Chapter 9
On Peacekeeper Command Carrier
"Captain, flight crews report that they were scanned by the luxan ship and that the leviathan is continued to track them." the pk tech was reading from his screen as his commander paced the bridge in front of his chair.
"Excellent. Keep them flying regular patrols and tell them that they are to continue to avoid the area in which the leviathian is resting. We do not want to alarm them into starburst." Captain Noreg Hort stopped pacing and sat rigidly in the uncomfortable chair. There were times he really hated the peacekeeper mentality of strength. He could use a good, comfy chair to sit in, but that was out of the question at the moment. "Do not send any signals out, we do not want the crew of the leviathan thinking we are setting a trap."
A large figure standing near the single door to the bridge walked to stand next to the captain. "Are you sure it is wise, captain, to remain so close? What if one of the other ships spots us? We don't want to be reported for failure to capture the leviathan. It would damage the credibility of the others with the common soldiers."
Hort turned to face his aid and personal security. They had been brought to the peacekeepers together, as their families could not afford the bribes it took to keep their children out of the service. Hort knew that he had several siblings in various branches of the Peacekeeper forces, some of whom he had not spoken to in years. They had made a pact to remain true to their heritage of freedom, despite the peacekeeper training. They had been separated soon after being drafted, yet Hort had immediately demand his friend's reassignment to his staff once reaching his command posting.
"It is a chance we will have to take, Gaan. We must secure John Crighton's help or we will be destroyed. Either by the Scarrens or by our own High Command's foolish policies." Hort smiled. "It is odd, is it not, to find ourselves depending on the help of a being we would not have lowered ourselves to speak to not so long ago."
"Yes sir, it is indeed odd." Lt. Gaan Reis replied to his commander's statement. He was a large man, and he was known for his skill at both armed and unarmed battle. Most people assumed that he was not too bright, as his lazy left eye which was also cloudy. This was an old injury that would once, in the not so distant past, have caused him to be killed. He was, however, a brilliant tactician and could have easily held his own command if he had wished. He had decided early on, though, that he would instead seek to work behind the scenes, lending support to his friend and gathering a loyal crew of security and medical staff. Hort had foccused on becoming popular among the techs, learning as much as he could in his down time to be able to talk to them on their own level.
"Perhaps there is a lesson that can be learned from this?" Hort asked. Their conversation was being heard and recorded, as was usual on the bridge of a ship of this class. The two also knew that is would be sent to High Command where is would be used as evidence against them should they fail. They were playing to those hidden listeners, trying to remind them of the situation they found themselves in.
"That we should obliterate all of the lesser races before they become a problem as the Scarrens and Nebari have?" Gaan was taking the hardcore PK line, as he always did. Not that he believed it himself, but by mouthing the words, he made himself seem loyal.
Hort laughed. They had had this discussion many times and the script rarely veried by more than a word here and there. "No. That maybe it's best that instead of subjugating the so called lesser races, we should work together with them. If a species as pathetic as the humans seem to be, judging from the data recovered regarding John Crighton, can become as feared as he, in such little time, perhaps other races can help advance the Sebeccean people even further."
"How can that be?"
Switching the topic, Hort spoke. "Did you know that most of the technological and medical advances of the last 300 cycles have been made by members of the so called lesser races? That no Peacekeeper in over 400 cycles has advanced any area of any science in a significant way? That Peacekeeper technonlogy has remained static and unchanged in more than 1000 cycles. You could take a crew from a ship from that long ago and put them on a Peacekeeper ship and they would need only microts to catch up to our level. Yet the Nebari, Hynerians, and even the Luxans and Scarrens have continued to advance? That if it were not for the fact that we have stolen any tech that might be a threat, we would likely have been conquered centuries ago.
"The only true achievements have been made by half-breeds such as Scorpius and by those Sebecceans in the Royal Colonies." he stated, studying the crew as he finished, trying to spot the spy. He easily picked out him out, disguised as a low ranking tech working on the conduits in the forward section of the bridge.
The man was holding a tool near the electrical grid. Hort hid a grin. The man must not have been taught anything before being placed. It was easy to see that the tool he was holding was really a vid recording him and Gaan. If the conduit trully needed repairs, he would have picked a weld sealer, which still hung from his belt, instead of a beam scanner.
"And that is why we are in such grave danger. The Scarrens have continued to advance, as have the Nebari. As much as we are taught to hate them, we are also taught to fear them. The idea of Sebeccean supremacy is a cover to hide that our leaders are afraid. They are terrified at the possibility of our destruction by one fo the other races and so they issue the policy of enslavement. That anyone who makes some kind of advance that is deemed a threat is arrested and tortured." He kept an eye on the spy as he paced the bridge.
"But sir, we must protect our people from alien influence." stated a mid level officer from his station.
"Yes. I agree. We must protect our people from outside influence, but that does not mean we must destroy those who might one day be our allies." His eyes raked the crew, his face set in a grim mask. "And I do mean our allies, not our slaves. Equal partners, sharing our tech and resources to keep the peace. That is what we were originally intended to do, after all. We are called Peacekeepers, not war mongers because we are supposed to keep the peace, not wage war and direct terror against those of the lesser races for the highest bidders."
"Yes sir." the unfortunate soldier replied. He kept himself still, knowing the manner in which most officer punished those who questioned them.
Hort held back his laughter as he stopped pacing. "Sound for a shift change. I want every member of the bridge to be rested in case of any problems. Report back in 4 arns. Gaan, you come with me. There is a situation I wish to discuss with you." He strode from the bridge, Gaan and his honor guard following. ************************************************************
"Captain, flight crews report that they were scanned by the luxan ship and that the leviathan is continued to track them." the pk tech was reading from his screen as his commander paced the bridge in front of his chair.
