by Aer-ki Jyr
He also made several suggestions as to the operation of the battleship and the organizational structure of the crew. The mercs started out skeptical, listening merely for the sake of politeness, but by the end of the jump they had come to trust the Human, for within that short period of time he’d taught them more than they’d learned throughout their entire service with the Concordat.
Riax also liked undermining the Vespa’s hold on her mercs. She was clueless when it came to anything military, and that was evident in the way she’d set up the Concordat. Fortunately she’d also used several subordinates with previous military expertise to pull it all together and essentially run the organization for her, save for when she wanted to pry and institute what she thought were necessary changes. More often than not, her agenda clashed with reality and the fact that the Concordat had risen to a mediocre level of respectability was due to the mercs and not their leadership.
The second day Riax had been on the battleship he’d pulled a complete efficiency assessment of the crew, with the Captain’s cooperation, and pegged them with a 124.7 rating . . . which was pathetic, though he’d seen worse. He’d explained to Terrek the finer points of the rating and the glaring weaknesses in the battleship’s operation, along with suggesting improvements, and that was something their ‘Elder’ had never been able to provide.
After implementing some of the minor changes and seeing significant results, the Concordat Captain gave Riax free rein to make whatever changes he wanted, pending review as to whether or not he made them permanent. With that freedom Riax dissected and reconstructed the crew rotation, assignments, and procedure based on a three-tier redundancy model which boosted their combined rating to 653.1 in subsequent tests. Still remarkably low for Human standards, but decent as far as other races/organizations were concerned.
To the mercs, however, he was working magic and in their profession that meant they’d live longer, as well as boosting their combat rep, which meant being able to secure more lucrative contracts. Reputation and credits were the fundamentals of any mercenary organization, and the Concordat was no exception. From that point on, Riax had made some permanent friends.
During the jump Riax’s arm had also grown out down to his wrist, giving him back most of his balance, the lack of which the Cres surprisingly realized had been holding back his fighting abilities. The more he healed the smoother, faster, and more agile he became in their sparring sessions, making them wonder just how powerful he’d be once he fully recovered.
Typically Humans didn’t sleep much, but every third day Riax would spend the night with Jalia, absorbing more linguistic data before dropping off to sleep. He’d wake up in five or six hours, eat a very large breakfast, then disappear somewhere in the ship doing who knew what. Neither Jalia nor the Cres could keep up with him, but helped out when and where they could and by the time they arrived at Arcad every major system in the freighter had been rebuilt and upgraded.
The jumpline from Mewlon was clear when the two ships arrived insystem, with the battleship coming out slightly closer to the star and reforming with the Resolute minutes later. There were several capital ships in the system, but no fleets, and with a battleship in escort none of them attempted an intercept, though it was clear that they’d been lying in wait for them.
Neither the freighter nor the warship needed refueling, so they wasted no time in traveling around to the opposite side of the star and aligning themselves on the Jptal jumpline. Four and a half hours after arriving in the system they jumped out again with no opposition, using the star’s gravity well to propel them on the next leg of their journey, and hopefully further away from their pursuit.
ONE OF THE smaller ships in the Arcad System, however, had also been in Mewlon and Hellis before that. It was a small courier ship that had been trailing the freighter, passing it en route and arriving ahead of it, then lying in wait for it to arrive but taking no aggressive action. It was simply a random ship going about its business within the system . . . leaving breadcrumbs for others to follow.
It jumped toward Jptal a full day after the Resolute had left, but after leaving a number of secure messages in the communications grid that would transfer out to other systems with the traffic flow, thus informing pursuers everywhere of the exact route the ship was taking, from which the general direction it was heading could be deduced.
JALIA HEADED DOWN to the main cargo bay, expecting Riax to be there but finding the Cres doing their own flexibility drills. They told her he’d left about thirty ren ago, so she went and checked the engine room then the crew quarters, unable to find him.
Jalia frowned and concentrated, trying to shout at him with her mind but apparently he wasn’t listening. Undaunted, she continued her search through the rest of the ship’s compartments until she found an open maintenance hatch. Jalia climbed inside, seeing him sitting down a long cramped tube with his legs crossed in front of him, motionless.
Figuring he was making some more telekinetic adjustments to something or other she crawled in after him and quietly sat down a couple inches away, looking around to see what he was working on.
Which was when she noticed the tears running down his face.
“Are you . . .” she started to say when he jerked away from her like he’d just touched a live power conduit.
Riax looked in her direction and suddenly relaxed, sagging his shoulders and sitting back down, now more than half a meter from her.
“What was that?” she asked, both concerned and startled.
“Sorry . . . I didn’t sense you there.”
“Kind of hard to miss,” she said, scooting closer to him and narrowing her big green eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Riax swiped at the tears. “Just running through some memories.”
“Bad ones?”
“Yeah.”
“Care to share?”
“You don’t want them, trust me.”
“I didn’t mean show me. I meant tell me.”
