I shifted from foot to foot nervously. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me now. “It was my turn to do what I needed to do.”
“Give away your planet. That’s a new one, but a good solution. Too often, everyone defaults to violence. Too often, we have heavy losses when diplomacy may have worked better. You have done both. Which way do you prefer?” Crul asked.
“I prefer to not be in a struggle in the first place,” I answered.
“We are always in a struggle. Always. Humans were in a struggle with themselves before this and may end up that way again if you’re not careful. Believe me, we know. We’ve been around a long time. You may not have an enemy at your doorstep now, but you will. Oh, you will.” Crul turned and walked toward his desk. Yope stood by his side, listening closely.
“We’ll deal with it when we get there,” Mary said.
“What have you done, Mrs. Parker?” Crul asked.
Mary started to speak but stopped when Yope whispered something to Lord Crul, whose eyes widened. “You were the one? All of that destruction by the Unwinding? I heard the tales, but didn’t believe it until I saw the feeds.”
I stepped forward, Jules still in my arms. “Back off, Crul. She didn’t do any of that. It was the Iskios.” I spoke in a low growl.
“Yes, the Iskios. Tales of them snatching children from their beds if they were ill-behaved are still used to this day. Maybe now they’ll work once again.” Crul dismissed me with a wave and stared at Mary. “Impressive. And this threat is over?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“Let me guess. The great Dean Parker had something to do with it?” he asked.
I didn’t answer, but Suma spoke, startling me. “Dean Parker is a great man. He helps anyone in need and cares about everyone so much. I’m proud to know him, and even more proud that he gives me attention and respect. Don’t belittle him and don’t take him for granted. It won’t do you any favors.”
My heart melted as the small girl spoke about me. She was a great part of our team, and it was almost embarrassing to have her speak of me like that.
“And who are you?” he asked.
“I am Suma, daughter of Sarlun the Gatekeeper,” she said proudly.
“The Gatekeepers. An honorable group.”
“Mary, Slate, and Dean are members of them too,” Suma said, and now Crul laughed, a smooth throaty sound that filled the room.
“Of course they are. Of course they are. Why wouldn’t they be? What are we going to do with you all?” He looked past us toward the hybrids and Magnus. “Magnus, we may have to change our agreement.”
Magnus folded his large arms over each other at his chest. “I don’t think so, Crul. We made a deal, and that’s the one we’re sticking with.”
“What’s the arrangement?” I asked, still unsure what Magnus did to receive their help.
“Your large friend here has agreed to captain one of our exploratory vessels for a while.” Crul looked amused as he spoke.
I turned to look at Magnus. “What’s a while?”
He glanced to his feet. “Three years.”
“Three years!” I shouted, and Jules began to cry. Mary reached for her daughter and took the small baby from my chest.
“Dean, what was I supposed to do? They wanted new blood. A new ally, and when I talked about my history and leading our fleet back at New Spero, he suggested this was a reasonable transaction. I took it. Would you rather we left you on Sterona? Things weren’t going so well for you. Remember the Kraski and the robots?” Magnus asked.
“What did you say?” Crul asked.
“Which part?”
“The Kraski. You said the Kraski.” Crul strode over to Magnus, getting closer to my large friend than most men would have.
Magnus defiantly stared around Crul toward Yope. “You didn’t tell him? I know you have communication with home from Starbound, so why didn’t you tell him?”
Yope paled slightly. “Lord Crul, I was waiting for the right moment to tell you.”
Now it was Yope getting Crul’s anger. “To tell me what?”
“Dean was captured on Sterona right before we arrived. We arrived to find ships of an unknown origin in orbit, and when they fired on us, we destroyed them all,” Yope said.
“And what of this Kraski?” Crul asked.
“They took me, separated from the others,” I said. “I think it was Lom of Pleva’s robots. At least, one of his companies manufactured them.” I paused while Crul turned to me, eyes wide. “I was talking with someone in the shadows of the room I was chained inside, and as I was pulled out by the rescue team, I saw him. A Kraski.”
