Winds of darkness - Part Ten

  		(c) 2001, Wirewolf
		(Rewritten 2/1/99)


"You need to line up against the outer walls," Redics warned the exhausted people in the 
crew's lounge.  "The inertial dampers on this ship probably aren't up to the kind of abuse 
we're going to give them."

  "Why?"  The Benzite's thin, shallow voice questioned.  "Why are you doing this?  Why 
can't you just let us die with some dignity?  We're beaten."

  Redics turned to her.  "I can't speak for any of you, but I have no intention of dying 
today.  I'm not in the mood.  Besides, I promised my employer I'd bring you all back 
safely."  He shrugged.  "You can't expect me to go back on my word."

  Ensign Taggard spoke up.  "What about them?"  She motioned toward the five Yrboti in 
the crew's quarters.  They had recovered and were seated around a small common table, 
watching their guard.

  Redics stepped over to the doorway of the makeshift cell.  He saw no door, no 
forcefield, nothing that could be used to secure them inside.  Staring at the Yrboti, he felt 
his anger flare anew.  He suppressed it.

  Pointless.

  But also useful.  It gave him an idea.

  He turned to the security ensign.  "Zella, do you think you could hit them from the other 
side of the lounge?"

  She nodded once.  "No doubt."

  Redics turned back to stare coldly at the Yrboti.  "Then take a position against the wall 
on the opposite side of the lounge.  It any of them try to leave..." he paused for emphasis, 
"kill them all."

  There was a subtle but definite reaction among the Yrboti.  Most of them stiffened 
slightly in their seats.  He turned back to Taggard to see confusion and disbelief on her 
face.  He gave her a tight smile and winked.

  She caught on quick.  She raised her head slightly in acknowledgment, then asked in a 
voice their captives could hear, "Should I set my pulser for kill or disrupt?"

  Redics waved a hand carelessly.  "Disrupt.  I don't want to have to deal with any 
bodies."

  Taggard responded with a hearty, "Yes, sir!"  Redics doubted she actually saw him as an 
acceptable superior.  Still, he figured the Yrboti would not give her any trouble from that 
point on.

  As soon as the passengers were ready, Redics went back to the cockpit.  "They're all 
set," he said.

  "All right," T'yonnosh answered.  "I'd suggest you find something sturdy to brace 
yourself with."

  Redics pushed himself into the Dheway-shaped chair closest to the cargo pod jettison 
controls.  "I'll deal with the release.  Can you give me some kind of projection for the 
pod's trajectory that I can try and match?"

  T'yonnosh glanced over at Redics, seated at the cargo handler's station.  He gave his 
human partner a look, but remained silent.  Turning back to the helm, he called up the 
necessary navigational functions to do what Redics wanted.  Then he realigned the 
thrusters and opened them up.

  With most of its holds empty, it didn't take long for the freighter to build up some speed.  
As Redics had expected, the inertial dampers were quickly pushed to their limits, and the 
effects of spinning a vessel of that size were soon felt by everyone.

  There was a humming sound, deep but rising.  As the freighter turned faster, the 
humming increased in pitch and volume.  It was accompanied by sharp creaks and groans 
as the unnatural stress pulled at joints and welds.

  Judging by the rotation of the stars on the viewscreen, Redics guessed they were turning 
at about ten revolutions per minute.  Since neither he nor T'yonnosh were backed up 
against an outer wall like everyone else, the strain of staying in their seats was becoming 
difficult to bear.

  "How much more can we get?" he asked T'yonnosh between breathes.

  "We're still overcoming our inertia.  I think we'll peak at about twenty r.p.m."

  The sounds that filled the control room were soon loud enough to be felt through the 
surfaces they touched.  The humming had become a shrill wail, and the groans of 
straining metals had turned into the frightening howl of materials being stressed beyond 
recovery.  The ship started to vibrate like a huge tsunnovf string being plucked by the 
fingers of some careless deity.

  Something shorted in the communications station.  Hot sparks showered across the 
small cockpit.

  T'yonnosh, gripping the edge of the helm console to keep from being thrown from his 
position, grunted in disgust at what the instruments were telling him.  "The internal 
structural sensors are off scale.  You'd better do it soon, Redics."

  "Just thirty seconds more," he gasped.  "I want to make sure we've got all we can get."  
He tried harder to wedge his legs under his seat while struggling to get a good purchase 
on the cargo console.

  The vibrating got worse, until the ship was shaking like a rag in a frenzied dog's mouth.  
Something behind them broke, snapping with a sound like a gunshot.

  "There isn't anything else to get," T'yonnosh warned him.  "The thrusters are maxed."  
The cacophony of sounds was drilling into his ears.

  "Just a few more seconds!"

  "Redics, dump the mangy pods, NOW!"

  They heard a new sound, an obscene sound of metal tearing that made Redics' eyes 
water and the hair on his arms stand on end.  It spoke volumes more than any verbal or 
electronic warning could.  Redics hesitated until their position was lined up, then counted 
down in his head.  Just before the trajectories matched, he hit the jettison controls for the 
two cargo pods full of fissionables.

  A thunderous bellow rang through the ship as it shook and shuddered.

  And bent.

  The stress of releasing the large mass of the cargo pods overwhelmed the ship's rail 
frame, and it collapsed where they had been attached.  The ship's occupants were roughly 
tossed to the deck as its center of mass shifted several meters out of line.

