Koban (30 page)

He took the lift down, wondering what Telour had been doing there.
The watch stander there hadn’t called him.

When he arrived, Willfem, Chief Haveram, and two “Drive Rats,”
Gundarfem and Yin-Lee, were standing on one side, with Telour apparently looking
at the Trap control consoles, and the fusion generator’s monitoring panel.

Oh, Oh, He thought, he may have figured out we have our two Traps
still holding those huge Jump energy tachyons.

Telour, who had of course heard him approach and enter, didn’t
even turn around. “Clan leader, I have learned that you want to retain electrical
power for your ship after it is parked on Koban. One of your non-crew clan mates
asked your K’Tal here if they could use a machine making shop after landing. He
said it would be to make the armor suits we brought to Koban better. To make
them move easier under the gravity there. How do you know we have that armor there?”

It sounded accusatory, but at least it wasn’t about the tachyon
Traps.

“Telour, I don’t know which Translator told that to some of my
people, but we learned of it from answers to our permitted questions. We know that
this armor will make us more protected, but also heavier, and I’m certain the higher
gravity on Koban is a big problem for Humans there.

“We will be even slower and tire more quickly with armor, even
if better protected. We once used mechanical assistance on some of the armor used
in our past wars, and we think we may be able to add that ability if we want to
fight like we once did. This is following your orders to fight more efficiently
and effectively.”

Telour turned, as he deployed his internal ears, and tapped his
shoulder com button. The usual silence, to humans anyway, ensued as his lip ridges
rippled. After a moment, he tapped the button again, disconnecting.

“You did not tell Dorkda, who told you about the armor, what
you want to do and why?”

Ah, that was the issue. Mirikami was somewhat relieved. “No Sir.
We only gathered information as you instructed. My clan mates were not aware of
all of my plans after our arrival on Koban,” he lied, “but I told them not to tell
any Krall of why we were asking questions.”

He’d have to make sure none of his extremely bright passengers
inadvertently let any idea they thought up on their own, slip out when around a
Krall other than Telour. Preferably, not even around him.

“Then why did he ask your K’Tal about this plan to improve armor?”
He was still probing him.

“Humans here know we will be fighting on Koban, and they now
know of the higher gravity there. You were told we are preparing for that by increasing
ship gravity, to be ready. My clan mate must have concluded on his own that power
assisted armor would be a good idea, because it is an obvious conclusion.”

“Can you improve the armor?” Telour did show interest in that.

“We have not seen it yet, but we have copies of old human designs
that we can follow, to attach support to the outside of armor. It may be possible
to make what we need ourselves, and that must be done in a machine shop that my
K’Tal here can operate. But only if we can retain power on this ship.”

“How long would this take?’

“Each set of armor must be done one at a time, because we do
not have a factory to make many at once. However, we have other ideas to help us
become effective fighters, and these need the machine shop to build special weapons.
There are simple but quiet mechanical weapons that humans have used for thousands
of years to silently throw small pointed projectiles, which we know how to make
and use.” The term “use” was in theory only, since crossbows were not commonly found.

“Then you are following my instruction,” he conceded. “But why
can you not move the machines to make these things away from the ship?”

“The tools used, Telour, are controlled by small computers that
are built into the walls of the ship, and the different power settings of all of
these things are already part of the ship, including power from the fusion bottle
generator here.

“I also want to ask you if small poisoned darts are permitted.
These are small projectiles that have a toxic chemical on them, that would perhaps
kill or slow the one warrior touched. If we have power to the ship, and its medical
computers and records, our equipment might be able to make this poison for us. It
also can make drugs for humans to eat, to keep them awake longer, to help them feel
stronger, to fight better. These are simple examples of what other humans will force
your warriors to face and defeat, when the worlds you invade start to fight back.”

“I have made a good choice I think, for my human clan leader,”
Telour admitted. “These are better ideas than I believed humans would have. Some
are not very good ideas, because Krall are not easy to poison, and even mostly silent
weapons make noise through the air, which we hear. I repeat our warning to not make
any biological or chemical weapons that kill many warriors at once.”

“We understand this restriction, and the ability for that sort
of weapon is not present on this ship anyway, because we are not a warship or a
science laboratory.” No need to let him know that it held a bunch of biological
scientists and their equipment, however.

“Parkoda will want to power down or destroy your ship after landing.
Can your K’Tal make it impossible for the ship ever to fly again, as confirmed by
our K’Tal, but leave it with electrical power?”

“I need to ask my clan mates here for this information, because
I am not a K’Tal.”

“Do that.” He ordered, and waited to hear what was said.

Looking to his Drive Room crew, he started with their boss. “Ms.
Willfem, how can we do this to guarantee to the Krall that the ship will never fly
again, yet remain partly intact, with electrical power?” They had already discussed
this, but Mirikami wanted it to appear fresh to Telour.

Knowing what Telour wanted to accomplish it might not be terribly
hard to convince him. However, Parkoda couldn’t know about that plan, so they had
to try to balance the two Krall’s diverse and conflicting ambitions.

“Sir, our three main planetary thrusters are the clear choice,”
Willfem started. “We can disable or remove those engines, and then we cannot lift
out of a strong gravity well to engage our Normal Space drives. Not without blowing
ourselves and a big piece of real estate up with us.”

“Is disabling them without removal possible?”

“Yes Sir, by pulling out a number of irreplaceable modules, and
control systems for each of the three main thrusters. The small attitude thrusters
can’t begin to lift the ship, but we can remove those completely. We could do that
quickly, within an hour of landing, and give those to the Krall for destruction.
We can’t make replacements, and there won’t be any spare parts coming.”

Mirikami looked at Telour, the implied question obvious.

