Retribution, p.2
Retribution, page 2
Sif did as I asked. Argos vibrated for a moment, and both gunboats took two hits each. They stopped firing at the Vena, and I guessed they were trying to figure out where the hostile fire had come from. Failing to find out, they resumed firing.
“Fire again, Sif. Dial up the power a little.”
A toothy grin formed on his scaly Arkon face as he fired two more shots at each gunboat, this time with power that vibrated our ship a little more.
“Ha, that did it, Captain Nick. They are running!”
“Cease fire. Wizzy, is the cargo ship still able to move under its own power?”
“Let’s see. Yup, there she goes. My course projections say she is headed for Azelius as fast as she can.”
“Good. Amini, let’s follow the ship until we’re sure she’s out of danger.”
“Already turning behind her, Nick.”
We broke off the clandestine escort when we were confident the Vena would reach Azelius without further problems. Next, we took up a non-geosynchronous orbit around the planet and let Wizzy collect all the data he could. There was no shortage of radio traffic and even a surprising number of video transmissions, like television. After two orbits of the planet, Wizzy was ready for his report.
“Nicky, I have the information you want. But heh-heh, you aren’t going to like this.”
When Wizzy used heh-heh, we could be sure we wouldn’t like what he was about to tell us.
“Go ahead, Wizzy. Tell us what you found out.”
“Well, you see, I used my most powerful sensors to collect several exabytes of data that only I am capable of interpreting in less than a lifetime. That’s an ape lifetime, just so you know, not mine. Anyway, I tried a trans extrapolation of the radio data and compared it to ….”
“We know how wonderful you are, Wizzy, but how about just giving us the simple version?”
“Ugh, you never let me have any fun. Okay, for the monkeys … I mean, apes, here, which is everyone except me, of course, Azel is not a happy place. We already know that there are four life-bearing continents. Like Tye and other planets in the old Arkon empire, the ruling Arkon departed after they lost the war. They took everything of value that they could carry in the ships that worked. For reasons I can’t explain, they did not destroy all their infrastructure like machine shops, repair yards, electricity-generating plants, and so on. So, in the last few years after the war, the inhabitants slowly took over the infrastructure, and the planet is slowly coming back to life.”
“That sounds like good news. So why is this not a happy place?” inquired Tiana.
“Ah, good question. You were paying attention. While things are slowly getting back to some sense of normal, they are not there yet. None of the continents are completely self-sufficient. The inhabitants need to support each other through trade and direct technology support.”
Tiana spoke up. “But that’s what multi-continent planets do, don’t they? Nick, Amini, and Doc talk about how that happens all the time on Earth and Zarminia.” Zarminia was the main planet of the system that Amini and Doc were from.
“That is true, my stunningly striped friend, but not so much on Azel. For example, the largest continent and country, Volarix, buys things when they can, but they do not export or sell. They appear to keep everything they have for themselves. The former subordinates of the Arkon in that country have now filled the vacated leadership positions across the continent. Things haven’t changed much since the Arkon departure, at least as far as the type of government and inhabitants are concerned.”
“What about the other continents?” I asked.
“Generally speaking, they are more cooperative. Especially Azelius and the nearby continent of Orkanus. They have been engaged in trade and cooperation this whole time.”
“You haven’t mentioned the fourth continent. Bonafria, is it?” Doc interjected.
“True, I was saving that for last because it is a little more complex than the others. When the Arkon left, the country divided itself into two distinct countries, North Bonafria and the Union of South Bonafria. Unfortunately, the northern country, except for a few coastal cities, is mainly composed of deserts and ragged mountains. The inhabitants war with each other for the lean supply of food, shelter, and basic infrastructure needs. I did see cargo ships and shuttles with Volarix markings flying between Volarix and North Bonafria, but I could not determine the contents. The Union of South Bonafria, on the other hand, is by far better off than its northern neighbor but still requires trade to survive.
“In summary, the Arkon left behind a mess. Previously strong, vibrant, and active countries before the Arkon have been reduced to digging themselves out of a hole they were forced into and trying to get back on their feet.”
I listened closely to what Wizzy had to say. I knew it was just an overview, but it was enough for me.
“What would be the best city for trade in Orkanus, Wizzy?”
“Guy City. It is also the capital.”
Decision made, I slapped my hands down on the armrests of my command chair.
“Amini, set a course for Guy City.”
Looking back on our visit to Tye on the last mission, this was a piece of cake so far. In keeping with our cargo-ship ruse, we were dressed in working coveralls, clean ones. We had three colors: blue, green, and gray. I always wore gray. More like my official uniform color, I guess. The Consortium intel people were even clever enough to add repair patches to some of the coveralls, all with the kind of stitching that somebody with no sewing skill would make.
We were met by an old gunboat left over from the Arkon occupation as we approached orbit position above Guy City. Arkon gunboats of that age carried only lasers as their main armament. Plasma weapons were only found on larger Arkon ships and only those produced toward the end of the Arkon War. The Arkon highly prized them. I suspected there might not be any on the ships left behind here.
