Koban 5: A Federation Forged in Fire

by Stephen W Bennett

  “Uh, it’s a long story, and complicated. They did it via answering our advertising.”

  “Try explaining that to me, my meeting is over. Now you’ve gone beyond getting a ship, its explaining why you need it to your father, and how they answered your ad. You may be a dad yourself, but it sounds like you could be getting into a situation with risks, and you have a wife and child to think about. Not to mention being careful to avoid pulling the Kobani or Federation into a political situation we might want to avoid.”

  “OK. Can we go to the cafeteria for sandwiches and sit and talk?”

  “Sure.”

  Once seated, and speaking around a bite of a rhinolo steak sandwich, Ethan started the first part of the story. “Do you remember Ajay Patil? He was one of those that returned to Earth with his parents, on Pholowela.”

  “Oh. I know of him. He was about fourteen, right? Family moved to Haven from Hub City, and they all went back to Earth when they could, even though his parents had clone mods. I guess they didn’t want him to get the Koban mods when he reached sixteen, with or without their permission. How does he figure into Chisholm? If they went to Earth or to Chisholm, he couldn’t easily keep in touch with you, not without a Comtap.”

  “They moved to the Indian Commonwealth on Earth to live, but don't be too sure he couldn’t communicate with us from there or Chisholm, or anywhere in Human Space. He does that almost daily, with a lot of his friends he left behind on Haven, and a few kids on Koban.”

  “He has a Comtap? I’d not heard of any human without the Kobani mods having one. It’s possible, of course, without the mental sharing aspect. It’s essentially what the Torki and Raspani have now, for long range communications through Tachyon Space.”

  “Actually, he doesn’t have a Comtap, but he has a few of the new Prada hand held devices that do much the same thing. Have you heard mention of Instellarnet, similar to Internet?”

  “No, but I know you younger generation types have jumped into social networking again, which us older farts sort of lost interest in, after we were stranded on Koban for so long without connectivity. Comtap has restored personal connections for us but I don’t crave browsing web sites, not like I did when I lived on Rhama. What’s Instellarnet?”

  “Instantaneous interstellar internet. And it’s about to get much larger than it is now.”

  “How? With a Tachyon Space connection? Wouldn’t that just be talking over the Prada handheld, like a phone call to the addressed party?”

  “If Ajay were just some ordinary kid, then yes, that’s all in might become. But he’s a techno geek, like his mother, who ran an internet service on their Old Colony world of Hindi, before their vacation trip back to visit family on Earth was ruined, when the Krall captured their cruise ship twenty-two years ago.”

  “And what did geek boy do with this handhelds?”

  “His mother, to ease his leaving all of his friends behind, let him bring several of the Prada devices with him to stay in touch, so he wouldn’t grow too resentful. He asked the Torki how he could connect other devices to his handhelds, and they made them with interface ports that connected with the new internet network system his mother designed for Haven, and has now spread to Koban. Our networks here aren’t as modern as on a Hub planet, but visitors from Rim or New Colony planets have older generation devices they want to connect on Hub worlds when they visit them. Therefore, the Hub networks are backward compatible with protocols used by older systems. Ajay’s Prada devices can connect to the global Earth network.”

  “Yea. So? How does that lead to Chisholm?”

  “Dad, I said it was complicated. Let Ethan finish. He heard about what Ajay and his Haven friends were doing from his younger brother, Danner.”

  “Go on Ethan.”

  “Ajay told his friends back here that he could explore internet links on Earth with his Prada hand held when he linked it through a computer. His friends obtained some Prada handhelds and did the same, but went through his device on Earth when they linked. Even though they couldn’t see his computer screen, Ajay directed them to a site where they listened to some downloaded music, and later spoke to some Earth based AI servers that would accept verbal instructions. That was when the real breakthrough happened, when the kids on Haven connected their own home computers through their Prada handhelds to Ajay’s handheld. Our house computers, which Chief Haveram bought for us in Human Space, are compatible with the internet on Hub worlds. Using their computers on Haven, they could directly surf the Earth internet live, using the handhelds as the long-range instant links between computers, and the Torki interface matching the internet protocols at both ends.”

