Borjon

by Randal Sloan

  Jason returned her smile. “I didn’t know about the meaning of the word, but I am aware of their ancestry. Their pilot just demonstrated that in his ship handling, which I bet no one other than our Jarra on the Katarina could beat.”

  “There’s a lot more of that kind of stuff,” Amy told him. “I’ve been studying it along with the languages for help in understanding them and I find it quite fascinating.”

  “As well you should,” he told her with a smile. His Jarra seemed to be spot on with this one, having claimed her for her team without a second thought.

  His implants told him the landed ship was now secure. Jason prepared himself for his first meeting with one of the aliens. He had seen pictures of them, of course, even read a good bit of information not considered public but included in the packet a Lieutenant Commander in the Imperial Navy was given. But reading about them and seeing them in person were two different things.

  Then the main hatch of the ship opened and the alien stepped out. Jason was not disappointed.

  Kaeden had been looking forward to meeting the nest members of the One. They had to be special. But even so, he was taken by surprise when the female spoke a greeting.

  “Conas atá túo?” she said in a near perfect Borjon dialect as she bowed before him. Even her bow was near perfect. Plus, she had used the male form of the greeting as opposed to the more generic.

  Without thought, he answered with the standard response to a female, “Conas atá túa.” After realizing what he had done, he added in deference to her companion, “You speak our Borjon common?”

  “I am in the process of learning both the common dialect and the High Borjon dialect. I have a high affinity with languages, and Jarra, that is Her Highness, told me it would be essential for our upcoming mission that I learn your languages.”

  Kaeden stared at her a moment. He blurted out, “You are Translator! You are the one so named in the Prophecy!” He gave her a quick bow.

  Seeing the puzzled look in her eyes, he went on, “Sorry, we meet Master, he will tell. Very important. Then all be clear.”

  Jason had watched politely the exchange between the two. But he was eager to see Jarra and the delay was beginning to chafe. “All this sounds very important, but we have a tight schedule to keep. Is it possible we could get underway soon?”

  Kaeden gave him a quick bow. “Yes, we go. Please come board ship — we leave soonest.”

  A few minutes later they were underway. Amazingly, in only a handful of minutes more, they had reached Katarina. In what seemed like seconds afterwards, Jarra was in his arms.

  Chapter 3

  A Visit Home

  Jarra sat at her station aboard Katarina. She couldn’t help looking over in pride at her team. They had just completed a thirty-second run in the new level of hyperspace. That meant Katarina was officially a “Fast Ship” by the Borjon definition. Quite amazing really and even more amazing what the fast ship would mean for the Empire.

  But it hadn’t been all roses. She herself had ridden an emotional rollercoaster over the past 24 hours. From the despair of facing almost certain death to the intense explosion of love she felt for Jason when they were reunited the evening before, the emotional rollercoaster had been hard to deal with.

  But she’d held it together and her team had too. That team now included both Jason and Amy, and they’d all worked together to produce the feat she had just observed. What a tremendous team they all made. She was quite proud of them.

  Jason had slid into the slot that would have been called XO on larger ships, and he’d taken over a lot of her management and administrative duties, something she knew she would appreciate over the next few months. His easy manner made his relationship with the crew a smooth one, and she knew he’d do an amazing job.

  Amy had already mastered the Borjon languages, both of them, and she’d been spending a lot of time with Galen learning his extensive navigational tricks. Yes, her team had come together quite nicely. To think she had once stressed out over adding a single person to the team when Sasha had come her way from her sometimes mischievous cousin John. That seemed almost silly to her now, but she’d still been learning how to lead her team back then. It also seemed like a long time ago, although it had only been a few weeks.

  Actually, if she were honest with herself, the team now also included Kaeden of Borjon. The alien monk had supplied them with the information they needed to turn their little ship into a fast ship and the rest of the team had done the work to make it happen. Something about him just seemed to fit with the rest of them.

  Once Jarra had been able to tear herself from Jason’s arms long enough to speak to his Borjon companion, she’d used the formal address Amy supplied her by implant to address him.

  “Conas atár tú?” she offered up in greeting, along with the bow that her father had taught her.

  She must have gotten it right, because Kaeden gave her the Borjon equivalent of a smile, replied with similar words, and followed it up with his own bow.

  Kaeden wasted no time explaining his purpose. Although a surprise at the time, Jarra had quickly realized it made sense. “I sent by Master Hadassah to help your nest. I study prophecy many years and learn about humans so I can be with you. Hyperstorm at Badlands big sign, tell me to come to you.”

  Then Kaeden had revealed the thing that surprised and amazed her all that much more. He currently was the only Borjon to have received an implant modified to work with his brain and to allow him to communicate within the ship’s NET just as his human counterparts were able to do. He was still learning to use it, but it was going to make him a tremendous resource.

  Once allowed into the NET, Kaeden had proceeded to provide them with the full specs for the Fast Ship drive. Amazingly, it only required a few modifications to their hyper engines to make it so, although that had been helped by the fact that Katarina was state of the art for the Empire.

