Rebel Alliances (Targon Tales Book 3)

by Chris Reher

  He tried to sit up but quickly gave up on the attempt. The others were hovering around him and Seth reached out to help. The cockpit spun crazily for a moment and then settled back down. “I can’t feel Nova anymore,” he said. “Or the Delphian.”

  “Did it work? Did they jump?” Vincent said. He handed Tychon a cup of water. “Do you want something for the pain?”

  “It worked. They jumped.” Tychon said. “No pain killers now. We need to go after them.”

  “Can you take two jumps like that?” Acie said. “That’s a big strain on your neocortex. You could damage yourself.”

  “We know where they are,” Vincent said. “So maybe you should rest for a little while.”

  “I have to know if they’re all right.”

  “That won’t do you any good if you burn yourself out,” Seth said. “Did you take out their sensors?”

  Tychon nodded. “Did we hear back from Carras?”

  “Yes, finally. He’s got Air Command convinced that we’ve tracked them to Gramor. They’re sending a couple of Eagles ahead of an attack unit. Won’t be there for a while, though. Not a lot of keyholes connecting to that sub-sector directly.”

  “No more than this one. It’ll still take the rebel ship a while to get to Gramor from where I put them. Without their sensors we can jump after them and follow at a distance. It’ll give me time to recover.”

  “You can’t jump now!” Vincent said.

  Seth turned when a squawk from the com console alerted them of an approaching ship. “Your friends,” he said to Tychon. He reached around Acie to answer their request. “Ahoy there!”

  “Identify.”

  “You first.”

  Tychon sighed.

  “This is the UC Niedra, AC. You are in Dannakor air space,” came the reply. “We have an emergency situation and this area is under investigation by Union Air Command. Move away or state your intent in this area.”

  “Oh,” Seth said. “Sorry about that. We’ll be on our way.”

  “What is your heading?”

  Seth shut the com down. “Am I lying or do you want to see if we can get them to back us up?”

  Tychon shook his head. “We can’t risk that Rakh hasn’t managed to repair the long range sensors. If they see an Air Command ship they’ll get desperate.”

  “They’re not going to let us hang around this keyhole much longer.”

  “Then you better get plugged in.” Tychon reclined on his couch and re-engaged his interface. “You two hang on to something,” he said to Acie and Vincent who quickly headed back into the main cabin.

  Seth linked to the Dutchman’s navigational system and moved the ship toward the breach. An urgent tone from the com panel reminded them that the Union ship was still awaiting an answer. Seth shut it down and shifted his attention on the keyhole. It would be up to him to stabilize the out-of-control Dutchman when the breach spewed them back into normal space.

  “When we get there,” Tychon said, “collapse the keyhole at once so they can’t follow. I’m going to have to rest for a few hours. Nothing to worry about. Don’t rush to Gramor.”

  “Got it,” Seth replied. A Union battle cruiser had left Dannakor’s orbit and was coming their way. “How likely are they to fire on a private ship?”

  “Let’s not find out,” Tychon said. “I’m sure they’re in no mood to play with us.”

  “All right. But if you can’t get it up I’m going to tell them you’re aboard. I doubt they’ll shoot at you.”

  “How about you don’t worry about what I can get up, Kada.”

  They watched the keyhole widen, soon present enough to allow the Dutchman to slip inside. “Going negative,” Seth said and closed his eyes, all of his attention on his processors.

  Tychon let himself drop into a deep khamal. There was no pain now that he did not also have to link to Nova’s Human brain but he was aware that he was overtaxing himself as well as the Dutchman’s systems. He reached into the now-open breach and felt his way back to the exit point to Gramor Bejo. When he punched through the Dutchman responded without a shudder and he let himself drift away.

  * * *

  Seth looked up from the reader in his hands when a small sound from the cockpit alerted him of their approach to Gramor, hours after they had left that inquisitive Union cruiser behind. Carefully, he shifted Acie who had curled up beside him on the lounger, and padded into the cockpit, stretching his long body as he went.

