Future in the Stars Page 3

  “Thank you Feldmarshal. Now that that is out of the way, how’s it hanging, Corry?”

  “Loose and to the left, Krag. What’s with all the formality?”

  “Apparently, being the head of the Alliance, I’m now some big mucky muck. The Elonians won’t let me be myself.”

  “Heavy lies the crown.”

  “That’s what Mr. Gregor said, but a little more colorfully. Is the committee assembled?”

  They’re just getting settled in.”

  Master Sergeant Stein jogged up.

  “I see you brought your honor guard, Commander.”

  “They’re like a cold. You can never get rid of it.”

  “Do you think that they would like to stretch their legs and tails a bit? I suspect that some of my people would like a go at them.”

  “What? You’ve formed a punishment detail?”

  “Giving or taking, sir?”

  “Let’s let them decide. Buster,” Krag called.

  Buster took one step then leaped the distance from Griffin to Krag.

  “Whoa!”

  “With the help of Preceptor Igaklay, we’ve had some upgrades.”

  “I see that.”

  “Yes, Commander?”

  “Sergeant Rosser has a squad which wishes to train with the Guard.”

  “Maybe three squads?”

  “Now you’re just being rude, Legate.”

  “Just trying to keep it fair, Sergeant.”

  “Three it is. Hand to hand?”

  “Perfect.”

  Stein pointed to an open area on the training grounds. “Let’s form up there.”

  Buster froze then unfroze. Everyone watched six Human and seven Elonian Guardsmen leap in unison from their formation near Griffin to the designated training area.

  “Oh boy.”

  “This will be fun, Sergeant.”

  “For whom, Legate?”

  As Sergeant Stein trotted back to get the pseudo combat organized, Keiko, Igaklay and Gopai arrived.

  “I believe that the Committee should be settled in by now, Commander. Shall we?”

  “Lead on, Feldmarshal.”

  * * * * *

  The committee had settled in. With Shar’s bar still nominated as Tolimar’s governmental boardroom, everyone had drinks and food sitting on mats in front of them. Shar continued to bustle around, ordering her kitchen and serving help, keeping everything running efficiently.

  Griffin’s crew, along with Feldmarschal Rosser, entered and paused at the door.

  “Nothing’s changed.”

  “Never will. Shar likes it that way.”

  “What about the committee? Don’t they want their own government digs?”

  “Nah. It’s part time. Waste of space. Besides, they wouldn’t get Shar’s service.”

  Everyone moved deeper into the establishment. Rosser vectored towards Shar.

  “Is that a budding romance I see, Krag?”

  “Looks like it, Keiko.”

  “The town’s bar owner and the town’s only repair shop owner. Perfect.”

  “Between the two, they’ll be running this town in no time.”

  “I bet they already are.” Keiko sighed. “Well, let’s get to it.”

  Governor Kaufman, Chairman of the committee, rose from his spot at the head of grouped tables. He nodded and pointed to the opposite end. Krag gave Keiko an eyebrow and nodded. Keiko stood at her place at the other end. Krag took her right. Igaklay, seeing a raised stool, climbed up and took Keiko’s left. Buster and Gopai moved to the background.

  Still standing, the Governor began.

  “Welcome Ambassador Suzume. And you, Commander Marston, Preceptor Igaklay. Please be seated.”

  Everyone sat.

  “Before we begin, Ambassador, do you have anything you wish to present or ask?”

  “Nothing of import, Governor. Just the current status of the Mortek compound and the progress on the pheromone research.”

  “We planned on beginning with that topic. Doctor Meyers?”

  “Yes, right.” The Large-animal veterinarian studied his tablet for a moment.

  “Since we have quant-com links to the Arium shipyards, I’ve been working with Doctor McCauley and his science team. As a result, we’ve succeeded in breaking down the chemical composition of the pheromone compounds. It appears that each level of the Mortek hierarchy generates a specific chemical. Each level, in turn, reacts to the compound exuded from the immediately superior level.”

  “So, each Mortek hierarchical level only controls the level of worker directly below it.”

  “That is correct, Ambassador.”

