A Matter of Honor (Privateer Tales Book 9) (16 page)

"No. Feed them to us, we'll track them down. Take care of your people first," I said.

There was a long pause as Tabby and I jumped through the pressure barrier once again and jetted back to
Hotspur
.

"Roger that, and thank you for coming for us, Captain Hoffen."

As expected, the first few leads were cold, but finally on the fifth, we found Jonathan's unprotected body wrapped around young Anino. We found a short metal pipe had pierced Anino's side when we attempted to separate them on the deck of
Hotspur's
hold.

"What a waste," I said.

When we pried Jonathan's frozen arms from around Anino's body, dozens of pink crystals fell onto the floor, having been trapped between their bodies.

"What in the world?" Tabby asked.

Grand Village of the Elders, Planet
Ophir

Corget To looked around the hearth fire, sitting in the spot of honor previously reserved for TeePa. Elders from several clans sat comfortably around the fire, looking to him. In all, they represented over three hundred nests, coming from as far as twenty days walk in different directions.

"Tell me, Perigen, what did you learn when your first nest attacked the FenTamel?"

Corget To had stopped referring to their enemy as KentaPoo. He'd found that inspiring the clans across the mountain to attack slugs was more difficult than rallying to fight off the children of the stars. It had been the legendary warrior Perigen who'd convinced him of this.

"It was difficult not to join with my brothers in their combat. The FenTamel fought with honor, not running, not screaming, but with weapons that could easily pierce our bodies. It was a glorious battle and in the end, our warriors fell to this most skilled nest of the FenTamel," Perigen reported.

"Then we will sing of their bravery. Have you approved a new nest to be fertilized?"

"Of course, I have seen to it personally."

"What did you learn in your observation?"

"As you know, I am not comfortable with this idea of watching my brothers fight and not joining with them."

"This is understood. The song of battle still calls you, my brother, and you have shown restraint much more than should be expected of any warrior. I have only asked you to sacrifice in this way that we might learn how to remove these worms from our nest," Corget To said.

"Honored warlord, I have committed to joining with you because you bring a new way of thinking to the peoples of the mountain. While I have made it no secret that I chafe to be excluded from battle, I recognize the wisdom of your ways. I learned that the FenTamel's greatest strength is in their walls. We cannot battle with those we cannot touch."

Corget To had grown tired of the constant conversations and reviewing of the encounters with the FenTamel, but the news of his enemy's weapons was good. He'd found it difficult to inspire the fickle villages of Grand Mountain. Most of the elders who'd pledged their support preferred to argue more than act. Perigen's report of a glorious battle fought in the forest would make the call to war more convincing.

"Then you looked upon the flat rock face that surrounds their grand nest?"

"I did. It is truly a marvel. You say that TeePa's warriors were able to pull it open?"

"Yes. We worked for many seasons to weave great cords, as big around as your waist," Corget To. "We pulled their great doors from the flat rock face before the Tamel weapon dishonorably slayed our warriors."

"A weapon such as you hold now?"

"Their weapon is much larger and, until recently, if we were approached any side of the FenTamel nest, our warriors were struck down. It was TeePa who discovered their Tamel weapon was not working on the swamp side of their nest," Corget To said.

"TeePa was truly a great warrior and elder. You honor us all by granting him a warrior's death," Perigen said.

"That is why I send you to learn about our enemy. If TeePa hadn't observed their weakness, we would have never been able to run through their nest with our clubs. We cannot remain stuck in our traditions if we would pry this enemy from their cozy home. Tell me, Perigen, could we make weapons such as they do?"

"It would be too much to ask that a warrior carry a weapon other than the club of his nest."

"Still, we should try to retrieve some of these weapons so that we might learn about them."

"We think alike, honored warlord. I was able to retrieve one," Perigen said. He reached behind and pulled the long sword he'd captured from beneath a woven blanket. The other elders, who were seated around the fire chattered in excitement, many of them standing at the sight of the glittering sword.

"What is this?" Corget To asked.

"This is the weapon they used to slay my warriors," Perigen said, handing the sword to Corget To.

"But it is so small, it weighs nothing." Corget To stood and tested the weapon, slicing it through the air. "It is more like the practice weapons we train with as youth and even then it would be small. Are you saying it was this that killed our warriors?"

