Part 4 - Part 06

“Nothing about what happened here makes any sense. Who are these people and what do they want? Are they officials from the planet we shot at? Or are they thieves using the opportunity to rob us of our nonexistent weapon? Why are they so confident in what they are doing to not even have guards posted around their ship? Is someone from the inside working with them? I don’t think so! Because they would have known no such weapon exists. Why didn’t they react to the soldiers this morning? Is it true that they didn’t see them? Surely a ship like that has sophisticated monitoring equipment which would have spotted the soldiers, the latest flash and us landing. Like I said, nothing here makes any sense.”

“I agree with all that Captain. But there’s also the question of how could we have possibly hit their planet from all the way down here? The plasma would have dissipated long before it reached the planet,” said Delche.

“Not necessarily. This was no ordinary plasma coming from a single cannon. This kind of plasma was made of strands; each vibrating at a different frequency that would twist and twist and twist into a thin string, as thin as a pin as it traveled. And yes, until it encountered something solid it would travel forever in empty space. Theoretically...” said Ori.

“So it’s possible we could have hit their planet…”

“Yes Captain, but you saw the flash… The plasma was dissipated and couldn’t have reached their planet.”

“So, what are we going to do Captain?” asked Delche.

“Well, you and Ori should go inside the facility and stay out of harms way. I will go to their ship and find out who these people are and what they want.”

After protesting that they should be with me and that we were all in this together, I convinced them that they would be more useful to me if they weren’t being arrested along with me. They agreed and left.

I thought I might need some protection so I released my guards and made sure they were armed. I locked my ship and went towards the visiting ship. On the way I could see people inside the facility looking outside through the windows. I guess they were curious… Was there going to be a shootout? Like in the old westerns back on earth? I stopped for a moment, smiled at the spectators and waved. Many waved back. I realized I was too tired even to smile. I hadn’t slept much for four days and was irritable. In the state I was in, I wouldn’t have gone to confront these people if they weren’t holding my friends Captain Orihci and Ukasnek hostage. I would have used gun diplomacy… shoot first and ask questions later…

I popped a vial of fire water into my mouth for good measure, hoping it would sober me up and give me some energy. But all it did was made me angrier. When I got to their ship I punched its hull several times with my fist and yelled, “Open up, this is Captain Otsiron, the guy you’re looking for. Open up or I’m busting in.” I don’t know why I said that but it was in Macedonian so I doubt they would figure it out anyway.

One of the ship’s visors opened momentarily and closed quickly. Then I heard a hatch open on the opposite side of the ship and about a dozen armed men dashed out with their handguns pointing at me. Suddenly my guards, who were behind me all this time, drew their weapons and jumped in front of me. The tall man, who Enai had mentioned earlier, came out. He spoke to me but my universal translator couldn’t make much sense of what he said.

“Who are you and what do you want?” I yelled loudly.

The man spoke again and said, “I government man from planet there… Why you shoot at planet?”

“I will tell you everything you want to know,” I said, “under two conditions. One lower your weapons and two release my people that you’re holding in there.”

“Weapons stay. You drop weapons. I arrest you… you shoot planet…”

I ordered my guards to lower their weapons and stand aside so that I could see the man I was speaking with and said, “Okay, let’s be civil about this and tell me exactly what it is that you want?”

“You negotiate?”

“Yes. I’ll give you whatever you want if you don’t arrest me and if you let my friends go.”

“You pirate?” he asked.

“Maybe…” I replied.

“You give me weapon, I let you go.”

“Okay but I want to see my friends. How do I know if they are still alive?”

“See weapon then friends.”

“First friends then weapon.”

“Okay.”

Moments later both Captain Orihci and Ukasnek were escorted by armed men in front of me. They were shackled and gagged. While they were distracted looking at Orihci and Ukasnek, I placed my transmitter on my head. Enai must have seen me because everyone looking outside had disappeared from the windows and he’d turned off the portable transmitter.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Where is weapon!?” he yelled.

“Here it comes… be patient…”

Moments later all the facility doors burst open and the super soldiers in battle gear began to appear and circle their ship in multiple circles.

“What’s this!?” he yelled. “Now I kill you…”

“This is the weapon that fired at your planet. One million super soldiers. You wanted them now you take them.”

“I no believe you. I kill you.”

“I will show you proof if you want.”

“No! You trick me and I kill you all!” he said and I heard the ship powering up its engines and cannons.

