Star Viking (Extinction Wars Book 3) (25 page)

I hadn’t expected anything like this. The Emperor had moved quicker than I’d thought he would. It appeared that he had ordered a blockade around our region of space. It seemed like a wide and rather porous net. I wondered on the Emperor’s reasoning. I knew too little regarding the many factors an Emperor would have to take into account for his crusade. Maybe the wide blockade had more to do with halting the efforts of Orange Tamika than catching humans. Maybe catching humans was simply a pretext for the flotilla being here. That made more sense.

Whatever the real reason for the warships, it showed me that at least one other Tamika had joined the crusade. It showed, too, the Emperor had kept good on his threat. He meant to wipe us out.

Standing in the reception area, I exhaled. Zoe and Ella waited with me.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Creed,” Ella said.

“Don’t I always?” I asked.

Ella snorted softly.

On a hand monitor, I noticed the arrival of the Lord Inspector Senior Razor Dagon. He came in a rakish shuttle with several star fighters flying guard. The procession reminded me of a parade more than a military exercise.

Soon, outer locks
clanged
and pressure gages
hissed
.

“Remember,” I said. “We’re traders. That means we cringe and act awed toward them.”

“I just want to kill,” Zoe said.

“Finesse,” I said. “It’s all about finesse.”

“I like that coming from you,” Ella said.

“Good.”

A louder hiss told me it was time. I straightened, pasting a fake smile onto my face. I wore a red silk shirt, fluffy green pants, a green cape and boots. It made me feel like a Christmas ornament.

The hatch opened and three big Lokhar guards stepped forth. They wore body armor but lacked exo-skeleton strength. Good. They underestimated us. Each guard cradled a big machine gun, looking as if he wanted to unload his weapon into our bodies.

Another impressive Lokhar stepped up. He wore gaudy red garments and swept the floor with a broom. The last Lokhar appeared, Senior Razor Dagon. His fur had good color, but he stooped. That meant he was older than I’d realized. I suspected the Lord Inspector used fur coloring.

Stepping forward, I went to one knee, bowing my head.

“You are the trader?” Senior Razor Dagon asked.

“I am, lord.”

“Rise,” he said. “Show me to your storeroom and these precious gems you spoke so highly about. I am eager to select my gift.”

I stood, keeping my head bowed before him. “Would you like to see the rest of the vessel first, lord?”

“No,” he said, sounding irritated. “I told you my desire. Now attend to it.”

“Yes, great lord. I obey.” Turning, I swirled the cape and pointed at Ella. “Hurry wench, open the hatch for the mighty Lokhar of Crimson Tamika.”

Struggling to keep from rolling her eyes, Ella tugged the hatch open. I strode through. Next, the three guards followed, the other with his swishing broom and finally Senior Razor Dagon.

As he moved through the corridor, the chief Lokhar sniffed aloud. “I detect a taint of oil in the air,” he said. “On the outside, this looked like a new vessel. Within…I am displeased at the state of the recycling unit.”

“I will beat the chief engineer, lord. Of this, I assure you.”

“Never mind about that,” he said. “Let’s hurry to your storeroom.”

I took them on a long walk through the corridors. As I’d guessed, the chief Lokhar wasn’t in as good a condition as the guards. Soon, he panted. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him open his snout to complain about the length of our trek.

“We’re almost there, lord,” I said.

Senior Razor Dagon nodded brusquely.

“There, wench,” I said, pointing at the selected hatch. “Hurry, open it for his magnificence.”

Ella opened the hatch.

“Out of the way,” I said, pushing her onto the deck plates. “This way, lord. This is my inner sanctum of gems.”

I jumped through. The three Lokhar guards followed, each of them ducking his head.

I spun around, having slipped a sap from my pants pocket and into my right hand. As the first guard straightened, I swung. The sap connected against his forehead. He dropped hard onto the deck. The second guard I caught under the chin. His fangs clicked together, his head lifting. On the next swing, the sap caught him on the left temple, and he, too, dropped onto the deck plates. The last guard got off a single shot. The bullet smashed against a bulkhead. I swung. He blocked with his rifle, catching my forearm.

