The Deadly Pact Page 15

  The Gol raised his left arm and slid a long, slim rod from his belt as he did so. He aimed the rod first at Aves, then Patho, stunning the men in quick succession. Patho felt his muscles turn to jelly and he collapsed bonelessly to the floor. He felt his body hitting, but there was no pain. A part of his brain that still seemed to be his mused that he was going to have a heck of a collection of bruises once his feeling came back.

  Patho’s next lucid moment found him in a small room, about the size of the cell he’d been sharing with Aves. He was restrained flat on his back on some kind of gurney or narrow bed. Broad, cloth straps held his wrists, ankles, and head along with three straps across his torso, waist, and knees. Patho tested the strength of the straps first pulling one way, then another. There was no give in the material and repeated efforts only started to chafe his skin.

  “Struggling will do no good. Even a Woduur could not rip free of those restraints. I’ve administered a drug to you that will allow you to cooperate with my questions. I would appreciate you describing the sensations you experience as it takes hold, please.”

  Patho craned his head around and saw Yi-Ka standing at the top of the bed he was strapped to.

  “Ah, how inconsiderate of me.” The Gol slithered into Patho’s field of view. “I can imagine how unsettling it must be to have someone hovering just out of sight when you are held in this way.”

  “Uh, well, yes. That’s true,” Patho said. He hadn’t meant to say that, but somehow, he had spoken without thinking.

  “Describe how you’re feeling, Captain Patho,” The Gol said. Something about the smooth, rolling way his native language flowed into the translation box and then came out as unaccented English made Patho really want to answer the question.

  “Well, I’m frightened. I don’t know what you plan to do to me and I worry about Mister Aves. He’s great with a prybar, you know.”

  “There is no need for fear. You will not be harmed in any way. Please tell me, what is a prybar? Is that some kind of technology?” The Gol sounded confused.

  For some reason, this question struck Patho as incredibly funny. He started with a small giggle and, before he knew it, he was roaring with laughter. All he could imagine was how offended poor Aves would be that the blasted Alliance didn’t even have prybars, much less know how to use them.

  His jocularity eventually subsided into slight tremors of laughter.

  “Captain? The Prybar, what is it?”

  Yi-Ka sounded anxious to Patho’s ear. The question threatened to send him into fits of giggles once again, but he managed to restrain himself. “It’s a tool. A very handy tool, if you want to get into places where you shouldn’t be.” Patho considered his answer for a moment. Part of him wanted to tell the Gol to leave and that he wasn’t answering any more questions, but the Gol was Very Important and Deserved Answers. Something in the back of his head seemed to think things were very wrong, indeed. “That’s it. It’s a really good tool. Especially if a Marine is using it. Marines are wizards with prybars.”

  Yi-Ka made a series of notes in a datapad he was holding. His fingers clicked softly against the glassy surface. “Ah, I see. A long, slender rod of metal or composite that can be used to literally pry open various things.”

  “That’s it, Yi-Ka-Ka.” Patho giggled again at his own wit before regaining his composure. “Put a Marine in charge of one, and there isn’t a door safe anywhere on this planet.” Patho nodded with certainty.

  “Hmm, I will have to revisit the dosage estimates. You appear to have lost too much of your inhibitions to answer questions with useful data. Nevertheless, we will continue with the interview.” He input still further notes into his datapad.

  “So, I answered your question; now you have to answer mine,” Patho said. He was starting to get a muzzy feeling, almost like the one time he’d drunk too much. He hated the feeling of being drunk and had sworn he’d never do it again.

  “I may answer, but it depends on what the question is.” Yi-Ka seemed curious about what Patho would ask.

  “What’s a Woduur?” Something that might be able to rip out of the restraints must be pretty powerful.

  “The Woduur are a race of cybernetic beings. They augment their biological bodies with cybernetics that grant them incredible strength.”

  “Wow, they sound pretty interesting. I wonder if I’ll ever meet one.”

  Yi-Ka tilted his head slightly and was silent for a moment before he said, “Where is your ship?”

