Koban (88 page)

He was relieved when Telour and a K’Tal stepped out, along with
the usual hand of warriors. The feeing didn’t last very long.

Telour spoke first. “You are enjoying your immunity human?”

“It isn’t a thing to enjoy. I fought before I was forced to do
so to earn it early, but even with immunity, I would do that again if it advanced
the survival of the humans here. I have tried to contact you or Parkoda to get permission
to bring down the other humans in orbit. And then to ferry down those in the larger
ships.”

“Yes, those big ships proved surprising to the raiders after
they brought them here. All of our ships, even the largest, are made to land on
planets. They did not know or believe that your largest ships were so weak.” He
snorted.

“What is amusing about such an efficient design? It is not very
efficient to make a large ship do what small ships can do better. We ferry our people
up and down on smaller ships to make our big ships better suited for long space
travel. You say all humans are weak, so why would a human ship design with weaknesses
surprise you?”

“I do not think the design is so bad, it is that Parkoda did
not know that the largest new prize ships, many of them eagerly caught by his own
raiders, cannot sit on the ground to be displayed as proof of his great victories.”
He snorted again, and despite himself, Mirikami smiled.

“Have you returned to resume command of Koban Prime?” He asked.

“There will be no more commanders here.” He answered. “Unless
you humans chose one,” he added cryptically.

Wondering where this conversation was going, he asked “How will
we know when you want to conduct testing and how many humans will be required?”

“All humans everywhere will be subject to testing every day.”
He answered, still cryptic.

A chill ran down Mirikami’s back. “The war is starting.”

“I told Kanpardi you would understand this quickly. I would send
you back to lead one of your worlds in the war if I could. I would be interested
to see what you could do with more than one ship’s machinery and with many more
humans.”

“We all would be happy to return to teach our people how to fight
and kill your warriors. Send us home and we will do that,” he promised, positive
they would never do that.

“If humans here could be made as forgetful of their past as Raspani
are we could do that. Not that we would of course. It would waste our time. But
I know, as do our clan Leaders that some of our humans, I am sure that you in particular,
know exactly where this world is in the galaxy.”

There it was.

However, Telour couldn’t resist a boast, “We would defeat you
just as surely as we intend, no matter what you could teach your species of us,
or of this world. Nevertheless, humans have the ability, like any race with Jump
ability, to reach anywhere almost undetected.

That
was the reason they had to die here.

Mirikami told him so. “You will not risk your future home world
by letting us return to Human Space and tell them where it is. We would find a way
to kill this world out of vengeance as you kill our worlds.”

“That is what we would do,” he agreed.

It was time to cut to the heart of things. “Have we met the terms
of our agreement with you? Did we help you and Graka clan gain higher status by
fighting better?”

“Yes, you did more than I expected and in a very different way
than I intended. Humans will never be good warriors, but they are tricky and treacherous
opponents, as you proved.”

Mirikami bowed slightly.

“That is your gesture of respect for a superior, or of gratitude,”
Telour recalled from memory. “I do not believe from you it is for my superior position,
so you are grateful I called you bad things?” Called tricky and treacherous rather
that a good warrior was a deep insult to a Krall.

“Those abilities were enough for our purposes, so yes.” He replied.

“We can follow the Great Path by fighting an enemy that can fight
us that way. We need to understand the ways of the many different enemies we will
find. However, I will correct you in one thing you say. My agreement was not with
all humans here, it was only with you and only you have earned your immunity and
completed our agreement. We have each gained the advantage expected.”

This didn’t sound reassuring. “I required many humans to follow
my directions and all of them here have done so. The last Testing Day involved humans
from my original clan and those from my expanded clan among humans already here.
You agreed I could give immunity to those I needed.”

Telour snorted. “Are you claiming immunity for all humans here
because some followed you? I know most already here did not want to follow you,
and the new human prisoners have not followed you at all yet. Why would I give them
immunity, and why would it matter if I did?”

The bastard was having a good time watching him argue a pointless
case. Telour was perfectly aware that Mirikami knew that the immunity agreement
had always been limited to a select few, and was only a useful lever while combat
testing was conducted. Testing was over and now the wider war would start.

The private joke he snorted over wasn’t about a now useless and
expired immunity agreement with him, it had to be about all of the humans he was
trying to protect, about something that he knew, and that Mirikami didn’t know.

Mirikami probed. “I don’t think it is the end of our agreement
and the grants of immunity that you find amusing. Your leaders promised when the
Krall left Koban that any humans here that survived the testing would remain alive.
That was because we cannot survive here without your protection. Parkoda destroyed
the gates yesterday, and last night a pride of rippers killed thirteen of the new
prisoners and one of my clan mates. I believe we were already on our own then, and
probably from the day you left the dome.”

“Again you are close to the correct conclusion, and you remembered
what our honor places on us for our offer of life when we depart.”

“Are we supposed to be grateful for the slow death we will be
left with here?”

“If you are grateful or angry it is of no matter to me or to
the clans. You were not offered more than life, and the clans in truth had no need
to offer you anything at all. To fight us or die was a reasonable choice. We wanted
a better fight, so made the offer.

“For amusement I would have left the compound’s gates standing,
to let you slowly discover that you could not survive even with that protection.
However, Parkoda was not happy when Graka clan earned first right of battle to start
the war. He learned this yesterday and was vengeful enough to make your end come
sooner. He is too merciful.

“His Tanga clan learned how to capture enemy ships whole with
more prisoners alive inside. Graka clan proved the humans we already had could be
taught to fight. What I made happen with my plan has greater value for following
the Path and my clan received more status points.

