The Mon Pelmeth Part Two
Part One is here
This is the second part of my story. Trying to write as well as possible, I have proof read it multiple times but it's all blurring into one mass of meaningless words so please any corrections, criticism, wild unadulterated praise let me know.
3 had finished the Srasja bottle but the human ship seemed to be safe. They'd fired 3 missiles and fired the plasma cannons at least 5 times. If the accuracy of the craft was anything like the accuracy of the soldiers shooting while running, several Cayn-Ak craft would have crashed to the surface of Kuliru IV. 3 was intoxicated after consuming the bottle and the quad measure back at the bar in a short space of time. The seat wasn't particularly comfy but a seat's a seat. 3 relaxed and drifted off into a Srasja induced stupor.
+Let him sleep+ flashed an instruction across the ship from Rebecca.
+Three days till rendezvous. No sign of pursuit+ Vasily flashed around the ship.
3 felt pretty good when he came out of his Srasja induced sleep. Nethel didn’t get hangovers like humans or shakes like the Pomoraxi after a night on the vlech paste. Sat across from him was a human, one that didn't match the characteristics of the humans in the bar he'd been talking with and who had faced down the five Cayn-Ak soldiers. She was a female, and her hair was black, straight and long.
"So, 3, we didn't meet before. I am Jiao Zheng. How are you feeling?"
"I am....Please can you explain to me why there were Cayn-Ak chasing us? Aren’t you at peace with them? Isn't there "the Basketball treaty?" 3 was incredulous.
"That’s a good question but we were hoping you could enlighten us. We would like to hear more about your activities on Renyat Habin." Jiao leaned forwards slightly as she spoke, and then moved to lean back against the wall. She was waiting.
"Ah yes. Taking that container to Renyat Habin." 3's memories kicked into gear. Every single human on this ship could kill him in a second if they wanted not to mention the possibility of being flung out of an airlock. There was no logic in antagonism.
"Can you tell me what you found when you researched Renyat Habin?" Jiao interrupted.
"A life supporting world, 78% of your Earth's gravity. A death-world to me, but presumably an idyllic paradise to your species. Limited colonisation by the Cayn-Ak, but as they are about the only species in this area that can colonise it they were in no rush. The major export even then was murmakian plant based foodstuffs. Your species is crazy for it I understand."
"Indeed" said Jiao nodding her agreement. "What was the military presence like on Renyat Habin, what was the drop-off like?"
"I landed at Renyassar City but not in the civilian spaceport, a military base to the north of the city. This was pretty standard given that I had been contracted by the Cayn-Ak military. There was a large fleet in orbit around Renyat Habin, unmissable. I was greeted by another logistics officer, who took my cargo with some porters. It was a standard base, it had some personnel that I could see but nothing more than a commercial spaceport. I was paid straightaway and redirected to the civilian spaceport south of the base. It wasn't far, maybe 30km altogether. There wasn't much work on Ranyat Habin as it was a new colony and far from the trade lanes. The population was 99% Cayn-Ak. It was quite possible I was the only Nethel on the planet."
"What would you say the size of the base, seeing as you approached from orbit?" Jiao leaned in again.
"A rough square of 4 kilometres by 4."
"So you were in the civilian base, no work. Did you have a drink anywhere?"
+Of course he did+ flashed Maxwell, listening in in the cockpit area out of sight.
"There was one establishment near the spaceport that had some Srasja, but it was full of off-duty Cayn-Ak military but there was a table with some traders of mixed races. 3 Pomoraxi, a solitary oDamar and three Grengat. Naturally I was welcomed at the table. The Pomoraxi had been commissioned by their guild to run medical supplies to the Cayn-Ak, you know they are the best in interspecies medicine. The oDamar had been shifting high quality textiles from a Vrex co-operative and the Grengat were trying to sell Cayn-Ak spec wearable computing devices they'd somehow ended up with. They thought a frontier world would have more use than an established colony. It was an interesting bunch actually and I made a nice sum in that new Yuppika style game."
“Sounds pretty standard.” opined Jiao.
“Oh it was, till it all erupted. A high ranking Cayn-Ak ran breathlessly into the bar screaming ‘MON PELMETH! MON PELMETH!’ We traders had no idea what this meant and our translators couldn’t fill in the blanks. It caused all kinds of commotion. The bar staff started handing out little tablets to sober up the Cayn-Ak. They all formed into units and moved to wherever they were supposed to be. In the chaos we lost the Pomoraxi so the oDamar, the Grengats and myself all tried to get to our craft.”
"Do you know what happened to the Pomoraxi?"
"Never saw them again or any hint of them at all. The battle raged over head, I'm sure you know more about that battle than me. We got to our craft but there was a battle going on over hear. Attempting to get into orbit would be suicidal, so we all took our craft and made to a clear spot outside the city. The Cayn-Ak weren't interested in us at all, what with you invading their planet. We basically watched the battle unfold and were then arrested by some Soviet paratroopers during the ground invasion. I think they were Soviet, you have so many political entities it’s hard to differentiate their symbols. I'm sure they were part of the 'Shanghai Treaty Organisation' faction. "
+76th Guards Air Assault Division to be precise. My cousin Pavel is a praporshchik in this division.+ Vasily chimed in. The pride in his text flash was palpable. Jiao was helmetless so she couldn't see the message.
