The Warlord's Path: Samair in Argos: Book 6

by Michael Kotcher

  “Who in the Nine Hells is Warlord Verrikoth?” the woman spat. “Are you invading this system? We will fight you to our last breath!”

  The zheen turned his head to look at Jensen Tyler, who scowled. Then, the man brightened. “Tell her we bring greetings from Commander Hestian.”

  “Sir?” The zheen clacked his mandibles in confusion.

  “Just do it,” Tyler told him.

  Shaking his head and chittering to himself, the zheen pressed the transmit button. “This is Nemesis. We bring you greetings from Commander Hestian, the lupusan warrior who hails from the Red Sphinx Systems.”

  There was a long pause. “You know Hestian?”

  Tyler nodded to the comms operator, who spoke. “We do. He commands a light cruiser in my Lord’s fleet. He remained in Tyseus while my Lord traveled here.”

  Another pause. “I would speak with this Warlord you claim to have.” Her voice was defiant, almost petulant. Hestian’s name seemed to act as a talisman.

  Tyler was already on it. He pressed a button on the arm of his command seat. When Verrikoth picked up, he spoke. “My Lord Verrikoth, we’ve been challenged by a local warship, a frigate. We’re in no serious danger, but the captain of the ship is demanding to speak with you. I suspect that we will get nothing but resistance from them-“

  “I will sspeak with them, Commander. I am on my way up to the bridge.”

  Less than a minute later, Verrikoth stepped onto the bridge, dressed in a black surcoat, with a sidearm belted around his thin waist, black metal bracers around his forearms, looking every inch the Warlord.

  “Do we have a vizzual?” Verrikoth asked, stepping over to his command seat next to Tyler’s sitting and activating his own displays.

  “No, my Lord,” Tyler answered, shaking his head. “They transmitted on audio only.”

  “Well, we will not. Open a video channel and link to the current tranzmission,” the zheen ordered. The comms operator jumped to obey. A few seconds later, he gave Verrikoth a thumbs up. “Thiss iz Warlord Verrikoth, thiss iz Captain Li?” Information scrolled across the display about the Salvadora and her captain.

  “You’re a zheen!” the woman exclaimed. He still couldn’t see her, but she obviously was receiving the video transmission.

  Verrikoth bobbed his antennae. “Very obzervant of you. I have come to sspeak with your governor about matterz of trade and profit.”

  “Trade and profit?” Her voice held disbelief.

  “Nothing more. I wissh to harm no one, ssave for thoze who would attack me or mine.”

  “I see.” She hesitated for only a moment longer. “Do not approach the moon of Yana or you will be attacked,” Li informed him belligerently.

  Verrikoth let her tone pass. Captain Li and Salvadora were the lone sentinels in this star system, and she clearly took her job seriously, something he approved of. “Undersstood. My sshipss will not interfere with your mining operationz or with any of the local sshipss.”

  “See that you don’t.” That provoked a hiss from the Warlord but without a return visual transmission, it was impossible to say if she caught it. Then the connection was cut.

  “That human iz a fool,” Verrikoth stated a few seconds after the connection closed. “I hope for her ssake sshe iz a sskilled sship handler. Otherwize, sshe haz a mouth that will cauze problemz for the local government and ultimately for me. Perhapss thiss iz a ssituation that requirez delving into.” His antennae curled as he thought. Absently, he waved a hand forward, and Commander Tyler ordered their ships on toward the planet.

  ((--[][]--))

  “I musst ssay, Governor Palless, I am impressed at the amount of indusstry you have here,” Verrikoth was saying some time later. They were flying from the lake city of Pedrosan to Kerios, City on the Sea, after touring one of the factories by the lake. The factory produced light machinery, farm equipment and a variety of ground cars and tools. It was a massive facility, though populated with living workers rather than bots, but with such a surplus population on this world, compared to the level of technology, jobs requiring menial or manual labor were required.

  When Verrikoth asked about this, the Governor, a human female named Petra Palles, only shrugged. “Bots are expensive. We use some in the farming industry, or with heavy load lifting or in industrial areas where organics simply cannot. And while we could build more, it’s cheaper just to train people for these jobs. And it keeps them busy and productive.”

