Interlude-Amicus Brief

(Starspeak)

Serral asked.

Dyn replied.

Shinshay replied bravely.

Nerin replied.

Serral paused to see if the other medical professional concurred with that.

Dyn said.

The Jack hurtled toward Fintuther station, as it had since appearing in Vorak space. The Beacon station had thrown quite a fit, timing a skip for a ship moving this fast. But Caleb had hypothesized the entity within the Beacon was more than capable of such a feat.

As soon as the ship had skipped into Minshia system, they’d begun their braking burn. They’d sustained 1.7 G for the last six hours. But it would be at least another three before they slowed enough to match Fintuther.

But that was only if they poured on a few extra points of deceleration.

Serral said.

Weith said.

Every crewmember aboard groaned a little bit more as they pressed further into their crash couches. The Jack’s engine’s roared to match their new pace.

Serral ordered. His heart overflowed with gratitude for psionics in that moment. There was little more embarrassing than giving orders through gritted teeth and tight breath.

Nai said.

The two sisters figuratively put their heads together and launched a signal towards Fintuther.

It was critical information to pass along, but Serral couldn’t help but think about the risks. It was virtually certain that at least one Vorak on the station would be equipped with psionics.

There could be no hiding the signal as it washed over the whole of the asteroid.

But even if Caleb wasn’t present, his psionic expertise left the Jack’s crew with uncommon privileges with regard to psionic secrecy—Jordan included.

As overwhelmingly probable as it was their message would be detected, it was equally improbable for it to be deciphered.

Which…might not actually be a benefit in this, tense, hair-trigger scenario.

“Captain, we’re getting a pretty angry message from Fintuther,” Fenno said from the station next to him. “They’re threatening to shoot us down.”

“Anything movement on the ground?” Serral asked.

Deg was manning their visual scopes, and he’d found no threats yet. “Nothing so far. I’ve found one missile platform, but it’s not opened. That’s odd, isn’t it?”

“Very,” Serral confirmed. “Sabotage is the only possibility I’d seriously consider at this point.”

“Who would ever think Kemon and Win could make that happen on their own?” Tasser wondered.

“Jordan and Caleb speculated they had help from this ‘SPARK’,” Serral pointed out.

“That’s my point,” Tasser said. “Pulling down the security net for a military installation like this, even for just a few hours…it’s unthinkable just two people could do it alone.”

“All the more reason to be vigilant now,” Fenno said. “They might think they’re under much greater threat than they really are.”

“Agreed,” Serral said. “So keep a close ear on what exactly they’re threatening us with.”

“…Actually…amend that previous,” Fenno said. “I think they’re talking to Win’s shuttle, not us. We’re just catching the wide signal.”

Fenno pressed a console button and the audio was shared to Serral’s station.

“Unidentified craft, reverse thrust immediately or you will be shot down. Respond immediately or you will be—”

“It goes on like that,” she said.

‘Reverse thrust’

You wouldn’t order an already decelerating ship that way. Ergo, they must have located Win’s shuttle fleeing.

“So have they simply not noticed us?” Serral asked the room.

“…Depending on how extensive the sabotage? It’s not impossible,” Tasser mused. “It does give us an interesting option, doesn’t it?”

“You really think we can land, rescue them, and take off without being detected?” Deg snorted.

“Once again, the opposite,” Tasser said. “It’s a hostile system that we entered under diplomatic powers. Does hiding really buy us that much? We’re going to be noticed sooner or later. So let’s make it sooner, on our terms.”

“Under any other circumstance, it would be suicide,” Serral said. “Except…it doesn’t really put us in any additional risk, does it? Not right now, thanks to Win. If they can’t shoot down a fleeing shuttle…”

As long as the station’s anti-ship defenses were sabotaged, the Jack couldn’t be shot down either.

“Let’s ask…” Serral said, turning his attention to Nai and Nerin down in medical.

·····

Six humans sat in the bottom of a shallow crater. Five of them were in disarray, anxious, scared, frustrated.

But Jordan was feeling better now than she had in almost a week. Maybe two.

The Ronin weren’t being stupid anymore. The Jack was within two hours of landing. And the Vorak seemed to be giving them no more attention than they had for the last five hours. Ben had noticed no one was coughing blood despite the space dust—more good news. Madeline and Aarti were shoulder to shoulder, not quite equally disheveled, but still quite shaken—less good, but again, not trying to kill anyone anymore, so: progress. Even Donnie’s leg had taken to its patch quite well. He had a limp, but his Adeptry had rebuilt the damaged tissues well enough for him to stay on his feet.

