Dremiks

by Cassandra Davis

  Khanaa must have studied human interactions very closely. She knew how to call a bluff with style. In trilling, lilting, English, she said “I think you are not serious, human.”

  Swede grunted as if physically punched with the knowledge that the Queen could speak their language. The captain beside him was too shocked to hide his dismay. To her credit, O’Connell merely shrugged. She extended her left arm. Her skin was so pale the blue of her veins seemed to glow.

  “My blood, once again, for the information you possess regarding the threat to my crew and mission. Do you accept, Queen?”

  Dwax was trembling again. He finally understood what O’Connell was doing. She terrified him; in the cold emptiness of her eyes she sealed his fate and that of his people.

  “How do you know of blood oaths, human woman?” Khanaa didn’t bother with Dwax for interpretation. Now that the humans knew her ability to speak and understand them, she saw no need for subterfuge.

  “The Queen of the Kigvans is not the only one to study her adversary before a meeting.”

  The sound Khanaa made caused all three humans to cringe, but Dwax knew it for the equivalent of laughter. Her lids flicked over her eyes. Without eyelashes, the act of blinking made her look more like a shark than a humanoid creature. She extended her stubby arms, palms up and bowed from the waist, her head arched up so that she could keep her eyes on O’Connell.

  “I accept your payment, human.”

  “Shit,” hissed the captain seconds before Maggie laid the blade against her skin. Blood instantly flowed out of her arm. She raised her arm parallel with the floor, letting the steady flow stream downward and pool beside her bare feet. Whatever substance the floor was constructed of was porous enough to suck up the blood. The walls quivered.

  The male Kigvan’s in the room keened in a gesture of respect. Khanaa stood straight and stared. O’Connell shook her head as if bothered by a fly. Her arm sank to her side. She swayed.

  “Foolish human.” Khanaa issued a sharp command to the largest male beside her. He sprang upright and moved across the floor with surprising speed and grace. The other male Kigvans moved behind him. Dwax squeaked and flitted out of their way.

  Hill reacted instinctively. He jumped forward, wrapped his arm around O’Connell’s waist, and pulled her backward. He caught sight of Guttmann moving to O’Connell’s other side, his dagger drawn. Maggie tensed and tried to turn out of his grasp. The captain’s hand splayed across her belly, pulling her tighter against him. With his other hand, he extracted the knife from her fingers.

  Khanaa clicked her nails together and trilled a few notes to her retainers. They froze a foot away from the humans. She watched the human males tense and gesture with their weapons. The human female was dripping blood down her arm, onto her bare foot.

  “If you do not let us aid you, she will die. Her blood is not clotting. It is the atmosphere here.”

  “Assurances... first. Make her swear or it’s all for nothing.” O’Connell’s voice was weak. Her naturally pale skin took on a grayish pallor. Hill tightened his grip on her. He repressed the urge to snap at her for her own stupidity. Later, he thought, when she’s not dying from blood-loss.

  Captain Hill glanced from the queen to Dwax and back again. “I’ll treat her myself. Guttmann, go with these males to the lander and bring back the med kit. I’ll need the supplies in there. Dwax, stay here to translate.” Remembering their deception, Hill glanced down at O’Connell, whom he still had pulled tightly against his side. “If that is ok with you, ma’am?”

  “Oh, perfectly.” She lowered her voice to a barely audible hiss. “Would you mind letting go of me?”

  “I mind. Come sit on this bench and let me bind that arm.” He dragged her over to the bench and waited impatiently for Swede’s return. Some of his anger he worked out through pressing very hard on the wound. The three inch cut wasn’t very deep and wouldn’t have been dangerous on Earth. O’Connell yelped when he retrieved a syringe of coagulant and jabbed it, with much greater force than really necessary, in her bicep. She hissed slightly as the cold water touched the wound. Both sounds earned her severely repressive looks from her commanding officer.

  “I didn’t know about the atmosphere.”

