Merkiaari Wars: 03 - Operation Oracle Read online

  “It’s settled then,” Shima said. “I’ll get the supplies we’ll need, and we can go caving and exploring for a few days. When Kazim gets back, I’m going to take him hunting. It’s embarrassing watching him stalk prey. He needs lessons.”

  Chailen and Sharn traded looks behind Shima’s back, and grinned.

  * * *

  12 ~ Honour of the Regiment

  Petruso Base, Snakeholme

  Shima’s caving plans worked out very well over the next few days, but first she went into the city on the maglev train, and spent an entire day there buying everything three people would need to survive alone in the wilds. She added ropes, lights, and other things needed to explore caves the right way. Tei’Burgton insisted they take emergency beacons with them, and Shima agreed, but they were the kind that transmitted when turned on and not before. Shima herself had insisted upon that. She had often taken one with her when hunting on Harmony and prided herself upon never using it. She would not start now.

  For five days, Shima and the others explored the caves along the coast and just inland. Shima did enjoy it, but that wasn’t why she went. It was for Chailen and Sharn, a small beginning on the debt she owed them. She didn’t bring up her reasons of course; they were family and would be insulted, but Shima felt that she had let Chailen down this past orbit. By letting herself fall into a funk, she had put a greater burden than necessary upon her sib and her mate at the worst possible time. Their world, like that of so many others, had ended when the Merki came. Chailen had lost her father, her mate barely made a living for them by scavenging and trading trash for food, and on top of all that her sib had been suicidal and needed constant watching. This was a chance to put things back into order, to roll back time to before the war when Shima looked after Chailen not the other way around.

  The days passed.

  Shima hunted and supplied the camp with fresh meat. It was good exercise after so long. Her muscles ached, and she slept well, but already she could feel her strength returning. It would take time, but not too much time as the gravity of Snakeholme made a simple walk a real work out here. They moved camp three times as they explored. To Shima one cave system would have satisfied her, but Sharn wanted to compare each one and planned to come back to explore them all more thoroughly later.

  Chailen enjoyed herself and seemed more relaxed than she had in a very long time.

  They returned to the base satisfied and considered their time well spent, but Shima was not happy to learn that Varya and Kazim had returned briefly while she was away, and had left again. It was as if they were trying to avoid her on purpose! Well, she would see about that!

  The day after her return to the base, Shima dressed herself in her hunting harness, and added the emergency beacon to it. She left her translator in her room. Her English was more than good enough now, and if she became stuck, Gina’s Shan was excellent despite her odd accent. All the vipers spoke Shan well, even those who had never uttered a word of it. Their internal computer systems translated in real time.

  Shima left her room to find Chailen. Sharn was out. He’d been invited to the tech centre again where they were dissecting Merkiaari bodies. Shima shivered at the thought. Research into the Merki made sense, but she didn’t like the thought of the monstrous aliens polluting Snakeholme’s air. Tei’Burgton wanted to know how the modern Merki troopers differed from those his vipers had encountered before. They acted differently and regenerated wounds, but preliminary tests had already shown they did not have nanotechnology swimming in their veins as Humans did. That must mean genetic drift was involved, and Shima expected they would learn it had been engineered into them. She was a scientist herself and should take a greater interest she supposed, but right now, all she could think about was a certain annoying male who was seemingly spending all his energy upon avoiding her! Perhaps later she could take the time to help Burgton’s researchers, but not right now.

  “I’m off then,” Shima said to her sib who was reading something on a compad.

  “Have fun,” Chailen said sounding distracted. “Tell Kazim I expect to see his recordings before he sends them home.”

  “I will. What’re you reading?”

  Chailen raised the compad and turned the screen so that Shima could see. “It’s just a primer. I’m learning to read Human... ah English. Why do they call it English? Shouldn’t it be Humanish?”

  Shima laughed. “No. English is just one of many Human languages. It’s the main one. Sort of like Shan is the common tongue but we still have clan dialects.”

