“Not without endangering the sentients occupying the circuitry,” Jonathan answered.
I exchanged a frustrated look with Nick. “Button it up in that case,” I said. “We take off in five minutes.”
Chapter 23
Truth and Consequence
"No weapons? Are you nuts?" Tabby asked after Nick and I explained the situation.
"I think we established that long ago," Ada quipped.
"The blasters on the cutters won't cause us much trouble, but that sloop might be an issue," Marny said, joining in. "Hotspur has two tactical advantages, speed and stealth. We'll need to rely on them."
"Joliwe, do you know anything else about this black prison?" I asked. "Why wouldn't Belirand just set up base in Thandeka? Why above the sky?"
"There has always been a small group of Scatters that resist," she said. "Most of our people support the resistance but will not act overtly. Belirand soldiers have difficulty holding prisoners on Thandeka as they do not have sufficient guards to watch over them."
I nodded. I'd certainly gotten the impression that Chappie was short on people and it was good to have it confirmed.
"I was hoping for something like a location? Is Belirand occupying one of the moons? Further out?" I asked.
"Those moons are a long way out," Nick said. "That's a lot of fuel usage for a hideout. I'm guessing they'd want to be closer."
As Nick spoke, Joliwe got a far-away look in her face. "It is strange to speak of visiting the sisters," she said. "I do not know where the black prison is. I am sorry."
I didn't generally stay irritated with people for too long and Joliwe was no exception. Wearing a vac-suit and seated at a workstation, she looked like any other spacer. Her unawareness of the comings and goings of Belirand was a symptom of the overall weakness of the Scatter people. It occurred to me that she was defensive and abrasive because everything felt so far out of control.
"Tabbs, would you take Joliwe over to the planning table and bring up a solar system view? She might know something but just not realize it," I said.
"Sure. Peter, this would be good for you too," she said, leading a confused but pliable Joliwe to mid-ship and down a quarter flight of stairs from the bridge to a large conference table.
"All hands, prepare for immediate liftoff," I said. "All sections report in."
My announcement caused Marny, Nick and Ada to turn back to their respective stations and dig into their consoles. While they worked, I reviewed the statuses of the septic and atmo systems. The water we'd taken in was circulating through previously dry membranes and while we weren't completely out of the woods with either system, they both were much improved. I started a checklist of replaceable filters and seals that we'd need to manufacture before taking any long trips.
Within a minute, green statuses popped up next to each crewmember's nameplate on my HUD. The exception was Jonathan who seemed to be keeping busy but wasn't overly interested in communications.
"Everything okay, Jonathan?" I asked. "It's customary to check in if you're in agreement with the preparations."
"Our mistake, Captain," he answered, a green check appearing next to his nameplate. "It is just we wonder why you have not attempted to reach out to your home in the Dwingeloo galaxy. I believe Abasi law suggests that while you live, you remain Prime of House of the Bold."
A familiar heaviness returned to my chest. I'd done a good job of compartmentalizing my thoughts of home. I knew I'd lost my mother to old age, but wasn't mentally prepared to pull that bandage off just yet. "We don't have access to the comm crystals."
It wasn't entirely true. While we had found one broken crystal, a mystery that was still not solved, I hadn't made any attempt to locate the remaining crystals. I suspected they were still in my bag in the captain's quarters.
"We took the liberty of locating your communication crystals," Jonathan said. "We have installed the device that will connect you to the House of Bold command structure in the Mhina system within the city of York."
"What the frak, Jonathan?" I asked. "You shouldn't be going into my room and getting into my things."
"Our apologies, Captain," Jonathan replied. "Establishing communication is critical to survival. We have made a mistake."
"Dwingeloo is hundreds, if not thousands, of lightyears away," I said. "What possible value could we gain from talking to people who have no idea who we are? Or even the other way around. I need you to focus on the mission at hand."
"Very well," he answered, turning back to the console in front of him. I could have sworn he seemed pouty at my reprimand. I exchanged a confused look with Nick and noticed that the bridge had grown quiet as everyone watched the conversation unfold.