  T'yonnosh managed to pull himself back into his seat and redirect the thrusters to slow 
them down.  He glanced up at the one viewscreen that still showed an exterior shot of the 
ship's length.  What had been a straight rail frame was now bent in the middle to about an 
eight degree angle.  He muttered something under his breath.  Switching the cameras, he 
watched the two newly departed cargo pods heading away, spinning and tumbling.

  Suddenly there was a bright flash.  It was as though a star had been born, lived and died 
right next to the Ti Phorus.  T'yonnosh feared what it meant.

  Redics had seen it, too.  "What was that?"

  The subspace shock wave, diminished by distance, hit them.  It rattled them around, but 
nothing like what they had just been through.

  "A missile must have detonated," T'yonnosh said as he checked the sensors.  "The Ti 
Phorus is still there."  He altered the sensor's parameters a bit.  "I can see the focus of 
radiation from the explosion.  It's about four kilometers off her bow."

  Redics was puzzled.   "Self-destruct?"

  "I don't know, but I think we got Vessel Master Falsthiphra's attention."  The cruiser's 
laser turrets had opened up on the approaching cargo pods.

  "They must have lost their engines, too, or they would just move,"  Redics said 
thoughtfully.

  "What a shame," T'yonnosh commented.

  The warship's lasers were only succeeding in drilling holes in the cargo pods.  They 
hadn't altered their course or speed.  With only a few seconds left, the cruiser turned its 
missile launcher toward its newest threat.

  Redics whispered fiercely, "Now, Zanth, now!"

  **************************

Zanth had abandoned his keyboard and was standing upright, leaning over the control 
Board.  Once he found the weapons control section, he carefully extruded a single claw 
and tried to use it to manipulate the manual weapon lock.  No matter how he pushed or 
dragged his claw over the control pad, however, it refused to recognize his command.  
His injured shoulder twinged and he growled quietly.

  He didn't understand.  He had watched Redics and T'yonnosh use these controls 
countless times, and they didn't have to press hard to make them work.  In fact, many 
times all they did was lay their fingers on the controls.  Maybe the controls didn't respond 
to pressure alone.  Perhaps they also required the heat from those slim digits his 
companions had.

  Zephanthus sheathed his claws.  He spent a few moments flexing his forepaw, trying to 
find which stubby digit would curl down the most.  It seemed to him that the innermost 
digit was the only one moving enough to separate and be useful.

  He gently moved that one pad over the cannon controls and tried to operate them.  It 
was hard to push with his paw when only one digit was touching the Board.  The 
musculature of his forefoot was not meant to work that way.

  But it did work.  The target lock shifted.

  Green light flashed again, but not at him.  Not at the freighter, either.  The cruiser was 
firing at some new targets, long cylinders that looked like they had come from the cargo 
ship.  Zanth watched as the lasers perforated the enormous cans.  He wasn't sure why they 
were floating loose, but he figured his friends had something to do with it.

  Then he saw that the cylinders were heading for the cruiser.  Now, at least, he 
understood what was going on.

  And when the cruiser shut down its lasers and turned its missile launcher toward the 
pods, Zanth saw his chance.  While the launch platform was moving, he gently poked at 
the weapons controls until he had a target lock established on one side of the swinging 
arm.  He shifted his paw pad until it was over fire control.  A touch, and the Ti Phorus 
drew a line of destructive light between the missile canister and the cruiser's hull.

  At that moment, a third missile erupted from the launcher.

  Zanth tensed, his ears flat against his skull.  There was no way he could stop a missile 
now.  If it was targeted for the freighter then Redics and T'yonnosh and Kitress and Sesh 
were all dead.  He watched, riveted, as the missile streaked toward its prey.  Zanth hissed.

  One of the cargo pods exploded into a glittering shower of radioactive dust and chunks 
of ore.  The blossoming cloud of debris pushed the remaining pod a few degrees from its 
original trajectory.

  Turning back to the cruiser, Zanth saw the Ti Phorus' cannons still cutting a path 
through the vacuum.  A glance at the weapon's controls showed six seconds of discharge 
left in the cannon's accumulators.

  He moved his paw once more, yowling softly as he put too much weight on his right 
foreleg, and moved the target lock.  The line of red light swung, neatly severing the arm 
and the canister from the ship.  The launcher slowly drifted away.

  Within moments, the second cargo pod arrived, moving with the slow grace only 
possible in microgravity.  It passed parallel to the cruiser's exposed flanks.  It was 
perhaps no closer than ten meters from the ship's outer hull.  It skimmed past the 
amputated stump that had supported the launcher arm.  It brushed past two silent laser 
turrets.

  The pod traversed the length of the cruiser, a handsbreadth of space between them.  
Until, that is, it reached the flare around the ship's hyperdrive engines, and the space 
between them ran out.

  Even then, the impact was at such a shallow angle that the damage would have been 
negligible, no more dangerous than a poorly handled docking attempt.  Those in the ship 
might feel a heavy thump and little else.

  Except that it was the port engine that the pod struck.  The gaping hole in the cruiser's 
side where Zanth had torn into it had left large fingers of twisted metal spreading out 
from the breach.  A thick, triangular shard of armor caught one end of the tumbling 
cylinder, piercing it.

  Temporarily hinged to the cruiser's hull, the pod swung around, its contents violently 
shifting to the free end as its momentum carried it on.  Like a sledgehammer swinging on 
a rope, the free end of the pod slammed into the cruiser's port aft.  The holes drilled by 
the laser weakened its integrity, and it split open along its length.  Almost 200 metric 
tons of fissionable material smashed across the cruiser's engines, sparkling dimly.  The 
intensity of the impact crushed part of the hull.  Some of the ore found its way into the 
ship through the same breach that had freed it from its container.  

