Torian Reclamation 3: Test of Fortitude (6 page)

Brandon followed Olut6 out of his office and through the newly-refurbished REEP bunker. As they waited for the special lift that led to the governor’s manor, Brandon looked around.

“General, I must commend you on the job you’ve done here. I feel safer than I ever have before—not only on this station, but at my home as well. Should the dark enemy return, I’m certain they’ll find you well-prepared.”

“Humph.” Olut6 took his still-unlit cigar out of his mouth. “If they come back, they’ll find our defenses a lot tougher, that’s for sure—and they’ll have their hands full with dozens of new ITF1’s to contend with, not to mention a conventional fighter fleet twice the size of the last one they met. Plus a few more surprises.”

“Interesting,” Brandon said.

“Why is that? You’re already privy to most of our military secrets.” The lift arrived and Olut6 stepped inside. Brandon followed him in.

“Interesting you said they’d meet a conventional fighter fleet twice that of the last one they fought here. Since we’ve tripled it in size, that must mean you have one-third of our conventional military forces deployed in foreign space. And I’m guessing it’s along the outer rim.”

Olut6 pushed a button in the lift and they started moving, ever-so-gently.

“You’re making misguided assumptions based on my impulsive choice of words. I wouldn’t do that. Not wise. But please consider your misguided assumptions classified.”

Brandon only smiled in response.

Minutes later, they arrived in one of Governor Mip7’s new conference rooms. This was a smaller one meant for intimate, less-formal gatherings. Two aliens were seated at a round moriglass table along with Mip7. Off to the side was a minibar responsible for the smell of coffee and warm biscuits. Video screens on the back wall showed the space outside the station, which portrayed one moored ship that could only belong to the aliens.

Brandon recognized one of the aliens. It was Trodenjo the Mparian, whom he briefly spoke with in the barter market outside the currency exchange on Amulen. What a stroke of luck. Now Brandon would have the opportunity to learn more about him.

When Mip7 finished introducing everyone, Trodenjo confessed that he and Brandon had already met. Brandon laughed at the resulting cocked heads simultaneously appearing on top of Olut6 and Mip7’s thick leather necks. He explained their earlier encounter. That seemed excuse enough for Mip7 to retrieve a round of Redflower20 from the bar.

When they had all taken their drinks, Trodenjo expressed a great appreciation for Redflower20. He lamented over its controlled supply preventing it from becoming a potential interstellar trade good.

“You’re not the first visitor who wished for a supply to take home,” Mip7 said. “We can probably round up a case for you as a parting gift.”

The visitors were thankful for the gesture. Trodenjo’s companion’s name was Shaldan. They both claimed to hold 100% civilian status on their home world, a fact they seemed oddly proud of. Shaldan held a device that looked similar to a Torian lightpad, apparently turned off at the moment as it was only an empty frame.

Olut6’s interest was sparked upon learning that the visitors were civilians.

“Governor,” he said, “in all your years as a foreign relations delegate, have you ever entertained pure civilians before?”

“No,” Mip7 said. “In some cases, appointed ambassadors were former civilians, but their appointments changed their status. That’s one reason I wanted both of you to meet my guests. Mpar is embarking on a unique project I think you should be aware of.”

Trodenjo then explained the nature of their operation. The Measure, the long v-hulled ship currently moored outside the station, was one of six new interstellar commercial ventures commissioned by their government. All six vessels were identical. Brandon found their design interesting, as they used two torus-shaped distortion drive generators positioned next to each other around the center of the ship’s hull.

Olut6 was more concerned with what was on the inside. Trodenjo went over their staffing configuration. Each of the six commercial vessels was a civilian/military partnership. As such, private investors funded 60% of each project. The Mparian government contributed the other 40%, and, correspondingly, retained a 40% stake in the venture. Therefore, 40% of the personnel on board were also military, including navigators, fighter pilots, and defense technicians. The Measure carried fifty fighter craft in addition to formidable stationary defense systems. Trodenjo emphasized, however, that it was their sincerest desire they would never have to use any of it.

“We typically find that the worlds we approach are not threatened by a single vessel,” Trodenjo said. “And the ship is intentionally designed to not have the appearance of a warship. We still come prepared for a fast exit, of course. Our communications systems are state of the art, so we can establish talks from orbit if necessary. When they learn we are mainly interested in purchasing their goods, they usually receive us and are willing to discuss business. After the buying relationship is established, we then let them browse our catalog of available trade goods and profile them as potential customers in our further product development. It’s a long process. We’ve been at this for a little more than a year now, by our calendar, and are beginning to see success.”

“Very interesting,” Olut6 said. “Where is your ship’s territory?”

Shaldan activated his lightpad-like device and showed them all a screen with a galactic map that placed Tora at the near side. The Measure had been operating in a section of the sphere between Tora and the outer edge.

“Have you noticed any concentrated pockets of resistance to your efforts?” Olut6 asked.

“Only at the far points,” Trodenjo replied. “As those worlds are more isolated, we assume it is natural for them to shy away from interstellar trade relations. But not all. Dirg was receptive to us. We learned of your close friendship with them there.”

Brandon could see the wheels spinning above the High General’s head.

“Tell him about HD28,” Mip7 said.

Olut6’s brow furled and he leaned forward over the table.

“We first stopped there on our initial route outward several months ago,” Trodenjo said. “We found the natives to be an advanced and intelligent race who have voluntarily regressed to a more rural existence. Their dominant industrial interest is in producing mining and excavation equipment for locating springs of mineral water deep within the rocks. The water rich in a mineral known as
magnas.pz
and consumption of it has remarkable restorative powers.”

“There are no actual natives on that dwarf world,” Olut6 said. “They’re a colonized race.”

