The Rings of Haven (16 page)

Mendez held the scraggly looking tuber up in front of his face. On closer inspection, it didn’t appear to be a tuber at all. It was actually a small twig covered with a densely compacted collection of gelatinous drops, mostly colored pale oranges and yellows. He sniffed it but found no noticeable aroma. He tried pinching one of the drops but found it was firmer than it looked. He pulled one of them off, and after inspection, decided to give it a try. It was crunchy, the texture reminiscent of a peanut. It had a rather bitter taste to it, which although tolerable was not pleasant. Having survived the first taste, he repeated the process until he had devoured nearly half the stick.

A few moments later, Mendez found himself up and walking around, unable to sit still with his new-found energy coursing through his veins. He looked at Marcus as he passed by, nodding his thanks. Marcus smiled and laughed. “Don’t eat too much! You’ll be climbing the walls!”

* * *

“This little ship is amazing,” Vladimir said. Nathan hadn’t seen his friend so excited since he first learned of the jump drive the special projects team had installed on board the Aurora. He stood at the doorway of the barn in which the ship was housed. It was smaller than he had thought, only about twenty meters long and maybe ten meters wide at the most. It resembled an old flying wing design and looked like a stretched out, flattened triangle, with two massive engine pods sitting on its wings on either side of the cigar-shaped fuselage that only protruded slightly ahead of the main wing shape. The cockpit canopy was only a slight protrusion sticking up from the fuselage with view ports cut into its front and sides.

Nathan followed Vladimir up the boarding ladder to the cockpit. From ground level, Nathan had only seen the top of one flight seat, but once he made it to the top of the ladder, he could see that there was a second seat tucked in behind the first.

“There is so much packed into this little ship,” Vladimir explained. “Energy and projectile weapons, reflective and ablative shielding, anti-gravity lift systems, inertial dampeners.” Vladimir had to stop to catch his breath. “Nathan, it even has limited FTL capabilities.”

“This ship has FTL?”

“Yes. But even without the FTL, it can still outrun the Aurora’s sub-light drive.”

“What kind of propulsion system does it use?”

“The reactors are fusion. That much I know. But the main propulsion systems—I have no idea.”

“Doesn’t Danik know?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe he does, maybe not. I do not fully understand everything he says as yet,” Vladimir admitted.

Nathan wondered if Danik was as difficult to get information out of as Jalea had been. It would make sense, with both of them being from the same organization. It might be doctrine not to reveal too much information. It certainly was Jessica’s preferred method of operation. And it was a skill Nathan had yet to master.

Nathan stepped back down the ladder, backing away from the ship as he stepped back onto the dirt. The ship had several impact marks where it had obviously been struck with weapons fire. There was also charring around the nearest engine pod, probably from an internal fire. “And you think this thing is still space-worthy?”

“Yes, I am almost certain of this.”

“You think the technology on this little ship would be of value to us?”

“The compact nature of her FTL systems alone would be of great value. Maybe not to us, but definitely to the Fleet.”

“I wonder if Tug would be willing to sell it to us?”

“Oh, Nathan,” Vladimir drooled. “Do not tease me.”

* * *

Nathan entered the small bunkhouse behind the main house. It was a simple building of wood, clay, and rock construction similar to the others. The floor, although it looked like dirt, was fused solid and smooth in a way that Nathan had never seen. There were ten modest beds of wood-frame construction, a pair on each side of the main entrance, with six more along the back wall. Each bed was covered with a heavy woven-cloth blanket.

Nathan entered the bunkhouse, turning to his right to head toward what he hoped was a door to the bathroom at the far end. The room was lit with softly glowing pale-white lighting panels above the head of each bed, casting a soft and relaxing glow in semi-circles around them. There were larger, overhead lighting panels spread across the beamed-ceiling of the room, however these were not lit.

The room appeared relaxing and comfortable, despite its overall rustic nature, and Nathan looked forward to getting some rest after a long and somewhat emotionally exhausting day. He came to the end of the room and reached out to take hold of the doorknob to what he assumed was the bathroom door, when it suddenly swung open away from him, startling him.

