The Search for Gram Read online

  “To the death,” replied the Thor. “It is the only possible outcome of single combat. Do you accept?”

  A momentary wave of panic darted through Calvin, and his eyes jumped from side to side as his body unconsciously tried to look for a way out. Shaking his head, he regained control. He took a breath, held it for a second and then released it. He’d been in worse positions; he’d get through this. He nodded his head. “I do,” he said with more enthusiasm than he felt.

  “Bring in the challenger!” called the Thor. A door on the other side of the room opened, and one of the blue Aesir came out, held by two of the green topsiders. “I’ll kill him!” the Drow screamed. “I’ll kill them all! No aliens should be allowed on our world! No more alien obligations!” Spittle flew from his mouth, and he jerked violently, trying to free himself from the two Aesir holding him.

  “Thor, he doesn’t…he doesn’t appear totally sane,” said Captain Sheppard.

  “I’m afraid he’s not,” replied the Aesir. “He has his good moments and his bad. This, unfortunately, is not one of his good ones. He was exiled to a small county where he couldn’t harm himself or anyone else; however, he somehow snuck back into the capital when he heard foreigners had come.”

  “You’ve got to call off the duel!”

  “I cannot,” replied the Thor. “Once accepted, it cannot be undone.”

  “It’s okay, sir,” said Calvin. “If he’s crazy, he can’t fight very well, can he? I need to do this.”

  Captain Sheppard raised an eyebrow.

  “Really, sir,” said Calvin with a nod. “I’ve faced worse odds.”

  “If you say so,” said Captain Sheppard, not sounding convinced.

  The challenger had stopped struggling and had fallen forward onto his knees although the two Aesir holding him maintained their grip. The Aesir no longer resisted, but he had lapsed into a litany of, “I’ll kill him,” which was even more frightening. A trail of drool from one side of his mouth reached the floor.

  “Want me to take your place?” asked Night from Calvin’s side. “Killing crazy aliens is my specialty.”

  “I have a feeling that, once accepted, there is no way for me to swap out,” replied Calvin. He looked back at the Aesir and saw there were now drool streams from both sides of his mouth. “On the other hand, if I don’t win, feel free to kill him afterward.”

  Night put his hand on Calvin’s shoulder and met his gaze. “I will,” Night replied. Calvin could see his eyes were like ice, and he stifled a shudder. If Calvin went down, Night would kill the Aesir; of that he had no doubt.

  “Bring out the weapons,” said the Thor. Two Drow came through the same door the challenger had used, each bearing a long box. One went to the challenger and the other crossed the open floor to stand in front of Calvin. The Aesir opened the box, and Calvin saw two silver rapiers inside. Although the metalwork on the guards and quillons surrounding the handles was exquisite, Calvin could tell the points were sharp and functional.

  “Do I take one or two?” he asked.

  “That is up to you,” replied the Aesir.

  Not having a shield or anything else to protect himself with, Calvin removed both of the rapiers from the box. Nearly a meter long and slender, the blades had cutting edges down both sides from their centers to their tips. He swung them back and forth to get the feel, and realized they weren’t heavy enough for him to use the sides of the blades; like most rapiers, they were thrusting weapons. He tried to recall everything he had ever downloaded on fighting with a rapier. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much. One of the points he did remember was that it took years to perfect rapier combat. He didn’t have years; he didn’t even have minutes.

  “There is something you must know,” said Captain Nightsong under his breath. “Reeve Farhome is an Eco Warrior.”

  Calvin stopped looking at the rapiers and spun in Nightsong’s direction. “Really, this is a good time to tell me? An Eco Warrior? Just what the hell is that?”

  “They are members of elite units who can manipulate matter using nanobots.”

  “Nanobots?”

  “Miniature robots that act at the microscopic level. I believe Farhome’s specialty is life.”

  “Okay, he has miniature robots, what can he do with them?”

  “I’m sorry,” said Nightsong; “in his case, I don’t know.”

  Calvin could feel eyes on him, and he looked up to find Farhome staring at him. The Aesir was no longer talking or drooling; instead, the Aesir’s gaze was now laser-focused on Calvin. Calvin found he liked the Aesir better when he was drooling. Two more Drow came and led Captain Sheppard, Night and Captain Nightsong from the dueling floor. The two Aesir holding Farhome also left.