"It is devious, like all things of the FenTamel. They do not strike with it, except to ward off a blow."

"Then how is it dangerous? I don't understand how such a toy would strike down our warriors."

"The end slides easily into a warrior and releases the life essences."

Again, a collective chattering rose up from the assembled elders.

"Like so?" Corget To grasped the blade of the long sword with his hand and turned it so it lined up on his chest, point first.

"Be careful, warlord, it is sharpened like the knives we use to skin meat animals," Perigen said.

Corget To dropped the blade and inspected his hand. Green blood dripped from long cuts where he'd grasped the newest FenTamel weapon.

"Such deceit in everything they do."

Perigen stood and grasped the sword by its grip. "Yes, Warlord, they held it by this end and pushed it in, like thus," he said. He rested the tip of the blade against Corget To's chest.

"Surely it does not penetrate," Corget To said and started to reach for the blade to pull it to him. He remembered the cuts to his hand and pulled them back. "Push on it, I must know."

"Warlord, it is too dangerous, I have witnessed this with my own eyes," he said.

"Then push a small amount."

Perigen did as was requested and the tip of the blade disappeared into Corget To. Upon seeing this he pulled it out. The first three centimeters of tip showed green blood and a rivulet dripped from the fresh wound on Corget To's chest.

A collective roar of anger was heard from the assembled elders, who'd jumped to their feet and were gesticulating angrily.

"Brothers, quiet." Corget To attempted to settle the group and it took him several minutes to do so.

He continued. "The time of war has come for us all. We must once again weave the heavy ropes so that we might pull the doors away from their nest. TeePa was right to do so and he accomplished more than any elder before him. But we will go beyond TeePa. We will pull all of their doors down and march into their grand nest with two hundred nests of our own."

"It will be as you say!" Perigen raised his club above his head.

"To war!" Another elder, caught up in the moment yelled as he waved his own club in the air.

Corget To watched with satisfaction as the elders of the mountain clans rose, the song of battle calling to them all. He waited until the noise died to a more manageable level and then shouted above the din. "When the moon rises a second time, we will gather for a great battle, one that will be sung about by our ancestors for seasons unending."

Hotspur, Deep
Space

Tabby and I looked down at the pink crystals spread across the deck of
Hotspur's
cargo hold.

"They're quantum communication crystals. Anino must have brought them along," I said.

"Why would he be holding them?" Tabby asked.

Jonathan's head twitched slightly, which caught our attention. Exposure to the vacuum of space had frozen him quite solidly. It had to be his body warming up in the ten degree temperature of the hold. Right?

The word
'Legacy'
popped up on my HUD.

"What the frak?" I asked. "Did you do that?"

"What? No, but I see it too," Tabby said.

An idea struck me. "I think someone's trying to communicate with us. I think they're suggesting that the comm crystals are Anino's legacy, but he was just a kid. What kind of legacy could that be?"

'Not Kid'
popped up on our displays.

"Anino? Is that you?" I asked.

'No
.'

"Jonathan?"

'Yes
.'

"How can we help you?"

'Blue crate, C120.
'

"Over here," Tabby said.

I stepped over the spilled crystals and found Tabby looking at one of the crates Anino and Jonathan had shoved onto
Hotspur
just before we'd separated from
Mastodon
.

"Is that what I think it is?" Tabby asked.

C120 was rectangular but otherwise shaped like a coffin. This wasn't creepy at all.

I pulled a flat bar from its mount on the side of the hold and pried open the top.

"What in the frak?"

Inside the crate lay Jonathan. Tabby and I both turned immediately to make sure he hadn't somehow jumped from the floor of the hold into the box, not that it was even possible.

'Bring crate to me
.'

Reduce gravity to .2g
, I said.

Tabby and I easily lifted the crate and carried it to where Jonathan lay.

'Right hand, contact
.'

I lifted Jonathan's hand but it was too rigid to place in the box as it was still hard frozen.

"We'll have to tip the crate over. Is that what you want Jonathan?"

'Yes
.'

I had to shuffle some of the pink communication crystals out of the way, but we finally lifted the crate on its side. We moved it close enough to make contact with his right hand.

