We rode towards Colos and the nine Verna on the Duke’s flagship, named the
Durgen
after one of his ancestors. My quarters were on a grand scale. The walls were covered in fine cloth meant for royal guests. I was wishing that Ashley had been along for the ride. My squads were each given individual quarters that were better than some of the top hotels I had been in on Omrin. The Vesha enjoyed a well-balanced diet that was similar in taste and texture to what we ate as Humans.
As we sat at a large table, the Duke spoke. "Mr. Grange, the stories some of your soldiers have been telling are quite entertaining. Such dire conflicts, some with tragic results, and yet you maintain a sense of humor about them."
I replied, "Oh, please don’t call them soldiers. They are Marines; soldiers are in an army. I don’t see the difference, but then again, I am not a Marine. But yes, we try to keep our sense of humor even in bad times. It helps to keep one’s perspective. Our Marines prefer to celebrate how one lived rather than the fact that one has died. We also mourn the loss, but we try to do that in private, if needed. I think it helps to keep morale up when we’ve been through a particularly tough battle."
The Duke raised his glass to the others. "Let us drink in celebration of those who have gone before us! May we remember their sacrifices as we enjoy our freedoms!"
The Duke was a drinker. After a handful of toasts, I was feeling woozy and cut myself off. I was no lightweight when it came to the bottle, but I struggled to keep pace with the Marines in my charge and the Duke. I stood and excused myself from the table. The Duke called for two female escorts to see me safely back to my room.
The Veshan women were not unattractive. Their snow-white, seemingly unblemished skin and their large green eyes had their appeal. But each look at the wiggling tendrils on their scalps sent any desires I might have had screaming in the other direction. Besides, I had a wife that I was committed to back on the Grid, a wife that I missed every night as I lay down in bed.
After a late-morning sleep, I was awakened by a knock on my door. Before I could roll out of bed, a servant answered the knock. I was invited to speak to a group of admirals and other high-ranking officers in the Duke's Colossun fleet. I cleaned myself up, dressed in a suit provided for visiting diplomats, and was then escorted to the command deck of the
Durgen
.
As I walked onto the bridge, the Duke was there to greet me. "Ah, Mr. Grange, welcome to my bridge. I’m sure the captain would think differently, but I like to call it my own. Hmm, you are looking a bit green this morning, Mr. Grange. Perhaps a lighter share of Lumian wine would serve you well in the future?"
I replied, "I’m OK, just a slow starter sometimes. And thank you for this courtesy, Duke. Your willingness to allow me up here is a sign of trust. I hope I can return the favor someday by offering you a tour of my ship, the
Swift
."
The Duke nodded. "That would be delightful, Mr. Grange. I am certain I would be impressed!"
A quick tour of the bridge was given before we were shuffled into a conference room. The admirals began with their line of questions, wanting to know everything about the Durians and their technology. I offered what detail I could.
I spoke. "Yes, Admiral, they have a battle suit that will likely defend against any kinetic weapons. What we found to be effective was something with enough force to knock them around. The suit absorbs a good impact, but if the impact is large enough, you can shake them up enough inside to kill them."
An admiral replied, "This is one of the reasons why we developed androids millennia ago. Unless you tear them apart, they continue to fight. I would like to have one of these suits for my engineers to study, Mr. Grange. An army of our sentinels with this technology would be nearly unstoppable."
As the admiral continued to talk about the virtues of the android soldier, I couldn’t help but think of my own battle suit sitting back in my room. Were the Colossuns studying it as we spoke? Was it a secret I was willing to give up so early in our relationship?
I stood up from my chair. "I am sorry, but I’m afraid I am not feeling well from last night’s drinking. I wonder if we could pick up this conversation again later?"
The admiral gestured towards my chair. "Please, Mr. Grange! This discussion is of the utmost importance to the security of the Colossus. I would ask that you tough this out if possible."
The admiral clapped his hands, and a servant was immediately by his side. "Please get Mr. Grange one of our morning beverages. It will quell any nausea and boost your energy, Mr. Grange!"