"Excellent. Keep them flying regular patrols and tell them that they are to continue to avoid the area in which the leviathian is resting. We do not want to alarm them into starburst." Captain Noreg Hort stopped pacing and sat rigidly in the uncomfortable chair. There were times he really hated the peacekeeper mentality of strength. He could use a good, comfy chair to sit in, but that was out of the question at the moment. "Do not send any signals out, we do not want the crew of the leviathan thinking we are setting a trap."
A large figure standing near the single door to the bridge walked to stand next to the captain. "Are you sure it is wise, captain, to remain so close? What if one of the other ships spots us? We don't want to be reported for failure to capture the leviathan. It would damage the credibility of the others with the common soldiers."
Hort turned to face his aid and personal security. They had been brought to the peacekeepers together, as their families could not afford the bribes it took to keep their children out of the service. Hort knew that he had several siblings in various branches of the Peacekeeper forces, some of whom he had not spoken to in years. They had made a pact to remain true to their heritage of freedom, despite the peacekeeper training. They had been separated soon after being drafted, yet Hort had immediately demand his friend's reassignment to his staff once reaching his command posting.
"It is a chance we will have to take, Gaan. We must secure John Crighton's help or we will be destroyed. Either by the Scarrens or by our own High Command's foolish policies." Hort smiled. "It is odd, is it not, to find ourselves depending on the help of a being we would not have lowered ourselves to speak to not so long ago."
"Yes sir, it is indeed odd." Lt. Gaan Reis replied to his commander's statement. He was a large man, and he was known for his skill at both armed and unarmed battle. Most people assumed that he was not too bright, as his lazy left eye which was also cloudy. This was an old injury that would once, in the not so distant past, have caused him to be killed. He was, however, a brilliant tactician and could have easily held his own command if he had wished. He had decided early on, though, that he would instead seek to work behind the scenes, lending support to his friend and gathering a loyal crew of security and medical staff. Hort had foccused on becoming popular among the techs, learning as much as he could in his down time to be able to talk to them on their own level.
"Perhaps there is a lesson that can be learned from this?" Hort asked. Their conversation was being heard and recorded, as was usual on the bridge of a ship of this class. The two also knew that is would be sent to High Command where is would be used as evidence against them should they fail. They were playing to those hidden listeners, trying to remind them of the situation they found themselves in.
"That we should obliterate all of the lesser races before they become a problem as the Scarrens and Nebari have?" Gaan was taking the hardcore PK line, as he always did. Not that he believed it himself, but by mouthing the words, he made himself seem loyal.
Hort laughed. They had had this discussion many times and the script rarely veried by more than a word here and there. "No. That maybe it's best that instead of subjugating the so called lesser races, we should work together with them. If a species as pathetic as the humans seem to be, judging from the data recovered regarding John Crighton, can become as feared as he, in such little time, perhaps other races can help advance the Sebeccean people even further."
"How can that be?"
Switching the topic, Hort spoke. "Did you know that most of the technological and medical advances of the last 300 cycles have been made by members of the so called lesser races? That no Peacekeeper in over 400 cycles has advanced any area of any science in a significant way? That Peacekeeper technonlogy has remained static and unchanged in more than 1000 cycles. You could take a crew from a ship from that long ago and put them on a Peacekeeper ship and they would need only microts to catch up to our level. Yet the Nebari, Hynerians, and even the Luxans and Scarrens have continued to advance? That if it were not for the fact that we have stolen any tech that might be a threat, we would likely have been conquered centuries ago.
"The only true achievements have been made by half-breeds such as Scorpius and by those Sebecceans in the Royal Colonies." he stated, studying the crew as he finished, trying to spot the spy. He easily picked out him out, disguised as a low ranking tech working on the conduits in the forward section of the bridge.
The man was holding a tool near the electrical grid. Hort hid a grin. The man must not have been taught anything before being placed. It was easy to see that the tool he was holding was really a vid recording him and Gaan. If the conduit trully needed repairs, he would have picked a weld sealer, which still hung from his belt, instead of a beam scanner.
"And that is why we are in such grave danger. The Scarrens have continued to advance, as have the Nebari. As much as we are taught to hate them, we are also taught to fear them. The idea of Sebeccean supremacy is a cover to hide that our leaders are afraid. They are terrified at the possibility of our destruction by one fo the other races and so they issue the policy of enslavement. That anyone who makes some kind of advance that is deemed a threat is arrested and tortured." He kept an eye on the spy as he paced the bridge.
"But sir, we must protect our people from alien influence." stated a mid level officer from his station.
"Yes. I agree. We must protect our people from outside influence, but that does not mean we must destroy those who might one day be our allies." His eyes raked the crew, his face set in a grim mask. "And I do mean our allies, not our slaves. Equal partners, sharing our tech and resources to keep the peace. That is what we were originally intended to do, after all. We are called Peacekeepers, not war mongers because we are supposed to keep the peace, not wage war and direct terror against those of the lesser races for the highest bidders."
"Yes sir." the unfortunate soldier replied. He kept himself still, knowing the manner in which most officer punished those who questioned them.
Hort held back his laughter as he stopped pacing. "Sound for a shift change. I want every member of the bridge to be rested in case of any problems. Report back in 4 arns. Gaan, you come with me. There is a situation I wish to discuss with you." He strode from the bridge, Gaan and his honor guard following. ************************************************************