At that same instant I had the entire force of super soldiers raise their weapons, lock them and aim at their ship. They made a hell of a racket and scared the hell out of them. My guards also reacted and raised their weapons.

“Now lower your weapons and turn off your ship’s engines. Let us settle this properly or I will have you and your ship vaporized.”

I then turned to the men pointing their handguns at me and yelled, “You, you drop your weapons…”

I could see the armed men shaking in fear but they didn’t drop their weapons. Maybe they didn’t understand what I said, so I made a hand motion.

Then suddenly, and without warning, they all ran back into their ship and it took off vertically, flying like a bat out of hell.

People started coming out of the facility and ran towards us but couldn’t get through the tight ring the super soldiers had created around us. I ran to free the Captain and Ukasnek who both were still shackled and gagged. My guards ran right behind me with weapons drawn. It was chaos everywhere. The first thing I did was remove

the gag from the Captain’s mouth. Then I did the same for Ukasnek. Both were breathing heavily, trying to get some air. I then dismissed the soldiers and the crowd started to pour in.

I heard Enai yell, “Everyone stop and get back to work. The soldiers need to be fed. They have been without food for two days. I’m sure you’ll see the Captain later. He’ll make an announcement to let you know what happened. Go back to work now.”

Everyone turned back except for Ireva, Amih, Delche, Ori and Enai who said, “I’ll get a lock picking device to take those shackles off,” and then he left.

“There were plenty of kisses from Amih and Ireva for the Captain and Ukasnek but none for us. Again I felt as lonely as ever and a bit insignificant. I blamed it on hunger and sleep deprivation. I stepped back to give them some space and joined Delche and Ori. They looked at me strangely for a moment, making me wonder if they could see how I felt.

Enai came back with one of his associates who supposedly was an expert lock picker. At least that’s what Enai said when he passed by.

“Expert lock picker my ass... He’s probably another pirate who learned the skill on the job,” mumbled Delche.

“Ukasnek has a past with them. We should get him good and drunk one of these days and ask him about Enai and his associates and their past involvements. I’m sure he’ll have a lot of stories to tell… given how he likes to brag,” I said.

The moment Captain Orihci was freed he ran over to us and thanked us for freeing them without incident.

“Thank you for freeing us. These guys were threatening to kill us all, the entire facility, if we didn’t surrender the weapon; a weapon we didn’t even have. Both Ukasnek and I tried to tell them that, to convince them that we didn’t have such a weapon but they didn’t believe us… They refused to listen to reason… Thank you again…”

Ukasnek also thanked us and said he had to run. He hadn’t been to the washroom for over a day. On his way into the facility he yelled, “See you in the dining area. I could use a drink.”

“I don’t know about you but I’m starved,” said the Captain. “I could also use a drink or two.”

When we started walking towards the facility we were joined by Enai, Ireva and Amih. I turned to Ireva and asked, “Did you miss me?” I couldn’t help myself. But instead of Ireva, Amih answered.

“Of course we missed you. You’re all part of our big family now. I’m so grateful you freed my husband and our good friend Ukasnek. Everyone in this facility is grateful for what you did. One of these days we should throw you a big party in appreciation… And by the way, it’s nice to see you’ve got your guards back… The girls look good on you.”

“Thank you,” I said along with Ori and Delche.

The Captain was still in shock and didn’t feel much like talking. He was trying to process what had happened. In fact no one wanted to talk despite the fact that there was so much to discuss; especially about our mission and what had happened here in the facility.

It was lunchtime when we arrived in the dining area but the food wouldn’t be ready for another hour. The episode with the ship had disrupted everyone’s schedule; including that of the cooking staff.

We all sat down at our usual table but no one wanted to talk. Their minds were on other things, including their jobs which they had neglected for almost two days.

The Captain was first to speak, “If it’s okay with everyone I would like to go and have a rest. I haven’t slept since those people arrived.”

At the same time we all mumbled something similar and started getting up and leaving. When Ukasnek arrived most of us had left.

“Where is everybody going?”

“Some are going to bed and the rest are going back to work…” replied Ireva.

“Ah, good. I could use some sleep. I haven’t slept a wink in two days…” replied Ukasnek and then looked at me. “Please dock your guards in your ship. Don’t leave them active. The idea of having robots loose gives me the creeps.”

We each went our way without saying a word.

I took Ukasnek’s advice and took my guards back to my ship and deactivated them. I was too tired to walk back to the facility so I decided to sleep in my ship.

