Asbaran Solutions (The Revelations Cycle Book 2) Read online

  “Too smart? I’m the one that didn’t get to take over the company because I couldn’t graduate from university.”

  “It was never that you weren’t smart enough; you absolutely are. What I think is that you were too afraid you couldn’t measure up to your grandfather’s standards. I used to watch how you followed him around, taking in everything he did and said. When he died and you started to face up to the fact that you would someday have his place in the company, you got scared. I could see it in how you carried yourself. Your whole bearing changed. You didn’t want to be compared with him, so you did everything you could to prove you weren’t him. You became lazy. You got into fights. Anything so people wouldn’t say, ‘He’s almost as good as his grandfather.’ You idolized your grandfather and didn’t think you could do the job he did.”

  “Maybe,” Nigel said, although a tiny voice deep inside him heard the truth in Spivey’s words. He had been crushed when his grandfather died, and it had been the start of his downward spiral. He would never have recognized it if Spivey hadn’t said it…but it was true. His eyes started to mist over as he remembered his grandfather and how he had always said Nigel would be the best leader Asbaran Solutions had ever had.

  Nigel cleared his throat to get rid of the lump that had suddenly appeared. “What was the other reason?” he asked gruffly.

  “The second reason is personal,” Spivey replied. “As good as your sister was, she was only the second best in your generation; you are far brighter and far wilier than either of your siblings. Your standardized tests were off the charts; that’s why your family was so disappointed in you—you had more potential than anyone, and you squandered it on alcohol and women.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

  “The other reason I didn’t tell you is I truly believed you would succeed. I knew that somehow you’d find a way to retake Moorhouse…and then they’d kill my daughter, when I was so close to getting her back.”

  “So close to getting her back?”

  “Yes, they promised me I would get her back when your company was ruined.”

  “So this was never about your daughter, this was always about destroying Asbaran Solutions.”

  “I didn’t realize that until after your sister was captured, but yes, I believe that is true.”

  Nigel turned and walked toward the door.

  “Where are you going?” Spivey asked.

  “I’m going to take back Moorhouse,” Nigel said over his shoulder, “but first I’m going to get your daughter.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter Eleven

  Houston Starport, Houston, Texas, USA

  “Did you get what you needed from him?” Turk asked as Nigel burst from the cell.

  “Yes and no,” said Nigel, brushing past him to walk quickly down the hall. He stopped suddenly, looking around with a puzzled expression. Finally, he took a deep breath, released it slowly, and let out a chuckle.

  “Can I help you?” Turk asked as he and Steve caught up to Nigel.

  “Yeah, you can,” Nigel said. He smiled ruefully at Steve. “Spivey was right; I’m going to have to break the spoiled brat mindset at some point. I busted out of there, intent on beating the answers out of the Cochkala. It’s the way I’ve acted for a while now; fighting is how I solved problems. There’s two problems with that.”

  “Oh?” Steve asked. “Do tell.”

  “Well, I don’t know where the damned Cochkala is, for one thing.”

  Steve laughed. “And the other?”

  “Did you see the thing? It would kick my ass if I got into a fight with it.”

  All three men laughed this time, and a wan smile crossed Nigel’s face.

  “So what are you going to do?” Steve asked.

  “I’m going to stop and think a few minutes before doing anything rash.”

  “Wow…” Steve replied. “How unlike you.”

  “Yeah, isn’t it?” Nigel smiled ruefully. “I do need to talk to the Cochkala, though, as well as the Flatar and the Jehas.”

  “The Jehas?”

  “They’re the things that looked like giant millipedes. They’re great shipbuilders and engineers. They’re also pretty good pilots when you can get them out of the engine room.”

  “So, you need to talk to a bunch of aliens,” Steve said. “What are you going to talk to them about?”

  “I’m going to ask them where they’re holding Spivey’s daughter.”

  “And you think they’re going to tell you?”

  “Probably not. Especially not the badger. He’s in charge, and he’s the one I’m least likely to get anything out of.”

  “Which are you going to start with?”

  “The badger.”

  “But I thought he’s the least likely to talk.”

  “He is…but maybe he’ll give us something we can use on the rest of them.” Nigel turned to Turk. “Can you show me where the Cochkala is?”

  “Yes sir, he’s just a couple of doors down.” He led the group to a blank door; unlike the rest of the doors, there were no guards.

  “You’re not guarding him?” Nigel asked.

  “Yes sir, we absolutely are.” He opened the door, and they walked into a room similar in size to the first one, but the only furniture in it was a bed, to which the Cochkala was handcuffed, both ‘hand’ and ‘foot.’ Since there were no chairs, the two guards were forced to stand on the opposite side of the room, with rifles at the ready. “There’s no leaving this one alone,” Turk added. “He almost broke out when we first got him here. Put two soldiers in the infirmary, too, the bastard.”

  “Can he understand us?”

  “Yes, he has a translator. He may act like he can’t, but he can.”

  Nigel walked over to the bed.

  “Sir, please don’t stand so close,” Turk said. “I’m not sure the cuffs can hold him, and you’re standing in the line of fire.”