  The force of the impact pushed the warship into a slow end-over-end spin.  Thrusters 
fired, trying to regain control.  The pod rebounded and twisted off its momentary anchor.  
It moved away, trailing dust like a bleeding whale.

  With a pained grunt, Zanth sat down on the deck and watched the cruiser fighting to get 
itself under control.  He wondered if the enemy would accept its defeat or try something 
else.  He sincerely hoped they wouldn't try again.  But if they did...

  He raised his paw and looked at it.  He flexed it, spreading and curling the digits, 
extruding and sheathing the claws.  Power, he realized.  He had even more power in 
those heavy paws than he had known.  Then anyone had known.  He could operate the 
ship the same way his companions did.  It was a startling and satisfying revelation.

  He looked up at the screen again.  At the edge of the camera's view, he could see the 
freighter.  It looked different somehow.  Like it wasn't quite the same shape as before.  
He wondered with a sudden pang how badly those aboard had been hurt.  He couldn't see 
the freighter's engine module anywhere.  It must have floated away.

  The warship was no longer a threat, its teeth were gone and it didn't seem able to stop 
its end over end spin.  Zanth decided it was time to rejoin the cargo ship and help his 
friends.  He stood on his hind legs again, bracing himself carefully against the Board.  It 
took a while to find the thruster controls.  A lot more of the controls and displays were 
blinking red than he had realized during the battle.

  He found the controls, arched his flexible digit and worked to turn the Ti Phorus toward 
his goal.  While he watched his progress on the viewscreen, he noticed the other ship was 
moving.  Toward him.

  He let off the controls and stared at the freighter.  Yes, it was definitely moving toward 
him!  Relief flooded through him, and he forgot his hurts for the moment.  Whatever had 
happened aboard the freighter, someone was alive, someone who apparently considered 
the Ti Phorus important.  He was filled with an urgent need to talk to them, to tell them 
the danger was over, to hear that they were safe.

  He looked for the communications panel.  When he found it, he was discouraged to find 
it a mass of red lights.  He looked again at the freighter.  No matter.  He would speak to 
them the same way they had to him.  He went back to the thruster controls and started 
directing the Ti Phorus toward those who were so important to him.

  **************************

It was over, Redics realized.  The Dheway cruiser could no longer hurt them.  Between 
Zanth cutting its launch platform loose and their lucky shot with the cargo pods, there 
was almost no chance of any further threat.

  He felt drained, as though every moment of the conflict had been powered by his own 
body.  He rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands.  The temptation of sleep was 
strong.  There were still too many things to do, though.

  As if reading his thoughts, T'yonnosh spoke up.  His voice was strained.  "We need to 
get back to the Ti Phorus.  Our life support's gone and we have to get the injured 
someplace safe."

  "I agree.  Can you get this thing to move?"

  T'yonnosh went to work on the thrusters again.  It wasn't easy.  With the ship's frame 
bent, the thrusters wouldn't align properly to move the ship in one direction.  He found he 
had to manually align each thruster in order to get them moving.  Even when he had that 
problem fixed, their progress was painfully slow.

  While T'yonnosh tried to get them home, Redics went back to the lounge to check on 
their passengers.  They had been shaken up a bit, but were none the worse for wear.  
They were glad to hear that the outside threat had been dealt with and listened quietly to 
his explanation of what would come next.

  He told them they would soon be transferring to another ship.  From there, he would do 
his best to get them all home, or at least back to Outreach station.

  "Redics," Sesh called.  His voice was more of a tired groan than its usual contented 
rumble.  He was cradling his son's head in his lap.

  When Redics said, "Yes?", Sesh nodded toward the two Yrboti against the wall behind 
him.  The woman was awake.  She was kneeling next to her mate, crooning softly to him.  
Her hands were wrapped in thin bandages to cover the burns.

  "His injuries are too severe," said the Pashii who had assumed T'yonnosh's nursing 
duties.  "I cannot help him any further with the medikits.  He must be taken to a proper 
care facility."

  Redics frowned.  "How soon?"

  "I would estimate within the next three hours."  The Pashii stared at him 
dispassionately.

  "Well, we're doing the best we can."  He pointed to the woman.  "Her?"

  "Stable," was the reply.

  Redics turned.  "Sesh, how about you two?"

  The Demrion ambassador was gently running his fingers through the thick fur between 
his son's ears.  "He's still with us."  He stopped rubbing and picked up a clump of loose 
hair.  "The radiation," he muttered.  "It's making us shed."

  Redics stood there, staring at his friend and thinking about the things they had done 
together in the past.  He wanted to say something reassuring to him, something that 
would ease his fears.  All he could think of was, "You'll be home soon."

  Sesh nodded and said, "I know."

  "Redics," T'yonnosh called.  "Look at this."

  Back in the cockpit, T'yonnosh was staring at the screen.  It was the Ti Phorus.  It was 
moving toward them.

  Redics smiled. "Thank you, Zanth," he said softly.

  "Try calling him again," T'yonnosh suggested.

  They tried, and while the jamming was finally gone, there wasn't any answer.  If they 
hadn't just seen their ship moving, they would have been very worried.  "Comm system 
must be down," Redics concluded.

  They could only wait as the two ships approached each other.  Redics kept his eye on 
the cruiser, still not trusting the situation.  It was slowly getting its tumbling under 
control.