We noted that the old ship had markings that looked a little like British rondel war plane markings on its side. In this case, however, the outer circle was green, surrounding a white circle with a red dot in the middle. We were boarded, inspected, and given a place to settle into orbit. We left Amini and Sif holding down the fort aboard the Argos, the ship being too big to resist the pull of gravity in a descent to the surface.
Amini, Doc, and I successfully landed Shuttle 2 at the port and cleared customs. We weren’t attacked on the way there, and we weren’t taken advantage of by an unscrupulous state-run space port and customs department. In fact, they were all smiles and welcomed us, mentioning they were happy to accept all the trade we could provide. We told them we had come from Tye, which was true, and let them think what they wanted.
It helped that our trading goods also originated mostly from Tye. Just in case there might be someone here who knew of the Argos, we changed the ship’s appearance and name again. We could do that because the ship’s exterior was coated in a layer of electrochromic film, made tough by advances in chemistry. When you applied electricity, the film changed color—any color you wanted, depending on the voltage applied. This time we picked a rust-stained pale yellow and called the ship Manoa. That was for other people. Privately, we still called her Argos.
For some reason, I had it in my head that being from Azelius meant that only people from there would look like Tiana. I mean, not exactly like her, but sort of like her. Tiana had blond hair, but the most prominent feature of her beauty was the color of her skin and her stripes. Her skin was neither white nor black, more like a light, orange-shaded brown, with just the hint of well-spaced broad gray stripes that changed shades with her emotions.
As it turned out, that was the general description of the native people of Orkanus, Azelius, and probably all native-born people on Azel. I say native-born because, during the Arkon occupation, people from other systems were brought in as slave labor and had no way of going back to their former homes—if they still existed. There was no longer a homogenous population on this planet.
From the customs house, we took a pedicab to the central marketplace. There were some trucks and very few cars. We figured that in the current state of reconstruction, those were rare and expensive items. Based on some intel from Stan, we loaded the Argos up with electrical machinery, medical supplies, electronic components, as well as some agricultural machinery and manufacturing parts when we left Tye. All based on Arkon technology.
To our surprise, we didn’t go farther than about one hundred feet before we sold everything we had in the open market for top dollar. Actually, it wasn’t in dollars but in gold AOUs, which was short for Azelius Orkanus Units. We didn’t have any conversion rates from gold ounces to gold AOUs, but it didn’t matter.
Much to Amini’s chagrin, the buyers were so excited to buy what we had that they kept outbidding each other until there was only one buyer left when the others dropped out. She and I took that to mean it was a fair price, especially since we weren’t playing with all our own money—most of it was Stan’s, minus the small profits we made on Tye.
We arranged a time for the customers to pick up their goods from the Argos in orbit and then looked for things we could buy. To do that, we had to decide where to go after Orkanus. Since we were close to Azelius, I decided to go there.
It didn’t take long to determine what Azelius liked to import. As soon as we said that country’s name, out came all the things the locals knew people from Azelius wanted to buy. Gone, however, was the freewheeling buying spirit we’d just experienced. This was a seller’s market now, and each merchant looked to tightly pack their pockets with as many AOUs as possible. If I said it was confusing, that would be an understatement.
Fortunately, Amini had seen this kind of thing before, and she had access to Wizzy. By the end of the day, the two of them had struck deals for things like household goods, computers, hardware, pharmaceuticals, cotton, and meat—all needed on Azelius, according to Wizzy. Doc even found things he needed or was interested in learning about. It was a good day. To make the day even better, we had gold AOUs left over. Now, as the light from the sun Itaska started to fade, it was my turn.
“I don’t know about you two, but I could use some cold adult beverages and something to eat. How about you?”
Doc and Amini were all in, at least for something to eat in Amini’s case. Amini came from a mining clan culture that did not favor strong drink, except on rare occasions. Doc, on the other hand, had no such reservations, and we had to nearly run after him as he looked for another pedicab and began chattering with the driver, asking for the best place to eat and drink. I think Doc was just eager for a change of scenery and the food of the Argos.
Amini and I were lucky to grab hold of the cab’s boarding handles as it started to move. I let Doc do all the talking and just enjoyed the scenery. It was a nicer, cleaner place than either Kiber or Viron on Tye. Thankfully, we could speak to all these people because everybody, including us, spoke Arkon standard. We had other language skills, including help from our implants, but this language was working fine.
We were impressed when we got to the place Doc and the cab driver settled on. It was nice on the outside and even nicer on the inside. Not at all like the bar7R Amini and I visited on Tye. We gave it that name because it was the seventh bar on the right. If it had another name, it must have been torn away by some rowdy customers.
This place was called Minerva’s. It had light-blue walls with pictures of local people and attractive buildings around the city. There were white-cloth-covered tables, a trained and courteous waitstaff, and eating utensils that were easy to understand. Like the knives and forks most of us were used to. I say most of us because I wasn’t sure about Sif. We would find out at some later point, I hoped. Or was it dreaded? I felt sorry for the need to keep him secreted on the ship, but it had to be done until we knew more about this place.
