Koban (60 page)

Thad told him “Dorkda claimed his clan had some here once. But
the wolfbats and skeeters killed them if they were let out to graze. That’s where
the corral we use came from, it was built for them. Hell I never knew they were
anything but cattle.” He shivered visibly, and shook his head rapidly from side
to side in disgust.

“To a Krall any other living creatures are animals, Thad. To
be used for their best advantage. As cannon fodder, slaves, or food. I was actually
aiming for cannon fodder for humanity, the highest category they have for aliens.”
He looked at his hands and clinched them.

“I fear we are on the verge of failing unless I do this.”

 “Tet, I get that, I understand what’s at risk. But will you
getting killed reduce that risk?”

“No, I don’t think that. But I don’t plan on getting killed.”
He answered.

“Most of us that go out don’t plan on that either. That’s why
the smart ones spend so much time getting ready. You are a smart one, but you are
not ready!” He was emphatic.

“Tet, ten or twelve trips to the range certified you to carry
a gun, and proved you are a better than average shot. On silhouettes that don’t
shoot back and dodge like a mad dervish.

“You haven’t come close to complete Koban acclimatization, despite
the better diet and food supplements. You won’t have the stamina and mobility you
need. None of us really do, but the other captives can at least run a little faster
and dig a fox hole or climb one of those ridges.” He wound down, sensing the futility
of his arguments.

Mirikami was grinning. “Wow! You sure know how to give a pep
talk Colonel. I’ll have to remember that technique.” He chuckled, his humor fully
returning now that he’d made his decision.

“Ok, Ok,” conceded Greeves. “You don’t plan to get killed. That
means you have a plan to survive the full day and night, or kill one of them. How
can I help you do one of those things?”

“You mean help
us
Colonel. I’m going with him.” Dillon
had walked gingerly up to them, ignoring the annoying tingle in his legs and feet,
and some a bit higher.

“You started to get louder there Thad, as you argued with
Tet and lost. I heard you guys.”

“Dillon, you are closer to ready that Tet, and
you
are
not ready either! In fact you can hardly walk because a nice little old lady almost
gelded you.” He laughed as Dillon wobbled when an ankle nearly gave way.

Dillon had a rebuttal. “I’d rather face eight straight forward
Krall killers than that little smiling terror. At least they’ll attack me simply
because I’m a human, not because I say funny things.” He settled carefully on the
bench beside Mirikami, relieved to ease the tingle in his legs.

“Son, I don’t need you to hold my hand. If what I plan works,
I won’t even get tired.”

“And I promised that I would be there to cover your back
Sir, when you informed us you would never accept immunity if you sent others out
to fight. You told us you would lead our first team, and this is the first. You
meant what you said, and so did I.”

“Dillon, I appreciate your loyalty and bravery, but I want you
to reconsider, as a favor to me.”

“Captain, I owe you loyalty, but you laughed when Maggi zapped
my balls, so I owe you no favor. I’m going!”

Thad laughed again. “He’s got you there Tet. I think he’s going.”

Their conversations had been overheard. By several of the nearby
volunteers who had drawn closer, and a number of Primes. The word was spreading
by whisper net.

Deanna led all the active volunteers over, the others having
gathered for mutual support once word of the tampering had accompanied the searchers
for the criminals.

“Captain Mirikami, we overheard enough of your conversation to
understand what you plan to do. All of us know that there isn’t any way we can get
out of this, that we will have to form a team. We also know that it isn’t your fault
that we were put on the list by those two bastards. You two aren’t even eligible
for the lottery yet. We agree that you ought to take your chances like we all do,
but only when it’s your turn.” The others nodded their support, or murmured their
agreement.

Touched, Mirikami stood to face them.

“Gracious Ladies and Gentle Men, I sincerely appreciate your
thoughts and consideration, despite the fear I know each of you feel. However, this
isn’t a mere whim on my part to show solidarity with you, although I do feel that
solidarity.

