Planet Pirates Omnibus

by neetha Napew

  “They are shallow. You have met interesting people of this generation,” Tee pointed out.

  “Yes, but it’s a sorry note when it’s your own descendants you’re disappointed in,” Lunzie said ruefully. “But I don’t know where to go next.”

  “Why don’t we brainstorm while we walk?” Tee pleaded. “I am getting cramped sitting in this car. Museum of Galactic History, please,” he ordered the groundcar’s robot brain.

  “Acknowledged,” said the mechanical voice. “Working.” The groundcar slowed down and made a sharp right off the highway onto a small side street.

  “You could join the service,” Tee suggested as they strolled through the cool halls of the museum past rows of plexiglas cases. “They have treated me very well.”

  “I’m not sure I want to do that. I know my family has a history in the Fleet, but I’m not sure I could stand being under orders all the time, or staying in just one place. I’m too independent.”

  Tee shrugged. “It’s your life.”

  “If it is my life, why can’t I spend two years running without someone throwing me into deepsleep?” She sighed, stepping closer to the wall to let a herd of shouting children run by. “Oh, I wish we could go back to Astris, Tee. We were so happy there. Your beautiful apartment, and our collection of book plaques. Coming home evenings and seeing who could get to the food-prep area first.” Lunzie smiled up at him fondly. “Just before I left, we were talking about children of our own.”

  Tee squinted into the distance, avoiding her eyes. “It was so long ago, Lunzie. I gave up that apartment when I left Astris. I have been on the Ban Sidhe for more than six years. You remember it well because for you it has been only months. For me, it is the beloved past.” His tone made that clear.

  Lunzie felt very sad. “You’re happy being back in space again, aren’t you? You came to rescue me, but it’s more than that now. I couldn’t ask you to give it up.”

  “I have my career, yes,” Tee agreed softly. “But there is also something else.” He paused. “You’ve met Naomi, yes?”

  “Yes, I’ve met Naomi. She treats me with great respect,” Lunzie said aggrievedly. “It drives me half mad, and I haven’t been able to break her of it. What about her?” she asked, guessing the answer before he spoke.

  Tee glanced at her, and gazed down at the floor, abashed.

  “I am responsible for the respect she holds for you. I have talked much of you in the years I’ve been on board. How can she fail to have a high opinion of you? She is the chief telemetry officer on the Ban Sidhe. The commander let me go on the rescue mission on the condition that I signed on to work. He would allow no idle hands, for who knew how long it would take to find the ship and rescue all aboard her? Naomi took me as her apprentice. I learned quickly, I worked hard, and I came to be expert at my job. I found also that I care for her. Captain Aelock offered me a permanent commission if I wish to stay, and I do. I never want to go back to a planet-bound job. Naomi confesses that she cares for me, too, so there is a double attraction. We both mean to spend the rest of our careers in space.” He stopped walking and took both of her hands between his. “Lunzie, I feel terrible. I feel as though I have betrayed you by falling in love with someone else before I could see you, but the emotion is strong.” He shrugged expressively. “It has been ten years, Lunzie.”

  She watched him sadly, feeling another part of her life crumble into dust. “I know.” She forced herself to smile. “I should have understood that. I don’t blame you, my dear, and I couldn’t expect you to remain celibate so long. I’m grateful you stayed with me as long as you did.”

  Tee was still upset. “I am sorry. I wish I could be more supporting.”

  Lunzie inhaled and let out a deep breath. She was aching to reach out to him. “Thank you. Tee, but you’ve done all that I really needed, you know. You were by me when I woke up, and you let me talk my head off just so I could reorient myself in time. And if I hadn’t had someone to talk to while I was in Melanie’s house, I think I would have jetted through the roof! But that’s over, now. It’s all over, now,” Lunzie said, bitterly. “Time has run past me and I never saw it go by. I thought that ten years of cold sleep would have been easier to accept than sixty, but it’s worse. My family is gone and you’ve moved on. I accept that, I really do. Let’s go back to the ship before I decide to let them put me in one of those glass cases as an antiquarian object of curiosity.”

