The Exxar Chronicles: Book 03 - Acts of Peace and War

by Neal Jones

  Sikandra walked to the nearby stone ruins and sat upon a chunk of steps that had once led up to something that appeared to be the remains of an altar. She wondered if Saveck had modeled the program after an archeological site somewhere in Chrisarii space, or if this was just a random setting the computer had chosen from a database of over six million exotic locations. She reached for a towel to wipe the grime from her face, and she considered going another round. Working out in the Hiver was always a welcome change of pace from the gym, and the ache in her side as well as her arms was evidence enough that she needed more of this type of rigorous exercise.

  In the middle of the clearing where she say, the air suddenly divided and a door appeared. Beyond it was a corridor, and Saveck stepped into the doorway. He seemed mildly amused to find someone else using his exercise program.

  Sikandra rose to meet him. "You didn't have a lock on these files, so I assumed they were available for anyone to use."

  "You're only at level two?"

  "Well, not everyone can afford a nice workout program like this one."

  He smiled coyly and raised his sword. Behind him, the entrance to the Hiver closed and disappeared. He opened his sword case, withdrew the blade, and then tore off his shirt and tossed it up onto the steps of the ruins. "Computer." From somewhere above came the telltale twitter of the Hiver's computer as it signaled that it was listening for a command. "Restart program at –" he cocked his head, looking at Sikandra, thinking "- level four."

  Around them, the bodies vanished, and the screams in the jungle rose to a new crescendo. From the forest burst three burly, snarling humanoids brandishing swords and maces and other medieval weaponry. Sikandra and Saveck stood back to back, battling the aliens, coordinating their movements so that they remained back to back, even while circling around the clearing. No sooner were the three attackers slaughtered than five more charged from the shadows of the thick vines and tall trees that surrounded the ruins. Around and around the clearing the duo danced, blades singing, sweat dripping, and blood flying. Grynel had no trouble keeping pace with Kralin at first, but as that battle ended and seven more aliens lunged out of the jungle, she began to feel her strength waning, her respiration becoming more and more ragged, and her muscles screaming. She managed to kill three of the humanoids before stumbling to the steps of the ruins and calling out for the computer to freeze the program.

  Kralin, whose sword was embedded in the thick neck of a monster with four arms and a mouthful of ragged teeth, turned in surprise. The alien was frozen in mid-lunge, upper arms in the air, lower arms brandishing two very large blades, and its mouth hanging open in mid-snarl. Saveck freed his weapon and joined Sikandra at the steps.

  "Computer, end battle," he ordered. "Continue simulation."

  The monster disappeared, along with the corpses littering the floor of the clearing. Kralin sat next to Grynel and wiped his blade with a towel from his case.

  "You never responded to my offer of lunch."

  "I don't eat midday meals."

  Sikandra sat back, watching him clean his blade. "How's your father doing?"

  The twitch in Saveck's expression told her that she'd struck a nerve. "He's fine."

  "Sorry. I didn't mean to –"

  "Grynel, I appreciate the offer, but I'm not looking for a romantic relationship right now."

  "Who said anything about romance?"

  Saveck walked to the center of the clearing and took a few practice swings. "Are you ready for another round?"

  She smiled and stood, shaking her head. "I've had my workout for the day, thanks. But...shall we meet here again tomorrow? Same time?"

  "Computer, start new round, level five." He looked at Grynel, his expression serious, but his eyes glittered with amusement. "It is preferable when I have a fellow soldier watching my back."

  She nodded, smiling again, and walked out of the Hiver just as a horde of alien soldiers poured out of the jungle.

  ( 4 )

  Grax's restaurant was peppered with a few mid-morning patrons when Lieutenant Navarr stepped inside. She walked to the bar and perched herself on a stool, and Luke smiled as he greeted her.

  "Morning, lieutenant. I assume you're here on business?"

  "It's been a hectic day so far, and I need a snack. You have any of those gourmet crackers on hand? The herb ones from the Alett colonies?"

  Luke nodded, puzzled. "Sure. Anything to drink?"

  "Cranberry juice."

