Tension was evident in all those left behind. Wallace woke frequently and tossed fitfully even when asleep. Gaalet and Evgeny stayed riveted to their task, taking their supper at the worktable. In addition to serving that meal, Luuboh found excuses to check up on them regularly. Suufit wandered back and forth from the outside guard position to the storeroom inside. As night fell, the stench of two species’ stale sweat had overwhelmed the air filters.
Finally, the tinkerers’ work began
to show results. The communication
system was capable of receiving and separating signals from increasingly
distant sources. Transmission was likely
possible, as well, but the refugees could not yet risk being detected. Gaalet and Evgeny agreed they were ready to
link the makeshift comm to the outpost’s main generator and antenna.
They enlisted Luuboh to snake a
connecting cable to the generator room through the vent passage. Gaalet pulled privilege to monitor the comm
itself, leaving Evgeny employed as the relay between rooms.
Suufit bestirred itself when it noticed the increase in activity. It hovered near the workroom, watching Gaalet
tweak components before full power was applied.
The initial test was
anticlimactic. The set pulled down only
static and unintelligible fragments. If
there were any distant signals making their way through the ionosphere, from
ships or broadcasting satellites, the comm system was failing to resolve them. If the closer Apostates were talking
between themselves, then the comm was failing even further. More
likely, all three sources were absent or temporarily silent.
Suufit grunted derisively and
turned back to resume its slow raid of the larder. Gaalet, unconcerned by this null result,
continued to tune the comm, increasing its resolution and searching the
spectrum for potential messages. Evgeny
quietly made his way back to the workroom and eavesdropped upon the
monomaniacal Mauraug. He could hear
Luuboh working its way back through the vent tunnel to rejoin them. If nothing further happened, Luuboh would be
shortly obliged to take its turn at guard duty outside.
A spike in one frequency caught
Gaalet’s attention, and it switched the comm rapidly to that channel. It took a few seconds more to select the
correct decoding frame before the message’s content became available. Fortunately, the system was designed to
record, translate, and play back any significantly patterned stream. No data was lost. The decoding process was simplified by a
reasonable guess: given the strength and directionality of the signal, Gaalet
knew it must come from one of the Apostate ships. As it had assumed, the communication was in
Mauraug, using a familiar algorithm.
They caught an announcement followed by its responses:
“Monitoring detects two incoming
ships. They could arrive in five hours
local. Do we intercept or end
operations?”
“Prepare to leave. Load anything useful. We depart in two.”
“Kaasech acknowledges.”
“Tennak acknowledges.”
Gaalet
muttered to itself, “Rescue? Or worse
trouble?”
Evgeny
agreed, unasked, “I know what you mean, but it is an opportunity. The Apostates are running away, which leaves
us a window to get into the settlements!
Hopefully, the new arrival is actually a
rescue or will lead to one.”
Gaalet
did not respond but continued to stare at the comm station, fiddling with its
controls as before. Evgeny was initially
irritated about being ignored, then remembered Luuboh’s explanation about
Gaalet’s social disability. Likely the
Mauraug had heard him well enough but was uncomfortable discussing the issue
further.
Evgeny’s
comment did, however, draw the attention of the other two Mauraug. Suufit and Luuboh approached the workshop at
the same time.
The
oversized second-in-command stepped well into Evgeny’s personal space and
leaned into the Human’s face, demanding: “What was that? The Apostates are leaving?"
Evgeny
responded evenly, “It seems so. Their
communications say they saw incoming ships and have decided to flee
rather than fight back."
“How do
you know they were Apostates speaking?”
Suufit challenged him.
Evgeny
wished he could look to Gaalet for backup.
He would have to support his claims alone. “It was a strong signal… nearby and within
this atmosphere. The speech was Mauraug. Gaalet decoded it fast. I assume it was a familiar encryption. Who else would be having that conversation?”
“Gaalet
bash’Rubesh, is it correct?” Suufit
asked directly. The ‘graceful’ Mauraug
kept its face turned away but blew out a breath in confirmation.
“So?”
Suufit continued reluctantly, “You can tell Soloth when it returns. It can scout Gorash’Bond next and see if the
Apostates have departed. Keep
listening.”