The next thing I heard was Ukasnek banging on the ship’s hull and yelling, “What’s the matter with you? Are you dead?”

I was laying face down in my bed just as I had been when I went to sleep and it was still daylight outside. So I wondered what was so urgent that Ukasnek would want me up. I tried to speak but couldn’t. After I cleared my throat I yelled, “What do you want? Let me sleep, I just got to bed…”

“You’ve been in there since yesterday noon. It’s almost noon the next day… What have you been doing all this time? Now get up and join us in the meeting room. The Captain has some news to share.”

I didn’t reply. Ukasnek started banging again until he heard me say, “Okay, okay, I’m on my way.”

I decided to skip the shower… for the fifth day. If they wanted me back that urgently then they would have to accept me as I was.

“You look like hell,” said the Captain when I arrived.

“And so do you,” I replied.

“Is this how you greet each other?” Amih joked.

“Mom, they’re men… This is how they greet each other all the time… And besides, why do you care?”

We didn’t respond to Amih’s comment.

The Captain then said, “Delche and Ori brought us up to speed on your mission while you were sleeping but that’s not why I asked you here. We received news early this morning that the investigative commission has been assembled and was dispatched yesterday. It’s on its way here as we speak. They will be arriving tomorrow morning. The tower will inform us of the exact time as they get closer. There will be thirteen of them; twelve representatives from the planets and one diplomat from the central government leading the group. I want everyone on their toes and prepared to answer all questions truthfully but without giving too much information. Don’t assume and don’t speculate. I want you ladies to prepare quarters for each and a common room where they can meet and conduct interviews. Also, have a server available to them at all times to bring them snacks and refreshments while they work. Unless they ask don’t let them wander around alone. Ukasnek, look after their security. I don’t want any incidents. And you,” he ordered, looking at me, “make sure you shower and shave…”

“After seeing the horrified look on Amih’s face, we all started laughing.

“I’ll get him back, don’t worry,” I said.

She shook her head and smiled.

“Okay then, any questions?” No one had questions so the Captain dismissed everyone and most went to the dining area to get their lunch. The Captain, Delche, Ori and I remained behind.

“I haven’t eaten in days,” I said, “but I don’t feel hungry.”

“I feel the same…,” replied the Captain.

Delche said, “Us too but we decided to eat breakfast anyway to get our energy back.”

Ori agreed.

“You went through a lot my friends and I want to express my deepest appreciation for what you did for us… and how you did it. That ship you destroyed would have been a menace to the entire galaxy. It would have changed things beyond recognition and brought our civilization to its knees. All joking aside, you did the world a big favour by getting rid of it,” said the Captain.

“What puzzles me Captain is whose ship was it?” I asked.

“The language the pilot spoke wasn’t from here and not from Ostikon…” added Ori.

“And just because we destroyed one ship doesn’t mean there aren’t any others like it…” warned Delche.

“I don’t know what to tell you guys but as of tomorrow our hands will be full, hopefully not with more crap, with our visitors. So, whatever needs to be done let’s do it today. Let’s go and eat anyway and head for the research lab… And by the way… the DNA testing has resumed and we’re past halfway done,” said Captain Orihci.

While we were eating the Captain said to me, “You look distracted. Is there something bothering you?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’m the only official representative from the Ostikon government here. Do I answer questions on their behalf even though I’m neither from Ostikon nor do I know anything of Ostikon’s involvement in this war? Is it even appropriate for me to do that…?”

“You have a good point. I think you should contact the Ostikon government and sort that out with them.”

“Ori, can you do that? Can you let Asora know what’s going on here? Better yet, ask her to send someone here, preferably a diplomat… Suggest old man Nagol, that’s the only person I trust besides Asora.”

“I’ll do it as soon as we get back to the ship…”

“Anything else bothering you?” asked the Captain.

I smiled and both Delche and Ori laughed.

When we got to the lab and told them that we wanted a message analyzed, Enai went and got one of his associates; the one who had modified my transmitter and universal translator to speak Macedonian. But when he arrived we didn’t have anything to give him to analyze.

“Where’s the sample?”

We looked at each other. Enai said, “Give him the message you want him to translate.”

“It’s audio and is currently in our ship’s logs….” Ori explained.

After a bit of rambling back and forth we finally decided how to do it. The associate gave us a receiving frequency and Ori and I went to the ship to transmit the audio message to him. After it was done I left while Ori remained on the ship to prepare and send a message to Asora.