  “The Gorgon? I told them to hide in the outer system until I signaled for a pickup. My executive officer, Glen Hilleman is in command. Hilleman is a nice guy, but he’s always waving his hands around when he talks, and sometimes it drives me nuts. He got top scores in command school, though. I’m lucky Admiral Stokes gave him to me instead of putting him in command of a cruiser. He gave me those nice red chairs. Really comfortable to sit in. I-“

  “Stop, Captain,” Yi-Ka said. The tip of the Gol’s tail was lashing back and forth across the floor. Patho couldn’t see it, but he could hear it scraping softly in a brisk staccato.

  “Okay,” Patho said. He waited patiently for Yi-Ka to ask another of his important questions.

  “What orders did you give to your executive officer. Give me your exact words.”

  “Um, okay, let me see if I remember. I told him ‘Once we are down, head into the outer system and wait for my signal. Find a good spot to hide in case there are any patrols. If I don’t signal in the next three days, leave the system and request new orders from command’.” Patho knew he was forgetting something, but he couldn’t quite... ah yes, he had sent another order, but Yi-Ka had asked him for what he’d said, not what he’d written.

  “That’s everything you told him to do, Captain?”

  “As much as I can remember. I did my best to tell you everything.” Patho felt proud of himself that he’d been able to remember so much of the exact wording he’d used. He felt even more proud that he’d been able to share them with Yi-Ka, who was, after all, a Very Important Person.

  “Tell me about the Gorgon. What kind of ship is it?” More notes tapped into the datapad.

  Something about that device bothered Patho, like it was somehow wrong. Oh well, he couldn’t refuse to answer. “The Gorgon is a great ship. My first command,” Patho felt his chest swell with pride at that. “I really like it. It has great range and packs a heck of a lot of firepower for its size.”

  “What kind of armament does it have?” The gleaming yellow eyes took on a sudden intensity.

  “The latest pulsed plasma canon. That thing is super if you want to rip through armor. I think Marli helped develop it, but I try not to hold that against the canon.”

  “Excuse me? Marli?” More tapping into that datapad. Patho felt like breaking it for some odd reason. Of course, he couldn’t break the pad, it was Yi-Ka’s pad and was, therefore, Very Important.

  “Marli Simmons. Yeah, she’s a bit of a brainiac, but she’s the first girl that paid attention to me since I joined the Lashmere Navy. So many girls from the Ebrim region. None of them wanted to have anything to do with some Karn they would rather see planting flowers or something.” Patho’s voice trailed off with a bitter note.

  “She is important to you, then, Captain?”

  “Oh, yes. She is really important to me. And she can kick really hard. I sparred with her a bunch of times.”

  “I see,” Yi-Ka said, sounding like he didn’t see at all. “She was a part of the design team for your weapons systems?”

  “Oh, I’m sure she was in on it. She has a lot of great ideas for weapons. That’s why she is so important.” Patho felt like there was a fly buzzing in his ear that he couldn’t shake off.

  “And is she aboard your ship?”

  “Oh, no. She is way too important to be on my ship. She’s on the Loki. Well, probably still on the Loki. You know, she stole that ship right in the middle of a battle? I mean, how crazy is that? Stealing a ship while everyone else is figh
ting to save the planet.” Patho shook his head as much as the restraints would allow.

  “Tell me more about your ship, the Gorgon,” Yi-Ka prompted.

  Oh, well, hmm. It’s about a hundred, fifty meters long and has a nice gym. I practice hand to hand with the Marines a lot there. Most of them could kill me in less than thirty seconds if they put their minds to it, but they let me practice with them.”

  “These Marines, are they the same species as you are?”

  “Huh? You mean are they humans?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh. Of course they are. We don’t have any other species with us.”

  “But they can kill you within thirty seconds?”

  “Yep. With their bare hands. They’re really good.” Patho’s face beamed with pride at the capabilities of his Marine compliment. They’d been chosen as an elite team to serve under Aves.

  “I see,” Yi-Ka said. Patho could have sworn his voice carried a note of worry. “Tell me about the rest of your ship. You have Marines, they are very dangerous, and you’ve told me about your main gun. What other armament does the Gorgon have?”