Crul was leaning against his desk, looking smaller than before. “Are you sure?”
“I’ll never forget what they look like, Lord Crul.”
“Very well. Leave us. We have a lot to discuss,” Crul said.
“Can we go home?” I asked, reaching over and grabbing Mary’s hand. Slate locked eyes with me, a worried look on his face.
Crul waved us away as he sat down behind his desk. “No. Not yet.”
SIXTEEN
“Where’s the portal room?” I asked Magnus after we were escorted to some quarters at the rear of the building. The rooms were sparsely decorated, favoring function over style. The few of us sat in a common area in the center of the dormitory-style rooms.
“It’s under this structure, but there’s no way we’re getting there without a fight.” Magnus leaned back on the uncomfortable bench. He ran his hands over his face and let out a deep sigh.
“Three years being a captain on a Keppe ship? What the hell, Mag?” I asked. I was angry he’d make that bargain, but compared to what they could have asked, it didn’t seem that bad. I knew I’d have to swap with him. There was no way I’d let him be apart from his family for that long. Mary looked at me knowingly, reading my mind like only a spouse could do. She shook her head slightly, not enough for anyone else to notice.
“I had no choice.”
Slate rose and poured some liquid from a pitcher they’d left us. He filled seven glasses and handed them out to our group. “This Crul is quite the character, hey?” he asked.
“He’s something,” Mary said under her breath.
“He’s got an attitude, but I don’t think he’s that bad,” I said. “The Keppe and Motrill have had a hard time, no thanks to the Kraski. I think they want allies. That’s why they helped us, and that’s why they’re asking a human to captain a ship. And think of it this way. We get the Keppe on our side, and we get their cousins too.”
“Throw in the Shimmali, and even the Bhlat to an extent, and we’re starting to get a little team going on out here,” Slate said, and Suma nodded beside him.
“Haven is happy to help where we can too. We have some connections,” Leslie said, and Terrance agreed.
“Don’t forget about your new friends on Bazarn, Dean. Garo Alnod isn’t to be taken lightly,” Mary said.
I suddenly thought about Karo, wondering how he was adjusting to life on New Spero. He was the last living Theos, and that had to be hard on anyone. I was looking forward to getting home for many reasons, and talking with him was one of them.
“You guys are right. Maybe this new relationship is of value. We’ll have to make another deal, though. Magnus, you can’t do this.” I took a sip of the liquid and found it bitter. We’d had this on board Starbound, and I usually stayed away from it. Hectal said it grew brain and muscle tissue, but all it seemed to give me was a sore throat.
“What’s done is done. I’ve already talked about it with Natalia, and she’s going to join me, with little Dean and Patty,” Magnus stated.
“Seriously?” Mary asked. “Nat went along with it?”
“She did.” Magnus took a drink and grimaced. “She understood it was the price to pay to get you four back safely.”
I couldn’t believe it. We had friends that would sacrifice so much for us. My eyes began to well and I turned away momentarily, hiding
my reaction.
“Plus, three years on a cool ship like Starbound? Exploring space like a real captain from a TV show? Tell me that doesn’t sound a little bit fun,” Magnus said.
Slate shrugged. “If you look at it that way, then maybe.”
“I think you’re an honorable man, Magnus,” Suma said, and Magnus smiled at her.
“Thanks, Suma. Let’s just hope the mission is a safe one, free from space battles and drama. Plus, I think it will be good for the kids to grow up around the Keppe. They’re a strong and good-humored bunch who work hard, but still have close families,” Magnus said.
I still felt bad, but seeing Magnus light up at the prospect of doing something like this put me at ease.
We broke for the night, heading to our rooms. An hour later, we were settled in, Jules slumbering near our bed in a Keppe crib.
As soon as my mind shut off, and I drifted into a dreamless sleep, I was shaken awake. Rulo stood at my side. She spoke in a whisper, but I didn’t have my translator on. I got up and followed her out, grabbing my earpiece in the process.
