Med Station X

“Lance, did you ever stop to think she might be using you? She knows you’re attracted to her body. She pushed her breasts into you, twice. She displayed herself to you. She knew exactly how that would affect you. How do you know anything that she and her cat have said is true?”

“How do you know it isn’t? Neither of you knew anything about her species, or the Vorn.”

“The Vorn spied on us. When we were intimately involved, and vulnerable. Those aren’t the actions of an honorable person of any species.”

“Those could possibly be the actions of an agent and guardian of a member of a royal family, attempting to verify that the aliens treating his charge were really trying to help save her life.” Lance had never seen Felice or Zera angry, until now. He began to rethink his feelings and motives. Maybe they were right, but he wasn’t about to say that, yet.

“Com’on, Lance, you’re making excuses for people you don’t even know. They had to have known we were honorable, because we did, in fact, save her life. And we’ve been busting our asses, trying to figure out how to help her recover more quickly. She must know that. We’ve been trying to speak to her and have gone on at great length to explain it, even though she pretended not to understand us.”

Lance thought carefully about that, and sat down. He didn’t want to believe it, but thinking back over the way she had deliberately displayed herself to him, had pressed herself against him, it made sense. “You could very well be right. Felice, Zera,” he admitted. “I’m sorry for thinking you were just jealous. I seem to have been thinking with my penis instead of my head.” Lance glanced quickly around the room. “Felice, shut the door.” She gave him an odd look, but did so. Lance got up, and did a physical search of the room, sweeping his arms out. It looked strange, but the look on Felice’s face said she understood what he was doing.

“Now that you know about his invisibility trick, you know how to find him if necessary.”

“Yes, the telltale is a little shimmer in air as he passes an object. It looks like the heat shimmer over a road on a hot day. It’s even there when he breathes. Only when he holds perfectly still is he completely invisible. And actually, we don’t know if he’s really the only Vorn here. There could be more aboard the station. He said he left his mate in an asteroid field, but how could we be sure of that?” Lance sat down again.

“Okay,” said Felice, showing her command side, “let’s go over what we know. And keep an eye on that viewer. We need to know if he leaves the room. By the way, do we know if he left her room between the time you left and arrived here?” The Zera and Lance pulled chairs alongside hers, and the three of them watched the screen while they discussed the situation.

“I don’t think so. The door slid shut right behind Lance, and hasn’t opened since,” said the doctor.

Within ten minutes, they had reviewed all the pertinent information, and come up with a plan. Lance was about to go to the weapons locker to get them each some protection, when the station proximity alarm went off.

“A ship is within one light minute. It appears to be a trader, but is heavily armed. Its weapons are live, and trained on this station,” said the computer.

“Shields up,” said Felice. “Bring weapons systems online and charge all batteries. Have they tried to communicate?”

“Not yet…correction. Message coming in now.”

“Divert all command functions to this station. Relay audio and video messages to this station, but transmit out on voice only, no outgoing video.” Felice modified the touch screen in front of her, and her command console appeared.

“Weapons systems online, energy cells at seventy percent…eighty percent…ninety percent…” came the computer’s disembodied voice.

“Open channel with the approaching vessel,” Felice commanded as she watched the screen image of the incoming ship grow larger. “No, wait. Give me their message, first.”

“Medical station. We have followed an enemy ship into this system. Our sensors have detected that ship in your docking bay. Release the enemy into our custody.” The message repeated.

“Incoming vessel,” Felice replied. “This is Earth Force Med Station X. You have no authority here. We accept and treat all wounded personnel. If you have such wounded, we stand ready to accept them for treatment. However, we do not accede to unlawful demands. If you have no wounded, you are at liberty to leave this system peaceably. Any hostile action shall be considered an act of piracy, or an act of war.”

Within seconds of her transmission, an image of an outraged older man appeared in a corner of her command console. “You are harboring thieves, known felons. How dare you accuse me of piracy.”

“How dare you approach this station with weapons armed. Shut down your weapons systems. Identify yourself and your registry.”

“Captain Al McFadden, Master Pilot License MCF2964A21G2. My ship is the Taurean Queen out of Aldebar, Registry CAXTQN0171946. Let me come aboard and we discuss this problem.”

“Incoming vessel has dropped defensive shield and deactivated all but low-energy defensive weapons,” said the computer.

