by Hal Archer
The blackness that was in his head gave way to a less intense darkness. Through his eyelids, he saw a hint of light. He opened his eyes and glanced around. The light was from several clusters of luminescent stone embedded in the ceiling above him. Not placed there by hands, but part of the rock interior of the cave-like room in which he laid. The glow had a bluish tint. It wasn't so bright that he couldn't look directly at it. But still, it gave off enough illumination for the rectangular smallish room. He could tell from some of the rough uneven walls that it was part natural cave. But, seeing the floor and the wall to his left, which were flat and smoother, he knew it had been finished off by someone.
Aside from the three-foot high attached stone block he was laying on, the room was empty. Across from him, at the other side, there was an opening as wide as two doors and about nine feet tall, the height of the cave room itself. The opening let out and curved. A tunnel leading to. . . Well, he wasn't quite sure.
He raised up and swung his legs off the side of the rock, sitting fully now. Then it dawned on him. The pain he had felt, as he had slipped into unconsciousness who knows how long ago, had gone. He felt healthy. He reached around to touch his back. He felt the solid garment he wore. No tears. No rips. And on his back, no sensation of pain. No sign of his wound. Only a faint ache remained.
He looked down to see the shirt wasn't his own. It was a thick cloth, made of natural fibers it seemed. Its color varied unevenly, but consisted of a mix of tans and browns. Not dyed, he thought. Just the natural coloration of the fibers.
He noticed his blaster on the floor, next to his feet, leaning against the elevated stone bed. Beside it, a flask made from the hide of some animal. It wasn't his flask. He picked it up and pulled out the stopper from the top. He smelled it. Herbs. A tea? It felt warm in his hand. He took a sip. The drink had a bitter flavor, but also a floral sweetness, as if the two wouldn't fully mix. He put the stopper back in. Then he picked up his blaster. He stood and holstered it. With the two leather straps dangling from the flask, he tied the drink to his belt.
Taking another quick glance around the room to make sure he hadn't missed anything, he noticed his leather jacket hanging on the wall. The rip across the back of it neatly repaired. He walked over and swapped the shirt for his familiar jacket. Then he stepped into the tunnel leading out.
Walking the curve, he noticed the same blue glowing stone spotting the ceiling and walls. It gave ample light. Ahead he saw another cave-like room, larger than the one he had been in. He thought to ready his blaster in case the men that had taken him and Nadira were nearby, but then realized he might have it wrong. Why would they have left my weapon?
He walked to the room ahead. As he got closer, he saw around the curve of the cave tunnel. On one side of the room, Nadira and three men stood around a table. They were pointing at something on it and talking. He heard the faint echo of their voices, but couldn't make out the words. As he reached the room, they stopped talking and looked up at him.
"Feeling better?" Nadira asked.
"What's going on?" Jake said. "Where are we?"
She stepped toward him. One of the other three men with her approached him as well.
"Jake, this is Yorian. He's the leader of the Waudure."
The man tipped his head toward Jake. He stood a few inches shorter than Jake, but had a definite presence about him. Small wrinkles and a slight discoloring of the skin on his forehead suggested to Jake that the man was older. He hadn't seen those details on the other Waudure.
Jake returned the gesture. "Jake Mudd," he said. "So, maybe you can tell me what's going on."
"You have landed on a planet," Yorian said, "that has been home to a long and tragic conflict between two peoples — the vile, cruel, and oppressive Cracians, and their would-be slaves, we peace-loving Waudure." He gestured to himself. "Nadira told me she has given you some of our history, and how the Cracians brought us here to enslave us. But we Waudure are not easily conquered. There are many of us who resisted and escaped. Though our numbers are great, we could not match the forces and the weapons of the Cracians, a war-like people. Those that could, made their way here, to the Untamed Lands, beyond the reach of the Cracians. We learned the ways of the wild lands of this world. We found refuge underground, in parts unexplored and unknown to the Cracians. It is here that we have continued to live for many years, doing what we can to free our brethren still under the yoke of the Cracians. But now, because of what you brought to this world, I fear we will no longer have sanctuary here."
"Look, Yorian, I've seen this before," Jake said. "My hands aren't exactly clean, but no people deserve slavery. I don't know how many Waudure they still have. I know her father's one of them." He glanced at Nadira.
Yorian looked at her and opened his mouth, as if to say something. Then he closed it without comment.
"But I can't solve your problem," Jake said. "And thanks to her, screwing up my delivery, I've already been way more involved on this planet than I intended. But I’m having a hard time believing that whatever is in that package is gonna make much of a difference one way or the other."
Nadira looked at Yorian, as if waiting for an answer.
"That is where you are wrong," Yorian said. "You have handed Crassus Kharn the instrument of the annihilation of the Waudure people on Daedalon."
"Seriously?" Jake shifted his stance and rested his hands on his belt. "I'll be straight with you. I don't know what I delivered. Someone paid for discretion. But the damn thing couldn't have been a world-destroying weapon. It's only about this big." He held his hands as if cradling the small case. "Besides, shipping regulations don't allow dangerous cargo to go unmarked, if they allow them at all."
