item is fully expended. However, I should point out, I accounted for two aliens confirmed and one that fled with indeterminate wounds in the company of panicked comrades.”
“I should have mugged that damned doctor for that nanogel,” said Hadrian. “My hands are next to useless. But here, Galk, take my gun.”
“Sir, that’s a Varekan—”
“I know what it is, you idiot!”
“Perhaps a word with Tammy,” ventured Galk. “We have injured, after all. Extraction seems a wise move at this point.”
“Really? At the first scuffle we hightail it and bug out?”
“Sir, Lieutenant DeFrank has lost half a foot, and you have rebroken one hand and badly bruised the other. I, while physically unharmed, am out of ammunition. As a combat specialist, sir, I am obliged to note the ill-equipped nature of this mission.”
“You mean a three-shot pistol, a toothpick, and a suicide gun wasn’t up to scratch? Rather belated advice you’re offering up, Galk.”
“Well, sir, it is my first off-ship adventure, so I would ask for some allowances in this matter.”
“Would you now? Tammy!”
“Sorry,” the AI replied. “I am somewhat preoccupied. There are strange energy manifestations in our immediate area of T space, and these are consuming ninety-six percent of my processing capabilities.”
“What are you talking about? Displace us back to the ship!”
“I am sorry, Captain. That will have to wait, I’m afraid. Decoherence of matter in the immediate area is a very real possibility.”
“Really? Whose decoherence? Yours or ours?”
“My remaining four percent devoted to this conversation is still weighing probabilities, I’m afraid.”
“Is this the Counter-class fleet?” Hadrian demanded. “We’re in T space and nobody finds anybody else in T space!”
“Normally, I would agree with you, Captain. Anyway, I have noted this exchange and promise to get back to you at the earliest convenience.”
“Just get someone to manually engage the Insisteon!”
A new voice filled Hadrian’s skull. “All ship functions are busy at the moment. Please stand by.”
EiGHT
Fourteen aliens returned, this time carrying clubs with fang-studded mouths that were another type of alien. There seemed little point in resisting capture. Hadrian, Galk, and Buck were picked up and carried along a bewildering maze of corridors until at last the party came to a door—the only door seen thus far. The chamber beyond was cavernous, unfurnished barring rows of shackles set into the stone walls on all sides. The shackle sets were affixed at varying heights and after a moment the giant praying-mantis-like aliens found ones at heights to suit their new prisoners.
Unfortunately, the shackles were adjustable and closed tight about the wrists. The aliens then left, shutting the door quietly behind them.
Hadrian slumped against the wall, glanced down and to his left to study the only other prisoner. “So,” he said, “are you a gerbil or a hamster?”
The oblong-bodied creature’s one arm—projecting from the top of the body—was bound at the wrist below two sinewy hands. Its one leg was similarly trussed at the ankle above the two duck-toed feet. The creature could have fit inside a standard-issue Terran Fleet combat boot. It possessed three eyes in a cluster at the midway point of its body, above a thin vertical slit that was probably its mouth. The alien’s skin was glossy, milk-hued, and bristling with small, black spikes. Its three eyes blinked owlishly at nothing in particular.
“Got nothing to say, have you?”
“Sir,” said Galk from the other side of the chamber, “it occurs to me that we could have made better use of our time when conversing with the Four Percent of Tammy. Requesting, perhaps, a displacement of more ammunition.”
“Right,” said Hadrian. “Three more bullets. Brilliant suggestion, but a tad late, wouldn’t you say?”
“Should our pointless existence be extended beyond the next few
“I should have mugged that damned doctor for that nanogel,” said Hadrian. “My hands are next to useless. But here, Galk, take my gun.”
“Sir, that’s a Varekan—”
“I know what it is, you idiot!”
“Perhaps a word with Tammy,” ventured Galk. “We have injured, after all. Extraction seems a wise move at this point.”
“Really? At the first scuffle we hightail it and bug out?”
“Sir, Lieutenant DeFrank has lost half a foot, and you have rebroken one hand and badly bruised the other. I, while physically unharmed, am out of ammunition. As a combat specialist, sir, I am obliged to note the ill-equipped nature of this mission.”
“You mean a three-shot pistol, a toothpick, and a suicide gun wasn’t up to scratch? Rather belated advice you’re offering up, Galk.”
“Well, sir, it is my first off-ship adventure, so I would ask for some allowances in this matter.”
“Would you now? Tammy!”
“Sorry,” the AI replied. “I am somewhat preoccupied. There are strange energy manifestations in our immediate area of T space, and these are consuming ninety-six percent of my processing capabilities.”
“What are you talking about? Displace us back to the ship!”
“I am sorry, Captain. That will have to wait, I’m afraid. Decoherence of matter in the immediate area is a very real possibility.”
“Really? Whose decoherence? Yours or ours?”
“My remaining four percent devoted to this conversation is still weighing probabilities, I’m afraid.”
“Is this the Counter-class fleet?” Hadrian demanded. “We’re in T space and nobody finds anybody else in T space!”
“Normally, I would agree with you, Captain. Anyway, I have noted this exchange and promise to get back to you at the earliest convenience.”
“Just get someone to manually engage the Insisteon!”
A new voice filled Hadrian’s skull. “All ship functions are busy at the moment. Please stand by.”
EiGHT
Fourteen aliens returned, this time carrying clubs with fang-studded mouths that were another type of alien. There seemed little point in resisting capture. Hadrian, Galk, and Buck were picked up and carried along a bewildering maze of corridors until at last the party came to a door—the only door seen thus far. The chamber beyond was cavernous, unfurnished barring rows of shackles set into the stone walls on all sides. The shackle sets were affixed at varying heights and after a moment the giant praying-mantis-like aliens found ones at heights to suit their new prisoners.
Unfortunately, the shackles were adjustable and closed tight about the wrists. The aliens then left, shutting the door quietly behind them.
Hadrian slumped against the wall, glanced down and to his left to study the only other prisoner. “So,” he said, “are you a gerbil or a hamster?”
The oblong-bodied creature’s one arm—projecting from the top of the body—was bound at the wrist below two sinewy hands. Its one leg was similarly trussed at the ankle above the two duck-toed feet. The creature could have fit inside a standard-issue Terran Fleet combat boot. It possessed three eyes in a cluster at the midway point of its body, above a thin vertical slit that was probably its mouth. The alien’s skin was glossy, milk-hued, and bristling with small, black spikes. Its three eyes blinked owlishly at nothing in particular.
“Got nothing to say, have you?”
“Sir,” said Galk from the other side of the chamber, “it occurs to me that we could have made better use of our time when conversing with the Four Percent of Tammy. Requesting, perhaps, a displacement of more ammunition.”
“Right,” said Hadrian. “Three more bullets. Brilliant suggestion, but a tad late, wouldn’t you say?”
“Should our pointless existence be extended beyond the next few
Similar Books