“What is it?” I asked, worried.
“Lord Crul would like to speak with you,” she said.
“I’ll get the others,” I said.
She shook her head. “Just you.”
I had the urge to wake Mary, to let her know where I was going, just in case, but seeing her sleeping so soundly, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I threw on one of the Keppe robes hanging on my door and cinched it around my waist.
I followed Rulo to a room across the building, and it took a few minutes to get there through the deserted halls. We barely spoke, and when we arrived at the destination, Rulo opened the door, motioning me inside. She turned and stood there at guard. So this was to be a private conversation, late at night, with Rulo, someone Crul trusted, at the door.
The room was dimly lit, and I was surprised by the setting. Compared to the plain white of everywhere else inside this place, this room was the opposite. Black floors were accented by colorful furniture made from exotic woods covered by smooth patterned fabrics. Artistic shapes danced slowly across long screens on the walls.
“Have a seat,” Crul said. He was wearing a muted robe, and I didn’t know if it was a formal garment or a dressing gown.
“What can I do for you in the middle of the night?” I asked, hoping the words had enough edge to them. I didn’t want him to think I was cowed by his power. It would take whatever trace of the upper hand I had away from me.
He didn’t seem taken aback by my comment. “I wanted to talk.” His smooth words translated into my ear, and I nodded.
“Okay, let’s talk.”
“You seem put off by me,” Crul said plainly.
“I’m stuck on your world when all I want is to get home. It’s been far too long, and my wife and I have been through a lot. Not to mention my exhausted friends, who are constantly sticking their necks out for me.” I sat down on a chair, surprised that it was more comfortable than it looked.
“I understand,” he said.
“Do you?” I was getting tired of talking with him. “Can we get on with this?”
“Dean? Do you mind if I call you that?” he asked.
I shook my head but said, “Be my guest.”
I wasn’t sure if the phrase translated, because he gave me a blank stare before continuing. “I despise the Kraski. Our war with them over the colony was something every Keppe will remember for a long time. The way they killed the first settlers in their sleep, the suicidal advances they made when we brought the fight to them. They were merciless, and we lost a lot of good people. A lot.”
I leaned back, trying to let myself see it from Lord Crul’s perspective. I was beginning to understand him a little better. “I hate them too,” I said. “I hate them for what they did to my people. I hate them for enslaving the Deltra and making them turn on their own values. I hate them for creating the hybrids and brainwashing them to their will. I hate that I was married to one of the hybrids, and that I actually thought she loved me.
“I hate that the original hybrid I fell in love with didn’t die from sickness on Earth. She lived on, and I found out when we chased her across the galaxies to a Bhlat outpost. I had to watch my brother Slate shoot her like a target, as he was trained to do. I hate that every time I see him, I think of that moment.” I buried my face in my hands but kept talking.
“I hate them for everything they’ve done, and it all led to Mary and me being on a crystal world, where the idle Iskios sat, waiting for someone worthy to come and set the Unwinding free. I hate that Mary was taken, and it all started the moment the Kraski came for Earth.”
Crul smiled in a pained, understanding way, meant to comfort me. “I see we are not that unlike one another, Dean. Why did they come for you on Sterona?”
“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know how they found me either. The one spoke to me about regrets. He wanted me to atone for my misdeeds, I think.” It felt good to confide in Crul.
“How does Lom of Pleva play into this?” he asked, and I was unable to tell if he recognized the name.
“I don’t know that either. I’ve never seen the man, just heard the name whispered around me behind closed doors. He’s like a ghost. Garo Alnod thinks he’s after him,” I said.
“You know Garo Alnod?” he asked.
I nodded. “A few months ago, I saved his daughter from a robot pirate ship that was marked with Lom of Pleva’s trademark.”
Crul laughed. “You seem to be at the center of everything. I’ve read of people like you, Dean.”
“A Recaster?” I asked, seeing surprise well in his eyes. I wasn’t sure if the word translated properly.
