- XXV - Miakr opened the airlock. He jumped back. His head lamps caught a drifting figure's face as it moved out of the airlock. Staring eyes, a muzzle with lips curled back in hate showing razor teeth. He yelled and swung instinctively. Battle dress swatted away the fearsome apparition like a fly. Miakr looked on as the vargr tumbled across the room stiff as a board and bounced against the far bulkhead. "Dead?" he asked. Vole caught the corpse from its gyrations. "Very dead. But this one didn't die from oxygen starvation." "What do you mean?" asked Gresha. Vole turned the corpse around to face them: a female. Two holes were torn in the body. "Looks like nine millimeter bullets. Now we know why the one on the bridge had an SMG." "She's wearing a corsair uniform." Gresha pointed out. "What band?" asked Shtam. "Looks like the Uekalez. Hard to say though." "What do you know about them?" "Tough group. Strong in space. This Vixen must've been theirs. Had a good fleet 'til recently." she said remembering. "What happened to them?" asked Shtam. Gresha shook her head. "The usual I think: internal splits, competition moving in. Happened about three months ago. I don't know." "Interesting." commented Vole. "I estimate the time of death of this vargr at approximately three and one half months ago." - XXV - Ten robots stood motionless in the engine room. "They're out of fuel." noted Miakr. "Probably drained to keep the life support going." "Agreed." nodded Shtam. "Vole, how much fuel do you have at the moment?" "Thirty three point six liters." "Well, it will have to do." "What do you mean Shtam?" asked Miakr hesitantly. "To get control of this ship we will need to use Vole's fuel to power up the engines." Shtam explained. "What?" shouted Miakr. "We have to stop the ship's spin before we can refuel it. To do that we will use Vole's fuel. He does not carry much, but it ought to be enough to stop the rotation." "He won't have enough to operate!" shouted Miakr eyes wide. Gresha stared, "Miakr?" "What's the matter?" wondered Shtam, "It will not damage him." Miakr glared "He'll be out of power." "So?" asked Gresha. "He can't operate. I won't allow it." "Miakr," began Shtam calmly, "Vole will only be powered down for a little while, an hour at most." Miakr only glared. "It sound's like a sensible plan." broke in Vole, "But, may I suggest that I be left with point two liters of fuel?" I can operate for one hour on that amount." Miakr eased. - XXVI - Miakr glanced at the gauges nervously. "Fuel temperature rising... Approaching ignition temperature: thirty seconds." Shtam looked over the main engine christmas tree. "Gresha, we will have power in twenty four seconds. Stand by to activate emergency de-spin. Flamboyant stand by for fuel transfer." Gresha's radio sounded from the bridge. "Standing by." Niedrsha in the Flamboyant called, "We're in position." Miakr shot a glance across his shoulder, "Vole, how is your fuel holding out?" "I will be forced to shut down in two minutes seventeen seconds." "Vole," wondered Shtam, "can't you conserve fuel?" "No, he can't." snapped Miakr. "His fuel cell has only so much variability. He's set on lowest power output right now." Shtam ignored the curt reply. "Here it comes. Four seconds to ignition." The plasma became more and more violent in its slam dancing ultra violet display. Suddenly, under the wing of a gaussian, two deuterium atoms collided with unusual force. Two individual nucleii suddenly met. After billions of years of solitude, the protons embraced, and clung to each other with tremendous force, heat and desire and became one for all eternity. Love is found everywhere in nature. "We have fusion ignition!" called Shtam, "Activating bridge controls." "She's alive!" shouted Gresha. The ship jerked under their feet as the emergency de-spin system fought the torque of the Vixen. They held on as the ship suddenly moved without them. Vole, with nearly no power to stop himself, drifted up to the center of the engine room. The maneuver jets ate the Vixen's spin. She slowed and stopped her slow pirouette. "Flamboyant, commence docking and fuel transfer." smiled Shtam. "Quick, Shtam!" shouted Miakr urgently, "Can I bleed off another point two liters for Vole?" - XXVII - Hours later, the boarding party was aboard the Flamboyant. "Well, how are the engines of that thing, Shtam?" asked Niedrsha. "Looks like she's pretty beat up." Shtam set his air tanks to recharge. "Well, actually, the Vixen is in fairly good condition considering what it must have been through. Those ships are built to only be used once. When they fire the main missile bay it shakes the ship apart. She may have been used a few times." Shtam stretched and continued. "She appears to have recently undergone a major overhaul. The equipment appears to have been stripped from other Vixens to make one working one out of several damaged ones." "It's been cannibalized." nodded Jietlshaiepr. "Precisely. It's been without power now for some time. The engines need to be thoroughly checked before she can make jump." Niedrsha shook his head. "Too fuckin' bad. We don't have the time. We got to get after the doc." "However," continued Shtam, "if we leave someone here to go over the ship, and get her going again. We will have a nice little warship with the armament of a light cruiser to bargain with. It would take a thirteen hundred ton ship to carry the same armament as this one." "And, it carries nukes." nodded Niedrsha. "Who's staying?" Shtam raised an eyebrow. "Miakr has already volunteered. He, Vole and Gresha will stay behind." Jietlshaiepr's brows knit, "How will they survive? The original crew died." "We will have to take the Vixen to Aramat's orbit. There, we can pick up oxygen for the life support. She will have enough fuel to last twenty four weeks at full power. That should be plenty of time for us to reach Massina, have the forensics experts go over the Flamboyant and return." "Miakr doesn't mind staying?" queried Jietlshaiepr. Shtam shook his head. "No, he seemed anxious to stay. He has ten robots to tinker with: the automated crew of the Vixen." "Sounds like a good plan to me." nodded Jietlshaiepr. "Sure," nodded Niedrsha, "let's do it. It'll take a few days for us to reach Aramat from here." Shtam smiled, "I will ride on the Vixen. I can find out what repairs she will need and make up a shopping list for parts." - XXVIII - Sector Capital Massina Belt A000922-B Encoded Computer File 604 Gunned Escort Flamboyant To: Agent 604 From: Colonel Korispatl, Chief of SORAG operations Ikar Sector Date: 1102-105 Message: I have received your report on your observations of Dr. Mako Malenkoviepr. His disappearance has confirmed some facts concerning the defector: Colonel Baremkatlashche'. I also am in receipt of the report from forensics concerning the analysis of the gunned escort Flamboyant. Your orders are to continue with your current cover in an attempt to recover Dr. Malenkoviepr. For this your group's ownership of the escort has been approved. Colonel Baremkatlashche' has been busy it seems. Malenkoviepr is one of several scientists now missing. Our agents report the kidnapping of several prominent scientists. The connection between these kidnappings and Baremkatlashche' has been found by your report. It seems that three years ago an expedition was mounted by SORAG agents to find the lost Imperial Colonial Cruiser Kinunir. The expedition was lost with all hands, cause unknown. The agents involved were hand picked by Baremkatlashche'. It is to be assumed that they did recover the Kinunir and defected to who ever Baremkatlashche' is now working for. The Kinunir has also been sighted in formation with the pirate transport Star Rider also known to be connected with Baremkatlashche'. The Flamboyant it seems is an interesting case in the extreme. The ship matches serial numbers of a gunned escort owned by the Imperial Mega-Corporation Al Morai. It was lost two years ago at grid reference 0410 in the Ile subsector on the rimward extreme of Ikar sector. This system commonly known as "The Edge" has presented a great problem to shipping in that for as long as records go back, no ships have returned from there. Lost in that system are several Zhodani and Imperial warships, the largest and most recent of which was the Imperial Scout Cruiser: Bright Light of the Azhanti High Lightning class. We have received reports that the Mega-Corporation Halden Minerals has found evidence that the planet at "The Edge" is the habitat of psionic organisms which kill starship crews by driving them insane. This is unconfirmed. However, it would seem that Baremkatlashche' and his people have solved the problem of going there and has managed to recover the lost ships. This may explain why the particle accelerators have been removed from the Flamboyant. The accelerators were either damaged and could not be replaced, while other more powerful ships had priority for repair, or they were deliberately removed to be placed on more heavily armed vessels. Halden Minerals may have connections with Colonel Baremkatlashche', however, this may be difficult to track as Halden Minerals has backers in nearly every government in the Ikar sector. Governments owning stock include: The Domain of Alntzar, The Descarothe Hedgemony, The League of Suns, The Trelyn Domain, The Principality of Caledon, The Easmolian Confederation, The Confederacy of Duncinae, The Grand Duchy of Marlheim, and The Carrill Assembly. There is also considerable stock held by the Dakaar trading company. You will be notified if any of these leads prove to be fruitful. Analysis of materials used and techniques reveal that the Flamboyant was modified using tech level thirteen equipment. This matches the tech level of the Imperial Viper class fighters found in the Air/Raft bays The welds in the ship show stresses indicating the force of gravity on the planet where it was modified. Analysis shows the gravity being approximately twelve meters per second per second acceleration. (World size nine.) Gas contaminants in the welds show a high degree of industrial pollutants. This would indicate that either the planet had a tainted atmosphere, or the ship was in confined in a tainted environment when worked on. We have compiled a list of suspect planets in the sector. It is interesting to note that no planets in the Ikar sector have tech thirteen at this time. A few tech fourteen planets there are, but none at thirteen. Nevertheless, we have compiled a list of possible sites for the base where the Flamboyant was modified: JUNGLEBLUT SUBSECTOR Thenstor 0101 C9C6488-A S Independant planet G Mirayn 0504 D989737-7 Independant planet G Winder 0705 C966697-9 S Independant planet G FESSOR SUBSECTOR Orbell 0106 C97766A-7 Trelyn Domain G Shodat 0110 X944266-1 Trelyn Domain, Prison R NOMANN'S SUBSECTOR Kualakhtaea 0809 X987673-1 Independant planet, Reserve RG SCOTIAN DEEP SUBSECTOR Stirling 0605 A957865-C A Principality of Caledon G Mulkins 0710 D9B4358-7 Independant planet G EA SUBSECTOR Fask 0208 C9868AA-8 Grand Duchy of Marlheim AG Roikhoi 0404 C969543-4 Independant planet G Fulton 0704 C98A788-9 Confederacy of Duncinae There are other possible planets, however, they have been ruled out. The independant planets listed could not afford such an operation by themselves. They are listed on the possibility that an outside government has established a base of operations there. Pirate activity appears to be centered in the Jungleblut, Fessor, Scotian Deep, and Caledon subsectors. Of special note is the Zylath system in the Domain of Alntzar (Jungleblut subsector 0307). There may be a pirate base there. We have received information that the pirate organization sought to purchase ships from the vargr corsair band Uekalez. The delivery was to be made in the Zylath system, after first bringing the ships down from the Vargr Extents. During this transport, the Vixen missile platform which you have recovered misjumped. Upon delivery the pirates attempted to capture the vessels rather than pay. The resulting battle left the Uekalez fleet damaged or captured. This information was obtained from survivors of the frigate Gdaekvorr. After the battle, the ship misjumped far into the Consulate and were interrogated by our staff. Five of the corsairs are currently seeking passage out of the Consulate and are waiting at the Massina Belt. They have been manipulated by our agents to seek employment with your group. The gunned escort requires a crew of twelve. With the addition of these corsairs you should have an adequate crew. The corsairs also carry sufficient armament to be an asset to your mission. See their appended resumes. Your top priority is finding the location of Dr. Malenkoviepr. At this time we do not know if he was taken willingly or not. Should you locate him, you are required to return him to the Consulate. If necessary you are to eliminate Dr. Malenkoviepr to prevent his possible collaboration with Colonel Baremkatlashche'. Good Luck. Appendix: Corsair Force Leader Taek Kfoks BD9AC9 age 30 Race: Vargr Sex: Male Homeworld: Gkakhaellan Height: 1.76 Meters Fur Color: Black Eye Color: Green Class II Small Craft Pilot Liscence Class I Engineer's Certificate Class I Gunner's Liscence Possesses an implanted radio transciever. Leadership training and experienced liaison officer. Contacts Vargr. Equipment qualified on: Sensors, Battle Dress, Explosives, Computers, Combat Rifles, Hand Guns, Grav-Belt, Grav Vehicles Combat Skills: Experienced squadron leader. Has achieved distiction as a marksman, Has reached the second level of mastery of unarmed combat and zero gravity combat, and edged weapons. Has served as an experienced scout. Experienced in ship to ship tactics. Has attended Command College and Commando School, achieved high distinction in Intelligence School. Weapons and equipment owned: 3 Tillys, Battle Dress, Gauss Rifle, Accelerator Rifle, SMG, Gauss Pistol, Snub Pistol Corsair Force Subleader Tuerz 1EA996 age 26 Race: Vargr Sex: Male Homeworld: Gkakhaellan Height: 1.74 Meters Fur Color: Grey Eye Color: Yellow Class I Small Craft Pilot Liscence Class I Gunner's Liscence Class I Medic Certificate Possesses an implanted radio transciever. Experienced in liason and forcible interrogation techniques. Equipment qualified on: Sensors, Vacc Suit, Explosives, Computers, Combat Rifles, Hand Guns, Grav-Belt, Grav Vehicles Combat Skills: Has achieved high distiction as a hand gun marksman, Has reached the second level of mastery of zero gravity combat. Has served as an experienced scout. Experienced in ship to ship tactics. Has attended Commando school, Intelligence school. Weapons and equipment owned: Laser Pistol, Integral Laser Pistol, Hypo-Gun, Grenade Pistol, Gauss Pistol, Snub Pistol & Revolver, 8 Body Pistols, Silencers, Sniper Barrel, Flintlock Pistol, Percussion Revolver, Hand Cannon, Combat Armor, Vacc Suit, Reflec, Grav Belt Corsair Force Subleader Stuzzel D676A6 age 30 Race: Vargr Sex: Male Homeworld: Ghaerthu Height: 1.49 Meters Fur Color: Brown Eye Color: Light Brown Class I Small Craft Pilot Liscence Class I Engineer's Certificate Class I Gunner's Liscence Contacts Vargr. Trained as administrator Equipment qualified on: Sensors, Battle Dress, Explosives, Computers, Heavy Weapons, Combat Rifles, Hand Guns, Grav-Belt, Grav Vehicles Combat Skills: Has reached the second level of mastery of unarmed combat, and edged weapons. Experienced in ship to ship tactics. Has recieved commando