23


We crossed a good portion of the agricultural district on our way to the council chamber. I made observations, then pressed Rejon to tell the truth. I made sure to do it while Horvath was out of earshot.
He watched me, maybe or maybe not sensing what I was talking about, but I suspected he was also preoccupied with his own thoughts. The man was a soldier who lost his best friend. Unable to immediately strike those responsible, he had transferred much of his rage to the scavengers. The convenient belief had now been reversed.
Maybe we would talk about it later over a glass of whiskey. Right now, I needed to get information from Rejon.
“You don’t have as much food as it looks like, do you?” I asked. “That’s why you’re so desperate to leave this place. You can’t sustain your population.”
“We have food, as long as everyone remains within their ration allotment,” he explained. “Other resources are a bigger problem. We cannot stay and we cannot leave. The ship immobilization cannon is key to our defenses. Without it, we will be a large target that is vulnerable. It’s better to hide and die, or some of my people believe.”
I used a hand signal to make sure X-37 was getting all of this.
“I am making a log, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “However, there is news I should share with you. Novasdaughter intercepted a scout probe. At first, she believed it was something belonging to Nebs.”
I used another hand signal that only X-37 could interpret and that no one else would even see unless they knew what to look for.
“We believe this is a tool of the Alon, as the Wallach people call them. It can only indicate that there will be more of them soon,” X-37 explained.
I controlled my expression but realized Rejon knew something was up from the suspicious look he cast my way. When I didn’t elaborate, he presented me to the Council.
The venue was a cave large enough to shelter a thousand people or more. Currently, there were only council people and security elements. It was darker than the agricultural area, with guards at each of its four access points. Councilman Gable was their leader, but there were at least twenty other very important people staring me down.
“This man is Halek Cain, an elite soldier of the Union who fired upon our salvage settlements,” Rejon introduced me. “He fell out of favor with his people and now they hunt him.”
“You always had a way with understatement, Rejon,” Gable said.
“I don’t believe we have time to chronicle his life story, but suffice to say he stood up to them and became an outlaw,” Rejon said. “His enemies have proven by their actions to be our enemies as well.”
“He brought them here,” a woman named Janine accused.
Rejon started to argue, but I interrupted him. “That is what it is. Maybe they would have found you on their own, and maybe not. What I can promise you is that they want your ship immobilization cannon and will wipe out your entire civilization to get it. Nebs is the worst of the worst. He will take what he wants and not leave any evidence behind.”
The Council people of Xad argued amongst themselves for several minutes.
“X, can you listen in?” I asked.
“I have been monitoring their conversation to the best of my ability,” X-37 said. “They are trying to decide whether or not to trust you. It seems most of them wish to test you in some way.”
“Great,” I muttered.
When the discussion concluded, Rejon gave me a dark, worried look.
“I’m not sure I like that,” I remarked to X-37.
“My analysis suggests he believes he will fail to appease his people,” X-37 asserted.
“Why can’t he just order them what to do?”
“Their civilization is based on some type of democracy, “X-37 explained.
“Good for them.” I had dealt with every type of government and they all claimed to be democracies.
Rejon approached me and spoke in a low voice. “They are making preparations for your evaluation. I cannot tell you more. In the meantime, just keep your mouth shut. Good luck.”
Gable waited until the Council was lined up in order of importance. Their formal robes were the only garments I’d seen that weren’t patched together and stained from work.
“Halek Cain, you claim good will. You assert that you inadvertently brought danger upon us. Will you risk yourself to preserve our people?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” I said. “Let’s get started.”
Gable held up one hand. “You must prove yourself first.”
“Why don’t I just save your busted-ass planet and ragtag scavenger fleet? Wouldn’t that be proof enough?” I said, my fatigue and impatience showing through.
“There are rules. You must pass our test,” he stated. “In the spirit of cooperation, we will show you our history while arrangements are made and the trial ground is prepared.”
“I don’t like this, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.
I didn’t comment because too many people were watching. A quick hand movement told X-37 I agreed.
Guards separated Horvath and me, which wasn’t surprising.
I watched Councilman Gable’s presentation. The scavengers of Xad stood in a crowd that grew moment by moment. By ones and twos, then larger and larger groups, they gathered to watch what they had feared for generations—the reasons they were going to actually leave.
“This,” Gable said, “is the last view we had of their fleet four hundred years ago. Hundreds of ships leaving of their own volition, not because we did significant damage to them.”
“That is alarming,” X-37 observed.
I didn’t disagree with my LAI. Thoughts of the huge ship we’d searched for the SIC device came to mind. The Alon must have captured the networking devices before being damaged beyond repair.
