"As my lord wishes," Kirha said, bowing to his human lord.
"I need a drink," his liege said, looking down at Kirha with an indescribable expression on his face. "No, strike that. I need a couple drinks—several drinks—"
By the next evening, Hunter wished he'd never seen the Ras Nik'hra, never heard of Kirha or Lord Ralgha, and certainly wished that Paladin had retired off to Scotland instead of getting involved in… whatever this is, he thought, that James won't tell me about. Didn't matter how many drinks I bought for the man last night, all he'd say was that Commodore Steward recruited him for Special Operations, and that he has to learn as much as possible about Kilrathi internal affairs from Kirha, and then he's going to fly that freighter of his off on some special missions. It doesn't make much sense to me. The closest anyone ever gets to seeing Kilrathi internal affairs is when we make a raid across enemy lines…
… back to some godawful prison camp…
He banished that thought, that small fear that always lurked in the mind of a fighter pilot. Anyhow, none of this is very important to the progress of the war. Now Paladin's trying to get more information about this Ghorah Khar planet. It's behind enemy lines, the Kilrathi hold it securely. So who cares ?
He leaned back against the wall, and closed his eyes wearily as Paladin continued. "How many people live near the spaceport of Ghorah Khar, Kirha?"
Kirha hunched his head down, which seemed to be the equivalent of a shrug. "Not many. I have not seen more than a few dozen in the city markets."
Hunter straightened, opening his eyes. Kirha, he wasn't surprised to note, looked as exhausted and bored as he did. Poor little kitty, stuck in a cell and forced to answer questions for hour after hour. "James, I think Kirha's referring to humans in the spaceport, not Kilrathi."
Kirha bowed his head. "I beg my liege lord's forgiveness. When James Taggart said 'people,' I did think that he meant humans, not Kilrathi."
"Don't get upset about it, kid. Just tell him the correct number." Hunter leaned back against the wall.
It was so strange to him. Kirha was a Kilrathi, one of the enemy, but he didn't feel like an enemy anymore. Maybe it was the way Kirha kept looking to him for approval, like a little kid waiting his Grandma's encouragement. Certainly Kirha looked like a menace, all six feet of furred muscle with lots of claws and teeth, but he didn't act like one.
Learn something new every day, Hunter thought wryly.
Paladin made a note, and continued. "Tell me about the town around the spaceport. Are there many nobles that live there?"
"Yes, James Taggart, there are several hrai—" Kirha paused, then shook his head. "I do not know how to translate hrai into your language. It is one's parents, siblings, and vassals, the focus of one's honor."
"Sounds like a clan or sept to me," Hunter commented from the side of the room. "How many people—I mean, Kilrathi—are in these hrai?"
Kirha seemed to think about it for a moment. "Usually, at least a hundred. But sometimes they are very small. Lord Ralgha's hrai is only himself and I. And I am sworn to lord Hunter; his will must always be first. This is very sad."
The cell door slid open unexpectedly. Hunter blinked at the brighter light, and the silhouetted figure standing in the doorway. The woman, a gorgeous redhead wearing a non-regulation dress that showed most of her lovely legs, walked into the cell toward Paladin. "James, the Commodore wants to ask you some more questions about Ghorah Khar. He wants to…" She paused, seeing Hunter there for the first time. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize there was anyone else here. I don't think we've ever met," she said, smiling at him. "I'm Lieutenant Gwen Larson, Major Taggart's assistant."
"Captain Ian St. John," he said, clambering to his feet. "A pleasure to meet you, miss." A real pleasure. She's the loveliest lady I've seen in a long time. Maybe I should try to transfer into Paladin's Special Operations division?
"Well, I'd better nae keep the Commodore waitin'," Paladin said, stretching for a moment. "I'll be back later, lads." The cell door closed behind him.
"How are you doing, Kirha?" Lieutenant Larson asked, looking at the Kilrathi curled up on the floor.
"I am very tired," Kirha said. "So many questions about Ghorah Khar. I do not understand why you humans are so interested in that planet, or the rebellion there."
Rebellion? Hunter managed to keep a grin off his face. So that's what's going on here! He took a half-smoked cigar from his pocket, lighting it before asking, "So, what's this about a rebellion?"
"The lords of Ghorah Khar are rebelling against the Empire," Kirha began, as Gwen interrupted, "It's not really any of your concern, Captain."