"Kharn must've paid handsomely to bypass those regulations," Yorian said.
"If Kharn ordered it," Jake looked at Nadira, "why did you show up for the delivery?"
"I was captured over a year ago. It took months to earn their trust," Nadira said, "but, because of my father's work for Kharn, I gained a position within the Cracian base. They came to believe I was on their side. My father, hoping I could use the opportunity to escape, convinced them to send me with the man you saw at Halcion Station."
"The guy I shot," Jake said. "You didn't look like you were trying to run away."
"My father meant well," she said, "but I knew securing the case was too important to ignore."
"So, you want the package for yourselves." Jake said.
Yorian pressed his hands together and nodded. "You assume too much, Mister Mudd."
"It's not that hard," Jake said. "The Waudure and the Cracians hate each other. You're stuck on this planet and you've been killing each other for years. Now somebody's figured out a way to finish the job."
"We only want to keep the weapon from Kharn," Nadira said, "to protect the Waudure."
"Until he uses his connections to get another contraband package down here," Jake said. "No. A delay wouldn't do."
"We've never been able to penetrate their base to any significant degree. Nadira gave us a window into what they were planning. Our best chance was to intercept the package before it reached them. Now that we've failed, it is only a matter of time."
"Doesn't make sense," Jake said. "You've been fighting for years. If you have all these subterranean hideouts, can't you keep the fight going? Or at least go deeper into hiding?"
"What you brought there is no hiding from," Nadira said.
"So, you do know what's in the package," Jake said. "And I thought I have problems."
Nadira glanced at Yorian. He nodded back to her.
"It's biological," she said. "That's why they're forcing my father to help them. They need his expertise in genetics."
"A tailor-made virus," Jake said.
They looked at him with surprise.
"Yes, I know. I don't look that smart, do I?" he said. "The galaxy isn't all rainbows and snowflakes. I should know."
"He didn't know what they were after at first," Nadira said.
"Then he refused, but they threatened to kill me. I told him I wasn't worth it. But, he thought he could keep them waiting, fool them into thinking he was going along with their plan. He muddied the research as much as he could, but their scientists spotted what he was doing. They didn't have his level of understanding of the processes involved to do what they wanted, but they began to make sense of it in time."
"So, we went after the package," Yorian said.
"And now you need to get her father out to finish the weapon." Jake shook his head.
"To code it to attack the Cracians," Yorian said, "so we can be sure they'll never use it."
Jake glanced at Nadira, then Yorian. "Why me?"
"Nadira said you saved her life," Yorian said. "We Waudure are loyal to those who stand with us. We can do what is still to come without you, but Nadira tells me you've been helpful. It's your choice. Stay here until you feel well enough to return to your ship, and we will do what we can to get you back there. Or, go with our team to recover the bioweapon and we will reward you for your help. But I warn you, don't interfere with the mission."
"How much time do we have?" Jake asked. "Either way, I need to contact my ship."
Yorian shook his head. "You can't contact your ship. We can't risk the communication signal going out from here. They don't know the location of our base."
"How much time?" Jake asked again.
"We may already be too late," Nadira said.
Yorian placed his hand on her shoulder. "There's still time. Our scientists believe it will take Kharn nearly three days to complete the process, to ready the weapon for delivery."
Jake tapped the holster strap over his blaster with his thumb. "I'll let you know if I'm in by tomorrow."
"In the meantime," Yorian said, "you may move freely among our people. You will see how important it is that our mission succeeds. Nadira."
"Yes."
"You will escort Mister Mudd. Show him the Waudure and our ways."
"I will." She glanced at Jake.
He gave her a wink and subtle grin.
She turned to leave before her flush face gave herself away. "This way."
He nodded to Yorian, then followed Nadira out of the room.
CHAPTER 19
"I trust your wounds have healed?" Nadira asked, as she and Jake walked beside each other through one of the subterranean passageways.
They were ten minutes out from the room where he met the Waudure leader. He came across several oddities in the Waudure stronghold. The rock tunnels they walked through were roughly dug out, but blue light from the patches of glowing crystal in the ceiling and walls revealed smooth metallic panels inset against the stone walls. Jake guessed they were compartments of some kind. Nadira walked with purpose. So, he didn't have the chance to look closer at them. He heard a humming noise coming through the rock at points in their walk. The air felt warmer each time he moved through a section where he heard the noise.
She said she wanted to show him something, and it seemed as if she was in a hurry to do so.
"Almost entirely," he said, reaching around to touch his back. "Though I'm not sure how. That drink given to me couldn't have done all that."
"No." She stopped and turned to him. "You almost died from the slash that creature gave you."
He noticed her eyes glistened, but the corridor was dimly lit. He couldn't decide if the glimmer was a trick of the light or not.
"The men I saw approaching before I passed out," he said, "they were Waudure from here obviously. How did they know to find us there?"
"They didn't. Just fate, I suppose." She cast him a glance.
"I don't believe in fate."
Her face turned sour. She continued walking. "Come on."
He watched her step away. Are we talking about the same thing?
