Chapter 13 Exiles
Everyone gave him a wide birth as he made his way back to his quarters, wrinkling their noses in disgust as he passed. He’d barely had time to strip to his vest and pants, when Carol called. He dropped his cloak and armour in his personal locker, with strict instructions to Alaster to initiate a full cleaning and sterilising cycle. Then put her on the vidscreen.
“Nice of you to dress for the occasion.” she quipped.
“Don’t worry, I’ll terminate the link before I get in the shower. What’s the news?”
“Oh, nothing out of the ordinary. Admiral Faiz of the Sultan, our mystery ship, would like to meet you. We’ve got eight thousand refugees, from the cargo pods, camped out on the main hanger deck. Five thousand humans, a couple of thousand Talmari, around a thousand Hyneari and a few others were not too sure about. Alaster checking his data banks now to confirm what species they are.”
“Well, so long as there aren’t any Anterian’s among them, I’ve had my fill today.”
“Hmmm... by all accounts you took down two clan superiors single handed.”
He shook his head. “Not true I had some help from one of our crewwomen. The one who dislocated her shoulder in the battle. Damn, I don’t even know her name.”
Carol brought up the security team roster before replying and raised her eyebrows. “Alison, Bryson had his doubts about that one, best keep an eye on her.”
“Noted, but she did good today, and right now I really need to shower. Anything else you have to tell me first?”
“David’s got his hands full with the refugees on the hangar deck, diplomacy isn’t his strong point. Things have improved since Anna got there and established a field hospital, but it’s a powder keg. They're not happy about being confined down there and the leader of the Talmari's is demanding an audience with you.”
“I’ll make it my number one priority. The last thing we need right now is a riot. Ford out.”
“Wait, I haven't finished yet. The Admirals personal shuttle has just left the Sultan. Its design is unique, if not antique. Mind you, you could say that about the Sultan. It has to be one of the oldest warships still in service, according to our sensor readings and its transponder codes.” she paused then whispered softly. “Oh and Lucy’s demanding to know when we’re going after Bryson, Jay, and the others. She’s taking it pretty badly.”
Ford sighed. “Did I miss something or was fighting a revolution against impossible odds easier than running a powerful warship?”
“If you really want me to answer a rhetorical question I’d say we we’re the underdogs before, but we’re batting in big leagues now and everyone is looking to us, or more precisely you, for leadership.”
“Or out to get us, set the Admiral down in the secondary hangar deck and escort him to the ready room. I’m sure you find a way to keep him entertained. I’ll be there once I’ve defused the situation on the hanger deck and leave Lucy to me.” he terminated the link, stripped off, and slipped into the shower. He couldn't help thinking it was going to be his last bit of privacy for quite some time.
Twenty minutes later, as he stepped out into the chaos that was the main hanger deck, he couldn’t get over how vulnerable he felt. His armour and cloak were still being run through an intensive deep clean and sterilisation cycle, so he’d had to conjuror up a makeshift uniform on the spur of the moment from his lockers dispenser. A simple midnight blue two piece, with the tunic buckled over a pale green shirt. While it appeared to offer very little protection, it had a high tensile weave running through it, that could deflect most blades and absorb the odd plasma bolt or two.
He wished Bryson was here right now. They could use his systematic, level headed, approach to securing and processing the swirling mass of suffering that confronted them. They’d recovered a total of eight cargo pods, each with around a thousand or so people crammed inside, in what could best be described as insanitary conditions. So, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, the stench that assaulted you when you stepped out onto the hanger deck was overpowering. Once Lucy and David had realised what was going on, they’d drafted in as many additional crewmembers as could be spared to try and contain the situation. Alaster had redirected every service droid, that wasn’t required to maintain and repair the ship, to the hangar deck. The droids had been split into two teams. The first teams role was to clean out and sterilise each cargo pod in turn. The second would role in afterwards and kit it out with basic bunks, toilets, showers, and food dispensers. Anna's medical team, despite the trauma they had just been through, had set up a field hospital and a triage team. The triage team were moving ahead of the clean up droids, checking each pod for casualties that needed immediate treatment. David had a team decanting the occupants off the pods and funneling them into queues. Lucy had a second team processing them and forwarding them on to Anna, once basic security checks had been completed and an ID card issued. After a brief medical check Anna’s team would authorise the ID card. Allowing them to access suitable emergency rations from the food dispensers and administer any medication required. Then forward them to another holding area to wait for their allocated pod to be kitted out.