Being from Earth, Philadelphia in particular, I was a bit averse to trying new foods. I was always cautious of the food in new places. I’d learned that the first time I visited Texas for an intelligence course. I heard that food in the state could be hot with spice, and I’d never liked spicy food. I started asking waitstaff in San Antonio if the things I pointed at on the menu were spicy. Invariably, they would say no.
But they were lying. Everything was hot, and most of it made me sweat and gulp water or whatever cool drink was available. Turned out, the food wasn’t spicy to them since they’d lived there all their lives and were used to it. But to a newbie like me, it was like swallowing fireballs. So, you can see how I might be cautious.
To my delight, the food at Minerva’s was terrific. I suppose you could add things to amp up the heat intensity, but it wasn’t cooked into the main dishes, which was just fine with me. And the beer! After months of not having a good cold beer, I was in heaven and so was Doc. Amini liked the local fruit drink. From what I could tell, it was a cross between mangos and tea on Earth. Don’t ask me what I had to eat. I couldn’t pronounce it anyway. Doc, in one of his nonconservative moments, ordered for all of us. Anytime we visited this city, Minerva’s would be my go-to place to eat and drink.
When we were done, we all sat grinning at each other, not just because of the food but for the long-overdue social event that the dinner symbolized. We were people again, friends enjoying each other. That was hard to do aboard ship. I pushed some AOUs to Doc, and he paid the bill. Then, reluctantly, we stood from the table and headed for the front door and a pedicab to take us back to the spaceport and then back to our ship.
The next day, the unloading of old goods and loading of our new trade goods went smoothly in our orbit position. The people from this country were friendly and efficient. As they left the ship, they told us that we would be welcomed again. It was no offhand comment because the smiles on their faces and in their eyes made it plain that they were sincere.
The distance between the two countries was infinitesimal compared to distances in space. As a result, we were soon on our final approach to the holding position above the capital of Azelius when Wizzy notified us a ship was closing in. Alarms immediately went off in all our heads—an instinctive response due to the experience we gained when operating in and around Tye.
“The ship is approaching from aft, Captain. It is breaking.”
“What type of ship?”
“It is an Arkon corvette, Captain, and its weapons are charged.”
“Sound general quarters!”
“I don’t think that will be necessary, Captain.”
“And why not?” I asked incredulously.
“Because it is an Azelius ship, and we are being hailed.”
“Cargo ship off my starboard bow, this is the Allied Defense Ship Quentin. Slow and prepare to be boarded for inspection,” came an authoritative voice in Arkon standard.
An old Arkon corvette would hardly be a threat to us, but as a private cargo ship, we had to comply.
“Come aboard, Quentin. You may dock at the starboard access port near the cargo doors. I am the captain and will meet you there.”
When the airlock opened to allow our visitors access, I was met by three armed boarders with symbols on their shoulders. The tallest stood out from his companions. Like Tiana, he had light, orange-brown skin. His hair was black and well-groomed, if a little long, like mine. His light-brown eyes gave him a distinct look that I suspected the women fell for.
He was as tall as me and looked a few years older. He wore black shoes, navy-blue trousers with a black belt, and a pressed long-sleeved sky-blue shirt open at the collar. His shoulder boards displayed three horizontal gold diamond shapes, which on Earth would be the equivalent of a captain in the British Army, perhaps a lieutenant in the British Navy. In any case, the commanders of ships everywhere were always referred to as captain, regardless of actual rank. His open collar was just low enough to hint at the end of a gray stripe.
“Greetings, Captain. I am Captain Durwood of the Quentin. I don’t recognize your ship, nor were you using the transponder codes for this area. May I ask who you are and what your business is here?”
This was different. The officer standing before me was polite. I gave a slight bow as a greeting, as I learned was customary in our last port.
“Welcome aboard, Captain. I am Captain Hall and the owner of this ship, the Manoa. We just left Guy City, where we sold goods and picked up more for Azelius.”
“And before Guy City?”
I knew what he meant. “We came from Tye with the hope of establishing new trading partners.”
“Hmm. We don’t get many out-of-system visitors here, not since the Arkon departed. I know of Tye, however. To my knowledge, it is not a hospitable place.”
“That was true, Captain, but no longer. A new and free government has been established, and we were encouraged to expand our trading radius.”
“If that is true, it will be welcomed. I would like to inspect your ship, your cargo, and manifest.”
I held up a tablet. “All our details are here. The cargo is behind me, as you can see.”
“One moment, Captain. Where is the rest of your crew?”
“On the bridge.”
“Then we will go there first. One of my men will stay here.”
This was a man to be reckoned with. Polite but professional.
“Of course. Follow me.”
As was our usual policy when people visited the ship, we exited what we called the new bridge integrated with the Falcon, sealed it up, and went to the ship’s original bridge, the one that was every bit as old as it looked. By now, Sif should have been hidden away in the Falcon. Having an Arkon Red aboard would cause too many questions for now.
When we entered the bridge, Doc, Amini, and Tiana stood by to welcome our guests. I introduced the captain to the crew, with Tiana last. I thought he was surprised to see an Azelian—no, I knew he was.
