A Galaxy Unknown 10: Azula Carver (34 page)

"Of course not. I'd be arrested and executed five minutes later if I ever did that. That's what we're trying to get away from."

"We don't arrest you here if you simply demand to see the Azula, but if you attempt to get at her without permission, the final result here will be the same, without the bother of arrest. If Azula Carver wishes to speak with you, that will be her decision, not because you demand it. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly. So she might come to the new location?"

"She might. She did with the last group of immigrants. But I can't speak for her."

"Very well. We'll proceed to the coordinates and await her arrival. Uh, sorry for the confusion."

Captain Pwuhvasqu immediately called Jenetta to brief her on the conversion with Okarrost Nedeffal.

"Your Grace, the shuttle is on its way to where the other refugee ships were sent. The pilot was most insistent he speak with you and
only
you."

"First he tries to land inside the palace grounds, and then he demands to speak with me and only me at the location coordinates you provided. It sounds a bit strange, don't you think?"

"They're Yolongis. I never know how to take those people."

"Yes, well, they've come a long way in cramped conditions so we can expect them to be a bit cranky."

"Yes, Your Grace."

"I'll have Chamberlain Yaghutol make arrangements for some of the new Department of Immigration officials to meet with them. But best be prepared in case the Yolongi pilot's poor attitude gets the better of him. Make sure you have a dozen men standing by in case tempers flare."

"I'll see to it immediately, Your Grace."

"Thank you, Captain."

~

"Your Grace," Chamberlain Yaghutol said rapidly in an animated and grim manner, "I just learned that the Yolongi who landed at the remote site fired on our people. I was talking to one of our immigration people when she started screaming that they were under attack."

"I'll get back to you," Jenetta said as she hung up the phone and hit the speed dial number for Captain Pwuhvasqu. "Talk to me, Captain. What's happened?"

"I'm still trying to get the details, Your Grace. Apparently the crew of that Yolongi shuttle opened fire on our people. The first person came out smiling, and as soon as our people approached him, a dozen more came streaming out of the shuttle with weapons, mowing down everyone in the area. I ordered my people to use whatever force was necessary to stop them."

"Make sure that shuttle doesn't take off, and if it does, you have permission to shoot it down. Out."

Jenetta ran to the wall and hit the alarm that would send everyone scurrying for the underground bunker. She then ran to her bedroom where a maid was watching over Kyle and Kaycee.

"Get the children into the oh-gee stroller and get them down into the bunker."

"Yes, Your Grace," the maid replied as she hurriedly picked up one of the babies, wrapped it in a blanket, and placed it into the tandem stroller while Jenetta picked up the other twin and did the same.

Jenetta then followed the maid out to the elevator and rode down to the first floor with her and the babies. As she stepped out, she hit the button for the underground bunker, then watched as the doors closed and the car descended.

Running out of the palace, Jenetta headed for her barge. As she ran through the gates, the two guards looked at each other for a second, then ran after her. She saw the movement and waved them off. They realized she was headed for her barge, so they slowed and then stopped.

The ramp was down but the hatch was closed, so Jenetta punched in the security code and entered when the door opened. She didn't wait for the lift, which appeared to be at the top of the lift tunnel; she just hiked up her skirts and ran up the five flights of stairs.

Barging into Lieutenant McDonnell's office where he and Lieutenant(jg) Pfeiffer were having a discussion, Jenetta said, "GQ, Lieutenant. Set a new record for getting this ship in the air."

"Aye, Admiral," McDonnell said as he jumped out of his office chair.

Jenetta backed out and away from the doorway so the two senior officers on the barge could get out of the small office and to the bridge. Following them, she sat down in a jump seat by the tac station and belted herself in. The tac officer, navigator, engineer, and com chief were already on the bridge, engaged in conversation, when the three officers rushed in.

McDonnell had once told Jenetta he could have the ship in the air with five minutes' notice. He started shouting orders to his crew and beat that time by two minutes.

"Where to, Admiral?" McDonnell asked.

