SCIFI-BABE.COM - The 'Missii'

The 'Missii' - (Part Three)

We were walking across the landing area, outside the penal colony, when Keefer suddenly stopped. I turned to look back at him. His eyes searched mine. "Once I've done this for you, I'm off the hook? Right?"

"As far as I'm concerned," I replied. "The Caswari will still have a price on your head, of course, but that's not my problem. Is it?"

"And, you'll drop me off a long way from here?"

"Within reason." I started walking again. "Unless you want to pick up the tab for the fuel?"

He ran after me. "I have your word?"

"Cross my heart," I assured him, making the appropriate gesture.

He seemed unconvinced but, right now, he was walking to my ship and, once he was on board, he had to go where we were going. "I'll need a few things," he said.

I tapped the door code into my remote pad and strode up the access ramp. "I take it you're referring to eavesdropping equipment?" I asked, as I passed through the air lock.

He nodded.

We arrived on the bridge and I gestured him to a couch. "Tell Sashi what you want. If we don't have it, already, we'll swing by Yuri's and stock up."

"I prefer my own stuff."

"Didn't the Tropka confiscate it?"

"Not all of it. I've a lot more in storage."

"Whereabouts?"

"If you don't mind, can we take off, first, just in case that guard decides you didn't pay him enough?"

I laughed. "I didn't pay him at all."

He looked shocked.

"You underestimate the efficacy of a precisely targeted threat," I said.

Sashi gave Keefer a wink as she picked up her filer - the one she makes story notes in.

"He permitted an unauthorized landing in the hope he would get some kind of bribe," I explained. "I'm something of an expert on selecting the correct punishment for a given transgression."

Sashi looked up and grinned. "Trust me. She is."

"Suffice it to say," I continued, "he got the point."

"But, I'll be missed," he said.

"Not for some time," I replied. "I told him we were only borrowing you."

His color faded to a pasty white. "But, you said you'd take me far away from here."

"And, I will," I assured him. "All the Tropka want is for you to be out of reach of the Caswari. As long nothing occurs that suggests the Caswari are once more 'reading their mail', the Tropka will assume the Caswari haven't got you and do nothing. Besides, if they started chasing around the quadrant looking for you, it would be bound to attract the attention of one of Caswari's spies. In time, the codes will change, the data you stole will become irrelevant, and both sides will go back to slaughtering each other in complete confidence that no one has a clue what's going on."

He laughed out loud. "I hadn't thought of it that way."

"So, where's your equipment stored?"

"Casalmara."

At the mention of 'Casalmara', Sashi looked up from the filer."

I noticed her look. "The two of you met on Casalmara?"

He looked confused.

"You said, 'Long time, no see', when we entered your cell," I prompted.

"Oh. Yes," he replied, cautiously.

I instructed Sashi to set course for Casalmara. Once we were en route, I pulled her aside. "What's the story between you two?"

"What he said it was," she replied.

I gripped her chin. "Try again."

Her reply was evasive, to say the least. "After Darvu Funn had purchased me, we went back to his ground vehicle and he gave me a new corset and stuff."

I gripped her chin harder. "And?"

"He told me about his sister being held on Cor-te-Eva."

"And?"

"He took me to a night club."

I said nothing, this time.

"Anu was there and we danced a little..."

I completed the sentence for her. "Had a couple of drinks. Went back to his place. Had some more drinks. It was a hot night. The air conditioning wasn't working."

A single tear tracked down her cheek.

"You cut that out, Missy!" I snapped.

"Nothing happened," she said. "I promise."

I guffawed.

"I would never do anything that might make you jealous."

"You should know me well enough to know I don't get jealous," I growled. "I get rid of."

She studied the toes of her shoes.

"So, did you or did you not screw this scumbag without permission?"

She shook her head. "I only kissed him."

I let go of her chin and turned my back on her, half-turning as I reached the door. "When we're done with this investigation, consider our association terminated."

The three days it took to reach Casalmara were tense. We kept ourselves to ourselves. Upon landing, I went with Keefer to collect his equipment, leaving Sashi to arrange for Leõnis to be refueled. When we returned to the ship, the entire bridge section was gleaming like a new pin. Sashi was pretending to read her filer, but she couldn't resist sneaking a look at me as I entered. I said nothing and ushered Keefer to his quarters with the instruction to make sure his equipment was functioning. "Is the refueling complete?" I asked her.