He caught up with her. "The Waudure are much more advanced than these cave dwellings would —"
"We didn't choose to live here," she said sharply. Her words echoed against the stone.
"I know," he said. "The injury on my back. Your people's healing abilities are impressive. I mean, I have systems aboard my ship that could handle something like that, but I haven't seen any planets in this region of the galaxy with that kind of tech." He tried to stay upbeat, to sound complimentary.
"When the Cracians drove us here, to the Untamed Lands, we fought for months just to survive. In time, we came to understand the dangers — the beasts, the elements — and we learned the secrets within the planet." Still walking, she pointed to the crystals as they passed underneath another glowing cluster of them.
They walked on for a while longer. Jake wondered about the crystals he continued to see through the passageways.
"I'm taking you to meet some friends," Nadira said. She turned to look at him, up and down.
He got the impression she was conflicted about his rugged body and dominant countenance.
Not the first time I've seen that look.
"What?" he asked.
"Try not to scare them. OK?"
He held his hands up to imply he didn't know what she was talking about.
They came through a curve in the tunnel.
Jake noted the clean smooth metal of the door ahead. Nothing natural about it. And above the door, shining down from the stone roof of the tunnel, a scattered array of green beams of light, not from the usual blue crystals, a refracted laser perhaps. Sure, the Waudure had been living here underground for years, but how'd they manage to fashion such elements, he wondered. He expected the rest of the base to be mostly stone, maybe wood.
Nadira stood in the beams of green light and, for a second, looked up at their source, with her eyes closed. The door slid open. Jake watched it disappear into a slit cut into the wall of rock.
Before entering, she turned to him. "Don't kill anybody."
Now she's toying with you.
He followed her through the doorway, squinting as he passed through the green lights.
He stood just inside the room. Stunned. He was unprepared for what he faced.
"Nadi!" The pack of children screamed in chorus, running toward Nadira with their hands extended in front of them.
She knelt and held her arms wide, receiving four of the children as they impacted her. When the other three fell against the huddle from behind the first ones, she and the entire mass of them toppled toward Jake, landing sprawled before his feet.
The children laughed and several threw questions at Nadira faster than she could respond.
"Where were you?"
"Did you see any monsters?"
"Did you kill any?"
"Who's your friend?"
Nadira chuckled as she squeezed a couple of the kids in a hug. Then she got to her feet.
"You didn't tell me it was an ambush," Jake said. Knowing he couldn't use his blaster or his fists to deal with the situation, he stepped quickly past the pile and found refuge at the other side of the room. He stood next to a long stone bench topped with a thick pad wrapped in blue cloth.
With one of the children, clinging to her leg, Nadira patted the boy on the head as she answered Jake. "I thought you were a tough guy?"
"I have my limits."
One of the girls pushed herself up from the floor and ran over to him. He looked down at her. Her curly chestnut brown hair on her head added two inches to her height, bringing her even with the top of Jakes holstered blaster on his belt.
"You look funny," she said.
The left corner of Jake's mouth drew back, pushing his cheek out slightly as he fixed his gaze at the girl.
"I've heard worse," he said.
The girl bobbed her head, as if satisfied with his answer. Then she went back to Nadira.
"This man’s name is Jake Mudd," Nadira said. "He is our guest."
Jake stared at the children. He said nothing.
They stared at him.
"Well?" Nadira said to the children. Then they all ran over to Jake and jumped at him without warning, hugging him si
multaneously.
He regretted that this was a situation his blaster couldn't solve. All he could do was wait it out.
"Alright," Nadira said. "I think he feels welcome now. Go tell Hodin that I'm here to see him. Then you should get back to your training."
After what seemed like a long time, the children released their death grips and waved as they left the room out a door, but not the one Jake and Nadira had entered through.
"Never figured you as the motherly type," Jake said.
"They're orphans. All but the one that spotted your good looks."
"I thought I wasn't your type," he said, wearing a wry smile.
She ignored his comment. "Her mother is still with us, for now."
Jake felt like an ass for joking when she was talking about orphans. "For now?"
"I was told this morning that she was spotted by a Cracian patrol when she was on a scouting mission." Nadira stepped over to Jake. "I doubt she'll be with us by tomorrow."
"Can't you help her?" he asked. "Like your people healed me?"
"Her wounds were too severe."
He turned from her and began walking back and forth.
She stood still while he paced the room before speaking again.
"I need to contact my ship," he said, "to let her know I'm alright. She's expecting me back by now."
"You can't."
He stopped pacing and looked at her. "What do you mean? There must be a communications system here."
"It's too risky. Remember? The Cracians would intercept the signal. This base has stayed hidden for years. That's how we've survived for so long."
"She's not going to like it," he said.
"Like it? It's a ship, Jake."
He saw how she looked at him, head to toe. Lingering.
"I'm here… and alive," she said.
He said nothing.
She looked away. "Come on. There's someone else you should meet."
She led him out of the room and down another corridor. She walked ahead of him the entire way without looking back, neither of them saying anything until they reached a room guarded by two men posted at either side of the door.
The guards nodded to her.