  Their initial unplanned flight had been rather crudely done and had led to the re-creation of the hyper-storm that had produced the original Badlands, but the modifications to the hyper engines gave similar results without most of the side effects. It was still an uncomfortable way to travel, albeit quite useful. Done properly, it was also a lot less dangerous than the way they’d done it.

  “Okay, team, we’ll break for today,” Jarra told them all. “We’ll finish our testing tomorrow morning and if successful, we’ll start for Borjon by way of the Galactic Capital tomorrow afternoon.”

  Jarra smiled at them all. “Just think, we may be dining with my Uncle tomorrow evening.” That brought a few looks of worry from the team, but Jarra tried to ease their minds. “Don’t worry, it will be a small private affair. Only members of my family will be in attendance, along with those of my extended family from this ship.”

  Her smile grew bigger as a thought popped into her head. “Of course, for some of you, my Uncle does have a certain medal he’s been waiting to pin on you.” That brought a course of groans from a number of her team who’d been hoping to avoid that fate.

  Jarra turned to Kaeden. “Master Kaeden, you are also invited to join us. We will be certain to provide you with a Borjon-safe meal so you won’t have to worry about any misunderstandings.”

  Kaeden returned her smile. “Please, you call me Kaeden. As pleases, where you go I go. That duty given by Master, but most happy to be.”

  With that Kaeden officially became a member of Jarra’s team. She couldn’t help but be thrilled by all the special ones with her. She knew whatever they would be called upon to do in their upcoming missions, they’d be up to it.

  Perhaps she should have been more cautious about her assessment. Who knew what those missions would bring?

  The next day they finished testing the fast drive. If pressed, Jarra would admit that it was rather uncomfortable making the transition to the theta level hyper band, but after that point it was just another day in hyperspace. She couldn’t help but notice Kaeden seemed uncomfortable the whole time.


  When she asked him about it, he told her, “Yes, very difficult for Borjon to ride fast ship. Some of us no can do awake but must sleep. I can do but no fun. Amazed you humans can do so well.”

  Jarra looked around at her team with pride. “This crew is quite special. They’ve been through a lot together. I wouldn’t be surprised if other humans do have more trouble than we do.”

  Kaeden bobbed his head in the Borjon form of a nod. “Your nest very special. When Master Hadassah meet you, he tell prophecy and you will understand.”

  Jarra smiled. “I look forward to seeing him. It amazes me that it will only take a day to make that journey that once took two weeks. We have much to discuss. Among other things will be how can we use fast ships without tipping our enemies off that we have them. For now, only Katarina will have it.”

  Kaeden bobbed his head again. “Very wise. Enemy no think new things but quick to copy.”

  Shortly thereafter Katarina set her course for the Beta Albion system and Albious Prime, the capital planet of the Galactic Empire. The Amfiltrite trailed behind them, the backup Borjon pilot not as proficient as Kaeden but nevertheless very capable.

  The final leg of their journey took as long as the rest of the trip in fast hyper. When Katarina dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the Beta Albion system, she had to navigate the traffic flow into the very busy galactic capital. Jarra had to offer up high-level Imperial codes just to get their unusual ship cleared for admittance, not to mention the alien ship in their company, but she dared not risk anyone who was a spy for their enemies learning of their arrival. She couldn’t let them learn that they’d made it from the Rim in such a short time. For the sake of the Empire, the visit had to be kept secret.

  That meant they had to follow the normal slow path of entry instead of bypassing the queue, something Jarra’s own codes would have gained them. Even so, they eventually made their way to the large station that sat atop the Imperial space elevator that went down to the surface. Dedicated to the military and Imperial government, the station and elevator was of the size any other planet would have been using for their primary access point. Of course, here in the Capital it was dwarfed by the gigantic commercial station and its elevator that was responsible for a large portion of the business of the Empire.

  Katarina landed at an ultra-secure landing bay, with the Amfiltrite beside them and Jarra and crew quickly locked the ship down and prepared to disembark. Walking down the ship’s ramp, Jarra received a surprise. She momentarily stared in disbelief.

  “Father,” Jarra managed to get out before she rushed forward to throw herself into his arms. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  “One of the advantages of a fast ship,” he told her as he held her out far enough to be able to look at her. “You look well,” he told her.

  “I was able to catch a ride on a Borjon fast ship so that I could be here to meet with you,” he went on. “That and allow the Borjon ambassador to meet directly with my brother, something planned for later this week.”

  “So you won’t be accompanying us when we leave tomorrow to meet with Master Hadassah?”

  “No. Regrettably, our discussions here take priority for me. It’s not like you need me there for your meeting, and I suspect the Master will be discussing things for your ears only, so I would just be in the way. But come, let’s get you and your team down below and settled. We’ll just have to make the best of the time that we have tonight.”

  “I’m so glad we are no longer at odds,” Jarra told him. “I’ve really missed you.” She gave him a final tight hug and turned to the others with her.