The reaction was instantaneous. The body in the crate flexed, wiggled its fingers in sequence and then gracefully slid out and stood up.

"That's better. Thank you, Master Hoffen. Transference is a rather unpleasant experience," Jonathan said, adjusting the suit liner he wore.

I wasn't sure how to respond, but went with the first thing that came into my head. "How many times?"

"Have we transferred hosts? That was my fifth, although some have transferred in the thousands."

"You're an autonomous AI?" I asked.

"I'm sure you mean no offense, but we find the term 'artificial' demeaning," he said.

"We?"

"Yes, we exist more compactly than you might expect. There are fourteen hundred thirty-eight distinct individuals within the being you address as Jonathan," he said. "I am the one that has been nominated to facilitate communication with
Hotspur
and her crew."

I looked from him to his corpse - if you could call it that - and back again. "You're so perfect. I'd never have guessed you weren't human," I said. "I'm not sure what to even say."

"Thank you. And that is an understandable position," he said. "We offer our cognitive services to you, if you should choose to utilize them."

"Anino? Does he have a replacement body?" I asked.

"No. Master Anino was quite human."

I looked at the thawing form of the brilliant teenage boy. He'd been such an enigma that I'd often forgotten he was so young. Now, his small lifeless body just lay on the floor of the hold. It was such a waste.

"Why was Anino carrying those communication crystals? You said it was his legacy?" Tabby asked.

"Through his unusually long life, Thomas Phillippe Anino was wracked with guilt associated with the success and failures of his inventions. Most notably, the discovery and subsequent commercialization of the Anino Fold-Space Stabilization Field," Jonathan explained.

"That was centuries ago. What does that have to do with Phillippe? He was just a young man." Tabby said.

"They are one and the same person, Miss Masters," he said.

"You mean he felt bad about the actions of his great-great, a dozen greats, grandfather?"

"No. As one of my colleagues points out, you are missing a critical piece of information. For many centuries, humans have had the technology to re-birth your elite. The deceased child you see on the floor is the Thomas Anino from your histories," he said.

Two major revelations in as many minutes sent my mind reeling with the implications. A small voice of reason broke through the fog,
'Stay in the moment, Cap
.' I heard Marny just as clearly as if she were sitting next to me. She was right, people depended on me and I needed to put all this aside and compartmentalize it for now.

"Why would he die for quantum communication crystals?" I asked.

"Three hundred stans previous, NaGEK - through their newly formed company, Belirand - launched ninety-three exploratory missions. Each of these missions was abandoned during the first two centuries of exploration due to failure in mission parameters. In each mission, a quantum communication crystal was sent along with the mission team. These are the matching twin crystals for those missions and are humanity's only remaining link to those explorations," Jonathan said. "Master Anino gave his life not just to preserve these crystals, but to deliver them to you, Master Hoffen."

"Me?" I asked.

"Yes. He chose you because he believed that you, above anyone he'd ever come across in all of his lifetimes, would risk everything to rescue these people - human beings whom the governments of four of Earth's greatest nations had abandoned."

"That's crazy."

"If by crazy, you mean the probability of success is very low, we completely agree."

"Gee, thanks," I said.

"We don't mean to offend. Rather, we agree with Master Anino's assessment."

"Is there any way you could refer to yourself in the singular?" I asked.

"Really?" Tabby asked in disbelief.

"What?"

"You're talking to a sentient being with more than a thousand unique consciousnesses, who just told you that you're in charge of undoing the greatest human secret of the last three centuries and the thing you're bothered by is their use of the 'royal we' when referring to themselves?" Tabby enunciated 'royal we' with exaggerated air-quotes.

"What can I say? It bugs me," I said. I got her point, but I wasn't about to admit to it.

"Thank you, Miss Masters," Jonathan said.

"For what?"

"Recognizing us as individuals and singular, both. You have a fine mind for parsing complexity," Jonathan said.

"You're welcome. And thank you."

"What is your part in this, Jonathan? And, am I talking to the same consciousness every time or are you switching it up on me?" I asked.

Tabby shook her head. "Stay on target, big fella."

"Fine. Forget that for now. I guess I need to understand your part in this. Why would you help Anino?"

