“Few of you will know of the Puup, but Captain Brathering has made himself quite a reputation and his ship the Uhui might just be the most powerful ship after the Red Dragon as it is the only purpose-built warship and a genuine Kermac T-cruiser. Then comes another Oghar, the famous Crimson Curse, commanding the Bloody Mary. He has been longer in this business than any of us, and I am glad he came around and decided to take part in this endeavor after all. I doubt many of you have ever seen her in person, but the leather-clad mysterious masked lady is Captain Black Velvet. Her reputation and legend is well earned, I assure you. I have seen her in action. She commands a Karthanian Armed Freighter with a treasure chamber that puts the Crown Treasury of the Togar queen to shame.
“The maimed gentleman with the piercing cyber eye is Captain Sandovahl, Union Academy graduate, former Union officer, and I can attest there is no better training in the Universe. He commands the Killerbeast, a ship so heavily armed and armored one wonders how he even finds room for his crew. That shaggy Jooltar answers to the name Basoro. There isn’t anything in this Universe he hasn’t stolen or tried to steal. His ship, the Hontu, is a big darn freighter with weapons bolted on it and, if you need it, chances are he has it somewhere in his freight bays.”
Dragon paused to take a swig from his mug of beer and it looked eerie as his skull mask opened the jaws. After that, he went on. “Having another Togar sit right next to a Jooltar is usually not a good idea and a recipe for disaster but Captain Lemakr is as cold blooded as a cat could be and kills only for one reason, if there is profit to be made, but then he considers half a credit profit. His ship is the well-kept Kalita. Many of you know my other close friend, Captain Sodex. As you can see, he is also a Jooltar, and only second to Crimson in terms of a long career. His Merchant’s Sorrow of mysterious origin, as no one, not even him, really knows who built it.”
“Next comes Captain Lia Bassett, sister and member of the Bassett Clan that runs Brhama Port. She is the oddball of the family, so she says, but her ship Jammer is excellently equipped, had been a Dai raider, and has shields that allows her to go places others can’t.
“Our third female captain is another enigma. She calls herself Nocturna and her ship, the Executor, was manufactured to her specs at SII shipyards and features real Ultronit armor and the best civilian shields SII sells. Why she has chosen this profession, she does not tell.”
Again, he took a draught of his mug and pointed to the lizard. “The Shiss next to her is Captain Rkkkz, he is a Yellow Throat Shiss, trained to be a raider from when he was born. His ship the Shadoom has the latest in Shiss technology. He decided to go into business on his own.”
Red Dragon pointed at himself. “Finally, there is me. I am the Red Dragon and my ship, the Red Dragon, could pulverize all your ships together, as it is filled with Union and functional Seenian technology.”
He sat down and gave everyone a moment to look around or drink and then he said, “We are planning to embark on a long journey into regions that not one of us has ever been. You all are experienced captains and you know, as empty and desolate space can be, there are often dangers and unexpected events. There is also the challenge of fuel and engine maintenance.
“Therefore, we will buy two portable refineries and I expect anyone who will need fuel to chip in on the purchase price, as those things are not cheap. If you skip on that, you won’t get any of the fuel later or have to pay whatever we charge.”
Crimson Curse declined. “I’ve had my own refinery for years, don’t need someone else’s.”
I said, “I am also fuel independent and have my own refinery.”
Red Dragon shook his head. “What a prize your ship would have made. I wonder what other surprises you have hidden in that rust bucket.”
“Oh, this, that, and the other thing, and I am taking care of the rust right now.”
After he had collected the pledges for the refineries, he said, “Everyone must take at least four sets of replacement parts for their engines along and hire good engineers. Once we are there, we will, of course, return with Seenian ships but most engines need maintenance and replacement coils after 5,000 light years.”
He looked at his PDD. “Make sure you take enough food and supplies along to feed your crews. So, get rid of any junk you’ve got in your freight bays and stock up on essentials. Captain Basoro will take extra food and supplies but I bet he won’t be cheap so don’t say I haven’t warned you.”
Sandovahl leaned over and said, “I guess this was the official part, now comes the social one. You wouldn’t show me what you got under that mask, right?”
“I just might, but then I would have to kill you.”
Crimson, on the other side of me, said, “You better listen to her. I’ve seen her kill Captain Bloom and she did it in a time that takes you to blink your Human eyes maybe twice.”
The Dragon finished his beer and said, “Now is the time for you to tell me if you are committed and coming along or if you want to back out. If you back out or abandon us after you agreed to come along, I will personally hunt you down and destroy you.”
Crimson Curse raised his hand. “Now before I commit myself to something I am not completely convinced about, I want to hear your plan, your intentions, and do you know where to go?”
The canine-looking Jooltar named Sodex made a howling sound as he spoke. “It is true we heard a lot of what we are to do and to comply with all that will cost us a great deal of money. I have seen your suit, but it was not invincible, as you said it would be, and I know you have shields as good as a Union battleship. You speak of invincible Celtest technology and yet a bunch of Wolfcrafts made you flee and ripped your ship’s stern in the process.”
Carrhrh the Togar hissed and growled at the Jooltar. “It disgusts me to admit it, but the mangy Jooltar has a point.”