Evgeny
stared in incredulous anger. Did this
sapient’s sloth match its gluttony? They
needed to notify Soloth now, not the
next day. He was tempted to let Suufit
return to its gorging and then sneak out at the next opportunity. Luuboh might even help him escape, perhaps
even join him. They might reach Soloth
at the Terran cache site if they walked fast.
There were several problems with
that plan, foremost of which was abandoning the wounded Wallace to Suufit and
Gaalet. Their care would be minimal at
best and outright abusive at worst.
Evgeny (and possibly Luuboh) would also have to travel without supplies,
particularly since Suufit was stationed firmly in front of the rations. Even if he tried to drag Wallace along, Evgeny
could not procure medications to help his confederate travel faster or without pain. Worse yet, if he arrived without Suufit or
Gaalet to confirm his words, having left without Suufit’s permission, Soloth
might not even listen to him.
Evgeny would have to risk an argument
with Suufit. He had to wager that when
presented with all the information and a clear plan, the self-centered Mauraug
would at least understand the inherent danger to itself from not informing Soloth sooner.
Evgeny spoke up, catching Suufit in
the midst of turning away. “We need to
call Soloth, ourselves, as soon as possible.
The Apostates are leaving because other ships are on the way. There will be a three hour gap, two hours
from now, when no ships are near Locust IV.
If we notify the scouts now, they might be able to reach New Gethsemane
within that time.”
The Dominant Mauraug turned back on
the outspoken Human with a predictable flare of outrage. Its toes clenched the sandstone floor and its
lips curled back. When Suufit spoke, it
used a tone of mockery that seemed excessive for addressing a genuinely
insignificant subordinate.
“Such a clever little brother. Only here two days and already advising its
betters. Soloth may indulge your
whining, but I will not. I will not risk
our safety on your recommendation,” it sneered.
Its next comment was directed to
Gaalet: “We will send a message only
if I decide it is necessary. We are not
under attack right now. I intend to keep
it that way.”
Turning back to Evgeny, Suufit
stepped further forward and shoved him roughly at his shoulder. “Get out of the way. Go back to scrubbing floors with Luuboh. Or see if the other infant needs its
medicine. If you trouble me again, you
will have to share its sickbed.”
Evgeny’s temper persuaded him
toward its preferred response: conflict.
A fight was clearly necessary. He would have to overcome Suufit in order to
overrule its authority.
He retorted, “‘I will beat you up.’ You sound like Soloth. You cannot think of an original threat.”
Suufit’s fur rose noticeably and
its eyes narrowed. It paused longer this
time, obviously surprised to hear clear defiance from the ‘small’ Human. Evgeny’s taunt was actually inaccurate. In the time Suufit took to respond, Soloth
already would have thrown Evgeny across the room.
Instead, the bulky
beta howled further threats: “I can crush you if I choose. I do not need Soloth’s permission to kill an inferior challenging above its position. You are obviously insane and dangerous. Abase yourself now and I will only break your
arm.”
“You will have to kill me… if you
can. Otherwise, I will still notify Soloth of your error. I will enjoy watching it punish you. It will be my revenge. Make that call now, and I will not mention this conversation to
anyone else. I do not need to humiliate
you.”
Evgeny misjudged his opponent’s
personal restraint. His last comment
enraged Suufit too far. The Mauraug
swung a heavy arm toward Evgeny’s head.
Though his emotional reflexes had
been poor, Evgeny’s other faculties anticipated a violent response. He sidestepped into the workroom. Suufit not only missed its blow, it smashed
its hand into the dividing archway between them. It bellowed in pain and heightened fury.
Gaalet scrambled away, trying to
pull the comm system out of reach.
Tethered by the power cable leading out of the room, there was only so
far the linked equipment could go.
Evgeny realized he was in an
advantageous position. If Suufit recognized the hazard of endangering the comm system, it might be limited in its options to strike back. Its anger
already put it off balance. Its overeating
would slow it down and limit its endurance, not to mention making certain
target areas more vulnerable to attack.