Not that they were right now.

“[Come on, tell me that’s not a view to die for,]” Jordan said, lying down, staring up at the stars.

After their hidey-hole had been dug, they’d had Johnny quit it with the fog. Disguising their attempt to hide was worth it. Continuing the fog cover? That would just draw more attention to them.

And Jordan would have been lying if part of her hadn’t really wanted to look up at the stars.

“[Nobody’s in the mood,]” Johnny said bitterly.

“[I know,]” Jordan said lightly. “[But weeks from now, when we’re packed into spaceships like sardines again, you’ll think back to this moment and go ‘darn, I wish I had paused for that star vista’.]”

“[The A-ships are pretty roomy,]” Ben pointed out, unable to let the silence hang.

“[True. But not as roomy as this view…]” Jordan said.

“[Aren’t you taking this too lightly?]” Donnie winced, shifting to keep off his bad leg.

“[Nope.]”

Jordan just kept on looking straight up. Her eyes might have been lazily drinking in the cosmos, but her mind was running over every psionic tool at her disposal, waiting for the instant she needed to act.

“[I am saving my strength and keeping calm,]” Jordan said. “[Because the only thing that can go wrong at this point is the Vorak reaching us. And if that happens, fighting won’t save us. Talking will. So, I’m keeping my heart rate low, breathing steady, and staying calm. Hence, stargazing. Try it.]”

She gestured up at the sky, and to her surprise, Ben and Aarti actually did look. Just by the reflex of looking where someone pointed.

“[…Okay. Cool stars. True,]” Aarti admitted.

“[Wow.]”

Ben’s reaction was closer to what Jordan had in mind, and it visibly jarred him enough to goad Johnny and Donnie into glancing upward too.

While they didn’t say anything, Jordan noticed Madeline keeping her knees right under her chin.

In turn, Madeline noticed Jordan looking.

“[…How likely is that?]” she asked. “[The Vorak reaching us, I mean.]”

“[No clue,]” Jordan admitted. “[We can ask when the next—]”

All six of them felt the signal crash down on them.

“[You guys need that one translated too?]” Jordan asked.

The first message had gone unappreciated, because, like the local Vorak, the Ronin lacked the psionic goodies to unravel the Jack crew’s psionic encryption.

Jordan had remedied that.

“[We got it…]” Johnny grumbled.

“[Any thoughts?]” Jordan asked. “[Because Captain Serral said respond quick, so I will.]”

“[You keep talking about how dangerous the Vorak are, and they want to just put up a sign and shout ‘here we are?’ Are you joking?]”

“[The upside is, if they listen to us, then we can fly away without having to worry about getting shot in the back, and no one comes looking for us afterward,]” Jordan pointed out.

“[Are those really the priorities right now?]” Donnie asked.

“[I’m open to feedback,]” Jordan shrugged. “[But forewarning; I’ll do my best to shoot you down.]”

Donnie thought better of pushing that particular envelope.

“[Cool,]” Jordan said.

She laid back against the ground while her message flew off into space. One of those shimmering lights was probably the Jack, engines pointed this way. What was light delay down to now? Two minutes? One?

It was tricky. The Apollo moon missions had taken 3 days to travel a distance that amounted to just over 1 second of light delay. But the Jack was a different breed of spacecraft, and it wasn’t scared of sustained ΔV. Then again, two whole minutes of light delay equated to an immense distance. Except…a two-minute delay in messages meant only one minute of light delay. It had to travel both directions. And Jordan had a hunch that psionic signals traveled at different speeds depending on the transmitter too.

Between her own emitter array, and whatever the Jack’s broadcasting setup…there were too many quirks she couldn’t analyze right now.

She had to trust Captain Serral’s estimate was accurate.

Gah, she was antsy. Though she was hiding it well.

“[You’re sure they aren’t going to find and shoot us?]” Donnie said.

“[Nope,]” Jordan said. “[Not sure at all. Confident? Yes. Sure? No.]”

Donnie was irritable. But considering he’d was the only one to actually get shot today, the fact that he was just irritable was impressive. How odd. He’d seemed like the most irrational of the Ronin.

“[I don’t get you,]” Johnny said. “[We’re just sitting here, hoping we don’t get found. But before, you were large and in charge. You fought us! Five on one!.]”

“[Was I fighting you? Really?]” Jordan asked. “[From my perspective, I was mostly throwing water balloons at you. Smoke, psionic nonsense, mostly just pitching shit in your general direction, being a general pain in the ass. Donnie put it together eventually.]”

“[Not quick enough to not get shot,]” he grumbled.