Before the Red Dragon could respond, the Puup that really looked like a large teddy, with a maw full of inch-long, snake-like fangs said, “We are not talking about some bits and pieces of Celtest technology, but entire ships. Do you know the secret of Translocator cannons stems from Celtest technology? Do you know that the famous Devastator is a Celtest ship? Can you even imagine what the Kermac would pay us for a single ship like that, or the secret of Translocator cannons? It will be more polonium, more riches, than we all together could earn in 10 lifetimes.”
The Red Dragon said, “I am not forcing anyone to come along. I know where to go and I know the depot is real. The path is long and not without risks, but no riskier than what we all do every day anyway. I will go there even if I have to go alone, but mark my word, I won’t know you when I come back.”
Meateater fumbled with his gold-covered tusks and said with a rough mumbling sound, “That cursed wench, Black Velvet, had us over a barrel just recently and demanded millions of polos. She settled for a single Celtest artifact as payment. I have seen her treasury, and I know she is a sly businesswoman dealing with slaves and planets. Go tell them, Velvet, tell them what Celtest artifacts, even bits and pieces, are worth.”
I did not need to say anything. Carrhrh the Togar sat down and grunted. “I see it, too; you are right, even a single piece of Celtest artifact would pay for the trip with enough profit to buy a new ship.”
The Human deserter and traitor next to me held up a PDD. “We are in range for public GalNet and there is even an Xchange right here as the Golden enclave is now Union.”
He wiped his finger over the display and a three-dimensional holo appeared of a busted helmet-like object.
He said, “This is a non-working broken helmet of Celtest origin. It was offered four weeks ago at the Xchange and sold for 75 million credits. Nine months ago, a set of confirmed Celtest eating utensils was sold for four million credits. Alien artifacts of long-gone civilizations are the hottest commodity on the Xchange and if you can say it is Pree, UNI, or Celtest, it doesn’t matter if it is a scrap piece of metal, it sells for enormous amounts of money.”
This demonstration w
as most likely the deciding factor and everyone agreed to come along. The Human with the cyber eye said, “I am somewhat strapped on funds. I just refurbished my ship and paid you a lot of money to go in on those refineries. I want to come along but I can’t afford four complete sets of engine parts, and I actually should take at least eight. How long do we have till we leave?”
Red Dragon said, “I know there is lot of preparation to do, and some of us might have to do a little work to gather the necessary funds. While there is no set date, I would like to be ready with everything and get on our way in 60 days. We will then meet on the Third Planet in this system and go on our quest. Anyone missing is going to be left behind. Perhaps one of us could extend you a loan or something; there are those among us quite wealthy.” He looked in my direction as he said that.
The man shook his head. “That would be the last option. I don’t like owing anyone, but all that talk about artifacts gave me an idea. Isn’t there a planet full of ruins just an orbit closer to this sun and, as I understand, you control it. Maybe my crew and I could go digging there for something to sell?”
Dragon raised his arms. “Yes, and it was the headquarters of my Sinister Alliance. The civilization that was there once killed themselves with a nuclear war. It not very old and whatever you might find is Tech Level Five at best. I doubt you’ll find anything valuable, but you are welcome to try. It is there where we meet the next time anyway.”
The Red Dragon leaned forward. “Just keep all this to yourselves. I don’t want anyone getting ideas and following us. A Celtest depot would be a nice find for the Kermac or the Karthanians, too.”
Crimson asked, “What happened to the Sinister Alliance? Wasn’t that your big project?”
“What is left of that Alliance is right here at this table. I am tired of peddling; this opportunity fell into my lap and this is the only project I am interested in. I intend to get me a Devastator and fly it right to the Assembly and pulverize the whole lot. Let us all meet again in 60 days and get underway.”
The meeting had ended. I and several others immediately got up, while Meateater and a few others ordered drinks and, from the looks of it, intended to use the opportunity to party and drink.
Har-Hi and I left through the door. The air was bitter cold and the lights of the big city and the huge spaceport painted a golden halo into the sky above.
Before us to the south was a vast desert valley with a low mountain range in the distance. Two big bright moons illuminated endless rows of spaceship hulks in various states of disassembly. It was one of the many junkyard fields Sobody had told us about. The tavern was one of several free-standing buildings along a paved road that led to the city on one end and into the desert and perhaps to another town on the other.
Red Dragon and the woman pirate called Nocturna had followed us and he stopped me, saying, “Black Velvet, wait a moment.”
I turned and he said, “I know we started on the wrong foot, and I wanted to say that I am very glad you decided to come along after all. I think you and I are not so different. We both know what we want and go after it regardless of the challenges that try to prevent us from reaching that goal.”
I said, “Knowing you, you didn’t just come out here to compliment me.”
He laughed and said, “You are one suspicious wench and I do like that, but I actually wanted to ask if you would stay awhile. We all need to get to know each other a little better. I am aware we’re never going to be a close-knit group and we all have our secrets, but I think we need to establish some base of understanding among us.”
Har-Hi interrupted and pulled his weapon, pointing to a shadow. “Someone did listen in on this meeting of yours.”
