by J. K. Mabrey
“And do you know what target you hit, Ambassador?” the Rovun continued.
She snapped back at him, “The Earthlings were being held by a Chokmnd group called Red Moon, I’m sure you’ve heard of them.”
“Of course," Paquiko said, "we all know about Red Moon. From our understanding, they’re not really in the business of capturing and torturing humans, though. Tell us, how did they come to capture your agents?”
“Earth has reason to suspect that Red Moon is either fully or partially behind the attacks on Earth’s sustainment efforts. We were investigating that theory.”
“Ambassador," Paquiko pleaded, "we have just recently shown you new evidence that the attacks at Earth are being committed by a fringe group known as the Blue Blazes. We opened up an investigation further, but as of now, we have no reason to suspect or evidence to suggest, that Red Moon is harboring any hostilities towards Earth.”
“Be that as it may, Councilors," she continued, "Red Moon did capture two humans, and we did authorize a strike force to rescue them.”
“An authorization you will need to be sanctioned for,” Bamino said. “No system can just attack another without repercussions. That is the law of this Community. If you still wish to fully join our Community, you must learn to obey our commands, and accept our punishments.”
“Thank you, Bamino," Paquiko said, opening a file on the terminal at his seat, “Ambassador Hains, I don’t believe you’ve met my Chief of Staff, Varin Bragko. He informs us that the Theros government denies there is a Red Moon installation on their planet, and that they believe Earth attacked them as a means to intimidate greater cooperation between the two worlds. They are charging that you mean to intimidate them into further aiding Earth, above what the Council has deemed sufficient. What say you to these charges?”
“With all due respect to Mr. Bragko, Earth did not attack a Theros installation. What was targeted was a Red Moon compound harboring two hostages, far away from any Theros city. I will provide you with evidence of that from the battle as soon as possible. Earth would not attempt to intimidate another planet into disobeying an order from the Council. As I have said before, we are trying to achieve self-sustainment. These attacks, which we have reason to believe are being coordinated by Red Moon, are delaying our progress. We do continue to ask the Council to authorize more supplies to our cause, but we would never attempt to force another system to disobey the Council.”
“So you deny the charges Theros is levying?” Paquiko asked.
“Of course,” Ambassador Hains responded. “Besides, we have no interest in Theros, they have nothing of use to Earth. It is a barren planet, with some of the weakest trading opportunities of the Community.”
The Council sat silent for a moment before Paquiko relented. “Unfortunately, for all involved, we have no direct evidence to support or disprove your claims. Therefore, the Council shall just warn you that if further aggressions on sovereign systems happen, we will be much less satisfied with just warning Earth. We can and shall authorize hostilities towards your people. Cutting off further restoration aid will just be the start.”
“I feel I too must warn, or perhaps inform the Council. My people are becoming ever more desperate for aid. Our people starve, and riot on a near constant basis, and I cannot control every aspect of human involvement in the galaxy. If we do not get further aid soon, I truly fear Earth may become more hostile than anyone here would like to see. You do not want Earth as an enemy, and we do not want the Council as one either. But we will fight for survival. It’s what we’ve always done; it’s what we’ll always do. And as I’m sure you’ve learned over the years of watching us, we are very good at surviving. With that, I bid you good day, Councilors.”
Ambassador Hains immediately left the chambers, leaving the councilors stunned by her near direct threats. Just outside the chambers she caught up with Bendix and motioned for him to follow her.
“Didn’t go well, ma’am?” he asked, seeing the disturbed and shaken look on her face.
“Not at all," she admitted. "Varin is telling them that we're trying to intimidate Theros into giving us more supplies.”
“That doesn’t even make sense,” he said increasing his pace to keep up with her quick stride. “It's not like Theros even has anything we need for restoration efforts.”
“I know," she said as the two stopped outside the building waiting to board the small skiff. "I informed them as much. He’s just trying to delay any action by the Council against Red Moon. Since they can’t prove his story and we can’t prove that Red Moon is actually behind the attacks at Earth, the Council gave me a warning against any further aggressions. I assured them that we do not intend to attack anyone, save for those targeting Earth. I did give them fair warning that the Earth Council is growing restless from their inaction on these attacks and for reducing our supplies. I don’t think they’re worried about us doing something rash, even if I am.”
"Fair warning?" he asked, a smile creeping up his face.
"It could have been taken as threatening, I suppose," she admitted.
“I wouldn't worry about that too much, ma'am. I do hope the Earth’s Council won’t authorized any mission to take supplies by force.”
“Me too, Bendix. Unfortunately, that is out of either of our hands.”
A skiff pulled up alongside the two waiting for its passengers to board.
“Well, here we are ma’am, your transport back,” Bendix said.
He reached for the door handle and gave it a twist. As it opened, a blinding flash lit the entire street as bright as the sun. A thunderous crack set off from underneath the transport vehicles, knocking everyone within ten yards back. Fire engulfed the area as ash and burning debris piled on top of a sea of bodies along the steps. Screams filled the street as the deafening echo slowly subsided into a dull roar. A small crater now stood where the skiff had been. Immediately, sirens could be heard from a distance. Passersby ran to the aid of the injured but found few survivors among the many dead. It was a terrible scene not seen so close to the Council Chambers in over a hundred years.