  “Undersstandable. If you have any of thoze workerz who are looking for alternative employment that you could sspare, I am looking to hire on more handz for my warsshipss.”

  The governor took on a pensive look, stroking her chin. “I can ask around and post openings on the net. We should have something for you in a few days.”

  “I will take you up on that, Governor. Thank you. Now, you were ssaying you were taking uss to one of the petroleum refineriez?”

  The woman nodded vigorously. “Indeed, yes, my Lord. I think you will be most impressed by what we have there. Now I understand your ships do not use any petroleum or petroleum products?”

  Verrikoth chuckled. “We uze the processed sstuff in plassticss, but no, it iz not used for fuel.”

  She laughed. “Oh, of course, how silly of me. No, we don’t se it on the Salvadora, either, we have to import deuterium from Reeshee, like the other worlds in the Red Sphinx Quadrant. But we have an amazing refinery; I think you’ll be surprised at all of the uses we’ve found for petroleum…”

  ((--[][]--))

  Upon arrival back on Nemesis twelve hours later, Verrikoth found himself exhausted from all of the tours and meetings. Governor Pallas and her lieutenant governor Xhik, a male zheen, had been polite and officious, perhaps even a bit pompous, but very proud of their world and its industry. Of all he’d seen, one of the factories in the mountains had been the most interesting. They were working on their own version of an assault rifle, one that was easy to maintain, solid, stable, you could drag it through the mud, and it would still fire. It was a primitive weapon, compared to the ones his own troops were currently equipped with, but it used chemically-powered ammunition, so it wouldn't show up on any sensors except for metal detectors. It was something to think about, as the test-firings of the weapon proved promising. It would be something to equip a militia with; it would be easy to learn to use and maintain. He made a mental note to place an order for a few thousand.

  After a quick check in with Commander Tyler, Verrikoth made his way down to the troop barracks and to where the Xai’ryn was laired. During the trip from Tyseus, she had fertilized a number of her eggs from their union and within days had laid her first clutch of eggs. She forbade anyone from entering the compartment during the process, as well as while the eggs were gestating.

  Their arrival in Caridosia heralded the hatching of the eggs, all forty-one of them. Twenty-five of them brought forth creatures a meter and a half in height with six legs, with the same bug-eyed teardrop-shaped head that all zheen shared, even with the same antennae and mandibles. These ones were dual-segmented, walking on four legs, with two for grabbing and fine motor manipulation. Instead of the deep purple carapace characteristic of all zheen, their exoskeletons were a milky white and were pliable, due to their extreme youth. As they matured over the following weeks, it would harden into proper carapace and darken in color. These were the ysh’kai, the worker drones, builders and shapers of the zheen world. They were capable of building things out of organic substances, like many insects across a thousand worlds, but in these modern times, they were much more innovative, quickly grasping and being able to work with more scientific methods and techniques. Suddenly having twenty-five new engineers and technicians who could grasp and then advance in the building and repairing of modern technology was invaluable. More of these would be needed.

  The remaining sixteen were larger than the other type of young ones. These were the drei’kai, the warrior drones. They were two meters in length, walking on eight legs, with
that same milky-white carapace, and the same shaped head. That was where the similarities ended. The drei’kai were eight-legged, but the front two pairs of arms had hands that could be used for grabbing, the frontmost pair of hands had ridges on the forearms and hands, as well as sharp-clawed fingers. The creatures would run on all eight legs, but instead of just scuttling around like an insect, could lope and jump at great speeds and heights. They were strong and fast, and once it hardened, their carapace was slightly heavier than that of the other zheen. Even their bulbous compound eyes had a clear membrane covering them, giving them some protection on one of their few vulnerable spots. This was a warrior caste of zheen, capable of ferocious close-quarter fighting, as well as pack and tactical thinking. They weren’t quite coordinated enough to use weapons, but that’s what the virile males were for. They were coordinated and intelligent enough to use some technology, operate doors and lifts, even read commands on displays.