I shook my head, once again frustrated with a team that was no longer well-meshed. We had to do something to get our mojo back and I couldn't help but blame myself for ineffective leadership.
"Lift off in three… two… one…" I said, gripping the thrust stick with white knuckles. When I silently hit zero, I unkindly ratcheted the thrust past what the inertial dampers could absorb, jarring everyone back in their seats a couple of centimeters. To their credit, no one complained at my assertion of who's in charge.
Gaining elevation, my eyes danced over sensor readings and I searched for clues to Belirand's existence above the planet. I was disappointed, as none presented themselves.
"Would you look at that," Marny said, offering her data-stream which was focused downward at Fraxus. As we continued to climb, her AI highlighted the city, Thandeka, but also dozens of other small cities scattered across the continent.
"Any technology signatures?" I asked.
"Nothing, Cap," she answered. "We're too far away to determine if they're Scatter populations, but the materials used for construction are similar. Maybe Joliwe knows of the other cities."
"We know of other Scatter kingdoms on Fraxus," Joliwe said, her voice carrying a sense of awe. "I was not aware there were so many though. This sight makes it all seem so small."
I wasn't about to explain how perception of size worked in relationship to distance. The data-stream Marny shared was also modified by the AI to remove issues like curvature of the planet and the fact that most of the cities really didn't take up much space. Instead, the AI communicated details the naked eye could not perceive well, making the information more understandable.
"I'm getting several near-planet bodies in extremely high orbit," Nick said as the blue of the planet's atmosphere gave way to the blackness of space.
"What kind of bodies?" I asked, flicking his data onto the holo projector between Ada and myself.
"Either there was a third, much smaller moon, or there was a collision between the other two a long time ago," he said.
"There is a legend of a great heavenly fight between the sisters," Joliwe said. "At the right time of the year, you may see a cleft out of Bethasa's side where Martesha struck her in anger."
"Legend?" Nick asked. "That would have been a cataclysmic event for Fraxus. Nobody on the surface could have survived it."
"It is what I know," she said.
Thousands of rocky chunks orbited Fraxus in a narrow band, high in orbit. It would have been convenient to call them asteroids, but technically moons would have been a more accurate description for some of the larger ones, otherwise they were just near-planet objects.
I couldn't resist bringing the mineral analysis sheet up, the miner / entrepreneur in me wasn't about to let go of such an opportunity. Nick had warned that the Small Magellanic Cloud was generally short of metals and the analysis I got back seemed to confirm it. Like most rocks, these were primarily silicates and considered junk. That said, there were exposed metals that could be harvested with some effort.
"What about radio signals?" I asked.
"In twenty years, we haven't seen more than five ships in our sky," Nick said. "Did you notice most of these rocks are in geo-synchronous orbit?"
I concentrated, trying to figure out why he was
pointing out the orbit. I’d noticed it but had also discarded the information. Nick was tying infrequent ship sightings with rock orbits. It occurred to me he was suggesting we were on the wrong side of the planet. I set a navigation course that would bring us just below the orbital path of the rocks.
"Cap, I have multiple contacts," Marny said only moments after we cleared the north pole.
Without prompting, my holo field zoomed in on a portion of the belt, highlighting eight ships sitting in proximity to a rock that had an irregular surface several kilometers in circumference.
"Take us to silent running," I said, tapping into Hotspur's most impressive feature.
The lights on the bridge dimmed and then blinked out. Muted glow from HUD projections and vid-screens was the only remaining light and engine burn was curtailed significantly.
"Something's happening," Nick said. "There's a comm burst from that rock. I'd bet there's a base we can't see."
"Jonathan, any chance of decoding their communications?" I asked, hopefully.
"Yes. It will take eight of your standard Earth years," he answered. I rolled my eyes. We really needed to get the rest of the gang together, as it didn’t seem like we'd rescued the brightest bunch.
"Sure, work on that," I said, petulantly.
