Mirror of Stone

by Corie J. Weaver

  He couldn’t focus, didn’t understand the spin, the eruption of arms, the slumped bodies of the men who had come out with the captain, the clatter of their weapons on the floor. Nothing moved like that. Nothing. He swallowed away the bitter taste of copper in his throat, his tongue thick.

  The alien stood, frozen, quiet, the three fingers of one hand wrapped around Houghton’s throat. Adam rubbed his arm, felt the bruises from those same fingers begin to form, saw the man’s face level with the alien’s, the man’s feet dangling off the ground, kicking feebly.

  Two more of the things had appeared, weapons drawn. One alien faced a pale Captain Bullfinch, the other surprised Adam by standing next to him.

  “What is your choice?” The alien, the first one, spoke again. “What is your choice?” Spoken in Standard, Adam understood the words, could not understand the question.

  The girl picked her way over the bodies of the crewmen towards him, knelt, looked at his eyes. She spoke again, the words were strange, flowed like water over him, she shook her head.

  She rose and went to Bullfinch. “Captain Bullfinch, we would know your decision. Did you support your officer in this attack against us?”

  “No! This threatens the entire fleet. I knew nothing of this.” The older man looked past her to Houghton, who hung limply from the alien’s arm. “Don’t kill him, please. For your own sake, if nothing else. I’ll have an easier time convincing the other captains that you mean well.”

  The girl spoke again in those strange liquid sounds and the alien let Houghton fall to the ground.

  “Thank you.” Bullfinch ran his hand through his hair. “The First Mate is obviously unwell and should be confined to quarters for observation.”

  “And you?”

  “I,” he stared at Houghton’s limp body, “I don’t think we can’t wait for Claro. I’m happy to assign Mr. Cole to you.”

  Adam took a deep breath, and hoped he wasn’t making a mistake. “If we’re going, there’s someone else who should come with us.”

  Three days later Adam sat in the shadows, watched the sun go down on the trees, smiled to see the long figure stride towards the house. As the man walked by him to the door, he spoke. “Hey.”

  Jake Cole whirled towards the sound, hand on his hip. Adam only now spotted the weapon his grandfather wore.

  Jake froze mid-draw. “Adam?” The relief in his voice quickly broke to anger. “What the hell are you doing? Navy life didn’t give you enough chances to get shot? Get inside, boy and I’ll decide if I’m going to kill you yet for scaring an old man.”

  Adam grinned and followed him home. They sat in the cramped basement room, facing each other across the small table as Adam recounted the events of the last week.

  “Well. That gives us a bit more information than we had, that’s for certain.” Jake tapped his pipe on the table, fidgeted with the stem. “We could not go.”

  “True, but I think we should. This might be our only chance to find out what’s going on. Not just now, but what happened back in the war. Besides...” Adam looked down at his hands, fingers laced tight, then back up. “The alien captain sent two soldiers down with me from the Galileo in their shuttle. He promised they would see to it that I returned, so as not to upset their ambassador. He made it pretty clear that there’d be repercussions.”

  Jake gave a final thump to the table then put his pipe away in his shirt pocket. “Well then, I have a few things to pack. Come help me with this equipment.”

  They paused on the porch on the way out. “Don’t know when we’ll be seeing her again, I guess,” Jake said, hand resting on the old rocker.

  “I shouldn’t have gotten you involved.” Adam swallowed. “I wasn’t thinking very clearly there, but it just made so much sense, that you would be important to have with us if we’re going to figure this all out. Besides, it’ll be nice to have another human around.”

  Jake’s eyebrow rose. “What about that girl?”

  “I don’t know what she is, but I don’t think she’ll be much company.”

  Adam was impressed with his grandfather.

  Jake had looked at the sleek shuttle nestled in the deep shadows of a thick grove of laria trees and merely grunted. He pointed with his chin at the two sentries standing outside.

  “Either of these the fellow that threatened you, boy?”

  “He’s the captain, still up on the ship.”

  “Well, then.” Jake walked past the aliens without a second look. And Jake had remained silent as the soldiers took the bag and showed him to a chair.

  “Don’t look so jumpy, boy, I’ve been on bigger ships than this and smaller. Different, that’s all.”

  The first trip to the flagship had been too sudden, too much to take in, and on the journey back to Travbon his mind had been filled with what to say to his grandfather. Now curiosity had the upper hand. The interior of the shuttle was formed of a soft, smooth substance that Adam couldn’t identify. Not permisteel, it had the warmth of flesh, the slickness of glass. The cabin they were seated in was little more than a cargo area, with racks and benches formed out of the softly glowing walls.

  “It’d be nice to see where we’re going.” Jake said to the soldier who had remained in the small room with them.

  The soldier said nothing, but drew one long pale finger diagonally across one of the walls. A viewport appeared. Adam realized it must be a holoscreen, as the soldier opened another beside the first displaying the rapidly retreating shape of Travbon, but Adam couldn’t take his eyes off the first screen, showing the alien ship getting closer.

