Part 19
Come tighten your girth and slacken your rein;
Come buckle your blanket and holster again;
Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade,
For he must ride sure that goes riding a raid.
-- Anonymous, 1861
"So why do I always have to stay behind?" huffed Garth, as they were going over the final plans for the abduction.
"You want a little cheese with that whine?" Dick replied without much humor. "Think it through, Garth! You're staying with the ship because you're best suited for the job."
Garth leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed, a look of frustrated anger on his face. "What's to think through? Why did I come all this way just to drive the getaway car?"
"Well, I'm sorry you feel the job is beneath you, Your Highness!" Dick replied sarcastically. "Since you seem to have missed the point of some important parts of the briefing, let me explain. Did you read the Ch'ton physiological data I highlighted?" He took a deep breath and continued more calmly. "The Ch'ton may be humanoid, but they are two to three times stronger than we are. That means those two women are stronger than any of us except for Donna, Vic, Toni, and you. When Raven brings them up here, until we rejoin the ship, it'll be just her, the pilot, and two extremely pissed-off Ch'ton women. Since Toni isn't a pilot, that means either Donna, Vic, or you need to stay here, in case they start causing problems."
During Dick's explanation, Garth's expression had cleared, and now he nodded. "Okay, I think I understand. Donna and Toni are the only ones who can fly, so we don't want to give up that advantage. You also want Vic to hack into their computer net and grab any information he can, so that leaves me. Sorry, Dick -- you're right. I wasn't thinking it through. Knee-jerk reaction, I'm afraid."
"S'okay," Dick replied, smiling. "It wouldn't be the Titans if we didn't have at least some kind of internal conflict before a mission!"
After the laughter had died down, Roy spoke up. "Fearless leader, I'll admit I'm still a little confused as to why a Bat-boy like yourself would want to attack during the day. Aren't you nervous about all that unhealthy sunlight?"
Dick grinned again at the comment. "I'll admit, it does feel a little weird to push for a daylight raid, but again, it goes back to that physiological report. Their eyesight's much better than ours -- especially compared to our night vision. If we'd had time to run sims on this, I might go for a night mission, but we haven't worked together for a long time, so we have to depend on habit. I'm worried that if we attacked at night, we would forget to allow for the Ch'ton's better night vision. Which reminds me -- Wally!"
"Yo?"
"This is why I wanted you on this job instead of Jesse. These reports don't say anything for certain, but don't rely on your normal rate of speed to keep you from being seen or hit. I think it's possible these guys could still track you, so move it as fast as you can, okay?
"Gotcha," Wally nodded.
"Okay, one last item -- costumes. It's up to you guys whether you wear 'em or not, but I have to go on this mission as Richard Grayson, USN. You can probably get away with calling me 'Robbie' when we're actually on the planet, but once we're back aboard ship, be sure to call me either 'Dick' or 'Richard.'"
"How come?" asked Toni, in confusion.
"Secret ID stuff," replied Roy before Dick could say anything. "While we could finesse not having Nightwing with us when we left, we have to return with formerly-MIA Dick Grayson. I don't think we can convince Queenie that Dick is really two separate people, and I'm sure the brass we turn her over to won't buy it either."
"Right," Dick confirmed. "Any questions?"
No one said anything.
In a softer, more serious tone, Dick continued, "I just want to thank you guys for coming out here. That kept me going, when things would get a little ... rough. I knew you'd come." He stood up from the table. "Okay, let's go!"
~~~~~~~~~~
Unlike the military's ships, the Jericho had a transporter, but it could only handle two people at a time. Dick and Wally were the first to arrive on the secluded section of the palace roof Dick had selected as their landing zone. Wally made a fast recon of the area while Dick used his monitoring devices to look for the queen. Wally returned in a few seconds.
"All clear, Dick."
"Thanks!" Dick told Garth to send down the rest of the team.
