Star Glory (Empire Series Book 1) Read online

  “Your Prime Apprentice delivers fourteen humans to your presence,” it said in a series of barks. “They were non-violent after their arrival and during our transit here. Their leader speaks of trade and killing Empire vessels.”

  The creature’s eyestalks separated, looking us over. One eyestalk bent toward our guide. “Remain and observe.” Three eyestalks leaned toward us. “Captain Neil Skorzeny of the heavy cruiser Star Glory, you are in my presence. What trade do you offer?”

  The captain gestured forward Bjorg, O’Connor, Cassandra and Morales. Owanju, Osashi and the other two suited Marines fell back and took up positions to our rear and either side. Standing next to Oksana, Bill, Warren and Evelyn, I focused my attention on the creature who was the boss of this pirate base. Or raider base, to use his term. His infrared glow was as bright as a human’s glow. The strongest glows were at its bulbous head and its underbelly. Lesser glows showed on its giant claw and stick-finger arms. It held a black square in its right stick-finger hand.

  “What items do you most desire?” the captain said. “We humans understand barter trade. We are prepared to trade. But I must understand your needs before I can select from among our possessions something that will appeal to you.”

  All four eyestalks leaned toward the captain. “Your ship killed the raider ship using small devices that emitted intense x-rays. The leader of another raider ship arrived at that vessel. It found nothing alive. Yet the ship is intact and operational.” It paused, brown chitin-teeth chomping down. White saliva dripped from its lower jaw. “We raiders possess light beams similar to the ones your ship shot at the raider. We do not possess a weapon that kills all life on a ship yet leaves the ship intact. Since we are raiders, acquiring a weapon that allows us to capture intact a ship and its cargo appeals to me.”

  I could not read alien body language. But its translated words and their meaning told me the captain had a valuable item in our x-ray thermonuke warheads. However, EarthGov policy was to never trade weapons to rebels or religious fanatics. But these rebels hated the Empire of Eternity as much as we did. And they had been fighting it far longer than any human. The phrase “The enemy of my enemy is my ally” came to mind.

  “That weapon we call an x-ray laser thermonuclear warhead. Our specialists long ago designed a weapon that used the photon emissions from a thermonuclear blast to power the x-ray rods inside the warhead,” the captain said, his voice measured. “We launched four missiles that contained five warheads each. Each warhead possesses ten x-ray laser rods. When we detonated the warheads, 200 x-ray laser beams shot out and hit the raider ship.” The captain smiled. “Perhaps it was overkill. But it sufficed to kill the attacking raider. And to persuade the other raider to veer off. Do you wish to possess one of our warheads?”

  The lobster-centipede’s toothy mouth opened. His tongue flapped. “I wish to possess many warheads. How many will you trade to me?”

  “It depends,” the captain said. “A reason we came here was to obtain weaponry we do not possess, yet. The Melanchon told me you and this base possess the secret to the antimatter beam used by Empire ships. Will you trade us the knowledge of such a weapon?”

  The four eyestalks leaned back. “I will do more. I will order my device fabricators to build an antimatter beam emitter and attach it to your vessel. Your Star Glory possesses a particle accelerator at one end. That is the source of the antimatter you use to add speed to your thrusters. How many x-ray warheads will you give me for acquiring a working antimatter beamer?”

  The captain breathed sharply. “I will trade you twenty warheads. Since each warhead contains five thermonuke bombs, each surrounded by ten x-ray laser rods, you will gain the ability to emit 1,000 x-ray beams.” Our boss looked back. He gestured to me. “My assistant Petty Officer Stewart there works with our antimatter storage and injector tubes. He will work with your fabricators to install the antimatter beamer. Do you accept this trade?”

  “Trade is accepted,” Tik-long said.

  “Good. We also wish to extend the range of our CO2 and proton lasers to match the 100,000 kilometer range of the Empire ships. Can you modify our lasers to do this?”

  “We cannot,” the Decider clacked. “No one knows how the Empire light beams have such a long reach. Our raider ship beams can strike as far as your beams reached, no further. The fact your x-ray laser device reaches further is part of its value.”