"Indeed, Soviet Paratroops if memory serves. The Shanghai Treaty wasn't signed till 2006 although the USSR is a member. Thanks for answering our questions." Jiao was smiling a genuine smile at 3 and although it was an alien gesture to the Nethel trader he had been around humans enough to discern the raised cheeks and corners of the mouth. Jiao got up and released him from his restraints. She then went to the front of the ship passing the various holographic displays on her way. Some of them projected over clean glossy metal surfaces. They would look better without the displays.
Jiao entered the cockpit of the ship and the door slid back. The space was hardly generous but it felt quite empty. There were normally more than five in the cockpit but this was an emergency mission pulled together in hours with no preparation. Five agents was all the Security Council could get together in this sector. It was a good group, and Vasily was a noted pilot. Jiao sat at a console and began to work. She found that virtual case board had nothing on a physical board but it would do.
Duty in a UNSC operation was an excellent way to both gain experience and contacts. Jiao was a counter intelligence officer in the People’s Liberation Army. She’d been put forward for the UNSC due to several incidents in which attacks on Chinese interests on free planets were foiled by her team. She wasn’t an elite soldier like the American and Briton. She could use a weapon for sure but it wasn’t her specialty. Jiao was trying to piece together the parts of a puzzle.
The Cayn-Ak had been watching the Nethel for some time, intel gleaned from the never ending cyberwar between the Cayn-Ak and humanity. There had been rumors circulating since the Ascension War that the Cayn-Ak had a bio-weapon on Renyat Habin but it hadn’t been used and was lost or variations of that theme. The Nethel had transported something for the Cayn-Ak military to Renyat Habin in a timescale which fitted the rumour. The Nethel seemed genuine and his story was broadly consistent with the accounts he gave during his internment after the war.
Her current working theory was that the Nethel had transported the weapon to Renyat Habin but that the UN fleet arrived. Then either during the orbital battle as collateral damage or during the bombardments in support of the ground landing the weapon was destroyed before it was operational. The issue was that if there had been a weapon on Renyat Habin it was potentially still there and potentially a toxic time bomb. Renyat Habin was a thriving garden world in the human sphere and it had a population that was already in excess of 200 million and growing. Interestingly it had the largest Jewish population in the whole human sphere.
“Jiao, unless you have a revelation we are maintaining course for rendezvous.”
“No sir, we’re missing something.” Jiao’s brow was furrowed as she manipulated the board. “The Nethel isn’t lying, at least his story is consistent with the previous record. There wasn’t a military base where he described though. It was an industrial complex but not a formal military base.” Jiao responded more working through the issues verbally than conversationally.
“We need to examine the area. Problem is that is now part of the UN City Renyassar, an urban area of over 10 million people.”
“Shit.” Maxwell spoke for the whole unit.
A young Nethel called Buirtke Meunr 4 of Vkutahran scurried out from a crowd in the main spaceport on Kuliru IV and headed towards a berth which contained a small Nethel trade ship. He was an apprentice to an experienced trader and was learning the ropes. A majority of Nethel stayed in their home systems and worked hard to advance in the many businesses and commercial enterprises of their society. However small minority had an urge called "the Vlurt".
The Vlurt compelled the Nethel to travel alone, or in very small groups. This small subset acted as merchants and couriers in the distant past, connecting the isolated Nethel settlements and facilitating trade. When the Nethel developed spaceflight and travelled to the stars the Vlurt created a class of galactic traders only too happy to explore, transport good and messages for the Nethel conglomerates and wider galactic society. Buirtke Meunr 4 of Vkutahran entered the ship.
"Did you secure your cargo?" asked an older Nethel sat in the piloting chair as the younger entered the cockpit. The older Nethel was called Nicshanik Mkintoab 7 of Vkutahran.
"I did, the oDamar porters will begin loading it shortly" replied the younger Nethel, pleased with his work.
"Excellent. We will make a tidy profit."
They two Nethel sat in the cockpit of the standard Nethel trade ship awaiting the cargo to be loaded. The cargo was split between the two, so that the younger Nethel could learn to pick the right goods without jeopardising the enterprise with a failure. The younger was not the type to be interested in history, he was far more interested in market news as any young trade apprentice would be. Currently he was deeply interested in the price of suma bean pods to the Cayn-Ak Empire and the rising indices of the Earth markets, particularly the FTSE 1000. The information on Kuliru IV was not as up to date as he would have liked.
Still he was curious about humanity in general, as many in the galaxy were. The recent upsurge in human goods and traders on the market was shaking things up. Much to the surprise of the older Nethel he started an education video on the history of humanity. It was a video produced by the United Nations of Man, specifically for consumption by Nethel. The wording was slightly odd, as if human thought and language didn’t quite match up to the Nethel languages. Hardly odd in the world of galactic translation, but with humans the phrasings were close but not close enough. Other species were clearly alien so it didn’t jar as much as the human inflected Nethel did. The video was quite long and around halfway through the cargo was loaded and the control tower gave authorisation to attain orbit. Buirtke Meunr 4 barely noticed the ascension to orbit. At the end of the video he looked to the other Nethel.
