Torian Reclamation 3: Test of Fortitude (11 page)

Alan overslept. He and Jumper might have spent too much time at the game after all. It was nearly four hours later by the ship’s clock when he left his room again. He couldn’t have been running too far behind, though, or someone would have come knocking for him—wouldn’t they?

The ship seemed empty now. He didn’t come across anyone else in the hallways. The only activity in the dining room was being done by cleaning bots. Those were interesting devices. Alan would have to see about arranging some kind of trade so he and Derek could get one for the float suit factory.

Kayla and Jumper were the only ones in the lounge, sitting next to each other. There was no bartender on duty. Kayla was reading on the lightpad. Jumper’s chin was buried in his hand as he stared at the floor.

“I take it we’re in orbit?” Alan asked.

Jumper pointed at the video screen on the far wall without moving his head.

“Oh wow,” Alan said when he saw it. He went over to get a closer view.

A planet of purple, yellow, and deep blue hues was slowly spinning beneath them. Several space stations and a fleet of smaller transport ships were in orbit nearby. The space stations were small by Cardinal-5 standards, but still much bigger than The Measure. Off in the distance, two additional objects could be seen that looked like the same type of spacecraft as The Measure. Shuttles moved between the planet surface, the space stations, and the other ships.

Alan then noticed a shuttle come into view from directly below the screen. It was large enough to fill it before gradually growing smaller as it sped to Mpar’s atmosphere. That one must have come from The Measure.

“What do you think?” A voice said.

Alan turned around. Trodenjo and Trodenmark were both standing behind him, along with a third Mparian Alan hadn’t met. The corner teeth in their mouths were all fully exposed. That kind of smile could only come from someone who had just arrived home after having been away for a while.

“Breathtaking,” Alan said. “What a beautiful world you come from. With such flourishing space ports.”

“This is a proud occasion for us,” Trodenmark said. “Two of our sister ships are also in port, first time back as well. I’ve confirmed that our catalog is larger than either of theirs by a considerable margin. Not that it matters. Interstellar commerce is no game, and we’re not in a competition.” The three of them smirked at each other.

Trodenmark motioned back towards the screen. “Do you see them, in the distance there?”

Alan nodded and pointed to the other two ships. That’s when he detected an odd smell. As he turned back around, he noticed a hover cart behind the three Mparians.

“That’s for your pet,” Trodenjo said, stepping out of the way. There were large chunks of meat on the cart. Alan chuckled. He had almost forgotten the current predicament Kayla put them in.

“Let’s go over to your friends and talk about what you want to do.”

Alan followed them. Jumper and Kayla stood when they saw everyone coming. Jumper didn’t have much spring in his legs. He probably should have gotten more sleep. When they were all in a circle, Trodenjo introduced the third crewmember.

“This is Shaldan, our merchant communications officer. Shaldan makes a hobby of studying exotic animals. He’ll take you down to feed your …felidor now, Kayla.”

“Great. Thank you so much.” Kayla’s words were spoken in a less-than-enthusiastic fashion as she eyed the strange meat on the cart. She finally shrugged and smiled. “Whatever it is, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”

“I hope so,” Shaldan said. “If he doesn’t want it, I will. It’s one of my favorites. Come along with me, please.”

“Don’t take that,” Trodenmark said. He grabbed a metal cylinder off the cart as Shaldan started wheeling it away. Kayla then followed Shaldan out of the lounge.

Trodenmark walked to the bar and retrieved two glasses. He came back and filled them three-quarters full with the contents of the cylinder. It was a clear liquid that looked like water.

“Here,” he said. “This should help with your space lag.” He handed Jumper and Alan the drinks.

Alan examined the glass in his hand. The liquid had no odor. There were a few large bubbles in it, but other than that it appeared to me nothing more than a glass of water.

“Drink it,” Trodenmark said.

“Is it water?” Alan asked.

“Yes. Unique water.”

Jumper tilted his head and emptied his glass in one go. Alan took a sip first. It was water. Good, fresh tasting water. Come to think of it, he was thirsty. He drank his down as well.

“A lot of effort goes into harvesting what you just drank. I hope you find it refreshing.”