  They exited the shuttle into a large bay, where the walls and floor were made of the same softly glowing smooth material. Adam ran his hand down it while they followed the soldier down a hallway. It slipped beneath his fingers like water. Here on the ship the colors of the walls shifted, changed, ranging from palest rose through streaks of midnight blue.

  The soldiers led them to a room then stood on either side of the door. It slid open and they entered unescorted.

  The Weber girl stood in the middle of the room, facing them. “Thank you so much for coming.”

  Adam looked away. He had dragged his grandfather, an old man, into a war. Then he looked closely at Jake and felt the knot in his chest loosen. The old man stood tall.

  Jake nodded his head to the girl and she made further introductions for the two aliens in the room.

  “This is Mikka, my,” she stopped then rattled off something in watery words.

  Mikka clicked her fingers. “Use Standard. Advisor. I think I would best be called her advisor.” She bowed to Jake.

  Eleanor moved on to the other alien who stood silent. Now that Adam had time to observe and understood that the faces did not move, he knew it was unreasonable to assume the Tamkeri were always angry. But the black and red slashes on the captain’s face did nothing to ease his mind on that matter.

  “This is Shivuk, the captain of our vessel.”

  Jake stepped forward, looked up at the taller figure. “Are you the one that threatened my boy?”

  Shivuk tilted his head as Jake pressed on. “If you do any such thing again, I will rip your bony arms out of your shell. Are we clear?”

  The girl stepped forward, fingers flying as if she was having a nervous fit.

  Shivuk stood still, looking down at the old man glaring up at him. Then he bowed deeply. “I am honored that you share your mind so freely, elder. I assure you, your hatchling will not come to harm at my hands or at those of my command.”

  Jake bowed back, copying the depth to a hair. “Alright then. Should we get on with this?”

  Shivuk canted his head to the side. “He,” as he flicked his long fingers towards Adam, “has told us that you know much about ships as well as holding some ideas of what may be
occurring with your leaders. Perhaps you would be willing to share your thoughts.”

  Hours later, Adam wondered if Shivuk regretted asking his grandfather. Shivuk struck his hand on the table. “We have a new plan. I do not see why this is a bad idea. We want the humans to know we are here. Why not broadcast our image down to all of their busy places? All of us, human and Tamkeri. Then the Ambassador can explain and there will be no more secrets.”

  Adam hated to admit it, but he liked the idea. The entire morning had been spent arguing about the best approach to take with Claro.

  Jake shook his head. “People would think it was a hoax, a joke. And if they didn’t, we would only end up backing the government into a corner.”

  “We want to be able to work with them,” Mikka added. “If we make them lose face at the beginning of our discussions, I fear treachery.”

  Adam rubbed his hand over his eyes. “I think you should be fearing treachery anyway. Claro isn’t known for dealing straight.”

  The Weber girl had been quiet throughout the entire discussion. Apparently just a puppet for the aliens, Adam decided. Until she uncurled from her chair and spoke, her voice sure. “We will not sneak. This is an official ambassadorial mission. Jake? You told me you are in contact with people in the military, correct?”

  Jake nodded. Adam could see his grandfather try to figure out where this was leading.

  “And you say that all communications are monitored?”

  “Well, maybe not actively, but everything is recorded, sorted for key phrases at least.”

  She nodded. “Then the people we want to be listening will hear us, even eventually. We need the current frequency and codes for the official communications channel. We have a landing request to make and it needs to be done correctly.”

  A grin spread across Jake’s face.

  Hours later the five of them clustered in a small room off the bridge.

  The girl turned to Shivuk. “Audio only, agreed?”

  “If that is what you think best, my lady.”

  She put her hand on his arm. “I do. And I promise that if this does not work, you can scare them all you like.”

  Adam’s stomach contracted. Even if she was mad, how could she touch them so casually?

  At Mikka’s nod, Eleanor straightened. “Tamker craft to Claro Orbital Control. Tamker to Claro Orbital Control.”

  “Who is this?” The woman’s voice sounded as if the speaker stood next to them, rather than in a control booth miles below.

  “This is the Tamkeri ambassadorial party requesting permission to land.”

  “Whoever you are, get off this channel!” was the sharp reply.

  Eleanor repeated herself. And then a third time.

  “Stop fooling around and get off the air!”

  A short burst of static, and then a man’s voice, older, raspy.

  “Diplomatic party, prepare for coordinates. Repeat, coordinates are being sent.”

  As the shuttle landed, Adam could see other air traffic, but none in their vicinity. “That’s not just keeping the flight path clear. They’re bringing us down away from everyone. Keeping us isolated.”

  As they disembarked from the shuttle into the empty zone, a hot wind struck Adam. Pavement stretched to the horizon, broken by a few tall buildings to the north, almost at the edge of vision.

  No, not quite empty. A tall figure approached them, alone.

  An older man, iron grey hair buzzed close to the scalp, sunbeaten face scarred and wrinkled. Despite his age, his steps were firm, his frame burly. Adam saw Jake stiffen and guessed the identity of their host.

  Dick Sullivan, Olympia’s dirty set of hands, smiled. “Welcome to Claro.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  “An odd welcome for a diplomatic party,” Eleanor said.

