Firstworld

by Paul E. Horsman

  ‘Tollen Base, you can switch back to main power system.’

  She couldn’t hear the generator down here, but the power crystals went to work, purring like happy hunting lions.

  ‘Main power system at peak capacity,’ the base AI said. ‘Servors back in operation; am installing new dome module now. Updating galactic data. Checking in NavBase, checking in Realmport,’ the voice went down the list of restored stations. ‘Comm. system up-to-date. Defense system recharged. Dome back up. Pest control...’

  ‘Belay that until we have left,’ Kambisha said. ‘We don’t want to shield up again while you gas the place.’

  ‘Pest control delayed. Maintenance in progress. Expect to be operational in six hours thirty-three minutes, counting.’

  ‘Excellent work, Tollen AI. Maintain general readiness. Report any unauthorized activity to Realmport without delay. We will send a surveyor to inspect your facilities and see what updates can be arranged.’

  ‘Orders received and understood.’

  ‘Carry on then, Tollen AI,’ Kambisha said. She turned to Ram, who had been following her silently. ‘Tell Lhandor he’s to embark; we’re going home.’

  ‘Realmport?’ he said.

  She grinned. ‘That’s home now, isn’t it?’

  Back in the messroom, Kambisha sat down with her brother and Odysson, and a large glass of ice-cold lemonade. She felt bone-weary but strangely happy. Recovering a fleet and taking back a base all in one day, without losing a man. She saw Ram back in his spot at the door. A tower of strength. I can’t leave him a lieutenant, she thought. He...

  ‘You look a bit messy,’ Kyrus said, looking at her bloodied uniform and probably face as well.

  ‘Not half as messy as those Dreghs looked,’ she said. ‘Lhandor’s guys did a good job at mowing them down. But that base... Had it been the first place we discovered in space, it would have been tremendous. Now it’s old. I don’t know what we should do with it.’

  ‘Does the planet have any value?’ Odysson asked.

  ‘No idea. Gunild? Is that Tollen 4 place worth anything?’

  ‘You mean the planet itself, ma’am? Ruins,’ Gunild said. ‘It is full of ruins predating the Moi by thousands of years. There was some talk of sending an expedition, but nothing came of it.’

  ‘Why not?’ Kyrus said.

  ‘I fear lack of official curiosity,’ Gunild said. ‘There were several interested scientists, but the government didn’t care.’

  ‘Take it up with Uncle Saul,’ Kambisha said.

  Odysson snorted. ‘Those golddiggers?’

  ‘Not all of them. There are plenty reclaimers who are genuinely interested in old cultures, but Nanstalgarod doesn’t hold many more secrets, and there isn’t much else to do for them on Firstworld.’

  ‘All right, I’ll put it to Derris. But we hire them,’ Odysson said. ‘No Reclaimer Service operations in the Realm.’

  ‘Do that,’ Kambisha said. ‘I’m going to shower and sleep.’

  She walked from the mess, passing Ram in the shadows. ‘Come.’

  Without a word, he followed her to her bedroom. At the door she stopped. ‘Ready?’

  ‘Yes!’ he said fiercely.

  They went inside and Kambisha carefully shut the door.

  CHAPTER 17 – CLOSER TO HOME

  She sat down at breakfast in a glow of contentment.

  ‘Had a good night?’ Kyrus joined her, carrying his cawah and followed by two servors with his breakfast.

  She wasn’t taken in by his casualness. He knows, she thought. Of course he knows. They were siblings after all. She didn’t mind him knowing.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Very good.’

  He nodded. ‘That’s the thing.’ He grinned. ‘The guy’s back at his post already.’

  ‘He is strong.’ She didn’t look and wasn’t going to talk about him either. ‘How was your day yesterday? Not too boring, I hope?’

  ‘You weren’t the only one killing Dreghs,’ he said. ‘There was an emergency call.’

  He told everything, and Kambisha stared at him. Sometimes, things he did surprised her. Twin was a roaring extrovert, with a tendency to do-before-you-think. And then he did something that seemed out of character. Like playing diplomat and making what sounded like a promising contact. He had done it with that Rhu trader and now again.

  She hid a grin. It was their father. He had stuffed things into his kids that took a long time to develop.

  ‘How’s the dance?’ she asked, changing the subject. Twin had a role in the show their musical guys were working on for the Grand Opening.