Now I saw it, too, two shadowy shapes had emerged from a basement door of the tavern and were running in a hunkered fashion across the road and toward the junkyard.
Red Dragon cursed, pulled his blaster, and jumped over the handrail that was part of the five stairs leading to the tavern’s main entrance.
Why I flung myself over the same railing, pulling my own weapon, I could not really say. I did hear Har-Hi making a sighing, groaning sound as he followed as well.
The Dragon said, while we crossed the road, “The tavern is run by a former pirate and is a sanctuary for the likes of us, but it looks like he sold out, after all. Those could be Kermac, Togar, Karthanian … Heck, these could be anyone’s spies. I want to know who listened in!”
What looked like even ground from the tavern was actually some sort of tall, very dry and coarse grass that reached all the way to my chest. The dark, ragged shadowy shapes were still a good 2,000 meters away.
I said to the Dragon, “Running openly after two unidentified individuals isn’t such a good idea. By that bright moonlight, we present good targets.” I stopped and went to my knees to examine the ground and the tracks, just as a bright blaster shot cracked over where I had just been standing.
Har-Hi, the Dragon, and the silent pirate woman ducked as well.
Har-Hi grunted. “I didn’t see anyone shooting at us. Tell me, captain, what exactly are we doing here anyway?”
That was a good question and, cursing my own impulsive behavior, I said, “I don’t like to be spied on either and I like to know all the players involved in this game as much as possible.”
The Dragon hissed. “That sums it up; I really want to know who they are.”
I was always able to see well in low-light conditions and examined the ground. “There are two of them; from the shape of the tracks, at last one could be Karthanian. The other might be Togar, a big one at that, most likely male.”
The woman who had not said a word until now let out a silent whistle. “That is impressive, they might already have reached the junkyard and it will be impossible to find anyone in that maze.”
The Dragon said, “Yes, I am more and more impressed with you, Velvet. You are a woman of many talents.”
I hushed him and said, “And you are making more noise than a gaggle of preschoolers at lunch break.”
I closed my eyes and extended that new sense I was developing. The tall grass surrounding us disappeared, and I could feel armed beings all around us, 12 of them. My mind still was getting used to this electro sonar sense, and I could not distinguish details but I could feel their heartbeats and make out their approximate shapes.
I whispered, “There are 12 of them, armed with blaster weapons, waiting for us to do something.”
The Dragon said, “I am going to call my crew for reinforcement, even though I am nearly invincible even in this, thanks to you, damaged suit. I want to catch them alive.”
Then his voice suddenly fell silent, and I turned to see an all black-dressed Humanoid shape was standing right behind him, pressing a weapon at the Dragon’s temple.
It whispered, “I don’t know if your fancy suit is capable of preventing me from making a new hole in your skull, pirate.”
Three more all-black shapes shimmered into view, aiming alien-looking energy weapons at us.
Chapter 21: Shogotrz
One of the armed men brushed the faceplate of his tight-fitting helmet up and revealed, to my great dismay, the light-blue face of a Thauran. “You are all under arrest for conspiracy and for aiding and hiding known terrorists.”
He motioned us to get up and now we could see two modern armed flyers hovering back near the tavern. We could also see more heavily armed troops as they were herding out the other pirates.
The Red Dragon complained, “What is this all about? None of us have broken any local laws. We are nothing but freelancing merchants.”
The Thauran laughed. “I know what you are. You are the worst pirate scum. We followed two leaders of the local rebels to that tavern and what do we find there? A real convention of the most wanted space raiders this side of Sagittarius.”
The one who was still pressing his weapon against the Red Dragon’s temple said, “What is your business with the rebels? Trying to sell weapons perhaps?”
Har-Hi gave me a barely noticeable nod, and I knew he was ready to take the two on his side.
I said, “I am not in a very good mood, Thauran, and despite a recent promise of mine, you being Thauran isn’t helping. So, get your goons off our backs and go back from wherever you came from. While you still can.”
He looked me up and down. “I think you’re the infamous Black Velvet, are you not? Even if you have nothing to do with the rebels, the bounty I get for—”
Just then, a small, official-looking air speeder arrived, with two Humanoid-shaped beings sitting in the open passenger compartment.
I decided to wait with any action and gave Har-Hi a wink. He nodded, only noticeably by me, that he understood. Har-Hi was not telepathically linked with me as was Narth, but we had become a very good team and able to read each other very well. I was almost certain the newcomers had more answers, and I wanted to hear what they had to say.
The speeder landed only a few meters away and the two beings riding it stepped out and joined this strange meeting of ours. Both wore military-style uniforms consisting of long, leather-like gray coats, adorned with gold and brass insignia. During my briefing with Sobody, I knew these were Drak, the local authority.
Both were about the same size, and I estimated them to be not more than maybe 170 centimeters tall. More or less Humanoid-proportioned, bipedal, two arms with two stubby fingers and an opposing thumb on each hand. Their heads had the shape of a Terran pear fruit with the thinner part on top. The locals’ most striking feature was a set of stalk eyes, one laterally protruding from each side of their head. The lower part of the head featured a wide, toothless maw.
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 7 Page 134