Star Wolf (Shattered Galaxy)

by David G. Johnson

  “Well,” Voide replied, “our little misdirection about the fire might have thrown the Brothers off for a bit, but once they debrief about the encounter, they will know we burned the house, and will suspect John has the data.”

  “Yep,” Molon affirmed, his gut tightening in a knot. “That’s not the worst of it.”

  “It gets worse?” John asked. “How?”

  “Dawnstar has well-paid soldiers outfitted with the best tech money can buy. They won’t give up easily if Elena’s research was what they were really after.”

  John dropped into a chair, grasping the sides of his head with his hands. Molon knew after everything the human had been through, this was likely only the beginning of the road. He had run up against Dawnstar’s forces before, and not all were like the rejects and wannabes on Ratuen. There were some top notch mercs, ex-spooks, and former shadowrunners on Dawnstar’s payroll. If they came for John while he was aboard Star Wolf, this would not just be the doctor’s problem.

  “Something still doesn’t make sense,” John said, lifting his gaze once again to face Molon.

  “What’s that, John?” Molon asked.

  “If Dawnstar wanted Elena’s research, why didn’t the inquisitor on Ratuen ask about it? He didn’t mention it once. All he cared about was the location of the Brothers of the Lion.”

  That was a good question. Molon wished he had a good answer. Still, “I don’t know” just didn’t feel like the response John needed right now. Unfortunately, that’s the only one Molon had.

  “Maybe they got wind the brothers had contacted Elena and figured, with her being Faithful, that she had already turned it over to them,” Voide said, not sounding overly convincing or convinced.

  “There is more to it than that,” Twitch replied. “Tubal may be a spineless puppet of High Archon Zarsus, but he is not stupid, and no stranger to corporate espionage.”

  “The Daemi are allied with Zarsus and the Provisional Imperium, which also includes Dawnstar,” Voide said. “Maybe Dawnstar found out the Brothers were looking to develop a Daemi-targeted bio-weapon and tried to stop it.”

  “Maybe,” Molon answered. “But whatever the reason for their involvement, they aren’t done with this yet.”

  “Neither are the Brothers,” John added. “They are relentless guerrilla fighters and fanatical about destroying the Daemi and restoring Humaniti to a unified force in this region of the galaxy. If they even suspect I might have what they are looking for, they will be back.”

  Molon stood and walked back to the control panel.

  “Sounds like a good reason to jump this system as soon as possible.”

  “What about Elena’s research?” John asked.

  “I would keep the knowledge of that pendant datacube’s existence on a need-to-know basis. Just keep it to the four of us and Dub, since you will need him to rig a reader. Get settled in, Doc. You may be with us a while.”

  “I’ve been in worse places,” John replied with a confident smile that belied the fear and confusion Molon could see lurking just below the surface.

  “Disengage blackout protocol room CR1,” Molon said, accessing the panel. “Authorization Molon Hawkins, captain.”

  “Voice recognized, verbal commands accepted. Blackout protocol disengaged for Star Wolf room CR1.”

  “Twitch,” Molon said, “oversee the wrap-up of the supply run. The rest of us will get to the bridge and get us out of here before we find any more trouble.”

  Twitch nodded and padded out the aft door while Molon, Voide, and John headed through the forward portal connecting the conference room to the bridge. As they stepped through the forward hatch, Z-Man, manning the helm, jumped to his feet, saluted, and opened his mouth to—.

  “Ensign!” Molon snapped at the young officer. “If you announce ‘captain on the bridge’ you will be scouring the refuse hold with a microscrubber for the next month!”

  The young man flushed and returned to his post. Molon turned to address the ensign staffing the astrogation station.

  “How soon can we hit voidspace, ensign?”

  “That depends on the destination, captain. What is our heading?”

  Before the captain could answer, an alert sounded from the communications station.

  “Captain, a System Express boat just arrived with a standard news and communications packet,” Mel announced.