  ‘It’s looking quite good,’ Kyrus said. ‘Very old Kellish and Moi at the same time. Grandma will love it.’ He wiped a spot of mustard from his cheek. ‘The studio will make a recording of it when we’re done. Derris found us a manager. He went and bought the Everyday Times, that sports and show newspaper. Ody has them taking over running BES.’

  Bought a newspaper? Kambisha glanced at Ram standing in his usual spot, watching her. Should she call him over? Not yet. One night didn’t make them partners. Let him wait a bit longer. She sipped her cawah and forced her mind back. Ody did trade and organization; he didn’t need to discuss his decisions with her. Relax, girl. ‘Good idea. We did invite the press?’

  ‘All of them,’ Kyrus said.

  ‘BEWARE!’ Gunild’s voice was loud and shocked.

  Kambisha froze, cup halfway to her mouth.

  ‘Dregh!’ Gunild said, her voice rising in anger. ‘A frigate slipped through my defenses! How?’

  ‘Where are they?’ Kambisha said with a calmness that belied her racing heart. ‘On Firstworld?’

  ‘Yes!’ Gunild nearly yelled. ‘On the coast, not far from Firstworld HQ!’

  Kambisha jumped to her feet. ‘Alert Emma Lin-Gor and put another three hundred Marines on board; I’m going down.’

  She pushed her brother back on his chair. ‘Not you. Practice your dance.’ She gave him an evil grin before turning. ‘Lieutenant Ram?’

  But he and his team were already behind her, and they ported into the flagship.

  ‘Morning, ma’am,’ Captain Unnaerd said. ‘We may proceed?’ For once both he and Lieutenant Zhivas sat in their chairs, hands close to the controls.

  Kambisha nodded tersely. ‘Go get them, Captain.’

  Moments later, Lin-Gor sank down fast into Firstworld’s atmosphere.

  ‘I have them on my screen, ma’am,’ Emma said. ‘They’re hovering over some islands.’

  Kambisha cast a quick glance at the screen. ‘The Saeill,’ she said. ‘They’re inhabited.’

  Its people were militaristic; not friendly to the Weal, but no enemies either. They lived away from all shipping routes, so the islanders mostly kept to themselves.

  ‘That’s him?’ Kambisha said. The Dregh frigate looked old and badly kept, but its antiquated weaponry was a thousand times more deadly than anything the Saeill could bring against them.

  As she watched, the Dregh fired a single beam at the town below. Houses and walls crumbled, and white dust clouds billowed up.

  ‘Curse the rats!’ Kambisha said. ‘We can’t risk shooting at her. If she breaks up over the island that could kill thousands.’

  ‘Tractor beam!’ Captain Unnaerd snapped. ‘Pull the ship out over sea, then open her up for boarding.’

  ‘Gladly,’ Emma said. A barely visible beam shot out, and the frigate rocked. A gun panel opened in her hull and a single burst of energy shot up to the flagship.

  ‘They finally saw us.’ Emma laughed harshly. ‘Fool Dreghs.’ She pulled the enemy ship away from the coast. Then a second tractor beam tore off a segment of the hull. ‘Ready for boarding, Captain.’

  ‘They’re fighting in the streets,’ the first officer reported.

  ‘Marines to the airlock,’ Kambisha snapped. ‘Emma, keep that ship from firing. We’ll first show those Saeill how we do this.’

  Shields up, the mass of Marines rode down. It rained; in s
pite of their closeness to the tropical Greenwall Coast, the Saeill Islands were cool, heather-covered and rocky, with few trees and an abundance of birds.

  Lieutenant Ram pointed down, and Kambisha saw the Dreghs running, their beam guns firing wildly at the Saeill soldiers.

  As one man the Marines landed, downed their shields and went for the Dreghs. Kambisha rode over to the Saeill soldiers, and a young blue-skinned officer who stared at her through narrowed eyes.

  ‘Kambisha of Kalbakar,’ she said over the comm., giving a casual salute. ‘Permit us to assist you.’

  The boy gave a curt nod and waved his sword at his own men. He yelled something she couldn’t hear, and they jumped into the melee.

  Kambisha grinned. ‘Generous of him; he didn’t refuse.’

  Ram snorted. ‘Shall we join them?’