"There's a ship in orbit. Find it."

"Aye, Admiral," McDonnell said, nodding to the tac officer.

"I have it, Admiral," the tac officer said. "It's a small, single-hull freighter. It looks like it's attempting to leave orbit."

"I want it stopped. If they won't stop, use whatever force you must to stop it."

"You want me to fire on a refugee ship, ma'am?"

"The crew of a shuttle from that ship just attacked immigration officials who went to welcome them to the planet. I don't think there are any refugees in that ship. I believe it was a deliberate attack and I was the target."

"Uh, aye, Admiral," McDonnell said. "Chief, you heard the Admiral. Tell them to heave to or else."

Fifteen seconds later, the com chief said, "They're not responding, sir."

"Admiral, on your orders we're going to attempt to stop that ship."

"Proceed, Lieutenant. I take full responsibility."

"Tac, stop that ship from leaving orbit."

"Aye, Captain. Firing laser cannon across their bow."

After fifteen seconds the tac officer said, "They're not slowing down or changing course. Firing a missile."

The heat trail of a missile could be clearly seen on the monitor as it left the weapons container below the ship and streaked towards the freighter. When it struck, a secondary explosion broke the freighter in two.

"Freighter stopped, Admiral," McDonnell said.

"Good work, Lieutenant. Take me home."

"Uh, you don't want us to check for survivors, ma'am?"

"No. We have no Marines on board, so we have no ability to send over search parties. They had a chance to surrender peacefully, and they made a choice to risk death instead. I'm content to grant them their wish."

"Heading for home, Admiral. Helm, take us back to the palace."

"Aye, Captain. Heading back to the palace."

~

As the barge set down, Captain Pwuhvasqu and a dozen of his men were waiting. They approached Jenetta as soon as she stepped off the ramp.

"Your Grace, I have the unpleasant duty to report that sixteen people, three of them my people, were killed by laser fire at the welcome site. We also have four wounded. We managed to kill nine of the attackers before the shuttle lifted off. Our laser cannon fire from the ground station brought down the shuttle as it attempted to flee. It crashed and burned. There were no survivors."

"It's a sad day, Captain. Sixteen lives lost while we were trying to welcome refugees. The attackers didn't do so well either, though. You took care of the shuttle attackers and my people aboard my barge took care of the freighter. It's safe to say the people who committed this act weren't refugees. This wasn't a meeting that turned ugly. This was a deliberate attack by someone. I want you examine every piece of clothing, weapon, and any papers they were carrying for clues to their identity."

"Yes, Your Grace. I've already given orders to bring their bodies to the morgue where our forensic specialists will examine them and their possessions, and attempt to identify them."

"Very good, Captain. Carry on."

Jenetta hurried into the palace and hit the 'all clear' bell. In minutes elevators were coming up loaded with Terrans, Nordakians, and Jumakas. When the first car opened, all of her family members and the Jumakas stepped out. The maid pushing the oh-gee stroller continued up to the top floor with the twins after the door closed.

"What was it, dear?" Annette asked. "Another false alarm?"

"Not this time, Mama. Let's go out to the garden and I'll tell you about it."

~

"So that's the story as I know it right now," Jenetta said.

Annette, Marina, Regina, Berl, Arturo, and all twelve Jumakas had hung on every word.

"That's terrible," Annette said. "Sixteen of our people dead when all they were trying to do was help those poor people from the Clidepp Empire."

"Yolongi are bad men," Cayla said.

"Cayla said that Yolongi are bad men," Jenetta announced before responding to the Jumaka. "No, Cayla, not all of them. The ones who did this were bad men, but not all Yolongi are that way."

"How do you know which are bad?" Tayna asked.

"Tayna wants to know how we know which are bad." Looking at Tayna, Jenetta said, "Sometimes you can't know until they actually do something bad."

"We'll have to have a service to honor the people who died," Marisa said. "I mean our people, not the Yolongi."

"Would you, Regina, and Mama arrange that? I think I'm going to be kind of busy responding to inquiries and things."