The flashpoints were predicable enough. They only had enough resources to process one pod at a time, creating several bottlenecks. Firstly, large groups of frightened people milling around outside their pods, waiting to be processed, treated and fed. A second group queuing impatiently, viewing the other queues and races suspiciously, in case they were receiving preferential treatment. Finally, a third group milling around after being processed with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Eight thousand refugees, with barely a hundred crew members available to contain the situation. He could sense the tension running through his crew via the neural network, but you didn’t need a neural link to sense the anger, frustration and fear of the crowd. All it needed was one misplaced word, one petty brawl, or itchy trigger finger to tip the situation over into chaos and they would have a potential bloodbath on their hands.
Hastening across the hanger deck, towards where David had set up his make shift command and control centre, he accessed Alaster’s memory banks and scanned the ID’s Lucy team were busy collating. They were the usual mix of flotsam and jetsam, thrown up by the chaotic nature of the traumatic times they were living through. Human refugees feeling the wars, civil unrest, pogroms and persecutions, that came in the wake of Malstrom’s collapse. Hostile take-over's by rival corporations, warlords, gangsters, and the growing influence of the Brethren, who promised uniformity and order at a price. For every world that threw off it shackles and joined the Federation of Free Planets, there were, it seemed, another dozen tearing themselves apart. However it was the first time he'd heard of Talmari and Hyneari fleeing in such numbers. Frustratingly Lucy had only processed a few of them. It seemed the Talmari at least, were unwilling to cooperate, until he had spoken to their leader.
David has just finished issuing fresh instructions to a couple of his officers, when Ford clapped his hand on his shoulder. He couldn’t help noticing that a tired, haggard look, haunted his eyes.
“How’s it going?”
“Crazy, I think I preferred being shot at by Anterian ships. We’ve eight thousand lost souls down here and they all think the other seven thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine, are getting preferential treatment!” he held his hands up in a gesture of frustration and despair. Then whispered quietly to Ford. “I’ve got every weapons bio-filter on the deck keyed into my neural interface for additional security. No one can shoot without my permission. The last thing we need down here are any unfortunate accidents.”
“Knew I could count on you. Now where’s that Talmari who wants to see me?”
“I’ll take you to him. He’s the biggest one I’ve ever seen, at least two meters tall, but are you sure this is wise? It’s not like your flavour of month with either the Talmari or the Hyneari governments right now.”
“Well in that case I guess now would be a good
time to start building bridges and besides these ones might not support their government.”
David nodded and escorted him across the deck to where the last three pods were clustered furthest away from them. A small huddle of bedraggled, dishevelled, and emaciated Talmari soldiers, their uniforms ripped and torn, stood defiantly outside them. Steadfastly refusing to let anyone near till Ford had spoken to their leader. The Hyneari were nowhere to be seen.
Ford turned to David. “I’ve never seen the Talmari this beat up before, have they said anything about what happened to them?”
He shook his head. “Not a word. They've refused point blank to cooperate until our leader speaks to theirs.”
“I’m assuming then, they were not aware of who they were dealing with, when they made that request.”
“Probably not, but judging by their reaction, I’d say they are now.” he replied quietly. “Please tell me you’ve got a weapon hidden in that fancy civilian uniform of yours.”
“No, but trust me, I’m full of surprises.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid off.” he added stopping before the leader of the group as they both gave the customary greeting, bowing with palms outstretched to indicated they held no weapons at the ready.
The leader of the group returned the greeting. Holding out the palms of both her primary and secondary hands, as the rest of her men stood impassively behind her, before speaking. “I had no idea your leader was ‘Guardian’ Ford. So our government petitions for your arrest and they give you a mighty warship?”
Ford gave nothing away as he inspected her. ”Things are not always as they appear, perhaps we can discuss my status when I’ve spoken to your leader.”
She nodded politely. “Perhaps, how wait here while I fetch him.”
Turning on her heels she barked orders at the five bedraggled Talmari males standing behind her and disappeared into the nearest cargo pod.
“That’s Chole.” said David as the group of males scowled at them with their feline like faces. Their pupils narrowing to the tiniest of slits in their cold amber eyes. ”As far as I can tell she is either the leaders mate or second in command.”
“Or perhaps both?” added Ford as he folded his arms impassively and ignored the scowling group of males.
Their leader was as David had said a fine specimen, even in his current emaciated state. His bright orange fur, interlaced with bands of jet black hair. It was dirty, matted and blood stained, where recent wounds were still in the process of healing. The torn and tattered dark leather uniform he wore had lost its rank insignia, but one look told Ford that this was an Alpha male. Not just any Alpha either, but a clan leader, to whom all the pride's Alpha’s in that clan were subordinate.
