Chapter 22: Obligatory Expository Passage
The Darrex had a pretty impressive lunar base, about ten percent of which could be seen from the surface--the rest was underground, in a sprawling complex that put some Earthly cities I'd visited to shame. From one of the repair bays, I watched as a Darrex destroyer towed the ass end of Absolution in for repairs and reattachment. The rest of the ship was already inside, being worked over by technicians. This was my first opportunity to get a really good look at the ship from the outside. A lot of scratches and dings and scorch marks hinted at the storied history of the ship. Arcturus stood there with me, peering out the repair bay's observation window, so I decided to get some more information out of him.
"We never really got to be introduced properly," I said. "All the chaos and distrust going around. I apologize for misjudging you and your family. You did save my life."
"And you saved my son, so perhaps we're even."
"We'll see. What's your story, anyway? I don't have a lot of information on you or your family."
"No, you wouldn't. I was born to a pair of merchants who plied the NAR back when it was just unincorporated space not claimed by anyone. It was dangerous, but they found large mineral supplies they just couldn't pass up. They bumped into some Koraxians who wanted those rocks a little more than my parents did. They were captured and thrown in with the Darrex, who were still enslaved at that time. They didn't last long, thanks to the hard labor. The Darrex adopted me."
"And somehow, you got from being an orphan among the Darrex to having freed them, I take it."
"Something like that. There are some minerals essential to create the nutrient fluid the Koraxians live in and construct their ships from, and they required species capable of hard labor to extract it."
"Seems like a waste of manpower. Couldn't get employ some kind of automated machinery to do the mining?"
"You would think so, but they preferred subjugation. They have a deep, historical affection for dominance. Politically, it is always an easy sell for them to force other species to do their dirty work."
"The more I hear about them, the more I wonder why the Oolians didn't simply wipe them out when they had the chance."
"I don't have an answer for you on that one. I don't know much about the Oolians. The Koraxians hate them with all their being. The ones that are capable of hate, that is."
"So, how'd you free the Darrex?"
"You're probably looking for some big secret or trick... honestly, I didn't have one. It was just a lot of fighting and a lot of hard work. You've probably noticed that the Darrex don't speak. They never evolved vocal cords, so they communicate entirely in gestures. The Koraxians destroyed their written language. It took a lot of convincing to get them to revolt. By the time the Koraxians realized what was happening, we'd seized all the mineral transport ships and begun migrating here."
"They just let you go?"
"No, not at all. They killed as many of us as they could. There just came a point where it wasn't worth it for them to chase us down so far from the heart of their empire. They had plenty of other slaves. We never bothered them, and they didn't bother us... until now."
"I wonder what changed."
"Everything? You said they're at war with humanity, and with the Oolians. They may be at war with everyone by now. And no one seems to know why."
"I sure don't. They didn't seem at all interested in negotiating. They just opened up with their weapons. Didn't ask for anything or even demand anything."
"Hmm." Arc scratched his chin. "It seems so unlike them. They are the type to keep to themselves. They only fight battles where they have obvious superiority. Taking on half the galaxy reeks of desperation."
"What do you think would make them so desperate?"
"I see only two possibilities. One, that they are facing a threat so grave they feel it jeopardizes their very existence."
"Or?"
"Or... it's meant to look that way, but it's simply a diversion from their true objective."
"And what might that be?" I hoped he had an answer.
But, no. "I have no idea. None of my contacts seem to, either. They're just trying to steer clear of the conflict."
"Sorry about the tangent, there. But how did you get your name? Or learn to speak, for that matter?"
"Both questions have the same answer, more or less. My parents read me Conveyor, Convier? when I was little. It's also the only possession they left me with when they died. The Darrex sorted through all kinds of garbage that was cast off by trader ships, too. Magazines, news journals, printouts from ship computers. I could speak a little, and had a rather good grasp of the written word. I named myself after the protagonist of Conveyor, Convier? since I'd forgotten my real name early on. Lana helped me become a fluent speaker. She's always been my lifeline."
"Yeah, how'd you meet her?"
"After I'd freed the Darrex and we'd escaped here, some merchants started to stop by to trade with us. She was the daughter of one of them. Her father had a layover while he got his ship worked on, and she ended up spending most of her time with me. She told her father she wasn't going back with him, he tried to kill me, she kicked him a few times, and it just didn't go very well. He left with a couple broken limbs, a bruised ego, and no daughter."
"Arcturus, you cad," I teased him. "That's such a pirate thing to do. Though it sounds like she got more licks in than you did."
"Believe it or not, the piracy didn't come until later. Your government started to exert firmer control over its more far-flung colonies about twenty years ago. Along with that came customs enforcement, border patrols, and all that. We were cut off, since the Darrex had no formal relations with your government, and apparently weren't even thought of as interesting enough to warrant attention. In the end, I did what I had to. Less savory characters began pouring into the region, those who didn't feel like complying with the arbitrary regulations of a distant government. They brought plenty of crime and contraband with them. Some of them wound up on good terms with us. Some of them didn't. But we tried to get our goods past your customs as quietly as possible. You can imagine how things deteriorated from there. But I have no regrets." The steely look in his eyes confirmed that, too. "Everyone needs to make a living, Captain Maxwell. At some point, I stopped caring about the morality of robbing merchants, of stealing weapons and ships from the police, of disarming the petty traps they set to stop us from moving about freely. I hope you can understand my perspective. I abhor what you represent--oppression, tyranny, conformity."
I had to stifle a chuckle. "No offense, Arc, but you sound just like every other pirate out there. It's all some noble cause, fighting a superior foe and assuming you're right because you're the underdog. I guess it doesn't matter. We're here, we're alive, and it doesn't look like the status quo is going to last much longer."
He nodded. "On that, we can both agree. The Koraxians are upsetting the balance of power."
"Yep. And I think I have some ideas on how we might tip the scale back in the other direction."
Chapter 22
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