  “Is the challenger ready?” asked the Thor.

  “Yes, Thor,” Farhome replied. His voice was even, and his eyes never left Calvin.

  “Is the challenged ready?”

  “As ready as I will ever be.” He assumed a defensive pose.

  “Then let the contest begin.”

  Nothing happened.

  Calvin stayed where he was, waiting for his opponent, but the Aesir remained motionless, continuing to glare at Calvin. Calvin remained ready, but didn’t want to advance and put himself at a disadvantage. After about 10 seconds of tense waiting, the Aesir ran the blades of his swords together with a clash and said, “I hope you are ready, Terran; it’s time for you to die.” Holding both rapiers in front of him, he advanced toward Calvin, who waited at his end of the arena.

  As the Aesir got closer on him, Calvin tried to remain calm, yet ready. He kept his upper body square to the Aesir, his right hand forward and high, and his left hand low.

  As the Aesir reached him, Calvin feinted with his right hand and followed with a killing thrust from his left. Farhome blocked both thrusts with only a twitch of his weapons. “If that is the best you can do,” said the Aesir, “this fight won’t last very long.” He let out a high-pitched giggle. “Neither will you.”

  Calvin unleashed a series of attacks, but all of them were blocked with ease. Farhome reached back and thrust one of his rapiers into the ground behind him so he could cover his mouth while he yawned. “This is really quite boring,” he said when the yawn ended. “Time for some fun.” He recovered his second sword without looking.

  “Maior!” the Aesir said. In a blink, Farhome swelled in size, growing from just under six feet tall to almost eight feet tall. Worse, where before he had only been blocking Calvin’s attacks, now the Aesir began attacking him in earnest. With a shock, Calvin realized his opponent also now had a tremendous reach advantage. The additional height allowed his opponent to rain blows down on Calvin from an altitude he wasn’t used to defending against, and after only a few blocks he could feel the muscles in his arms burning. Before he could adjust to the new fighting style, Calvin was hit in a number of places, and blood began streaming down his body.

  “Maximus!” the Aesir said. Farhome grew in size again, now standing almost 10 feet tall. Along with the additional height came even more reach, and Calvin found himself blocking strikes from all directions. He was forced to backpedal as the Aesir reached over and tried to skewer him from behind.

  The Aesir took two large steps and was back within reach of Calvin. The Terran took another cut at Farhome’s midsection as the Aesir approached, hoping to land a blow that would even the fight.

  It wasn’t to be.

  Calling out, “Minimus!” the Aesir shrank to just over three feet tall, and Calvin’s sword passed over his opponent, doing no damage. Stepping forward, Farhome drove one of his rapiers through Calvin’s right foot and into the ground, pinning him firmly in place. Before Calvin could adjust to his smaller height, he also stabbed Calvin several times with his remaining sword.

  “Mediocris!” the Aesir said, returning to his normal height. He stepped back to survey the results of his attack, and he smiled as he watched Calvin try to remove the rapier from his foot.

  The pain in Calvin�
�s foot was intense, and his grip was too slick with blood to pull out his opponent’s rapier while still holding onto his own swords.

  Farhome turned to address the Thor. “This is the person that is going to solve our problems?” He giggled. “I don’t see how. He seems to be having problems going anywhere at the moment.” He giggled again.

  Through the pain, Calvin had a moment of clarity. He knew he was never going to beat the Aesir the way he had been fighting; Calvin needed a new plan or he’d be dead. Dropping both his rapiers, he grabbed the hilt of the sword piercing his foot with both hands and pulled with all his augmented strength.

  The pain was blinding, and he almost passed out, but slowly…slowly, he could feel the sword give way. Finally, with a spurt of blood, the rapier pulled out of the floor and through his foot. The pain was enormous, but no longer blinding, and his vision cleared as the Aesir turned back toward him. Seeing Calvin free, he said “Maximus!” grew to his full height and charged. He held his rapier extended in front of him, intending to run Calvin through.

  Calvin could see the rage in Farhome’s eyes, and knew the Aesir was done toying with him. This time, Farhome intended to kill him. Realizing he was out of time, Calvin took the Aesir’s blade and threw it at Farhome with all his might.