"You lived through their entrance to the galaxy, and have dealt with them extensively. Why did the Cayn-Ak attack humanity? What is the truth not the PR speak and propaganda?"
Nicshanik Mkintoab 7 had lived through the emergence of humanity and had an interest in galactic history, partially for its own sake but also to not miss a potentially lucrative antique should the opportunity arise. Humans were also good trade partners on the whole, and had some very business orientated groups. It was smart business to know them culturally.
"That's a good question. The short answer is they thought they would win. When they surveyed Earth they predicted that even if humanity developed technologically at an exponential rate in all fields, which didn’t happen by the way, 5 million Cayn-Ak would subdue the world in 2 orbits of its sun. They were the up and coming race at the time much like the humans are now. Not as interested in trade though. They thought they could gain a salve race and a habitable planet that only they would be interested in. They thought they were the best soldiers in the galaxy although I'm sure a Pomoraxi death-rider would disagree, and they would crush the savages.
But they were wrong.
What they didn't count on was that they weren't the best soldiers in the galaxy. The humans were stronger, with more endurance, generally better shots with diverse fighting techniques....actually, yes, that illustrates it nicely. In one of the dominant languages of Earth they call unarmed combat styles "martial arts" as if they are comparable to dance or sculpture. Image a species that views violence as a form of artistry. They were also so used to fighting amongst themselves they were combat ready across their planet. A global conflict in which they used atomic weapons twice was still in living memory. They can be bloodthirsty savages in the right context."
"But the Cayn-Ak are brutal too." objected the younger Nethel.
"True, but humanity was fighting for its very existence. They had primitive weapons and technology but it’s not like they were iron-age nomads. They had industry, science, computing was taking off. The Cayn-Ak landed in four places on Earth with a million soldiers in each, and made swift progress at first. Humans died by the million each day from Cayn-Ak attacks and the collapse of the infrastructure. They would just use massed formations of attack craft to destroy settlements, firing indiscriminately."
A sharp intake of breath indicated Buirtke Meunr 4’s distaste.
"But they drew the Cayn-Ak into city fights in the rubble of their cities and started to see they weren't invincible and that they were better fighters one on one. The Cayn-Ak made another mistake in that several powers were not attacked directly in the orbital landings so their infrastructure although damaged continued to function. In the end the Cayn-Ak did not have enough troops or equipment and although the humans lost over half their entire population, they estimate 4 billion humans died in the war. It was just enough to make weapons for the human armies. The humans fought as one for the first time in their history."
"I thought the humans of one nation hate the other nations though." said the younger Nethel, voicing a widely held galactic sentiment.
"This is true, but they hate aliens more and in particular the Cayn-Ak. Never try to sell a human Cayn-Ak goods. It will be perceived as a great insult. They have several groups of powers that are friendly and share history. That doesn’t matter to us. They are all open to trade."
Nicshanik Mkintoab 7 paused, collecting her thoughts.
"Buirtke Meunr 4 of Vkutahran, you've never traded with a human yet have you? Well, remember this above all: don’t ever cross a human. And don’t ever call them Mon Pelmeth to their faces."
"I don’t intend to, I just want to make some money. This load of high quality murmakian spores is a certainty to be picked up by some humans" replied Buirtke Meunr 4. "What is your cargo?"
"Oh I got some Pomoraxi bio-computing modules. I understand they can be lucrative to select human enterprises."
"How did you get it past customs?" Buirtke Meunr 4 of Vkutahran was intrigued. Bio-computers were under strict control from the Pomoraxi clan-guilds and couldn't be sold without a warrant.
"A small bribe, and the complicit agreement from a particular clan-guild's agent. Could be a dicey run if we get any attention from Cayn-Ak or any other Clan-Guilds but it would be a massive profit" her three eyes all moved away from each other in a massive Nethel smile.
“Boss-lady, we are getting out to the outer gas giant. Five minutes.” Vasily was already getting informal. The mission was days old, this was a good sign thought Jiao.
“Wait…” his voice trailed off.
In a second the holographic displays in the ship turned off, replaced by bare metal and a pervasive red light. Jiao activated the electronic warfare system was immediately looking for a connection and a way in.
“Status.” Rebeca was alert and at her station in seconds. Red alert from Vasily meant business now. He was far to experienced.
“Looks like a Pomoraxi cruiser just dropped out of FTL. Their most recent class, Type 44. It’s onscreen. It’s hailing us.”
“That’s could blow us to dust. Targeting active on all weapons.” Vaaridhar was the quietest member of the unit but his words were loud and clear.
“Patch them through to me. Set up streams to everyone else. They don’t need to see there are only five of us.” Rebecca’s voice was
“You’re live..now”
“This is Commander Rebecca Halton of the UNSC Vessel Zaqar. How can I assist you?”
“Give us the Nethel or die. You have 5 minutes of your timekeeping to comply. Be warned this time starts on the mark.” There was only an audio feed which ended in a shrill note.
Posted Dec 3, 2015, 12:13 AM UTC