  “I’m being patient,” Dillon reminded the two.

  “OK. That was six months ago. Ajay connected both of his handheld devices to his mother’s new high-end computer, which allows multi users from other household terminals. Haven kids starting browsing the Earth network at will. When some kids on Koban learned of the capability, and obtained the same Prada devices, they linked from Koban to Haven’s network, and then to Earth via the same two devices. They started calling it Instellarnet, but it had limited capacity with only two connections on Earth.

  “Since then, Kobani spec ops troops, being paid by Ajay and his mother, have used their PU military status and the secrecy of their units, to return to Human Space with improved Torki gadgets and have installed them on various planets that already have their own local global networks. There now are many more link possibilities in Human Space, simply by knowing the Prada device addresses on various planets. Ajay is going to become a very rich kid, providing interstellar web browsing, and the Torki will provide the technology under a very lucrative deal for them.”

  “I take it one of these new Torki devices went to Chisholm?”

  “Yep. Via a trooper going home on leave to visit, but was paid by Ajay to connect one there.”

  “The trooper told you about this problem on Chisholm?”

  “Nope, he only made the connection to a computer inside a government run recreation center for disabled soldiers. Out of curiosity, we browsed the small Chisholm network and stumbled across a jobs site, where people advertise services or products they provide, or list work they need done, with contact numbers or web addresses. We weren’t afraid to describe what services we can offer as Kobani, said some negative things about the PU government, and mentioned our rebel image.”

  Carson picked up from there. “That ad drew some friendly cautionary warnings, and the attention of a reclusive Chisholm group. They claimed that someone in authority there has an AI monitoring everything that’s posted or said on their small network, so they use temporary, indirect, and anonymous terminals to speak their minds, and have requested police help from higher government agencies on Chisholm. They not only were ignored, but someone with guns tried to find them. They’re afraid for their lives if found. Ethan gave them our link device’s connection address on Chisholm. It seems to lead nowhere, and no monitor system can trace it through Tachyon Space.”

  Ethan chimed in again. “That’s how we learned of their problems. We think we can go there, and use Mind Tap on unguarded minds to find out who the bribed officials are, identify the payers, and apprehend the thugs that have waged a reign of terror on small landowners. There have been some farmers, their whole families in fact, murdered in their homes by bands of men that are dressed like ordinary ranch hands, but the local law isn’t doing anything to push the investigations. Collectively, the Chisholm Farmer’s Cooperative offered to pay us if we help them save their farms and families, and find out who is behind the killings.”

  “Farms? I thought Chisholm replaced Meadow as the beef production center for much of the Hub. What’s the root of the conflict with the ranchers?”

  Thinking he was explaining unfamiliar history, Carson told him, “Dad, Meadow was just destroyed last year, but Chisholm has been the main Hub cattle producer for two hundred years. Cattle ranching didn’t just recently move there from M
eadow. The farmers are trying to grow crops in the fertile valleys, and a group of powerful wealthy ranchers won’t allow fences that limit their cattle from foraging. The crops are trampled and eaten without fences. The farmers are new on Chisholm, not the cattle.”

  “I know that son. I’m older than you are and I grew up in Human Space. Meadow decided to become less agricultural long before I was born, as they became a developed Hub world. Ranching moved outward to other colony worlds, like Chisholm.”

  “Oh. We didn’t know that.” Carson admitted.

  Ethan explained the origin of this new friction, “The President of Chisolm Colony promised the electorate to raise more local foods, to cut the high expense of off world imports for the average citizens. He offered land grants on public lands that the cattle owners have always used as if it was theirs. The ranchers are trying to drive the farmers off, and have killed some of them, and they tear down their fences, and dam up the streams to deny them water for irrigation. The local law and judges are in the pockets of the big ranch owners.”

