OMEGA Allegiance (14 page)

Two months into our captivity, I posed a question to Dovit. "So, we go down the stairs to the lobby and we walk towards the door. Do the guards make some sort of gesture that tells you us we cannot go beyond that point?"

Dovit closed his eyes for a moment while in thought. "I don't recall ever making such a motion. With armed guards standing sentry at the door, I believe the inherent message would be that you cannot pass."

I stood and signaled for Raptor to come to my side. "Joni, I'm borrowing your dog for a few minutes."

Joni looked up and laughed. "Yeah, like I have a say in what he decides to do. Sure, go ahead. Just try to stay away from the bend in the hallway. We've been taking a bit of extra time in there, looking for more time with the holo-display up. Anyone who is watching would almost have to get suspicious."

I walked down the hall outside our community room and then down the stairwell to the first floor. With Raptor at my side, I moved towards the door where the two guards stood. Even though their weapons were in their hands, they made no effort to deter my progress. In what felt like a bold and yet bizarre move, I walked out of the doors and into the courtyard beyond.

It felt good to have a warm sun shining on my skin. Daytime on Doomlight brought with it warm temperatures. The day I had chosen was cloudless. I looked back at the two guards, who stood at the ready. They made no effort to have me return to the building. I looked up to see a stunned Joni looking down from the fifth floor window of our community room.

I walked the perimeter of the building as Raptor lurched forward, stopping to sniff at every opportunity. After months in captivity I had taken to wonder why we had not seen other Doomlighters walking about. There had been no birds in the sky or rats scampering across the streets in the shadows. Other than the daily coming and going of the sun and the clouds, the city of our captivity seemed lifeless.

When I once again reached the doorway, I turned and reentered the building we had designated as D41. When I entered the community room the others were all standing in silence. Raptor returned to his master.

Joni raised her hands. "They didn't care that you went outside?"

I shrugged. "Apparently not. Had I known that two months ago I would have been out there exploring the surrounding city. While we still have a need to learn the language of our captors, I believe we should start splitting our time between learning and exploring. If they are allowing us to do this, I think we should take advantage of their generosity."

Joni snarked, "Yeah, they are benevolent. Maybe they will let us return to our ship and leave."

I turned to Dovit. "Care to go for a walk?"

Dovit nodded. "I would like that very much."

I gestured towards the door. "After you. Joni, we'll be back in probably fifteen minutes. I don't want to push our luck out there, but I would like to know what our boundaries are. If they don't seem to have issue with Dovit and I going out, I would suggest we all begin taking daily walks. If anything, it would be beneficial to maintaining our fitness."

As we stepped through the outer door and into the sunlight, Dovit stopped, closed his eyes, and turned his face towards the sun. "I wondered if I had forgotten what it would feel like. The tinted windows of that building block much of the natural light. I have often dreamed of being able to once again walk in the sun. Thank you, Knog, for taking the initiative to test the boundaries of our captivity."

I patted Dovit on the back to once again have him move forward. "I have to wonder if there are cameras and microphones surrounding us out here? Do we need to monitor our speech? Do they have the ability to read lips from a distance? You know, I've been thinking about you having your men constantly sing while we are talking. I have to think the Doomlighters can filter the noise they are not interested in, allowing them to fully understand everything we are saying."

Dovit nodded. "I have had similar thoughts many times. That is a question we cannot answer, and therefore we have been willing to take the extra step, if only on the slight chance that it will be effective. If you believe it to be more of a hindrance than a help to our learning, I wouldn't have issue with not making use of it going forward."

I smiled. "I am certain the others would find that agreeable."

Dovit bobbed his head in the direction of our walk. "How far do we want to take this?"

I replied, "I say we go to the property line and return. No sense in pushing our luck on the first day of freedom from the confines of the building. Besides, if you look back at the others staring through that window, you would know that each of the others is eager for their moment in the sun."

Two days after our excursions outside began, a squad of Doomlight soldiers showed up at our community room door with their weapons raised.

"Lizard man, remove the device on your arm," one of the guards said in his native language.

I pointed towards my arm with a questioning expression on my face.

The guard again gestured. "Remove the device or we will take your arm with it. It has been deemed that you no longer require a translator."

Raptor growled as Joni pulled on the loose flesh on the back of his neck to keep him settled.

For a moment I was frozen in thought. Somewhere, someone who had been watching our every move, had determined that we had learned enough to communicate with each other. I had been impressed with my own ability to learn the Moddle language to the degree to which I had, but there was much I had yet to understand. There were many words that did not have a standard English translation. I was having the same difficulty with the Grumar language. The language of the Doomlighters, we hadn't ventured to learn.

I removed my arm pad and handed it to the closest guard. Joni followed. As quickly as they had come through the door, the Doomlight soldiers departed.

I turned towards Dovit and spoke in somewhat broken but unmistakable Moddle. "I guess we learn from each other directly now."

Dovit replied, "I am thrilled that they allowed us to keep those as long as they did."

