Galactic Assimilation 2:: Empire Rising

by J. K. Mabrey

  The bar was clean and well maintained, something unexpected for a place controlled by Sequoian lowlifes. These places typically had blaster marks, and dried blood splattered throughout. Sometimes it was laziness, others, a way of sending a message. This was different. The owners had a fine establishment going and the security at the door looked to keep it that was. Two Rovuns stood at the doorway, blasters carried out in the open. Their heads swiveling back and forth through the bar.

  They sat at a table and ordered drinks. The waitress, a Bacarian with a snarky attitude did not like that the robot wasn't drinking, and made it well known. The screen above their table showed a dashball game. Seventy-two to fifty-six, in favor of the Edent Rejackski.

  Zavik looked around the bar and surveyed the patrons. Two men at a table were paying no attention to the game. Three Rovuns and a Savin sat at another table, the Savin cheered when a Rejackski player blew up another seven percent of the opponent's wall. The Rovuns did not cheer. The bar had six others seated around it. Two Chokmnd, a human, two Tragun, and a Rovun, all watching the game intently. A few other tables were filled with more aliens than Zavik cared to count.

  "I'm going to talk to that guy," Zavik said nodding to the human at the bar.

  "What should we do?" Brax asked.

  "Enjoy your drinks."

  "Easy for him to say," Charra said.

  "Anxious?" Brax asked.

  "Yeah, a little. Why can't we go talk to someone?"

  "Because if we all get up to go talk to someone, it'll look suspicious," Dani said. "We don't want it to be obvious that we're looking for information."

  "I won't be obvious," Charra said. "I know how to handle myself in these situations. You three stay here, I'll take care of getting some information."

  "Charra, wait," Dani started to say but he ignored her and continued on.

  He went over to a table with a Chokmnd and Iriquios.

  "I think it would have been best if he stayed here," Rudy said.

  "I guess we can agree on some things," Brax said.

  "I calculate a sixty-three percent chance that Charra does not retrieve the information," Rudy added.

  "Let's just hope he doesn't get himself into any trouble," Dani said.

  "Twenty-seven percent chance that occurs, ma'am."

  "Thanks, Rudy."

  Zavik stood at the bar and took his drink from the Bacarian. He leaned forward, resting next to the human who was focused on the game. He had a beer in his hand that hadn't been touched for a few minutes. The foam had receded back into the drink and a thick sweat ring had formed at the base.

  "Close game," Zavik said in his direction.

  "What!" he snapped out of a daze. "Oh, yeah, too close for my comfort."

  "Money on Edent?" Zavik asked looking at the game.

  "Two hundred creds," he said, his fingers rubbing together as if counting the chips out.

  "Only up five percent," Zavik said. "What's the spread?"

  "Fourteen," he said with a sigh as another part of Edent's wall was destroyed. He looked at Zavik, really noticing him hovering over him for the first time. "You put money on the match?"

  "Oh, no," Zavik said waving a hand over his drink, "I tend to get my thrills through other endeavors."

  "What do you mean?" he asked, slowly returning his attention to the game.

  "I like to scavenge shipwrecks and old space junk from battles. You'd be amazed what you can find, and how much it can be worth to the right people."

  "Really? Like how much?"

  "Thousands," Zavik said nodding at the match that was now slipping away from the Rejackski. "You know, for the right parts. You wouldn't happen to know anything about a space battle around here that left a few ships derelict, would you?"

  "Hmm...I did hear about an ambush on a convoy that happened a few nights ago."

  "Really? Where?"

  "I...don't know," he said. "I was over at Vaultan's pub that night watchin the regional dashball match. A couple of guys came in saying they saw the whole thing happen. Lit up the sky like Albuias Reuman, but I didn't pay'em any attention. The match was close...closer than this. Sorry."

  "Yeah, thanks," Zavik said. "Good luck with the match."