training. Weapons and equipment owned: Battle Dress, Broadsword, ACR, LMG, Snub Pistol Corsair Hand Kaezorr 874775 age 26 Race: Vargr Sex: Female Homeworld: Gkakhaellan Height: 1.47 Meters Fur Color: Light Brown Eye Color: Green-Brown Class II Gunner's Liscence Instructor Equipment qualified on: Battle Dress, Computers, Combat and Low Recoil Rifles, Hand Guns, Grav Vehicles Combat Skills: Has achieved distiction as an accelerator rifle marksman, Has reached the second level of mastery unarmed combat of zero gravity combat. Weapons and equipment owned: Battle Dress, Gauss Rifle, Accelerator Rifle, Snub Pistol Corsair Hand Rackhan C88644 age 34 Race: Vargr Sex: Male Homeworld: Ghaerthu Height: 1.51 Meters Fur Color: Brown Eye Color: Brown Class II Engineer's Certificate Class I Gunner's Liscence Experienced and resourceful computer, electronics and mechanical technician. Equipment qualified on: Battle Dress, High Energy Weapons, Heavy Weapons, Computers, Combat Rifles, Hand Guns, Grav Vehicles Combat Skills: Has reached the first level of mastery of unarmed combat. Weapons and equipment owned: Battle Dress, ACR, LAG, Snub Pistol (Tilly Operator) CraftID: Vargr Exoskeleton 'Tilly' TL=14 Cr 1,097,355 Hull: (1/1) (400/1000) Disp=2Kl, Config=Contoured, Armor=18G, Loaded=3961Kg Power: (2/2) Fusion=370kw, Dur=75.5 Days Loco: (2/2) Legs=2, Road=152, Offroad=92 Comm: Radio=Cont, Maser=Reg Sensors: Visual(+telescopic +Active IR)*2, Audio=Dist*2 Spotlight, Off: FGMP-14, RAM Auto Grenade Launcher, Gauss Rifle, Laser Welder Def: Smoke Ejector Control: Brain, HoloHUD, Slave Unit, ECP Acccom: Seat=Worn, BasicEnv, BasicLS Other: Fuel=1366liter, Heavy Arm*2, Audio Speaker, ObjSize=Small, EMLevel=Faint, Strength=200 - XXIX - The High Consular hotel: reservations made to nobles, diplomats, and members of the Legion of Honor. A posh place. Robot servants, sophont servants. Fine foods, and the best luxuries that could be brought from the Consulate. It was a show piece for visiting diplomats. They would see the wonders of the Consulate and be eager to do business with them. There are more than one ways to conquer a sector. Jietlshaiepr sat nervously in the rented suite, "I've never tried recruiting, but, it seems like we've been looking an awfully long time. Shtam, you ever have to do this when you were a factor in the merchant marine?" Shtam ran a hand through his hair and stretched. "No, you have to remember though I was working inside the Imperium. We hired our people in the Consulate and brought them to the post. We could not trust the Imperials. It was an interesting time though." "Where the hell were you?" yawned Niedrsha. "Right in the heart of the mess: on Regina." A small golden sphere floated into the sumptuous room. "Excuse the intrusion," it began in a humble voice, "There are two Vargr here to see you. They claim to be seeking employment with you." "Send 'em in." gestured Niedrsha. The sphere retreated, and in a moment the main entrance to the suite opened. The two stood framed in the surveying the room. Both were rather tall for Vargr. The larger of the two wore a long bright red coat emblazoned with gold braid and ribbons. The leader no doubt. He strode into the room nonchalantly taking in the entire setup in a glance and nodded to three Zhodani. His fur was jet black save for his white face with white eyebrows and white hands. "Good evening. My name is Kfoks: Force Leader Taek Kfoks. And this is my lieutenant: Force Subleader Tuerz." Kfoks gestured to his companion. Tuerz was nearly as tall as Kfoks, but incredibly slender. She wore a tight black body suit and skirt which showed her tall willowy form which moved with inhuman grace as she swayed forward as if blown by a breeze. Her fur was flaming red-orange with a white face and black ear tips. Her head swung slowly around scrutinizing the entire room. Satisfied for the moment she stood beside Kfoks with hands on hips thrusting her chest slightly forward. Her eyes continued the surveillance of the room. "Greetings, Force Leader Kfoks," intoned Jietlshaiepr, "I am Jietlshaiepr, this is pilot Niedrsha and engineer Shtam." "You advertized for ship crew members." stated Kfoks laying resumes on the table. "I'm here to represent five of us. All with shipboard experience and expertise." "Very good," nodded Jietlshaiepr glancing them over. "And what sort of ships have you been on?" "Several, but we all served on a frigate." said Kfoks. "In what capacity?" asked Shtam. "Three as fighter pilots, one as a gunner and one as engineer. Most of us have some experience as engineers." "What sort of frigate was this?" wondered Shtam. "The Gdaekvorr: a standard vargr frigate. She was rather on the old side though." Niedrsha leveled his gaze at Kfoks, "Were you in a corsair band?" Tuerz swiveled around to face Niedrsha, her body moving as though it were on a turntable. She drew herself to her full height. Kfoks smiled tightly, biting down. The bone transmitter sounded in Tuerz's skull, "No." "Yes, we were." nodded Kfoks. He turned and put an arm around Tuerz shoulder and scratched her behind the ears. "But that's over with for now. Right now, we are looking for transportation out of the Consulate, and we are more than willing to hire on as your crew. However, I must say that if you would hire one of us you must hire all. We do not wish to be broken up." Tuerz laughter trilled, "I wouldn't be to sure about Stuzzel. He wants out any way he can." "I see," said Jietlshaiepr, brushing her hair back over her shoulders and stretching gloriously. "And if we can not accommodate you?" Kfoks folded his arms, "Then you can't accommodate us." Shtam spoke up. "Right now we need two gunners, and three pilots, preferably with engineering and military experience." Kfoks raised an white eyebrow. "That's us." Niedrsha asked, "What corsair band were you in?" "The Uekalez. If that means anything to you." "The band broke up a few months ago." said Shtam. Kfoks sighed, "Well, yes and no. We are broken up. But we didn't do it by ourselves. We had an awful lot of help from a group of particularly playful humans." "What happened?" asked Jietlshaiepr. Kfoks threw up a paw, "Well, we were going to sell them some ships. But when we delivered them, it seems that they didn't fancy the idea of actually paying us for them. Our leader took exception to this. Seems he rather liked money. In any event their ships fought our ships, our ships fought their ships, etc. "But during the battle our captain decided that the better part of valor was cowardice and he tried to run us out of there. But, we didn't quite make it, the jump drive was damaged. We misjumped far into the Consulate. We five are the survivors," "That would be from a crew of at least eight but probably was more than twenty two." commented Shtam. Tuerz glanced sidelong at Shtam, "Twenty five." "Sounds like fun." mumbled Niedrsha. Kfoks made a sweeping gesture with his tail, "Piece of mutton. We were all in the engine room. The rest of the ship was torn apart. We salvaged what we could and sold her for scrap." "What band was this battle with?" wondered Niedrsha. "I'm afraid I haven't any idea." confessed Kfoks. "Our leader wasn't the confiding type. They had a pretty large support system though. Good resources." "What makes you say so?" asked Jietlshaiepr. "Their fleet. They had several large warships. Including an Azhanti High Lightning class cruiser, a tender in the forty thousand ton range that looked an awful lot like the Star Rider which was destroyed, a few Zhodani and Sword Worlds ships in the destroyer range: two and three thousand tons, a Kinunir class battle cruiser, and a host of other smaller ships and escorts." Jietlshaiepr exchanged glances with Niedrsha. Kfoks paused and ran his claws through the fur on his head. "A fleet like that needs a lot of supporting equipment and bases. I think that they must have a government subsidizing them." "The odd thing about the battle," he continued, "was that while those ships were there, they didn't take much of an active part in the battle. They stayed off at extreme range and sent in fighters. And the fighters! They sent Shtelfires and Shorichans! They haven't been used since the third frontier war one hundred years ago. And they were completely obsolete then." "Well," objected Shtam, "the Shtelfire was one of the best fighters ever built, an excellent good design for tech level twelve. I restored one once for a museum. The battle of Farreach over in Jewell subsector was fought and won by young Zhodani's in Shtelfires. And unless I'm mistaken they were used in the fourth frontier war by Consular client states." Kfoks shook his head, "That was twenty years ago. Those states have newer cast offs from the Consulate now." "Nevertheless," continued Shtam, "the Shtelfire was one of the best fighters ever built. They're collector's items now. Highly effective in combat." "I agree," sighed Kfoks wryly, "I can testify to their effectiveness in combat personally." "Where exactly did you see the Kinunir class battle cruiser?" asked Jietlshaiepr impatiently. "Zylath, down in Jungleblut subsector." Niedrsha considered it, "That's in the Domain of Alntzar." "That's right." Jietlshaiepr exchanged glances with Niedrsha and Shtam. "Would you care to show us exactly where?" she asked. - XXX - Warning lights and sirens announced the approaching tilly. Like a metal tyrannosaurus, it lumbered up the ramp to the Flamboyant's cargo hold. Its motors whined as its piston legs crested the cargo ramp. It carried the crates of arms the vargr had managed to salvage from the wreck of the frigate, approximately one hundred and fifty kilos. The armored face plate of the modified cargo carrier went down and Stuzzel poked his light brown muzzle out. "Hey, uh, Sitlshaper, where do you want this equipment?" Tuerz shook his head in disgust. He had gotten rid of the skirt and his fur was pure white to match his tight body suit. The lack of breasts made his slender frame look even more frail than before. "Look you oaf, her name is Jietlshaiepr, and if you'd use your head once in a while instead of getting out of practice with it, you'd realize that the guns just might be something we may need access to in a hurry. Don't bury it in the back of the hold." "Grrrach! Shut up, Snow White! Just cause you won't soil your lily white hands..." Tuerz stroked the handle of his gauss pistol. Jietlshaiepr interrupted, "Over on the left side of the hold, next to the food supplies." she ordered. "Blast these two!" she thought angrily, "If they keep arguing I'll kill them both! Twice!" Shtam watched as the tillys were used to load the Flamboyant. "Kfoks, how much can those things carry?" "The tillys? I'm afraid it depends on how experienced the operator inside is. I believe the record was something like nine hundred and eleven kilograms. I can manage six hundred fairly easily. They were cargo carriers originally. A friend of mine modified them: fusion gun, gauss rifle, RAM auto grenade launcher. They make for rather fun toys. Rackhan's using mine at the moment. We have a third, but it needs repairs before we can operate it." "Maybe I can help," mused Shtam. "I'm pretty good with machines." Kfoks shook his head. "I'm afraid we need a robotics expert Shtam. The whole things in pieces." "I believe we have a robot expert." "Oh yes, aboard the Vixen. Perhaps he can do it. I want a good look at that ship though. I never thought I'd see that one again. She may have some interesting things aboard." "Oh? For instance?" "Navigational information in the computer. If you're right about the Uekalez being completely broken up then perhaps we can use ransack some of our emergency supply bases." "Good stuff?" "A start. With it I can build up my empire." "Ah yes, I think I understand the vargr empire, it looks as though you have a small start: four followers." Kfoks looked Shtam straight in the eye. "As I said, it's a start. And revenge is always a good place to get going, particularly when the object of that revenge is rich." "And powerful." warned Shtam. "That's where our association comes in: we are working towards the same end." "We just want the doctor back." "The doctor probably wants vengeance too." "Perhaps. Who knows?" Kfoks mused a moment. Finally he cocked his head, and examined Shtam more closely. "You said you restored a Shtelfire once, did you ever get to fly one?" Shtam laughed, "No, unfortunately not. The museum would barely let me warm up the engines." "What museum?" "Oh, actually it's in the Imperium: Regina/Regina. I was a factor there, and I helped them fix it up. They didn't like the idea of a Zhodani taking up a Zhodani built fighter over their sector capital even if it was not armed." "Wait a minute, was that the Imperial war museum?" "Yes." "I've seen your work. Good job." "Well, I had quite some time to work on it. The ship I was on had some major problems. We had to order parts all the way from the Consulate." "The Imperials didn't have the parts?" Shtam rolled his eyes. "No. But the company would not allow us to use Imperial parts. So we waited nine months to get our requisition through for a Lanathnum drive core. When it arrived they had sent the wrong piece. I tried to modify it, but in the end it wouldn't charge properly. I couldn't certify the ship for jump, so we waited another three months. We finally got out." Kfoks eyed him intently. "What did you think of the Imperium?" "A very suspicious people. They did not trust me very far. Of course, I did not trust them either. But it gave me a chance to polish up my knowledge of ships. Once I finished the Shtelfire, I was allowed to work on other ships for the museum: Rampart 128's. Neat ships." "Yeah. I like the newer Rampart IV's and V's though." "Yes, I prefer Zhodani models though, Kia class..." "Did you ever see the Imperial Aerobatics team? The Blue Angels?" "Once, they were flying modified Cobras. Quite impressive." "They are using Viper 15-S's now. And their flight leader was one of the strangest looking beings I've ever seen: an Ael Yael or something. It had wings. I heard it was a female. I'd guess those things make pretty good pilots." "Yes, well if you or I had instincts for the air we would too. She was leader when I saw them. The name was Kittan Kboutle or something." - XXXI - "Vrrrrghsh!" grumbled Stuzzel producing a reverberating echo in the Flamboyant's officer lounge. "Jump space is the most boring purgatory I've ever been in. I think I might crawl in a low berth and sleep through it." The ponderous weight of the vargr flowed and bounced as he shifted in his chair. He yawned and belched loudly and tossed away the dogeared magazine in a flurry of colored pages. Jietlshaiepr could not read the cover of the magazine when it fluttered to the deck, her Gveug was limited and the idiom of the title made little sense when directly translated. "Fragrant White Wag" told little, the picture on the cover filled the rest: a scantily clad young female vargr, seen from behind, perched on top of a grav-bike. Her eyes rolled. "Stupid barbarian.", she thought and turned in disgust. A stinging slap ripped across her backside. She swung round furious. "You're pretty good, even if ya aien't got no tail." laughed Stuzzel. Jietlshaiepr leveled her gaze on him. Slowly, deliberately she took hold of his collar and lifted the obese vargr to within a few millimeters from the ceiling. "And your pretty disgusting mister, tail not withstanding. I may put you in