by Ryk Brown
Jenno looked at Jessica, then back at Nathan. “This is precisely why we have no interest in becoming part of an alliance. Too many rules.”
“We have no intention on telling you how to run your world,” Nathan assured him. “Only that you do not prevent your people from leaving if they don’t like the way you run it.”
“I doubt any of our workers like it,” Jenno laughed.
“You know what I mean, Mister Motto.”
“I do, but again, I must pass. However, I do wish you the best of luck in defeating the Dusahn. From what I hear, you’re going to need it.”
Nathan sighed as he rose from his seat. “Thank you for your time, Mister Motto. Should you change your mind, I can be reached through the Corinari.”
“Yes, I heard that they had been reactivated,” Jenno commented as he rose. “My men will see you safely back to your ship. The streets of Haven are not safe these days.”
* * *
“That guy is a fucking idiot,” Jessica declared as they exited the Haven Syndicate’s headquarters. “The Dusahn will force them to do business with them, or they’ll finish them off for good and just set up their own mining operation.”
“We’ve got eyes on the Dusahn around the clock,” Nathan reminded her. “If they jump a ship to Haven, we’ll be there to intervene before they get a shot off.”
“You’re going to protect that asshole?” Jessica wondered, surprised by his statement. “After he told us to get lost?”
“He didn’t tell us to get lost,” Nathan insisted. “He just said he wasn’t interested. We can’t force membership on people.”
“We also can’t provide protection to people who aren’t willing to be part of our alliance.”
“If we come back, it won’t be to protect Haven, but to prevent the Dusahn from leaving their own system. We can’t let them interact with anyone, member or not. Now, if someone else decides to attack Haven, they’re on their own. And yes, I hope they get what they deserve.”
“The people stuck on this rock don’t deserve it.”
Nathan sighed as they climbed into the vehicle with the escorts. “In a way, they do.”
“What?” Again Jessica was surprised.
“Jenno was right when he said that most of these people are here because of their own poor decisions.”
“Not all of them. You know, once they work off their debt, they have to work years more just to earn passage home. Many of them never leave. They either continue working for shit wages, or they open their own business, or farm, or whatever, and scratch out a meager existence. Do those people deserve to be unprotected?”
The vehicle sped off down the dusty road, weaving around the rubble that still littered the streets.
“I do see your point, Jessica,” Nathan replied. “But we can’t protect everyone. Furthermore, we can’t force the government of a world to join, just like we can’t dictate how our members govern their worlds.”
Jessica looked at all the miserable people going about the task of rebuilding their devastated little city. “How can we turn our backs on these people?”
“If you allow yourself to feel the pain of all those who suffer in this galaxy, you will forever be in pain yourself.”
Jessica turned and looked at Nathan.
“Jerson Bussard,” Nathan added. “A twenty-first century French philosopher who led a revolution in his country.”
“Was he successful?”
“Nope. Failed and executed,” Nathan said as their vehicle bounced down the road.
“Maybe you should quote someone who wasn’t executed.”
“What he was trying to say is that in order to help many people, you must first accept that you cannot help everyone,” Nathan explained. “We can help these people by eventually defeating the Dusahn, but we cannot do more for them than their leaders are willing to accept.”
“Even if their leader is full of shit?”
“Not everyone is going to want to join our alliance,” Nathan replied. “Most will have the same suspicions as Jenno: that we’re going to try to tell them how to run their world.”
“But we’re not planning on doing so, right?”
“Right. But many alliances have claimed as much in the beginning. We are going to have to prove ourselves to people like Jenno.”
“So you think he’ll join later.”
“No, I don’t. Haven is unique because of their ring system. They can get by just fine the way they are. They’ll never become anything more than a dusty shithole, but they’ll be profitable, and that’s all Jenno cares about. That’s probably all that the people who work for him care about as well.”
Jessica shook her head. “I still say Jenno’s an asshole.”
* * *
Udo came in to change the bandages on the pilot they had rescued. For two days, he and Kado had managed to keep the man hidden from their families by stashing him in the storage loft of their barn.
Just as they had on the first day, the man’s wounds seemed to be healing remarkably well. Some of the lacerations had been all the way to the bone, yet he had bled very little, and the bones Udo could see before were now hardly visible, since the wounds had nearly closed.
After finishing, Udo opened the window to allow some fresh air into the dusty room. As he swung open the shutters, the pilot moaned. Udo spun around, his eyes wide. The man moved. Not much, but he moved.
Udo rushed to the pilot’s side as the wounded man’s head rolled to one side, then came back toward Udo. Finally, the pilot opened his eyes. Only a tiny bit at first, since the bright morning sunlight was more than he was ready for.
The pilot struggled to focus on the man standing before him, groaning again as the multitude of pains in his body registered in his brain.
“Lie still,” Udo urged. “You were badly injured, but you are safe.” Udo grabbed the bottle of water on the side table and opened it, offering it to the pilot. “Are you thirsty?”