  “Then, to ensure that First Cruiser doesn’t fall back under control of his superior, we need to neutralize his reaction to that pheromone.”

  “In the Mortek hierarchy, that would be his controller. In this case, Flight.”

  “How far along are you with protecting First Cruiser, Doctor?”

  “We haven’t even started, Ambassador. We don’t have a sample of Flight’s pheromone.”

  “Oh. Commander, any ideas?”

  “Preceptor Igaklay, if you get close enough to Flight, can you collect a specimen?”

  “Since Flight’s secretions are airborne, that won’t be a problem, Commander.” Igaklay said this as he held up his hand.

  “I built in receptors in my new avatar. I got the idea from Honorable Vidhee.”

  “You never told us about that, Igaklay. Is this it?”

  “No, Ambassador. I’m still using the original one. The new one isn’t ready, yet. I’m still working on it.”

  “Oh. Sorry for the interruption, Commander.”

  “No problem, Ambassador. Now, back to the discussion. We’ll set up a meet. I’ll come up with some pretext.”

  “We’ll get you some samples, Doctor Meyers.”

  “Thank you, Ambassador.”

  “What about the pheromone links for the levels under First Cruiser?”

  “Counting First Cruiser, we have four levels of the Mortek hierarchy on Tolimar. Three different pheromone compounds. This means that we have all we need to neutralize the command structure from a Mortek ship captain and down. With Doctor McCauley’s help, we are pretty far along in creating blockers for all of them, Ambassador.”

  “Thank you, Doctor. Would Preceptor Igaklay’s support help you in your work?”

  “I don’t think that it is needed, Ambassador. We should have our first test samples within the next couple of weeks.”

  “Excellent.” Keiko turned to Tolimar’s Governor.

  “And the compound?”

  “Mrs. Gregor-Roth?”

  “I’m just the administrator, Governor. Randy will know more about that.”

  “Congratulations, on your marriage, by the way, Harriet.”

  “Thank you, Krag.”

  “I never thought I’d see the day.”

  “Me neither. I blame it on the country air. And that randy goat.”

  Harriet jerked a thumb at her new husband.

  “I see what you did there. Nice pun. So, Randy, how’s our experiment doing?”

  “Very well, Keiko, um Ambassador. First Cruiser has turned out to be quite the administrator. The grain stocks are growing and healthy. The livestock is the same.”

  “What about consumption rates?”

  “In the beginning, we needed to supplement the herd. We still do that some. But, by this time next year, the Mortek should be self-reliant and sustainable. We do have one problem, though. There’s not enough acreage for the grain stocks. We need to expand the compound. And dig more wells.”

  “I see.”

  “That is one of the topics we are going to discuss during this meeting.”

  “Do you think that the Ambassador and I should drop in? Give an inspection?”

  “My boy won’t say it, but that wouldn’t be a good idea, Commander.”

  “Why’s that, Mr. Roth?”

  “You see, we set up a monitorin
g system out there, like we do with our herds of cattle and horses. we have been studying how those bugs move around and react to each other and us humans.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Yes. It’s obvious that First Cruiser has adopted Randy as his controller. Since my boy doesn’t ooze his own pheromones, First Cruiser has made the decision to pick Randy as his controller. Then this top bug orders around those directly below him. And those order those below them. And so on. All in all, it’s become a pretty good pecking order.”

  “And you don’t want us interfering.”

  “You got it right the first time, Commander. From what Doc Meyers says, First Cruiser choosing Randy as his controller is not forced on him. Your showing up may confuse the four-legged fella.”

  “Then we won’t.” Krag said this as he looked at Keiko, who, in returned, nodded her approval.

  “That’s all I have on my agenda, Governor,” Keiko finished.

  “There is one other thing,” Harriet interjected.

  “Yes?”

  “First Cruiser indicates that the Mortek will die out if they do not have a queen.”

  “Oh. Well, that gives us a pretext to meet with War. I’ll think of something to get Flight involved in the discussion. I will broach the subject with him while the Preceptor collects his samples.”

  “What if War refuses to release a queen?”

  “We’ll solve that problem when we get to it. Anything else we need to know about our Mortek friends, Harriet?”