  "Coming right up."

  "Oh, and Luke? If Thalor's here, I'd like to have a word with him."

  Grax appeared from the back corridor in time to hear Navarr's request. "Ah, lieutenant, good morning! Here for a snack?"

  "You know me too well, Thalor. Good morning."

  Luke busied himself at the far end of the bar, and Grax began unloading clean glasses onto the shelf below the counter. "You're probably here to ask me about Miss Shrane."

  "See? That's what I love about you. You read my mind. Now, I'm assuming that you wouldn't be so naïve as to try to smuggle something through this starbase that would force me to arrest you, right?"

  The Orethian chuckled. "Lieutenant, what kind of fool do you take me for? I left all that behind me when I opened this restaurant last year. I would never dream of jeopardizing my good standing here by something so stupid as petty smuggling."

  "Uh-huh. So...what business did you have with Tilura Shrane?"

  Luke handed Thalor a glass of cranberry juice and a bowl of crackers. Grax passed them to Navarr. "With all due respect, Chris, that's none of your business. You can rest assured, however, that it's nothing illegal. As I said, those days are behind me."

  "Yes, well, Miss Shrane hasn't been as eager as you to reform her ways." Navarr popped a cracker in her mouth and crunched it. "She doesn't have any outstanding warrants, but she does have quite a colorful record of grand theft, larceny, forgery, and smuggling. I've looked at your record, and she doesn't really seem your type."

  "Ah, lieutenant, you of all people should know that appearances can be deceiving."

  "Yes. Yes, they can." Navarr munched on another cracker and sipped her juice. "That's why I have someone keeping an eye on her for the duration of her stay."

  "She's still here?"

  Grax's expression seemed so startled that Chris suspected it was genuine surprise. "Yes. She's paid rent on guest quarters for three more days."

  The Orethian's expression smoothed out, and he returned to sorting the glasses below the bar. "Oh. Well, that's nice." He finished his task and picked up the empty rack. "Is there anything else you need of me? I need to get ready for the lunch rush."

  "No. I'm good, thanks." She watched him disappear into the kitchen as she popped another cracker and munched, her expression puzzled. If she didn't know better, she would have thought that Grax wasn't just surprised that Tilura was still present on the station.

  He seemed a little irritated by it as well.

  ( 5 )

  Erengaar strode among the statues of the Stone Gardens, scowling to himself as he wandered among the brick paths. It was just after sunset, and he'd come directly from the supper hall where he'd left the meal early. He'd told Larewyn that he needed some fresh air, but the truth was that he hadn't been able to stomach Gyan's and Marija's incessant chatter any longer. They had moved into the guest quarters in the east wing because Larewyn had demanded that her mother be close to her to help with the baby once she arrived. After discovering two months ago that their firstborn would be a girl, Larewyn had become fanatical about decorating the nursery and finding just the right clothes and consulting with her mother on every finite detail.

  Erengaar, for his part, was disappointed that his first child was a girl. He had secretly, desperately hoped for a son, even though he technically already had one. But since protocol and tradition dictated that he could never acknowledge Jharek as his own offspring, he was even more desperate now for his wife to bear a legitimate male heir to the throne. For the last s
everal weeks, Marija had insisted on dominating the conversation every night at dinner, prattling on and on about how blessed she was that her first granddaughter would be of royal blood. For the sake of his wife, Erengaar had resisted the urge to have his mother-in-law banished from the palace, but tonight she seemed even more banal than usual, and he had simply had enough.

  He passed the statue of Lord Emperor Ac'otas, also known as Qan the Terrible. His empty, stone eyes followed Erengaar as the current lord emperor arrived at a bed of moon shrubs, so named for the shape of their blossoms and the way that they reflected the starlight. Erengaar sat on the nearby bench to gather his restless thoughts.

