Core of Coreward

[The Pakkrat]

Core of Coreward
By the Pakkrat

Begin Captain’s Log:
155-1105
Aeghzisung (Provence 0240) A200776-C As Ni Va VDzF

When entering the Vargr Extents, check your privilege.

I didn’t want to keep a Log on this ship. It still does not feel like a home to me. I had the Thuegueus II hastily constructed for vengeance, a weapon against those who had ambushed us, killed my friends and crew members and destroyed my real home. Now, the 200-ton Empress Marava-class Fast Far Trader was a ship of mourning as we took our escape leave of the Third Imperium. I had the vessel hastily built using unauthorized funds from a megacorporate credit chip card belonging to Naasirka, LIC. The Thuegueus II is still a weapon, combat turrets, combat software, combat cabins, combat drives and computer. And still she begs to be used as such.

And I took my revenge upon the pirates who ambushed us, left their ship freezing on a polar icecap and had the Bounty Huntress sent after Miss Lidus Ka arrested for murdering my crew. Why did I still feel hollow and cheated? It’s me again, Ri Dzuerrghksungkorokoutou the Captain-Owner of this ship of vengeance. We’re on a coreward tack through the Dzarrgh Federate. Our current mission is to deliver home our fallen comrades to their homeworlds as part of what Uessae Noedhin says that Humaniti calls a “Bucket List”. We have a mission, a ship, the means, and two target worlds. One of the worlds is my homeworld of Tuerrg.

Just after jump breakout we were accosted by a 100-ton Vargr Scout. Instead of letting ‘Jack’, the Ship’s Computer file for a set of SensOp-Comms tasks do the talking as I had when we were confronted by Humaniti vessels inside the Third Imperium, I got on the horn myself by getting up from my position on the Bridge as Chief Engineer, the only Engineer (needs two given our huge drives really). I probably sounded like a Terran wolf to Miss Lidus Ka our only Vilani and only Human crew aboard. That’s her sitting at Astrogation. I barked and growled in my native Logaksu at the Scout who was near to challenging us. I invited the border-running, Dzarrgh Federate Scout to scan the Thuegueus II armaments and drives. This ship would run circles around the Vargr Scout being that the Thuegueus II was built at a Tech-15 shipyard and was a weapon more than a Fast Far Trader.

Though the Vargr Scout’s commander did not attack, neither did he apologize or welcome us to the Dzarrgh Federate. I was already a Spacer citizen of the loose, fair-trade confederation polity. I was in effect returning home with this vengeance hull. The other captain had judged a book by its cover in scanning our class first without taking a second look to confirm our triple turrets brimming with beam lasers and 4G maneuver drive. Look before you start barking.

My First Officer who has the con on the Thuegueus II tilted her Aekhu Vargr head pelt in jet black at me with a question on her face that demanded an answer. Ex-Naval Captain Uessae Noedhin from Deneb Sector was the Master and Commander of this ship even though I had her built and was still listed as Captain-Owner. She did not speak Logaksu, one of many languages of the Vargr Extents. She spoke Gvegh, Aekhu, Anglic and had a few curse phrases in Vilani. “I took care of him, Uessae,” I said nodding. “More bark than bite.” Uessae nodded with half-satisfaction and put her claws back on the helm controls to vector us toward Aeghzisung Plains Downport. There were orbital parking beacons, but we chose to land instead. A Vacuum world has no atmosphere and thus no weather to cause us Turbulence.

“‘Jack’,” I spoke to the Ship’s Computer, “remind me upon docking to purchase translation software, Logaksu to Anglic.”

“Compliance,” answered the Computer. Addressing the ship with dead crew members names was no longer new to me, but still caused some unspoken consternation with Uessae and a little less with Miss Ka. Uessae had lost her fiancée, so I did not use Ofo’s name on any command files. Miss Ka still felt guilty for chartering my Vargr Trader which led to the deaths of three of my crew.

Since I no longer had a Charter, no longer had a megacorporate credit chip with seemingly endless, aryu-level funds at my claw tips, I had to use this weapon of a starship to afford this coreward journey home. The Thuegueus II has 33 tons of available space as the class was designed around its cargo hold, the breadbasket of Fast Far Traders. With a four-parsec range, we could expect less jumps to reach the homeworlds of Grunt and Jack to lay their bodies to rest. Ofo’s corpse, I am sad to report was too far gone to gather after the missile strike to Turret #2 on my Vargr Trader. I let the desert sands of Naasakiira bury him and my inherited ship.

Uessae Noedhin was far more familiar with Humaniti hulls and had eased nicely into the helm of the Thuegueus II. All the controls, consoles and board were in Anglic, so it was me who had to slow down and read my Engineering boards more carefully as we attained final approach to the Downport.

Touching down and shutting down her consoles, Uessae looked at Miss Ka who nodded back at the Aekhu Vargr. Then she addressed me. “Lidus and I are going to double-occupy, Ri,” she announced using my name instead of my nickname of ‘Fixer’. Nicknames were dying out on this new vessel.

“Oh?” This was new, a Human agreeing to double-occupy with a Vargr. If anything, I thought that Uessae might have chosen to do so with me, but for the gender thing. I mean, I can keep my paws to myself. I’m just a shut-in Engineer really.

“What brought this on?” I asked the two ladies.

“We’re going to need credits and to do that, Lidus and I are yielding up one of the cabins for Passengers, Ri.” She added my name as if her explanation was a foregone conclusion.

If any ethnicity of Vargr can tolerate proximity to Humaniti, it is the Aekhu, perhaps only outdone by the distant Irilitok who I once read in History class were enslaved for about a millennium to Humans. I nodded in assent. Arguing with two ladies against one male Logaksu was not going to go in my favor except to garner High Passengers.

“BuddySystem up then,” I acquiesced. “Shotguns only and in bandoleers, right?” The two ladies nodded as the bridge was stood down. We then went our ways to conduct business on Aeghzisung. This would be our first stop of many to deliver my dead friends home.

The Vargr Extents is far more open-minded about wearing armors in port. Law Levels are still in effect to prevent unwanted weapons, but no one took a second look as I loped through the Downport in my relatively new Combat Armor-11. I still had not decorated or repainted the military-grade protections, perhaps in my Pack colors or heraldry. I hear that Corsairs and Army-types do that. Funny to see me in such ego trip decor, right?

Being a Vacuum world was the second reason why the Aeghzisung port Security did not molest me. One airlock breach and its everyVargr for themselves in the Extents.

Being low on funds and without the Naasirka corporate card, I played it safe as I stood at the Commerce terminal and kiosk. One High Passenger and 31 tons of Freight were the safest bet until I could reacclimatize to Trade in the Extents which lemme tell you is far more cutthroat and looser. Haggling is both a pastime and a religion among us Logaksu.

“Hoy, be that yer Impy piece of scrap at the end of the terminal?” asked the leader of a small group of Logaksu Rowdies. I didn’t look up as I was in the middle of Passenger and Freight contracts.

Addressing anyone dressed in Combat Armor-11 can be the cover on a book that these port Rowdies did not fully read. They did not see the Merchant and saw the armor.

“Yeah,” I answered while pressing the COMMIT button on the Commerce terminal. “What of it?”

“Listen, bloke,” said the Rowdy leader, “if ye want to make it past the first few Corsair Bases in this subsector, ye might like to get a new paint job.” And that was my Rumor for this port, a reliable recommendation to action.

“I’ll take it into consideration. Got any schemes what will look fashionable?” I turned at last to the receptive Rowdies. I had boosted the leader’s personal charisma by asking his opinion.

I got a few schemes from the Rowdies, who were really advertising for their family business in the drydock. There was available: Mardi Gras Hell, Flame War, Tye-dye, Jaws of Life, and more silly names given to me in Logaksu my native tongue.

To make nice, I purchased a new paint job, settling on Corsairs’ Teeth, a paint pattern of jagged diamond shapes of black, red, yellow, white and a ship title in my Pack’s medium green against the white background on the hull. AFT-BS44 Thuegueus II is named after a hardy species of hardwood tree that grows throughout the Vargr Extents.
Since Aeghzisung is the Federate side of the interface worlds between them and the Third Imperium, I was able to wind my way through the ship registration and transponder swap process. This new ship hull was not unknown, just a little odd this far into the Extents even with a Vargr paint job.

 

[The Pakkrat]

I was two bites into a steak hoagie in the Downport restaurant when the first Charter hit the table before me. It came in the form of a UPP Card, the Dzarrgh Federate hard impact plastic kind with Federate heraldry in the upper corner. "How much to bump a High Passenger for a Charter to Kirg, Merchant?" A younger, sharper-eyed Logaksu stood before me as I ate. He was dressed in a Navy uniform but wore the chained cloak of the Federate Emissary Corps. The shiny rank of Naval Captain was almost concealed on his shoulder.

The thirty-something Captain introduced himself while I recalled from memory that Kirg (Provence 0831) was just two parsecs from Grunt's homeworld. But Captain-Emissary Aenkounaenge "the Hack" Nothokfekkhouz didn't need to know that. Haggling is also about not showing your hand before all the bets are committed.

Between bites as I kept calm, I read on the UPP Card: 3 Navy, 1 Emissary. Captain ranked in just 12 years and skipped over to become a diplomat and only 34 years old. A pair of dream careers. And only 34. Some kind of prodigy maybe?

The guy had Vargr Charisma in a full house but not a royal flush. In looking at his skills, I instantly deduced why he was a success story. Computer-2, Electronic-1, Gambling-1 (not a thing to list really), Ship's Boat-1, and Grav Vehicle-1. This guy may have held the rank, but Ancients he was no Naval starship captain. He must have "hacked" his way to the top.

"My ship isn't going directly that way, but-" I got out before "the Hacker" cut me off with his military bravado and charisma.

"KCr60, and if you want more, I can do Working Passage until Kirg. I'm on a mission, Merchant-Captain." This young upstart with a rank he didn't deserve had done his online homework at least.

I didn't have to bump anybody from High Passage. I still had one open cabin in case the ladies could not cohabitate.

"What's the Op, Captain-Emissary?" I knew his uniform and add-on. I originated from deeper inside the Dzarrgh Federate than Kirg.

Sitting down across the table from my steak hoagie, the Hack looked twice, once over each of his shoulders. "It's Codename: Destiny, Merchant, and I shouldn't be telling you this, but things are gathering there on Kirg later this year."

"Oh?" I still had not committed.

"I've been travelling in the Third Imperium all this past year, gathering easy intel."

"So? The Federate is on good terms with Corridor Sector Imperium." I purposely stayed nonchalant in this haggle.

"Not forever, if you had read Destiny. Things are moving and not just in the Dzarrgh Federate, Merchant. I am to bring my gathered files back home to Kirg for-....a summit of Provence polities with - get this - the Vaenggvae Corsairs." Hack had lowered his canine Logaksu to almost a whisper at the last name.

It was rude table manners, but I asked with my mouth full, "Why me?"

The Captain-Emissary sat back and wagged his tail, "I dug up the fastest ship in port this week. Your Thuegueus II came up. So how 'bout it? Care to give a clandestine Hack a subtle but fast ride to Kirg?"

"I want the sixty up front as well as you on SensOp-Comms," I countered.

The younger Logasku in a pair of uniforms slapped his claws on the table. "Done!" he exclaimed. "When do we leave?"

"Next week, after my hull is repainted." It took the wind outta his sails, but Aenkounaenge "the Hack" Nothokfekkhouz stayed his course. We parted so he could gather his personals and luggage. I finished my steak hoagie finally in privacy.

The Hack won a free seat on my ship as I learned afterwards that he was paying from a Naval account. After three jumps, I would have to hire him, perhaps as ITech and SensOp, a job on a ship that pays less. Perhaps there was truly a mission driving the lad. I didn't have to bump anyone, and the ladies managed to hit it off with a schedule that meshed well with mine. I won KCr60 right off the bat and landed both a hacker and an Emissary, two useful skillsets that would grease our way further coreward into the Vargr Extents.

But this is the Vargr Extents. I wasn't required by interstellar law to hire Hack at the full rate. If he was really on an Intelligence mission, he'd agree to any rate that moved him closer to Kirg. This made me wonder what his payoff was at the Kirg finish line.

I got the young Captain to open up about Vaenggvae Corsairs. Prestigious band outta the Glory of Taarskoerzn. Big guns for a bunch of pirates plaguing both the Extents and Corridor Sector. And now they sought to do business with the Federate, Irrgh Manifest, Glory and maybe others? Vengeance still festered in my heart. I admit it. I wanted that Bounty Huntress to suffer for murdering my friends in cold blood. If this young buck was telling me the truth....

As the paint job, Corsairs' Teeth was being finished, I bought two tons of industrial Tin to fill the cargo hold. The ladies had been Ancients-knows-where these past days but returned first with Uessae leading. They must have really had a time away from me. Up the ramp to the gate and airlock they came smiling and friendly. "Watch," I saw Uessae mouth a whisper to Lidus Ka. I saw Capt. Hax0r down the pipe and still in the concourse terminal as the ladies approached. Uessae stopped before me. Miss Ka was a step or two away still. "Well, Ri?" challenged the ex-Navalman Captain.

"Well what?" I asked genuinely paused at the Aekhu Vargr female's demanding question.

"Ophh! Don't jinx us, Ri!" giggled Uessae. Then I saw her sick out her rump and move her tail aside. I had totally forgotten the custom! I had forgotten to beat the first crew to report back to my ship. And I had forgotten it long ago, back when I had the Thuegueus II hastily slapped together in anger. I was caught. Uessae had lost her mate-to-be but still had the humor to make me slap her rump as the first crew to return. I hesitated with Miss Ka in full view of the moment. To make matters more urgent, Hack was lugging his stuff up the gantry and he too could see me challenged by a crewman. Three seconds that ticked off were a painful and yet teasing eternity for me. Uessae had not lost herself in mourning Ofo.

