The Apex Warriors

by Marc Stevens

  If the Rugerian thought that would rattle us, he was wrong. The Troop Master’s reaction was to slap his hand down on the console and start laughing. “You hear that? We are famous,” He declared. “I wish my clan could see me now.”

  The Rugerian stared wide-eyed back at us. He probably thought we were all insane. He just might be barking up the right tree, but I wasn’t going to confirm it as Klutch seemed to have no problem doing.

  Coonts leaned in front of Klutch, trying to block out the clown’s antics. “What do you know about Outpost 3142?”

  The expression on the Rugerian’s face said he was relieved by the change in subjects. He must have thought his own history was leading him closer to a grave of his own. “It is a former pirate outpost once run by Eiger. It was where the Scrun used to sell large numbers of slaves. Eiger bought them in volume at wholesale prices. He sorted out the most desirable and resold them at auction to the highest bidders. The rest would be distributed at a marginal upcharge to all of his pirate factions as a source of income. When the word got around that Eiger had met his end, the pirates abandoned the base. Many feared it would up like Eiger’s former base. When the Scrun came back wanting to sell more slaves and found it deserted, they took it for their own. It is now a slave repository and distribution center.”

  Klutch pushed Coonts aside. “I find it interesting that you are not mentioning the Legion of the Chosen?”

  The Rugerian’s relief was short-lived. He stiffened and his vitals took another spike. He stammered. “You didn’t let me finish.”

  We knew that was a load of scat. The only reason he would neglect to mention the Scrun Legion was he hoped they could somehow deal with us. I got up and headed for the exit. The Rugerian started shouting and pleading for me to stop.

  I slowly turned around. “You are on the verge of a very painful death.” I spat back at him.

  The Rugerian sounded almost hysterical and for good reason, I was going to make good on my promise to kill him. “The Scrun run Legion missions from a complex deep inside the outpost. It was Eiger’s former bunker.” He exclaimed.

  Sushi walked into the room and caught the last part of our conversation. He looked at the monitor with gritted teeth and his eyes were narrow slits. The terrorist attack on Outpost 9765 was a Legion of the Chosen operation even though it was supported by other nefarious groups. The Rugerian just threw the ire of the Sig race on the Legion’s doorstep. I hit the buttons to end the remote interrogation.

  Sushi was staring at me, and the look on his face was disquieting. “Commander Myers, I hope you do not take my next statement wrong, but this will be a matter for my people to settle.”

  The attack did happen on the Sig’s watch, and they lost a lot of good people. I could see why it was one mission that we needed to turn over to the Sig.

  “Okay Sushi, we don’t have a problem with that. It sounds like there could be a large number of slaves at that location as well. We are ill-equipped to cope with that kind of scenario. You should listen to all of the Rugerian’s recorded intel. When you are done, we need to brief you on our current findings and get you up to speed on another serious threat that has galactic implications.”

  Sushi nodded to me. “My transport is outside. Just tell the AI where you would like to go.”

  We got up and filed out of the room leaving Sushi to question the Rugerian. The Scrun were about to have another really bad day. After the Prule decimated a huge Scrun fleet, I thought they would rethink some of their conquests. The Legion of the Chosen has proven otherwise. The intel I had access to, indicated the Sig now had a numerical advantage in military starships because of the Scrun losses. We had recently given the Sig upgraded technology for their warships. They would have the superior edge if it came to a confrontation. The look on Sushi’s face told me that was exactly what was going to happen.

  We boarded Sushi’s transport and told it to take us to Tam Lin’s office. The vehicle must have had priority over all the other transports. It took off at a pace that I thought would result in a serious injury accident if we collided with one of them. I was glad my ruminations were correct. The transports we met were all pulled to the side of the tunnel as we flashed by. We passed through the hanger area without slowing. We were now going uphill and the pace of the transport never wavered. The groups of Sig soldiers that saw us coming from a distance gave us a salute. We flashed by the majority of them so quickly they had little time for the formality. The transport finally slowed to negotiate a sharp corner, then came to a stop in front of a guarded entrance. We were met by an escort who took us directly to Tam Lin’s office. When we arrived at her door, it was already open and she beckoned us inside. There were three chairs arranged around the front of her desk. Tria’s chair was pulled up close to Tam Lin’s on the opposite side. I sat across from Tria and made a goofy face at her because she was not smiling.

  I didn’t get the desired results. “Did I miss something?”

  Tam Lin reached forward to her desk and touched her virtual keyboard. A screen appeared on the wall to our right and Tria tilted her head in that direction. Coonts, Klutch, and I turned to look at it.

  Tam Lin and Tria were monitoring our interrogation. Sushi was on the screen and he had the Rugerian lifted off the floor by his neck. Sushi was yelling into the Rugerian’s face shield. He was saying the Rugerian lied to him about knowing anything about the Legion of the Chosen. Now I knew why the alien seemed so startled to see us again. He did not want to be caught telling different stories to me and the Sig. Sushi was seriously pissed that he was made a fool and fell for the Rugerian’s lies. The twelve-foot-tall Sig’s oversized fist smashed into the Rugerian’s head. The blow probably killed the alien instantly. Sushi tossed the body to the floor and stomped what remained of his skull flat with his boot. I looked back at Tam and Tria. Tam Lin was rubbing her forehead and looking the other way. Tria just gave me a small shake of her head. Tam shut down the screen and looked at me to see my reaction. I kept a neutral expression on my face.