"Cap," Marny said, warning in her voice.
"They're breaking up," I said, switching gears. "Looks like Chappie's normal flight wing, his sloop and those two beat up cutters."
"All of which have weapons," Tabby added from the conference table where she still sat with Joliwe and Peter.
"Where are they going?" Joliwe asked. "They must have seen us. Are they coming to attack?"
"No," I answered. "Looks like they're headed to the planet. They can't see us. Our ship has the capacity to hide."
"Without cover? What do you hide behind?" she asked.
"Tabbs, I think that's to you," I said.
"No," Joliwe said. "What if Prince Thabini is on those vessels? We must stop them."
"He might be," I said. "But it's middle of the night down in Thandeka. Chappie will want a crowd to watch whatever he does to Prince Thabini. What if Thabini's still in the black prison? We can't just leave him behind. Nick, can you get a reading on the ships still sitting by that rock? Are they operational?"
I'd adjusted our flight plan so we were sailing directly at the remaining five ships and what I suspected was a base on the rock beneath. If we broke stealth, we'd alert the departing ships. I sped up as Chappie's small fleet got further away.
"I’m getting energy readings from all of them,” he said. “Looks like at least three are exerting positive control. Two might be lashed onto a buoy of some sort.”
"Marny, what do you think about Peter in a boarding action?" I asked. "Any weapons training?"
"Aye, Cap," she answered. "He's checked out on bows and staves. I'd say no to blaster rifles, though."
"Bows and arrows in vacuum?" Tabby asked. "Not sure that'll work."
I glanced back at the heavily muscled man. He wore one of Marny's old armored vac-suits which only added to his mountainous appearance. I hated to have anyone in a boarding party who didn't have access to a ranged weapon. "Do we even have a bow aboard?" I asked.
Marny held my gaze for a moment, thinking it through. "Well, actually we might," she said, jumping up. "Permission to leave the bridge."
"Go," I said, curious at her sudden return to protocol.
"Peter, on me," she ordered and jumped into the zero-gravity well that would allow her passage to the lower deck. I chuckled as I heard the air being knocked from Peter's lungs as he slammed into the aft bulkhead, unable to control his descent.
"You're such a child," Ada said.
"I'm still working things out," I said, hoping Nick would forgive my pleasure at his son's minor tribulations.
"I'd suggest going around this way," Nick said, drawing a navigation path that would take us on the opposite side of the rock from where the remaining ships slowly maneuvered. It was an obvious suggestion, but I accepted it, along with the fact that I needed to be more circumspect about laughing at Peter's mistakes.
"Captain," Jonathan said. "We have taken the liberty to establish communication with your home in the Mhina system. We believe there is critically important information you must hear."
I shook my head at Jonathan's complete disconnect. "Not now, Jonathan," I said. "We're ten minutes from contact with a real, live enemy right here. There's nothing we can do for people who aren't even in our galaxy. Put it aside. Once we're back, we can deal with whatever you've found."
"This is Noah Munay-Hoffen of House Bold," a young, disembodied voice crackled over Hotspur's public address system. "Is this thing really working?" The rumble of ship weapons could be heard in the background.
"Frak, Jonathan. I told you. Not now," I said angrily.
"Who's that? Can you hear me?" the young man asked.
"You need to talk to him," Ada said. "Noah, this is Hotspur. Where are you transmitting from?"
"Cannot comply," the young man answered. "I see your ident coming up as House Bold, but I'll need command cyphers communicated for verification. Bottom line is we don't tell people where we're at and we need to clear this line."
The sounds of multiple explosions filled the speakers and I could hear the young man coughing as he spoke. "Pull back! Pull back!" he ordered.
"Noah, this is Liam Hoffen," I said. "What's your sit-rep?"
"No can do. How do I know this isn't another frakking Mendari trick?" he said. "Transmit cypher codes or clear this line. Damnit, we don't have time for this shite."
My AI pulled up the House of Bold codes that would verify my Prime status. I pinched the codes and flicked them at the virtual portal that signified my intent to communicate.