  Hill tightened his hold on her wrist as he washed the wound again. “Maybe you should’ve thought of that before you sliced yourself open. Of all the idiotic ideas to enter your head—” He cut himself off and turned his concentration back to her arm. She flinched when he tried to wrap the bandage around the wound. The captain grunted in irritation and jerked her arm back into place. “Be still, and I’ll be done.”

  Maggie, desperate to direct her captain’s anger at another target, glanced at the Kigvan Queen. Khanaa stood off in a corner quietly talking to Dwax. Her grey-silver eyes flitted across the room to rest on O’Connell and Hill. She did not acknowledge O’Connell’s stare in any way. Her conversation with the young Dremikian did not pause, but her eyes remained on the humans.

  “I think she suspects I’m not in charge. She will test us again.”

  “Your talent for idiocy is surpassed only by your grasp of the obvious.” Hill tied the bandage and cut off the excess cloth with his knife. He sheathed the blade with a click and rose. As he bowed low to offer O’Connell a hand and pull her to her feet, he whispered. “You are damn right she suspects, but we play this game out and see where it takes us.”

  They crossed the room together, Maggie needed the seething captain’s support more than she would like to admit. He bowed to the queen before stepping back behind O’Connell.

  “You are having wellness?”

  “Yes, thank you, Majesty. You speak our language very well for someone who has never met humans until this day.”

  Khanaa clicked her long toenails on the floor. She rolled her shoulders slightly. The scrollwork painting on her arms and collarbone shimmered in the light. She spoke to Dwax and waited while he translated.

  “The queen says that she has problems putting her thoughts into the correct words, but that she understands you quite well. She has intercepted some of our communications traffic, it seems.”

  Maggie narrowed her gaze. “More than some, I would say. I think the queen has been studying humans with all the natural curiosity of her people. I think Queen Khanaa has a blood debt to honor now.”

  Khanaa trilled something that might have passed for a laugh. Her stunted arms swung freely at her sides for a moment before she folded them in front of her once more.

  “You are a leading woman, I know this now.” The queen reached inside the side of her gown and pulled out three shining metal disks. “You are to have these. Read them, and come back in three days time.” She paused and then stepped to the side so she could stare directly at Captain Hill. “No more blood, I promise you.”

  He looked into her silver eyes and could not decide what emotion they portrayed. Hill bowed from the waist before offering his arm to O’Connell. They exited the room together. Maggie shot a quick smile at Swede and jerked her head to the side.

  “I think we are done here gentlemen. Let’s get back to the Hudson.”

  They walked down the corridor, Guttmann and Hill slightly behind O’Connell. Dwax preceded them. No one said a word, but both Dwax and Swede could feel the increased tension between the captain and the commander. Once aboard the shuttle, Maggie moved naturally toward the pilot’s chair. Hill reached out and lightly grasped her wrist. He meant it to be an innocent touch, but she jumped as if burned.

  “Easy.” He whispered. “I’m flying, Commander.”

  O’Connell had forgotten. She looked down at her wrist. Hill’s fingers were still wrapped lightly around it. Her eyes flicked back upward to meet his. He stared back at her for a moment longer before releasing her and brushing past her to the pilot’s seat.

  The captain ran through the pre-flight checklist and smoothly piloted the lander off of Kigva. He made a quick course correction once out of the atmosphere. Having established
contact with the Hudson, he expertly guided the craft to a gentle landing within the hanger bay.

  Dr. Ruger’s chief assistant met them in the hanger. He performed several quick scans and then fussed over O’Connell’s arm. She winced when he ripped the bandage off and aggressively scrubbed out the wound. Captain Hill stood looking down at her while the medic worked on her arm. She glanced at him, but quickly looked away. His expression was stony.

  “How was dinner, sir?” The medic analyzed a ph scan of O’Connell’s blood before he let her leave.

  “Surprisingly delicious.” His tone indicated that he felt just the opposite.

  “Everything seems to be in order, sir. If any of you begin to feel differently, or suffer any adverse digestive effects from your meal, please see me immediately. Commander, I will need to check your arm tomorrow morning and apply a salve to keep it from scarring.”