  “Oh!” Chailen said, sounding impressed that Shima knew that. “Why didn’t they say that? You explained it so much better.”

  “They?”

  “The vipers.”

  Shima’s tail gestured a shrug and she added the dip of a shoulder that made it mean beats me, aliens are weird. “A guess, but maybe the ones you asked speak English as their common tongue and don’t have clans? If you asked different ones they might know a different tongue.”

  “Maybe so, but if they all speak English why bother?”

  Another shrug with her tail. “If we wanted to speak without them knowing what we said, we could use dialect. If they wanted to do the same, they could use another Human tongue. If you learned those, they couldn’t hide anything from you.”

  Chailen stared.

  Shima shifted uncomfortably. “Well, it’s truth!”

  “I see that, but who would think it and why?”

  Shima chuffed in exasperation, turning it into a low growl at the end that told Chailen she was just being contrary and annoying now. Chailen laughed at her, and Shima twitched her ears in annoyance. She was starting to remember how annoying younger sibs could be now that Chailen was more relaxed and more like her old self.

  “I’m going out,” Shima said.

  “So you said.”

  “Well... see you in a few days then.”

  Chailen waved a hand negligently.

  Shima chuffed again and left the house. Chailen could have said be careful at least. Shima glanced back in time to see the blinds on one window settling back. Ha! Chailen had been watching her leave. Feeling suddenly more cheerful, she marched across the parade ground toward the airstrip.

  Petruso Base had its own airstrip and facilities for transporting vipers and their gear to orbit, as well as to various places on the planet for training. It was located a short distance from the base separated from it by a fence pierced by a road. The road was for marching, not vehicles. At least, Shima assumed so because she’d never seen anyone driving on it. Vipers often ran in formation along it to catch a shuttle though. Varya and the others had used a shuttle to reach the survey sites. Shima didn’t know where they were now, but she was sure someone at the airstrip did. The pilot at least must know.

  Shima dropped to all fours and turned the trip into a workout. She pushed herself into a sprint, enjoying the bunching and stretching of muscles. Vipers stopped to stare as she blurred passed them. She had run like this a time or two back during the war. Being chased by Merkiaari could be a very strong motivator. Vipers watched her go by, but none tried to catch her. They could though. Unlike other Humans, vipers could match Shan speed. She had run beside them a time or two. The run was exhilarating but over quickly. She slowed and arrived walking on two legs, looking for someone to ask about Varya.

  Shima stopped before entering any of the buildings. She’d been blind the only time she had been here and didn’t know where to go. None of the buildings had an obvious use except for the tower and maybe the hangars. They looked similar to Shan buildings in form if not in manufacture. She paused to consider if going to the tower would get her into trouble—it would have back home before the war; security wouldn’t have let her enter, but here was very different. She suspected it was because everyone was a viper and had access. She doubted the authorities of other Human planets would let her roam so freely.

  Before she could decide, a shuttle coming in for landing distracted her.
She stopped to watch it taxi toward the nearest parking area. There were other shuttles and dropships parked there, and this one added itself to them. The screaming engines powered down and the hatch opened. Shima recognised Kate in the opening looking back toward the cockpit and talking to someone. Shima walked that way.

  “...promised me goddamnit!” Kate snarled. “I’m not fucking around. You owe me!”

  “I don’t owe you shit, bitch girl. See these stripes? They mean I own your arse!”

  “Yeah,” Kate sneered. “I see them. You want rank, I’ll give you rank. See these bars on my frigging collar?”

  Shima stood there listening in amazement. She knew that Kate was a lieutenant, an officer in the regiment and the stocky bald viper she was arguing with was just a sergeant. He was Master Sergeant Stone, and that was a lesser rank. It confused her. Stone was acting as if he was Kate’s superior. Was he older? He didn’t look old, but Humans lived long and vipers longer still. Besides, Humans were different and didn’t automatically defer to elders the way Shan did.

  Kate stalked down the ramp.

