Galactic Freighter: Scourge of the Deep Space Pirates (Contact) (33 page)

"Couldn't avoid it," Evans said his voice crowded with apprehension. "Wouldn't leave their families and you did say to do whatever necessary to get them here."

Mahoney drew a deep breath. "Mjonca, what do you think? How can I best handle this problem?" He leaned back in his chair and gave a reassuring smile at the woman.

Mjonca, as a distant relative of Emperor Djac, could open many doors for Mahoney and create contacts made that otherwise would elude him.

"Ask for an audience with Djac," she said her voice soft and yet purposeful. "He will grant an exception and that will be the end of the matter."

Mahoney nodded his approval as Evans slapped his leg. "Don't seem much different than human women."

Two Kalazecis launches arrived to ferry the two hundred scientists, engineers, technicians, wives, husbands and children to the surface.

Chapter Thirty-Two:
Departure

J
arred Mahoney tapped the icon on his desk. "Sub-Minister, what can I do for you?" This call he didn't need.

"You are to report to the Minister's office and bring the woman." Ziloc's voice seemed as hard as he had ever heard it.

"You sound like a man with a problem. We are to space in ten hours and I have a lot to do." The Minister had pared his request for six Kalazecis ships to five, which amounted to no more than having the last say. Letting him have five ships out of five hundred in their fleet made little difference to them.

Mahoney tried to keep the irritation from his response. He rated high with most Kalazecis but never with the Foreign Minister.

"What does he want?"

"In one hour, be at the Minister's office." The icon blinked off.

Mahoney turned his chair toward Mjonca, who gazed through the porthole. "What do you suppose is on the Minister's mind? It can't be good."

They casually went from the Kalazecis language to English, both having learned the other's.

Where Kalazecis were concerned, he often relied on Mjonca's input. As expected, she had a firm understanding of her people's concerns. The look on her face didn't bode well. She turned from the small plasti-glass porthole to face the two men; her full-length gown swirled, and quietly said, "It's about me." Her long flowing blond hair glistened in the overhead light.

He motioned her toward the chair next to him.

Sitting, she brushed imaginary wrinkles from her dress.

Hesitantly, she said, "He will ask if I'm to leave with you and if so as your wife."

"Why do you spend so much time staring at the sky?" he asked as if ignoring her response. He should have anticipated the question, just not from the Foreign Minister.

"There is so much to see and until I came aboard your ship, I have never seen such splendor and beauty. Much of this is not visible from Myslac and it is so seldom I get to see the night sky. I want to make the best of this opportunity." Apprehension seemed to smother her words as if she feared Mahoney would reject her coming with him.

"Worried I'll not take you with me?" In one of the few times in his life, Jarred Mahoney let his guard down and said, "I want you with me if that's what you want. All you have to do is say yes."

Mjonca stood and rushed into his arms. "Of course, I will go anywhere with you.

Kalazecis culture excluded women from most of the privileges allowed men, but being involved with a relative of the Emperor so far had worked in his favor. Her prestige and pedigree allowed him to get things done that otherwise would have taken years to achieve. Those who mattered knew her presence came with Djac's blessing.

***

He prepared to meet with the minister and that meant wearing his formal blue suit. He changed and together they left his cabin after ordering the shuttle prepared for launch.

At the spaceport, an aircar waited to take them to the foreign ministry. Approaching the large obsidian-covered building, Mahoney wondered how they'd managed to process the hard brittle material. The synthetic processing construction reinforced his conviction that these beings had developed very little of their technology.

A Pagmok, in the traditional gray uniform but with a silver shoulder cord, escorted them up the steps. His eyes, as expected, avoided Mjonca. Inside, a Kalazecis in a dark blue uniform, his shoulder cord gold, led them to the Foreign Minister's office.

Mahoney's shoes clicked with each step off the black flooring a marked contrast to white marble walls and ceiling. Not one picture adorned the hallway.

The door opened as they approached.

A male Kalazecis secretary avoided looking at Mjonca, stood, ushered them into the office and announced them by name.

Inside, the Minister offered no welcome. His short bony finger pointed toward chairs fronting his large ornate desk.