  They arrived just in time for Tee to resume his usual duty shift, and Lunzie went back to her compartment to move the rest of her things down to the BOQ at the base down on Alpha. No matter what she let Tee believe, she had lost a lot of the underpinnings of her self-esteem in the last few days, and it hurt.

  Sharu wasn’t here, so Lunzie allowed herself fifteen minutes for a good cry, and then sat up to reassess her situation. Self-pity was all very well, but it wouldn’t keep her busy or put oxygen in the air tanks. The shuttle was empty except for her and the pilot. Thankfully, he didn’t feel like talking. Lunzie was able to be alone with her thoughts.

  The base consisted of perfectly even rows of huge, boxlike buildings that all looked exactly alike to Lunzie. A human officer jogging by with a handful of document cubes was able to direct her to the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters, where the stranded employees of the Destiny Lines would stay until after they gave their statements to the court. When she reached the BOQ, she took her bags to quarters assigned for her use, and left them there. The nearest computer facilities, she was told, were in the recreation hall.

  Using an unoccupied console in the rec room, she called up the current want ads network and began to page through suitable entry headings.

  By the middle of the afternoon, Lunzie was feeling much better. She was resolute that she would no longer depend on another single person for her happiness. She added a “reminder” into her daily Discipline meditation to help increase her confidence. The wounds of loss would hurt for a while. That was natural. But in time, they would heal and leave little trace.

  She realised all of a sudden that she had had nothing to eat since morning, and now it was nearly time for the evening meal. Her bout of introspection, not to mention the taxing Discipline workout, had left her feeling hollow in the middle. Surely the serving hatches in the mess hall would be open by now. She went back to her quarters, put on fresh garments and pulled on boots to go check.

  “Lunzie! The very person. Lunzie, may I speak to you?” Captain Aelock hurried up to her as she stepped out into the main corridor of the building.

  “Of course. Captain. I was just on the way to get myself some supper. Would you care to sit with me?”

  “Well, er,” he smiled a trifle sheepishly, “supper was exactly what I had planned to offer you, but not here. I was hoping to have a chance to chat with you before the Ban Sidhe departed. I am very grateful for the help you’ve given Dr. Harris since you came aboard. In fact, he is reluctant to let you go. So am I. I don’t suppose I can persuade you to join us? We could use more level-headed personnel with your qualifications.”

  Aelock would be a fine commander to serve under. Lunzie almost opened her mouth to say yes, but remembered Tee and Naomi. “I’m sorry. Captain, but no, thank you.”

  The captain looked genuinely disappointed. “Ah, well. At any rate, I had in mind to offer you a farewell dinner here on Alpha. I know some splendid local places.”

  Lunzie was flattered. “That’s very kind of you, Captain, but I was only doing my job. A cliche, but still true.”

  “I would still find it pleasant to stand you a meal, but I must admit that I have a more pressing reason to ask you to dine with me tonight.” The captain pulled her around a corner as a handful of crew members walked by along the corridor.

  “You have my entire attention,” Lunzie assured him, returning the friendly but curious gazes shot toward her by the passing officers.

  Aelock tucked her arm under his and started walking in the opposite direction. “I remember when I mentione
d planet pirates to you, you were very interested. Am I wrong?”

  “No. You said that one of the reasons you were here was to get information as to their whereabouts.” Lunzie kept her voice low. “I have very personal reasons for wanting to see them stopped. Personal motives for vengeance, in fact. How can I help?”

  “I suspect that one operation might be based out of Alpha’s own spaceport, but I haven’t got proof!” Lunzie looked shocked and Aelock nodded sadly. “One of my, er, snitches sent me a place and a time when he will contact me, to give me that information. Have dinner with me at that place. If I’m seen dining alone, they’ll know something is up. My contact is already under observation, and in terror of his life. You’re not in the Fleet computers; you’ll look like a local date. That may throw off the pirates’ spies. Will you come?”

  “Willingly,” she said firmly. “And able to do anything to stop the pirates. How shall I dress?”