Seeing those pretty, sapphire jewel eyes gaze over her left shoulder at me with her rear end out at me, I was undone. I needed to let go of this anger somehow. This was Uessae Noedhin, fellow Spacewolves and Master and Commander of this ship. She retained humor, a light heart while keeping with her straight-and-tight-laced, corseted ship operations charisma. Sure, I was being teased, challenged even. But in those three seconds, I realized that they had seen my need to blow off steam. A little frivolity and friendliness amid a Vargr superstition was indicated.

As the charismatic zenith of my ship, Uessae was also the 'alpha' who could set the mood as its heart. I smiled and my tongue must have lolled out as I swatted her armored rump with my claw. "You-..."

I was cut off by Miss Ka's confirming giggle. "How odd!" the Vilani woman said aloud, heard by Hack just arriving.

Lidus Ka had always already boarded my Vargr Trader and likely had never seen this custom. Uessae must have explained it to her and my weak-kneed, mini-beats were supposed to be much rougher on crew. I was a shut-in Engineer without the balls to really lay into Uessae who doubled my charisma.

After Uessae caught her forward motion and straightened, the two ladies embarked. The young buck who was grinning at me remarked in sarcastic passing, "That was so cute, Merchant-Captain." I wanted to smack him so hard...

I would learn later on the outbound flight from Uessae at First Meal that Miss Ka had inquired of her as why we did not observe jump dimming custom of the Vilani. Uessae had explained about our Vargr custom of the ship Captain required to physically beat the first crew to report back to the ship, to show charisma and authority to the other crew arriving for duty. But I, being a shut-in never struck a crew hard enough to merit more than a satisfied smile. And with betrothed Uessae-...

"You hit like a girl," Uessae finished for me with a smile on her canine face.

I turned from my usual beige facial to red-beige and stayed that flushed as we put away dishes and dug out our Red Wizard console for post-jump.

During jump transit, we played Red Wizard. Hack joined the Spacewolves by inputting his Ident-string, loading a Profaner that made diabolic Ofo's avatar look like a choirVargr saint. We paused in virtual 'town' to pay silent respect to the avatars of Ofo, Jack and Grunt who stood there in breathing loops, awaiting their players to log on. We did not have the heart to disband them.

xXKommandar Hax0rXx had apparently been playing Red Wizard for years as he plowed through our chosen zones on macro actions alone.

Meekly, Miss Lidus Ka on the second day in the hole asked if she could play with us. Saying that she was now crew and feeling left out, possibly because she was Human, Uessae pushed a set of goggles and gloves to the Vilani woman.

"Here. Let's down-spec and enjoy the journey, not powergame. This is to burn time in jumpspace not race for the finish line."

I nodded in agreement, not unwholly because I was going to no longer be the lowly Alchemist in the back ranks. Hack downplayed it in understanding the desire to play the game over Winning. "Everyone starts out small," he nodded in welcoming Miss Ka. And Lidus admitted to liking being grouped under the Spacewolves name though we could no longer be an all-Vargr group.

Because she had liked Jack, Miss Ka chose to play an Artificer added to Hack's Profaner, Uessae's Godstriker, and my rinkydink Alchemist bringing up the rear.

 

[The Pakkrat]

On the last day of jump transit but well before jump rumblings, Hack spoke privately with me. He congratulated me in being willing to let the ladies play the more exciting professions in Red Wizard. Where he had come from, females were teased and relegated to auxiliary roles in Red Wizard. "You're a gentleman, Merchant-Captain," he declared to me.

"Ri. Call me Ri. This isn't a military ship despite the Third Imperium armaments and software and Uessae's hard knocks on the bridge."

I of course explained to Hack that I had originally balked at playing Red Wizard, that I had taken the profession that seemed to parallel with my role as the Steward-Purser aboard my previous vessel. Sure, I will eventually get to brew some kick-tail concoctions and spin gold and other philosopher stone items, but I was also the last to log on.

 

[The Pakkrat]

170-1105
Lloezoers (Provence 0238) BAC3312-B Fl Lo K[Naval Base] VDzF
I thought that the new paint job was supposed to take advantage of captains who judged a book by its cover. As we skimmed for fuel, an 800-ton Vargr Frigate, long and sleek pulled up beside us for an in-depth scan. It was the string AFT-BS44 designation on our transponder that had attracted the Frigate to inspect us on the possibility that we might be smugglers taking advantage of our four-parsec jump range or our 4Gs of acceleration. I invited their captain to come aboard and see the Tin and sealed Freight, but a Vargr version of a Signal-GK caused him to peel off and respond.

Under the droning noise of perpetual corrosive rains striking the Downport domes I paid Berthing, Life Support, got paid for the and Freight after letting off our High Passenger who had thought us nerds for playing a heavily-instanced fantasy game made by Human developers.

As a Tramp trader, I was rewarded with snickers from my buyers of Tin. Let them laugh. For while I had to sell at 130%, I didn't have to tell them that I had purchased the two, afterthought tons at 40% still garnering a profit. Their laugh was that I should have taken on more Tin than Freight. I didn't have to tell them I was poor in leaving the Third Imperium.

As in starting Miss Ka out in Red Wizard: cub steps.

Low Population worlds, especially ones with Corrosive atmospheres tend to be chemical plants and refineries. The outbound Passengers came up nil. The Freight available was a single ton. I took it. I was looking hard at the imbalance of Armored G-Carriers at KCr70 base and decided it was a gamble given our next destination.

They must have seen me licking the glass, so a pair of Logaksu Off-worlder Merchants offered to sell me Tech-9 guns and armor but only off-planet claiming the Corrosives were bad for the products. I didn't bite. Though the two Merchants were responsive to me and my Imperium ship, I didn't want to risk poking my nose into smuggling illegals or fomenting conflict. A weapon even at rest begs to be used.

Outbound, the Thuegueus II passed a Vargr Packet being serviced by a 30-ton Ship's Boat. Genuinely Friendly, we took heart that this might be the start of a friendlier charter despite the 'wild' Vargr Extents.

I sat at Engineering on the bridge because I had yet to turn Engineering into my Vargr Cave on this weaponized Fast Far Trader. I then overheard Miss Ka ask Uessae, "Why have we not yet seen a Corsair?"

Rather than admitting she did not know the answer, Uessae turned to me in deflection of the question.

"Against the backdrop of Provence Sector's dense accumulation of Important worlds, we are chicklizard feed to prey upon, Miss Ka." I continued to explain with, "Just as the Aekhu have an edge with Imperial integration and dietary versatility, we Logaksu for millennia since Lair have been the logistics experts, the caravan masters, the travelling crafters. We know and keep track of systems with Corsair activity. Hence why our course is zigzagging into the Vargr Extents. Our gift to our species, I guess."

"That cannot be 100% foolproof," huffed Uessae.

"It isn't, but here we are."

“I’ve installed the language translator software,” I reported to Uessae the first evening in jump between Llozoers and Khon. “You can test it with me or Hack should you like. It has an add-on that will teach my language if time is taken to sit down and interact with it.” Uessae smiled, adding a tilt of her head. I had noticed that as Master and Commander, she had disliked being out of the loop whenever I or Hack were on the Comms and blabbing away with other starships or System Traffic Control of each world.

That week in jumpspace, I finally got around to unpacking my salvaged stuff from my Vargr Trader and personalizing the Engineering station in Engineering proper. It wasn’t yet my Vargr Cave what with everything still labeled in Anglic, but I would get there eventually.

Another hurdle was that the Engineering section’s open space was much larger than on my spartan Vargr Trader, that I had trouble filling up the area with MINE. Someone, and I bet I know who, used a magnet and a sign placed upon Engineering. It said:

OLD FART’S DEN - KEEP OUT!

It is true. I am the eldest on this ship. But the sign did spur me to look in the mirror for gray hairs.

 

[The Pakkrat]

178-1105
Khon (Tuglikki 3235) A00048A-C As Vi Na K VDzF
Almost a Low Population system, the greatest draw to Khon was its hoopla and hype about being the “Khon Beltway (to Tuglikki)”. A Naval Base nestled in the only planetoid belt had grown beyond its original britches and become this caravanserai expanding beyond the safety of the outpost. This in turnout of Belters, Outpost Merchants and then the beltstrike of heavy and rare earths turned Khon into a boomtown.

For the Thuegueus II, it cost less fuel and time to breakout of jumpspace with four Gas Giants to choose from, (I had reminded Miss Ka to pick the one closest to Khon Beltway). We skimmed fuel without problem since our 4Gs of acceleration can handle almost all known Gas Giant sizes.

At a population of 50,000 Dzarrgh Federate citizens, Belters and resupply lines, Khon had done well for a Beltway that size. Such was the richness of the only planetoid belt and the clout of the local Naval Base that Khon had attracted commercial lines to pass this caravanserai.

I almost missed the logo on the Vargr Packet that had been converted into a liner. What was Gzugo Lines doing here so far spinward of their normal stomping grounds in Windhorn Sector? After having Hack zoom in on the Packet, the Captain-Emissary looked up and over his shoulder at me and whispered, “See? I told you things were moving. Change is coming.”

The Comms officer of the Gzugo Lines Packet looked like he’d been shot when I asked him his cargo and destination. Going in opposite directions, us on final approach and them outbound to jump point, it seemed an innocent curiosity. But the Third Officer (I could see his rank pips on his lapel on the visual link) stammered, “V-VIPs and our destination is classified, Merchant-Captain.” At that the conversation was cut short. Uessae had to dodge planetoids as we slowed to dock and the Liner was close to jumping.

When someone says a buzzword like classified, it’s either military, government, or something extra-shadowy. I was starting to take a second look at Hack’s story about change coming to rimward Provence Sector.

For Uessae, Miss Ka and I this was our first world of Tuglikki Sector. Khon sat right on the border between it and Provence. Hence the ‘gateway’ hype here.

As part of the advertisement to attract business here on the Sector border, Berthing was a cheap Cr100 but our smaller hull was displaced from hangar landings to an external docking ring of parked tramp traders.

BuddySystem again in this new Sector, Miss Ka agreed to be escorted by Hack while Uessae and I conducted Commerce at the local kiosk terminal. Unlike most Traders, I like to stretch my legs and do business instead of using the SysNet online while inbound. I know it saves time, but as the Chief Engineer, I am usually too busy with Jump Drive cooldown and other chores of Engineering involving docking. Now, if I wasn’t the Engineer...

“Let’s get a fridge magnet for Tuglikki to show all the Sectors we’ve traveled,” suggested Uessae. A silly decoration, like some attainment of exploration, but I nodded to her. Business was lighter as I had not taken on much Freight out of Lloezoers.

Khon Beltway must have been in the quiet season, with all its Belters out in their claims and blasting away at planetoids because the concourse was quiet and peaceful. Passengers and Beltport staff only were seen. Weapon possession was prohibited, and the detectors were built into and nested within the docking arm gantry. We must have been scanned four times for weapons. While our armors were still allowed on this Asteroid world Beltport, it was claws and fangs only, (save for Miss Ka who stuck close to Hack).

Monitors wide and tall scrolled advertisements for various worlds of Tuglikki Sector, resorts, diversions and Capitals of the Sector’s pocket empires. I say pocket, but to us Vargr almost all polities less than a subsector in size fit in the pocket of a Sector like Tuglikki.

I bought a new Hand Computer-11 from an electronics shop on the border module between the Beltport and the Startown modules which reached into a planetoid and deeper into the residential modules within.

Uessae and I ate dinner together in a restaurant. Was it a date? I paid, so yes? Seemed silly for us to be on a date while wearing Combat Armor-11. But in a Beltport where accidents or a slip of operations can be disastrous, seeing sophonts in Vacc Suits 9 through 13 are common. Some off-duty Security a couple of tables over gave me the Cop Eye for wearing military-grade protections in a welcoming boomtown Beltport. Well, if they had said anything, I could claim it was my only Vacc Suit I owned. Whatever.

So, on the outbound, I can say this about Khon. It will be growing in the years to come. The system is in a prime location as we Logaksu have known for some time. Location is everything.

As we vectored to the jump point not far away, we witnessed a 30-ton Slow Boat escorting a damaged Vargr Packet on a haggard final approach. Noncommittal, the Packet was overdue due to a misjump and we could see the damaged and exposed Jump Drive. How long had they been in the hole? They had no time for pleasantries though, so we moved on to our own jump.

After a romp of zero-g handball in the cargo hold during jump transit, Uessae caught me resting after play before the sealed caskets of Grunt and Jack. I had stolen glances at my fallen friends from across the hold. Done panting, she sat down and fixed me with her sapphire eyes framed in that silky black pelt.

“Let go, Ri,” she said to me. “You cannot mourn forever. Travelling is dangerous. They knew that. We have the Traveller Gene because we broke out of normality. Live in the now, Ri.” I nodded and we picked up to head for the showers.

On Day 4, Uessae was a blessed with an “Epic drop” in Red Wizard. Her Godstriker walked about virtual civilization with us while wearing the Amulet of the Dakhaseri, some Vilani-based belief system where the souls of the departed look down upon us from the stars, watching and trying futilely to interfere or influence the still-living. I could see Uessae’s charisma exuding from her avatar in Red Wizard. Miss Ka seemed awestruck that the game had made a reference to Vilani beliefs.

