by B. V. Larson
“That’s right. We didn’t consider ourselves to be the aggressor. We assumed you were.”
Verr made a burbling sound. I took this to mean he was thinking hard.
“That brings us back to the topic of an alliance. We have the same foe already. Why would you refuse any offer of aid?”
“I have to explain all this to our political leaders,” I told him, “but I think they might want to commit to an alliance. We’re already at war with Fex. It’s only a matter of time until he returns.”
“What you say is true. But I find it disturbing you do not fully command your own ship. Among my people, a ship’s captain has independence. Others surrendered to Fex. Some refused. Most of those ships were destroyed, but some, like mine, escaped into a rift.”
“I see,” I said, and I did see. Long ago, a Terrapinian leader had declared himself to be my vassal. That relationship had lasted for years.
These people weren’t a single political entity. They were a loose feudal association. A given leader might owe allegiance to another, until he saw fit to shift that allegiance.
“Who do you owe loyalty to now?” I asked him.
“None,” he said sadly. “I am alone.”
“What kind of damage has your ship sustained?”
“We have weaponry, but we don’t have the power to operate much of it. The hull leaks from several locations, and we’ve given up worrying about pressurizing the interior. We’re living in suits, looking for help.”
“I say again, Earth can render that help. But that doesn’t mean we’ll fight your wars for you.”
“Tell me, Captain Blake, if Fex arrived here right now, would you fight his fleet?”
“Yes,” I said firmly.
“We would do the same. You see? We are allies already, in his eyes.”
I nodded, getting his point. We were all on the menu. Fex meant to subjugate the local minor powers, one way or another.
“Then this will not be difficult,” I said. “Let’s review the damage to your ship—if you don’t mind. Let me assess how hard it will be to effect repairs.”
He studied me for a moment before responding. “Or, you may be determining how best to destroy my vessel. To finish off a wounded opponent.”
“That would make no sense. Earth has more than this one ship of mine. We could destroy you—I knew that right away. Fex and his fleet—they’re the real problem.”
Captain Verr agreed, and we began a tour. The situation was grim, but not terminal. The ship could fly with speed, but didn’t have the power available to support both weapons and maneuverability.
The Terrapinians seemed to have prioritized their engines first, which made sense since they were on the run. Their secondary efforts had gone into weaponry, and they had a fair arsenal available to them. If they’d been whole, they could probably defeat Devilfish in a fair fight.
But, they had major power problems and enough holes in their hull that were leaking gases to cripple them. They basically had no life support other than their suits, and without more power and supplies, they probably could never fix the ship completely.
“They really do need our help, Captain,” Samson told me on a private link.
“I know. They’re in a bad way.”
Samson’s specialty was support systems. He’d put in years of service repairing oxygen recyclers, carbon dioxide scrubbers and a dozen other critical systems that kept a crew alive. I trusted his judgment on the topic more than my own assessment—which nearly matched his.
“Captain Verr,” I said about an hour later. “I think we can help, but we’ll have to take your ship to an orbital station at Mars.”
“Agreed. We can’t do it out here in space. We need mass, liquids, gasses… but there is something else we must sort out first.”
“What is that?”
“Dominance.”
I was surprised, but not too surprised, by his statement. I’d struggled with a Terrapinian leader back in my early days in the Rebel Fleet. We’d both been nothing more than two pilots driving heavy fighters back then. After many attempts on his part to beat us, the leader and his crew had accepted we were better fighters.
Then, an odd thing had happened. Most humans would have wandered off, angry but cowed. They’d probably live quietly at a respectful distance, always resentful but never daring to challenge their old enemies again.
That wasn’t how the Terrapinians did things. Instead, they’d sworn allegiance to me—personally. They’d given me their loyalty and helped on a few occasions where it was critical.
Such a decision is what was on Captain Verr’s mind. One of us had to be the master, one of us the follower. There could be no mutually beneficial trading of aid or goods. The Terrapinians didn’t comprehend the concept of interacting as equals.
“I understand,” I said evenly.
“Good. Not all primates comprehend the requirements of dominance. Unfortunately, I’m of great age. In Earth years, I’m over four hundred cycles old. I may, therefore, be forced to select a champion.”
Again, I nodded evenly. None of what he was talking about phased me.
“Acceptable, if not optimal,” I said. “I’ve also brought along a champion to decide this matter.”
With a gesture, I indicated Samson.
For nearly the first time since we’d arrived, Captain Verr studied Samson.
“I understand now why you brought this servant. I’d been wondering if he was to be a gift of some kind—instead, you’ve wisely brought him along as a weapon. Already, I see why you have a reputation for great cunning.”
This was all news to me, but I did my best to keep a poker face. Samson squirmed at being called a servant, and his eyes narrowed in anger.
“There it is!” Captain Verr continued. “A feral appearance on his face. He’s building up his courage to fight. I’m impressed again.”’
“Listen up, turtle-man—” Samson began, but I shook my head.
Samson stopped talking, but he continued to glower and curse under his breath.