  Aelock glanced over the casual trousers and tunic and polymer exercise boots Lunzie was wearing.

  “You’ll do just as you are, Lunzie. The food is quite good, but this restaurant is rather on the informal side. It isn’t where I should like to entertain you, you may be sure, but my contact won’t be entirely out of place there.”

  “No complaint from me. Captain, so long as supper’s soon,” Lunzie told him. “I’m starving.”

  The host of Colchie’s Cabana seated Lunzie and Aelock in the shadow of an artificial cliff. The restaurant, a moderately priced supper club, had overdone itself in displaying a tropical motif. All the fruit drinks, sweet or not, had kebabs of fresh fruit skewered on little plastic swords floating in them. Lunzie nibbled on the fruit and took handfuls of salty nut snacks from the baskets in the centre of their table to cut the sugary taste.

  Lunzie examined the holo-menu with pleasure. The array of dishes on offer was extensive and appetising. In spite of the kitschy decor and the gaudy costumes of the human help, the food being served to other diners smelled wonderful. Lunzie hoped the rumbling in her stomach wasn’t audible. The restaurant was packed with locals chatting while live music added to the clamour.

  “Have you had a good look at the corner band?” Lunzie asked, unable to restrain a giggle as she leaned toward Aelock, hiding her face behind the plas-sheet menu. “The percussionist seems to be playing a tree-stump with two handfuls of broccoli! That does, of course, fit in with the general decor very well.”

  “I know,” Aelock said with an apologetic shudder. “Let me reassure you that the food is an improvement on the ambience. Well cooked and, with some exceptions, spiced with restraint.”

  Despite the casual clothes he was wearing, the captain’s bearing still marked him for what he was, making him stand out from the rest of the clientele. Lunzie had a moment’s anxiety over that, but surely off-duty officers might dine here without causing great comment.

  “That’s a relief,” Lunzie replied drily, watching the facial contortions of a diner who had just taken a bite of a dish with a very red sauce.

  The man gulped water and hurriedly reached for his bowl of rice. Aelock followed her eyes and smiled.

  “Probably not a regular, or too daring for his stomach’s good. The menu tells you which dishes are hot and which aren’t. And ask if you want the milder ones. He’s obviously overestimated his tolerance for Chiki peppers.”

  “Will you have more drinks, or will you order?” A humanoid server stood over them, bowing deferentially, keypad in hand. His costume consisted of a colourful knee-length tunic over baggy trousers with a soft silk cape draped over one shoulder. On his head was a loose turban pinned at the center with a huge jewelled clip. He turned a pleasant expression of inquiry toward Lunzie who managed to keep her countenance. The man had large, liquid black eyes but his face was a chalky white with colourless lips, a jarring lack in the frame of his gaudy uniform. Except for the vivid eyes, the doubtless perfectly healthy alien looked like a human cadaver. Diners here had to have strong stomachs for more than the food.

  “I’m ready,” Lunzie announced. “Shall I begin? I’d like the mushroom samosas, salad with house dressing, and special number five.”

  “That one’s hot, Lunzie. Are you sure you’d like to try it?” Aelock asked. “It has a lot of tiny red and green capsica peppers. They’re nearly rocket fuel.”

  “Oh, yes. Good heavens, I used to grow LED peppers.”

  “Good, just checking. I’ll have the tomato and cheese salad, and number nine.”

  “Thank you, gracious citizens,” the server said, bowing himself away from the table.

  Lunzie and Aelock fed the menus back into the dispenser slots.

  “You know, I’m surprised at the amount of sentient labour on Alpha,” Lunzie observed as the human server stopped to take drink orders from another table. “There were live tour guides at the museum this morning, and the customs service is only half-automated turnstiles at the spaceport.”

  “Alpha Centauri has an enormous population, all of whom need jobs,” Aelock explained. “It is mostly human. This was one of the first of Earth’s outposts, considered a human Homeworld. The non-humanoid population is larger than the entire census of most colonies, but on Alpha, it is still a very small minority. In the outlying cities, most children grow up never having seen an outworlder.”

