Chapter 23: Finally Home?

Two hours just weren’t enough to find a man who knew this rock and did not want to be found. Sam knew the Bennett’s were quite serious about their warning. Even with Charles, he could not win. This wasn’t an open planet where he could hide in the wilderness somewhere. This was a closed environment with areas not accessible to him, and with too many eyes and ears. He had asked all the usual sources and while they all knew something about Dimon, no one really knew where he was.

Sam did find out that he wasn’t liked by everyone and that he was a Half Dai and did not belong to any tribe. His name or at least the name he was using was an indicator of that, there was no Honshu tribe.

However, the black and purple battle suit he wore all the time was, as several voices told him, a genuine Do suit. A lost tribe of Dai Assassins who took the art of stealthy killing to a whole new level. The stunt with the dust grenade confirmed that. The dust was more than just simple dust, but a complicated amalgam of many materials designed to obscure a wide variety of sensors.

There was also a rumor that he was close to the Nul. Now the Nul part of the Freespace Treaty and their very formidable warships could not come here as per that multi-society contract. But there was not much intel on these purple brutes, however, Union military saw them as a much bigger threat than the Kermac. Once Nul engaged in combat or war, there was nothing but utter annihilation that would stop them. Their technology was almost completely based on Graviton control. Their Graviton mines, bombs, and Froth Casters were the only weapons that could pull down Union shields when used correctly. The Nul certainly knew how to do that.

Sam was about to give up, there was less than an hour now to get to mooring arm two and the designated ship.

“Let’s go, Charles. We might as well call it quits. There is no way we find that sucker in time. As sad as it is, we are done here and go to Drogs. If nothing else, we can catch us a ride to Sin 4 and from there we should be able to go back onto Union side.”

Charles clearly detected the frustration in his human friend’s voice. He was sentient indeed and he was a sophisticated Battle robot with extensive combat capabilities, but he could not give any advice. “We did manage to find one member of the Master’s family. That is quite an accomplishment, given the nature of the case.”

“You are right, my Tin-headed friend. I just wish it was Martha and not Paul.”

“I must concur, Paul Masters was a master of mine and he was quite unpleasant, just like Manny Stoneville.”

“Manny who?”

“A leading antagonist in the GalNet show ‘As the Robot watches’ one ... I liked this program.”

“As the Robot watches? You are not talking about that longest-running emotio-opera stuff on Channel 9000?”

“Indeed, it is on Channel 9000.”

“A Cerberus battle robot, the terror of battlefields watches emotion-serials, now I heard it all.”

“Master Roy expressed similar sentiment.”

“I am not looking forward, telling my boy we lost the track of his mother.”

“He will be thrilled to see you again, however.”

“You know he thinks of you too, much more than just a machine.”

“You do know Tin is an element that is not used in the manufacture of robot heads.”

Sam oriented himself and changed direction. “We are on the equator level. Seventeen levels up and three miles down Roid left and we are hitting mooring arm two.”

Charles also changed direction and followed Sam. The black man said as they made their way to a level conveyor. “To be honest, I don’t even know what Tin is used for, or why Marines call robots Tin heads.”

“Superconductors, transparency films, and old fashioned batteries. Tin is also a Trade unit like Iridium and Polonium. Marines use the term because this is how Admiral Stahl calls all robots. The term was adopted by marines for such a long time, it has become a part of classic Union-cana.”

Sam still musing about his failure to locate Martha Masters listened to the robot’s explanation and was just about to ask if Charles knew why the Admiral called robots Tin heads when a Norkana stepped into their way. It was the partner or friend of the one who may be still lying on the metal floor in the demolished Motherload Tavern three levels down.

“You still need to pay, human.”

Sam stopped and Charles opened the heavy coin bag. Sam grabbed two 100 coin pouches and handed them to the Norkana. “Here you go. I am sorry about your friend.”

“It was the Chistel’s fault and I am going to find him and kill him myself, but this is my affair. I am very upset about what happened and know justice is a manner of how much you can pay for your side of things, especially on this rock. I am certain the Chistel can buy himself out of the trouble he is in.”

“Alright then,” Sam said with a sigh. “We are on our way to the Vankux and leave Brhama Port, hopefully never to return.”

“I heard, and the good for nothing lave dealing vermin called Honshu is hiding from you. He is a Do master they say and scared of little, but having him lay low while you are looking for him leaves only one conclusion. You are more dangerous than a Dai Assassin.”

“I certainly don’t know much about the Do tribe to make any sort of comparison. All I wanted is to get information as to the whereabouts of the slave woman he bought.”

