by Dietmar Wehr
“You’re lucky that I brought both of these with me,” said Jaeger with a grin. “The gun belts in the armory look like they’ve been in a war already. Definitely not suitable for a formal occasion like the one we’re going to. Which one do you prefer?”
Strider looked at them more closely. The belts were virtually the same. The holsters were a bit different. One had a flap that covered the handgun completely while the other had a narrow strap that held the handgun in the holster. That belt had a buckle that was a little more ornate than the other one.
“I’ll take the one with the holster strap.”
Jaeger handed him the designated belt, and both men buckled their gun belts on. Strider then stepped over to stand in front of the tall mirror to see how he looked. He shook his head.
“These one-piece coveralls are going to make us look like we’re unsophisticated bumpkins from a poor planet. It never occurred to me that we might need something a lot more formal.”
Jaeger, who had also come over to stand behind Strider, looked at both of them in the mirror. “It’s these open collars that make us look unsophisticated. If we had something to put around our necks to add some color…” He left the sentence unfinished.
Strider snapped his fingers. “Good idea! I think I might have exactly what we need.” He rummaged around the clothes closet and came back with two short, silk scarves. One was gold-colored, the other was white. Strider handed Jaeger the white one and then tied the gold one around his neck with the ends tucked down inside the uniform. Jaeger did the same and both men looked at themselves again.
“Better,” said Jaeger.
“Much better,” said Strider. Both men laughed. As they left his quarters, Strider turned to Jaeger and said, “Are the guns loaded?”
“Of course, just in case we run into any raider captains.”
They didn’t have long to wait for the luxurious ground car, which a message from the President’s staff had promised, to arrive. It dropped them off at the main entrance to an impressive building that had high, white columns at the top of a wide, white staircase. There was a red carpet leading up the stairs to an open, double-door entrance. An attractive woman with a no-nonsense expression and wearing a highly decorated uniform asked their names and checked the clipboard she held in one hand. When she was satisfied they were on her list, she saluted with her right hand.
“Welcome to the Presidential Palace, Captain Strider and Lieutenant Jaeger. You may enter.”
Strider and Jaeger both returned the salute and stepped inside. They immediately noticed the same thing.
“Everybody’s wearing gloves. It never occurred to me to wear gloves,” said Strider in a low voice.
“Me neither, and I did pack two pairs of gloves made from a light material that would have been perfect,” said Jaeger in an equally low voice.
“God, I hope it’s not some kind of personal hygiene thing,” muttered Strider as they walked further into the very large room that already held a large number of well-dressed men and women, all of whom were armed in one way or another. The men typically had hand guns either around the waist or in a shoulder holster while most of the women wore daggers either strapped to one arm or hanging from a belt on chains.
“I think we should split up and mingle,” said Jaeger as he swivelled his head to watch a particularly attractive woman walk past. Strider was about to disagree when he remembered that Jaeger was not married.
“Okay, but do me a favor and don’t get yourself challenged to a duel because you paid too much attention to the wrong lady.” Jaeger chuckled and nodded. Their briefing on local customs had included the warning that duels were tolerated, especially if they were fought over a member of the opposite sex.
Strider had no trouble finding someone to talk to. His unconventional attire attracted curious individuals of both genders, and he soon found himself comparing notes about cultural norms of New Caledon versus Olympus with a wealthy industrialist and her husband. When they were called away to meet someone else, he checked his watch and was shocked to find that an hour had already passed. He realized he was thirsty and walked over to a table set with large crystal bowls, each containing a different colored liquid. There were tall stemmed glasses lined up in neat rows nearby. He was trying to decide which color to try when Jaeger came up beside him and spoke in a low voice.
“Turn around casually. See the tall man with red hair and beard on the other side of the room behind us? He’s wearing a red jacket with gold braid.”
Strider turned his head as if he were just looking around and said, “Yes. He’s certainly tall, isn’t he?”
“He’s also wearing a shoulder patch with a wolf’s head on it. I happened to get close enough to take a good look as I was passing by.”
“Oh, really,” whispered Strider.
“Think we should go over and introduce ourselves?” asked Jaeger.
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” whispered Strider as he turn back around.
“Why’s that?”
“Because he saw me looking at him and now he’s coming this way,” said Strider.
“You must be the two officers from the merchant ship that landed yesterday.” The voice was a deep baritone that would have been hard to ignore even if the listener wasn’t the object of the man’s attention. Strider put down the empty glass he had just picked up and turned around, as did Jaeger. He made a conscious effort to keep his expression politely friendly.
“We are. I’m Captain Richard Strider of the NC Enterprise, and this is my First Officer, Lieutenant Karl Jaeger. And you are?”
“Captain Otto Von Wolfgar. My ship’s the Wolfhound. Did I hear correctly that you’re from New Caledon, Captain Strider?”
“You did. We’re here looking to establish a profitable trade route.”
Wolfgar stroked his perfectly trimmed red beard while he stared at the floor for a few seconds. “New Caledon. Hm, why does that name sound familiar to me?”