  Tam Lin cleared her throat. “Nathan, Sushi has reported that the Rugerian suffered a fatal accident.”

  All eyes went to Klutch when he snickered at Tam’s explanation. He held up his hands. “What? The Throgg almost suffered the same accident when he tried to feed us a bucket of scat. He got what he deserved.”

  Tam lin’s favorite bottle was sitting on her desk with two shot glasses. I felt a change in subject was in order. “Have you got any more of that, or did the two of you drink it all?”

  That finally broke the chill in the air and put a small smile on Tam Lin’s face. She produced three more glasses from a drawer and poured everyone a drink. We tossed them back and I slapped mine back down on her desk next to the bottle. Except for Coonts, who looked like he had just finished drinking from a hoof track, we had another. Tam Lin waved the bottle at me again and I put my hand over my glass.

  I had business to discuss and got right down to it. “Did Tria fill you in on our Prule mission?”

  “Yes Nathan, it is a miracle you survived. I passed the information to Pasta and he said he would be here soon to discuss that and other matters. Sushi will be here soon as well. I have a feeling you will want to have a private conversation with him concerning the Rugerian’s accident. I will come back after the matter is settled.”

  “That won’t be necessary. As Klutch has already stated, I almost killed that bastard myself. As far as I am concerned, the issue of what happened to the Rugerian is permanently settled.”

  Pasta walked into the room. There was a couple of large oversized chairs against the wall and he pulled both of them over next to mine.

  He sat down and started to tell me what happened to the Rugerian, but I cut him off. “Pasta, there is no need for an explanation. The Rugerian chose his fate, he knew the risks of lying to us and how perilous that choice would be. I have no concerns with the outcome.”

  Sushi entered the office and Pasta got up and had a quiet word with him. H
e looked in my direction and gave me a Sig salute. I hoped we could move on to other issues. To make sure, I started off with a briefing on the Outpost 9765 mission and finished up more than an hour later with the Prule intervention mission. I presented them with a data cube derived from the deadly encounter. Both Sushi and Pasta sat staring at me in silence for more than five minutes.

  I was going to ask them about their response to the Rugerian intel, but Pasta interrupted. “The last time I saw you on Outpost 9765, I thought you had something important to say to me. I could see you were troubled by whatever it was. When you failed to disclose the nature of your concerns, I let the matter drop. I now believe you were making the decision to exclude my people from the mission.”

  Damn, the big Sig trooper was just about as perceptive as Tria. Both him and Sushi looked at me in silence. They wanted an answer, and I did not have it in me to make up some bullshit story to justify my decision.

  “Yes, the mission cost thousands of lives and untold numbers of wounded. I knew if your people became involved, the death toll would be exponentially higher.”

  They slowly digested my answer. Pasta locked eyes with me. “There is also the possibility it could have saved some lives as well.”

  His gaze was becoming uncomfortable and implied I should have let him make that decision. Since Sael wasn’t here to justify her doubt about the Sig forces, I dumped some of the blame for arbitrarily making the decision, on her doorstep.

  “The Principle Investigator for the Chaalt people pointed out their technological advantages. They were substantial enough I relented to your exclusion. Sael Nalen assured me they would bring the numbers to decisively crush the Scrun, and take the base with minimal casualties. We had no idea the base was hiding a Prule stronghold, nor did we have any inkling a Prule fleet would be trying to retake the base. A lot of cutting-edge Chaalt warships were lost when Prule reinforcements joined the engagement. We were shocked by the number of Prule still active in this galaxy. When you look at the data from the engagement, I hope you will find that my decision was pragmatic, and I had your people’s best interest in mind.”

  I finally got what I thought was an approving nod from both of them. However, it didn’t come without a rebuttal. “I hope that in the future we can openly discuss matters that might involve collaborations between us.”

  Tam Lin was ready to move on. “I’ll drink to that!” She said, then pulled two large tumblers from her desk and another bottle of the good stuff. She poured them full and slid them across her desk to Sushi and Pasta. Coonts wasn’t up to speed with the sudden change in direction and failed to get his hand over his glass in time. Everybody got a drink. We poured them down and it seemed to ease the tension I was feeling.

  Tam got right down to business. She projected a holographic image of a freighter over her desk. “This is the freighter the Rugerian was referring to. It is the largest freight hauling platform roaming the galaxy as far as I am aware. It is called the Constellation class and as the prisoner pointed out, there are only six in existence. That will make it much easier to identify and track. We have the entire Sig intelligence network, along with my assets, trying to get eyes on them as we speak.”

  I looked over at Sushi and Pasta. “We have agreed to let the Sig handle the matter of outpost 3142, but my team and I reserve the right to act on the freighter intelligence. If we decide to act alone, I hope you can respect that.”