"Yes, Domina," she replied. "I also topped off the auxiliary tanks."

"Now, set course for the coordinates where we encountered the Missii and extrapolate their likely destination from there. Have your recommendation as to which world they might have gone to ready for me when I return." I left the bridge and went to my own room to relax for a while. I was mentally and physically drained! The business with Sashi had left me feeling a real sense of betrayal. My household is, was, a closed group. You can't have members screwing around, unsupervised. Oh, I hear you say, kissing isn't screwing. Well, it isn't and it is. Fluid transfer happens, even when kissing. There are a lot of diseases far worse than H.I.V. beyond Earth's thin atmosphere. Each alien biosphere has its own, unique, assortment of viruses, bacterial agents, parasites and neurotoxins. On top of that, many alien races - Earth included - possess weaponized organisms to which humans have never been exposed, or against which they have no immunity, and for which there are no freely available antidotes. Surely, readers cannot forget what happened when Europeans reached the Polynesian Islands, bringing with them syphilis, influenza, and tuberculosis? The indigenous Polynesian people were virtually wiped out. Those that survived were the offspring of inter-racial relationships which conferred on their children the natural immunity of their 'European' fathers. That's the whole purpose of the 'permission' rule, the reason for my rigid enforcement of it, and why I was so hard on Sashi. As for being physically drained, Casalmara truly is a hell hole. Day time temperatures are never below one hundred and ten degrees, Fahrenheit, and the relative humidity is always in the high 'eighties'. I fell asleep thinking of Savannah, Georgia.

The persistent 'bleep' coming from the navigation system as it reported we'd reached the coordinates at which we'd met the Missii woke me, even though my door was closed. I stretched, threw on a robe and strolled to the bridge, by way of the galley, where I picked up a cup of coffee. I sipped it appreciatively. It was just percolated. "Bless her," I muttered to myself as the bridge door sighed open.

I sat down and sipped my drink. "So, we're here?"

She spun around in her chair. "Yes, Domina."

"Recommendations?"

She seemed flustered. My earlier threat to dismiss her had unsettled her, as I'd intended it should; but a demoralized Sashi is not an effective Sashi. I looked around the cabin. There was no sign of Keefer. "Rules are there for a reason. They're as much about protecting you as they are about protecting me."

She looked close to tears.

"Your health and wellbeing are my responsibility," I told her. "And I take it seriously. But, I can't, if you go around putting yourself at risk. Now, can I?"

She shook her head.

"You need a blood test as soon as we can arrange it, and another in six months. During that time..."

"I already had a blood test," she said, risking the interruption. "Two, in fact."

"When?"

"Before I shipped out for Cor-te-Eva."

"It was clear?"

She nodded. "I couldn't risk taking something there with me. I had another on Scethos, recently."

She hadn't mentioned it in her report. I understood why, now.

"That was clear, too. And I hadn't been home for almost a year, so...."

I stopped her with a raised finger.

"I wouldn't lie to you. Ever."

I smiled, leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "You're still 'on the bench' until I'm sure you're okay. Understand?"

"Yes, Domina."

"So, where should we head to?"

She turned back to the control desk and punched up a navigation chart. "The Missii propulsion systems have a unique signature. They use ion drives. They're very fuel efficient and, over time, can push their ships close to forty percent of light speed."

"They still use the connectives, I assume?"

"Yes. But, they can probably run them faster than we can. A lot faster."

"How so?"
"After we've entered a connective, we 'idle' our engines, because the matter stream carries us along with it, and we can save fuel. The propulsion system the Missii use is so efficient they can keep it running at full power while inside a connective matter stream. Each one they pass through ends up giving them a shove, like a catapult."

"You mentioned a unique signature."

"Most ion drives use nitrogen, or argon, even bismuth, as a fuel. The Missii use Xenon. It's rare and very expensive."

"So, they've left us a trail to follow?"

"Sunamatra. It's about two days.

I stood behind her and absentmindedly massaged the back of her neck as I watched her tend to the flight controls. "That'll give us time to hash out a plan with Keefer," I said. She moaned softly. Her body relaxed. I kissed the back of her head and told her, "On reflection, I think I'll keep you."