With a yell—my forearm bone throbbed—I ducked. He swung with the butt of his machine gun. The hard wood swished over me. Charging him, I hit his midsection with my shoulder and hammered his back against a wall. He grunted, dropped his weapon and struck my head with the bottom of his fists. That staggered me so I stumbled away from him. The guard growled, picking up his fallen machine gun. I hurled the sap. It hit his face and gave me a moment’s grace. I whipped out a force blade and thrust. The powered knife hissed as it cut through armor and buried into his chest. Blood jetted from the wound and he gaged on the gore bubbling in his mouth. I barely moved aside fast enough to escape most of the blood and his falling body that thudded onto the deck.

I found myself staring into the eyes of Senior Razor Dagon. Ella had taken down the sweeper.

“You’re mad,” the tiger said in a hoarse voice. “All of you are as good as dead.”

First flicking off the force blade, I jumped through the hatch and wrestled the old Lokhar around.

“Unhand me,” he demanded.

He’d have been better off fighting instead of jabbering. In seconds, I had his arms pinned behind him. Ella snapped plastic ties onto his wrists. Forcing his head down, I pushed him into the room with his deceased guards.

“You are dead,” he said. “You’re all as good as dead.”

“Give me a hand,” I told Zoe.

She rushed in. Together, we manhandled the protesting Lokhar into a chair, strapping him into place, immobilizing his head with steel bands.

“This will never work,” Ella told me. She slid a lead curtain out of the way, revealing the refrigerator-sized Jelk machine.

“What is that?” Senior Razor Dagon asked. He was stretched out belly-first like a pinned butterfly in a boy’s collection, with his chin resting in a groove.

With a grunt, Ella rolled the machine closer. Then she opened a slot and took out the lampshade-shaped focusing device. Fiddling with it, she aligned it with the tiger’s forehead.

“You aren’t from Alpha Centauri, are you?” Dagon asked.

“Don’t answer him,” Ella said. “It will only make this more difficult.”

She clicked on the device. The main machine hummed with an obscene sound. A light appeared between the tiger’s eyes. She adjusted the dot of light.

“He’s right about one thing,” Ella said. “This is madness.”

I backed away, pulling Zoe with me. Once outside the room, I shut the hatch.

“You killed the Lokhar guards,” Zoe whispered.

“I didn’t want to.”

“It can’t work now, can it?” she asked. “Dagon will have to go back without his guards. How can he explain that to his officers so we’re not blasted out of space?”

I looked into Zoe’s eyes. “Give it a little while and we’ll find out.”

***

Fifteen minutes later, the hatch opened. Through the opening, a dazed-looking Senior Razor Dagon peered quizzically at me.

“Hello,” he said.

“Don’t speak to him,” Ella said from out of sight.

Senior Razor Dagon cocked his tiger head. He appeared more confused than before.

“Get out of his way,” Ella said.

I backed against a bulkhead. Zoe did likewise.

“Aren’t you going to speak to me?” Senior Razor Dagon asked.

I stared at the floor.

A moment later, the tiger stepped through the hatch. “I must return to my ship,” he said to no one in particular.

Ella appeared behind him. She looked haggard but determined. She didn’t say anything more.

Slowly at first, the Crimson Tamika Lokhar headed back the way he’d come. When he turned the wrong way, Ella called out to him.

The Lokhar stopped. In slow motion, he faced her.

“Commander Creed,” Ella said. “Show the great lord the way.”

“A moment,” the tiger said.

Glancing at Ella, I saw her nod. Therefore, I faced the Lokhar.

“You are the notorious animal, Commander Creed?” he asked.

“Don’t answer that,” Ella warned.

I expected Senior Razor Dagon to glance at her. He did not. Instead, the most puzzled expression of all appeared on his furry face. Finally, he motioned for me to walk ahead of him.

I did, all the way to the exit.

He donned his spacesuit. Without a word good-bye, he entered the airlock and closed the hatch.

I whirled around to Ella. “What did you tell him?” I asked.