“[You said it yourself,]” Jordan shrugged. “[No such thing as a warning shot. You shot first.]”

“[Can we not talk about us getting shot?]” Madeline asked.

“[Sure,]” Jordan said quickly, before anyone could contradict her. “[But to actually answer your question, Johnny. I don’t know what to do that much better than any of you. But I do know what not to do. And right now, our worst move is to panic. So chill. We just have to stay put another ninety-ish minutes. And we’ll all be fine.]”

Jordan got to feel good about that response for about…ten minutes. But soon enough, a new signal washed over the Fintuther asteroid.

·····

·····

Jordan said.

the Vorak replied.

Jordan said.

the Vorak confirmed.

she prompted.

The Ironwill Vorak ignored her.

“[Shame,]” Jordan muttered.

“[Why are you antagonizing them?]” Aarti asked.

“[I’m not,]” Jordan said. “[But I do want to keep reminding them that this isn’t an ordinary situation. We know how they respond to ordinary situations: violently. So the more we can reiterate that it would be bad for everyone if they try shooting us, the better.]”

“[They have to find us first,]” Johhny said.

the Vorak voice came back.

Jordan said.

“[Good grief…]” Aarti sighed. “[Was it that obvious when you were lying to us?]”

“[Yes,]” Jordan said. “[We got, like, three days of prep for this whole debacle.]”

“[What do you mean?]” Ben asked.

“[She’s lying with strictly true information,]” Aarti said. “[We haven’t gone through any locks, so of course we haven’t gotten into any secure areas. And of course we haven’t seen clear signage…]”

“[Oh. Because we’re not even indoors,]” Ben said. “[So…]”

“[So the Vorak are going to look for us inside the facility before they check out in the empty stretches of their asteroid,]” Donnie said. “[But only if they’re stupid. You really think bush league reverse psychology is going to trick them?]”

“[It’s not about tricking them,]” Jordan said. “[Our ultimate goal is that they believe us: we aren’t interested in attacking them, being a threat to them, or being any kind of enemy. Even if they see through my ‘lie’, then they realize that we really haven’t penetrated their security, that we’re completely exposed out here, and that we really are exactly the dumb kids we’re claiming to be.]”

“[Like pledge week in DC,]” Johnny frowned.

“[Pardon?]” Jordan said.

“[The Secret Service has protocols to tell the difference between a college frat jumping the fence to the White House and someone actually trying to storm the building,]” he explained.

“[Yeah. That tracks,]” Jordan nodded. “[Plus, Ted taught me that aliens follow a lot of the same psychology we do. If they work for the answer that we’re out here, they’ll believe it. But if we just tell them, their first instinct will be to think it’s part of a trap or plan.]”

the Vorak interrupted.

Odd. This was the first sign of the Vorak breaking out of official protocol. At least, it didn’t sound like official protocol. Maybe ‘Oscar’ had a boss Vorak hovering over his shoulder, dictating questions.

Jordan said.

“[And ‘Oscar’ rhymes with ‘otter’?]” Aarti pointed out.

“[Do you want to explain what an otter is?]” Jordan asked, switching her attention back.

She did not mention that five of them had come with the express intent to do harm. But like she’d said: false pretenses.

‘Oscar’ said.

Jordan said.

Oscar said.

Jordan said.

·····

“Tasser, swap channels with me,” Serral growled. “We’re a diplomatic ship. The station commander is demanding to speak with the actual diplomat.”

“We’ll have to share my creds,” Tasser said.

“Fenno, send them,” Serral ordered.

“Done,” she said.

Captain Serral punched buttons on his console to include Tasser’s station in the call, but before he finalized the action, he caught Tasser’s attention.

“Tasser? Diplomatic. Understand?”

“Everything I do is diplomatic,” Tasser said. “Literally, by definition.”

“Tasser,” Serral insisted.

“Understood, Captain.”

That was better.

Tasser wasted no time, picking up the handset, but took a breath to center himself before speaking.

“Ironwill Station, Fintuther, this is Ambassador Meisu Tasser, appointed diplomat of Nakrumum, the Coalition, and the worlds it represents to the Human homeworld, Earth, and all the people from it—including those thrust into our unfriendly space via abduction. I understand you were discussing with my captain, a version of these events that ends without violence?”

“Ambassador, your credentials are verified. This is Vice-Marshal Bazurom of the Ironwill fleet. The only reason your ship hasn’t been shot down is for flying diplomatic flags and you’re already decelerating. So tell me—”

“Vice-Marshal, would you prefer I go through insincere formality right now? Or would you like me to skip to the information you’ll care about that will actually help you make a well informed decision?”