Anu Keefer was, as I've already said, a geek. He was also a dyed in the wool genius! He'd need to be if we were going to be able to access the Missii navigational data store without their knowing about it. He seemed to be very confident that he could, but the Missii have access to all kinds of technology. Even if we could download the information, it might well be encrypted - they'd be nuts if it wasn't! The two hundred and fifty-six bit encryption algorithms, used by corporations and governments on Earth, really are child's play to some species, who routinely crack such protection on handhelds. The Missii had to be using something a little more robust.

But Keefer was unmoved. "Just get me within Comms. range and I'll peer up their skirts without them feeling their petticoats move."

I had to laugh. I could see how Sashi could be drawn to him. "You'll kindly restrict your panty gazing to the Missii," I told him. "Or you'll walk with a limp for the rest of your life."

It was his turn to laugh. "Promises."

"So, how close must we be?"

"It would be easier if we could come up with some kind of pretext to be on board one of their ships," he said.

"One of the freighters would be best," Sashi suggested. "They have a smaller crew."

"Did you get to go anywhere near the control room, while you were on the Missii vessel," Keefer asked.

I deferred to Sashi.

"No," she replied, shooting me a look that suggested she knew why I'd done so.

"Nor did we ask to see it," I said. "I can't say whether or not they would have refused."

"In that case, we can't rely on it," Keefer said. "I'll have to figure out a different way."

"If you need more equipment," I said, "we can still swing by Juki's Emporium, now Sashi's discovered a way by which we can track them."

"I'll let you know," he said. "In the meantime, I'll start running through a few scenarios."

I turned to Sashi. "You'd better make sure the heating is on in the cargo bay, or we'll end up with the smartest popsicle in the quadrant."

We both slept well, that night - it was 'night', according to the ship's chronometer, of course. I was relieved that our spat was behind us. It would take time for her confidence to return, but losing it, even temporarily, was good for her. We all get complacent. Take people and things for granted. A relationship needs to be stressed or threatened occasionally, just so the participants can refresh their minds as to the original reasons for getting themselves into it.

Sunamatra.

I'd already checked Sunamatra out by the time we were a few hours away from making planetfall. It was Earth-like, though a little larger in diameter, right in the 'sweet spot' as far as distance from its sun was concerned, and well provided with crustal minerals. The last time anyone passed this way, they described the population as somewhere between level three and four on the 'tech.' scale. They seemed peaceful - leastwise, there were no wars in progress - and had a highly developed agrarian lifestyle. Quite what they were looking to buy from the Missii, I had no idea. Perhaps, they were selling something? But the Missii were traders and didn't pay in cold, hard cash, gold, or any other precious metal. I was certain we'd find the encounter between these races quite revealing! I dropped in on Keefer to see how he was getting on.

He looked up as I entered the cargo hold. He knew why I was there. "I've had an idea," he said.

I took my ease on the crate containing Sashi's Secret Coxiavor Snatcher.

"The Missii have a tribal setup. Don't they?"

"Yes."

"Do you suppose they co-ordinate their trading activities?"

"Are you thinking they might have a centralized, command and control system to make sure they're all on the same page?"

He clipped an edge connector in place inside the device he was working on and closed the lid. "Something like that."

"If there's another group, over and above the Dikud, I've not heard of it."

"But there could be?" he insisted.

I studied him with a slight smile on my lips. "You think they might report in to this...," I made a pair of 'air quotes', "All Powerful One, occasionally?"

He returned my smile. "They might?"

"And you intend to eavesdrop on their transmissions?"

"It's worth a try," he said. "Even if there's no overall leader, the individual tribes would want to avoid duplication of effort; or find out who might be close enough to a certain world for a follow up visit - like delivering something the tribe that made the initial contact didn't have in stock."

"You were definitely worth the trouble of rescuing, young man," I said, enthusiastically. "If we get out of this in one piece, I'll pay for the fuel."

He was obviously warming to his task, and my last comment had turned him white hot! "We might not get every transaction they ever made - unless they all do some kind of centralized backup, occasionally - but we'd likely pick up a dozen or so transactions over the course of a few days. Then we could track down what worlds had offered what technology, what they got in return for it, and who then got those original technologies."

"They strike me as opportunists," I said. "They might not always have a ready buyer for their newly acquired stock. If they do share a database of planetary 'needs' and 'wants', it would be completely at odds with their seemingly nomadic behavior." I stood up and placed my hand on his shoulder. "Then again, appearances are often misleading." I made for the door. "Are they not?"