Alan suddenly felt wide awake and aware. He heard noises around him that he didn’t notice a moment ago, and found he could separate and identify them. The whirring noises were the cleaning bots off in the dining room. He could hear footsteps in the distance and the subtle sound of a lift door opening. Then the noise of a hover cart moving into the lift and the door closing behind it. He knew he had heard Shaldan and Kayla getting into the lift in the nearby corridor.

“Wow,” Jumper said. His voice was suddenly full of life. “What’s in this stuff?”

“Magnas.pz,” Trodenmark answered.

Trodenjo laughed and added, “That’s the name of the mineral in the water.”

Jumper looked around the room wide-eyed.

“I feel like I’ve had three cups of coffee—which I was about to ask you for, by the way. No need now.”

“The mineral is an organic stimulant.” Trodenjo took the cylinder from his brother as he spoke. “A healthy one, when consumed in its natural form in the water. Most species find it to have exceptional restorative powers.” He walked to the bar, found himself a short glass, poured a small amount, drank it, and returned. “I can use a pick-me-up myself. What do you think of it, Alan?”

“It’s marvelous.” Alan had begun answering before the question fully left Trodenjo’s lips. “And perfectly quenching. I’m finding all my senses heightened, though. I can hear things far away, and I’m making fast deductions. To be honest, it’s kind of scary. Not sure I want to be this aware.”

“Interesting,” Trodenjo said. “The mineral seems to have a strong effect on Earthlings. We should have given you a smaller sample. But, now that you’re fully awake, let’s discuss your options.”

“I’m not staying on the ship for a week,” Alan said. “I want to see another planet on my vacation.” He looked at Jumper.

“I can’t go, Alan. I’m sorry. Kayla’s picked this battle to make a stand. She won’t leave Casanova up here, and if I try to leave her alone she’ll consider it her life’s mission to make me miserable. It’s just not worth it to me.” Jumper’s response was fast, to the point, and void of excuses. That was uncharacteristic.

“Something else has come up,” Trodenjo said before Alan could chide Jumper. “The Measure isn’t staying in port. That’s what we need to talk to you about.”

Alan and Jumper both cocked their heads.

“We had a video conference with our investors as soon as we established orbit. They’re quite adamant that we see to the delivery of our first significant trade contract. We’ve agreed to go attend to that business, immediately. So, we’re leaving with a sparse crew after some quick maintenance work, in a matter of hours. And we don’t have time to drop you off at home first.”

Alan felt his heart racing. He wasn’t sure if it was from the news or the magnas.pz. He went to feel his chest, but ended up clutching the necklace under his shirt instead. When he did, his eyes instantly unfocused.

“Does this trade have to do with the mineral water?” Alan asked.

Trodenjo shot his brother a stern glance. Trodenmark reacted by shaking his head and holding his palms up.

“How did you arrive at that assumption?” Trodenjo asked.

Alan let go of his necklace and focused again on Trodenjo.

“Lucky guess, I suppose.”

Trodenjo’s large eyes narrowed and he looked at the cylinder in his hand before continuing with his explanation.

“The water is drawn from natural cisterns in deep caverns on a dwarf world. The natives there have agreed to provide a generous supply in exchange for modern excavation equipment, which we’ve procured from a nearby system. We get a large cut of the water. It’s easy to find markets for, as you might imagine. We have customers lined up for our share of the water at several different worlds already. We need to go confirm delivery of the first shipment of borers.”

“What are our options?” Alan asked.

“We can move you to one of our sister ships, and they can take you home. Their port stay is nearly completed. Whether you want to disembark for a while or stay on board with your pet will be up to you. Only…”

“Only what?”

The two brothers looked at each other.

“We’ve come to like you,” Trodenjo said, “and we’re fond of your star system. We’d rather not have one of the other operations put your home on their route. Especially after everything you’ve …seen.”

Alan laughed. “We know too much, Jumper.” He looked at Trodenmark. “Not a competition, huh?”

“Can we go with you?” Jumper asked. “To the dwarf planet. Maybe we can take the cat down to the surface there?”

“I’m sure that wouldn’t be a problem,” Trodenmark said. “The natives aren’t hostile, have been receptive to visitors, and don’t seem too concerned with what happens on the surface of their world. They’ve taken to underground dwelling, mostly. And there are concise areas of vegetation where your pet can romp. But we’re not certain if taking you with us is the responsible thing to do.”