When I got back to the lab, the message had been received and Enai’s linguist was attempting to identify the language. But lucky for us, Captain Orihci recognized the language. He’d heard it before. It belonged to a royal family on a planet located on the other side of the Galaxy Trader world. The message contained mostly swear words. There was nothing worthy in it, nor did it identify the pilot or to whom the ship belonged. So we decided not to pursue it any further at this time.

About six hours later, after we had our supper, Delche, Ori and I went back to my ship to check if Asora had responded and she had. It was a short message. After she answered our questions and agreed that someone from her government should be at the inquiry, she said she would be happy to send Nagol. But it would be up to him if he wanted to go. It was most interesting what she said after that…

“Something must have happened about a day earlier because the Whites are leaving Ostikon in droves and are disappearing. All of the Whites in my government have left their posts and disappeared, including Princess Anelia who basically unofficially ran my government and dismantled our military. If you know anything about this, please let us know…”

“Now why would the Whites run like rats?” asked Delche sarcastically and then answered his own question. “Because they failed to assassinate you… And sooner or later you will figure that out and come for them. You did promise them that… right?”

“I sure did! But still, we have no evidence that they were behind the golden ship…”

“Oh, come on… No one else around here has the knowhow or the resources to build such a ship. The alloy from which the ship’s hull was built is an Ostikon invention and not easy or cheap to manufacture,” said Ori.

“Let’s talk to the Captain before we answer Asora,” I suggested.

“You know what? You two go and talk to the Captain. I’ll prepare a report for Asora and send her our mission logs and let them have a look at the ship for themselves…” replied Ori.

We agreed.

The Captain also agreed that we should inform Asora about everything we know and let her decide for herself if the Whites were involved or not. As for Nagol coming here he said, “I haven’t heard that name for a long time. I’ve never met the man but I’ve heard many good things about him.”

After Delche and I returned to my ship, we helped Ori compile and send Asora the report. Since it was late at night and we felt too tired… and lazy… to walk back to our rooms in the facility, we decided to spend the night in my ship.

The investigative commission arrives

After we received the call early the next morning that the investigative commission’s ship was arriving in an hour, the tower people ran around frantically informing everyone. By the time one of them came out to my ship, we were already dressed and looking prim and proper. We’d had showers and I had shaved. Delche and Ori wore their white, military uniforms with the Macedonian symbols on them. They even wore the medals given to them by the Ostikon authorities.

When we stepped outside my ship the place was teeming with people, waiting for the commission to arrive.

“Good morning Captain Orihci, Amih, Ireva, Ukasnek, Enai…” I said in the order they were standing waiting for us to join them.

They all said good morning. Amih looked at me and smiled; I guess because I had shaved as the Captain had ordered.

“They can land here in front of your ship… This would be a good place, right?” Captain Orihci asked, looking good in his Captain’s military uniform.

“Since we don’t have a landing pad, this is just as good a place as any as long as their ship fits here…” I replied.

“I assume it’ll be a small ship… If not, we’ll point them down there… to the valley.”

After we joined the welcoming line I said, “This reminds me of my village back in Macedonia, on earth. Every time we had strangers visiting, the entire village would come out to welcome them…”

“Yes, we are a curious bunch… Not many government officials visit us here. Who wants to visit a bunch of farmers anyway, right?”

“We’re not all farmers!” Amih piped up, looking spiffy.

Ireva came over and grabbed my hand and then grabbed my translator, placing it on my ear and whispered, “Where is your formal uniform, man? They’ll think you’re a farmer for sure dressed like that. No, no, I’m wrong… They’ll think you’re a gorilla in a suit. And the irony is you’re the star of this show. They came here to see the main attraction… and that would be you!”

“Ireva now isn’t the time for jokes… Go away or I’ll tell your mother what you said…”

Just as I said that, there was a huge outcry from the spectators yelling, “There they are…!”

The Captain stepped forward and gave the ship a number of hand signals and it began to descend in front of us.

After it landed there was a huge hiss and the engines cut out. There was silence in the crowd, with only a few whispers heard here and there. Then there was a loud “aah” from the crowd when a hatch started opening at the front of the ship and became a staircase when it hit the ground. It was beautifully decorated.

Then a tall, well-dressed older woman appeared at the top of the stairs. The Captain stepped forward and said, “Welcome to our humble planet Nelez. I’m Captain Orihci, Captain of the Galaxy Trader 2nd Destroyer.”

The woman then smiled and replied softly, “I am Madam Grooni, representative of the Galaxy Trader central government and leader of the investigative commission.”