One should not eavesdrop. They might be talking about you!

We were within walking distance, almost, of Sunamatra when we picked up a Missii ion trail. The solar wind from Sunamatra's sun had already dispersed it to the point where no heading for the ship that made it could be determined. We couldn't even confirm whether or not the Missii fleet had paused here to offer their wares. I decided we had no choice but assume they had, but briefly, before continuing on their original heading. Sashi had worked the Nav. like a dervish for nearly an hour. She admitted her deduction was a guess, at best, but her guesses are often more accurate than most people's certainties. We accelerated away from Sunamatra on what we believed was the same heading as the Missii.

Since there'd been no sign of the Missii ship, or any other for that matter, in the past two hours, Sashi left the Nav. and went to the galley, where she made coffee for us. She handed me mine, and moved towards the engineering console to give Keefer his. Keefer had spent the entire time listening intently to his headphones. As Sashi deposited his cup on the desk, he raised his left hand.

Sashi leaned closer, trying to hear what he was hearing. "What is it?"

"Not sure," he replied, sipping at his drink. "Some kind of communication. Not verbal. Data stream."

I swung around in my chair. "You think it's them?"

"The source is ahead of us," he replied. He pressed a couple of switches, then a few more. Suddenly, he pulled the headphones off and cried, "Hit the brakes!"

Sashi had been half way back to the Nav. console, when he'd cried out. She started to turn back towards him.

"Hit the damn brakes!"

She ran to the control console, shut down the fusion drive, set the clamshells on the take-off and landing engines to their braking configuration, then ignited and throttled them up - all before she sat down.

Now, a ship running around ten percent of light speed doesn't exactly stop in its own length, and inertial dampers may work just great on the Enterprise but, in real life, shit flies around the cabin until it hits something. Sashi damn nigh fractured her ribs as her torso collided with the edge of the Nav. console. Fortunately, the steel ribs of her corset gave her enough protection to avoid serious injury. Thank goodness I always insist on expensive corsets, rather than those with plastic stiffeners!

We didn't stop completely. In fact, we were still moving at a fair clip. I turned around and demanded Keefer explain himself.

"They're less than ten thousand kilometers ahead of us," he replied.

I looked at Sashi. She shrugged. "Nothing on our arrays."

I got up and walked over to him. "How'd you know, if we can't detect them?"

"I picked up a message from their ship," he replied.

I laughed. "You're telling me you understand their language?"

"I don't," he replied. He pointed at a small, red colored box. "This does."

Sashi's eyes widened, as did my own. "You got it from them? The Missii?"

He sipped his drink. "This is great coffee."

I picked up his cup and placed it out of reach, swung his chair around, so he was facing me, and leaned over him. "You were telling us how come you happen to have Missii language translation technology in your possession."

"I appropriated it."

"From whom?"

"The Tropka. That's how come I could break their codes, as well as the Caswari's..."

I straightened up. "And had a nice little business going until they both figured out what was going on?"

"Alethea..." he began.

Sashi winced!

I took a deep breath - subject of course to the restriction imposed upon my diaphragm by my own corset - drew myself up to my full height and let him have both barrels! "My father and mother called me by my given name. They had that right. You, on the other hand, are hired help, and will address me as 'Ma'am'."

"Unless, of course, you want to be collared," Sashi added, helpfully. "In which case, you can call her, 'Domina'."

Keefer looked confused. "Collared?"

"Owned," Sashi responded.

I turned on her. "Zip it!" I turned my attention back to him. "You were responding to my statement that you had a nice little business going...." He looked remorseful, so I let him interrupt me.

"I met up with a couple of Tropka mercenaries in a bar on..." He thought for a moment. "One of those three moons out near Lopka-Nor."

Sashi closed her eyes. "Torthos, Hortos and Xeria."

"Outstanding, Sashi." He looked at me, then asked, "Is it okay to call her, Sashi?" He paused, then added, "Ma'am?"

I smiled. I like 'quick studies'. "She's not, exactly, hired help but, yes, you may."

"Has she been there? Maybe?" he asked.