  Sushi and Pasta sat stonefaced. There was blood in the water and they wanted to taste all of it. Tam Lin must have felt the tension growing again and the silence was becoming awkward. “Sushi passed our intel on to General Bonaparte. He, in turn, passed it on to the Sig governmental council. The response came back quickly. The Sig are assembling a strike fleet. Since the location of Outpost 3142 is already known, they will be jumping to that location in the next forty-eight hours.”

  I couldn’t figure out why Sushi and Pasta seemed so uptight. It had me wondering if they were being sidelined by the Sig high command. “Who will be leading the fleet?”

  “General Bonaparte.” Sushi said with an edge to his voice.

  That answered my question, and it was crap. Sushi and Pasta should have been the ones leading the strike. “It was your intel. Why do you have to sit this out?”

  It was Pasta’s turn to answer. “It is to show the Galactic Union the Sig people are capable of responding to the terrorist attack on Outpost 9765. Once Outpost 3142 is taken down, pictures of the Scrun prisoner you brought us will be posted on all the vidnets. Unless someone of a higher rank can be captured alive, he will be identified as the one who orchestrated the attack. He will also be branded as one of the leaders of Legion of the Chosen.”

  It seemed like an unnecessary amount of skullduggery, but it made sense to make General Bonaparte the poster child for taking down Outpost 3142. It was a message being sent to whomever it was that wanted Bonaparte removed as head of security for the sector. Still, Sushi and Pasta should have been part of the ground team. Since I was not privy to what the Sig leadership had on their minds, it didn’t mean that I couldn’t smooth over the ruffled feathers created by the decision.

  “Tam, if Sushi and Pasta are available when we catch up to the freighters, I would like to include them on my strike team.”

  I looked over at the two big Sig troopers. “You do want to come along?”

  They both stood up so fast their chairs overturned. “Yes!” they exclaimed.

  I finally felt that there were no more hard feelings floating about. Tam Lin was smiling now that everything was settled. She gave me a quick rundown on the Containium mine. “Nathan, as you already know, production at the mine is operating around the clock. The last of the work crew rosters have been selected. We have gainfully employed three hundred and twenty former slaves. We have yet to complete the permanent living facilities for them all, but the project should be completed within the month. Until then we have them living in the old pirate crew quarters here at Venture. We are also fast approaching the quota you designated for the drone production program. Once that is complete, we should start seeing a profit. I have several outlets in mind that will take all our initial offerings. If things go as planned, we will be operating in the black in three months.”

  “How are the Zaen’s doing with the salvage deliveries?”

  “Things are going well. It takes them four trips to fill my new freighter to half capacity. The rest I reserve for the excess Containium your freighter cannot haul. Since my latest business forecasts are much better than I had previously predicted, I do not need the additional credits for the salvage hauling contract.”

  I wasn’t about to argue with her about the savings. It would free up funds for other projects. I was glad she didn’t need me in any capacity to oversee the mining operation. Tam Lin was the perfect choice for the position. I would much rather be out trying to clean up the scat hole our galaxy was turning into than be stuck in an office.

  I bowed to Pasta and Sushi, then turned to Tam Lin. “Thank you for all your help, and I hope to hear from you soon. We need to get back to Alpha Base.”

  Tria stood up and leaned into me. She did not drink as far as I knew, and I had a feeling she had one too many. I hooked my arm in hers and we went down to the tram that would take us back to our shuttle. Tria put her head on my shoulder for the tram ride. Coonts and Klutch did us a solid and kept quiet for the duration of the ride.

  When we arrived at the shuttle Tria got up unsteadily and I put my arm around her.“Are you okay?”

  She frowned at me. “Yes I am fine, why do you ask?”

  I let it go and we boarded. Coonts and Klutch went to the flight deck and prepared for departure. I pulled a chair up out of the deck and sat Tria down in it. She looked a little dazed and I again wondered how much she had to drink. I felt the shuttle liftoff and the landing gear retract. I took off my recon armor and was putting on a smart cloth uniform went I heard something crash to the deck. I looked up at Tria. She had stri
pped off her armor and threw it on the deck. I had seen the look in her eyes before. I was hit by a wave of Sha’ Leen that almost dropped me on my face. I scooped her up on shaky legs and put her over my shoulder. I made my way to our cabin. I was glad the flight deck door was closed. Tria was pawing at me and I had a feeling she didn’t give a damn if anybody was watching or not.

  We awoke to the voice of Klutch calling to us over the shuttle’s PA system. “Commander, ETA to Alpha Base is twenty minutes.”

  “Roger that Klutch, thanks for the heads up.”

  I got up to use the sanitary station and glanced back at the Chaalt warrior laying naked on the bed. She had a smile on her face and seemed to be feeling right as rain. I could not say I felt the same way. When I looked in the mirror I noticed I was now sporting a hint of a shiner under my left eye. I vaguely remembered the errant knee from my tipsy lover pouncing on me. I looked back over my shoulder at Tria. She was getting dressed and blew me a kiss. I just shook my head. Next time Tam Lin started passing out shots, I would make sure Tria never got more than two.