A Line in the Sand

by Ryk Brown

  Kor-Dom Borrol studied Nathan very carefully before continuing. “If you are successful at removing Galiardi from power and at stopping the attacks against the Jung Empire, I will do everything within my power to stop the Tonba-Hon-Venar. However, to do so, I will need to accompany you.”

  “Why?”

  “To witness your success first-hand,” the kor-dom explained, “and to communicate my orders to abort the attack on your world myself. It is the only way to be certain my instructions are followed.”

  “It would help if you would at least put a hold on the attack. That would give us more time to prepare to take down Galiardi.”

  “Or to find our ships and destroy them.”

  “And I thought we were beginning to trust one another.”

  “Trust is earned, Captain.”

  Nathan took a breath, looking out at the city lights. “I don’t suppose there will be time to issue the abort order before your forces attack?”

  “Ships assigned to a Tonba-Hon-Venar have no need to communicate with the empire,” the kor-dom replied. “They already have all the orders they require. This is why I must be present.”

  Nathan looked at the kor-dom again. “I’m beginning to wonder if it wouldn’t be better to just glass the Dusahn and let you and Galiardi destroy one another.”

  “But you will not, as you are unwilling to inflict that level of destruction. If you were, you would not have surrendered to us the first time.”

  “I don’t suppose that would work again?”

  “Not likely.”

  Nathan sighed again. “All right, you can come with us. But only you.”

  “As kor-dom, I am not allowed to travel without at least one guard. Especially after your last stunt.”

  “I suppose I had that coming,” Nathan admitted. “Very well, but only one, and I get to pick him.”

  Kor-Dom Borrol suddenly became suspicious. “You have friends on Nor-Patri?”

  Nathan smiled again. “Friend might not be the right word.”

  * * *

  “Update from the Aurora,” Dylan reported as he entered the Voss’s common room. He squeezed in between Josh and Marcus, smelling the steaming pot on the table. “What is that? It smells great!”

  “Give me that,” Jessica said, snatching the data pad from Dylan’s hand.

  “Teeten stew,” Nathan replied.

  “I call it slop stew,” Marcus corrected.

  “One of Neli’s recipes,” Nathan explained. “She programmed it into the auto-chef for us.”

  “She thinks we actually like it,” Josh laughed.

  “Shut up and eat your slop,” Marcus grumbled, handing a bowl of stew to Josh.

  “It’s actually not that bad,” Josh admitted, digging in.

  “How much longer are we going to wait out here?” Kit asked as he took a seat at the table.

  “What, you don’t like it here?” Mori joked.

  “In between two empires who both want to see our fearless leader here cut up into tiny pieces and set on fire?” Kit replied. “What’s not to like?”

  “We jump back in the morning to pick up the kor-dom,” Jessica stated.

  “I can’t believe we’re cutting a deal with the leader of the Jung Empire,” Marcus commented as he served another bowl of stew to Vladimir.

  “It’s the only way,” Nathan insisted.

  “Yeah, but you’re giving them jump drive technology,” Jessica said.

  “They would have gotten it eventually,” Nathan defended.

  “I’m surprised they don’t already have it,” Vladimir said, scooping up a spoonful of stew.

  “At least this way, it will be on our terms.”

  “You don’t really think they’re going to be good little members of our alliance, do you?” Kit asked.

  “I think they have no intention of honoring their commitment with us,” Nathan admitted. “That’s why we’re taking him back to the Pentaurus sector with us. The more he sees what’s really going on and how much membership in our alliance has to offer the Jung Empire, the more they might actually become real allies.”

  “You’re dreaming,” Jessica insisted as she accepted a bowl from Marcus. “Telles reports the test of the prototype was a success,” she said, reading the data pad. “They’ve already started production and expect to have enough in a few days.”

  “If you lose, the Jung will just glass Takara,” Kit pointed out. “There’s no way they let the Dusahn survive.”

  “I still think we’d be better off glassing Takara ourselves and let Galiardi take care of the Jung,” Marcus said.

