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Galina, Dolan Spaceport, The Blue Venture
Val walked into the seldom used sick bay aboard the Venture and craned her neck, searching for their diminutive medical officer. "Dash? Where are you?"
"Back here, Captain."
She followed Dash's reedy voice to the rear of the compartment where he had set up a miniature lab area. In the center of an exam table was a clear sided box, mounted with cryo tanks on the rear corners. Inside the chamber, a gray mist swirled listlessly around a silver test tray marked with six thin red streaks - the test samples.
Bio containment sleeves allowed access and the ability to work inside the box without exposure.
"Is that safe?" she asked.
His slender arms fully inserted into the containment sleeves as he manipulated the test panel inside, Dash could only glance over his shoulder as he responded. "There are several fail-safes, and the sensor Tessa developed is extremely sensitive. In fact, if you come closer, your own nanocytes, benign as they may be, might set it off. So, if you could stay behind the red line there?"
Val looked down and saw that he'd painted a literal red line on the floor. Her toes were over it, and she executed a quick half step back.
"Thank you," he said. "The glass is embedded with bio-dampers, but one can never be too cautious."
"What do you have for me?" she asked.
"So far, all indications suggest that we were correct in our assumptions. The nanocytes have not reacted to anything below eighty-five percent human DNA."
"So, they have to be mostly human for the hive to detect them?"
"Yes. The differentiation provided by more than a fifteen percent influx of Galinian heritage appears to confuse their sensors."
"What about anyone with only trace amounts of Galinian DNA?"
Dash pulled his arms free of the sleeves and sealed the unit. "Those individuals with only one Galinian ancestor – and there are fewer than a hundred inhabitants with fewer than two Galinian ancestors – are still susceptible. They should be vaccinated before we depart."
"I've already left enough vaccine with Kellene to make that happen. I'll let her know what you –"
Red light swirled through the sick-bay and a klaxon wailed its warning. An instant later, they were both thrown to the floor under the shuddering impact of something striking the Venture's hull.
Val used the edge of the table to pull herself upright, unintentionally flattening her palm against the unit to steady herself. Another alarm blared, this one from the container. Inside, the hive nanocytes swarmed, the gray mist thickening as they gathered against the glass, outlining her palm even though they couldn't reach it.
Val snatched her hand away as another blast struck the ship. "Who the hell is attacking us in a spaceport?" she yelled.
Her mindlink chimed, and she tapped it, opening the link on speaker.
"Skipper?" Rakan's voice was tight with suppressed adrenaline. "We got company."
"No shit. Who?" Val asked.
"Unknown, but we need to do something, or we'll have a breach for sure."
"Stanley? Give me a visual."
"Affirmative." The DEVA's voice vibrated through the ship's comms and her air screen bloomed with a view of the port area surrounding the Venture.
Val couldn't believe it. Three groups gathered on the tarmac, each with high caliber ordinance launchers.
She glanced at the ships on either side of hers and noticed armed guards on both brows, watching the activity. Just watching. Not protesting or warning the attackers off. Just holding their blasters in a way that stated it wouldn't be wise to make them the next targets.
"Holy fuck," Val breathed. "In a space port? Are all the security personnel on vacation or just the ones that are awake?"
"Alarms are going off all over the place," Rakan said. "Could be they just haven't made it here yet."
"Increase power to the shields. We can outlast them," Val said.
"Not our best option, Captain. No one uses full shields in port, just hull deflectors," Rakan said. "Too many ships too close together for that."
"How bad would it be to do it anyway?"
"We could fry the vessels on either side if we push the skin protection past thirty percent. We shouldn't–"
Another barrage shook the Venture. The hive testing container slid dangerously close to the edge of the table before Dash caught it and pushed it back to the center. "Normally, I would agree with you, Mr. Rakan," he said. "But under the circumstances–"
Rakan didn't let him finish. "Skin protectors will keep them out for a while, but they ain't gonna last long."
"Can we fire on them?" Val asked. She already knew the answer, but she was hoping she was wrong.
"Our cannons are designed to hit things several hundred meters away, in space. These guys are too close. Even if we could tighten the range enough to hit them, we'd damage the Venture too."
"That's what I was afraid of." Cursing, Val slapped the link, opening a new channel. "Alex, are you seeing this?"
