Chapter 10
Allies
“Massapa, check the scanners. See if that warship is on our tail.”
The Seneecian left his seat to read them. “Nothing within range,” he responded.
“More than likely they’re still trying to comprehend what just happened to their shuttle bay,” Cooter remarked.
“We can only hope,” Kyber agreed.
“Wait until they find out what has happened in their lifepod bay,” Massapa quipped. When everyone turned to silently question him, the Seneecian grinned. “I set the automatic timer to begin ejecting the pods in sequence.”
“Can’t they override that command?” Cooter countered.
“Not as long as there is a hull breach,” Kyber told them.
Fullgrath let out a bark of laughter. “Oh, that’s rich! They’ve lost temporary access to their shuttle craft. And now all their lifepods are being squirted out into space like a Malgonese ballox giving birth to a litter of pups!”
The laughter that followed was needed. It also helped to relieve some of their tension and fear. Kyber turned to the navigator. “Jules, how long before we reach that outpost?”
“Umm, hold on. Gotta do the math mentally. At our current speed, a little over two hours.”
“Fuel?”
“Help me out here, Massapa,” Jules asked the Seneecian. Massapa did a quick estimation.
“We have enough for four hours. Maybe a little more.”
“Kelen, can we coax a little more speed—”
“Way ahead of you.”
“Keep an eye on that scanner.”
They continued on in silence. After a while, Sandow voiced the question Kyber knew the others had been needing to ask.
“What happened back there, Kyber?”
He swiveled slightly in his command seat to where he could glance back at them, while at the same time keep an eye on the front of the ship.
“Duruk never intended for us to live long enough to reach Seneecia. That’s why he was having you placed inside those lifepods. Once all of you were podded, you would have been ejected into space and left there to die.”
Fullgrath uttered a blaspheme. “That’s sick. What a fucking sick way to make someone suffer.”
“What about Plat?” Massapa wondered.
“I was told I had wrongfully bested Plat according the Law of Tooth and Nail. Plat claims I drew a weapon on him. That I earned my new ranking illegally.”
“That’s not what happened,” Fullgrath exclaimed. “He drew a weapon on you.”
“I even testified to that fact,” Jules added.
Kleesod spoke up. “It matters not. Duruk and the others would never accept the word of a Terran.”
“What about your word?” Kelen asked.
“Their word matters not. To the Triumvirate, their word is tainted,” Kyber responded.
“How’s that?” Cooter demanded.
Gaveer answered. “Because they believe we were ordered by our D’har to lie for him. That is why our word means nothing.”
“But Plat is lying,” Kelen insisted.
“Wait a minute.” Sandow leaned forward slightly. “Are you telling us Duruk will take the word of his friend over that of his own brother?”
Kyber managed a partial grin. “The bond between Plat and Duruk is stronger than blood.”
“That’s twice fucked up,” Fullgrath muttered.
“So what happened?” Mellori questioned. “How did you know we’d be where the lifepods were located?”
“I was brought in front of the Triumvirate to testify,” Kyber admitted. “They specifically asked me about our run-in with the Terrans. About the tegris. About who knew about the neverwylde planet.”
“Hoooold on there a minute.” Cooter held up a hand for attention. “Back up. Tegris? Neverwylde?”
“You mentioned a tegris before,” Kelen noted.
“It is what we call an anomaly that remains stationary in space,” Kleesod explained.
“Like wormholes and black holes?”
“Usually,” Kyber acknowledged.
“What about Neverwylde? I thought you said that planet wasn’t called Neverwylde,” Fullgrath brought up. “I thought you said its name was something else.”
“I was informed that a neverwylde is a planet that has sustained a cataclysmic event, yet still is able to sustain life forms,” Kyber told them. “That planet we were on is a neverwylde. Apparently our superiors have known about it for some time, but for some reason have kept its existence and location secret.” He pointed to Dox. “Dox was right all along when he called it Neverwylde.”
“Go on with your story,” Sandow urged. “They asked who all knew about the wormhole and the planet. And?”
“I could tell they were covering their tracks.” Kyber bowed his head. “They wanted to make certain no one else was aware we had crashed on that planet.”
“And by disposing of us all nice and tidy, no one would ever be the wiser,” Cooter drawled. “No need to bring politics into it. No need for diplomatic shit. All cut and dried, nice and neat.”
“And Plat?” Jules whispered.
Fullgrath snorted. “My guess is he’d become a miraculous rescue from space. The sole survivor of a vicious battle with a Terran warship. He’d go home and be lauded as a hero.” The man eyed them all. “And none of Duruk’s men would or could say anything, or else they’d find themselves also jettisoned out into space to die, like they tried to do with us. You guys have one hell of a way of ensuring crew loyalty.”
“Kyber.”
He turned to look at Kelen.
“You figured out their plan and came to rescue us.” She locked eyes with him. “You could have just as easily escaped on your own, but you came for us.”
“There was no choice involved,” he whispered. “I did what I felt was the right thing to do. With faith and a little luck, we will survive this, the same way we survived Neverwylde. Together, as allies.”
“And friends,” a small voice added. It was Dox, speaking up for the first time since leaving the planet.
Fullgrath chuckled and reached over to shake the young man’s shoulder. “You got that right, little guy. Allies and friends, right to the bitter end.”