by Max Jager
"This just keeps getting better and better, were any earth people killed or wounded?"
"So far as we know…None," replied Orlak, "But back to your original question,
"Use these prisoners; I believe one of them is related to Agrat Slyr, so therefore might have some pull with these people."
"I might be able to get them to one of my raider contacts," added Brand, "But you had better be serious about an honest meeting with these people. By the way, what sort of agreement do you have in mind with the raiders?"
"Well," replied the foreign minister,
"Chancellor Talik has yet to finalize the details with the council, but we're willing to offer any remaining raiders another home. I think you all know it as Z'ha'Dum, and since the Neistra have abandoned it we will offer them the same terms as we did for Bline-Aichel. In other words, as long as they do not interfere with us or hinder spacecraft, we will leave them to their own devices. Should they behave themselves; a possible trade agreement could be discussed." The moment Z'ha'Dum was mentioned, Matt caught his breath, he had forgotten that the Ruddorians had taken control of the planet once the Neistra had left. He then raised his hand.
"Sir, Mr. Slykhor?" Slavek's father looked at him
"Yes Matt, did you wish to ask a question?"
"Uh, yes sir, were you aware that Z'ha'Dum is where the Neistra brought all those people from earth to work in their mine?"
"Well we knew they had several Morbidium and Duranix mines there, but that was a long time ago. The mines are primarily played out, and there's no one there anymore. Many parts of the planet are polluted, but the continent of Au'Dim is supposedly untouched."
"Well sir, ever since Kaitlyn and I arrived here in this galaxy, we've been trying to go to this Z'ha'Dum. Partly to see if there's anyone left who are descended from the people of Coryville Colorado who were taken against their will by the Neistra. Greg Tate requested that if I were able, then I should leave a memorial along with some things he wanted me to return, as a remembrance of all those people."
Roikas continued to stare at Matt, then looked at Vasta in puzzlement.
"I'm certainly not aware of any of this sir." Then turning to Matt, he asked,
"How long ago was this supposed to have taken place Matt?"
"Around a hundred and thirty-five years ago sir, that is by our years. Greg was one of the last decendents who came to earth to die. He willed his ship and technically Amber to me."
"Well this certainly changes the game," Said Roikas.
Chapter 77
Titan Stand Chapter 77
Slavek's father asked Matt for further details concerning the kidnapping of earth people to Z'ha'dum so he told the foreign minister everything he could remember Greg and Amber telling him. The more Matt told him the more disgusted Roikas looked. Finally, turning to Vasta he said.
"This is certainly going to place numerous obstacles in our way. Until these questions are resolved, the raider's can't be permitted to settle there. How do you suppose all of this was missed by the investigators? Vasta frowned,
"Possibly because that all happened well over a century ago, and the records investigators simply didn't go back that far. It could also be that somehow the early records were lost or destroyed sir."
"Well whatever it was," replied Roikas, we've got to come up with something else. However it's going to have to wait until after we get this whole business with the Malhazars thrashed out." As the meeting was breaking up Slavek's father handed Matt an envelope.
"What is this? It seems to be made of a rather unusual material Matt. Anyway, it's from your friend Kaitlyn. She, along with my daughter, and a couple of friends left shortly after you did." Matt took the note, telling the foreign minister,
"Sir, it's called paper, made from cotton rags and wood pulp. It's what we on earth write notes, or stories on." Matt wasn't surprised by his reaction, ever since he had arrived in this galaxy he had seen very little paper usage, and that was only on Denedra and Doradus. All messages and written material appeared on small "tablets" or on thin plastic like sheets.
On the front printed in tiny letters was simply his name, opening it up he read;
"Dear Matt;
Have gone with Tiag and her friends Niope, and Zetti to get Bria. I was going to ask you if you and your friends could do it but you left before I could ask you. Anyway Zetti has this really cool spaceship, I was telling them about Bria, Denedra, and Doradus, and all the fairy folk back on earth. Well the next thing I knew, they were all hot to go there. Don't worry, we've posted our flight plan, and will be stopping at Fort Kamata (both ways so I'll post messages).
Ps…I hope you're not mad, I told you when we first started out I was going to go my own way. Oh, I talked to Amber and Gandric, who tell me the purifiers will be heading for Ussen Ommo in another month or so, if you're going there, find me and we'll go together."
Your friend;
Kaitlyn
Matt then asked Mr. Slykhor,
"Did you know your daughter, along with Kaitlyn and a couple of Tiag's friends were going to earth?"
"Of course, but if you're worried about any danger to them from raiders the craft they are traveling in is extremely fast, has a full weapons package, and cloaking abilities. Besides, Zetti is an experienced fighter pilot."
"Fighter pilot?" Thought Matt, "How old was this chick?" Asking Mr. Slykhor he was told,
"Zetti has actually been flying spacecraft since she was six yeans old. She's really quite amazing, every so often a prodigy like her will come along showing remarkable talent in some specialized skill, or discipline. In Zetti's case it was flying. Now I don't know if the fact that her mother commands a dreadnaught and her father a naval station. She happens to be a good friend of my daughter, as well as Niope. I'm certainly not worried, nor should you be." Slavek then added.