The scavengers—salvagers as they’d styled themselves—of Xad had been searching the debris fields for hundreds of years. And now I had what they wanted.
Gable approached. “Your Union murderers are little more than pirates compared to the Alon.”
“You haven’t seen them when they’re serious. A battle fleet nastier than what Nebs brought to hunt me down,” I said. “And those ships left four hundred years ago.”
I didn’t mention that my friends had just discovered a probe that probably belonged to the Alon. Shit was about to get real in the Xad system. We needed to be gone already.
A group of armed men I hadn’t seen before arrived. Their leader spoke quietly with Gable and Rejon. Both men remained somber.
“Clear the room for the trial,” Rejon ordered. “This is it, Reaper, when the people have moved to the observation windows, you must face the beast. Defeat it, and you will have proven your willingness to put the safety of others above your own.”
“What if I refuse?”
“Then the beast will kill one of us, who will be tied to the post,” Rejon said, pointing toward the central platform that had hosted the council. What I had taken for a support pillar was an intricately carved beam with words I didn’t understand.
Now that I looked at it, it seemed ceremonial. I stepped onto the platform and saw ancient blood stains.
“You’re going to leave an innocent civilian in here to die if I refuse to prove my intent?” I asked. “Who the hell gets that job?”
“I do,” Rejon said.
“Fine, send in the beastie. Let’s get this over with,” I said.
“There are no firearms allowed,” Gable said.
“I should’ve seen that coming,” I said dryly. Once I handed over my weapons to Horvath, I snapped out my Reaper blade and started warming up.
Rejon walked to the center of the platform and allowed himself to be tied to the pole. No one spoke to him. It was as though he didn’t exist and they had already given him up for dead.
That pissed me off.
Horvath, still closely monitored by the guards, attempted to tell me something, but he was too far away. I assumed he was wishing me luck.
Someone dimmed the lights. I waited, circling slowly, watching for the beast.
“What kind of beasts do they have on this planet?” I asked.
“Unknown,” X-37 said. “Most likely, it will be a carnivorous Hunter of some sort. Would you like me to list their attributes?”
“Maybe later,” I said. “I hear something.”
“We do,” X-37 said. “The restraining door is opening.”
Metal screeched as the infrequently used passage slid open. A beast roared in the darkness, then stalked into the room, only shadows sliding in and out of view even with my enhanced optics.
What I did see were its eyes reflecting the light that was left in the ceremonial arena. “What can you tell me about this thing, Rejon?” I called out.
“Assisting you is forbidden,” he answered.
“You’re either brave or stupid,” I said.
“From what I’ve seen and heard, you’re more dangerous than the beast,” he answered.
“Maybe. But what if I had run away?” I asked.
He made no reply.
“I can’t see it, X,” I said, moving away from the sacrificial pole, not wanting to inadvertently kill the only person on Xad willing to help my cause.
“Perhaps you should give it a taste of its own medicine,” X-37 suggested. “Please check your kit.”
I knew what I carried in my regular gear. The too-frequent use of EVA gear over the last several days was messing up my routine, but there were certain things I always found a place for: guns, the stealth cloak, the Reaper mask, and cigars.
X-37 should have reminded me to include a heating element, instead of wasting our time stating the obvious.
Silence mattered, so I dropped the argument in favor of action. Slipping through the dim light and the shifting shadows was relaxing. Was it messed up that this type of situation both relaxed and energized me? Sure it was, because I was a freak.
Slipping on the stealth cloak was easy. The mask was harder because I had to activate it without letting the monster see the start-up lights. Once the mask was on my face, I was able to choose how much or how little light it displayed.
My view of the chamber improved tenfold and I became nearly invisible with the cloak now in place.
I was about to encounter a strange and exotic creature and kill it.
“Your biometrics are varying from their optimal range, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “Whatever you are thinking about is counterproductive to your survival and your ability to help your friends.”
I wanted to tell him I felt great—except for a sliver of doubt that it was too easy for me to slaughter anything or anyone who stood in my way. What the hell was I going to do when shooting and slashing and blowing things up wasn’t needed? Retire? Farm potato analogs? Knit quilts?
The animal growled.
“I am able to estimate its size from the known dimensions of the room and the elevation of its vocalizations,” X-37 said. “The creature is two meters tall, has four legs, and all of the teeth and claws natural to a predator.”
It sounded hungry. Crouching low, I moved cautiously forward, scanning right, left, up, and down.
“I see it,” X-37 said. “Cueing your optics now.”