  “Sounds like an open field for prejudice,” Lunzie remarked, remembering Lars.

  “Yes, I’m afraid so. With the huge numbers of people in the workforce, and the finite number of jobs, there’s bound to be strife between the immigrants and the natives. That’s why I joined the Fleet. There was no guarantee of advancement here for me.”

  Lunzie nodded. “I understand. So they created a labour-intensive system, using cheap labour instead of mechanicals. You’d be overqualified for ninety percent of the jobs and probably unwilling to do the ones which promise advancement. Who is the person we’re waiting for?” she asked in an undertone as a loud party rolled in through the restaurant doors.

  Aelock quickly glanced at the other diners to make sure they hadn’t been overheard. “Please. He’s an old friend of mine. We were at primary school together. May we talk of something else?”

  Lunzie complied immediately, remembering that secrecy was the reason she was here. “Do you read Kipling?”

  “I do now,” Aelock replied with a quick grin of appreciation. “When we had him in primary school literature, I didn’t think much of Citizen Kipling. Then, when I came back fresh from my first military engagement in defense of my homeworld, and the half-educated fools here treated me with no more respect than if I’d been a groundcar, I found one of his passages described my situation rather well: ‘It’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ ‘Chuck him out, the brute!’ “

  “Mmm,” said Lunzie, thoughtfully, watching the bitterness on Aelock’s face. “Not a prophet in your own land, I would guess.”

  “Far from it.”

  “I’ve been fervently reciting ‘If’ like a mantra today, particularly the lines ‘If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same . . .’ “ Lunzie quoted with a sigh. “I hate it when Rudy is so apt.”

  The relative merits of the author’s poetry versus his prose occupied them until the appetisers arrived. The server whisked his billowing cape to one side to reveal the chilled metal bowl containing the captain’s salad and the steaming odwood plate bearing Lunzie’s appetiser.

  “This is delicious,” she exclaimed after a taste, and smiled up at the waiting server.

  “We are proud to serve,” the man declared, bowing, and swirled away. “Flamboyant, aren’t they?” Lunzie grinned.

  “I think everyone in a service job needs to be a little exhibitionist,” the captain said, amused.

  He took a forkful of salad, and nodded approvingly. Lunzie smelled fresh herbs in the dressing. Another gaudily dressed employee with burning eyes appeared at their table and bowed.

  “Citizen A-el-ock?” The captain looked up f
rom his dish.

  “Yes?”

  “There is a communication for you, sir. The caller claimed urgency. Will you follow me?”

  “Yes. Will you excuse me, my dear?” Aelock asked gallantly, standing up.

  Lunzie simpered at him, using a little of the ambient flamboyance in her role of evening companion. “Hurry back.” She waggled her fingers coyly after him.

  The darkeyed employee glanced back at her, and ran a pale tan tongue over his lips. Lunzie was offended at his open scrutiny, hoping that he wasn’t going to make a pest of himself while Aelock was away. She didn’t want to attract attention to them by defending herself from harassment. To her relief, he turned away, and led the captain to the back of the restaurant.

  Alone briefly, Lunzie felt it perfectly in character to glance at the other diners in the restaurant, wondering which of them, if any, could be the mysterious contact. She didn’t notice anyone getting up to follow Aelock out, but of course the snitch would have been careful to leave a sufficient interval before having him summoned. She also didn’t notice anyone surreptitiously watching their table, or her.

  She was a minor player in a very dangerous game in which the opponents were ruthless. Lunzie tried not to worry, tried to concentrate on the excellence of her appetizer. One life more or less was nothing to the pirates who slaughtered millions carelessly. But if the captain’s part was suspected, his life would be forfeit. When Aelock reappeared at last through the hanging vegetation, she looked a question at him. He nodded guardedly, inclining his head imperceptibly. She relaxed.

  “I was thinking of ordering another drink with the entree. Will you join me?”

  “A splendid notion. My throat is unaccountably dry,” Aelock agreed. “Such good company on such a fine evening calls for a little indulgence.” He pushed the service button on the edge of the table. He had been successful.