Freedom Flight (Space Rogue Book 3)

by Jay Toney

  "You mentioned that we need three things. What is the last item?"

  "You need deevils."

  She went to a corner of the room and opened a small cage. She took out four creatures, placing one on each of our shoulders. "These are unbound deevils. They will finish their bonding with all of you shortly. They bond with their masters for life. They will eat almost any food, but they love crunching on niffids. Let them loose at night and they will eat their fill of niffids and return in the morning. Niffids reproduce faster than any other known creature in the galaxy. It is doubtful that the deevils will be able to eat all the niffids, but they will keep the population under control. The niffids will not bother to hunt you, while they are being hunted by the deevils.

  "What about our other ships?"

  "They will find Hannah, each in turn. Do not worry about that."

  We thanked Hannah, and headed back to the spaceport. On the way we saw a small shop had a sign saying, "Deevil nesting cages, limited supply."

  The shop was full of cages, they were stacked clear to the ceiling. The sign did its job, coaxing all of us inside. We each bought a cage, and nesting material for our deevils. We put the material inside the cage. It looked like a mix of sawdust and wood shavings with a pleasant aroma. The cage included a water bottle, and a small food dish. The shop proprietor filled the water bottles for us. He didn't try selling us anything else. He told us that we had everything we needed for our deevils.

  "How often do we need to feed our deevils, and what do we feed them?"

  "A bite or two from your plate is enough. Only feed them once a day, after your dinner meal. If there are niffids to hunt, don't feed them. They will hunt their own food. They are very smart little critters. They will let you know when its time for them to hunt."

  We thanked him and headed to our shuttle. Our Viper crew were staying planetside to visit friends and family. They would be returning to the Persephone in three days, I hoped they could stay out of trouble that long. They were a loyal but rowdy bunch.

  Once we were in our cabin, we each took out our deevils to admire them; Natty's was a bright red, Jewel's yellow, Amber's green, and my deevil was blue. They all had black spikes, I touched one and they all retracted into the body. When they reemerged, they came back as a soft fine fur. I experimented by petting its back. It made a purring noise every time I stroked its back. I also discovered that each of its paws had three fingers and an opposable thumb. They were able to climb most anything, and grasp anything that would fit into their six little hands. Jewels deevil liked her hair, it used its paws to climb her hair and curl into a ball on her head. Amber's deevil crawled under her hair hiding. Natty held her devil close to her and whispered, "Don't even think about messing with my hair." It looked like it gave her a little shrug, in answer.

  I got up the next morning with a maddening itch on my rear and a rash with pustules to go with the itching.

  "Don't scratch it," Natty warned, "you will only make it worse." She got a jar of noid cream, and rubbed a dab of it onto the rash. The ointment was immediately soothing. I had forgotten about needing to distribute the cream.

  "Persephone send a crewman to my quarters. I need him to distribute a jar of noid cream to each cabin."

  "I have a crewman on the way."

  "Persephone, I need to make a ship wide announcement."

  "Go ahead Captain, the comms are open."

  "Attention all hands, this is the Captain. Our ship, and most likely our fleet has been infested with niffids. Their bites leave very nasty, itchy noids. Do not scratch them, it will make them worse. I have jars of noid cream being distributed to every cabin. You only need to rub a small dab onto the rash to bring immediate relief. We are working on a way to control, or eliminate the niffids. Do not harm any deevils you may see. They will be hunting and eating as many niffids as they can catch. Consider them as our friends and allies in our need to rid us of this infestation. That is all."

  A pounding knock came from our door. It was Doc and he was furious.

  "Nathaniel, what did I tell you about messing with alien remedies? Never mind, give me a jar, I can't wait for it to be distributed. I will test it myself."

  "I've already tested it myself. It works great."

  "A doctor now, are you? What medical experience and training do you have? I will test it myself, and form a proper medical analysis."

  I handed him a jar. He dropped his pants and began rubbing it on his bites. It looked like we had matching bites. The cream did its work, and a look of relief came over his face.

  "I was about to scratch a hole clean through myself to get rid of that itching. Your announcement came just in time." I kept four jars of cream for ourselves, and gave Doc two boxes for sickbay. He noticed that I wasn't sitting in my wheelchair, or laying in bed.

  "What are you doing up and about. You should be in bed still. Yesterday you could barely walk 10 steps without falling."

  "I feel much better today. I'm not in the least bit dizzy."

  "I'll see you in sickbay, shortly."

  Either he knew or suspected the noid cream wasn't the only alien remedy I took. Either way I was in trouble. Doc didn't like anyone else treating me and hated when I experimented on myself.

  Jewel said, "We need to practice with our new energy lances. If we don't Natty promised she would train us herself, by being our sparing partner."

  I agreed, it was better than going to sickbay. Natty set up a simulation in one of our holosimulators. It was a complete training center with instructors for the girls.

  "Cappy, I need a good sparing partner. The simulation doesn't have the randomness of a live instructor. You are a master swordsman, why not try a lance?"

  "Using a energy lance is similar to a saber, but it doesn't have the same appeal to me. I'll give it a try though."