Captain Verr turned to me. “I see I underestimated you again. You brought a champion, one who is no doubt your best human warrior. I will take the only possible route to advantage left to me—I will battle with you personally.”
“At your age?” I asked.
He made a snorting sound. “I’m not so old I can’t bring down a monkey.”
“All right then. It’s on. Where, when, and how?”
“Right now. No weapons. No preparation—”
He was going to keep talking, I could tell, but I’d already taken a step forward and landed a hard right on his thick jaw.
His inky-black eyes flared in surprise, but he didn’t fall.
The fight was on.
=22=
Sucker punches aren’t illegal in duels among the Rebel Kher. In fact, they’re practically expected. So, when I laid a gloved fist on Captain Verr, rudely interrupting his speech, he was annoyed, but he wasn’t scandalized.
His crewmen had circled around us by then. There was a general hiss of displeasure from the crowd. But when he came at me, arms out as if to bear-hug me, they thumped their feet in slow unison. This, I knew, meant they were excited and urging their captain onward.
The stakes were high, so I couldn’t risk letting him close with me. I danced away and jabbed. A few kicks at the knees made him slow down, but he didn’t stumble. Terrapinians were thick-skinned and built with heavy bones. Their knees were much more strongly built than the human equivalent, and therefore they took much more punishment than ours tended to.
However, what they’d gained in durability due to their structure, they’d lost in speed. I was able to keep away from him and continued tossing out attacks of my own. Each time, I skipped away before his powerful counter could slam into me.
I soon saw red blood dripping from his face, and I dared to think this might go my way. Captain Verr had admitted he was old and slow, even for one of his kind—but he was determ
ined, like all those of his race I’d fought before.
“I see your fear,” he said in a raspy voice.
“I hear your labored lungs,” I said. “Give it up—there’s no shame in defeat old one.”
He made that same bubbling snort he’d done earlier, and I realized he was laughing at me. “Other than defeat, dishonor is the greatest source of shame. Every time you retreat from me, you embarrass yourself further. Soon, my crew will never follow you, even if you do win.”
That gave me pause. Could it be true? I’d defeated his brothers in a number of tricky ways in the past. They did follow me in the end, but maybe that was because we were part of the Rebel Fleet then. At the time, we were all following the customs laid down by Ursa on her ship.
“I’m not a coward. I’m using superior tactics.”
Again, the burbling. “You fail in your task. You want to unite us, but you fear to do what is necessary. It is amusing to watch you repeatedly run. Listen to the others—they’re laughing.”
It was true. The burbling sounds were now coming from a dozen leathery throats.
Deciding to shift my approach, I danced in from the side, delivered two quick blows, then bounced away again—almost.
It was as if that big gray-green bastard had read my thoughts. His two arms formed a loop, which closed over my head and one shoulder when I came close. He let my blows land unimpeded, but when I tried to slip away again, the circle of his arms crushed down and caught me.
Being caught by one of these creatures was like being grabbed by a gigantic python. The arms were each as thick as my leg. They squeezed with inexorable strength. I felt my ribs shift and crackle.
I knew in that moment I’d lost. There was no way I could break his grip. All he had to do was crush me until I lost consciousness.
My instinct was to struggle. To wriggle and probe his body for a weak spot. Experience had taught me there was no such thing on a Terrapinian body. Even striking the genitals repeatedly did nothing more than anger them.
So, I decided to apply a bit of Judo. Rolling and pushing, I drove myself against him, rather than struggling to get away like a fish on a hook. He was forced to retreat a step, and his grip loosened almost imperceptibly.
At my action, the crowd woofed and thumped their feet again. They were impressed. Gone were the laughs and what I imagined were catcalls.
“You can do it, Leo!” Samson shouted. Even he admired my new vigor.
My struggle with the bigger creature was doomed to failure, I knew, no matter what the crowd wanted. My goal was different—I wanted to throw the Terrapinian off-balance.
I managed to shift in his grasp—hooking my ankle behind one of his legs. I grabbed the back of his thick knee, and heaved upward for all I was worth. Ramming upward with my legs, I managed to get one of his two stumpy feet of the ground. A sound like a gasp went up from the onlookers.
Scrambling with my faster feet, I pushed and pushed, feeling ribs crack under the larger Kher’s squeezing grip. I ignored the pain, and kept pushing.
At last, like a tree that’s spent a hundred years in a park, he finally fell over backward. He landed with a crash on his spine, but his arms didn’t break their circle around me.
We were wrestling now, not boxing. It wasn’t where I wanted to be, and it wasn’t comfortable for Captain Verr, either.
“Foolish Earthman!” he complained. “Why do you seek to dishonor both of us this way?”
Already, as he’d indicated, the surrounding Terrapinians were laughing at us. They were exchanging glances and making odd gestures to one another. I could only imagine these were derogatory or obscene.
“I’m sorry, Captain,” I grunted, “but you insisted on this conflict.”
“Then I hereby end it!” he called out. “There is no honor in you. I will not serve you as your loyal vassal—and I would not have you serve me.”