"Seeing it, feeling it, right here with you," he said.
"Send a message to Kellene, tell her–"
"Already done," he said. "She's sending help, but it'll be a minute before they get here."
She switched channels as another barrage threatened to knock her down. "Rakan, we got help on the way, but we need to hold on 'till they get here. Push the shields out as far as you dare and bring them up to forty percent."
"Captain, that's going to singe some tails," Rakan said.
"They should have thought about that before they let rats into the port," Val said.
She watched her screen as the energy field surrounding the Venture brightened and crept outward. Now the guards on her neighbor's ships were agitated.
Val switched to speaker mode and set the message to broadcast outside the Venture. "Attention to those mounting the unprovoked attack on the Blue Venture – a merchant ship here on a diplomatic mission. We are not enemies of Galina. We have called on your government and they are sending assistance. Cease your attack immediately or you will be apprehended and prosecuted."
She shifted her gaze back to the guards and continued. "To our neighboring ships, without outside help, we have been forced to take unprecedented measures to defend ourselves. This may result in damage to your vessels. You are advised to either aid in our defense or launch immediately to avoid a potentially hazardous outcome."
To her left, a guard turned his blaster on the crowd below at the same instant that a flash erupted from one of their launchers. The Venture shuddered and a bright green energy arc rebounded from the shields. A wave of backlash swept over three of the attackers who fell, twitching, to the ground.
The bright dome of the defense shield expanded meter by meter, creeping toward the adjacent ships like fingers of a luminous hand.
After a moment’s hesitation, the rest of the guards on both neighboring ships brought their blasters to bear on the attackers.
"Rakan," Val said into her link. "What's our shield level?"
"Thirty-four percent and rising, Captain," Rakan replied, his voice rippling with suppressed glee.
"Hold there. No need to singe tails that are fighting for us."
"They shoulda done that from the start, but OK." A muffled sigh came through the link. "Acknowledged." The shield line stopped moving.
Val watched her screen as two attackers loaded their launchers for another salvo. Blasters fired from the neighboring ships and several more attackers fell. The assault broke apart. Abandoning the launchers, the three groups scattered, disappearing between the parked ships, leaving their dead and wounded behind.
"Skipper?" Rakan said. "We got sirens outside."
She snorted. "Better late than not at all?"
Minutes later, four black, fully armored autolevs careened into the area. Uniformed soldiers jumped out and secured the area. Val watched them render aid to the wounded and load them onto medilevs. No body-bags, she noticed. The neighbors must have used the stun setting.
A figure approached the Venture and Val's mindlink lit with an incoming message. It was Hart.
"Captain Demyanov, we apologize for this rude display. Did your ship suffer damage?"
"The Venture is fine. And our crew..." Val glanced at Dash, who shook his head. "None of our crew was injured either. Thanks for asking."
"I – My apologies, Captain. This is all... Really strange." Twisting around, he took in the carnage. "We've never had anything like this happen before." He straightened and his tone became formal. "Request permission to come aboard so that we can discuss the situation?"
By now, the injured were being loaded and a ring of soldiers had formed along the perimeter of their berth.
Opening a private link, Val spoke to Rakan. "Bring the shields back to skin protection levels and open the brow."
"Captain... Val? Are you sure?"
Her mouth settled into a grim line. "Yeah. I think they owe us some answers, and I'm betting our visitor out there has them. Let him in."
"Yes, Ma'am."
It didn't take long for her to get to the ship's lounge, but Alex was there ahead of her. "Irina?" she asked.
"She's fine. I checked on her in person right after we talked. She thought it was a fun new ride."
The image of her daughter laughing her way through an armed attack made Val shake her head. "It was a ride, I'll grant you," she said. "I don't think I can agree on the fun part."
The door whooshed open, and Hart ducked inside. Val caught a glimpse of Tamar's scowling face behind him and gave her a nod. "Thank you, Tamar. Is all the cargo on board?"
"Yes Ma'am. Venture is fully fueled and ready for launch."
"Good. Start pre-launch countdown. I want to be out of here within the hour."
"Affirmative." Tamar took a step back, letting the opening close between them.
"You want to explain that little episode, Hart?" Val asked.