"Why do you say that, miss?" Hunter asked, with just a hint of challenge in his voice.
It worked. "I just—I thought a pilot like you, from one of the best fighter squadrons in the fleet, would be more interested in tactics and fleet maneuvers, not politics," she said awkwardly.
He hid a grin. "Oh, I'm full of surprises. But how did you know that I'm from the Tiger's Claw!"
"I have my own surprises, too," she said with a hint of a smile. "That's my job, after all."
"You're too pretty to be a spy," he said, and instantly regretted it. "I meant, you're—"
"They hired me for my brains, not my looks, Captain." She laughed. "Though sometimes the looks come in handy. Besides, I'm not a spy," she added. "I'm an officer in Special Operations—a technical specialist, actually."
He tried to regain the ground he'd lost. "So you know all about me, but I don't know anything about you. I need to do something about that lack of information about you. Maybe over a few beers on the Observation Deck?"
"This does not make any sense to me," Kirha said suddenly, from where he was curled on the floor. "You are talking but saying very little. Is there a purpose to this?"
"Oh, mate, we've been talking about quite a bit, just not about anything you'd understand." Hunter grinned, and Gwen blushed a faint pink. "So, Gwen, how 'bout it?"
She hesitated. "I have a meeting at five o'clock with the General Staff…"
"So, seven o'clock?"
She smiled. "Agreed. It's a weakness of mine, I can't say no to a handsome pilot."
"I'll have to remember that," he said, and grinned as her blush deepened.
"Can you please explain this to me, my lord Hunter?" Kirha asked. "Is there a reason for this kind of conversation, where you talk about very little?"
"I'd better get back to the office," Gwen said, moving to the door. "As much as I'd like to hear you explain flirting to a Kilrathi refugee, I have to get some work done today. See you at seven?"
"You bet." He watched her walk away with an admiring gaze, until the cell door closed behind her. "That's one hell of a lady," he said, sitting down on the floor across from Kirha and relighting his cigar.
"I still do not understand, my lord," Kirha said. "In fact, very little of that conversation made any sense to me."
"It's human behavior," Hunter said, trying to think of a simple way to explain it. "I think Lieutenant Larson is very attractive, and she seems to like me a little. But you can't rush into these things. You need to talk a little, say something funny, make a good first impression, and then ask for a date."
"A date?" Kirha was clearly confused. "What has a calendar to do with anything?"
"That's… a different meaning for the word. This kind of 'date' is when you go out together, maybe have dinner or drinks, so you can get to know each other better, decide whether you're right for each other." He never thought he'd find himself explaining semantics to an overgrown tomcat!
"Ah, now I understand. You wish her to be your…" Kirha paused, apparently searching for a word. "You wish to create offspring with her?"
Hunter laughed. "We humans usually take some time before making that decision, Kirha. It's not something you want to rush into, really. You want to spend a good amount of time with a lady before you start thinkin' about anything permanent. Though that Gwen, she's definitely the kind of gir
l you can take home to meet the family."
"It will take me eights of years to understand humans," Kirha said, his ears drooping a little. "Over the next few years, I am certain that I will always be asking you these questions. I hope my curiosity will not annoy you, my lord."
Hunter sat upright. "Wait a second, furball! You're not going to be with me for years. More like another week, maybe! Then I'll head back to the Tiger's Claw, and they'll probably send you to a POW camp somewhere. You'll probably go home eventually, if we ever do a prisoner exchange."
"But you cannot let them do that! My place is with you!" Kirha protested. His tail was lashing from side to side, a sign of agitation. "You are my liege lord!"
"I'm just a human pilot, Kirha," Hunter said, shaking his head. "You don't need a liege lord, you can be your own man… well, Kilrathi. You don't need to follow anyone around." He sought desperately for an explanation. "Besides—I have orders of my own to follow. I have—I have liege lords myself, and they've given me orders. And those orders—well, they mean that you have to go into detention, and I—go to the Claw."
Kirha was very agitated, his ears flat to his skull, his head hunched way down between his shoulders. "But, my lord! You cannot! If I am not with you, how can I defend your honor? If I am locked up in a camp, I cannot serve as your sworn warrior! It is the obligation of a liege lord to allow his warriors to serve him, to fight at his side, to die gloriously for his honor!"
