Eric Olafson, Captain Black Velvet 31

Chapter 31

Circuit, like me was dressed completely black, hiding his shiny chrome body as we hushed along in the stark shadow of a stack of shipping containers. While it was night, glaring flood lights kept the cargo area of the brightly lit. The lights however also created hard shadows that allowed us to get close to the parked transport ship. Shea was right behind me and I liked seeing her shapely body in skintight black material. She appeared like a razor sharp cut out against the metallic wall of a container before she melted back into the shadows.

I glanced around the container’s edge and Narth peeled out of the darkness right before me and almost gave me a heart attack. “One does wonder why we are hiding in the shadows when we have perfectly good cloaking technology.”

I whispered. “Because we are supposed to be Pirates engaging in assisting a local revolt and not Union Officers .”

He kept floating next to me as I rushed to the next stack. “And why are you whispering? There is no being near that could hear us? The wind and the ambient city and port noise would make no difference if you yelled.”

I said to him. “Because it is tradition, when you are dressed like that and sneak around one whispers.”

Narth slid back in the shadows and he completely melted into the darkness and I heard him whisper. “Then one shall sneak and whisper right behind you.”

Circuit who was right behind me said, addressing Narth. “It’s more fun like that anyway. Can I ask why you say ‘one’ again; haven’t you started to use ‘I’?”

Narth whispered. “I am experimenting with habits and saying one instead of I, is a typical Narth habit. I think habits are an important part of what defines humans. The Captain has certain idiosyncrasies and so do most of our crew mates. So I am testing which one is most Narth like and yet defines me as an individual. “ I glanced back. “I don’t have idio ... things!”

Narth said. “You do have quite a few, Captain.”

Circuit giggled. “Getting us in situations like this, Captain is one of them.”

With an almost angry tone I responded. “And you should get into the habit of respecting your Captain more. I bet no one ever says anything like that to Captain Harris.”

I had reached the last container and pointed to the large Karthanian freighter that was turned into a dedicated slave transporter. “There it is. Let’s take it over without anyone noticing, they’re going to load the slaves in almost exactly one hour.”

Narth said. “How can something be almost exactly? Either it is exact or it is not.”

Circuit explained. “One second less than an hour is in human terms almost exactly an hour, for example. Yet humans are very flexible with that and even 45 minutes could still be almost exactly an hour.”

I turned again. “You two don’t take all this very seriously do you?”

Circuit shrugged. “Our mission and us trying to end misery and slavery, yes I take this very seriously; us sneaking between containers like port rats, not so much.”

“What a fine crew I have.”

I once more pointed at the ship. “Do you think you can open this flying silver flicker can, without them noticing doing it?”

“No Captain.”

“You told me you could.”

“Because it’s already open. They didn’t lock it. There is no force field and only two...” he paused a second then said. “Correction only one...” again he paused for a heartbeat and then spread his arms. “I mean there are no guards awake. Krabbel is already there and he sent them sleeping.”

While we rushed over the concrete surface to the actual ship, I said to him.

“It must be nice to have android eyes and see everything.”

He said. “All you have to do is pull the multi spectral goggles over your eyes Captain.”

All I could think of was saying. “Smartass.”

Narth looked at Circuit’s behind and said. “I was under the impression X101’s having their positronic component in their heads. Do certain X101 series have their brain there?”

I grinned. “You are a smart ass too.”

I rushed over to the ship and there in the dark shadow of the ship I noticed Krabbel and two tightly packed Drak shaped cocoons.

To Krabbel I said, still smiling. “When I said recon the area I didn’t mean you should go ahead and turn the guards into Christmas presents for Archa kids.”

I was poking one with the tip of my boot and asked my eight legged friend. “Are they actually alive in there?”

Krabbel raised his front legs and said. “I didn’t use a lot of poison I promise. I am sure they are only stunned, not dead, at least for now. If you want them alive we better cut them out in an hour or so before they suffocate.”

Shea peeked around the landing gear and pointed her gun inside the open ramp door. Circuit was right, the ship was wide open.

She made the okay sign and said. “Clear.”

Narth floated right next to her inside and she complained. “Narth, I am having fun here. When do I get to do this secret spy stuff? You must duck and walk sneaky and then say clear.”