  When the two ships were within a kilometer of each other, Redics told T'yonnosh he 
would move the passengers to the airlock and wait for the docking there.  "It might be a 
bit rough," T'yonnosh warned.  "The thrusters aren't lined up now and subtle maneuvers 
are going to be hard."

  In the lounge, their charges gratefully began one last migration.  Taggard asked. "What 
about them?" indicating the five Yrboti prisoners.

  "We'll deal with them last," he told her.  "Keep watch for now.  It won't take long."

  With a tacscanner in hand Redics led the group to the airlock.  As they passed the 
Dheway bodies, he thought it might be appreciated if they were returned to Dhewa.  He 
mulled over the difficulties of storing bodies aboard Ti Phorus and decided to leave the 
problem to someone else.  The freighter would most likely be brought back to Dhewa by 
whomever owned it.

  At the airlock, he did a head count.  Except for Taggard, T'yonnosh and the five Yrboti, 
they were all there.  Sesh was carrying his son and the Pashii had the injured hyperdrive 
tech.

  Though its sensors were limited, Redics' tacscanner was now able to detect the Ti 
Phorus as it approached.  The distance was fifteen meters.

  From his readings, the two ships were not lined up properly.  The Ti Phorus was still 
moving, as was the freighter.  Redics really didn't know if Zanth could perform a docking 
like this, but he doubted it.  The Ti Phorus needed to be stationary while T'yonnosh made 
the final corrections.

  The distance was closing too fast.  His readings showed the freighter was slowing down, 
so at least T'yonnosh knew and was trying to straighten out their approach.

  "Be prepared," he told those behind him.  "This isn't going to go smoothly."

  The Ti Phorus was not a large ship.  She was only twenty meters of length and seven 
metric tons of mass short of being classified an interstellar yacht.  Yet she was large 
enough that casual contact between her and other ships was discouraged.

  When the Ti Phorus made contact with the freighter, it was far from casual.  Her bow 
hit first, sending a heavy shock through both ships.  The impact rang through the 
freighter's frame like a stroke of steel thunder.

  The shrieking grate from the hulls of the two ships as they rubbed was quickly followed 
by the second impact.  The Ti Phorus' aft hit, sending a harsher, sharper concussion of 
sound sweeping over them from the direction the first one had receded.

  After the ringing in his ears stopped, Redics was surprised to find that the docking 
attempt, despite its lack of civility, had been successful.  He only hoped the Ti Phorus 
had escaped any serious damage.

  As soon as the airlock was pressurized, he removed the crab from the door.  Once he'd 
put his hand on the scanner plate, it reactivated its pinwelders to cut itself loose.  It then 
fell into Redics' waiting hands.

  He set it on the deck and consulted his tacscanner.  Both ships, he found, were 
stationary and the airlock's seal was holding.

  He opened the outer airlock doors.  Keying his tacscanner, the Ti Phorus' outer doors 
also opened, then the inner doors.  Beyond sat Zanth.  The tundra cat looked expectantly 
at him.  "Did you get them?"

  "All but one." Redics replied as he ushered his group across.  "But we have Sesh and 
Kitress.  And the people who took them."

  "You have them?"  Zanth watched the people crossing the threshold.  "How many?"

  "Five.  They're Yrboti."  Sesh passed through last.  The two watched him go by in 
silence.  Zanth's tail lashed in anger.

  "I want one of them," Zanth growled.  Redics glanced at him.  The ears laid back, the 
pupils dilated, the tail switching spasmodically.  He's serious, he realized.

  "You can't have one.  They go back."

  "I want one," Zanth repeated.

  Redics snorted in disgust.  "Hell, Zanth, I want all of them."  He walked off, back into 
the freighter.  "Help them get settled," he called over his shoulder.  "I'll get T'yonnosh."

  "Not fair," Zanth grumbled as he limped toward the lounge.  "I should get one.  Sesh 
should, too."

  Ensign Taggard was still keeping her attention trained on her prisoners when Redics got 
back to the lounge.  He made a mental note to thank her for her help later.  She had made 
their job much easier.  He even thought about offering his personal commendation for her 
permanent record.  It wouldn't carry much weight, but she still deserved it.

  "Is everything ready?" Redics asked his partner.

  T'yonnosh nodded.   "I locked out all the controls by voice print.  Everything else is at 
stand down."

  "Good.  Then all that's left is to deal with these..."  Don't get juvenile, he told himself.  
"...people."  He turned to Taggard.  "How do you want to do this, Zella?"

  "Depends," she answered.  "Where are we keeping them?"

  "Well, our airlock is the only place we can put them where they'll be secure.  Ti Phorus 
isn't big enough for a brig."

  "An airlock will do.  I'll lead, you two follow."  She motioned to the Yrboti as the two 
men pulled their sidearms.

  It happened as the prisoners were filing past Redics and T'yonnosh.  The attack was so 
sudden that Redics was unable to recall any of it later.  T'yonnosh had to tell him what 
happened.

  The last Yrboti to leave the crew quarters leapt at Redics brandishing a hidden energy 
pistol.  Whipping it around, he slammed it into Redics' chest and fired.  The reaction was 
immediate.

  The other Yrboti tried to spread out to continue the attack, but Taggard had been alert 
and caught them all with a heavy stun beam set to a wide pattern.

  Redics was thrown backwards from the force of the shot and his own body's reaction to 
being hit from that close.  T'yonnosh instantly grabbed the shooter by the wrist bearing 
the weapon.  His other hand locked onto the attacker's throat.  He lifted and pushed so 
that the Yrboti was backed against the wall, pinned.