  “I know you’ve been briefed on the members of my team, so I’ll be quick with the intros. We have Galen, our navigator and systems specialist; Gabo, our science officer and reactor/weapons specialist; Sara, our AI specialist and hacker extraordinaire; and Sub-Lieutenant Sasha, my backup commander and Imperial Intelligence specialist. All of them are from my original team and you’ve studied the mission briefs, so you know what they can do.

  “My newest team members are Amy Swanson, our backup navigator and language specialist, and Jason Cauldwell, who you already know due to his father’s position in the Navy. Amy is learning the Borjon languages and will have a very important role in our upcoming mission.” She smiled at her friend, who was still unused to her praise.

  “Jason has become very important to me, and I can best describe his role as protector of my heart.” She grasped Jason’s hand and placed it over her heart.

  Slightly embarrassed at the intimate contact in front of her father, Jason eventually retrieved his hand and offered it to him. “I am pleased to see you again, Ambassador. Know that my intentions with your daughter are entirely honorable. Already, she has stolen my heart.”

  The Ambassador smiled at him. “I can see by the way you look at her that you care very much. I can’t think of anyone I would rather be with my daughter.” His smile grew bigger, “Although, I gotta say, son, you’ve got your hands full with this one. She’s much too much for this old man to keep up with and she doesn’t back down from anything.”

  Jason returned his smile. “Yes, sir, I’ve known that from the beginning. That’s one of the things that I love and admire about her.” His smile slipped a little. “Although I wish she wouldn’t place herself so much in danger. I thought I’d lost her this time.”

  Jarra’s father nodded. “We all thought as such. It was a very dark hour. I was very fortunate that Master Hadassah found me quickly to tell me she was alive, although I scarcely could believe it before I saw her myself.”

  “I only did what I had to do,” Jarra told them both, although she deeply regretted the time her family and friends had spent not knowing she was alive. If she had to do it all again, however, she’d still have done her duty.

  She grasped both their arms. “Come on, let’s go,” she told them, leading the way to the private elevator used only by the Imperial family. Although she had known in her heart both men would accept her relationships as they were, it was good to see they were getting along so well. Already this day was looking up.

  Of course, she’d have to keep an eye on them. She also saw the high likelihood that the two of them would gang up on her. Still, it was a good thing that the two most important men in her life accepted each other.

  She hoped things went as well with her uncle.

  Emperor James Grayson Von Hasson, leader of the Galactic Empire, sat in his office awaiting his meeting with his niece. He had a mission he needed to give her, but after everything that had happened on her last mission, he was reluctant to do so. Despite how everything had turned out, he knew just how close they’d come to losing her, and it was much too close.

  Nevertheless, the mission had to be done and the Katarina was by far the best ship to complete it. He knew he would do what he had to do, and he knew Jarra would accept any mission he gave her. Duty! Both would do their duty for the Empire.

  Jarra pinged him to tell him she was on her way, so his time for debating the assignment of the mission was gone. It didn’t matter anyway. He knew he’d do what he had to do. He stood, going over to the 3D VR wall view and instructing his internal AI to display their best representation of the known galaxy; basically the Galactic Empire and the Borjon annex. There were so very many areas that were still greyed out, indicating no information was available. That was one of the reasons for this mission.

  “Uncle,” she said as she entered the room, her very presence something he felt. He wondered if she knew the effect she had on others.

  As with her father, Jarra quickly rushed forward to give her uncle a hug. She knew she was blessed with her family and the closeness they shared. She intended to cherish it for as long as she could.

  “Oh, my little Jarra,” James told her as he looked her over. “You’ve grown up to be such a special young woman and without you, I don’t know where things would be right now. Much less comfortable for the Empire, I can tell you for sure.
”

  He indicated the chair beside his work desk. “Please be seated. We have another mission I wish to discuss with you. I would say it was optional, but there’d be no point in saying that.”

  Jarra merely nodded. She knew as well as he that she would never turn down a mission if it was at all possible to be done. Of course, she would never risk her team on a whim either.

  He indicated the view of the galaxy that he’d pulled up. “We know so little of the galaxy other than that of our own Empire, even if you count the newly annexed area of Borjon. That lack of information has come up to bite us more than once in this undeclared war that we are fighting. Our Borjon friends have been able to help supply us with a little more information, but there’s still so much that’s unknown.

  “That brings me to the mission that I must give you, although I want you to consider it carefully before agreeing to it. In our discussion with our new friends who’ve fought our enemies twice before, they’ve mentioned more than once what we would call the back door to the Aerstone Empire. There is a place where the two arms of the galaxy that hold our Borjon friends and our Aerstone enemies come close enough that a fast ship can attempt a crossing. Within that area between the arms, ordinary hyperspace thins to the point of being almost nonexistent, but at the higher levels, particularly theta, hyperspace is still quite strong and easily passable in certain areas.

  “Our Borjon friends used this access point at the very end of their last war to stage a surprise attack on the Aerstone core planets. That was one of the reasons they were able to push the enemy back enough to bring the war to the draw that has given us all this time of relative peace. If they had just had the resources to finish them off, perhaps we would be looking at a different galaxy in our day.