I waved my hand and feigned throwing up. The Duke stood from the table as I stepped back. I was nervous. I had to wonder if the admiral was trying to keep me there while they explored the secrets of my battle suit.
The Duke spoke. "Admiral! Let this gentleman go! This is not behavior fitting of one in command. Mr. Grange will be available if needed in a few hours, I am sure. Mr. Grange, please excuse yourself. Bachmin will escort you back to your stateroom."
The servant followed me closely as I walked quickly back to the room. When I entered, I went immediately to the closet that held my battle suit. It was on the hanger where I had left it. I excused the servant and closed the door. My panic attack slowly subsided.
The clothing provided by the Duke was ultracomfortable, but I feared the loss of our suit technology to a species I did not yet fully trust. I changed back into the battle suit and attempted to raise the others on the comm. There was no answer.
I opened the door to my room to find Bachmin still standing by to attend to my needs.
I spoke. "Do you think you could take me to where the others of my group are, Bachmin? I would like to discuss a few things with them."
Bachmin replied, "Yes, Sir, please follow me. Your associates are three decks below in the general guest quarters. I take it you are enjoying your stay? Has the service met your needs?"
I replied, "The service has been excellent, Bachmin; thank you for making it so. So far everyone has been pleasant."
When we arrived at the guest quarters, I released Bachmin from his escort duty and knocked on Frost’s door. She answered wearing a slinky outfit. Two Veshan males were relaxing on a set of large pillows that were arranged for seating on the floor.
I looked at Frost. "Really? In every port, I see."
Frost replied, "A girl’s gotta let go when she can, Mr. Grange. When you spend months on end in space, these are some of the moments you live for. Come on in and join us!"
I replied, "I don’t think so, Frost. I need to speak with all of you. I would ask that you put your battle suit back on and meet me out here in the hallway."
I proceeded to knock on the others’ doors, and my four squads were soon out in the hallway, grumbling about my interrupting their leisure time.
I spoke. "OK, we need to tighten up our presence here. I want each of you in your suits at all times. Let’s not forget that this is some of our most prized technology right now, and while the Veshans are being extremely nice and polite, we don’t fully know them. Guard our secrets with your life, if need be. Another thing I would like to add, and I am guilty of this, we are telling them too much too soon. If they are asking prying questions, give them useless information. You can tell them how you gained ten pounds, or that when you brush your teeth you go from left to right and not up and down. I get the feeling we are being worked here."
Frost raised her hand. "Sir, does that mean I have to give up my two friends in there? I’ve kind of grown fond of them."
I replied, "Frost, you can keep ’em if you want. Just watch what you say to them and keep that suit safe, and please, whatever you do, don’t ever tell me what’s going on in there, because I don’t want to know!"
I turned to the rest of the Marines. "I want those suits on so we can stay in constant communication with one another. If anyone asks why you are back in the suits… tell them you need the gravity compensators to keep you from becoming nauseous. I used the nausea trick to leave a meeting earlier, and they seemed to buy it. And if you have anything to say to each other that you think we may want to keep private, please use your arm pad to send a message. I’m fairly certain they can’t tap into our comm at this time."
York spoke. "Is there anything in particular that makes you suspect them, Mr. Grange?"
I thought for a moment. "I can’t put my finger on it, York. Maybe this is all legit. Or, maybe we are being catered to for a reason. I haven’t figured that out yet. Either way, I would rather us not give much up if we don't have to. When things come too easy, it makes me nervous."
The following few days were peaceful and pleasant as we barreled along through space towards the Colossun capital. As I sat in a lounge area with one of my Marines, Corporal Everett Keith, he brought something to my attention. "Sir, I don’t know if you noticed, but this fleet has quadrupled in size over the past few days. The sensors in our arm pads can pick up anomalies in the surrounding space, and I have mine tuned to identify individual ships. This fleet now has almost a hundred ships in it, Sir, and they are all big."
I decided to take a stroll to the bridge to find the Duke. He was seated in his royal chair.
The Duke spoke as I came into the room. "Ah, Mr. Grange. I was just about to send for you. Please come and have a seat. We are entering the space around Colos and will be dropping sub-light any moment. I would like for you to see our capital planet in all its glory!"
