"I thought it was for the best Tim. He's the only one of his kind. I almost got him killed on Nulian. He was trying to save my life and got burned really bad." Jake took a swig of the whiskey in his hand. For the first time in his life it left a sour taste in his mouth.
"Arr told me you were taking too many chances," Tim mumbled under his breath.
"When did he talk to you?" Jake asked in surprise.
"About three months ago. He said you had a fight with some doctor on the St. Mary. It made you careless. He was worried about you. Did you see her again when you took Arr back?" Tim asked in a caustic tone.
"She took care of him. She's going to work with Arr. She thinks he's very special." Jake was feeling as though Tim had his head on a block and was just waiting to whack it off.
"So that's it. Is she the one who convinced you to leave Arr behind?" Tim was raising his voice again. "What'd she want to do, put him under her microscope and analyze him? I can't believe you'd let some broad give you orders."
"It wasn't like that at all. Margaret is a wonderful person," Jake came to Margaret's defense.
Tim calmed a bit, but it was not in him to apologize. "Have you talked to Arr since you left?"
"No. I thought it would be easier on the kid if I made a clean break of it." Jake hunched his shoulders and sank into the depths of the closest chair.
"You got a lot to learn Jake." Tim eased into the chair across from him. "You didn't see that kid when you were in jail and on the penal planet, I did. You don't know how attached he is to you."
"I've missed him too Tim, but I can't be responsible for his death. I couldn't take that." Jake was looking down in his whiskey glass.
"I think you should call Margaret. Just check and see how he is." Tim reached across the distance that separated them and patted Jake's hand soothingly. "Do it for me, will ya?"
Chapter 70
Jake contacted the St. Mary via sub-space communication. Margaret sent an urgent return message; "Have been trying to locate you for weeks. Arr needs you. Come quickly, please!" Jake checked the sub-space messages he had been ignoring since leaving the St. Mary as he raced back toward Arr and Margaret. Every other one was from Margaret describing Arr's deteriorating condition and begging him to return.
Jake entered the St. Mary's air space 96.30 hours later. He and Tim plotted the fastest route they could find.
When he arrived at the hospital Margaret was waiting. She alerted the operations deck that Jake was coming. She asked to be informed immediately upon his arrival.
"I'm so thankful you contacted me," Margaret said, as she and Jake proceeded through the main doors of the hospital on the way to her lab. "I never would have thought to look for you in the Hartin System."
Margaret drew Jake into an empty hospital room. It was important to get Jake to Arr as soon as possible, but she wanted to prepare him for the shock she was sure he would experience when he saw the young Henu. She had to make him understand that neither one of them could have possibly anticipated this reaction from Arr. She didn't want him blaming himself for Arr's condition. She pulled Jake to a seat by her on the edge of the bed.
"I want you to know before you see Arr that I believe he will recover provided you will take him back. His reaction to your leaving him was unprecedented by anything I have ever experienced. He seemed to have given up the will to live. I did everything I could. He didn't respond to me. He needs you." Margaret smiled at Jake. She felt weary to the bone from the tension of the past few weeks, but so happy now that he was back.
"I know. Tim was the one who sent me back. He said the kid was lost without me when I was on Penal Planet #18. I guess I was so out of it when he picked me up that I didn't notice." Jake squeezed her hand lovingly as he drank in her features, her smell, her total presence.
Margaret kissed Jake on the cheek and taking his hand rose from the bed. "It is so good to have you back."
They went down the hall into Margaret's study. Arr was lying on the couch in the corner asleep. He had lost weight, and his hair was dull and lifeless. Jake walked quietly up to the couch and reached down to stroke his head. There was no response. He kneeled down.
"Arr? It's Jake." He smoothed his hand over the young Henu's hair again.
Arr stirred and opened his eyes. Jake stroked his cheek as Arr leaned affectionately into his hand.
He lifted Arr's head, sat down and lowered it gently onto his lap. Jake's voice broke with emotion as he wiped the tears that were trickling down Arr's cheek. "It's going to be all right. I'm here now. I'm not ever going to leave you again."
The young Henu burrowed his head into Jake's leg and softly purred.
Chapter 71
Andrew Daily lost his last three shipments of quillanium, crew and all. He decided with his next shipment he would use his vast resources to locate the thieves.
Andrew placed an undetectable homing device disguised as just another piece of ore in the carton. He had the ship followed by one of his security crews in a small fast cruiser. They were to keep a discreet distance from the freighter and not interfere. There were provisions made for the crew of the freighter to abandon ship at the last moment. The security team would follow the ore shipment with its homing device to the location of the thieves' hideout. They would then return with the coordinates to Andrew.
Andrew's plan went off without a hitch - the thieves were found - their location mapped. He sent a sub-space message to Jake for his assistance in rectifying this problem.
Chapter 72
Jake made a trip up to the Calpernia to check on Kay-o and found the message from Andrew. He immediately contacted him for the details.