Felice cut the voice transmission for a moment, and turned to Zera and Lance. “Al McFadden. I know him. I treated a laser burn on his shoulder once. I don’t know much more than that, but I’m inclined to consider him seriously.”

“Well…what’s happening over there?” McFadden’s impatient voice came over the radio.

Felice reactivated the channel. “Captain McFadden, please describe your complaint.”

“That thieving blond, blue-skinned elf stole a shipment of microthermopiles right out of my hold! That shipment was headed for the Vega colony. With the winters as cold as they get there, them colonists need those things real bad.”

She cut the outgoing channel again. “That’s easy enough to check. Lance, go see what she has aboard her ship. If there’s any cargo, check the bills of lading. Just a minute, Lance.” She was looking at the screen showing the recovery room. The door was sliding shut, but the faery was still on the table. “Lance you may need a weapon. The Vorn just left recovery.”

“Here, Lance. Put these on,” said Zera, hand him a coverall, boots, and a gunbelt with a small variable power maser. He looked at her, and she shrugged. “Always be prepared.”

Lance donned the coverall. The boots fit him like gloves. He strapped on the belt, energized the gun, making sure it was set at minimum power, and left the room.

He had reached the damaged shuttle craft and was up the steps, about to enter, when he heard the voice behind him. “Lance, what are you doing?”

He turned slowly, looking for the shimmer in the air, but the black Vorn was facing him, thirty feet away, completely visible. “Purro, I have to check your ship.”

“I can’t let you do that, Lance. This is a Royal Shuttlecraft, and there are devices aboard that must remain secrets of the Kingdom.”

“You lied to me, Purro. I don’t know how much of what you and Esme said was lies and how much was true, but I know you lied. Maybe she’s a princess, maybe she isn’t. What matters is that I have an angry ship’s captain threatening to blow us out the sky if we don’t turn over Esme. He says she stole some of his cargo. If I find that cargo on your ship, if the lading says its his, I have no choice but to turn it over to him.”

The cat started forward, and Lance drew the gun. The cat stopped. “Lance, please don’t do this. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.” The cat edged forward. Lance hesitated and the Vorn leaped. Lance hit Purro with his first shot, and the cat dropped to the bay floor. It lay ten feet away, stunned for a moment, then shook its head, raising itself on its forepaws, just a little.

“Lance, please don’t do this.” Purro’s voice was strained with pain. “Look, we…we took the cargo. Her people have to steal to survive. It’s their very survival they’re fighting for. They have been chased across the galaxy for so long, they have no resources of their own. I don’t want to fight you, Lance. But I can’t let you board that ship.”

“You’re in no condition to fight me. That was the gun’s lowest setting.” Lance made a show of pressing a button, and the weapon’s power reading went up a notch, accompanied by a rising whine that steadied and faded at a higher frequency. “You said you’ve taken care of Esme for twenty-five years. If that’s true, don’t you think this has gone on long enough? Stealing from others, hiding their true identities from everyone in the galaxy, that’s no way to live. That’s xenophobia and paranoia all rolled into one. All you’re really doing is prolonging the inevitable. Eventually, enough of the galactic population will put two and two together, find out where you’re hiding, and launch an offensive that will destroy the faeries, utterly, and your people along with them. Why foster hatred and fear when you could strike up trade agreements and live in peace. Wouldn’t that be better than being hunted like animals?”

The wounded animal sprawled on the floor thought about it. “I serve the Princess Esmerelda,” he said weakly. “I would die for her.”

Lance backed down off the step, and took a step closer to the wounded predator. “And I would like to serve the Princess and all her people, by helping them to make peace. I have no wish to kill you Purro. I see no reason for you to die. I would much rather call you friend. Let us go talk to her. You and Commander Stratton and Doctor Tunuma and I will talk to her.”

“You can’t tell them about her.”

“I didn’t have to tell them. They watched the whole show through a camera we use to keep an eye on patients in the recovery room, when someone can’t be there to watch them all the time.

The cat’s eyes widened, and its jaw dropped open. “I have failed my liege.”

“You haven’t failed anything. And you’ll be a hero if you help us convince her to open a peace conference. We must convince her that the old ways lead to inevitable destruction. Let us return the stolen cargo. Maybe we can bargain with Captain McFadden for half of it. He might be willing to make a trade. The faeries must have something to offer that he could make a profit from.”