"Of course, dear," Annette said. "We'll take care of it. Do you have a list of the people who were killed?"

"Not yet, but I'll get it for you, Mama."

"Why do you suppose they did it?"

"I believe they were after me."

"You? Then why did they attack the Nordakians? Surely they can tell the difference between a Nordakian and a Terran."

"I think I
might
know. A lot of women here and on Nordakia have emulated my appearance. It's kind of flattering. Blond hair isn't a natural hair color among Nordakians, so they have to bleach their hair to match the color of mine and then use their chromatophoric cellular control to match my skin color. Since I'm almost six feet tall, the attackers may have become confused. They might have thought one of the women in the welcoming party was me. That's all I can think of."

"Now that you mention it, I think you might be right. I've seen a lot of Nordakian women who look quite a bit like you."

"I don't want to discourage them, but perhaps I should explain that they're in danger if they continue to copy my appearance."

"I don't think that's necessary. Once this is on the news, future attackers will be a lot more leery of jumping to such conclusions."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better. You're assuming there will be more attacks."

"You assumed it first, dear."

"So I did, Mama."

~     ~     ~

"Ernie, we shouldn't be in here," Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm Bensent was a tall, thin man. People joked they always lost sight of him when he turned sideways, and he had a nervous tic in his right eye that always made people think he was winking at them. Many a woman had slapped his face when they thought he was flirting.

"Oh, don't be a 'nervous Willy,' Wilhelm. They got the reactor going, so we'd have power and atmo in here, right?"

Ernest 'Ernie' Grassdokker was short and a little squat. He was always looking for the 'big score,' the one scientific discovery that would make him famous, but in his sixty-three years it had so far eluded him. He wasn't looking for riches; he just wanted a little respect. Most people had no idea how little respect a short man got simply because of his height.

"Wrong, they got the reactor going so the survey people can do their work easier. We're scientists, not Space Command or Space Marines. We're supposed to wait until the surveys are
complete
before we're allowed in."

"If we just sit by and wait until we have permission, someone else might make the big discoveries instead of us. Just come look at this control console I found. It's unlike anything we've seen before in this ship."

"What's so special about it? It looks like a regular control console to me."

"Look at these characters along the bottom. Have you seen them anywhere else on this ship?"

"They don't look familiar."

"Darn right. They're unique. If we can figure out what they mean we can get written up in the Galactic Scientific Journal."

"If anyone reads such an article we'll lose our jobs because they'll realize we shouldn't have been in this section. I like my job. It's safe, the travel is fun, and it pays well."

"Don't you want to get ahead?"

"You mean climb the ladder and get all the headaches of the supervisors for just a little bit more money? No. Now let's get out of here."

"Just a minute. I was looking at this earlier and I think I might know what it means."

"You've been in here before?"

"Just two times."

"You are really asking to get fired."

"Oh, come on. This ship is so big we could work for weeks and not see anyone else."

"That's what I like about my job. No supervisor with ulcers trying to give me ulcers."

"Just ten seconds more. I think this switch turns on those monster overhead fans."

"What makes you think that?"

"I've seen that model of switch before. It's only used where they have to conduct high current, such as to power those fans."

"I'm getting out of here, Ernie. Are you coming?"

"Just let me test my theory, and then I promise we'll leave."

Without waiting for a response from Wilhelm, Ernie flipped the switch and looked up to see if the fans were turning. They weren't.

"I guess that wasn't it," Ernie said, the discouragement evident in his voice. "They're not moving."

"But something else is."

Ernie turned to look where Wilhelm was looking. An entire wall at one end of the room was slowly rising and disappearing into the overhead.

"Turn it off, Ernie. Now."

"Uh, yeah," Ernie said as he flipped the switch back to the original position."

"Flip it," Wilhelm said loudly.

"I did."

"The wall is still going up," Wilhelm said nervously. "Why is it still going up? Oh, boy, are we ever going to be in it."

Ernie flipped the switch up again and then down. "It's not working."

"Let's get out of here. Now!"