“Oh, Nathan,” Jalea said, a bit surprised herself. “I didn’t realize anyone else was here yet.”

Nathan stepped back out of surprise. Jalea had removed much of her outer clothing and was dressed only in a tight-fitting body suit that was rolled down to a few centimeters below her navel and an old, worn undershirt that covered most of her upper torso. Nathan had always been captivated by Jalea’s eyes. In fact, their effect on him had caused him to question his own decisions to place trust in her from time to time. As she had always been dressed in loosely fitted clothing, he had not noticed her voluptuous figure until now.

“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to intrude,” Nathan apologized. For some reason, he was embarrassed, despite the fact that she was still fully dressed. Nathan turned and stepped over to the nearest bed, taking off his cloak and dropping it on the bed.

Jalea moved past him, turning down the bed next to his. Nathan watched her out of the corner of his eye. The skin on her lower back was the same olive complexion as her face. She was not like most of the women he had known. For the last four years, Nathan had only dated classmates from the Fleet academy. Most of them had been the athletic type, all toned and muscled from the hours of intense physical training that they were subjected to during their time on campus. This woman was softer, more curvaceous than he could ever remember seeing.

“Tug seems like a good man,” Nathan said, trying to distract himself from Jalea’s ample charms.

Jalea climbed into her bed, “Yes, he is that.” She pulled her blanket just up to her hips, making no effort to cover herself as she lay on her side facing him. “I believe he found your tales of Earth quite interesting,” she told him as she propped her head up on one hand, her elbow against the bed. “As did I.” She looked at him a long moment as he removed his jumpsuit, stripping down to just his standard-issue uniform pants and Fleet undershirt. “You seem to know a great deal of Earth history. Are all your people so knowledgeable?”

“It was my major,” he explained, realizing that she probably wouldn’t know what he meant. “It was my area of focus during my formal education.”

“A rather fortunate coincidence, as you have become an emissary for your world.”

“Yes, I suppose it is.”

“Did your engineer find Tug’s ship interesting?”

“Very much so,” Nathan told her. “Actually, I was thinking of asking Tug if he would be willing to part with it.”

“I doubt that would be the case,” she assured him.

“You wouldn’t think a farmer would have much use for a space fighter.”

“Perhaps,” she admitted. “But Tug is not your average molo-farmer.”

“How so?” Nathan asked, sitting on the side of his bed facing her.

“Do not misunderstand me, there are many like him. Men who have spent years fighting for the cause of others who then give it all up to lead a more simple life. I can cite many examples, albeit not on Haven, mind you. However, I would think that if the ship was of no use to him, he would have parted with it long ago.”

Nathan nodded agreement, having not thought that far yet. “You may be right.”

At that moment, the main door swung open and Jessica walked in. Jalea immediately pulled her blanket up to cover herself, laying her head down on her rolled up cloak. “I suppose it would not hurt to ask, however.”

Jessica eyed them both suspiciously as she approached. “I made contact with the ship,” she told him.

Nathan rose and headed for the bathroom, with Jessica following him. “You got them up to speed?”

“Yes, sir. Cameron said Tobin had some problem with the port authority, which put him out of contact for several hours.”

“Sound right to you?” Nathan asked as they entered the bathroom.

“Could be,” she said, following him into the bathroom. She fumbled around the faucet for a moment. “How the hell do you turn the water on?” Finally, after tapping the top of the faucet, the water began to run. “Something just isn’t right, Nathan,” she whispered, hoping the sound of the running water would mask their conversation.

“What do you mean?” Nathan whispered back.

“Why this world? Why Tobin? Why Tug? Oh, and Tug just happens to have a Ta’Akar fighter, and a compound equipped with emitters. And let us not forget the gun strapped to the underside of his dinner table.” Jessica looked at Nathan, waiting for him to put it together.

“What? You think this is all planned? By who?” Nathan stared at her, waiting for a response that never came. Instead, Jessica glanced back toward the door. “Jalea?” Nathan laughed.

“Who else?” Jessica asked.

“When did she have time to put this all together, Jess?”