“This would not satisfy Parkoda,” He stated firmly. “There will
be more human ships arriving with parts you might use, even if those ships are then
damaged so they can’t fly. There are wrecked human ships at the port now, which
might have parts you can use. The difference between those blasted ships and your
untouched ship would be obvious to a novice.”

This was a bit of new information they hadn’t had, concerning
existing wrecks, but that was just the first proposal. They had anticipated a hard
sell.

“Ms. Willfem, how hard is it to completely remove the three main
thrusters?” He asked the question for which they had prepared an answer. Painful
to implement, but an answer they were depending on to work.

“Sir, without a port facility repair dock, we can’t remove them
in one piece. They would have to be dismantled, but we don’t have a crane to do
this without damage to them. The Chief here,” she indicated Haveram “says we can
cut them into pieces and let the parts just fall to the ground between the landing
jacks. There they can be dragged away by our two cargo movers we have in the hold.”

Mirikami saw the Chief wince as she described the destruction
process for his three “babies,” but they already knew the alternative was for the
Krall to fire on the parked Flight of Fancy and do worse.

“Chief, how long would it take you and your Drive Room crew to
do this?”

“If we get some help from other crew members, and perhaps from
the civilian maintenance folks intended for Midwife, I think it can be done in four
hours. In only three hours if we open access panels, and cut a few redundant support
braces while we’re still in space. We have eight cutting torches, and ten or so
powered tools to loosen bolts or saw through fittings, if we have people to use
them.”

“I’ll get you the people, and we need to start teaching them
what their jobs will be right away, so we might even finish in two hours.” He spoke
as if the decision had been made, and the job would be done even faster.

They intentionally wanted it to sound easier than it would actually
be, so the Chief had been told to avoid mentioning the risk from the toxic and explosive
fuel that would still be in the feed lines. He was to avoid discussing any problems
due to the higher gravity. If they were permitted to start the work, then they might
be granted extra time if it was needed to finish. It had never been done this way
outside a scrap yard, and even there they were interested in salvage of reusable
parts.

“Telour, do you think Parkoda will permit your real plan to survive
if it takes us two or three hours to finish the work?” Mirikami deliberately phrased
his question so as tie Telour’s success to theirs.

“It is possible that I can distract Parkoda by calling for a
meeting of the combined clans. There I can say how successful his leadership of
the raid was, and give him public credit. This will take from my own status because
he will receive a larger share of the breeding points given for the raid. But my
own plan grows even stronger when he leaves on the next raid; if your ship can make
weapons that help you fight.”

It was odd to hear Telour speak like a human politician, scheming
to undermine an opponent while apparently backing them. He was so invested in his
own plan, that talking in front of the mere “animals” that were working for him
didn’t faze him at all.

He still had a concern. “Even when your engines are gone, your
ship will look almost untouched, which Parkoda will see, even if convinced by more
than one K’Tal that it can never fly. A reason for this is needed, to prevent his
order to simply destroy the ship and damage my own plan.”

He now was talking like a coconspirator with them, but it was
a valid point. In addition, it was a point they had thought about, but the best
they could come up with was more flattery and status for Parkoda, which might not
set well with Telour.

“Telour, we learned that the compound area where humans live
will become crowded, when we move in there and the new raids return with many more
captives. This ship can be used to house not only us of course, but other humans
as well, which is a more efficient use of resources. The Flight of Fancy can be
displayed as an example of Parkoda having captured a large ship that can still be
used to Krall advantage.”

He hurried to finish, before Telour could object to giving Parkoda
anything more, cursing himself for reversing the order in which he had originally
intended to present the final points.

“For you the advantage to your own personal plan will be that
the number of humans you want to use to demonstrate improved fighting skills will
increase as we teach them here. You will also have the chance to find other humans
with military training to join us, which we can help you select. We will all be
under your personal control in one place. No other Krall can then claim a share
of the new success you create from Parkoda’s own prize.”

It had all been laid out now, even though the rehearsal Mirikami
had planned today with his people hadn’t happened. It wasn’t what he had intended
to speak to Telour about when he came down here, but this was far more important.

They all waited for Telour to speak; something that a Krall rarely
delayed doing, and he didn’t disappoint now. “This idea will be included in the
clan meeting I proposed. If it is my idea to save this disabled ship for the benefit
of storing more humans, I will regain status if the clan leaders agree, and Parkoda
will have to accept their decision.

He rehashed Mirikami’s proposal, as if it were his own idea.
Seeming to say the words to see how they sounded when he said them. Perhaps he was
mentally rehearsing his clan speech.

“The dome will soon be crowded, and some may need to live outside.
Many captives will wastefully die when the insects and flying animals discover a
new food source, even with the weapons we give you. The clan leaders will not keep
humans in our compound. It would be like living with a stinking Raspani herd that
you don’t like to eat.”

Flattering comparison Mirikami thought, in a sardonic mood.

Speaking without really thinking, “Or we might say ‘a wise man
won’t live with hyenas.’ ” Luckily, Telour didn’t know the animal, or the contempt
most human’s felt for the ugly scavengers. Mirikami was distracted when he received
an urgent Link from Noreen. He had to keep his face impassive.

“Captain, a Krall warrior just came down and took Isadora’s body,
slung it over his shoulder and leaped up the stairs. Our friend says he went to
their deck 8 compartment. Because the camera there was destroyed by them, we can’t
see what he did with her.”

Telour, having nothing more to say, had turned in their usual
swift graceful motion and was through the hatch when Mirikami called to him.

“Telour, I had another reason to speak with you, but in private
please.”

Motioning for him to follow, Telour went farther into the outer
compartment. Mirikami closed the hatch behind him.