Koban

by Stephen W Bennett

  “The trick is to have the data bases with the specific human genes identified as targets for modification, and knowing what those mods should be. We have the information for this, because these details were extensively studied in order to retrofit human clones with new traits or abilities specifically ordered by customers, added well after mature clones had been decanted.”

  She hesitated when she observed Mirikami suddenly stiffen, and saw a shocked expression appear on Noreen’s face. Dillon and Maggi had already known the basics of what had been coming, but they seemed distressed as well.

  Aldry realized she had perhaps been a bit clumsy in mentioning clones, and didn’t really know why she had used that as an example. Perhaps subconsciously thinking no one would consider them actually as human, thus less concerned about how they acquired the knowledge. It was a stupid thought, since people they knew would become their test subjects if they tried this.

  Aldry didn’t know of Mirikami’s New Honshu’s heritage. A past, which might make him sensitive to discussions about clones and modifying their genes. Maggi had not shared that bit of deeply personal research she’d done on the Captain.

  Mirikami covered his surprise by taking a sip of wine, and calmly resumed eating. Noreen still looked concerned.

  Aldry was aware she had probably committed a faux pas, but why Maggi and Dillon acted shocked as well was a puzzle. They certainly knew the data they had was obtained from work with clones. Deciding that with Telour watching and listening to the Captain, this wasn’t the time to apologize or inquire. All she could do was continue, aware that her pause revealed she knew she’d stepped in something.

  “It is because of these records that we know what can safely be done, what works, and how quickly the benefits can be realized. We can cause muscles to increase strength or speed, by promoting fast or slow twitch muscle cell growth, and even increase both types. We accelerate metabolism, so that physical results occur within a few days, combined with exercise and proper dietary supplements.

  “This isn’t going to come close to matching a Krall warrior in speed or strength, but narrows the gap a little. If we had gorilla genes in us, we could come closer, but that would require being born with the right genetics built-in, and then enhance those. That is probably what the Krall have done over thousands of generations to themselves.”

  “Can we improve nerve reaction times, hearing, or sight?” Noreen asked. “They also have us beat in those departments, and tougher skin, faster blood clotting, wound healing, and infection fighting.”

  Aldry looked at her with one eyebrow raised, wondering how a Spacer came up with those sorts of questions.

  Interpreting her expression correctly, Noreen grinned. “Dillon has been talking to me, telling me some questions he asked of Kapdol, about what the Great Path has done for the Krall.”

  Smiling at that, Aldry had some answers ready. “Significantly improved hearing and sight probably need the sort of born-with genetics I mentioned, but tougher skin is a possibility, as is increased blood clotting ability if wounded. Increased reaction times might be possible by neural genetic mods, and perhaps aided by drugs.

  “We don’t have all the answers yet dear, there are over two hundred years of records to parse, from when this research was legal and also advanced enough to be of use to us now.”

  She leaned back from the cameral on her screen. “And I need to get back to those searches, since I’m rather out of specific information to share right now. Noreen, Dillon, do either of you have anything else to add?”

  “I don’t.” Noreen spoke up. “I’d like to rejoin the three teams rehearsing the main engine removals. If we can’t do that fast enough, Parkoda might solve the problem for us with a missile.”

  “Then I think we’ve completed agenda we set ourselves for this meeting,” Dillon concluded. “At least as well as we can with Tet and Maggi under Telour’s microscope. I think we should leave them to their meal, while we get back to our individual projects. Agreed?”

  Noreen and Aldry agreed, and Mirikami and Maggi managed small nods as they ate in silence.

  As soon as they closed their Link, Dillon said, “Actually, the pharmacy has already made some ‘pep’ pills to boost our energy, and is still producing more of those to enhance our oxygen use for a test.” He showed her a small vial of pills.

  “The ship oxygen levels are up to twenty nine percent, and gravity has passed one point three g’s, and I’m sure feeling the effects. But I have these samples of the new pills with me.” He had a scientific proposal to make.

  “Before we are forced to test their potential combat benefits, how about a safer trial run right now?” He sported a mischievous grin as he said this.

  “I believe you mean we should turn our pretend ‘interlude’ in to a real one, don’t you?” Noreen accused.

  “Uh…, only in the name of science.” He finished lamely, looking crestfallen.

  Glancing down and sighing, she remarked, “I suppose I really should test that massive bulge I see down there for its high g endurance.” Her return impish grin was rewarded when he quickly presented her with a gift. Two small pills and a glass of water.

  Forty-five enthusiastic minutes later, the two new drugs had proven their value, at least for some purposes.

  20. Koban White Out

  It was well into the seventh day of the Jump, and the repeated run-throughs of the engine removals had been paused to give the three teams some rest. The Oxy and Pep pills, as they now called them, had proven their worth by keeping the teams moving despite the tiring effects of the higher gravity. Nevertheless, they needed some recuperation, combined with higher food intake.

  The two first prototype crossbows had been tested, and were being reworked for greater range and modifications to make them a lot quieter. Telour, in a demonstration for him, had said they would instantly give away the position of the user to any nearby warrior. Telour was able to hear the flight of the bolt through the air.

