NASTRAGULL: Pirates (42 page)

When Coco reported to the administration about the unusual change in traffic in the nearby systems and open space near New Frontier, the two Key Administrators dismissed it as a threat. Rather, they were ecstatic at what they perceived as a potential increase in commerce. Both Tobbis and Zala were very specific in their orders that her security "paranoia" must not interfere, under any circumstances, with the free flow of trade.

Despite these instructions, Coco ordered her security personnel to General Quarters, where they waited on standby.

Lady Fuzza dabbed at her eyes with a white linen handkerchief as she looked out the window of the sleek little private spaceship. Alec Hornet had bought it for her as a gift while his friend, the short, funny man who derived from no species she was familiar with, had provided her with five crew and ten experienced bodyguards.
Warrior monks of some sort,
she thought as she glanced at one of them. He wore a voluminous cloak, cinched at the waist with a simple rope, that concealed everything beneath it from head to toe. She wondered where he kept his weapons.

Mr. Tota had assured Lady Fuzza and Alec both that these beings were the most trustworthy guards on the station, and they had been contracted for one round trip, not to take more than one full galactic year. Mr. Tota had also convinced Alec to hire fifty more of these odd guard-monks. Alec and Behl had been against it, but eventually they had consented and hired them.
What was it little Tota called them?
the lady muttered.
Ah yes. Ghsnaw, or was it Greshi? Oh well, I can't remember. Tota has so many things on his mind, the poor little creature. Most of the time he just blabbers on
. And after that thought, Lady Fuzza leaned her head back and closed her eyes, while the engines charged up for maximum speed.

It had been a sad farewell with her friend and partner Captain Zlo and the young Oman, Alec, whom she had begun to love like the son she'd never had. He was so full of life and positive energy; she would truly miss him, and she hoped and prayed to her own personal god that they would all meet again.

Lady Fuzza pushed those thoughts aside and concentrated on the job ahead. It would be no easy task, that was certain. Getting a commission to hunt pirates would be a small problem; but to get an audience with the Emperor of Marengo himself in the first place—that would be a major challenge. Once again she went over the plan they had worked out for weeks, and thought of all her connections back home on Marengo, connections that might become useful for the execution of the plan.

Lady Fuzza opened her eyes and glanced down at a small wooden box in her lap that she held white-knuckle tight. Every time she thought of its contents, she trembled. When Alec had shown it to her, she had been stunned at first; and then she had become frightened, and began to doubt herself for a while. But Alec had given her a warm, strong hug, and as they embraced he had whispered in her ear, "If you keep it and take off...well, I won't blame you. Just make sure you deliver the message to the Emperor." At first she felt that he had trampled on her honesty and hurt her feelings, and then he opened the box and she understood why.

"Trust me. By our souls, please trust me." Those were her last words to the young Oman, who had winked at her and smiled. If all else failed, even if she were unable to successfully petition for an audience with the Emperor himself, then she knew that what she held in her hands would open any door.

Chapter 26

Alec, Behl, Captain Zlo, Tota and one of the monks Tota had insisted of contracting, Frances, sat at a conference table in a room below the command bridge onboard the
K-13
. They had just finished test runs on the frigate's systems, and were reviewing their final preparations before their departure the next day.

With skepticism, Alec asked, "And you're sure it will work?"

"Yes! Yes, of course it will work!" Tota exclaimed excitedly.

Tota was sitting next to Behl, who inched away while muttering, "Hope the little bastard's wearing a diaper." The room went silent after Behl's odd remark, and Alec could sense an uncomfortable tension spreading like a forest fire.

"You so funny! You so funny, my little funny friend," shouted Tota, as he leaped from his seat and jumped up on Behl's lap, showering him with kisses while his trunk whipped him all over. Behl, taken aback by the surprise "attack," fell over on his chair with Tota still acting like a strange little man in love.

"Get off me, you pants-pissing little dragon from hell, or I'll turn you into a throw pillow!"

Tota started to laugh even harder, and jumped up on the table, staring at Alec, who raised his eyebrows while shaking his head. He had become all too accustomed to Tota's sudden outbursts, but he knew too well that it was only a front. Alec said dryly, "If you two lover boys are finished, perhaps we should go over the assault plan one more time."

Behl cursed quietly to himself as he scrambled to his feet and righted his chair, muttering something about "a good old-fashioned keelhauling."

France observed it all with great interest. Very tall and naturally big all over, his heritage appeared to be a mixture of Oman and Sparniac. His skin was black as space, very like his Sparniac relatives, and his dark brown eyes sparkled with experience and intelligence. Everyone in the room knew he was an experienced soldier. He subscribed to the same martial religion that Alec's Uncle Cook did, a belief system that was a constant thorn in the side of Alec's father, Marshal Guss Hornet.

The Grisamm Order maintained a presence in most of known space. No one really knew much about them; the truth of who they really were, what they really wanted, and the main goals of their belief system remained mysteries. The rumors batted around about the Grisamm were not, as a rule, particularly favorable ones. They were considered religious fanatics, because they traveled from system to system preaching their odd pan-sentient creed. They were also known to be skilled teachers in many different fields, particularly medicine, space travel, military arts, and the sciences. Some people thought of them as very intelligent and peaceful. Some considered them a cult; many parents in particular were afraid that they would brainwash their children and take them away.

Both Alec and Behl had been very surprised when Tota had assured both of them that a Grisamm monk would rather die than break his or her word. As he put it,
"Once a Grisamm has committed, then it is for life—or until the objective has been achieved." They hated pirates, slavers and totalitarian entities in general. One of their strongest beliefs was that everyone, everywhere, should enjoy total freedom. Enslavement of any sentient species should not be tolerated.

