14: Interrogations

Half the harm that is done in this world
is due to people who want to feel important.
They don’t mean to do harm;
but the harm does not interest them.

T. S. Eliot

Al entered the shuttle bay where they were holding the Tissk prisoners. “Am I in time?” Despite the engineers examining the recovered fighters, the room was largely empty aside from several security officers clustered around one shuttle, Al’s.

“Right on time,” Kal reported. “Myi just landed and they’re preparing to take Captain Kclekt to a holding cell—one of the bay’s spare changing rooms—to interrogate him.”

“I thought I heard you,” Zita said, exiting a side room. “We’ve managed to learn a fair amount. I did as you suggested, providing one fighter pilot with a quantum-linked aid after isolating him. I’ve finally acquired a decent grasp of their language, Trilck.”

“Has anyone revealed where their homeworld is?”

She shook her head. “It was the first thing we asked everyone—aside from Captain Kclekt, who we haven’t interrogated yet. Keep in mind he doesn’t realize we speak Trilck. We figured you’d want to deal with him yourself. As for the others, they’ve never been trained in interstellar navigation. This is clearly not a meritocracy. All they know is they boarded the ship and ended up here, without comprehending where they are or where their homeworld is in relation to us.

“A few details you’ll need to know. These are the Tissk, but my Glaznik contact tells me that despite speaking the Elder Ones’ language, or Milsolt, occasionally, and using their ships, they’re not the same beings. We’ll need to determine whether they’re acting on their behalf or merely taking advantage of their previous destinations.

“My source also added that none of the Glaznik alive today have ever spoken with the Elder Ones, as it’s been a long time since they visited. But there are enough discrepancies in their actions he’s confidant they’re different, with few similarities other than ancient technologies.”

“Try to get more details about these Elder Ones. It’ll help determine what happened and give me some leverage with Kclekt. But for now, I’m eager to size him up to get a better feel for who we’re dealing with.”

“The Tissk are a very aggressive culture, so it’s essentially ‘might makes right’. Equivocating implies weakness and lack of character.”

“Good to know, especially as I’m inclined to beat the shit out of him for all these needless deaths.”

“Again, it’s not who presents the best argument, but who’s the ‘alpha-male’ or can do something for you.”

“Apparently he didn’t think his crew would do as much for his career as a win against an exotic enemy. Even having lost, he’d score a bigger victory if he returned to warn his superiors of an entirely new threat. One which only he can counter after having seen them in action.”

“That’s the gist of it, but it sounds like you’re prepared to confront him, now that you hold all the cards.”

Kal and Zeta escorted Al towards the group clustered around his shuttle. He was easily able to identify Kclekt. Aside from being an unknown species; he was also the only one in restraints. Gary and Del stood beside him, attentively watching as the others processed his information.

“Captain Kclekt. It’s not often I meet an officer so morally depraved he’d send his entire crew to their deaths while slinking away like a spineless coward.”

He turned, focusing on Al, everyone else forgotten. No one had spoken to him since his capture other than shouting commands in a strange language. After their ship-to-ship ultimatums in Glaznik, he was shocked his captors spoke fluent Trilck.

“Commanders lead,” he said after a slight pause, glancing around to observe how those around him responded. “Peons serve. If they deserved more, they’d command a ship instead of me.”

Kclekt was a thin, stooped figure with slick, scaly skin that glistened under the bright shuttle bay lights. His eyes, jutting from either side of his head on revolving stalks, seemed incapable of three-dimensional vision, as their views didn’t overlap. But since each moved independently, they provided a greater visual range than the other species.

“Ah, spoken with the mindless bravado I’d expect from someone given his position though personal connections rather than proven experience. You’re either a rank political appointee, or the Tissk are truly bereft of any redeeming qualities. I’m guessing they will be easy to defeat, but offer little worth negotiating over. It makes your future simple to decide. Your decision making in the face of overwhelming odds was pitiful!” Al paused, staring at him hard. “I hold officers who value those they lead so lightly beyond contempt. Your attitude will bear in your final fate, as I’ll treat you with the same malice you showed your best crewmen.”

“If they were worthy, they wouldn’t have failed,” Al said in Milsolt, further shocking him. But he recovered quickly.