one of the low berths anyway." She lowered him half a meter and dropped him. Niedrsha looked on warily. "Jiet will teach 'em who's boss around here soon." he thought. He nodded to Jietlshaiepr and spoke: "Look Stuzz, we've got eight jumps to make before we get to Zylath. I think you'd better lay off a bit if you want to get there." Stuzzel snorted, "Why should I want to get there? That's where we got trounced by the stupid human pirates." "That IS the point, Mr. Stuzzel." interrupted Kfoks. "They probably have a base there. It's our opportunity to do a little reconnaissance on them." "Stuff recon!" he snorted. "I learned plenty about 'em." "Just what did you learn, Stuzzel?" inquired Shtam. "'Nough to know I don't want to fuck wif 'em! They wiped out our whole fuckin' fleet! What good are we gonna do in one escort even if we got a Vixen around?" "Reconnaissance, you vragh brained clod," explained Tuerz as he flowed into the lounge gracefully, "is not a stand up fight. Of course the idea of subterfuge might not occur to someone whose idea of subtlety is a ton of high explosive." He carried a large thick wooden board peppered with small holes and the heads of a few nail sticking out. He wore a blue female outfit with his visible fur dyed cream. At his hip swung his prize possession: an integral laser pistol. He had relieved it from an Imperial merchant with more money than marksmanship. The pistol itself was beautiful: iridium plated with inlaid rubies and ivory. The merchant had paid a great deal for it: eight guards and his own life. Tuerz thought it a crime for such a weapon to be in the hands of someone who could barely use it. A blind vargr might value a Rembrandt, but he could never appreciate it as could one with sight. He twirled a small body pistol, "Would you all mind if I set up a bit of target practice? I've been getting soft on my practice sessions, and if I let it go much longer I'll be as bad a shot as Stuzzel is with a fusion gun." Stuzzel snorted indignantly. "In here?" asked Jietlshaiepr. "This is the longest room on the ship. I can stand on the bridge and shoot at this target." Kfoks waved at Jietlshaiepr, "Don't worry Commander. Tuerz won't damage anything. He can nail a fly at five meters. Here..." Kfoks placed a melon on his own head and stepped in front of the target board. "From the hip, Tuerz." The pistol continued to gyrate in Tuerz paw for a moment as Jietlshaiepr started to object. The body pistol barked. A wisp of smoke issued from the barrel. Kfoks pulled the melon from the crown of his head. A neat hole drilled precisely in the center. He showed it to Jietlshaiepr and then took a bite of it. "Very well. Go ahead." she sighed. "But, no more shots like that. I don't feel like taking the time to study vargr cranial anatomy just to dig out slugs." "Can I try that one on you Tuerz?" laughed Stuzzel. "Shut up or I'll put a hole in your head to equalize the vacuum." snarled Tuerz. For emphasis Tuerz swung around to face the target board. Suddenly, his chest exploded. A nail was driven into the board with deadly accuracy. Tuerz turned back while a small wisp of smoke issued from the false breasts in his disguise. "Nice shot." called Niedrsha. Jietlshaiepr sighed, "Would you Mind using a silencer?" - XXXII - Enoc E484000-0 Kfoks surveyed the Vixen's deck. All in order. She had gone through a lot before they tried to sell her. Stressed out bulkheads patched with whatever metal scraps that came to hand. She was in sorry shape yes, but she could fight at least one more battle. After all she had only been designed to go into one battle, she had exceeded that along time ago. Tuerz slipped through the airlock in female dress. His fur was dyed bright red to match the dress he wore. "Hello there." Kfoks turned, Tuerz whirled. A vargr woman stood appraising them from a corridor. She was strongly built and very attractive. The lighting shone off the orange and tan of her fur as she stood with her tail at attention with just a hint of a slight wag. Kfoks own tail twitched involuntarily. "Good evening. My name is Kfoks, Force Leader Taek Kfoks." He took her hand. "You must be Gresha. This is my lieutenant: Force Subleader Tuerz." "Just your lieutenant, Force Leader Kfoks?" asked Gresha nodding to the feminine Tuerz. "Just." Gresha stepped forward and ran a paw over the flowing synsilk of his uniform. "You were in the Uekalez weren't you?" "Yes we were. But that's a long story, and where are you from, First Lieutenant Gresha?" "All over, I was in several corsair bands at different points. Some of them got old pretty quickly. I switched around a lot. I get bored without the proper attention." Miakr watched for a moment as they stood closely, then loudly stepped into the room sighing inwardly. "Well, she was too blasted pushy anyway..." - XXXIII - "Well what do you think kid? Can you do it?" Kfoks studied Miakr's face trying to read the unfamiliar human expressions crossing it. Miakr looked back and forth from the designs to the bulk of the disassembled Tilly. "Well, it's quite a job. It'll take some time. You've got the parts, but as for labor, if you were to get this repaired professionally, I'd guess the labor alone would be about one hundred and thirty five thousand." Kfoks's tail dropped. "You'll get it." "Do you have it?" Kfoks paused. "Not yet, but soon." "You might not have to pay in cash." Miakr confided softly. This human may be more shrewd than he acts. "What exactly are you after?" "Nothing specific... yet. But you will certainly owe me a favor." "Payment like that," thought Kfoks, "is usually more expensive than the cash." - XXXIII - Welles E655632-3 "The Vixen is still with us!" announced Miakr looking into the navigation equipment. "Two more jumps left to Zylath." "Any contacts?" asked Niedrsha. "Uuuh... well we've got some neutrino emissions, I think, but..." "Here, Miakr, let me see." Miakr stood and moved away for Jietlshaiepr. "Hmm. looks like about five emission sources: three strong emitters, two small. They're at extreme range. Largest contact: one thousand tons, seven point five gigawatt reactor. The other two large contacts are four hundred tons each, nine gigawatts... must be warships. The last two are only two hundred tons, five hundred megawatts." "Viepchakl! A nuclear explosion!" The thousand tonner was hit. Picking up communications." The radio buzzed with static. "Interference from the blast." Jietlshaiepr stated tensely. "It'll clear in a moment... Identification coming up... I make the two four hundred tonners out as Imperial SDB's... The one thousand ton reads out as a type CD droyne cruiser. The two hundreds are type AD droyne free traders." Niedrsha hit the intercom, "Battle stations! All hands to battle stations! Red alert! Repeat, red alert! This is no drill!" "Static's cleared." said Jietlshaiepr forcefully. A small squeaky voice came over speaking droyne. The small creature whistled and cried shrilly. A male human voice cut in speaking english, "Attention alien vessels, that was a warning, you will surrender now or be destroyed." A female human voice announced. "This is the scout ship Spindleman from the League of Suns calling droyne vessels. We are coming to your assistance." The human male voice broke back in. "That won't help you. It will take them four hours to reach you. Surrender now, aliens, or be destroyed." The woman came back on line, "Spindleman to unidentified SDB's, you are ordered to cease fire. Shtam came over the intercom, "It has to be the pirates! But, what are they doing in system defence boats? How did they jump in system?" Niedrsha looked Jietlshaiepr in the eye, "You're in command, Jiet. We go in?" Jietlshaiepr slammed her fist into the console. "Intercept course, all ahead flank! Miakr, you'd better program the Vixen!" "I'm on it." Miakr started typing in the attack orders and target selections. "Attention, fighters, immediate launch. Kfoks, you Tuerz and Stuzzel intercept and attack pirate SDB's." Acceleration piled on the ship straining the inertial compensators. A thud ran through the ship as the Flamboyant's gig slipped into space. "Flamboyant one away." announced Kfoks. Two more shocks jolted the ship. "Flamboyant two away." called Tuerz. "Flamboyant three away." grumbled Stuzzel. "We can't take on SDB's in these fighters! It's crazy! We'll never hit 'em!" "Cut the chatter Flamboyant three." called Kfoks annoyed, "Accelerate to attack speed!" The three flew off in formation. Seconds later the Vixen confirmed that it had the correct targets and sped off hot on the tails of the fighters. "The droyne are returning fire!" shouted Jietlshaiepr. "I read one SDB has been hit twice... Blast their armor! It didn't do any thing I can read... Well, the Spindleman won't be much good, I read her out as a standard type S Scout... She's got some guts taking on two ships four times her size." "This is Flamboyant one, we will be in range in three minutes." Jietlshaiepr read off "The SDB's are firing again. Viepchakl! I hope they're still there in three minutes... The missiles were shot out of the sky but one laser hit on the cruiser... Possible loss of fuel, I read outgassing... The droyne ships can't seem to lock onto the SDB's well enough... All their shots are missing... The SDB's too maneuverable... We have to get in there fast... Time to range mark?" "Ten minutes, thirty five seconds." answered Niedrsha. Jietlshaiepr turned to the intercom, "Gunners stay sharp, range in ten minutes." She jerked to attention. "Two more contacts bearing in... One has a one point five gigawatt reactor... One hundred tons... The other... five hundred megawatts... two hundred tons... Must be a freighter... The one hundred tonner will intercept droyne in two minutes. The two hundred tonner... in twenty seven... I read the one hundred tonner out as a tech nine SDB... the two hundred tonner is... a Fanzheinz class free trader..." Jietlshaiepr turned to the communications station, "Tight beam transmit... Spindleman come in, this is the gunned escort Flamboyant, just arrived in system... come in... we are offering assistance to distressed droyne convoy... request target verification." "Spindleman to Flamboyant. Assistance accepted. What information do you require?" "Target identification, I have multiple contacts: Two droyne traders, one droyne cruiser, two four hundred ton SDB's, a one hundred ton SDB, and a Fanzheinz class free trader. Request identification of hostiles." "Flamboyant hold... have no knowledge of any SDB's in your area, must be considered hostile... Fanzheinz unknown... will attempt communication for verification... proceed with caution. Good luck. Out." "Flamboyant to Flamboyant flight leader... Kfoks, alter course to... one five dash zero niner... intercept one hundred ton SDB bearing in on convoy... identified as hostile... Over." "Flight leader to Flamboyant... Acknowledged... Target in sight.... Flight leader to two and three, arm all weapon systems. Open fire on my mark, use high explosive missiles batteries. This isn't worth a nuke." The speeding SDB bore in on the convoy not noticing its small pursuers neutrino traces. Still out of range of the droyne guns, she didn't bother to evade but bore in on an arrow straight course: nice and easy to track and lock on. "Flamboyant flight: fire!" Two missiles streaked away from the Vipers. The gig's laser lanced out unseen in the vacuum. The SDB shook under the shock of its turret ionizing under a storm of X-ray photons. One missile zeroed in closing the gap homing on the startled SDB. A brief flash lit the SDB against the stars. Hydrogen burst into the vacuum obscuring her outlines for a moment. She tumbled a moment, quickly stabilized, but the engines fired erratically and quit. Still moving under the momentum of the attitude jets, it began to tumble again slowly. Jietlshaiepr read the sensors "It's reactor is fading... looks like you blasted the fuel tanks. Good shooting." Kfoks voice beamed over the radio, "Piece of mutton, Flamboyant. She didn't even evade." "That missile hit was mine of course." sighed Tuerz, "Stupid didn't get a proper lock on a non-evading target." "How are you so sure you hit?" growled Stuzzel, "We fired at the same time." "I know it was mine because it hit." "Shut up!" barked Kfoks, "Flamboyant, what's the I.D. on the Fanzheinz?" "Spindleman to Flamboyant, Fanzheinz refuses to answer challenge. Must be considered as hostile." "We're on it." answered Kfoks. "Flamboyant flight bear two seven dash two five." Jietlshaiepr read the sensors: "One droyne trader's engines are out... the other's fuel is hit... The cruiser's engines are damaged but she's still maneuvering... One SDB lost some fuel too... The Vixen should open fire right about now..." The Vixen swooped into battle range at six G's maneuvering wildly. Missiles belched from her bay and turrets streaming out like a cloud of bats swarming from a cave. The SDB's lasers leapt out to stem the onslaught, but the defenses were swamped. The turrets of one vaporized instantly as they were lost in a flare of nuclear fire. The missile racks of the second were shaken and bent by the introduction of high explosive. The droyne cruiser's lasers swept out seeking the enemy. Missiles flew past as the SDB's evaded, but the lasers struck home leaving the first SDB's missile racks all but smashed. The pirates returned fire at the new arrived menace. Lasers and missiles zeroed in on the twisting Vixen. Robots however do not appreciate near misses or close calls. The engines of destruction swept on impotently. Another salvo of missiles blazed forth at the pirate SDB's. The ships turned to flee as they streamed in like sharks to a kill. The monstrous bulk of the missiles flew on into the vacuum, save the best for last. The Vixen's nukes slammed into the fleeing pirate. Her turrets became slag as they were irradiated, buckling armor plates around them. Simultaneously the Fanzheinz class free trader turned and ran on the same heading. Kfoks voice came over the communicator, "Flamboyant flight to Flamboyant. Target vessel now running. Request permission to pursue." "Negative, flight leader." answered Jietlshaiepr. "They are on a rendezvous course with enemy SDB's. Not even the Vixen can do much against their armor. Get back here, the droyne may require assistance." "The pirates are still firing at the droyne convoy." She continued, "Why? Don't they know they've lost them? They've disabled the second trader's engines and I can't tell what they did to the cruiser." The Vixen flew on in hot pursuit loosing missiles as she ran. The missiles crashed through the pirate's armor silencing the last of their guns. "Miakr, call back the Vixen, their on the run and she can't seem to disable them." "Right, here she comes. Good girl! She chased 'em off." Jietlshaiepr punched the radio, "Flamboyant to droyne convoy... Repeat, Flamboyant to droyne convoy, do you require assistance?... Droyne convoy come..." A tiny voice broke through a wave of static, "This cruiser Chekbas droyne is. All ships droyne damaged been have. Drone medic of Trader Kivas killed been has. Wounded aboard are. Medic aboard have you?" "Viepchakl," she thought, "how much do I really know about droyne anatomy?" "Affirmative, we have a doctor aboard. I may require assistance with droyne physiology. Do you require assistance with damage control?" "Cruiser Chekbas: maneuver drive damaged, two laser batteries destroyed. Trader Kivas: computer destroyed, maneuver drive damaged. Trader Shoolist: hold destroyed, maneuver drive damage repair complete. Streamlining trader's both destroyed." "Acknowledged. We will aide the Kivas. Estimate rendezvous and docking in... two minutes. Be prepa..." "Oh, Shiviepchakl..." The neutrino detector was going mad. Twelve readings of nine gigawatts, one reading of six hundred. Radar crosscheck... Confirmed... Targets closing... Twelve four hundred ton SDB's... One forty thousand ton ship of the line.... