Beyond Varallan

by neetha Napew

  “The sharp tongue,” TssVar said. “That I remember of you, SsureeVa.”

  “What does ‘SsureeVa’ mean?”

  “Thin-skinned.” His jaw couldn’t bend into a smile, but I heard the ghost of humor in his hiss.

  “What does ‘TssVar’ mean?”

  “Fearless.”

  Yep, that pretty much summed it up for me. “So-Over-Lord TssVar-where do we go from here?”

  “League vessels will be taken to our space. Some crew will be sold with the ships. The others will go to the slavers.” He saw my tiny reaction and rubbed his claws against the side of his thick neck. “You knew their fate.”

  “I knew. If you’re waiting for me to cheer with joy, don’t hold your breath, OverLord.”

  My sarcasm seemed to amuse him more than anything. “You are a mystery to me, Doctor. Small, fragile, and bolder than any warm-blood I have known. You are... unique among your kind.”

  “Thanks. I think.”

  Two of his limbs lashed lazily around his massive head. “A Terran male has been demanding dialogue with me. He resembles you, uses some of your name.”

  “My parent. Doctor Joseph Grey Veil.”

  TssVar pressed a keypad on the console before him. “Bring in the Terran.”

  I enjoyed watching the guard toss Joseph Grey Veil into TssVar’s office. His limbs flailed wildly until he landed on the deck and collapsed.

  The OverLord sighed. “Your kind are too flimsy, SsureeVa. You there. Terran. Get up!”

  Joseph awkwardly scrambled to his feet. His wrists and ankles were bound with short lengths of alloy chains. On his head he wore the same headgear I had. He didn’t so much as glance at me.

  “OverLord TssVar.” He bowed as elegantly as his bonds allowed him to. “Dr. Joseph Grey Veil, Terran research scientist. Thank you for seeing me.”

  “This one uses mannerly speech,” TssVar said to me.

  “He’s good at talking,” I replied.

  “What do you want, Terran?”

  “I beg a private audience with you, OverLord.”

  “He begs, too.”

  “Not for long,” I said.

  Joseph stiffened and peered down his nose at me. “This Terran female is a habitual liar. She attempts to create a conflict between us before I can state my case to you.”

  “SsureeVa, you are a liar?” TssVar asked me. “I thought you but short-tempered, arrogant.”

  “Dr. Grey Veil would have you believe otherwise.” I wasn’t going to confirm or deny. Let my creator dig his own hole.

  The Hsktskt Commander seemed bored. “Terran, beg or get out.”

  “Very well.” He assumed a posture I was very familiar with. It was the same way he stood behind a podium when he was about to deliver a lecture or commencement speech. I yawned. “Two years ago...”

  He gave TssVar a severely edited version of the facts. The OverLord listened with genuine interest. When he finished his summary of the events leading to my rescue by HouseClan Torin, Joseph gestured toward me.

  “I have no knowledge of her activities during the past year, but with your permission, I will continue my analysis and turn all findings over to the Faction for their scientific advancement.”

  Sure he would. When there were alien matchmaking agencies on Terra.

  TssVar rose from his chair. “Terran, you may go.”

  That surprised my creator. “Will you not grant my request, OverLord?”

  The Hsktskt looked from Joseph Grey Veil to me. “No.”

  “Why not?” Joseph demanded.

  “You question me?” TssVar came around the desk so fast my creator fell backward on his posterior trying to scuttle away. With one limb the Hsktskt raised him from the floor, then off the floor. “You claim this female your test specimen. Your property. You wish freedom to experiment on her again. Have I understood your begging?”

  Joseph nodded frantically.

  “The female is the Designate of my brood. Do you understand me, spineless one?”

  “Cherijo, what does he mean?” Joseph was frantic. I studied my fingernails. “What is a Designate?”

  “Godmother to his children,” I said. “Good-bye, Dr. Grey Veil.”

  TssVar tossed my creator out of his office and closed the door panel. He returned to his console and inspected me closely.

  “How long did he experiment on you?”

  I lifted my eyes to the yellow stare. “Twenty-seven years.”

  “My condolences, SsureeVa.”

