The Starfarer Read online

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  Star Captain Zh’hir Mu’raat studied the inky dark vista on the large console in his rest-chamber. Sophisticated Ur’quay technology overlaid data from the Henia’s powerful sensors to add details to the view of space around the starship. Overarching darkness emphasized the vastness of space, but in the distance loomed a large planet, the target of their mission. The Henia sat cloaked, biding its time — keeping its distance to avoid being detected by the infrequent Ketaari patrols over Budheyasta. From the lackadaisical scouting of the world, it was clear that neither the planet nor its people were considered a threat by the Budh-Ketaari Empire. And why should they be? Budheyasta was enclosed by Ketaari territory. And, from all accounts, the Budheya had been decimated — their former glory and achievements forgotten and buried in the dustbin of history while they scrabbled for survival like second-class citizens on their own world. To add insult to injury, the Ketaari had named their Empire after their subjugated subjects, as if to co-opt the goodwill and respect the Budheya had once earned and enjoyed in Sector Araloka, just like they had co-opted Budheya technology and resources to further their ambitions of ruling this slice of space.

  He was not a superstitious male, but a vague sense of uneasiness seemed to grip him today, making him restless. Somewhere on that distant planet, a Hadari’Kor Captain and a Budheya girl flirted with danger. The Henia had been parked here for nearly thirty hours, waiting for word from Budheyasta.

  He had proffered his starship to the Alliance Commander for this dangerous mission. A treacherous journey through heavily guarded Empire space was the only means to reach the Budheya — cut off from the sector for over a century since their subjugation by the Ketaari. The Henia, with its ability to cloak, had flown undetected through enemy territory, and its Autoporter had transported the Hadari’Kor mercenary and his companion to Budheyasta, without attempting to land a craft on a planet crawling with Imperial Forces.

  Before the Henia’s exploratory mission to Sector Araloka, he had pored over the accounts unearthed from the Ur’quay archives; curious and hopeful in equal measure — curious about retracing his starfaring ancestors’ footsteps in a distant corner of the galaxy and hopeful of finding a way to save the Ur’quay. To his astonishment, while the Budheya had been recorded as one of the more accomplished civilizations his ancestors had encountered, there was no record of the Ketaari who now held much sway as a powerful rival to the Alliance in the sector. The only conclusion to draw was that the Ketaari had been incapable of space travel four centuries ago — the Ur’quay starfarers had only concerned themselves with civilizations that were space-faring and open to exploration of the stars. This dramatic reversal of fortunes of both the Budheya and the Ketaari had given Zh’hir pause.

  The communicator in his arm-band trilled abruptly, to interrupt his thoughts.

  “The emergency beacon has been activated, Star Captain” First Commander D’raar informed him matter-of-factly.

  They had, after all, expected something like this and prepared for the contingency. The team to Budheyasta had been equipped with emergency beacons and sub-cutaneous locators to allow the Autoporter to pull them out in an emergency.

  “I am on my way” he said, switching off the console to make for the exit.

  He wondered grimly if his sense of dread had been a portend of something awry on the planet. Zh’hir had come to respect and like Zoran Hadari-Begur-Kor. The mercenary could take care of himself: he was a warrior — tough, capable and resourceful. A race of nomadic mercenaries, the fiercely independent Hadari’Kor were renowned as fearsome fighters. It was Saakshi of Budheyasta who would fare much worse. The Imperial Forces treated their Budheya prisoners badly and would be especially harsh with an escaped rebel.

  Just as he exited the rest-chamber, a light flashed on his communicator. His eyes snapped to the blinking device, perplexed by the flashing signal. It indicated a message on the private channel of his communicator, an ID known only to a handful. A sudden suspicion assailed him, to stop him in his tracks. Could it be her? The little Terran he had never forgotten! The Star Captain strode back into his chamber, his eyes snapping to the small life-like bust of him, sculpted in black rock, that rested on his desk.