 

[The Pakkrat]

185-1105
Kuronraer (Provence 0232) B556789-A Ag K VDzF
At our breakout in Kuronraer, it again became obvious that changes were coming to the Dzarrgh Federate. The Vargr Packet being escorted by a 50-ton Cutter-Gunship had us on the bridge of the Thuegueus II looking at Hack who said nothing but looked smug. We were witness to the bright jump flash of the departing 600-tonner. Then we were involuntarily escorted inbound by the same Cutter-Gunship as a "lucky courtesy".

My mood soured after: Berthing Cr600, Life Support Cr8000, Payday Cr12,600, and then I really stepped in it.

I had just signed over Cr15,600 for frozen Meat rumored to be in future demand on Kirg which made sense given Hack's smug look back at us, when two Police Officers decided they didn't like me. Maybe they too were having a bad day. Or perhaps I was still in my Combat Armor-11 while loping about the Downport on a rather pleasant Ag-world.

They mistook me for an offworld soldier. When I corrected them, that I was a simple Merchant, they sought to arrest me. To make things worse, I had not reminded my crew to use our BuddySystem and so was alone as I conducted Commerce.

The thing you Imperials take for granted is the Extrality Line, that border between the Imperium Starport and the local, planetary government. In the Vargr Extents, extraterroriality is not a given. I had become acclimated to it during my time plying Trade in the Third Imperium.

At Law Level 9, I was also caught in the open without weapons. So, I Infought the two cops who were armed with painful stun-sticks, those electrical ones that hurt like a sonovabitch before your limbs go limp.

As a Traveller, I thought I could school some fresh out of Academy beat cops. Yeah, no.

"I wish I could say, 'you should see the other guys'," I answered to Uessae six hours later when she was allowed to visit my holding cell deeper in the Startown.

"Really, Ri?"

"They were picking on a humble Merchant Traveller, Uessae."

"REALLY, Ri?!" I flattened my ears. My tail drooped lower. "You can have a heart of gold, an icy plate of revenge, Ri, but this time you were phenomenally stupid." My eyes sought the floor. Uessae was ex-Navy and not an Advocate. As an Aekhu Vargr, she didn't hold much more than her personal charisma on Kuronraer. She would not be able to get me out of this jam. "When I said we were Travellers, Ri I did not intend for you to grow a head the size of a dirigible."

"How long am I in for?" I asked like a cub being scolded by his dam.

Uessae stepped up to the bars of the cell holding me. She looked defeated in expression. Her paralanguage made me start to worry.

Maybe it was to punish me that Uessae did not answer my question. I spent the night in the Law Enforcement HQ holding cells being annoyed by local drunks, arrested prostitutes, addicts asking for any fix I might own, and the list went on. So, it was no surprise I looked haggard the next day when I was released to Uessae who had a huge Logaksu Vargr dressed in the Naval uniform and ranked as Admiral with her.

He was taller, stronger, formal, owned any room he stepped into so grand was his Charisma and aura.

This Admiral did not need weapons. His personal charisma had everyone in the precinct office somehow coming to formality and tripping over each other to expediate my fine of Cr5000 and release me into his and Uessae's recognizance.

My Combat Armor-11 and personal stuff was zipped and locked with one of those plastic, dated locks in a thick, plastic duffle and released to Uessae.

Signatures in inkpen, stamps and staples later, we were out the front door of the HQ and into a gravcab to the Downport.

Without my armor worn, I was last up the ramp from the tarmac. The Admiral nodded to Uessse as he carried his luggage into the Thuegueus II as she stood at military attention with an Imperial salute. She is not rated in Steward. Behind me, I could see Miss Ka arriving on deck with a surprised-looking Capt. Hack in the hole and trying to catch up to the Admiral.

When I made it to the airlock door, followed by Lidus Ka at the bottom of the ramp and looking up at Uessae and I, that's when Uessae struck.

It was a Gibbs-slap to the head which caused me to lean forward from the blow. The slap was followed by a stinging claw swat to my rump shoving me aboard.

Through the threshold of my own ship and smarting, I thought only, Uessae does not hit like a girl.

Outbound from Kuronraer, I hid in Engineering, shutting in as was my wont. That was, until Uessae knocked on the iris door with a hand tool.

I was overwhelmed by her and the Admiral Laegh Oedaekukeghokhirr, Federate Navy who had even Uessae overmatched in Charisma.

Introductions, profuse thanks from me, the Admiral's passage to Kirg, and that he was volunteering to help with Medical, Engineering and Gunnery had to be laid out right there. Under the crushing weight of Uessae's and Laegh's charisma, I nodded, clasped claws and thanked him again for my release. This was the kind of Rear Admiral whose favorite gun was 'battlecruiser'.

The gathering on Kirg was less a secret now. Capt. Hack was going. And now an Admiral of the Dzarrgh Federate Navy needed our Jump-4 range to make it to what was now being called a Summit.

As the rated Medic on the Thuegueus II, I was privy to the Admiral's UPP Card. Unlike Hack who had sleazed his way to the rank of Captain in the Navy, Adm. Laegh Oedaekukeghokhirr was no slouch. He had the skills of his Rear Admiral (Retired in only 5 terms) success story. His charisma backed up that UPP just as it backed up his charisma each feeding off each other.

It is needless to say that I the Steward-Purser whipped up a grand feast for Uessae and the Admiral, with Hack and Miss Ka beaming at me as I served the crew First Meal. Can you say I was on my bestest behavior before Master and Commander Uessae? Yes, I can.

With 20 tons of Freight and 13 tons of frozen Meat, there were no sports in the cargo hold during jump transit. The Admiral calmed me down by asking that I call him Laegh, him being retired and on retainer.

Instead, we played Red Wizard with Laegh watching passively and humorously watching on a monitor jacked to the console.

"...aannd that's what a backlash looks like," declared Hack as he pulled off his goggles and his gloves, removing himself from the virtual world of Red Wizard. We had just seen his Profaner proc a magical backlash in what looked like a computer graphics supernova taking down xXKommandar Hax0rXx. I was thankful to be in the back ranks of the Spacewolves that game day.

Laegh, now dressed this day in a simpler ship work suit chuckled to himself as he had safely watched from the audience perspective. "I was recording," he declared to us. He had seen a bird's eye view of the blast in the zone we were adventuring.

"I need a smoke after that one," answered Hack who we had just seen 'die' in-game. "Or maybe a drink."

When the game updated upon the next world SysNet at Thueni (Provence 0632), any other player could breathe easier in knowing that Hack's avatar was the loser of the week or month. Who truly knew how often wizards of Red Wizard suffered magical backlashes?

Laegh rubbed his muzzle chin. At only 38 years, so much younger than I, he offered, "Your macros look good, Spacewolves, but can I make a suggestion or two?" Charisma alone said we had to give the Admiral our attention, even if he had never played before. Laegh suggested a change in positional tactics that had us use a timer to change group positions and rotate out the wizard or wizards in the front ranks ever so often. "Seems to me that your game picks on the point most often. Auto-cycling them out with a substitute may force the game to reset what you players keep calling aggro."

We agreed as a group to give the Admiral's tactics a try after Thueni.

 

[The Pakkrat]

197-1105
Thueni (Provence 0632) B574346-8 Lo M VDzF
A trigger-digit Vargr Packet on edge was about to attack the Imperium hull of the Thuegueus II until Admiral Laegh Oedaekukeghokhirr put himself on the horn. From my hidey hole in Engineering, I heard him dress down the remote commander in his bass voice and guttural growl. It was intimidating to hear. I did not want to get on Laegh's bad side after that.

Landing at the Military Base and Downport, we learned why Thueni was Low Population. The entire settlement was built around the Army Military Base, catering to the Federate ground forces and Drop Infantry. In the Extents, the Dzarrgh Federate does not yet have Star Marines as in the Imperium.

With the Admiral as my Buddy, likely Uessae's doing, I did ship business at the only Commerce kiosk in the Downport. And I had to wait in line for it.

With only 11 tons of outgoing Freight, I bought still more frozen Meat of the local variety to add to the Meat already in the cargo hold. Uessse called me on my Comm-12, saying that she had landed yet a third Patron, (as if Hack and Laegh were not enough already). This Logaksu Broker had fallen ill, and could we please deliver his economic reports and projected war costs in a sealed attaché case to the Summit on Kirg? Mail so rarely happens in the Vargr Extents that we took the Cr25,000 job for the Broker and his profuse but stricken thanks.

Now I was no longer doubting that something was truly afoot on Kirg and all the players concerned were converging there for this Summit.

"Maybe we should consider delaying Okfaeng in favor of Kirg?" I asked Uessae on the other end of the call. She shook her head on the little monitor just as I felt the large claw on my shoulder. I looked up to Adm. Laegh shaking his head at me with his ears flattened.

"Bury your dead, Merchant-Captain," he said in a gentle bass voice. "Kirg can wait, especially since your ship won't have to refuel with Thueni, Okfaeng and Kirg so proximal to each other."

I nodded solemnly. A commander such as Rear Admiral Laegh Oedaekukeghokhirr knew the value of his subordinates and through Vargr Charisma respected those that had served, even those not directly under him.

He as my Buddy then dragged me, a lowly Merchant to a speech he had prepared for the Military Base trainees and cadets. I listened from the corner front row at the address as he blanketed the assembly with his charisma and encouraging words. He spoke on war, its horrors and its glories. And he closed in cautioning the commander against overreaching their unit capabilities, to cycle out with other divisions to keep the enemy from decimating the lead units and guessing at the incoming unit potential.

It was the same advice he had given the wizards of the Spacewolves. Had we inspired that advice in Laegh's speech?

The applause was thunderous and the howling deafening coming from the assembled armed forces of Thueni. Even I was roused, and I never served a day in the military.

Scratch one from my "Bucket List": attend a state address.

I felt a little more propped-up and encouraged by Admiral Laegh's speech as we headed unmolested outbound to the jump point to Okfaeng, Grunt's homeworld.

Capt. Aenkounaenge "Hack" Nothokfekkhouz later admitted to me privately that he had watched the speech using his rank and clearance. He had recorded the address and pointed me out in the audience of the recording. I was kinda touched. What had prompted him to do that?

As if he had read my mind, Hack quoted, "An army marches on its stomach, Ri. You Merchants are part of the logistics the military needs to do its job."

As if I had read his history, I deduced then how Hack had such a meteoric rise in the ranks. He understood what he had just said and had made available what his superiors needed at need. He was a quartermaster.

The Apotheosis Quest it took to bring xXKommandar Hax0rXx back to a healthy status in Red Wizard was arduous and costed the Profaner his best gear item. But we had our big gun back in the Spacewolves for another two jumps, until we delivered Hack, Laegh, and the Economy Reports to Kirg.

Uessae approached me in Engineering while I was checking on the status of the jump field. Life Support was due when we called at Okfaeng. But more seriously, she sat down and queried me with, "Just who is the Dzarrgh Federate gearing up to war upon, Ri?" In a flash, I remembered that Captain Uessae Noedhin was ex-Imperium Navy and that the Summit was likely not inviting anyone from Corridor Sector Imperium Navy. She nodded at me grimly. As a Vargr, even an integrated Aekhu, Uessae had realized the score. "This is about the Utovogh Tirades, isn't this?" she asked of me. When I had no definite, confirming answer, she looked to the deck. "No matter. Whomever attacks His Majesty's Imperium will get crushed by Tech-15 Navy. I'm sorry, Ri."

"Hey, Uessae-"

"I know you want revenge for Ofo, Grunt, and Jack, Ri. But you don't burn down an orchard because of a few bad apples. Admiral Xavier and other Admirals like my sire will keep Corridor open. The Vargr Extents will crash upon a fortress like the seas to a seawall." It was patronizing, but I accepted Uessae patting her claw on my head gently. She left me there in Engineering and returned to the Bridge to prepare for jump rumblings and jump precipitation.

 

[The Pakkrat]

205-1105
Okfaeng (Provence 0733) A7557B-A Ag Ga VDzF
It is the responsibility and duty of the Captain of a vessel to report initially to the family of lost crew. From the Downport to his homestead in the Ag-world ranch, Uessae, Miss Ka and I delivered Grunt’s casket. As they need not be involved, I assigned Capt. Hack with Adm. Laegh in our Buddy System. And amazingly, despite the Agricultural world’s very high Law Level, we went unmolested once the Downport Security forces saw that we were delivering a casket held aloft with a grav-jack, with the Dzarrgh Federate banner draped over it.

The provincial Logaksu accent was thick as the late Army Captain Gvuedhag “Grunt” Aeng returned home to Pack Aeng. His dam cried at the funeral, unable to raise her voice in the burial howl as shovels of earth were laid upon the casket in the family cemetery. I discreetly delivered a copy of my full report and recordings and logs of Grunt’s time with us from the day he signed on with me and Jack to his death at the hands of the Bounty Huntress’ murderous Bayonet.

At our hotel room, we downloaded Grunt’s Red Wizard avatar for the youngest of Pack Aeng to see. A facial and body torso scan from any Medical console is uploaded to Red Wizard to approximate the appearance of the avatar wizard used by the player. The cubs and adolescents thanked us profusely.

Uessae clasped my arm repeatedly. She was each time attempting to dispel my anger and desire for revenge.

We were on Okfaeng exactly 24 hours. It was enough. Three hours inbound to land, twenty-four for the funeral and apologies to the Pack Aeng and return of Hack and Laegh and three hours to the jump point.

A Vargr Scout also vectored toward Kirg shared with Miss Ka their astrogation calculations shortening the time it took for her to path our way to Kirg. I did a lot of soul searching in my cabin and when alone in Engineering where I could lock the door.