  “You keep mouthing off,” Stone was saying as he appeared in the hatch opening, “and I’ll have those pretty boys off your collar, and you in the brig!”

  “Try it,” Kate sneered. “You promised to help me find my brother.”

  Stone sighed and left the shuttle. He turned back for a moment and keyed the hatch shut. The ramp slid back up and stowed itself within the fuselage.

  “I always keep my word, Richmond.”

  Shima flicked her ears. Of course he did, he was an honourable being. Why Kate thought he was not made her wonder though.

  “And as for rank, it don’t mean squat here. You’re mine. The General gave you a choice, and you chose my new section. You’re mine and that’s it.”

  “No one owns me,” Kate growled.

  “I do, the regiment does, and you can bet your arse the General does. We’ve had this talk. Go off on your own and see what happens. You. Will. Be. Scrapped. We don’t mess around with rogue units, Richmond.”

  “My brother—”

  “Stow it,” Stone growled and then sighed. “I keep my word. I’ll help you, but I can’t do shit while your systems are busted! What, you think I can assign an operation to an unfit unit and not have the General ask questions? Get real.”

  “I don’t need enhancements to do my damn job! I did it fine for years before meeting you!”

  Stone shook his head. “Now you’re just being stupid. It doesn’t matter whether I think you can handle an op or not. I could probably find you something to do, but I won’t because he won’t sign off on it! The General will not sign off... got it?”

  “Yeah yeah, so you said before.”

  The harmonies revealed more to Shima than the angry words, and confused her even more. They argued and sounded angry at each other, but the harmonies showed they were feeling other things. Shima’s ears went hard back and then struggled up in embarrassment. Perhaps this was some Human mating display? Surely not, but Stone was feeling very... ah amorous toward Kate? Was aggression part of a Human male’s courtship like the Shkai’lon males did back home? And Kate! Well, if she had been Shan, Shima would have said Kate had just come into her fertile season and was looking to mate. Right now!

  Shima had never experienced this situation amongst Humans before. She didn’t know whether to absent herself or not. She lost the opportunity when Kate finally noticed her. Kate’s face blazed red making the scars very and hideously visible.

  “Hey, Shima, looking for me?” Kate said, slurring her words as she always did since being wounded. She crossed the distance between them with a quick jog in her step. She offered her right hand, and Shima placed her palm against it. “Gratz on the new eyes. Wish they could fix mine. It sucks dinosaur balls walking about with only one like this.”

  “Hey Kate, may you live in harmony. Why can they not?”

  Kate shrugged. “They can, but they want to fix me all at once and that’s harder. They say they’re closer to a fix than they were. We’ll see. At least I have one good peeper. If both were busted like your old ones, I wouldn’t be waiting calmly, I can tell you!”

  Shima laughed. “Is that what you’re doing, waiting calmly?”

  Kate grimaced, the scars turning her face into a horror. “Not so much.” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder toward Stone. “Ask him.”

  Stone came over and offered his hand, the light winked on the gold coloured contacts in his right palm. “I greet you, Shima, may you live in harmony.”

  “Sorry to interrupt your argument,” Shima said after returning the greeting. Stone glanced at Kate. The harmonies revealed their auras flaring and touching. Shima blinked rapidly in consternation. If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn they were mated already. “I ah... was hoping to find someone who could take me out to find Gina and Varya.”

  “You’ve come to the right place,” Kate said. She turned toward Stone. “You got her location?”

  Stone’s face blanked as he uplinked to a satellite, Shima had seen that before. It was as if he was reading something or remembering something no one else could see, which she assumed must be close to the truth. She had never wanted a computer in her head, but Shima imagined it must be handy for research. She would make do with the wristcomp they had given her, and happy to do it.

  “We can take you right to them,” Kate said confidently, “but we probably won’t be able to land, Shima. Gina told me the other day they’re surveying the wilds. I can get you down using a line if you’re willing though.”

  “That sounds like fun,” Shima said and Kate grinned.