She stepped aside and allowed the other twelve to step down as she introduced each of the investigators and mentioned what planet they were from.

After she was finished she came down the stairs and headed straight for me. “You must be Captain Otsiron.”

I smiled.

“And who is this lovely creature beside you?”

“Oh, this is my wife Ireva….” I said.

At this point Ireva’s face turned red but she kept smiling…. That will fix you, I thought to myself, for making fun of me.

Madam Grooni laughed out loud and said, “Congratulations. That’s nice. I didn’t know you were married?”

“We are not married,” I replied. “I’m just getting back at her for making a bad joke about me.”

“It’s nice to see that you have a sense of humour dear,” said Madam Grooni and turned to greet Ireva, Delche and Ori. I then introduced her to the others on my other side.

After that Madam Grooni grabbed me by the arm and said, “So you’re that brave alien from earth about whom everyone is raving…?”

I didn’t know what to say so I didn’t reply. I could see Ireva snickering, especially since Madam Grooni kept holding my arm tightly.

At that point Captain Orihci invited our guests to follow him to the reception area.

Even after we started walking towards the facility entrance, Madam Grooni was still holding onto my arm.

Ireva caught up to us and asked, “Madam Grooni did you bring any luggage with you?”

“Of course my dear, you can have it delivered to us once we’re settled in. You’re an unusually good-looking creature but you speak our language perfectly. Where are you from?”

I looked over at Ireva and smiled at her. She didn’t like that.

“I’m a native of this planet. I’m Captain Orihci and Amih’s daughter.”

“That’s nice dear. That explains your looks… I’m also from this planet. Well, let’s say I was born on this planet… a long, long time ago. How much do you know about this planet… and about your family?”

“Practically nothing…”

After we arrived in the reception area the Captain raised his arms to get everyone’s attention. Ukasnek and Enai ordered the onlookers and locals, who had joined the procession, to leave and go back to work.

“Who are all these people?” asked Madam Grooni.

“They are the volunteers who do most of the work here to keep the facility functioning. Some arrived from other places and are waiting to find out the status of their loved ones who were abducted by the robots during the war. But most of them are people whose homes were destroyed by the war and they have nowhere else to go… Please hold off on your questions until after we settle you in… There will be plenty of time for questions later. Thank you!” replied the Captain.

“They are here to welcome you Madam Grooni. Some of these people have never seen anyone from our central government before and are just curious… Now please come with me and I will escort you to your room. You can let go of him now…” said Ireva.

After all our guests left, Captain Orihchi and the others came over and we all sat down.

“I really feel out of place right now. These people seem so strange to me… but friendly at the same time. That’s never been my experience on my planet…” said Delche.

“What about me? I got more attention from these people here than I ever did at home,” said Ori.

“Because both of you are aliens here, a curiosity just like me…” I said and smiled.

“You and your jokes, look at the way she was hanging onto you. And what was that I heard about you and my daughter?” asked Amih.

“I’m sure we will do fine, we just have to adjust to the new condition… living with government people…” said the Captain.

“You mean living on edge… like prisoners in our own homes…?” said Ukasnek.

“You’re all still pirates at heart… But don’t worry, I’ll protect you. You know I can because the commission boss is my new girlfriend…” I said jokingly.

Everyone cracked up laughing and couldn’t stop.

“What’s so funny? Are you laughing at me? You and your stupid jokes! You embarrassed me you know? I’ll get you for that!” yelled Ireva as she walked in.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were married…” Amih teased.

“Not you too Mom… You’re always the serious one…”

We cracked up laughing again and so did Ireva after she thought about it for a moment.

After we finally stopped laughing Ireva said, “We need to get their luggage out of the ship so that the crew can leave. They must be getting anxious by now.”

“Since we have no helpers at the moment, why don’t we all walk over there, get the bags out of the ship and let them leave,” suggested the Captain.

“How many people in the crew?” asked Amih.

“Why does it matter Mom?”

“I want to give them each a parting gift.”

“Three, four at most…” replied Captain Orihci.

“I’ll take six packages, just in case…”

The Captain led us into the ship and announced to the crew why we were there. But instead of pointing us to the luggage, the three young ladies kept staring at the Captain.

“Perhaps they don’t speak your language… Try another language…” I said jokingly and smiled at them.

“We understand him all right. Perfectly…” one of them said.

“Maybe you should meet his wife then, she has a gift for each of you,” I replied.