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ AND YOU KNOW SOMETHING'S HAPPENING, BUT YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS. DO YOU, MR. JONES? by Scott Kellogg - I - You walk into the room like a camel and you frown. You put your eyes in your pocket, and your nose on the ground. There ought to be a law against you comin' 'round You should be made to wear ear phones. And you know something's happening, but you don't know what it is. Do you Mr. Jones? "Ballad of a thin man" -Bob Dylan Silence... Silence... I'm lying in a vast black void. How long have I been here? Days?... Years?... Millennia?... Hmm. That's a problem. I believe I am Doctor Mako Malenkoviepr. Well... I was the last time I checked. Or am I? Or AM I? Do I really exist? Does anything exist? Or is it all an illusion in my mind? I wonder if I could be an illusion in someone else's mind?... So many questions... No answers... Does it matter? Even if it does matter, does it matter that it matters? All I can really say is: apparently, I am. AAARRRRRR!! WHOAAAAH! HEY! That's cold! What's going on? Brrr!... It's gone now... What was that? Yes, I am. And there's no apparently about it. But, who is it that says I am? In other words, who am I? Hmmm. Oh yes, I think I know... Where am I. Can't see a thing. Total blackness. But I'm thinking a lot clearer now: I know who I am anyway... That's a start. I'm lying on something. I can feel a floor. "Ok, let's stand up doctor." Well, I can hear my voice any way.... Try to stand. Muscles are slow. Ouch. Stiff too. But, now that I'm standing, where am I? I still can't see. A ring of luminous fog suddenly glowed around the doctor's legs. Slowly, as though it were wavelets spreading out from a stone dropped in a pond, the fog spread out slowly illuminating a huge endless sea of thigh deep fog. A buzzing sound swept in from behind the him. He whirled to face it. But as he turned it was fading off in the distance. Another flew in from overhead but was off to the horizon before he saw it. A third swept in. He turned to face it and saw a vague shape headed straight for his face. He dropped to the ground, covering his head, shutting his eyes tight. Hey, I'm in a house! A comfortable study spread around Dr. Malenkoviepr. Wood paneling, a warm oil lamp, a large wooden desk, huge bookshelves, hundreds of books. And what books! I remember these... Here are my old text books on telepathy... awareness... physics... psychology... sophontology... Wow, there's all my old children's books! 'Burt Dow Deep Sea Fisherman', 'How and Why Book of Starships' 'Millions of Cats', 'Vlezhdames and the Giant Peach'. I haven't seen these in years! He picked up a book: Oh yes, Burt Dow and Giggling Gull in the Idely Tidely... I was about five years old. Here's one I don't remember. What is this? A red hologram album. Baby pictures of me. Me at ten years old. Hey there's Chewersta! I wonder what ever happened to her? I haven't heard from her since I was nineteen... Hey! what's this? A hologram of us in the woods? That's not possible... There weren't any cameras around there... Now this is getting ridiculous... Where did this hologram of us come from?... The buzzing swept in at the open window. Through the window was the sea of fog sweeping out to the horizon. Out of the black sky swept long fingerlike tendrils of fog. Reaching, grasping, probing. They were almost to the house. Reaching out to grab... Mako slammed the window. Outside, the silence was broken by a huge gust of wind as the tendrils hit the house. Whistling and howling sounded all around. The other window's in the house were all Wide open. Got to move fast. Close all the windows! Move. Quickly, he ran into the next room. The fingers were sweeping up to the window. Slam the window! Lock it! Next room! Again the probing tendrils were almost inside when Mako slid the lock home. Mako flew about the house slamming windows and shooting the bolts of the locks. The tendrils flew to one window and the next, and the next, and the next, and the next... Down to the first floor, to the large window next to the door, and the kitchen, and the den, and... Just how many windows are there in this flaming house? He ran to the last window and slammed it down. The glass rattled as he shot the bolt. The wind battered impotently outside the windows. Ha! They're all locked! You can't get in! Wait... I didn't lock the window in the study! Up the stairs and on the right! Run! Go! Go! GO! Into the study! Suddenly, the window burst open. Streamers of fog shot into the room and flew about like confused birds. Slam the window and lock it! As the lock slid in place, the fog tendrils faded and disappeared. Safe... Silence... Mako slid to the floor, tired, but safe for the moment. Slowly, a book began to pull itself off the shelf. A telepathy text book opened by itself and it's pages began to flip. He stared at the book as he lay on the floor."WHO ARE YOU!?!" More pages began to flip. Malenkoviepr jumped up, grabbed the book and put it back on the shelf. Slowly, a physics text came off the shelf, and began to read itself. Contemptuously, he put that one back too. Slowly, several more books started abandoning the shelves and reading themselves. Mako collected them, and shoved them back. A torrent of books flew off the shelves and began to flip their pages. Angrily, Malenkoviepr grabbed for them, but as one went back another came out... And another... And another... A mad contest of book pushing developed. Books flying, pages flipping. Shelves revolting. Someone was laughing. Malenkoviepr shoved the last book on the shelf back. He growled angrily at the thought that someone was enjoying this somehow. One last book lay on the desk. The red hologram album. Slowly, it opened itself. Fury enveloped Malenkoviepr. He turned to grab the book. Suddenly, he was walking in glue. Paralyzed, watching the nightmare world around him. He watched as the book slowly proceeded to show his life story in holograms. Born to a low, low station... Baby pictures... First teeth... First steps... Psi testing... First time meeting a Droyne... First school... Becoming an Intendant... Living with the Droyne... First girl friend... First lover... College... Becoming a Droyne... Becoming a Noble... Joining SORAG... First assignment... Second assignment... The ancient base... The ancient warriors... Their decision... Orders... Counter Orders... The destruction of the base... The explosion... The next page appeared black. The page appeared to split into two opening doors. On the page, Dr. Mako Malenkoviepr, Honorary Droyne marched into his superior's office. The letter in his hand addressed: "Lieutenant Baremkatlasche'. Personal.": The resignation. He paced angrily about the office shouting at Baremkatlasche'. The fool didn't understand the Droyne way, never would. He could not expect Malenkoviepr to prevent them from being what they are. You can not make iridium into tin. You can not make night into day. But the idiot didn't understand. Wouldn't even try to understand. I resign. I will not be pushed around any more. I refuse to go against what I know is right. Science is to improve life, not destroy it. Baremkatlasche's goals are not improvement, but enslavement. Any work for SORAG will be subverted. I resign! Doctor Mako Malenkoviepr slammed his the envelope onto Baremkatlasche's desk with all his psionically enhanced strength. A mug on the desk flew up a meter in the air fell back and shattered. The page went black again. Suddenly, the hologram split open again. Malenkoviepr marched into Baremkatlasche's office a second time. A second time, he told his superior off. A second mug smashed. I resign! A third time the hologram replayed itself. A third mug smashed. I resign!! A Forth... I resign!!! Fifth... I Resign!!!! I RESIGN!!!!! Malenkoviepr screamed out in fury. He jumped to the desk where the album laid. Grabbed it. Slammed it back into the book shelf, and shouted out in psionic fury and hate, "I RESIGN!!!!!" A psionic right cross whipped out into the blackness. Suddenly, Malenkoviepr was back drifting in the black void. But I felt the punch connect... - II - The Interrogator shook her dark hair from her shoulders. "The subject has exceptional psionic strength and determination." "How long will it take?" "Unknown, I will have to make some further tests. But a direct attack is not indicated here: his defenses are too well laid." - III - Leave your cares behind. Come with us and find the pleasures of the journey to the center of the mind. Come along if you care Come along if you dare Take a ride to the land inside of your mind. Beyond the seas of thought, beyond the realm of what's across the streams of hopes and dreams where things are really hot. -The Amboy Dukes: Journey to the Center of the Mind Malenkoviepr bounced down the beach at top speed. The grav harness absorbed most of his weight, but still gravity dragged at him, keeping him grounded where evolution had put him. Wind gusted and he threw wide his metal wings. He rose over the windswept seas of Tesser. Tesser. Land of the Droyne. Home. His silver wings tugged pleasantly at his muscles as he pulled himself aloft. The winds were his. He rose higher seeking out the updrafts as he tacked up wind. The rolling sea below him shouted a challenge up to him and he dove to combat. Screaming down over the waves he dipped and rolled over the blue foam. The wave tips set up a deadly obstacle course that he swept through with ease. One dipped wing tip and he would drown: no one can swim with five meters of wing span strapped on his arms. Briefly he thought of the greater ease of regulation grav belts, but no grav belt gave the user actual flight. Altitude must be fought for. Flight is not mere movement while aloft but a sonnet of motion. Wings lend grace, poise, flow. The Droyne, his adopted people disdained grav belts. Even Mako's artificial wings seemed little better than crutches compared with wings of flesh, bone and sinue. But even the Droyne were not the captains of the air. Their stubby wings were almost vestigial. Evolution had turned them away from the air. Many of them could not fly at all. Of all intelligent creatures yet found, only one race truly lived in the air. The two Ael Yaels flew circled overhead. They soared on the blustery sea winds of Tesser. Bat like wings stretched five meters in wing span gave them the edge over the tiny wings of the Droyne. Their golden skin flashed in the light of Tesser's sun as Mako rose on flashing wings to join them. The two creatures were truly alien in flesh and mind. They evolved in a totally different ecological niche from Humans. Aerial carnivores, nearly solitary creatures. Far from Humans and Droyne. For example they had never developed a thing called a government. Trying to explain a nation to them was like explaining sexual reproduction to an amoeba. They had the one system of running their planet no Human world ever could even attempt: anarchy. (That which governs best, governs least.) Thus, they could safely be invited into the Consulate, despite the fact that they were Imperial citizens, For to them there was no great difference between one group of humans and another. Humans all acted the same to them. In a flash the two came together and rose almost vertically in an ascending corkscrew, describing by their motion a double helix. Slowly they reached for each others talons. As they touched and grasped each other, they folded back their wings and stalled. They fell in a double hammerhead that sent them plunging down. Down toward the waves, they tumbled out of control clinging to each other. Slowly, with great reluctance they released the others talons and pulled out of the roaring dive and sped off with a flash of golden wings in close formation. Mako banked and flipped just for the sheer joy of it. He leapt from wind to wind as an acrobat of the sky. The winds gave a thunderous applause as he flipped over into a showman's outside loop coming out in a hammer head of his own. "CH-CH-CH-CH-CH-CH!" Kittan's warning crossed languages and jolted him back to awareness of their mission. Four frigate birds flew in towards the emerging baby sea turtles. Odd, how the ancients had brought both species this far from Earth. Mako rolled and dove in hot pursuit. Hloch made the first pass at the flock of attackers. The carnivore's talons flashed, striking one from the air. The other three cried out in surprise and banked away. Hloch dropped down and caught his prey as it fell and sunk his teeth in. Kittan veered off after one of the frightened hunters. The frigate bird swooped avoiding her claws but not quick enough to avoid her powerful tail. The crushing blow nearly severed the creatures wings and it went plummeting to the ground. She dove and caught the falling victim. Mako came into the fray slower than the others as the remaining two frigate birds realizing they weren't pursued closed back on the helpless turtles struggling across the sand. Mako had no claws or tail but simply battered both with his wings, blasting them from the air. The sea turtles crawled on to the open ocean and safety as the three scientists provided their air cover. On the ground the two Aels exchanged their catches and proceeded to tear into the carcasses with vigor, feasting hungrily on the bloodied birds. Mako swung in and landed close by. "Good hunting, Mako!" called Hloch. The creature leapt to retrieve one of the birds Mako had killed. Hloch washed it briefly in a tidal pool and held it out to Mako as he unstrapped his arms from his silvery wings. It was a mess: wing and neck broken, bleeding from the eyes. Mako grimaced at the sight of it as the alien scientist held it, his face covered in the blood of his mate's kill. He seemed puzzled. Mako glanced into the Ael's mind. "Why does this human not take his own catch? Does he intend to waste it?" At last Kittan spoke up. "You two have been studying each other for some time now. Hloch, haven't you seen humans don't like blood? And you Mako, do you not see that we never hunt for sport?" For a moment they stood watching each other, then Mako took the carcass and carefully broke off it's wing. The rest he presented to Kittan who bowed her thanks and shredded the bird's remains. The other bird was presented to Hloch. He examined the wing he still held and attempted to gnaw it. It was tough for his omnivorous teeth to pick apart raw, as the Ael Yaels did, but it was for appearances anyway. Mako thought to himself, "Well, you were the one who wanted to study avian sophonts weren't you?" - IV - "Well?" The Interrogator nodded, "The subject is responding to the new direction of attack." "Turn up the pressure. We need him." - V - Come along if you care Come along if you dare Take a ride to the land inside of your mind. But please realize, you'll probably be surprised. For it's a land unknown to man where fantasy is fact. So if you can, please understand: You might not come