The monster slipped into view. It was every bit of two meters tall, and heavily muscled. Its hide was a jumble of stripes, spots, and varying hair lengths. In places it was smooth, in others shaggy as an arctic thing.
I wasn’t able to determine the thing’s true colors. The easiest thing to spot were its eyes, which sometimes caught the dim ring lights around the platform where Rejon waited to die.
“Is it moving with its eyes closed?” I asked as quietly as possible.
“Yes, Reaper Cain. I believe it must have an acute sense of smell,” X-37 said. “And/or hearing.”
The beast rushed me before X-37 finished his warning.
I held my ground, not moving an inch. Its eyes were blazing now. Once the creature heard me, it went for the kill.
“Prepare to move,” X-37 advised.
“I know what I’m doing,” I snapped, watching the animal hit maximum speed as it crossed the last thirty meters between us.
“Move now, Reaper Cain,” X-37 ordered.
I waited a second longer, then dropped and rolled to my right, slashing at the animal’s underside as it leapt toward where I had been.
My Reaper blade caught it under its left foreleg and slashed across its ribs.
“You missed the most vulnerable parts of its anatomy, but wounded it painfully,” X-37 reported.
“Yeah, thanks, X.” I sprinted away from the Xad creature to get some distance.
Its next approach was more cautious. I didn’t want to battle it face to face. Even a cocky as hell Reaper like me understood that was a losing prospect. The thing was covered in muscle and had five times my weight and mass behind its strikes. One slash of its four claws would destroy me.
The creature growled, baring its teeth. The noise sounded like a tiger crossed with a rattlesnake.
“Is this thing a mammal?” I asked as it circled me.
“I have not been able to determine much more than the basics,” X-37 admitted.
I feinted, then jumped back.
It took a lazy swipe at me, not fooled into over-committing as I had hoped.
“It’s clever,” I said.
“Agreed. Avoid assumptions,” X-37 said. He was less chatty, usually, during a life and death fight.
“How are you doing, Rejon?” I shouted.
“I’m alive,” the scavenger leader responded.
The beast looked toward his voice.
I sprang forward, thrusting my arm as far as I could without losing my balance.
“Well done,” X-37 said before the blade made contact.
Bracing for the reaction of the creature, I felt the Reaper blade take the animal in the throat. I pushed upward, driving under its jaw and toward its brain with all my strength.
The cat-like beast thrashed, rolling across the ground and taking me with it. X-37 shouted things at me that I didn’t have time to decipher.
When the violent death roll stopped, I let my arms flop against the floor and stared at the ceiling. “I’m getting too old for this shit.”
“I told you to withdraw the blade and stand clear, Reaper Cain. How can I help you if you don’t listen to my advice?” X-37 complained.
“I would have loved to take that advice,” I shot back. “Didn’t quite get the memo, X. Maybe next time.”
“Let’s hope there isn’t a next time. The Council of Xad and other citizens are entering the chamber. I believe Rejon is weeping.”
“Don’t judge, X. The man has been through a lot. Getting tied to a pole while that thing is unleashed has to be stressful.”.
“Are you being insincere, Reaper Cain? My analysis suggests you are not, but your statement is illogical. All he did was wait for death. You faced it and nearly died.”
“Being helpless is worse than anything, X. Growing up on Boyer 5 taught me that.”
“Of course,” X-37 acknowledged. “That does make sense. I will update my database of human behavior.”
Gable and several other men and women approached. “I am not sure if we should be glad for your fighting skill or in fear for our lives.”
“Be afraid, Gabester. Be very afraid.” I pushed to my feet and rolled my neck to start putting parts of my body back where they were supposed to be.
He backed away, hands raising instinctively.
“Relax, Councilman,” I said. “That was an old Reaper joke. You have nothing to fear from me. If I was going to kill you, I would have done it already. Can we get this show on the road?”
“What do you need from us?” he asked.
“I need to get onto the Dark Lance.”
“And what will you do there?”
“I will capture or kill Vice Admiral Nebs and steal his ship. I already took his first flagship.”
“But now he’s ready for you, which is why you have failed with your recent attempts,” Gable said.
“Now you made it ugly. All you have to do is launch one of your SIC ships, let him seize it, then send me back over to his ship as a prisoner or something. I haven’t worked out all the details—I did just get rolled by… whatever that thing is.”
“We call it a Tagron, very dangerous.” His distracted gaze told me he was still processing my suggestion to allow Nebs to seize one of his most valued ships.
“Do you have a lighter?” I asked, holding a bent cigar in one hand.
Gable looked at me, confused by this request. “I… what… oh, I see. We can certainly accommodate this simple need. Please excuse me while I consult the rest of the council.”