  Suddenly he heard a loud crash from the other side of the bar. Zavik looked over and saw Charra lifting a Chokmnd into the air and throwing him down on a table. The table's legs splintered and shards of wood shot out. An Iriquious sitting next to the Chokmnd stood but Charra swung his heavy arms around and caught the Iriquious's head with the back of his hand. The alien spun around and collapsed to his knees. He began to reach for his gun but Charra brought both of this hands down on his back hard and fast. The Iriquious lay sprawled out on the floor.

  The two Rovun guards ran over to the fight and held their blasters up at Charra whose hands immediately raised up. Zavik looked over at their table. Dani had her hand to her mouth and Brax looked ready to run over to Charra's side. Rudy just sat there, his dead eyes fixed on Charra and the two other aliens. Zavik stood up from the bar and was about to go over when the guards put their weapons down. They both holstered them and Charra dropped his arms to his side.

  The guards picked up the limp bodies and dragged them out of the bar. Charra went back to the table and Zavik followed close behind.

  "What the hell was that?" he asked as he sat down.

  "I was just trying to see if they knew anything," Charra said.

  "I thought that's what I was doing," Zavik replied.

  "You were, but we don't have time to let you go through each person here."

  "What happened?" Brax asked. "Why did you do that?"

  "They started asking too many questions," Charra said. "I didn’t like it, so I took them out."

  "How did you get away with it?" Dani asked. "I thought those guards were gonna drag you out and shoot you."

  "I told them that they insulted my mother," Charra said with a stone look.

  "What?" Zavik said.

  "They insulted my mother," he repeated.

  "Insulting a Rovun's mother is a class one offense on seven systems," Rudy said, "punishable by jail time and a hefty fee on three."

  "Whoah," Zavik said. "Are you serious?"

  "The two guards are Rovun," Charra said, "I knew they'd understand my outrage."

  "So I guess Rovuns aren't too fond of your momma jokes," Zavik said.

  "No one jokes about my momma," Charra said, his eyes narrow and fixed on Zavik. “Rovun mothers are to be respected and honored.”

  "Okay, good to know," he said.

  "Did you have any luck?" Dani asked.

  "Well, he did say a convoy was ambushed around Rashala, but he didn't have any idea where it was at."

  "If he heard about it, someone else had to see it, or know about it," Brax said.

  "I just have to figure out who I want to talk to next," Zavik said.

  "How about I give it a try," Brax said, a smile forming on his face.

  Brax began to stand up but a Savin approached the table and stood over them.

  "Can we help you?" Brax asked as the Savin leaned over him.

  "I overheard you asking about a space fight the other night," the alien said.

  "Yeah, we're scavengers of derelict ships," Zavik hurried to say. Brax and Dani exchanged a glance, their eyebrows slightly raised.

  "I saw the fight, I can tell you the whereabouts."

  "Really?" Zavik asked.

  "For the right price," he added.

  "Of course," Zavik said. "How much?"

  "Two hundred," the Savin said quickly.

  "Two hundred!" Brax cried. "Are you going to personally escort us there for that much?"

  "That's just for the approximate coordinates, no more."

  "That’s ridiculous," Brax replied.

  "My partner here is right," Zavik said. "Two hundred is a bit much for just an approximate location."

  The Savin just stood there in silence for a moment before saying, "You can feel free t
o find someone else to give you a location, but the longer you wait, the further away it drifts from my location, and the greater chance someone else finds it and strips it down."

  Charra snarled and rubbed a clenched fist into the palm of his hand. He too was losing patience with this Savin. Two hundred credits for some information that might not even turn out to be reliable was steep and if it was his money, there'd be no way he'd pay it. But it wasn't his money, it was the U.E.F.'s money. What would they care about two hundred credits spent to complete the contract? They probably wouldn't even notice, Zavik thought. Even if they did, they owed him a lot more than two hundred credits, and in his mind, that didn’t include his payment for Garos.

  "Ok, fine," he said as he threw two hundred credits on the table.

  The Savin pointed them to coordinates 163-12. Apparently, he was returning from Doval when his sensors noticed some odd ships lurking out beyond the portals. He wasn't going to pay them any more attention than that. Standard operating procedure, you just don't mess with ships you don't know. As he made his way to Rashala, a cargo ship convoy entered the system and the ships attacked, disabling the convoy ships. He fled as soon as the fight started.