  ”No, nothing.”

  Krag raised his hand.

  “Yes, Commander?”

  “On a different topic, this is a question for Feldmarshal Rosser, Governor.”

  “Go on.”

  “When we first joined forces with Preceptor Igaklay, I gave him my word that we would search for his people once the Mortek invasion had been resolved.”

  “How can I help?”

  “Well, I need to put together a crew which is willing to explore and track down the Ballisonian refugees. And I need a captain.”

  “I have the perfect man, Krag. You know him. Captain Long.”

  “Doesn’t he command a wing of Weiskoff’s fighters?”

  “Used to. But, apparently, he had enough of Number Three. As soon as the conflict ended, he resigned his commission.”

  “I like him. Good man. Where is he now?”

  “Dirtside. Hoping for a ship. He figured that you would need more ship captains.”

  “He’s right about that. He’s single? This could be a long haul.”

  “Yes. Navy to the core.”

  “I’ll take him.”

  “I’ll have Corporal Murphy establish contact.”

  “Good. Have Captain Long report to Griffin.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.”

  “That’s all I’ve got.”

  The committee spent the rest of the day doing committee business while Krag feigned interest. Keiko spent her time learning more of the workings and machinations of the growing political power on Tolimar.

  Ballison

  Captain Adams softly touched Fairstar down on the landing port next to the HEBA headquarters pyramid. After he and his wife, Marie, worked through the shutdown procedure, they left the bridge of the mid-sized freighter and met Mistress Analyn, Mahajani and Vidhee in the passenger quarters.

  “Home. I missed it,” Analyn stated as the two ship owners approached.

  “Me too,” Marie responded. “I can’t wait to get back to our little plot of heaven and just stare out at the lake. And check up on the parents. Why don’t you come by? I’ll put on a pot of tea. We have your favorite, mint.”

  “You don’t need to twist my arm, Marie. I’m not looking forward to getting into the minvern nest of managing a planet.”

  Analyn lifted her wrist and spoke into her quant-com.

  “Igaklay, could you bring around a ground transport, please? The Adams and I are heading out to their home.”

  “It is on its way, Mistress.”

  “Thank you, Igaklay.”

  “That was a beautiful wedding, Mrs. Benton-McCauley,” Marie commented, while everyone exited Fairstar and waited for the ground transport.”

  “Yes, it was,” Sue answered as she hugged her new husband’s, arm.

  “You and your Elonian Guardsmen were a big hit, too, Mistress,” Addy, Marie’s husband, added.

  “The Guardsmen enjoyed it, too. They love being around children, of any race.”

  The conversation stopped as an empty transport arrived. Four doors swung open.

  “What are you and Mack going to do, now?”

  “We thought that we’d grab a shuttle and take a quick look at Iggy’s dead spot on Bachama,” Sue answered.

  “What, no honeymoon?”

  “Nah, Addy. We nerds like to do brain stuff,” Mack chimed in as he raised his own wrist-com to his mouth. “Iggy, could you prepare a shuttle for us? I think it’s about time we had a look at that spot on Bachama.”

  “Yes! Immediately!”

  Mack and Sue exchanged eye-rolls at Igaklay’s vocal enthusiasm. Then the two saw their shuttled lift from one corner of the landing port and drift over to them, finally settling down a short distance away. The remaining four watched Mack and Sue enter the shuttle, close up and lift off.

  Then Analyn led the two owners of Fairstar to their ground transport where she took her spot behind the unused control panel. Vidhee took the other front seat. The Adams took the two back ones. Mahajani took up his position on the rear platform specifically added for his guard position.

  Igaklay remotely took over control and closed the doors. Then he guided the ground flyer through the surrounding forest, across open meadows and finally to the large lake nestled in a valley. Stopping and settling on a small landing pad, Igaklay popped open the four doors.

  Mahajani released his hold and stepped off the skimmer’s rear platform, all the while scanning and sniffing the forest around his charge. Marie jumped out first, heading towards the front doors of the single-story home overlooking the lake. Addy followed second, with Analyn and Vidhee trailing.