"We're in luck," Dick said when they were all assembled. "As I had hoped, the queen and her maid are in the throne room along with a whole bunch of soldiers and civilians, so we'll go with Plan A. Donna, I'll signal you when we're in place."
"Got it," replied Donna. She, Roy, Wally, and Toni took up their positions on the side of the roof nearest the throne room.
Raven enfolded Dick and Vic in her "cloak" and transported them to the queen's bolthole behind the throne room. Dick had originally planned to sneak the three of them in, but Raven had pointed out that she could get them there faster and, more importantly, undetected.
He tapped his communicator twice -- the signal to Donna -- and waited. Less than a minute later, they heard shouts and screams filter through the thick walls to where they were waiting. Dick was so focused on the sounds of the fighting that he almost missed the telltale click of the bolthole's door opening. He quickly motioned for Vic and Raven to take cover as he did so himself.
As the door opened, he once again wanted to thank the idiot who had furnished the queen's retreat. It appeared obvious that fashion had held sway over security -- the room was filled with hiding places. It was a security guard's nightmare. The queen's two bodyguards were obviously aware of their problem as they nervously entered the room ahead of their charge. Because of the strength of the attack in the throne room, they only had time for a cursory glance before motioning the queen and her maid through the door.
When the door shut behind the two bodyguards, the queen, and her maid, Dick and Victor struck. Vic attacked the bodyguards while Dick shoved both women toward Raven and then joined Vic against the guards. Raven gathered the two women into her cloak and vanished. When the guards saw that their charges were gone, they fought with increased ferocity. The close quarters definitely made things difficult for Dick's normal acrobatic fighting style, but he finally managed to get a chokehold on his guard and hang on. Regardless of their superior strength, the Ch'ton still needed to breathe, and the guard gradually slipped into unconsciousness. Dick looked up to see that Vic had finished off his own opponent and was now studying the room's communication console. Dick quickly tied the two guards up and joined Vic at the console.
"What'cha think?" he asked, wincing as he heard an especially loud crash coming from the battle still going on in the throne room.
"I got it," Vic replied absently, as he used his morphing abilities to send a small tendril from his finger into the console. He stiffened slightly, and his eyes went blank as he insinuated himself into the network.
"Dick?" Donna's voice sounded rather tense through the communicator.
"Yeah, Donna?" replied Dick.
"How much longer?"
"Just a few more minutes. Raven's already left with the queen and the maid; Vic's getting the data right now."
"Tell him to get a move on -- the situation's starting to get nasty."
"Vic?" Dick asked.
The other Titan nodded and held up two fingers.
"Okay, Donna. Prepare to rendezvous in two minutes."
"You got it!"
Ninety seconds later, Vic absorbed the little tendril back into his finger. He nodded to Dick, and the two men went through the bolthole door back into the throne room. They were able to fight their way through the remaining guards, soldiers, and civilians to join up with their fellow Titans. The whole group then began a gradual retreat out of the room. Once they were out, Toni sealed up the entrance to the throne room. Dick had hoped that the initial attack would draw all the reinforcements into the room so there would be less risk of being caught between two groups of defenders. That proved to be the case, at least until they reached the roof where the rest of the queen's defenders finally caught up with them and opened fire.
"Toni -- get a shield up around us! Garth!" Dick yelled into his communicator to be heard over the Ch'ton's guns. "Start the pick up! Wally, do your search, but make it fast."
Donna and Vic were the first to transport up, while Wally searched for any sign of the captured marines. Although it was unlikely any of the marines had survived their captivity, Dick didn't want to leave without making sure. The tiny hope he had nursed while hiding and waiting was dashed when Wally reappeared moments later, a grim look on his face. He shook his head in answer to Dick's unspoken question.
"Okay!" Dick called out hoarsely, swallowing past the unexpected lump in his throat. "Wally and Roy -- you're next!"