“It’s not what you think!” said the older one and introduced herself as the Captain and the others as pilots in training. “This is Captain Orihci… The famous Captain Orihci, Captain of a destroyer… Do you even know how prestigious that is? He’s a legend on our planet…”

At this point Amih pushed us aside, got in front of us and said, “These are for you, two each, now please show us where the luggage is because we need to go. We have work to do and I’m sure you need to go too…”

After we got the bags out and had waved goodbye to the three, Ireva turned to her mother and said, “How rude of you Mom… It’s not like you… What’s gotten into you…?”

We were all curious to hear what Amih had to say but she said nothing. She just looked embarrassed and sad.

I went over to her, gave her a hug and said, “You’re among friends here and you have nothing to worry about…”

She started crying and said, “Imagine what bad things they’ll say about me…”

“They’ll say she loves her husband so much that she was ready to rip us apart… That’s what they’ll say…”

She broke out laughing and so did everyone else.

A number of volunteers arrived and wanted to know what the fuss was about.

“What are you doing here?” asked Amih. “Aren’t you supposed to be with our guests?”

“We were! They sent us to get their luggage. They need it to unpack their things…”

We moved out of the way and they took the bags.

“We should get back too,” said the Captain. “We should invite our guests to lunch. Amih, Ireva, go and tell the cooks and kitchen staff to prepare extra food and then set up another table, a big one in the dining area to seat us and our guests. Then tell the volunteers to bring our guests to the dining area at precisely noon. The rest of you should be there a little earlier.”

After Amih and Ireva had left Ukasnek said, “Are you sure it’s wise to eat with them?”

“Don’t worry Ukasnek it will only be one or two times, no more. The rest of the time we’ll have the servers deliver their food to the common room.”

Delche, Ori and I, expecting a reply from Asora, went to my ship to check. There was no reply.

“They should have replied by now,” said Ori. “They had plenty of time to examine the logs…”

“I’m more concerned about Nagol. Will he accept the assignment or not? Given his old age and now that he is with the Admiral.”

“I know Nagol a little better than you… He’ll jump at the chance… He admires you a lot. He told me you let him sit in your Captain’s chair and steer the ship… You’ve never allowed anyone else to do that,” replied Delche.

“I hope you’re right!”

“What do you think of that Madam Grooni? Isn’t she a funny one? I wonder how old she is and how many men she’s married in her lifetime? It looks to me like you might be the next husband on her list?”

“Delche, that’s not funny…!”

“It wasn’t funny when you did it to Ireva either but that didn’t stop you…”

“You heard that, eh?”

“Yeah but she deserved it, I think.”

“She sure did! Do you know what she said to me earlier, before the ship arrived? She asked, ‘Where is your formal uniform, man? They’ll think you’re a farmer for sure dressed like that. No, no, I’m wrong… They’ll think you’re a gorilla in a suit. And the irony is you’re the star of this show. They came here to see the main attraction… and that would be you!’ word for word…”

“No way man, that’s gruesome…”

“What’s gruesome?” asked the Captain as he, Ukasnek and Enai, holding a bottle of rakia, climbed the ship’s ramp.

“Wow man, you read my mind. I haven’t had rakia for such a long time I’d forgotten what it tastes like,” I said.

“I don’t know why but I feel nervous… I shouldn’t feel nervous but I do. I figured a bit of rakia might calm me down.”

“We all feel nervous, they’re government people…” said Ukasnek and Enai shook his head in agreement.

We stood around inside my overcrowded ship for a while until we finished drinking our first shot. After that we went outside and had a couple more.

“That’s enough for me,” said the Captain, holding the bottle.

“Leave that here…” said Ukasnek. “I don’t want to share it with them…”

The Captain sealed the bottle properly, went inside the ship and put it in the box with the green stuff. When he came out he said, “Let’s get back and face the music…”

Amih and Ireva had set the table and suggested the Captain sit at one end and Madam Grooni at the other. We did as they asked. The Captain sat at the end facing the entrance. To his right sat Ukasnek, myself, Delche and Ori. To his left sat Amih, Ireva and Enai. There was no one else from our side.

When they started arriving we all stood up and Ireva pointed them to their seats. When Madam Grooni arrived she ignored Ireva and came straight for me. She motioned to Delche and Ori to move over and she parked herself next to me, on my right.

I have to admit I felt ambushed and a bit angry but I didn’t want to protest so I said, “These gentlemen here are from Ostikon, they are guests here too …” to which she replied.