  “Hey, that’s our homeworld you’re talking about, old man,” Kit warned.

  “Don’t be so sensitive, soldier-boy.”

  “Whoa!” several of the Ghatazhak jeered, teasing their comrade.

  “Did they say anything about the swarm-bots?” Nathan asked.

  “Just that SilTek is cranking them out like crazy,” Jessica replied, setting the data pad aside and digging into her dinner.

  “Sooner or later, the Jung will turn on you,” Marcus told Nathan. “You know that.”

  “The only way to save Earth and Takara is to make the Jung an ally,” Nathan insisted. “Yes, they may betray us down the line, but not until after the Tonba-Hon-Venar has been canceled and Takara has been liberated.”

  “Hear, hear,” Kit agreed. “About the liberating Takara part, anyway.”

  “Did you consider surrendering again?” Marcus joked.

  “Shut up and pass the pepper sauce,” Nathan scolded, accepting the bowl of stew handed to him.

  “This is all moot anyway,” Jessica reminded him.

  “Why do you say that?” Vladimir wondered.

  “No way in hell Nathan beats Griogair,” Jessica replied.

  “I can always count on you for support, can’t I,” Nathan commented.

  * * *

  Kor-Dom Borrol strolled up the base of the Voss’s aft cargo ramp, a single guard trailing him. The rest of his security detail stood just outside the shield boundary, their commanding officer appearing uncomfortable with what was occurring.

  “I’m not certain your choice was a wise one,” the kor-dom told Nathan as he approached. “Thus far, Cento Soray has shown nothing but disdain for you.”

  Nathan looked at Trever. The man had aged quickly and lost a few kilograms. The kor-dom was right; the man did not look happy. “Cento Soray,” he greeted.

  The man said nothing, choosing just to glare at Nathan.

  “There is an additional requirement,” Nathan stated, his eyes locked with Cento Soray’s. “Mister Soray was not to blame for my suicide.”

  “He left a blade in your cell.”

  “Was a blade found?” Nathan asked, looking at the kor-dom.

  “No, but the count was short the next day, and you were dead,” the kor-dom explained.

  “It was the blade of General Bacca that took my life that night,” Nathan explained. “He was the one who provided access to the team sent to rescue me that night. His condition was that he would be the one to take my life.”

  “General Bacca took his own life with that blade.”

  Nathan pretended to look surprised. “I was not aware of this.”

  “Cento Soray admitted to leaving a blade in your cell,” Kor-Dom Borrol stated.

  “I suspect he did so to gain a lesser punishment,” Nathan argued.

  “Perhaps.”

  “Mister Soray’s record is to be absolved of any blame in that incident,” Nathan insisted. “He is to be restored to his previous rank and pay, and is to be awarded any promotion that would have been due him during the last seven years.”

  Kor-Dom Borrol studied Nathan a moment, his brow furrowed. “Why would you make such a demand, considering all that is at
stake?”

  “Mister Soray showed me kindness during my darkest hour,” Nathan explained. “He treated me with the respect due my rank, despite his utter hatred for me and my people. I believe him to be a man of exemplary honor, and I do not wish him to suffer on my account.”

  After a moment, Kor-Dom Borrol signaled the officer of his security detail who was still waiting just beyond the shield perimeter. The man came over, and the kor-dom spoke a few commands to him in Jung. The officer removed the rank insignia pin from his own collar, using it to replace the one on Trever’s collar. “Cento Soray is now Preto Soray,” the kor-dom told Nathan. “That is probably a higher rank than he would have achieved had you never existed. I trust that will suffice?”

  “Thank you,” Nathan replied, nodding respectfully. He stepped aside, allowing Kor-Dom Borrol and Preto Soray to head up the ramp. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he detected a faint look of gratitude on the older soldier’s face as he passed.

  Nathan followed the two men up the ramp, the four Ghatazhak standing guard outside only a few steps behind.