The pilot reached out, carefully taking the bottle. He examined Udo a moment, then took a sip. “Where am I?”
“On our farm.”
“You live here?” the pilot asked.
“Not here. This is a barn. But I live less than one hundred meters way.”
The pilot looked around as best he could. “This is a barn?”
“It is a storage room in the loft,” Udo explained. “I apologize, but we had to hide you from our wives. They would not understand.”
“We?”
“My brother Kado and I found you. I saw your ship fly past overhead and crash in the hills.”
The pilot laid back, closing his eyes. “You should not have rescued me. They will be searching for me.”
“They already have,” Udo assured him. “But they did not find you.”
“They have sensors…”
“Their sensors are confused by the cows below you,” Udo explained.
“Cows?”
“Yes, cows. You know…mooo?”
“I’m not familiar with them.”
“Then you cannot be from this world,” Udo declared, wide-eyed.
“I’m not.”
“I knew it!” Udo exclaimed, only partially to himself. “Where are you from? How did you get here? Why are you here? What kind of ship were you flying? How is it you can heal so quickly? Do you have nanites inside of you? My brother thinks you are Jung. I told him you are not. Are you Jung?”
The pilot closed his eyes again. “I am not Jung.”
“Then who are you?” Udo wondered. After a moment, he said, “My apologies. You must be hungry.”
“I could eat.”
“I will be back shortly with food,” Udo promised, turning to exit. He suddenly stopped and turned back to the wounded pilot. “I am Udo. Udo Kitakawa. What are you called?”
�
�Loki,” the pilot replied. “Loki Sheehan.”
CHAPTER THREE
Their jump flash faded in the blink of an eye. Before them, the familiar sight of Palee lay in the distance, the planet growing larger in their window with each passing second.
“Ah, Palee,” Josh stated affectionately, sighing. “I’ve had my face slapped and my ass kicked many a time on that world.” He turned to Dylan to his right, adding, “I’ve gotten lucky a few times, too.”
“Gotten lucky?” Dylan wondered, unfamiliar with the euphemism.
Josh shook his head. “So young.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Just raise Palee Control on…”
A threat alert sounded.
“What the…”
“We’re being targeted,” Dylan said, studying the threat display.
“By Palee?” Josh exclaimed in disbelief, reaching for the shield controls on the center pedestal.
“What are you doing?”
“Raising shields,” Josh replied. “Cap’n,” he called over comm-sets. “We’re being painted.”
“Painted?”
Josh shook his head again as he increased the Voss’s speed and prepared to maneuver. “I should write a guide to Earth euphemisms for newbs.”
“Newbs?”
“Who’s painting us?” Nathan asked as he made his way forward from the back of the command deck.
“Only got one ship on the board,” Josh reported. “An old dunner barge.”
“Palee doesn’t have any defenses,” Jessica insisted, entering on Nathan’s heels.
“Pretty sure that barge doesn’t either,” Josh insisted.
“The targeting beam is coming from the planet,” Dylan reported.
“Should I activate weapons?” Josh suggested.
“Not yet,” Nathan insisted.
“Something just launched from the surface,” Dylan reported. Accelerating quick… It’s a missile!”
“What the…” Jessica started to say.
“I’ve got an escape jump dialed in, Cap’n.”
“Did anyone hail them?” Nathan wondered.
“We transmitted a handshake signal the moment we came out of the jump,” Josh replied.
“Did they answer?”
“Yeah! With a missile!” Dylan exclaimed. “Ninety seconds to impact!”
“Well, it’s not a jump missile, or it would already be here.”
“Second launch!” Dylan announced, his voice sounding more tense.
“Those missiles are slow as fuck,” Josh stated.
“Can you evade?” Nathan asked.
“Can I evade,” Josh replied. “What do you think?” he added as he turned toward the incoming missile.
“Not toward the planet, Josh,” Nathan scolded.
“I was going to jump past them, get down low…”
“And scare the crap out of them?”
“Why not? They’re scaring the crap out of Dylan, here,” Josh retorted.
“They’re not scaring me,” Dylan insisted.
“Why the hell are they attacking us?” Jessica asked.
“We’re in an unfamiliar ship, and they’ve probably heard that the Dusahn have acquired additional ships.”
“They think we’re the Dusahn,” Jessica surmised. “Shoot first, ask questions later. I’m starting to like them.”
“Sixty seconds to the first missile impact,” Dylan warned.
Nathan reached up for the overhead control panel between Josh and Dylan, activating the communications array and selecting all channels and frequencies. “Palee Control, this is Nathan Scott on the Karuzari ship, Dalen Voss. We have no hostile intentions. Please break off your attack.”
“Forty-five seconds,” Dylan updated. “Are we going to do anything?”
“Drop shields,” Nathan instructed.
“What?” Dylan exclaimed.
“Don’t worry,” Josh told Dylan as he reached for the shield controls. “I can jump us out of the way before the first one hits.”
