M'tak Ka'fek (The T'aafhal Inheritance) (15 page)

The horticulturalist was a slight woman but not totally defenseless. She had taken Ludmilla's Sambo self defense classes during the voyages on Peggy Sue. Bringing both her arms up between his and then out and down sharply she managed to break her assailant’s tentative hold on her neck. Reacting according to Ludmilla's training, Melissa then attempted a stiff fingered jab to the attacker's eyes.

Unfortunately, this was not her attacker's first assault. Reacting before his intended victim could gouge out an eye, he tucked in his chin and lowered his head, causing the strike to hit his browline and not a vulnerable eye socket. He lashed out blindly, a roundhouse blow that caught Melissa on the left side of her face, knocking off her mask and driving her to the ground.

“Shit!” he cried, wiping his forehead with his right hand. It came away stained red with blood from the gash above his eyebrow. He either ignored or did not hear the rattling sound coming from the quivering flowers along the Ambassador's closest trunk—a sound not unlike a nest of baby rattlesnakes.

“You fucking cunt!” he yelled in shocked anger, stunned that his intended victim had managed to hurt him. Rage building, he started toward Melissa again, saying in a low, threatening rasp, “you will beg me to let you die before I'm done...”

A ripple of faint popping sounds emanated from the Ambassador. The would be rapist suddenly sprouted a forest of finger length quills, scattered along the left side of his head, neck and torso. He toppled forward.

Melissa scrambled backward to avoid the falling man, who struck the ground and lay motionless. In horror and disbelief, she backed up the gentle slope until she sat with her back against one of the Ambassador's three man sized trunks. 

Jesse's Place, Farside

Beth and Billy Ray had found an empty table near the entrance and were cautiously getting to know each other. They were observed by a trio of females, two human and one ursine, who represented a majority of Farside base's leadership.

“They make an interesting couple, don't you think?” asked Isbjørn. The mating rituals of humans fascinated her. In her opinion bears were much more pragmatic: find an attractive partner; fight a bit to make sure the prospective mate is strong and healthy; and then spend a week mating as often as possible.

“Yes, interesting,” commented Gretchen dryly, “they are like a pair of scorpions circling each other, trying to decide what action to take—do we mate or attempt to kill each other?”

“You are becoming far too cynical, Gretchen,” Ludmilla replied. “The Lieutenant is just being cautious, as she should be given Billy Ray's reputation. But Bill Ray is showing signs of real interest, if I am not mistaken. Do not forget, I have observed him under such conditions before.”

“What do you mean, Ludmilla?” asked Isbjørn. The 300kg bear was sitting next to the two humans, placing her head at roughly human height.

“Ludmilla was the matchmaker who smoothed things over between Billy Ray and Susan on the first voyage.”

“Ah,” the she-bear said, “what a tragedy that the girl died.”

“Yes, yes it was. Mourning is appropriate, even necessary, but eventually one must move on. What Billy Ray needs is someone new, someone to prove that his life did not end when Susan died.”

“You are such a romantic, Ludmilla,” Gretchen said, in a tone that held just a touch of sarcasm. Ludmilla was about to answer her friend when her comm chirped.

“Why do they always call me when I am in Jesse's bar?” she muttered before saying, “Tropsha here, go ahead.”

“LudmillaStefanovaTropsha there has been an attack on MelissaScottHamilton; She is in our quarters and requires assistance; Please accept our apologies, we seem to have killed a member of your conclave.”

Even before the tripart message was finished Ludmilla knew that it was from NatHanGon. A priority message from the Triad ambassador would be put through wherever she was. Ludmilla was already in motion as she issued a terse reply: “We come.”

Her two companions overheard the call and were also in immediate motion, headed toward the exit with Isbjørn in the lead. Her shouted warning of “make way!” was hardly needed—a full grown polar bear charging at top speed tended to clear a path. As Gretchen exited the bar she yelled, “you two, with me!”

Startled, Beth and Billy Ray looked after the receding figure of the Captain. “Did she mean us?” asked Beth.

“I don't know, but I'm not waiting around to find out. Let's move.”

The pair of officers lit out after the running trio. As they passed the Marine guards at the entrance one of them shouted, “Did she mean us?”