“I think I may know why.”
Wolfgar looked up with a less friendly expression. “Oh? Please tell me why.” The baritone sounded less friendly too.
“It depends on how long you’ve been with your ship. Has it been more than twenty-nine years?”
Wolfgar let his arms drop down to his sides, and Strider now noticed the dagger that he wore in a jewelled scabbard hanging from his belt; it was almost long enough to be considered a short sword.
“Let me think. Ah, yes…I do believe that it’s been almost thirty years since I joined the Wolfhound under the command of my father’s older brother. What happened twenty-nine years ago?”
Strider took a deep breath. “That was when my planet was attacked by raiders who wore wolf head shoulder patches very much like the one you’re wearing now.”
“You don’t say.” Wolfgar started to smile again, but it wasn’t a friendly smile. It reminded Strider of how a four-legged predator from his planet might express its joy at the sight of helpless prey.
“I vaguely recall…some kind of punitive raid on a planet by that name. I had just been promoted to command of an assault company and…” Wolfgar paused for effect. When he resumed talking, it was slowly. “We were ordered to round up a hundred or so of your planet’s leaders. We lined them up and then shot them all.”
Strider suddenly noticed that the entire room had become so quiet, he could actually hear his own, now rapid, heartbeat. His peripheral vision revealed that everyone in the room was watching and listening, including President Sanderval. Before Strider could respond, Wolfgar continued.
“I also remember something else.” As he talked in that slow cadence, Strider began to methodically unstrap his gun. He saw Wolfgar glance at the movement and nod ever so slightly as he kept talking. “One of your people showed a lot of courage, or perhaps rage might be a better explanation, when he took control of the machinegun on one of our vehicles and started firing on my men. Naturally I had to order my men to fire back.”
St
rider was surprised by his lack of emotion. He felt no anger, rage, fear…nothing at all. Only an icy calmness. He was staring Wolfgar in the eyes, and if Wolfgars’ eyes were expressing anything, it was amusement.
“That man…that you ordered your men to fire on…was my father.”
Wolfgar nodded in sudden comprehension. “Ah, that explains your reaction. Well, Captain Strider, you have a gun, and I have a dagger. Do you think you can draw your gun and fire before I throw my dagger into your left eye socket? I’ve faced men with guns before, you know. I’m still alive. They’re not. Go ahead, Captain. You came all this way to take your revenge, and I commend you for that. A son should avenge his father. I avenged mine. Draw your gun, Captain. Do it now.”
Strider wanted to draw his gun, but he knew that if he did, Wolfgar would kill him. Maybe if he was well versed in the quick draw, he might have a chance, but the only time he had ever fired a gun was in target practice at the Aerospace Force Academy years ago. He felt a hand grab his right forearm and heard Karl’s voice.
“No one is going to draw a gun here today, Captain Wolfgar, so keep your dagger sheathed.”
Wolfgar turned his head just enough to look at Jaeger. “You’ve just saved your Captain’s life. I hope he appreciates it.”
Jaeger turned to Strider. “Let’s go back to the ship, Captain.”
Strider was still looking at Wolfgar, who was once again looking back at him. Strider let himself relax and smile.
“I’m not going to kill you today, Captain Wolfgar.” Strider then looked over to where Sanderval was standing. “My apologies if I’ve interrupted the festivities, Mister President. My officer and I will be leaving now.”
Sanderval looked relieved and nodded. As Strider and Jaeger turned to head for the entrance, they heard Wolfgar’s booming voice.
“Not today and not ever, Captain Strider. You had better pray that we don’t meet again.”
As they reached the entrance, the uniformed woman with the checklist asked if they wanted her to call for the ground car that had brought them.
“Yes, please do that,” said Jaeger. She spoke into a small device that was clipped to her left shoulder.
“Your transport is on its way, Captain.” She then leaned forward and said in a low voice. “You’re not the only one who wants that raider scum dead.”
“That’s good to know,” said Strider in an equally low tone.
When their ground car pulled up a few seconds later, she snapped to attention and saluted. Strider and Jaeger returned the salute and made their way to the vehicle.
On their way back, Jaeger said, “I recommend that we lift off as soon as possible. A freighter loaded with valuable cargo and sitting on the ground less than a mile away has to be a tempting target for a raider Captain. We’re completely defenseless.”
“We’d have to call in any of our people who are out on liberty,” replied Strider.
“Good thing we set up the transponders. When we arrived, I checked if that frequency was being used. It wasn’t. I’ll send out the recall signal as soon as we get back.”
“Good. When everyone’s back aboard, then and only then will we ask traffic control for lift off clearance. I don’t want Wolfgar getting tipped off that we’re preparing to leave in time to try something.”
