Omega Force: Savage Homecoming (20 page)

“We can come back to that,” Jason said almost gently. He was afraid he was dealing with an unstable, fragile mind and needed to proceed carefully. He had no sympathy for this being that had caused so much death and destruction, but leaving him a raving lunatic would get him no closer to his goals. “Don’t you find it odd that you all live only on these ships? Don’t you want to see your own world again?” At the mention of his own planet, the alien froze and stared at Jason in open-mouthed horror.

“We do not
speak
of it,” he said vehemently.

“Well now, that is interesting. Why not? Just remember, I’m an outsider, it may be okay to break your taboo in order to set me straight,” Jason said, trying an obvious tact.

“The Betrayal sealed the fate of the treacherous A’arcooni,” he alien said, his eyes darting about as if he would be caught speaking about it.

“So you’re no longer A’arcooni?”

“I was born a Deliverer! A son of the Travelers! I share nothing with that despicable race!” His mouth was flecked with foam and his eyes bulged from his head as he screamed the words. Jason stepped back and motioned to Doc as Lucky moved to restrain the alien if it proved necessary.

“Is there anything that might make him less … crazy?” Jason asked in a whisper.

“I can give him a mild sedative,” Doc said doubtfully. “But that might make him less coherent.”

“I think that ship has sailed,” Jason said with a frown at the still-writhing A’arcooni.

The questioning went on for another fifteen minutes before Jason gave up. After the initial outburst, his prisoner had never calmed down enough to provide anything useful. He asked Doc to give him something to help him sleep and decided to give it a couple of hours and see if they could reset the conversation. After the patient was out, the three Omega Force members walked out to the galley, the two biological members trudging in exhaustion.

“Holy shit, that’s one crazy alien,” Jason said as he slumped down into a seat after grabbing a mug of chroot for both him and Doc.

“Delusional, yes. I’m not so sure he’s crazy, however,” Doc said as he grabbed his mug with both hands. “He’s been brainwashed over three generations to the point he doesn’t even relate to his own species anymore. Someone could spend years studying this case.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t have years,” Jason grumbled. “The only bitch about it is that he’s not afraid of death or pain. Otherwise I’d just send in Crusher to get what I needed out of him. The way it stands now, we’re going to have to draw him out of this illusion before he’ll give us anything useful. And that’s
if
we can keep him from going off the deep end every five minutes.”

“Why not show him the video from his own planet?” Lucky asked.

“I’m not sure what good that would do,” Jason admitted. “What are you thinking?”

“It seems that his religious devotion to his cause must be based on a lie. I do not think the fact their cult attacked their own people is widely known.”

“You may have something there, Lucky,” Jason said thoughtfully, “and it gives me an idea.”

*****

“So tell me about this De’Astor Ka fella,” Jason said casually as he motored the bed back up to a sitting position. It was two hours after their previous attempt and their prisoner was calm, if a bit glassy-eyed. The rest of the crew had taken the opportunity to raid the
Diligent’s
mess deck so it was just Lucky, Doc, and Jason in the infirmary with the A’arcooni.

“You’re not fit to speak his name,” the alien slurred slightly. Jason looked sidelong at Doc, who just shrugged.

“Fair enough. I’ll just listen.” Jason could see the struggle on the prisoner’s face. It was obvious this was a subject that warmed his heart, but discussing it with a trio of interlopers seemed to be giving him pause.

“He is the visionary who gave us purpose.”

“Can you give me a little bit more than that? We know he was the first leader of your … group. We even have a little bit of inside information on how that started,” Jason offered. “Our information comes from the A’arcooni perspective though.”

“A race of liars!
They no doubt fed you falsehoods from behind their clouds of poison as they destroy their own planet,” the prisoner hissed. Jason just stared at him for a long moment.

“They’re dead.
All of them. The planet A’arcoon has been uninhabited for hundreds of years. You, the young we pulled off your ship and whoever is on the other ship are the only living members of your species left. You’re on the brink of extinction.” Jason wasn’t sure how his words would be taken. The alien looked him in the eye for a pregnant moment before thrashing about uncontrollably, nearly coming out of the restraints.

“You lie! You lie! You lie! You—”

“DOC!” Jason pointed and Doc administered a fast-acting tranquilizer to bring his patient back under control. The A’arcooni calmed instantly, but was still shaking his head from side to side and chanting. Eventually this stopped and he only stared at the ceiling, catatonic and unresponsive to the others in the room. “Good job, Doc… I just wanted him calmed down a little bit.”