“Correct, General.” Trodenjo took the tablet from Shaldan and swirled his fingers around on it, then turned it around to show an image of two aliens. They had a blue-gray skin color, long horizontal eyes, and sideways-placed ears.

“They call themselves Sulienites,” Trodenjo continued, “and refer to their world, which we call Hydro Dwarf Planet 28, as Sulien. It’s an obvious adaptation of the name of their original home world, Salom. The Salomites colonized HD28 several generations ago before losing interest in interstellar travel themselves, so the colonists have no contact with the mother world.”

“I don’t imagine such a society having much interest in foreign trade, either,” Brandon said.

Trodenjo nodded. “Except for better mining equipment. We entered an agreement to locate more advanced beam-borers for them in exchange for their mineral water. The water is extraordinary, so we knew we could find a market for it.”

“Did you?” Olut6 asked.

“Yes, several—but most significantly at Bolkos. The Bolkans have suffered from malnourishment in recent times due to a depletion of natural resources, so were extremely enthusiastic about the mineral in the Sulien water. Their beam-borers are advanced, as they must now dig deep into their own ground looking for nutrients. We arranged an initial trade that included a Bolkan shipment of borers.”

“Tell them what happened when you came back,” Mip7 said.

“Right.” Trodenjo looked around the room. “It had been several months, as we were visiting worlds along the outer edge, mostly unsuccessfully. But then we sealed the Bolkan deal and came back to HD28 to let them know. When we were at Dirg we learned the story of the Latian capitulation, so we first stopped at the fourth planet to have a look at their surrendered fleet. It’s quite a spectacle.”

“How did it look?” Olut6 asked.

“All in place, as far as we could tell. But then as we approached HD28 we came across an area of wreckage.”

“How much wreckage?”

“Not much. Could have been from several small ships, or one large one.”

Olut6 leaned back in his chair. “It’s possible someone circumvented the initial security system on one of the Latian transport vessels. But without the knowledge for full removal, they would have detonated the first time they cooled the dag drive. HD28 figures to be the first natural target a thief would make a trial run at. Poor fools. I’ll send a team by to do a count of the Latian fleet soon. Thanks for the information.” He stood up to leave.

“That’s not all,” Mip7 said. He motioned for Trodenjo to continue.

“Well,” Trodenjo said, “we brought one of the Bolkan beam borers with us and presented it to the Sulienites. They were thrilled with the trade and anxiously looked forward to full delivery from the Bolkans. We needed to complete our route and get back home to report.”

“And?” Olut6 asked.

“We returned to The Measure. But before distorting away we detected another ship in orbit over HD28 as we came around the other side of it. They were low, barely skimming the atmosphere, so we didn’t pick them up until we neared their position. It was strange, almost like they were hiding from us. But we got enough of them for a registry match before dagging out.”

“Who were they?”

“Azaarian, General. It was a transport ship from Azaar.”

Olut6 sat back down. “That’s why you stopped here, to bring us this information?”

“No.” Trodenjo frowned. “We’re not in the intelligence business, and that incident didn’t seem significant to us. We only casually mentioned it to your governor here as we were telling him stories of our travels. Had I considered it possible wartime intelligence, I would not have disclosed it. We wish to establish a reputation for rigid neutrality.”

Olut6 didn’t respond. He appeared to be thinking.

Brandon spoke. “Trodenjo, your operation is fascinating to me—especially the cooperation between your government and private enterprise. I’d love to talk more with you about it. Are you staying in Tora a while longer?”

Trodenjo shook his head. “No, we need to be moving on. We’re just making a quick stop at Banor to load some landscaping items before heading home.”

“Landscaping items?”

“Yes, we’re interested in Banorian goliagrass. Governor Mip7 has graciously arranged a few crates of it for us, to see if it takes in the hard ground of our deserts. We’ll be back this way again on our next trip out, though, hopefully no more than seven or eight days from now. I’d be happy to make time for you then. Or, if you like, you’re welcome to come along with us and visit Mpar. We’ll drop you off on our way back.”

“I predict he’ll take you up on that,” Mip7 said, smiling. “Wish I could go, too.”

“No,” Olut6 said. He turned to Brandon. “I need you for something else. Sorry.”

Brandon cocked his head at Olut6.

“Well,” Trodenjo said, “the invitation is extended to anyone else you might want to send. We’d be happy to accommodate a small delegation. I’m certain they’ll find The Measure to be an uplifting experience.”

“Do Mparians take to outdoor recreation?” Brandon asked. Olut6 frowned and started to say something but Brandon held his hand up at him, not an act many could get away with on the High General.

Trodenjo laughed. “Yes, some of which you might find quite interesting.”

“Hiking, camping, fishing, that kind of stuff?”

“You won’t find better mountain trails and camping sites in all the galaxy,” Trodenjo replied.

“Is it dangerous?”

Trodenjo shook his head. “No. If you’re looking for hazards to conquer, or dangerous animals to fight, you’ll probably be disappointed.”

“What about polwar?” Brandon asked.

“Again, sorry. We don’t play it, and have no interest in importing foreign games.”

Brandon leaned back in his chair, looked around the table, and smiled widely before speaking again.

“I think a have a small delegation for you. Two or three Banorian Earthlings who are looking for an exotic vacation.”

“Why does she get to go now?” Alan knew he was failing to hide the disappointment in his voice.

“Because we’re travelling to another star system,” Jumper said. “I know this isn’t how we wanted our trip to be, and I’m sorry about that. But this is interstellar travel, man! Did you ever think we’d get to do this?”

“It’s an awesome opportunity,” Alan admitted. “No argument there. I almost can’t believe Brandon hooked us up like this. But when she’s along, I don’t know. It’s not like you and me. It’s you and her, all relationshipy, and I’m only tagging along.”