“I know, they were your old crew and now they’re your new crew and they both speak Macedonian; your native language.”

I guess that shut me up quickly. I looked over at Ireva, sitting opposite from me, snickering and enjoying watching me squirm.

After everyone was seated Captain Orihci stood up and gave a welcoming speech and apologized that our eatery wasn’t posh enough for the likes of them and that we had to serve ourselves. Also that we didn’t have the fine assortment of pastries they were used to eating, etc., etc.

Then it was Madam Grooni’s turn and she basically said that she was glad to be here, that this was her first assignment as an investigator and that everyone on her team was an experienced professional. She didn’t mind the simplicity of the cuisine and the village type accommodations. After all it was temporary.

And I thought I’d put my life, we’d all put our lives on the line so that these people could rule over us? I must have been looking angry, very angry because suddenly Ireva started to look concerned.

“I would also like to welcome you all here and apologize for our shortcomings but we just came out of a war and we’re still in ruins… We can’t provide what we don’t have…”

Both her mother and father looked at her with pride and so did I. Ukasnek was ready to jump on the table and dance but he restrained himself.

After Ireva finished talking I turned to Madam Grooni and said, “Your speech sounded more like that of a spoiled diplomat rather than a field investigator…” It was supposed to be a private comment but my damned universal translator blurted my comment out loud and everyone heard it.

Fortunately everyone pretended they hadn’t heard anything except Ireva who said, “You’ve only known each other less than half a day and already you sound like an old married couple.”

At this point Captain Orihci interrupted and asked our guests to form a line and showed them where to get their food.

Everyone on our side of the table was silent… for a while… but the tension was there… You could cut it with a knife.

“While still eating like she hadn’t eaten before and looking at her plate, Madam Grooni quietly said, “The Captain is my brother…”

Captain Orihci looked at her with a surprised look… more like a horrified look… After all, she was born on this planet and it was possible.

When she saw the expression on the Captain’s face she said, “Not you… You know, the other Captain, the Captain of the 1st destroyer. The one he humiliated and sent into early retirement… and is now the laughing stock on my planet and the butt of every joke… that Captain. He’s my little brother... He is a good man and didn’t deserve to be treated that way. And you, you sit here whooping it up, laughing, making jokes and enjoying yourself…”

At this point her team started leaving and was escorted back to the common room by Amih and Ukasnek. I guess Amih was embarrassed by the whole situation and didn’t want to hear any more. Ireva stayed behind. She was loving this… watching me squirm. I heard Ukasnek in the distance say, “That’s precisely why I said we shouldn’t have lunch with these people. They work for the government and you can’t trust them…”

“Is that true? You can’t be trusted?” I asked.

She didn’t answer.

“So, you think I humiliated your brother… and I did it on purpose… and I got pleasure from doing it! Is that right?”

“Yes! That’s right. That’s what he told me. Now I’m here… I came here to find out why…Why you did you do this to my brother?!”

“Before I tell you my side of the story, I want to ask you how much you know about your brother’s mission that day. What was he doing in Ostikon airspace, uninvited with a fully armed destroyer?”

“He was invited to go there by the Ostikon government! He was on a peace mission…”

“Come on lady, you’re a diplomat and old enough to know that you don’t send a fully armed military ship on a peace mission… Besides, the Galaxy Traders and Ostikon were already at peace. Your brother was sent there to destroy my ship because he was told it had become a menace. It was attacking their trading ships and causing all kinds of damage to their ability to trade with the Galaxy Traders. Ostikon didn’t have a military at the time so they needed assistance to get rid of that pesky ship and your brother was more than willing to accommodate them. But what your brother didn’t know is that what he was told was a complete lie. The little ship had nothing to do with the trade negotiations between Ostikon and the Galaxy Traders, but plenty to do with the way the corrupt elites in Ostikon were treating the people. You can say that the ship was leading the way to freedom for the people, out of the clutches of the upper class. The little ship was in their way of subduing the working class and had become a problem for them. So they found a patsy, your brother, to remove it for them. But he failed. My ship had nothing to do with trade and everything to do with keeping the peace while the little people tried to free themselves from the tyrannical Ostikon government. That’s what happened!”

“That’s a nice story… But that’s not what I heard!”