  His reaction was mostly emotional, he admitted when he later described the event.  His 
anger was so intense that it blocked out everything else for several long moments.  The 
only things that registered at the time were his enemy's surprising strength and the 
difficulty he had keeping his grip on the thick-skinned being.

  At some point, T'yonnosh realized his opponent was tiring, but he felt no such 
weakness.  In fact his hands, arms and shoulders seemed to be burning with energy.  His 
anger gave him strength like never before.  He felt his grip on the Yrboti's throat begin to 
close.  He could tell the bones in the wrist he held were starting to grind against each 
other.

  He was on the verge of crushing the life out of his enemy when he heard a small voice 
in the distance frantically ask, "What are you doing?"

  Pulling back from his mindless anger, he realized the voice belonged to Taggard.  "Let 
him go!  You're killing him!", she persisted.

  But T'yonnosh wasn't ready to let go.  He had a consuming need to show this creature 
what it meant to be hurt without cause.  He wanted to bring the price of its power games 
home and make it understand how much suffering it had caused.  Bodies broken, frozen, 
people spirited away, lives destroyed.  He had to make it see.

  "Put him down or I'll drop both of you!"  No request, that.  A command.

  It got through.

  T'yonnosh released his grip, letting the Yrboti drop to the deck, unconscious.  He had to 
fight to get the fearsome expression off his face.  He took deep breaths, trying to get his 
pulse back down.

  While Taggard cautiously moved up to the Yrboti to check its vital signs, T'yonnosh 
turned and knelt by Redics.  The human was alive.  The power and proximity of the 
weapon had overwhelmed the refraction suit's defenses, but not by too much.  The 
dispersion vents and pads on his arms and legs were smoking, as was the point of impact 
on his chest.

  T'yonnosh activated his medscanner.  He found first degree burns on his friend's chest, 
arms and legs.  Fortunately, the refraction suit had done its job and Redics had no other 
injuries.  When Redics groaned and tried to lift his head, T'yonnosh grabbed up his 
medikit.

  "Wha' happened?"

  "You got shot," T'yonnosh said simply.

  Redics' head thumped to the deck.  He shifted uncomfortably.  "It burns."

  "I know," T'yonnosh answered quietly.  "Give me a moment."

  "What do you want done with them," Taggard asked, motioning to the still forms 
nearby.

  "Dump them in our airlock," T'yonnosh snapped.  "See if you can keep them from doing 
any more damage."

  "Hey," Taggard bristled.  "Don't blame this on me."

  T'yonnosh turned to face her, his ears laid flat, his lips curled in anger.  "You're 
security!  How in the hell did you miss that weapon?"

  The ensign lifted her hand, clenched around the confiscated pistol.  "It's shielded.  My 
tacscanner doesn't read any energy signature at all."  She spoke calmly, looking him 
squarely in the eyes.

  "You didn't search them," T'yonnosh growled.

  "Yes, I did.  With that."  She pointed to the tacscanner laying close by.  "You don't risk 
getting close to an enemy when you can scan him.  There were no weapons of any kind 
on them.  It must have been hidden in the crew quarters."

  T'yonnosh's anger cooled as he considered this new information.  His attention was 
reclaimed by a grunt from Redics, who was trying to get up again.  He set up a 
medinjector with an analgesic to dampen the human's pain.

  "A shielded energy pistol," he said as he administered the shot.

  "Yes."

  It fit with the other facts he had accumulated up to that point.  There was no satisfaction 
in the knowledge, though.

  He found the dermal regenerator and a small laser scalpel.  Using the scalpel, he cut 
open the neckline of Redics' ruined refraction suit and split the fabric down to the 
waistline.  He made more cuts to give him access to the burn on Redics' chest.  He said 
nothing more as Taggard dragged one of the unconscious Yrboti out of the lounge.

  Once Redics' chest was exposed, he ran the regenerator over the burn.  The skin was 
inflamed, but responded well to the treatment.  By the time Taggard had moved the last 
Yrboti, Redics had recovered enough to stand and follow T'yonnosh back to the Ti 
Phorus.

  T'yonnosh breathed a sigh of relief when they were back aboard their own ship.  Redics 
also seemed to benefit from the comfort of familiar surroundings.  In the lounge, the ex-
hostages were sitting or lying, equally grateful for the change of location.

  "Zanth," Redics called.  "Get us separated and away from the freighter."  While 
T'yonnosh checked their passengers, Redics used the scalpel and dermal regen unit to 
treat the burns on his arms.

  Zanth limped closer to Redics and sat, holding his right forepaw off the floor.  "I think 
you should do it."

  Confused, Redics stared at the tundra cat.  "What are you..."  He noticed his 
companion's posture.  "What happened to you?"

  "It's out of the socket."  Zanth watched Sesh arranging his son on the main couch, laying 
him on his stomach.

  "Ah, quholtz.  Sorry about that."  Redics glanced at Sesh, then back to Zanth.  "How bad 
is the ship?"

  "The computer doesn't answer me.  The controls work, but only if I use those stupid 
little pads."  Zanth shifted his gray-eyed gaze to his human friend.  "The warning system 
said there were two broken conduits in the engine room."

  Redics frowned.  "All right."  He put down the scalpel and regen unit.  "Stay here.  We'll 
take care of your shoulder in a minute."

  Redics got up and strode to the cockpit.  On the way, he voice-locked the inner doors of 
the airlock.  That would prevent the Yrboti within from getting into the rest of the ship.  
The outer doors were already closed and locked.