  The High Council’s decision had given the Ur’quay hope for a future, but to the newly-minted Star Captain, it had meant far more. It put Zh’hir squarely in Sila’s backyard and he found the prospect very appealing. She had never been far from his thoughts, but since brokering the agreement with his new allies, he found himself thinking of her far too often for his peace of mind. Six months had passed since he had bought her passage home. Occasionally, he wondered if she gave much thought to the twenty days spent aboard an alien starship. Or the alien First Commander she had spent time with.

  If it was she who had activated the abettor device he’d given her, it meant that she was in trouble. He punched the button on the communicator to play the recorded message. Sila’s voice filled the chamber with its soft cadences. The translator on his arm-band transcribed her Alliance Standard in real time for him, though his command of the language had improved greatly since their last encounter.

  “First Commander, I’m in need of assistance. Keeyori traders have come to my world offering trade but their intent is to sell our people to the slavers. Please help us.”

  It was a simple message and yet, her quiet desperation came through clearly. The Star Captain’s expression darkened. If the slavers were at their door, Sila’s people were in dire straits. But how had they slipped past the guards, he wondered in bemusement. Terra Agri 5 should have been protected from the likes of slavers.

  He was bound by the terms of the agreement he had signed on behalf of the Ur’quay, but Zh’hir would not allow that to stop him. Not when it came to her. But first, he reminded himself, he must get everyone off Empire space before the Ketaari got an inkling of what was brewing. He would be of little use to Sila if he was stranded in Empire space.

  The Command Chamber was a hotbed of frenetic activity. It had taken the Henia a matter of minutes to make its way to Budheyasta. Cloaked and invisible to any patrols, the starship hovered over it as the Ur’quay worked frantically to retrieve the stranded team on the planet. The Star Captain allowed his First Commander to take the lead. D’raar was a capable and intelligent officer. And Zh’hir knew that his warriors understood the importance of this mission and its potential implications on the war. Even before the agreement, the Ketaari’s imperialistic ambitions had made many Ur’quay view the Empire negatively. But now, they were invested in the outcome of the war.

  Ten minutes later, they were rewarded for their efforts, when a young girl stumbled onto the Autoporter Pad.

  The Star Captain reached her to inquire solicitously. “Are you injured?”

  “I’m fine” the Budheya girl assured him. “Zoran …”

  “We cannot get a lock on his locator. My warriors are scanning for him, but we’ll need his precise location to autoport him.”

  She looked distressed, her concern for the Hadari’Kor Captain clear. “Zoran was taken by a Ketaari patrol. He allowed himself to be captured so that the rebels and I could escape.”

  “Once we know where he is, we can boost his locator signal. That should allow the Autoporter to pull him out safely” the Star Captain reassured her.

  He had come to respect Saakshi. Despite being a fugitive from the Ketaari Imperial Forces, she had insisted on accompanying Zoran to Budheyasta at great personal risk to herself, to make the introductions to her former resistance cell.

  Saakshi stared at him mutely, her eyes stark with fear.

  He was aware that the Hadari’Kor Captain and this young Budheya female seemed bound to each other in some way. Subtle cues during the initial conference had raised the Star Captain’s suspicions early on. Zoran’s reluctance to allow her to accompany him to Budheyasta, deeming it too risky despite Saakshi being crucial to the success of the mission, had sharpened his suspicions. But it had been the H
adari’Kor male’s words to him in private that had confirmed Zh’hir’s suspicions. Zoran had asked the Star Captain to make Saakshi his priority if they came under threat on Budheyasta — get her away from the Imperial Forces, back into the safety of Alliance territory, and leave the mercenary behind. Zoran had assured the Star Captain that he was more than capable of making his own way back.

  Zh’hir did not doubt the Hadari’Kor male’s ability to take care of himself, but he intended to leave no one behind. Zoran’s locator signal was weak but with a little luck, they could pinpoint his position. D’raar already had a team searching in expanding concentric circles from the outskirts of Saakshi’s village. But narrowing down the search area would help.