213-1105
Kirg (Provence 0831) A98A733-D Ri Wa K VDzF
Gargantuan floating cities lay across the surface of the oceans like silver snowflakes on the blue-green oceans. Where there were shallows of photic zone reefs, the metropolitan, false islands were anchored by massive lines or fixed in place by variable height pylons that rose and fell with the changing ocean depths. Tall skyscrapers reached impossibly high, just as underwater structures reached down from the platforms to submersible watercraft docked to watery airlocks. The surface gravity was not immediately felt until one stepped off a ship and onto an unassisted portion of surface dock. If the space traffic was bad, the sky traffic was worse and berthing was the worst. But with Capt. Hack and Admiral Laegh transmitting their respective clearances, Uessae had the Thuegueus II down in the green water so we could exit to a stepped ramp up to the pier. Lines secured the Fast Far Trader like a watercraft. All the watercraft of the mainworld were under orders to anchor off miles from the capital city of Kirg Oek City, given only the very outermost tips for small skiffs to deliver crews and passengers from them to shore.

The weather was perfect. Who knew if that was by design via atmospheric weather control or not? A partly cloudy day with oceanic breezes pushing between the skyscrapers and the outlying districts.

It was the low Law Level of 3 listed on Kirg UWP that caused us to witness several landings of 400-ton Ueknou-class Corsairs and the 600-ton Sorrgheg Corsairs, the scourge of the Extents star lanes.

Here on Kirg and only for the Summit did outright Corsairs rub shoulders with polity Navies, Armies, overtaxed Emissaries, planetary Administrators, Merchants (hosting and running demos at the Expo), and everyVargr in-between.

Right off the ship and with Uessae as my Buddy, I sold the Meat to some hungry local buyers eager to feed the visiting VIPs anything other than the local fare of fish. So, I scored well for the 33 tons of Meats from two separate worlds for Cr148,500.

It was a crew Engineer's questions and curiosity about the AFT-BS44 Fast Far Trader that gave me an idea about the Summit. I answered his questions, recording each one on my Hand Computer-11. We spoke at length about each of its systems, armor, weapons, drives and performance. Uessae was well ready to tear off her ears as we Engineers geeked out over the Thuegueus II.

After the Engineer, Uessae and I saw to the discharge and disembarking Hack and Laegh. I had delivered the Naval Officers to Kirg, to the Summit and they landed me a perfect berth for the price.

"You should come to the symposium, Ri," suggested Hack. "Uessae too of course," added Laegh. Both were arrayed in dress uniform, Laegh before Hack per rank and charisma.

And that cinched my idea like the Ancients were wielding a cattle prod at me.
I spent all night before the Summit, preparing a presentation on a memory wafer slotted to my Hand Computer-11.

Uessae had our best Imperium Naval and my Merchants jacket laundered. She and Lidus Ka talked into the night together. This was our reduced crew now. I got the sneaking suspicion that Uessae was plotting. I admit I too was plotting.

The next morning, breakfast did not help with the butterbees in my stomach. We left the food court erected at both street level and spread throughout the aboveground pedestrian tubes of the skyscrapers.

The scheduled Symposium to open the Summit lay ahead of us. Uessae and I beheld banners attracting similarly dressed dignitaries of the Dzarrgh Federate, the Irrgh Manifest, the Glory of Taarskoerzn and even the Ngath Confederation from Windhorn Sector. There were corporate banners and kiosks set up from all of the Vargr corporations I could identify on sight. And the list went far beyond my knowledge.

I had to ask, but Uessae and I got our first look at the logo of the Menderes Corporation, a megacorp from clear across the Extents. There were propaganda criers of both the Utovogh and Oekhsos Tirades against the Imperium campaigns against the Vargr Extents.

"I am glad Lidus is not here to see this side of the Vargr," Uessae said to me as we crossed. "Not all of us Vargr are this way."

 

[The Pakkrat]

The Symposium grounds were nigh a Starport in size, an indoor stadium with a sunlight aperture at the apex. As a pair we entered through one of eight grand gates. We had to give our names and declare any weapons that were still legal to carry on mainworld Kirg to Federate Army as Security. They were fully armed and in Tech-13 Battle Dress. Once past the forest of mechaVargr soldiers, the crowding thickened as bodies pressed through bottlenecks to reach the main stadium chamber. I had never been in a structure where so many Vargr were present, armed and could start killing each other immediately. Morning sunlight beamed at an angle and its radiance was creeping slowly toward the main stage and podium.

I was having a hard time navigating the throngs of multi-polity, Extents Vargr and keeping ahold of Uessae. The ex-Navy Captain was receiving dagger-eye stares from the Logaksu around her. Here was an Aekhu wearing the formal dress uniform and insignia of the Third Imperium Navy. In guiding her, I tripped, stumbled my digitigrade stance and fell to the ferroconcrete floor. I had tripped over someone else.

“Ri!” Uessae called as my hip struck the surface. I looked up to see who I needed to apologize to and was rewarded with a shock of the worst kind of coincidence.

The actresses who try to portray her fall utterly short of reality. The charisma exuding from this female Vargr who I collided with was so Famous, (and I say that with a capital F), that none could mistake her. Her face had been displayed in every Starport-A, B, C and D in Provence, Windhorn and I guessed Tuglikki Sector too. Before and above my supine form was Nougzoel the Corsair Leader of Vaenggvae. The Corsair had no need for a Pack name. Like a stage name for a celebrity Entertainer or member of royalty, Nougzoel was far too known and yet obscure enough to have discarded her original birth Pack name. Her personal name was enough. It was feared. Vaenggvae Corsairs were feared and powerful. It must have been Vaenggvae Corsair ships we had seen descending to the watery berths the day before. A second ticked away as I was paralyzed by Nougzoel’s gaze and charisma.

In the second tick of time, I saw that Nougzoel had reacted by half-drawing her Cutlass, a wicked blade of some sort of transparent and super sharp polymer. The blade refracted the light such that a prism rainbow was played across the browns of her exposed thigh fur. She wore a flowing duster overcoat with its deep collar played back and over her shoulders to expose her head and full neck ruff. A split in the back of the overcoat let her incredibly bushy and wild tail freeze in her alert and ready to fight stance. Though I could not see her only battle scar under her overcoat sleeve, everyone who had seen dramatizations of Nougzoel knew that she had a triple claw scar across her left bicep from a famous Infighting duel she had fought for Leadership of Vaenggvae. Her face was hard at first, Nougzoel at the ready for action. The third second ticked as her entourage of Corsairs around their Leader also half-drew their Cutlasses.

Uessae came to a crouch to my aid in that second and managed to look up and over her shoulder at whom I been tripped up. Four seconds had ticked as Nougzoel the Corsair Leader saw me, saw Uessae and recognized an Imperial had come to my aid. The Corsair looked down at me and my face pleading for forgiveness.

Vargr paralanguage can transmit much to those who have grown up around it. Humans can sometimes pick out all the nuances. From my fallen position, I yielded up my neck, showed my empty claws in the most passive of gestures. My tail was curled in apology. Into her scabbard slid Nougzoel’s blade as she too leaned forward to lend a claw. The gesture brought forth expressions from Nougzoel’s entourage.

Nougzoel saw me, saw Uessae and in that fifth second ticking away yet another eternity saw straight through me, my plans and why I had brought an Imperial Naval Officer with me. As Uessae’s claws clasped my arm, Nougzoel’s famous claw enclosed the closest of mine. Back on my feet with the aid of two who were enemies to each other, the sixth second ticked as Nougzoel’s entourage stood down, their weapons returning to sheaths. The Corsair leader spoke to Uessae and I in that and following seconds. Her voice was as a venomous feline pouncer, smooth and had deep tenor.

“You have my word that I will be merciful. No atrocity under my flag and my band.” It was as if the female Corsair had read my heart, exposing my plan. Was she psionic? I did not know in that sixth and seventh seconds. But in just two seconds the Corsair Leader had deduced me, Uessae and our temerity to show publicly at this Symposium. In the eighth second, Nougzoel looked to Captain Uessae Noedhin and said, “No hate.”

Nougzoel was giving us a promise. As soon as I was balanced and closer to Uessae, Corsair Leader Nougzoel nodded at us and turned with a flourish of her overcoat and marched away with her toe claws clicking away at the smooth, ferroconcrete floor. No one else had spoken.

I was unnerved. I had collided with the most feared pirate in this region of Vargr space. Uessae had to then help me to my seat on the main floor. Admiral Laegh had reserved us seats before the stage. Not front row, mind, but a few rows back of front. I was glad to be seated being undone by the touch of Nougzoel after having collapsed in her shadow.

Vargr Charisma of every timbre and flavor were on display at the podium as speaker after speaker from polities, navies, infantries and yes, even Corsairs came to address the masses in that stadium. Each was framed in the light of the K-type star far brighter than any of the stadium lights.
I was roused once more at the encouraging speeches but also anchored to the moment by Uessae’s worried grasp. More and more as each leader-type gave their address and commitment to this Summit, Uessae was confirming that the Vargr Extents was gearing up for some future conflict with the Third Imperium.

I saw Rear Admiral Laegh Oedaekukeghokhirr speak on behalf of the Dzarrgh Federate Navy. He spoke on tactics and leadership. In his and each of the others’ speeches, I heard the word destiny spoken. It was the same word Captain Aenkounaenge “Hack” Nothokfekkhouz had used in hiring me for passage to Kirg.

The code word was confirmed when at last Corsair Leader Nougzoel, under a flag of immunity to prosecution took the podium. There were howls of pride from her bands and outlying Corsair splinter groups as the female ascended the steps onto the stage. Presentations had displayed above and behind each of the speakers. The same happened as Nougzoel spoke. Though she did not lay down distinct plans, by the time she had finished to thunderous, earthquake applause, we knew she had a plan for taking Corridor Sector. Again, Uessae subtly shook her head at me. All this bravado in her eyes was in vain before a single ship had lifted from Kirg.

Various auxiliary and support leaders took turns of lesser charisma to present their assets in Nougzoel’s genius. Each stated their commitment and contribution to what she had just termed on stage as the “Destiny Alliance”, again cinching the term as a codename.

When all in that stadium thought every presenter before the three-dimensional, holographic presentation projector had spoken, my name was called next. I had, through Admiral Laegh posted a need to present the night before. I had done so behind Uessae’s back. She stared wide-eyed at me when I stood. Spotlights swung about the main floor until I was bathed in luminescence.

“Merchant-Captain Ri Dzuerrgksungkorokoutue of the Merchants Guild, Dzarrgh Federate,” called the announcing emcee. My knees trembled. My ankles creaked as I stood.

Uessae gripped me hard and hissed, “Ri, what are you-?”

 

[The Pakkrat]

I had never and to this day have never spoken to so many Vargr of disparate allegiances. I could feel the weight of so much Vargr Charisma and attention as I made way to the stairs up to the stage. At the fourth step, I froze. I was frozen with fear. I was frozen with causality. I was paralyzed with what Uessae might see as betrayal of our friendship. I could see how my words might be seen as aggressive to the Third Imperium. There was a murmur through the stadium as the masses waited for me to attain the podium. I was stuck. I was committed. I could not take another step.
It was Uessae who had padded up behind me and helped me toward that next two steps onto the stage. Together we made the zenith. She escorted me to the podium and then stood to one side and behind me as I began. My prepared projection posted on the 3-D above me.

Before Corsairs, Federate, Glory, Manifest and Ngath Confederation and everyone else I had to squint against the streaming daylight in my face to see, I laid a speech of caution upon them all. My transcript is forever recorded so I shall paraphrase.

I acknowledged that the Summit had in its possession intelligence on Corridor, its Bases, ports, and Depot. Hack had brought that to the Summit. I acknowledged that each polity had an astounding amount of military and support assets. Laegh had contributed the Dzarrgh Federate’s support. I acknowledged the economic projections and war costs approximations. The Broker who had hired me to deliver the sealed case to the Summit had been finally handed over by Adm. Laegh. I acknowledged the Corsairs of Vaenggvae and their vanguard to pierce and penetrate into Corridor Sector. No one polity of the Extents could be so bold to alone attempt a wide operation like this proposed and future.

“You have seen much intelligence, but at the core of this is the challenge you will face in the Third Imperium Naval forces. I have not seen a single presentation on the Tech-15 specs you will pit your forces against. I have Traveled the Third Imperium. I have brought to you what you will fight.” Behind me were posted the specs on the AFT-BS44 Fast Far Trader Thuegueus II upon the projector. “Of course, you see a simple and small Trader. Look deeper and see the technology that the Third Imperium takes for granted. Each system in my ship comes from the finest shipyards of Corridor. They produce hulls of this caliber on a corporate and even civilian level. See how each technology builds upon each other and the cohesion it has? You will dare to fight against this.” I listed each and spoke of how I had procured the Thuegueus II a weaponized Trader ship. I compared it to what actual warship hulls might be.

“I bring you this intelligence as a Merchant, not to discourage or slow this Summit or bog down this Symposium. I present this data to prepare you for the conflict, to minimize casualties on both sides. You have heard Corsair Leader Nougzoel’s commitment to leading this expedition or incursion, however you see it. You heard her state her commitment and condition of leadership on the avoidance of unnecessary bloodshed. This data I present will help you save yourselves and your foes, to reduce needless destruction. Heed her command and condition, honored Assembly.” There was no gain of charisma in my presentation. Nothing to gain for myself. No vengeance or even justice.

“If the Destiny Alliance chooses to raid the orchards of Corridor, at least try to avoid burning them down in the conflict to come. More will be the spoils if you are victorious.” Only I could hear the sniffing of tears from Uessae. I had used her metaphor in this presentation. I could have heard a cub cry on the far side of the stadium so quiet was the gathered.