“…Fine.”

“You haven’t shot us down because your surface batteries have been sabotaged by the same person who dumped these Humans on your asteroid. His name is Win Vo-Man-Zin, and under the direction of Wolshu Kemon he’s orchestrated a false flag attack, implicating your base in the deaths of Human abductees.”

“…I’ve heard of Kemon.”

“He’s no friend of the Coalition either,” Tasser insisted. “If I get the chance, I’ll shoot him myself.”

“And all of my problems will be solved if I simply let your ship take these trespassers away? My adjutant here is psionically equipped to speak with them. They’re proving quite uncooperative. If what you say is true, why shouldn’t I have them be apprehended and detained before being delivered to you?”

“Because they’re children,” Tasser said. “Scared children liable to react as such if confronted or cornered, much less jailed.”

“So why are they reacting so much more civilly with you and your crew?”

“Because Win and Kemon are some pieces of [shit],” Tasser said. “Your adjutant should have a psionic dictionary to translate that. They’ve been fearmongering these abductees for months, getting them scared of the Vorak who just must have abducted them.”

“…I am disinclined,” the Vice-Marshal said, “to think this is not some kind of trap.”

“It is a trap,” Tasser said. “Just not ours. Wolshu Kemon is flying toward C1 as we speak to try raising the alarm with the Coalition’s civilian leadership and the Admiralty Board. Kill these Humans and his accusations will have that much better chance of sticking. But if they leave with us, his every lie withers on the spot.”

“The accusations will be made regardless…though I concede that is not a reason to ignore what you’re saying. What assurances can you give me that he’ll be discredited?”

“Because I’m not the only diplomat attached to this ship,” Tasser answered. “Caleb Hane is my counterpart, and he’s aboard Kemon’s ship...to… express his displeasure, shall we say?”

For a second, there was no response from the station. But then the microphone adjusted, and it revealed the uproarious laughter coming from the Vorak.

“Caleb Hane? Ajengita? Truly?”

“Fenno, can you send Caleb’s diplomatic credentials too?” Tasser asked.

“Done,” she nodded.

“…Yes, yes those credentials clear too. Fine. If you’re on a landing approach, I assume you have a landing pad preference?” the Vice-Marshal asked.

Tasser glanced at Serral. Should he share that detail now? The Captain nodded.

“We don’t require a pad,” Tasser shared. “We can land out in the dust.”

“…Because that’s where your abductees have been hiding…they never set foot inside any of the actual facility.”

“No, they didn’t,” Tasser agreed. “Like we said: dumped here under very false pretenses.”

·····

Jordan said.

the Vorak complained. It was good talking without the threat of violence looming over their heads.

Jordan said, peeking at the Vorak a little over a mile away.

They hadn’t shared their exact position, but with the Jack designating a landing point, the Vorak had surrounded the site, though at a respectful distance.

“[I see it,]” Madeline said, looking up at the sky. “[I think...]”

“[Yep, that’s our Jack,]” Jordan said.

Serral replied.

she said.

“[Johnny, you hear him?]”

“[Yeah, yeah,]” he grumbled.

Black iron crystal enveloped the six of them while a deafening roar shook the ground outside.

Two minutes later, Nai gave the all clear.

When Johnny dissolved the dome, Jordan was surprised to see the dust had even cleared, and Nai was magnetized to the Jack’s outer hull, having created a steep stair-ladder to the airlock.

The six of them all shuffled into the Jack and not even five minutes after landing on the asteroid, the ship launched away.

Jordan mentioned, flinging a psionic packet in the Vorak’s general direction.

·····

Their acceleration away from Fintuther would be a much more leisurely .6G.

The Jack’s crew couldn’t sustain high G, but they still needed to rendezvous with Caleb and the Fafin as soon as possible.

But for Jordan and the Ronin?

Their roles were done.

The five of them were huddled into the medical bay where Dyn examined Donnie’s leg, and Madeline looked out the window.

Jordan paid her special attention. Madeline’s bloody sight had been the first thing to buckle the Ronin’s resolve. Jordan had been intentionally trying to make the stuff of nightmares, but still.

“[You going to be okay?]” she asked.

“[I am not okay,]” Madeline said, not quite answering the question. “[…But I wasn’t okay before this either.]”

“[…For a second there, I didn’t think my trick actually worked,]” Jordan said. “[But…]”

“[I was mad,]” she said. “[I don’t like being lied to—who does, right? Ever since you came, Drew’s been a completely different person, and…fuck, I don’t know. Thinking about you lying to us, or to her…Fuck, I can’t fucking talk!]”