  “Any merc contracts close enough for us to pick up?”

  “There are no contracts listed, but there is a secure communication within the packet relevant to us.”

  “What is it?”

  “An encoded message addressed to Tede system, Elucia City, attention Dr. John Salzmann,” Mel replied. “Since you filed John’s travel documents with the Tede starport, their comms center forwarded the communication to Star Wolf.”

  Eight – A Voice From Beyond

  “Mel,” John said approaching the communications officer station. “Does it say who sent it?”

  “It does,” Mel replied, “but there must be an error.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The message says the sender is Dr. Elena Salzmann.”

  John grabbed the back of Mel’s chair to steady himself.

  “When was it sent,” John asked, “and from where?”

  Mel paused. She turned toward John, her face pained and compassionate. He felt waves of sorrow and comfort swirled together emanating from her.

  “The origin shows Ratuen,” she said softly.

  “The Dawnstar detention facility?” John said.

  His stomach tightened and his head swam. His brow furrowed as he rubbed the back of his neck, puzzling through the implications.

  “Apparently,” Mel answered. “The time and date stamp on the file shows it was sent the day we rescued you, about seven hours after we left orbit.”

  This was impossible. Elena was dead before Molon and he had made their escape from Ratuen. How could she send a message seven hours later?

  “John,” Mel said, placing a hand on his, calling him back to reality. Her touch filled him with a warming calm that fought against the chaos of his confusion. “Time and origin tags can be easily counterfeited.”

  “This has to be Dawnstar’s idea of a sick joke,” Voide snapped from the security station. “I wouldn’t put it past those twisted techies.”

  “John,” Molon said. “We can patch this through to your cabin if you want some privacy.”

  “That won’t be necessary, Captain,” John replied.

  John sighed and braced himself before straightening himself up with help from the bolstering of Mel’s touch. He took a deep breath, smoothed the front of his shirt, and spoke.

  “Voide is probably right. Dawnstar may have sent this as a parting shot. Open it please, Mel, so we can see who is behind such a twisted act.”

  “I’m sorry,” Mel responded with a shake of her head. “I cannot open the file.”

  “Why not?” John answered, his voice rising slightly in frustration. Whatever this message was, John didn’t believe it had the remotest possibility of actually being from Elena. Still, it was best to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible.

  “The file requires a security code to access,” Mel answered. “Do you know the code?”

  “How would I know that?” John replied.

  “Get your head in the game, pale,” Voide commanded, pounding a fist on the edge of her console.

  “What do you mean?” John growled back at the security chief, not understanding what he was missing that Voide saw.

  “For a doctor, you aren’t very bright,” Voide replied. “This was set to be delivered to you personally. There’s no payoff unless you can access it. Whoever is behind this expected you would know how to open it.”

  “John,” Mel said, the waves of her voice lapping at his mind like gentle swells on a calm shore, ebbing away his annoyance at Voide’s chafing demeanor. “What if it really was from Elena?”

  John jerked his hand off Mel’s shou
lder, taking a step back from the communications officer. As soon as he broke contact, the ebb of calm that had held back his frustration and confusion flowed away, leaving only his raw emotion.

  “That’s impossible,” he said, fighting back the tears threatening to fill his eyes. “Elena is dead. I saw her die.”

  “John,” Mel interjected with a glisten in her eye. “I only meant that if you had received a message from Elena, something she wanted to send for only you to see, how would you have accessed the message?”

  John could feel Mel’s voice trying to break through, but the walls of pain that had sprung up from the memory of seeing the interrogator slit Elena’s throat right before his eyes were like the bastions of a fortress holding back an invading army, refusing to let the calm breach the gates. Still, the analytical part of John’s mind fought to be heard.

  “How would anyone know Elena’s security key?” John mused aloud. “That makes no sense.”

  “Unless you have any better ideas,” Voide interrupted, “then quit rationalizing and try it.”