“Their failure was wholly due to your inept leadership. True leaders inspire phenomenal effort and reward risk taking. Bullies, however, intimidate and brag, but achieve little.”

“Captain Collins,” Myi said, exiting Al’s shuttle as the security people lifted a weathered metal pod from inside using a hovering automated hoist. Despite her formality, she spoke in standard Tandori, leaving Kclekt glancing between them, trying to guess what they were discussing. “I see you’ve met the man responsible for the needless deaths of his crew. Is this a polite introduction or are you beginning your interrogation?”

“She agrees you’re below pond scum,” Al translated, confusing Kclekt even more, implying all his captors spoke fluent Trilck. “Yes, I’m prepared to begin,” he continued, still speaking in Kclekt’s native tongue, though everyone followed his words. “I’m eager to determine whether there is any justification for preserving his life. But first, I’d like to examine the weapon he used against my people. It’s a pitiful tool, ineffective and inflicting significant damage on the user.”

“You have no standing to judge me!” Kclekt declared. “I’m a decorated hero and a celebrated leader. It’s not up to an inferior species to pass judgment on their superiors. You may have the advantage now, but the Tissk shall prevail, as we always have!

“The disruptors are the mightiest of the Elder’s arsenal. It’s how we’ll destroy you, your children and theirs too.”

“I’ll get it,” Kal volunteered, ignoring Kclekt’s rants as he walked towards the shuttle.

“He has no right to touch my property, just as you have no right to hold me!”

“You squandered any right to choose your destiny when you attacked without provocation. You also lost any respect by demonstrating extreme cowardice in combat.”

Kclekt stiffened but didn’t respond; doubtlessly guessing he wasn’t doing himself any favors provoking the one determining his fate.

“Your vaunted disruptor didn’t help you,” Al reminded him. “You failed to hit any of our vessels, so I doubt the Tissk pose much threat. Which is why I’m curious what these weapons do. I’ll concede, we never suspected you had no defenses. Yet the fact your ship disintegrated when struck with a single laser—that’s a tightly focused light-based weapon, by the way—demonstrates it suffered significant prolonged damage as you terrorized others. Who goes into combat without shielding? Personally, I prefer lasers. They have significantly longer range and travel at the speed of light, so you can’t see them coming, but don’t produce incidental harm to the users. Even if it weren’t for us, it wouldn’t be long before your hull failed on its own. It’s a problematic device designed exclusively to scare, yet is ineffective in actual combat.”

“Ha!” Kclekt shouted, struggling against Gary and Del’s restraining hands. “It shows your ignorance. It’s the Elder’s most vital apparatus, and the reason they were respected and feared throughout the galaxy!”

Al leaned forward, peering into his wavering eyes. “Tell me, where are the Elders today? If they were so powerful, they’d have innovated and developed their tools. Instead, they perished rather than innovate.”

“We bear their renown,” Kclekt insisted. “They molded each world, allowing them to become interstellar cultures. But they wasted their advanced knowledge, refusing to use it as they should. So we took their most ferocious war machines and now reign supreme!”

“Until today. When faced with someone not cowered by the Elders’ technology, you failed miserably. You only prevailed because you stole a dangerous, unstable science you were unable to comprehend, and like the Elders, made no improvements to it. In our case, we’re continually refining our knowledge—not relying on a single weapon. So I’m guessing there are no Tissk worthy of a challenge in a fair and open fight?”

“Here it is,” Kal announced, carefully carrying Kclekt’s personal firearm. It was slightly larger than a standard Earth pistol, the extra space apparently dedicated to the power supply.

Al peered at it, noticing its unusual structure, including the various knobs.

“Any clue how it operates?”

“They never said,” he admitted, examining it. He turned it over, checking the switches as Al noted Kclekt smirking.

“Don’t!” Al shouted, shoving Kal hard while leaping back.

The disruptor exploded as a brilliant flash blinded everyone, sparks and small fires flying everywhere. Several items crashed, including the muffled thumps of bodies striking the deck. There were numerous curses in a several languages.