I replied, "Thank you, Duke. I would very much like that."
As I sat down, the command was given and a tiny dot appeared on the view-screen. As the dot quickly grew into a planet, the Duke waved his hand in a swirl. "I present to you, Mr. Grange, Colos, our source of strength. From that planet to the nine Verna and out to the stars beyond go our laws, practices, and beliefs!"
The planet quickly came into full view on the screen as the
Durgen
decelerated from light speed. It was a planet covered in buildings that were mostly white in color. There was no visible green of vegetation or blue of water, only structures.
The Duke spoke. "Take note of the blue spire, Mr. Grange. That is my great-uncle Rasmuth’s palace. It is like no other structure in the entire Empire."
I replied, "Are we heading there?"
The Duke spoke. "I am afraid not, Mr. Grange. I must stop and give a report, after which we will proceed to the Verna, as I had stated earlier."
As the Duke left to care for his duties, I was joined on the bridge by Corporal Keith. "Wow, this is some control room. I do like the resolution of that screen, Sir."
I replied, "That is a giant window, Corporal. We are looking at Colos, their capital planet."
The Corporal held up his arm pad. "Hmm. I hate to burst your bubble, Sir, but that is a screen. See, here on my arm pad, it has a 150 Hz refresh rate. I'm a bit of a tech junkie, Sir. Anything techy gets me all worked up."
The Corporal looked around. "Looks like all of their console monitors are 150 Hz. I can force a flicker if I zoom in with my camera on those consoles. Here, that one says... huh."
I looked at the Corporal. "Is there something wrong, Mr. Keith?"
Corporal Keith replied, "That nav console over there, Sir. It says we are traveling at 180 SOL. And I don't know why it didn't occur to me before, but my sensors are not showing a planet out there. Just those other hundred or so ships."
I placed my hand on the Corporal's shoulder. "I was afraid of something like this. Just keep smiling and nodding as I talk. The Duke is taking us somewhere, and he wants information out of us before he gets there. That little talk I had with everyone earlier—it looks like my suspicions are correct. Send out a text for everyone to continue to act as they have been, but to be wary of our so-called friends."
The Corporal spoke as he poked the keypad on his arm pad. "You know, Sir, when the Duke first showed us one of his Grids, I snapped an image of it. I was a little overwhelmed by the thought of another Grid being out there, but a little voice in my head kept telling me something wasn't right. Look at this image, Sir; what do you see?"
I looked and replied, "I see an identical Grid, only it's goldish in color."
The Corporal zoomed in on a section of the image. "And tell me what you see now, Sir."
I looked for several seconds before the Corporal’s discovery jumped out at me. "No way!"
The Corporal replied, "Yes, Sir. That is nothing more than a colored image of our Grid. That little gash right there was from the eighteenth Milgari, Sir, when they rammed that ship past the guns and collided with us as we were starting to jump."
I shook my head. "That means they know exactly where the Grid is."
I looked back at the nav console that was thirty meters across the room. "Can you zoom in on any of those consoles? Maybe you can get a heading."
The Corporal replied, "Hang on, Sir. I have an image, but I will have to correlate that to our star charts to know where we are going."
I looked at the Corporal. "You weren't kidding about loving the tech, were you?"
The Corporal grinned. "It comes in handy occasionally, Sir, when it’s not driving off the ladies. Hold on, I have the data... we are heading towards the Grid. I would estimate we will be there sometime tomorrow."
I gestured to the Corporal to follow and slowly walked off the bridge. As we entered the hall, I flipped on my comm.
I spoke. "Frost. Are you there?"
Several seconds passed. "Yes, Sir?"
I continued, "I'm sending you a text."
See if your two friends can take you on a tour of the docking bays. I want to know the layouts and what ships they have sitting in there. Let your friends think it is a big turn-on or something. Take your time, as we may want to be looking for a way off this boat. When you think you have something to talk about, send me a message back.
After Frost replied, I switched comms to Sergeant York. "Miss York. Meet us out in the hall for a stroll, if you would. We will be there in a moment."