  Dani dialed in the coordinates and guided the Rinada to an area of space beyond the Rashala portals. The Savin's coordinates were about one hundred thousand miles from Rashala, only a couple thousand miles past the portals. The ships must have driven the convoy away from the planet, Zavik thought. Less chance of attracting unwanted attention.

  The scanners on the Rinada searched for any signs of the convoy but found no signs of it near the coordinates.

  "These scanners should pick up something within five hundred miles," Zavik said. “If there’s anything left to find.”

  Brax was sitting in the back of the cockpit and said, "If you had upgraded them on Vinere like I suggested, instead of listening to Charra and buying a new escape pod, we could be getting double the range."

  "Hey, that escape pod is state of the art," Charra said. "It's got shields, engines, and even a blaster."

  "Yes, it's very nice, should be for the price," Brax said, "but have we ever used it?"

  "Well, no," Charra said, "but that's not the point of an escape pod. It's better to have one and not need it than to need one and not have it, and this one's the best there is."

  “Such logical thinking from a Rovun,” Brax said.

  Suddenly the scanners went off. A low alarm buzzed in the cockpit.

  "There!" Zavik said as he pointed out the window, further away from the planet. "Scanners picked up a couple of hits out there."

  "Looks like two ships," Dani said.

  Dani steered the Rinada in their direction. She pulled up alongside one of the ships. They were on the dark side of the planet and a shadow bathed the ships in black. The convoy ships were about three times the size of the Rinada, long and rectangular. One of the boxes drifted through space, it's companion ship was about a kilometer away, tumbling over and over on its side, no forces around to slow it down. Zavik thought the other ship looked like a rock cascading down a hill, nothing in its way but thin grass and an eventual dive off an abruptly ending cliff. There was nothing they could do to stop the ship's spinning without the risk of further tearing it apart.

  The ship they pulled up to was calm, but also dark and desolate. A spotlight from the Rinada lit up the side. It was eerie and quiet. All Zavik could hear was the fan of the life-support system and Charra's breathing drowned out slightly by his own beating heart. There was definitely a battle. A laser blast had hit the right rear engine. It was destroyed. Another blast had hit the right side, scarring the gray skin. Dani hailed the ship but there was no response. She scanned for any transmissions leaving the ship but there was nothing but silence. Only a faint hint of an electrical disturbance came from the ship. The Rinada moved to dock with it and a side connection was made between the rear hatch of the Rinada and the ship.

  "What are you going to do?" Dani asked.

  "We have to at least investigate the ship," Zavik said. "What if there are survivors?"

  "I doubt it," Brax said. Dani and Charra nodded in agreement.

  "We might be able to figure out what happened to the crew if we can find their log," Zavik said. "You stay here," he said to Dani. "Charra, let's suit up."

  "What about me?" Brax asked.

  "You stay with Dani," Zavik said.

  "Why? Why does he get to go?" Brax asked with a reaction similar to a boy whose older brother got to stay out later with his friends while he was required to be in bed.

  "Because he doesn't criticize my decisions eight months later," Zavik said.

  "Oh, that's just great," Brax said as they left him and Dani in the cockpit. "From now on, I'll just keep my opinions to myself. I thought this was a democracy, I see now it's a monarch. I guess I'll just have to keep my brilliant ideas to myself, only to say I told you so in my mind. I-"

  "I think they're gone," Dani said.

  Brax huffed. "Where's that robot? He'll listen."

  Zavik and Charra walked through the connecting tunnel to the other ship. Their airtight spacesuits were bulky and heavy. Zavik's arms were stiff and forced to stick out straight. He strained to open the hatch to the other ship. The door opened in a swift motion, a small light from the Rinada barely lit the entrance. Beyond that darkness flooded through the halls. The ship's systems were shut down and the gravity was gone.