“I didn’t give him enough to knock him out,” Doc said defensively. “He’s still awake. I think he’s in shock.” Jason motioned for them all to clear out for a moment. They stood in the corridor looking in through the glass at the A’arcooni, strapped down and staring unseeing at the wall. Despite what had been done to Earth, Jason couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for the misguided being.

“How did they not know they had killed their own planet?” Doc asked.

“That’s a trademark of a cult. Control information and only let them see what you want them to see,” Jason shrugged. “If De’Astor Ka had told the next generation what he’d done, it’s not likely they’d see themselves as saviors.”

“So what do we do now?” Lucky asked. “This could go on for quite some time.”

“Let me try something,” Jason said, re-entering the infirmary.
“You. A’arcooni,” he snapped his fingers in front of the alien’s face. “I’m going to show you something and then I’m going to leave you here to think about it for a bit.” There was a barely discernible flicker in the other’s eyes as Jason spoke to him. Cranking the bed up enough so that the alien could see the far monitor, Jason began to play back the message from the device they’d pulled off of A’arcoon.

The A’arcooni showed no emotion, no response of any kind as the video played. When it was over he simply stared at the monitor. Wordlessly, Jason lowered the bed back down and left the room.

“We’ll give him a few hours to absorb that,” Jason said to his crew.

“What do we do in the meantime?” Doc asked.

“Do whatever the hell you want,” Jason said. “I’m leaving Lucky in command and hitting the mess deck on the
Diligent
while we’re still docked.”

Lucky stood watch over the prisoner from inside the infirmary. He could monitor the ship’s internal sensor network through his com node, but he wouldn’t risk betraying his captain’s trust in him by being out of the room and letting the A’arcooni prisoner harm himself while the crew was on the other ship. The small alien had stirred some while Lucky stood there, so he turned the lighting up a bit for his comfort. He stared at Lucky for a while before speaking.

“Mechanical man,” he said. “Are you like the creature, Deetz?”

“I am a variety of synth, or synthetic being. I assume you mean
mechanical man
as a pejorative term, which I can only take to mean your association with Deetz has been not to your liking.” The A’arcooni turned away before continuing.

“I do not know why we have entered a partnership with Deetz,” he admitted. “But I cannot be so arrogant as to pretend to understand the will of the elders.”

“Perhaps not the elders,” Lucky said, “but would it help you to know the motivation of Deetz himself?” When the other only nodded, Lucky continued.

“The human who has been talking to you, Jason Burke, was once an associate of Deetz. It ended badly, as Deetz betrayed him and tried to sell him into bondage to people that would have almost certainly killed him. Jason found this out and kicked Deetz off of this ship. He could have killed him or disabled him, but he let him go.

“I, too, was to be sold as property when Jason found and freed me. Deetz has enlisted your help in order to gain revenge on Jason for insulting him and ruining that deal. He may have promised you weapons and targets, but when your usefulness to him is done, the best you can hope for is that he simply leaves.”

“Why does this Jason Burke hunt us down so doggedly?”

“You attacked his homeworld at the direction of Deetz. He did this because he knew it would bring Jason to him so he could use your weapon against this ship. It almost worked.”

“Yes. We had to flee when the other, larger ship appeared while our weapon was recharging. We were told that Jason Burke was an industrialist who made his fortune using underdeveloped worlds to perform tasks that resulted in toxic byproducts and massive amounts of pollution.” He paused for a moment. “What is your name?”

“Lucky.”

“Lucky, is the video that Jason Burke showed me real? Is A’arcoon really a dead planet?”

“It is an uninhabited planet, but it is far from dead. It is true that there are no advanced life forms left on the surface, however,” Lucky told him.

“Our history tells us that De’Astor Ka only wanted to save our people from themselves. He begged the government to see reason as our ecosystem died, and in return they tried to have him assassinated. We’re told he, and his followers,
were attacked by the A’arcooni military and that the travelers stepped in at the last minute to rescue them. Many have held out the hope that one day A’arcoon would see the error of its ways and we would be allowed to go home, to rejoin our people.”

“I am truly sorry,” Lucky said simply. “That will never happen.”

“Are the hatchlings safe?”

“Yes. They are aboard the other ship and being treated for radiation poisoning from the contamination aboard your vessel.”