“And if they are jump missiles?” Dylan challenged.
“Then we’re truly fucked,” Josh replied. “Shields are down, Cap’n.”
“I know what that word means,” Dylan said. “Especially since you use it so often.”
“Yeah, I thought you were trying to cut back on the foul language,” Jessica said.
“Life is more fun with it,” Josh replied.
“But you’re setting a bad example for the children,” Jessica teased.
“Seriously?” Dylan complained.
“Palee Control, we have lowered shields, and our weapons are offline,” Nathan announced over comms. “Please abort your attack. We are here to help you defend yourselves. We can’t do that very well if you blow us out of the sky.”
“Sky?” Dylan wondered.
“I really gotta write that guide,” Josh mumbled.
The threat board beeped another warning.
“The first missile just disarmed its warhead,” Dylan reported. “It’s changing course…away from us.”
“And the second missile?” Nathan asked.
“Same,” Dylan replied, breathing a sigh of relief. “It looks like they’re turning around and heading back to the planet. Why would they do that?”
“Palee was once protected by the Palean Militia,” Nathan explained. “It was basically just a branch of the Takaran defense force assigned to protect their ally. Their planetary defense missiles were designed to return to orbit if aborted, to make them easier to recover.”
“Why not just jump out and recover them?” Dylan wondered.
“That was before jump drives,” Josh stated.
“They probably reactivated them after the Dusahn attacked Haven,” Jessica surmised. “A bold move, since the Dusahn never formally returned control of Palee back to the Paleans.”
“Dalen Voss, this is Palee Defense Command. Do not activate shields or weapons, or you will be fired upon. Does your ship have remote auto-flight?”
“That’s a good question,” Nathan stated. “Does it?” he asked Dylan.
“That depends. What is remote auto-flight?”
“That would be a no,” Nathan surmised. “Palee Defense Command, this is Nathan Scott of the Voss. Our ship does not have remote auto-flight; however, we are familiar with standard approach procedures for your world. If you will provide us with an approach clearance, we will follow it to the letter.”
“Stand by.”
“I’m picking up two more contacts,” Dylan reported, his voice getting tense again.
Nathan looked at the threat display. “Too large to be missiles, and the trajectory is all wrong. Probably interceptors.”
“To intercept us?” Dylan asked nervously.
“Probably to escort us down,” Jessica stated.
“Relax, Dylan, they’re just putting up a show of force, just in case.”
“In case of what?” Dylan exclaimed. “Don’t they know we’re the good guys?”
“Times are tense in the Pentaurus sector,” Nathan told him. “Nobody knows who to trust.”
“Clearance data is coming through now, Cap’n,” Josh reported.
“Where are they sending us?” Nathan asked.
“Porten Field, outside of Landis.”
“A bit remote,” Nathan decided.
“They’re being real careful,” Jessica stated. “They must be spooked.”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Nathan said. “Take us in, Josh.”
* * *
After a thorough inspection of their ship and a twenty-minute ride in an old surface shuttle that clearly had Palean military insignias recently slapped onto its sides, Nathan and Jessica finally found themselves in the Palean prime minister’s office.
<
br /> “I apologize for firing upon your vessel,” Prime Minister Torman stated. “Its configuration was unfamiliar, and we have heard rumors that…”
“Apologies are unnecessary, Minister,” Nathan assured him. “These are difficult times for us all.”
“You are the last people we would fire upon,” the prime minister insisted. “The report on the inspection of your vessel was forwarded to me during your incoming flight. It contains technologies we have never seen, the most curious of which is that it does not seem to utilize lift thrusters, or even ducted fans. How is it able to get off the ground?”
“It uses an array of anti-gravity emitters,” Nathan explained. “We call it a grav-lift system. We are incorporating this technology into all of our smaller spacecraft.”
“Your ship was not originally a warship.”
“No, it was a light cargo ship that we adapted for our use. We are in the process of adapting eleven more.”
“To use against the Dusahn?” the prime minister surmised. “They hardly seem large enough for such a task.”
“They may be small, but they pack quite a punch,” Nathan assured him. “However, combat is not their primary mission. We are also hoping to use them to grow our alliance.”
“You are planning to build larger ships, then?”
“In time, perhaps. For now, these should suffice.”
“And this alliance?” the prime minister wondered. “It will provide protection for its members?”
“Not just protection, but communication and logistical support.”
“I assume there will be a cost associated with these services.”
“Only to cover the operating expenses,” Nathan assured him. “We seek no profit, only peace and security for all.”
“And you came here to invite us?”
“I did.”
The prime minister took a breath, pretending to consider the proposal. “On behalf of the people of Palee, I accept your invitation.”
“Don’t you want to know the terms, first?” Jessica suggested.
“Considering the circumstances, I doubt that your terms are less acceptable than those offered by the Dusahn, which we have rejected.”
“A brave move,” Jessica commented, “considering what happened to Haven.”