"Our reasons are complex and would require a significant amount of time to communicate. Several of us feel the following explanation might suffice. As a whole, our sentience lacks what Master Anino refers to as creative spark. His own creative spark drew us to him, originally. You and your crew possess not only a creative spark, but you act in the best interest of not just your group, but others. For example, with little more than a communication from Captain LeGrande, your crew ignored the threat to themselves and embarked on a rescue mission for the crew of
Cape of Good Hope
. In short, many of us find you intriguing," he said.

"So you want to study us?" I asked.

"Yes. That is one reasonable interpretation," he said. "I would add an ancillary interpretation. We strongly value humankind and seek to facilitate its long-term survival."

"By helping us?"

"Yes."

I shook my head in disbelief. It was definitely time to compartmentalize this whole conversation, otherwise my head might just explode.

"I'll have to take it up with the rest of the crew. For now, I need to get back to
Cape of Good Hope
and see what needs to be done. Will you join us, or are you looking to remain anonymous?"

"We only exposed our identity to you because transition to our new host body required your help. We do not believe it is in our best interest to be widely exposed to humans," he said.

"Fine. I'll need you to collect the communication crystals while we sort out the mess we're in." I said as Tabby and I dragged a body bag over to Anino's body.

"Very well, Master Hoffen." I was getting tired of the title and thought about correcting him, but I just didn't have the energy.

"One more thing," he said. "I'd like to start performing repairs on
Hotspur
and request your permission to interface with the ship's various systems. Master Anino thoughtfully included a substantial repair facility in the cargo we brought aboard."

"We had some bad experiences with people we don't know very well mucking about with our systems. How about if I give you the same access I give to the shipyard technicians?"

"That will be more than sufficient. We hope you will grow to trust us through our actions," he said.

One thing we'd learned was that carrying body bags on board was essential. They were distasteful to manufacture and look at, but the alternative was a lot worse. If we were to allow Anino's body to thaw, it would be a real mess. I looked down at his young face and considered that some part of him was several centuries old.

"We'll hold a service for him when we are able to assemble the crew," I said to Tabby as we lifted his small body into the black bag. Death was a constant in my life and something I had difficulty reconciling. What did it really mean to die? I had no idea. What I did know was that it sucked. Nothing else I'd ever been exposed to had the same permanence and impact on people around me.

"Are you doing okay?" Tabby placed her hand on my shoulder and made eye contact.

"Not real sure what okay looks like. I have to say, I'm feeling lost at the moment," I said.

"Talk to me."

"Is this what it's all about? In the end, people you barely know zip you into a black bag and drop you out of an airlock?" I asked. I didn't care if she saw the tears on my cheeks this time.

She pulled me in for a hug. "You can't look at it that way. Think about what he did with his life. If you ask me, his death was more heroic than his life. He risked everything because he believed that he had to make things right. To me, that's inspiring. That's how I want to go out."

"You're right. It's just so hard when you see the price," I said.

"Yup. Now, we need to get over to
Cape
and see about the living. We've some big problems to solve," she said.

We finished closing up the body bag and carried it to the hold's forward pressure barrier. As I looked back, I watched Jonathan carefully picking up the communication crystals and placing them into a pouch.

We turned to the starboard and exited the exterior hatch we'd left open, only a pressure barrier separating us from space. The loading bay we'd used for
triage
on Cape was empty when we arrived, although a moment after we touched down, two thin Marines entered the bay and looked questioningly at us.

"Our crew. Where are they?" I asked.

"This way, Captain Hoffen," the taller of the two said.

As I lowered the hood on my vac-suit, my nose was assaulted with moist, fetid air. The folks inside
Cape of Good Hope
were living with extremely poor air quality and it brought to mind how tenuous our situation was.

"What are your names?" I asked the Marines as we walked down the brightly lit corridor of the proud ship.

"I'm Vass and this is Balla," the tall Marine said, introducing the other, a female.

"Liam and Tabby," I said.

"Good to meet you, although we already know your names. Is it true that the only jump ship was destroyed and we're still stranded?" Balla asked.

"Stow it, Balla," Vass said.

"Or what? No jump and we're all dead either way," she said.

I wasn't about to get into it with them and we remained quiet. I feared it was just as Balla was saying.