I crossed my arms as I glanced out the windows. "I think it's time we all went for a walk together. Let's see how far they let us go. I want to see the spot where we first landed, and then the landing area itself."

Joni raised her hand. "Ah, isn't the landing area seventy kilometers away?"

I nodded. "It is. What I want to know is will they allow us to walk all the way there. I've also been wondering why we haven't seen a single spacecraft; not even suborbital craft have been in the sky. What is their primary mode of transportation? Why is there no one around this building? Only a handful of guards. Has it always been this way?"

Dovit replied, "For as long as we've been captive here. I just wish we had ventured out sooner."

Again the guards at the door paid us no mind. Eight minutes of walking found us nosing around the area where we had first landed.

Joni nodded towards the street going away from us. "The main landing field is this way. I memorized the main streets on my holo-display after you first went for a walk outside. If there is a ship there, I say we jump in it and try to leave."

I replied, "And where would you have us go?"

Joni gestured. "We go back to wait for the portal we came through."

I shook my head. "Why would the Grumar not wait there with us?"

Dovit stepped forward. "You spoke of a portal? Your people have achieved some sort of dimensional travel?"

I frowned at Joni for giving out too much information. While the Moddle had shown no animosity towards us, I had to sometimes wonder if they were agents of the Grumar. There were so many things that did not add up. Why had we been allowed to keep our arm pads for so long? Why were we now walking outside of D41 without an escort?

I wondered if we were just part of a psychological experiment that was being conducted with a goal of understanding the species of the Alliance. One of the first rules of war had always been to know thy enemies. I wondered if the Grumar were doing just that.

As we walked down the empty streets of the seemingly abandoned city, I recalled the building where I had seen a Doomlight citizen. I turned towards the building as we approached our initial landing field.

Joni called out. "Where are you going?"

I replied, "There was a person standing in this doorway when we first arrived. I want to see if they are still there."

When I reached the building I grabbed the door handle and pulled. The door was locked. I began to walk the perimeter of the building.

Joni again called out. "Where are you going now?"

I replied, "I'm looking for another entrance. Go on ahead to the field, I'll be right there."

I turned the corner that led to the back of the building. There, parked under an overhang, sat a small motorized vehicle. I sat in the somewhat constrictive seat, pushing buttons until a whirring sound indicated an engine start. I pushed a lever forward and the cart began to move. I was gleeful until I rammed into a stack of empty crates while trying to determine how to steer. The lever I had pushed forward also acted as a joystick.

As the others entered the field where Joni and I had first landed, I came into view driving the cart. Dovit and his officers showed amusement at the sight of my long lanky body and broad shoulders protruding from the cart in almost every direction.

When I pulled to a stop next to the others, Joni said, "Now that was an unexpected sight!"

Dovit laughed. "You can be quite the entertaining character, Mr. Beutcher. I might not be so bold as to be seen operating such a device. Especially one that is clearly not of proper size for someone of your stature."

I replied, "Well, you can all stand there and laugh, or you can climb on for a ride out to the landing area. This might not be a proper vehicle, but it will get us there faster than if we walk. So, climb on."

As I pushed the lever forward the small cart struggled under the enormous weight of seven passengers and a dog. The Moddles were similar in size to Joni. I was not. The wind buffeted us, muting conversation as we traveled in the open cart.

Several kilometers into our journey, Joni turned to face Dovit. "So, what's the name of your home world?"

Dovit smiled as he replied back in a loud voice. "Jurassen. The five of us are all from Baktool City. It's a weapons trade port for the empire, which is how we all got into the Moddle military. None of us knew each other or our families until this assignment. I was in the Moddle army for thirty years before getting this assignment. We are only a modestly expansive empire, adding only a half dozen worlds over the last century.

"My choice was to go on this mission or forced retirement. I had no combat insignias to go with my rank, and those insignias are a near requirement to be in and among the other retirees, which is where I would be spending the remainder of my life. That is especially true for someone with the rank of a general. I served honorably, but always in homebound postings. How about Joni? How did you come to be here?"

Joni laughed. "Well, my family is very powerful. I wanted nothing to do with that power. I wanted to find my own way, to be known for being me and not for being one of them. I wound up with Knog, inspecting cargoes. I got caught up in a rebellion with the Adicans, the troops for which I was fighting, while Knog here was attempting to rescue me. I am of course leaving out a lot of that story, but you have the essentials."

Joni continued, "Were you the first of your people to hit Doomlight?"

Dovit shook his head. "No. Five generals were lost before me, which is why I was offered the opportunity. The journey here from my planet was six months long at our fastest speed. How long did it take coming through the portal? And how long would it take without it?"

I gave Joni a stern look, hoping that she would limit the information she gave out. "Our trip was much shorter. The journey through the portal itself is instant, the rest is just as yours would be. Our home planet is much, much, farther away than yours."

Dovit rubbed his chin. "I know you are trying to be discreet with your information. And that is fully understandable given our current situation. Any question that I ask, please do not feel under any obligation to answer it. I wouldn't think an less of you."