  The sword glimmered in the artificial light as it flew end over end toward the challenger. The Aesir saw it coming and stopped in place. “Mediocris!” he said, shrinking to his normal height. He grinned as he followed the flight of the rapier as it spun past him overhead.

  A complete miss.

  What he hadn’t noticed was Calvin had followed the throw and was charging right behind the sword, leaving a trail of bloody footprints in his wake. As the challenger’s eyes came back down, he only saw a flash, and Calvin was on him.

  Calvin dove at the Aesir, hoping to tackle him, but Farhome was just as fast. “Minimus!” he said, shrinking to three feet tall as he dove to the side.

  Seeing he was going to overshoot his opponent, Calvin reached out and grabbed Farhome’s collar as he shot past. Unprepared to be grappled, the Aesir was spun around as Calvin’s momentum whipped him back in the other direction, and both crashed to the floor.

  Although the Aesir was half his normal height, Calvin realized he still retained all his mass, and Calvin was pulled up short. The Terran tried to pull Farhome closer, but the challenger struggled and, with a shout, shifted back to his largest size, kicking and flailing in all directions. Slick with blood, Calvin could feel his grip slipping as the Aesir rolled away. Coming to one knee, he got his good foot underneath him and sprang onto the giant Aesir. Farhome had his back to Calvin as he rolled and didn’t see the Terran coming. Before Farhome could get up, Calvin got his right arm around the Aesir’s throat and locked it into place with his left.

  The Aesir changed size, going back to his smallest form, but Calvin was locked in and moved along with Farhome’s body as it changed. Although slippery with blood, Calvin held on as the Aesir went through several more changes, one quickly following the other as Farhome tried to dislodge the Terran. Calvin was spun from side to side like a rag doll, and he realized that he knew nothing about Aesir physiology; while the choking attack would have worked against a human, he had no idea if it would be effective on an Aesir. As Farhome struggled, Calvin realized he was out of choices; if he let go, the Aesir would kill him.

  With that thought in mind, he summoned all his waning energy and squeezed as hard as he could. The Aesir continued to fight and flip around on the ground for another five seconds, then his struggles began to lose strength. Within another five seconds, the Aesir went limp.

  “If the Thor would be so kind, I believe the contest is concluded,” said one of the reeves from behind Calvin. “There is nothing to prove with the death of someone who clearly lacks all of his faculties.”

  “I agree,” said the Thor. “Lieutenant Commander Hobbs, this contest is at an end, and you have won. I would be in your debt if you would release Reeve Farhome instead of killing him as is your right.”

  Completely spent, Calvin slowly unlocked his hold on the elf, afraid of what the Aesir might do, but the challenger remained limp and unconscious. The Terran laid his opponent on the floor. Struggling up to one knee, his vision went gray as he turned to look at the Thor.

  “If that is all–,” he said, and then fell over unconscious on top of the Aesir.

  Sick Bay, Golirion, HD 69830, June 2, 2021

  The first thing Calvin was aware of was an overwhelming urge to throw up. He leaned over the side of the bed, and his stomach emptied, vomit coating the pair of shoes alongside his bed.

  “Thanks,” said Captain Sheppard, who was wearing the shoes, “those were my dress shoes.”

  His stomach empty, Calvin regained some of his strength and rolled over. “Sorry, sir,” he said, the aftertaste threatening to set him off again.

  Seeing the look on Calvin’s face, his commanding officer moved a little further away from the splash zone. “It’s good to see you moving,” said Captain Sheppard.

  Calvin got control over his stomach and looked up. “How long have I been out?” he asked.

  “About a day,” replied Captain Sheppard. “You had us scared there for a while.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “Hey, the war hero’s awake!” called Night, walking into the infirmary. He started to walk up to the side of the bed the CO was on, but saw the puddle and went around to the other side. “I brought you something to eat.”

  “Oh really?” asked Calvin. “What have you got? I’d eat almost anything right now, just to get this taste out of my mouth.”

  “You’ll have to,” replied Night. “All the shuttle had were a few MREs…and the crew had kind of picked through them.”

  Calvin winced. The Meal, Ready to Eat was considered be three great lies in one; it wasn’t a meal, it would never be ready, and above all else, you should never, ever, try to eat one. “What flavors were left?” he asked with a sigh.