“Yes, a Recaster. Few know of them, and fewer have ever met one. I now think I have. Where did you earn that name?” he asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I said, thinking about the two-foot-tall bird man, who only spoke telepathically.
“If you say so, but I feel at the center of something big here. The Keppe have stayed to the side of a lot of conflicts over the centuries, until the Kraski forced our hand. I want to bring the fight to them. I want you at my side.” Crul leaned back.
“No.” I didn’t hesitate to say the single word. It was the easiest response I’d ever made. “I can’t. I have a family. A home. I need to be there, with them. I’m sorry, but the fight isn’t mine anymore.”
“They’re after you, Dean. They’ll come to you,” he said, and I knew then that he was right.
“Then they will find a very pissed-off enemy when they do.” I hoped my bravado carried over, but inside, I was worried he was right.
“Good. Think on it. I don’t need an answer today. You can go home tomorrow. Rest now.” Crul smiled again, this time baring his sharp teeth.
“You’re not as bad as I thought,” I said, grinning at him.
“Neither are you, human.” He said the last with a laugh.
“While we’re so chummy, can I change your mind on Magnus coming aboard for three years?” I asked, crossing my fingers mentally.
He shook his head. “A deal’s a deal. He’ll be safe. I think it’s a good exercise, and one we’ve never extended to any other race outside the Motrill.”
I nodded. “Fair enough. What will happen to Pol?”
“Polvertan is a kid. He’s so angry about losing his mother in the Kraski war, he has this insane idea he’ll find a time-travel device and bring her back. He wants to stop the war. Time travel isn’t possible, Dean. Young Polvertan won’t accept that.” Crul lost his smile. “Rulo will show you to your room.”
“Thank you. Have a good night, Lord Crul.” I extended my hand. He looked at it and did the same. I grabbed his and pumped it twice before turning to leave the room.
As Rulo and I silently walked the halls towards my room, I couldn’t help but think about the time-travel device Pol had been looking for in the secret cache we’d been inside.
SEVENTEEN
The breeze was cool as we exited the tunnels outside Terran Five. I took a deep breath, the New Spero air filling my lungs. I closed my eyes and took a few more breaths before pushing the stroller down toward the waiting landers.
Magnus took off toward the first lander, and I saw why. Natalia was there with their two kids. We watched as his son jumped into his father’s arms, and soon Magnus was holding Patty, one arm wrapped around his wife. It was a touching moment.
“She’s here,” Slate whispered, and he ran down to the landers, approaching his girlfriend, who was wearing a New Spero police uniform. He picked her up and spun her around, kissing her when they settled to the ground.
Suma had jumped home, and I could only imagine how happy Sarlun would be to see his daughter. Leslie and Terrance had gone back to Haven, saying they’d check in on us soon. The team was being broken up, but we all lived in different places. It felt strange to not have Suma with us. We’d all grown so close during the three months being stranded together, and then another two plus months on board Starbound.
Mary was wiping tears away as we watched everyone’s reunions, like voyeurs in these private moments. Nat waved at us, and I pushed the stroller down to meet with everyone. Clare was there greeting Nick. They looked at each other with love in their eyes, sharing a welcoming kiss, not caring that we were right beside them.
“Mary!” Clare realized her friend was there, alive and well, and she proceeded to hug Mary like she’d never let her go. “I’m so glad you’re all right.” She looked over to me. “Dean, you did it. I’m so proud of you. Wait… who’s this?” Clare looked toward the stroller, and unabashed tears fell down her face. Natalia arrived and joined her, the disciplined woman showing a softer side.
“Mary, get over here,” Nat said, hugging her for a long time. Magnus arrived, holding his two children close.
“Nat, is it ever good to be home and to see you.” Mary broke the hug when Slate and Denise arrived.
“And who’s this little one?” Nat asked, leaning toward the alien stroller. Jules was awake, small and inquisitive.
The Survivors Box Set Page 118