The cat was taking his imminent departure a little too hard. You'd think he'd be happy to be with his mates again, with other Kilrathi, instead of all of these humans. I swear I'll never understand these furballs. "Listen, Kirha, you need to understand…" he began, then stopped. There was some noise in the hall, muffled by the closed door. It sounded like someone was screaming at the top of their voice, and more shouting. "Excuse me for a minute, Kirha," he said, getting to his feet and moving to the door. He palmed the lock and stepped out into the corridor.
The tall Firekkan and the human guard continued arguing loudly, the Firekkan reverting into the rasping and clicking sounds of her native language every few seconds. They both completely ignored Hunter, standing in the corridor not ten feet away from them, until Hunter shouted, loudly enough to ring the walls: "K'Kai! What in the hell are you doing here?"
The Firekkan woman turned quickly, nearly hitting the guard with one of her folded wings. "Hun-ter!" A moment later, Hunter was caught up in a feathered embrace that nearly lifted him off his feet, K'Kai's beak riffling through his hair in that "grooming and looking for lice" maneuver he remembered so well from his stay on Firekka. After a moment, K'Kai stepped back, looking at him curiously.
"Why are you here, Hun-ter? The Tiger's Claw is very far away, busy in the Enigma Sector."
"Hey, I asked first!" He grinned. "I was on shore leave on Earth, then got corralled into some extra work here on the station. I'll be heading out in a few days. But you, you're here… does that mean… ?"
K'Kai bobbed her head. "Yes. And I came here, as you said I must, to ask for help. This… kk'r'kki…" she said in her own language, giving the guard a foul look. "He would not let me speak with Ma-dzor Dzames Taggart. I must speak with him, and soon."
Paladin? Why did K'Kai need to meet with someone from Special Ops? He felt a chill in the pit of his stomach. "What's going on, K'Kai?"
"You do not know, Hun-ter?" Her claws opened and closed angrily. "I come for help, but the Confeds do nothing! We sign a treaty with them, and they do nothing!"
"What?" What in the hell is going on there?
"She's not authorized to be here, sir," the human guard said. "Last time she was here, she had an authorization, but this time she doesn't. I keep telling her that she has to leave immediately, but she'd heard that Major Taggart was interrogating a prisoner here, and refused to leave."
"Damn straight, she shouldn't be here, at least not standing around in the hallway," Hunter said. "In case you didn't figure it out, mate, she's a diplomat from a Confederation planet. We'll just wait for Major Taggart in Kirha's cell, out of our way." He tugged at K'Kai's arm.
"But, sir!"
Hunter palmed open the lock, escorted K'Kai through the doorway, and then shut it in the face of the guard's protests. Kirha straightened from his position on the floor at the sight of the Firekkan and Hunter, then relaxed again. "Milady K'Kai," Kirha said respectfully, his tail twitching.
"You know each other?" Hunter glanced from Kirha to K'Kai.
"I asked for permission to meet Kirha," K'Kai said. "I wished to speak with a Kilrathi. All other Kilrathi I have met, it has only been in battle, not conversation."
"Hmmm." He sat down on the bunk, gestured for K'Kai to sit next to him. "So, tell me what's going on with your family. All the details you didn't tell me when I took you to the Colonel."
K'Kai folded her wings tightly around her. "When the Kilrathi left my planet, they killed many of my people, and took hostages. My sister, our flock-leader, and her mate were killed, and they took my niece Rikik with them, and many others of our leaders." Her large eyes blinked rapidly. "Your Confederation people, they do not understand. They say: We cannot help you now. You must choose other leaders. But we cannot. Firekkans are not like humans, we do not choose flock-leaders. Flock-leaders are born, bred for their tasks. They have the authority, the way… way of command. It is part of their bodies and minds. There are human words for this…" K'Kai was silent for a moment, apparently trying to remember. "Charisma? No, that speaks only of personality. It is more than that… part of their bearing, coloration, scents…"
"Pheromones," Hunter supplied. "That must be part of it."
"Yes." K'Kai clicked her beak together sharply. "And the Confederation, they do not understand. Without our leaders, we have no future. We will do anything to get our leaders back, even submit to the Kilrathi. I have told them, but they do not listen."