  All of the drones were linked to their progenitors through their blood. Commands given by either the Xai’ryn or their sire were to be instantly obeyed, though none would obey a command to slay one, the other or both of the parents, no matter how angrily either the Xai’ryn or her sire insisted. The ysh’kai were smart enough to be able to try and reason through conflicting or contradictory orders, though the drei’kai tended to lock up in such situations.

  Verrikoth stepped into the compartment, to find the young ones slumped to the floor in blissful contentment. Verrikoth buzzed in frustration. Apparently, the ultra-potent pheromones the Xai’ryn was emitting affected her own progeny as well. He would have to secure breathers for all of them if they were to be able to operate around her. He stepped over to one of the drei’kai, who was all but curled up on the deck plating, napping and he stroked its still flimsy-armored back. It gave off a rumbling purr at his touch, and he felt his thorax swell with paternal pride. This creature, this offspring was his, and he would do what he could to nurture and protect it before he sent it into battle.

  “They are beautiful,” Verrikoth blurted before he could stop himself.

  The Xai’ryn drew herself up and hummed with pride. Then her posture drooped, despair just oozing out of her. “But it seems even my progeny are susceptible to the cursed humans’ handiwork.”

  Verrikoth continued to stroke the drei’kai’s back. “Then we procure breatherz for all of them, or at leasst thoze who will be around you directly.”

  “They are my progeny!” she wailed, her voice ringing off the bulkheads, the volume and the frequency making Verrikoth wince. The drones barely stirred.

  “Yess, they are. Giving them breatherz will not change that. But you yoursself ssaid, thiss iz about building our power basse. We cannot let ssentiment cloud our judgment.”

  She hissed and swiped at him but missed by several meters. He stood his ground and hissed back. “I am not your enemy, Xai’ryn.”

  “No, those humans are!” she raged, letting out another keening wail. Those human scientists, survivors of Verrikoth’s wrath on their base, did not survive the trip back to Amethyst when it was determined they could not neutralize or reverse what they had done to the Xai’ryn. Once all the information they had on the procedures was relayed, Verrikoth turned them all over to her, who tore them apart. She cracked open their skulls and sucked out their brains. She stated afterward that she would have preferred they been alive when she feasted, but they squalled and wriggled too much. Sadly, the ingestion of human gray matter did nothing more than provide sustenance.

  “The humanz who did thiss to you are dead. Other bottom feederz like them are being dealt with az we sspeak. For now, thiss iz ssimply ssomething we will have to endure and make the drei’kai undersstand why they need to wear it.”

  “You are very tolerant of the situation,” she harrumphed, her arms moving about as though she was more nervous than upset.

  Verrikoth chittered. “The potent pheromonez do bother me and I am concerned about their growth and maturation,” he gestured to the drones, “But they sshould recover well enough once we get their ssystemz cleared out. It iz jusst ssomething we must endure.”

  She clacked her mandibles and muttered something to herself. “Are you going to be meeting with local government again?”

  “I am,” he confirmed. “But if you are willing, I will bring them up here to Nemessiss to meet with you. I want them to know who you are.”

  She seemed to recover some of her composure. “Very well. But what of the young ones?”

  He raised his hands in something of a shrug. “We can bring the governor in here to meet you. Sshe iz a human female, sso sshe sshould be unaffected. And the young onez will not harm her.” He could see the Xai’ryn bristle at the human identifier, but he moved on. “Sso long az you can keep from killing her.”

  She chittered. “I can refrain.”

  “Excellent. I will bring her up in the morning.”

  ((--[][]--))

  Bringing the governor up to the ship turned out to be more of a challenge than initially expected. Palles was perfectly willing, eager even, to come, but word about the possibility of hiring on to a warship had gotten out. A few discreet inquiries had turned into a full-fledged crowd at the small spaceport at Kerios. Over a thousand people had turned up, all of them clamoring to see the crew, the Warlord, soldiers from other worlds that they’d heard and speculated so much about.