He held to the custom never looking at Mjonca. His voice cold, uncaring he asked, "Woman, do you wish to leave Myslac with the human, Jarred Mahoney?"

It was the first time Mahoney could recall that the Minister had used his name let alone his first and last, all other times he said
human
, and to speak to a woman not his wife—another first.

Not waiting for her answer, the Minister added, "It will be a hard life. From what we have seen he treats you kindly." That implied that when not seen his actions were different. "However, the women of his world may not be so benevolent. You do not know of the time when humans lived among us and for a while ruled as our Emperors. Even then, the Kalazecis women treated the human women poorly. You will be with no support, no one to turn to other than Mahoney. We cannot know how he will be when among his own kind. Think hard and long woman—long and hard."

Mahoney eyed Mjonca and waited. He took the Minister's words as a warning that others might not want her to leave and any effort on his part to persuade her could jeopardize the use of the Pagmok warriors and Kalazecis ships.

"Mahoney," Mjonca quietly spoke but in the presence of a male Kalazecis not her husband or consort, it was another first, "What the Minister speaks is the truth, the truth for both of us. I am not one of your human women. I have seen vids of them and many are beautiful. I cannot compete with them."

Actually, in terms of a Kalazecis, her beauty was second to none. Soft hair covered most of her body, always neat and shortly trimmed, but hair it was. Her eyes, slightly slanted, had that Asian appearance and no more than a hint of a nose set her apart but by any standard, Mjonca’s beauty match any humans’.

Mahoney held his response. Everything the Minister said he had considered and had no more of an answer than did Mjonca. His biggest concern was that anything said might destroy his long planned attack on Sebastian. He and Djac's relationship seemed reasonable, but with a royal, you never knew. There was no one who could or dared challenge anything the Emperor said.

Then Mjonca dropped the bomb. "I carry your child."

That brought the Minister to his feet and Mahoney's mouth dropped open. His first reaction was one of anger. Why hadn't she told him? His mind raced. How should he respond in front of the Minister? The wrong word and everything, all his hopes would be no more than a wild dream. Would Djac permit him to leave? Doctors had doubted that inter-species conception could happen. Now it was here. Conjecture over how a child would look had been the butt of many stories among the Kalazecis.

"This changes everything." The Minister’s voice was like a whiplash. He punched an icon on his desk and asked for a secure line to Djac. After the appropriate approbations, he said, "Majesty, the woman is with child."

Absolute silence dominated both ends of the comm. "Are the human and the woman present? Can they hear my voice?"

Mahoney answered yes for both.

"The woman must remain on Myslac until the child is born," he said indifferently and broke the connection.

Mahoney stiffened. Knowing the Emperor as he did, Djac had said all that he intended. To be overly concerned with the woman was not in the nature of any Kalazecis and Djac's response embodied the epitome of any male Kalazecis. The finality to Djac's words was not unexpected. The choice to leave or wait for the child was Mahoney's. Six ships with four thousand Pagmok warriors were to space in less than eight hours. Months, years of preparation had gone into this moment.

Mahoney let a slow deep breath loose. Both the minister and Mjonca stared at him. He should have anticipated this and thought it through but he hadn't. Years of planning and preparation were at risk. Asking Djac to change his mind wasn't an option. It wasn't mixed emotions tearing at Mahoney, but finding some way to change the discussion. He wanted Mjonca with him but the Emperor had put an end to that. The fate of his child tore at him. It could be a freak, something joked over, and he hadn't prepared for that.

The man's station, at least as he saw himself, compelled him to eliminate any consideration. He considered it put his entire plan at risk.

"Are you having second thoughts?" Mjonca asked. That brought a dour look from the Minister, a clear admonishment she should not speak again. If anyone dared to champion her cause, it would be an affront to the Minister. He could still keep Mahoney from leaving Myslac.

Mahoney had to choose his words carefully. If the decision to space remained favorable, the public would never hear of the meeting. If not, every word would become public and that could mean trouble. The human chemists and engineers still working on the chemical processing project would bear the brunt of any Kalazecis displeasure.

Mahoney's concern stopped there; after all, he'd be light years away from Myslac and could care less; most likely, never returning.