“Our clan leaders, except for Tanga clan, say we do not need
more tests of humans, so Parkoda’s towing trick has no great value, and we do not
need the captives the raids brought back. This too was decided yesterday.

“While Parkoda was running after more animals for status, I passed
him by staying here to use the animals we had.” As always, he was taking credit
for what humans accomplished.

“That’s really super good news for you, for your wonderful clan,
and your almighty Great Path,” acknowledged Mirikami sarcastically, knowing a Krall
was insensitive to such human phrasing.

“So when can we bring down the rest of the humans in orbit? I
need all the help I can get if I expect to rebuild the gates and survive the winter
this year.”

Telour looked at him in appraisal. “I did not think you would
simply quit and I was correct. However, do you actually expect the humans still
in orbit to become prisoners on Koban? They were never subject to testing here.”
He snorted, rearing his head back.

This was black humor from him. If the orbiting prisoners never
landed on Koban, they could kill them in orbit without the Krall going back on what
was offered to those on the surface. Koban itself was the testing ground, not the
space around the planet. It was their usual self-serving version of honor.

Mirikami made a proposal. “All but eight of the human ships can
land right here, so they can descend at any time you allow that. After you let those
ships land and unload, we can ferry down the remainder of the people, which is an
efficient way for you to let us do all of the work.” He didn’t dare sound like he
was pleading.

However, Telour had a different concept of economy. “It is also
efficient to leave he rest of the ships Parkoda claims credit for capturing in orbit.
Because of my own plan, we do not need the ships that carry them, or the animals
for testing. Your cooperation helped me make this possible.”

Mirikami knew the sadistic bastard personally enjoyed this last
cruelty, but he refused to flinch as the psychological knife struck him in his gut.

Telour continued in an offhand casual manner, to twist the metaphorical
blade. “We would destroy all Jump capable ships anyway before we depart Koban, and
it is more efficient to do that where they are.”

His mind was racing with arguments he could make to save those
people, but he had to base the reason on something the Krall would consider of value,
certainly not human lives.

A possibility came to him. A clan’s glory or accomplishments
in their twenty five thousand years of history were an important element in the
stories they told on the trip here. He needed to play on that need to earn respect
in that history.

“You told us Koban will become your new home world,” he reminded
Telour. “I assume it will be the home base of your expanding Galactic Empire for
thousands of years. I am surprised that the Krall would not show this world respect.”

“We have great respect for this world,” Telour answered sharply,
leaning towards the human in a threatening manner. “It is why we keep its location
secret, why we leave it for a time, to follow the Path and make our bodies worthy
of living here. I have also told you we will return when we move along the Path
so that we do not need guns and walls to live here. That sacrifice shows our respect
and honor for this place.”

When his talons had started to extend, Mirikami knew he had pushed
him close to the brink of a challenge. He quickly explained.

“The human ship that tried to flee was destroyed by a thoughtless
raider, leaving millions of pieces of debris in orbit, large and small. Most of
that debris will still be there like small deadly moons around the planet when you
return to live here, even after thousands of years.”

Telour interrupted him. “The ship commander of Parkoda’s raiders
had a right to punish them, to make the other humans see they must obey us without
question. The other ships only needed to move to different orbits.”

Mirikami made his point. “Would you add billions more pieces
of human garbage to fill the space over your honored and respected home?” Telour
appeared to be listening and his talons had retracted.

He added a sense of history now. “The Krall will be fighting
and conquering in the Galaxy for thousands of years, and future Great Clan leaders
will gather here to plan other wars. To come and go here, will their ships need
to avoid pieces of trash from a careless mistake that a few clans make now? Is the
story of your departure from Koban to be that important clans left behind a perfect
world, with human trash forever circling above?”

“I do not want advice from an animal,” he told him coldly, eyes
still glaring.

“In truth Telour, I do not
want
to offer you
anything
that can be used to your advantage. Nevertheless, I must because I can see how an
important advantage for your own clan’s place in Krall history can also give a very
small advantage to a few humans. You, and your clan, can gain status and a place
in history by telling the other clans why the easy choice of Parkoda’s ship commander
is a bad choice for the future of your home world.”

The fact that Telour was still listening to a mere human told
Mirikami he had his interest.

“Would the clans see you as showing more respect for the future
of the Krall home than Parkoda? Your Graka clan could earn another story in your
long history by protecting this world from mistakes that Tanga and the other Clans
would make without thinking.”

Mirikami knew he had scored points when Telour next spoke. “The
clan leaders do not like so many prey animals to be left here, contaminating even
the dirt.” He was actually explaining a problem he would have in selling the idea
he wanted to steal. He needed an answer the clans would accept, even like.

Mirikami was eager to help. “The rippers will simply find more
victims when they return, as they came last night. The rhinolo will come to eat
the lush untouched grass, and they will not tolerate humans near them. We will not
be able to grow food outside or to leave the dome to hunt without great risk. Our
food stores will run out and our bullets soon will be gone. This dome will become
a ripper den or wolfbat nest after we are eaten.”

Damn. Whom was he convincing here?
It sounded bleak as
hell even to him. However, he had a final prediction to offer that the clans might
find to their liking.

“The pile of dust from human bones would only be slightly higher
than it would be anyway when you return. We can delay our final defeat by this world
for perhaps a year with more people to help, but we cannot survive here without
your protection, as every Krall clan leader knows very well.”

He thought he had made a plausible argument, but even if was
accepted by Telour, he in turn needed to convince first his clan, then the other
clans.