“She had plenty of time alone with Tobin back on the Aurora. And they seemed a bit too buddy-buddy for just business acquaintances.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t you think you’re reaching a bit?”

“
Oh, Nathan,
” Jessica whispered in a mock-sexy voice. “
Do not misunderstand me, Tug is a simple farmer. Good and honorable
—
”

“What were you doing, listening from outside the door?” Nathan’s eyes widened.

“Of course not,” she insisted. “I bugged the room more than an hour ago.”

“Jesus, Jess. Is this how all spec-ops operate?”

“The good ones, yeah. Just don’t let her fool you with her sexy green eyes and her big tits.”

“What?”

“Oh, you know what I’m talking about, Nathan.”

“What am I, sixteen?”

“No, but you are a guy. And all guys tend to think with their dicks.”

“I’m not that simple-minded,” Nathan defended.

“Bullshit. It took me all of three minutes to get your pants off, remember?” she told him as she rinsed her hands in the running water.

“I was drunk,” he reminded her.

“Maybe. But your dick wasn’t, and that’s my point. Just be wary, that’s all I’m saying. Jalea does everything for a reason, Nathan. And you need to keep that in mind at all times.” Jessica dried her hands off on her cloak as she spoke. “Now clear out. I’ve gotta use the can,” she ordered, pushing him toward the door.

“Just close the stall door,” he suggested, not quite ready to leave.

“That molo did not agree with me,” she warned. “Trust me. You wanna clear the room,” she added, pushing him toward the door.

- 7 -

Nathan and Vladimir sat on the bench on the porch of the bunkhouse. Nathan’s watch had ended just as the sun was coming up, and Vladimir and Danik had only just returned from spending their entire night examining the systems on Tug’s fighter.

“She is correct, you know. All men are more easily manipulated by beautiful women, at least to some degree. Even if we do want to admit to this, it is true. But it is not only this way for men. Women do this as well. Maybe not as much as us, but still.”

“Then you think I only trust Jalea because she’s attractive?”

“I think
because
you find her attractive, you are willing to assume she is trustworthy. If she had been an old hag, you would’ve dismissed her without a thought. But that is to be expected, because you and I are men. That is how we are. But if you know this about yourself, and you always question your motives, then you will be okay.”

“Then Jessica was just reminding me to check my motives?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Not exactly the way you treat your captain though, is it?”

“Nathan. You have been captain for less than one week. To us, you are
still
an ensign. You must
earn
their respect. It does not come with the bars, you know.”

Nathan thought about it as Tug approached, carrying a steaming hot pot and a stack of bowls.

“Good day, Nathan,” Tug called. “I brought your morning meal,” he added, setting the pot and bowls down on the bench next to them. “It is not much, just a simple porridge I’m afraid. But it is very filling and should get you through the day.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Nathan assured him. “Thank you.”

Vladimir was already scooping up a bowl full and shoveling it into his mouth. “Kasha. It tastes like Kasha.”

“Tug,” Nathan continued. “We were wondering if you’d be interested in selling your ship?”

“Oh, no. I don’t think I could part with it. Besides, what use do you have for such a small vessel? Your ship is a hundred times its size.”

“There are some interesting systems on your ship that we’d love to study. We might be able to integrate some of your technology into our own systems, possibly give us additional advantages.”

“I’m sorry, Captain. Perhaps I can let you have one or two of her redundant systems. Say, a shield emitter, or one of the pulse cannons. Perhaps they would be helpful?”

Vladimir nodded. “Better than nothing, I suppose. I was hoping to get a better look at your FTL system.”

“Well, you still have several hours until your friend arrives,” Tug said. “Perhaps you can spend it examining the FTL drive.”

“I’m afraid it would take me much longer than a few hours to understand it,” Vladimir admitted.

“I will send my oldest daughter, Deliza, to help you,” Tug boasted. “She is quite knowledgeable in such matters.”

“Any help would be appreciated,” he assured him between spoonfuls of porridge.

“Very well. I shall send her to you after her morning chores are completed,” Tug promised. “Now, Captain, if you’ll excuse me. I have my own chores to complete. I will return later and we can begin preparing your purchase for shipment.”