  “Oh, we have really strong defensive interceptors. They shoot incoming energy bolts to prevent damage to the hull. Drones, mines, and torpedoes are the rest. They all use the drone bay, though.”

  Yi-Ka continued entering his answers into the datapad. Patho found himself increasingly uncomfortable with the action. “Tell me about the drones first, Captain.”

  “Oh, drones are my specialty. I received a meritorious promotion to Lieutenant Commander for my ability to control drones. It’s like I always say. Drones are a needle, not a sledgehammer. They have to be used with precision. They fly in, focus on a single thing to the exclusion of all others and use the rest of their power to defend themselves against hostile fire. Then you take them out and repeat the process. It’s like divide and conquer without the divide. I know, it sounds simple, but it’s actually really hard to do when other people are trying to stop you from doing it.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t understand, Captain. Perhaps if I understood the specific capabilities of the drones.”

  “Um, well, let me see. They have a variable loadout depending on the mission. You can set them up for maximum offensive punch, defensive fire augmentation, recon, any mix of these things. They have two slots; One primary and one secondary. Usually, we put an offensive package in the primary slot and a defensive package in the secondary. That balances the survivability and offensive punch each drone can carry.”

  “I see. That is an ingenious design, Captain.” More tapping at the surface of the datapad.

  “Why do you keep doing that?”

  “Doing what?”

  “Putting everything I say into your datapad.”

  “I’m just making notes for later. Does it bother you?”

  “Yeah. I mean, I don’t like it when people record what I say. It reminds me too much of Cobb… and Asher. That datapad especially reminds me of Asher right now.”

  “Who are Cobb and Asher?”

  “Well, essentially, they are two different brands of the meanest and most hateful people you could ever meet. Cobb hates Karn and Asher hates Ebrim. Too bad they never met, maybe they would have canceled each other out and left the rest of us with a more peaceful world.”

  Yi-Ka’s tail swished around more agitatedly. The human was prone to leaving the subject of the question too easily. His mind was utterly chaotic, ruled by the uncontrolled emotions let loose by the drugs that compelled him to answer truthfully. Some of the information gathered so far would be of use, but Yi-Ka was beginning to loathe the human in front of him. “I would like to ask you more questions about your ship.”

  “You bet. That ship is great; I love that ship.” Patho smiled beatifically.

  “Tell me more about the other types of drone you can launch. Mines and torpedoes.”

  “Oh, well the mines are really smart. They’re basically a huge fission powered shape charge that is completely undetectable. We snuck them onto most of the crab battleships before the battle. They worked really well. Battleships exploding into tiny pieces everywhere. That was my idea, you know.”

  “You deliberately used your weapons to attack the Ulef in a way that they were unable to defend themselves in mass?”

  “What’s the Ulef?” Patho asked, confused by the term he’d never heard before.

  “What you call crabs are actually called the Ulef. That is the name of their species.”

  “Well, whatever you call them, they aren’t so good at ship to ship tactics. They kinda take a charge straight at them approach. That’s about the worst way you can go about things most of the time.” Patho felt smug satisfaction at the success of his strategy.

  Yi-Ka shook his head slightly. The depraved being strapped to his table was a prime example of the Alliance’s superiority. What Captain Patho had described was nothing short of mass murder. “What about the torpedoes?”

  “They aren’t much different from the mines. They give up some of their explosive power for a small drive system. The nice thing about torpedoes is that you can shoot them from far away instead of having to go in and deploy them at close range like the mines.”

  “Interesting. Do you use any sort of non-lethal tactics, Captain?”

  “Of course. Just the other day, Aves and I broke into a secret military base. We didn’t kill a single person. We kept our rifles on stun settings the whole time.” Patho nodded his head within the confines of the strap holding it. “That one Gol was so surprised to see us. All the poor guy had was a club. I felt kinda bad when I shot him. I hope he doesn’t get into trouble. It’s not like he could have predicted what was happening.”