Most people would bridle at being treated as if they weren't there - in the way some people don't talk to the person in the wheelchair, but the person pushing them - but not Sashi. I gave her shoulders a squeeze to remind Keefer that she was there. "I'm not sure we have time for this, but, Sashi..." I squeezed her shoulders again, "has the ability to create entries in her long term, 'semantic' memory, directly from her 'short term memory, without having them go through her episodic memory."

"Photographic, you mean?" he asked.

"That's simplistic, but as close as makes little difference," I replied. "She also has near-perfect recall."

"I had no idea the Tropka and Caswari were fighting over that particular real estate," Sashi said. "Last time I heard, there was a mining operation on Hortos."

"A contingent of Tropka mercenaries moved in a couple of years back," Keefer said. "They set up a sizeable base."

"And," I said, "you being something of a bar-fly..."

He grinned. "We had a game of 'Supan' [checkers] going. I cleaned their clocks. They settled with giving me a while alone in their parts store." He pointed to the box. "I found this. End of story."

"I'm surprised they didn't just kill you," I opined.

Keefer explained he was on the Tropka payroll at that time, having convinced them of his communications expertise. He didn't go into his reason for being on Hortos. He seemed to be reasonably committed to helping us out, for now, so I decided to allow him his privacy. After all, once he'd served his purpose, I'd be cutting him loose a good distance away from here, as per our agreement.

"So, what are they saying?" Sashi asked. "The Missii?"

"That they've picked up a 'tail' and they're stopping to investigate."

Sashi and I looked at each other. She put her hands on her hips - the pose she always strikes when she's about to cut loose. "And you didn't think it important enough to tell us right away?"

"Ale... I mean, Ma'am, was explaining about how your brain worked. I didn't like to interrupt."

I realized I had to streamline our communications protocols - at least while Keefer was on board. "In future, feed us the facts as you discover them," I urged him. "Just don't be overly familiar." He nodded his understanding. "Now, are they coming back towards us?"

"They've gone quiet," he replied.

I looked at Sashi.

She shook her head. "I couldn't see them, before. Can't see them, now."

I moved closer. "Is there somewhere we can hide till they pass?"

She scanned the navigational charts for this region. "Nowhere close enough."

"We'll have to bluff it out," I said. "What do we need?"

"I don't follow," she said.

"We need a pretext for being here. What could we say we need?"

"Some more of this delicious coffee," Keefer replied.

"In the galley," Sashi said, absentmindedly. "Help yourself." Then, to me, she said, "We could ask if they could upgrade our arrays." My uncomprehending look prompted her to add, "We could say we might have run into them had Anu not told us they were stopping to investigate us."

"And, then, my little genius," I said, cupping her chin in my hand, "they'd know we can understand their language."

She sighed. "I wasn't thinking."

"But, you are, nevertheless, an inspiration, Dear One." I sipped my coffee.

"Knock! Knock!

The sudden arrival of the Missii vessel took us by surprise. I'd set up a communication's link to the cargo hold, where Keefer was once more installed. When the 'incoming message' telltale lit, I had Sashi wait for a moment before answering. Within a few seconds, Keefer was on another channel. "They're in communication with three other ships. They're sending some kind of update. I think it's to do with Sunamatra."

I told him to keep listening, then nodded at Sashi. She connected us to the Missii. I thought for a moment, then proceeded to tell them what we were doing here, and what we were looking to buy. I could hear them talking among themselves, but I ignored them. I was far more interested in their ship-to-ship transmission.

Keefer didn't disappoint! "There's a lot of chatter. Five ships are communicating with this one, now."

"What are they saying?"

"There's too much to relay to you, right now."

"You can record it?"

"As we speak," he replied.

The Missii refused our request for upgrades to our arrays. I figured they might, since Leõnis is well equipped in that department. Besides, it's not possible to 'ping' another vessel without revealing a great deal about one's own arrays. The Missii undoubtedly knew what we had. They must certainly realize an upgrade might well make their cloaking technology ineffective. Shortly after they broke connection, their ship veered off and accelerated away from us.

I sat down next to Sashi. "Any idea where they're headed?"

She worked the Nav. for several seconds, then replied, "Two possibilities, I'd say."

I gave her time to check and recheck.

"If they travel alone, they'll wind up in the Dragoth Nebula. If they hook up with the main fleet and travel together, on that original heading, they're all going to end up at Bastario."

"Did you find out what these other ships might be delivering, and to where?" I asked Keefer.

"I'm decoding the transmissions, now," he replied.