A New Threat

by Aaron DeMott

  “He’s making a lot of noise. Also, I’m not sure of a polite way to put this, but humans tend to give off a rather strong odor if they don’t bathe regularly, and I don’t think he’s bathed in quite a while. He’s leaving a strong scent trail. I think Bast could even follow it, and she hasn’t been trained to do it yet.”

  “Oh.” Evelyn glanced all around and wrung her hands. “Eh, just let him go. Nothing came of it. Let’s keep moving.”

  “What’s mugging?” Bast asked.

  Evelyn sighed. “It’s a crime where someone threatens another person with physical harm unless they give them money or whatever it is they want. Don’t you have crime on your world?”

  “We do, but it’s rare. Most of what a person needs to live can be obtained for free.” Rrrark paused and chuckled. “That, and I’ve noticed that most humans don’t usually carry weapons around with them.”

  Evelyn shook her head.

  He raised his paw and flexed his claws. “Meskka have built in weapons that we use to hunt prey every day. It takes a determined and desperate criminal to resort to physical violence.”

  Bast watched as Evelyn eyed Rrrark’s paw. It was larger than her foot, not including the claws.

  “I see your point.” Evelyn giggled. “Man, that guy screamed like a little girl when you roared at him!”

  “Are we apt to have any more, ah, encounters like that?” Bast swiveled an ear to listen to Evelyn.

  “Nah,” Evelyn waved her hand off to the side. “This is a really safe city. I was surprised to see that guy. I bet he’s still running! And when he stops running and changes his pants, I’ll bet he never comes back here again!”

  “Perhaps we should report this to your authorities,” Rrrark said.

  He was about a length behind them, and he kept glancing over this shoulder. He held his tail down and straight out, and his fur was slightly raised. Bast shuddered. She wouldn’t want to be that criminal if he decided to come after them again.

  They didn’t encounter any other humans on the walk to Evelyn’s house. Bast’s ears pricked and her tail lifted straight up at the sight of grass-covered lawns with shrubs and trees around each small house.

  “Ah, trees!” She let out a sigh of contentment.

  “Are there lots of trees on Alkask?” Evelyn asked.

  “Well, like Earth, there are different climates all over the planet. Our continent is covered with one continuous forest with only a single grassland before the mountains to the north-west.”

  “Wow.” Evelyn raised her eyebrows. “I’ve read that most of this continent used to be covered with a forest thousands of years ago. What’s it like?”

  “There are trees everywhere. You can walk for days and not come to the end of the forest. And the trees are so much bigger than anything I’ve seen on Earth.”

  They stopped in front of a white, two-story house with black shutters and two large deciduous trees in the front yard. There was a flower garden in front of the house, and the sidewalk was covered with chalk drawings.

  “This is it!” Evelyn led them up the sidewalk and opened the door. “Mom, Dad, I’m home!” She stepped over the threshold.

  The small entryway opened into a large, comfortably furnished room with a wood floor. Bast had to suppress a giggle at the light shade of violet that colored the walls. Other than the stone of the hotel lobby, she hadn’t seen a human dwelling yet that was decorated in a natural fashion. Pictures lined the wall opposite the door. Bast recognized Evelyn in a few of them.

  The blonde-haired woman who was in several of the pictures came through the doorway at the far end of the second room.

  “Hi, Mom!” Evelyn turned to Bast and Rrrark, “This is my mom, Jean. Mom, Bast and Rrrark from Alkask.”

  Jean smiled at them. “Hello, please come in! Ed and the kids will be down in a moment.” She led the way into the room and sat on the couch. Evelyn sat next to her. Bast took a moment to look around before she chose a chair to the right of the couch to sit in. She still hadn’t quite managed the knack of human furniture. Fortunately, this armchair was large enough for her to have room for her forepaws if she draped them over the side of the armrest. Rrrark took the chair next to her. He managed to look as if the chair had been made for him. One of these days she’d have to figure out how he did that.