All these advantages only opened
a path to victory. They did not offset
Evgeny’s literal weakness: his relative physical strength. Suufit could finish the fight with one
well-placed strike or a successful grab and pull. Once out of his corner, Evgeny could be
smothered or crushed by Suufit’s bulk.
Luuboh had
disappeared. While unlikely that it
would assist either side, it might have wanted to witness the conflict. Then again, it might prefer to stay out of
harm’s way, both immediately during the brawl and shortly afterward, should
Suufit have unspent rage remaining.
Gaalet certainly would have preferred to be elsewhere.
Evgeny
was temporarily irrational enough not to share that urge. The present danger was a welcome change from
the previous days’ tense tedium. He
grinned in Human humor, not coincidentally reproducing one element of the
Mauraug threat display.
Suufit
worsened its position by overinterpreting Evgeny’s expression, overreacting to
what it took as mockery. It snarled and
lunged forward into the workroom.
Carefully arranged wires and fasteners went flying as it bumped the
table with its hip.
“Come
on then, you fat idiot!” Evgeny taunted in earnest. He would have preferred less simple insults,
but his command of Mauraug was limited.
No surprise that Defense had avoided teaching trainees Mauraug
vulgarities.
The
childish barb worked well enough. Suufit
dove at Evgeny, attempting to trap him against the far wall. Instead, the smaller Human simultaneously
sidestepped, ducked, and put out a leg against Soloth’s foremost, supporting
ankle. It took most of Evgeny’s
available strength, but he had judged the forces correctly. Suufit’s foot shot out from beneath it,
leaving its upper body with no support.
The heavy Mauraug fell forward, cracking its knees on the stone floor
and dropping its head hard against the edge of Gaalet’s thin cot.
This injury
alone was insufficient to put Suufit down.
Its anger drove it to try and rise.
As it put out its hands to push up from the bed frame, Evgeny
stood. He then leapt as high as the
ceiling allowed, falling with knees bent and aimed for Suufit’s back. He had to hope that some of the Mauraug’s
internal organs were still organic and located in their original
positions.
This
appeared to be the case. At the least,
Suufit did not have the benefit of Soloth’s reinforced spine. Its back bent at an agonizing angle as Evgeny
landed squarely below its ribcage. It
also lost its grip on the bed frame, and its head snapped back down to bounce
against the mattress.
With a
horrifying retch, Suufit belched and then vomited up its ill-gotten gorge. As much as he wanted to escape the disgusting
sight – and smell – Evgeny remained astride the Mauraug’s heaving bulk. He was merciful enough to let Suufit finish
gagging. Its abused body had rendered it
unable to continue fighting for a few seconds.
However, when the eruptions stopped and Suufit started to show signs of
recovery, Evgeny pushed again.
“Your
judgment is poor. You are unwise,
Suufit bash’Topith. Admit I am Dominant,
both in mind and body. Otherwise, your
punishment continues.”
Suufit
started to object, but its retort was cut off by literal bile. It coughed and choked through another bout of
vomiting. Evgeny goaded by digging in
his knees, punishing the thought of resistance even if the deed had been
aborted.
“Gaalet
bash’Rubesh is witness. You cannot
overcome me. Should I call Luuboh
bash’Gaulig to witness, also?”
Suufit
managed to spit out, “No. I yield. Make the cursed…” It was cut off again by heaving.
Not yet
content to give up his physical position, Evgeny called over his shoulder to
Gaalet, “Call Soloth. Repeat exactly
what we heard. The Apostates may mistake
it for their own message. Let me hear
any orders Soloth gives in response.”
To
Evgeny’s relief, Gaalet did not offer its own challenge to his newly assumed
authority. It complied, broadcasting on
the frequency Soloth had previously indicated to reach its own compad. Gaalet relayed the Apostate message with
nearly perfect conformity.
There
was no reply at first, leaving the three of them suspended in increasing
physical and mental discomfort. Almost a
minute later, Soloth’s response grumbled through the speakers: “Message
received. Continue listening. Wait for orders.”
Evgeny
had hoped for a more active response from the Mauraug commander. At the least, Soloth should be heading north
at full speed. Possibly, it was doing so
but wanted to avoid broadcasting its location.