  He was more impressed with the explanation of what a grenade would do, and had held a couple of the empty casings in his large hands. He admitted that a warrior could be seriously injured by them, but probably would survive to kill the human that threw the device.

  Mirikami had described only part of what they were planning to Telour, but what they chose to reveal was enough to maintain his support for saving the ship as a base of their operations. There had been no farther mention of declining Krall rations, nor mention of Isadora’s corpse, but they were now three days past the original predicted travel time.

  Most of the Krall now regularly exercised on all of the stairwells, and several warrior pairs had been conducting mock-unarmed combat in the cargo hold, leaping from walls and floor in impressive and powerful jumps, particularly considering the one point five g’s now on the ship.

  They would snarl and scream, grapple with and strike one another with loud smacks and heavy meaty sounding thumps, tossing an opponent across the hold when they were lifted from the floor with no purchase for a hand or foot. Except for the tips, their talons were kept sheathed, but their limbs moved in flashing thrusts, slashes, and blows that were hard to follow for the humans, who watched only by video. It was like watching giant red cats fight, with the bouts lasting perhaps two to three minutes.

  They ended with no clear victor, and with seemingly mutual respect. The pair would face each other at the start, about thirty feet apart, suddenly stand more stiffly upright on their bowed legs before a scream and leap to start a straight ahead attack. When a bout ended, they faced off again, usually bloodied, straightened again, and made a chest high left-handed salute to each other, talons extended. Then picked up the arms and equipment harnesses they had brought with them, and departed.

  These mock fights were intensely studied. Krall blood was a deeper red than a human’s, and samples were collected from the floors for study after the labs were set up on Koban. Despite long scratches and shallow punctures from even retracted talons, the blo
od flow ended quickly, and later the same day the undressed wounds on the warriors appeared to be healing. On the following day, the scars were fading.

  Watching the exercises it was obvious that humans, powered armored or not, did not want to come to grips with one of these powerful whirlwinds of death. However, the people with martial arts training all offered the same comments. They said the Krall didn’t seem to use any sort of specialized training in hand-to-hand fighting. No two warriors fought the same way, or appeared to employ any leverage or blocking methods. They fought an adlib sort of personal combat, the technique unique to each warrior’s individual style.

  The Koban Committee, what the five conspirators had unofficially started calling themselves, did a bit of rethinking concerning martial arts training. No-way-in-hell would a human survive an unarmed engagement. A Krall could simply tear your limbs off, or peel you out of your armor for a nasty tasting snack.

  On the seventh evening of the Jump, Mirikami was talking with Willfem, Jorl’sn, and the Chief. They were discussing steps they might take to shave off some more time dropping the engines.

  “Chief, if we cut more supports before landing, don’t we run a risk of the engines breaking loose as we set down? It could be a harder landing than we expect. If any engine tears loose, we probably won’t live to wonder what went wrong.”

  “Sir, I didn’t mean to cut any more of the struts all the way through. I meant of the remaining uncut struts, to cut them all one third to halfway through now. That will take off ten to fifteen minutes per cut after we’re down

  “OK, Chief. I bow to your expertise. Get your cutters working as soon as you can.”

  “Aye, Sir.” Then he rushed off to talk to the three crews, all kept posted near their workstations, awaiting arrival at Koban.

  “Sir?” asked Jorl’sn. “Were you able to speak to Telour about delaying passenger disembarkation while we drop the engines?”

  “I did this morning, but once we White Out, Parkoda resumes direct command of us, and Telour will have no leverage to delay an order to off load our people. He can’t spring the bright idea to preserve the ship to Parkoda until the clan meeting. He says that we can bring our people back to the ship later.”

  “But there’s a risk to anyone on the ramp or near the ship when we drop the engine parts. Those crashes could send pieces flying about like shrapnel.”

  “Telour isn’t concerned about us once he has turned us over to Parkoda. Other than Isadora’s death in transit, his delivered captive count is complete. Losses on the ground count against Parkoda.”

  “Bastard,” Willfem blurted.

  “True,” Mirikami agreed. “But we might do something to reduce the flying debris risk. Rather than using the narrow two abreast personnel escalator, as we’d use at a Rim world port, we might send everyone down the wider cargo hold ramp. Its added strength and width gives more protection from flying debris, and its hatch is lower down for a short descent and quick exit away from the ship.

  “People will have to guard against tripping on the anti-slip corrugated surface, but we can send them down at least six across, holding hands for support, rather than two abreast on that slow escalator. The two cargo haulers will already be out of the hold and down before they even get there.”

  “I guess that’s the best we can manage,” Willfem agreed.

  “I’ll speak to Mister Walters; have him brief the Stewards on the alternate evacuation route. We can…” he forgot his next words as he heard a familiar ‘ping’ sound from the hull.

  White Out!

  It was instantly confirmed by Jake’s announcement to every crewmember, via transducer. “We have completed an unannounced White Out. I will start a passive scan of the region, as directed.”

  Mirikami didn’t need to instruct any of his crew as to their new duty stations. That had been set for two days. He started running for the lift. He asked aloud, “Is Telour on the Bridge I wonder?”