back. -The Amboy Dukes: Journey to the Center of the Mind Malenkoviepr was alone on the beach. A dark haired frigate bird was sweeping in towards the crawling baby sea turtles. The gauss rifle came into his arms. Must protect the turtles! He opened up the gauss rifle on full automatic. Ten rounds of gauss needles went into the bird at hypersonic velocity. Red mist came down. Tiny red fragments hit the ground. A great whirling noise came up behind him. Slowly he turned and saw a great dark cloud. The cloud whirred and flowed as it came. A huge cloud looking like a flowing amoeba. It began to resolve itself into components. Hundreds upon thousands of frigate birds. Malenkoviepr grabbed a mounted VRF gauss gun. The air thundered with their wings as they came. The gauss gun vomited steel into the cloud. Hundreds dropped. With their eyes open... They kept coming. The gauss gun rattled and thundered. The cloud turned from black to red. Still they came. One hundred meters... One hundred fell... Ninety meters... Five hundred fell... Seventy meters... Five thousand fall... Fifty meters... Fifty thousand fell... Forty meters... One million... Five million... Ten million... Fifty million... All with their eyes open... The sky runs red with blood and feathers... Death wears a hat and carries a VRF gauss gun... The eyes still stare... Millions of dead eyes looked up from the sand. The turtles crawl on towards the sea and safety... "The waves are retreating... The tide's going out... They'll never reach it..." The sky was a bone white sclera, the setting sun, an iris and pupil of a giant piercing blue eye. Slowly, the pupil expanded and swallowed the sky. Mako kicked a dead frigate bird splattering the sand black. Slowly, it began to ooze a vile smelling black liquid onto the sand. The blackness flowed across the sand to another frigate bird corpse. The second began to flow, and slowly it spread. The carcasses becoming gaunt as their blackness flowed freely from them. A red orange glow came from behind Mako. Slowly, he turned to look. Behind him the beach was littered with birds. It seemed to glow red all around him. He was looking into the eyes of a dead bird. It was gutted by a gauss needle and was bleeding black. The eyes caught the reflection of the rising reddish moon. It hung on the horizon and seemed to grow deeper and deeper red. As the moon glowed so did the reflection in the eyes of the carcasses on the beach. The glow waxed as the sun waned. Brighter and brighter and colder and colder, the eyes glowed like tiny cigarettes, flaming... staring... The carcasses melted slowly and flowed across the sand. All the while, the eyes stayed focused on Malenkoviepr. The blackness began to flow together. The slime climbed onto itself mounting and molding itself as it flowed together with its flaming red eyes staring. A hideous parody of human legs began to form as the black ooze lumped together. The blackness seeped up the legs and began to form a torso. Higher and higher it rose. Soon it was two meters tall and still growing. Distorted faces appeared in the mire of the forming thing. Slowly, the thing formed itself into a grotesquely fat and flabby torso. A lump of a faceless head came into being. Shoulder stumps began to shape themselves and then lengthen into arms. Revolted, Mako grabbed the VRF gauss gun, swivelled it on its mount and fired straight into its quivering flab of a belly. The gauss needles ripped open the black ooze, spattering it like pudding. The edges of the hole waved back like lips. Jagged teeth appeared in the gaping hole and the mouth shut itself with a snap erasing any trace that it ever had been there. Mako pulled the trigger for another blast. Nothing happened. Quickly he rechecked the gun. All in order? Then fire! The gun kicked in its mount. The projectiles flew into the oozing black form, splattering the black ichor. The gun began to thump. Mako glanced down at the gun and back at the black figure. The gun was firing sloppy black lumps of filth into the thing. The globules were slamming into the blob, adding to its loathsome mass. Quickly, Mako released the trigger. The gun continued to fire. The thing was growing. He tried to turn the gun away from the thing. The mount was frozen. He hammered on it with his fists. The gun continued to chug out the lumps of black ichor. It was growing. Five meters tall and growing. It towered into the darkening sky, a quivering slime of a human blob. The thing flowed and shuddered as the slime jetted from the VRF gauss gun into its abhorrent form adding to its bulk as it grew... topping ten meters and still growing. It leaned the lump of its head back. A cavernous, blood red maw opened up and it let out a gurgling, strangling roar. A cloud of stench billowed from its gaping mouth like the rotting of an open grave, while black ichor dripped onto its lump of a torso. The ichor flowed across the thing and reformed as part of its huge frame: twelve meters and climbing. The head came forward and glowered at Mako with a blind face. Slowly, two pits formed above the sealed gape of the mouth. The pits began to get covered over as eyes began to form. Mako backed away in horror from the forming beast, watching as the pits molded closed lids over the rapidly growing eyes. He turned and ran as the thing towered past fifteen meters of loathsome flabby filth. The darkness shrouded the beach with a purple sky while the blood red moon stared at the scene. Mako ran across the sand to the dunes with his pulse pounding in his ears. Slick, spiky dune grass slashed at his clothes as he ran over the sand shredding the fabric like razors. Through the torn cloth, the blades sliced at his flesh. His skin ran wet with sweat and blood. He reached the foot of the first dune and climbed up the steep sand pile on all fours. The sand bit at the cuts on his hands as though the skin was being peeled away from his bones layer by layer. He topped the dune and glanced back. A hundred meters away, the thing's eye lids opened. Inside the eye was gloss black. Dimly, a tiny red glow pulsed inside the pit of the eyes. It glowed dimly and then faded to blackness, then again it began to glow a little brighter than before. Again it faded away. More brightly, the eye pulsed like a beacon. It glowed and flickered like a bright flame caught in a wind. Then the eyes lit up brightly in a flaming blood red. Mako fled across the dune and into a dead forest. The leafless trees were sparse and monstrous while the blood moon stared down at him. In the distance a thunderous sucking sounded like a foot being pulled from a mire. Then a pile driver came down and smashed the ground. The thing had begun to walk. Mako ran under the sparse cover of the dead trees, the sucking pile driver still coming: battering its way after him. He ran and ran through the wasteland forest. Every few meters a tree blocked his path and he narrowly avoided hitting them as he ran through the darkness. The sucking pile drivers came closer as he ran. Quickly, he changed course in hope the thing would follow the straight line he'd been going on. For a moment he couldn't tell where the thing was going it seemed to hesitate and then strike after him again following closely. The sky light up with the red searchlights of its eyes as it sought him. A huge ripping sound came as trees began to be torn from their roots as it passed through. The stench of its breath came down and hugged the ground like a fog. Suddenly, it was in front of Mako. The red eyes towered over the trees glowering at him. His heart in his mouth, Mako skidded to a stop. He turned and jumped... He sailed over the trees and into the night sky. The trees reached out their branches after him, but he flew over them. Slowly, he reached the top of his an and began to come down. He clawed at the wind, but to no avail. Down he came through the slicing branches of the dead trees. He landed in a thigh deep fog. The ground squished under his feet as he skidded to a stop. Again, he leapt into the air and safety. "A few more jumps like this and that thing will Never find me..." The prodigious leaps carried him fifty meters at a time. Soon, he was out of the forest and on a fog covered plain. His heart soaring as he left the grotesque abhorrence far behind, sucking and roaring impotently after him. "So long sucker!" he called after it as he reached the top of an arc. Slowly, he descended to the fog and sank in thigh deep before touching the wet sloppy ground. The mud grabbed at his feet pulling him down. He was up to his calves and still going down. He kicked at the muck as he sank deeper. It flowed up his legs and over his abdomen. He grabbed for the plain grass growing in the mud, but it tore from its roots leaving nothing to pull on. He sank up to his chest in bog stench with only his arms and head above the stinking ooze. Red searchlights swept the horizon as the thing followed his path. Closer and closer it came. Mako huddled down in the fog trying to hide, but the fog was thinning rapidly at the thing's approach. He could hear its sloppy pounding footsteps as it came on. Mako struggled desperately in the mire, grabbing for anything to pull him out; but nothing came to hand and the mud was too thick to swim and too liquid to support him. The thing reached the edge of the bog for it's pounding steps turned ponderously to sloppy sucking sounds. It gurgled and howled its triumph. The red eyes stared at him as he struggled in the mire, illuminated in the beam of the blood red search lights. "CH-CH-CH-CH-CH-CH-CH-CH-CH!!!!!" sounded from the sky as a whirling winged form dove from the red moon in the sky. Mako barely recognized the Ael Yael before Hloch's talons sunk into his shoulders and began beating wings over his head trying to lift the trapped scientist. Agonizingly, millimeter by millimeter Mako began to rise from the slime. Suddenly, the thing saw its caught prey escaping and screamed in a horrible high pitched whistle. It began pounding across the bog sinking up to its knees in the muck. Hloch pulled and strained against the suction of the bog as it pulled at Mako. The thing was upon them. It screamed a gurgling laugh and swatted the Ael Yael scientist to the ground. Hloch smashed into the muck with his wings crushed. He did not move. It reached for Malenkoviepr. Outstretched, barrel thick fingers stuck into the bog around him like a cage. Over him the hand of death closed in a fist blotting out the skies. The ichor flowed over his body and up his neck. It was cold as a winter slaughter house ripping the warmth from him as it flowed up his neck and over his face. He clamped his mouth tight but it crept up his nose and into his throat slowly, agonizingly filling his mouth and lungs. Mako suffocated as the slime oozed over him. The universe faded into blackness as Mako drowned in the filth. - VI - I'm so tired I haven't slept a wink I'm so tired My mind is on the blink "I'm So Tired" -The Beatles Hmmmmmmmmmmm? Oh... Well maybe... I'm tired... Look, I'm reeeally tired... And anyway, I'm dead... You shouldn't be bothering me when I just died... Why do you ask me all these questions?... What's that? Oh... I've seen one before... Ancients you say?... Oh, I know. It's a disintegrator. How's it work? Oh, don't worry about that some of my best friends don't know how they work... It's reeeally quite neat. Lllllike a laser... sort of... but the particles it fires - sim- stimulated emission - radiation are NOooooooooOT photons... Know- what-I-mean? Oh, wellll... just as photons int... inter... in-ter-react with e-lec-trons and pro-tons... the particles from the disint... well instead of exciting the e-lec-trons and heating the atom up... well these particles are... the particular elem... (excuse me) elements of the nuclear... BONDing forces. Yeah, you perturb those and you've got ONE shaky little nucleus! It falls apart... POOF! POP!... goes the weasel! What do you mean 'How does it wor... work'? I just TOLD you... OHHHhhh!... How... do YOU work... it... Well... you... sho... shou... Should... ask your... quest... questions... more... precisely. You see... you see... You... Can't... work it... It... It... It's... Tel... Tel... Tele... Tell me you're coming... back to me! You gotta... tell me... Oh... you... don't... like... my... singing...? - VII - Who's arguing? Shhh! Arguing... I'm dead you shouldn't argue in front of dead people... Now, you listen to what she says... She's right, I'm tooooOOO tired... And my head hurts... I wanna aspirin... So this is what it's like being dead... Who'd have thought it would be so dry... I wanna drink... I don't like this being dead... I've had much more pleasant petite mortes than this one I can tell you that... - VIII - Hmmm? Oh, artifacts... yeah, there were artifacts there... At Enoc there was this greaat bIg crystal... You didn't get it? No... No... No... You see Drert took it... Who's Drert? Gunner, he manned the turret on my ship... Where IS my ship? Don't YOU know? They're pretty cool folks, I wonder where they went?... Oh well, the crystal did some WeirD things let-me-tell-you. It GLOWED. It zapped Drert but GOOD! He got some amazing psi power from it... Oh, he teleported and stuff and he healed Niedrsha... Him? Oh, the pilot... It did something to his mind though... Drert's mind that is... You know it made Jietlshaiepr a telepath too... - IX - Truth drugs... Memory drugs... Hallucinogens... Probing... Psi-Dampers... Sensory deprivation... Truth drugs... Memory drugs... Hallucinogens... Psi-Dampers... Probing... Sensory deprivation... Truth drugs... Memory drugs... Probing... Psi-Dampers... Sensory deprivation... Hallucinogens... - X - The Interrogator sat perfectly still, "The subject is recovering rapidly from the interrogation. He came very close to not reviving, though he has a remarkable capacity to regenerate himself." "How long before we can continue?" She considered it, "Uncertain, at minimum: five hours." "That quickly?" "The subject has proved exceedingly strong. If interrogation begins before five hours he will die before giving any information. After five hours wait, he would merely be irrevocably damaged." - XI - Bend me, shape me, any way you want me. You got the power To turn on the light. -"Bend Me, Shape Me" - The American Breed ...The blackness of the bog was tinged with pale violet iridescence as Mako felt his way along through the darkness. Branches reached out overhead as the trees raked the sky with their leafless bony limbs. A moon peered down: a red eye with a black pupil studying the silent wilderness. Fog rolled about like a hungry creature draining the warmth of it's victims. Mako froze as a lone howl sounded far off behind him. He glanced around him seeing only a few meters in any direction as the fog rolled seeking warmth. A second howl sounded from the opposite direction. Malenkoviepr ran perpendicular to the line described by the two howling things. A few steps and his left foot sunk into the mire, calf deep. He stumbled, but rolled out onto the surface grasping the gnarled roots of a nearby tree. Carefully, he pulled himself up to stand on the roots when they resolved into bony fingers clawing into the bog. The bark of the tree seemed to have faces inside it. Tortured faces with mouths agape in silent screams. Mako began to slog through the bog when a third howl sounded: still far off, but closing. He sank lower, the bog up to his knees now, but still manageable as the