"I'll go and watch this holo," began Erion as they sat in the Grennig's internal aircar. "I'll catch you all later." She went down the circular staircase to the crew lounge and her quarters, while the others went to the pilot section. Starfire and Raan lifted off and steered the Grennig away from the Gateway Base. It wasn't long before Erion called them on the internal com. "Del, take over will you and would the rest of you meet me in the crew lounge. I think you all need to see this."
They gathered in the crew lounge and dragged their comfy chairs from the table and sat in a rough semi circle facing the wall with the computer consoles and food dispensers. Erion placed the crystal into a slot for that purpose and a life sized hologram of King Lendus appeared, sitting on his throne.
"Milady Erion, I trust this message finds you well. I fear we have had a terrible misfortune and our entire stocks of Bearmyl have been contaminated. We have nothing else of value to trade and we are getting desperate. I contacted your mother on Auria Prime, and she told me you are very important now and you have contacts that can help us at this terrible time. Your people need you, Milady and I beg you to come to Katraia and marry my son as is our contract. I await your reply with anticipation and joy." The old man stood up, a little unsteadily and bowed low.
"Bloody hell!" gasped Starfire as the holo came to an end.
"Yeah," muttered Raan in agreement, "what she said!"
"What are you going to do?" asked Starfire.
"I don't know, Lieutenant."
"What's all this mean?" asked Raan. "Where is this Katraia then? Are you going to marry this guy?"
"I was promised to the prince when I was very young," she explained. "I think my mother had delusions about having royalty for close family."
"You don't have to go through with it, do you?" asked Starfire.
"Not if I don't want to," Erion sounded deep in thought. "I still need to contact them; find out what is going on."
"Well we can't do it from here," put in Raan. We'll have to get outside the asteroid field and use the ship."
"We are within range of the wormhole," Delta Ten's voice broke in over the internal com.
"Let's go through the wormhole from hell, then talk this out," suggested Starfire as they walked up the circular staircase to get to the pilot section.
It wasn't long until the wormhole was behind them and Delta Ten took over in the pilot section. They decamped to the crew lounge, regained their seats and Erion spoke to thin air,
"Interface," she said. A small, holographic golden cube appeared in front of her and started to rotate slowly, "give us all you have on the planet Katraia, and its system." she ordered. A steady stream of holographic images and people appeared, along with a commentary spoken in a warm, male voice.
Nearly two hours later, Little Rock Sixty Seven met them at the edge of the asteroid field and they followed it through the boulders to a large clearing. There in the centre of it was an uninspiring ball of red rock, sitting in the darkness. A few old buildings could be seen, enlarging as they approached. It didn't look like much, but then most of the action went on underground. After gaining clearance, Starfire landed the Grennig on an old, but well maintained pad and cut the engines with a sigh.
It was a journey they had made several times since they joined the rebel Alliance and it was the only place where they could relax and truly count themselves among friends. They all stood in the hall outside the pilot section and there was a slight clang as the umbilical made contact with their hull. The light above the aircar door changed to green and they stepped into the spherical aircar for the short journey to the Hub.
It was set out like any other busy spaceport and was roughly circular. The outside was ringed with shops, banks, small businesses and food outlets, interspersed with brass aircar doors. It was noisy, busy and the space inside was scattered with café tables and chairs. Most of the tables were occupied as it was midday by Aurian Standard Time and the pleasant aroma of cooking was overlaid by softly perfumed air from vanity shops and hair parlours. Only the absence of children belied the fact that this was no ordinary Starport. It was the biggest outlaw haunt in the Galaxy and it was a place where ill gotten gains could be spent without question, and fun was to be had; at a price of course.
In the very centre was a round check-in desk. The young man currently on duty knew who they were and gave them a welcoming smile. He held out a small hand pad and they all placed their palms upon it before walking to a vacant aircar for their trip inside the rock to the infamous Cantina.