  When the shuttle touched down on the tarmac, and the hatch popped open the crowd started to surge forward, but Governor Pallas's loud but calming words and the presence of police officers managed to push the crowd back. Verrikoth stepped out of the shuttle, raising one hand over his head in greeting. The crowd screamed in pleasure, humans, zheen, Severites, even a few Geckons and lupusan calling out welcome.

  Verrikoth ordered the shuttle pilot to communicate with Commander Tyler back on Nemesis, requesting more security teams and officers to be brought down, so that they could work on screenings for the hiring process. A second shuttle would be down in an hour, and Verrikoth relayed the information to the Governor.

  “That is most welcome news, my Lord Verrikoth,” Palles said, a bit of color starting to come back into her face. “I must say there was a larger turnout than I expected.”

  “People are looking to find new and exciting adventurez,” Verrikoth said in understanding. “If they have the sskillz and temperament I am looking for I am looking to hire them. I need about another hundred to round out the crew for Nemessiss, and perhaps thirty for my desstroyer.”

  Palles looked worried again. “That’s going to make for a lot of unhappy people.”

  Verrikoth eyed her. “Then we will make that clear when the officerz get down here from the sshipss. Alsso, when the opportunitiez arize, I would ssend ssome of them to Tysseuss, where there are more vesselz looking for crewz.” He tapped his forefingers together. “Yess. Thiss worked out better than I hoped.”

  Palles beamed. “I’m glad I could help you out, my Lord.”

  “Let uss get this ssituation under control; then I will take you up to meet the Xai’ryn. We will not be sstaying here in Caridossia for more than a few dayz. But I would like to disscuss a more permanent and tighter joining of the worldz in thiss area of sspace.”

  Palles looked thoughtful. “I’m certainly willing to listen to what you have to say, my Lord. And seeing the firepower you possess, I’m hardly in a position to refuse.”

  “Excellent.” Together, they turned their attention to the crowd, both of them speaking to the crowd, working to keep them calm.

  ((--[][]--))

  The next two days passed in a blur. Officers and chiefs came down from Verrikoth’s ships, getting things organized and pushed through the recruiting and interview process. Of the thousand or so that showed up to try and find new employment, only about three hundred in total were suitable. Some were too old, some too young, some were not physically fit to do many of the jobs they’d be called upon to do, and others were layabouts who seemed to think work on
a starship would be easier than the grind here on the planet. Of those three hundred, the officers and chiefs selected enough to fill out the crews of both ships and gave vouchers to the rest, which would automatically place them at the front of the recruiting line, the next time one of the Warlord’s ships came through here. The rest were thanked for their time, or forcibly ejected if they got uppity.

  “I really have to thank you, my Lord,” Palles said, flushing in happiness, as they boarded the shuttle back for the ship. The recruits were given a day to take care of things here on the surface and then would be ferried up. “I though that this was going to turn into a riot and…”

  “You thought my leaderz would only fan the flamez? Sstart fightss or hurt thoze who did not wish to comply?” Verrikoth asked shrewdly. He chittered a laugh. “I cannot ssay I blame you. I admit to a bit of ssurprize mysself. But it turned out well for all involved… all who matter anyway. The resst can go back to their homez and their livez.” He gestured to a seat. “Now we go and meet the Xai’ryn.”

  The woman looked slightly fearful at the prospect, making the zheen laugh.

  ((--[][]--))

  Once aboard the heavy cruiser, the governor had a look of wide-eyed wonder. She became a tourist which was odd for a woman who was used to modern, spacefaring tech. Things in the Red Sphinx Quartet weren’t such a backwater that she had never seen starships or even warships before. The Red Sphinx herself had a total of four ships if Hestian was to be believed and Verrikoth had no reason to doubt his word. But watching her move through Nemesis, it was as though this was the governor’s first time out of atmosphere and onto a spaceship.

  It took only a few minutes to bring her to the barracks. “I musst warn you, Governor. The Xai’ryn has young drones in the compartment with her. They are in the processs of being fitted with breatherz, sso ssome of them may not be docile. Make no ssudden movez and obey any orderz you receive from me.”