"Why won't the Confed do anything? They could send a rescue mission, a strike force—"
"Oh, many excuses, Hun-ter. This week it is because there is another covert operation that is about to begin, and they do not have the personnel. That is why I wished to speak with Taggart, since he is the one who is in charge of the covert operation. The week before, there were Kilrathi fleet maneuvers near this Ghorah Khar Station, so that they said it was too risky. Next week, they will have another good excuse, I am certain!"
"Ghorah Khar?" Hunter asked. "Ghorah Khar, the place that's in the middle of a rebellion right now?"
"Yes. Ghorah Khar. You are a good flock-friend, Hun-ter. Is there nothing you can do to help my people? Perhaps if you talked to this Commodore Stew-art?"
"I can try, K'Kai. Don't know if it'll do much help, though."
Kirha spoke up from where he was curled on the floor. "The taking of hostages is dishonorable, not the act of a true warrior. My people—no, Prince Thrakhath—must have done this for political reasons, for there is no honor in it."
"I wish you could tell them, Kirha!" K'Kai said fervently.
Kirha made that shrugging motion, but this time, helplessly. "As you know, milady K'Kai, I am little more than a hostage myself here. My lord Hunter says that I will not be freed for some time, many eights of days. Besides, I could not act without the orders of my lord Hunter, who has told me that I am to remain here until they take me to a war-captives camp."
"Whither thou goest, I shall follow." Hunter thought about it for a moment. "Kirha, what you just said… does that mean that you haven't even thought about making an escape?"
"I would not disobey my lord," Kirha said, looking slightly affronted at the idea.
"I think I'm starting to figure out all of the 'liege lord' business, mate. So, if I ordered you to bang your head against the wall, you'd do it without question?"
"I might question the wisdom of the order," Kirha said, showing teeth in a Kilrathi grin.
"Because if I hurt myself, then I would no longer be able to defend your honor. But if you truly wished it, I would do it."
"You would. You know, it's crazy. You're a Kilrathi, one of our enemies, but I believe you." Hunter felt a strange delight welling up in him, an anticipation. It was like standing on the edge of a mountain, the icy wind in his face, a moment before leaping off into space. "Kirha, if I ordered you to go to that Ghorah Khar space station and rescue K'Kai's people, would you do it?"
"Of course, my lord," Kirha said, a little stiffly. "I would never disobey your orders!"
"Right you are, mate." Hunter grinned. "So, there we have it. The solution to your problem, K'Kai."
"And what is that?" she asked, obviously baffled.
"You want the Confed to supply a covert op to rescue your people from the Ghorah Khar station. That kind of op would need a Kilrathi specialist, someone who could get us past the guards and defenses. And you'd need someone to fly you there, a top pilot. And you'd need a specialized covert ops ship for the mission…" He stood suddenly, scanning the walls of the small cell. "Just a minute while I deal with something here…" He moved to the side of the washbasin, then carefully pried the mirror away from the wall. As he'd suspected, behind the reflective plastic was a small vid pickup. Hunter tugged at the wires running from the vidlink, pulling them free from the device. A small red glowing light on the top of the vid pickup faded to darkness. "There," he said, satisfied. "Now we can continue this conversation in private."
Kirha was staring at him in surprise. "The humans were monitoring me?"
"Standard ops procedure for detention cells," Hunter said. He grinned. "I should know, I've been in enough of them. I always disable 'em after I've been thrown in the brig… I hate havin' people watching me."
K'Kai tilted her head to look at him, a puzzled tone in her voice. "So, Hun-ter, what were you saying before? Are you going to suggest to the Confederation how they should do this operation?" K'Kai asked.
"I'll do better than that, lady," he said, with a broad grin. "I'll get your people out myself. Call me crazy, but I trust Kirha, here… after hearing him talk for the last few days, I really do believe that he'll obey my orders, not betray us to the cats. And he's one of them, he can get us behind enemy lines. So we'll break Kirha here out of detention. That shouldn't be too hard, I'll forge some orders that we're taking him off to be interrogated. There's no way a Kilrathi could escape off-station on his own, so that shouldn't be too difficult. Then we'll go to where Paladin's ship, the Bonnie Heather, is docked, and we'll give her a maiden voyage like no other ship has ever had. A mission behind enemy lines to rescue the leaders of Firekka. What do you say to that, K'Kai?"
Wing Commander: Freedom Flight Page 18