Cerulean splotches mottled his pale skin, and Hart swallowed hard before replying. "I– erm. Madam Gardner asked me to convey our deepest apologies for this unfortunate occurrence."
"You can jettison the stardust and sympathy. Who were those thugs and why were they attacking my ship?" Val advanced until she was nose to nose with the Galinian.
Hart flinched, but to his credit, didn't back away. "The investigation is still ongoing so I can't–"
Val pushed in. "Oh, you can. And I think you'd better if you don't want a Simoi battle cruiser parked on your outer rings."
The splotches darkened to turquoise. "Oh, I don't think that will be necessary. We don't need to involve the Black Throne in this. We can just... Umm..."
"Explain. What. Just. Happened." Val pulled away and dropped into a chair. "Sit. I'm ready to listen, so you might as well start talking."
Hart took a seat across from her, keeping the table between them. He fussed with his mindlink for a second and then folded his hands on the tabletop. "I've turned off my 'link because I'm not supposed to tell you much, if anything. But you deserve to know, and if I keep the information secret like they want me to, it could be –" He stopped and gave Alex a quick look before meeting Val's eyes again. "Bad."
"So, if Kellene didn't want you to tell us what's going on, why didn't she come herself?"
"Kellene? No, she didn't... She doesn't... I don't..." Hart gasped, his breath coming in a coughing wheeze. It took several minutes for him to calm himself enough to continue. "Kellene didn't send me."
Val's brows rose. "Then who did?"
"President Sovell." When neither of them responded, Hart continued. "Oh, not directly. The request came through channels, of course. But he originated it."
"Hart, am I going to need a Galinian civics lesson to understand all this?" Val leaned forward, her expression hard. "Because I don't have time for that."
"No, no. That won't be... Our government doesn't want to anger the Simoi, obviously. But they also don't want to offend her Grace by publicizing the existence of the HDL, the Human Defense League."
"Is that the group who attacked us today?" Alex had his hands wrapped so tightly around his coffee mug that Val thought it would shatter. She touched his arm, and he glanced at her before relaxing.
"Yes," Hart said. "The League believes Gaia forced humans to evacuate Earth and tried to kill the entire species."
“There seems to be a lot of that going around,” Alex said laconically.
"That doesn't make sense,” Val said. “Why give us ships and help us leave only to wipe us out?"
"They don't believe Gaia provided the ships. They think another Simoi, her brother, perhaps, did that, and helped humans escape from certain death at the Gaia's hands."
Val couldn't help it. She laughed.
Hart recoiled. "You can't possibly think this is funny," he said stiffly.
"Oh, believe me. I can." Val wiped tears of laughter from her eyes and brought herself under control. "They have no idea how wrong they are."
"If this group is trying to defend humans, why attack us?" Alex asked. "Aren't we human enough for them?"
Hart grimaced. "That's just it. Merchants from other sectors are talking about a cyborg Gaia sent out to attack human settlements."
"They think Gaia sent HiveZ?" Shock widened Val's eyes.
"Well, no. Or not exactly. They think you are all cyborgs. HiveZ included."
"Son of a–" Val stopped, cleared her throat and started over. "You know that's ridiculous, right? You conducted a medi-scan on us not two days ago."
"Yeah, I know, but this group feeds on conspiracy theories like a cinop feasts on slop." Hart clasped and unclasped his hands, the deep color in his cheeks finally fading to normal. "Convincing them you're human is a lost cause."
Val and Alex shared a long look. "Is Kellene part of this group?" Val asked.
The Galinian's eyes widened. "Madam Gardner? No. Why would you think that?"
"Because when we mentioned..." Alex began.
"Just a question," Val interrupted. "Good to know who your friends are, right?"
Hart's brow furrowed in confusion. "I guess. Sure." He stood up. "That's really all I can tell you. The HDL is pretty widespread. Our intelligence department says they have cells on other planets, even. So you need to be careful."
He moved toward the door.
"Hart?" Alex's questioning tone stopped him, and Hart faced them. "What do you think the HDL would do if they found Earth again?"
"The HDL considers Gaia a threat to every human in the universe wherever they are."
"So, you think..." Alex let the question trail off, unfinished.
"They'd try to kill her. Even if it meant destroying the Earth to do it." A moment later, he was gone.
