04 Dark Space (15 page)

A few minutes later, Hoff reached his office and opened the door with a wave of his wrist over the controls. He walked inside and the door automatically swished shut behind him. On his way to his desk Hoff heard a rustle of movement behind him. A jolt of adrenaline set his heart pounding. He spun around to face whatever unseen assailant had managed to gain entry to his office—

And saw the air before the door shimmering, followed by the appearance of a hulking shadow. It warbled at him. “I am here. What is it you wish to talk about?”

“Roan,” Hoff said, his shoulders sagging with relief. “Come, sit down. We have a lot to discuss.” He rounded his desk and sat behind it. “How did you get in?”

Roan crept forward and eased himself into one of the too-small office chairs. Hoff heard a crack, followed by one of the wooden armrests of that chair hitting the deck with a hollow-sounding
thunk.

He ignored Roan’s clumsiness. The chairs hadn’t been built for a 350 pound Gor.

“I walk in behind you,” Roan explained.

Hoff nodded. “Well, I’m glad you’re here so soon, because we don’t have much time. The Sythians are not bluffing.”

“What is
wuffing
?”

“Lying. Their ships are more than amply crewed with human slaves.”

“Then you lie to me.”

“I regret the deception, but it was necessary for Leskin to believe that he was being made part of our plans. Clearly we cannot trust him. I just met with the commander by himself, and I led him to believe that I’ve decided to turn my back on your people. I told him we are going to give you up to the Sythians.”

“I kill you for this!” Roan said, rising from the chair and looming over Hoff’s desk. Then he seemed to hesitate with his helmet mere inches from Hoff’s face. “Why do you tell me, foolish human?”

“Because I’m not telling Leskin the truth. The truth is, we are only going to pretend to give in to the Sythians’ demands. We are not going to abandon your people.”

Roan sat back down. “I am listening.”

“What we need right now is to buy time. Your mate, Tova, knew of a mission we sent to a lost sector of humanity for help. This group of humans is much more powerful than either us or the Sythians, and if they agree to send reinforcements to Dark Space, we’ll never have to fear the Sythians again.”

“Tova tells me this already.”

Hoff frowned, for a second wondering if Tova were still among the living due to the strange lack of past and future tenses in the Gor language. “Then you understand why we must
appear
to give in to the Sythians’ demands?”

“What do you ask of the Gors?”

“I am going to give orders for my fleet and Commander Leskin’s ships to fly away from yours. Once we are at a safe distance I will comm the Sythians and tell them to go and get your people. As soon as you see the Sythians make a move toward you, your entire fleet must cloak and hide. You will stay in Dark Space and wait until reinforcements arrive, at which point your people will de-cloak and help them take our sector back from the Sythians.”

Roan shook his head. “How long must we wait?”

“That depends how quickly reinforcements come. It could be a month. It could be two.”

“We do not survive two months without deliveries of food. When we serve the Sythians, their command ships supply our vessels.”

Hoff nodded. “The Sythians have no way to detect a cloaked vessel, just as we have no way to detect one, correct?”

“That is correct.”

“The way they keep track of their own fleet while cloaked is with beacon signals, and more recently, via your people’s ability to telelocate one another.”

“Yess.”

“So we will use a cloaked cruiser to deliver supplies to your fleet. I have designated the
Baroness
for this task. We will need to crew it with at least a few Gors in order to coordinate with your vessels without giving ourselves away by using comms.”

“You are to be aboard this ship,” Roan said.

“I wish I could be, but the Sythians will expect to find me still in command when we surrender, and I don’t want them to realize we’re not really surrendering after all. I will stay with the
Valiant
, but I’ll send my mate to oversee supply operations until such a time as I am able to openly fight the Sythians once more.”

Roan hissed. “May the
Zarn
and the mighty
Kar
watch over you.”

“There is one other matter that you should know about. I believe the Sythians are not after your people at all. They are here to find the location of the lost sector of humanity I told you about. They want to know where Avilon is, and I am the only human in Dark Space who knows its location.”

“If the Sythians are trying to find this . . .
Awilom
, then you must hide.”