As his vision cleared, Al noted Kal was lying on the ground, clutching his hand. Kclekt was doubled over, gasping and struggling to catch his breath as Gary and Del held him tightly. The blaster lay smoldering on the pod bay floor. One person was flat on his back, while an engineer was on one knee a short distance away.

‘Xi! Kal’s injured!‘

‘I’m on my way, I heard your discussion and was coming to observe. I’ll be there momentarily.‘

“What did Kclekt try?” Al demanded, scrambling forward and kneeling by Kal’s side.

“He attempted to twist free when the weapon exploded,” Gary said, undaunted by the brief excitement. “He planned this. We guessed his intent and stopped him before he could escape.”

“You should have shot him!” Al shouted, surveying Kal’s situation. “How badly are you hurt?”

He was covering his right hand with his left, leaning forward and protecting both. When asked, he partially revealed his hand, which was pinkish from exposure burns.

“Honestly, it’s not as bad as I expected. You knocked the blaster from my hand before it exploded, though my hand hurts like hell. I don’t think I can use it.”

Xi rushed in, shoving Al aside and waving her ball over his chest.

“His hand suffered the biggest impact,” Al told her.

She passed the sphere over his hands. “His aids are still analyzing his injuries. They’re traveling to his hands and arms, with a few checking his torso to determine what’s affected.”

“He’s a dead man,” Kclekt gloated. “As you will all soon be. We’re not stupid enough to leave our most valuable possessions unprotected.”

“If he speaks again, shove him in the garbage chute and eject him into space,” Al instructed.

“The blast damage was minimal,” Xi reassured him, waving her device over his chest too. “The burns are from the residual impact, which we don’t yet understand. His aids are already countering the effects while tallying the extent of the injury. You’ve suffered some exposure too, though not as extensively.”

She continued monitoring before continuing. “The cells are rupturing. The cell walls are splitting and releasing their components into the blood stream, which the immune system promptly attacks. I’ve instructed the aids to signal his body there’s no remaining danger as they gather the expelled cytoplasm.”

Two Lezmonom medics arrived as she withdrew a small vial and injected it into Kal’s forearm, extracting a discolored liquid. “They’re holding the dangerous elements until I remove it, freeing them to continuing cleaning the remaining mess. I’ve got to extract from each of the damaged area. You’ll need to do the same, until I give you the all-clear.”

The two medics got busy, following Xi’s instructions to the letter.

“You’re wasting your time. There is no successful treatment to counter our disruptors! He is as good as dead!”

“Can you move your hands?” Al asked in Tandori.

While he had difficulty, he flexed his fingers, though the burns and swelling limited his movements.

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to manipulate tools for a while, but I can switch hands. Working in the caverns, you need to be ambidextrous as you cling to the rock with one hand and collect samples with the other.”

“Fortunately, there aren’t many caves here,” Al said, chuckling. “Think you can stand?”

“Yeah, I feel silly sitting here as everyone frets over me. At least if I’m upright, they can treat me more readily than if I’m lying on the deck.”

Al offered his hand and Kal clambered up with little difficulty—aside from favoring his hand.

“Wait. What trickery is this? He should be in excruciating pain, screaming, rending his clothes and shredding his flesh.”

“See that he receives the appropriate treatment,” Al instructed, ignoring the outburst as a medic treated him. He indicated the floor with the still-smoldering weapon. “We need the engineers to analyze the decking to determine if it’s compromised. I also want everyone here checked to assure there haven’t suffered residual effects.”

As people scurried, executing his instructions, he turned back to Kclekt.

“As with so many things, we possess substantially better medical procedures than you.”

“Aside from sticking him with a needle, they didn’t do anything besides waving that ... toy around. What kind of magic are you performing? Your ship vanishes, you couldn’t speak our language and now everyone does, and speak the language of the Elder Ones despite not knowing who they are, and you perform miracle cures without operating or cutting off the damaged tissue.”

“Get used to it. We’re introducing a new order, whoever doesn’t climb aboard will get trampled by those wanting in. Gary, bring the moron intent on signing his death warrant.”

__________
Al and Zita entered the side chambers selected as an interrogation cell. Gary and Delilah followed, thrusting Captain Kclekt into a chair before standing by the door, their arms crossed.