  It only took a minute to determine the extent of the new damage to the Ti Phorus.  They 
were essentially back where they had been after Del Tomusth's attack.  The computer 
was down, the hyperdrive and sublight engines were off-line.  They still had weapons, but 
when he located the Dheway cruiser, he found there would be little need for them.  The 
warship had stopped spinning and was moving away on thrusters.  Its hyperdrive baffles 
were glowing fitfully, indicating they were back on-line, but not reliably.  If they had any 
good engineers aboard, Redics figured they would have it working within a half hour or 
so.

  He retracted the docking seal from the mortally wounded freighter and set the thrusters 
to take them in the opposite direction their antagonist was going.  He checked 
communications, but found it unresponsive.

  'So we're cut off and immobile', he thought.   'At least we're not defenseless'.  He was 
about to turn away when the cruiser's baffles began glowing with their normal intensity.  
Astonished, he watched as the other ship moved quickly away.  It picked up speed until it 
vanished in a flare of white light, the mark of the brief distortion caused by a ship 
slipping into hyperspace.

  Redics gave a wry smile to their departed foe.  A military ship bested by a much smaller 
private vessel.  No bragging rights today.

  Which reminded him.  Zephanthus, the real owner of the day's bragging rights, needed 
medical attention.  He headed back.

  T'yonnosh was kneeling over Zanth, who was laying on his left side.  He was running 
his hand over the injured shoulder and moving the foreleg with great care.  He looked up.

  "We can get this back in quickly if you'll help.  You remember how we did it last time?"

  Redics nodded.  "I think so."

  "I've given him something for the pain and swelling."  T'yonnosh already had his knees 
pressed against the tundra cat's chest and neck.  He was holding the right foreleg in one 
hand and pressing on the shoulder joint with the other.  Redics joined him, putting the 
weight of his knees against Zanth's back and neck.  With the spine and head immobilized, 
he also took hold of the right foreleg.

  "Remember, pivot out at the joint, push the joint down into the socket, then quickly 
forward to release the tension on the tendons."

  "Got it.  Ready, Zanth?" Redics asked.

  "Just get it over with.  You're hurting my neck," Zanth grumbled.

  Redics had forgotten Zanth's reaction the last time they had gone through this.  When 
the alarmingly loud snap of the joint moving into place came, Zanth nearly threw them 
off.  They just managed to finish getting the job done before Zanth twisted violently, 
yowling from the pain.

  Once Zanth had settled down, Redics approached him.  There was something he needed 
to say.

  "Zanth, I'm very sorry about the way you got pounded.  You were right when you said I 
should have taken Garvin's help.  I know that doesn't make things better, but I wanted you 
to know."

  Zanth looked at him.  He found his anger was subsiding, but only because they had 
gotten Sesh and Kitress back.  If his human friend had realized how he had wronged him, 
then forgiveness was possible.  But it wouldn't be quick.

  For now, Zanth wanted only one thing from Redics.  "Promise me you won't ever do that 
to me again."

  Redics nodded.  "I promise."

  Zanth was satisfied with that.  Despite his flaws, Redics could be counted on to keep his 
promises.

  Redics put out his hand to touch Zanth's neck.  Zanth permitted it, briefly.  Then he 
pulled away and laid next to Kitress on the couch.  He was filled with happiness to be 
next to the friend he'd thought he had lost.

  Giving in to his exhaustion, Zanth laid his head next to Kitress' and purred and purred.

  **************************

T'yonnosh stared silently at the two bodies lying in his bed.  Kitress' breathing had finally 
evened out as he moved from unconsciousness to normal sleep.  Zanth, who had insisted 
on staying with the boy when they moved him from the lounge, was also asleep.  The 
tundra cat's huskier breathing was gently ruffling the fur on Kitress' neck.

  Curled in T'yonnosh's lounge chair, Sesh was also sleeping.  T'yonnosh felt his ears 
trying to sink as he watched Kitress' father.  He shook his head, unhappy with himself.

  As T'yonnosh reached out to dim the lights, he noticed the sleeve of his refraction suit.  
Until now, he'd been too busy to think about his own comfort.  With all the immediate 
problems solved, he could look to his personal concerns.

  Reaching behind his neck, he twisted the release tab on the seam that ran down his 
back.  A faint popping sound, a tug, and he was able to pull the suit off his chest.

  Not long after he had stripped off the constrictive suit and pulled the boots off his feet 
he found his mood was improving.  He couldn't suppress a convulsive shudder as 
thousands of hairs tried to fluff out all over his body.  He itched and he wanted a shower.  
Instead, he decided to settle for a quick brushing.

  When he finished, he headed out into the hall to leave the three to their sleep.  As he 
passed Sesh, his ears twitched and drooped.  He couldn't help feeling a bit ashamed over 
what he'd done.

  Out in the corridor, he closed the door to his room and leaned against the wall.  He was 
bone-weary.  He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.  Images came to him, 
unwanted memories.  Sharpest among them was the scene in the cargo pod, when they'd 
first arrived.

  With a soft groan, T'yonnosh slid down the wall until he crouched there, his tail lying 
on the floor between his feet.

  A sound from the end of the corridor surprised him.  He was unsure if he'd fallen asleep.  
He heard Redics walking down the corridor from the engine room.  T'yonnosh lifted his 
ears to listen to his approach.