In other words, it hadn't been very difficult for Tota to recruit them. Tota had explained that their hate towards pirates and other illegal activities in general was overwhelming. Alec and Behl had raised concerns at that revelation; none of them had any strong religious beliefs, and in fact, as Nastaturan Elites, had been educated to believe that religion was a danger that produced only three things: fanatics, war waged by fanatics, and the subsequent pain. Alec also had some personal knowledge of the Nastaturan military's opinions of the Grisamm
themselves, having listened in to his father's and uncle's discussions on the subject.

But time was of the essence; Alec knew this, and therefore he couldn't be too picky. After having met Frances and some of his fellow monks and talking to them a week ago, he had signed them on, though not without trepidation. When they said they didn't want any pay beyond their basic expenses, Alec had become more confident about his choice. He had insisted that they would accept their pay, like everyone else, and if they didn't want their pay, then they could donate it to charity.

As it turned out, another reason it had been easy for Tota to hire the Grisamm for Alec's crazy plan was that he belonged to the same order. Alec was still shaking his head over that revelation—when he had the time. The moment they had signed on, they had taken the former slaves-come-pirates in hand and begun a rigorous training regimen involving hand-to-hand combat, computer hacking, high-tech battle gear, nano-armor, and anything else they could acquire that would give them an edge over the Wulsatures. The monks had even made them march and drill in formation—well, all except Myra, who was still in a local infirmary having new prosthetic legs fitted. She had been grateful to Alec for purchasing them—at first—and then had cursed him roundly when he refused to buy her a pair of cloned legs. He told her that if she was loyal to him, then he would consider buying her a pair, but due to their history she should be grateful for what she got. That was only partially true. She lacked any of the ancient gene-hacked Oman DNA, so it was very difficult to clone or stim new natural limbs for the big saurian woman; and it was certainly impossible at a frontier outpost like NF 16.

All in all, the former pirates had been very difficult to deal with at first. It had been a living hell for both Pier and Wolf to train them. However, in just two days, the Grisamm monks had turned everything around.

Now, Frances waved at the table, and a hologram of the space station emerged, perfect in every detail. Frances went over the strategy he had devised of getting aboard Lady Zoris' cruiser, so that they could locate and extract Alexa. Tota filled them in about the personnel he and his agents had bribed—people that they had to take with them and drop off at the nearest port, lest they be rendered desiccated space corpses or reeking piles of burnt protoplasm for betraying the Key Administrators.

During a lull in the conversation, Alec announced, "Mr. Tota and I have purchased a shuttle for them, and once they get to Mr. Tota's hotel, they can take off without knowing who we are."

Tota added, "You don't have to be concerned about them. Once they open the designated cargo door for you and your team, they will leave immediately for my safe haven."

"Good," said Frances, who continued, "As I was saying: you, Alec, with an escort of two attractive males or females—whichever you prefer—attend the ball the two Key Administrators invited you to, and..."

"Nina, what do you think will happen to us?" Tara asked quietly.

"No idea, but at least we're not in those slave blocks anymore. Those things were killing my wrists and ankles."

"You said it, girlfriend," Kirra agreed perkily.

"I'm just happy we're all together again," Zicci added as she scratched her left ear with her tail, "and not in some horrible prison."

"You might
wish
you were in a prison or harem before this is all over," Miska muttered.

"What are you saying?" Nina demanded.

"Let's see what develops, and decide what to do next."

"It's not like we can do much with these forsaken things attached to us," Kirra complained, tugging on her slave collar.

"Don't play with that!" someone shouted. Wolf walked up on the girls from behind. "Stand at attention, troops!"

Kirra quickly covered the slave collar with her tunic, and stood at attention with the other girls. They were all used to discipline, of course, but not this type. This discipline was stricter—but ironically, the punishments for breaking it were much less, and never lethal. But still, the drill
instructors—especially the mad monks—were extremely picky, and they had no problems with punishing anyone who didn't obey.

The entire crew was lined up in formation in the main docking bay, each section isolated from the others. The first and second class officers stood together, as did the pilots and navigators, the Medical Officer and his staff, the Chief Engineer and his staff, the support crew, and the common soldiers. All in all, there were 412 individuals from over twenty different species (and admixtures thereof) represented in the hold. They were dressed in gray overalls and gray combat boots, with flashing in specific colors and patterns along either side of their uniforms. First class officers sported one wide white line, second class officers had two thinner white lines, the medical team had a yellow line and a large red crescent on their backs, the mechanics had a green line, the support crew a blue line, and the soldiers had a black line. The exception was the Grisamm monks, of course; they insisted on wearing their rope-belted robes, leaving only their boots and hands exposed.

Behl and Captain Zlo glanced apprehensively at each other as they waited for Alec to appear. When he did stride into the bay, he was dressed identically to Behl and Captain Zlo, in a first class offer's uniform. He walked up in front of his little army and made a perfect, 90-degree military turn to face them, then saluted them crisply.

"Welcome aboard the
Predator
," he announced.

There was a collective intake of breath among the crew. The name Alec had chosen for the former
K-13
was something no one had ever dared to name a ship. Any true pirate hunter loved their nickname of "Predator," a sobriquet that the pirates had given them, and they had long since claimed it as their own.

Someone applaused vigorously, breaking the silence. Alec looked around, finally noticing the one civilian among them. He stood on a landing leg of one of the runabouts, jumping up and down while clapping his hands. Mr. Tota, of course.

Alec rolled his eyes, and decided to ignore the laughter of the crew. He continued, "Now. I'll let you all in on a little secret I wanted to spring on you once we'd gotten everything shipshape. There will be a substantial bonus for anyone who completes his or her contract alive: one million credits for each of you."