The first person they saw when they emerged was Elkrist, co-owner of the Cantina. She checked the games, hired the staff and generally ran the place. It was said that there was no form of entertainment or salubrious pleasure that could not be had at the Cantina. Given that most of the staff and entertainers were on the wrong side of the law, she ran the place with an iron hand and there was surprisingly very little trouble. She only had two rules and they were applied rigorously; no cheating and all participants in any of the entertainments must be willing. Under her strict, but fair guidance, the Cantina flourished and although the prices were astronomically high, nobody ever complained. Partly because outlets like this were few and far between, but mainly because its customers had not earned the money they spent like water, and when it was gone, they could easily steal some more.
What many people did not know, however, was that Elkrist was also second in command of the Rebel Alliance. She had been waiting for them and was leaning against the wall, looking like a sleek, dangerous cat. She stood up as they stepped out of the aircar and walked forward, arms outstretched. Her dark brown body was adorned with silver and gold ornamental armour and her long, silver hair hung in thick waves across her shoulders and down her muscular back. She was a princess on her home world, Valasia, but after it had been taken by the Federation, she refused to be a puppet leader and joined the Alliance to take on the task of co-ordinating the growing rebellion.
"Welcome back," her wide mouth opened into a smile that showed her white, perfect teeth and she stepped forward to greet them warmly, leaving Hal till the last.
Erion and Starfire exchanged a knowing look. The luscious Elkrist could have had her pick of any man in the galaxy, but she had unwisely set her sights on Hal, who was totally unaffected by her charms. The lighting was discreet around the tables and the walls were richly panelled with ornate brass fittings. A Valasian jazz trio played soft music on a raised dais in one corner and many tables were occupied by gamblers or diners.
Erion raised a hand to an old bartender, who flashed her a toothless grin as he prepared a tray of drinks for the rear office. Nodding to a few people that they knew, the Grennig crew, along with Elkrist, passed through a sturdy mahogany door set in the wall at the end of the bar. This led to the office of Thirty Seven, co-owner of the Cantina and the unofficial Mayor of the complex.
He was seated behind a mahogany desk and looked very much like Rimek, as he was manufactured from the same long dead planet which specialised in free thinking machines. Unlike the ruthless Commissioner of Police, his moral circuits were undamaged, and he was much respected by his colleagues. He rose from his chair as they entered, and bid them welcome. He was seven feet tall and towered over them, but he nodded, politely and motioned towards a couple of comfortable but battered sofas.
"I am pleased you have returned safely from your mission," he began. "Please be seated." His voice was deep and cultured, not at all like the metallic drone of Commissioner Rimek. His eyes glowed like warm embers when he accented his speech and his mannerisms were artistic and gentle. "Put the red light on will you, Orlando," ordered Thirty Seven. "We will be in conference."
"Sure Boss," grinned the barman. He was one of the few who knew that the Cantina, infamous illegal trading post and hotel, was also an access to the Rebel Alliance. The old man placed his tray on a table in front of the sofa, stepped out of the room and pressed a button under the bar. A red light appeared above the door, which meant that
Thirty Seven was not to be disturbed. As the inner door closed, the black robot activated a switch on his desk and the office slowly revolved around 180 degrees, a perfect replica of the office replacing it.
He nodded politely to them. "May I have your Mission Report?" Delta Ten had remained standing and he carefully spoke through their mission, leaving out nothing of importance. When he had finished, Thirty Seven nodded slowly. "You have done well," he said softly. "As far as we can tell, The Galactic Police do not suspect that you changed the cores before you blew up the complex. For one thing, they have not altered their codes, and there is no change in routine traffic. That would seem to indicate that they do not suspect us."
"Or they could be playing tricky," put in Starfire.
"Trust you to think that one up," said Erion.
"It's the sort of thing that crafty Commissioner would think of," mused Raan. "Have you found anything of importance?"
"Nothing yet from what Delta Ten sent us earlier," put in Elkrist. "Just routine traffic movements and appointments. There are some coded transmissions that we have not cracked yet, but now we have the computer core, it should only be a matter of time.