  I had expected the Hsktskt to be heartless butchers, and here one was sympathizing with me. I would have laughed, but the image of a NessNevat child appeared in my mind. My good humor evaporated abruptly. “OverLord, may I ask what will happen to Dr. Grey Veil now?”

  The Hsktskt towered over me. “I could have him gutted for you. I will allow you to decide.”

  I thought it over. It was a tempting offer. Some small spark of humanity made me shake my head. “No. If anything kills him, it will be his own ambition. Will he go to the slavers along with the others?”

  “No. That tongue of his makes him of small value. Less if I remove it. He will be my messenger to the League.” He moved to the desk and selected a data pad from the assortment.

  I frowned. “I didn’t know you wanted the League to be aware of this assault.”

  “We have captured sixty of their vessels. It is an indignity the League will not ignore. This time they will retaliate.”

  I saw his motives clearly at once. “You’re trying to draw them out.”

  The OverLord’s tongue lashed out quickly. “You claimed you knew nothing about war. You are a liar.”

  “And bad-tempered. And arrogant,” I said. Time to find out what my future held in store for me. “What will happen to me, OverLord?”

  He seemed startled by that. “I had assumed...” His yellow eyes narrowed. “Of course. I see the wisdom of it.”

  “Maybe you could let me in on some of that wisdom?”

  “You will be informed. Go to the ship’s Medical Facility. There are wounded you may tend to.”

  I rose and bowed as I had seen the other soldiers do. He made a sweeping motion; I turned and keyed the door panel open.

  “Doctor.”

  I hesitated.

  “My debt to you is satisfied.”

  He was telling me I would get no preferential treatment from him anymore. “I understand, OverLord.”

  There were no wounded Hsktskt soldiers, only battered League troopers with broken bones, pulse burns, and plenty of lacerations and bruises. I sterilized and went to work.

  The nurses and staff physicians weren’t openly hostile-they were furious, not stupid. We were all watched closely by a heavily armed Hsktskt guard.

  It took most of the day to treat the injured troopers. I neither saw nor heard from Dhreen. I finished updating the last of the charts. While I worked out a temporary shift schedule for the jaunt ahead, Dr. Grey Veil made his entrance.

  The bonds on his wrists and ankles were gone. His escort stood by the Medical Bay guard and exchanged a low series of grunts and clicks. Probably speculating on how to best prepare a Terran flank roast, considering what an ass my creator was.

  The great man wasted no time but came directly at me. I put down the chart I was annotating and picked up a syrinpress. In plain view, I dialed an overdose application of sedatives and held it out like a weapon.

  “Back off.”

  He halted several feet from me. “You persist in this hostility, even now.”

  “You wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for me,” I said. “Don’t push your luck.”

  “I am being sent back to the League to inform them of this incident. Your OverLord TssVar intends to provoke a war.”

  “Have a nice trip.” I held the syrinpress steady. “Don’t bother to write.”

  Behind him, I saw the door panel slide open and Dhreen walked in.

  “Dhreen!” I smiled and waved to him. “Don’t let me keep you
from your journey, Dr. Grey Veil.” I allowed myself a small, triumphant sneer. “Send my love to the League.”

  The Oenrallian stopped when he saw Joseph turn around. Dhreen would have made it back out the door panel, but one of the guards stepped in his path.

  “No, Oenrallian. Come here,” my creator said.

  I glowered at Joseph. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  Dhreen trudged over to us. He had a miserable dark-yellow flush on his face. His eyes wouldn’t meet mine.

  “Hey, Doc.” He gave my creator a disgusted look. “Grey Veil.”

  “Dhreen. It’s good to see you again.”

  My breath caught in my chest. A terrible thought came to me, and I dismissed it at once. Not Dhreen. No.

  Joseph watched the dawning horror on my features with immense pleasure. “Yes, Cherijo. I know your friend here very well. As a matter of fact, I hired him to work for me, two years ago.”

  A cold, numbing dread settled over me.

  “Dhreen?” It came out of my mouth like a whimper. I tried again. “Dhreen, tell me he’s lying. That it’s just another one of his games.”