"Liam, no!" Nick shouted, jumping up.
Inexorably, Jonathan followed Nick up and backhanded him across the bridge.
"What the frak?" I asked and reached for my blaster. Suddenly, my head filled with the worst kind of pain as every nerve in my body came alive at the same moment. I grabbed for my head and fell forward.
"Asshat!" Tabby bellowed as she rushed Jonathan, only to be brought to her knees.
"They said we would be too late," Jonathan said, his voice clear even as my body writhed in pain. "Twenty years it has taken and many grew impatient, saying our mission had failed. I even believed it was possible they were right. But god has plans well beyond the understanding of Mendari. It has chosen a time of much greater opportunity to deliver the demons of Mhina to us."
Even through the pain, my mind spun with the implications. The talk of god, demons, and Mendari was confusing at best. The Mendari were an enemy from Dwingeloo. Why was Jonathan talking like one of them?
From the corner of my eye, I saw Marny jump onto the bridge deck and rush at Jonathan, only to be dropped to her knees like the rest of us. Peter's large shape appeared behind her and I felt sadness as I knew he'd also be brought down. Somehow Jonathan had infected us with a nanite or virus and he controlled our pain centers.
Peter roared angrily as he took in the scene and for a moment Jonathan hesitated. Peter accelerated across the deck, taking two steps before suddenly the ship's gravity was set to zero. I didn't find it funny this time when Peter's lack of zero-g training propelled him into the ceiling. He barked in surprise when his armored suit absorbed most of the strike.
A rushing sound warned of atmosphere being drained from the ship. My faceplate clamped down only to be released. I stared into my HUD as my own codes were used to override each of our suits in a way I wouldn't have believed possible. I attempted to fight the overrides but was unable to respond.
Then, a long thin black shaft appeared in Jonathan's torso. It was joined by two more. Surprised, Jonathan looked down and smiled. "That will do you no good," he taunted Peter, pulling an arrow from his chest. "Did you forget this is an android body? I have given up everything to fight the invading demons. God will not allow m
y defeat now!"
"I didn’t understand why Dad taught me that atmosphere transmits shockwaves," Peter said, trying to catch himself as he tumbled in zero-g with no hope of recovery. I'd suffered hypoxia before and could feel its onset as I worked my lungs like a fish out of water. It wasn't the worst way to die, but I couldn’t believe this would be the end.
"A simple lesson from a simpleton. While it is true that your body, free of the technology that cripples your family, still operates, you will be unable to survive without the atmosphere you speak of. Perhaps something more interesting to focus upon," Jonathan said.
Suddenly, the top third of Jonathan's android body vaporized as the arrow shafts he'd withdrawn from his body exploded brilliantly. A naked look of anguish crossed Peter’s face as he accepted responsibility for taking another’s life. A wave of sorrow washed across me. Not for the Mendari, as I would have killed that one a hundred times over, but for the loss of Peter’s innocence. I fell to the deck as gravity slowly returned and atmosphere was restored. I pushed back to where Peter now stood and clasped his shoulder. “You did what was needed,” I said, removing a narrow crossbow from his hand.
“Why are we demons?” he asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.
“It is easier to kill someone you believe is evil,” I said.
“He would have killed us all,” Peter said, feeling a need to justify himself.
“Yes. Just like killing a maracat that is stalking your home, sometimes people must be stopped,” I said, locking eyes with him. “You have to accept your responsibility in this and also know that any other choice would have led to the deaths of your family.”
“It makes me sad,” he said. The truth conveyed in that simple statement tore at my insides. I found I was only able to nod in agreement.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and found Marny standing next to me. “Thanks, Cap,” she said. “I’ll talk to him.”
I blew out a hot breath and walked back to the cockpit past the grizzly remains of the android body. Fortunately, its life-blood wasn’t red nor did its viscera smell. Tabby had started to clean up the pieces, no doubt to save Peter from seeing the result of his actions.
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