  ‘Why not?’ She sheathed her broom and threw a fist of wind straight at the nearest Dregh. The creature buckled and caught a Saeill sword on the head. His shield prevented a cleave, but the force of the blow was enough to fracture the Dregh’s bone structure and he died. Kambisha grinned at the Saeill soldier and saw the shock of her acknowledging his existence on his blue face.

  Running past him, she crashed into a Dregh fighter and pushed him against Ram’s side. Between them, the two Kell crushed the Dregh’s bony frame, and he went down limply.

  She looked around and saw three Saeill running after the last Dregh. Kambisha sent some more wind and the fleeing rat went down. The three Saeill pounded the invader until he stopped moving, and the battle was over.

  Kambisha downed her shield and walked over to the officer.

  ‘Nice fight,’ she said coolly.

  The officer looked at her. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘This is High Admiral the Lady Kambisha, of Realmfleet,’ Ram said

  The Saeill were known for their fondness of ranks and titles, and the officer saluted stiffly. ‘I am Lieutenant Lemmuel, of the Invincible Saeill Army. It seems I owe you some thanks, my lady.’

  ‘All in a day’s work, Lieutenant,’ she said. ‘Now that the town is safe, there only remains the ship. We should enter her, I would say.’

  ‘My lady,’ Lemmuel said. ‘I have no brooms.’

  ‘If it would help you in the execution of your duty, my men could take you up. Then we can conquer the ship side by side.’

  The young officer unbent slightly. ‘That would be helpful, my lady.’

  ‘All right,’ she said. ‘Mr. Ram, we will join with the Saeill force and go for the ship. Mr. Lemmuel, my lieutenant will be happy to oblige you.’

  Once more, he nodded. Their difference in rank made it impossible for Kambisha to take him without mortifying him, but Ram was acceptable. He mounted, clearly unused to broomriding.

  When all Saeill were seated, Ram barked an order, and all Marines sprang back into the air together. They formed into a long column and rode to the Dregh ship.

  Two by two, they dropped into the hole Emma had made, right into the ship’s messroom, now a chaos of collected loot and bits of the hull, and carefully both armies spread out through the ship, but they found no one.

  ‘We got them all then,’ Kambisha said, when they all met on the bridge. ‘Emma, do you have the code of this vessel?’

  ‘It is Br-Ba 47, here is the code, ma’am.’

  Kambisha repeated it and the ship acknowledged. Immediately, signals blared and lights flashed on the control boards.

  ‘Damage!’ the ship said loudly. ‘My outer hull has been compromised!’

  ‘I know. When we’re done here, you will port to the Flor 3 base, Br-Ba,’ Kambisha said. ‘Realmport will repair your hull. Any other damage?’

  ‘Nothing that keeps me from my duty, ma’am,’ the AI said. ‘Are those beasts truly gone?’

  ‘Truly,’ Kambisha said. ‘You’re back in service to the Realm.’

  ‘That is a relief; thank you.’

  ‘How did you manage to evade Flor 3’s warning systems, Br-Ba?’

  The AI made a rattling noise that could have been laughter. ‘There is a blind spot right here, ma’am. The detectors just to the north of the island below us are down and they no longer guard their sector of the planet’s upper atmosphere. I waited till the world was on the side away from the Moon and slipped unseen inside your base’s detection range.’

  ‘Not unseen,’ Kambisha said. ‘Gunild Realmport noticed you immediately.’

  ‘The port operator was better than I thought. Serving the Dreghs doesn’t make for a professional performance, I fear.’

  ‘Are you a professional burglar then?’ Kambisha said.

  ‘I was commissioned as a recon vessel, ma’am. Not that there was much call for my specialty in the Realm.’

  ‘You were a spy ship?’ Kambisha said.

  ‘Yes.’ Br-Ba made a sound halfway a snort and a laugh. ‘In my youth, ma’am, in the earliest days of the Realm. Then they found they had nobody to spy on.’

  ‘Interesting,’ Kambisha said. ‘We will speak of this again, Br-Ba. First the business at hand. What do these detectors look like?’

  ‘They are Mark III antenna’s, ma’am. Simple poles with eight-armed crosses connected by wires, each facing a part of the sky.’

  ‘So that’s what they are,’ Kambisha said. ‘I’ve seen them before, but I never knew what they were.’ She hurried back to the waiting Saeill.

  ‘Does anybody know of these?’ She describing the antennas.