  "Would you like a single or double bladed energy lance?"

  "A single blade is closer to the use of a saber, can it be balanced to feel like a saber?"

  Natty programed the simulator, trying to come as close to a swords feel and weight as she could. She finally selected a energy lance, that she thought would be appropriate.

  "Here you go Cappy, this is as close as I can get to what you want."

  I took the lance, giving it a few swings and jabs to get the feel of the new weapon.

  "I will start easy with you, and let you get the feel of the weapon."

  I don't think she knew what easy was. She attacked me with a series of furious blows. It was hard to match her moves, deflecting her blade, or avoiding the blows. As soon as I could, I turned to offense instead of defending myself against her. I swung savagely at Natty. She increased her speed and started attacking back. Jewel and Amber watched, as we attacked or parried are blades. We were a flurry of movement. Each time our blades crossed, we were treated to electrical arcs, and sparks. It rained sparks around us for a while, until I noticed an opening. I lunged at the opening, touching Natty's shoulder. Natty's blade struck my arm in the same instant. We both let out a scream, dropping our weapons."

  Jewel and Amber clapped. Seeing Natty tagged with my weapon, wasn't expected, nor was the look of sock on her face. We picked up our weapons, and turned them off. The match was over. We bowed to each other, and clipped our weapons to our belts.

  "Cappy, I knew you would make a good sparing partner. No simulation has ever touched me with their lances."

  We headed back to our cabin. I hadn't intended to take the weapon with me, but it was mine now. I picked up my deevil. It indicated that it was ready to hunt. It pointed towards the galley, then the refuse chute. "You want inside the refuse chute?" It nodded its head in answer. "Can you bring me a live ni
ffid?" It nodded its head again. I opened the refuse chute and let the deevil crawl inside. I heard scurrying noises, then silence. After a few minutes my deevil, emerged, carrying a single niffid in its forepaws. The niffid slid down into one of my drinking glasses. It tried climbing out, but couldn't get a grip on the surface.

  The Niffid gave up, and stared up at me. I took the captured creature to sickbay, and Doc.

  "What took you so long. I have the autodoc set up and waiting to do a diagnosis on you."

  "My deevil told me it wanted to hunt. It was kind enough to capture this niffid specimen for me."

  Doc forgot all about my examination. He placed the creature in the freezer for a few minutes. He had to move quickly, before the warm temperature of the lab would revive the niffid. He transferred the niffid to a specimen container and placed it on an imager. The creature was enlarged on the labs monitor. It looked mad when it was revived by the warm air. It stood on its rear four legs. It extended one of its arms towards us, then extended its middle finger, while pumping its arm with its other free hand. I got the message.

  After it was sure it got our attention, it started laying eggs. There were no less than a hundred eggs before he finished. They only took an hour to hatch. If they laid that many eggs each day, we would be overrun by them in a very short period of time. We had to do something.

  A scratching noise came from one of the rubbish chutes in sickbay. I opened it, and my deevil crawled out. I picked it up and it climbed to my shoulder where it purchased itself.

  "What are we going to be able to do about the niffids? Do we freeze them?"

  My deevil shook its head no.

  "Do we incinerate them?"

  It shook its head no again, this time pointing at its belly.

  "I guess we let all of you eat them."

  It nodded its head and pointed to the imager. I set the deevil down near the specimen container. It pulled its head up over the top edge of the container. It shot its pink tongue out at the niffids, snaring several with its sticky tongue. It retracted its tongue, and chewed the niffids slowly before swallowing. It repeated ensnaring, and eating the niffids, until they were all gone.

  I picked up my deevil, set him on my shoulder, and headed back to my cabin. Doc had completely forgotten my examination at the sight of our new pests. I wasn't going to stick around long enough for him to remember. That evening, all of our deevils hunted. The next morning we had eight. My deevil managed to suggest to me that I should find the new devils a home. I decided I would give one to Doc, Mike, Shar'tu, and Nord.

  Haven

  We left orbit, making our way to the next jump point. Evan and his ship remained in orbit. Our next Jump would take us back to into Iniguar territory and the Haven system. In the few days that we were in orbit, our deevils multiplied to keep up with the niffids. The 8 deevils quickly became 16, then 32, and now 64. The niffids multiplied too, but were slowing with our niffids hunting.

  I inspected our hydroponics tanks. Someone got the idea to plant vegetables amongst the grass that we used to clean our tanks of waste. The niffids took care of any ripening vegetables. We weren't, going to get any fresh produce from our gardens. The tanks were normally covered with a green slimy algae. The clear quartz walls were now clean, and the fluid, which was usually dark brown, filled with human waste was crystal clear. It looked like the niffids had some use if their population could be kept under control, and restricted to certain areas.

  The next place I went to was our recycling center. I was instructed to put on a biohazard suit for my own safety. That was a change from the normal coveralls and gloves. The crewmen were sorting through the material, separating out the recyclable material like plastic, metal, and glass. These materials would be placed in bins, or bailed, and sold at the next spaceport. Normally the material had to be cleaned of organic waste. The niffids did that for us, making the work for the crewmen much easier and more productive.