The two men disappeared, and Toni and Dick anxiously waited for their turn. Toni's barriers were able to hold up against anything the soldiers could send against them, but even she had her limits. Dick was fairly certain the Ch'ton wouldn't bomb their own palace, but he would rather not take that chance. Finally, Garth signaled that he was ready, and Dick felt the slight queasiness he always associated with the transporter as the world dissolved around him.
~~~~~~~~~~
Dick sat back in his chair drinking coffee while he listened to Roy and Wally argue about who had knocked out the most soldiers. Compared to running a fighter squadron, leading the Titans had been like changing from a business suit into an old, worn pair of jeans. In spite of the years they had been apart, they had all fit together almost seamlessly. He smiled as he watched Donna being called over to confirm Roy's account of something. His smile widened as Vic and Toni walked through the door.
"Are we clear?" he asked Vic.
"As crystal. I'm not sayin' they can't find us, but they're gonna have an awful hard time, and we'll certainly hear 'em comin'." On Dick's instructions, Vic had piloted the Jericho to the outskirts of the Ch'ton system. With the shields in place, the small ship would be invisible to any Ch'ton search ships.
"Okay. Donna and Toni, please escort our 'guests' to the briefing room," Dick said, motioning for the others to take their seats around the table.
Shortly, the two Titans returned leading the two Ch'ton women, each wearing "handcuffs" constructed by Toni. Leaving the prisoners standing facing Dick, Donna and Toni took their seats around the table.
Despite the "Bug" nickname, the Ch'ton were humanoid. Kory's data indicated that there were three different races or castes: the queens, the warriors, and the workers. All three shared the basic Ch'ton characteristics of reddish-brown skin, black hair, a large upper torso, almost fragile-looking arms and legs, and large, wide-set, faceted eyes. Workers, both male and female, were distinguished by their thicker lower torso, and plainer-looking eyes and were shorter than an average human. Warriors were always male and were much taller, with thicker arms and legs. The exclusively female queen caste (a Ch'ton female could be of the queen caste without actually ruling anything) was taller than the workers, but more slender.
The Ch'ton queen standing rigidly in front of them seemed fairly typical of her caste. She was about Dick's height with long black hair. When she had been captured, she had been wearing a large ornate headpiece through which her hair had been woven, but she had taken that off. Her simple one-shoulder gown was dark green and cinched at the waist with an elaborately woven golden girdle. Her worker-caste maid, who had much shorter hair, wore a similarly styled gown, although hers was in a mahogany color and her girdle was a simple cord tie.
Garth had told Dick that the two women, especially the maid, had been extremely upset when they first came aboard, but Raven had been able to calm them down.
"Your Majesty, I am Lt. Commander Richard Grayson. We have taken you and your maid prisoner, but let me assure you we do not intend to harm you. Let me also assure you that it is impossible for you to escape us and return to your home. If you will accept that, I will remove your restraints."
The queen looked around the room at the men and women assembled there. She turned to look at her companion, and then her shoulders appeared to slump slightly, and she nodded her head.
"Very well, Lt. Commander Richard Grayson. We are your prisoners," she replied in a husky voice.
Dick glanced at Toni, who nodded and made the handcuffs disappear. Vic then brought over two more chairs and motioned for them to sit down.
"Ma'am, as I said, we don't intend to harm you. What we want to do is put an end to this war. We hope that by having you as our 'guest,' your people will finally respond to the attempts we've made to talk to them about ending these hostilities." He stopped as he saw the queen's mouth twist in a humorless smile. "Ma'am?"
"I'm afraid you will not find me to be a very valuable prisoner, Lt. Commander Richard Grayson."
"Please, you can just call me 'Richard.' Don't you think your people will want you back?"
"Oh, I'm sure they would want me back, if they knew that was an option. Unfortunately, the ones who want me back aren't the ones who are in a position to make that happen." She and her maid exchanged rueful looks.
Dick decided to get to the bottom line. "Who exactly is in charge of your planet, ma'am? It's obviously not you."