It was Corsair Leader Nougzoel, seated on the front row among her entourage who first began clapping her claws. I could not see her from the glare of the star and the spots targeted upon me behind the podium. She was followed suit by her Corsairs. The applause grew. The speech and presentation were settling into the logical core buried in the passions of those present. Only once I had finished did I remember that this Symposium was swarmed by media drones who recorded and transmitted the Symposium to the system and within a week to every world within jump range.

I bowed in completion and carefully stepped back to Uessae. The two of us supported each other as we made way off the stage.

Though it was less than other, charismatic dignitaries, I was mobbed by news media reporters. Questions came at me rapid fire. How did I come to so quickly own the latest model of Imperium hull? What did Uessae and I rate the fighting capacity of the Corridor fleets? What was the Merchants Guild doing poking our noses into military campaigns? I fired back at that last question. "An army marches on its stomach," I said flatly and with no pride or charisma.

Media drones dotted the skies above the Thuegueus II the entire time we stayed in Kirg Docks Downport. To the wake of reporters begging me for an interview, I purchased four 8-ton Armored Vehicles which had to be craned down to the Fast Far Trader floating at the dock waters.

A barking Vargr Packet captain boasted, but was noncommittal on the Comms, saying his ship could take on and defeat the Thuegueus II in battle. I did not challenge him as our two ships had to separate far enough for jump.

Yawning, Miss Lidus Ka put down the goggles and gloves after our successful implementation of Admiral Laegh's tactics advice had put each of our Red Wizard avatars to the test on the front rank. Now at the end of Day 1 in the hole, the 26-year old, Vilani woman retired for the night.

"I am proud of you, Ri," said Uessae. "You gave my warning and did not betray your home Federate. Thank you for listening to me even if the Vargr Extents does not." It is good advice for a Vargr of higher charisma to compliment or recognize the efforts of lesser Vargr. As a commander in the armed forces, Uessae knew this unspoken rule well.

"Thank you, Uessae," I answered.

Her facial expression, nodding head and a tail wag said in Vargr paralanguage, You're welcome.

On Day 5, the Master and Commander arrived in Engineering and questioned me.

"You never said you were a card-carrying member of the Dzarrgh Federate Merchants Guild, Ri." Uessae stood with her hips tilted in a feminine but challenging stance. Her arms were folded before her chest, (her top few centimeters of suit zipper were lower and exposing her major black neck ruff). Her sapphire eyes were in inquisition mode but her voice more friendly.

I had only enough time to shut down the boards filled with Vargr ⌧ in my Engineering Vargr Cave before Uessae had barged in on my domain. I deflected her attention from the dormant consoles to answer her with, "It's why I never haggle over crew pay or fight for that Extents plus-or-minus 25% on Freight or commodities. Guild bylaws to standardize rates and to stabilize markets."

"It doesn't appear on any ship documents, Ri. Why?"

"I have said that this isn't a military ship or even auxiliary or support vessel. I don't like spouting titles or entitlement in general."

This is the generic mindset as to why my personal charisma had not changed on my UPP card in years. And Uessae could now see it saying, "Well, you need to stick up for your attainments you have earned, Ri."

"Yes, ma'am," I answered in hopes it would remove Uessae from my den.

 

[The Pakkrat]

227-1105
Aezorr (Provence 0430) A554979-C Hi VDzF

As I have said to others, Provence Sector is home to Logaksu-brand Commerce. Its worlds are some of the most densely Important in the Vargr Extents, a testament to Logaksu contribution to the Vargr Major Race. Though I did not know it upon breakout from jumping out of Kirg (leaving behind the chaos of the Summit), Uessae, Miss Ka and I were to spend more than a few weeks on mainworld Aezorr.

Aezorr was supposed to scratch off from our Bucket List: take a vacation. It did that and more. At an output of 6272 aryu, Aezorr was a rich and prosperous world in terms of commerce if lacking the Rich (Ri) Trade Classification. Though I did not confront her on it, (Uessae's charisma doubles mine), I blame her for this dirtside interlude. Aezorr was relaxing enough that I did not call BuddySystem on the ladies during our stay.

But two lady cops frisked me the same day I sold the four Armored Vehicles. I had obeyed local planetary law of no weapons outside of the home. But after their administrations, I secretly admit I was turned on by the Logaksu law enforcement officers and their "random security check" in the Startown minutes after I was done at the Commerce kiosk terminal.

Back at the ship landed at the Downport, Uessae stopped me from digging out the Red Wizard console. Slapping printed hard copy down on the table, Uessae came close to me. "Did you know that there is a Psionic Institute somewhere here on Aezorr?" By her proximity, I felt a surge of attraction for Uessae after this day's events.

"I thought you Imperials detested psionics," I managed to get out from under the gaze of those blue jewel eyes.

"This is the Vargr Extents you keep telling me," nodded Uessae. "Imperial law does not apply here. Aren't you just a little curious to know if you rate, Ri?"

"What will Miss Ka say?"

"Feh. She's Vilani and will turn me down flat. But you, Ri...."

"I dunno. It's not illegal, not public either. Sorta don't ask, don't tell."

"At our ages, this may be our last opportunity to try out. This is my first window, Ri. I don't want to go alone. Please come with me at least?"

We spent the evening going over her investigative results. Uessae filled me in on her adventurous day. She sat next to me at the table in the galley and went over her findings. I was flustered still by the lady cops and Uessae's proximity did not let me off that high.

Earlier today, Uessae had been wandering the Downport. This far deep coreward into the Extents, Aekhu were becoming less common sights. She had overheard five Logaksu Merchants looking as the same planetary map display. Her ears picked up that the Merchants had no clues yet to the location of the Psionic Institute here on Aezorr. Shocked and instantly overstimulated, Uessae changed her itinerary to head for an Information kiosk now that she had recovered from her Imperial shock and the fact that she was now free, in the clear in the Vargr Extents. Such was now a forgotten possibility to Uessae.

The kiosk attendant tech helped her search for the Institute in a subtle fashion after Uessae had let slip that she wanted to peruse psychology to "expand her mind". In between printed sheets of psych papers was printed a confirmation from the tech that there was indeed a Psionic Institute dirtside. He had said not a word.

"...and I found it, Ri. It's somewhere on Grid Triangle Two, on a volcanic island of the Western Hemisphere."

"In the equatorial wilderness?" I asked nervously. Travellers generally stuck to Starports and Startowns and did not venture into planetary wilderness unless they were Scouts.

With what I took to be a lusty stare from Uessae, she said, "With great risk comes great reward."

"Nine-thousand klicks from the Downport, Uessae."

"Chicklizarding out already, Traveller?"

"Well no. I guess I could pack a simple pole and hide my Bayonet in the trunk of the Air/raft-"

Uessae's turn for a Vargr tongue to loll out. "Great!" she cut me off. "We'll unpack the Air/raft tonight and head out to the island tomorrow." That evening, like a cub at a birthday party, Uessae slashed her claws at the plastic wrapping enveloping the Thuegueus II integral Air/raft. I packed it with MREs, water and anything I thought we owned and might need. She tested the gravitic drive for a few minutes about the ship and above the tarmac.

"Are you rated in Vehicles, Uessae?" I asked her.

"Ship's Boat."

"Not the same!"

I ordered Master and Commander to wear her Combat Armor-11 or I refused to go. The next morning, I was roused awake by Uessae in my cabin and shaking me. "Let's go!" I paid Life Support, Extended Berthing and Payday for Miss Ka and Uessae in hopes that I would not be able to afford Psi testing and training on the improbability that either of us rated. Uessae pushed down my Hand Computer-11 and huffed, "Quit trying to chicklizard out, Ri."

 

[The Pakkrat]

Into the pre-dawn, southwesterly winds I screamed as Uessae gunned the Air/raft in what I thought were M-Drive Gs of thrust. The island ahead of us was slowly being crushed as two tectonic plates crushed the pair of mountains together. One, a volcano was active, and I saw lava flowing down into a shrinking ravine or chasm between the formations. Vegetation was low but still reached overhead. With Uessae zooming in a circuit around the island, we did not spot any sophont structures. Pyroclastic bombs fell from the skies after their ejection from the volcano. A thick column of gasses and ash painted the skies over the island.

"We'll have to hike inland if we don't want the Air/raft struck," declared Uessae.

"Hike?" I'm a Merchant not some geology surveyor.

We parked the Air/raft as close as we dared and behind a shielding outcrop just to be sure. Then into the chasm we trekked on foot. I had a metal pole thin enough to mount my Bayonet-3 with me. Uessae did not have a melee weapon.

"Look, Ri! Caves." Uessae pointed them out to me.

"Those aren't caves, Uessae. Those are old lava tubes."

"Even on the mountain side of the ravine, opposite the volcano?"

So, I am not rated in surveying or scouting. But we soon learned what did come from the mountain caves if not lava flows. Mountain grazers with single curving horns, Groat hooves and long, slinky tails trotted out and up the steep sides of the mountain as if rated in mountain climbing champions. My homeworld being just four parsecs away, I knew what they were called if not their scientific names.
"Mountain unicorns,” I announced.

"I thought unicorns were supposed to be white," puzzled Uessae.

"Solomani legends, Uessae. These are not friendly to fair maidens."

Defensively, the herd from the caves took to the steep climbs at sight of us. They bleated and brayed at us as we passed their high perches.

"Look out!" called Uessae. A dark shape had darted out from a short and lower ridge at me. Fast as a bullet, the pouncer-carnivore tried to sink venomous fangs into me through my armor. Knocked over at its speed and collision, I dropped my makeshift Bayonet spear.

The Dancer was fast but smaller than a Vargr. I blocked its bite twice in trying to Infight back at it. But with my helmet on, I was unable to bite back. Atop me, I struggled in a wrestle. A venomous bite to take down a mountain unicorn was the Dancer's mode of hunting. Paralytic to one of the grazers, it would kill one my size when my heart stopped. Speed was its favored asset. Climbing after the mountain unicorns was its territory. Claw marks decorated my Combat Armor-11. The Dancer's teeth could not penetrate the forearm plates though. If just one tooth got between the plates and through the mesh-

Then Uessae impaled the Dancer on my Bayonet blade and levered the lithe, muscular demon off of me and up into the air by putting her foot on the butt of the spear and heaving upwards. The monster died on the Bayonet, likely due to puncture of a vital organ. We panted in our armors for a minute.

"Welcome to the food chain," I gasped between pants.

"We don't eat the Dancers," said a Logaksu voice from behind a compressor mask. Aezorr has a Thin atmosphere. The male was dressed in an artfully woven, maroon red poncho-robe ensemble. "Their blood is the source of their venom and is saturated throughout their bodies being immune to it. Take one bite and seal your fate." The Vargr held out his claws empty of weapons.

"Where did you come from?" I asked as I rose from the chasm floor.

"That cave over there, in the grotto behind the lavafalls. Come. Welcome, Travellers to the Circle of the Esoteric Mind Psionic Institute. We have a safe complex inside. I came as soon as I saw the unicorns begin climbing. They usually stop calling once up high. I believe they kept calling to warn you two of their predator."

"How thoughtful," noted Uessae.

"Yes, hmmm, well they do have minds too, locked behind animal instinct."

We followed the Psion, for what other Vargr talks metaphysics like that? Behind the very hot lavafall was the circular, vault door to an underground complex of smooth, circular tunnels. I saw up close that they had no tool scars from tunneling machinery. "That is because these halls were tunneled by power telekinetics now long-passed." Great. A telepath.

Master Dzansae read our motives and with grace and the confirmation of our credits for testing moved us to registering. We toured the multi-level complex of circular rooms. Stonework furniture, leftovers from the telekinetic excavation were circular tables circular stools, circular bed frames. These people had-
"...perfect circles on their minds, I know. I thought that too when I first arrived in my late teens." I had to get used to being read.

Upon registering, Uessae was given a maroon poncho-robe for female frames. I got the male's fashion. It was explained that outside distractions of wear and gear would hinder the testing. Soon, we were gonna drink the Kewl-Kids lemonade too.

"I made jokes in my head too."

Be careful what you say among others. Be careful of what you think when alone. I would soon learn to control my big, mental mouth here too.

There was a sub-level in the Esot- eso-...harumph, in the Institute for each discipline of known psionics. Uessae and I were able to rest and recover. We answered questions from non-telepaths and more directly for telepaths. Except for the Masters and instructors, just about everyone else was younger than Uessae and I. We took meals with anyone and as we hungered. No schedules. No rituals of normal, mundane life. Sleep off your psionic exertions as needed, sweep a floor, take a meal. We were adults and had paid for testing. Alone, each applicant takes the testing for that next digit on one's UPP card, the one never read but is there. Questions, verbal and written. Interviews about our upbringing and pasts. Aptitudes listed on our UPP card. Questions of our preferences of the known disciplines presented to us. The testing took all week. We were presented with hardcopy and with educational recordings, likely to unlearn what we had learned about psionics, dispelling misconceptions.

 

[The Pakkrat]

At the end of the week Uessae saw each other. We had our reports in hand. "How'd you do, Ri?" asked my co-conspirator.

"Well enough to score a dregs-worthy 1. You?" Uessae seemed to have higher hopes for me. But we knew going into this that age was not our friend.

"I scored a 3, Ri."

Two forty-somethings still had juice left to rate. "Are you going further?" I asked her.

"Only if you do too. Please, Ri?"

Four months and an order higher in spent credits. I saw my credit account taking hits I had spent five jumps to build up. To say we graduated on 350 of 1105 would be overstating the training regimen. To detail a curriculum and practicum that is as individual as a thumbprint is inefficient. Ancients, I'm talking like a fortune cookie!

For me, I learned to shield my mind against Master Dzansae, sense minds one wall next door and push brass gram weights across a table with my mind. Lame, huh?