This was just what Arr needed. For once Tim was right. Jake needed to get Arr into a battle. The kid was getting better each day, but he still appeared apprehensive when Jake left him. Even a trip to the cruiser to check on the dar-dolf was met with a long face and a plea to go along. Margaret wasn't giving him a clean bill of health yet, but it would take them at least a month to get to Andrew. A month on board ship would be good for the kid. He needed some time alone with Jake. Some time to get his bearings again. No amount of Jake's telling him he was needed would be half as good as Jake really needing him to back him up in a battle.
Though Margaret saw Jake's point she did not take the news of their departure well. She wasn't sure Arr was up to a battle. The shine had returned to his hair, but he was still under weight and overly tired after exerting himself.
Jake said she'd just have to trust him on this one. Margaret gave in.
She knew she made the right decision when she saw Arr's reaction to the news of their departure. It was the best he looked since Jake returned.
The three of them spent their last night together. Dinner and a trip to the Imaging Chamber were the main agendas of the evening. Margaret and Jake wanted to spend some time alone together, but it wasn't possible. Arr was stuck to Jake like glue. Late in the evening in the chamber, under a Muldavian sunset, Arr fell asleep with his head in Margaret's lap. She smoothed the now glossy hair back from his brow.
"You don't mind sharing me this last night, do you?" Jake moved in closer, draping his arm over her shoulders and squeezing her tenderly to him.
"Only a little." Margaret leaned into his embrace, planting a kiss on his cheek than lowered her head to rest lightly on his shoulder.
Jake looked off into the distance at the brilliance of the sunset. "I know I'm a mercenary and always will be. I know you're a dedicated physician and always will be. I don't know how it will work, but I want you to marry me, Margaret."
Margaret lifted her head from Jake's shoulder. She looked deep into his eyes. "We'll figure it out somehow. Just come back to me."
Later that night, when they said their goodbyes Margaret hugged and kissed both Jake and Arr. She gave them both the same whispered instruction, 'Take care of each other.'
Chapter 73
Arr was on his third bowl of Jake's homemade stew. The month long trip to M
adelor was like an elixir to the Henu. Physically and emotionally he was as good as new.
Jake took some time to explain to Arr his feelings for Margaret. He also made it very clear to the kid that he was to be included in all the plans Margaret and he made. Jake would never break the promise he made on his return to Arr. He would never leave him again.
They stopped just long enough at Andrew's to get the full rundown on the situation and the coordinates of the thief's home base. Jake told Andrew they would check it out and get back to him within a week.
"This is a lot better than I remembered it." Arr put the last spoonful in his mouth.
"You keep eating like that and I'll have to get you your own cruiser so there'll be room for Kay-o and me aboard the Calpernia," Jake said with a teasing grin.
The computer interrupted Arr's reply. "Calpernia will be slowing, per pilot instructions, due to proximity to target in ten minutes."
Jake headed for the pilot platform followed closely by Arr and Kay-o. The minute Jake looked out the front viewport he brought the cruiser to a screaming halt and what he hoped was a nonchalant reverse. The space directly in their path was full of cruisers in a variety of shapes and sizes. This was a huge operation. Jake maneuvered the Calpernia behind a small moon not too distant from all the activity.
It didn't seem as though anyone noticed the Calpernia. Jake sighed deeply in relief. He thought he was giving himself plenty of room when he programmed the coordinates into the computer, but he was not told how large this operation was. The area looked like a refitting station; it had so many cruisers around it. Jake couldn't get an accurate count from the peeks they got around the edge of the moon, but there must have been at least forty. Whoever these guys were they had stolen crafts from practically every civilized society known to Jake. This wasn't something Arr and he could take care of on their own. They would need heavy reinforcements. This would require an air battle as well as a later ground confrontation. This was the big time.
Chapter 74
If Jake had pursued his reconnaissance just one step further, if he intercepted a vehicle or went down to the planet's surface, he may have had second thoughts of pursuing this mission at all. Andrew Daily had done what no man was ever able to do before he'd managed to 'tie a can to the tail of the Helavites.'
This planet was their home base, their colony, their nest.
The Helavites were a society of alien's millenniums old. They perhaps were here before any other beings developed. They were predators, preying on all other forms of life without exception and they were infinitely successful at what they did.
Theirs was a unique life form, well suited for survival of the species. They were relatively alike in size and shape except for the color of their shells.
On an average they stood approximately six feet tall. They were humanoid in form in the sense that they stood upright on two legs, but they possessed four arms. The Helavites bodies were encased in an armored shell. One plate covered the chest and abdomen; the other ran up their back from the butt to the back of the head. The head could be retracted and the rear shell pulled down over the head leaving only a slit for the eyes. In this posture there were few things in the universe that could present any threat to them. The shell could withstand a direct hit from a blaster. If an arm was lost in battle they could continue fighting with the other three or two or one. It was reported, though not verified, that when one lost a leg it could drop to the remaining appendages and still be mobile enough to flee its assailant. This however was not often the case. The Helavites were fierce fighters and rarely retreated.
The only place vulnerable enough to hit on a Helavite to stop its advance was under the arms where the front and rear shells missed meeting by maybe as much as six inches in an adult male. The males could be spotted by the bright iridescent green of their shells. The females were a dull shade of brown. Both the genders possessed the same dedication to destroying their enemy in battle.