  “Can the rebels help us find Zoran?” he asked the distraught Budheya.

  At his words, Saakshi made an effort to pull herself together. “They would be willing to help, Star Captain.”

  First Commander D’raar made haste to configure a set of paired communication devices. One was autoported to the ridge Saakshi had just been transported from. Some frantic hails and confused exclamations later, the rebels on the ground seemed to understand the urgency, making haste to summon their leader.

  “Saakshi” a male voice called to her, an undercurrent of concern in his voice. “Where are you?”

  “Tilabok! Thank the Pura. I’m back on the ship but we cannot locate Zoran.”

  “How can we help?” he offered immediately.

  Saakshi asked the most pressing question. “Do you know where the Ketaari have taken him?”

  “The local military outpost” he said promptly. “They built a new one on the outskirts of Terapi village.”

  Their position was precarious. Zh’hir knew that the mercenary would be a tough nut for the Ketaari to crack. And it would take his captors at least a few hours to penetrate the cosmetic changes the Ur’quay medics had made to Zoran’s physical appearance. But every minute they stayed here made it more likely for the Henia to be detected. Tilabok led the local resistance cell on Budheyasta and his rebels knew this terrain better than anybody. He was their best bet to locate Zoran.

  Using the built-in translator to disguise the cadences of his voice, the Star Captain spoke into the communicator. “This is the Captain of the starship carrying Saakshi of Budheyasta. Can you give us the location of the Ketaari outpost relative to your current position?”

  “North east to my location and approximately ten petarsa from here” promptly responded the rebel leader.

  It took them a few moments to make the calculations. The Command Chamber seemed to breathe easier as they focused on searching the new coordinates.

  “Thank you” Zh’hir acknowledged to the Budheya leader. “This will help narrow the search for Zoran.”

  “It’s the least we can do. He risked his life to come to Budheyasta to offer his assistance” Tilabok said simply.

  “Do you know if the military outpost is built into the rocks?” the Star Captain inquired. “We are puzzled that his locator signal is so intermittent and faint.”

  “No” Tilabok answered. “But a part of it is rumored to be underground. Could that be a reason for the weak signal?”

  “That would explain it.”

  There was a short silence, before the rebel leader chimed in excitedly. “Can your ship pick up a small explosion on Budheyasta?”

  “Yes, if we are watching for it” the Ur’quay Captain responded thoughtfully. “What do you have in mind?”

  “If you give us a little time to set it up, we will create a bang as close to the outpost as we can. Would that help you locate him?”

  “Yes” Zh’hir’s response was enthusiastic, even as his First Commander nodded his head vigorously in the background. “In the meantime, we’ll keep searching the new coordinates you have given us.”

  “Give us an hour.”

  “Keep the communicator open” the Star Captain insisted.

  D’raar hurried over to his console to configure the Henia’s sensors to pick up minor explosions on the planet’s surface. Zh’hir glanced at the Budheya girl who had fallen silent, petrified and panic-stricken. She had experience with the treatment meted out to their captives by the Imperial Forces, he realized with sudden compassion.

  “Do not worry, Saakshi of Budheyasta” he assured her quietly. “We will find him. They won’t harm him until they’re satisfied that he has no information of any importance to them.”

  She shuddered in response and Zh’hir sighed silently. His experience with females was limited — by their declining population on his world and the Space Force’s strict policies. Except for Sila, a small voice in his head reminded him. After his initial missteps, he had taken care of her needs successfully on the Henia and returned her safely to her world; even put at rest her fears about the aliens that had captured her.

  “How did the Ketaari find you?” he asked, trying to distract her.

  “Tilabok believes that it was a routine patrol. We had just concluded our meeting when the rebels observed the patrol heading our way. Tilabok didn’t think there was enough time for all the rebels to escape, so Zoran offered to distract them while everyone got away scot-free. Including me” she concluded in a low voice.