  “Well, you had better research the place before you go. I don't see why you can’t take the Wanderer if you get permission. But what makes those farmers think you two youngsters can help them?” He had his suspicion.

  “Uh. Our advertising for our services, being placed on each world’s network says we’re native Kobani, have combat experience, all the full genetic capability of our people, and are willing to travel for a negotiable fee. We describe ourselves as troubleshooters, not guns for hire. Everyone on Chisholm saw the news Tri-Vids when they reached there, a few weeks after we visited Earth. They saw Uncle Tet in action. We display both sides of a business card that explains in simple terms what we can provide.”

  “What is it?”

  “A card with Prada device addresses listed on the back to contact us and on the front a silhouette of a ripper, and below that the phrase: Have Genes, Will Travel.”

  Annoyed, Dillon asked, “Why just the ripper image? Why not a damn wolfbat and white raptor as well? You know we’re keeping the source of our most important genetics a secret. This is almost advertising that.”

  The young men exchanged glances and raised their eyebrows. “Not a bad idea, Uncle Dillon,” Ethan said agreeably. “We really only used the ripper image because Kit insisted, and Kobalt agreed with her, naturally. Besides, a Kobani looks like anyone else, but a ripper with us will draw attention and respect.”

  “The cats? You got them interested in off-world adventures?” He was incredulous.

  “Dad, they’re full partners. After Kit was rejuvenated and had long-range communications, she and Kobalt both wanted some other exotic travel experiences. Neither of them feels as if they fit in with the basic circle of life on Koban now. They have a new lifespan that can be extended repeatedly, and as we know, the balance of predator and prey is almost a religious conviction for ripper society. They don’t have many ways of earning credits of their own. If this business pans out and makes a profit, they’ll have some cash. With the small Torki speech disks, their Comtaps give them a voice, and they can do their own banking with an AI system. Cat society is going to change I think, at least for those traveling off Koban.”

  “What can they do for you on Chisholm? Scare the hell out of cows?”

  “Picture one of us walking into a cattle town bar, filled with gun hands of the local cattle Baron. A tall stranger with his trusty kitty at his side, asks the bartender for a whisky and tall milk. Do you think any of those cowboys will wonder if the stranger is a Normal that just happens to have a ripper friend? The cats with us should keep miscalculations to a minimum.”

  “A cattle Baron. Really? I think you spent too much time with Aunt Maggi when you were young, and she was in her Old West period of interest.”

  “If the shoe fits…” Carson trailed off.

  Ethan added, “I think Chisholm has many of the old west parallels that triggered the same inherent sources of human conflicts. The entrenched wealthy and powerful that have had it their way for ages, and the poor and weaker newcomers that have to force the wealthy to change their ways and play fair, and alter their huge profit margins to share land they wrongfully consider their own. There was a reason those films were made. They reflected the real conflicts of the old west, even if a bit over dramatized.”

  “You boys better do what I said. Research Chisholm, and study the records of pre-space range wars in the American old west. Your Aunt Maggi regaled me with the stories. Those could be pretty bloody and violent times, and full of real drama. Watch your backs. A face-to-face standup gunfight isn’t always how it happens. You’ve heard how I killed the first gunman I ever met. I knew I couldn’t out draw him, so I gut-shot him under the table as he drew on me. It wasn’t noble, but I lived.”

  Carson rolled his eyes at the old story, seldom repeated by his father but heard many times from his mother and aunt. “Nut-shot is how Aunt Maggi described it.” He grinned.

  “Whatever works. Watch your backs and cover your nuts.” His dad grinned back.

  ****

  “That’s just nuts!” Alyson declared.

  She couldn’t believe the ruins below her. “The Torki used to build skyscrapers? They’re crabs that live in sea side caves for heaven’s sake.”