murk flowed around him. A ghostly white shape hung from the ghastly trees. It swung silently he watched it. Slowly, the fog separated, revealing the shape had wings. Hloch hung curled in a ball, wrapped in a spider's web. He was cocooned by something. It was difficult to make out the Ael Yael's silhouette, the left wing's humerus and wrist were bent at ugly angles, while the right appeared dislocated. With fear rising in his throat, Mako stared at the thing before him swinging slowly in the bone chilling air of the bog. Slowly, it moved and looked at him. "...Help me..." Mako jumped into action pulling the cocoon out of the giant web with enormous strength. Quickly, he began ripping apart the venomous gossamer coffin. "...Thought you were dead..." managed the wounded scientist. "That thing that swatted me..." "Viepchaklva, if I understand it, but this is a dream." answered Malenkoviepr as he cleaned away the entangling web from the creature's arms and legs. "...A dream... a Nightmare... Some one's been questioning me... Then the nightmares come..." "You've been questioned? What about?" "...Imperial defenses... research... the ancients... I couldn't help but tell them... Truth drugs... sensory deprivation..." "Who interrogated you?" "Don't know... never saw them..." "Somebody is very curious about you and me..." "Did they interrogate you too?" "Yes." "What about?" "The ancients mostly. A lot of questions." Slowly, the bog faded around them, and they were alone in blackness. The Ael looked at him, "What do they want to know? Maybe we can figure out what they're up to." "Identification of certain artifacts, information about the theories behind them." "What kind of artifacts?" asked Hloch in a strange voice. "Ancient... ...Well, I'm not really sure..." Hloch's voice grew strange: less shrill and more husky, "You saw them, didn't you?" A Siren went off in Malenkoviepr's head, "Well, yes..." "Then, what were they?" "Hloch, are you all right? You sound very strange..." "What do you mean strange...?" he asked defensively, his voice different now... almost human. "Who ARE you?!" growled Malenkoviepr. The creature was taken aback, "I am Dr. Hloch of the planet Ael Yael." "Oh, indeed? I thought your planet was Jaeyelya." The creature stared at him blankly. "Tell me," continued Malenkoviepr, "you're a physicist, what is the equation of mass-energy equivalence?" The creature hesitated, "...E equals MC squared." "What do the terms mean?" The creature stared, desperately groping for an answer. "What are you driving at?" "What is the definition of kinetic energy? That's an easier question." "Now see here, you've got to help me..." cried the creature. "I didn't think you could answer it. You are not who you pretend to be." Malenkoviepr and he turned to walk away. "Come back! Come back! I can explain everything!" The thing hung suspended by threads as a grotesque marionette jerking mechanically to the commands of someone unseen, while screaming in a human voice. - XII - What's all these crazy questions you asking me? This is the craziest party that could ever be, Don't turn on the light's cause I don't wanna see. Mamma told me not to come. Mamma told me not to come. That aien't the way to have fun! No! Uh-uh! -"Mamma Told Me (not to come)" -Three Dog Night Mako stood in the center of a raucous party holding a glass of champagne. Sophonts of all kinds laughed hysterically and did very bizarre things while loud, insane music rippled forth. Three Vargr females in tie-dyed purple paisley mini-skirts were Zero-G-Go-Go dancing in large cages. Their eyes threw out a bizarre kaleidoscope of colors. Seven humans were running in random directions carrying fire extinguishers and blasting each other with them amid peals of laughter. A large male Vargr was pulling oranges one by one, from thin air, out of his left ear juggling them and tossing them to a group of Droyne who were passing them from one to another and building a towering pyramid with them. A pretty, young Aslan female in a feathered mask walked through the room carrying a small wheel and kissing everyone. A huge obese woman was standing on a table, balancing on one leg and crying rhinestones, while a man in an indescribable hat asked her riddles. Hloch was standing on Kittan's shoulders. Kittan was going through a book, tearing out pages and handing them up to Hloch. Hloch in turn handed folded them into small paper airplanes and threw them to a young but very large male Aslan wearing a Darrian Naval uniform. The young Aslan ensign wore the circled eye insignia of the Darrian Naval Intelligence corps. "Ah, Hloch, through hanging by someone's thread?" asked Malenkoviepr. "Humans make lousy puppeteers!" laughed Kittan delightedly. "Yes, I haven't been myself lately but I'm alright now!" leered Hloch as he swayed precariously on Kittan's shoulders. "I can only reach for who I have been, since not me." A squadron of colorful crystalline insects flew overhead in diamond formation. They executed a tight roll and changed into a deck of cards. "This party is pretty mindblowing! Eh, Mako?" chirped Hloch. "Out of sight!" "Out of mind!" cried Malenkoviepr. "This is a dreamy party!" "Who ever's in charge of reality seems to have the day off..." called the Aslan officer, refilling Mako's glass with champagne. "Yes," agreed Mako, "I'm in charge at the moment." The pretty Aslan female in the mask attached herself to the ensign's arm, and turned to Mako, "Excuse me, have you seen a man named Duran Durant?" she asked softly. "Achrrr!" cried Kittan in surprise. "Dr. Malenkoviepr, I should introduce you." She gestured the Aslan officer, "This is Ensign Zdeldi of the Darrian Confederation, and his companion: Surrealni." "Enchanted!" grinned Surrealni, then she slowly began do disappear, from the tip of her tail up to her face, until only her grin was left behind. "Pleased to meet you." smiled Zdeldi extending his hand above his head in a very non Aslan way. "And, what do you do?" Malenkoviepr gave him a high five, "Nearly the same as you do, but I've resigned." "Oh really? Why?" Mako smiled, and drew forth an holocrystal from his breast pocket and put it back. "I had my reasons... some plans..." Zdeldi drew him aside, "Like to share your reasons?" "Share?" he asked incredulously. "In a manner of speaking. There are other things to be shared in such arrangements." "I am intrigued. Shall we go?" - XIII - The Interrogator looked up, "I thought you wanted to question him about the ancient artifacts we possess." "I do. But if we let this proceed, we can find out how corruptible he is... THAT we can use..." - XIV - If you think that I don't know about the little tricks you've played, And never see you when you deliberately put things in my way. Here's a poke at you. You're gonna choke on it too. You're gonna loose that smile. Because all the while, I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles... "I Can See For Miles" -The Who The gambling table was clear as Malenkoviepr and Zdeldi faced each other. Mako dealt five cards each. Zdeldi considered them carefully and handed back two. Zdeldi spoke in a strange voice, "Dr. Malenkoviepr, just what sort of deal were you planning on?" Mako shuffled and handed him back his cards. "No set plan just yet. I am merely interested in finding out what You have to offer." The Aslan regarded his cards, "Selling to the highest bidder?" Mako picked up his cards and studied them a moment and exchanged one from the deck, "Now, now, you are putting words in my mouth..." "Or thoughts in your head..." smiled Zdeldi, "Go fish." Mako eyed his cards and pulled three from the deck, "Yes, just possibly, but then again, it might be the other way around." He placed a card face down on the table announcing, "King's X." Zdeldi's eyebrows went up in a most human surprise, he examined his cards and drew one from the deck. "Well, what about putting credit in your pocket... Hit me." Mako took a card from the deck without looking, "Would you mind being more specific?" Zdeldi's voice was quite human, "I want that crystal. I'll pay for it... I'll stay." Mako dropped a card on the table, "What's so valuable about this holocrystal?" Zdeldi took the bait, "I want anything you have to sell. Therefore, I want that crystal." Mako put all his cards down except for one. "Uno." Zdeldi rearranged his cards quickly and discarded three, "The Consulate can't offer you what we can... Box cars" "You want me to sell out the Consulate." "Has the Consulate treated you so well?" asked Zdeldi, "Not from the looks of things." "Perhaps, but they are my people." Mako looked up at the ceiling and threw his legs up on the table. "So, when did YOU sell out the Consulate?" Zdeldi froze. The entire dream world stopped mid sentence. Silence. Malenkoviepr glared through the ceiling to the outside universe. He addressed the crazy world and its makers. "You sold out the Consulate, didn't you? What did they offer you? What do you expect? Did you get it?" "Or is someone holding your leash as we speak?" He glared at the prop of a world around him, and slammed his last card, the twenty one of clubs down on the table. "This round," he announced, "I win." @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ DOWN THE WELLES or Deep in a hole Scott Kellogg - I - Welles E655632-3 Twelve System Defence Boats and an unidentified forty thousand ton ship of the line bore in on the tiny gathering of starships. The Flamboyant's radio crackled: a woman's voice, "This is Lt. Dragoon of the League of Suns Navy aboard the scout ship Spindleman. For the duration of this emergency I am proclaiming martial law and assuming command of all vessels by the authority of the League of Suns. All vessels will report their status or be judged hostile." Jietlshaiepr almost choked, "This is Lieutenant Jietlshaiepr aboard the Gunned Escort Flamboyant out of the Zhodani Consulate. Lieutenant, you're out of your sphere of influence. This is a free and independent system." Lt. Dragoon snarled, "Welles has requested the League's protection, and THAT makes it our sphere, Zho." A Droyne chirped in, "This the trader Shoolist is, maneuverable, jump fuel have lost. Re-enter atmosphere impossible streamlining destroyed." "This trader Kivas, power plant damaged. Computer destroyed. Wounded aboard. Drone dead. Rendezvous Flamboyant with waiting." "Cruiser Chekbas here, hull by nuclear blast irradiated, maneuver drives damaged, down to two point one G, two laser batteries out of action, loss of some jump fuel. Cutter undamaged and deployed." Jietlshaiepr sighed in disgust as the Droyne surrendered the authority of their vessels. "This is the gunned escort Flamboyant. We are undamaged and are proceeding to rendezvous with the Kivas. Under our control is a VIXEN class missile platform. We have three light fighters deployed." The radio gave mute testimony to the fact that no other would answer the call to friendly shipping. A note of hesitancy came into Lt. Dragoon's voice, "Droyne Cruiser Cheekbass... you will rendezvous with the trader Shoe list and remove all crew then make for jump point... You should just be able to make it. On second thought, head for jump point now. Have your cutter take the crew off and rendezvous at jump point you will jump for the Price system and contact the League there. Inform them to send reinforcements. "Droyne trader Shoe List, you will prepare to scuttle your ship. Head for jump point to shorten transfer time. "Droyne Trader Key Vast, prepare to scuttle. "Zho Escort Flamboyant, take off the crew of the Key Vast. Direct your missile platform and fighters to engage the enemy." The radio burst with tiny objecting voices as two Droyne merchant captains heard the orders to scuttle. Kfoks audibly restrained himself over the radio, "Dragoon, No disrespect intended... are you out of your Mind? Do you Really think *Three* *LIGHT* Fighters can take on *TWELVE* Vrrsheerrrsh *SDBS*, and *DO* Something!? *Other* than be Wiped out?" "Flamboyant squadron," answered Dragoon nastily, "Why don't you pull some sneaking, underhanded Zho trick on them?" "My compliments on your bigotry, asshole, but I'm Vargr." snapped Kfoks. "Flamboyant, On mark, I'm switching frequencies to preset B. Mark! Let's get the hell out of here. We'll rendezvous with you at the Kivas. We'll pick up survivors and jump the hell out of here." Niedrsha looked over the course projections. "Forget jumping, we'll never have time to pick 'em up and make jump point. They are coming in from outside the gravity well. We'd have to run right through them to get to jump distances. We could hide on the surface. We'd loose the VIXEN if we did jump: it's out of fuel." "She could make an in system jump." chimed Miakr. "To where?" asked Niedrsha. "The system gas giant." "Program it in, but don't execute it." ordered Jietlshaiepr, "We may need it's cover." "Coming up on the Kivas!" shouted Niedrsha. The once sleek needle like trader hove into visual range. The hull was opened up like a can just aft of the bridge. The engine room was visible through a rent in her stern just forward of the control surfaces. Jietlshaiepr grabbed her surgeon's kit. "I'm going to teleport aboard. Dock with the ship and be ready to receive casualties..." Suddenly, Shtam came onto the bridge lugging a tool kit, "I have a plan: no time to explain. Jietlshaiepr, take me across with you." Jietlshaiepr looked startled for a moment. "All right, it had better be good. Button up your battle dress. I'm going to take us outside the rent in the bridge, and then inside." "I am going to the engine room. Leave me outside." - II - The bridge disappeared as the two winked over to the stricken trader. The Kivas leaped towards them as they matched vectors with their grav belts. "What on Zhdant are you up to?" wondered Jietlshaiepr. Shtam smiled, "Just a sneaking, underhanded Zho trick I heard of once: preparing the power plant to overload. The pirates will take this ship aboard. If I am quick, I can give them a fusion bomb in the bargain." He jetted around to the engine room. Jietlshaiepr crawled in through the hole in the ships plating. Twisted wreckage showed a nearly vaporized computer room. Shtam's disembodied voice came to her in the darkness, "You will have to set up some explosives. Perhaps Gresha if you can not. We have to make it appear as though we tried to scuttle the ship but the attempt failed in the rush: wire up some of the ship's missiles with a bad detonator. Once they've found one surprise and defused it, it should satisfy them enough to take this ship on the capital ship." The computer was half molten. A small Droyne shadow lay across the panels where it hadn't become glowing slag. The operator's body had shielded the computer for a tiny instant. An intact iris valve stood nearby going forward. "I found an injured one back here." called Shtam. "Their engineer I assume, unconscious. It's in pressurized combat armor." Jietlshaiepr called back, " We don't have time for full treatment now. Make sure it's not going to get banged around and have Vole take him back to the Flamboyant when we're docked. We'll have to treat them there." Jietlshaiepr teleported through the iris valve, and onto the bridge. Suddenly, there was a huge metal beam at eye level, millimeters away from her helmet. "One more teleport like that and I'm history." The bridge was a burning shamble. The beam had fallen from the ceiling along with other structural pieces causing the air to hiss