  The man shrugged. “There’s a war going on. You didn’t give us a lot of time. Quarters have been prepared for you. This way.” He entered the back of a boxy vehicle, clearly expecting the other five to follow.

  Mikka stepped towards the car, looked inside. “There is no one but that man.” She switched to Tamkeri. “Even with a weapon, I do not believe he can kill us all.”

  Eleanor raised her hands, then lowered them and spoke in Standard. “We’re all the way in now. No turning back.” Two benches ran down the sides of the vehicle. Some sort of troop transport, Eleanor realized.

  The man sat waiting at the end of a bench, lips twisted. She wondered what had amused him, or if that was his habitual expression. “We didn’t know the size or… composition of your party. I decided to go for space over elegance.”

  Jake was the last to enter, and as he sat the man thumped the wall behind him. The door slid closed and the vehicle began to move.

  “Cole, you’re not going to introduce me to your new friends?”

  “Wasn’t sure if you had some sort of fancy title these days, Sullivan. Wouldn’t want to be impolite.”

  “Just a patriot, Cole. Same as always.”

  The man moved his gaze from Jake to Adam, then Eleanor and shook his head. “Wouldn’t have believed it. Not even of you.” But fell silent for the rest of the trip.

  The vehicle stopped and they exited into a wide, empty hall. Sullivan slid a keycard into a slot in the wall and a doorway slid open.

  He ushered them through the door, then withdrew to the hall. “We’ve set up quarters for you here. Someone will be with you as soon as possible.” The door closed and they were alone again.

  As soon as they entered, Jake, Adam and Mikka began to examine the suite of rooms. No sign of dust, but an old, stale smell tickled Eleanor’s nose. Just short of stark, the main room was furnished in tan and cream, a pair of low couches faced each other flanked by straight backed chairs. Unbroken walls gave no hint of where they party had been led to, no windows to reveal a betraying view. Four doors led off to smaller sleeping chambers.

  “What are you looking for?”

  Jake answered for them all. “Not sure yet, but want to see what else they’ve prepared for us in here.”

  Of course. More listening devices. The three of them became wrapped in their discussion of security. Eleanor tightened her arms around herself.

  Shivuk spoke from behind her. “How long should we be patient with them? I don’t like this.”

  Eleanor rubbed her scalp. “I don’t know. Maybe the Council isn’t in session. Maybe people have to be called in from off world and its taking time to travel here. But, I’d have felt better about this if more people had seen us. Now it’s just the man who met us, our own crew, and the woman he reports to. And I don’t trust that she’s told anyone else.”

  Adam grunted from the corner. “Olympia could do anything and I’m not sure we’d know. She could keep us waiting here and never inform anyone else. We could disappear like the last group you people sent.”

  “Well, that’s encouraging, thanks so much!” She could strangle him. Except that would upset Jake, whom she was starting to like.

  “Olympia’s the one who got you into this mess, you know.” Adam’s voice was soft. “Well, maybe except for your aunt.”

  He was right. It was when the woman had come to the bar that everything began.

  “I wonder why she sent you after me. Didn’t you say that the man, Sullivan, usually does her errands?”

  “No idea.” Adam shrugged. “Must have had something worse to handle.”

  “I suppose we both have a lot of questions for her.”

  “I believe we all do,” Mikka looked up from where she worked with Jake. “Though I believe we would still rather speak with your Council.”

  A sharp knock at the door startled them all. “Well, the man might be a weasel,” Eleanor grinned at Jake, “but he’s at least prompt.”

 
She opened the door to a young man dressed in a dark blue uniform who stared past her shoulder. “Deputy Minister Norris wishes to meet with your party in her office as soon as can be arranged.”

  Eleanor started to immediately follow but checked herself. Rushing ahead without thinking wasn’t exactly very diplomatic, she thought. “Please give us a few moments to refresh ourselves from travel. We’ll be ready shortly.” The man pivoted sharply, back to the door and took what she could only imagine as a waiting stance.

  The door slid closed as she turned to the rest of the party.

  “A meeting with Olympia, rather than the Council?” Jake asked. “Seems a little dicey to me.”

  She shrugged. “Possibly, but we need any information we can get. I can’t not go.”

  Shivuk stood by her. “I will accompany you.”

  Mikka spoke sharply. “We will all go. It is unsafe to separate.”

  “No,” Eleanor’s voice softened. “Please stay here. I want you to wait for us, stay in communication with the ship. If we don’t return-”

  Mikka gestured, then dropped her arm. “As you wish.”

  “It is not what I wish. You know we must take any opportunity. You showed me what would happen if I did not act. Let me show them the strength of your training.”

  “I’m coming too,” Adam said. “I’ve got my own questions for Olympia Norris.”

  “We’ll see what sort of answers you get.” Jake laughed. “I’ll stay here. We haven’t finished scanning this place.”

  “If you do not return-” Mikka started.

  Eleanor nodded. “Then tell the shuttle to return to the fleet. Negotiations have failed.”

  The maze of hallways stretched before them, empty and echoing. Dull grey concrete, with painted stripes to indicate direction instead of maps or signs. A person who didn’t know the code would be lost in minutes.