In addition to their remarkable shell they possessed segmented eyes which gave them excellent peripheral vision. They also had antennas on the top of their head which were used for low frequency communication among themselves. This gave them a marked advantage in battle. This form of communication could be used similar to headsets on humans, but could cover a much wider range. The Helavites normal audible communication was a series of clicks, pops and something that sounded like their jaws grinding together. These particular sounds the human vocal cords were incapable of duplicating.
The Helavites lived in large colonies. Their usual homes were a series of tunnels underground with the entrance made of material stolen from another culture. The entrance could be as simple as concrete blocks or as strong as quillanium ore. They built with the materials they had. They were an industrious, resourceful society.
What they stole but couldn't use they sold in their floating black markets.
It was their tradition to take slaves from the species they conquered. The habit was not known among the other civilized populations of the universe because the Helavites never left anyone behind alive to tell. They used these slaves in the tending of their crops. The Helavites grew what they could not steal. When not working in the fields these slaves were kept in a separate group of tunnels by the entrance to the fields. They were guarded by perhaps half a dozen Helavites. The colony had a large population of slaves.
Chapter 75
Upon Jake and Arr's return to Andrew Jake sent out a coded message to all mercenaries to gather their forces at Madelor. Tim was the first to arrive.
Tim kept advising caution. He felt they needed to do further reconnaissance. He wanted Jake, Arr and him to go in for a closer look before they dragged all the guys into it. An operation that big wasn't going to go anywhere fast. Tim's reservations were based on something Jake said, as an offhand comment, when Tim first arrived. Jake said they hadn't heard any space chatter between the vehicles surrounding the planet, just static, a series of pops and clicks. Arr said it sounded too uniform for regular static, sounded more like something used to disguise their conversations. It just didn't sound right to Tim. Why would they safeguard being overheard when they thought they were in air space that was theirs alone? They'd made no effort to conceal their physical presence. He didn't want to say anything until he was sure, but he toured the black market once years ago when he was young and the noise the Helavites made was hard to forget.
Eventually, Tim won. The three left Andrew to greet the rest of the mercenaries as they trickled in and took Tim's faster cruiser to check out the area further.
They circled around from the back this time and came in behind the planet unnoticed. The three made a very cramped ride to the surface of the planet in Tim's pod. Remembering his trip in the capsule, Jake apologized to Arr.
The sensors aboard the cruiser pin pointed the main population. They took the pod down far enough away that they hoped they could sneak up to the main force and have a look. Tim stopped them before they left the pod.
"Be real careful," he warned in a hushed voice.
Tim was usually cautious, that was what kept him alive in such a dangerous field of work for this long, but Jake thought he seemed overly so today. "What are you worried about Tim?"
"I got a bad feeling about this. Just be careful." With that warning he crawled out of the pod and headed for the closest cover.
Tim took the left flank, Jake the center and Arr the right. They were making good progress when all of a sudden Tim came to an abrupt halt. He motioned for Jake and Arr to get down. When Jake peeked up over the rock he was hiding behind, he saw the hard green shell. There was no mistaking, even though he'd never seen one first hand, he was staring at the back of a Helavite. So this was what Tim was pussy footing around. Now his suspicions were confirmed.
Jake didn't notice that Arr froze in his tracks and stood transfixed. He was directly in the path of the bug if it should turn, and it did turn. Jake caught sight of the gap between the back and front shell just as th
e Helavite drew a bead on Arr with its blaster. Jake fired. The bug collapsed in the dirt.
"Wake up kid," he hissed through his teeth at Arr. "That one almost took your head off."
Arr snapped out of his trance and scurried quickly to Jake's side.
"We've bit off a pretty big chunk to chew this time," Jake said to Arr, as he scanned the area for more bugs.
"I was afraid of this." Tim said, as he joined them behind the rocky outcrop. "When you said, you didn't hear any space chatter it just wasn't natural. They're Helavites! We've found their nest at last."
Arr just kept staring at the Helavite. "They're The Others," he finally said in a stunned voice.
Tim and Jake both looked at him in shock.
"You mean the ones who attacked your planet?" Jake asked.
Arr nodded.
Jake looked once more at the dead Helavite, "Well, looks like it's payback time."
Chapter 76
On the return to Madelor Tim and Jake agreed that the GO should be brought in on this mission. Mercenaries and the authorities of the universe didn't always see eye to eye, but there was too much universe and too few officials so the Galactic authorities usually turned the other cheek where the mercenaries were concerned. They left them alone. There was no precedent in history for the two groups ever having worked together. However, they would need all the fire power they could get to eradicate the Helavites. History was about to be made.
The gathering of the troops at Madelor had to be done secretly. Nothing of the coming operation could leak out.
Andrew brought in all his security teams. Jake got a good turn out from his request for the mercenaries. Close to fifty mercenaries showed up with their cruisers to pull into orbit around Madelor and await instructions. The Galactic Officials arrived shortly after being summoned by Andrew. They brought four large ships and eight short range fighters. When they received the news that it was the Helavites they would be fighting, they sent word for a half dozen more ships and a dozen more fighters.
Two months after the initial sighting of the Helavites stronghold the forces of the universe moved against them.