  “Can I get you anything to drink?” Jean asked.

  Rrrark looked at Bast. She blinked at him and looked away.

  “We don’t need anything, thank you,” he said.

  With a stomping ruckus, a small human ran down the stairs, followed closely by a man Bast guessed was about Jean’s age. She hadn’t yet seen any other humans shorter than at least a good meter tall. The small one must be a child.

  The boy stopped on the bottom step when he spotted her. He stood there silently for a second and stared at Bast with wide eyes before he yelled “Big kitty!”

  He ran up to her and gave her a big hug.

  Rrrark blinked.

  Jean jumped up and started toward the child “Brian!”

  “It’s all right. He’s fine.” Bast laughed and rubbed her muzzle against the side of the child’s head.

  “Are you sure he’s not bothering you?” Jean blushed.

  “I used to take care of the clan’s kittens when their parents needed to hunt or leave the khaal for a while. This is surprisingly re-assuring.”

  Brian looked up at her. “You can talk?”

  “Yes, I can. So can you.”

  He nodded as he stared at her.

  “Do you have a name?” Bast asked.

  He nodded again. “Brian.”

  “Hi, Brian. My name’s Bast.”

  The man—Evelyn’s father—and another girl had come downstairs and were seated across from her.

  Melissa, Rrrark told her.

  Thanks. I didn’t catch her name.

  You have your paws full with that one!

  Bast chuckled mentally.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon in a tour of the Mill’s house and in conversation with them about school, work, and anything else that happened to come up. After supper Melissa asked what Meskka did for fun. Rrrark described the sports he had played as a kitten and other hobbies Meskka enjoyed in their spare time. When he mentioned carving, Brian raced outside and returned with a stick. With flushed cheeks, he demanded to see an example.

  Rrrark stared at the tiny stick. He turned it around in his paws a few times and then extended a single claw and sliced a small sliver from one end to test the hardness of the wood. He turned the stick and sliced off the other end at an angle, then turned it once more and began to carve off delicate shavings.

  While Rrrark carved, Bast described a few of the games she played with the kittens, which led to a discussion of hunting. Almost everyone hunted on Alkask—meat was the main staple of the Meskka diet.

  Melissa ran upstairs and returned with a long flat box. “Here’s my favorite board game.”

  “Bored game?” Bast asked.

  “Oh, sorry.” Melissa blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear. “It’s called a board game because it’s played on a board.”

  She lifted the cover off the box and folded out a flat piece of plastic decorated with colorful squares around the outside. At the press of a button, holographic figures shimmered on a square labeled “Go.”

  “Board games are some of the oldest types of games. They were invented long before computers. Back then, you actually had to move the pieces by hand.”

  “That looks like fun.” Bast poked at the board. “There isn’t anything like it on Alkask.”

  Rrrark eventually finished carving the stick and held up a small wooden flower for his hosts to inspect.

  “It’s beautiful!” Evelyn and Melissa both exclaimed.

  Brian had watched the carving process intently. When Rrrark was done, however, Brian frowned at the finished product and got up to go check on the board game.

  “It’s a ruoo flower.” Rrrark lowered h
is head to look at the carving. “They grow wild all over on my planet. The blossom is colored a light purple.”

  “You must be a master carver to get such nice results from a mere stick,” Jean said.

  Rrrark snorted. “Hardly. I’ve just practiced a lot. Most Meskka can carve decently. It’s a common hobby. Our clan lives in a forest, so there are plenty of sticks, and we all have claws...” He shrugged and turned to inspect a picture on the table next to him.

  “Rrrark is being modest. He’s quite good,” Bast whispered.

  Rrrark turned to look at her, and they gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment before they both turned away.

  Rrrark happened to look at the clock and made a surprised sound. “It’s later than I thought. We really should get back to our hotel.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Mills both stood and escorted the Meskka to the door.

  “It was a pleasure and honor to have you as our guests,” Ed said.

  “Thank you for having us.” Rrrark bowed to their hosts.