  The captain dismissed the technician, then, turned to Lieutenant Guttmann and Dwax. “Lieutenant, I believe you have watch soon. You are dismissed until that time. Dwax if you will be so kind as to start on these data disks with Ensign Chi?”

  Dwax nodded his narrow head. “I will be happy to assist. Thank you, Honored Captain.”

  “Sir,” O’Connell said. “I will change my clothes and assist Dwax and Chi with the data transfer.”

  Hill was already walking toward the hallway. “Later, Commander. You’ll accompany me a moment. I wish to review my report.” He did not turn his head or slow his stride as he spoke. O’Connell had to trot to keep up.

  “Sir,” she blurted as they entered the ante room to his quarters, “about the expedition, I apologize for not informing you sooner of my plan, of the... I mean to say…” Her voice trailed off in uncertain embarrassment.

  Captain Hill settled into his chair and leaned back. His fingers tapped absently on the armrests. “Which details are troubling you, Commander? The detail of my washing your feet? Those concerning your insubordinate actions that caused bodily harm to my crew? Or is it perhaps the part where I failed to strangle you for the complete idiocy of your actions?” His last statement was issued in a cold, biting tone.

  She stiffened to attention and focused on a spot slightly over his left shoulder. “I completed the mission, sir. We went there—”

  “We went there to gain information from an alien species!” He shouted his interruption. “We did not go there for you to put your own life at risk in a coy little stunt. The Kigvans obviously played us tonight, Commander. I will not tolerate a repeat performance.” He distracted himself to keep from yelling further. His hands idly shuffled the sensor logs left on his desk.

  “When did you learn about this blood oath concept? It sounds entirely ridiculous, like something from Western American fiction.”

  He wasn’t yelling anymore, which was progress, Maggie thought. But the captain’s condescending tone still rankled. “I read about it, in the documents Dwax gave us. I suspect the Dremikians have something similar.” The look she gave him would have made a lesser man flinch.

  He knew Dremikians had blood oaths, it was how he’d coerced Dwax into helping them. She didn’t know that, though. Features neutral, he said, “Between your crash injuries and the cut on your arm, your medical status is questionable. I’m considering removing you from flight status, Commander.”

  “Sir, that’s unfair!” Maggie took a step forward. She stopped cold when the captain rose out of his chair and walked around to stare down at her.

  “You were saying?” His tone had returned to the brittle professionalism that was his trademark.

  O’Connell refused to be intimidated by his physical presence or his damned voice. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

  He snorted. He was so close that the hair on her head moved. “Denied. You’ve done plenty of free speaking this evening.” His cold blue eyes flicked over her. “You’re out of uniform, Commander. Go change your clothing and inform Lieutenant Price of your return.” The captain turned around and sat back down at his desk. He leaned over the sensor logs. After a minute, he seemed to realize that Maggie was still standing there. He lazily raised his head. “You’re dismissed, Commander.”

  She pivoted and marched out. He watched the green dress sway and cling to her hips as she strode away. Once the door had snapped shut, the captain rubbed a hand over his jaw and, ever so slightly, smiled.

  Chapter 28

  O’Connell slipped into the officers’ mess as unobtrusively as possible. She slid into a chair near the door, rather than interrupt the briefing further. Her usual seat was all the way across the room. The captain did not turn to look at her, although everyone else looked up when she entered.

  Captain Hill nodded at Ensign Chi to resume his report.

  “The Kigvans have been monitoring our conversation with the Dremikians, as you suspected, sir. According to the files they gave us, they have nearly fifty years of records; which, as you all know, is almost the entire span of our relationship with the Dremikians.”

  The captain turned his head incrementally to look at Dwax. “You knew of this?”

  “It is possible the High Council knew and kept it a secret. I only guessed. I did tell you, they are listeners. Kigvans love to learn.” Dwax mashed his thick fingers together. “Tell him the rest, Honored Ensign.”