“Everyone is after them. Do you think, a slave merchant has the reach to send this kind of professional Ork-Oghr mercenaries after you? Kukur Nurop’s reach ends past Alvor’s. He is wealthy but could not afford that kind of coin. They are after the slaves, they are worth many millions and one of them has the potential to set this region on fire.”

Sam stopped, he had talked to the Norkana while he was walking towards the center shaft elevator chains. “Why would a Union scientist be that valuable?”

The Norkana snickered. “I knew you were Union, perhaps even one of those legendary RAvE agents that supposedly exist. So one of the slaves is Union?”

Sam nodded. “Yes, and I like to get her back to Union side if at all possible.”

“The Union slave is not the focus, Union man. The Kermac are after the last existing Nega-Ker and an entire Dai Tribe is after Geha-Basco.”

Sam made a puzzled face. “I do not know what a Nega-Ker is, and why would the Dai care that much for a Daiyee?”

Charles called up the information on the Nega-Ker and said. “According to highly classified Intel reports, this information goes back as far as 2,677 years. A very dangerous cult called the Necros infiltrated Union society and was exposed defeated and its illegal activities banned in 2254. It was one of the very rare occasions where the Kermac actually agreed with us. But their MOI explored the cult and inadvertently opened the doors for the cult to infiltrate the Kermac.

At the height of that cult’s influence over the Kermac, they began a series of experiments that have been forbidden by all sentient species known. They used a stolen Saresii body printer and Necro tech to combine deceased specimens of Saresii, Humans, Dai, and Kermac and reanimated them. The results became known as the ‘Nega-Ker’. Only unconfirmed and very incomplete records exist today about this subject.

A Kermac Supreme Wizard swept the Necro Cult from the Kermac Society. Every cult associate was killed or mind erased. All experiments and developments destroyed and declared illegal.”

Sam looked at his Wrist Unit to check the time and gestured to a wall ledge that could be used to sit down. “We have still time, go on tell us more.”

Charles remained standing while Sam sat down, and so did the Norkana, by climbing on the ledge, his legs did not reach the floor, however.

Charles continued. “There is not much more, Sam. My last update on this came with the monthly Union Wide Security Status Update before we left GalCom range. The Nega-Ker issue is only briefly mentioned in an appendix section of NAVINT and ANA. There is a Science Council department, called Workgroup Olympus suggesting that a small cache of Nega-Ker experiments survived the purge. Experiment Vengeance-Red supposedly still exists.”

The Norkana had listened. “You are well informed, indeed. The whole galaxy is jealous of Union intel for sure, but you Union-boys are not the only ones doing it, the Shiss, the Nul and pretty much everyone else. We Norkana are an independent Freespace species as you know, but we are friends with the Poho. They are still the masters of the Planet of Universal Peace, also known to be the meeting place of the Galactic Council. The Poho have no interest in any of this, but they let Norkana go and listen where others can’t.” He spread his short arms. “You been honest and open so far, and maybe what I share will help my revenge in the long run.” He paused, to re-adjust his seating position and to make sure there wasn’t anyone close enough to eavesdrop. “There has indeed been a cache of Nega-Ker experiments, it survived the purge and was hidden away by the Kermac MOC. Forgotten more or less for a very long time.”

His voice dropped in volume even more and he looked around again to make sure no one was close or paying attention. “There is a very quietly rumor about a more recent and different alien influence over the Kermac society. It is supposedly behind their Thought Police; the newest Supreme Wizard is neither from the ranks of the Ministry of Intelligence nor from the powerful Ministry of Control. They say he rose from the ranks of the now independently acting Thought Police. Whatever non Kermac influence is behind it all is not known to me, but the MOC wants to regain its influence and status. A group of them has revived the Nega-Ker program. A highly secret transport was attacked by pirates and the most successful specimen, your big friend correctly identified as Experiment Vengeance-Red, was captured. The pirates did not know what they looted and sold the heavily restrained re-animated monster to our mutual fat friend on Alvor’s Cove.

The regular Kermac Agents on Alvor’s did not know about Experiment Vengeance-Red. However, a small group within the MOC sent Dimon Honshu to regain the specimen.”

Sam made a thoughtful face and Charles had his sensor envelope turned to maximum sensitivity to assure this conversation was indeed not eavesdropped. Just to make sure he established a Privacy bubble. While he could not detect psionic activity, this sophisticated non-physical field would also be opaque to telepaths and similar psionics.

Sam handed the Norkana another bag of coins. “I give you all of them, but I have no idea what the Vankux of Emon, the Gasthly will charge us for the trip to Drogs.”