“A form of the truth is always the easiest to sell,” she said. “I told him this ship carries the notorious Commander Creed. We’re on a secret mission in regards to the crusade.”

“That’s a big risk?”

“Do you think so?” Ella asked.

I didn’t like the look in her eyes. She seemed frazzled. “What about his dead guards?” I asked. “How is he going to explain them and the sweeper?”

“They’re to remain here and ensure our success,” Ella said.

“Do you think the Jelk conditioning will hold once he’s back on his flagship?”

“I give that a fifty percent chance of success,” she told me.

I thought about that. “Well, it’s better than what we had when he first hailed us. All right, you two did well. Let’s get back to the bridge.”

***

Like many of these affairs, the ending proved anticlimactic. Ten minutes after returning to his flagship, Senior Razor Dagon sent Rollo and Dmitri back. Twenty minutes after his return, the Lokhar hailed our ship. He spoke to Ella.

“Do you require an escort to the next jump gate?” he asked.

“No,” Ella said. “You must treat us as a regular trader. That will arouse the least suspicions regarding us.”

“I understand,” he said. “And yet…it feels as if I’m forgetting something vital.”

“Don’t you remember?” Ella asked. “The Emperor himself will reward you once this is over.”

“Ah…” he said. “Good. This is good. Good-bye, and may the Great Maker bless your enterprise.”

Ella nodded. The screen went blank.

I sucked in air several times before I managed to say, “Head for the next jump gate at full acceleration. I want to get the hell out of this star system as fast as we can.”

It would have been so much easier if Holgotha had simply transferred us to the planet Horus. We could have completed the mission already and returned home to drink beer.

Instead, the days merged into weeks. The farther we left the border region behind, the easier the receptions became toward us. Once we left Ilk territory far behind, it became like moving through the old United States. A few border guards asked a question at some crossings. At others, a sign told us we entered a new state.

Finally, the weeks merged into a month and a half. Shipboard life had become monotonous. We drilled to remain sharp, but I believe we lost some of our skills.

This wasn’t like the attack upon the portal planet. We’d had space on the Lokhar dreadnought. The
Peru
proved cramped, and I began to wonder if I should have brought half the number of troopers along.

The sheer size of the Jade League began to dawn on me. It was one thing to study a star chart. It was another to actually make jump after jump, heading ever deeper into league territory.

The extent of the league and the number of different races caused me to wonder why the aliens cared so much about Earth. How had an emperor come to worry what the Jelk did with us?

In ancient times, had our ancestors been active in space? Was there some terrible, lingering memory that propelled the aliens against us?

I’ve always thought it strange how human history just appeared almost full blown onto the scene. The greatest culprit in that regard had been Ancient Egypt. Even the early pharaohs had pyramids, while the culture had math, skull-drilling medicine, all kinds of technology including batteries. It seemed as if everything had simply leapt from Horus’ brow full grown instead of painfully climbing through stages.

I happened to remember that some of earliest Ur had roomier and richer houses than later Ur. That’s what archeologists had dug up. It meant the first ones on the scene had been wealthier than the latter. Just like in Ancient Egypt, Sumer also seemed to have simply begun with a high culture as if the people were colonists from a different time and place.

Could the story of Noah and the Flood, Gilgamesh and the Deluge have cosmic implications? Maybe old Noah had been a spacefarer kicked out of the void. Maybe the aliens had conveniently forgotten to tell us the true history of humanity. Then it would make sense why human history just seemed to pop up with advanced technology. Why did recorded history only date back to around 4000 B.C.?

I’m not talking about prehistoric times, but written, historical events. If modern Homo Sapiens had been around for one hundred thousand years as some of my teachers had taught, you’d expect to find ancient civilizations fifty thousand years old, thirty thousand. No. It never worked out like that. Around 4,000 B.C. everything seemed to appear as if with the snap of someone’s fingers. Was that when the other aliens had driven humanity from the stars?

I had no idea. But the size of the Jade League daunted me. Why would an emperor start a crusade to wipe us out? Why not just bring several hundred warships and get the job over with? Why make such a production out of it?