  “We are not the only species the Kigvans have been listening to. They helpfully included all of the communications they intercepted over that fifty year period. There are pages of transmissions from a species called the Valtoza.” The young Asian man looked around the room, noted the serious concentration that hung like a pall in the air. “The Valtoza are not quite humanoid. They replicate by combining their own RNA with DNA strands from host organisms. They cherry pick the traits they want, or those they need to survive in particular environments.”

  Chi continued, “At some point, several hundred years ago by what I can determine from these intercepts, Valtoza and Dremikians inhabited Dremiks together. That is why some of the alloys and technology we’ve found on the surface do not resemble Dremikian work.”

  O’Connell spoke. “Why are we just hearing of these aliens, Honored One?”

  Dwax dipped his head. “With apologies. The Valtoza are just legends among my people. They are not real, things that will come to get us if we misbehave. I am not knowing a good example in your words.”

  “Boogeymen,” whispered Price.

  “You learned all of this information via intercepts?”

  Dwax answered, “The Kigvans enjoying procuring information, but they keep the peace with many treaties. Their... I think your word is honor for what it is they do... keeps them from telling others the details of these treaties. They do, though, accept blood payments for general information.” His small eyes fixed on O’Connell’s arm.

  Captain Hill concentrated on controlling his breathing while he absorbed what Dwax said. In his peripheral vision, he noted O’Connell’s stiff posture and how she absently traced the new skin growing over the incision on her arm. Guttmann and Price sat stone faced and taking notes. Robertson showed no emotion, in fact, he looked almost bored. Dwax was too stressed to remain stationary as he spoke. He flitted about the room, occasionally reeling ungracefully from a sharp corner or abrupt turn. Above them the air purifiers hummed. Beneath their feet, the Hudson vibrated in mechanical harmony with her idling engines.

  Point by point, Dwax laid out the clear evidence, provided by the Kigvan files, of a human conspiracy with the Valtoza. Intercepted communications were all in code, but the Kigvans had cracked most of the codes. O’Connell slid her hand out and picked up one of the sensor disks containing the unbroken transmissions. While Dwax paused, and the captain and Swede read the copies of decoded messages, O’Connell glanced at the other files. The others in the room did not miss the sudden sag to her shoulders and the harsh clenching of her jaw muscles. Her pointed chin became more prominent as she ground her teeth.

  Deciding that the commander was not going to share wi
th him whatever it was she’d determined, Dwax resumed his briefing. There were no names attached to any of the messages, but the rhetoric used clearly implicated a faction of human society unhappy with the forced peace settlement. In exchange for arms technology, and the continued safety of Earth, the human cabal entered into an agreement with the Valtoza to defeat the Dremikian High Council’s interference in the reconquest of Dremiks. Humans would sell lorga and settlement rights to the Valtoza. Valtozan ships and engineering codes were already being transported to a nearby waypoint.

  At the end of his presentation, Dwax stood still and wrapped his arms across his chest. He was obviously distraught. His normally red skin tone turned to pale pink. So close on the discovery that some of his own race had decided to betray the alliance with humankind, the discovery of human treachery with the Valtoza completely undid him.

  The captain’s breathing techniques were not working as well as they normally did. He grew increasingly tired of plots, plotters, and being suspicious of everyone around him. O’Connell’s stunt two days before still irked him. His obsession with her safety was unsettling him. Taking a very deep breath, Hill folded his hands in front of him. He turned his head to look at O’Connell. She was still staring at the data on the tablet in front of her.

  “Admiralty codes?”

  “Yes, sir. Old ones, at that. It will take me a few hours, but...” she trailed off and then shrugged her shoulders. “Mother’s milk to me, really. All those hours of childhood punishment will finally come to some use.”

  “You think your father is involved?” Lieutenant Guttmann’s voice betrayed his dismay.

  “Having seen these codes, and read what is going on, I’d stake my soul on it.” She shook her head at the lieutenant’s open astonishment. “I have no illusions about my father’s political beliefs or his willingness to sacrifice material comfort to attain a measure of immortality. The worst part is, he’s probably convinced himself that he’s saving mankind.”