  He studied the sleeping Delphian for a moment. Tychon had not shifted in his eerie rest in the hours that had passed since the traverse to this sector. Not so much as a snore, even. Did Delphians snore? Maybe Nova knew.

  He bent over the navigational controls and calculated an orbit entry before returning to the cabin. Acie was sitting up now, looking owlishly around the dimmed cabin. “Are we there?”

  Seth nodded and opened some of the supply bins that lined the cabin wall to select clothes and weapons.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” she said.

  “Of course it is. I thought of it, didn’t I?”

  “He won’t like it,” she said with a nod to the cockpit.

  “He is asleep.”

  They heard Vincent rummaging around the crew cabin where he had retreated for some rest a few hours ago. He came into the main cabin as Seth exchanged his bright red pullover for a plain gray shirt. Like Acie, he had his doubts about Seth’s intent.

  “Don’t start on me, Old Man,” Seth said. “There is no way we’re going to get past anyone down there walking around with a blue-haired officer. I’m just going to scout a bit and then come back to the ship.”

  “I have confidence in your abilities,” Vincent said. He went into the galley. “Tea, Acie?”

  “Ooh yes!” She slipped from the lounger and went to sit on the stool by the tiny counter. “Lots of sweet in it, please.” She turned back to Seth who was adjusting the scanner setting on his wrist array. “Don’t bother with that. The place is practically made of crystal. Oscillating like mad. That sort of resonance is going to cause all sorts of interference. You’ll be lucky if you don’t drop us on our heads trying to land down there.” She smiled at Vincent when he found a package of dried berries in the food bins.

  “What’s shaking the crystal to cause that much trouble?”

  “The hydrothermals. Tremendous pressure below the crust.”

  Seth stole a sip of her tea and grimaced when he tasted it. “What’ll work down there?”

  “Your nose,” she said. “If you start smelling something fruity, get out of there. Critters in the swamp. They’ll have you for dinner.”

  “What kind of critter smells fruity?”

  She slid off her stool and picked up one of the data tablets she had studied earlier. She held it level while a hologram hovered above the surface. “Those.”

  Seth looked at the projection and whistled. “What do they eat when there aren’t any Centauri around?”

  Vincent took Acie’s tablet and gently tapped her on the head with it. “Funny girl. Those critters are microscopic. There is nothing larger than a grub left down there. Unless you’re counting Arawaj. Are you sure they are going to welcome you? And I don’t mean the critters.”

  “Sure,” Seth shrugged. He tested a short-barreled pistol and holstered it. A few percussion charges went into his thigh pocket. “I’ve dealt with the Arawaj more than the Shri-Lan. They’ll let me land, don’t worry.”

  “It’s leaving again that I’m worried about.”

  Seth went into the cockpit and opened a com channel. “Bejo operator, come in,” he said. “Requesting contact, anyone.”

  There was some delay before they received a reply. “Who’s hailing?”

  “Bejo, this is the Dutchman, private transport. Burned out some coolant coming through that last jump. Hoping you can spare some.”

  “Hold, Dutchman.”

  Seth whistled tunelessly. None of this seemed to bother Tychon, whose calm face remained immo
bile. His people did not wake easily and Delphian field agents often relied on proximity alarms to alert them of danger. On the other hand, Seth thought, they were guaranteed a good night’s sleep just about anywhere.

  “Sethran Kada, is that you?” someone shouted through the cabin speakers, the voice unmistakably Human.

  Seth grinned. “Aye, that’ll be me.”

  “Told you!” the voice faded as he seemed to be shouting at someone else. “Damn Dutchman! It’s me, Jammer. Welcome to Porcupine! Come on down! There’s really just one place to land unless you want to end up in the Deeps. The place has been hopping with strange things going on.”

  “What strange things?”

  “Your ears only, if you don’t mind. Got anything fun to trade? I’m going nuts with all these Caspians around. Fucking furbutts have no sense of fun.”

  “I might. Couple of vials of Rocket Juice, if you want. Off Pelion.”

  “You got a deal. See you when you get down here.”

  Seth closed the channel and entered the necessary coordinates for landing into his navigator. “And you doubted me,” he said to Vincent and Acie. “I’m welcome everywhere.”