  “These men will escort you to the common room for the journey,” Nathan stated as the ramp closed behind them.

  “How long will the journey be?” the kor-dom asked, suspicious.

  “The jumps will be instantaneous,” Nathan explained. “However, there will be a four-hour recharge layover between them.”

  “I was under the impression that your ships had more than enough range to jump between Nor-Patri and Sol,” Kor-Dom Borrol stated.

  “We’re not going to Sol just yet,” Nathan told him. “We’re heading for the Aurora in the Pentaurus sector, about nine hundred light years away.”

  Kor-Dom Borrol tried to disguise his disbelief but without success. “I was under the assumption that we were going to Earth.”

  “Our forces are not yet ready,” Nathan explained. “And the more you know about us, the Dusahn, and the state of the rest of the galaxy, the better informed you will be.”

  Kor-Dom Borrol continued forward, commenting as he passed. “We shall see.”

  * * *

  Kor-Dom Borrol and his guard, flanked by Kit and Mori, followed Nathan and Jessica onto the Voss’s command deck. It had been some time since the kor-dom had left Nor-Patri, let alone stood on the bridge of any spaceship. “Not exactly what I was expecting,” he commented, looking about.

  “The XKs are actually old cargo ships that the Tekans have been converting into armed utility ships for us.” Nathan’s eagerness to share information with the Jung leader drew a look of disapproval from Jessica, which he ignored. “They’re not much to look at, but they’re tough as hell and get the job done.”

  “And what job would that be?” the kor-dom asked, doing his best to appear innocently curious.

  “Their primary mission will be to make contact with as many worlds as possible and invite them to join our alliance,” Nathan explained. “However, we can use them for just about anything.”

  “How many of these XKs do you have?”

  “Four at the moment. We expect to have twelve in service within a few months.”

  “Captain?” Jessica interrupted, obviously displeased with his willingness to share.

  “We about ready?” Nathan asked his flight crew.

  “Jump to Corinair is plotted and ready,” Loki reported.

  “On course and speed,” Josh added.

  “Execute when ready,” Nathan instructed.

  “How far are we about to jump?” the kor-dom wondered.

  “Loki?” Nathan said, passing the question to him.

  “Four hundred and twenty-seven point three two five seven light years,” Loki replied.

  “Incredible,” the kor-dom stated, unable to hide his amazement. “And you are not worried about hitting something along the way?”

  “Our jump path avoids any systems, so there’s very little chance of colliding with something,” Nathan explained.

  “Yet space is not empty,” the kor-dom insisted.

  “Something to do with our mass versus the mass of whatever might cross our path,” Nathan replied. “I don’t understand most of the physics to be honest.”

  “Jump point in ten seconds,” Loki reported.

  “The mere thought of it is unsettling,” the kor-dom admitted.

  “You get used to it,” Nathan assured him.

  “Jumping in three……two……one…”

  Kor-Dom Borrol and Preto Soray stared out the front windows as blue-white light spilled out across the bow of the ship like water flowing from a faucet. In a split second, the entire bow was covered, the coating of light flashed, and the planet Corinair appeared before them. “Incredible,” the kor-dom repeated.

  “Jump complete,” Loki reported. “Corinair, dead ahead.”

  “Aurora Flight, Voss,” Loki called over comms. “Request permission to land.”

  “There she is,” Nathan said, spotting the tiny sliver of gray moving across the planet in the background.

  “Voss, Aurora Flight. Welcome back. Approach port bow high. Cleared to land, port aft pressure deck.”

  “Let them know we have a VIP,” Nathan told Loki.

  “Aurora Flight, Voss. Approaching port bow high, clear to land, port aft pressure deck. Be informed we have a VIP on board.”

  “Voss, Aurora Flight. Understood.”

  Kor-Dom Borrol continued staring out the window as the planet, and the Aurora orbiting it, rapidly increased in size. “I was not aware the Aurora was large enough to accommodate a ship this size.”