  For a moment, he studied her downcast eyes. “He did the right thing. Now, they just have an unfamiliar Budheya rebel in their custody. All they’re interested in right now is finding out where he came from. It will take them some time to penetrate the cosmetic changes to his appearance and realize that he’s not Budheya. You, on the other hand, would have been recognized instantly as a former rebel and Ketaari prisoner who had escaped their custody in dramatic circumstances. It would start a frantic search and endanger everyone — you, the rebels and this starship.”

  She nodded, agreeing mutely without much conviction, though he sensed that his words had made an impact.

  Zh’hir changed the topic, satisfied at having made his point. “The meeting with the rebels was a success?” he asked her.

  “Yes, they will be on the hilltop at dusk in twenty days.”

  So, Zoran had accomplished his part of the mission, the Ur’quay male mused. Now, he would get everyone back to Alliance territory.

  Their clandestine mission into the heart of Empire territory had been initiated by a group of Hadari’Kor who had approached the Alliance Commander with a proposal to finance, arm and train the Budheya rebels. If they could instigate an assault on the Empire from within, it would give the Alliance a strategic edge in the war. Zh’hir had seen the potential in the initiative, as had the enigmatic artificially-augmented Commander of the Alliance Armada.

  For the next hour, they worked furiously to meticulously search the new set of coordinates the rebel leader had given them, as time slowly ticked down.

  “We’re ready” Tilabok’s voice warbled from the paired communicator, shattering the silence in the Command Chamber.

  D’raar signaled that the sensors were calibrated for the explosion.

  “Go ahead” the Star Captain said to the rebel leader.

  Tilabok’s voice could be heard faintly in the background as the First Commander pored over the sensor readings, before raising his right palm high in the air without looking up from the console.

  “We see it” Zh’hir murmured into the communicator.

  He waited, as they used the sensor data from the explosion to search for the locator beacon. A gasp from Saakshi heralded the presence of a huddled figure on the Autoporter Pad. Zh’hir passed Saakshi the communicator to stride forward and assist the Hadari’Kor Captain. The Budheya peasant clothes Zoran was attired in were marred by streaks of dirt and blood.

  With the Ur’quay Captain’s assistance, the mercenary stumbled to his feet to glance around the Command Chamber, his eyes zeroing in on a shell-shocked visage. “Saakshi, am I glad to see you!”

  His words must have carried to the rebel leader over the communicator for it crackled to life in Saakshi’s hand.

  “Do you ha
ve him?” inquired a hopeful voice.

  “Is that Tilabok?” a puzzled Zoran exclaimed.

  “The rebels helped us locate you by setting off an explosion close to the outpost” the Star Captain explained briefly, as Saakshi remained speechless, her stupefied eyes on the mercenary.

  At his words, Zoran’s gaze snapped to him and the Ur’quay Captain noted the battered face and the spectacular bruise under one eye.

  “Saakshi, do you have him?” Tilabok asked again, more urgently this time.

  “Ye…yes” Saakshi stammered. “We have Zoran.”

  “Good. Shall I destroy this communication device?” he inquired.

  Saakshi glanced at the Star Captain who pondered the matter briefly. They had never intended to leave any evidence of their time on Budheyasta behind, but a discovery would not derail their mission in any way. And it would greatly help coordinate future runs to Budheyasta. Now that the first move had been made, they would need a reliable and secure way to communicate with the rebels.

  “Ask him to hold on to it. We will use it to communicate in twenty days” he said to Saakshi.

  “Got that” the rebel responded before she could relay the message.

  “Zoran, until we meet again.” Tilabok signed off. “Saakshi, take care of yourself.”

  The device went dead as suddenly as it had sprung to life.

  Zoran arched a battered eyebrow at the Star Captain.

  “It is Ur’quay technology. The Ketaari will not recognize it even if it falls into their hands” he explained.

  Zh’hir turned to his deputy. “Get us out of here, First Commander” he directed, helping Zoran limp off the Autoporter Pad. They had managed to get off relatively scot-free. It was time to get out before their luck ran dry.