  She was captain aboard her own ship, Mother’s Pride, and she was speaking to her first officer, Richard Yang. The Torki passengers were below in the acceleration compartments installed for them, in case they ran into stray Krall clanships this deep into former Krall controlled space. It had happened multiple times in the past six months, and any sudden maneuvers could harm the crabs while leaving the Kobani barely inconvenienced.

  They were flying over the remains of a long abandoned Torki city on their original home world of Ocean. The translated name came from the clicks of Torki speech. Most of the larger cities were more than abandoned. They had been blasted and bombed into rubble by the Krall when they conquered the planet many thousands of years ago. The Torki had capitulated by abandoning their cities and fleeing to the cold seas, where the Krall didn’t want to pursue.

  This city had been abandoned before being attacked, when the Torki finally recognized this enemy didn’t want territory, just combat opposition and technology. Despite numerous examples of Krall attempts to eat Torki prisoners or the dead, it was apparent that the Krall enjoyed the white firm flesh far less that did the Torki themselves.

  Immature Torki, called Torkedia, ate their dead elders in order to receive the Olts they bore, passing them to the next generation. Adult Torki also fed new Olts to Torkedia in chunks of meat taken from dead elder Torki, in order to expand their population of enhanced adults.

  Eating a naturally deceased elder was a practice acceptable to their species, but they were morally opposed to killing to eat any of their kind. A Torkada was an adult form that had matured from a Torkedia without receiving an Olt, or advancing to a highly intelligent mature adult Torki. It was too late to embed an Olt once their brains had reached a mature state on their first adult molt, so the fully enhanced Torki preferred to avoid the Torkada, and built barriers that kept them from entering their cities.

  Torkada had a significant level of raw intelligence, but lacked a brain structure that provided adequate long-term memories, and thus the ability to foster high-level thinking and future planning. It was the potential for this ability, which the Olt’kitapi had recognized when they created the Olts. This furnished the Torkedia with the electronic mental enhancements to help them advance, to reach an adult stage where they called themselves a Torki.

  The Krall, when they obtained Torki agreements to furnish them with their advanced quantum technology for use in war, they removed every adult Torki from Ocean, and the developing spawn drifting in the seas eventually became Torkedia, and without Olts, grew into adult Torkada.

  It was mature Torkada seen scrambling through the ruins of the destroyed cities, and here they were found in the surviving upper levels of fifty and sixty s
tory structures that, from the collapsed material around the bases, had once been taller. The external view was relayed to Coldar and his survey team down below. Alyson could see them on her own monitor, but other than fidgeting claws and overactive eyestalks, it was impossible to determine the emotional response they felt at seeing the wreckage of their former civilization.

  According to the records stored in their Olts, they were possibly the first Torki to have visited here in the eleven thousand years since the Krall had defeated them. It was possible that the Krall had stayed here with Torki forced labor working for them for much longer, as had happened at the Toborkiti ship yards where Migration ships were built, but if so, none of those Torki managed to survive to synchronize Olts with Torki on other Krall worlds.

  The cool, low gravity watery worlds the Torki preferred didn’t appeal to the Krall. Therefore, aside from neglect, that should be good news. That was because their planets probably had not been heavily exploited, or as ecologically damaged as were many Prada and Raspani worlds. So far, eight of their colony worlds, visited on the way to Ocean, had not suffered a feral Krall infestation and simply looked abandoned. The Kobani had long ago rescued the Torki on Toborkiti, and had killed the warriors found there. That clan had never found the Torki colony world suitable for a nesting ground, meaning that particular ninth colony was also ready to be reclaimed.

  Although the Torki had settled and explored a region comparable in volume to Human Space, they had colonized only twenty-three planets. That was because of what they considered limited acceptable habitats on most worlds they had found with existing life.

  Compared to humans, who settled over seven hundred usable worlds in a similar volume, the Torki could look forward to future stellar neighbors, most of whom would be humans living on higher gravity worlds, and the Prada and Raspani would find some drier low gravity worlds that suited their needs.