Uessae was a Special. And I do mean Special with capital S. Yeah, sure, Uessae learned mental Shield and Life Detection out a lil further than me, right? She did heighten to Telempathy though. Good on her. Yeah, I was envious. But she had aimed for the unknown and it had answered her.

In her claw at graduation was a gunmetal, ferro-nickel, engraved Pocketwatch-4, a gift from the Masters. "If I wear myself out for the day, Ri, I can see up to fifteen seconds into the future. This gift is to help me concentrate, a Focus they call it." She then hung it on its chain about her neck, under her neck ruff. The future. That was hefty stuff for us psi-lowbies. In my Shielded mind I made a parallel to Uessae's Red Wizard avatar. Her Godstriker had looted the Amulet of the Dakhaseri. How appropriate.

"I could have seen further if I had tested and trained at a younger life stage."

"No no, Uessae. That's epic drop stuff."

"You think so? I can't read you."

"Uessae, a lot can happen in just 15 seconds." We got to keep our poncho-robes, and we were sent forth to develop our psychic muscles even this late in psionic potential. The Air/raft was waiting outside the Institute. Uessae pulled out of the grotto while I pulled out my Comm-12 and called the ship.

Lidus Ka picked up on the second ring, mid-ring. "Where the hell have you two been these past four months?!" We missed Lidus' birthday. We promised we were okay and that we would make it up to her as we flew back to the Downport.

Scratch another from the Bucket List: get tested and potentially trained for psionics.

It was a rain downpour when we pulled up to the Thuegueus II landing pad. Poor Lidus Ka was waiting for us that dusk. She was drenched. And crying.

The ship took on two High Passengers, one ton of Freight, and I purchased 32 tons of industrial Steel for the hold. Our next stop was my homeworld of Tuerrg two parsecs coreward.

Glad to be home, I noted that I now called the Thuegueus II home.

I could not lie to Lidus Ka. I warned Uessae about it. So, she took Miss Ka aside in their shared cabin. I did not hear what was said as Uessae used a hair blow dryer on the wet Vilani.

Terran German Chocolate with the coconut sprinkles was the answer to Lidus Ka's birthday cake. I baked her one and presented it with the ritual candles for the 27-year old to make a wish and blow them out with her breath. We fell back into our roles after First Meal. A Vargr Packet on the outbound trip to 100 Diameters was disinterested in the Thuegueus II.

That first night in the hole, Uessae entered my cabin. I wore a Terry cloth towel as I was still damp even after the blow dryer in the fresher shower. Those sapphire eyes scanned me head to tail. She was wearing her ship suit, again zipped too low. The Pocketwatch-4 rode its chain at about the same place her avatar's Amulet hung. Uessae Noedhin had to have known I was just out of the shower. Gauges on the Bridge and in Engineering register and monitor water use. She was still back to the sliding door to my cabin when I heard her lock it. "What- what did you tell her?" I asked Uessae. It was already over 24 hours since the females talked in their cabin.

She advanced on me. I was held still by her gaze. "I told her your-....Pack name was longer than Ofo's. Now poni up, Ri."

"Uessae, I-"

"You owe me."

She tore off my towel as I unzipped her suit. She said then at the full sight of me, "Drop your Shield too. I'll do the same."

Taking down one's Shield is like taking down your hair. Imagine for a few seconds of reaching up and pulling the hair pins out from holding up your Human mane or gathering your Vargr neck ruff in the back. The tresses relax, the hair falls into a more natural position and everything becomes informal. At least for me, that's how lowering your mental Shield feels like.

With both our Shields down, we could sense each other through Life Detection. Well, that’s obvious, right? But Uessae could cheat. Through her Telempathy she might not get my actual, thinking thoughts or probe my memories. But she could feel my emotions for her. I was nervous. I was cowed by her aggressiveness just now. I yielded to her charisma doubling mine. But I was also gripped in a passion for her. If all she did next was to hug me, I could be content. But it was apparent that she had further intent. In that, I must add lust to the list. I wanted her. I had been attracted to Uessae Noedhin since the day she and Ofo interviewed as crew for my Vargr Trader. It was maybe wrong to be envious of Ofo, but I kept my paws off and played by the rules and hoped the best for the couple. But now....

And now she knew my heart for her. I was lustful, yes, but through all the things we had endured, I loved Uessae. There. I said it. I love Uessae Noedhin. And through her Telempathy, Imperial Naval Captain Uessae Noedhin, Retired, my Master and Commander, healer of my vengeance streak, my inspiration and fellow Psion could feel that I loved her. Did she feel the same? In that moment, in that cabin, Uessae sought to telegraph her answer to me.

I slid that ship slicker off of Uessae and went where no Logaksu had gone before. She showed me her hull. I showed her my Jump Drive. We blended pelts all over that stateroom, not just the bed. In hindsight, the captain’s cabin on an Empress Marava would have opened up the possibilities further. But Uessae was sharing it with Lidus Ka. Uessae whispered, “Stop jumbling your emotions and focus.”

Focus among Psions is a keyword, a vocabulary term. In my training, I did more than just push a brass gram weight across the table. I was able to shape my will to spread out what amounted to a gentle touch by distributing that gram of force, distance over time. It’s pitifully weak when you think about it. With my pitiful telekinetic Move, I was able to touch Uessae Noedhin with an extra, mentally generated appendage, be it a claw or shaped as a Human hand or any other light form of touch. She had requested that I cheat too.

Logging, I can set aside the details, lest someone get the wrong or too many ideas in their headspace about that night. What more is there to say that cannot be covered in some lady’s romance novel or in a ⌧ographic article? Hence the euphemism of blending pelts. I deleted all my ⌧ in Engineering the very next morning.

 

[The Pakkrat]

355-1105

Tuerrg (Provence 0428) A575A77-E Hi In K VDzF

Breakout to my homeworld gave mixed feelings. The family Trader was being buried in the sand dunes of Naasakiira. I was in love with an Aekhu from the Third Imperium. I had an Imperium vessel, even if it was painted in Corsairs’ Teeth. By now the recording of my presentation on Kirg would have reached my Pack and specifically my direct family. What would they say to me? I could not bring myself to hide up the gravity well by docking at the Highport. I had to land on the mainworld surface so the Pack could grav over and see me immediately if they wished.

Added to the reunion was delivering Jack’s casket to his family. Jack also originated on Tuerrg. He and I started out this rimward journey through the Dzarrgh Federate before picking up Grunt.

On the final approach, we caught snapshots of an up close Sorrgheg Vargr Corsair in all its 600-tons of piracy glory. It is a misconception that all Corsair hulls are always used in piracy. Many are hired as mercenaries, privateers, or on-the-spot patrols. Some I’ve heard perform Search and Rescue or help with salvage operations before a wrecker is summoned to a site.

The same basic procedure for Jack’s Funeral was given. I returned him in his casket to his family which lived in a suburb of one of the major cities that was mired in industry, specifically manufacturing. At an aryu rated at 9792, Tuerrg was one of the most Important, high-tech fortresses of Dzarrgh Federate production. With the recordings of Jack and the gift of his Red Wizard Artificer to the family and their cubs, we paid our respects. I also released his final balance of credits to his family. Jack had been frugal, and now I saw why. He had come from humble roots that he never shared with me.

The gravs from my family and extended Pack started arriving the next day and cycled out throughout the day. In my Pack, the eldest does not necessarily inherit automatically. Living wills filed lawfully sealed and delivered can circumvent lineage order. My elder siblings arrived first as they could, having taken time off from their careers to visit the Traveller of the Pack, the Black Groat, the runt.

Each got to meet a real Human up close and personal for the first time. Even more rare than Aekhu this deep into the Extents is Humaniti, and of them Vilani most often if encountered at all. So, as my siblings greeted and laid claws on Miss Lidus Ka, who reciprocated, here next came my dam. She jumped out of the old family Air/raft and came to "smother" her youngest issue. "Pudgie-woodgums!"

"DAaaaammm," I moaned as she grappled me in her arms while amused Uessae looked on from inside her Imperium formal dress uniform.

"Let me look at you."

"I'm no longer the fat cub you reared, Dam."

"But where's the ship?" Questions heaped on more questions. But I had prepared. I toured the Pack through the Thuegueus II and showed them a 3-D presentation, a sort of slideshow of my travels since leaving rimward from Tuerrg. I omitted the more painful parts of the Charter and instead introduced Imperium Naval Captain Uessae Noedhin, Retired to my immediate family.

"She's all black," said a sibling's young cub in Anglic. Anglic was being taught in ED5 now I guessed. The adults knew the Aekhu not so rare as the Vilani in Dzarrvaer Subsector.

Over dinner I had finishing in the galley, I treated the family that could stay. The rest clasped claws with me and returned to their homes and careers. Most congratulated me. Some barely said two words. The evening was spent heaping questions on Uessae who countered with questions about me. Bucket List item scratched off: bring her home to meet the family. We did not tell my family that Uessae and I were now Psions. That was part of the training, to hide psionics in plain view and avoid becoming elitists with our powers.

Since I made enough credits on the industrial Steel, I caved into the need for Low Berths aboard the Thuegueus II. I had installed eight of the cryosleep chambers forward in the cargo hold and near a door to the crew sections. The Low Berths could earn me credits while giving me yet another chore as the ship’s Medic and serve for emergency purposes in case there was a problem. Standard design for an Empress Marava Far Trader usually comes with ten Low Berths but remember that I had selected systems of the Thuegueus II out of anger and weaponized a tramp Trader to rescue Uessae and Miss Ka.

The modification reduced cargo hold space, but Low Passengers came running when they saw my destination was the capital of the Dzarrgh Federate. The decrease to 25 tons of available hold space also lowered my Freight availability. In that, I chose to purchase 25 tons at 50% (improving my attitude in sleaze-haggling), of Polymers. It was Corsair Leader Nougzoel’s sword that gave me the idea.

Now that the Thuegueus II was regarded by me as a home, it was time to make the weaponized Trader more commercial. I landed two High Passengers in the same day as the Low Passengers came running. Set back Cr200,000, it was time to make some more credits. We multi-messaged my Pack of our departure and said our goodbyes over the SysNet. I was the Traveller of the Pack and could not be expected to stay. I already had that vacation on Aezorr.

Outbound from Tuerrg, we caught sight of an older, almost antique hull of a Vargr Corsair. The inbound, post-breakout Corsair was a Rrazaghz-class raider of 500 tons. You don’t see those hardly anymore.

With the discharge of Hack from our Red Wizard Spacewolves, Uessae, Miss Ka and I had to progress a little slower in Red Wizard. But I caught Uessae using her psionics once, with Miss Ka sitting at the table. We wore our goggles and gloves, so the Vilani woman could only see into the game world, but from the back rank I saw her avatar reach up and grasp her Amulet of the Dakhaseri and knew that at the table the real Uessae had reached up to her Pocketwatch-4 and looked into the next moments to come.

“Take the left branch, Lidus,” suggested Uessae to Lidus’ Artificer. “I think I see a pattern to these dungeon complexes.” And sure enough, fifteen seconds later, we hit pay dirt with me on the front ranks, a diminutive Alchemist in the lead.

Later that night in the hole between Tuerrg and Dzarrvaer (which rhymes with starfire for those that cannot pronounce Vargr words well), I cornered Uessae on the stood down Bridge. “You cheated,” I whispered even though Miss Ka had gone to bed.

“Ri,” began Uessae. “You know that without psi-pharmacopeia I can only do that once a day. And you know that we have to practice our powers and discover the possible applications. Lidus was distracted and inside the game.”

“But I thought we were playing to pass the time not trying to Win,” I challenged.

“If I don’t practice this Predict power as they call it, I might has well space this Pocketwatch, Ri.” It was true. We had been sent forth from the Psionic Institute on Aezorr to hone and test our newfound powers. I just did not want to come out of the closet to Miss Ka who might become frightened of Vargr Psions this deep into the Extents. I did not want to come clean about our ‘vacation’ on Aezorr either.

“I don’t like Winning by unfair advantage, Uessae. It doesn’t feel good to rise in the standings knowing that it was because we were cheating.”

“Oh?” Uessae asked with her claws on her hips and her head tilted to one side. “And your skill with that sleaze-haggling isn’t cheating the markets so you can have extra payouts, Ri?” That took the wind out of me. Was psionics just another skill one can develop? I had to practice the art Humans call Bribery to use as a weapon in the marketplace of each world. Why did I put psionics in a separate box from skills? Was it because psionics was feared or despised? Hell, any skill whetted and honed to a fine-tuned perfection can be scary. Look at Uessae’s deadly accuracy with her Shotgun for example. Nodding at my mental gears turning, Uessae came close for a hug. Whispering, she said, “Ri, you’ve been cheating the system for so long, patting yourself on the back for what you pass off as ingenuity, that you blurred the lines between adept practice and cheating the system. Though under the veil of silence, psionics is no different. You feel less than victorious. I do too. Maybe I can find some other venue to practice Predict. But it will require that you listen to me and heed me when I do Predict, okay?” She had come forth with another option. I returned her hug then. I was going to suggest that but she got the initiative.

“Okay,” I whispered back at her. It earned me a lick there on the Bridge in the dead of ship-night.

Uessae did not cheat again in Red Wizard. Silently we agreed each time we logged on with the nod of our avatars’ heads not to Win at Red Wizard. But upon breakout we would learn that the demon hoard we had looted had elevated us in in-game gear and in the standings. This could raise some eyebrows from the Dzarrvaer local players for a while. A Godstriker, an Artificer and an Alchemist had taken the fast track to success without the help of other wizardly professions.