  Zavik kicked off and drifted through the ship. A lamp from his helmet penetrated deep into the darkness. It was empty and quiet. Speckles of dust and flaked metal shards floated past him. He checked his wrist and said, "The life support systems are off too."

  "There's no more air in here," Charra said glancing at his monitors. "It must have all leaked out during the battle. What a way to go."

  "Yeah, if that’s how they went. Let's head for the bridge."

  They moved through the ship with ease, the weightlessness making their travel efficient and a little entertaining. The dark corridors were tight but clear. A door ahead of them was shut. Charra tried using the keypad to open it, but even the backup power was gone. He slammed a fist on the pad. The screen cracked, but the door did not budge. Charra pried at the door and it crept open an inch. They both slid their hands through the crack and pushed against one another. The door slowly slid open. A Rovun, eyes, and mouth wide open, drifted past. Zavik let out a scream only Charra and Dani could hear, and Charra braced himself against the wall.

  "Guess they did all suffocate," Charra said, looking at the body in horror.

  Zavik drew himself closer to the body and spun it around as it continued floating by. He examined it closely and said, "I'm not so sure. Look here." He spun the body back over to Charra. "He was shot with a close range blaster. Someone on this ship killed him."

  "One of the crew?" Charra asked.

  "Or someone who boarded it after it was disabled," Zavik said.

  "You did check to see if any life forms were still onboard, right?" Charra asked.

  Zavik pulled out his gun. "Of course. Dani, could you do another sweep of the ship."

  Her voice rang in his ear sharply. "Scanners picked nothing up the first time, but I'll use the thermal scanner as a double check."

  "Thanks, love," he said.

  The next room led to the bridge. The door was shut again, but this time, there was power. It slid open halfway before jamming itself. Sparks rained out briefly from the corners. The lights from Zavik's helmet shined into the bridge. Four Rovun bodies were floating through it. Each had been hit with multiple blaster shots. A few lights on the bridge consoles were lit, but the overhead lights were off. Zavik squeezed through the opening and pushed himself in. He landed next to a terminal. It blinked to life.

  "There must be a separate power supply for the bridge," Charra said.

  "Dani, if I plug my monitors into the bridge, can you translate and read the information?" Zavik asked.

  "Of course," she said over the radio
, "just give me a minute." He plugged himself into a port on the terminal.

  Charra began inspecting the Rovun floating through the bridge. "It's creepy in here," he said.

  The two ships were floating away from the planet and in a few days, they would be too deep out of the system to find. This was the gravesite for these Rovun. Zavik didn't care that much, but Charra seemed to be concerned. He imagined he would feel different if it was a ship full of humans. It was a screwed up way to look at it, but it was true. He could relate to humans better. Brax and Charra were about the only aliens he could ever relate to like that.

  Charra gathered two of the bodies and tied them down to a chair. Zavik wanted to ask what he was doing, but thought better of it and just tried to ignore it. His mind kept wandering to what would happen to their bodies. They wouldn't rot or decay, not out in empty space. They'd just freeze solid as the temperatures approached absolute zero. The ship would float away, it might crash on another planet or get hit by a rogue asteroid. Their bodies would shatter into a thousand pieces and that would be the end of their journey. No burial, no memorial, no family closure, but that was the final destination for many in space. There were over five thousand soldiers unaccounted for after the final battle of the Red Moon rebellion. Many were jettisoned into space. Some were trapped in Chokmna's gravity and pulled to the planet's surface, burning on entry, others floated away, never to be seen or recovered. Again, he found that to be more disturbing than the ship right in front of him and its permanent crew of dead Rovun. Charra finished tying down the other two Rovun. Zavik resisted the urge to ask Dani how her progress was going and occupied himself with studying their console layout instead.

  She took another minute and then said, "Their manifest shows there were two ships traveling to Dracona from Valier, just like Enduli said. These two ships are his."

  "Can you tell if there's anything left in the cargo bays?" Zavik asked.

  "Hmm...sensors are out in that area and not responding."

  "Do you want to go check out the bays?" Charra asked.

  "No, if these ships were attacked, it was for a reason. I'm sure they're cleaned out."