“You two stop gawkin' and come on,” yelled Billy Ray,
en passant
, “we got us a situation here!” 

NatHanGon's Quarters, Farside

Isbjørn was the first to arrive outside the Triad ambassador's quarters. She was arguing with the airlock's voice control as Ludmilla and Gretchen pulled up. The quick run in low G was enough to get the blood flowing but not nearly enough to tax either woman.

“Emergency override!” Ludmilla shouted. The outer door slid aside and Isbjørn pushed inside. The others followed and Gretchen quickly cycled the lock.

Entering the Ambassador's chamber, the bear lowered her head and growled at the sight in front of them. The body of the attacker was sprawled on the mossy ground, head twisted sideways with one unblinking eye staring sightlessly at nothing. Propped against the base of the Ambassador was Melissa, glassy eyed, breathing in shallow, panting breaths.

Isbjørn sniffed the body and pronounced, “this one's dead.”

Ludmilla hastened to Melissa's side and quickly checked her pulse and respiration. Taking note of the bruising on the side of Melissa's face, she pulled a pencil thin LED flashlight and checked pupil dilation for signs of a concussion. The Ambassador's “flowers” rustled, a sign of agitation but not the warning rattle that preceded their turning Melissa's attacker into a pincushion.

Gretchen spoke into her collar pip. “This is Capt. Curtis. We need medics, two stretchers and a squad of Marines at the Ambassador's quarters. Now!”

“We are quite concerned for MelissaScottHamilton's well being; It is distressing that such an attack took place between members of the same species; We responded in haste, as an opportunity presented itself.”

“Her pulse is weak and rapid, breathing shallow and her skin is cool and clammy,” Ludmilla stated. She also noted that the motile roots around the Ambassador's base were partly wrapped around the victim, as though caressing her. “She is in shock and needs to be stabilized as soon as possible.”

Isbjørn moved closer to the injured girl and made motherly bear sounds. Melissa looked up at the bear's face and in a sign of recognition reached out and touched Isbjørn's muzzle.

“We have tried to comfort her but we are poorly equipped to give aid to creatures of your kind; The one we neutralized entered without permission and assaulted MelissaScottHamilton without provocation; We hope our actions do not upset you, the threat was unfamiliar and our responses limited.”

“I am sure that Melissa will be all right, NatHanGon,” said Ludmilla, addressing the Triad for the first time.

“What did you do to the assailant?” asked Gretchen, eying the fallen gray form.

“I think your response was totally appropriate,” growled Isbjørn, hovering protectively over the fallen Melissa.

* * * * *

Outside the airlock, Beth and Billy Ray had arrived, two Marines in tow. A member of the original expeditions and a Naval officer, Billy Ray had access to the Ambassador's airlock code. As the door slid open he turned to the two Marines and issued orders: “One of you go 30 meters that way and the other back the way we came. Do not let anyone down here except for official personnel responding to the emergency.”

“Aye aye, Sir,” the Marines replied in unison, quickly moving off to their assigned positions.

Stepping inside the airlock, Billy Ray used the intercom to call the party inside. “Capt. Curtis? This is Lt. Melaku and Cdr. Vincent. We have secured the area and are awaiting instructions.”

“Very good, Cdr. Vincent,” came the reply. “There are medical personnel and a squad of Marines on the way. We will need the medical personnel with a stretcher in here as soon as they arrive.”

“Aye, aye, Ma'am. Might I ask what happened?”

“Some civilian miscreant attacked Miss Scott Hamilton as she was tending to the Ambassador. She is injured but stable; the Ambassador is unharmed.”

“Thank you Ma'am. We will send the medics in as soon as they arrive.” Under his breath Billy Ray cursed, “son of a bitch!”

“Is everything all right?” asked Beth, concerned as much by Billy Ray's reaction as the update from Capt. Curtis.

“I truly hope so, Beth. Why someone would want to hurt Melissa I cannot tell you. She's about the sweetest little thing you'd ever want to meet. Always smiling, not a bad word to say about anyone. If the bastard who attacked her ain't dead now the sum'bitch will be shortly, I guaranty it.”

