Koban (80 page)

After Mel Rigson checked him out in the dispensary, he announced
the Captain had a deep thigh bruise, but no fracture.

Mel allowed him to finish a shower then wrapped his thigh in
a smart bandage, as Mirikami ate from a hurried breakfast plate, and drank some
of his Earth coffee.

 Putting on a fresh utility uniform, he felt much better. He
wasn’t even particularly tired, since he’d had nothing to do all night but
sleep in that cave, where it was relatively cool. He’d had to swat at the
occasional kant that crawled on his hands or face, but those were only scouts
from some distant nest. Luckily, none of them managed to sting him.

Noreen broke in with a Link as he left the dispensary. “Tet,
Telour has called for all of the Training Day survivors to report to him in the
Great Hall, right away. He sounded as impatient as he did last night.”

“Have you told Dillon?” he asked.

“Not yet, Sir, but I will next. I’m sending a truck for you
both. I know it isn’t far, but I don’t want you to walk on that bad leg.”

Ricco drove Tet and Dillon to the dome, also collecting
Tet’s “spider” team as they started across. Presumably, the four survivors from
the jungle team had been told, but they already lived in the dome. A stream of
Fancies were headed over as well, and waved as they passed. Obviously they had
also heard of the summons.

When Mirikami entered the Great Hall at the head of his team,
Telour’s head whipped around and his red eyes immediately locked on him. For
the first time he thought he saw an expression of surprise on a Krall’s
difficult to read face. At least when it was an expression other than rage.

“Little clan leader, I believed you were dead. Your clan
mates also believed this. I watched as I thought I saw you killed in the cave
yesterday. Another trap that Kimbo clan’s octet could not avoid.” A hard snort
of amusement sounded.

“You have done well for me. I called for the survivors to
honor the agreement to award immunity. I did not expect to award you today.”

“Yes,” Mirikami replied. “The reports of my death are
greatly exaggerated.”

Hearing Maggi snicker in the background suggested she’d heard
of the Mark Twain quote.

Detaching a Katusha from his harness, Telour ordered him to
approach.

Mirikami was close to refusing the dubious honor, until Thad
quickly murmured that he needed the prestige the marks would grant him. He was
right, and not for the Krall’s respect but more importantly for the people who
he wanted to feel hope.

Telour used his Katusha to mark all ten of them with red marks
in their tattoo ovals, one each for eight of the survivors, but Mirikami received
three dots, and Dillon two dots, in recognition of their greater contribution to
the human’s overall success and number of warriors killed. These were proof of their
permanent immunity from Testing Days.

Telour indicated that he was well satisfied with the first successful
demonstration of human war making capability. “Your traps were well laid, and your
tactics were effective against the Kimbo clan’s assaults, the clan which provided
the handpicked octet. That small clan has received much attention for their successes
in interclan battles recently.”

This was high praise and surprising, but quickly was revealed
as a reflection of Telour’s pleasure with himself.

“My status has risen within my clan because of my new method
of using humans in a surprising victory over eight of the best fighters Kimbo clan
could send. True, three of those you killed were novices, but they were highly trained,
selected as the best novices that clan could find.

“However you also killed two of their most experienced combat
tested warriors, chosen for the same reasons. Their loss was the culmination of
my victory.” For a Krall he was almost giddy.

Funny
, Mirikami thought,
I don’t recall your ass being
out there yesterday, or even directly involved.
It was typical of a Krall to
dismiss the achievements of what to them were mere animals.

He continued, “The last test has attracted attention far outside
that of my Graka clan, from other powerful clans that recently lost to Kimbo clan’s
aggressive tactics. My success with you, combined with other news just received,
may see completion of my plan sooner than I expected. We will prepare to leave
now.” He left the cryptic remark unexplained, and promptly left the hall, the
hand of warriors following him to an elevator.

After they were gone, Mirikami paused in thought. “I think
Telour just paid us off.”

“What do you mean?” Noreen asked.

