Shadow Space Chronicles 1: The Fallen Race (19 page)

Kral nodded, “That is most unlikely.”  He sat in silence for a moment, “What price must we pay?”

Lucius shook his head, “You misunderstand me.  This, I will do without payment.  It seems… evil to hold a race’s future as a price.  I won’t do that.  I will have the Iodans treat any Chxor who wish it with the retrovirus.”  Lucius tapped a finger on the table, “What I brought you here to ask, Kral, is what future you wish for your people.”

“
I am confused.”  Kral spoke as if in a daze.

“
I’m about to go to war, Kral.  I have to feed sixteen thousand refugees and prepare warships and their crews at the same time.  I’ve limited resources, and generosity that costs me nothing cannot hurt me.  The Iodans figured out how to cure Chxor infertility as an interesting puzzle.  They can produce the retrovirus with ease compared to Human or Chxor scientists.” Lucius shrugged, “There was no point to
not
give you that.  I can’t spend the resources on three hundred prisoners.  What I want to know is if you’d work with me, or if you’d prefer to be dropped on an unoccupied inhabitable world.”

“
You would let us go?  We know much of your resources, and I can guess what world you will attack,”   Lucius definitely picked up a note of surprise.  Kral's voice had gained inflections, almost as if he had dropped his guard somewhat and allowed his emotions some leeway.

“
Yes.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to leave you on an empty world, with the bare minimum you’ll need to survive.  We barely have the resources for that, as it is.  The world is cold and there’s little there to survive on, but it would be possible, with work, to expand, and grow.  We'd give you all of the Chxor rations we have left, enough to keep you for several years.”

“
The alternative is to work with you?” Kral said, his ugly face expressionless.

“
Yes, that is the alternative.  You would be given positions in our forces.  I would need you to vouch for those who are trustworthy, and who are not.”  Lucius spoke confidently.

“
Were I strongly loyal to the Empire, it would be logical for me to lie and betray you in an opportune time,”  Kral said, his voice wooden.

“
Something Abaner are known for, as well, is their strict, almost religious tradition of honesty,” Lucius said.

Kral nodded, “This is unfortunately true.”

“To be clear, I’m not offering vital positions and few positions of any authority.  We need fueler crews, we need basic maintenance work, we’ll need people to help keep this base operational.  There are a thousand unwanted tasks, but they need to be done, and we can always use the help.”  Lucius met the alien’s eyes.

“
I will need to think on this.” Kral said, his voice hesitant.  “I know some will choose exile.”

“
I understand.  When you have an answer for me, tell the Marines.”

***

Mason McGann studied the face of his jailer.  He saw suspicion there, along with distrust.  He quirked an eyebrow at her, “Well?”

Lieutenant Lauren Kelly stared at him for a long moment.  She glanced around at the others in the room and slowly he saw the resolution on her face crumble.  She finally threw her cards down in disgust.  “I fold
.
”  The others at the table groaned as well.  Mason swept the chips from the center of the table into his pile. 

Mason gave her a lopsided grin, “Well... look at that, I guess I win again.”

“Funny, that,” the navy Lieutenant to Mason's right said.  “That's, what, four hands in a row?”  Her nametag read Toria.  Mason had heard Lauren Kelly call her Jessi.

“
Five,” the Marine on Mason's left said.  He wasn't wearing his uniform top, but Mason had heard the others call him Tom.  “He had the straight flush, a royal flush, a straight, four aces, and whatever we all just folded on.”

Mason gave them all an innocent look, “I'm a lucky guy, what can I say?”

“Right...” Tom the Marine shook his head.  “Glad we're playing for Republic scrip, or I'd be out most of my paycheck.”

“
What do you folks get paid in?” Mason asked.

“
Right now, whatever currency we happen to have,” Lieutenant Toria answered with a shrug.  “The Baron tries to make it all balance out.”

“
Swell guy,” Mason muttered.

“
Better than some,” Tom the Marine said with a grimace.

“
Oh?” Mason asked.

“
Yeah,”  He shot a glance at the others, “I did some time as a merc, not an official one, mind you, just hired security really, back on this tiny rock called Hotel Seven...”  He shook his head, “We show up and the bastard who signed us on paid us in company notes.  Says we can exchange it at the company store.  Company store says we can buy goods and services there, but they don't have any cash for trade at the moment.  Took me ten years to buy my way off that rock.”

Mason nodded, “There's a few like that.”

“The 'citizens' on Faraday for example,” Toria grimaced.  “I hope the bastards get what they deserve from the Chxor.”

“
I wouldn't wish the Chxor on anyone,” Lauren Kelly said, her voice tight.  “There's plenty of good folks that will suffer along with the bad.  My experience, the good folks suffer a lot worse.”

Mason gave her a nod, “That's how misfortune always works.  The scum always rises to the top.”  He finished stacking his chips.  “So... another hand?”

Tom the Marine grimace, “Not for me, I'm out.”

Lieutenant Toria shook her head too and stood from the table, “Nope, I'm headed up to my ship.”  The pride in her voice was obvious.

“Ship?” Mason asked.

The female lieutenant stood a little straighter, “Yep, I've got my own command, it's a Terro Class corvette, the
Mongoose.
  We captured her from some pirates and the Baron appointed me as the commanding officer.”

“
Well,” Mason gave her a nod, “Congratulations.”

“
I've had command for a month now,” she smiled.  “But thanks, it's a good feeling.”               Mason sat back as the two left, then quirked an eyebrow at Lauren.  “Well, what to do now?”

She smiled at him, “Well, there's always the cafe.”