“I would not recommend the Vankux to anyone, with the exception of Ixato of course. He earned the byname Gasthly the old fashioned way, even the most tolerant Oghr agree on that. Besides, I doubt you would make it to Drogs as free beings.”

“We don’t have that many choices, but I am open to suggestions and do tell us about the other slave, the Daiyee.”

“Come with me. I am leaving for Norkan. From there you can travel to the Planet of Universal Peace.”

“And what would we be doing there? The Galactic Council is now firmly under Kermac Control.”

Charles supplied the answer. “It is, but the Union still maintains an observer there. Officially the GC is not Kermac and PoUP remains neutral ground for all. The very Freespace Treaty was signed there.”

The Norkana made a confirming gesture. “The old Saresii Delegate Compound is now a Union Embassy of sorts. They may even have one of these marvelous GalNet terminals.”

Sam grinned with a visible expression of relief. “And there I learn something new, even after all these years roaming through Freespace.”

The Norkana made a sound that sounded very much like a human sigh.”You are the lucky ones indeed. There are many Freespace independents cursing the day they agreed to be independent. There is no open love lost towards you Unions and many think of you as more self-important and arrogant as even the Supreme Wizard, Union policy tends to be very heavy-handed and ruthless executed by that son of a Demon, they call the Eternal Warrior. But everyone I know is jealous of the freedom and great liberties your Citizens enjoy.”

“Do you have transport? You guys sounded broke. No offense.”

“Yes, Norkana are known to be eager travelers. We travel in pairs, it is an old Norkana custom. It is not much and in your Union terms only Tech level six, but it is a lot cleaner than the Vankux.”

“Safer too?”

“On the inside certainly. While traveling through Freespace in a TL 6 craft, I am afraid not. There is always a chance to encounter pirates hungry or desperate enough to attack a lowly Norkana vessel.”

“Fair enough, I think we will risk it. Now about the Daiyee...”

“Oh of course. I am not sure if you are familiar with the Novaj Dioj and the Privileged. Union side groups by the way.”

Sam nodded.”I would lie if I knew much, but I heard of them.”

“That makes two of us, but a ship of so-called Privileged, part of a fanatic subculture of the Privileged, was intercepted by one of the mightiest Dai Tribes, the Co Tribe. You are Union and might not know, but the Dai allow those who deemed worthy to become Than. You see according to them, Dai is the race and you must be born a Dai to be a Dai. However, anyone showing honor and willingness to fight for the Tribe can obtain the status of Than. Than can be of any race and species.”

“The Dai Than are nothing more than a nuisance to the Union and deemed nomadic pirates. I don’t think there is much known about them, as a society I mean.” Sam answered. “But I am traveling around Freespace for a while now and heard a few things about them. I heard they treat women, even their own like slaves.”

“This is true to a large extend, but one of the captured Privileged, reportedly a rare and very gifted Psi-Pyro, a female no less was adopted by the Tar of that Tribe. Raised from early youth as part of his own household. Her name is Geha, I believe, and she became quite famous as she grew older. It is said the Tar, which is the highest level of tribal leader within the Dai society, loved the female like a real father. Not like a Dai patriarch would, but like I heard human father do. Dai women, called Daiyee are allowed to train with weapons and are allowed to practice fighting. Geha became very good and was allowed to participate in raids both as a fighter pilot and along with boarding parties. At age, she became the preferred wife of the Tars’ firstborn son and has been treated more like a princess than the usual Daiyee.”

“And how did she end up on Alvor’s”

“I am not sure about the details, but she was part of an advanced raiding party, reportedly barely escaping a Union frigate during an attack on a Union freighter. Their damaged craft ended up in Freespace and was captured by Pirates. Now don’t ask me how the pirates managed to capture some of the Dai alive, because they aren’t around to brag about it. The Co clan caught up with them, and what they did to the pirates is still whispered about.”

The Norkana shivered as he apparently remembered what he had been told regarding that and then he said. “Anyway it was too late, the one named Geha was already sold as a slave.”

“Why did the Dai not attack Alvor’s Cove?” Charles wanted to know. “They are not signatory to the Freespace treaty.”

“I am not sure, but by the time the Co clan found out she was already sold to our mutual special friend Dimon. Besides Alvor’s is under the protection of the Togar Queen by contract, Just as this rock is by the way.” The Norkana seemed to detect that Charles wanted to know more and added. “The Togar are a powerful society and no single Dai clan would want to risk war against these aggressive cats. Not even for a Dai Than princess. The Togar are many things, but they always keep their contracts and their word.”