Maggi knew. “He was honor bound to pay what he agreed to
give for the success of yesterday. From his remarks about leaving, he sounds
like he may think the agreement has been completed.”

Jake broke in with a warning. “A Krall shuttle has been
detected approaching from the southeast.”

“That could be from the other compound, coming to pick up
Telour,” said Noreen.

“Why wouldn’t he use one of the two shuttles they have here
already?” Roni wondered.

Mirikami and his core supporters headed back to the Fancy to
observe the arrival. They watched on a screen on the Bridge as the craft
approached.

Even before the third shuttle landed, they saw a mass of
Krall exit the dome on a second screen. It was a mixture of uniforms, blue,
brown, and black. There were more Krall on the tarmac than the Flight of Fancy
complement had seen since their arrival.

“I think that must be every Krall in the dome,” commented Thad.
“There are more than can fit in two shuttles, if they take that equipment with
them.”

For the first time the others noticed the Krall were pulling
a number of wheeled carts loaded with mostly unrecognizable gear, and what
surely were Krall heavy weapons. Thad said he had never seen them before.

Two of them looked like twin barrel plasma cannons, based on
the magnetic coils wound along their length and the bell mouths, and had small
Krall design fusion bottles under their rotatable mount. They weren’t portable
weapons, but the ten foot long by five feet wide carts showed they were easily transportable.

All of the equipment went into the newly arrived shuttle,
along with two of the K’Tal and the pilot that had helped them load. The other
Krall entered the other two shuttles, and without fanfare, the three lifted
together and departed in formation to the southeast.

Mirikami received a Link from both Nory Walters and Mel
Rigson.

“Captain?” queried Walters, the Chief Steward. “Mister
Rigson and I think the Krall may have evacuated the dome. Cal Branson has gone
up with a few crewmembers and some Primes to check on things. Based on the head
count as they headed through the outer doors, we think they all may have left.
They didn’t say anything to us. Any idea what’s happening?”

“Jake, Link this call to everyone with me please,” Mirikami
ordered the AI.

“Nory, Mel, you are in a Link with a lot of people,” he
advised them out of curtsey.

“We watched the same thing you did. Telour said there was a
big clan meeting at the main Krall compound. He said they were leaving after
the immunity awards. A third shuttle arrived to carry them and some equipment.”

“We watched them lift,” Nory affirmed. “The Primes that have
been here the longest say they’ve never seen so many Krall at one time. They
don’t generally know how many are even here.”

“Let me ask a friend,” Mirikami proposed.

“I wonder if there are any Krall left in the dome?” he asked
for Jake’s benefit.

“Sir, I am excluding the five I was informed have died in
the outer compound today. With those five exceptions, every Krall I have
observed enter the dome since our arrival on the planet have now departed, the
last that I am aware of are in the three shuttles now airborne.

“However, there may be additional Krall inside that I have
never observed. Several of my cameras can see into the windows of the top level
and I do not detect any movement. It is....”

“Stop.” Mirikami ordered.

“You didn’t return those Katusha’s to the Krall yet did you?” 
Thad asked Avery. “We can check for any Krall on the top level with those. You
have four of them, and the entire top level is easily within range from level
thirty one.”

“I had one of them and Dillon had one, and Avery has the
other two. Let’s get them over to the dome now.”

Cal Branson requested a Link while the Katusha’s were being
sent.

“Captain, the few Krall areas normally blocked off from the
Primes on lower levels were left open. We looked through the normally closed
and locked doors but didn’t go inside. No one wanted to risk a death sentence
to go up to level thirty two to check there, but it appears like they may have
all pulled out.”

“Cal, we think so too. We’re sending four Katusha’s over
with Ricco. Link up with him and conduct the same kind of search you did for
Carltron and Blythe, from just below the top level. It may take hours, but
we’ll know if they left anyone behind.”

“Yes Sir.”

Several hours later, they had confirmation that there were
no Krall detected on Level thirty-two.