"You are correct, Richard," the queen replied bitterly. "Until a short time ago, I thought I was the ruler of the Ch'ton. I thought I was leading my people through a time of great crisis. Then I discovered I was only a pawn. The power that I thought I had was merely an illusion, fostered by those who knew who held the real power, my uncle Tongear, the Warlord."
"Warlord?" inquired Wally.
"Yes, the leader of the warriors. I had always known him to be an ambitious man, but I never dreamed his ambitions included usurping the rule of the queen." She turned back to Dick. "My uncle will make a token effort to find me. He will probably even assign a phalanx of hand-picked warriors to look for me. He will then announce, regretfully, that all efforts to find me have failed." She continued sardonically, "His next announcement will be that for the good of our people and the success of the war effort, he will take over the reins of government. Just until they find me, or they find out I've been killed, of course. Naturally, then he would turn the government back over to me or my successor."
"Naturally," echoed Dick. He looked around the table at the other Titans. Vic had given Toni, Roy, and Garth headsets that translated the Ch'ton speech, so they had been able to follow the explanation along with the others.
"But won't they know where you are when we tell them you're our prisoner?" asked Donna in confusion.
"In wartime, the Warlord controls all communications. Whatever attempts you might make to communicate with my people, he will be able to intercept. Moreover, I've also learned that he has suborned my council. They will support him in suppressing the information."
"You said you learned all this fairly recently," said Dick. "What happened to make you realize what was going on?"
"When I first became queen, my uncle kept me busy with all the ceremonial duties involved in my cousin's funeral and the visits and oaths of fealty from the leaders of the different provinces. After that was over, he 'allowed' me to sit in on my own council, but he politely frustrated all of my efforts at taking on any kind of a leadership role. His reasons always seemed to make perfect sense, but I began to be suspicious. I also realized that my oh-so-helpful maid Terga," she nodded at the maid who dipped her head in an ironic bow, "was actually a spy and a mouthpiece for my uncle."
Terga spoke up, "My husband is a soldier. The Warlord told me that if I didn't spy for him, he would ensure that my husband would die. I did as he instructed. I also wasn't naive enough to think I was the only spy he had in place, so I was careful to follow orders when we were around other people." She smiled fiercely. "I'm afraid I paid much less attention to Her Majesty's words and actions when we were alone, so I didn't report her growing suspicions to the Warlord. Especially her suspicions about me and her research into Queen Chalanda's death."
The queen smiled, this time almost naturally. "Before I became queen, I was a historian. Research, especially record searching, was one of my specialties. I suppose Tongear either forgot this, or thought of historical research as confined to the distant past. It must not have occurred to him that I could use my security codes as queen to access any of his files, even his personal ones." Her expression grew solemn again. "That's when I discovered he had had my cousin murdered."
"Murdered?" squeaked Toni. The queen looked at Toni in confusion at the English word, so Dick translated.
The queen nodded. "Yes. It was all laid out quite plainly. She was taking a long-overdue trip to visit one of our colony worlds. Tongear blew up her ship while she was en route." The queen looked around the table as she continued. "He then placed the blame on a race of aliens whom we had heard almost nothing of -- some people living on a planet called Urth," she said, saying the name phonetically instead of the Ch'ton word. "We were outraged, of course. This horrible act could not be allowed to go unpunished." She sighed. "And so, here we are."
The Titans looked at each other in shock. Predictably, Roy found his voice first.
"You mean you guys attacked us because you thought we killed your queen?!? Some guy tells you, 'Hey, I know who did it! Let's go bomb them into oblivion.' That's crazy!"
"My uncle is nothing if not thorough. Admittedly, we were shocked and in mourning, but his 'evidence' was compelling. He had scanner data, supposedly showing some ships of yours, and even some recorded communiqués between those ships. We were convinced. If I hadn't found his original plans for the bomb he planted, I would probably still be convinced."
"How would he know enough about us to fake evidence like that?" asked Dick, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Oh, he had help from one of your people. Someone named Luthor gave him all the information he needed."
** End Part 19 **