“That is something, I suppose.” He let out a heavy sigh. “I think I’d like to be alone for now, Lucky.”

“I will be just outside,” Lucky said. He turned to leave and then paused. “What is your name?”

“I am De’Elefor Ka, First Sub-Commander of the warship
Penance
.”

“Rest easy, De’Elefor Ka. I know you must have a lot to think about.”

*****

“How the hell did you drag a name out of him?” Jason was incredulous. He’d gone over and enjoyed a relaxing meal on the
Diligent
and by the time he’d gotten back, Lucky had wheedled more information out of the A’arcooni than Jason had been able to in hours of interrogation.

“I asked him,” Lucky said. Jason glared at him, expecting him to elaborate a bit more, but Lucky just stared calmly back at him.

“Fine. Start from the beginning,” Jason said with resignation. Over the next hour Lucky gave Jason a complete report of what De’Elefor Ka had told him.

Afterwards, Jason spoke with the A’arcooni again, and showed him the footage of their adventure on the surface of A’arcoon itself. He did this not to be cruel, but to show that Lucky was being completely honest when he said the planet was uninhabited.

“So you’ve got a choice,” Jason was saying to him. “I can transfer you over to the
Diligent
and you can figure out what happens to you with Crisstof Dalton, or you can help me out and start to put an end to this madness. No matter how noble your intentions, you simply cannot be permitted to continue attacking helpless planets. Not that it matters … with the condition your ships are in, you’d all be dead within a year. But in the meantime I want Deetz.”

“I will help you find Deetz if you promise not to destroy my people’s last ship. I also would like to see the hatchlings before we depart,” De’Elefor Ka said quietly.

“I can promise that I’ll only defend myself,” Jason said firmly. “But I’m not letting your last ship hit me with that weapon again.” The A’arcooni considered it for a moment.

“Very well.
I will try to convince them to listen to you,” he agreed. “While I am still skeptical of what I’ve seen here, it is as you say: we have less than a year if we do nothing.” Jason stared at him for a moment, also considering things in his own mind.

“I can’t leave you strapped to the table for the duration of this mission,” he said. “If I put you in a regular cell, do you promise not to kill yourself?”

“I do.”

“What in the hell was that all about anyway?” Jason asked with a bit of exasperation.

“Our standing directive since long before I was born was to never allow ourselves, or a ship, to be captured. We’re unsure as to why, exactly, but it is ingrained in us from the time we first imprint on our elders. I personally think it was so the weapon didn’t fall into evil hands.” Jason decided not to comment on who could be considered “evil” in that scenario. He had secured the captive’s help and he would let it stand at that. Besides, it wasn’t the first time he had dealt with a species that was overly willing to kill itself to uphold some absurd honor principle.

“Lucky and Crusher will escort you over to see
your young before we depart,” Jason said. “Just know this … I’m doing this as part of our agreement, not because I particularly like you. I still haven’t forgotten you were standing on the bridge of a ship that attacked my homeworld.” De’Elefor Ka only nodded and allowed himself to be removed from the medical table and shackled by Lucky.

Once they had left, Jason went to the bridge to contact Crisstof to inform him of the deal he had just made. Inwardly, he expected yet another lecture when he called over to the other ship. Instead, he was shocked to see that Crisstof agreed with everything he had done.

“I know this is hard for you, Jason, and I don’t pretend to know what you’re going through,” Crisstof was saying. “You have proven yourself again and I’m somewhat ashamed in my recent lack of faith in your intentions. You saved the A’arcooni hatchlings when you didn’t have to, and you were able to get information out of De’Elefor Ka without harming him. I apologize.”

“Let’s not read too much into it,” Jason said. “If the answers were written on the inside of that A’arcooni’s ribcage I’d have split him open and slept like a baby that night. I am focused on one thing and one thing only: finding Deetz and eliminating that threat from my homeworld.”

“Nevertheless, my rush to judgment has damaged our relationship, I fear. I hope that when this is over we can rectify that,” Crisstof said.

“I’ll tell you what,” Jason replied. “If I survive this we can talk about it.”

“Of course, Captain,” Crisstof said with a smile. “I have no doubt as to the outcome. We will be staying here for the time being and making the Traveler ship safe to study. If we discover anything about the weapon you need to know we will, of course, contact you.
Diligent
out.”