“So, who exactly are the Tissk?” Al inquired. “How did you stumble across the Elder Ones’ ships, how many worlds are you terrorizing, and how do we inform your homeworld you lost their ship?”

Kclekt glanced between the four humans as if expecting guidance, but none appeared terribly sympathetic.

“We ... are the dominant force in the region,” he said, sounding less belligerent, realizing he may have underestimated his situation. “We possess the most powerful vessels, determine who travels and where, and everyone pays us bounty, a tax, for our ... protection.”

“So you’re an interstellar collection agency?” Al responded. “Nothing more than a gang of thugs who stumbled across a couple warships and now assume you’re invincible?”

Despite using so many English references, their aids provided the correct terms. Kclekt not only understood them, he paled when Al mentioned their ‘stumbling over their ships’.

“We are on the side of righteousness! We are the sword of the mighty, and the deliverer of justice!”

“In case you haven’t noticed, your sword is dull, and too clumsy against laser arrays. We destroyed your ancient vessel with a single shot—actually two—but either would be just as devastating. The destruction was triggered by the sustained structural damage you inflicted to your craft, without understanding the basics of repair.

“We took out all your fighters without suffering a single loss. Our shuttles fly faster than your most impressive ship. Our defensive systems are far beyond your ability to hurt us, even if you could hit us hundreds of times. Clearly you are not the masters of your universe anymore. So I’ll ask again, who do we inform you’ve been captured, and that there’s a new top dog in town?”

Kclekt shrugged, his eyes separately focusing on the ceiling. “No one cares. None respect losers. If we no return treasures, we not return.” He seemed introspective for a moment. “It get harder to do. Each world has less then we used to take, barely offering anything, regardless of how many we kill.”

Al leaned forward, resting his fists on the table. “That’s because you’ve been strangling the life from the other worlds. Just like your misguided leadership model, you’re choking on your own stupidity. If you don’t allow other cultures to build, develop and trade, everyone suffers. But you wouldn’t understand that, since you don’t seem the least bit inclined to innovate, foster creativity or encourage others to work for everyone’s betterment.”

“You prattle like little Tssliq. Your words mean nothing. We take what want, just as you took ‘cause could.”

“Listen, you little pissant. We didn’t take anything. We warned you not to engage us, yet you insisted on attacking without understanding our capabilities. When your fighters proved utterly ineffective, you continued anyway. We announced we’d respond with force, but you were unrelenting. When we did fire, shooting little more than a warning shot, your pitiful ship shredded into little more than shrapnel. Even then, rather than taking possession of anything, we rescued those you left to die.”

“Everyone takes. No other way. You either take, or others take from you. Now you demand tribute or you attack our ships. You no different, just have strange magic. But once we figure it out, the tide will turn!”

Someone entered the secured room without announcing themselves and no one reacted. “I brought another of their disruptors,” Lizzle said, handing it to him. “I’m sure it doesn’t need repeating, but be careful with it. We don’t understand how they work, and I doubt the Tissk even comprehend the damage they inflict on the shooter.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll manage,” Al assured her, picking up the gun and, studying Kclekt, started flipping the various switches.

His eyes strained, as if reaching for him, as he leaned forward. “Who taught you that?”

“No one. I have a knack for figuring things out.” He lifted it, aiming at their prisoner and advancing, then backing up and circling, adjusting his distance before halting. “This seems to be the optimal range, though it will still inflict residual damage from back here. The fallout from firing the weapon is more pronounced the farther away you are. If I stood way back here,” he announced, still moving, “everyone in the room would be affected, though you’d be just as dead.”

“Whoever taught you to operate our disruptors will be beheaded for his treachery!”

Al aimed the weapon at objects around the room, instead of Kclekt. “In case you didn’t notice, you were with me the entire time. You didn’t see me speaking with any of your men. If I had, I wouldn’t have allowed Kal to experiment with it.”

“He’s right,” Delilah acknowledged. “He’s a precognitive Intuit, able to anticipate when someone will be hurt. Thus, by considering the various options before you can respond, he figures it out himself.”

“And by imaging shooting you, I can accurately determine how much damage it’ll inflict, including the ramification on the rest of us.”