Paladin
Brax returned to the docked Rinada anxious to tell Zavik and Dani about the meeting. He took the necessary measures to ensure he was not followed. He walked to the port, then left to go to three bars, managing to have four drinks along the way, before stopping off at a small market merchant to browse the local selection. Finally, he made his way back to the ship, continually keeping an eye on his surroundings. When he returned, he gave them a play-by-play of the conversation.
After he finished, Dani asked if anyone in the galaxy would be willing to help.
“Not very many, that’s for sure," Brax said. "Red Moon has threatened to attack anyone who does. It’s being taken very seriously. This guy did give me the name of someone on Qualim that might help. Qualim apparently isn’t influenced as much by Red Moon, so this person might be willing to help us.”
“Sounds like a stretch to me,” Zavik said, “but I guess we don’t have much of a choice, do we?”
“Not if we still want to prevent Earth from striking an unprovoked convoy," Brax said.
“Then Qualim it is," Zavik said. "It's our only option."
The Rinada lifted off from Iridim and Dani plotted a course for Qualim. Iridim did not have a direct portal to Qualim so they had to make a pass-through to Yerthras first. In a matter of minutes, they were beginning their descent into the Qualim atmosphere. Qualim was a lush planet, ripe with life. It was the home planet of the Tergans, an old race of insectoid creatures. They stood about three feet tall and were the smallest race of the Community, in terms of stature as well as population. Most of the species chose to stay locked to the planet, rather than venture out to other systems. They had no independent colonies like every other race. But they had developed a nice, private system to live on, rarely drawing the attention of the Council. This was fine by them, though it did breed a small black market. The Council tried to keep a check o
n it, but the local government insisted that they could take care of their own problems. In all the years that the Tergans were Council eligible they had never actually served on the Galactic Council, respectfully denying the chance every time their race was up for a term.
“What information did that guy give you, Brax?” Dani asked.
“Let’s see, his name is Janus Valcoon, a Savin, operates a customs business out of Helstat port. Make ready to land there, and I’ll go talk to him.”
“Wait a minute,” Zavik cut in. “I think we’d better go with you this time.”
“Why?" he asked. "Did you not like my past attempt?”
“Well, you didn’t manage to secure the supplies,” Dani said.
“It’s not my fault you two pissed Red Moon off so bad they’ve ordered an embargo on any trade with Earth.”
“We’re not blaming you for not getting the supplies on Iridim," Zavik said. "We just want to be actively involved in negotiating for our planet. You can understand?”
“Yes, of course, I can. You’ll just have to watch yourselves. Red Moon may not have a strong presence in this sector, but that doesn’t mean someone won’t be out to collect a bounty on you two.”
“Appreciate the warning," Zavik said dryly. "Shall we go to Janus’ business now?”
“It’s after hours here," Brax informed them, pointing out the updated system clock showing an early morning time corresponding to three A.M.
Zavik shook his head violently as if to wake from a bad dream. “I hate traveling to other planets so much. Talk about your jet lag.”
“Jet lag? What the hell’s that?” Brax asked.
“It’s an Earth term," Zavik said. "You know, when you travel across the planet and the people are in a different time zone than you are, and your internal clock's off from the locals.”
“Oh, you mean system syndrome,” Brax said. “You get used to it, or end up having an epileptic fit. But that only happens in about one percent of those that travel frequently.”
“Comforting statistic I guess. We'll head out first thing tomorrow then."
The trio rested, and waited for dawn to come. Zavik and Dani had their separate quarters, and Brax was put up in a spare room towards the rear of the ship near the cargo hold. While Zavik and Dani’s rooms were packed with an assortment of things collected and never thrown out over the years, Brax’s was pristine, or as pristine as any room can be on a converted freighter. It housed a bed and sink and was only about ten feet deep. A closet ran down the back of the room, but it too was empty. Brax had taken only a few things from his place on Onderon. He now wished he would have brought another change of clothes, and that bottle of Baliton Meade he bought two weeks ago. That would make a nice nightcap right about now. He laid down on the stiff cot and closed his eyes. The next instant in his mind he awoke to Zavik’s insistence that they get moving. Morning always did come too soon.
They left the Rinada en route to the Helstat local galactic exchange. This was the business that Janus Valcoon ran on Qualim. It was a small building on a street not far from the spaceport they were docked at. Once again Brax took the lead since he would be expected. “Where can we find Janus Valcoon?” he asked the receptionist at the front desk.
The female Savin looked up from her terminal to glance over the potential customers. She gave the standard response to Brax's question. “He’s in his office right now, I’ll see if he’s available to see anyone.” She walked away from the desk and into the back office, shutting the door behind her.
“Think he’ll see us just like that?” Zavik whispered.
“I doubt it," Brax responded, equally reserved in tone, "hopefully Yersum told him to expect me.”
A moment later the secretary stepped out from the office and said, “Mr. Valcoon will see you now.”