  The captain put hands on his hips. “The Melanchon told me you possess the secret to increasing our normal space speed by fifty percent. That would match the speed of Empire ships. Will you install such a device on my ship?”

  The drooling mouth moved. “We call such devices a magfield drive. It either pulls on a star’s magnetic field or pushes against it. Its invisible effect adds speed to the thruster speed you showed on your journey here. What will you trade me for such a device?”

  Captain Skorzeny looked over to the people with him. “My star specialist Doctor Cassandra Murphy and my specialist leader Doctor Magnus Bjorg possess the locations of 294 stars with planets. None of them are controlled by the Empire. Doctor Murphy, will you illustrate?”

  “Yes sir, captain.” She held up her tablet and pointed one end of it toward the lobster-centipede. Three light beams shot out and formed a person-high holo in front of her. “Here is the Orion Arm, with the locations of 294 stars with planets noted as blinking green dots.”

  As before we all saw the curving sweep of white, red, blue and yellow stars that make up Orion Arm. The lower left end of the star arm touched an inner curving arm, which was the Sagittarius-Carina Arm. The scatter of 294 stars blinked greenly starting halfway up the arm. The scatter reached out to the end of the uparm segment, a distance of 5,000 light years.

  “Decider Tik-long, your raiders are welcome to set up another base at any of those stars, if the planet is not occupied by the Melanchon or other refugee species who become our allies,” the captain said. “We humans live around a yellow star in the upper arm. We are creating a NATO of the Stars. The Melanchon are its first member and have their own copy of this star record. If you agree to not attack any human ship, nor the ship of any allied species, I will trade you this record in return for this magfield drive.” He gestured to his right. “My thrusters engineer is Chief Warrant Officer Robert O’Connor. Do you accept this trade?”

  The four blue eyestalks leaned forward. “Why do you offer us this star and planet knowledge? Besides greed for my magfield device.”

  “We humans believe in mutual assistance when one member of an alliance is attacked by someone else, like Empire of Eternity ships. It is my hope that if we gain enough refugee species who build colonies around these stars, we will become strong enough to discourage the Empire from completing its conquest of Orion Arm.” The captain looked back at the rest of us, his expression thoughtful. He faced forward. “But that will take years to achieve. In that time there will be Empire ships transiting and moving uparm. A new base allows you a place from which to strike out at those ships. And if the Empire conquers this system, you will have a backup base for you and your raider ships. Do you accept this trade offer?”

  “Trade is accepted.” The red plated creature shifted its eyestalks to look at one side of the dome enclosure. “Secondary and Tertiary Assistants, enter now and approach.”

  To our right a hatch suddenly opened. Through it came two aliens. One was like the armadillo crossed with a kangaroo. The second alien was a four-armed red-furred mountain gorilla. They hopped and strode over, stopping at the edge of the water moat. The Decider’s eyestalks split, with two focused on the captain and two on the newcomers.

  “Is our trading at an end?”

  “Not quite,” the captain said, surprising me. I would have thought that gaining the antimatter beamer and the magfield spacedrive put us on equal footing with the Empire ships. Clearly the captain wanted something else. “We obtained the plans for gamma ray lasers from the Melanchon. But our ship’s fabrication shop is limited to
basic repairs. Behind me are two specialists, Petty Officer Bill Watson and Corporal Warren Johnson. They know laser weapons.” The captain gestured back to them. “Would you be willing to fabricate two gamma ray laser nodes, one for each side of my ship, at the same time you are installing the antimatter beamer?”

  “That can be done,” clacked Tik-long. “What do you offer in trade?”

  The captain nodded to our farm chief. “Beside me is Lieutenant Gladys Morales. She manages our Farm Deck and our Forest Room. While she raises mostly food crops and small animals, she also has planted medical biologicals. She also possesses the genetic code for the tree that produces quinine, a chemical that greatly reduces fever and inflammation.” Skorzeny faced the lobster-crab. “If your fabricators will install two gamma ray laser nodes on my ship, Morales will gift you with cuttings and seeds from any medical biologicals that appeal to you. Surely some of the beings on this station have medical needs that cannot be met by robot healers. Do you accept this trade?”