  The answer came back. “Not yet Sir, but he is on his way up by the central stairwell from deck 8.” Jake always knew where every Krall was.

  “Right. Link me to Noreen.” He knew Telour wasn’t monitoring him right now.

  “Noreen, I’ll meet you on the Bridge, I’m leaving engineering on lift one, take lift two.”

  “Aye, Sir.” She came right back.

  When Mirikami stepped onto the Bridge Noreen was just taking her seat. Telour, standing behind the command chairs watched him arrive with his usual laser like intensity. He was obviously engaged in a conversation with another Krall via his shoulder com unit because he’d deployed his internal ears. Mirikami took his own chair, his control panel extending up and over his lap as the smart seat formed to him.

  “Do not move the ship yet. Parkoda has not given an order for that. He is communicating with his clan leader on Koban,” advised Telour.

  As previously arranged, Jake’s voice followed shortly. “The ship is approximately two hundred sixty four thousand miles from what appears to be a terrestrial type planet, with clear signs of a living biosphere. There are considerable radio and radar signals originating from the surface and from multiple points in the near space around the planet, including a large moon off to our port. The radio transmissions all appear to be in the Krall language.”

  Out of the corner of his right eye, he caught Noreen glancing his way. She obviously had the same thought as he did. This was a damned close White Out to a planet, and considering the Krall’s Jump technology, was surely not a coincidence.

  “Noreen and I wonder if that might be Koban?” Mirikami asked aloud. Telour ignored him, but the question wasn’t for him anyway.

  Jake gave a tentative answer. “The radius is slightly greater than Earth’s at four thousand one hundred twenty miles at the equator, and the surface gravity, based on the orbital characteristic I observe of several ships, is probably one and one half times higher than that of Earth. This implies a greater density than Earth. There is only the one large moon visible.” The AI continued.

  “On this hemisphere of the planet there is a moderately sized ocean visible, and the one ice cap we can see is small, as Koban was described to have. I believe there is a high probability of this being Koban. There are…” he was obviously going to continue, so Mirikami spoke, which caused Jake to cut off instantly.

  “Noreen, could you inform our passengers that we have completed the White Out, and to get to the nearest couches or bunks in the event we start to vector for a landing.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  Crap! He naturally had expected to spend many hours vectoring in from some greater distance, giving them a bit more time for passive scans of the system and analysis.

  “Parkoda is returning by shuttle to make the landing standing on his prize,” announced Telour. “Have your hold depressurized and the hatch opened.”

  Mirikami immediately called down to arrange that. Next, he told the crew and passengers, by general broadcast, that they had arrived at Koban and that Parkoda was returning to the ship.

  Telour again reminded them of their need to keep his agreement with them secret. “Parkoda may ask you about my period of command here. Do not let him learn of what I plan. I would survive my disappointment. Those of you who reveal my plans will not.” That was plain enough.

  “We do not want to lose the advantages you have offered,” Mirikami stated firmly. “We will honor the agreement. Will you be remaining aboard?” Mirikami was concerned that Telour might be sent to the Clanship.

  “Parkoda is within his right to order me off his prize, but that would create friction with my clan if this was done without a good reason. When he comes aboard, do not show surprise if I speak Standard with you poorly once more.”

  “Telour, I have people in place now, prepared to start removal of our engines as soon as we land on Koban. What if Parkoda notices?”

  “Parkoda will come to the Bridge to take command as soon as he arrives. He has no reason to look inside your work compartments. He w
ill leave with me on the shuttle soon after we land because I spoke to my clan to ask for a meeting of clan leaders. The larger raids are almost ready to launch, I told them I have useful information for them. Krall do not talk all day as you humans do. Be quick to remove your engines.”

  “Will the other humans meet us after landing?”

  “They have not met new arrivals outside of the dome in the past. The Clanship will park a safe distance away, weapons aimed at you, and there are many ships in orbit. They will fire if you attempt to liftoff. You have no safe place on Koban except the compound that we give you.

  “If you see warriors near the ship as your people leave, be grateful for their protection while it lasts. Any ship landing draws interest from flying creatures, and there will be two ships landing today.

  “Animals here learn quickly, and new human arrivals are not very observant or fast. Some die traveling between a ship and the dome entrance. All our warriors will return to the Clanship as soon as Parkoda’s shuttle leaves, after that you have no protection except speed to enter the dome.”

  Mirikami asked, “Who will be in charge of us when you and Parkoda leave, before we have all left the ship, and the engines are not yet disabled? Can’t the warriors and translators here provide protection?”

  “I said all warriors will return to the Clanship. None will remain aboard in case you disobey and we destroy the ship. Warriors and K’Tal may return later, to verify the ship can never fly. Unless I fail to convince Parkoda and his clan not to blast the ship.”

  “We will not disobey, and the ship will be disabled.”

  “I think that is true, but nothing will change. Think of your arrival as your first test on Koban. You all must reach the dome on your own. However, you have no reason for concern. Only a handful or two will not finish that short journey to the dome, though you do have many to move. It will be interesting for us to watch.”

  Fine, we are their damned entertainment, he thought. Screw them.

  “You said we will receive weapons in the compound. Can we have some now for defense?”