  “Do you mind if we take the tram back to the hotel?” Evelyn grabbed a jacket from an entryway closet.

  “Actually, you can just stay here if you’d like.” Bast shrugged. “It doesn’t make much sense for you to go all the way with us just to turn around and come home.”

  “Are you sure you know the way?”

  “Positively.”

  “Oh. Are you sure you don’t need me for anything?”

  “You can come if you wish, but you don’t need to.”

  “Well.” Evelyn bit her lip as she pondered for a moment. “If you’re sure...”

  “All right, we’ll see you tomorrow then,” Bast said.

  Rrrark nodded to their hosts before he turned and walked out the door. Bast bowed as well and dashed out to follow Rrrark.

  A few blocks later, Rrrark glanced up at the stars. Bast followed his gaze.

  “It’s so different here,” she whispered.

  “Homesick?” he asked.

  “Not exactly.” Bast lowered an ear halfway down. “I’m having too much fun meeting new people and seeing new things, and you’re here...”

  She turned her head quickly to look at one of the houses they passed and didn’t finish her sentence.

  Chapter 6

  On board the von Braun, en route to SeQish

  Max Loker’s belt-comp vibrated in its holster. It was time. He pulled a small scanner from his pocket and waved it around in the dark confines of the shipping container where he and his men had hidden. The scanner didn’t show any signs of life outside.

  “All right, men, let’s go,” he said.

  One of them cracked a glow stick, and light filled the container. Max pulled one of the latches on the door, and someone else got the one on the other side. Max kicked the door and it fell open and clanged to the deck.

  “Stevens. Fabe. You two secure engineering; I’ve got the bridge.”

  Max grabbed a blaster rifle from the crate behind him and led them out of the cargo bay. According to the information he’d been given, the ship would be manned with just a skeleton crew. Two turns away from his destination, he rounded a corner and almost bumped into a security guard.

  “Halt!” the guard yelled.

  Max ignored him and jumped back around the corner. The guard called for backup as Max crouched behind the bulkhead. Blaster bolts flew down the corridor to his right and slammed into the wall across from him. He waited for a pause in the shooting and then dove into the intersection and snapped off three quick shots as he rolled into the opposite hallway.

  He was pretty sure he’d hit all his targets, but you didn’t live long in this business by being “pretty sure.” He fished around in the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small periscope. He squatted in the hallway and edged the periscope around the corner. Three bodies lay motionless on the floor.

  Max stepped into the hallway and walked over to the dead guards. He kicked the guns out of their hands before he retrieved a blaster rifle and an access key card from one of them. He stepped over the guard and continued down the corridor toward the bridge.

  He eased his periscope around the corner that led to the bridge—no one in sight. He slipped around the corner and flattened himself against the bulkhead next to the door. The only sound was the soft whir of the ventilation fans. Max pressed a button on his belt-comp and waited for an answering vibration. He swiped the key card he’d retrieved from the dead guard through the reader next to the bridge door. As soon as the door started to open he tossed a stun grenade into the bridge and jumped back behind the doorframe. After the grenade went off he ducked in and blasted the three officers on duty.

  His belt-comp buzzed again. This time he picked it up.

  “Is engineering secured?” he asked.

  A voice at the other end replied, “Everything’s secured here. No damage to the equipment. I have Franklin and Hoyt sweeping the ship for anyone we may have missed.”

  “Good work. It’s the same here on the bridge. When the others are done with their sweep, have Hoyt report to me and keep Franklin there with you.”

  Max sat at the helm and pulled up a contact on his belt-comp.

  “Status?” Ceres’s voice asked.

  “We’ve captured the ship.”

  “Excellent. I’m sending you the coordinates.”

  With that, the line went dead. Max set his belt-comp on the helm console and entered in the coordinates. He moved to the captain’s chair and smiled as he leaned back and crossed his legs.