“I have a larger more important goal in mind. We need to try
to heal the divide that exists between those of you that have lived here in these
conditions for so long, and the large number of new faces that have just arrived
with big and secret plans to oppose the Krall.” He looked at them, and saw their
eyes light up a bit.

“Yes, I know you’ve heard some of those rumors. They are not
all rumors. Moreover, if the Krall raids that are under way right now are successful,
as I expect they will be, there could be many more captives joining us. I’ll fight
alongside you in three days not as a mere gesture, but to demonstrate we
can
work together, and I hope to prove we can succeed together.

“You eight will be included in what I plan, as well as everyone
on that list. I invite you to work with me, or you are free to go your own way.
However, let me get the wheels rolling before I show you the surprises I have for
the Krall. Now, please excuse me while I return to the Flight of Fancy to make some
arrangements and get the surprises I promised underway. In the meantime, you should
continue with your own preparations.”

He parted company with Thad, but carried away the thorn in a
plastic vial Thad carried for collecting samples when he was in the field. He arranged
to meet him in the afternoon for a scouting mission then started for the ship with
a still unstable Dillon in tow. Maggi and Noreen saw them leaving and intercepted
them from the far side of the Great Hall as they cut across to the doors near the
east entrance.

Dillon promptly told them what was up, so a repeat argument became
a rolling battle all the way to the ship’s cargo Ramp.

At the bottom of the ramp, Mirikami verified with Jake the sky
was empty of threats and had the hatch opened halfway for them. They walked up the
ramp, with Noreen and Maggi still losing the battle but not giving up on the war.

Once inside the hold the Captain put it to them as simply as
possible. “Either you help me prepare, or I’ll do it alone, but it
will
happen.”

He ordered the hatch reclosed. “I’m going to the machine shop
first, next meet with Aldry in the labs, go find out what’s new in the pharmacy
department, eat lunch, and confer with Thad to arrange a first scouting mission.
You are
not
welcome to follow me if I’m going to hear any more objections,
is that clear?”

Cowed, the two women backed off, but stayed with him. In the
newly expanded machine shop, they had used the automated machines to make more machines,
and now had enough equipment to run multiple production lines. They were using scavenged
metal and plastic from the nearby wrecked ships first. There were a dozen people
on assembly lines assembling various items.

Bob and Neri had reprogrammed the machines with Jake’s assistance,
and they had taught people how to feed stock safely to each type device, and were
now cranking out a variety of weapons and explosive casings. They had also discovered
there were quite a few salvageable remote actuator devices in the old wrecks that
they could use.

Mirikami told them several of his highest priorities, and asked
they be made ready today, or by tomorrow morning by eight AM Koban clock.

He walked to the concealed doors in the back of the cargo storage
area, out of view from passersby, disguised by what looked to be padded packing
materials and shelves of cleaning supplies on the front of the buried door. The
whole lab area was under what appeared to be a large pile of nonfood supplies. He
Linked to Aldry to tell her the self-named Koban Conspirators were coming in for
a visit.

On command, Jake unlocked the door for them, and they entered
the first lab, which looked neat and much like laboratories at any university. The
other two labs were “clean” rooms, required special clothes and sterilization procedures
to enter, so they were not going to pass through those airlocks today.

Tet gave Aldry a brief hug, formality having gone by the wayside
between crew and passengers, even between men and women for the most part when on
the ship.

“Here Aldry.” He passed her Thad’s vial. “This is one of the
deadliest gifts I have ever given a Lady, so don’t dare touch it bare handed, and
watch for the tip of that thorn.”

He explained where he got it and what its potential might be.
She passed it to one of her assistants for analysis, and then they sat at a small
work/conference table they had brought down from higher decks.

“Aldry, you have kept me posted on your work in general, but
I admit that I don’t grasp the technical details. I’d like to know where we stand
on fast genetic changes, what they are, and how long they take to manifest themselves.
Tell me about those that might be effective for the recipient to boost their performance
in, let’s say several days after introduction?”