He released his grasp, and I rolled away. I got up on my feet, breathing hard and rubbing my sides. Captain Verr got to his feet as well, slowly and painfully.
I eyed him and the crowd. They were amused and insulted. This couldn’t be good. I’d offended them.
“I’m not a Terrapinian,” I said, “but I am Rebel Kher, the same as you are.”
“You’re an embarrassment. Get off my ship, monkey!”
Not knowing what else to do, I put my helmet back on, turned away and headed toward the main hold.
Captain Verr followed me. We did not speak for at least two minutes.
“Will you train your weapons on my ship now?” Verr asked finally. “After all that was said?”
“Would that better serve honor? Or would you prefer we leave you here in space to freeze?”
“That will not happen,” he said. “Fex is trailing us. He’ll be here within a hundred hours. At that point, we will be destroyed.”
I felt stunned for a moment. I’d been quite angry with Verr and his hissing pack of reptiles. My ribs were aching, and it was all I could do not to cough. He might even have punctured my lung—but all that didn’t matter. Not if Fex was returning soon.
“You refuse to accept my dominance?” I asked him. “Even though it means the death of your ship and crew?”
“I cannot.”
“What if I apologized for dishonorable behavior?”
His big black eyes expanded fractionally in surprise. “That would only compound the problem. Being defeated by a mentally weak creature is an even greater embarrassment than losing to a vicious trickster.”
“So, you want to die? Do you want your ship to be destroyed, caught helpless in our space?”
“No.”
I nodded, thinking it over. “All right then. I’ll see what I can do.”
Captain Verr retreated. We climbed into our pinnace and fired up the engines. The frosty door of the hold rolled away silently, and we flew through it.
“What are we going to do, Leo?” Samson asked me. “These turtles are crazy.”
“Yes… but I think I might know a way out. Get me a scrambled channel to Hagen.”
“On it…”
Soon, I was talking to my XO. As I laid out my thoughts, I noticed that Samson’s expression was becoming increasingly alarmed.
=23=
Returning to my own ship, I stumbled to Medical and laid down on a table. A few doctors surrounded me and began to operate machines. Needles shot cool liquids into my veins, and I barely felt the cold metal probes that began to rearrange my ribs.
Once I could breathe easily again, I used my sym to link with Devilfish’s sensors. I reached out to perceive what the Terrapinian ship was up to.
My disappointment was bitter. They were just sitting in space, drifting, no doubt repairing whatever systems they could. It was almost beyond comprehension.
“Overly prideful, thick-skulled friggers…” I muttered to myself.
“What was that, Captain?” the ship’s AI asked me. “Are you in discomfort?”
“Yes, but I wasn’t talking to you, ship. I was talking to myself.”
“Are you suffering mental anguish, or—?”
“No. I’m fine.”
The ship shut up, and I groaned as I climbed off the medical table. A few crewmen watched me. A doctor in charge came to frown and cross his arms—but as I was the captain, he didn’t quite dare to order me back to bed.
Putting on my best face, I marched up to the bridge. They were surprised to see me.
“Captain?” Hagen asked. “I was told you were out for the night at least.”
“You were told wrong.”
I got into my harness clumsily. I let the straps hang loosely, as I couldn’t stand anything cinching up on my cracked ribs. They’d been glued together by the micro surgery units, but they still hurt like hell.
“Helm,” I said, “set a course back for Mars.”
“Course set.”
“Apply thrust, ah, gently. No more than one G of force over the dampening effects for now.”
The
ship began wheeling around, and our engines thrummed. We were basically pulling a U-turn, heading back toward our docking point.
“Captain…?” Hagen said as he loomed next to my chair. “You don’t look so good.”
“I’m fine.”
“Did those turtle-things really kick your ass, sir?”
I glanced over at Samson, who wouldn’t meet my eye.
“I won the contest. They didn’t see it as enough to admit full defeat, however. It was a point of honor, but not one great enough to allow Captain Verr to swear loyalty to me.”
Hagen frowned. “That’s why you went to their ship? To decide who had the bigger dick?”
“That’s how most Rebel Kher think,” I said. “That’s what they understand.”
“So… if he wouldn’t follow you even after you beat him, what would it take?”
I shrugged. That was a mistake as the motion made me wince. “Probably several beat-downs over a long period. Maybe if we were fighting against Imperials, he’d follow then.”
“Oh… now I understand the rest of your plan. But we’re not really prepared to—”
“We’re going to wing it,” I said.
He backed away and continued the preparations I’d requested while still in the pinnace with Samson. Mia climbed down from her station and watched me curiously.
She soon came nearer to check on me. She reached out a soft hand and probed my side. I let her, because she was my girlfriend, but I wanted to push her away.
“Human bones are too brittle,” she complained. “I can’t understand how you would survive a fall of more than fifty meters.”
I snorted and winced again. “We probably couldn’t survive a drop of more than twenty.”
Her eyes widened, and they moved oddly. She kept probing, however. “Does this hurt?”
“Yes.”
“But you’re allowing me to do it?”
“I thought maybe you were trying to comfort me.”