  “The trade is accepted.” Its eyestalks split again. One looked to the raccoon-being, one to the captain and two to the newcomers. Its white-drooling mouth opened. “Prime Assistant, take the human Stewart with you to the antimatter assembly chamber.” One eyestalk leaned toward the armadillo-kangaroo alien. “Secondary Assistant MekaSop, take the human O’Connor with you to the storage area for magfield devices. Work with him to make an interior installation on the human ship.” The other eyestalk fixed on the gorilla. “Tertiary Assistant Lalamoo, take the humans Watson and Johnson to Fabricator Hall Three. Acquire their plans for this gamma ray laser. Set the fabricators to building them. Work with the humans to install the lasers on the ship Star Glory at the spots they indicate.” The boss alien shifted all four eyestalks back to the captain. “Is there another trade you wish to offer?”

  “Three trades are enough for now,” the captain said calmly. He gestured to the right to Cassie. “My assistant can now transfer the star and planet locations to your device, if you wish.”

  The lobster-crab reared back a bit, lifting its front rows of centipede feet free of the ground. The it plopped back down. “You human, you will provide that information before my fabricators install the antimatter beamer?”

  “I will. We will.” The captain stepped forward to the edge of the moat. “As I warned you in our first contact, we humans are deadly. Anyone who makes a promise to us, but then seeks to not fulfill that promise, that person . . . will regret such an action.” The captain put his right hand on his holstered .45. “Do you understand?”

  “The alternative to failure is understood,” the creature clacked. Two of its eyestalks leaned toward Cassie. “Human Cassandra, you may cross the flowing water and approach close enough to transmit your data to my memory device.” It held up its black square.

  Cassie walked slowly to the edge of the flowing water. To one side I noticed that Prime Assistant Wick-lo’s black-striped fur stood out stiffly. Clearly it was surprised at the order given by its boss. My friend stepped into the moat water, which came up halfway to her knees, making wet her camo pants. She walked a meter, then stepped out of the moat. Holding her own tablet before her, she walked halfway up the hill. She stopped two meters shy of the boss alien.

  “If you will aim your memory device toward mine, I will transmit the coordinates, descriptions and types of worlds recorded around the 294 stars.”

  The lobster-centipede did as she asked. Its eyestalks split, though, with one stalk looking to Wick-lo, one to the captain and two to its other assistants. “Transmit the knowledge.”

  Cassie smiled. “It’s done. Thank you.” She turned, climbed down the hill, crossed the moat and rejoined the captain.

  Tik-long rose up on his dozens of tiny feet. Then he flowed down his hill to the moat, crossed it using a scatter of stones and stopped on our side of it. Its long and low form was dangerous looking, even if it only stood a meter high. Its chitin-toothed mouth clacked.

  “I would go with your human Morales to see the medical biologicals you spoke of. Will you allow me onto your ship, Captain Neil Skorzeny?”

  The captain stepped back a few feet. Cassie, Morales, Bjorg and O’Connor did the same, leaving an open space between them and the boss alien.

  “You are welcome to board my ship. Lieutenant Morales, will you please guide Decider Tik-long back to the warehouse entered, then past our Marines? I will signal them that Tik-long can be admitted.”

  “Sir, yes sir,” Morales said, stepping toward the lobster-centipede.

  “Decider!” barked Wick-lo. “You have not left this chamber in many cycles of the world above. This is dangerous!”

  The four blue eyestalks looked to the assistant. “So are these humans. I am sure their armored guardians will keep me safe along the Mainstream concourse.” The alien shifted its bulbous head and spit. A white globule flew out, landing on brown dirt. Hissing sounded and the dirt melted under the globule. “And as you know, I have my own natural means of offense.” Three of its eyestalks looked aside to us. “Prime Assistant Wick-lo, go with the human Stewart to the antimatter assembly chamber. Secondary Assistant MekaSop, take the human O’Connor to the storage area for magfield devices. Tertiary Assistant Lalamoo, take the humans Watson and Johnson to Fabrication Hall Three.” Its eyestalks focused back on our boss. “Captain Neil Skorzeny, you and your other humans are welcome to roam the Mainstream concourse. There are locations where plant and animal foods are served to those who eat matter. There are other locations where liquids are served that elevate one’s senses. There are even a few locations where beings enter, put on devices that stimulate their minds, and become any kind of being known to exist within Warm Swirl.” It paused as it scurried closer to Morales. “For today, advise such locations to bill my abode for any expense you incur. Later, one of my assistants can advise you on the metals and jewels that are accepted for purchase of minor items. Shall we depart?”