  “We’re not exactly going to be inside of the ship,” Nathan explained.

  The Aurora quickly grew from a sliver, taking on the familiar form as they closed.

  “Turning base,” Josh announced, adjusting his course slightly to port, allowing them to intercept the Aurora perpendicular to her flight path. “Decelerating,” he added, easing the deceleration throttles forward.

  “Your pilots fly manually?” the kor-dom wondered, surprised.

  “Not all of them,” Nathan admitted, smiling.

  Josh increased his throttles smoothly, watching his deceleration rate climb sharply as he increased thrust.

  “Plus two hundred,” Loki reported, also watching their speed in relation to the Aurora.

  The Aurora slid to their right, moving from their front windows to the starboard ones.

  “Turning final,” Josh snickered.

  “This isn’t an airport, Josh,” Loki stated, knowing it wouldn’t do any good. Josh was having fun, and there was no stopping him. “Plus one-fifty.”

  Josh twisted his flight control stick, yawing the ship to starboard and causing the Aurora to move back from the starboard windows into the forward windows once again. Another deft adjustment of his controls and the Voss was on the same flight path as the Aurora, only slightly higher and just off her port side.

  “Plus one hundred,” Loki updated.

  Nathan and Kor-Dom Borrol watched as the Aurora filled the front windows, slowly sliding down and left as the Voss started her final landing approach.

  “I see the Aurora has seen considerable action as of late,” the kor-dom commented, noticing the patches to her hull as the massive ship slide past.

  “Griogair has kept us busy,” Nathan replied.

  “Interesting.”

  Nathan looked at the kor-dom.

  “Griogair is not a name that a parent gives a child,” the kor-dom explained. “It is a sacred name among our people. The great-great-grandson of our founder. It was Griogair Jung who brought the warring houses of Nor-Patri together to form the empire.”

  “Plus fifty,” Loki informed Josh.

  “How did he manage that?” Nathan wondered.

  “By taking the heads of all the leaders.”

  “By �
�taking the heads’, you mean…”

  “Early Jung history is quite brutal,” the kor-dom stated. “The plague caused men to do horrific things to ensure the survival of their castes.”

  The back slope of the Aurora’s forward section fell away, and Josh adjusted his flight controls, firing the Voss’s dorsal thrusters to translate downward. At the same time, he fired his forward docking thrusters, slowing down the ship further to match the Aurora’s track.

  “Plus ten,” Loki updated. “In the lane. Touchdown in twenty seconds. Plus five.”

  “Voss, Aurora Flight. Deck gravity at ten percent. Transferring deck control to you.”

  “Voss has the deck,” Loki replied. “Plus five; ten down to the deck.”

  “Got it,” Josh replied.

  “Plus two……plus one……matched and on the mark.”

  “Did you have any doubt?” Josh chuckled.

  “Three……two……one……”

  There was an almost imperceptible thud as the main gear touched the Aurora’s deck.

  “Thrusting down,” Josh reported, adding a little dorsal thrust to hold them to the deck while Loki dialed up the deck gravity.

  “Mag-locks activated,” Loki announced. “Deck gravity at point seven five.”

  “Dorsal thrusters off, shutting down the mains,” Josh announced as he started shutting down the main propulsion system.

  “Maneuvering to standby,” Loki reported. “Purging docking thruster feeds.”

  Josh took his hands off the controls, then turned his head back toward Nathan. “We’re down and locked, Cap’n.”

  “Kor-Dom,” Nathan said, gesturing aft.

  Kor-Dom Borrol looked out the windows, seeing only the forward slope of the Aurora’s aft section. “Did we dock?”

  “Not exactly,” Nathan replied.

  * * *

  Kor-Dom Borrol and his bodyguard stood at the top of the Voss’s aft cargo ramp, staring out across the open landing deck of the Aurora.

  “Something wrong, Kor-Dom?” Nathan asked, noticing the apprehension of both men.

  “The area outside doesn’t appear to be…enclosed.”