  Tomorrow was his meeting with the Director of the Treasury, where they would discuss the plan for economic reconstruction and fortification of the Resaki districts. But that was not what was troubling him just now. Ryomekk had requested another conference with the lord emperor, and though he hadn't said what it would be concerning, Erengaar was hoping that the Talik'Jhor spies at the border of the Graavis sector had learned some new information about the recent attack and annexation of that sector by the Khazar Dominion. Ever since the loss of the fleet that Ranunt had dispatched to retake that sector, Erengaar had become increasingly worried and troubled by how swiftly the assault had been repelled. All twenty ships had been lost with all hands, and the battle had lasted less than an hour.

  Ryomekk's engineers had spent the last five months poring over the sensor data retrieved by drones in the aftermath of the attack. The images of Khazar war spiders had been expected. What was not anticipated were the images of the alien ships behind the spiders: warships with gleaming, silver hulls and no identifying marks or transponder signatures. All attempts by the long range sensor drones to scan the vessels were in vain, either because of the ships' deflector screens or something in the physical makeup of their hulls that scattered all sensor beams.

  Shortly after that failed assault, Erengaar had ordered Ryomekk to gather every last scrap of intelligence that he could find on the Dominion. Unfortunately, it wasn't much. For the last two centuries, the Khazar – much like the Jha'Drok – remained silent behind their borders, with little or no direct contact with outsiders. The Federation had not even bothered to make formal first contact. They merely updated their star charts with the coordinates of the Dominion's borders, and continued on their way. The Khazar had made it clear long ago to all outsiders that they were not interested in either war or peace. They, like the Mykahrians, simply wanted to be left alone.

  Therefore, Erengaar was quite surprised many years ago, during his tutoring lessons, to learn that the Khazar had successfully conquered at least five other alien worlds near its home territories over three centuries ago. In the time since, however, they had not bothered to expand their empire any further, for which the Federation was probably grateful. They had happened upon the Khazar borders shortly after making first contact with the Jha'Drok, which hadn't gone very well at all. In the wake of that minor skirmish, the Federation had decided it was better to let well enough alone, and no other overtures – peace or otherwise – were made to the Khazar.

  The Jha'Drok, too, had been content to let the Khazar alone, for it was soon after their own first contact with the Dominion's border drones that the Ko'Mar representatives had arrived with their tempting offer, which Lord Emperor S'elrim hadn't been able to resist. But now S'elrim's grandson was starting to wonder just exactly what had been transpiring behind the Khazar lines in the last hundred and fifty years. Had they – like the Jha'Drok – discovered some new technology that allowed them to build warships far more advanced than their enemies' fleets? Or were they, too, being secretly aided by some mysterious, external power? Either possibility was very likely, and Erengaar shuddered inwardly as he considered the fate of the Emperium should the Khazar decide to launch a full scale invasion.

  The lord emperor's dark musings were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. N'Ro Ryomekk appeared from the shadows, nodding to Erengaar. "Evening star, lord."

  Erengaar motioned to the nearby bench, the same one where he and Vatra had discussed her future six months ago. "Your message sounded urgent."

  The director nodded. "I apologize if I'm interrupting your supper."

  "It's all right. I wasn't very hungry. Is this concerning the Graavis sector?"

  "Yes. You remember a few weeks ago when I told you I had dispatched a scouting fleet to the far side of Dominion space?" Erengaar nodded. "It took them awhile to get their sensor drones in just the right position along the border without being detected by the tachyon security grids. For two months they have been monitoring comm channels and fleet traffic, but until last week there was nothing of significance to report. The whole of Dominion space has been extremely secured, and all our attempts to intercept comm traffic of any kind has been futile. Two weeks ago I ordered a team of engineers to outfit one of the drones with a cloaking shield, and they sent it across the border into Dominion space."

  "You deliberately breached their security grid?"

  "We had no choice. I deemed it an acceptable risk. By the time a ship arrived to investigate, there was nothing to find. The cloaking shield that we used was constructed using technology from the Ko'Mar."

  "So why didn't you send in a manned scout vessel?"

  Ryomekk shook his head. "That risk was too great. Until we know in more detail what we're dealing with, I don't want to risk any of my agents being captured."

  "I assume the drone found something important?"

