by David Buck
The captains and engineers of the eight mining craft now went forward towards Jacques as he dismissed the rest of the meeting.
‘We are in agreement and I want most of you moving the shields across to the selected ships. Now if we stick with the contingency plan made earlier then we will be fine. Get going everyone as our ships could become important in the final battle.’
Tom soon had the plans up on the view screen and the other mining captains were soon taking notes as they discussed what was required. He was conscious of the strain beneath the camaraderie of the miners, and he wondered how many would be lost in the next few days.
***
Grant Stoneham looked worried as he looked around at Gayle and Olav after the Emerald Sky entered high orbit around the unknown planet of the Kilin system. He had earlier left his tankers on the outskirts of the system with instructions to remain silent. The Maveen Dradfer probe was in space nearby, and had remained silent for an extended period as the two ships moved inside the remote star system. Olav was now analysing the planet surface and he spoke calmly across the bridge.
‘There is a civilisation below us and they are well hidden in trees and caves. The level of technology is roughly equivalent to our industrial age two hundred years ago. They appear to have electricity and a variety of powered craft, but there is no nuclear technology present.’
Grant voiced what was worrying him as he replied.
‘Yet they are almost invisible from the edge of their star system and they could be easily missed. Also there is very little radio or television traffic leaking into space compared to other inhabited systems we know about.’
He was about to offer a further opinion, but the Dradfer probe spoke up in a metallic tone full of authority.
‘Captain Stoneham, you will go alone and take only a shuttle down to the planet observing radio silence. For your own safety I will go with you after I first refuel. You are to adhere to all my guidelines as I need to confirm something about the race below. Note that the meeting cannot be too long as we have other star systems to explore. The Emerald Sky will remain in high orbit, your crew will power down all unnecessary generators and the ship will remain radio silent.’
Grant quickly reassured Gayle that everything would be fine before he made his way to one of his shuttle craft. He started the pre flight checks and watched as the Maveen probe docked onto one of the standard docking ports. He then noted that the probe was quickly taking onboard tonnes of oxygen and hydrogen.
Grant waited until the Maveen Dradfer probe had undocked from the Emerald Sky, before he undocked the shuttle and trailed it into the atmosphere. Apart from ensuring his radio was set to low power, he had an uneventful trip as he kept pace several kilometres behind the probe. The probe made for a large clearing in amongst several trees, and Grant waited until it had landed before he began his own cautious approach.
The Barede freighter captain also ensured the weaker shields of the small shuttle were fully functional. A party of aliens first approached the landed Maveen probe, and Grant looked in polite interest at the new race. He felt these new aliens looked impressive, as he noted their fine white feathers and several differences between them. The aliens appeared to consist of a variety of shapes and sizes, with several of the larger three metre tall individuals obviously armed.
The Maveen probe spoke after several further minutes and Grant paid close attention.
‘We will leave another message for the Trader ship when they follow us here at a later stage. This world needs to remain a close secret as it is populated by a hidden colony of Quixxe. From the accounts of the colonists, both the Cephrit and Deltas Vass established this colony several thousand years ago.’
Grant was amazed by this news and he had a few quick questions for the Maveen.
‘But this race is supposed to be slaves in the centre of the galaxy. Are they not a food source for other galactic races, especially the Zronte and the Tilmud? So why are they out here? - and how are we to become friends with them?’
The Maveen Dradfer probe remained silent at this point for several moments, for he was hoping that Captain Stoneham would make his own decisions. The mechanical life form was not disappointed as Grant spoke again.
‘I will go outside dressed only in shorts and unarmed. So do they also speak Trader and what can I use to trade with them?’
The probe was ready with answers and in short order Grant was walking down the rear ramp of his shuttle craft. He kept his movements deliberate and slow as the probe introduced him in Trader language to the waiting Quixxe.
‘This is Captain Grant Stoneham, a human of the Barede federation in the outer arm of the galaxy. The captain’s home world is Sol three in the Orion arm not far from Cephrit space.’
Grant gave a deep bow of respect to the most ornate warrior standing directly in front of him. He noted the obvious strength of the alien, the red head coomb and the yellow crest on the three metre high Quixxe. The armed warrior returned his bow and spoke in a rich voice to him.
‘Welcome to our world Captain, and we trust your intentions are peaceful. I am warrior commander Berrinal, and we seek to remain hidden from the Zronte and Tilmud. You will pledge to keep our existence secret, for even the Cephrit and Deltas Vass who seeded us here are mindful of our rights.’
The surrounding warriors now gave an air of menace that Grant quietly noted, as he slowly bowed again before speaking.
‘Warrior Commander Berrinal, I pledge to keep your race’s existence secret and I will instruct my race to mark this star system as off limits under quarantine. I also pledge neutrality and non aggression to your race for we are a race that seeks to trade.’
Berrinal slowly placed his automatic weapon on the ground and walked closer to Grant. The Barede colonist kept his teeth covered in case he was seen to be a threat as the Quixxe warrior looked him over from his greater height. After establishing he was harmless, near naked and unarmed, Berrinal spoke softly to one side.