  John felt the frustration inside him focus into a white-hot point of light aimed at the center of the gray-skinned security chief’s forehead. He had just reached the same conclusion, but her outburst robbed him of the opportunity to act on his decision. Now, in everyone’s eyes, he would be acting on her command.

  There was nothing to be done about it for the moment, but if he planned to stay on Star Wolf for any length of time, a stern talk with the security chief would be part of that. Without another word, he returned to Mel’s workstation, careful not to touch her again lest whatever effect she had on him return against his will. He punched in the sixteen digit alphanumeric code he and Elena always used to send secure messages.

  “Security code accepted. Accessing message,” Mel’s panel announced.

  John wavered on his feet, dizziness threatening to engulf him. His and Elena’s private code had worked. How was this possible? Could she really be…?

  “Put it on the main screen,” Molon said.

  “I cannot,” Mel replied. “The message is audio only.”

  “Play it,” John demanded.

  He had lost patience with this whole ruse. Why would someone try and trick him into believing, even for a second, his Elena was still alive? Would this recording be demands for her research, or threats against his life?

  Whatever John expected might be on that recording, he wasn’t prepared for what he heard as Mel routed the message through Star Wolf’s comm system.

  “John, I…,” came an almost whispering voice.

  By the Lion of Judah, it was Elena’s voice! John’s chest tightened. He couldn’t breathe. The edges of his vision began to blur and dizziness threatened to engulf him. He pushed back the overwhelming flood of sensations through sheer will, but he wasn’t sure how long he could hold it back as the sound of her voice continued.

  “I don’t know if you will hear this, but I found a way to uplink to the…to the System Express boat in orbit. I looked for you when the explosions freed me. You weren’t in our cell. I…I don’t know how long I can stay hidden. I’m afraid, John…If you get this messa--”

  As suddenly as it started, the message ended.

  “Why did you stop?” John said, spinning Mel in her chair, tears streaming down his face. “Play the rest of it!”

  Nausea churned his gut. Elena had always been so eloquent. To hear her stammering and confused, she must be at the limits of her endurance. Why had he left her there?

  “I am sorry, John,” said Mel’s sweet voice, a single tear of her own sliding down her powder-blue left cheek. “That is all.”

  “It’s a hoax,” Voide said. “Dawnstar must suspect John has Elena’s research. They are trying to lure him back to get their hands on it.”

  “She’s alive,” John whispered.

  The numbness in his soul transferred itself to his tone. He stared blankly at the forward bulkhead, his mind reeling with the implications.

  “John, that’s impossible,” Molon added. “We both saw her die. I don’t know what their game is, but this recording is definitely a fake.”

  “No. No. That voice was Elena’s. She’s alive!” John insisted. “I have to go back for her.”

  “It can’t be her,” Molon argued. “We saw the inquisitor slit her throat.”

  “I know that!” John screamed, clenching his fists in rage as he spun toward Molon. “But no one else would have her encryption key. How do you explain that?”

  “Maybe they tortured it out of her,” Molon reasoned. “They had been tuning you two up for quite a while before I found you.”

  “But never alone,” John said, shaking his head. “Always together. They never split us up, and they never asked about encryption codes or anything else. The only thing the inquisitor cared about, when he bothered to question us at all, was the location of the Brothers of the Lion base on Tede. I’m telling you, captain, Elena is alive.”

  “You’re insane,” Molon snarled.

  John’s face brightened as he spun and beamed a hopeful look at Molon.

  “I may well be, but you are mercenaries, aren’t you? I have money. Name your price. I will hire Star Wolf to take me back to Ratuen to look for her.”

  A hush fell over the bridge. For a moment John wasn’t sure if anyone had heard him, until Voide replied in an angry tone.

  “We’re mercs, not a suicide squad. You want us to fly back into Dawnstar territory after you and Molon dropped a grenade down their shorts less than a week ago?”