  N'Ro reached into his pocket and withdrew a compad. He handed it to Erengaar. "There is a large moon that orbits the Closk homeworld. The Closk are one of the alien species that the Dominion conquered two centuries ago - the last one, in fact."

  Erengaar thumbed through the sensor images on the pad's screen. "What does this readout of the moon indicate? Are those biosigns?"

  "Yes, but the drone's database does not recognize them, which means that the lifeforms on that moon are a species that the Emperium has not yet encountered. It's also very likely that the Federation has not encountered them as well."

  "Which means they might be foreign to this quadrant of the galaxy," the lord emperor murmured.

  "Yes, that is possible. It's also very likely that they are from the other side of the quadrant and we simply haven't explored far enough to reach their home systems."

  Erengaar handed the pad back to N'Ro. "The ships guarding that moon and the Closk homeworld match the ones involved in the assault on the Graavis sector. Please tell me that you have more than just photos and sensor data!"

  "I apologize, lord, but, at this point, that is all the drone was able to capture. I'm actually surprised that it made it back out of Dominion space intact."

  Erengaar cursed, rising. "It's not enough, N'Ro! So far, we have kept the annexation of that sector from playing on the major news feeds, but it's already begun leaking to the underground and the Drigald! It's not much longer before the truth of what happened out there is known to everyone! Send a scout ship into Dominion space! Find out more about that moon and the ships guarding it!" He paused, scowling. "You speak with Vuil'SN almost as much as I do. Why haven't the Ko'Mar helped us with this?"

  "That's a very good question." Ryomekk stood. "I haven't spoken with Vuil'SN in almost four months. And you said last night that you hadn't spoken to him in a few weeks, correct?" Erengaar nodded curtly. "You and I are scheduled to meet with him in the Sarlond system day after tomorrow. Perhaps we will finally receive some answers to this mystery."

  "You think the Ko'Mar know what is happening behind the Khazar lines?"

  "I think the Ko'Mar know more about our own empire and our enemies than we have ever revealed to them."

  "Then we will wait and see what Vuil'SN shows us. In the meantime, send a cloaked scout ship into Dominion space immediately. What about the gateway in the Plonn system? Have your engineers made any progress in decrypting its network access defenses?"

  "Not yet. Quite
frankly, lord, it appears that they will not be successful. For now, the only other gateway we have access to is the one in orbit of the planet that the Federation now controls. Perhaps this is also something that the Ko'Mar can assist us with."

  Erengaar gave a surly nod. "Inform me as soon as you have dispatched the scout ship." He left the garden without waiting for a response.

  Ryomekk bowed. "Yes, lord," he murmured.

  ( 6 )

  Grax pressed the door chime again, his irritation growing. He knew from the biosensor display that Tilura was home, and he couldn't decide if she was making him wait on purpose, or if she was involved in some illegal transaction on her computer that she didn't want him knowing about. He hoped that wasn't the case, because the last thing he needed right now was for Tilura to get arrested and for Lieutenant Navarr to start poking her nose into Grax's business. Not that she didn't already keep close tabs on him, but, thus far, he had convinced her that he walked the straight and narrow path. As far as he knew, Navarr was clueless about the occasional backroom transaction that earned Thalor some extra money under the table every now and then.

  Just as he was about to give up and walk away, the door opened. Tilura was wearing nothing except a towel around her torso, her hair tumbling around her emerald shoulders in thick, drenched ropes.

  "Thalor!" She looked surprised.

  "I'm sorry," he said, glancing away. "I caught you at a bad time."

  "No," she said quickly. "It's all right, come in. Just give me a minute to dry off and get dressed."

  Grax reluctantly stepped inside and settled into the armchair by the viewport while he waited. But after a few moments, he stood, restless, and crossed his arms as he stared out the viewport. He was irritated at himself for coming here, and his worry about Sesrin was increasing with every hour that he didn't hear back from Solomon. It had only been a day since he had contacted Sol, but Thalor was starting to wonder if he should plan to take some time off to go look for Sesrin himself. That, more than anything, troubled him the most, and he was even more irritated that he might need Tilura's help to do it.