“No, they have to believe we are cooperating with them.”

“Then they hurt you until you tell them where
Awilom
is.”

“Yes, quite likely, but I don’t have to tell them the truth.”

“They can sense a lie even more easily than I.”

“Yes, but a lie is impossible to detect if you believe it yourself. I will undergo a procedure to alter my memories. By the time the Sythians can get me to tell them where Avilon is, I won’t even know that I’m telling them a lie, and we will have bought the time we need to survive this occupation.”

“You risk much. The Sythians kill you if they find out. If these humans in
Awilom
are so mighty, perhaps they do not need your protection.”

“Perhaps,” Hoff conceded, “But they will not come to our aid if I have given them away to the enemy, and I cannot risk that the Sythians will eventually overwhelm their defenses, too.”

“You are a man of much honor, Hoff. I do not see this before, but I see it now. You lie as easily as a Sythian, and you do not trust, but your honor is greater than the sum of these weaknesses.”

“Thank you . . .” Hoff said with a thoughtful frown. “So your fleet will agree to remain in hiding until help arrives?”

“We hide until you or your mate tell us it is safe to reveal ourselves.”

“Good. I’m sending your créche mates aboard the
Valiant
to board the
Baroness
and leave while they still can
,
but
as for the rest of your people currently serving aboard our ships and throughout Dark Space, they’ll have to cloak and hide until we can find some way to rescue them. Make sure they don’t reveal themselves unless forced to do so. The Sythians will kill any Gors they find.”

Roan bowed his head. “As you command, My Lord.”

Hoff quirked an eyebrow at that, but decided not to question the honorific. If the Gors began to respect him as their leader, so much the better. “One last thing—I need at least one Gor you can trust to stay aboard the
Baroness
and facilitate human-Gor relations. Someone who can serve in an advisory role to my staff.”

Roan nodded. “I send my créchling.”

Hoff was surprised to hear that Roan had a child, but there was no time to inquire about it. “Good. Have him board the
Baroness
and wait. My wife and daughter will be aboard soon. They will depart the
Valiant
before we officially surrender.”

“I tell him.”

Hoff nodded and they left the operations center together.

By the time Hoff reached the auxiliary bridge, he found most of his crew already seated at the appropriate control stations. Here the viewports were simulated rather than real, but otherwise the auxiliary bridge was just a slightly smaller version of the real one. Hoff walked up to his XO, Deck Commander Akra, where she stood leaning over the captain’s table. When he appeared beside her, she turned to him with a grim smile and gave a quick salute.

“Admiral,” she said.

“Commander, you may take your seat at the helm. We’re moving out.”

“Yes, sir. Where to?”

“Set a waypoint as far from the Gors as we can possibly get within the next 20 minutes.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, already on her way down the stairs from the gangway and the captain’s table. Hoff turned to his comm officer. “Lieutenant Hanz, contact the rest of our fleet with the coordinates the commander sets for us, and then get me an audience with the Sythians.”

“Yes, sir . . .” Hanz let his voice trail off curiously. Hoff knew what Hanz had left unsaid. He wanted to know the plan to deal with the Sythian threat. All of Dark Space wanted to know that, but they would have to wait. Hoff could only imagine the scale of the riots which would erupt when the citizens of Dark Space realized that he had surrendered to the Sythians.

Just five minutes later Lieutenant Hanz turned to look up at Hoff and nodded. “Connection established with the Sythian command ship,” he said. “Transmitting in three . . . two . . .”

The main viewport shimmered and then stars and space were replaced with the pale gray face of High Lord Shondar. The Sythian bared his sharp, glistening black teeth in an ugly imitation of a smile. “I see your fleet leaving the Gorz. Doesss this mean we have a deal?” Shondar hissed.

“It does,” Hoff replied. Everyone on the bridge abruptly stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at their leader with looks ranging the gamut from astonishment to outrage. Deck Commander Akra rose to her feet and turned to glower at him, but to her credit she said nothing.

Shondar’s ugly smile grew so wide that his sallow cheeks nearly disappeared. “You are wise, Admiral.”

“I have terms. My people will not be harmed.”