“I…I…” The cat’s head drooped to the floor, its breathing labored. Lance moved closer, looking down at the Vorn.

“God, I didn’t mean to hurt you, Purro. I’ll call for help.” he knelt, and holstered his gun, and was about to raise his voice to call Zera. Suddenly, he was on the floor, held down by three hundred pounds of snarling, solid black muscle, staring up at huge, lethal, sabre-like fangs, and he didn’t quite know how he’d achieved that ignominious position.At least, he thought to himself,I didn’t lose bladder control.

“Gods, I’m good!” exclaimed the Vorn. “Ninety years of service, and I’vestill got it!” The cat backed off of Lance, letting him up. “You didn’t have a chance. You’ve got a lot to learn, boy. Now let’s get your friends and go talk to Esme. We’ll see about that cargo in a little bit. I want to watch Esme’s face. You know, for a human, and a youngster at that, you’re damned persuasive.” The Vorn turned toward the docking bay’s inner hatch, and walked toward the corridor. Lance caught up hastily and walked alongside.

“Youngster! I’ll have you know I’m a hundred and four years old.”

“Yeah, but you fight like you’re only eighteen. No experience, kid. Always be alert for deception. And that maser-ray setting was a mere bee-sting to something with my body mass. I could give you lessons in…”

6

Captain McFadden sat in Conference 10, one of the smaller conference rooms on Deck 15, looking out of the port. He could see both his ship, waiting at a discrete distance, and his small shuttle, parked on the docking ring. The two men he’d brought with him were shuffling their feet with impatience, casting nervous glances at the robot security guards, who had taken their “only means of defense,” and secured the devices in a locker beside the air lock. The captain stood up suddenly. “It’s been almost two hours! What could be taking so long!” His usually gruff voice was more gravely than usual.

As if in answer, the door opened, and Dr. Tunuma entered, followed by Captain Stratton, Chief Engineer Vogel, a huge black predatory cat, and finally a demure, blue-skinned, yellow-haired midget. All of them clothed, except the cat. They took seats around the table, opposite McFadden and his crew.

McFadden banged his fist on the table, jumping out of his seat. “This is an outra…”

He was suddenly face-to-face with a snarling black monster, it’s huge fangs dripping saliva. His own deeply-tanned face went white, and he fell stumbling back into his seat.

The Vorn smiled. “That’s much better, Captain McFadden. Calm heads must prevail here.” The cat leaped off the table, turned and sat by the blue girl.

Felice stood up. “I am Captian Felice Stratton, Commander, this Med Station. I also serve as Medical Technician to Doctor Zera Tunuma, seated to my right. To my left is Commander Lance Vogel, our Chief Engineer, who also serves, among his many capacities, as Counselor for the Defense, and as Negotiator Pro Tem for the Kingdom of Yore.”

“Kingdom of Yore? What nonsense is this?”

“The lady hasn’t finished speaking,” said the cat. “Need I remind you of the common courtesies?”

The captain went silent. Fuming, but silent.

Felice waved to Lance, saying, “Commander Vogel.”

Lance stood up and said, “Sir, your approach to this station alerted us to some unsettling discoveries about our patient and her guardian. We discovered that she had been withholding certain information about a vast kingdom, of which she happens to be a part. This kingdom has remained hidden for more than a thousand years, out of the fear of persecution by humans. This fear has driven them from planet to planet, always seeking refuge from the expansion of the human business empire, giving them precious little time to locate a permanent hospitable planet for a homeworld. They hide most often on barely habitable worlds, those humans would tend to ignore, but worlds with such poor conditions that survival is mere chance. Unable to set up permanent farming and manufacturing facilities, these people resorted to stealing from others to survive.” Lance sat down.

“So this kingdom of elves resorted to piracy!”

“They are not elves, Sir,” said Lance. “and while some of them think that name amusing, others find it quite insulting. We think that for you to understand the plight of these people, to develop some compassion for them, you must see them as they truly are. Princess Esme, if you would…”

Esme stood up on her chair, and climbed onto the conference table, her face neutral. She faced the captain and began removing her flight suit, revealing her bare skin.

“We didn’t come here for a girly show! She won’t gain my sympathy with…”

“Be silent, Captain. Watch,” said Purro.