“[You’re shaken up,]” Jordan said. “[Give it time to pass.]”

“[…You said the other girl from our ship, Melanie, she died?]” Madeline asked.

“[Those pirates shot her,]” Jordan said. “[Then I killed one of them, our ship crashed, I stumbled across a planet for a few days, got found by some alien hippies, nursed back to health, then got discovered by the pirates again and kept prisoner with some other humans they’d gotten.]”

“[You’ve been through a lot,]” Madeline said.

“[So have you. My point was, don’t work yourself up right now. Chill, even it means acting numb for a while.]”

“[I’ve been a total bitch,]” Madeline said.

“[You have,]” Jordan said. “[And you should apologize to several people. But not right now. And not until you put yourself back together, at least a little. So, again, chill. Give yourself some time.]”

“[…Before we fought, you talked about how we didn’t leave word with anyone where we were going. Win counted on that. I thought about you and Drew…it made me think about my own family.]”

“[I didn’t know you had siblings,]” Jordan said.

“[Five. But I don’t have a good relationship with any of my family on Earth,]” Madeline confessed. “[I’m a screw-up, and no one in my family lets me forget it. Thinking about you being able to trust Drew like that…pissed me off. Then I thought I’d killed you for a second and…]”

“[I get it,]” Jordan nodded. “[Give it time.]”

“[…Yeah.]”

Madeline turned her attention back out the Jack’s window. “[Jesus…]” she breathed, looking at the sprawl of the Vorak base. “[How many are there?]”

Moon vehicles and Vorak soldiers could be seen crisscrossing half the asteroid’s surface.

“[Too many,]” Jordan said.

Even Donnie looked pale at the idea of fighting even some of them.

“[…Even just their Adepts…they would outnumber us a dozen to one.]”

“[Correct,]” Tasser said, waltzing in. “[I hope you all learned your lesson. Anyone still think they’re hot shit? If so, there’s always Nai.]”

“[We could sell ticket to that,]” Nerin smiled, just barely misspeaking her English.

“It’s time then?” Jordan asked.

“Yup. We’re officially being let go, and the Ironwill aren’t chasing us. Which means it’s time to address consequences,” Tasser said.

“[Listen up,]” Jordan said, standing up next to Tasser. “[You guys screwed up. And that matters. Hence, consequences: you five are officially disbanded. You aren’t going to call yourselves ‘the Ronin’ ever again. There isn’t a group to give that label anymore. From here on out, you are each, individually, puppies.]”

[“Seriously?]” Donnie scoffed.

“[Puppies are reckless, temperamental, and prone to damaging themselves, others, and their surroundings,]” Jordan answered easily.

“[Gee, thanks,]” Johnny said.

“[…She’s not wrong,]” Ben said.

Madeline nodded painfully.

Tasser commented subtly.

Jordan agreed. “[Now guess what? Puppies are also universally beloved. They’re cute, endearing, pleasant to spend time around, impressive, and teachable. Just because you guys have fucked up, doesn’t mean you’re suddenly the bottom of the food chain. Kemon set up his camp with a very loose system of accountability. Fact is, screwups or not, you’re still the responsible ones among the abductees. So we all need to make up for lost time and start acting like it. Take your lumps, learn from your mistakes, and you might wind up being the people you wanted to be sooner than you think.]”

“[…Yeah. We can do that,]” Madeline said.

“[Nuh-uh. None of this ‘we’ crap. Funnily enough, today’s lesson is in anti -teamwork. None of this peer pressure bullshit. If even one person sees something wrong? Say so,]” Tasser said.

“[I can do that,]” Madeline followed.

“[So can I,]” Johnny said.

“[…I’ll do my best,]” Donnie said. He was still visibly upset about being shot. But fair enough.

“[What if…I don’t think I’m really suited to lead any of us?]” Ben asked.

“[Then you think about how smart you have to be to admit that,]” Tasser said. “[Now, there’s one more of you. I’ll wait too. It’ll be awkward, and I won’t care.]”

Aarti cracked a smile despite the day.

“[Yeah. I can do that too.]”

“Good,” Tasser said. “Then the first order of business is to get in better Starspeak practice. So there’s a soft ban on English until we reconnect with the Fafin.”

“In the meantime…” Jordan said, “let’s go get you guys bunks, and… welcome to the Jack.”

·····

A few hours later, a pearl spat out good news.

Yes!

Yesyesyes!

Jordan’s end had come through.

Win was coming.

All that was left was him… and Kemon.