Shondar blinked his glowing white eyes. “We agree not to harm them. What else?”

“You will allow us to maintain our sovereignty.”

Shondar made a sissing sound which was probably laughter. “Too much. No.”

“Fine.” Hoff had known that was a long shot. “It is enough if you agree not to harm us.”

“I like a reasonable human.”

“Go get your slaves. We will not stop you.”

“Nor could you. We sssee you ssoon,” Shondar hissed. With that, the transmission ended, and Hoff turned from the viewscreen to answer his crew’s collective outrage and fear. He couldn’t tell them his real plan. In fact, he couldn’t even allow himself to remember it, and soon he wouldn’t be able to. It was not safe for them to know there was still hope, so Hoff chose to reinforce the appearance that there was none.

“How could you, sir?” Commander Akra demanded, her pale blue eyes searching his face with the stubborn hope that perhaps he had just lied to the Sythians.

Hoff met her searching gaze. “In war, it is not wise to give a superior foe an excuse to kill you. You beg him for mercy and hope you find some.” Turning from her to address the rest of his crew, he said, “We are all at the Sythians’ mercy, as we have been since they came to our galaxy. I understand if you hate me for this, but the chance of survival is always better than the certainty of defeat. Lieutenant Hanz, set condition green, and tell all of our forces to stand down.”

“Yes—” The comm officer was interrupted before he could finish acknowledging the order. “Incoming transmission! It’s from the Sythians.”

“Sir!” The gravidar officer called out. “The Gors have just disappeared from our scopes. They’ve cloaked!”

Hoff had to suppress the urge to smile. “Put the Sythians back on screen, Lieutenant.”

The main viewport shimmered once more, and Shondar was back. “What are you doing, human? You said we could have the Gors.”

Hoff shook his head. “I said we wouldn’t stop you from going to get them.”

“Then why are they cloaking?”

“To hide from you, I would assume.”

Shondar hissed. “You warned them!”

“Anyone with one iota of sense could see your intentions toward them—and ours for that matter, when we left them all alone. But I don’t see what your problem is, Shondar. Why don’t you just use your own Gors to locate them for you?”

Shondar’s glowing white eyes narrowed. “We do not have Gors.”

“Oh, yes . . .” Hoff feigned a look of dismay. “It’s unfortunate you decided to kill
all
of your slaves.”

“Yesss,” Shondar hissed. “Very unfortunate. Have your fleet arrest its momentum and prepare for boarding.”

Hoff nodded and bowed his head. “Of course. It will be done, My Lord.”

The transmission ended, and they saw stars and space once more. “Lieutenant Hanz,” Hoff began in a worlds-weary voice. “Have our ships stop where they are and lower their shields.” He turned and started from the bridge. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my quarters.”

“Yes, sir . . .” Hanz replied in a small voice.

Deck Commander Akra caught up to him just as the doors of the auxiliary bridge swished open for him. She caught him by the arm and spun him to face her. He studied her usually kind honey-brown features, now twisted up in contempt, and met her accusing eyes with a defeated look. “Yes, Commander?”

“You are a fool and a coward,” she spat.

Hoff nodded, pretending to accept that. Without offering so much as a word in his defense, he continued on his way, heading not for his quarters, but for the med bay where Doctor Elder was standing by with a mind probe to alter his memories. When he judged that he was out of earshot of the commander, Hoff placed a hand to his ear and put a comm call through to his wife.

She answered a moment later. “Hoff, what’s going on? I heard we surrendered; please tell me that’s not true. . . .”

“Destra, I’ll explain everything in a minute,” Hoff whispered. “I need you to meet me in the med bay. Ask for Doctor Elder, and explain that I sent you. We don’t have much time, so hurry.”

“Okay . . . what about Atta?”

“Bring her, Des. You’re both leaving the
Valiant
before the Sythians get here.”

“They’re coming aboard?”

“They’re already on their way.”

“I hope you know what you’ve done, Hoff.”

“So do I, Des. I’ll see you soon.”

Chapter 10

D
estra Heston stood in the med bay, watching as her husband sat down in the probe chair. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. “There has to be another way. This is too dangerous.”