Even after eight years in space, I knew far too little concerning the aliens, the Forerunners and their artifacts and our place in all of this.

***

After seven weeks of travel, armed pickets began to appear again at the jump gates. We were stopped twice, endured inspections and hard questioning. I asked several trader captains about that. Their hints implied what I suspected. We passed Lokhar worlds now, and tigers were busy choosing sides for what appeared to be a brewing civil war.

On the ninth week after our encounter with Senior Razor Dagon, we neared Horus. Then, we finally had a breakthrough in a critical area.

I shot pool with Dmitri. Let me rephrase that. I stood beside the pool table with a stick in hand, watching Dmitri school me on the game.

Ella walked through the hatch.
Crack
. Dmitri shot, and I heard another billiard ball drop into a pocket. I’d hoped her appearance might have disrupted his concentration. No such luck.

“Ella,” Dmitri said, as he walked around the table.

“Dmitri,” she said, before giving me a significant glance.

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

“We’re a day out from the second to last jump gate,” she said.

“Uh-huh,” I said, watching Dmitri sink another ball.

“N7 finally hacked a planetary data core,” she said.

“What?” I asked. “The packet didn’t self-erase?”

“No,” she said.

I put up my pool stick. That finally got Dmitri’s attention.

“Where are you going?” he asked, looking up.

“Didn’t you hear Ella?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“Two more jumps and we’re at Horus.”

“We already know that,” Dmitri said, shrugging. “That still gives us plenty of time to finish the game.”

“Not me,” I said. “N7 finally hacked a data core. It’s time to plan.”

“After the game, yes?” Dmitri asked.

“Go,” I told Ella, making shooing motions. She raised an eyebrow. I made urgent shooing motions.

Finally, she headed out of the hatch. I followed as Dmitri
cracked
another billiard ball.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“I’m tired of watching him win all the time.”

Ella rolled her eyes and continued down the corridor. “Humanity’s future is at stake, and you’re worried about losing another game of pool?”

The way she put it, that sounded childish. Just once, though, I would have liked to beat Dmitri.

Ten minutes later, I stood with Ella in the chart room. N7 had hacked something called
A Jade League Catalog of Planets and Customs
. In essence, we googled the information from a hijacked alien computer core.

If some are wondering why, after eight years ,we had so little interstellar information on the Jade League, the answer was simple. In many ways, the Lokhars ran the league just as the Soviets had run the Russian Empire called the USSR. In those days, good maps had been the next thing to state secrets. We’d been having a bear of a time getting real data on the inner Lokhar worlds.

Ella and I used separate readers, ingesting the information. Twenty minutes later, N7 showed up. Our android began to sped-read files.

We discovered a few interesting facts about Horus and its star system. It possessed a G-class star with a single planet. There were no asteroids, meteors, comets, nothing, just the planet and its star. Despite its being a swamp world, the planet had desert poles with huge cracks in the rocky surface. Hot oceans separated the poles from the central continent. There, life thrived in marshy abundance. Steam rose constantly and thick fogs drifted everywhere. A high mountain range provided the living area for the Lokhars. In that region grew giant trees and large predatory snakes.

The compendium didn’t say why Purple Tamika had chosen Horus as their shrine planet. I would have dearly liked to know. A single short entry suggested the Shi-Feng used Horus as a training center.

I set down my reader. Hadn’t Doctor Sant told me no one spoke about the Shi-Feng? Why did this data chip have information about them then? Shrugging, I stretched my back and continued reading.

The planet lacked mineral resources, manufacturing centers and did not appear to produce art of any kind. So what good was it?

“Maybe it used to be a prison planet,” Ella said. “Long ago, the elders of Purple Tamika were exiled on the mountains. They rose up and came back to win the empire. Hence, they turned Horus into a shrine planet.”

“Maybe,” I said.

“I have a different theory,” N7 said. “The planet appears to have religious significance.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

N7 tapped his reader. “I just read about an ancient Forerunner city. Eons ago, it sank into the world ocean.”

“Ah,” Ella said. “It appears they have an Atlantis myth. This is interesting.”