  “Uh huh, except for Aram, Callas and Feron, if I recall.”

  “That thing on Callas was not my fault. What’s porcupine?”

  Acie consulted her tablet and then raised an eyebrow. “Pointy-looking Terran mammal.” She showed an image to Seth and Vincent. “Not microscopic.”

  “Prepare for landing.” Seth carefully lowered the crash guard over Tychon’s seat before he directed the Dutchman to the surface. The entry was smooth and, although they were jarred a little in their restraints, it was not enough to wake the Delphian.

  Seth took them over a ragged landscape of deep canyons from which turrets and peaks reached up like splinters. Jammer’s description of the place as ‘porcupine’ was as apt as any. Some of the crystals seemed to lean at dangerous angles as if the rock strata that once surrounded the veins had simply eroded away, leaving only the spikes. There were no valleys, no open spaces, and no seas to make landing any craft possible. Only occasionally a more substantial mountain rose high above the formations. Mist filled the wider gaps and at times seeped skyward before the wind took it away.

  “Lots of quartz holding all that up, along with some granite,” Acie reported from memory. “Minimal vegetation. You’ll have enough oxygen, though. No wildlife or sentient native population any longer. It’s habitable down there, if terribly boring. Your friend seems to suffer from that.”

  “Not my friend. The guy is the worst piece of scum you can imagine. But he likes me, so that’s in our favor.” Seth nosed the plane down when they approached a plateau of sorts rising high above the crags. From a distance, it looked like part of a mountain top had been carved away to create a landing platform. Long ago, archeological expeditions had created a base here to study an ancient civilization that had either died out or moved on. Part of the peak had been left standing to shelter a derelict huddle of sheds serving the small airfield.

  “Look!” Vincent said. “A battle cruiser. Must be the one Nova was on.”

  “I wonder if they’re still all on board.” Seth landed near a few other ships huddling in the lee of the cliff. “Looks like they’re getting ready to leave again.”

  Vincent pointed at the Dutchman’s main screen. “What’s that? Smoke?”

  “Steam. Hydrothermals,” Acie said. “Venting everywhere here. They use them for heat and power source.”

  “Are you sure it’s water? Should I take a respirator?” Seth said.

  “No, it’s just water. Very hot water. It’ll be very humid down below. I hope you don’t mind fungus.”

  Seth powered the Dutchman down and came to his feet. “Guess I won’t need my mittens. You two stay here. Act like crew if someone hails you.” He furrowed his brow thoughtfully. “You, Vincent, are a trader I’m taking to Pelion. Tychon’s the pilot, dealing with his space bends. You can be my bellywarmer, Acie.”

  She scowled. “Is that the best you can come up with?”

  “If I tell them what you really are they’ll steal you. You’re far too valuable.”

  She pouted. “Nice try, Kada.”

  Seth pulled a small case from one of his bins. “Does this still look good to you?”

  She removed one of the vials and used a medical scanner to examine the contents. “Why do you have so much dope on board? You can get arrested for this.”

  “It’s not illegal here.”

  “Nothing is illegal here!”

  “So why are you worried?” Seth gave her another bottle. “What’ll happen if you add some of that?”

  She scanned it and frowned. “You’d be really really stoned. And babbling like a baby.” She looked over to Vincent. “Thiopental. It’ll have the Human telling him anything he wants.”

  “Well, mix us some of that, Doc,” Seth grinned. He tapped the data unit on his forearm. “I’m going to leave this open so you can listen in. It’ll shut down if someone else intercepts the signal. Start monitoring for those Eagles. They’re not going to be welcome here.”

  Seth left the Dutchman as soon as Acie had finished mixing the drug and admonished him about the correct dosage. A short walk across the windswept landing area brought him to a sheltered entrance near the base of the cliff. Small shards of quartz, some ground to powder, crunched under his boots and he squinted when the fine, windborne grit rasped over his face. He wondered how the Caspians, generally barefooted, fared on this abrasive surface. A Human rebel met him when he ducked into the base building.