“It’s Human . . . stuff.”
“I’m part Human, so try me.”
Riax blew out a breath in surrender, then tried to pick his words carefully. “Right before we met I had my arm bitten off. It might have been 16,000 years ago, but from my perspective it just happened. That isn’t something you shake off easily, and I never had the time to process it.”
“Because you woke up in the middle of a firefight?”
“Yeah. Then I learn everyone else is dead and I clamped down on the emotions to keep functioning, plus I’ve been busy with work and focusing on what I need to do now rather than fight endless mind games with the past. Now that we’ve got some spare time I felt it was wise that I start processing those emotions.”
“Meaning you needed to let it all out,” Jalia said, finally understanding. She thought he’d taken the entire destruction of his people a bit too lightly, at first thinking he was shallow, and then stoic, but now she saw he’d just been hiding it away in order to do what he needed to do . . . like saving her life in those first few moments after he awoke.
“More than that. There are processes to go through. Humans don’t just randomly let their emotions go. It’s like attuning a sensor array. You don’t just walk up and hit it with a hammer. You have to make fine adjustments. My internal balance has been off ever since I lost my arm. If I’m going to get it back I have to face this.”
“What were you working on in here?”
Riax looked at her sheepishly. “Nothing. I just needed to get away from everyone. I guess I should have shut the hatch.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone,” she said, backing up.
Riax’s hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. “No, it’s alright. Besides, you’re the only real friend I have left, and to be honest I’m tired of being alone.”
Jalia didn’t say anything, just looked at him and thinking a few thoughts. When h
e didn’t object she crawled over to him and twisted him around, wrapping her arms around his torso and laying his head back against her chest, holding him tight.
“Take as long as you need to process. I’ll stay with you until you’re done.”
He reached up and squeezed her hand, then slowly the tears started to return.
WHEN THE BATTLESHIP and the Resolute entered the Jptal System there were no ships waiting for them on the jumpline, but many others within the system redirected to intercept them immediately . . . all Xiat ships, Frigate-class or larger.
“Still think this was a good idea?” Jalia asked from the pilot’s seat as she moved them off the jumpline to rendezvous with the battleship.
“All according to plan. So far,” Riax added as he signaled Ella to raise shields. “Terrek said this would happen.”
“And you trust him?”
“I trust the Vespa’s deviousness,” he declared as he watched the ship’s now enhanced sensors tag incoming vessels with ETAs and strength assessments. The Xiat had some formidable firepower and seemed not to be shy about using it. If they were going to have to make a run for it, now would be the time.
That wasn’t the plan though, so the Resolute just sat and waited, drifting in a lazy orbit around Jptal alongside the battleship as the blocky Xiat ships gathered around them, coming in ones and twos and keeping their distance while forming a spherical containment formation, with several of the warships deploying fighters.
“This is fun,” Jalia commented after two hours of waiting.
“Patience,” Riax reminded her. “The Concordat is the negotiator here.”
“How strong did you make my shields again?”
“Enough to run if we need it,” he answered seriously. “But that won’t help the battleship if a fight starts, so just sit tight and wait this out.”
“We have been sitting,” Jalia groaned.
Riax glanced over at Ella. “Kids,” he said in the commerce language so both of them could hear.
“Indeed,” the Cres echoed with a smirk.
Jalia spun around and glared at them both. “Hey, I taught you that word,” she said as the comm activated. A moment later she took off her headset and handed it to Riax. “It’s for you.”
Riax took the set and placed the band over his ears. “What’s the situation?” he asked, speaking the commerce language for the first time without Ella’s translation. She telepathically told him she was standing by for help if he needed it.
“They’ve granted you passage through the system,” Terrek said. “But they’ve requested a chance to speak with you first. Nonbinding . . . they specified it was only a request and you’re free to leave at any time if you decline.”
“Did they say why?”
“I’m afraid they wouldn’t get into it,” the Captain apologized. “What do you want to do?”
“Do you still need to refuel?”
“I’d prefer to, but we’re good for the next jump if you want to leave immediately.”
“Go ahead and refuel. We’ll meet them in orbit. If they want to talk they can come to me. I don’t want to take the time to go planetside. Every kip we delay, the greater the chances of our pursuit catching up to us. Make sure they understand that.”
“Understood. Stand by,” Terrek said, switching off the comm.
Jalia just looked up at him with a ‘Really?’ look.
“Can I help it if I’m popular?” he scoffed.
Jalia rolled her eyes but couldn’t suppress a small laugh. “Just don’t get my ship blown up. Please.”
A moment later Terrek reported back that the Xiat had accepted his terms and transferred the coordinates to the Resolute. Jalia acknowledged that she’d received them and got the freighter underway as the Xiat blockade formation parted. It’d take about three more hours to reach orbit around Deorrat, the smallest of the ten planets in the system, but also the most heavily populated with 12 billion natives.