  “Decider Tik-long, thank you for your trades,” the captain said, moving to walk alongside the lobster-centipede and Gladys Morales. “Owanju, send the okay to the entry security Marines. The rest of you, come with me. It will be interesting to see what kind of multi-species cafeterias are present on this station!”

  I moved to walk alongside the hopping form of Wick-lo. My boss walked along with the armadillo-kangaroo alien. Bill and Warren joined the ambling gait of the red-furred mountain gorilla. Cassie and Bjorg responded to star and planet questions clacked to them by Tik-long. Oksana gave me a look of wonder crossed with puzzlement. Lovely Evelyn nodded to me, her freckles dark. And her infrared glow was brighter than my other friends. Clearly she was concerned about something. I gave a smile and a wink. She looked surprised, then winked back at me, her manner easing. We all aimed for the exit to the access tube. As we walked, hopped and ambled, I felt my heart beating fast. The captain had done wonders in negotiating vital trades for my ship. The boss alien was even going to visit Gladys’ farm. And the Star Glory was about to undergo a major weapons and engine upgrade. Which made me wonder what the raider version of a space drydock looked like. It seemed I would soon find out. Which left me hoping there were multi-species vacsuits in any airlock leading outside, since my personal vacsuit was back on our ship. Then I told myself the visit of the boss alien to our ship was a guarantee of safety for any human that did not cause trouble. It seemed a reasonable assumption.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  A week later I stood at the edge of the drydock that held the 340 meter-long length of the Star Glory. The ship’s bow lay far to my left. Its stern was just below my vacsuit’s magboots. Beside me stood the raccoon-being Wick-lo. Who was a male, I had learned. His vacsuit hugged his furry body and had turned black under the impact of the local star’s radiation. As had my vacsuit. But his globular helmet was clear. Like me he could clearly see what I saw. Which was a giant derrick-like machine that was now lowering the antimatter beamer block into contact with the stern of my ship. The derrick arm was placing the
square of the beamer just below the circular tube of the particle accelerator. That meant the beamer would rest on the outer hull of the Engineering Deck. We had already completed the fabrication of a large antimatter injector tube that ran across the overhead above my station. The tube ran through the inner hull, through the water layer lying beyond it and then past the thick armored hull that we now looked at. The square block of the beamer was settling down atop the round portal of the AM injector tube. This was the final step. Once the block’s curved bottom met the curve of the outer hull, welding of the contact perimeter would be done by the ten floating aliens in vacsuits who each held laser welders in their paws, pincers, claws or other grippers. Inside the block an antimatter engineer would complete the power connections with the ship’s fusion reactor on Engineering. That power link up would make the beamer operational. Inside the block there was a seat for the person chosen by the captain to operate the beamer. Of course we would not test the beamer until my ship separated from the raider base. And we were close to being able to do that. I looked past the AM block to the ship’s midbody. A boarding tube linked it to the base below. The tube led into a new warehouse entry guarded by the Marines. More important were the two domes on either side that were new.

  “Are the gamma ray laser nodes operational?”

  “Nearly,” barked Wick-lo over the radio comlink shared by our suits. “The nodes were attached to the sides of your vessel yesterday. Power cables have been run to the nodes. Like this block there is a laser operator seat inside each node, with an entry shaft to the inside of your ship’s Weapons Deck.”

  The nearby alien had spent most of the last week working with me as I took it to our Engineering Deck, my AM work station, our Antimatter Fuel Deck and the midbody Armories and Weapons Deck. He had even gotten used to the Gotcha practical jokes played on him by Heidi. According to Wick-lo, the AI that guarded the interior dome of Tik-long had no sense of humor. It was a functional AI that ran the entire base, operated its external laser weapons, and monitored every ship that docked with the base. Wick-lo seemed to like the differentness of Heidi. I gestured at the silvery ring which sat on the outer surface of the beamer block.