  “Why did you break into the base,” Yi-Ka said in a conversational tone. His thoughts reeled. Apparently, the humans did have a kind of morality, but it was vastly different from that of the Alliance races.

  “Oh, we’re trying to find Captain Hanlon.”

  “Who is Captain Hanlon?” Yi-Ka already knew, having been briefed about the human expeditionary force before he began questioning Patho.

  “She’s my old executive officer from the Rampart. Great ship, the Rampart, no matter what Asher says. Asher just hates anything that has a whiff of Ebrim on it and, well, the Rampart has a lot more than a whiff. It’s weird; he never used to be so angry at things. I wish I knew what happened to make him that way.”

  “Where do you think Captain Hanlon has gone, Captain Patho?”

  “Not sure, but Admiral Stokes sure is interested in finding her. I think he has a bit of a thing for her. See, Captain Hanlon is one of those people who just fill up a room with their personality. She always has a joke and a smile for you no matter how bad things are. I never saw her sad the whole time I served with her. Even when things were bad and really scary, she looked like she was ready to smile. Heck, I think she could have joked those crabs into submission if they’d have stood still for long enough.” Patho was certain of it. Hanlon had a way of making things better just with her presence most of the time. “That’s why we were here. We’re trying to find the crab home world. I bet that’s where they took the survivors from the Broadsword.”

  Yi-Ka’s mind clicked together several pieces of information at that moment. The Alliance wasn’t the primary target of the humans. The Ulef remained their main focus. Their ships were shockingly powerful, mostly because of the infusion of Woduur manufacturing technology, but the humans had learned to use that technology in some innovative and frightening ways.

  “You have been most helpful, Captain. Thank you for the interesting conversation.

  “Really? Thanks. I’m glad I helped out. It’s all I really want to do is help out. That’s why I joined the Navy in the first place.”

  “You’ve done excellent work in that regard.” Yi-Ka straightened and began slithering towards the door. A soft thump resounded through the floor, almost subsonic and soft. Patho craned his neck and said, “What was that?” />
  “I’m not sure.” The Gol put down his datapad and began working at the wall mounted console. “Hmm. Excuse me, Captain. I will return in a moment to take you back to your room.”

  Patho heard the door slide open and then shut again a few seconds later. He heard another soft whump, louder this time, but still muted and indistinct. He strained his wrists against the restraints again, but they were just as strong as they’d ever been.

  “I wonder what’s going on,” he said to himself. “Why would Yi-Ka leave me in here alone? Is it because I made fun of his name?” Patho snickered to himself again. “Wow, why am I talking to myself so much?”

  Patho never got his answer. The door to the room slid open once again, and Yi-Ka fell to the floor inside. Patho heard the soft tread of power armor.

  “Captain, are you okay?” An armored helmet thrust itself into Patho’s field of view.

  “Ah! Who are you?” Patho heard an edge of panic in his voice.

  “Captain Fuchs, sir. I’ve been dispatched to Xalcek to rescue you.” Fuchs pulled a knife from his belt and began cutting the restraints away.

  A few seconds later, Patho was sitting upright and rubbing his wrists and ankles. He slid from the padded table onto the floor. Lying at his feet was Yi-Ka. “Poor guy, I guess I’ll never find out what it was he was really after.”

  “Sir?” Fuchs’ voice was a mixture of concern and confusion.

  “Never mind. Where are we going?” Patho looked around the room.

  “Follow me, sir,” Fuchs said and strode out of the room. There was a long hallway just like the one that had been outside of his cell. Fuchs moved along briskly but quietly. “I don’t think we’ve triggered the general alarm, yet, sir, but it’s just a matter of time until they figure out we’re here.”

  “What are we going to do then? Who did you bring along? Have you fond Aves yet, and his prybar?”

  “We have Aves, yes, sir. Your gear hasn’t been located. I have an entire platoon of marines and twelve drones stealthed and ready to provide close support for our departure.” An armored figure poked its head around the corner and gave Fuchs a thumbs up. Fuchs picked up the pace, and Patho had to trot to keep up.