“Bah! More magic and waving of hands. I unimpress. Someone talked. Is no other explanation.”

Al lowered the weapon, considering him. “That’s what I thought. Despite seeing our capabilities, you won’t accept the inevitable. You don’t grasp how minor a threat this represents to us. Yet you’re in a unique position to convey just how serious we are. Thus I feel a more direct, personal demonstration is called for.” He approached, shoving the table aside with his foot, and stared at Kclekt’s feet. Zita shook her head and shut her eyes, while Gary rolled his, but Al continued unabated.

Like the rest of him, his feet were ... particular. Slightly bowlegged, he sort of waddled, walking on the outer edge of his feet, his garish footwear not helping the effect. While he wouldn’t win a footrace with any of Al’s crew, he’d likely excel in thick swamps or underbrush. His long legs allowed him to distribute his weight and sidestep obstacles.

“What are you doing?” Kclekt asked nervously as Al seemed to search for the best target for his test.

Xi entered unannounced, surprising no one but Kclekt. “Sorry, I was finishing up with Kal and the others. Lizzle said she was getting something for you, but I can’t imagine how you intend to use it.”

Without explanation, she knelt in front of him and injected Kclekt’s thigh. “It’ll take a few minutes,” she told Al in perfect Trilck. “Again, the aids need to enter, analyze his normal body composition, and then begin recording any changes.”

“Are you sure this is wise?” Zita pressed as Lizzle entered carrying a heavy metal partition she’d extracted from the bay’s deck.

“As skeptical as Kclekt is, he’s ideal for explaining our capabilities. Not only can he communicate more naturally with his people, his skepticism better conveys our superiority. He not only needs to see how advanced our technology is, he has to experience it, so he can’t continue rationalizing his prior beliefs.” Al lifted Kclekt’s foot with his boot, allowing Lizzle to slide the reinforced metal plate under his feet.”

“Do you expect me to beg for my life?” Kclekt demanded, realizing the threat, but not yet processing what Al was saying.

“You have nothing to trade for your life, and I’ll continue with this regardless. Just like the rest of your people, you’ll never believe what we’re capable of, unless you’re forced to. We can lecture you all week, but a single demonstration is more ... dramatic, and ultimately much more convincing.”

“He’s having difficulty comprehending what you’re telling him,” Zita said aloud. “Should we get Chich’k to translate, so it’s easier to understand? As it is, he still thinks you’re planning to kill him.”

“I realize what he intends. Why else would he play with a disruptor like that? But he plainly doesn’t respect the terrifying power of our weapons. If you shoot me, you’ll slay everyone in the room. This proves your lying about ‘seeing the future’, just as you lie about your magic. No one can best the Tissk! It demonstrates how weak your kind is. Any of our warriors would have killed me by now—even my companions—rather than rambling about how they’re too frightened to.”

“Again, if Chich’k translated in simpler terms, he’d comprehend your intentions,” Zita reiterated.

“No, this little presentation is not only faster, it’s more effective. He won’t be able to deny our technological advantage.” Al turned to his prisoner. “This will hurt like hell, but ... you’ll live. In my opinion, that’s more important, either way.”

“Ha! You’re a charlatan. You lie about everything. You’re afraid to do what you threaten to, and waste valuable time talking yourself into it. Any Tissk would eat you alive. But even if you kill me, you can’t operate the weapon without killing everyone.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,

“Your silly tricks are meaningless. You don’t understand the power we possess. Not only do you underestimate its danger, no Tissk will ever surrender, under any circumstances!”

“That’s precisely why I’m doing this. You’ll never believe me, even after watching our man walk away after being exposed. So...”

“You can’t intimidate me! We are the rightful masters o—”

Before he could finish, Al fired a quick shot at the man’s toes from only a few feet away, not risking a sustained burst. Kclekt howled and leapt to his feet. Gary and Del caught him before he toppled as his leg collapsed under him. Leaning against their restraining hands, he raised his foot, trying to see the damage. Before he could observe it, they were all thrown off balance.

Al felt himself listing to the side. He planted his boot to steady him but was lifted several inches off the floor instead, traveling sideways even more. Gary and Del continued moving, colliding with Kclekt, their movements inconsistent with their momentum. As Kclekt fell, he never struck the deck.