  Nigel and Steve moved to the end of the bed, out of the way.

  “How long do you intend to hold me here?” the Cochkala asked. “We both know it’s against a number of treaties and accords.”

  “Interesting,” Nigel said. “You’re not going to pretend you don’t know how to speak English?”

  “You know I have a translator; what would be the point? Besides, you’re violating my rights and if you don’t release me, I will be forced to bring charges.”

  “Oh, you’re going to bring charges, are you? I’m not aware that we are actually members of the Union yet, so I’m pretty sure any of the Union’s treaties and accords aren’t binding on us. What is binding are the rules on unregistered travel to Earth, which I’m pretty sure you are in violation of. Maybe I should just turn you over to the authorities and see what they have to say.”

  “Obviously you aren’t going to, or you would have done it at the start. Now that you’ve held me here, you are as guilty as I am.”

  “Perhaps I’m just waiting to hear what you have to say. I may kill you if your information isn’t useful.”

  “You’re not going to kill me. I’m worth an awful lot; my ransom would be substantial.”

  “That’s probably true, but maybe we don’t want word of your capture to get out. Maybe we don’t want it to ever get out.” The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees with the pronouncement.

  “And why would that be?”

  “Because maybe we already know where she’s being held, and we’re mounting a rescue mission. Of course, once she’s safe, maybe we’ll let your people know that you told us where she was being held…and then we’ll let you go. That might be fun, too.” Nigel turned to Steve. “C’mon, let’s go.”

  Nigel took two steps, then turned around suddenly and went back to the alien’s bed. In a sudden move, he grabbed the Cochkala’s translation pendant and pulled it over the creature’s head. “Thanks,” Nigel said; “I always wanted one of these.”

  The two men walked out of the cell with Turk. “That was…od
d,” Steve said once they were out in the passage. “I’m not entirely sure who won that discussion.”

  “Won it?” Nigel asked. “No one won it. That was just the opening arguments. I wanted to give him something to think about while he lies there. I’m pretty sure he knows we don’t know where the girl is.”

  “How would he know that?”

  “If we knew where the girl was, we’d have no use for him. We’d have either killed him or ransomed him. Obviously, we still need him for some reason…we’ll just let him stew on what that is for a while.”

  “Either Spivey was right, and you’re a lot smarter than I thought, or I’m a lot dumber, because I didn’t get any of that from the conversation.”

  “Which do you suppose it is?”

  “I’m not sure,” Steve replied. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out. I hope it’s the first.”

  “Me too. Otherwise, we’re screwed.”

  Houston Starport, Houston, Texas, USA

  “So, who’s next?” Turk asked. “The chipmunk or the bugs?”

  “Let’s go see the bugs; they’ll probably be the simplest, although they’ll know the least.”

  Turk led the two men to another guarded door. “Oh, shit,” Nigel said as he opened the door. The Jehas had disassembled the bunk bed and were using the pieces to tunnel through the wall of the cell. It looked like they were halfway through. The two millipedes turned around with makeshift hammers and awls in their hands.

  “Did I mention they were outstanding engineers?” Nigel asked.

  “What the hell?” Turk exploded. “Allen, get in here!”

  The private ran into the room, rifle at the ready.

  “What the fuck is this?” Turk asked. “They’re halfway through the wall, and you’re standing next to the door. How the fuck did you let this happen?”

  “Gosh, Sergeant Kirkland, I never heard a thing. I had no idea they were doing it.”

  Turk drew his pistol and pointed it at the Jehas. “Before you folks get any ideas with those pointy things, why don’t you drop them and step away from the wall?”

  The Jehas dropped their tools and moved away from them. The equipment barely made a sound as it hit the floor of the cell. Nigel could see that both the hammers and awls had been covered with the padding from the pillows.

  “Allen, why aren’t these prisoners shackled?” Turk asked.

  “Well, uh, look at them, Sergeant Kirkland! They’ve got like 50 pairs of hands! We didn’t have enough zip-ties to tie them all up, so I tied the top and bottom pairs of arms to the bed. I guess they, uh, got out.”

  “You think? Get the hell out of here and get some of the foam from the armory.”

  “Foam, Sergeant Kirkland?”

  “Yeah, we must have some of the anti-mob foam. You spray it on things, and it hardens into an almost-concrete. If they’re going to try to break out, we can hold them with that.”

  “Aw…shit,” one of the Jehas said, its pincers clacking loudly as the translation pendant rendered its speech into English. “What if we promise not to try to get out? I hate that stuff. I’ve been sprayed with it twice, and it gets down into my carapace. It took me years to get rid of it all the last time. Imagine having gravel in your joints; it hurts like getting your grten cut off without anesthetic.”

  “You promise not to try to escape?” Nigel asked.

  “Yes, we will,” both Jehas said.

  “Okay,” Nigel agreed. “We won’t use the foam this time, but I’m going to keep someone in here with a canister of it, just in case.”

  “Thank you,” they both replied.

  “So, let’s talk,” Nigel said. “Where did you come from?”

  “An egg.”

  “No, seriously, what planet did you come from?”

  “We were hatched on XDSP-81DR.”