Evgeny actually wished it would have them abandon the outpost and
join the scouting party. His desire to
check for survivors was surfacing from its enforced submersion. He needed to know if his father and mother
still lived.
Likely
the Mauraug also had family, friends, or at least colleagues they hoped to find
alive. Any individual’s survival was
improbable, but not equally improbable.
Evgeny had reason to think his parents were slightly more likely to
survive than most others. The group's locations were also skewed
toward New Gethsemane at the moment. That
was two points in favor of checking the Human settlement first.
Then
Evgeny had a further revelation. Soloth
led by virtue of control over the only safe haven left on Locust IV
following the Apostate attack. It was Dominant over that site’s inhabitants by virtue of already being commander at the
outpost. If the Apostates were genuinely
vacating the planet now, the need for a bolt hole was considerably reduced. If Evgeny cared to gamble on the certainty of
their enemy’s departure, he might make a case for disregarding Soloth’s
authority. He had given his submission
only while he was in Mauraug territory.
No one said he had to stay there.
Granted, even if the Apostates
did leave, deserting the outpost might still be problematic. If the Apostates had stolen all the food
supplies from both settlements, then this base was the only source of
sustenance left. Technically, his stolen
Dominance gave Evgeny access to the storeroom’s ration supply, but abusing that
privilege - as Suufit had - might force the Mauraug beta into a new
confrontation. For that matter, running
away might prompt Suufit to recruit Gaalet and Luuboh to stop him… and once
again, Wallace would be either a hostage or a millstone depending on whether
Evgeny left him or brought him along.
There was no good solution. Therefore, Evgeny started thinking about evil
solutions.
Climbing down from Suufit’s back,
Evgeny stood a few feet away and prepared for a second round should his
opponent choose to revisit their challenge.
Instead, Suufit remained prone, only adjusting itself into a slightly
less uncomfortable position. It breathed
shallowly, trying to steady its bruised nerves.
“Get up,” Evgeny ordered, testing
his newly won authority, “Go to the bunk room and clean up. I assume you do not want another challenge
right away, so obey me for now. Rest and
think about your mistakes.”
Suufit stared hatred at him, but
indeed did not want to risk further pain so soon. It staggered from the workroom and across the
central area toward its bunk. Evgeny
could not see or hear a sign of Luuboh’s presence; the omega continued to keep
itself conveniently absent.
This absence was convenient not
only for Luuboh, but also Evgeny. As his
last gambit, Evgeny turned to Gaalet.
“Gaalet, I will take over
monitoring duties now. You will guard
outside. If you see Luuboh, notify it
about the Apostates’ departure, Soloth’s orders, and my claim of
Dominance. Tell it to make Wallace
Harmon ready to travel on short notice, if necessary.”
Evgeny’s reading of Gaalet proved
correct. The emotionally disabled
Mauraug chose to obey without question, preferring to avoid confrontation in
the currently uncertain situation.
It might have fought back if approached differently, but Evgeny’s solid
assumption of command and clearly stated orders gave it an easy escape from
distress.
Once Gaalet had exited the room,
Evgeny plugged in earbuds and ‘monitor’ the comm system without making it
audible to the others. He then quickly
located the components necessary for transmission and disconnected a small,
inobvious, but vitally necessary wire.
Now, any attempted broadcast from the comm would fail, hopefully without
anyone’s realization.
Evgeny counted out five long
minutes under his breath. He was already
going to stretch credibility tight. No
reason to push it any further. Then he
spoke aloud into the microphone: “Understood.
We will depart immediately.”
He did not need to speak loudly.
Sound carried easily in the tight quarters. Evgeny, himself, could easily hear Suufit
stirring in the other room. Luuboh
finally appeared, showing at the doorway.
“I heard your instructions earlier,”
Luuboh confessed, “but have not had time to see to Wallace. I will prepare it right away.”