"Don't worry about them Matt, Zetti is what you earth people call "cool," She doesn't care for me very much because I was always playing practical jokes on her all the time, but some of her reactions were priceless."
"Well if you say so," replied Matt, "I guess we've got our own problems to worry about now."
The next few days found Matt and his friends caught up in diplomatic hearings involving their involvement with the Malhazar gun ship and the subsequent destruction of Bline-Aichel. During the hearings he recognized Mion Krarr, and Istell Clon who he had previously met on Moriedia. Both testified at the hearings that were trying to determine Malhazar responsibility for the destruction of Bline-Aichel. As soon as he saw those two, he made sure he kept a low profile often sitting behind Brand, or Jezang. Listening to their testimony he couldn't tell their anger level, both simply quoted a lot of Malhazar law and their tone of voice remained generally neutral. It was difficult for him to tell how things were going, even Rekton, Brand and Orlak weren't even sure, although Slavek said that his father, along with another Ruddorian representative Gi'a Quelle had them dead to rights, He also added.
"These Malhazars don't surrender easily, they're always looking for the tiniest loophole or exception in the law. They also carry grudges thinking someone is always trying to cheat them. My father is good at this sort of thing, you aren't well-versed as yet in the nuances of the Ruddorian language, but he's walking a very tight line so these Malhazar "jicjac's" don't feel like we are cheating them. Right now I'd guess there is a fifty/fifty chance we could be at war with these people."
"Don't they have some sort of leader or council that would see reason?" Asked Matt.
"Well they do have a council of sorts," replied Rekton, "That female wearing the green outfit down there,"
"That's Mion Krarr," said Matt, " I met her when Kaitlyn and I went to Moriedia, we thought she was pretty creepy, what about her?"
"She's the council's advisor," added Rekton. They do have some sort of leader, who goes by the title of Kod-Gheik, but he's a rather mysterious figure who keeps to the shadows. So far as I know, no outsider has ever met him…Or her, which
is always another possibility. Matt was now convinced they were dealing with the Malhazar equivalent of a Don Corleone which would only make things even more dangerous and unpredictable. Before long the testimony got around to the attack by raiders on the Malhazar gun ship, and the Azani.
Through scanner recordings, and testimony from Orlak and Rekton the events surrounding the destruction of Bline-Aichel. However a surprise awaited all as the hearing was delayed due to a meeting in Roikas's office involving Orlak, Brand, Rekton as well as Mion Krarr. While Matt, Jezang, Ifwol, Skart, and Slavek waited nervously outside they could hear the storm going on in the next room. There was also an unusual amount of security hanging around leading to speculation as to what was really going on. Finally, the door opened with Krarr, along with two other Malhazar representatives storming out. As they did Mion happened to glance over at Matt and his friends spotting Matt. She and the other two Malhazars seemed very angry about something but her eyes met Matt's he knew he had been "made." Shortly afterwards, four security guards came out of Roikas's office surrounding what could only be raiders. There were only two of them, but they looked pretty scruffy. No eye contact was made as the guards quickly ushered the raiders down the hall leaving everyone trying to figure out what was going on.
Finally Orlak, Brand and Rekton emerged looking grim. Without saying a word, they indicated that everyone should follow them. Entering a small meeting room Brand was the first to speak.
"It's all up to the Malhazars now. The facts have been presented, the truth has been told, however they are not happy about it as their little scheme has been discovered."
"What were those raiders doing in there?" Asked Ifwol.
"Those two were flying one of the raider attack ships," said Brand. "I called in a lot of favors to get them to show up to this hearing. The Malhazars description of events wasn't matching with what Rekton and Orlak were saying."
"He's right," said Orlak. "Thanks to Brand here, the investigations committee had access to raider scanner and comm records which jibed with what we were saying.
They also show that the Malhazar ship wasn't destroyed, but left as soon as it had fired that "planet buster" bomb of theirs which is another issue. No doubt about it but the raiders had some pretty damming evidence against the Malhazars which is why they are so angry."
"So where do we stand?" Asked Matt.
"Our records tell the story," said Orlak, "everything matches what the raiders records are showing so we're good there. The agreement we made to accompany them to the Thovan system in exchange for fuel was sound and legal, had we assisted them in merely attacking Bline-Aichel probably would have passed muster as well. It all comes down to the difference between a standard attack on the planet versus a sneak attack involving a bomb that completely destroys a whole planet. This is where the Malhazars are in trouble."
"We also learned a few things in there we were unaware of," said Rekton, "Merely attacking a planet is one thing, completely obliterating it is something entirely different. Apparently the Malhazars don't see it that way as they make no distinction between a conventional attack and destruction of the whole planet."
"So what about all this business of the Ruddorians being the actual owners of Bline-Aichel and the Malhazar attack on Ruddorian territory," asked Skart.