  Something in John snapped. Weren’t these types of people supposed to be fearless? Hadn’t Voide said during their time together on Tede that it was axiomatic for mercenaries to risk their lives for a payday? Well John had no shortage of funds, so this sudden reluctance to help him get back to Elena was enfuriating. John reached deep for his best poker-bluff attitude and turned to face the gray-skinned security chief.

  “Well then,” John said, a menacing calmness overtaking his voice. “If you don’t have the guts, then set me down on Tede. I will catch the next freighter to Furi and find a more courageous crew of mercenaries there. Either way, I’m going back for her.”

  Voide, with murder in her eyes, took a step toward John before Molon turned to face the security chief. The hackles on the back of Molon’s lupine neck stood straight up. His upper lip on both sides pulled back into a snarl, flashing his deadly canines. As Voide moved toward John, Molon took a half step toward her.

  “Stand down, Lieutenant Commander!” he growled.

  “Is there something wrong with your ears, captain?” Voide spat, halting her advance. “This sniveling pale just called us cowards.”

  “I heard him,” Molon replied. “I was also with him when he saw his wife killed in front of his eyes less than a week ago. Now he gets sent a recording of her voice calling for him to come back for her. That’s enough to shake anyone into saying something…” Molon turned his head to face John before adding, “suicidal.”

  “However,” Molon said returning his gaze to Voide, “he’s right. We’re mercs who just got stiffed on a job. As captain, I need to make payroll so, Lieutenant Commander, unless you have a boatload of cash and want to pay me to take Star Wolf someplace else, then we’ve been offered a paying gig to return to Ratuen, and I’m taking it.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” Voide replied, her body tense as a spring as she stepped back to her station.

  “Last time I checked I’m still captain, so that’s my call.”

  “It’s a bad call,” Voide snapped as she lowered her head to her controls, deliberately not looking at Molon.

  “You got a problem with it, Voide,” Molon replied, “I’ll be happy to put you dirtside before we leave.”

  Voide looked up from her station and hurled a killing gaze at John before returning her attention to Molon. She suddenly affected a terse smile and cocked her head.

  “As security chief, it is my duty to respectfully inform my
captain that he is being an idiot ordering our ship into a trap and is about to get us all killed.”

  “Of course it’s a trap,” Molon said, the snarl slipping more into a wolfish grin, ignoring Voide’s blatant insubordination. “Have we ever taken a job that wasn’t rigged to get us killed?”

  “Fine,” Voide said, busying herself with the controls at the security station. “You are the captain and I will follow your orders, as long as you don’t order me to take a bullet for this irrational pale. I already saved his pathetic life once today. That meets my altruism quota for the month.”

  Molon looked like he was trying his best not to laugh.

  “One good deed a month, Voide?” Molon quipped. “Did you up your quota without telling me?”

  Voide widened her yellowish eyes, tossing him an exaggerated smile. He responded with a wink before turning his attention to the forward bridge stations.

  “Ensign,” Molon addressed the young officer manning astrogation. “Change of course. Take us to Hatacks, then queue up a heading for the rabbit trail entry point to Ratuen.”

  “Aye, captain. ETA two hours to the jump point to Hatacks.”

  “John,” Molon said.

  “Yes, captain?” John replied warily, expecting Molon to lay into him for his provocative outburst.

  “Meet me in my quarters in ten minutes,” Molon instructed. “We have some things to talk about.”

  “Yes, captain,” John answered, feeling like a prisoner who had just been called to the gallows.

  “Lieutenant Commander Matsumura has the conn,” Molon announced, nodding to Voide.

  The captain proceeded toward the port-side forward hatch leading from the bridge and made his exit without another word. Voide moved from her security station to the captain’s chair and put out a call for a security officer to report to the bridge to take her place.

  “John?” Mel said.

  Her soft voice cut through the fog in his mind. Suddenly he realized he wasn’t angry anymore.

  “Yes, Mel?”

  “I think it is brave that you would go back for Elena, even if there is only a slim chance that this is true.”