"Gant showed us the holo from the Norbus System," began Erion. "The Planet Killer."
"Ah, yes," said Elkrist, "we have obtained the schematics, but they need to be collected from Norbus Alpha. Little Rock Sixty Seven brought some orders from Gant. He says to give you twenty four hours paid leave." Starfire's eyes widened and Raan rubbed his hands together, gleefully.
"Dream suite here I come!"
Chapter 4
It was some time the next day; Raan wasn't exactly sure when. He looked at his empty wrist for the third time in as many minutes and every time he did it, he remembered that he had left his com link in his quarters. Yawning widely, he slid out of the rumpled bed and kissed the cheek of the sleeping dancer. She smacked her lips, muttered something intelligible and turned over. He would have liked to sleep himself, but he was pretty sure his twenty four hours was almost up. The Aurian beauty was still asleep when Raan emerged from the vanity unit, his body and clothes clean and fresh. He strapped on his gun belt and checked for the time on his empty wrist once more.
They had agreed to meet back at their quarters after twenty four hours and the rest of the crew was there when he walked in. Starfire looked a little the worse for wear and still had curly bits of tinsel in her hair and glitter stuck to her clothing. Delta Ten stood to attention by the door and Erion was made up to the nines and wore an imitation white fur stole and a long, glittery evening dress.
"You look like you just got back from the Opera," he joked.
"And why shouldn't I?" she countered, "that's where I've been."
"Apologies, My Lady," he bowed low and took a silk flower from the table display, which he offered to her with a flourish. Erion shook her head, sadly and yawned. Hal lounged in a low chair, still wearing his customary black clothing and looked calm and refreshed as usual. He made no attempt to inform the rest of the crew where he had been and they didn't press him on the matter.
"Well, what are we doing next?" asked Starfire, brightly. She had managed to fit three days of fun into twenty four hours and was slightly high on stimulants.
"Ah," began Erion, "well, you lot have another five days leave." Starfire and Raan began to talk at the same time and she raised a delicate hand to stem the flow. "Remember on our last mission when we said we shouldn't keep things from each other?"
"No," said Raan.
"Yes," said Starfire, slowly.
"Well, Gant gave me this at the opera as I was leaving." She passed a small, disposable flexi pad over to Raan and he switched it on. He read the first few lines and looked up at the others.
"Well?" asked Starfire.
"It's our orders," he said, slowly. "We got five days leave but Erion's going to Norbus to get the plans for the Planet Killer."
"What?" Starfire snatched the pad from Raan's hand and read the orders again in case he had got it wrong. She looked up at Erion. "These are open ended," she began, "they don't stop when you meet your contact on Manta Six. What happens then?"
"I'm going on to Katraia," she said, flatly. She held up another hand to stop Starfire before she spoke. "This is purely personal," she explained. "It has nothing to do with any of you."
"You're surely not going to marry this guy?" muttered Raan, angrily.
"Look, you all saw the King's message," began Erion. "He either deals with us or he deals with Federation. If he calls in the Feds, it won't take him long to realise he's made a big mistake and he'll call us in anyway. This way, we're ahead of the game."
"But, marriage?" snapped Starfire. "What about your career? What about the Alliance?"
"I won't have to marry the guy," she snapped, then carried on in a more gentle tone. "I can refuse and so can the Prince. He'll just keep on looking till he finds the right girl."
"Still sounds like a set up to me," said a quiet voice from the chair. They all looked at Hal.
"Well, you would think that," began Erion, "your whole life is based on battle plans."
"He does have a point, though," put in Raan. "It is kinda convenient that this has all happened now."
"I know, Captain," sighed Erion, "and that is why I won't ask any of you to take the risk."
"Isn't that for us to decide?" asked Raan, temper rising.
"Hold on a minute," broke in Starfire. "You're dead set on going through with this crazy scheme aren't you?"
"I am."
"And just how are you going to get there?" demanded Starfire. She blew a stray piece of tinsel away from her nose, which spoilt the serious effect she was going for.