When they arrived back at the ship, Strider stopped at the top of the boarding ramp and looked around the spaceport. He didn’t know which of the three ships he could see was the Wolfhound, but there seemed to be a lot of activity involving both men and vehicles at one of them. The sun was just about to set. He suspected that if Wolfgar really was going to try to storm his ship, he’d wait until it was dark. Not only would the darkness make it harder to see his raiders coming, but there might be more crew away from the ship enjoying the city’s nightlife.
Jaeger quickly learned that only eight crewmen and officers were not aboard. With the recall signal now sent, Jaeger went below to make sure the cargo still in the holds was secure while Strider stayed on the Bridge. He had the ship’s external optics zoom in on the ship with all the activity. Vehicles were dropping people off at that ship too. It looked to Strider like Wolfgar was recalling his people as well.
Chapter Twenty-two
Everyone was back aboard less than twenty minutes later. With the ship now sealed and everyone at their lift off stations, Strider activated the com channel to spaceport traffic control.
“This is the NC Enterprise requesting clearance for immediate lift off.”
“Stand by, NC Enterprise,” came the response after a couple of seconds.
Strider checked his Command Station’s console. The ship was at full power and could lift off at the touch of a virtual button.
“Traffic Control to NC Enterprise. You have—” The voice suddenly cut off.
“Repeat your message, Traffic Control,” said Strider.
“Traffic Control to NC Enterprise. You do NOT, repeat, NOT have clearance to lift off.” Strider looked over at Jaeger who was looking back at him. This was a different voice than that of the interrupted message. Jaeger came over to Strider’s station and Strider muted his mic so that Traffic Control wouldn’t hear their conversation.
“I’ll bet you anything you want that Wolfgar’s people have taken over Traffic Control to keep us on the ground while they get ready to grab the ship,” hissed Jaeger.
“We could just lift off without clearance,” offered Strider.
Jaeger shook his head. “If Wolfgar’s ship is like Nemesis, then he has cannons that can fire on us if we try. We don’t have any armor, so even one hit could cause a lot of damage. If our jump drive is knocked off line, they’ll be able to catch us at their leisure. On the other hand, if they do enough damage, we just might crash. The only way to avoid that is to distract them.”
“How?” asked Strider.
“Did you notice the armored ground vehicles at key points around the spaceport?” Strider nodded. They were Sanderval’s troops keeping a careful eye on all ships. “I’ll bet you the men manning those tanks are bored to death and not very alert. I’m sure I could sneak up on one, surprise them, take control and fire their main gun at Wolfhound’s open hatch. I’ll keep on firing as long as I can. When they realize that they’re being fired on by one of the President’s own tanks, they’ll turn their attention to me, and that’s when you take the ship up.”
“Hell, no! I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself like that! We either all get off or—”
Jaeger interrupted him. “Or NONE of us get off, and that’s exactly what’ll happen if we just sit here and wait. Dammit, Richard. I’m the right man for this assignment. I don’t have a family, not even any living parents or siblings. You do. Time’s running out fast. The longer we wait, the less chance there is of pulling this off. You know this is the only way.”
Strider was too overcome with emotion to speak, so he simply nodded and managed to pat Jaeger on the shoulder as he turned for the exit.
“I’ll take a com device with me to let you know when I’m ready,” he said as he left. Strider looked around the Bridge at the other personnel. They all had anguished looks. Jaeger was a popular officer, liked by everyone.
Jaeger’s first stop was the ship’s armory. It contained a small assortment of handguns, some stun devices, half a dozen electronic binoculars and portable com units. He took one of each and a pistol belt. When he got to the room that had access to the boarding ramp, he turned off the internal lights. No sense in letting Traffic Control know that someone was leaving the ship. With the lights off, he lowered the boarding ramp and quickly exited the ship.
“I’m out,” he whispered into the com device. “Raise the ramp.” The ramp quickly lifted back up to the closed position. Jaeger used his binoculars to look around. He needed to find a tank that had a clear line of fire to the Wolfhound’s open hatch at the top of its boarding ramp. Firing anywhere else would be pointless. The ship’s armor would shrug off any kind of shell that could be fired from
a tank. But a high explosive shell hitting and detonating inside the ship would definitely get their attention. The binoculars’ light amplification vision allowed him to see in the growing darkness. He found what he was looking for. The tank was in the right position, tucked into an alleyway between two warehouse buildings, and not too far away. Jaeger started jogging towards it. By using one of the buildings as cover, he was able to get close to it without being seen
As he peered around the building’s corner, he saw someone climb out of the tank’s turret, jump down, walk calmly over to the nearest building and start to pee. Jaeger got his stun device ready and quickly but quietly snuck up behind the man. A light touch of the stun device on the back of the man’s neck caused him to slump to the ground. Jaeger then crept around the tank to see if the driver’s hatch was open. It was. He carefully climbed up on the tank, looked into the open hatch until he could see the driver’s head and then lunged forward with the stun device. With the driver now unconscious, that left just one man who was either the main gun loader or the tank commander. Jaeger climbed up on top of the turret, got into position and jumped down the open turret hatch. The third man was so surprised that he froze long enough for Jaeger to stun him.