‘One, what’s happening?‘

‘Despite the buffer of the metal plate, you’ve compromised the dark-matter containment under the floor. The dark matter regulating the room’s gravity is escaping. You’re wrestling with the effects of the varying, inconsistent gravity. Move back a step or two and you’ll be fine.‘

Al found it steadier there. Seeing his actions, Gary and Del did the same, holding Kclekt firmly between them.

‘Damn, I can anticipate potential dangers to everyone in the room, but can’t predict risks to the ship itself. I’ve got to remember that in the future. Since I never envisioned it happening, I never considered the effect.‘

When Kclekt’s injured foot touched the floor, he howled. As Gary and Del drug him back, his shoe unraveled, sloughing off. Underneath, his flesh was a dull pale color instead of its usual slick greenish scales. There was no blood, but the wound oozed. Partially crystalized segments flaked off his feet in whole pieces.

Xi knelt beside him—on the opposite side of the damaged floor, and waved her ball over his injury.

“I’m getting a decent timeline of the responses. The cells in his feet are dissolving. The cell membrane are crystalizing and shattering, releasing the cytoplasm into his bloodstream. However, unlike his victims, the aids I injected are stabilizing the damage, instructing his immune system to ignore whatever happens.”

“No one lives when shot from so close!” Kclekt studied his injured foot, surprised at remaining lucidity. “While intense, the pain is ... minimal.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Delilah asked. “I understand why you’re such a shit-assed officer. You’re completely unable to adapt to changing circumstances.

“The disruptor is a terrifying weapon,” Kclekt maintained. “It’s what we use to terrorize and slaughter our foes. Everyone recognizes its horrifying power!”

“And yet,” Al said, grinning and indicating his foot, “you don’t seem to be dying, and no one else is affected in the least. You never grasped my point. Rather than threatening you, this demonstrates we’re protected from even direct shots, and unaffected from any secondary effects.”

Sitting heavily, he lifted his leg and peered at his arch, realizing he not only hadn’t lost the foot, it wasn’t getting worse. “You fix?”

“No, we effectively counteracted the sepsis.” Xi inserted a tube and extracted the gooey blood. “You’ll undoubtedly have problems with it in the future, but not only will you live, you’ll retain full use of your foot and leg.” She held the vial up for him to see. “This is the contamination which would normally have killed you. Only our aids segregated it, calmed your body, and allowed us to safely extract it without it poisoning you.” She smiled. “Want to keep this to contemplate whenever you doubt what we’re capable of?”

“Don’t worry, there are none in it you can steal,” Lizzle advised.

He vehemently shook his head. “No, I believe you. This no magic, you change all known rules. Nothing is as it was. Even Elders not do that!”

“While we wait for the aids to correct the rest of the damage, why don’t you tell us what became of the Elders? We hoped to encounter them eventually, though I doubt it’s possible now.”

Kclekt glanced down, observing his leg was resuming its normal dark glistening color, though pieces of his foot were still missing. He swallowed before saying anything.

“We, like everyone else, no hear from them in long, long time.” His tone was even, quieter and less insistent. “So we set out, searching for them. When we find, Elders no more. They kill themselves. Their planet poisoned, empty flakey surface, cities destroyed, water undrinkable, the remaining air caustic and the atmosphere dissipated.”

He glanced up, as if gloating again. “But their ships, they fine. So we take several, and they contain plenty weapon, plus record of planets visited and translation devices. They stupid, kill selves, so we take, become new Elders!”

“It’s sad. The wisest civilization in the entire sector was replaced by the stupidest, with simpletons reusing the very weapons which wiped them out. Then you systematically neutered the advances they granted the other worlds, ensuring everyone would remain as unsophisticated as you! But it’s obvious the structural weaknesses in your ships aren’t all your doing. Much of it was likely due to the Elders’ inability to comprehend the effects of their discoveries. I suspect, having resolved internal disputes, they ceased testing and refining. Yet, in the end, when the domestic conflicts resumed, they turned them on each other, killing everyone. Tell me, how long do you think it’ll take before you do the very same thing to yourselves?”