  Redics stood next to T'yonnosh, then hunkered down, their shoulders touching.  For 
several long moments, neither spoke.  Then T'yonnosh looked over to study his closest 
friend.  Keeping his voice low in consideration of all those resting, he made an 
observation.

  "You look terrible."

  Redics glanced at him, smiling faintly.  "Thanks," he said, his voice equally soft.  "So do 
you."

  Another quiet moment passed before Redics asked, "How are they?"  He tipped his head 
toward the central lounge where the ex-hostages were resting.

  "They've settled in.  They're responding to the borotrinalyn.  Well, except for the 
Csrobian.  Borotrinalyn acts as a nerve toxin to them, something to do with their weird 
blood chemistry.  I had to give him a big dose of kepreythorinone.  It's not as effective, 
but it's all I could give him."

  "What about the others?"

  Since the Yrboti male and Kitress were the most seriously injured, they had been put in 
Redics' and T'yonnosh's rooms, respectively.

  "I've got Tamberul in the portable stasis field.  He'll be fine after some cardiac surgery.  
His wife's sleeping."  T'yonnosh shook his head in wonder.  "For their size, they're 
incredibly tough.  I can't think of another species that could have survived with a 
wounded heart as long as he did."

  When T'yonnosh said nothing more, Redics prompted, "Sesh and Kitress?"

  "They're asleep, too.  Zanth's with them, nuzzled up against Kitress."

  This time when T'yonnosh fell silent, Redics was content to wait.  He watched as his 
friend stared at the floor, nostrils slightly pinched and ears canted back.  Embarrassment.

  "Actually, I sedated Sesh."

  Redics didn't react, but he did say, "Oh?"

  "He wouldn't go to sleep," T'yonnosh explained.   "He's exhausted, strung out from the 
stress, the radiation.  I told him he needed to rest, but he wanted to watch over Kitress.  
So I... sort of... slipped a mild tranq into his borotrinalyn shot."

  Redics just nodded, accepting T'yonnosh's decision.  "Kitress?"

  Now the ears sank.  "He's stable.  He's young enough to get over the radiation poisoning.  
His blood pressure has come up a little.  What I'm worried about, though, is the shrapnel 
in him."  T'yonnosh took a deep breath and picked up his tail, rubbing the end a bit.  "I've 
given him all the telkeyozine he can have for eight hours.  Until then, he's safe.  But he 
has nine pieces of spun metal in him, and they're still shedding fibers into his 
bloodstream.  I might be able to get most of the shrapnel out..."

  He held his tail and stared at the deck.  His ears could barely be seen.

  "But?"

  "Two of them are very close to his spine.  I'm not that good at digging things out of 
people anyway, and there's a real chance I could do much more harm than good."  He 
looked Redics in the eye.  "I haven't heard of anyone who's managed to successfully 
regenerate spinal tissues.  At least not in genemorphs."

  Redics nodded again.  "I understand, and I'm sure Sesh would, too."

  "We've got to get him to a doctor, soon," T'yonnosh added.

  Redics frowned.  "That's going to be a problem."

  "What'd you find?"

  "The hyperdrive controls are gone."

  T'yonnosh blinked.  "Gone?"

  "Remember those conduits Zanth said ruptured?  One was a power feed running behind 
the main control junctures.  When it blew, it burned them up.  All that's left is an 
enormous charred hole in the bulkhead."

  T'yonnosh voiced his first concern.   "What about containment?"

  "The primary system is out.  We're on first backup, but it's solid and second backup is 
clean in case anything else happens.  The hyperdrive is still on-line, but we have no way 
to control the distortion field and get the ship into hyperspace.

  "Sublight ?"

  Redics shook his head.  "That's the other conduit that ruptured.  We're leaking 
deuterium.  The fuel pressure is too low to initiate a reaction and too unstable to keep 
one going.  Even if I could get it to work, most of the deuterium's gone.  What's left 
would only last about thirty minutes."

  T'yonnosh stared at him.  "We can't move."

  "No," Redics agreed.  "We have power for life support and maybe weapons, but that's 
it."  He stared back.  "We'll have to wait it out."

  "Redics," T'yonnosh said slowly, "Kitress can't wait.  He'll die.  So will the Yrboti."

  "I know," Redics told him.  "That's why I'm going up front to get the communications 
grid working."  He pushed away from the wall.  "I could use your help."

  "Uuhnnnmm," T'yonnosh grunted, pushing himself up.  He winced as his back twinged.  
He tried stretching to get the kinks out of his muscles, but it didn't help.  "I could go to 
sleep right here."

  "Sorry, but we're the good guys," his friend answered with a touch of sarcasm.  "And for 
every hour the bad guys put in, we have to put in two."

  **************************

It took them more than three hours to get the comm grid put back together.  Like several 
other systems, it had suffered from the overload caused by the EM pulse from the 
Dheway missiles.  As soon as they had communications, they sent out a general call for 
the Alvarado and Outreach station.  It was the Alvarado that answered.  They reported 
that they had just found the Ti Phorus' beacon and could be at their location in only 
twenty minutes.

  Before they could respond, the Alvarado's comm officer, a young woman of Chinese 
descent, told them that the captain wished to speak to them.  The screen went blank for a 
while.

  "What do you think?" Redics asked with quiet disdain.  "Will he be suspicious because 
we aren't ICCN or hostile because he's been relegated to mop-up duty?"

  "Hush," T'yonnosh chastened.  "Don't be cranky."

  When the screen cleared they were faced with an image of a man in his mid-forties.  His 
skin and short curly hair were both dark almost to the point of being shiny.  His large 
eyes stood in stark contrast, bluntly drawing their focus to his penetrating stare.