“We’re experienced outdoorsmen,” Jumper said. “We shouldn’t be any trouble. The cat is well-trained and obeys us.”

The two Mparian siblings looked at each other again for a long moment.

“If it’s about Brandon,” Alan said, “you should understand that we’re all full adults who are responsible for our own decisions, and not under anyone’s care. How away far is this place?”

Trodenjo and Trodenmark gradually nodded at each other.

“HD28 is a 2-day journey from here,” Trodenjo said, “travelling directly. It’s not much farther away from here than Tora is time-wise. We could take you home on our way back, and maybe even exchange some Erobian marks for one of our sister ships while we’re there.”

Everyone agreed it seemed to be the best solution. When Kayla and Shaldan returned, Trodenjo and Jumper explained the plan to them. Kayla didn’t argue. She didn’t seem particularly thrilled with the development, but she didn’t argue. Alan figured she was probably tired of fighting, and maybe a little embarrassed for being the cause of the problem.

Several hours later they were off again, distorting space towards HD28—the dwarf planet with the special mineral water. The effects of the mineral had yet to wear off. Jumper and Alan were now full of energy without an outlet. At least, that’s how they explained it to Trodenmark.

It worked. He turned the trading game back on for them.

*

“How much sleep did you get?” Perry asked.

“Enough.” Brandon thought Perry’s reaction was one of disbelief, so he said it again. “Enough.”

“I hope so. Every time I peeked in the game room, you were there.”

“Then you must not have looked in the last seven hours. I set a timer and forced myself to quit.”

“Good,” Perry said. “I slept the last part of the trip myself. Glad to hear you got it together. Do you know what you’re going to say?”

“The High General told me not to waste time on cordiality, and to accuse them of being in league with the dark enemy at the first opportunity.”

Perry grimaced. “That directly?”

“No. I’m supposed to say it artfully, but without diluting the message.”

“How are you going to do that?”

Brandon turned on his lightpad. “I’m supposed to first ask them what their transport vessel was doing hiding in the sub-orbital range of the dwarf world near the surrendered Latian fleet.”

“This is why I’m not a diplomat,” Perry said. “I see no connection there.”

“That’s what I told Olut6. He said it doesn’t matter, because the accusation is a bluff. So their ship being spotted at HD28 is only an excuse to make it. But I’ve been thinking more about it, and now I’m not so sure. I think the old general may be on to something after all. The report we received also indicated there was wreckage in the space near that planet.”

Perry frowned. “Serves them right.”

“Who?”

“The Azaarians, or whoever tried to steal one of those Latian ships. It can’t be done, Brandon. I was part of the team that rigged them.”

“You think the Azaarians are the likely perpetrators, because their ship was spotted near the wreckage?”

“Yes. Most likely. Then again, the way things are in this section of the galaxy, who knows? I’ll tell you this, though. Whoever it was, they probably weren’t Latian.”

“Why is that?”

“We kept the Latian crewmembers on board after we had the ships moored together in a nice tight orbit over that gas giant. We showed them exactly what security systems were being planted. No secrets, other than the encrypted keys for disarming the systems, which they’d have to get from the deepest Banorian military bunker. Then we put them all back in one of their ships and sent them home. Believe me—after they reported the details of what we’d done, no Latians are going to bother trying to crack those ships. They’ll know it’s a wasted effort.”

Brandon scrolled through his lightpad looking for a certain file, then set it down and rubbed his temples.

“Can’t find your notes?” Perry asked.

“I’m not going to bother with them, Perry. Too nervous to concentrate. Damn that Olut6 for sending me out here. I’m just going to wing it. That’s what he said he wanted, anyway. Well, that’s what he’s getting. I’m sure we’ll all be on our way home in a few hours. I’ll tell him to come up with a better script next time.”

The lights dimmed in the main cabin and the video screen came on, indicating that the ship would be coming out of distortion drive within a few minutes. Perry patted Brandon on the shoulder, a communication no words could match. They watched the passing stars become less distorted and form solid shapes again. The yellow lights came on in the cabin and then turned off. The screen now showed Azaar in the distance with its bright white sun posed peacefully behind it. But peaceful suns often shine over hostile worlds.