‘Please come forward your majesty, for the human is unarmed and I sense no malice in him.’
The line of warriors parted and a female Quixxe came slowly forward. Grant noted her obvious age as he remained silent to allow her to speak first. Berrinal moved to one side and introduced his ruler.
‘Captain Grant Stoneham, it is my privilege to introduce to you Queen Lorrinel who is also my mother.’
Grant gave another deep bow and then politely greeted the queen.
‘I am honoured to meet you Queen Lorrinel and I trust I may of great service to you people today and always.’
The queen gave a nod of welcome, and Grant noted that her eyes hinted at both great wisdom and compassion. Lorrinel spoke softly and Grant had to listen carefully as he tried to follow her words.
‘Since ancient history when the living ships were overthrown we have lived in fear. The Vorinne themselves were nearly defeated long ago by our race, and but for the savagery of the Zronte we would be still a star faring race. Our race is now livestock on Tilmud and Zronte worlds while we hidden here dream of regaining our rightful place in the galaxy.’
The Maveen probe caught the reference to the ancients, but he kept quiet for the time of their renewal was still to be yet reached.
The queen spoke again and Grant listened closely to the message behind her words.
‘The Cephrit and the Deltas Vass placed us here on Kilin in secret many centuries ago and are trusted by us despite being vassals. The other vassals have proven to be devious in their dealings with each other let alone other races. Of the independent races only the Maveen, Traders and Sspol are regarded with any degree of trust by us. The other independent races, especially the Altoran and the Fenshilla, are highly distrusted.’
Grant knew what he wanted to say, even as he wondered to himself what a living ship or an Altoran was, but he waited to ensure the queen had finished speaking before he replied.
‘We seek to deal with all races with honour and we forbid the conquest an
d enslavement of other races. I personally find the treatment of the Quixxe by other races to be repellent to our core beliefs. This world is many thousands of light years from the centre of the galaxy, and so you should be safe from interference by the senior galactic races.’
Queen Lorrinel looked at Grant sadly as she softly replied, and her words shocked him.
‘The Traders and the Maveen are not the only races capable of easily crossing the complete galaxy. The Vorinne were once capable but are now forbidden, and the Zronte have always been capable but are too lazy.’
Grant knew that he would have to report this conversation to both senior humans and senior Traders back on Barede. For the Barede colony administrators had often speculated about the Trader type two hyper drive and if any of the other races had the same abilities. Once again he wished that Captain Narindestat was present, and this gave him his next items of conversation.
‘Your majesty, my ship is on a mission of exploration with the Maveen and we will be leaving in a few days. A Trader ship is also due to arrive in this system with other Maveen at a later stage.’
The queen quietly took in this information and turned to one side as she discussed the news with her subjects, including Berrinal. After several minutes she addressed Grant in a thin voice still full of authority.
‘We trust the Traders to trade with us in a discrete fashion with their sneak ships. We will trade with you today, but in future you will have to go through the Traders to access our products.’
Grant readily agreed to the queen’s ruling, but was at a loss to work out what he could trade in return. So he merely offered to trade what he had in the shuttle.
‘Your majesty I have human foodstuffs, several pallets of metals, precious stones and woven basalt sheets in my shuttle. Would these items be of interest in trade with your race?’
Berrinal fielded the question as the queen gave Grant an enigmatic smile.
‘Captain, if you also supply tissue samples, painlessly of course, and a history of your people we will more than happy to trade for the items you listed.’
Grant soon found himself providing a variety of hair, blood and skin samples to the waiting Quixxe after two of their medics also came forward. He had a flash of inspiration and quickly excused himself to fetch two items from the shuttle. The freighter captain then slowly walked back to the queen and presented the items after bowing yet again.
‘This device is a talking holographic encyclopaedia that speaks in both human English and Trader language. We use it for teaching the Traders about the human race, and I also have a solar panel powered energy pack for it as well.’
Grant soon had the items setup and the Quixxe listened in rapture as the encyclopaedia gave an overview of Earth.
‘The Barede colony was founded one hundred and fifty years ago in year 2051 AD Earth time and year one Barede time. The colony was created after Maveen gate ships linked directly from the Earth’s surface to destination gate ships on the Barede planet…’
Grant was puzzled by a muted buzz that came from the assembled Quixxe as a picture of the Earth and its moon then appeared as the next holograph. The discussions soon moved to items that the Quixxe manufactured and the queen surprised him with her next offer.
‘Captain, we have a rare series of paintings that cover both folklore and history in the galaxy. We can replace these painting ourselves as we have copies of them elsewhere and we remember them vividly in any case.’
Grant was going to refuse, but this time Berrinal was quick to reassure him.
‘We are determined to be of assistance in your own future role in the galaxy and these paintings may be helpful. We will soon recreate them for our own use here after you have left.’
Grant then noted that a few Quixxe artisans were off to one side either recording his presence with recording devices or furiously painting away. He crossed over to them as they continued to work and admired their handy work.
‘These images are really very good and I am impressed….’