  "I am Captain Kenisau Mutoba of the USS Alvarado.  To whom am I speaking?"  His 
voice, a smooth yet vaguely menacing bass rumble, reminded Redics of Garvin.  Another 
man who voiced his authority through tone as well as words.

  Redics introduced himself and T'yonnosh, adding that they were glad of the Alvarado's 
arrival.  With only a slight tilt of his head to acknowledge Redics' sentiments, the captain 
said. "Can you give me a situation report, please'?"

  Sensing that Mutoba was not a man fond of long-winded descriptions, Redics gave him 
the basics concerning the Ti Phorus, the freighter, the now missing Dheway cruiser, and 
the freed prisoners as well as their need of medical attention.

  The captain nodded.  "We will send emergency medical teams immediately.  Stand by."

  Before Mutoba could disconnect, Redics said. "There are two other items of which you 
should be aware."

  "Yes?"

  "The bodies you have no doubt detected aboard the freighter are those of its crew and 
the one hostage who died.  You may wish to deal with them.  Also, the five people 
located in this ship's airlock are the ones responsible for those deaths.  I would suggest 
taking them under guard and restraining them once they're aboard your vessel."

  The captain stared silently.  He seemed to be assessing Redics and his claim by sight 
alone.  "Are they secure?"

  "Yes."

  "Very well.  We shall pipe them out first.  Alvarado out."  He closed the channel 
without another word.

  "Charming," Redics observed.

  "Professional." T'yonnosh countered.

  Redics grunted and headed for the lounge to tell their passengers the news.

  Moments after he made his announcement the first group of med techs,  including Dr. 
DeRoslo, arrived and spread out to begin treatment.  The doctor was surprised to see 
Redics and T'yonnosh there, but she put that aside and asked, "Who's the worst off?"

  T'yonnosh pointed to the rear of the ship.   "Down that corridor, first doors on the left 
and right."  DeRoslo headed off immediately.  T'yonnosh followed her.

  When the doctor turned into Redics' room on the right, T'yonnosh went to his own 
quarters.  The three inside were still sleeping, although Zanth's ears had twitched at the 
sound of the door opening.

  T'yonnosh stepped over to his bed and laid a hand on Zanth's back.  The tundra cat 
woke instantly.  "What?" he growled softly.

  "The ship is here.  The doctors are taking them out."

  Zanth shook his head once, yawned.  "What ship?"

  "The one we called for.  The Alvarado."

  Dr. DeRoslo came in and gave her next patient a once-over with her medscanner.  
"You'll have to move, Zanth," T'yonnosh told him.  "They're going to pipe him out soon."

  Zanth looked at the doctor, who was preparing a medinjector.  "I want to stay with 
Kitress."

  "He has to have surgery," T'yonnosh reminded him.  "You can see him afterward."

  Zanth sniffed at the doctor's hand as she gave the boy the injection.  DeRoslo looked at 
Zanth for the first time.  It was obvious to her there was some concern on Zanth's part for 
her young patient.

  "Zanth," she said, "I promise to take the very best care of him, the same way I did for 
you.  All right?"

  Zephanthus looked down at Kitress.  Once again, his desire to protect the boy had to be 
set aside so that others could help where he couldn't.  It had been happening too much, 
and it made him angry.  He wasn't sure where his anger was actually directed.  Redics' 
and T'yonnosh's efforts had gotten his friend back.  The doctor's need to take him away 
to her sickbay was necessary, he knew.  It seemed there was nothing he could do to make 
up for failing to keep Kitress safe, as he had promised.  It was a hollow feeling.

  "Zanth?"  DeRoslo laid a compassionate hand on his paw.

  "All right," he said grudgingly.  He lowered his head and gently nuzzled the boy's ear.  
"I'm sorry I can't help you," he purred.  "I'll come when I can."  He gave Kitress a little 
lick across his cheek, then got down off the bed.

  The doctor quickly finished her examination of Kitress and turned to Sesh as another 
med tech came into the room.  She gave him terse instructions on what preparations were 
needed for Kitress as she scanned his father.  Then she turned to T'yonnosh.

  "What's happened to this man?  Why is he sedated?"

  T'yonnosh could feel his ears trying to fold.  "He's the boy's father.  I was worried about 
the stress he was under."

  Her eyes narrowed.  "You did this?"

  His ears fell and he could feel his tail pressing against the backs of his thighs.  
Uncomfortable and embarrassed, he wondered if she could read his body language.  
"Uhh, yes.  I did it."

  She consulted her medscanner.  "Did you know that the sedative you used can combine 
with borotrinalyn in humanoids to form a respiratory paralytic?"

  T'yonnosh's bout of self-consciousness abruptly ended when he realized what she was 
implying.  "Only in doses of five milligrams or larger," he protested.

  She nodded without looking at him.  "That's right.  And in his condition, the quarter 
milligram you gave him was perfectly sufficient."

  She turned to the other med tech.  "The male Yrboti gets priority.  He needs a secondary 
cardiac replacement.  Get Tuk started on the caniform boy, and tell him to place his 
father in proximity."  The med tech nodded and began giving orders over his 
communicator.  DeRoslo turned back to T'yonnosh.  "You did an excellent job.  Well 
done."

  T'yonnosh managed to stammer, "Thank you," just before DeRoslo, the med tech, Sesh 
and Kitress all vanished in a transmat beam. 

  
**************************
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