  Momma Pam and Pa Lucas pushed through the front door, waiting to meet their daughter and her husband. Marie and Addy reached the stoop then hugs and handshakes passed around.

  That was when the attack began.

  Five Elonian assassins sprang from their hides and attacked. Brandishing swords, knives and one with a bladed chain, three attacked the primary threat, Sir Mahajani. Two angled towards Mistress Analyn and Vidhee.

  Sir Mahajani reacted by pulling his scimitar, bellowing a war cry, and wading into his attackers. Three against one. Mahajani’s sword, as if it had a mind of its own, circled and stabbed, blocked and thrusted at almost super-Elonian speed as the huge bodyguard spun, ducked and jumped around his would-be killers.

  With an accompanying howl, Analyn extended her hand and foot claws, snarled and prepared to meet her attackers. With a flash of remembrance on Captain Marston’s training of Gopai and an instinctual need for survival, the noble ex-princess dropped to all fours, everting to the Elonian animal. Eschewing Elonian enlightenment, Analyn attacked.

  Seeing this surprising display, the two Elonian assassins paused for just a moment. The animal, Analyn, sprang at the closest killer. In a panic, he swung his sword, digging into Analyn’s left arm. She reached her assailant. Clawing and grabbing his face with her one good arm, she dug at her victim’s belly with her hind claws while chomping down on his throat.

  Her momentum carried the dying assassin to the ground. Springing off the bleeding body, Analyn pivoted in the air and again landed on all fours, searching for her next kill.

  Vidhee, processing at the speed of light, understood Analyn’s mindset and mimicked her Mistress’ actions. Vidhee’s would-be killer had even less chance than Analyn’s. The second attacker had no chance against metal claws and an impervious, metal body. He also ended as a bloody ruin saturating Ballison’s soil with Elonian fluids.
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  Both of the Elonian females turned towards the remaining battle. But they were too late.

  All three of Sir Mahajani’s attackers were down. So was Sir Mahajani. One assassin lay, cleaved from shoulder to waist. Another’s head remained barely attached to its dead body. The third killer had succeeded in hooking Mahajani’s leg with his chained blade, only to die with the Royal Bodyguard’s sword stuck through his chest, pinning him to the ground.

  Sir Mahajani lay still, blood flowing from the grievous wound in his side and oozing from the bone-deep slice in his leg. Nothing remained just below the elbow of his right arm.

  Grabbing the wound on her left arm, Analyn wailed while rushing to her bodyguard and lifelong friend.

  “Mahi, Mahi,” Analyn cried, as she dropped to the ground and held his head in her lap.

  Reaching Mahajani, Vidhee pulled off the bodyguard’s belt, wrapped it around the stump of the arm and pulled it tightly, stopping the gush of blood. Then, pulling off her silver tunic, she wrapped it around his midsection, staunching more blood flow. Now, squatting as a naked synthetic, wearing only her quant-com wrist communicator, she placed both of her paws on the leg slash and pressed.

  “Igaklay, we need help,” Vidhee stated matter-of-factly.

  “Medical robots are almost here, Vidhee. I summoned them the moment these Elonians attacked.”

  “Thank you, Preceptor. You must save Sir Mahajani. His loss would devastate our Mistress.”

  “I understand, Vidhee. All of Ballison’s resources are at your disposal.”

  As Igaklay stated the last, ten flying robots dropped over the treetops and encircled the three Elonians. One immediately took Vidhee’s position, injecting chemicals into the wounded leg and pumping a paste into the leg wound.

  A second robot placed Sir Mahajani’s severed forearm into a container and immediately sped off, in the direction of the governmental pyramid. While this occurred, a third medical robot slipped a sleeve onto the stump of an arm and pressed buttons, causing the covering to swell and perform various operations.

  The fourth robot went to work on the wound on Sir Mahajani’s side, repeating the steps taken on the leg. It injected chemicals around the wound and filled it with the same paste used on Mahajani’s leg.

  Throughout the procedures, Analyn sat and cried while blood flowed freely from the wound on her arm. Holding Mahi’s head and stroking his ears, she moaned and rocked, oblivious to everything but the possible loss of her protector and friend.