  The bar on Alpha Centauri Station was just as filthy and almost as empty as the last time Tomed had been there. He stepped through the second air-lock and leaned against the wall as he looked around. He checked every alcove on both sides of the bar and still didn’t see Jake. That might mean that he was off on undercover work, or… Tomed headed into the bathroom and still didn’t find him.

  Tomed growled and sat at Jake’s favorite table. True, he hadn’t worked with Jake in years, but he wasn’t in the habit of being late the last time they’d met. He sighed again, flagged down a waiter, and ordered soup.

  After an hour, he decided Jake wasn’t coming. He could send Jake a message telepathically—but sending to a non-telepath gave the receiver a massive headache. If Jake couldn’t make the meeting because he was undercover, a massive inexplicable headache might get him killed.

  Tomed drummed his fingers on the table and then stopped and reached under the lip. He found several pieces of gum before he found a rectangular block of plastic about the size of this thumbnail. He pried it off and slipped it into his pocket.

  When the waiter came back around, Tomed paid for his meal and headed for the station control center. A station security guard with one of the most bored looks Tomed had ever seen stood outside the door. Tomed walked up to him and handed him his Psygen ID.

  The guard snapped to attention. “Wow, we don’t see many of these here. What can I do for you, sir?”

  “I just need to use a secure holo-reader.”

  “No problem. Just inside this door and to the right.”

  “Thank you.”

  Tomed nodded to the guard, who then opened the door for him and saluted. The room was tiny—about two meters across and three meters deep. A desk ran around the perimeter of the room and the walls above it were covered with computer screens. The equipment was divided into sections by use—security, sector operations, and intelligence. Tomed sat down at the media terminal and pulled the holo-card from his pocket—a standard holo-card, the kind anyone could get. It wasn’t labeled. He frowned. Was it really from Jake? Tomed called up a secure, isolated session, took a moment to find the correct size of slot, and inserted the card.

  The card reader beeped and a notification screen popped up. The contents were encrypted. It asked for a decryption code. Tomed tapped the desk with his index finger. He and Jake had used a private code on their last mission together, but that was twenty years ago. On a whim, he punched in an alpha-numeric sequence.


  A text message came up in the holo-window:

  Tomed,

  First, congratulations on remembering this old code. I’m surprised I did too, actually. You were asking about pirates, and I heard some bloke talking in the bar at three in the morning. It sounded suspicious to me, so I followed him around for a while and found out he was recruiting for some big job. I managed to get on his crew. We’re now on the way to the Stars’ View Resort of Antar. It’s all being kept hush-hush and seems highly organized—kinda unusual for a bunch of pirates. Meet me out there and we’ll figure out what to do next.

  -Jake

  Tomed grunted, closed the holo-window, and removed the disc. He pocketed it and headed to the docking arms.

  The Goddard was still undergoing repairs and upgrades—which meant he was stuck with passenger transport lines. Not only would that incur costly delays, but the decades-old ships shuffled compared to the top-of-the-line engines of the Goddard.

  After five long and boring days, Tomed arrived at the resort and headed straight for the seediest bar on the resort. His hunch was right. Jake sat in a dark corner and looked drunk—as usual. Just for once, couldn’t Jake pick a nice place to get sloshed?

  The rancid, noxious reek of stale cigarettes mixed with days-old body odor scratched at Tomed’s throat. He coughed, stepped over a few drunks and tried to avoid eye contact with anyone as he made his way to Jake’s table.

  He pulled out a chair and thumped the table with his fist as he sat down. Jake blinked in surprise and then studied him with unfocused eyes.

  “Tomed?” he managed after a moment.

  “Yup.”

  “You sure you’re really here?”

  “Positive. Are you sober enough to talk, or do I have to take drastic measures?” Tomed started to reach for Jake’s forehead.

  “I’m fine! I’m fine!” Jake lifted his hand up to cover his head and leaned back in his chair. “Last time you sobered me up that way, I had a headache for a week.”

  “That just means you drink too much.”

  “That’s the only way you can get some of these bushrangers to talk.”