“My goodness Tet, this is sudden. We have some trial viruses
and targeted genes, but there have been no live tests at all. The viral agents and
gene mods we are working on, that are ready for testing, were originally designed
for….” She stopped a moment.

“Tet, I know I apologized for my clumsy report that day Telour
was listening, but I have never forgiven myself for how bluntly I mentioned the
modification of clone genes. You know I wasn’t aware you were from New Honshu then,
but now I’m about to talk about that again, and the best records we have were from
that work. We even have Tri-Vid of the results. Are you OK with this discussion?”

“Absolutely Aldry, I wasn’t shocked by your mentioning clone
gene work. It was the existence of such records that I couldn’t believe. New Honshu
was virtually turned upside down and inside out to find and destroy those records
three hundred years ago. Tens of thousands of women were executed for knowing anything
about the work, the men of course having already died of the Gene plague.”

Aldry, Maggi, and Dillon all looked extremely uncomfortable as
he told them this.

“You must know of course,” he reminded them of the obvious, “that
my parents were not even born at that time, and it was the people of New Honshu
that committed the atrocities on my world, not outsiders. Your worlds experienced
the same rage and Purges as mine. Although my planet carried the guilt of creating
the soldier clones that were the target, everyone knows we didn’t invent the Gene
War virus. We don’t know who did, and apparently no one does.”

“I’m not troubled by the existence of a past I had no part in
creating, nor did any of you. As a species, we certainly learned that this
particular past can’t be repeated. However, we also know that each of us benefit
today from a hundred or more small gene modifications that give us longevity and
keep us more youthful looking longer. The modifications eliminated so many diseases
and defects, gave us better eyesight, hearing loss is rare, osteoporosis is
gone, most cancers, dozens of diseases. The list is so lengthy and here I am, foolishly
preaching to a choir. It may have become illegal to do the work, but we have been
on a course to relearn the science because we needed to do so. Now more than ever,
because of the terrible fate only we know that humanity faces.

“Your skills here may be all that will save our race in the long
run, because we don’t have twenty five thousand years to catch up to the Krall.
But enough my preaching!” He banged a hand on the table. “OK. I’m off my pedestal,
or pulpit, or whatever it was called.”

“Soap box,” said Maggi.

“What?” was basically everyone’s implied look or question.

“The expression Tet was looking for was ‘I’m off my soap box’.”
She answered.

Same looks. “Never mind, Dillon always says I watch too many
old flat screen movies.”

“And we haven’t covered an inch of the ground I’m here to talk
about. Tell me what you have Aldry. List them for me in simple layman’s language
please, so I don’t have to beg for explanations of technical terms.”

She nodded her understanding and rose to her feet for her lecture.

“The nano technology section has been busy modifying the carrier
virus stocks we brought with us, inserting the gene modifications we built around
test gene samples taken from volunteers in the lab. The computers have followed
the detailed instructions we have for the hundreds of mods from which we can choose.
The most practical and most needed had highest priority, and those that are the
fastest to take effect. I’ll name the areas in order of what is most ready.”

“Metabolism! The Pep and Oxy pills will be things of the past
if two combined viruses we have prepared are injected. Assuming they work of course.
Clones were often sent to worlds were there was higher or lower oxygen content,
and the buyers wanted more work for the same credits out of their purchase.

“The results are permanent and will be significantly greater
that what we get from the drugs. The pills only rev up the slower metabolism we
were born with, the gene modification would alter our metabolism to work faster
and more efficiently all the time. There would be no crashes when the drugs wear
off or we build up a resistance to them.” She held up one finger.

“Heat! We found a modification that was created for clones sold
to Diablo, a colony world that eventually failed for other heat related reasons.
However, the clones fared reasonably well in even higher heat than we have on Koban.
The problem here is that there is also a more severe winter than most warm worlds
usually experience. There is a mod for cold adaptations as well, but we need to
find a gene switch to activate one or the other, as the seasons require. The ‘Hot
mod’ is ready for testing however.” She held up a second finger.