  Night held up two brown packages. He looked at the one in his right hand. “Meal Rejected by the Enemy #1 is the vegetarian meal.”

  “Gross,” said Calvin.

  Night looked at the one in his left hand. “Massive Rectal Explosion #2 is chicken fajitas.”

  “Grosser,” said Calvin with a sigh. “Give me the vegetarian one.”

  Night shrugged. “It’s your funeral.” He dropped the chicken fajitas on the floor and kicked it under the bed. “Good riddance.” He tore the top off the MRE and handed it to Calvin. “You must be really hungry if you’re going to eat that.”

  “I just want to get this foul taste out of my mouth,” Calvin replied. He dumped out the packet on the bed. “The candy bar and the gum are the only things I want from it.” He pushed the rest of the items away.

  “I’ll take the tabasco sauce if you don’t want it,” said Night. “That always comes in handy when eating Navy food.”

  “Be my guest,” Calvin said, putting the entire chocolate bar in his mouth. He turned back to Captain Sheppard. “Wha’ did I miff?” he asked around the mouthful of chocolate.

  “After you beat the reeve, you passed out from blood loss when you tried to stand up,” the CO replied. “The Aesir brought you to their infirmary to patch you up. They have had contact with humans before, so they were able to take care of you…although they did say you might have a reaction to the anesthesia.” He looked down and rubbed his right shoe on the bed frame, trying to get something off it. “Unfortunately, they neglected to mention what that reaction might be.”

  He shook his head. “In any event, once you beat the reeve, the other members of the council had no recourse but to allow us to try to solve their problem. It was obvious there were still some divisions within the council, but the Thor overrode them. We were just waiting for you to be able to travel so we could get the hell out of here.”

  “I see the victor is awake,” announced the Thor, coming into the room with Captain Nightsong in to
w. “I am very happy you defeated Reeve Farhome; he was the wrong person to lead the mission to find our missing starships.”

  “Thanks, I’m happy I won too,” replied Calvin, with a heavy dose of irony.

  “I am sorry you had to go through that,” said the Thor; “so sorry, in fact, that I have decided to dispatch one of my Eco Warrior teams with you. They will be helpful in facilitating your movement through a variety of environments.” He started to come around to the side of the bed, saw the puddle and stayed where he was.

  “I’m sorry, Thor,” replied Captain Sheppard, “but I’m not familiar with Eco Warrior teams. Captain Nightsong mentioned Reeve Farhome was a member of one of the teams before Calvin’s combat, but we don’t have any idea what those teams are.”

  “An Eco Warrior team is a group of four or five specialists. Each team member has significant experience manipulating one of the natural elements: earth, air, fire, water and life. They have all practiced with their chosen elements over the course of many centuries, millennia in some cases, and are extremely experienced. Should they be needed, the Eco Warriors will serve you well.” He looked back at Calvin. “If you can walk, it would be easier to show you than tell you.”

  “I think I can make it,” replied Calvin, and he slid to the opposite side of the bed from Captain Sheppard. He started to get up, then realized he had a problem. “Perhaps someone could get me some clothes first?”

  Eco Warrior Training Facility, Golirion, HD 69830, June 2, 2021

  The Terrans were met at the training facility by one of the Aesir Eco Warrior team leaders. “Welcome,” he said as he opened the door and stood aside so the Terrans could enter ahead of him. “Our Eco Warriors are some of the best and brightest craftsmen and women in our society. If they can’t make an element do what you want, it can’t be done.”

  Calvin’s eyes scanned the large open room as he walked through the door. If this was a room of warriors, they were unlike any he had ever seen. One male was creating a sculpture of a tree, which was perfect right down to the veins in the individual leaves. Another male juggled what looked like five balls of fire. Calvin couldn’t tell how he was able to catch them without being burned. A female, with her eyes half-closed and a smile on her face, sat in a large fountain that sprayed water in at least 25 streams. A second female sat in a corner with her legs crossed while electrical arcs danced around her and sometimes on her. A third male held something which looked like a hawk. While Calvin watched, the Aesir launched it into the air, and the ‘bird’ flapped over to the opposite side of the room and caught a small animal running away. The bird returned to the Aesir and dropped the captured creature in his open hand before landing on his other arm. The Aesir released the animal, and the process repeated itself.