"The contact on Manta Six is going to drop me off at a Port, then I'm taking a commercial flight to Katraia."
"Just like that huh?" murmured Hal.
"It's my business," blurted Erion hotly. She was tired herself and just a little bit annoyed at the way things were going. She was used to total obedience and her troops was not supposed to question her decisions. "You don't understand and I can't be bothered to explain it to you."
"Take it easy," said Raan softly. "I'll take you to this Katraia place if you want to go so bad."
"We'll take you," corrected Starfire. "Hell, we need a rest and the place looks peaceful enough."
"Oh it's all of that," said Erion.
"I would be honoured if you would allow me to accompany you," put in Delta Ten. "My memory banks are incomplete where this planet is concerned and I value direct input far more than library information."
"Thank you, Del," answered Erion, smiling gently at the android's attempt at subtlety, "but first we have to convince Gant to let us all go."
"What's to convince?" asked Raan. "He just gave us all five days leave. What's it to him where we take it?"
"How do we get there?" asked Starfire. "Even if Gant says we can go, we can't take the Grennig; she needs fuel and ammunition." Their ship, the Grennig was a corvette, converted by Tranter and upgraded to haul freight or contraband. It was smaller than the average freighter, but it still needed vast amounts of fuel to power its upgraded engines.
"Del, how long will it take to get to Katraia?" asked Erion.
"Two days, with one stop for refuelling if we divert to Manta Six," answered the android without hesitation.
"How much fuel for a return trip to Katraia with a three day orbit?" asked Raan, getting straight to the point.
"Allowing for wastage, six hundred thousand units," answered Delta Ten.
"We can't afford that," stated Erion after a quick check to confirm that none of them had suddenly acquired a hundred thousand credits in the last twenty four hours.
"Well we can't expect the Alliance to furnish us with it," said Starfire.
"Let's talk it over with Elkrist and see if she can suggest anything," said Raan. Starfire looked up suddenly.
"Damn it we fly around in a great big freighter," she stated. "Maybe we could freight someth
ing to Katraia to pay for the trip."
"It would be a good cover too," said Erion. "I could say I was hitching a ride on a commercial space freighter and that way you would not be associated with me." She caught their questioning looks.
"The place is full of intrigue. King Lendus probably has enemies all over the place. It might be dangerous."
"Enemies eh?" began Raan with a smile, "this sounds like fun."
"We still might not be allowed to go, but we ought to have a plan to put to Elkrist," said Erion as they walked to the hatch. "We'll make something up on the way." She caught Hal's eye and stopped. He had not moved from where he had been lounging back in his seat. "Aren't you coming with us?"
"Would I be needed?" he asked. Erion thought for a moment and nodded her head. Hal must still think he owed them a debt and she wanted to take advantage of it.
"Yes...Yes I think you will."
"Sure," he stood up and unconsciously settled the big gun in its black leather holster. "I'll tag along."
They met Elkrist and Thirty Seven in the office behind the bar and Erion put forward the suggestion of taking their leave on Katraia and freighting something in the Grennig to finance it. Looking down to hide her smile, Elkrist composed her features, looked up again and said in a husky voice,
"Gant suspected you might come to this conclusion. He has planned a mission for you to pick up the schematics of the Planet Killer, meet your contact on Manta Six to exchange the plans, refuel your ship and pick up a cargo for Katraia, where you can spend your leave as you wish."
"Sneaky bastard," breathed Raan, clearly impressed.
"First we gotta eat," put in Starfire. She caught Raan's eye and he nodded as they suddenly realised that they hadn't had any proper food or sleep for nearly twenty four hours."
"You have six hours to get some sleep and prepare yourselves," Elkrist continued. "Since this mission is on behalf of the Alliance, we will fuel your ship and pay you the customary pittance that we like to call wages. I recommend that you get some rest and familiarise yourself with the Skytrain procedure before you depart." They stood up to leave and Thirty Seven called them back.
Starfire and The Planet Killer Page 5