  “Nice place you have,” Seth said, shaking sand from his hair. In here, away from the high winds, the humidity produced by the planet’s thermal vents enveloped him like warm shower.

  “What do you want here, Kada?” the Human said. Like some of the Caspian Arawaj rebels, he wore only a pair of knee-length breeches although he had opted to protect his feet with boots rather than callus.

  “Do I know you?”

  “Stories have you working with the Union. That you’re actually one of them.”

  “So they think.”

  “Want to know what I think?”

  “No.” Seth moved around the man and then quickly grasped his elbow in a painful lock when the Human reached for his gun. “What did I just tell you?”

  The rebel grunted, feeling his arm close to the breaking point.

  “Where is Jammer?”

  “Up those steps, to the front.”

  Seth released the man without bothering to disarm him and without another look back. The gamble paid off but he breathed a sigh of relief when he turned a corner and started to climb the uneven steps hewn into the rock. The stairs leveled out at times to form short ramps; in other places tall risers required him to heave himself upward to the next as if they were intended for giants. The steps changed direction, apparently following the natural tunnels and hollows caved out of the stone by wind, steam and time. Light slanted into the space from ahead of him and he followed the sound of voices into a larger hall.

  “Seth, you dog!” he was greeted.

  The Human called Jammer by everyone but his mother waved grandly when Seth stepped into the room. There was another Human here, looking less friendly than Jammer but a lot less interested as well. He was facing a long control board, little more than field equipment, an interface plugged into his work. Both men were stripped down to sleeveless shirts and stained trousers and without visible weapons.

  Seth came to where Jammer lounged casually on air bag furniture and dropped into one of them. “How’d you end up in this dump?” he asked, looking around. The room showed signs of having been enlarged with conventional tools and three large window openings were covered by sheets of plastics. None of them fit very tightly and some of the grit drifted over the stone floor where it turned to mud. He armed sweat from his forehead. “They say it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.”

  “What is?”

  “Neve
r mind. Didn’t expect to find Arawaj here. Lucky for me. For a while I was worried about a Union base.”

  “On this rock? Nothing here unless you’re a prospector, maybe. We’re not here for long, I tell you that. We’re bugging out soon, or so we been promised.” He leaned closer to Seth. “Got my juice?”

  Seth drew back to avoid the man’s pungent aroma. Was bathing not an option on a planet practically overflowing with hot water? He fished the vials from a pocket and tossed them to Jammer. “The finest, just so you’re grateful.” He had no idea about the quality of the drug, never having bothered with the stuff himself. It had been expensive. “Cost you four tubes.”

  “Four! Fuck you, Centauri.” Jammer quickly pulled his hands away when it appeared that Seth was about to take the vials back. “Fine, fine. Whatever. Nobody gonna notice them gone anyway.” He leaned far to his left and slapped the young rebel at the com console. “Get down to Te Lar and have them take four tubes to the Dutchman, with our compliments.”

  The rebel removed his interface connection. “She’ll probably insist that I shove them up my ass. Or do it for me.”

  Seth quickly withdrew another vial from his pocket. “Here. With my compliments.” He said and handed over a bottle without the extra component that Acie had measured into it.

  The rebel took it. “Got crew aboard?”

  “Navigator, a smuggler going somewhere and a Bellac with my name all over her.” Seth raised a finger in warning. “So keep your hands off that.”

  “Fine, fine, fine. Go already,” Jammer said, fondling his own supply of juice. “Nobody gonna touch her.”

  Seth sat back with the air of a man whose business transactions were complete. “So what’s going on here? Why are you hiding out in this sponge?” He watched Jammer expertly fill a small applicator with his newly acquired drug and administer it to himself.

  The rebel leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes with a long, hissing breath. “Damn fine.” He exhaled shakily. “That’s got a kick to it.”

  Seth waited a moment before speaking. “Jammer? You were saying?”

  “Huh? Oh. We had to get out of Caspia for a bit. Some of them aren’t too happy with what’s been happening. There’s even talk about allowing Commonwealth settlements on Caspia, if you can believe that! So folks don’t want rebels around, making them look bad. Arawaj decided to move some projects off-planet.”