*****

Three hours after Crusher and Lucky escorted their guest back and the rest of the crew had boarded the
Phoenix
, Jason ordered the airlock closed and locked before detaching from the
Diligent
. He powered up the main drive and gently accelerated away from the frigate. It would be staying behind as engineering teams from the ship went through the A’arcooni vessel to secure the leaking reactor and decontaminate it. He hoped they would find something useful about the weapon before Omega Force tangled with the last ship. Deetz was almost certainly aboard that one, and he would likely force the issue to the point of fire being exchanged.

“Lucky, bring the prisoner up to the bridge,” Jason said over the intercom as he accelerated towards the outer edges of the star system. He sat back as Kage was messing around with his station and Doc was preoccupied with something on his own displays. A moment later he could hear Lucky’s heavy footfalls as he escorted De’Elefor Ka to the bridge.

The lithe alien had his hands bound in front of him and was still short-shackled at the ankles. “I think we can lose the ankle chains,” Jason said. “It’s not like he can run away at this point.” He waited until Lucky had removed the restraints before continuing. “Well, De’Elefor Ka … it’s time to start building bridges. Get me in position to grab Deetz and I’ll allow you to try and save the other A’arcooni on that last ship. But just know this: if my sensors detect that weapon charging, I’ll shove an anti-matter warhead right up the tailpipe and be done with it.” De’Elefor Ka tilted his head to the side in confusion as the small translator bug in his ear tried to chew through all of Jason’s colloquialisms with its limited understanding of A’arcooni.

“Ah, yes, Captain,” he said, finally giving up.
“I can give you the location to where we were supposed to meet them once we had finished up on this planet. I’m not sure how your ship’s speed compares to the
Penance,
so I can’t promise they’ll be there. We could arrive early or too late.”

“I know your ship employs a method of faster-than-light that is different than ours,” Jason said. “We’ll just have to take a stab at it and hope we get lucky. I’m certain you have all the contingency fallback positions memorized as well.”

It took a little while for Kage and De’Elefor Ka to work out where, exactly, they were going, since the latter couldn’t read the displays and the former had no frame of reference for what he was being told. As they were struggling through it, Taryn walked onto the bridge. Jason gave her a look that plainly said, “
I’d hoped you would stay on the Diligent.”
She just gave a small smile and a shrug before taking a seat at one of the port bridge stations. He just shook his head and went back to flying the ship.

“It looks like we have a destination, Captain,” Kage said with an utter lack of confidence in his voice. “It’s an uninhabited system about four days’ flying time at seventy percent slip velocity. If I understand him correctly, that should put us there about a day before the other ship is scheduled to arrive.”

“Plot it,” Jason said simply. “Lucky, please take our … guest … down to the brig by way of the galley. Make sure he gets something to eat.” He then looked directly at De’Elefor Ka. “Remember your promise. If I go down to your cell and find a corpse, it is highly unlikely that I will try to negotiate a ceasefire with the other ship.”

“You have nothing to fear, Captain,” the A’arcooni said quietly. “I will keep my word.” Jason just nodded and Lucky escorted the prisoner off the bridge.

“Don’t you think you’re being a little hard on him at this point?” Taryn asked once they had left. Jason fixed an icy stare on her that made her squirm before answering.

“I have not forgotten what they did to Earth, and countless other planets before that. The fact Deetz has manipulated them in this instance is irrelevant to me. They’re still a predatory species that is randomly picking weaker species to attack,” Jason said in a steely voice. “He’ll get no sympathy from me.”

“It hasn’t been just Deetz, Captain,” Doc spoke up. “They’ve been tricked for generations.”

“While I’d love to get into a lengthy debate about nature or nurture as it applies to morality,” Jason began in a tone that said he’d rather do anything but, “I’ve got an op to run and a planet full of humans to protect. I don’t have that luxury at the moment.” Doc opened his mouth to speak again but Taryn nudged his arm with her elbow and shook her head almost imperceptibly. He wisely turned to his console without another word. She might have not been around Jason for a few years, but she could still recognize the warning signs. It was something Doc had never learned, as he still managed to push Jason’s buttons until it sometimes escalated to a physical altercation that the rest of the crew would have to break up.

“We’re ready to rock and roll, Captain. Course laid in and you’re clear to engage,” Kage said from the right seat. As Jason hit the control to engage the slip-drive, Taryn was laughing out loud.

“Did he just say rock and roll?”