Beth was startled by the venom in Billy Ray's words. It seemed that the calm, cool cowboy cared about other people after all, and deeply. As she searched for some comforting phrase the medics pulled up outside with a pair of floating stretchers.

“A couple of you bring one of those stretchers in here. Col. Tropsha is inside with the victim, she'll tell you what to do,” Turning to Beth he added, “Lt. Melaku, could you step outside and coordinate the responding emergency personnel?” 

“Yes, Commander.” There was no doubt in her mind that Billy Ray's question was an order. She stepped outside; the airlock sealed and cycled.

* * * * *

The two medics guided the floating stretcher into the Ambassador's chamber. One pulled up short at the sight of Isbjørn crouched near the patient but Ludmilla gave him no time to dither.

“Bring that stretcher over here,” Ludmilla snapped. “She is shocky and has suffered trauma to the left side of her face. We need to get her immobilized, under blankets and to the medical section immediately.”

“Yes, Doctor,” the medics replied. There was no doubt in either of their minds that those orders came from a medical doctor. Carefully, they freed Melissa from the caring embrace of the Triad and with the assistance of Billy Ray placed the injured woman on the stretcher.

As she was eased onto the floating device, Melissa looked up at Ludmilla and said “I tried to stop him, Ludmilla, like you taught us, but he kept on coming.” She teared up and started to cry softly.

“There, there Melissa,” Ludmilla said, trying to comfort her, “do not worry, it is not your fault. Everything will be all right, the Ambassador took care of that animal. We need you to just lay back while we take you to hospital.”

As Dr. Tropsha and the medical people departed with their patient, Billy Ray squatted on his haunches looking over the body of the assailant. “Am I mistaken or is this feller dead?”

“He is most definitely dead,” responded Isbjørn, in a way that implied she would have made sure of it if he wasn't.

“What I want to know is how that bastard got in here,” fumed Gretchen.

“Well, this might have had something to do with it,” Billy Ray replied, removing a small metallic object from the deceased’s rear pocket. It was the signal recorder the assailant used to hack the door lock.

“Get that to the technical section. I want to find out exactly how this happened and make sure it never happens again.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

“And send in the other stretcher, we need to move this piece of human garbage to the morgue. I want to know who this creep was and where he came from. By the way, Ambassador, how did you kill him?”

“Yes, it looks like you stopped him in his tracks,” added Isbjørn, who then nudged Billy Ray to complete the triplet.

“Yeah, you saved us the bother of a speedy trial and a quick hanging,” the still riled cowboy finished.

“We pierced him with a number of quills, each tipped with an assortment of neurotoxins; Having no prior need to formulate a debilitating agent for humans, we used a wide spectrum of substances that were almost instantly fatal; We are happy to be of assistance, we are quite fond of MelissaScottHamilton.”

Base Administrator's Office

The day following the incident in the Triad Ambassador's quarters, Ludmilla called a meeting of the Moon base's governing council. Present were Captain Curtis, Isbjørn, Rajiv Gupta and TK Parker, just returned from Earth. Also in attendance were Yuki Saito and Jo Jo Medina. Upon hearing news of the attack TK became particularly incensed.

“How is that young woman doing, Dr. Tropsha?” he asked as the others were still taking their seats. “I can't believe that such a thing could happen here at Farside. Were did that polecat come from and how did he slip through the screening interviews?”

“Melissa is doing fine,” answered Ludmilla. “Her shock was more psychological than physiological. I have treated her with analgesics for the pain and kept her overnight for observation. As for her attacker, it would appear that he was picked up with a group of other refugees from a small college town in the mountains of California,” the Chief Administrator continued, scanning over the report on the surface display in front of her. “He evidently was a repairman and maintenance worker on the college campus. His interview revealed nothing untoward and several of the other school people vouched for him.”

“Vouched for him or just said they knew the bastard?” TK muttered.

“Most likely the latter but who knows? As fast as we had to move while rescuing useful survivors we were bound to catch a few hidden criminals in our nets. He was probably a sexual predator for years, but managed not to get caught. He did have some technical skills or he never could have constructed the device that gave him access to the airlock.”

“I find that more troubling than the fact we found a bad apple among our new personnel,” commented Gretchen. “Rajiv, how could someone override our security so easily?”