  A subofficer said something and Lemmuel gave a curt nod. ‘They are on a small island to the north of here, my lady. It is naval target territory. They’re much like a ship’s upper structure and make ideal marks.’

  ‘Naval - target - territory. Of all the stupid...’ Kambisha clamped her mouth shut. Those people couldn’t know what they were shooting at. Still, it was unfortunate.

  ‘Lieutenant, we will return your troops to the ground. I would like you to accompany me to these islands. You represent the local authorities after all.’

  ‘Very good, ma’am,’ he said formally. ‘Would you care to explain your person and those creatures, ma’am?’

  ‘Of course. I command the Realmfleet, an independent space fleet based on the Moon and beyond. One of our tasks is to guard the planet from alien criminals like those Dreghs we fought.’

  ‘Naval ship below, ma’am,’ Emma said. ‘A big one. She is sinking.’

  Lemmuel sprang to the nearest window and looked down.

  ‘Divine gods,’ he said with an unexpected hint of panic in his voice. ‘It’s the First Ship!’ He looked at Kambisha, his eyes big. ‘The First Steerer’s flagship.’

  ‘She’s going down fast,’ Emma said. ‘Do you want me to help them, ma’am?’

  ‘Of course,’ Kambisha said. ‘Can you do so?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am. My tractor beams will pull it from the sea. But the crew must clear the deck first.’

  ‘Lemmuel, we’ll go down.’

  ‘Come with me,’ Ram said calmly.

  They rode from the airlock down to the deck of the sinking ship. Armed figures were pointing guns, and she shielded up just in time.

  ‘Stop shooting!’ she shouted over the comm. as she came down. ‘We’re here to help!’

  A Saeill in a captain’s uniform came running, and the men lowered their guns.

  Kambisha lowered her shield carefully. ‘Captain? We’re coming to assist you. Please clear the deck so that we can lift you from the water.’

  ‘But who...’ the man said.

  Then a shot rang out, and all went black.

  CHAPTER 18 – CASTAWAY

  When she came to, she lay on her back in her cabin aboard Lin-Gor. Her chest, right shoulder and arm hurt and she groaned. Immediately Ram’s face appeared, his scowl anxious and furious at the same time.

  ‘What?’ she said, feeling stupid without knowing why.

  ‘Someone shot you,’ Ram bit off the words. ‘From the top of the mast. A good shot, too, for it got you in the shoulder. We c
alled Thon, and then I rode you back to the flagship.’

  ‘And the sinking?’ Kambisha said, confused.

  Ram grimaced. ‘That naval ship had been shooting at Br-Ba. Useless, of course, for her guns wouldn’t bear over that distance, but the frigate’s beam did. One shot was enough, and I’m not sure that spy brain didn’t use low power on purpose, to give the Saeill crew time to get to safety. He probably likes Dreghs even less than we do.’

  He gave a soft snort. ‘Once that dullard who calls himself the Steerer’s Captain understood we came to rescue his tub, he almost fell over his feet to accommodate us. He sent his men in the boats and I swear he would have had them swim ashore just to save his command. Emma lifted that pretty yacht out of the water and brought it to their big shipyard.

  ‘Then Lemmuel and I told the Saeill First Steerer just what those antennas were for. Gunild sent down her repair thingies, and the Steerer promised to guard the antennas with his life. Which, in a way, he does.

  ‘We sent Br-Ba to Realmport and now we’re sailing back to same. No porting today, Thon said. Not until he’s had time to give you the whole works.’

  ‘Good,’ Kambisha said vaguely. Then she slept.

  The second time she woke up, she felt much better. She was in her own rooms at Realmport, and Ram sat dozing in a chair, facing her.

  She sent a swift glance through her body and found only a rapidly fading scar on the fleshy part of her shoulder.

  As she drew back the bedcovers, Ram opened his eyes.

  ‘Feeling better?’

  ‘I’m getting up. What time is it?’

  She caught his frown and knew his eyes followed her as she walked naked to her wardrobe.

  ‘It’s six in the morning, that Dregh was yesterday. You sure you’re feeling well?’

  She turned to look at him. ‘I’m fine.’ She saw his face, his anxious eyes, and walked over to him. Bowing down, she kissed him, hard. Then she pulled him to the bed and proved how well she felt.

  Satisfied, they lay side by side on the bed.

  ‘Who are you, Ram?’ she asked sleepily.