Narth stopped and turned in his smooth turn table manner. “Oh right!”

His shroud moved like a living thing and constricted around his body, until he too looked like wearing a cat suit.

He said to me. “Can I have a gun? I didn’t bring one. One needs a gun to be an authentic sneaker spy agent.”

I handed him my TKU and said to my friends while rolling my eyes. “This isn’t a Virtu-novel you know.”

Shea said. “We know, Captain, but it is you who had all the action lately. We sat in the ship more or less the entire time. Besides doing things as the Olafson gang again, is simply making us giddy a little I think.”

I didn’t really know what to say to that. She was right; having my friends around me was very reassuring as I knew I could trust them blindly.

The Karthanian Transport was basically an unarmed version of the Silver Streak, the Janus mask my ship displayed when in Pirate mode. Unlike my ship, this one was of course Karthanian on the inside as well.

It reminded me of the Velorian slave transporter. It was cleaner, bigger and better maintained.

The rows of steel link cages with lock doors and the perforated reddish painted floors, shimmering wet from the last hose down; the chains and the neatly stored rows of prods and whips made this vessels purpose all too clear.

A half-naked leather clad, oafish looking Oghr stepped out of an overseer guard room right before me and stared in my masked face with wide open yellow eyes as my old fighting knife buried deep into his guts. He gargled and drooled blood over my arm as I twisted the blade and pushed him aside and went on to the ships main elevator shaft.

The elevator access was coded and secured, but it took Shea less than a minute to hack into the Ships system. Narth stood behind me while she did her thing and said.

“There are nineteen individuals aboard. Three of them are on the bridge.”

I said. “Alright, Circuit and Krabbel neutralize them. Narth, Shea and I take care of the bridge crew.”

Circuit pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. “You want us to take care of them like that?”

I did not feel any guilt and said. “He startled me and besides he was a slave master, he probably whipped and maltreated thousands in his career. Neutralize them as you see fit, as long as they can’t interfere with our plans.”

I heard Krabbel say to Circuit. “Remind me never to startle the Captain; she’s awful quick for a human.” Circuit responded with something and then they were out of range.

That this was not a Union ship became very apparent. There was no way intruders would have found it so easy to reach the bridge, not even intruders as talented as my friends.

We made it unchallenged to the bridge. A big Oghr, a Drak and to my surprise a human being were present. The Oghr reclined in the command seat and made snoring sounds, while the human who I saw only from behind had her feet on the console before her and was dozing. The Drak, manned what I assumed was the helm position, saw us come on the bridge and jumped out of his seat. I drew the Colt, because Narth was still carrying my blaster and fired without a seconds hesitation. The projectile hit the Drak in the left shoulder. A spray of dark blood gushed over his console, while he spun around and went to the floor.

The Oghr and the human bolted out of their seats, looking into the three inch bore holes of my friend’s TKU blasters. Only now as she stepped more into the light I noticed the light blue skin and the coppery hair of the human, my trigger finger started itching, she was a Thauran.

Shea said. “I suggest none of you make any sudden moves, our Captain is in a bitchy mood today.”

I said slightly irritated. “I am not in a bitchy mood or anything.”

She didn’t take her eyes from the completely perplexed looking beings and said. “Tell that to the Drak or the Oghr below.”

The Oghr growled angry. “What is the meaning of this?”

I focused on him and said. “Your vessel is now mine. Your cooperation would be welcome, but isn’t really needed.”

He said. “I am Heaz Xford, the Asgruhr of this ship. You must be out of your mind. You instigators may have had a few good days in the plains playing with the weak Drak, but your silly revolution is coming to an end very soon. Put down your weapons and surrender and I will make sure you...”

He didn’t get further; I fired and perforated his ear. He was a tough Oghr but having an ear pierced that way was driving the point home. He yelped and reached for his injured ear. Shea raised the gun and the muzzle glimmered in pre discharge mode.

He froze in his move.

I nodded. “That’s better.”

Narth stepped forward and disappeared along with the Oghr.

This frightened the Thauran woman even more and she made a step away from us and said. “Who are you?”