  Dhreen opened his mouth. Closed it. Hung his head.

  I went from numb to pain. This was how it felt to have your heart broken. It felt like dying inside. I wanted to scream. Throw up. Weep.

  “We came to a very amicable agreement, Dhreen and I,” Joseph said. “It cost a great deal of credits to set up the meeting. I had to buy off all the independent pilots in New Angeles. When you went looking for transport from Terra, Dhreen was waiting. I paid him to take you to K-2, become your friend, and track you.”

  “Doc, I never meant to hurt you,” Dhreen said.

  “How could you?” I whispered. Anything louder would have ended with a shriek. “You were my friend.”

  “Why do you think he took you to Caszaria’s Moon? Why would a trader give up a lucrative route to join the crew of a survey vessel?”

  “I stopped reporting to him after the Bestshot crashed!” Dhreen said. “I-I-“

  “How do you think we were able to track the Sunlace?” my creator asked.

  “Don’t lie to her!” Dhreen shouted, and jumped at Joseph. One of the Hsktskt guards moved quickly, and pulled the Oenrallian back just before his spoon-shaped fingers reached my creator’s throat. “Let me go!”

  I walked up to Dhreen, and stared at his contorted face. So young. So innocent. So deceitful. “Take him with you, Dr. Grey Veil.”

  Joseph nodded. “He has been assigned to me as my pilot. When we return to the League, he will get his payment for a job well done.”

  “He’s lying, Doc! I didn’t do it for that-I never-“

  “Get him out of here,” I told the Hsktskt guard. “Please.”

  I turned my back and waited until I heard the door panel close. I looked at Joseph. Saw the pleasure he took in savoring my pain. “You can go now, too.”

  “I wanted you to know,” he said. “Only I cared what became of you. Now I will return to Terra, and begin work on the eleventh trial. You will remain a Hsktskt’s slave.” He laughed in my face. “A fitting end to this farce.”

  I wandered from Medical an hour later, walking the corridors until I reached my quarters. I was still in shock over Joseph’s revelation. When the door panel opened, I faced the emptiness with blank eyes.

  Dhreen had betrayed me. Had been betraying me all along. Why hadn’t I seen it? Why hadn’t I known? The signs were there.

  After the attack on Caszaria’s Moon, Reever had told me what happened. “The Terran pretending to be a Dervling drugged you and attempted an abduction. Dhreen heard you scream, and fought off your assailant, but the Terran escaped.” Or had Dhreen been helping my assailant when Reever came in? Did he let the Terran deliberately escape?

  Joseph Grey Veil contacting me almost immediately after the attempted abduction on Caszaria’s Moon. “Cherijo. The incident on Caszaria’s Moon was made known to me.” Dhreen must have signalled him.

  Norash, the Commander of Colonial Security, interviewing me.

  “-now this alleged attempted abduction during your off-planet furlough... confirmed only by Chief Linguist Reever’s account.” Dhreen had not made a statement. Afraid he’d say too much.

  Dhreen leaving K-2, infected with the contagion. His ship crashing. Me and the medevac team at the crash site, pulling him from the wreckage. Yelling at him for running away. Dhreen coughing, in agony. “Couldn’t... take the... chance.” Of getting caught.

  The worst was the clumsy cohab proposal he’d made after the epidemic. “I just wanted to tell you I’ve gotten a position on one of the system long-ranger haulers... now that the Bestshot is gone, I need steady work... you saved my life... you’ve been a good friend... see, when I heard the Council was trying to get rid of you... I have cohab rights on the hauler . . .”I had been charmed, I remembered. “We don’t have to bond for life... we’ve always coexisted well... I don’t like leaving you here. ...”

  Yeah. I bet he hadn’t.

  I was beyond tired. When I closed the door panel, I saw the signal indicator on my display and punched the keypad.

  OverLord TssVar’s grim visage filled the vid screen.

  “Doctor.”

  “OverLord. What can I do for you?”

  “Report to Command.”

  “Okay.”

  I wandered back out. How I arrived at the correct level without getting lost, I don’t know. I had a vague sense of direction, but I really didn’t care what was happening to me.