Joni half laughed. "Don't sweat it. I know you are being judicious with your answers as well. For all we each know, the other side here is all enemy agents, connected up with us to extract information vital to their cause. You don't pump me for details and I won't pump you."

I gave Joni a nod of approval. The road out to the landing fields was an almost perfectly straight jog. The terrain in and around the city was flat. Other than the seemingly limitless supply of small buildings, there was a noticeable lack of greenery. After a moment of thought, I came to the realization that it had not rained since our arrival.

I glanced over my shoulder at Dovit. "Does it not rain on this planet?"

Dovit replied, "This region is arid. It has only rained a handful of times since we have been here, and those rains were torrential, lasting for days on end. If you notice on all these buildings, there is a step or two to get up into the living space. I believe it is because of periodic floods.

"For as much as a week after, the streets all remained under water. I believe the city sits above a massive underground reservoir, which the rains replenish during those floods. I am really only familiar with what I saw on scans as we first approached the surface during our assault. The remainder of my knowledge of this world is what I have seen through the windows of that building."

Dovit continued, "I have to ask. Why did you venture to this planet? What was to be gained?"

Joni sulked, "What we were told was a lie. The Adicans were conscripted, and then lied to so that they would agree to come out here and fight. We were told that invaders were attacking distant parts of our alliance and that if we didn't work to stop them now, they would overrun us all. How about you? Why are the Moddles six months from their home worlds?"

Dovit frowned. "Our economies run on methane. The supply in and among our territories has begun to shows signs of depletion that have our politicians worried. This star system has three planets with methane atmospheres. Just one of those planets would supply all or our worlds for a thousand years.

"Our military leaders determined that controlling Doomlight was the required course of action to secure access to the methane worlds. Doomlight was to become our largest military outpost, and a new frontier for expansion. With so much accessible methane so close, the politicians could not resist the temptation of an all-out war to grab this planet. We had no intelligence telling us it was a part of a much larger empire.

"In another four months we will likely see another armada of Moddle ships attempting to take control. Again, they will be unsuccessful. Word of slight but undeniable progress will be returned home, making it an easy decision to send out more troops and ships when such a valuable commodity as methane is at stake."

Joni replied, "So, why the abandoned city?"

Dovit shrugged. "Perhaps it gives us added incentive to come down to the surface. Our scans, after fighting our way through the handful of teardrop ships, showed little local activity. This is by far the largest city on the planet. Unless of course they have some sort of sensor shielding. Either way, it makes an inviting target."

"Tell me about your portal," Dovit said.

As Joni began to speak I touched her arm. "I'm afraid we don't know much about it other than we came through one. The fact that a machine was built that will allow a ship to pass through is a secret hidden from the people. We only learned of it just before coming through."

Dovit nodded. "I would think a machine of such power would be kept in secret. It truly would be a device of war."

Dovit shifted in his seat, leaning closer. "Speaking of war, you say you don't know the real reason behind your being here? I should think that would anger your fighters, especially if they are conscripted as you say. Why would one fight when the cause they were given was a complete lie?"

I replied, "Survival. But fighting for survival would have drawbacks as well. Your troops would only stick their necks out far enough to ensure their own safety. There would be little cause to be heroic other than for the security or survival of your family. Our history books always taught us that heroes win wars, and that every soldier could be a hero. Take away the meaning of what you are fighting for and you take away the heroes."

Dovit thought for a moment. "How many different species are in your alliance?"

Before I could react, Joni answered, "More than a thousand."

Dovit pulled back his head. "A thousand? How is that possible? Our empire has three. From what we know of the Grumar, they have eight, including the Doomlighters. How is it possible that your alliance has more than a thousand?"

I glanced over my shoulder. The alliance was put together two millennia ago. All species were made to learn a common language. It's that common language that now binds us together. The alliance is quite large; however, we are not aggressive. There has been no talk of expansion since it first came together. If we are not here to defend the alliance, it leaves us to wonder why it really is that we are here."

Two hours into our journey, Joni pointed towards a sign. "The landing fields should be just ahead. If you head for the tower structure you will be in the center. The tarmacs go out from that point like petals on a flower. If there is a ship sitting out there somewhere, we should be able to see it from that tower."

Dovit replied, "My word, you aren't really thinking of taking a ship out of here, are you? Why would they allow that?"

"I think the only reason they let us go this far is because they want us to board a ship and try to fly home. They want to know where our home is."

Dovit nodded. "We entered this space from a direction other than our worlds. Ships do not return. Status is beamed out in many directions so that our origins remain unknown."

The landing port was organized as Joni had indicated. After following the surface roads to the center of the complex we pulled to a stop in front of the tower building. The doors into the tower were unlocked. Twelve flights of stairs saw us standing in a modular control tower with 360 degree views. The tarmacs in every direction were empty.

Joni pointed. "Over there. We need to check out those hangars. If there's a ship here, it's in there."

After a run back down the stairs and a short drive, we all piled back out of the cart. The first three hangars were empty. The fourth contained a shuttle capable of interstellar flight.