  The biohazard suits were being worn, not to protect the men from any biohazard, but to protect them from niffid bites. I would have to consult with my deevil to see if the niffids could be trained or somehow contained in these areas. Our food stores were safe. The niffids didn't like the cold, but could survive the near absolute zero temperature of space. What we didn't refrigerate, or freeze, was kept in sealed containers.

  There were fewer complaints about noids, now that our deevils were hunting and multiplying. The list of crew wanting their own deevils was rapidly becoming shorter. Everyone should have their own deevil in the next day or two. Hannah was right, both David and Red found her, and were sold enough noid cream and deevils to take care of their ships.

  The price they paid was astonishing, but was worth it to them. It only took them a few days to realize they were in trouble. The crewmen who were bitten, had to be restrained while the noids slowly healed. Bites became more frequent with each passing day. The Vorg were quick to refer them to Hannah, and show them to her shop. Natty's kindness, and the cost of an energy lance was nothing compared to what they had to pay.

  Doc found Hannah, when he spent a day planetside with Jane. He was astounded by her knowledge in healing remedies, purchasing several for our sickbay. He also found out about my taking one of her pills, without consulting or telling him about it. The lecture I got lasted late into the evening. It didn't matter that it healed me overnight without any side effects.

  I had one more problem. We were headed to Iniguar territory. Shar'tu, his officers, and all of their bond mates were supposed to be dead. The Iniguar didn't lie. They only spoke the truth to each other, or others they deemed worthy of speaking to. They would have to stay in hiding, often confined to their rooms, while we were in their territory. If they were found, it could mean all of our deaths.

  I asked Shar'tu if their brief confinement would cause any problems, and what I could do to help.

  "Sometimes such confinements are necessary, but never have our people experienced it with such luxury." He made a sweeping gesture with his hand indicating the space he and his bond mate shared.

  We were back to a single bridge crew temporarily, relying on Persephone to monitor our scans, communications, and navigation. When Natasha was our AI, I had complete confidence in her. Persephone being new and still learning, made me worry. All I could do was hope we didn't have any trouble.

  Our ships made the jump to hyperspace together. I spent the night with my wives in the Anteroom, just in case I was urgently needed. I worried all night, hardly sleeping.

  Persephone, sounded an alarm, when it was nearly time to come out of hyperspace. I jumped up out of bed and ran to my post. We had 45 minutes on the countdown timer remaining. Natty, Jewel, and Amber took the time to freshen up, and bring breakfast back for all of us. I waited fidgeting in my seat. When they got back, we all ate in the anteroom. After drinking my coffee and juice, I began to relax, feeling much better.

  Doc, Mike, and Jane joined us on the bridge, with just minutes left on the timer. When the timer reached zero, Natty pulled the lever back that would take us out of hyperspace. Jewel listened to the comm channels, and Amber waited for her sensors to begin sending her data, so she could start her scans.

  It took a few minutes for the sensors to start sending data, updating our position from the data broadcast by the systems navigation satellites. In that time, the Iniguar patrol ships found us. Jewels communications boards came alive, with demands to open a communications channel.

  I looked rumpled and wild looking, not having taken time to change clothes and freshen up. I told Jewel to open a video channel anyhow.

  "What is the purpose of this intrusion? We do not allow uninvited people into our territory."

  "I am Captain Roberts. I have been granted the right of passage by Shre
e'tek of the Invaldi System, in recognition of the Iniguar debt to me."

  "We will verify this debt. In the meantime, I still need to know your purpose. You have brought ships of war into our system."

  "We have recently been in battle with a reptilian species, while visiting the Vorg. We desire to trade. We have information taken from the reptilian flag ship, that may be of use to both of us."

  "I suppose you ran from this species. We know of them and have fought them ourselves. The Vorg will be very angry with you."

  "I have twenty Vorg on my ship. They will gladly boast of the lizards defeat. They don't know of anytime when the lizards were so badly defeated."

  "We will verify this too. Until then we will escort you to our space station. Know this, if anything you have told us proves false, it will mean the deaths of all of you."

  "Everything I've told you is true. We will gladly accept your escort to your space station."

  Natty set the course given to us by the Iniguar, our fleet headed to the Iniguar space station, escorted by several patrol ships. While we were under way, the patrol commander started verifying what I told him. After the course was set, I headed to my cabin. I was in need of a shower, and some decent sleep. Jewel and Amber joined me. Natty said she didn't mind staying on the bridge, and would call us when it was time for us to return.

  "At least one of us was able to sleep last night," Amber commented. I tossed and turned most of the night.

  "Me too," Jewel added, "I couldn't sleep and spent the night staring at the ceiling."

  We got up early in the morning, showered and dressed for the day. Rosie brought us our breakfast and made a fresh batch of coffee. I drank a couple glasses of juice while waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. After enjoying my morning coffee, I poured a thermos full of juice for Natty. The three of us carried Natty's breakfast to the bridge.