“Let me finish… I haven’t told you what they said to me and how they got me to confront your brother. Out of nowhere they sent me an urgent message saying that a very big armed Galaxy Trader ship was coming to attack and occupy Ostikon and it was up to me to stop it. I’m sure you know the rest of the story… If I have any regrets for what I did it’s for killing the pilot… of the little attack ship. But I couldn’t have risked being shot at. He would have attacked me, so I took him out first. Anyway, I tried to reason with your brother to back off. I even explained to him that he had been lied to but he refused to listen. Only after I completely disabled his ship and refused to finish it off, did he listen. Now, if I am the monster you’re making me out to be then why didn’t I finish him off? The least I could have done was disable his engines? I could

have torn up his ship piece by piece. Who was going to stop me? But I didn’t! How do you explain that?”

After a long silence and a menacing look she said, “I’ll have to talk to him again… We will resume this conversation later…” and got up ready to leave.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute… You can’t leave… You need to resign right now! Your government promised me an impartial investigation… not a witch hunt. How can you possibly be fair and impartial when you came here on a personal vendetta?” cried the Captain.

“I am not resigning until I get to the bottom of this…” she yelled and stormed back to her quarters.

The Captain wrapped his hands around his head and said, “How much worse can this get? What are we, cursed or something?”

“Sorry Dad, I’m sure this too will blow over. We haven’t done anything wrong. When the truth comes out we’ll all be exonerated…” said Ireva looking at me.

“Sure, the truth… The truth never comes out…That’s why the little people have to pay the price… Like my wife who spent most of her life in jail… for doing the right thing… for fighting for the little people’s rights. Yeah, right!” said Delche looking depressed.

“I have to agree with Delche. Honour and glory belong to the dead and the corrupt… Not to the just and truth loving… I should know that!” added Ori.

“Come on people? What can they possibly do to us…? We have the legendary ship and we have one million super soldiers,” I said.

The investigation begins

Things not only got weird between us and Madam Grooni, but also between Madam Grooni and her team of investigators. We heard they’d had a stormy meeting the day before in the common room, where Madam Grooni was asked to step down but again she refused on the grounds that the current war they were investigating was a direct result of my attack on her brother’s destroyer. She claimed that this was the very first time a destroyer of that class had ever been defeated by anyone and that its defeat shook the entire Galaxy Trader consortium. That prompted the Galaxy Trader leadership to look for ways to bolster its military thus initiating the super soldier project. And as a result, in her opinion, I was the culprit who had started the war and this was why I needed to be fully investigated so that I could be charged with the crimes I’d committed. In her opinion I had attacked her brother’s ship unprovoked, an attack that was never investigated, and according to credible sources from Ostikon my attack was never sanctioned by the Ostikon government. That’s what the official report filed with the government said.

“Until I talk to my brother again, I don’t believe a word he says! How can this one alien vigilante be telling the truth and the entire two worlds of Ostikon and the Galaxy Traders be lying? Don’t you find that a bit ridiculous?” were the last words to her team before she stormed out of the meeting.

“I don’t believe this… This is a nightmare…” exclaimed the Captain.

“Welcome to the world of politics Captain. Being in the military is easy… You get orders… You give orders… You follow orders… You examine facts. In the world of politics you lie and cheat… You compromise… You look the other way… You accept bribes… And the best of all is you’re not accountable for any crisis or mess you create; including the decisions you make that involve the lives of millions of people like the super soldiers whose lives were sacrificed for some noble cause no doubt. And then when things don’t go right you look for a scapegoat to pin it on… And that would be me!”

“So, how do we fix it?” asked Amih.

“My miserable days as a pirate were a lot less stressful than this…At least I knew where I stood…” said Ukasnek.

“What about me and my associates…? We did a lot of the devil’s work in this place and I’m sure they have a place in hell just for us…” Enai grumbled.

“You’re awfully quiet today. Well, how would you approach this Ireva?” asked the Captain.

“Well one thing is for sure, she admitted that the Galaxy Trader leadership in conjunction with the Galaxy Trader central government, no doubt, is responsible for the super soldier project and the crimes that were committed here for their noble cause…”

“It’s Ostikon all over again for me. Yet again I have become a pawn in someone else’s game…”

“We all have become pawns in someone else’s game! Dad, isn’t it about time you resurrected your destroyer? It’s time to fight back… And Otsiron here is right. We have the might. Let it work for us for a change.”

“Oh, thank you my dear,” I said jokingly.

“I don’t know how you can even joke in a serious situation like this?”

“The same way you can sing during a battle! You know you might die during a battle yet you sing, why?”

“Because I know what I’m doing and I’m doing it because I know how…” said the Captain.

“There you have it!” I said.