The trading went ahead and Grant’s shuttle was soon emptied out to be reloaded with the fourteen large canvas paintings and bolts of fabric. Grant stayed with the Quixxe for a formal meal of ryal and vegetables, before he turned to his shuttle to leave.
‘Your majesty, I request I be excused as I will have to return to my main ship shortly. It has been an honour to meet you and I wish you well.’
Queen Lorrinel warmly wished Grant well in return, and he was soon piloting his shuttle back into space. After Grant had docked with the Emerald Sky, the Maveen probe’s voice came through the speaker as Gayle and Olav joined him in the shuttle’s hold.
‘So with the trade items from the Quixxe, do you see the importance of the items that the queen has traded to you? Also I will remind you that the existence of this world should be kept a secret.’
Grant quietly removed the cargo strap from the first wrapped painting and lifted it up to the light. A series of symbols and alien races were present on the canvas, and both Gayle and Olav gave him nervous glances as he finally replied to the Maveen probe.
‘Yes we already have a brief idea of the importance of these items and both human and Trader authorities will have access to these items in secret. We will encrypt the location details for the Quixxe planet and it will be an official secret.’
Grant then began his preparations to take the Emerald Sky onto her next destination. He was mindful to leave a low powered message probe for Captain Narindestat to locate before he left the Kilin star system.
Back on the surface of the planet, the queen and her son were quietly discussing a particular image they had seen on the hologram. Berrinal framed a nervous question to his mother.
‘The planet is a described in ancient history and the moon seals the argument. Surely the other galactic races must be aware of the importance of the human planet?’
Queen Lorrinel looked at Berrinal sadly as she softly replied with a single telling sentence.
‘The Dradfer knew of the significance as was borne out by the last great rebellion.’
Berrinal repressed a shudder as he took in further details of the human home world, and he was sure that the peace of the galaxy was to be broken yet again.
***
Thatak’siema was feeling better after two days of rest, though her two broken legs itched badly in their casts. The itching had not done anything for her mood and the Cephrit station master was now well acquainted of this problem. The demeanour of Lord Malang’troh watching silently from one side did not fill him with confidence either as the second envoy berated him again.
‘So your superior officer, the fleet master, leaves just a few hours before I arrive. The Barus captains Omerio and Gindane are either at the former Dradfer colonies or even now defending the human home world. So what possibly worthless news can you give me about the Jerecab lately?’
The last sentence was delivered in a near shout and the station master loudly grated his hind scales in anxiety as replied.
‘Your grace our scout ships have discovered that the humans left for their home world pursued by the Jerecab armada. Also several human ships are trailing behind the armada as they seek to rejoin their own fleet. These ships are being pursued by Jerecab reinforcements that include large Jerecab lifters.’
The Cephrit paused now and bowed in respect, though Thatak’siema did not appreciate his delay as she spoke again.
‘There is something else occurring no doubt that you needed to tell me about?’
The station master knew that it was unlikely the Vorinne yet knew either the significance of the Quixxe servants in the corner of the room, or the planet were the fleet master had recently hidden the equipment from the Traders. However he decided that the fixed and malevolent stares of the two senior Vorinne could shortly mean serious trouble for him personally. So the station master volunteered something he knew the Vorinne would be interested in, despite it not directly involving either the Barus or the Cephrit.
> ‘Your grace, my lord, one of our scout ships witnessed a fleet of Fenshilla ships capture survivors from human ships. The Fenshilla then engaged a Trader wing ship before it fled from them. Four of the eight Fenshilla ships followed the Trader ship towards the outskirts of the galaxy, while the other four ships are slowly returning to Fenshilla space. These ships appear to have damaged hyper drive modules and so are forced to slowly retreat...’
The two Vorinne shared a long glance with one another before Lord Malang’troh knocked his staff once on the ground, and the Cephrit male fell silent as the Vorinne lord spoke.
‘Station master we encountered the Fenshilla earlier and we assumed they had left for their own systems after we confronted them. So why should we be concerned about these ships so far from vassal space?’
The station master felt relieved that he would survive the current meeting as he carefully replied.
‘The Fenshilla are actually from the Black Claw brigade and the ships were likely supplied by Lord Temeroth according to our intelligence sources. We also…’
The two Vorinne looked at each again other with long stares and the Cephrit male fell silent again as he knew that he had deflected their interest in other matters for the time being. He decided that truth was a powerful weapon as the Vorinne dismissed him from their questions. He moved across to one side wall as a Deltas Vass fleet commander walked in to the room.
Thatak’siema felt no relief as the Deltas Vass gave both the senior Vorinne a deep bow of respect. Her unease was heightened as Lord Malang’troh now placed his staff of office onto the bare deck to signify imperial authority was suspended for the moment. The Deltas Vass commander noted that the conversation was to be just vassal race to vassal race, but still spoke formally.
‘My greetings and respect to you your grace and to you my lord. My fleet has been sent here in response to a request for aid from the fleet master. Our obligation is honour the Cephrit request under galactic law, though we will of course at least consider anything else you ask of us.’