When she was naked, she sat on the table leaning forward on her arms, one leg bent horizontally, the other over the top of it. She looked down at the table, and unfurled her ethereal wings. In that pose, she was ineffably radiant, a creature of incomparable beauty. She fluttered her wings and rose into the air, coming to alite on the table, directly in front of Captain McFadden, and went down on her knees, bowing her head, then looking up at him. “I, Princess Eaodaoin Esmerelda of the Kingdom of Yore, humbly apologize for the losses we have caused you, and I beg your forgiveness.” She looked back down at the table.

The captain and his men sat for a moment in open-mouthed shock. “A faery!” McFadden whispered. “A real, honest-to-God faery!”

“A faery princess!” breathed the man to his right. The faces of all three men from the Taurean Queen softened, reflecting a child-like sense of wonder.

“Wouldn’t your people be the Kingdom of Fey, Princess Esmerelda?” McFadden asked, in a polite tone, possibly his first polite words in years.

She looked at him, almost through him, with an expression of deep loss. “The Kingdom of Fey was destroyed by the Celts, the Irish and the Scotts three and a half millennia past. They were slaughtered to the last man, woman and child.”

McFadden choked, then said, “My ancestors killed the faeries?” There were tears in the man’s eyes. His gravelly voice became even more ragged. “Why didn’t you say something? Why did you wait this long?”

“The other faery kingdoms went into hiding. When it was feasible to escape Earth, they did. They have been running ever since. But survival in space is difficult, and our numbers have dwindled.”

That made the captain think. “Jesus! I destroyed your ship!”

“You destroyed my father’s ship.”

“Your father? I KILLED THE KING?” The horror of guilt shown in his face.

“No, you didn’t.” She glanced back at Lance for a moment, with a guilty look. “I saw my father leave in another shuttle. In fact, the entire crew made it out before the ship exploded, and we went in different directions, using the cover of the blast to confound your sensors. It is surprising you managed to find me.”

Relieved the captain sagged in his chair. “Thank all the ancient gods. Princess, you may have the microthermopiles. The cargo is yours.”

“But, Captain…” his right-hand man said sharply.

“But captain, nothing! I’m rich! I can do what I want! This is a debt owed by the Irish and the Scotts! A debt we can never fully repay, but I will make the first installment!”

“Captain, the Vega Colony needs…”

“I know the Vega Colony’s needs! I’ll buy another load of microthermo-whatchamajiggies for them, and hire an extra ship or two to deliver them before winter hits!” The captain had not taken his eyes from the faery, but now his voice returned to a gentle, respectful tone. “Princess, I will be the first to apologize to you on behalf of my people. We are no longer the crude brutes who committed such evil on your people. Allow my ship and crew to be the first to begin to make amends. I know of at least two, very hospitable, largely uninhabited planets, one of them with rich, verdant forests, much like the Emerald Isle, and animals very like those of fable. I beg only that you consider it.”

“Captain McFadden, Mr. Vogel was going to suggest that we hold a peace conference at this station. I would greatly appreciate it if you would attend. I will see to it that our people consider your offer in all seriousness. I also gratefully accept your generous gift of the microthermopiles. They may save the lives of some of our people. You are such a sweet man.” She lifted off the table and flew over to kiss him on the cheek, then returned to the table, to sit in that provocative pose. The captain blushed. It was doubtful that anyone had called him sweet in a very long time.

Suddenly, the proximity alert sounded. “Two ships have arrived, coming from opposite directions, Captain. One is the battleshipMaya of Earth Force. The second vessel is unknown. Only theMaya has weapons systems ready. The alien ship has its weapons ports closed. Captain Dalton of theMaya wishes to speak to you, Captain.”

“Put him through to Conference 10. Video on.”

A screen on the wall opposite the view port flared to life, an image of an imposing uniformed man in the center. “Captain Stratton, I received a distress call from this station. What is your status…My God! What’s that?” Dalton pointed to the alien princess, who flexed and stretched her four wings. The captain’s jaw dropped, his shoulders relaxed, and he, along with all the men visible on his bridge, at least those staring at their view screen, suddenly looked like lost little boys, gawking at a goddess.

Felice and Zera glanced at each other, and Felice whispered, “Does she have that effect on all men?”