Rekton chuckled,
"That was interesting. For awhile the raiders thought we were going to attack Moriedia for them, but it turns out there are several vagaries in the original agreement between Ruddoria and the raiders to negate that, so Ruddoria is completely out of the whole thing. Foreign Minister Roikas managed to get a temporary cease-fire between the raiders and Moriedia until the question of "Ozius" can be resolved."
"Ozius, what's that?" Asked Matt. Both Rekton and Orlak chuckled,
"Ozius is basically another Bline-Aichel class moon with a better atmosphere.
The raiders want it in exchange for loosing Bline-Aichel. The catch is that Moriedia owns it. It's out on the fringes of the Zan-Argo system, and how the Malhazars acquired it remains a mystery, however it's the price the raiders are asking, otherwise it's going to be nothing but constant warfare between them and Moriedia, and possibly anyone that does business with Moriedia."
Brand then added,
"This whole mess now has to go before an Loridian arbitration committee who will have a mighty tough decision to make."
"so how do you think that will go?" Asked Matt. Brand laughed,
"That's an easy one, what ever promises to keep things peaceful and trade flowing. I'm willing to bet any amount of greema's the raiders get themselves a new home provided they promise Loridia that they won't raid their shipping."
Then Orlak spoke up,
"I've been curious as to where that Malhazar gun ship went. The raiders claimed it wasn't destroyed, but no one has been able to produce the crew. As unforgiving as they are, I doubt the Malhazars killed them…Odd?" There was one more wrap-up session they had to attend but it was certainly looking like war had been averted. As they were leaving the hearing room Istell Clon and Tyron Vott stepped from an alcove glaring daggers at everyone except Matt.
"Could we speak to you for a moment Matt," said Tyron. Matt shrugged then looked at his friends.
"Trouble Matt?" asked Rekton, "we can stick around." Both Malhazars glared at him,
"Matt is in no danger Golian, Matt, we need to speak to you for a moment."
"I'll be okay guys," he announced.
"Meet us at the "Warp Factor," exclaimed Orlak. Following the Malhazar's to a small meeting room he discovered Holliqua's uncle Sandrek waiting for them. He began to feel very nervous as to what these people had in mind.
"Matt," began Sandrek, "It pains me to see you in company with that Golian trash, however we wish to know if you have anymore information on the Malhazar gun ship?"
"Well you know everything I do, at first we all thought it was destroyed, but according to the raiders it wasn't, that's all I know, other…"
"Other than what?" Asked Tyron. Matt sighed,
"Why me O Lord!" he thought.
"Shortly before they departed the area, Holliqua sent me a message, I didn't even know she was on that ship until then. Anyway, she said something about getting together sometime, I'm afraid that's all I know, sorry."
"Well she always spoke well of you Matt that's why we have a favor to ask of you," said Tyron. Matt began to hear the Godfather part two theme playing in his head wondering what the offer was that he wasn't going to be able to refuse.
"We are convinced that that gun ship wasn't destroyed," said Clon, "But more than likely heavily damaged. We also believe that it may have crashed on a nearby moon or asteroid. It's also quite possible the crew left the ship in escape pods and are stranded on some planet. We are asking you to look for them."
"So why can't your navy search for them?" He replied.
"Most of our navy is tied up protecting Moriedia , we simply cannot spare them. Pleas Matt, you are an outsider, and while it is very difficult for us to trust anyone, everyone we talk to speaks well of you." Matt studied them for a moment suppressing a chuckle in the realization that he was dealing with what were essentially mobsters begging for his help.
"Well here's the deal folks, I can't do this by myself, I will no doubt require the services of that "Golian trash," you spoke of. They have a ship that can stay out for an extended time that I will have to use. What are we talking about as far as payment goes?"
"Without batting an eye, Tyron replied,
"Ten million credits, more if the ship is recoverable."
"Well I will have to speak to my friends first," he said, "How can I let you know one way or another?" Istell Clon handed him a small plastic card,
"This is a one time message card, if you accept our offer transmit the data on it, it will also create an account where your money will be waiting." Before he left them Sandrek looked him in the eye,
"Please Matt, find her."
On his way to the bar
where his friends were waiting, thoughts of Holliqua returned to haunt him.
"Just when I was hoping to forget her," he thought, "Now her fucking mobster family shows up!" Still they were offering a considerable sum to find Holliqua and her ship, and he sure could use the money. The "Warp Factor," was a well frequented bar not far from the government building where the hearings were held. The place reminded him somewhat of "Neb's Nebula" except it didn't have the unusual ceiling with all the stars and planets. The place seemed to be populated mostly by Ruddorians with Golian's taking second place. He also noted quite a few Vaeon's as well with their light green skin and Mr. Spock ears.
Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Rekton and Orlak waving at him. As he made his way over to their table, an attractive and topless Ruddorian waitress set a large pitcher of Ruddorian beer down in the middle of the table while Skart set a glass mug down where he was planning to sit.