I said. “I am your worst nightmare, Thauran slaver scum. Now lay down on the floor, arms spread, face down. Hesitate even for a heartbeat and I’ll drill holes in you in places you would find very unpleasant.”

She dropped to her knees, the muzzle of my gun trained on her forehead. All I had to do is pull the trigger and the Universe would have a Thauran less.

Her eyes looked up and found mine. Whatever she saw made her lips tremble and her small chin quiver. She was young, perhaps my age.

How I disliked these blue skinned traitors. Where ever I went I met one of these bastards and almost always doing something despicable. I took a deep breath, remembered my Thauran officer and thumbed the safety of the antique weapon. I told myself that I wasn’t an executioner and reminded myself of my apology to the Thauran bridge officer.

The Thauran woman knew how close she had come to dying and she started sobbing and went to lie down as I asked her to do.

Just then there was a soft soundless voice inside my head. At first I thought it was Narth, but the voice was different. It did not have the same warm and brotherly, affectionate quality. It was a cold, inhuman voice. I heard it for the first time at least consciously and it was not the voice of a stranger or some outside influence, it was the voice of my own thoughts utterly familiar and inside my mind it said. “Yes I am the executioner. I am the devourer of life and I am the wrath of death, life is chaos. Death is order, I am Darkness Eternal.”

With all my anger I yelled back. “This is not me! I will not go down this path and judge beings by their origin. I am an Union Fleet officer. Look for someone else to possess. I didn’t ask you to mess up my life.”

There was no response. It was no foreign influence, no external voice, but I swore to myself I would not become the slave of some kind of entity that decided to make me its tool. Whatever I would become, it was my decision.

Shea looked at me as if I was a stranger and she said. “Are you okay?”

I straightened my shoulders and said. “Yes I am.”

I took a can of stick and fix and glued the blue skinned Thauran to the floor plates.

“I am curious Thauran, what are you doing here?”

She could not move very much as her hands and feet were bonded to the floor, but she tried to move her head to the side and she said. “What do you think I am doing? CID and Federal Police are all over the Thauran space, ever since it became known that our Emperor had dealings with the Worm. I did do a few favors for the Worm. I have no desire to end up on a Federal Penal colony or worse. Good Navigators are in demand. I don’t care what the freight is, as long as I have a job.”

I knelt down and put a generous helping of Stick and glue across her mouth.

Whatever she responded turned into a mumbling sound consisting almost entirely of the letter m, intoned in various ways. I patted her head and got up. “Maybe I’ll even let you up after a while, but right now I like you the way you are.”

Krabbel and Circuit came on the bridge and Circuit reported. “We got everyone, the ship is ours. My Archa friend produced a few more of those packages.”

Just as he said that Narth also returned along with the Oghr captain of the ship.

The Oghr captain said to me. “How do you like this get-up? I really look like an Oghr. That Auto Dresser of yours is quite the machine.”

I grinned and said. “You look just like him, Mao, how about the Mind Dump?”

The disguised Mao touched his big teeth and said. “I am in direct contact with SHIP and should be able to answer all questions and know every code and procedure. Just tell me what these tusks are for?”

I laughed and padded his green shoulders. “Maybe it is better we don’t know.”

Narth pointed to the injured Drak and the incapacitated Thauran woman.

“Do you want them to remain here or can I take them to Cateria?”

I nodded. “Take them of course; we don’t want to mess up our schedule.”

The solvent can floated all by itself around the Thauran woman and Narth added. “Who are you going to be, the Thauran or the Drak?”

Mao sat in the Command Chair and I was sitting wearing blue skin and coppery hair, in the seat of the Navigator. As much as I disliked the Thauran, she was human in shape and form and the disguise was more comfortable. Narth impersonated the Drak and Shea remained out of the Visual sensors.

A high ranking Drak officer was hailing us just moments later and he said. “Our mighty friends requested that we transfer the criminals we have right away. Prepare for lift off, while we herd the scum into your freight bay.”

Mao responded with the correct codes and acted his part. Every one of this slave transports crew was now one of ours and the local authorities kept their word and herded almost ten thousand slaves into the freight bays. Stacked in inhuman little cages, filling the Cargo bays, there was the occasional sigh and I could hear pleas of mercy. The smell of ten thousand naked unwashed beings, along with the sharp stench of excrement wafted through the open doors and made me gag. To see the sad eyes from behind the cage bars and the hopelessness was getting to me. It reinforced my commitment to end this practice where ever I could.

