starting any. I did not want to be involved in another outpost shootout. The Oolaran in me would have loved nothing better. I wringed my hands in a display of impatience. Eiger was out there in the void doing I don’t know what, and there was nothing I could do about it until he revealed his location.
“Commander, the thread has terminated at a star system one-hundred and forty-one lightyears from our present location. I have mapped the coordinates and we can now move back to the outpost.”
“Roger that, Justice, take us back.”
Justice relayed Coonts’ comms transmission. “Commander, I have purchased supplies at two Grawl outlets, and the Murlaks that were following us have ceased their surveillance. Xul has identified a Zaen supply shop two levels above our current position. We will investigate and report back to you when we have useful information.”
So far so good. No hostile actions were a plus and my crewmates could move about freely. I was beginning to feel like we were going to get in and out with no trouble. I hated playing the waiting game but had no choice but to sit back and see what Coonts and Xul could find out. Tria seemed anxious and Klutch looked bored.
“Tria, is something on your mind?”
“Yes. I had fears this was another trap designed to lure us to this location. I now think otherwise — Eiger or the Scrun would not have enough time to set this up. There is no way they could have transferred the data on our last engagement before we arrived. Unless Eiger has obtained DEHD Core technology, they would have no reason to think we will come here.”
Tria was right: there was no way the information could have beat us here. “So, you think this is where Eiger has been hiding?”
“I cannot be sure if that is the case because his flagship is not present. It does make sense that he would frequent the area to collect the credits being earned on the outpost. He must keep his underlings paid or they would most assuredly abandon him. I suspect that Eiger spends little time at any single location. Our success at destroying his assets has him fearing for his life.”
“Commander, I have comms from Coonts.”
“Commander, we made contact with the Zaens operating the outlet, they say that Broza was on his way with an armor shipment and never arrived. He is missing and the merchants say this is a very unlikely scenario. They fear the worst. They are waiting for the right moment and they are going to flee this location”
Shit! This was not turning out as I thought it would. Broza obviously confided in the Zaens on the outpost to some extent or they would not
be so forthcoming. I could not blame them for not wanting to hang around. An old Earth dictum came to mind: SNAFU. It described my current dilemma perfectly. Not only was Eiger still at large, but now the Zaens were missing as well. “OK Coonts, you and Xul get back to the shuttle and meet us at the rally point.”
“Roger that, Commander. We will load our supplies and leave as soon as possible.”
I was relieved that Coonts and Xul had no problems on the outpost. It was a definite departure from the shootouts that seemed to plague our every move.
“Justice, don’t we have a way to locate the Zaens?”
“Yes, through their star drive signature and comms. Unfortunately, one or the other has to be operating before I can attempt to get a fix on their location. They will have to be within our scanner range as well.”
Tria and Klutch were exchanging ideas and came up with what the most likely answer could be.
“Commander, Klutch and I believe that with the large number of pirates in this sector, the probability of the Zaens being hijacked is a very likely scenario. It is not a stretch of the imagination to assume the Murlak or others would place an order for armor or materials that they can ill afford, then wait for the supplier to deliver and intercept the cargo.”
Although this did not indicate a direct relationship with us, and probably not the reason they might be detained, it did not rule out the possibility of the armor Broza was transporting being identified as captured by us.
“Commander, we have arrived at the shuttle rally point and I have detected the transition of our shuttle. Coonts and Xul’s ETA is seven minutes.”
“Thanks, Justice, we will meet them in the hangar.”
Tria, Klutch and I went down tube to the hangar. Justice had just pulled the shuttle in with the tow beam and was locking it down to the deck. The rear hatch came down and Xul stepped off with a relieved look on his face. Coonts joined him and we congratulated them on a successful intelligence gathering mission — one that did not involve shooting the place up. Coonts walked us to the shuttle’s hold and showed us the generous supply of goods he purchased on the outpost. The Grawl back at Alpha base would be very happy to learn that there would be no rationing of Grawl related consumables anytime soon.