I hesitate. Is there any point in trying to hide my identity? Talyn is unique, the only warship/Leviathan hybrid in existence. Anyone looking for us will recognize him instantly. My name hardly matters.
"Leviathan, this is Captain Bailar Crais of the Rogue Talyn. Please respond."
Rogue? Talyn's thought-question has the cold feeling of someone trying to decide if he's just been insulted.
"It suits you, my friend." He can feel the minute current of facial nerves firing as I smile, and he knows the name is not intended to offend.
In fact, his circuits have calmed. Somewhere inside him, a loop was running- Who am I? What am I? What is my place? The same lines of code had been executing again and again, neither of us aware of them until they finally stopped, broken by the simple designation, Rogue Talyn. Neither Peacekeeper warship nor Leviathan, he is simply himself. He has many worries still, stray programs running on top of his survival algorithms, but I haven't time to consider them.
Talyn's speakers reverberate with the Leviathan's response, "Captain Crais, this is Soraya Black of the Leviathan Kateri. I mean you no harm. This is a peaceful merchant vessel."
A merchant vessel! I lean heavily on one of the consoles, weak with relief. A merchant ship should have star charts to the nearest commerce planets. I can resupply, then focus on finding a planet with a suitable moon or asteroid field where Talyn and I can hide.
She's beautiful! Talyn's sensors have all focused on Kateri, tracing the shape of her hull, registering the heat flow from her engines, and archiving every detail of her physique. He'll fill his memory banks if I don't stop him.
"Put the captain on holoscreen, Talyn," I remind him. "And pay attention to your surroundings. Our lives may depend on it."
The figure on the holoscreen is young, like her ship, but not nearly as exquisite a specimen. She raises a frail-looking hand and wipes pale, tangled hair from her face. "I-- I'm not the captain."
"Then let me speak with him, or with your pilot."
She shakes her head, tears running down her cheeks. "There is no captain, no pilot, just me, and I-- Gods, forgive me, mother, forgive me, I-- I surrender."
"What?" It's strange how those words lose their sweetness when I haven't earned them. I've fought no battle and won no trophy. I don't want her surrender. I feel a waive of contempt wash over me. Is this nauseous mix of pity and loathing for the girl, who won't even make a stand, or for the man I used to be?
"I surrender, Peacekeeper. Kateri is yours." She says the words to her boots, not to me.
Talyn shivers with resentment. Kateri belongs to no one. Tell her, Crais. Tell her she has no right to speak for a Leviathan.
I choose to ignore him. Talyn and I can talk later. "Surrender accepted. Prepare for my transport to dock."
The girl nods, and her hologram persists. She sits down, wraps her arms around her legs, and rests her forehead on her knees, hiding her face from me. Perhaps someday Talyn will learn to sense when a transmission should end. Clearly, he missed the note of finality in my voice.
"Cut the comm channel," I command.
The hologram disappears, but when I start toward my transport, I find the doors will not open to let me through. I'm trapped in the command chamber. He's being childish, and my patience is wearing thin. He demanded I join him as captain, said he needed help, and yet he resists any order he disagrees with. If I were still a Peacekeeper, I would have to report that the Leviathan hybrid program is a complete failure. Giving a Leviathan guns does not make him a warship, any more than handing a man a weapon makes him a soldier.
I lean against the door and face the center of the room. "Stop this foolishness, now. Let me through."
Why? What are you going to do?
"Inventory the ship, to start. I need food and emergency supplies, as well as any charts and maps she may have. Once we have what we need, I'll leave the girl and the ship unharmed."
I have your word?
I sigh and move away from the doors, then turn to face them. "Talyn, my word means nothing. You don't need it, though. You know my intentions."
True. I can feel Talyn's processor heat as he considers the matter. They are afraid of us, Crais. Kateri still won't speak to me. You must make her less afraid.
"I'll speak with Soraya. Perhaps if she believes I am no threat, Kateri will believe the same of you."
Leave your weapon.
I start to laugh, but when the doors remain closed, I realize he is serious. "Talyn, be reasonable!"
They're scared because we have guns. I can't put mine down, they're a part of me. You're not like me. You can take your weapon off and not make others afraid of you.
I shrug and set my weapon down on the floor. I have training in seven forms of unarmed combat, and one frail little girl is no threat. She was smart enough to surrender, so I can't believe she would be stupid enough to attack me, not with Talyn's guns trained on Kateri.
The doors open, and I settle into the cockpit of my transport. I press the ignition sequence and the engine responds without arguing. The transport is a mindless tool; I could set it on a crash course for an asteroid, and it wouldn't worry or try to debate the wisdom of my actions. It would simply do as instructed until the very moment of impact. Talyn should make a note of its example.