slowly into the vacuum. The panels were ablaze filling the room with black smoke. Blue alien emergency lights lit the bridge dimly through the smoke, but the sensors of the battle dress saw clearly. Two Droyne in combat armor were fighting the blaze at the other end of the beam where it had pinned a third to its acceleration couch. The draft from the air leak was drawing the smoke away from the fire keeping it alight. It wouldn't be long till the air was too thin to burn. Why not dump the atmosphere to put it out? The two barely noticed as she floated forward. The pinned Droyne's armor was cracked. She tried the strength enhancement of her battle dress to move the beam. It was set tight. "Flamboyant," radioed Jietlshaiepr, "We're going to need one of the tillys on the bridge: I need a heavy lifting crane. Get Rackan into the suit and get him over here." One Droyne managed in slurred Zhodani, "You sick make well?" "Yes, I am a surgeon." she replied quickly, "I have a team coming with heavy equipment. But we have to get it in here from outside, we'll have to seal his suit." The two Droyne glanced back with indeciperably alien expressions nearly completely hidden by armor. "Chrr, what say you?" In answer Jietlshaiepr bent to make a closer examination of the trapped Droyne. The beam rested across the chest and right shoulder of the creature. The shoulder was dented and cracked but the chest armor hand held up under the impact and had kept the mass from crushing the chest. The armored wing casing was bent at an odd angle. A quick glance at the two uninjured Droyne's wings showed the wing must be broken inside the casing, but the armor appeared to be sealed. For now it would serve as a temporary cast but it would be crazy when it came time to take it off. Jietlshaiepr quickly began sealing the cracked plates of the creature's armored suit. The fire was fading: the air was getting dangerously thin and poisonous. A minute later Jietlshaiepr was half finished with the sealant when Niedrsha sounded on the radio, "Kivas, this is Flamboyant, we are now positioned next to your air lock. Lock to lock docking appears impossible, your linkup system appears to be shot away. We are now ready for evacuation of casualties. Rackan estimates he will be with you in ten minutes." Jietlshaiepr transmitted, "Flamboyant, I want Gresha outside with a fusion gun, some explosives and detonators. First burn a hole into the bridge big enough for the tilly. Next take the detonators and wire up the Kivas's missile magazines. Vole, you bring across casualties. There is one unconscious in the engine room. Kaezorr, you know about micro-gravity, you go with Vole. Let's move, people!" Moments later she finished sealing the little Droyne's armor and stood up. The fire was out: nothing left to burn. Could the trapped creature still breathe? No way to tell if it was even alive inside the dead combat armor. Turning to the other Droyne, she spoke in Zhodani, "Get to the Flamboyant, the equipment..." "Galanglic speak please." interrupted the Droyne. She translated, "Get to the Flamboyant, the equipment will be here in a few minutes. I can't do any thing more until we get you crew aboard the Flamboyant." "Leave my Kivas." said the captain quietly. A chirping sounded on her radio. The Zhodani speaking Droyne stood up. "Teleport others to aid must I." The creature vanished immediately. The captain floated to the communicator on a side panel and chirped into it. Two colored hexagonal pie charts lit up: three slices of the first were out and two of the second. In a moment the lit slices became the video projections from the helmets of the surviving Droyne crew. The captain chirped sadly into it's comm set. The others answered slowly. Two of the cameras flashed brilliantly as someone began blasting away wreckage with a plasma gun. "Viepchakl," thought Jietlshaiepr, "they're well armed for a merchant crew. She moved aft to the iris valve. With the bridge in vacuum there's no need to keep it closed. As it opened she saw Gresha with a fusion gun. "We need a pretty big hole to get the tilly in here. Start blasting around the iris valve. Give me the detonators, I'll set the magazine." "Right, Jiet. You'd better get on the radio, Dragoon's breathing plasma since the fighters started back." "Blast! I haven't time to deal with that idiot! Niedrsha, do you read me? Patch me into the ship's radio." She moved aft around the ship's hull as Gresha started blasting a hole in the bulkhead. Lt. Dragoon's voice seemed hoarse as it came over the circuit, "...boyant come in. Damn you bastards!" "Spindleman, this is Jietlshaiepr of the Flamboyant we are conducting vital rescue operations. Do not jam this channel." "Flamboyant, you will redirect your fighters to engage the enemy." "*Request* denied." "Flamboyant, do you know what ship that is?! It's the raider Star Rider. If it gets away it'll kill hundreds! Maybe thousands!" "Dragoon, that ship is a ship of the line, it has a screen of twelve ships that are individually more than a match for my ship. The combined firepower of all our ships couldn't even scratch their defenses." "God damn it, Flamboyant! If that ship gets loose there'll be more victims than ALL our ships. It must be stopped!" "Viepchakl! You fool! Don't you see WE CAN'T STOP IT!" "Ok, coward Zho punks! We'll stop it ourselves! Spindleman out!" Miakr interrupted, "Jiet, they're on an intercept course." Jietlshaiepr shook her head, "Not for long, they're dead." In the engine room, she found Shtam working feverishly on the drives. "How's it going?" Shtam didn't look up. "I have the power plant operational, I do not dare turn it on: they would pick up the power and might suspect the trick. It will take a few more minutes to rig the containment vessel for overload. Then we can super-compress the plasma and bang!" "We have twelve minutes before we have to leave. Can you be ready?" "I will be ready. Is the magazine set?" "I'm on my way." She opened the hatch that lead forward to the turrets. A tube lead up toward the turrets. Kaezorr was floating down leading Drert and two Droyne who pulled a large Droyne figure in armor. One of the Droyne was carrying a PGDP-12. "We had to dig something out of the wreckage. They said it's alive." she explained. Jietlshaiepr lowered her shield and probed the recumbent creature: no life. In fact, there was nothing there. Confused, she put her psionic shield back up. The Droyne reappeared. Psi invisibility? "Take them back to the ship. I'll examine it there." She went up the tube to the turrets. They weren't far forward. Quickly, she rigged the missile igniters together and wired up the detonators. Just fire up one missile and the whole magazine would go. "...Nine, Eleven, Twelve missiles going up simultaneously... that ought to look like a pretty good self destruct..." She set the detonator timer to zero and put the battery in backwards. An obvious mistake, it'll look like the timer went down and didn't fire the missiles. "I only hope they buy it." - III - It took all of Jietlshaiepr, Gresha, Shtam, Kaezorr and Vole to maneuver Rackan in the tilly to the bridge of the Kivas. The metal tyrannosaur tore the bars away like paper as it entered the wrecked bridge. "All right, Rackan," cautioned Vole, "The armor may bend back when we remove the beam so do it slowly. It'll mess up the sealant." Rackan growled, "I don't take order's from robots..." Jietlshaiepr cut him off. "No, but you'll take them from *me*. Lift slow and easy like you're handling eggs. I have to reseal any leaks that open in the armor." Rackan locked the huge arms of the tilly onto the beam. "Ready." "One millimeter at a time." She cautioned, "Go." The arms began to strain at the beam not moving it. "Vole, help him." Vole moved in and locked his own robotic arms on the beam. "I'm going to use my laser welder," he warned. "It should help bend the beam which is what we're going to have to do." The laser lanced out and began heating the beam. A moment later, Rackan focused the tilly's laser welder on the beam. Slowly, slowly, slowly the beam began to bend. A foggy mist began spraying from the Droyne's shoulder. Jietlshaiepr put a patch on the leak, but another came open worse than the first. A second patch went on and the spray stopped. "Ok, carefully now..." she cautioned. Again they lifted. The beam had moved about a centimeter more when a trickle started from the Droyne's back. "Blast! I can't reach it! He's on top of it! Keep going!" The leak changed from a trickle to a jet, still she could not reach it. "All right! Lift! For all you're worth!" The beam came up faster, but still slowly. Jietlshaiepr threw her mind into her arms and lifted. The strength enhancers complained along with Vole's and the tilly's arms. Sweat dripped off her face as she watched the torrential leak helplessly. Other leaks began seeping from the shoulder. Suddenly, under the heat and strain, the superdense structural beam buckled. Jietlshaiepr grabbed the suit patches. One slammed over the hole in the back plate slowed it. A second closed it over. The leaks on the shoulder took three more patches. "Ok, get him back to the Flamboyant so we can get the fuck out of here!" sighed Jietlshaiepr with relief. - IV - They jetted back slowly to the Flamboyant pushing Rackan in the tilly. The cargo lock beckoned invitingly. "Get moving team," warned Niedrsha from the bridge, "The SDBs are closing. Range: one point five million kilometers. Our escape margin's gone. If we start running now they'll still get us in range before we make the surface." They floated slowly toward the open hatch. The massive bulk of the modified cargo carrier-battle suit was hugely difficult to maneuver. It floated through the airlock and bashed silently into the wall of the hold. Shtam punched the door control. The lock door slid quickly in place. Gravity came up slowly but too quickly for Rackan in the clumsy suit. He collapsed onto the floor. Jietlshaiepr hit the pressure controls, "Full throttle, Niedrsha, get us the fuck out of here!" - V - Jietlshaiepr counted heads. Out of twelve passengers and crew, two dead, four wounded, three of them badly. She stripped their armor off as she listened to Niedrsha's tactical report over the intercom. "Four SDBs have peeled off after the Chekbas and Shoolist. They'll both reach jump point before they can intercept. Chekbas will reach jump point in seventeen minutes, the Shoolist in thirty two. "The Shoolist's captain is out of his head! They're gonna try and jump outsystem with no fuel! They're gonna misjump deliberately! "One of the SDBs is closing on the Kivas. Two more are after the Spindleman. The Star Rider is slower than the SDBs, it also is closing on the Kivas. It will intercept the Kivas in about five hours. Niedrsha cleared his throat, "That leaves five SDBs after us and the VIXEN. They will be in firing range in one hour, fifty three minutes, thirty two minutes before we reach the surface. "Spindleman will be in their range in forty five minutes." Miakr came over the intercom, "Jietlshaiepr, what should I do with the VIXEN? It can't follow us into the atmosphere..." "Send it after our tail. It just might buy us some time. And it just might live if it makes one pass and keeps going." "Right Jiet... It's on it's way. Interception... thirty six minutes... twenty seconds." The pilot Droyne was small. Maybe a few centimeters shorter than Dr. Malenkoviepr. No wonder Mako had a rapport with such tiny creatures. Two of the four ribs were broken on the right side along with what passed for the collar bone. The right wing was a ragged mess where hollow bone had made a compound fracture. Vole and Tuerz worked on a large patient with a broken leg. Suddenly, Drert leaned over the pilot. He held the same blue crystal from the Ancient site. The point of the crystal flared up like a star. Jietlshaiepr turned her head from the bright flare. Her hands trembled as she held the wing of the tiny creature. Freezing heat flowed into her fingertips. She tried to let go but her muscles were locked tight. Every hair on her hands began to stand on end. The sensation swept up her arm. The hair of her head prickled as though it had become thorns. Suddenly, everything changed. The sensation swamped her body like a wave of honey. A low moan passed her lips as her every nerve was kissed, stroked, fondled, wrapped in a fur blanket and put by a warm fire. - VI - A minute later she found herself barely standing with Vole peering into her face. "What happened?" she sang dreamily. "I don't know." the robot said confusedly. "I was preparing to set the Droyne's leg when my limbs jammed: my neural activity sensor went off the scale. Then you started moaning and Tuerz howled. He collapsed but you were still standing." "Too much for him I guess... Where's Drert?" The gunner was over in the corner surrounded by the Droyne who were not stirring. The examining tables were empty, instead the tiny creatures were clinging to Drert like young opossums to their mother. Jietlshaiepr picked out the one who had been half crushed. No sign of any injury, or that any had taken place. It seemed to be sleeping quite contentedly. "Tuerz!" Kfoks burst into sick bay. "Are you all right? What happened?" The slender Vargr looked up dreamily. "Vargr! Taek, you should have been here. I haven't felt that good in..." "What happened?" Kfoks demanded. "I don't know cub, but I think I ruined my outfit..." - VII - Jietlshaiepr strolled onto the bridge and gazed longingly at Niedrsha. "So, how are we doing?" she whispered softly. Miakr stared into the sensors. "Three of the SDBs have altered course to attack the VIXEN, leaving two still after us... The VIXEN is coming into range... in two minutes." Miakr raised his eyes from the sensors for a moment and stretched his neck, "I directed her to make one pass to draw them off and then continue on an intercept course to the Spindleman. They're jerks, but they are fighting the right people." Jietlshaiepr sighed and became businesslike with a tinge of regret. "Time to get in range of the Spindleman?" "Ten minutes... just after the SDBs get there." Niedrsha shook his head. "The Chekbas has jumped out. The Shoolist is just about to try. Fuck, they're nuts!" The Shoolist was just a speck on the scopes. The chronometer ticked off the seconds till they gambled their lives. Even if they came out in an star system, they had no way to refuel. They had a one way ticket on a mystery tour to nowhere. Niedrsha found himself counting quietly to himself, "Four... Three... Two... One... Ze...", he was cut off as the dot suddenly flared brilliantly and vanished. He checked the instruments, "She's vaporized..." Jietlshaiepr took a deep breath. She leaned over Miakr to look into the readouts, "Ok, let's see how our little VIXEN makes out." - VIII - The VIXEN charged into missile range and released her deadly cargo. Four flights of missiles fanned out like streamers towards their targets. Another blossom of missiles surged into the vacuum as the space around the VIXEN surged with laser light from the SDBs. A flash, a surge, lanthanum boiled into space as the VIXEN was illuminated momentarily by a 750 megawatt laser battery. - IX - "She's hit!" Miakr half shouted. "It's all confused... All right, the jump drives been hit, probably totaled. It was in pretty bad shape anyway... Maneuver drive's damaged, down to five point three G's acceleration... Number two turret seems to be