  “I don’t care where you were hatched, I want to know where you came from, when you came here.”

  “We came down from space.”

  “And where did you come from before that?”

  “Hyperspace.”

  “Where were you before you went into hyperspace?”

  “The stargate.”

  “And where did you come from before that?”

  “In space.”

  “In space around which planet?”

  “XWTP-29SJ.”

  “What did you do there?”

  “Refueled.”

  “Are you getting anywhere with this?” Steve asked. “I thought you said this would be easy.”

  “I said it would be simple; I never said it would be easy. They’re answering the questions; unfortunately, I forgot how literal they were.”

  “Can I ask one?”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay, Jehas. There was a Cochkala onboard your ship. On what planet did it board your ship?”

  “Unknown.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The ship was the Cochkala’s.”

  “What?”

  “We don’t know where it got on. It was on the ship when we came onboard.”

  “Where did you board it?”

  “GrBatch.”

  Steve looked at Nigel and raised an eyebrow.

  “It’s the home world of the Cochkala.”

  “So boarding it there?”

  “Probably a dead end.”

  “We’re getting nowhere fast with them.”

  “No, we’re not.”

  “Should we go speak to the chipmunk?”

  “Yes, let’s.”

  Nigel turned back to the Jehas. “Don’t forget; if you try to escape, you’ll get the foam.”

  Shaking their heads, Nigel, Steve, and Turk left the room.

  “I don’t know about you,” Turk said, “but they made my head hurt.”

  “Mine too,” Nigel replied. “We need to find someone who speaks engineer. In the meantime, let’s go see the Flatar.”

  Turk led them to another unguarded door, and they walked in to find a soldier standing guard over the Flatar, who had been confined to a small cage.

  “Really?” it asked as the men walked in. “A dog cage? Couldn’t you come up with something a little better than this? How humiliating, to be caged like a simple, non-thinking animal.”

  “He’s put two troopers into the infirmary with that bite of his, sir,” Turk advised. “We thought it safer for the long-term health of the company if we just went ahead and caged him for the time being.”

  Nigel nodded and approached the cage. “Dogs can think,” he said, “and in most cases they don’t bite unless they’re trained to do so. What’s your problem?”

  “I don’t like to be touched,” the creature replied, “and I definitely don’t like to be put to sleep.”

  “I see,” Nigel said. “We’ll see what we can do. The real question, though, is what we’re going to do with you. You see, you’re in a pretty bad spot. Your partner’s dead, your boss doesn’t want to tell us what he’s doing here, and your pilots don’t want to tell us where you came from or where you’re heading. We don’t know anything about you except that whatever contract you signed when you hired on with the Cochkala, you’ve failed to complete it. Your principal has been captured, you’ve been captured, and the whole stealth aspect of this mission has been blown. And that’s something you can never get back.”

  “I told him it was asking for trouble for him to come down to the planet,” the Flatar said. “He should have just sent me; I could have blended in.”

  “You probably could have, but now you’re caught and our options for what to do with you are pretty slim. We can’t turn you in to the authorities as you might rat us out to them.”

  “Pun intended?” Steve asked.

  “Yes,” Nigel replied with a smile. “Even though he does look more like a chipmunk than a rat.” He turned back to the Flatar. “So, we can’t give you to the police, we definitely can’t let you go, and we can’t ransom you back to your company, for a number of similar reasons. About the o
nly thing we can do is kill you, which would solve all of our security problems.”

  “But if you killed me, you’d have to kill all of us, including the Cochkala, to ensure the word doesn’t get out.”

  “That’s true. When we decide it has to be done, we will have to kill all of you.”

  “What if there were another way?”

  “And what way would that be?”

  “What if I were to tell you that, with my capture, I have effectively terminated my employment with the Cochkala. How about if you hire me, and I come work for you?”

  “And why, pray tell, would I want to hire you?”

  “Because your off-planet knowledge is limited, where it exists at all. You have little idea how to run a mercenary unit, much less how to conduct an airborne assault. I could help you hire some specialists, where needed, so that your mission will be successful.”

  “So successful you’d come along with us?”

  “Uh, no, sorry. You see, airborne assault isn’t my thing. Too many opportunities to go ‘splat’ or get blown up in the sky where I can’t do anything to prevent it. I don’t like putting my life in someone else’s hands.”

  “What about the Tortantula you were riding? Isn’t that putting your life in someone else’s hands?”

  “Nah, not really. I could always jump out of the saddle any time I wanted. It’s hard to jump out of a dropship that’s taking fire. No thanks.”

  “Well, in that case, I think we have a problem of trust,” Nigel noted. “I’m not sure how we can trust you to work for us and not betray us to your current employer at the first opportunity in order to try to satisfy that contract.”

  “I see,” the alien replied, “and there might be some merit to your argument, if I was still employed by him. But like I told you, getting captured results in a ‘mission fail’ termination of the contract, with no further payment due either me or my unit. Right now, I’m without transportation back to my home planet, and it’s an awfully long walk. Assuming you let me go at some point, and I haven’t given you any reason not to, I’ll need to hire on somewhere in order to get a ticket home.”