The Koban Committee, plus Thad Greeves, met for an early lunch.
Before he knew what he was being elected to, Thad became the sixth appointed member
of the unofficial group.

As Tet and Dillon fed their newly boosted appetites, to Thad’s
astonishment at their capacity, Maggi and Aldry explained why they were so hungry.
Why Tet’s deep bruise would heal in a day or two.

She told him of the boosted metabolism and heat adaptation that
made life in the higher gravity and summer heat on Koban tolerable.

“Tet explained that to me previously,” Thad noted, curious as
to why they were telling him again. “It was to eliminate the need for the pills
you used to do the same thing, which are temporary and toxic or something, if overused.”

“That’s true, but it wasn’t the complete story. How do you imagine
we made it permanent? An adaptation that helps people permanently cope with life
on this world.”

“I give. How?”

“It’s something we biologists can do for every woman and man
on Koban, increasing their chances of survival, and make their lives easier. We
can provide greater energy reserves and improved skin and body cooling. Something
not permitted inside the sphere of Human Space.” She waited for him to connect the
dots.

“Gene modifications, you mean.” He stated it, rather than asking
a question.

Mirikami’s own response waited while he swallowed a large
bite. “Yes. It’s what kept Dillon and me going out there, despite not having Koban
adapted muscles. We did things over the course of the day that even you long time
captives would have found demanding. But we have been here only weeks.”

“How do you feel about this Thad?” Maggi asked him. “Was this
an acceptable action to improve our survival chances on Testing Days against super
aliens, or do the Hub’s prohibitions apply to us out here, hundreds of light years
from the nearest edge of Human controlled space?”

“Terrific!” He boomed. “You hand me a loaded question with only
one logical answer, and surround me with proponents of the answer you want to hear
from me.” He eased their worried looks with a rousing laugh.

“You know your audience of one rather well, I think. You’ve heard
me say I would do anything to destroy these monstrous self-declared ‘Lords of the
Universe.’ Even if the treatment isn’t totally safe, I’d like to try it next.”

“Are you kidding?” Dillon asked.

“Forgive me you
Gentle Men
, but when I saw you two untrained
rookies climb up onto that terrace while the hunt was still on, I figured you were
goners. That’s a tough climb for people that have lived here for years, and they
have made practice climbs first. I expected you to collapse right then. Several
weeks ago, you could barely walk down your cargo ramp without breaking a leg. No,
I’m not kidding, I want to try it too.

“In fact, I wish we could make ourselves a match for the smug
murderous bastards.”

Maggi glanced towards Aldry, and very slightly shook her head
no. It wasn’t the time.

Mirikami had some questions. “Thad, how do you think the other
captives would react to knowledge of these treatments? Could they keep it secret
enough so the Krall wouldn’t learn what we’re doing? I’m afraid they might decide
to exterminate us all if they discovered we even had the capability to improve ourselves
this way. I have no idea why they never did this to themselves.”

“Don’t worry about anyone’s acceptance of your ‘magic.’ Today
was the first time we ever came close to holding our own with a hunter killer team.
Right now, you walk on water for most of them over there. If they know your modifications
helped you survive, then they will want them. Beyond a doubt they will.”

“We didn’t exactly out muscle them, Thad,” Dillon pointed out.

“No, most of it was outsmarting and tricking them. But if you
hadn’t had the energy and endurance you did, the last most important kill couldn’t
have happened. How badly do you think the exhausted people in the jungle would have
wanted to run longer and faster, to hold out in the heat better?”

“And continuing to keep what we did a secret?” Maggi repeated.

“That’s a problem with humans any time, any place. We’ve had
collaborators before, and will again. However, even if no one
tells
the Krall
anything, humans doing better physically will eventually be obvious to even an average
slow-witted warrior. We won’t be a physical match, so I’d guess this would only
enhance our value as better opponents.”

“We were concerned because the Krall take pride in at least twenty
five thousand years of selective breeding to become what they are. If we show we
can do this by a shortcut method, they might not take it well.”