slow... but it's still in action!" Jietlshaiepr breathed, "Right, Miakr, get the robots to work on the..." "Already done.", he shot. "I've had them programmed for damage control since we entered combat." "Good boy." Niedrsha grinned, "Here comes missile intercept..." The screen flashed briefly with fission fire. Smaller flares went up as high explosive crashed into the SDBs. Miakr read off the sensors. "One SDB took a nuke... she's sluggish... hit in the maneuver drives... The other two are hit... Can't get a good reading at this range, but they took some damage." "Hold on to your hats, there goes the second flight of missiles." smiled Niedrsha. More flashes, barely visible at five million kilometers range lit the screen. "Another nuclear strike hit..." grinned Miakr, "Can't get a reading this time... No engine damage, that's for sure. They're still pursuing at the same speed. No change in power generated. Probable weapon damage." Jietlshaiepr drew a deep breath, "Maintain firing." The VIXEN continued to spiral missiles towards her opponents. A brief flare showed her silhouette against the stars as she twisted to escape. Miakr stiffened, "Number three turret damaged... Still in action. "Another strike got through. One SDB losing fuel... Blast these sensors, I can't tell if we're doing anything or not!" "Check out the Spindleman," cautioned Niedrsha. "She's about in range of the other two ships." "Viepchakl!" Miakr's eye's grew wide. "They're plastering the Spindleman... Multiple damage... Fuel leak... I read vaporized lanthanum: their jump drive's out... Maneuver drive's out... I wonder if there's any one left alive..." The SDBs turned their attention to the onrushing VIXEN just as she laid her nuclear eggs. A geyser of fuel fogged the vacuum momentarily obscuring her outline but she flew on with her wings paralyzed. "Shit!" screamed Miakr. "The VIXEN's maneuver drives are dead... Can't get anything from the engine room! She's out of control!" The VIXEN's missiles continued to fly. Slugging all her remaining strength into her weapons, she swung at her enemies. "She's still hitting them." read Miakr, I can't really see what she's doing to them but she's still firing." The SDBs couldn't miss a drifting target. The VIXEN continued to pour missiles out of her turrets and bay as they pounded her. The missile bay with it's nuclear missiles was their first target. It was quickly reduced to glowing metal. The final end came when her last fuel tank ruptured under the punishment of the mass attack of the five SDBs. Low on fuel after the jump, her power plant strangled as it's blood ran into the vacuum. Jietlshaiepr looked up from the display. "We're on our own now." - X - "Missiles away!" Gresha barked as six nuclear tipped missiles flared from the Flamboyant's racks. "Impact at this range: thirty one minutes." calculated Niedrsha, "We'll be down in thirty two. I'm headin' for the ocean: it's on the night side. We'll put down and submerge. That ought'a give their gunners a few headaches." "How long till they touch down?" Niedrsha's holographic head's up display flashed. "One hour, forty minutes, eighteen seconds. We've got ten minutes before they reach missile range... laser range in ten seconds. Laser batteries stand by." "Laser one ready." called Kaezorr. "Laser two ready." grumbled Rackan. Jietlshaiepr studied the range, "Niedrsha, evasive action. Lasers commence firing!" The Flamboyant wound itself into a knot as Niedrsha jerked the controls into a tight roll. X-ray lasers began blasting into the night seeking targets, but the SDBs flew on untouched by the onslaught of power. Moment's later the SDBs own lasers flicked on seeking the fleeing Escort. The visible spectrum lasers flashed on into the clouds of Welles below them. "Brrrraaacht... A laser strike at this range'll only be by a stroke of luck." growled Kaezorr. "Keep at it," Jietlshaiepr breathed, "and hope they're not any luckier..." Laser light blared back and forth as the gunners played a vicious game with seven hundred fifty megawatts of power. "I can't tell if I'm hittin' 'em or not!" barked Rackan. More missiles dropped from the Flamboyant's tubes and burned their way to the enemy. "I hit one!" called Kaezorr. Miakr read off the sensors. X-ray radiation emanated from the first SDB. "The leading SDB was hit. Can't verify any damage, but it hit." Jietlshaiepr bit her lip, "Good job, maintain fire." Time after time the lasers streaked out into space. "We can't hit 'em." barked Rackan. "They can't hit us either." called Miakr. "Concentrate fire on the wing SDB: the leader has ceased fire. That hit must have damaged their lasers." "Roger." Minutes dragged as the SDBs closed. Wildly slashing beams of photons flared; the superior targeting of the Flamboyant balanced by the superior agility of the SDBs. At a range of five hundred thousand kilometers where light takes three and a third seconds to go and return, only luck could result in a solid hit. Rackan began cursing the lasers in unintelligible Gevueg quietly but soon it got loud quickly. "Grraph ersharrrfphessh shreeelipf GARRCHT! Verrsh! I hit the veersheg!" "Hit to their laser batteries." called Miakr. "They've ceased laser fire. Their missiles are still after us though." "That's stupid." laughed Niedrsha, "We'll be underwater before they can possibly get anywhere near us." "They're still closing." "Maintain fire." ordered Jietlshaiepr. The lasers kept firing as the silent SDBs pursued but not a single more hit was made. - XI - "Cease fire, we're heading into the atmosphere." called Niedrsha, "We're gonna be a fireball in a few seconds. We'll show up on their infrared sensors like an imposter at an invisible man convention. "Engine room, divert power to overdrive engines. We need emergency agility." "You got it Niedrsha." announced Shtam, "Emergency power available on your demand." "Here we go!" The Flamboyant surged like a thing alive, invigorated by the diverted power and the guidance of Niedrsha's hands. She rolled and soared with a dancer's grace through a choreography as much pleasing to the eye as confusing to a gunner. "Altitude: one hundred forty nine kilometers." Niedrsha announced, "Touch down seven minutes. Passengers will please fasten their seat belts..." The fringes of the atmosphere began to glow on the windows of the ship. "We've lost radar contact. We're in radio blackout." said Miakr tensely. "Viepchakl!" breathed Jietlshaiepr, "We're a shooting star. How can they miss?" Niedrsha caught her eye and grinned, "Just watch me, sweetheart." The Flamboyant glowed cherry red as she twisted into Welles atmosphere. - XII - A few minutes later the radio crackled. "...ones. Come in Flamboyant. 'mergency... 'mergency... Come in Flamboyant. 'is is Surgeon Lt. Jones o' the League o' Suns." Jietlshaiepr took the radio, "Flamboyant here, go ahead Lt." "Requestin' tight beam communications. Change course, repeat, change yer course... yer current headin' will take ya in an 'ostile area. Mercenary company `ats thick wi' the pirates. Avoid island ot five degrees south, one forty eight east. Heavy defenses." "Gotcha." mumbled Niedrsha. "We've lost contact with the Spindleman." continued Jones. "What ya got on her?" Miakr read off, "Uhhh... Spindleman took heavy laser damage. maneuver drives out, jump drives too, I think. Her power plant was still going, but she was losing fuel." "Thank ya, Flamboyant. Request rendezvous wi' ya ot eleven degrees north, zero degrees east. Thot's seventy kilometers north o' the starport. We're going te need each other." Jietlshaiepr sniffed, "Have you got anything to deal with a ship of the line?" "Ah, Negative, Flamboyant." "Ok, Jones, but don't wait up for us. We're busy. We'll give you a signal code burst... Uhhh... Stat Code Blue." "Affirmative, good luck. Lt. Jones out." Miakr read the sensors, "Missile intercept coming up... now!" Nuclear flowers blossomed in the night, lighting the darkened side of the planet as the missiles crashed into the wing SDB, flooding the spectrum with static. A moment later the second flight of missiles flew among the SDBs. The lead SDB flared as the missiles blazed into it. "They're hit, but still flying." called Miakr. "Too much interference from the blast. I can't tell what it did to them." "Hold on!" growled Niedrsha, "Here comes the water... We're going in." The Flamboyant lurched as she hit the water. Inertial compensators strained to keep the stress down, but still it was a rough ride. The hull rattled and rang as water boiled off the surfaces of the ship, blazing hot after the wild ride through the atmosphere, sending billowing steam into the night. Finally, she stopped pitching as she lost weigh and drifted in the water. "Dive! Dive!" called Jietlshaiepr, "Engine room, open fuel stop cocks. Take us down." - XIII - Missiles smashed into the surface of the water where the Flamboyant had landed sending plumes of water hundreds of meters in the air. Protected by the depths, the Flamboyant sank unharmed to the bottom with her eyes wide open. Jietlshaiepr studied the sensors; densitometers and neutrino detector taking the place of radar and ladar, not as accurate, but still workable. "We're safe down here for the moment... We have fifty eight minutes before the SDBs are in down. The other five SDBs have followed us down. They will be here in one hundred and two minutes. Star Rider is still heading for the Kivas. They'll rendezvous in... two hours thirty seven minutes. The other SDBs have turned to rendezvous with the Star Rider. Looks like they finished with the... Hold on... I'm picking up movement. I can't identify... It must be the Spindleman. They're alive. She's in a descending orbit. Dragoon must be crazy. With all the damage, she'll burn up." "Hold on." Niedrsha examined the sensors. "I think they're coming in for a EVA re-entry." "Combat drop." thought Jietlshaiepr, "Viepchakl, what a ride. They're gonna need a recovery team." "That ain't us. Leave 'em to Jones." snorted Niedrsha. "They'll be in position to try in in three hours forty four minutes." "Seven SDBs: two damaged, five fresh." "Well, in this atmosphere, they can't go any faster than we can, and on the deck, we can go faster than they in a nape of the ground mode." "That's not very comforting, but it's something." sighed Jietlshaiepr. "There's an ocean trench forty kilometers east. We'll take them there." - XIV - The SBDs skimmed the surface, landed, submerged and came hunting. Miakr read it off, "We've got one forty kilometers off to the north east and one fifty to the south south east." "All right, let's go." Jietlshaiepr breathed. The Flamboyant was ready: high explosive missiles loaded and the power plant throttled down to minimum to avoid detection. The ship looked out into the murky depths. Her densitometer scanning the waters, she sought out the enemy power plants with her neutrino detector. "Maximum range of our missiles is about fifteen kilometers underwater. We're gonna have to be awfully close." commented Gresha. "They can't see as well as we can in water, their sensors are not as good as ours: those SDBs are only tech level twelve." commented Shtam from the engine room. "Agreed, but at this range it won't help us that much." interjected Kfoks. "One's breached the surface and is coming in overhead." called Miakr. "Forty three kilometers and closing bearing one six three degrees. Speed: one thousand two hundred kilometers per hour." "Ready missiles." called Jietlshaiepr. "Forty one kilometers... time to range mark: one minute ten seconds... Mark! The other one's following suit, bearing five zero degrees, time to range mark: one minute twenty five seconds... Mark!" "Niedrsha take us up to forty meters and put us over on our starboard side. Gunners stay sharp, dorsal turret take the east, ventral take the south target." The SDBs bore in skimming the water meters over the surface. Sending up huge blasts of water as their sonic booms blasted the surface of the water setting up wakes that shone in the moonlight. Seconds dragged by as the sensors counted the rapidly decreasing range. Jietlshaiepr breathed heavily, "Begin evasive action. Range?" Miakr read the sensors nervously, "Twenty two and thirty kilometers respectively." "Open fire when the second is at twenty kilometers." "Thirty seconds." counted Miakr. "Here they come... Speed one thousand... Range twenty five... Fifteen seconds... Ten... Range twenty two... They're slowing down." "Damn the range, get 'em while they're airborne. Open fire." Six missiles left the tubes and speared through the water. "Intercept: four seconds..." swallowed Miakr. "Niedrsha, take us down! One hundred meters!" The Flamboyant dove for the bottom as the SDBs came barrelling in. Missiles smashed through the water and blasted the after underbelly of the leader. Caught, she flipped and tumbled bow first into the water at nine hundred kilometers per hour. The bridge wind screen shattered and flooded the bridge. The inertial compensators collapsed as the ship hit sending the full force of the hypersonic crash throughout the ship. End over end the ship tumbled, spinning and spreading wreckage over a two kilometer strech of open ocean. The second SDB caught a missile on her port bow throwing the starboard side stern into the water. Caught by the dragging water she slewed around to starboard, spinning like a disk and smashed her engines into the concrete hardness of the water at the speed of sound. She bounced and planed to a stop. She was badly twisted and riddled with gaps where armor plating buckled and bent. Quickly she filled with water and sank. "She's going down..." called Miakr. "Densitometer says she's half full of water... What's left of the hull won't hold in the depths. She's at two hundred meters and going down fast... Two fifty... Hearing straining bulkheads... three hundred meters..." A huge explosion set the hull ringing. The inertial compensators took out most of the rocking. "She's blown up! The magazines went!" Jietlshaiepr took a deep breath and flopped back in her acceleration couch. "Two down... Five to go. It isn't going to be any easier: they won't make that mistake twice." - XV - Two SDBs stayed in orbit. Three came in lower. The Flamboyant lurked forty meters under, safe from bombardment. Every few minutes a lone missile came down and exploded as it hit the surface. "They keep inching lower, but that's all." yawned Miakr shaking with fatigue and nerves. "Viepchakl, we've been at this for nearly five hours. Seven hours and fifty one minutes since we received the Droyne distress signal." Jietlshaiepr smiled weakly, "Just be glad they aren't firing nuclear rounds." Shtam, sighed over the intercom, "They are probably out of nuclear missiles. They only fired one: that being at the Droyne cruiser. They have not used one more. We on the other hand Have used them. That must be why they are staying off until they can get the big guns to bear on us: the Star Rider's spinal mount meson accelerator." Niedrsha brushed the hair from his forehead, "That's not for a while yet, they're still fifty minutes away from the Kivas. I hope they don't find your work Shtam." "Ok!" barked Jietlshaiepr jumping to her feet. "Gresha, you awake?" "Rrrrrrrrooff!" yawned Gresha, "Yeah, I'm still on my feet." "How many missiles have we got?" "Oh, we've still got quite a few. Plus the ones still in the Vipers, oh... eighteen fission rounds, thirty one high explosive." "Ok, what loads have you got