  “Got ‘em,” Stone said. “Want me to let them know you’re coming?”

  “Please no,” Shima said on a whim. “I think a surprise would be good. Can you put me down far enough away not to be detected?”

  Kate shrugged. “Oh sure, easy. Be a bit of a hike for you though. Gina’s sensors will pick up the shuttle otherwise. You know you can’t surprise her, right?”

  Shima didn’t know that actually, and it might be fun to find out. She would like to try someday, but it could be dangerous in this situation. Out in the wilds, Gina might shoot her. Better be safe.

  “Good point. Can you tell Gina that I’m coming, but tell her not to tell Kazim?”

  Kate laughed. “Why not?”

  The three of them went back to the shuttle and Stone opened the hatch; he would be their pilot. Kate sat with Shima in the cabin and they chatted while Stone moved the shuttle back to the start of the runway. Kate practiced her Shan, while Shima caught up with her Human friend’s life since coming home.

  “You’re a lieutenant now, not a captain?” Shima said. “Should I say sorry to hear of your demotion?”

  Kate rolled her eyes. “Hell no! I never wanted promotion in the first place, let alone to the rarefied heights of the captains. Only took it because Dicky Hames got killed. Shame about that. He was a good guy for an officer.”

  “He was a veteran, yes? I have that right, old vipers are veterans?”

  “Hmmm kind of. You’re right about him being old. He was one of the original vipers—not many of them left you know? Stone and Hames were recruited at the same time. Yeah, he was old and a veteran, but to be absolutely correct, a veteran is someone with experience.” Kate grimaced as the shuttle accelerated down the runway and leapt aloft. “I’m not explaining this right. I can be a veteran and not one at the same time you see?”

  Shima blinked and flicked her ears in confusion. She shook her head as well, in case Kate didn’t understand.

  “Sorry, I’ll try again. I’m a veteran at fighting Merkiaari now and so are you, Shima, but I’m still new at being a viper. Stone is a veteran viper and a veteran Merki fighter...” Kate winced. “Is that clearer or am I just making it worse? Lucky you had Canada make first contact and not me, huh?”

  Shima laughed. “You have so many interchangeable words that are different but mean the sa
me thing, Kate, but I think I understand. I’m a veteran hunter because I have a lot of experience not because of my age. I’m still young.”

  “Exactly right,” Kate said looking relieved. “I took over for Hames, and Gina took over for me, but it was a temporary thing. I’ve never cared about promotion; the mission is more important to me than rank, but Gina isn’t like me. She does care—a lot. Too much sometimes. She’s a worrier you know? She feels responsible for everyone and everything—she cares about her men as well as the mission and tries to balance the two. That makes her a good officer I suppose.”

  “Balance is always good, without it there can be no harmony.”

  “Don’t start that,” Kate said crossly. “Religion isn’t my thing.”

  Shima cocked her head and flicked her ears, but Kate didn’t understand the gesture. It meant she wanted more information.

  “I know the word, Kate, but this isn’t about religion. Harmony is not a religion; it’s a way of life. Shan do not believe in a deity or a maker of all things, as I understand some Humans do. My people put no stock in it.”

  “But how can you not? You’re always talking about the harmonies.”

  “The harmonies are not what you seem to think, Kate,” Shima said. It had always made her sad that Humans could not sense the harmonies. What a horror, to live life oblivious that way. “The harmonies are created by life itself, all life, not a single entity that you might wish to call God. Take me into space and leave me alone up there, and I would be cut off from the harmonies. If you were right, there would be nowhere in the universe that I could not sense them.”

  Kate nodded slowly. “I think I see. The trip here must have been horrible for you.”

  “At first, yes, but not the way you think. I wasn’t alone and the harmonies were with me, but I couldn’t see, Kate. Back home I spent all my time in the garden because I could use the harmonies to see, at least in a crude way. Aboard ship I was slowly going mad until Stone gave me the simulator helmet.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”