“Really?” Brax said trying to stifle his tone of surprise. “Very good.” He glanced at Zavik and Dani and nodded for them to follow him.
The three entered the office and at the direction of the Savin took seats across from his desk. The office was luxuriously decorated throughout and had what could only be the finest drinks stationed on a table to their left. His desk was gunmetal black and housed a holographic terminal that while translucent, still obscured the aliens face. Around the room hung dozens of pictures of the Savin along with very high-ranking public figures. Zavik noticed one with Iney, the Pakal councilor, one with a past Rovun president, and another with the current Savin leader. There was even one with the last Earth ambassador, Raicor, which made Zavik wonder if all the figures might be as corrupt as he was.
“Welcome to Helstat gentlemen…and lady," he said with an air of disdain as he closed down his hologram. "I, as I’m sure you already know, am Janus Valcoon. Who are you and what is it that I can do for you?” The smooth deep-green-skinned alien gave a menacing grin showcasing a row of pearl-white fanged teeth to the trio.
“I think you know why we’re here,” Brax said bluntly, “otherwise I don’t think you would have met with us so eagerly.”
“Oh very good," he conceded. "Yes, my friend Yersum did inform me that a Chokmnd would come asking for help on a matter and that I should grant him the time of day. But he did not give me any hint as to what that would be, or that you would bring...friends. So, please, a name?”
“My name is Brax Miro.”
“I’m John Richmond and this is Claire Dawn," Zavik said as he continued to stare the Savin down. "We need to secure a rather large shipment of restoration supplies."
Janus crossed his arms and pondered Zavik's words for a moment. Finally, he said, “A large shipment of restoration supplies, huh? I see. Those are pretty hot commodity items right now. Were you planning on paying for these supplies or stealing them?”
“We can pay,” Zavik said.
“You must have a rather large sum of cash available for an operation such as this?" It was less a question as it was a statement of observation.
“We have a secure line of credit," Zavik said.
“I don’t want to promise anything, but I can probably help secure the supplies you need. If anyone in this sector can, it would be me. I’ll just need to know what exactly you need, when you need it, and where you need it delivered to?”
The ‘where’ part was going to be the trickiest and most telling. Zavik handed over a datapad. “Here is a readout of all the supplies we need. As you can see it is quite substantial.”
“My god yes, this is enough to last a small area quite a while," he said, then methodically pondered some more. "Or it could, I suppose, last a large area for a considerably shorter time. Which is it?”
“A large area,” Brax said.
“We need these supplies as soon as possible," Zavik said. "Our contractors are weighing other options that aren’t so good for us if we can’t report something good soon.”
“No worries,” he said brushing aside Zavik’s last comment. “I’ll get to work on it as soon as I can. Now, where are these supplies going?”
Zavik had no choice here. “They’re destined for Earth."
"Earth?" Janus asked in sincere astonishment. "Oh, my. I suspected as much, but now I see why you had to come all the way out here. The Council is largely ignored here, they wouldn’t get wind of any such operation to help Earth for many months. You do know that what you’re asking is violating a direct order from the Council, right?”
“Yes," Brax said, "but like you said, the Council is ignored here. You won’t mind ignoring them again.”
“No, not in the least. On the other hand, as you may or may not know, Red Moon has also issued a directive against anyone helping humans, or Earth, and this would most definitely constitute helping Earth.”
“True," Zavik said, "but Red Moon doesn’t have a presence on Qualim, do they? So they would never have to know either.”
Janus stared at Zavik, beginning to understand that he was really in charge of the operation. “It would be easy to conceal this operation from Red Moon, yes.
But there is still great risk involved. This will not be cheap.”
“We’re prepared to pay a fair price," Zavik said.
“Good, then I will get to work on developing a plan, and a price. It will take a few hours. Can we meet later tonight to discuss this in more detail after that?”
“That sounds fine,” Zavik said. “Here’s a frequency to my ship, just give us a call when you’re ready.”
They left his office and went back to the ship to fix themselves a meal. The Rinada had sparse supplies for dinner, but they decided it was best to not leave the ship until Janus had called. Zavik began to prepare rehydrated grains in the corridor between the cockpit and their quarters. Brax opened the door from the quarters and sat down at the round table next to Dani.
“Do you want something to eat?” Dani asked Brax.
“Do I want what you’re making?” he asked. “Stale grains? It smells terrible.”
“What would you prefer?” Zavik asked. “I didn’t pack any of the typical Chokmnd cuisines.”
“Yes, well I took the liberty of grabbing a few things from my place before we left Onderon. I brought some food for myself,” he said as he opened a tin container that housed what Zavik could hardly consider food. A sudden smell of rotten meat drifted up Zavik’s nose just as Dani went into a fit of coughing.
“What is that?” Zavik yelled stifling a cough.
“This? It’s ragen meat. It’s indigenous to Chokmna. Smells like delicious grilled heaven, I know.”
“I don’t think any of those are words I would use to describe what I’m smelling,” Dani said.
“You’re welcome to try some if you’d like.”
“I’ll pass,” Zavik said sitting down at the table with two bowls of grains.
Dani took a bite and said, “I think I’ve lost my appetite.”