  TssVar saw it the moment I was admitted by his private guards.

  “What has happened?”

  “May I sit down?” I asked, and he nodded. “I just found out one of my best friends has been betraying me for the last two years.”

  “Who do you speak of?”

  “Dhreen, the Oenrallian pilot. Orange hair. Red horns. Lying mouth.”

  “I am sending him back to the League with the scientist.”

  “That’s nice.”

  The Hsktskt’s claws tapped on the desk as he lowered his limbs. “It is not good. To be betrayed.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “Warm-bloods make a habit of it,” he said. “Yet you are always surprised when it happens to you.”

  My cynical smile burned on my lips. “Perhaps we should be more like your people.”

  “That would be an improvement.” He watched me stare at my footgear. “You display no curiosity about my summons.”

  “Sorry.” No, I wasn’t. “Why did you want to see me?”

  “We have kept our bargain. I have the Fleet ships. The planets of this system will not be raided.” He said it carefully, as if making sure I understood every word of the agreement clearly.

  “You’ve been extremely generous.” He had. After all, he had over four hundred ships at his disposal. He didn’t have to keep any promises he didn’t want to.

  “You made no bargain for yourself,” TssVar said.

  I looked up from my footgear. “No, I didn’t. You have satisfied your debt to me by sparing the inhabitants of this system.”

  “It is good you acknowledge that.” His hissing changed in pitch. Became more menacing. “SsureeVa, you have not been forthcoming with me. About your personal value.”

  “I rarely volunteer information about myself,” I replied. “Being on the run from the League has made me somewhat paranoid.”

  “I would have done the same,” he said. “Yet my task remains the same. I now know you are of infinite value to the Faction. You will not be returning to the planet.”

  I wasn’t surprised. Joseph must have added some interesting details to what he’d already told the Hsktskt about me. I’d expected he would.

  “Our rules are specific,” TssVar said. “As Hsktskt property, you have no special privileges. Yet you were instrumental in our success. I will not require you remain in detainment with the other captives.”

  That was nice of him. I didn’t relish getting my
throat cut while I slept.

  “Are you truly... a genetic construct?” he asked. His tongue lashed as he said it, relishing the words.

  The truth might save or kill me. I didn’t seem to care. “So I’ve been told.”

  TssVar stood. “It will be determined. Our scientists are extremely knowledgeable.”

  I bet they were. I rose to my feet, too. “Will that be all, OverLord?”

  “For now. You are to report to level six, chamber one.”

  “Thank you.” I turned to go, hesitated, then swung back around. “Tell me something, OverLord. Would you have let me go, if I had asked that as satisfaction of your debt?”

  “I am grateful, SsureeVa. Not foolish.”

  A new guard was waiting to escort me to my holding cell. He snapped something around my wrist. It was the same metallic device the other prisoners were wearing.

  “What’s this?” I held up my arm.

  “Detainment cuff. It tracks you. Disciplines you.”

  I didn’t ask any more questions. He might want to demonstrate the discipline function. We walked briskly to level six. The business end of his rifle never moved from the small of my back.

  Crew’s quarters took up most of level six. The officers, if I remembered correctly. Chamber one had once been assigned to Colonel Shropana, according to the panel designation.

  “You will remain here until summoned.”

  I nodded to the guard and stepped through the door panel. Shropana must not have spent much time here. No personal decor. Little beyond stanissue furnishings. I sat down on a rigid, uncomfortable chair and waited.

  My thoughts bounced between relief and rage like a plassball.

  Relief. Joren was safe.

  Rage. Joseph Grey Veil was free.

  Relief. My people would not be destroyed.

  Rage. Dhreen had betrayed me.

  I decided to take a long, hot cleansing. The throbbing in my head made it impossible to consider sleep. If I didn’t relax, I’d work myself right up into a tension migraine. I doubt anyone from Medical would send me so much as an oral analgesic.

  When I released the warrior’s knot in my hair, Tonetka’s blade dropped to the deck with a clatter. I’d forgotten all about it. I stared at it for a moment, then picked it up. It wouldn’t hurt to hold on to it.