Everything went just as I had planned and with the first light of day, we lifted off. Shea was certain that the orbital sensor grid was still offline and the Drak had no means of tracking the Slave transport once it was in orbit. Har-Hi who was flying escort in one of our Wolfcraft in full cloak, verified that there were no sensor activities detectable.

I still took the ship down as fast as I dared and landed it among the other wrecks close to the Tigershark. Rebels under the lead of Ninety came aboard and started opening cages and removing the control collars. At first the slaves and prisoners did not believe and trust their own luck, but they recognized Ninety and the lethargic acceptance of their fate, most of the prisoners displayed changed instantly into a joyous frenzy. It took us some time to get the former slaves clothed and fed. Cateria and her team worked hard to check them over. I noticed that my med team was no longer alone. I saw Ithe wearing Med-uniforms who helped triage and treat the mostly minor injuries.

One of the Ithe in med uniforms waved at me and said. “I know you have a hard time recognizing individuals, I am Naroma. I was just a seamstress but I know a little about first aid. As soon as we are Union, I am going to join the medical services.”

The half-naked former slave she was treating looked at the Derma-Patcher on his arm and he said. “I was a Drak doctor and sent to the Smelter moons because I treated Ithe with the same care and with medicine reserved for the Drak. I too want to help as soon as I can.”

He took my hand. “Thank you for my freedom, Captain Velvet. Is it true we are going to be Union members?”

I sighed and said. “That is a question you need to answer once this planet is united. It is not something I can decide for you.”

Naroma pulled the Derma-Patcher and the Drak doctor stared with amazement at the barely visible patch of lighter skin. Then his fingers grazed over it and he said. “How could we possibly decide otherwise? What good could I do with technology like that, this is a surgeons dream.”

I let them be and looked for Ninety, finding him standing with a large group of Ithe. To him I said. “We don’t have too much time, do you have enough volunteers?”

He wrinkled his snout and showed me his formidable teeth. By now I knew it was a Togar smile.”We have enough to fill ten ships.”

A Karthanian pushed himself to the front of the group and he said. “Remember me Captain Velvet?”

I said. “I am sorry but I am not able to differentiate between Karthanian Individuals.”

He said. “I am Grtonner Icylemh; I knew you would not turn your back on Ithe. I am here to help and I am here to go with you to the Smelter Moons and then to Karthania to wake the First Engineer.”

I said to him. “Mr. Icylemh we need to do things one at a time. I hope we can free the slaves on the Smelter Moons and get the ball rolling, but I don’t think we have the resources or the time to go to Karthania itself. Besides the First Engineer wasn’t too friendly towards the Union while he was in charge. What makes you think he will change his mind even if we manage to wake him?”

The Karthanian said. “That is not true and there is much misunderstanding. It is not the Union the First Engineer objected to, quite the opposite is true. It is the Mega Corporations, especially Schwartz Intergalactic that he objected to. We are engineers and builders and the Union is a huge market where we could sell our products, but as long as SII and the others manage to paint us as an outsider and an enemy we can’t.”

Har-Hi who had joined us said. “We don’t even know who or what this First Engineer is.”

Icylemh turned his bony head to Har-Hi. “The first Engineer is the minds of two-thousand Guild masters, linked to a Computronic and melted into a new being over the thousand years it has existed. It is your famous Mothermachine who helped creating it, long before the X101 became Union Members.”

I said. “Somehow I expected something like that, especially since we met those towering war machines with brains of Karthanian soldiers.”

The Karthanian space dock owner said. “Space ships need very advanced Computronics and we are not as successful creating completely artificial AI components as your Union tech are. We always used biotronic components based on living minds.”

Har-Hi gave me a long look and then said. “Well as it may be, I am ready to take on the local weapon mystery. Shea, Narth and I need to go and meet the Chauffeur.”

I wished him luck and I wanted to join them, but I had an appointment with the Overseers on the Smelter Moons.

---The End--

"Eric Olafson, Captain Black Velvet "