 

[The Pakkrat]

005-1106

Dzarrvaer (Provence 0285) A766A74-E Ga Hi Cx K VDzF

“Happy New Year!” Lidus exclaimed to us as we broke out. Even though Holiday was technically a few days past, it was Vilani tradition for those in jump to celebrate it only in normal space instead of jump transit.
Uessae stopped herself just before converging on me and looked to Lidus before saying, “Are you sure you’re old enough to-...y’know?”

“I’m not an adolescent at 27, Uessae,” protested the Vilani woman. “Go ahead.”

“Just making sure,” nodded Uessae Noedhin who grabbed me up from my station at Engineering as the Vilani hummed the Holiday tune. It does not sound like the Solomani Auld Lang Syne.

Uessae Noedhin, my Master and Commander of the Thuegueus II hugged me close and gave me a long lick. I returned it in full view of Lidus Ka. A part of me was glad to show this side of the Vargr to another species, that we aren’t all mercurial chaos, teeth and claws.

“Happy New Year,” said the pretty Aekhu with the glittering sapphire eyes.

Also celebrating after-Holiday was the genuinely friendly Vargr Packet that was also inbound. Because we had the higher acceleration, the remote captain graciously let us take final approach to Dzarrvaer Orbital first. The fuel skimming went well and still festive as the two ships turned toward mainworld Dzarrvaer. 28.6 hours later in-system, we docked at the Highport and cycled the business of Travelling again. I did not do as well as I’d have liked with the Polymers, selling them at 80%. But nabbing them at 50% back on Tuerrg made up for it. Often it is not at the sale but in the purchase that credits can be saved. But at Cr100,000 per ton, the Electronics Parts Imbalances sitting in the speculatives market was beyond my credit balance. I scored another two High Passengers and filled all eight Low Passengers. A Capital world, especially an Important, Industrial polity Capital will always have a waiting line for passages.

The Highport Warden approached Uessae and I as a pair. We were both in simple yet identical ship slickers, the kind that slide easily into Vacc Suits as the Logaksu Warden picked us out. An Aekhu and a Logaksu pair was just what he needed as our next Patron. Would we two please conduct a “secret shopper” inspection of the Highport and quietly list all who made legal use of Administration and those who used my sleaze-haggling or Bribery to generate a report on staff scruples and morale? The task would only take two days. Inwardly we debated using our psionics to further aid this probe. But the task went well as our ship underwent Life Support renewal. The ship scored Cr20,000 for the report we turned in as we toured the orbital facility.

With the speculatives selling far too high even at base prices and the Freight lots too large for the ship’s hold, I was forced to accept earnings from the High and Low Passengers for the destination of Knokseng (Provence 0422). Scratch one from the Bucket List: visit your empire’s capital world.

The Garden world of Dzarrvaer had yet to Taint the atmosphere and gain the Trade Classification of Industrial. The Factions on the Capital world still bickered environmentalism versus mercantile clout. We took a few Sensors snapshots for our archives and the Bucket List to see that seats of government in Vargr empires are not all degenerate bazaars of filth. I pointed this out to Miss Ka who said nothing of the sort. To this day, I believe that the Balkanized Capital world of Dzarrvaer is why the Dzarrgh Federate remained a loose and fair-trade Confederation despite the Summit I had seen last year.

And that’s why I like my home polity of the Federate. Freedom.

Lidus Ka our Astrogator had laid in the pathing course for one of three Gas Giants of Knokseng (Provence 0422). I was more confidently at the Engineering console on the Bridge rather than in my Vargr Cave aft. “Maneuver Drive offline and Jump Drive charged, zuchai crystals stable. Jump at your command,” I reported.

“Stand by,” said Uessae. I held my thumbclaw over the COMMIT button to initiate jump and looked over at her.

Uessae was in her ship’s suit and had turned her back on Lidus Ka at Astrogation. She was crying. I know because I saw her tears flowing down her cheeks and muzzle. In her left claw was her ticking Pocketwatch-4. “Stand by,” she said again. Seconds ticked by. I was confused right up until I recognized what was happening. But Uessae crying was what unnerved me. And still my thumbclaw hovered over that COMMIT button.

“Now,” Uessae commanded. She opened her eyes at me with an intense expression on her canine face.

“Jump now?”

“Now! Jump now!”

I mashed the jump initiation button. The distant whine of the Jump Drive was off to my Engineer’s ears. To this day, I will never forget the call of a misjump, a misjump that Uessae could not avoid despite her power of Predict. The quicksilver of jumpspace enveloped the ship. All seemed well after that whine from the Drives section let off.

“I’d better go check what that noise was about.” I got up and headed for the door.

“Lidus, please stand down the Bridge for me,” ordered Uessae. Uessae followed me to Engineering. Down the starboard side Corridor we walked, leaving Miss Ka to close all viewports to the jump field outside the ship. Uessae recovered herself from crying as we entered Engineering. Everything there looked in place. But a board detailing the status of the jump field told me that we had a poorly defined bubble. We had misjumped.

“I’m sorry, Ri,” whispered Uessae. “All the futures led to this. I could not redirect us from a misjump.”

“Uessae-“

“How bad is it?”

I secretly slaved the board to Sensors and queried them. “We’re off course,” I admitted. “But outside the normal universe, I can’t tell how far and for how long.”

“All the Low Berths are full, Ri.”

One hears horror stories of captains with low scruples sacrificing Low Passengers to use the Low Berths until a ship trapped in jumpspace precipitates. This was such a situation. “I am not doing that, Uessae. No way. I have to draw the line s-somewhere.” I was adamantly against such a gruesome practice. Nodding silently at me, with some approval in her tail motions, Uessae Noedhin turned and left Engineering for her cabin.

 

[The Pakkrat]

The causality questions come unbidden. Could I have done anything different to avoid this misjump? How about using refined fuel instead of skimming the unrefined? I grit my teeth at the thought. Had I tuned the Jump Drive properly? Yes. Were we behind on the annual overhaul? No. One guilt stuck with me. The sizes of the drives added to a total beyond any one Engineer to babysit. I had skimped on providing a second Engineer for the huge Jump Drive with its four-parsec range since discharging Admiral Laegh who had been my stand-in until Kirg.

And this was not about skill. It was about monitoring schedules. Damn my hide! Cut corners enough and the corners will eventually cut you.

Standard operations for a misjump calls for rationing of food, water and air. I informed Lidus Ka and our two High Passengers of the misjump with solemn and grim determination to stretch out our sustenance as far as possible. But that meant using as few ship compartments and resources as possible. No showers, no cargo hold, no frivolous service for the High Passengers. We went on flashlights and chemical lights to conserve power. Our targeted jump of four parsecs would put the Thuegueus II on fumes for fuel when we fell out of jumpspace. I just had to make sure we were still around when that happened.

The ship became a darkened ghost town of five active sophonts. Meals became nibbles and sips. The Medical console was raided. We queried the Library data for survival tips. Halfway through the first week, we were separated from each other, to keep from pointing finger claws in blame and admonishment. Lights were off in all corridors and cabins. If a sophont needed to see beyond feeling around in the dark, a chemical light was used. Water had to be cycled, the shower water used in turn. We did not dare to recharge personal devices.

By the beginning of the second week, the grim reality had set in. We were trapped in jump transit beyond the normal, 168 hours plus or minus 5%. Halfway through the second week, the apologies and commiseration began.

* * *

My log ends here, at least until I can feel the jump rumblings to herald our freedom from jumpspace. I actually prayed and will continue to pray.

I can't sleep.

I've tried, but I have slept so much away from the others that there is nothing to do but lie awake in my cabin bunk. I'm stiff from staying still for days. The only reason why these words are recorded is by handwriting on the backside of some cargo manifest hard copy by chemical light.

Hour and day unknown. I've had to sit guard outside the locked door to the Low Berths with my Bayonet. The High Passenger who almost tried me backed off in the shadows.

* * *

Through my Life Detection, I felt him coming and whispered, "Don't try me."

To keep anyone from suicide by hanging, I killed the grav plates. I claimed it was to conserve power.

Miss Ka heard me praying in a whisper as I sipped my ration of water and nibbled today's share. She sat down in a lotus position and prayed with me, to her higher power of course.

I caught Uessae one day on the Bridge. She had manually opened a viewport and was staring at the quicksilver jump field outside the ship. When I looked from behind her demntia-ridden trance, it spoiled the view for both of us, turning the field to a dull, silvery gray. "S'not healthy, Uessae," I whispered in her right ear.

With her view of jumpspace tainted, Uessae mumbled, "Winter."

I cranked the viewport closed again. "Hmm?"

"It's winter on Atsah."

I cuddled around the trance-like Uessae Noedhin. "Spring is next, right?" I asked with a quieter voice. Jump dementia does not immediately end for someone. You have to coax them back to reality. I dunno how many minutes it took for Uessae to come back to me wrapped around her from behind. At least it wasn't a violent return which can happen.

I woke from dozing on Uessae's shoulder when she spoke with returned coherence. "Do you feel it?"

"Wh-what?" I lifted my head to look at Uessae.

"I feel jump rumblings." I thought Uessae was hallucinating for the span of ten seconds. Then I felt them at fifteen seconds. Her Predict must have pinged.

"Ancients!" I wearily let go of Uessae to push off through the microgravity to the Engineering to confirm. "Gravity in ten seconds!" I called after reasserting full power through the ship. Hope flooded me again. Lights came on. Air circulators returned to full. Consoles and boards lit up. "Confirming jump rumblings all!" I saw the elapsed time. Two weeks and a few hours has passed.

Coughing to bring her voice up to strength, Uessae commanded, "Suit-and-tie, everyone!"

"Hole time: two weeks and five hours, 39 minutes. Again, confirming jump rumblings!" I continued to shout it at the Bridge until Miss Ka skipped in looking haggard still. I grabbed up my discarded Combat Armor-11, where I had left it in ritual hopes for this moment. I barely registered the claw and teeth marks on the plates as I slid into my suit. That last hour was a hella eternity in waiting for breakout.

"Sensor confirm precipitation! Now open the ▮▮▮▮▮▮ned ports!" It was Uessae at those boards who spoke. Just in time to see the last of the field corrode away to black space punctuated by blessed stars, everyone cried out loud.

Miss Ka went to work in coordinating with Uessae to get a navigational fix on our position. Seconds ticked off. The ship floated in its original vector and conserved momentum in those few moments. "Charts call it as Ath Aghe, inside the Empire of Varroerth!" The Vilani woman continued with, "Fifteen parsecs directly coreward of Dzarrvaer."

"But what is the date?" It was a valid question Uessae asked. It took several agonizing minutes for Comms to ping the local, Tech-10 SysNet for an answer. Misjumps don't have to obey time ratios. We could be days, weeks, months, years or worse along the timeline.

"Welcome, AFT-BS44 Thuegueus II to Ath Aghe (Provence 0210) this 022 of 1106," came the computer voice in Logaksu. I immediately translated for those who did not understand. Everyone collapsed in relief. The ratio had stayed at one-to-one.

 

[The Pakkrat]

022-1106

Ath Aghe (Provence 0210) B685633-A Ag Ni Ri VVar

I went to don the headset for the Comms board. "Vanagh! Vanagh! This is Imperium hull, Vargr-owned, AFT-BS44 Thuegueus II calling on emergency channels. We are two weeks misjumped from Dzarrvaer and in need of transponder acknowledgement and escort to mainworld. Please advise." As I coordinated with System Traffic Control of this Empire of Varroerth world, Miss Ka placed us near Orbit 3 of the F8 V stellar primary. The system star had pulled us from jumpspace. We could have fell out in an empty parsec.

As I talked, I looked at Uessae. She carefully pointed at the dangling Pocketwatch-4 at her breast. She in those last moments before jump had chosen the best vector of an already fated jump via her Predict. She had saved us from jumping into deep space where our Maneuver Drive would have taken years to limp to the nearest world.

I could not help crying on Comms to hear the Logaksu voice of a nearby Corsair ship answering our distress call. The Corsairs took pity on us after they had scanned our empty cargo hold. I promised them a gratuity of citizenship for flying wing side and escorting us to mainworld orbit. Berthing was cheap, but the rolling emergency trucks across the landing field to our touchdown costed.

Fifteen parsecs misjump set a new, subsector record recorded by the Empire of Varroerth. Offloading the Passengers swearing off travel forever, we stepped off the ship to breathe deep and slow the Air-8, a Dense but clean atmosphere. With only two million system population, we were instantly on the news.

Scratch one off the Bucket List: survive a misjump, one I never want to suffer again. During survivor therapy, I saw fees for Life Support, Payday, Berthing, emergency services, therapy, transponder exchange and ship registration pile up. I came close to a second Bucket List: go bankrupt. That one I had already crossed off and been saved from thanks to Grunt. Rest in peace.

Deeper in Logaksu space, both the Aekhu Uessae and the Vilani Lidus Ka held each of my claws as we moved about dirtside in a huddling group to defend ourselves from media reporters, curious Engineers, lawyer Advocates (ambulance chasers all of them), Starport Warden, planetary Councilors and so many others to try and glean from our experience.

In just a day, we realized we needed off this world Ath Aghe to be rid of this unwanted attention. We had to Travel once more. But to where? Instead of myself, it was Uessae Noedhin who added to the Bucket List: tour Lair, the homeworld of the Vargr. It was the best idea put forth. I saw the addition after finishing my purchase of exotic, super dense hardwood. 25 tons, one High Passenger (an Engineer most likely) and 8 Low Passengers were loaded and with haste.

As the Low Passengers embarked well before the High, I saw a Pack of red-robed zealots march through the concourse and being trailed by Downport Security. I would learn later that these were religious priests from Faarzgaen (Provence 0704) and were crying out the Rumor of this port of call: Faarzgaen calls for the faithful.