Mason grimaced.  “I'd rather use the bar down on G level.”  The cafe was too... clean for him, and they didn't serve alcohol.  Down in G level some enterprising soul had put together a bar out of an old storage space.  It had dim lighting, a low ceiling, and it felt like a fire trap.  Mason loved it.

“
You were asked to stay out, remember?” Lauren smirked.

Mason grimaced.  “Yeah, I know.”  He shook his head.  “A misunderstanding... and you saw it, that roughneck threw the first punch.”

“Right...”  She nodded, “Was that before or after you threw your drink in his face?”

Mason shrugged, “I don't really remember.”  He didn't, which bothered him.  The truth was, though, that he was going more than a little stir crazy.  He longed for freedom, of the sort that involved him and his ship alone in space.  Too many people around him made it too hard for him to remember his restraint.

His hand dropped again to the prayer beads on his hip. 
I have to remember my restraint,
he thought.  He rolled up the winnings and tucked them inside his jacket on the inside pocket.  It wasn't much, especially since it was small bills of Colonial Republic scrip.  Most of the single notes cost more to print than they were worth.

Still, a little extra currency never hurt.  And the good thing about playing officers, especially
dedicated
officers like those in Baron Giovanni's employ... they were terrible at poker and they didn't have the first clue how to cheat.  Not that Mason really needed to, either, but he at least knew how to bluff.  When his luck was up, like tonight, he almost couldn't lose.

“
You play grav-ball?” Lauren asked.

Mason frowned, “Not in...”  He shook his head at the memories that brought up, “... not in a
very
long time.”

“
They've got a small court, knocked together down by the reactors,” she said.  “We could go one on one.”  Mason could see the challenge in her smile and the confidence of someone who worked and trained in zero gravity on a regular basis.

That's right, she's super commando Chxor killer,
Mason thought,
when she's not playing baby-sitter to me.
  Some part of him winced away from the idea of awakening some of his old skills.  He'd let them go rusty for a reason.  Still... another part of him awakened at the challenge in her voice.  What would it hurt to blow off a little steam... just this once?

“
Sure,” he said and his smile matched hers, “Let's play.”

***

Lucius had just stepped back into the command center when Nix Reed and Anthony Doko showed up at his shoulder, “We just got our first real offer.”

“Really?” Lucius quirked an eyebrow.  “I was beginning to worry we’d made the situation outline too vague to appeal to anyone.”

“
I don’t like it.”  Doko’s voice was flat.

“
I doubt you’ll like any of them.  Tell me.”

Doko shook his head, his dark eyes serious, “It’s Admiral Mannetti, it’s Lady Kale.”

Lucius winced.

“
She’s got a lot of ships,” Nix said, looking back and forth between the two.  “What, do you two know her?”

“
We have some... history,” Lucius admitted.  “It gets a little complicated.”

“
She stabbed him,” Doko threw up his hands.

“
Stabbed you?” Nix said, puzzled.

“
Right in the chest.” Doko said, his voice rising.  “She missed his heart by half a centimeter.”

“
I was about to arrest her for treason against the Nova Roma Empire at the time.” Lucius shrugged, “I’m sure she didn’t mean anything personally by it.”

“
She stabbed you?” Nix said, still confused.

Colonel Proscia approached, “Sir, tell me you’re not going to make any agreements with Lady Kale.”

“Let’s just see what she has to offer,” Lucius raised a hand.

“
She stabbed you?” Nix asked again.

Lucius turned to her, “Yes, she stabbed me.”  He moved over to the communications section.  Operating from the base opened considerably more space, though they’d had to patch in all the equipment to the older antenna and power connections.  “Dial her back.”  They’d patched the
War Shrike
’s ansible through a laser relay they installed in the base, otherwise Lucius would have had to go back aboard to make the call.

The wait would have been easier if Lucius didn’t hear Nix and Tony in quiet conversation behind him.

“We’ve got an answer, sir.” Lieutenant Palmer’s drawl was never more welcome.

Lucius took a deep breath, “We need whatever help we can get.  Patch her through.”

“Lady Kale,” Lucius greeted.  He met her dark eyes.  He looked into those still depths for a long moment until she finally gave him a friendly nod.

“
You’re looking good Lucius,” her sultry voice spoke, “How is my ship?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Lucius saw Nix mouth 'her ship' in question to Anthony Doko.  “You’re looking good too, Lady Kale.  The
War Shrike’
s seen a lot of action, but she’s still in good shape.”

“
I understand you’re looking for allies.  You’ve got something big planned, with a
very
big reward.”  She wore a caricature of the uniform Lucius wore, the neck cut absurdly low, and she leaned forward as she spoke.  Lucius was suddenly reminded of just how well she filled out that uniform.

“
Yes I do.” Lucius answered, keeping his eyes locked on her face.  “Do you want me to forward you the outline?”

“
No, I think I can trust it will be as brilliant as ever, coming from you, Lucius.” She thrust her lower lip out in a pout, “I just hope you won’t let our past… unpleasantness get in the way.”

“
The scars have all faded nicely.  You play even with me and I’ll do the same.”  Lucius smiled politely.  “What do you bring to the table?”

“
Good.” Lady Kale smiled, “I always liked you, Lucius.  There was never anything personal about our unpleasantness before and I’m glad you understand.”  She toggled something off the screen, “I’ve just forwarded my ship strength.  I’ve got the
Peregrine
still and added a couple Republic cruisers along with some scouting units.  Now, how are we going to divide the spoils?” She cocked her head as she awaited his response.

Lucius spoke briskly, “The planet we hit is a charity case.”  Lucius continued to speak over her fluttering laughter, “But ships captured, munitions, salvage, all that is split into shares determined by what each party brings to the fight.”