It served as the capitol of Xiat society, but it wasn’t the location of the refueling station that the Concordat used, which meant that the Resolute was temporarily losing its escort. Jalia didn’t like that fact either when it was brought to her attention, but Riax wasn’t concerned. He had a hunch that whatever the Xiat wanted with him was important. Isolationist races typically didn’t tolerate outsiders, and the fact that they were bringing them to their homeworld suggested that whatever this was, it was of high priority.
More than two dozen warships flanked the Resolute as it entered Deorrat high orbit, then broke off as planetary defense craft took their position alongside the freighter. The visually identical ships had limited gravity drives, with the extra interior space taken up by additional weapons and shield generators, making them ton for ton more effective warships than their more mobile brethren.
Each of the twelve defense ships was larger than the Junta’s freighter, but had little trouble keeping pace. Their plasma engines were oversized, giving them additional maneuvering capability off gravline . . . which meant everything in naval combat.
They were beasts of warships for the present day, but the full dozen wouldn’t have been a match for a single Human frigate, properly used. Riax saw the look on Jalia’s face, and to a lesser extent on the Cres, but in his case he was mentally calculating weaknesses in their ship designs, noting engine misalignments, and plotting the best angles of attack . . . which would be the ‘neck’ of the ships just aft of the lateral batteries.
He was slightly impressed with the size of the ship they were approaching, however. It was seven kilometers wide and four long, with large orbs emanating out from a central shaft. Its curved design aesthetic clashed with the square-based warships, but the material construction was identical, as was the coloration. The coordinates provided to the Resolute indicated that this was their rendezvous point.
The defense ships established a spherical perimeter at distance around the two ships, giving them intercept capability at about 100 kilometers out, meaning that close range weapons wouldn’t be within effective range of the target. In the distance several planetary defense stations orbited within sight, each over ten kilometers long, and beyond that were scores of warships at differing levels of orbit. Either the Xiat were overly paranoid or afraid of something particularly nasty.
A tiny shuttlecraft emerged from the massive Xiat ship and headed for the Resolute. Riax went down to the main cargo bay and met it there, with the two Kayna flanking him as bodyguards. He didn’t need them, but at least it gave them something to do. Jalia stayed on the bridge while the three Cres quietly took up covert support positions within the mounds of equipment cluttering the bay.
The teardrop-shaped shuttle slid into the freighter and extended six landing claws out of recessed niches. It settled to the deck with a muffled thud and immediately extended a side ramp from the top of the shuttle, which bent midway through extension and directed the lower half forward, making a box-like right turn.
Large metallic suits clamored down the walkway and made a gauntlet, three by three, at the foot of the ramp. Behind them came three more suits. Two were equally silver, but the center one was adorned in glistening green plates, accented by silver trim. Riax met the leader at the end of the gauntlet.
“Greetings, Human,” a deep, highly synthesized voice offered in Terran instead of the standard commerce language. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us.”
“Hi ya, fellas,” he said, sensing the occupants’ minds. “What do you need?”
“Our races have met before, long ago,” the green one said hesitantly as one of its attendants shifted nervously. It was only a small bobble, but easy to notice as the others stood perfectly still. Two important data points. “We had an amicable agreement then. We wish to discuss reestablishing that accord.”
“You’ve grown,” Riax commented, then his eyes narrowed, “or more like
ly, you built these suits to hide your identity. Combined with the fact that you rarely allow others within this star system, and have a penchant for destroying trespassing vessels, I’d say something happened while I was out of touch . . . and you’d better have a damn good explanation.”
The green one paused for a long moment. “Few speak to the Xiat as you do and live to tell of it. It is fortunate for you that we value the counsel of the Elder races.”
“Then take heed of this,” Riax said, raising his newly regrown right hand and summoning a spark of bioplasma in his palm. It manifested with a very high pitched sound that made the Kayna stir behind him. “If you remember our past association, then you should remember what we have done to other races that indiscriminately attacked ships passing through their territory.”
The eight bodyguards stepped forward, surrounding their leader and raising forearm mounted weapons at the Human. Both Kayna roared loudly in response, dipping their large heads and making ready to charge forward.
“Don’t make me teach you a lesson in manners,” Riax said slowly. “You know what I can do.”
Both sides stared each other down for a moment, with the Cres silently appearing from behind the Xiat shuttle with assault rifles trained on the hostiles. Eventually the green one motioned to the others and they stepped back, lowering their weapons. Their leader walked forward and took a knee in front of Riax.
“I apologize,” the synthetic voice said slowly. “We are not here to fight. We have come to ask for your assistance.”
Riax dissipated the small plasma orb in a puff of fire as it expanded up and out, cooling. He lowered his arm slowly and looked down at the wide green helmet that matched the width of the suit’s shoulders.
“Stand up,” he ordered.
The alien stood and waited for the Human to speak.
“The Rikator I remember were better than this.”
The green armored head nodded. “You do remember us.”