"The fleet is ready to space. I have planned for this moment for the last six years. Any delay is not acceptable. I can return when my mission, my goal is achieved."

"And the child."

A child sired by a human and Kalazecis, others may reject it. What then? He wasn't prepared to deal with a child that could not find a home among humans. And that meant Mjonca would be treated the same if neither were welcomed on the human world?"

"For the last six years, passages, I have given my entire being to preparing for this moment, the time when I could reclaim what is mine. Thousands of credits, men, and women have worked to make this possible.

He turned toward Mjonca. The look on her face told him she knew his answer. She left the room crying.

Mahoney faced the Minister, whose expression was more sarcasm and said, "I will return for her." Of that, Mahoney wasn't certain and his voice lacked conviction.

"If you want, vid's of the child will be commed to you."

Mahoney nodded with an amused smile. He didn't bother to look for Mjonca. Instead, he quickly left the ministry and boarded the shuttle for the Dolin Elite.

He would space as planned.

Chapter Thirty-Three:
Katakan

T
en parsecs out of Myslac, twenty transports from Cratten joined the growing armada, all provisioned with food for the Pagmok warriors. Twenty parsecs from Katakan, on the far side of the
void
, thirty civilian ships modified for combat and one hundred military joined the fleet of five battle cruisers and the Dolin Elite. The fifteen other dissidents had required little urging to commit their warships once they knew Mahoney had the five Kalazecis battle cruisers and four thousand Pagmok warriors. They all expected this to be the end of Emperor Sebastian and the Ionian empire.

"Katakan in one T-day," the comm operator said.

Mahoney ordered the fleet to reverse and come to a stop.

Captain Evans’s reminder that was not a good idea didn't change the order. Dead in space left any ship vulnerable. "If we can see them, they can see us."

Mahoney ignored the admonition, something not new to the captain.

The trip from Myslac to Katakan hadn’t been without difficulty. Four thousand Pagmok warriors cooped up for a T-year aboard five spaceships created the expected troubles. Several Pagmok had died in fights, seventeen by the last count Mahoney had received. No Pagmok could board the Dolin Elite, keeping the problems confined to the Kalazecis battle cruisers.

Each ship carried a Kalazecis, a relative and representative of the Emperor. They controlled the Pagmok by supplying their food—meat. All Pagmok seemed to accept the leadership of the Kalazecis without reservation. The warriors lacked the ability to govern themselves and needed few reminders that they were nothing but naked cannibals before being subjugated by the Kalazecis. The Kalazecis dedicated three worlds and over half of Myslac to nothing but breeding creatures as Pagmok food.

Mahoney left the bridge for his cabin. At the computer, he inserted a prepared data chip into the comm and sent a tight-beam message.

One hour later, he read the information giving the layout of the planet's defenses, numbers of troops and orbital weapons including the military spaceships. To Mahoney's delight, all but two of the ships assigned to guard the planet were on maneuvers some five light days distant. It concerned him the fleet would travel so far for something usually done closer to the home world. Often, that meant a larger exercise involving more ships but the report said nothing of a joint operation. Iona would retaliate, try to evict him from Katakan, but neither their army nor Marines had ever faced anything like the Pagmok in a ground fight. Over one million civilians on the surface restricted what the Ionian fleet could do from orbit. That Katakan's military was in for a major beating amused Mahoney, as did the fate of the civilians. He had absolute confidence that the Pagmok could and would defeat anything Iona or the Katakan Army might attempt.

Finally, he dismissed his concerns. For six T-years, he had prepared for this moment and nothing would stop him.

The Pagmok warriors would make the difference. He had what he needed to be successful. Enough worked in his favor. Once within energy cannon range, his ships would target the government and military structures, their command and control, and then land the Pagmok. He had spent time watching the vid's of the Pagmok in action and had no doubt the Katakan army would panic when faced with these formidable meat eaters. Those who had viewed the war scenes came to the same conclusion: Pagmok warriors were absolutely fearless. He didn't care to watch and would stay aboard the Dolin Elite. Before leaving his cabin, he picked up the vid of Mjonca and his child. The child, she had named it Ajnoc, Kalazecis for
hope
, was indeed handsome. A pang did touch him but taking Katakan overpowered any paternal instincts.