“Pardon?” N7 asked her.

“Forget about Atlantis,” I said. “What about this sunken city?”

N7 blinked twice before continuing. “Purple Tamika excavates the underwater city. Yet the procedure is perilous. Water monsters constantly attack the submarines. Underwater volcanoes spew hot mud and ash on the finds. Still the priests search through the watery ruins for clues to the First Ones.”

“Okay,” I said, “Horus appears to be a religious shrine planet. I seem to recall Shah Claath talking about a shrine planet before.”

“You refer to the Sigma Draconis system,” N7 said. “Shah Claath and his brethren wanted something from the planetary shrine. That is why we attacked the Planetary Defense Station.”

“That’s old news,” I said. “I want to know where this Hall of Honor is located. Have you found out yet?”

N7 pointed at a screen chart. It showed the small habitable area on the central mountain plateau. “The hall lies in the city of Zelambre,” he said. “It is the largest metropolitan center on Horus, complete with a spaceport.”

“Give me a magnification of Zelambre,” I said.

N7 did, showing us a dismal place. Mist drifted over wide canals crisscrossing a city built of log cabins, log palaces and log stadiums. Big motorized dugout canoes traversed the waterways as they used to in Venice, Italy.

“Seems primitive for a spacefaring race,” I said.

“Since Purple Tamika could presumably build any type of city they desired,” Ella said, “we can surmise they raised Zelambre this way for a reason.”

“Sure,” I said. “It’s still primitive.”

“That might make sense for a religious center,” she said.

“No,” I said. “The Forerunner city is underwater in the ocean, not perched in the mountains. Zelambre houses the Hall of Honor. That’s not religious.”

“Maybe the two are related,” Ella said. “Maybe honor is part of their religion.”

“Whatever,” I said. “In the end, it doesn’t matter for our strike. What are their orbital defenses like? Have you found anything about that?”

“The compendium did not specify the planetary defenses,” N7 said.

With my elbows on a table, I bent my head, rubbing my temples. “It’s strange when you think about it. We’ve come all this way to hit them in the heart, and the planet turns out to be a primitive place stuck in a swamp.”

“It is Purple Tamika’s origin point,” N7 said. “Clearly, they wish to preserve it in its original state.”

“Well, parts of it are primitive,” I said. “The oceanography shows us they’re willing to use modern technology to search the ancient city.”

“That is an astute observation,” N7 said.

“Yeah,” I said. “Well, it looks like we’ll have to wait to make our final plans until we see how well they guard the planet.”

“Another three days should bring us to Horus,” Ella said.

I stared at the orbital shot of the log city. It must have been taken on one of the rare clear days. Clouds normally covered every inch of the planet. It was strange. The Emperor brought a crusading armada against the poisoned Earth. Many hundreds of light years away, we readied to strike a primitive swamp world.

If we won here, could we get back home in time to stop the Emperor? I had no idea. I just knew I was going to try with everything I had.

***

That sleep period on my cot, I wondered just how sacred these shrine planets were to the Lokhars and to the other Jade League members. The aliens had formed their league to halt the depredations of the Jelk Corporation. The league races protected the artifacts. I’d been with Claath when he attacked a shrine planet at the Sigma Draconis system. The Jelk fixation on the planetary shrine had helped to give us assault troopers time to make our play for freedom.

The historical Vikings had struck at Christian monasteries in the Dark Ages. Among the Christian princes and kings of England, France and Germany, such places were held in reverence. The Viking raids against the Church had shocked the Christians of that era. Since the Vikings had originally been pagans, worshiping Odin and Thor, they hadn’t given a fig about insulting God or Christ.

How would the Jade League races react to our attack against the Purple Tamika Hall of Honor? Would it outrage the Lokhars? Would it outrage other aliens to such an extent that they would unite even more vigorously against humanity?

I had no idea. If we were lucky, the Lokhars would guard their Hall of Honor with as much force as the medieval Christians had originally guarded the monasteries, which was to say, not at all.

We were the Star Vikings, and we planned to hit Purple Tamika where it hurt the most.