He stopped in front of Ford and drew himself up to his full height towering over him menacingly. Folding his secondary arms across his lower abdomen and his primary arms across his chest. The pointed, fur lined, ears that sat atop of his head twitched slightly. His amber eyes burnt with the fire of a true warrior, as he examined Ford carefully with his black silted pupils. He sniffed him out with his black whiskered snout like nose. The whiskers quivering slightly as he did so and curled back his upper lip to reveal razor sharp yellow teeth. Then he spoke in a deep rasping tone.
“I smell Anterian on you. They have boarded your ship and you have defeated them?” It was half statement, half question.
“Yes they have all been accounted for and the contaminated area is being sterilised and checked as we speak.”
He nodded slowly. “Good, good, we have fought them many times. They are the scum of the universe.” he paused and studied Ford carefully before continuing. “So Chole was right you are the one my Government is seeking.” he uncrossed his primary arms and gestured to the ship turning his head around to survey the hanger deck as he did so. “And this is your reward.”
David tensed ready for action gripping the handle of his gun. The Talmari behind their Alpha tensed in response, ready to leap into action. Ford grabbed David’s arm and pulled his hand away from the gun, catching a slight, almost unnoticeable, hand gesture from the Alpha instructing his men to stand down also.
Ford slipped the gun out of David’s holster, holding it by the barrel to indicate he posed no threat and deactivated the biofilter before handing it over to the Talmari smiling at him. “Well let’s see who really has a problem with me, you or your government. You could pull the trigger now and become a hero.”
The giant Talmari held the gun in his primary hands. Turning it over and examining it carefully before smiling back at Ford, exposing his razor sharp teeth once more, as he passed the gun back to him. He flexed his secondary arms slightly and a crude, but vicious looking, shiv he’d kept concealed there fell harmlessly to the floor.
“Guardian Ford I could have killed you anytime I wanted, if I wanted you dead, but I suspect that like me you have been betrayed by your government.”
“How so?”
“Your ship is under crewed, barely a hundred to police and process eight thousand refugees and you’ve taken damage and casualties from an Anterian assault. They’ll lose patience and riot before you can process and rehouse them all, putting this ship and everyone on it in danger. I’m hardly any safer here than in a cargo pod drifting in space. I suspect you and your crew, such as it is, stole this ship after your government agreed to hand you over to mine. Am I right?”
Ford stared back unflinchingly into his bright amber eyes. ”I hope you’re not thinking of trying to take this ship from us, that would be a bad idea, a very bad idea.”
“Take it? I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered it, but what would we do with it? Where would I and my people go? Our home world has been overrun by Anterian’s. We are all that is left of the once mighty clan Ulmaria of the Talmari people. Perhaps if our government had been as dedicated to our protection, as it was to the pursuit of you, we would still have our planet. Now we are an embarrassment to our government, a reminder of their failure to protect their own people. A failure they try to disguise by pursuing you.”
A brief smile flickered across Ford’s face. “If you’re not planning on taking our ship from us I take it you have a counter proposal?”
The giant Talmari smiled back. “Yes. There are many among the refugees here, who given the chance, would follow you and crew your ship. Exiles and outcasts, betrayed and abandoned by their leaders, people looking for a home, something to believe in, something to hope for, something to fight for. Give it to them and they will follow you.”
“Even you?”
The Talmari Alpha held out his primary right hand and offered it to it Ford in an old, but not entirely dead, old earth tradition. “On one condition and one only.”
Ford paused before taking his hand. “And what would that be?”
“You help us take out the Raider base the Amastra came from.” he saw the quizzical look in Fords eye. “Because the scum that operate it are rounding up every migrant, refugee, orphan, and lost soul they can lay their miserable hands on and selling them on to the Anterian’s. While the authorities on Nova-7 look the other way. They call it the meat run.”
Ford grasped his hand and shook it firmly. “You have my word. They took some of my people and now more than ever I want them back.”
The Talmari released his hand and dropping down on one knee bowed before him. “I Vlade, Alpha Prime of clan Ulmaria, pledge mine and my warrior’s allegiance to you, until we fall in battle or are released from our service to you.”
Before Ford could respond he stood up and disappeared back into the cargo pod to brief his people.
Only Chole stayed behind. There was a long silence as she studied Ford and David carefully before speaking. “I hope you realise the great honour my mate has bestowed upon you. He has suffered great hardships and endured much suffering to bring his people this far. Do not fail him or I will make it my life’s work to kill all of you.” then she too was gone.
“Do you think w
e can trust them?” asked David.
“It will be major embarrassment for their government for them to be seen fighting alongside us, so yes I think we can. Give them what they need and get them to help you run security and speed up processing the refugees down here. If nothing else it’ll help make anyone think twice about starting a riot and see if you can find any other leaders amongst the humans and Hyneari. I’ve got an admiral to deal with next.” said Ford as he left the hangar deck and made his way back towards the ready room.