The small Mauraug turned away to
attend to that matter. Evgeny was
nonplussed by its easy acceptance of the change in hierarchy. He supposed that, from the bottom, it was
used to seeing every set of hindquarters as interchangeable. That, or Luuboh might be getting what it
wanted: escape. Outside of the outpost, in the
wilds of an untamed planet, it was at least less compressed by a stack of
superiors. There were also fewer floors
to scrub out there… though the need for its talents at shelter and food preparation was
greater. Luuboh’s value rose along
with the difficulty of survival without it, hence its relative comfort in a
Spartan outpost on a colony planet. In
the wilds, it would be even more indispensable.
Evgeny continued to play through
his ruse. He next went up the stairs to
the exit door and cycled the passage open.
There stood Gaalet, watching the landscape through viewports in the
outer stone door.
“Soloth called back,” he informed
it, “We are to meet at New Gethsemane at our fastest speed. Come collect supplies and prepare packs for
four of us to carry, with food for a fifth distributed among us.”
At this order, Gaalet did balk: “Why me
and not Luuboh?”
Evgeny snapped back, “Because it is
busy with the medical care I ordered… which orders you failed to relay. Because it can handle that duty and you
cannot. Because I told you to. Do you have another foolish question?”
He was deliberately manipulating
Gaalet now, implying failures the Mauraug had not committed, pressing it to
either obey or argue each point with him.
Of course, any argument would count as a further misdeed. Evgeny, unlike Suufit or Soloth, understood
that an unspoken threat of punishment sometimes works better than a specific
ultimatum, especially when the victim
already wants to avoid trouble.
Gaalet dropped its gaze and
its hands in surrender and turned to re-enter the outpost. Evgeny followed and shadowed the Mauraug
until it entered the supply room. He
then strode to the adjacent door.
He did his best to loom in the
doorway, which for him was oversized. Suufit
bash’Topith was inside, stretched out on its bunk, a sheet domed over its
shivering gut. It looked up as Evgeny
stopped.
“No time for recovery. You can walk.
Get up, dress, and get a pack from Gaalet. Soloth orders us to meet it at New
Gethsemane. We only have a brief time
to scavenge the area before others arrive.
It wants all available sapients present to search.”
Suufit stood, slowly but more
steadily than before. It rumbled, “I do
not believe you. This is too convenient
for you. You wanted to go there
already. Now you falsify your own
orders. I will stay here… with your
beaten comrade.”
“Gaalet!” Suufit bellowed, “If you
are wise, you will ignore this false but lucky Human. It only Dominates for a moment. If you follow it, you will suffer for your
mistake. Possibly, you will die.”
“Oh?” Evgeny asked in mockery, “Am I
lucky, or are you unbalanced, in both mind and body? I did not want to involve myself in Mauraug
social arrangements, but you forced me to act.
Think about the wager you are proposing.
I was right before. If you had remained Dominant, you would have
suffered for failing Soloth. Now, I am
Dominant. If you are right, and I am
wrong, then by leaving you properly obey me… and the fault for disobeying
Soloth is mine alone. But if you are
wrong, and stay, you disobey both me and Soloth… you will be twice
doomed.”
Any decent diplomat should have
been able to sweep aside this screen of slanted fast talk. Evgeny was counting on Luuboh’s
characterization of Suufit: a spoiled child of privilege, an embarrassment stuck
on Locust IV and given a sinecure command.
If he was any sort of qualified politician, he could shut down Evgeny’s
con.
Instead, Suufit only continued to
resist out of surliness and wounded pride.
It shifted from foot to foot for a few seconds, unwilling to concede but
also unable to form a stronger argument.
Finally, it flared its nostrils in evident disgust: at Evgeny, at
itself, and at their relative positions.
“Your fault alone,” it
begrudged. “We go to the settlement and
nowhere else… and if Soloth is not there, we return.”
“When you get the strength to challenge me again, you can set
conditions,” Evgeny rebuked him loudly. “For
now, do as I say, quickly and without trouble.
‘The truly Dominant never explains and never apologizes.’”
Suufit bent its head and lowered
its shoulders as it turned to pick up its gear.
Then it turned and fixed Evgeny with a squinted eye.
“I do not recall that saying of Sha’Bahn,”
Suufit mused.
Evgeny smiled back with condescension. “That is because it comes from a Human Prophet:
Sha’Nuuayn.”
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