Though my faith in a higher power had been somewhat renewed, it certainly not bend in the direction of Faarzgaen a Vargr deity so primal as to abolish the use of money. Violence came when Faarzgaen said so, and at any time. Thus, the Security detail following the priests through the concourse. I swatted Uessae aboard quickly before these Logagksu jerks sighted her or Miss Ka.

The Starport had done an excellent cleanup job of the Thuegueus II. I noted so on an online feedback form as we were outbound.

I thought the all-red Vargr Courier was going to heed Faarzgaen's Call when they scanned us. Their vector and jump point deflected their attention to initiate jump coreward. Ours took minutes later. I was glad they were on a schedule. I paid very close attention to my Master and Commander come 100 Diameters for the order to initiate jump.

During First Meal, we celebrated my birthday. "Happy Birthday, Ri!" exclaimed my two ladies Uessae and Miss Ka. I turned 47. Ancients, I'm old. For my birthday, there was a stateroom shakeup. Miss Ka announced that she was to move into my cabin so I could share with Uessae. Surprise!

Even Uessae was caught off-guard but nodded in instant approval once the young Vilani woman laid out her reasons. Uessae helped me settle with her into the Captain's Cabin which had been cleaned and now lacked Lidus' Human scent. I was nervous until Uessae Noedhin pulled me onto the wide bed. I then unwrapped her birthday present for me.

We played Red Wizard all week in the hole so that none of us could relapse into the melancholy of the fortnight in misjump hell. Miss Ka finally came into her own as an Artificer. Her quasi-magical crafting of arcane devices put her on top as our front gunner. Uessae's power grew as a Godstriker. No longer was her avatar using the Amulet of the Dakhaseri as a crutch. Her holy magic was a beacon in any zone she stood in, whether or not she was actively casting magic.

My Alchemist had hit that pinnacle for what I wanted out of Red Wizard. The Philospher's Stone was both a creation and a benchmark of power as a wizard in this game. Every hoard we found was increased by my altering the yields of precious metals, coins raising to the next higher denominations.

"Hurry up, Moneybags! Let's go!" I also had the monopoly on storage capacity.

 

[The Pakkrat]

At first sight of a boss Diabolical named Amon, I pulled off my goggles and gloves to stop our progression. "Okay, whose idea was it to merge a wolf-headed Human in one body for this boss?" I asked to the table. The ladies stopped gaming to pause the game fully when Miss Ka's Artificer set up a portable fortress for us to log off the game.

"It's just a game, Ri," said Uessae.

"Yeah. Humaniti has been deifying and demonizing half-human hybrid forms since they could think straight. How about the Vargr ancestors, hmmm?" Lidus had a way to disarm me while backing up Uessae.

"Solomani Hypothesis aside," continued Lidus, "it is a historical fact that we Vilani took to the stars first of the known, Major Races. The artifacts on Terra show one easy to see trend that we Vilani knew. Their cave paintings and tomb decorations depicted half-human gods and demons alike, each doing their duty to test Man." She paused. I did not interrupt.

"Well, it shows that Terran Man was lonely. Perhaps the Vilani were too to make First Contact with another sophont who all the important questions of Life, the Universe and Everything else could be asked. The Terrans had wolves. They could not have known the Vargr were already 15 to twenty-thousand years ahead of Terra. They were imitating something in their mythologies that they admired, Ri. You. You Vargr, I mean."


"Imitation is the highest form of admiration," quoted Lidus Ka.

"Man was lonely, Ri," repeated Miss Ka. "And when he had to assume the answers through his gods and had no definite answers, imagine how excited Man was to find other sophonts out there in space." I looked to Uesssae. As an integrated Aekhu, she probably knew this already.

"Ri, instead of being insulted or put on some unwanted pedestal, why don't you try answering those questions for Man and asking your own questions right back at him. She's right across the table." Uessae had me.

"Besides," finished Lidus for the night, "I for one think Vargr-headed Diabolics are sexy." She retired from the table before I could fully process what she was implying.

Uessae's tongue lolled out as she nodded. "Those abs and that ass!"

 

[The Pakkrat]

036-1106

Zekhghe (Provence 0508) A779336-D Lo VVar [Author's Note: The Llaeghskath Interacterate does not form and secede from the Empire of Varroerth until 1114 followed by the Jihad of Faarzgaen in 1115.]

We had just finished skimming for fuel at one of the system Gas Giants when a Vargr Packet saw us as an Imperium Human incursion despite the Corsairs' Teeth hull paint scheme. At 60,000km, they started firing.

Like sex, to describe the entire battle is an exercise in let-downs. This was not some epic holovid battle. This was survival. I can say that I ran about the ship, doing damage control. We took our lumps. We shredded their Jump Drive and slagged their Maneuver Drive long enough to eventually escape to the mainworld. The chase to mainworld orbit ended with the Thuegueus II entering the atmosphere just minutes after the final exchange. Though I could afford the repairs to Turret#2 and the M-Drive, I had to accept that I might not see the Thuegueus II jump four parsecs again.

In the shipyard, I paid for the repairs to the Turret and held off on the M-Drive, until I was further along. We had to accept that the ship was now AFT-BS33 unless a miracle were to godsend upon us. The sale of the exotic Wood at 200% and the passages helped. I haggled against the Drydock Adjustment Agent until I was out of breath. But in the end, I had to cough up the credits to at least normalize the Drives for a Potential of 3. This meant that the Power Plant was less taxed and had extra output to spare.

But the battle scars on the ship were investigated by the Downport Warden's Police force. I was fined an extra Cr700 for battling within 50 Diameters of the mainworld. Before I could protest, I was told that I could have been shot out of orbit by the PADs emplacements.

I was in a sour and angered mood all week dirtside. I took on 20 tons of Freight and bought 5 tons of Tin, angrily barking loud enough to attain 40%, the best possible rate to buy.

On the way back to the ship, Uessae pulled me aside and told me the three Soldiers were stalking us. I saw her holding her Pocketwatch-4. I listened. With my puny, telekinetic Move, I mashed every elevator call button as we passed them. This in turn flooded the deck with Vargr to block and cut off the stalkers long enough for Uessae to hide us in the stairwell and escape.

Panting our breath upon locking the airlock door behind us, Uessae turned to me, "Is this how you were treated coming to the Third Imperium, Ri?"

Panting in return, I answered, "The Third Imperium is far more cosmopolitan, I'll admit."

"When in Rome...." quoted Miss Ka who was aboard well before us, spoiling the Vargr superstition. Now, I would have to rethink our Bucket List route to Lair.

"She's right, Ri," panted Uessae. "I'm thinking of dressing native Logaksu, done up all Corsair-Not-To-Be-Messed-With." If Uessae the Aekhu could integrate with Humaniti's Third Imperium, she might be successful as an Extents Vargr.

Outbound at the end of the week, it was we who had to stand down. The Vargr Courier we passed were pissing their white flag at the sight of our armaments. Maybe they heard about what we did to that Packet.

 

[The Pakkrat]

After First Meal, Uessae was late to Red Wizard. I sat at the table across from Miss Lidus Ka. Assured that Uessae would be a while, I looked at younger Miss Ka.

"So ask," I said to the Vilani. Lidus Ka regarded me for a full minute. Maybe she was determining if I was sincere.

Finally, she asked me, "How can I have charisma?"

She would have to ask one of the bigger questions, I thought in an immediate reaction. I looked again over my shoulder. I just might need backup on this one. Miss Ka didn't ask about the Vargr Birds and Bees, no. She didn't ask history questions. She didn't ask a Life or the Universe question. I might have fielded those. "You got your UPP card on you?" I asked her.

"Sure. Here." Receiving the black plastic with a red stripe, I read the raised gold lettering. It read:

Lidus Ka, Vilani female
983626
2 Merchants

Oof. What did she do in ED5 to piss off her elders and instructors? My task became more difficult if her Education digit was on target. "Okay. See this digit?"

"That's my Family's Social Standing,” Lidus explained. “Mine by lineage."

I wrote that number on the backside of more recent cargo manifests with a pen. Then I wrote a 3 midway down the paper. "Imagine now that you did not inherit that number, Miss Ka. Instead, imagine that you enforced it while growing as a cub er-, as a child. Through your life experiences, you knew it rose and fell with successes and failures, trial and error. Get me?" Miss Ka nodded her head. "Okay. Now, today your Vargr Charisma is hovering somewhere between 6 and 3. So, lemme ask you this: are you prepared to back up whatever number you tell me your Vargr Charisma is?"

"Will I have to fight someone to prove it?" I sat back and looked at Lidus Ka. Strong. Above average Dexterity. But definitely a glass cannon to put it in Red Wizard terms.

"Not likely, but it is possible," I answered. "My charisma hasn't moved in years."

"What happened?" she asked me. "How'd it change?"

"I earned my Vargr Trader from the Pack Alpha. He chose me. I saw myself a little bigger on that day. And it was not my birthday, Miss Ka." She nodded, seemingly understanding. "Now, throw away that your number is permanent just because you were born to it or think it can never change. Vargr are all about change and mutability, moving and adapting with the tides."

"Okay?" Could she put down that staunch, Vilani mindset of traditional worldview and culture?

"So what is your personal, current number, Miss Ka? Because, I'm not versed in reading a Human's Vargr Charisma." It was true. I could no more judge the girl by her Human expressions in terms of charisma. This was hard for me too.

"Five," Lidus Ka declared to me. "I think I made my father mad."

"It's not about your father. It's what you think of yourself." I rubbed my left ear in thought and trying to examine the Vilani across the table. "Okay," I decided aloud. "Stand up before me, over here." I got up from the table and stood in the commons. In short order, eager Miss Ka was toe-to-toe with me. As a Human, she's taller but I am just a little bulkier in muscles and have a wider stance. "Now, can you show me with your body, mind, heart and everything inside that your number is Five? My Charisma is Five as well." I held myself at my normal stance, attitude and self-image. I am the Chief Engineer, Captain-Owner of the Thuegueus II, Member of the Dzarrgh Federate Merchants Guild, (and closet Psion).

"Weird," Lidus Ka said but she gave it a go. In just a minute, I could feel it, see it and sensed her match me in self-important, Vargr Charisma.

"Now hold that attitude. Keep it. Make it yours every day in your stance, your vocabulary, your ego, your emotions." I watched as slowly it dawned on her. Then in walked Uessae Noedhin after her shower. She was zipped up in her ship slicker and her Pocketwatch-4 rode her chest on its chain. I saw Lidus Ka, my equal in Vargr Charisma turn hers on Uessae.

I saw Imperial Naval Captain Uessae Noedhin, Retired, Master and Commander of this ship, my lover, my inspiration, my helmsman and closet Psion buck up against what she saw. "What have you two been talking about?" she demanded.

Lidus Ka set her jaw and her brown eyes became harder. Humans can do that or Rudyard Kipling was a fool.

Uessae Noedhin smiled and her fangs showed. "Aha. I see. The cub arises and now the lady thinks she has claws." Her Charisma, doubling mine and Miss Ka's, flared with every fiber of her visible fur on end and her tail low and still. Claw digits widened, the nails flaring and flexing. Uessae's ears flared back a little like sharp horns. Yet she did not have to wrinkle her muzzle or furrow her brow before Lidus Ka lost her nerve and took a stance behind me.

"Vargr Charisma has rules, Miss Ka," I said over my shoulder at the Vilani. "You will live longer if you pay respect to someone of higher Charisma and authority. Uessae is quite used to commanding an entire battlecruiser if it suits her."

Uessae nodded without letting down her ire or her mental Shield, though I bet she was reading the Human with Telempathy. "Do so, Lidus, and you will find those of higher Vargr Charisma will in turn acknowledge you, listen to you and give your advice weight." Uessae put the second half of the rules down as if she had said them to Humans in the Navy.

"Yes, ma'am," Lidus answered.

"Lidus, this isn't about fear. Come. Let's sit and play. We've a Diabolic to put down." And like that, Uessae's demeanor softened to a friendly, tail-wagging comrade as she took a seat. And I saw, per Vargr Charisma Lidus let me sit next. Sitting third, Lidus let Uessae pick up the goggles and gloves of her choice. Miss Ka was learning fast for her Intelligence. For though she knew which gloves were adjusted to Uessae's extremities, she let Uessae take initiative per Vargr Charisma.

"There," I said as Uessae put on her chosen playing wear. "That is how you can have charisma, Miss Lidus Ka."

Oh, how we trounced that Amon that evening! Working like a Pack at last, starting with Uessae's Godstriker out front first, we cycled positions per Admiral Laegh's tactical advice when the timer dinged. Then I waded in as Uessae fell back to the back ranks to let her backlash potential lessen. I lobbed my concoctions and sprayed high pressure acids and other volatiles at Amon. And when the alarm dinged again, Miss Lidus Ka's Artificer poured on the damage from her full-auto Shardspitter. We worked like a Pack that night.

Just after we picked through the spoils of putting Mr. Abs'n'Butt down, with goggles off and high-fives given, it was Uessae who said in her tenor, "That is what charisma can do, Lidus when observed and respected."

"So I don't forget," I told Uessae before bed hours later.

"Yes, Ri?"

"Thanks for using your Predict to keep the ship from getting lost in deep space." Uessae stopped before leaving me to the Captain's Cabin.

When she tilted her head to a side, I clarified with, "No one but me can ever know the effort it took to time that misjump right, and so unless I say it, it would become a thankless, herculean deed lost. Thank you, Uessae."

Uessae Noedhin the Psion blinked her beautiful blue eyes glittering with tears. Then she said, "You're welcome, Ri."